RANSOMED.
On the morning of the ninth day of their captivity, some warriors took
Sylvia off about forty rods to where a number of chiefs seemed to be
holding a council. One of the Indians told Sylvia that she must go
with an old chief who was pointed out to her, namely, White Crow, a
chief of the Winnebagoes, who was about fifty years of age, tall, slim,
with a hawk nose, and as much of sinister look as a man who had only
one eye could have, for one of his eyes had been put out in a brawl.
He was addicted to drink, gambling, fighting, and other disreputable
practices.[26] Under any circumstances Sylvia might have protested
against going with him; but when he informed her that Rachel must stay
behind, Sylvia declared that she would not go without her sister.
White Crow, who was a fine and fluent orator, and spokesman of his
band on all occasions, made a long, loud speech in which he exhibited
considerable excitement, but was listened to with great interest by the
other warriors. After he had finished, Chief Whirling Thunder arose,
walked over to where Rachel was and brought her to where the council
was being held. The situation was painfully interesting to the girls,
because they had some intimation that it was all about their fate.
[26] X. Wis. Hist. Col., 253.
After some conversation among the chiefs they shook hands and the
captives were surrendered to White Crow, who must now get the girls to
Blue Mounds Fort to obtain the $2,000 reward. The Port was about eighty
miles to the southwest in a bee line. By the nearest trail through the
Madison lake region, it was about ninety-three miles; and by way of
Portage and thence on the Military Road to the Blue Mounds Fort, it was
about one hundred and seven miles. The Sacs and Foxes were along the
former route, which meant great danger, and the Military Road was the
best in that country. Therefore, White Crow chose the latter route.
The horses were brought, riding switches were cut and White Crow and
Whirling Thunder with their captives seemed ready to go. The squaws
with whom the girls had been staying were very much grieved at parting
with them, tears rolling down their cheeks, and the girls who now
reciprocated the affection of the squaws, preferred to stay with them
rather than to go with the warriors; but the chief’s stern orders had
to be obeyed.
At this trying moment of the girls, a young warrior suddenly stepped up
to Rachel and with a large knife cut a lock of hair from over her right
ear and another from the back of her head. At the same time he muttered
to White Crow, in the Indian language, something which the girls
afterwards learned, was that he would have Rachel back in three or four
days. His example was followed by another Indian who stepped up to
Sylvia and without leave or a word of explanation, cut a lock of hair
from the front of her head and placed it in his hunting-pouch. Sometime
afterward a number of Indians made an attack on Kellogg’s Grove colony
(near Dodgeville, Wis.) and one of them who was shot by a miner named
Casey had around his neck a lock of braided hair which was subsequently
identified as that taken from the head of Rachel Hall.
It might not be amiss, here, to state that among some of the Indian
tribes the cutting of the hair had a mystical meaning closely allied
to the life of a person, and was usually attended with religious
rites. The first clipping of a child’s hair was retained for religious
purposes. A scalp had a double meaning: it indicated an act of
supernatural power that had decreed the death of the man, and it served
as tangible proof of the warrior’s prowess over his enemies.[27]
[27] 1, “Handbook of Am. Indians,” 524.
[Illustration: WHERE HALL GIRLS ENTERED CANOES.]
While the Indians were taking locks of hair from the girls, White Crow,
Whirling Thunder, and a few more Indians, had mounted their horses, and
with their captives on ponies, all rode off at a gallop, keeping up
a rapid speed during the rest of the day and far into the night, the
Indians looking back frequently.
No doubt White Crow feared that the Sacs might regret that they let the
girls go, and would try to recapture them. It was about forty-seven
miles to Portage, and until that place was reached the danger was
great. The girls appreciated the danger; otherwise, they would have
dropped off their ponies from sheer exhaustion. A ride of forty-seven
miles on wabbly ponies!
Finally, they arrived on the bank of the Wisconsin River near the mouth
of Duck Creek (just below Portage, Wis.) where was located a village of
Chief Dekorah.[28]
[28] XIII. Wis. Hist. Co., 448; III. ib. 286; Waubun, Kinzie, 103.
At this place the Indians prepared a bed upon a low scaffold, which was
furnished with abundant blankets and furs, where the girls lay until
daylight. The sun had not yet arisen when a party of Sac warriors, some
of whom were dressed in the clothing of white men, came into camp. They
wanted to talk to the girls, but Whirling Thunder told the girls not to
listen to them and to keep away from them. Then a long conversation of
loud angry words was kept up between the Indians for some time, when
the Sacs mounted their horses and rode away.
It was ascertained later that one of the Indians who helped to capture
the girls at Indian Creek was on a hunting trip when the captives were
turned over to the Winnebagoes and on his return finding the prisoners
gone and not having received his portion of the ransom, he started off
with a number of warriors with the determination to recapture the girls
or kill them. No doubt that if the Sacs had overtaken the Winnebagoes
with their captives before they had reached the Winnebago camp, they
would have fought for the girls, which would either have ended in the
death of the girls or their being again carried off into captivity.
Such was the Indian custom.[29] What an almost miraculous escape the
girls had!
[29] 2, Handbook of American Indians, 203.
Immediately after the Sacs left, a hastened breakfast was prepared. No
doubt White Crow feared an attack if he should keep the girls at that
place or if he should continue his journey along the Military Road.
Whatever caused him to change his course, he arranged to take the girls
down the Wisconsin River[30] and to send the horses around over the
hills, on the west side of the river, to the next camping place.
[30] Memories of Shaubena, 160.
Breakfast was eaten as hastily as it had been prepared and then the
girls were placed in canoes and with a convoy of about one hundred
Indians, were paddled off. At first the girls feared that their little
barks would tip, but soon they found their canoes were in expert and
safe hands and that the new manner of travel was far superior to
horse-back riding. It was restful and gave them a fine opportunity for
observation, which under favorable circumstances would drive an artist
into ecstasy. The majestic bluffs with wooded slopes and craggy crests,
lined the river for many miles, stretching off to the west around
Devil’s Lake. It was ideal scenery and connected with many a romantic
Indian tale.
The spring freshets from the melting snows and heavy rains, had swollen
the river so that it spread considerably over its banks, reaching in
places from the foot of one bluff to the foot of another. Down this
murky water the Indians paddled their canoes, hour after hour, over a
distance of about thirty miles, and landed on the west bank, where they
camped for the night.
In speaking of this canoe ride the girls say: “The name of the river
we never knew, neither can we tell whether we traveled up or down the
stream.” The name of the river was learned from Shabona. It is not
strange that the girls could not tell which way the river flowed. The
writer has often been on that river during freshets, and the way the
water flows back and forth, dotted with eddies, would easily confuse a
stranger.
Early the next morning White Crow went around to the wigwams with a
gourd in each hand, and stopping at the door of each wigwam he would
shake the gourds violently and talk as if he were lecturing.
Having finished this religious service, he left the camp and did not
return again until sundown. Probably, he crossed the river and went
to his own village at the west end of Mendota Lake to get information
concerning the ransom offered for the captives. He was a sly chief,
and if he did not have considerable confidence in the success of his
undertaking, instead of taking the girls across to Blue Mounds he might
have them run further down the river and there hold them longer in
captivity.
The thirty-first day of May had arrived and for the second night
the Indians camped on the west side of the Wisconsin River. Before
retiring, White Crow for the first time spoke to the girls in the
English language. He inquired whether their father, mother, or any
sister or brother, was alive, to which the girls replied that all had
been killed on the day of their captivity. White Crow appeared sad,
shook his head, and after hesitating a moment, said he would take
the girls home in the morning. He asked the girls if they thought
the whites would hang him if he took them to the fort, to which they
replied that on the contrary the people at the fort would give him
money and presents for his trouble.
The conversation with White Crow roused the hopes of the girls
considerably, but a lingering doubt as to the truth of his words kept
revolving in their minds throughout the night.
[Illustration: WHERE HALL GIRLS LEFT WISCONSIN RIVER.
† “BLACK HAWK’S LOOKOUT.”]
The next morning the chiefs accompanied by about forty warriors put the
girls in canoes and swam their horses across the river alongside of the
canoes, landing above the mouth of Black Earth Creek. The horses were
mounted in haste, but as most of the warriors had to travel on foot and
were impeded by marshes and underbrush on the flat bottom, the progress
was slow. The girls watched the sun with eagerness in their endeavor
to tell which way they were traveling and were assured thereby that
they were again going southward, although only in a circuitous course.
Hour after hour passed away, the girls all the while expecting to
catch sight of the fort. Finally, as the sun was sinking off over the
Wisconsin River, the Indians once more camped for the night on the bank
of a creek.
There were two or three Indian families camped at this place, and on
seeing the girls they expressed great joy. In a short time the squaws
had prepared a supper consisting of pickled pork, potatoes, coffee and
bread for the girls, White Crow and Whirling Thunder, the rest of
the Indians dining apart from them. The meal was the best cooked and
the spread the cleanest that had been placed before the girls, and it
tempted their appetite so that they made a very fair meal, after which
they felt sleepy and were glad when they could lie down to rest. In a
short time most of the Indians had retired, excepting White Crow, who
seated himself close to the girls, where he smoked a pipe all night.
This was the first time that a warrior had kept guard over them, and
the inference of the girls was that the old chief feared an attack of
the Sacs who had visited their camp at Portage. The girls thought that
perhaps the Indian chief who had been rebuffed at that place might
have gone after recruits, and that at any moment the Indians might
swoop down upon them. Now, when they were almost within grasp of their
freedom, it racked the minds of the girls to think that there was a
possibility of being slaughtered or again carried into captivity. In
this condition of mind the girls passed the night.
The camp was astir at sunrise and for the last time White Crow went
around performing his religious service by rattling his gourds and
addressing the Indians. After breakfast the girls were again mounted
on their ponies and all moved forward over higher ground, and before
ten o’clock they had reached the Military Road from Fort Winnebago, by
way of Blue Mounds, to Prairie du Chien. The sight of the wagon tracks
was the first sign of civilization that the girls had observed since
their captivity and increased their confidence in the probability of
their early release. Also, the road was much better than any they had
traveled since their capture. It led through groves and oak openings,
along the high ridge that is unbroken to the Mississippi River.
Inspirations of hope were necessary to revive the girls’ spirits and
enable them to complete the remainder of their long journey, as they
were exhausted to the verge of collapse. Hope is a great stimulant, and
it was on this that the girls were now subsisting.
“Auspicious Hope! in thy sweet garden grow
Wreaths for each toil, a charm for every woe.”
About two o’clock in the afternoon the Indians halted for lunch and
to let their horses feed. The principal food was duck eggs, nearly
hatched, that the Indians ate with relish, but which the girls rejected
with disgust. After lunch they had not traveled far until they caught
sight of Blue Mounds Fort in the distance. White Crow took a white
handkerchief that Rachel had tied on her head, which he fastened on
a pole for a flag of truce, and rode in advance of the Indians and
their captives. In a short time Lieutenant Edward Beouchard, who was
commander at the fort, met them and addressed the Indians in their own
language. The warriors now formed a circle into which Beouchard rode
and he and the Indians talked at considerable length. According to
Beouchard’s subsequent statement the Indians were unwilling to give
up the girls until they were assured by Col. Gratiot that the $2,000
reward would be paid. Beouchard having assured the girls that they
would be well treated by the Indians until his return, went back to the
fort and soon returned with Col. Henry Gratiot, the Indian agent, and
a company of soldiers in which Edward and Reason Hall, uncles of the
captives, were serving as privates.
Col. Gratiot assured the Indians that the reward for the rescue of the
girls would be paid. Also, he invited the Indians to be his guests at
the fort, and that he would prepare a big feast for them. The Indians
being very hungry the feast appealed very strongly to them. Finally,
the chiefs agreed to place the girls in the custody of Col. Gratiot
until the reward would be paid, the Indians retaining the right to the
return of the captives if the government failed to pay.
The calico dresses which the girls had received from the Indians, had
become torn by riding through brake, briars and brush, and with their
soiled faces and disheveled hair, made them objects of pity.[31] In a
sense, the girls bearing their crosses, had followed their Master up
Calvary to its summit, where He granted their prayer by setting them
free.
[31] 3, Smith’s Hist. of Wis., 214, 225.