1792.] THE WAY IT WAS DONE. 363 brought to its work of death, the tawny foe sprang convulsively into the air, and straightening as he descended, fell upon his face quite dead. Wetzel was universally regarded as one of the most efficient scouts and most practised woodmen of his day. He was frequently engaged by parties who desired to hunt up and locate lands, but were afraid of the Indians. Under the protection of Lewis Wetzel, however, they felt safe, and thus he was often engaged for months at a time. Of those who became largely interested in western lands was John Madison, brother of James, afterwards President Madison. He employed Lewis 364 PERSONAL APPEARANCE. [CHAP. II. Wetzel to go with him through the Kanawha region. During their expedition they came upon a deserted hunter's camp, in which were concealed some goods. Each of them helped himself to a blanket, and that day in crossing little Kanawha they were fired upon by a concealed party of Indians, and Madison killed. General Clark, the companion of Lewis in the celebrated tour across the Rocky Mountains, had heard much of Lewis Wetzel in Kentucky, and determined to secure his services in the perilous enterprise. A messenger was accordingly sent for him, but he was reluctant to go. However, he finally consented, and accompanied the party during the first three months travel, but then declined going any further, and returned home. Shortly after this, he left again on a flatboat, and never returned. He visited a relative named Phillip Sikes, living about twenty miles in the interior from Natchez, and there made his home until the summer of 1808, when he died.1 The personal appearance of this distinguished borderer was very remarkable. He was five feet ten inches in height, very erect, broad across the shoulders, an expansive chest, and limbs denoting great muscular strength. His complexion was very dark, and eyes of the most intense blackness, wild, rolling, and "piercing as the dagger's point;" emitting, when excited, such fierce and withering glances, as to cause the stoutest adversary to quail beneath their power. His hair 1 Our informant, the late venerable David M'Intyre, of Belmont county, Ohio, one of the most reliable and respectable men in the State, said that he met Lewis Wetzel at Natchez, in April, 1808, and remained with him three days. That Lewis told him he would visit his friends during the then approaching summer—but alas, that visit was never made! His journey was to "that undiscovered country, from whose bourne no traveller returns." Many contradictory accounts have been published as to the time and place of his death, but our information, we are confident, is correct. Some have even declared that he was seen at St. Louis, in 1829. We have examined these statements separately, and are firmly convinced, that Mr. M'Intyre's information is the most reliable. 1781.] POE AND BIG-FOOT. 365 was of raven jetness, and very luxuriant, reaching, when combed out, below his knees. This would have been a rare scalp for the savages, and one for which they would at any time have given a dozen of their best warriors. When Lewis Wetzel professed friendship, he was as true as the needle to the pole. He loved his friends and hated their enemies. He was a rude, blunt man, of few words before company, but with his friends, not only sociable, but an agreeable companion. Such was Lewis Wetzel; his name and fame will long survive, when the achievements of men vastly his superior in rank and intellect, will slumber with the forgotten past. ANDREW POE. A MOST formidable and fearful man was the vanquisher of "Big-Foot." Every body has heard of the fight between the huge Wyandott chief and Poe, but, unfortunately, the credit has always been given to the wrong man. Dr. Doddridge started the error; and every writer upon western history for nearly thirty years, has insisted that Adam Poe killed "BigFoot." Unwilling to strip the laurel from the brow of any man, but pledged to do justice to all, and give honor where honor is due, it now devolves upon us to say that it was not "Adam" but Andrew Poe who accomplished the wonderful feat we are about to record. Of those who settled at an early day on the Ohio, near the extreme upper corner of Virginia, were two brothers, Andrew and Adam Poe. They were born near the present town of Frederick, Maryland, and emigrated to the west in 1774. Adam was the elder by some five years; he lived to the age of ninety-three, and died in 1840. These brothers were "backwoodsmen" in every sense of the word. They were shrewd, active and courageous, and having fixed their abodes on the frontier of civilization, determined 366 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE. [CHAP. II. to contest inch by inch with the savages, their right to the soil, and their privilege to live. In appearance they were tall, muscular and erect, with features indicating great strength of character. Andrew, in the general contour of his face, differed somewhat from that of his brother, while the freshness of his color indicated a better degree of health than the sallow complexion of the other. Both, however, were endowed with an unusual degree of strength, and woe to the man who dared engage in single combat with either. Early in the fall of 1781, there was an occurrence on the Ohio which stamped the character of one as a man of no ordinary make. The place of combat was near the mouth of Tomlinson's run, and about two miles below Yellow creek. A few months since we visited the spot, and obtained from a member of the family the particulars of that celebrated conflict, which we now give. During the summer of 1781,1 the settlements in the region indicated, suffered not a little from Indian depredation. At length it was ascertained that a party of six warriors had crossed the river and committed sundry outrages; among the rest, killing a defenceless old man in his cabin. The people became aroused, and it was at once determined to raise a force and intercept the retreat of the savages. Eight determined spirits at once volunteered, and placing themselves under Captain Andrew Poe, as he was then called, were ready for action in five minutes' notice. Early on the following morning, they found the trail of the enemy, and detected among the footprints those of a celebrated chief called Big-Foot, who was distinguished for his daring, skill, eloquence, and immense size. He stood, literally, like the tall man of Tarsus, a head above his peers; for he is said to have been nearly, or quite seven feet in height, and large in proportion. The feet of this giant were so large as to gain 1 Doddridge, and all who follow in his wake, place this in the summer of 1782; but 1781, was undoubtedly the year of its occurrence. 1781.] THRILLING INCIDENT. 367 for him the name of Big-Foot. Andrew Poe, delighted at the prospect of testing his strength with so renowned a chief, urged the pursuit with unabated zeal, until brought within a short distance of the enemy. "For the last few miles, the trail had led up the southern bank of the Ohio, where the footprints in the sand were deep and obvious; but when within a few hundred yards of the point at which the Indians were in the habit of crossing, it suddenly diverged from the stream, and stretched along a rocky ridge, forming an obtuse angle with its former direction. Here Andrew halted for a moment, and directed his brother and the other young men to follow the trail with proper caution, while he still adhered to the river path, which led through a cluster of willows directly to the point where he supposed the enemy to lie. Having examined the priming of his gun, he crept cautiously through the bushes until he had a view of the point of embarcation. Here lay two canoes, empty and apparently deserted. Being satisfied, however, that the Indians were close at hand, he relaxed nothing of his vigilance, and quickly gained a jutting cliff, which hung over the canoes. Hearing a low murmur below, he peered cautiously over, and beheld the object of his search. The gigantic Big-Foot lay below him, in the shade of a willow, and was talking in a low, deep tone to another warrior, who seemed a mere pigmy by his side. Andrew cautiously drew back and cocked his gun. The mark was fair, the distance did not exceed twenty feet, and his aim was unerring. Raising his rifle slowly and cautiously, he took a steady aim at BigFoot's breast, and drew the trigger. His gun flashed. Both Indians sprung to their feet with a deep interjection of surprise, and for a single second all three stared upon each other. This inactivity, however, was soon over. Andrew was too much hampered by the bushes to retreat, and setting his life upon the cast of the die, sprung over the bush which had sheltered him, and summoning all his powers, leaped boldly down the precipice, and alighted upon the breast of |