Excerpt
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIESThe Hunters of the HillsThe Rulers of the LakesThe Lords of the WildThe Shadow of the NorthThe Masters of the PeaksThe Sun of QuebecTHE YOUNG TRAILERS SERIESThe Young TrailersThe Forest RunnersThe Keepers of the TrailThe Eyes of the WoodsThe Free RangersThe Riflemen of the OhioThe Scouts of the ValleyThe Border WatchTHE TEXAN SERIESThe Texan ScoutsThe Texan StarThe Texan TriumphTHE CIVIL WAR SERIESThe Guns of Bull RunThe Guns of ShilohThe Scouts of StonewallThe Sword of AntietamThe Star of GettysburgThe Rock of ChickamaugaThe Shades of the WildernessThe Tree of AppomattoxTHE GREAT WEST SERIESThe Lost HuntersThe Great Sioux TrailTHE WORLD WAR SERIESThe Forest of SwordsThe Guns of EuropeThe Hosts of the AirBOOKS NOT IN SERIESApache GoldThe Quest of the FourThe Last of the ChiefsIn Circling CampsThe Last RebelA Soldier of ManhattanThe Sun of SaratogaA Herald of the WestThe Wilderness RoadMy CaptiveThe Candidate
"He saw two warriors, and he lay in the bush while they passed only twenty yards away." []
TheBORDER WATCHA STORY OF THE GREATCHIEF'S LAST STAND
BYJOSEPH A. ALTSHELERAUTHOR OF"THE YOUNG TRAILERS," "THE FREE RANGERS,""THE SCOUTS OF THE VALLEY," ETC.
D. APPLETON-CENTURY COMPANYINCORPORATEDNEW YORK LONDON1941
Copyright, 1912, byD. APPLETON AND COMPANY
Printed in the United States of America
PREFACE
"The Border Watch" closes the series which began with "The Young Trailers," and which was continued successively in "The Forest Runners," "The Keepers of the Trail," "The Eyes of the Woods," "The Free Rangers," "The Riflemen of the Ohio," and "The Scouts of the Valley." All the eight volumes deal with the fortunes and adventures of two boys, Henry Ware and Paul Cotter, and their friends Shif'less Sol Hyde, Silent Tom Ross and Long Jim Hart, in the early days of Kentucky. The action moves over a wide area, from New Orleans in the South to Lake Superior in the North, and from the Great Plains in the West to the land of the Iroquois in the East.
It has been the aim of the author to present a picture of frontier life, and to show the immense hardships and dangers endured by our people, as they passed through the wilderness from ocean to ocean. So much of it occurred in the shadow of the forest, and so much more of it was taken as a matter of course that we, their descendants, are likely to forget the magnitude of their achievement. The conquest of the North American continent at a vast expense of life and suffering is in reality one of the world's great epics.
The author has sought to verify every statement that touches upon historical events. He has read or examined nearly all the books and pamphlets and many of the magazine articles formerly in the Astor and Lenox, now in the New York Public Library, dealing with Indian wars and customs. In numerous cases, narratives written by observers and participants have been available. He believes that all the border battles are described correctly, and the Indian songs, dances and customs are taken from the relations of witnesses.
But the great mass of material dealing with the frontier furnishes another striking illustration of the old saying that truth is stranger than fiction. No Indian story has ever told of danger and escape more marvelous than those that happened hundreds of times. The Indian character, as revealed in numerous accounts, is also a complex and interesting study. The same Indian was capable of noble actions and of unparalleled cruelty. As a forest warrior he has never been excelled. In the woods, fighting according to his ancient methods, he was the equal alike of Frenchman, Englishman and American, and often their superior. Many of the Indian chiefs were great men. They had the minds of statesmen and generals, and they prolonged, for generations, a fight that was doomed, from the beginning.
We lost more people in our Indian wars than in all the others combined, except the Civil War....