A NARRATIVE                                 OF THE                        Adventures and Sufferings                             FOSTORIA, OHIO.                       THE GRAY PRINTING COMPANY,                                  1896....

The following brief narrative of the unparalleled adventures of MATTHEW BRAYTON is compiled for the satisfaction of those who wished to preserve a memorial of his romantic history. Extraordinary as the incidents may appear, there is abundant proof of their entire truth. Living witnesses bear testimony to the circumstances of the mysterious loss of the hero, and his identity is established by incontrovertible proofs. Numerous circumstances also confirm the account given by him of his adventures d

That portion of North-western Ohio, situated to the South-east of the Black Swamp, was but sparsely settled at the close of the first quarter of the present century. The hardy pioneers who had left their New England homes to open up the Western wilds, here and there built their modest dwellings and tilled the few acres won from the dense forest and luxuriant prairie. The dusky aborigines, driven from all other parts of Ohio, clung tenaciously to this comparatively neglected spot, and the smoke f

    Stolen by Indians and traded from Tribe to Tribe — Siouxs —     Sioux Dog Dance — Sold to the Snakes — Digger Indians —     Fight with the Diggers — Utah — Quarrels with the Blackfeet     — Flat Heads — Snakes join Utahs, Crees, and Flat Heads —     Join with Copper Heads. The first seven or eight years of my captivity among the Indians were so full of changes that I cannot distinctly remember the events that occurred, and I am compelled to trust to the accounts given me by the members of th

Government of Snake and Copper Head Tribes — Women worked hard — Marriage Laws — Children taught the use of weapons early — Funeral ceremonies of the Copper Heads — Their Religion. The Snakes and Copper Heads are ruled over by one General Chief, or Inkupudia , who remains in power for life unless deposed by the vote of all the tribes. Since the union of the tribes there has been but one General Chief, now (in 1860) eighty years of age, named O-wash-kah-ke-naw . He reigns supreme to a certain ext

Climate — Esquimaux — Trading — Mode of Sleeping — Method of Taming Ponies and Elks — Weapons — Making Pipes. The territory occupied by the Copper Heads and the associated tribes lies west of the Rocky Mountains in the high latitudes, extending so far north as the Russian possessions. Their hunting grounds cover a space of several hundred miles, and the natural characteristics of the country are much diversified. Baren mountain ranges alternate with wide plains, fruitful valleys and dense forest

    Hunting Buffalo — The attack — Cutting up the carcass —     Packing to the camp — Drying the meat — Buffalo hunting in     winter — Trapping bears and wolves — Spearing muskrats —     Dressing skins — Different modes of fishing. Hunting is the principal occupation of the Indians, and their only means of subsistence. The climate does not admit the raising of crops, even if the Indians were disposed to till the ground, which they are not. During the fall the camps are removed to the lower part

    Is recognized as a white man — War dance — Fight with     Blackfeet Indians — Tomahawking and burning captives. In 1861 the winter in the north was exceedingly severe and the game was compelled to seek a more southern latitude to get something to eat. We followed them down but were in great danger of perishing of famine. In this strait our only hope was in obtaining some additional supplies from the trading posts. A large detachment was therefore sent off to the post of the Hudson Bay Compan

Marries the Chiefs Daughter — Tattooing — Packing for the south — Camping out — Crossing the Mountains — Skirmish with Blackfeet — Wounded — The Red River Settlements. The fact that the traders at the Hudson Bay Company's post had claimed me to be of white birth was communicated to the principal chief after the war excitement of the latter was over, and caused considerable anxiety on his part. Nothing was said to me about it but I could see that the old chief feared my escape and that the tribe

    Selkirk People — Selkirk Trains — Trading at St. Paul —     Return to the North. With the dawn of day we again set forward on our journey, taking the Red River trail towards St. Paul. The trip between the Selkirk settlements and St. Paul occupies from thirty to forty days, and passes through the battle ground of the Siouxs and Chippewas. Several times we came on small parties of the Siouxs, but had no more than short skirmishes with them, our numbers being too formidable for them to attack u

    Return to St. Paul — Sick at Chicago — Sets out in search     of his Parents — Reaches Cleveland — Gets his Story Printed     — Visits Warren, O. — Attends Camp Meeting — Experiences     Religion — Reaches Sugar Grove. The snows of winter had begun to fall when our party set out on the route I had so recently traveled. The present company was placed under command of a son of the principal chief, he being also the brother of my wife. There is no reason for again describing the route, as we tr

The narration of the circumstances which led to the discovery of Matthew Brayton by his relatives requires us to go back a little from the point to which his account has brought the reader. The intervening years between the loss of Matthew Brayton by his relatives and the present time have caused many changes in the neighborhood once so excited in consequence of that loss. The red men clung for many years to their last foothold in Ohio. Four years after the loss of the boy, the Delawares left th