Ouachita County ArArchives News.....AN INDIAN EXECUTION. June 13, 1845 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/arfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Lora Peppers loradpeppers@hotmail.com January 30, 2015, 12:32 am The Wilmington Journal [Wilmington, N.C.] June 13, 1845 From the N.O. Courier, May 23. AN INDIAN EXECUTION Through the politeness of Mr. Barstow, says the Natchitochez [sic Natchitoches] Chronicle of the 17th ult., the agent of the government for conducting the late Choctaw emigration from Mississippi to the West, we are permitted to publish the following extracts from the journal of W.R. Douglas, giving an account of the execution of a young Choctaw, according to the law of that race. It appears that on the arrival of the emigration at Bond's store, in Arkansas, the Indians procured whiskey in spite of the previous promises of the proprietors not to sell them any, and in spite of the warm remonstrances of the government agents. The consequence was disorder and fighting among many of the Indians. While the brother of Ty- ah, and another Indian were engaged in a fight, he came up to the rescue of his brother, and gave the other Indian a blow which produced death. - Blood for blood is the stern law of the savage race; and, without a murmur, he submitted to the fate awarded to him by his judges. The murder was perpetrated on the 15th of March : [Extract from the Journal.] MARCH 17. - This night was the time selected for the execution of the Indian who had committed the murder at Bond's store. The friends of the deceased had demanded his blood, and their savage law was ready to give it. From the night of the 15th, to that of the 17th, Ty-ah had ample time and opportunity to have escaped; for no guard was placed over him - his movements were not even watched; his enemies knew too well the influence of an early education that robs death of its terrors, and inculcates a chivalry which is now almost extinct among the pale faces. Ty-ah would not escape; but resolute and firm, he stood his ground. The family from which he sprung were never to lose chaste by a dastardly escape from a punishment which he was taught to believe just. At the earnest solicitations of those in attendance, who represented that it would be in violation of the laws of the State through which they were travelling, they agreed to postpone the execution until the two divisions should be united. Ty-ah was present during this conversation, and I watched him closely; he conducted himself like a Roman; he discovered not the symptom of fear, not the quivering of a muscle; his eye was endowed with a fierceness of lustre, which I had never seen before, and the tones of his voice, as he expressed his willingness to die there if they wished it, possessed, in an eminent degree, that fullness and melody so characteristic in his race. His firmness and noble bearing, of that trying time produced reflections in my own mind, anything but favorable to that race which stands first among the human species. A white man, surrounded by similar circumstances, would have thought only of his personal safety; no desire to make reparation for a wrong; no regard for the honor of his family would have influenced him; his education would have prompted him to steal the fleetest horse in the camp, and in thirty-six hours, Texas would have had another inhabitant. On the 18th, the Division united at Miller's Bluff on the Ouachita. On the 19th, the Indians held a council and determined that Ty-ah should die. He will be shot to-morrow. Our detention at this point has forced us to become unwilling spectators of the most tragical scene either of us ever witnessed. The mournful death strong [sic] and the savage war-whoop informed us that Ty-ah's moments were numbered. Dressed with more than usual elegance, after the peculiar fashion of his race, and surrounded by his friends, he approaches the place selected, and throws himself full length upon the earth, that the measure of his future home might be taken. The grave was completed : the sun was high in the heavens, and the stern decree of the council must be enforced. Ty-ah is dead, and he died the death of the brave! Unflinching he looked death in the face. - With a strong yell of defiance to his enemies, and the kind word of parting to his friends, he walked firmly up to the brink of that grave in which his remains were to be shortly entombed. He uttered no complaint of the savage law which had condemned him; he made no reproaches against the more savage judges that had enforced that law, but with a composure which could only be inculcated by the stern religion of their fathers, he bared his bosom, and from the unerring rifle of his deadly foe, received the shot that he believed was to send him forth upon the happy hunting-grounds promised him by the great and good Spirit of his race. The report of the rifle was instantly followed by the wild, unearthly shrieks of his wife and kindred. They threw themselves upon his body, and began that plaintive wailing, peculiar to that people, in a manner that drew tears from every eye. They buried him as became a warrior, with rifle and pouch by his side. In death he was arrayed in the same fanciful garb which in life had so graced his manly form. His grave is now filled up - the blood-thirsty law of his race is satisfied - the kindred of Cun-no-antam-be have had their revenge! Ty-ah has preserved the honor of his family, and how the stillness of the night is interrupted only by the wailing of his wife, his children, and his aged mother. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/ouachita/newspapers/anindian6nw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/arfiles/ File size: 6.0 Kb