State County KyArchives News.....Adventures of Two Boys November 21, 1883 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ky/kyfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Kenneth Stacy klstacyfamily@aol.com January 22, 2008, 8:30 pm The Huntsville (AL) Weekly Democrat November 21, 1883 Adventures of Two Boys. ---------- Major Riddle’s Two Sons Captured and Brought Up by Indians -------- Stephen and Abraham Riddle, sons of Major Riddle, of Kentucky, were stolen in the early days of Kentucky by the Indians and carried North. The youths were raised among the Indians and became warriors. Stephen married a squaw and became a chief on account of his bravery. But Abraham was never anything more than a common, dirty Indian. At last Stephen tired of his Indian life and longed to see the faces of white people. He could remember his home in Kentucky, his father and mother and sister. He was a powerful chief and commanded many warriors. One day he called council and told his warriors that he thought of going to see General Wayne, then at Fort Wayne. The warriors all declared their determination to go with him and they set off on their journey. They traveled from the northwestern part of Indiana to near Fort Wayne. Chief Stephen did not wish to present himself suddenly before the fort with his warriors, for fear that it would create alarm. He waited in the timber till one of the soldiers came out to hunt, and captured him. He told the soldier that he meant him no harm and that he wanted to see General Wayne. The soldier conducted him and his band to within a few hundred yards of the fort, when, fearing treachery to the fort, he ran away from the Indians and alarmed the garrison. But Chief Steve succeeded in making the soldiers understand that he was friendly, and General Wayne, accompanied by a guard, came out to treat with him. General Wayne expressed astonishment that he chief should talk such good English, and asked him why it was. Then the chief told him his story and how his heart yearned to see his pale-faced father and mother. General Wayne was astonished. He knew Major Riddle, and knew that he had two stolen boys. “Where is your brother?” asked General Wayne. “Here he is,” said Chief Steve, leading Abraham forward. But Abraham was an ornery-looking Indian, and General Wayne did not “take a shine to him.” “You return here when the moon has twice filled, and I will show you your father,” said the General. The Indians went their way, and the general sent a message to Major Riddle, in Kentucky, telling him that he had found his long lost sons. The Major came to the fort. His tow sons had been there several days waiting for him. Chief Steve met his father with a dignified and chiefly air and offered him the pipe of peace. The father recognized him. “Where is my other son?” asked the father. “My brother will not be here before to-morrow, as he is with the soldiers,” said Chief Steve. Abraham, in true Indian style, had picked up with the soldiers and got drunk on fire water. He had thrashed every soldier in the fort, and it had been found necessary to “buck and gag” him to make him quiet. Major Riddle raved, and demanded that his other son be brought forthwith before him, and General Wayne ordered him to be brought. When the father gazed upon him he declared him no son of his, and wanted to brain him. But General Wayne reasoned with him. The two sons returned to Kentucky with their father, Steve taking his squaw. Steve was one of the soldiers in Fort Harrison during the fight, and he declared that Tecumseh commanded, and that he could have killed him if he had so desired. Stephen afterward became a Baptist preacher and preached in Terra Haute in early Days. His squaw did not take to civilized life, and he gave her ponies and sent her back to the tribe File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/state/newspapers/adventur477gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/