CHAPTER XXII 



THE INDIAN MARATHON— MARCH OF CAP- 

 TAIN TITUS 



(From Olean Evening- Times, by JOHN C. FRENCH.) 



ON July 25, 1881, at CarroUton, N. Y., on the 

 Seneca Indians' Allegany river reservation, the 

 venerable Capt. John Titus, a Seneca chieftain, sitting 

 in an arm chair on the shady porch of John Maroney's 

 hotel, told the writer the story of the great march made 

 by himself at the head of lOU Seneca youths, from Kill 

 Buck's town, near Salamanca, to Big Tree, near Lake 

 Erie and West Seneca, and thence by batteaux and 

 canoes across the foot of the lake and down the Ni- 

 agara river to the beginning of the rapids, and a forced 

 march of two miles to the battle hne of Lundy's Lane, 

 between dawn and sunset of July 25, 1814 — the Amer- 

 ican marathon race of 80 miles to help the weary 2,000 

 Americans win the day against about 4,500 British 

 soldiers and Indian scouts. 



Seneca John Titus was born in 1784 and at the age 

 of 97 years was erect and strong, as is usually the case 

 at 70 years, and over six feet tall. In his youth he 

 was taught to read and the tactics of scouting for an 

 army by the veteran John Gideon Martin, scout of 

 Oriskany, who visited Ceres, N. Y., in 1798, to pro- 

 test against the improvements, begun by Francis King 

 at that time, on King's Run, south of the state line, 

 for the Ceres Company which had received title from 



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