Spread of English-Speaking Peoples 105 



When hemmed in so that they had no hope of 

 escape, the Indians fought to the death ; but when a 

 way of retreat was open they would not stand cut- 

 ting like British, French, or American regulars, and 

 so, though with a nearly equal force, would retire 

 if they were suffering heavily, even if they were 

 causing their foes to suffer still more. This was 

 not due to lack of courage ; it was their system, for 

 they were few in numbers, and they did not believe 

 in losing their men. 18 The Wyandots were excep- 

 tions to this rule, for with them it was a point 

 of honor not to yield, and so they were of all the 

 tribes the most dangerous in an actual pitched 

 battle. 19 



But making the attack, as they usually did, with 

 the expectation of success, all were equally dan- 

 gerous. If their foes were clustered together in a 

 huddle they attacked them without hesitation, no 

 matter what the difference in numbers, and shot 



the Indians and from the American rangers, states that but 

 eighteen Indians were killed at Bushy Run. 



18 Most of the plains Indians feel in the same way at pres- 

 ent. I was once hunting with a Sioux half-breed who illus- 

 trated the Indian view of the matter in a rather striking way, 

 saying: "If there were a dozen of you white hunters and you 

 found six or eight bears in the brush, and you knew you 

 could go in and kill them all, but that in the fight you would 

 certainly lose three or four men yourselves, you wouldn't go 

 in, would you? You'd wait until you got a better chance, 

 and could kill them without so much risk. Well, Indians 

 feel the same way about attacking whites that you would 

 feel about attacking those bears." 



19 All the authorities from Smith to Harrison are unani- 

 mous on this point. 



