146 The Winning of the West 



although they too were now and then followed, 

 overtaken, and vanquished. While in midstream 

 the boats were generally safe, though occasionally 

 the savages grew so bold that they manned flotillas 

 of canoes and attacked the laden flat-boats in open 

 day. But when any party landed, or wherever the 

 current swept a boat inshore, within rifle range of 

 the tangled forest on the banks, there was always 

 danger. The white riflemen, huddled together with 

 their women, children, and animals on the scows, 

 were utterly unable to oppose successful resistance 

 to foes who shot them down at leisure, while them 

 selves crouching in the security of their hiding- 

 places. The Indians practiced all kinds of tricks 

 and stratagems to lure their victims within reach. 

 A favorite device was to force some miserable 

 wretch whom they had already captured to appear 

 alone on the bank when a boat came in sight, signal 

 to it, and implore those on board to come to his 

 rescue and take him off; the decoy inventing some 

 tale of wreck or of escape from Indians to account 

 for his presence. If the men in the boat suffered 

 themselves to be overcome by compassion and drew 

 inshore, they were sure to fall victims to their sym 

 pathy. 



The boat once assailed and captured, the first 

 action of the Indians was to butcher all the wound 

 ed. If there was any rum or whiskey on board they 

 drank it, feasted on the provisions, and took what 

 ever goods they could carry off. They then set off 

 through the woods with their prisoners for distant 



