206 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



CAPT. JOHN AND CAPT. JOE. 



LAKE CHAMPLAIN INDIANS. 



of some notoriety, who were known as 

 Capt. John and Capt. Joe. John was in 

 the battle in which Braddock was defeat- 

 ed. He used to relate that he was knock- 

 ed down by a British officer whom he after- 

 wards shot, and that he tried to shoot 

 young Washington, but could not hit him. 

 When under the excitement of strong 

 drink, he exulted in the relation of his 

 former deeds of barbarity, among which 

 he told how he mutilated a woman taken 

 at Fort Dummcr,by cutting offher breasts, 

 and would imitate her shrieks and cries 

 of distress. He was fierce and cruel and 

 a great terror to the children about New- 

 bury as long as he lived. He had a Cap- 

 tain's commission during the revolution, 

 and, at the head of a party of Indians was 

 attached to the American army, which 

 captured Burgoyne. 



Capt. Joe was born in Nova Scotia, 

 but upon the overthrow of the eastern 

 Indians, he while quite young went to 

 St. Francis. His wife was called Atolly, 

 and she had two sons by a former hus- 

 band, who came with them to Coos. Their 

 names were Toomalek and Mauxa Wu.\;- 

 al. There was nothing remarkable in the 

 character of Mauxa Wuxal, but Toomalek 

 had a murderou.s disposition. As he grew 

 up he became enamored of a young squaw 

 by the name of Lcioa, but Mitchel anotjier 

 Indian was his rival and married her. 

 Toomalek determined to murder Mitchel 

 and take his wife. Watching his oppor- 

 tunity, he discovered the happy pair sit- 

 ting by their fire in the evening, at the 

 Ox-Bow. He aimed liis gun at Mitchel, 

 but Lewd received the ball and expired 

 that evening. Toomalek was tried for 

 the murder by his Indian peers, and was 

 acquitted on the ground that he did not 

 mean to kill Le.icd but .Mitchel. Toomalek 

 was still resolved to kill Mitchel; and 

 ' having got him i)arti:illy drunk by treat- 



ing him freely, while he himself remained 

 sober, he then provoked Mitchel to draw 

 his knife and attack hi in, upon which 

 Toomalek drew his knife and despatched 

 Mitchel on the spot. For this crime he 

 was also tried and acquitted on the ground 

 that he was acting in self-defence. After 

 this Toomalek at the instigation, as was 

 supposed, of a young squaw, murdered 

 Pi-al, son of Capt. John above mentioned. 

 For this crime he was tried and sentenced 

 to be shot, and Capt. John was to be the 

 executioner. Toomalek came unguarded 

 to the place of execution, where John 

 stood in readiness, and, having seated 

 himself, repeated his prayers, and covered 



his face, he said '■'^ Muck hence" kill me 



quick, upon which John shot him throun-h 

 the head and he died instantly. '^ 



Joe was mild and inoffensive in his 

 disposition and used to boast that he had 

 " never pointed a gun" ataman. He had a 

 strong antipathy to the English, who had 

 killed his friends in Nova Scotia, and, 

 during the Revolution, was a warm friend 

 to the American cause. He and Molly 

 once visited and shook hands with Gen. 

 Washington at his head quarters, on the 

 North river, and ate at the General's 

 table after the officers had dined. After 

 the war, such was his dislike to the King 

 of England, that he would never enter 

 his dominions, though strongly urged 

 by the Indians to return to St. Francis. 

 Having followed a Moose two days, and 

 finding at length tJiat it had crossed the 

 line into Canada, lie stopped short, said 

 " Good bye Mr. Moose," relinquislied the 

 pursuit and returned. He spent his time 

 principally in hunting through all the 

 north-eastern parts of the state, and many 

 anecdotes are related respecting his en- 

 counters with the wild beasts of the for- 

 est. Joe survived Molly many years, and 

 they have each a pond called by their 

 names in the town of Cabot. When Joe 

 became old and unable to support himselfy 

 the legislature of Vermont granted him 

 an annual pension of ,$70 a year. He 

 died at Newbury, February 19, 181!), aged 

 about 60 years, and with him fell the last 

 of the Coossucks.* 



The country about Lake Champlain 

 seems to have been long claimed both 

 by the Iroquois and the Canada Indians, 

 and it was a favorite hunting ground for 

 both long after settlements were com- 

 menced on the continent by the French 

 and Englisli. That the Indians were 

 numerous here at some earlier period, we 

 have reason to believe, both from tlie suit- 

 ableness of the location to their mode of 

 life, and from the numerous relics which 

 are met witli in various places. Arrow 

 and spear heads are found scattered 

 through this whole region, and on Grand 

 Isle are indications that these articles 

 were manufactured there to a large 

 amount. Fragments of the stone from 

 which they were made and broken, or 

 partly finished, arrow or spear heads are 

 scattered in profusion over a considerable 

 extent. The stone, from which they 

 were made, must have been brought from 

 a distance, as none of the kind, excepting 

 these fragments, is found on the Island. 

 Burial grounds of the natives are also 

 found and various places containing many 

 bones, and implements for the purposes 

 of war and domestic use are not uncom- 



*His <juii was fund loadeil and was discharged over 

 his grave. His snow shoes are in possession of Mr. 

 Frye Bailey. — Power's History of Coos. 



