1765] THE KICKAPOOS ATTACK CROGHAN. 289 



him. Three Indians and two white men were 

 shot dead on the spot ; most of the remainder 

 were wounded ; and on the next instant the sur- 

 vivors found themselves prisoners in the hands of 

 eighty yeUing Kickapoos. who plundered them of 

 all they had. No sooner, however, was their prey 

 fairly within their clutches, than the cowardly 

 assailants began to apologize for what they had 

 done, saying it was all a mistake, and that the 

 French had set them on by telling them that the 

 Indians who accompanied Croghan were Chero- 

 kees, tlieir mortal enemies ; excuses utterly without 

 foundation, for the Kickapoos had dogged the 

 party for several days, and perfectly understood 

 its character^ 



It is superfluous to inquire into the causes of this 

 attack. No man practically familiar with Indian 

 character need be told the impossibility of foresee- 

 ing to what strange acts the wayward impulses of 

 this murder-loving race may prompt them. Unsta- 

 ble as w^ater, capricious as the winds, they seem in 

 some of their moods like ungoverned children fired 

 with the instincts of devils. In the present case, 

 they knew that they hated the English, — knew 

 that they wanted scalps ; and thinking nothing of 

 the consequences, they seized the first opportunity 

 to gratify their rabid longing. This done, they 

 thought it best to avert any probable effects of 



1 A few days before, a boy belonging to Croghan's party had been lost, 

 as was supposed, in the woods. It proved afterwards that he had been 

 seized by the Kickapoo warriors, and was still prisoner among them at the 

 time of the attack. They must have learned from him the true character 

 of Croghan and his companions. — MS. Gage Papers. 

 VOL. II. 19 



