AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 31 
Major Taylor, with his well-manned fleet, anticipating of 
course an easy victory over the poorly equipped Indian 
warriors of Rock river, reached the scene of his operations 
just in front of the present city of Davenport, on a bright 
morning in August. Here he was considerably dismayed 
to find Indians dressed in British uniform on the Rock Is- 
land shore, manning two formidable pieces of artillery, set 
in a line with other painted guns, looking equally formidable 
at a distance It would seem that Col, McKay, the capturer 
of Prairie du Chien, had anticipated this expedition, and 
accordingly taken measures to prevent any advances that 
might subsequently weaken his position at Prairie du Chien. 
Hence the first salute that Major Taylor received was a 
well-aimed shot, which struck without disabling the advance 
boat, which he himself occupied ; a second shot took away 
the rudder of another boat, the painted guns, so far as we 
can learn, not doing much execution. The disabled boat 
was fast drifting toward the Iowa shore, where large par- 
ties of Indians were seen lurking in expectation of securing 
an easy prey. 
In this critical juncture it was necessary for some one to 
cast a rope from the disabled boat in order that it might be 
taken in tow, and thus removed from imminent danger of 
capture by the Indians. This was courageously done by 
a young soldier named Paul Harpole, who, not satisfied 
with this proof of his bravery, stood up exposed to the fire 
of the Indians on the shore, and as loaded guns were 
handed to him, fired fourteen times into the crowd, doing 
evident ‘execution; after the fourteenth fire, Harpole him- 
self was shot in the forehead, and falling overboard, drifted 
to the shore, where the men on the retreating boats saw his 
body inhumanly cut to pieces. In the monument which 
Scott"county, Iowa, proposes to erect to her fallen heroes 
during the;late war, the name of Paul Harpole, and the 
date of August, 1814 should properly head the list, as com- 
