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| Pelathe
- The Eagle |
| Kansas:
a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events,
institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns,
prominent persons, etc. |
| Volume II |
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| Pelathe,
"The Eagle," a Shawnee Indian, was a friend of
the white man. Of the many instances of heroism recorded
in Kansas history, no deed was more heroic than that of
Pelathe in the summer of 1863. He arrived at Kansas City
about midnight on Aug. 20, and learned that Quantrill,
the guerrilla leader, had crossed the border into Kansas
and was on his way to Lawrence. While a number of men
felt the necessity of warning the people of Lawrence,
they realized that the time was too short to convey the
warning. Pelathe begged the privilege of making the
effort, and about 1 o'clock a. m. of the 21st mounted on
a Kentucky thoroughbred mare belonging to Theodore
Bartles, set out for Lawrence. So well acquainted was he
with the country that he ignored the trails and struck a
bee line for the menaced city. Gradually increasing his
speed, mile after mile flew by, until he noticed that
his steed was failing and that a short halt was
absolutely necessary. At a small stream he stopped,
washed the foam from the mare's mouth, allowed her to
drink a small quantity of water, rubbed her dry with the
handkerchief he wore around his neck, then mounted again
and rode forward at terrific speed. Again his mount
showed signs of failing, when, with the resourcefulness
of his race, he cut gashes in her shoulders and rubbed
gunpowder in the wounds. Smarting under the treatment,
the mare rushed forward at mad speed for a few miles and
then dropped dead. Pelathe continued on foot with that
swiftness peculiar to his tribe until he reached an
encampment of the Delawares, where he appropriated an
Indian pony and rode on to Lawrence, only to find that
he was too late, the sound of the firing coming to his
ears before he reached the city, while the ascending
smoke told plainly the story of destruction.
Pelathe joined in the pursuit of Quantrill with
some 5 or 20 Delaware Indians, and soon aftterward[sic]
went to Fort Smith, where he was employed by the Federal
government as a scout. On one of his expeditions he was
attacked by some of Stand Watie's band in the hills west
of Fayetteville, but he sold his life dearly, killing
three Cherokees and wounding others before being killed
himself. |
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