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Digital file copyright by Cornell University
Library 1994.THE STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY
TRAPPER, SMUGGLER AND INDIAN SLAYER ON
THE SHORES OF LAKE ERIE AND
THE NIAGARA.
INTRODUCTION.
The story of David Ramsay is in some respects the most remark-
able of all the records of adventure in the region of Lake Erie and
the Niagara. For its preservation we are indebted to Capt. Patrick
Campbell, a Scotchman, who traveled through a part of Canada and
Western New York, in the years 1791 and 1792. In March of the
latter year, he set out from Fort Niagara for New York, with David
Ramsay as guide; and on the way, while stopping at Canawagas
(now Avon), Ramsay told to Capt. Campbell the story of his ad-
ventures among the Indians. The next year, at Edinburgh, Capt.
- Campbell published his “Travels in the interior inhabited parts of
North America,” which has long been one of the excessively rare
narratives of early travel in America; it is perhaps the rarest of all
books of travel relating to the Niagara region, to which it pays much
attention. The author made especial study of the advantages which
this region, and other sections visited, offered for emigrants from the
Highlands, and his book is in a sense a report on that subject; but
he was a good observer and a graphic writer; greatly enjoyed hunt-
ing, and was entertained by the representative people, wherever he
sojourned, one of his hosts—on the Grand River in “Upper Canada”
—being Capt. Joseph Brant. He made many good friends at the
settlements and garrisons on the Niagara, especially among the
British officers at Fort Niagara; and it was there that he fell in with
David Ramsay.
437438
STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
This hardy adventurer’s story is told in the following pages, as
narrated by him to Capt. Campbell, and as written out by the latter.
That narrative ends as David is brought captive to Fort Niagara, not
by Indians, as so many hundreds were, but by the British, to whose
cause he was loyal. Capt. Campbell learned from others that when
the Indians heard that David Ramsay was at Fort Niagara, they
gathered there in great numbers, and insisted that the British give
him up to them; and on the refusal of the Governor—Simcoe—
threatened to set fire to the fort. “They became at last so clamorous,
that the Governor sent a party, unknown to the Indians, to Montreal
with David, where he was fifteen months in prison; and as no proof
could be brought against him in a regular trial, and everybody knew
he acted in self-defense only, he was liberated. And what is strange,
and what the like never was known before, is, that he now lives in
intimacy and friendship with that very tribe, and the sons and daugh-
ters of the very people he had killed. They gave him a grant, regu-
larly extended upon stamped paper, of four miles square of as good
lands as any in Upper Canada.” Mr. Campbell continues:
“In the Genesee country, when with me, I saw him write a letter
in the Indian tongue, to some chiefs then assembled in Philadelphia,
at the request of Congress, directing them how to act in the matter
under deliberation. I told him that it was in vain, as nobody there
could read it. He said that anybody could read the words and that
the Indians would know the meaning of them. On another occasion
I told him that I was informed, as I really was, that when the In-
dians got drunk, but only when drunk, that they still threatened to
kill him; at which he seemed extremely displeased, and swore that
if he knew any one of them that dared threaten him he would be
about with them yet; that it was he that was ill-used, and not them;
that his goods were taken from him, and himself threatened to be
roasted.
“David never was married; nor do I think he ever will. Skins to
the amount of 150 1 being seized upon him, which he, in common -
with many others, was smuggling into the States, has reduced him;
and at present he has no other employment than that of carrying
dispatches and money for gentlemen of the fort and district of
Nassa”—Nassau was one of the early names for the Canadian dis-
trict of Niagara—“to and from any place they may have occasion.
His honesty and fidelity is so well known, that he is entrusted with
sums of money to any amount, without requiring any token or receipt
for the same; and I was told, when with me on his way to New
York, that he had seven or eight score of pounds belonging to dif-
ferent people, sent for articles which he was to bring them from that
city.
“David was a staunch friend to the British during the last war;
and was well known to those who were in high command, and had
ample recommendations and certificates of his services from them.
Scarce a corner of the British Colonies or United States but he is
acquainted in.STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
439
“The strange adventures of his life are so well known, that I was
told that he was offered 200 1. for a detail of them from a printer in
Albany. I put the question to himself. He only acknowledged 100 1.
from a printer in New York; but he declined to accept of it, as he
thought it too troublesome. Yet I know that he would have given it
to me, had we had time and leisure; as he sat up a whole night,
when we were traveling, to give me what I have already inserted, for
which I consider myself much obliged to him.
“David told me that he never was in Britain since he left it very
young but once, when he landed in England, on his way to Scotland
to see his relations ; and knowing that a sister of his was married
and settled there in a respectable line, he waited on her; but as he
was* in the Indian dress, though excellent of its kind, she refused to
acknowledge him for her brother; and as he did not know but his
friends in Scotland might do the same, he returned to America,
where he means to end his days; and as the country is now fast set-
tling in the neighborhood of the grant of lands he got from the In-
dians, he is in hopes it will yet turn out to good account for him.”
One can but regret that we have no further record of what befel
David Ramsay, no other glimpse of perhaps the most melodramatic
figure in the history of the Niagara region; an honest man, whom
people freely trusted with their money, notwithstanding his little dif-
ficulties with Government, for smuggling furs across the Niagara;
evidently a worthy and faithful fellow, who, though he modestly ac-
knowledged having killed but eight Indians, Capt. Campbell says, on
information received from others, had actually slain eleven, “but,”
adds the captain, “as I give ample faith to his own narrative, and as
he in every other respect seemed to be a man of strict veracity, hon-
esty and integrity, I disregarded what others say, and trust to his
own account.”
A few words should be added regarding Capt. Patrick Campbell
himself, but for whom we should probably have no knowledge of
Ramsay. He was of a famous Highland clan and family, and in the
neighborhood of Fort William and throughout Inverness-shire,
raised the company of hard fighters which he commanded, in the
42d Regiment, the redoubtable Black Watch. He had three sons
who served also in the same regiment, at the Battle of the Nile,
where two of them were killed. A Lieutenant Macdonald of the
same regiment, married Capt. Campbell’s daughter Mary; and their
daughter, Margaret, married William Barclay, a Scotch lawyer, who
moved to America and to Buffalo and for some years was book-
keeper for David Bell, for many years a well-known ship-builder
here. The Barclays lived for a time at Fort Erie. Their daughter,
the great-granddaughter of Capt. Patrick Campbell, is Mrs. W.
Cleveland Allen of this city, and her parents are buried in the Allen
family lot at Forest Lawn. Mrs. Allen possesses numerous interest-440
STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
ing relics of her family, including a fine miniature of her great-
grandfather, in his regimental uniform; the medal awarded to one
of his sons for gallantry in the campaign against Napoleon in Egypt;
and silhouette portraits of her grandmother, Mary Macdonald. Mr.
Allen, it may be added, is a son of the late Hon. Lewis F. Allen, of
this city, and a cousin of ex-President Grover Cleveland.THE STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY
David Ramsay was a native of Scotland, born in the
town of Leven in Fife. He was my guide through the wil-
derness, from Upper Canada through the Genesee country
to the settled parts of the province of New York. His story,
as given me by himself, was nearly in the following words.
It was authenticated and confirmed by numbers of people of
my acquaintance in Canada, New York, and most other
parts of America through which I travelled.
<4I left my native country in the early part of my life,
and entered on board a transport bound for Quebec in the
capacity of ship’s boy, and served the British till the close of
the French war in 1763, when I settled upon the Mohawke
River, in the province of New York; I afterwards engaged
with the Fur North West Company of Montreal, to trade
with the Indians upon the upper lakes of Canada. After
serving them for some time I returned to the Mohawke
country where I resided until a boy, a brother of mine,
named George, arrived from Scotland; and having the
assistance of this lad, I thought of trading with the Indians
on my own account, and for that purpose purchased a large
battoe at Skennecktity, and procured credit to the amount of
150I. York currency’s worth of goods, and proceeded with
these up the Mohawke river to Fort Stanix.* Crossed "the
portage down Wood Creek, to Lake Canowagas, from
thence down the river that empties into Lake Ontario, at
* Stanwix, now Rome, N. Y.
44i442
STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
Oswego; and proceeded up that lake, the river Niagara, to
the Falls of that name. Carried my battoe and goods across
the portage to Lake Erie; from thence to the river Sold
Year, or Kettel Creek,* and proceeded up that river for
sixty miles, where we met tribes of different nations of Indi-
ans encamped for the purpose of hunting, and informed
them of my intention of residing among them during the
winter, and erected a sufficient house of logs which I divided
in the middle by a partition; the one end I used as a kitchen,
or place for dressing our victuals, and in the other I kept my
goods, and placed our bed.
“I continued bartering my goods for the furs till towards
January 1772, when two Ibawaf Indians came down express
from Detroit to Niagara, carrying with them a war belt, and
publishing, as they went along, that it was the intention of
the Ibawas, Otowas, Potervatomies, and other western Indi-
ans, next spring to wage war against the British and Six
Nations. There was an Otowa Indian from Detroit that
hunted close by the place where I lived, and upon the return
of the Ibawa men from Niagara, they remained two or three
days with me. They all visited me frequently, and behaved
to me with the greatest civility. Upon the departure of the
Ibawa men, the Otowa Indian came often to my house and
boasted of the great feats he had performed, particularly of
his having killed three Englishmen like me, and said he
would think nothing of killing me and my brother also. I
told him that if any Indian should offer to trouble me, I
would kill one and hurt another. The Otowa Indian came
frequently to my house for rum, which he as frequently re-
ceived, I always repeating my former threat to him of killing
one and hurting another, should I be molested.
“About the 20th of February some families of Ibawa In-
dians, and one family of the Messessagoe Indians, came and
resided in the neighborhood of my house. The Otawa
Indian formerly mentioned, accompanied by the other Indi-
ans, used to come to my house and demand rum, ammuni-
* Kettle Creek discharges into Lake Erie a short distance west of Long
Point. It is difficult to recognize in Capt. Campbell’s “Sold Year” the old
French name of the stream, “Riviere a la Chaudiere.”
t O jib way.STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
448
tion, clothes, &c., &c., which I did not think prudent to
refuse them as their number then amounted to forty. The
Messessagoe Indian was a poor infirm old man, and had a
family of ten children to provide for, and I having compas-
sion for him gave him snow shoes and other necessaries for
the support of his family, and also used to assist him to
carry home the venison he killed. The whole Indians were
in use to assemble to the house of the Otowa Indian and
send for rum to me. One night the Otowa Indian and his
companion came to my house for rum. I suspecting they
had a design upon my life, searched them and took three
knives from them, and sent them away without giving them
any. A few nights thereafter the Otowa came to me for the
loan of a gun to shoot a Deer he said he observed near the
house; I suspecting him as formerly, immediately got up out
of bed, and pretending to be intoxicated, made a great noise,
at which the Otowa went out of the house, and I followed
him as far as his hut, carrying with me a large knife. I
found there the whole other Indians, and among the rest the
old Messessagoe Indian, who upon perceiving me hung down
his head, and pretended to be asleep. I frequently asked
them what [use] they intended to make of a gun, as there
was no Deer to be seen, but never received a satisfactory
answer; I then returned to my own house, as did all the
Indians to their respective huts. The old Messessagoe
Indian fearing the other Indians meant to kill him, and hav-
ing cause to suspect they would make an attempt upon him
that night, carried with him two Deer skins, his gun, and
ammunition, and placed himself upon the road which led to
his dwelling, so as to intercept them if they should come.
He did not continue long in this situation when he fell
asleep, and the other Indians coming upon him, took his gun
from him, and demanded the cause of his being there. The
Messessagoe, afraid to acknowledge the truth, pretended
that he had dreamed that the Senekee nation of Indians that
night were to kill all the Indians that were hunting, and that
he had placed himself where they found him to intercept
them. Soon afterwards the old Messessagoe, his family and
all the families of the Ibawa Indians, left the place; there444
STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
only remained the Otowa Indian, his companion, a woman,
and two children, the one of whom was nine, and the other
thirteen years of age. And being tired of giving away my
goods and rum for nothing, and being also much exasper-
ated with the many insults I met with, resolved to refuse
them every thing they demanded, and repel force by force,
while I was able, whatever the consequences might be.
“Upon the night of the 15th of February, the Otowa
Indian came to my house, and easily entered the outer apart-
ment, where he alighted a fire with straw, and as I knew
that he could come with no other intention at that time of
night than to kill me, for which cause alone he and the others
staid behind the rest, I stood with my spear ready to receive
him. The Indian sought admittance into the inner apart-
ment, where I slept and kept my goods, which being refused
him, he broke in the door with an axe, and on his entering, I
who was ready waiting for him, struck him with a spear on
the breast, and following my blow from the inner to the
outer apartment, threw him down on the floor, and rammed
him through; on this he called out that he was killed. At
this instant I received a violent blow from behind, which
nearly brought me to the ground, on which I turned about,
and struck that person with the shaft of my spear. By the
light of the moon which shone bright, I saw another Indian
coming to the door with a long knife drawn in his hand. I
sprung out and struck him with my spear in the breast, and
killed him also, I then returned and killed the one who
struck me in the dark. After this, I waited in expectation
that the whole tribe had returned, but after some time, and
seeing none come I understood that it was only the family
that staid behind, who had a design upon me, that I had
then killed. These I scalped according to the Indian custom,
and having dug a grave for them in the snow at the gable
of my house, put them all in together; at the same time re-
peating, that they should never more quarrel with me nor
any other person. The Indian children still remained, and
being from their youth unable to provide for themselves,
would have inevitably perished had not I sent for them.*
* Had not David been humane and generous enough to send his brother for
them to his own house, his conduct and behaviour to the children, clearly evince,
that in killing the Indians he was actuated by motives of self-defence, and not
from a thirst for blood.—Note by Capt. Campbell.STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
445
“I still dreading that the Indians who were formerly
encamped in the neighborhood might return, and being un-
willing that my brother should be hurt, and being also
assured, that if any Indians discovered the children with him,
that they would conclude what really had happened, I there-
fore removed them and my brother to a small valley about a
mile distant from the house where I erected a sort of shade
for them, and carried provisions to them as they required.
From the top of one of the hills that formed the valley, my
brother could easily see my house, and from its smoking, or
otherwise, discover whether or not I was in life; and if I
happened to be killed, I‘gave him directions to proceed with
the children to Detroit, a distance of 150 miles.*
“In about twenty days, the ice in the river broke up, and
I judging it high time for me to leave my present comfort-
less situation, went for my brother and children, and having
put my furs and other goods, consisting of five Christian
packs, chiefly Deer skins aboard of my boat, proceeded with
them for Niagara, it being unsafe for us to go to Detroit as
the war then raged there. We proceeded down the river, as
far as Long Point, and the drift or floating ice having
choaked up the entrance to the Lake, we were forced to go
ashore and encamp at that place.
“Some days after this, being out in the creek with my
boat, I discovered two men in a canoe coming towards me.
On their coming near, I challenged them, and bade them
keep off; but they laughed at me, and still came on, saying
that they came in a peaceable manner, upon which we went
to my Wigwam. I asked where they staid, and if there were
any other Indians in the neighborhood. They answered none
but them, and pointed to a large pine tree, upon a height, nine
or ten miles off, and that there they resided. After giving
them a little rum, they went off, saying they would return
next day to trade with me. The wind blew very hard at
♦ After these attempts on his life, and what ensued in consequence of it, no
man hut David himself would think of staying alone in the place; but it would
seem, that David would have faced all the Indians of America, and devils in
hell, before he would abandon his property, which he could not then carry
away. He therefore slept in the house, and killed venison for his brother, the
children, and himself during the day.—Note by Capt. Campbell.446
STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
south west, which scattered all the ice in the bay, and the day
following I went out in the morning to shoot Ducks. When
I came, a-shore, being wet, I stripped all off excepting my
shirt and breech cloth, and hung them up to dry. After
breakfast my brother and the two children went to gather
juniper berries; I desired my brother to take his gun, and
to allow no Indian to come nigh him, but to stand behind a
tree, and shoot any one that would offer to approach him;
for that there was no dependance to be placed in an Indian.
In his absence, about eleven o'clock, came the two foremen-
tioned Indians, and sate down in the Wigwam with me, (the
Wigwam or encampment, was a few poles set up and covered
with matts of flags, which the Indians in that country make,
and carry about with them in winter). They asked me for
rum, I told them that it belonged to my comrade, and that I
could not give any till he came. I observed two canoes com-
ing along the lake, and asked to whom they belonged, they
said that they were Milechiwack and Renauge's canoes, (the
names of two Indians). I then asked them why they told me
the day before that there were none but them in the neigh-
bourhood ; they answered that the woods were full of them.
The canoes landed; the two men came into the Wigwam,
sat down, and asked for rum, I answered as before. The
two women, as customary, went into the wood, and put up a
fire, cut some wood, and carried up their things to the fire,
and laid their canoes bottom upwards. Then they came into
my Wigwam, and the young chief of one of the tribes, took
my pot, that was boiling for dinner, off the fire, and gave it
to the women to take to their fire and eat. I begged of him
to leave some for the children that were with me against
they came home, but in an angry manner he told me that I
had victuals enough, and might cook more. I then judged
what they would be at, and put on my leggans and moga-
zines, and other clothing, and took the large knife, I had for-
merly taken from the Indians I killed, and put it in my girdle.
They asked me what I meant by that, I told them I always
wore it among Indians. Soon after my brother and the two
children came home, I took them to the boat, and gave them
some biscuit and dried venison, and asked them if theySTORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
447
wished to see what they had seen three weeks before. They
asked me what that was. I answered, 'Blood/ They said,
‘No/ Then I told them not to tell that I had killed their
people. They said they would not. My brother gave the In-
dians some rum, and I returned with the children. The chief
asked whose children they were. I answered, that they were
the children of white people, going to Niagara with me. He
asked who they were again; and I stood up and pulled out
the knife and struck it into one of the poles of the house, and
told them how I had been used, and what I had done, and
asked them if they were angry. They said they were not;
that those I had killed were not Ibawas, but that they were
Pannees,* prisoner slaves, taken from other nations. They
then asked for more rum, which I gave them; then two of
them went over to their own fire, and two of them staid by
me, and in a short time the other two came back, and these
that were with me went over to the fire in the wood, and car-
ried the children with them, by which shifting, it would ap-
pear they were laying the plot they afterwards very nearly
effected. They demanded my arms, and said that I had been
drunk and mad all winter. I told them that I thought myself
always fit to take care of my own arms, and putting myself
in a posture of defence, laid hold of my gun, ammunition, and
hatchet. After killing the first Indians, I cut lead and chewed
above thirty balls, and above three pound of Goose Shot, for
I thought it a pity to shoot an Indian with a smooth ball. I
then desired my brother to carry the things down to the
water side, to be put into the boat; but he being but twelve
months from his father’s house in Scotland, but seventeen
years of age, and unacquainted with the manners of Indians
was dilatory. I went to assist him, and the Indians, under
pretence of taking leave of, and shaking hands with me,
seized upon me, threw me down, and tied me neck and heels.
One of them took up my hatchet, and would have killed me
with it, had he not been prevented by another of them. He
then struck me with his fist upon the face, which hurt me
much, and put an end to my great talking. They then set me
up, pinioned my arms behind me, and caused me go and sit
* Modern form, “Pawnees.”448
STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
down by the fire. One of them watched, and took care of me,
and drank only one dram during the night, it being custom-
ary among Indians, that one of a party shall always refrain
from drinking, to take care of the rest. My brother coming
to look for me, they seized upon him also; and I fearing they
would kill him, called out, 'That he was a boy; that it was
me killed the Otowas, and that they might ask the children
if it was not so/ They only tied him, and placed him upon
the other side of the fire, under the care of another of them
who did not drink any. They used frequently to untie my
brother, and send him and the Indian who had him in charge,
for rum, which they brought in a brass kettle that would con-
tain about three English gallons. The chief and his com-
panion drank freely, and also made me drink some out of a
large wooden spoon that would hold a pint. As I sat by the
fire tied, having only my Indian dress on, I complained much
of cold, my shirt being tore down, and laid open; my leggans
were also tore in the struggle, and my blood ran down my
belly and thighs from the stroke I received from the Indian
on the face, I therefore requested of them to put a pair of my
own blankets about my shoulders to keep me warm; but the
Indian that had the care of me did not approve of this meas-
ure. Renauge’s wife used to pass by me, and raise the blan-
ket upon my shoulders to keep me warm. She also gave me
a drink of water when I was first tied; and if the Indian that
had the care of me happened to be out of the way, she used to
touch me on the back with her knee, and tell me to pray ;■—
that my time was short. She and all the children went to
sleep under the tree where all the guns, hatchets, and other
things stood. Nican, EquonTs wife, kept walking about all
night. They had tied my hands up to my neck, as well as
pinioned my arms behind me, and some of them accused me
of things I knew nothing of. I always appealed to one or
other of themselves, that what they alleged was not true. As
my hands were tied to my neck, it gave me great pain, and I
requested to loose them, saying that while my arms were
pinioned behind, I could make no use of them. Though I
was sure they were to kill me, I did not think much about it,
as I believed it was as good for me to be dead as alive. WhatSTORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.	449
I regretted most was, that I could not be revenged of them.
I then desired my brother in broad Scotch, so as not to be
understood by one of the Indians who could talk a little
English, to bring me one of the clasp knives from the boat,
and drop it by me, in order that I might get the cords cut;
but Nican, Equom’s wife, seeing him go off for the boat,
called out, 'To kill me directly, that my companion had gone
for the arms to the boat.5 On this I called him back, so that
I did not get the knife. The Indian who had charge of me,
told me, that Johnston, meaning Sir William Johnston
[Johnson], superintendent of Indian affairs, would forgive
an Indian for killing a white man, but not me for killing an
Indian. He then drew out the big knife, and turning up the
coals of the fire, asked me how I should like to be roasted
there to-morrow. I answered, 'Very well/ Then they gave
me the spoon half full of rum, of which I drank a little. The
Indian putting the knife to my breast, asked, 'If I wished to
see vermilion?’ (meaning blood); which was saying as
piuch as that he meant to kill me unless I drunk it off, which
I therefore did. He made me drink two spoonfuls more in
a very short space, but it did not affect me. This rum was
one-third water, mixed for trading with. The Indian who
had me in charge and I, entered on a hot argument; upon
which I stood up, and as I would not yield, he seized me,
and threw me down. In the struggle, I grappled him by
the breast, so that he fell upon me; I made a grasp at the
large knife, which he held drawn in his hand, and wounded
him in the head and breast, upon which he ran off, as I did
also. Another Indian pursued me, seized and threw me
down. I called to my brother, who struck the Indian who
was upon me, relieved me, and cut the cords that pinioned
my arms behind me. The Indian was foundered by the
stroke he received, and disabled from running off. I killed
him, returned, and killed the other two, one by one, as they
were coming to his assistance. At this time the women and
children ran away, excepting one boy, who seized upon a
gun to shoot me. I struck and killed him also. What I
drank did not disable me, but rather made me more furious
and alert than I otherwise would have been. My left hand450	STORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
being severely wounded in wresting the knife from the
Indian, my brother bound it up with a rag; and on our way
to the boat, I broke the canoes to pieces, to put it out of
their power to follow me. I looked about (the moon was
just then descending down over the wood), and I saw the
wounded Indian coming as hard as he could in quest of me.
I sculked by the canoe, and just as he was running by, I
sprung up, grappled him, threw him down, and put my
knee upon his breast. He then begged his life; but I, re-
membering what he had told me a short time before, that he
would roast me upon the fire, struck him with the knife,
and killed him upon the spot.
“I proposed to return to carry the few things we had
ashore with us, but my brother opposed it, as I was lame of
the left hand, and could give no assistance. We therefore
made for the boat, which was a piece off the land, and wad-
ing through the water to it, I fell and wet all my clothes;
when I got into the boat, I wraped myself in a Bear Skin.
Then, and not till then did the rum I had drank operate upon
me. I fell asleep, and when I awoke I was all over ice. We
rowed till we got out of sight of land, and then put up sail,
and made for Niagara; but the wind having got up a-head,
drove us back. I then steered for the south shore of Lake
Erie, judging it safest, and that the Indians on that side
would not hear what I had done till the lake would open, and
be free of ice. The wind drove us upon a bank, and the sea
washed over us, and wet every thing in the boat excepting
the guns and ammunition, which I took care to preserve
dry. Next day we got the things ashore, unpacked, to dry
them, but not so much so as not to serve as ballast for the
boat. Here we made a Wigwam, to serve us until such time
as the lake should be totally free of ice, in a place where we
supposed the remotest from such as the Indians frequent,
and were in hopes they would not find us out; and if any of
them came near us we determined to kill them. I however
was here but a few days when two Indians came; and as I
supposed they had not heard of what had happened on the
other side of the lake, I treated them in a friendly manner.
They asked me if I had rum and ammunition; and when ISTORY OF DAVID RAMSAY.
451
answered that I had, they said they would come next day,
bring skins, and trade with me. I told them not to let any
other body know that I was there; and that if any more than
them two were to come, that I would not deal with or allow
them to come near me. They solemnly promised that they
would not, and that they would come alone. However, as I
did not choose to trust them, I got every thing on board, and
kept at some distance from the shore. The two Indians ac-
cordingly came, and requested I would land and trade with
them; but upon observing other Indians sculking in the
wood, I refused to comply. On this the whole party ap-
peared, and threatened to fire at me in the event I did not
trade with them. By this time I was pretty much out of
reach of their shot, and proceeded down the lake, and some
days thereafter reached Fort Erie. I told the commanding
officer of the Indians I had killed; upon which he confined
me, and sent me with a party prisoner to Niagara, where I
was again imprisoned.”