The east line of Hamilton County is crossed by White River near the
town of Perkinsville, and the river runs west on the north side of
Strawtown and continues to flow to the west for some distance after
passing Strawtown, then its course is a little west of south to the south line of Hamilton County,
passing into Marion County at the north line of what was once known as
the Stipp farm.
The first settlers in this county found numerous small prairies on
either side of White River. They also found a few old Indian fields not
far from the river. Prior to the year 1822 these places were fenced in,
improved and cultivated by the pioneers and others. Cabins were built
near by and when the land came into the market this land was the first
land entered, and if the pioneers were not in a position to enter them,
others more fortunate did so.
Up to this time no organized effort had been made to attack the forest,
but the time was at hand for this attack to be made. So, soon after the
land came into market the pioneers who had failed to enter the lands
upon which they had at first settled, and others who came in for
permanent settlement, entered lands farther from the river, covered
with a heavy growth of timber. A site for the cabin was selected and
the cabin built. These cabins were built the same as the cabins
heretofore described. Then the work of conquering the forest began.
This was done by selecting the portion or part of the land to be
afterwards cultivated. The timber upon such portion of the land as was
intended to be cleared, except so much as it was proper to reserve as
rail timber or building timber, was deadened or girdled. The settlers
as a rule had no money to
spend upon improvements, so that the work in building houses and
stables was done by the settler and his family. The heavy work, such as
erecting buildings and rolling logs, was done by the pioneers joining
forces and helping each other. It was frequently the case that the
pioneers in this exchange of work would be required to travel from
three to four miles from home. After the timbers that had been deadened
began to die and decay, the pioneer and his sons cut this timber
smooth. Then fires were built upon the bodies of the fallen trees about
eight feet apart. These fires were kept up until the logs were burned
through, rolling lengths. Then the work of rolling the logs into heaps
began. This was a heavy job. The pioneers were known to put in from ten
to thirty days each in this kind of work in one season. After the logs
had been rolled into heaps the business of picking the brush and trash
left on the ground began. This was, as a rule, a tedious and laborious
job. Such work frequently extended until late into the night, and it
was not uncommon or unusual to see the pioneers' wives assisting their
husbands in this work. When we reflect that these pioneer cabins were
built upon forty, eighty or one hundred and sixty acres of heavily
timbered land, with not a stick amiss, except what had been taken for
the buildings, it would seem to be a hopeless task to convert it into
farming lands. Yet by perseverance and patience in time it was
done. These early settlers also had to contend with the wild animals found in the
forests. Hears, wolves and panthers were plenty and were a
constant menace to the fowls and young stock, and even small
children were liable to attacks from some of them. Hundreds of acts of
heroism could be recorded in behalf of the pioneer men, women, boys and
girls in repelling the attacks of these wild beasts, some of which will
be noticed in this work as they occurred.
Hunting
In the early days of which I am writing there was plenty of hard work
for all to do. There was, however, but little immediate reward, and
there was but little money in the country to be had. Beeswax, ginseng,
deer hams, deer and coon skins being the only articles of trade. The
children of the pioneers large enough to go from home were found in the
woods with their "sang hoes," looking into every corner for the plant
at the proper season in the year. The ginseng was carried home, washed
clean and dried. It was then ready for market. The ginseng root was
then, and is now, quite valuable," but we did not then know its full
value. A very valuable medicine is now manufactured from it.
Bees were very plentiful in the woods in those early days. Many of them
had not been disturbed in the trees where they had made their home for
years, and when found they were very rich. The honey was taken in the
comb. The honey was pressed out and the comb made into wax. This was
quite an industry. Bees were sometimes found by means of bear scratches
made by the bears in climbing the trees in search of honey. The most
usual way was to put out bait, and when the bees came to the bait their
course, when they left, was taken and an experienced bee hunter had but
little difficulty in finding their tree.
The raccoon was taken as a rule at the proper season (that is, when the
fur was good) by means of a pole trap. These traps were made by
securing two poles from twelve to fifteen feet long and trimmed to near
the top. A log was found leading into a pond where frogs were usually
found and the poles were then laid across the top of the log, one on
top of the other. Two stakes were then driven into the ground near the
log and near the poles. The stakes were then tied together at the top
so as to prevent the top pole from slipping from its position. A
sufficient weight was placed upon the bushy tops of the poles to keep
them from turning. Then a set of triggers were prepared and a string
tied to one of the stakes. The other end of the string was attached to
the trigger holding up the top pole. Then a weight was placed on the
top pole sufficient to hold a coon if one should be caught. The string
attached to the trigger, when the trap was set, would cover the entire
log. So the 'coon, when undertaking to get to the frogs in the pond by
using the log, would be compelled to cross over this string, and in so
doing the trap would be thrown and the 'coon would be caught between
the poles and thus fall into the hands of the trapper.
The process of capturing the deer was much more laborious and
difficult. In the pioneer days the woods were full of deer. They had
their haunts, their feeding ground and their trails. They usually
passed from point to point in large droves and when pursued ran in a
circle, coming back to the same point. The hunter had more than one
mode of taking or capturing the deer. One mode was by fire hunting on
water at night; one method was by salt lick; still another was by the
use of trained ponies, and another by running them down with men and
dogs.
My father had a pony named Dick trained to assist in taking the deer. A
bell was buckled or fastened around Dick's neck before starting for the
woods. The bowl of this bell was stuffed with dry grass to keep the
bell from rattling until the proper time came. My father would then
mount the pony, with gun, shot pouch, powder horn, tomahawk and
.hunting knife. Then they would pass into the woods and my father,
knowing the haunts of the deer, would ride directly toward them
until he would come upon them. He would then dismount, pull
the grass from the bowl of the bell, and Dick, as he had been trained
to do, would commence shaking his head and thereby ring the bell. The
deer on hearing the bell would invariably stop and stare at the pony,
and whilst this was going on my father was seeking a point from which
he could make a sure shot. When this was found he would shoot. If his
shot proved fatal the dead deer would be hung upon a limb of a sapling
and the chase after the drove would be continued. When the deer were
overtaken or headed off the pony was there to ring the bell, and thus
enable the hunter to get another shot. This process was continued
during the day and it frequently happened that at the end of the day's
work the hunter would have as many as five deer hanging up to be
brought home the next day.
The deer lick process was as follows: The hunter deposited salt in a
suitable spot where the deer would be sure to find it. The hunter
continued this deposit of salt until the deer became accustomed to
visiting the spot, which they usually did after night. Then the hunter
would build a scaffold and platform in a tree near by, so that when he
wished to "stalk" the deer, as it was called, he would build a fire so
as to put the lick between the fire and the platform in the near by
tree. Then the hunter would seat himself on the platform in the tree
and await the coming of the deer. When the deer came to the
lick it would be directly in line with the fire, so
the hunter would be able to shoot with as much accuracy as though it
had been daylight, and he usually brought down his game. Unlike the
panther, the deer was not afraid of the fire, and was not disturbed by
it.
The fire hunt was as follows: The hunter secured a large sized canoe
made from a tree, with solid front and rear. In the front a large hole
was bored and a stout upright about two feet long inserted, upon which
a frame or network of iron ribs was fastened and upon this frame a
bright fire was kept burning during the hunt. Thus prepared, and with
plenty of fuel in the canoe, a good pole and paddle, a trusty rifle and
two trained dogs, the hunter was ready for a start. Usually the canoe
was paddled or poled up the stream as far as the hunter wished to go,
then the dogs were sent into the woods and the canoe was turned so that
the light would be in advance and the canoe was then allowed to drift
with the current. The business of the dogs was to scare up the deer.
The deer when scared up in the night almost invariably made for the
river, there to be shot down by the hunter. The hunter was very quiet
after his canoe was turned, listening intently for the barking of the
dogs. Finally he would hear the welcome sound and would prepare himself
for the onset. When the deer drew near enough to the river to see the
light it would almost always proceed directly toward it, and this was
the hunter's opportunity. These hunts occurred in the fall of the year.
Deer were sometimes found in the river at night eating moss. As a rule
this kind of hunting was a success.
The next and last usual way of hunting deer was as follows: The hunter,
with one or two trained dogs, made his way into the forest in the
direction of the haunts of the deer. When a deer or drove of deer was
found, the first opportunity was taken to shoot. When a gun was fired
the dogs, although excited and eager for the chase, remained at the
heels of the hunter. If the shot was a success the deer was hung up as
heretofore stated. If the shot was only a partial success and the deer
only wounded, then the dogs were told to go, and the hunter followed
the dogs. It was the business of the dogs to overtake the wounded deer
and hold it at bay until the hunter could overtake them, when a second
shot was fired.
In the pioneer days success in deer hunting was important for many
reasons. Before hog culture became a success the meat was necessary to
supply the table. The hams were hung in the rude smoke-house, after
being salted, and then smoked just as our hams are smoked now.
Sometimes these hams were sold to tavern keepers for a good price. The
skins were used and utilized in many ways. Moccasins, leather breeches,
vests and hunting shirts were made from them, as well as mats of
different kinds. Properly dressed and
stretched, they were always ready sale to the traders. I have seen in
early spring, on many occasions, the smoke-houses of the pioneers
filled with hams. Coon skins, as a rule, were dressed, stretched and
properly cured and then sold to the traders. Caps for men and boys were
sometimes made from 'coon skins. It was said in those days that 'coon
and deer skins were a legal tender for all debts. The mink and muskrat
came in for their share, but the muskrat was not so valuable as the
mink. Mink were taken in steel traps and what was called dead falls.
These traps were baited with some kind of fresh meat, birds being the
best.
The rule governing the ownership of wild hogs was this: The pioneer,
fortunate enough to own hogs, marked his hogs and turned them into the
woods. It was not safe for any one who purposely killed a hog that did
not bear his mark without the consent of the owner. A man by the name
of Smith, in this early day, claimed to be the owner of hogs running at
large in the woods. A good snow had fallen in the winter and Smith
approached a man by the name of Brook, who was a good hunter, and
proposed hiring him to hunt and kill his (Smith's) hogs. A price was
agreed upon, but Brooks had one provision in the contract, which was
that Smith was to give Brooks his mark. The preliminaries being
arranged, these parties made their way into the timber in search of
hogs. They had passed two or three droves when they came to
one that Smith claimed was his. Brooks made an earnest effort to
find Smith's mark, but failed to find it, and refused to shoot. So they
passed on. They came across several droves during the day, but as Brook
could not discover the proper mark, he refused to shoot, and at about
dark they ran across another drove with the same result. Smith, by this
time, was thoroughly out of humor, and with an oath told Brook if he
was going to be so particular as all that they would get no hogs. Brook
then said to Smith: "I don't believe you have any hogs in the woods,
and you will pay me now for my day's work or take a thrashing." The
money for the day's work was paid over and Brook refused to hunt for
Smith thereafter.
As a rule the pioneers were honest. Their smokehouses were left
unlocked, and if a bee hunter found a bee tree and cut his initials on
the tree it was, as a rule, safe. If a coon hunter treed a 'coon in the
night time and would take the precaution of tying his hunting shirt, a
handkerchief or any other token around it and leave his dogs at the
foot of the tree, he was almost certain to find the tree and 'coon
undisturbed in the morning. If a hunter killed a deer and hung it up in
the woods he would find it there when he went after it. In a few
instances, of course, these rules were violated, but if the violator
were found out it was not safe for him to remain in the community.
Sometimes a sound thrashing was considered the proper punishment for
the offender
