News Outlook
August 19, 2021 7
' OPINIONS
The opinion page does not reflect the views of the KyNewsGroup.
Heaven Is
A Lot Like
Kentucky
By Charles Mattox
“What has happened
say
is the
away)
But cry
There’s ordinary
Somehow to find
And as to make my
To the
to
Excerpted from the of
the song, ‘Ordinary The
song was written Simon Le
Bon, Warren Cuccurullo, Nick
Rhodes and John Taylor, as mem-
bers of the musical group, Duran
Duran. The song was
in 1992 and is about the timeless
emotion of coping with the loss
of ones. Le Bon had
been evasive about the inspiration
for the but revealed its true
source as part of an interview in
2004.
"( was the flag
white and when he
went in (to Station) he
of
at him. He them if
they all
the so he
them.
rendered... I him of
(Iohn) and fle-
to get
Interview with Sarah Girty
Munger, in Flemingsburg,
Munger a daughter of Simon
Girty; the interview is located in
volume 205 page 200 of the Drap
er Manuscripts.
“We
lune 22, 1780
by fiz—
was
the time we
and
we
had the
with two
and
us
at of the
if him
him. . .
It was
The Land
of
Witt pared So
CHILDREN OF THE WIND"
Excerpted from the interview
with Wilson of Woodford
County, and which is contained
in Rev. John Shane’s 1841 manu-
scripts. Neither she, nor Shane
provide Mrs. Wilson’s first name.
The interview is located in The
Draper Manuscripts and later
published in Vol. 16 of the Frlson
Club Historical Journal 1941-42.
“The one and
are at
But
it It
and and
If you are
of you
you too
From Pulitzer
writer Ernest Hemingway, from
chapter 34 of his semi-autobio
graphical novel: “A Farewell to
Arms”.
There were about 450 survi-
vors of the attacks on Ruddle’s
and Martin’s Stations, and they
were herded north in small and
large groups of prisoners: The
150 or so prisoners from Mar-
tin’s Station, taken the day after
Ruddle’s, were traveling under
the protection of Colonel Henry
Bird and the soldiers of the Royal
8th Regiment of His Majesty’s
Royal British Army. The British
could offer little protection for
the Ruddle’s prisoners, and many,
likelZ-year—old Stephen Ruddle
and his six-year-old brother, Abra-
ham, had been separated from
their families, and were carted off
by various groups of the British-
allied Native American warriors.
The stragglers were clubbed
and left where they fell.
Many of those who met such
a fate were the elderly and the
young.
Bird and approximately 100
British soldiers of The Royal 8th
had joined over 800 Native Ameri-
can warriors during the attacks
and Bird could do little to restrain
the warriors in their lust for ven-
geance upon the Kentuckians.
Stephen Ruddle was a very
brave boy and had successfully
evaded detection on several oc-
casions on their deadly march
north when he had carried
sages from his father,
Isaac Ruddle, the commander
of Ruddle’s Station, (located just
south of present-day Cynthiana,
Ky), to other men and families in
the prisoner contingent He could
have likely escaped but chose to
stay with his family.
When a warrior struck his
mother in the head with a toma-
hawk for some imagined slight,
Stephen had intervened and
placed himself between the two.
Though the action could have
gone hornny bad, it was per-
ceived as an act of bravery and he
and his mother were spared.
His mother’s wound deep
and painful, and so he again
snuck into the woods looking for
ginseng roots and other herbs
he knew had medicinal qualities.
When he was caught away from
the group, he could have been
harmed, but the Shawnee war-
rior who found him took another
course of action. He and his war-
rior friends separated Stephen
and his little brother Abraham
fiom their family and the other
prisoners and led them away from
the main group. A third brother,
a mere infant not even a year
old, had been snatched from his
mother's arms when the fort sur-
rendered and the baby jerked
from their mother's arms and
thrown into a bonfire.
Many of the warriors were
fragmenting away from Colonel
Bird’s main force and making
their way back to their home vil-
lages and Stephen and Abraham
Ruddle were with one of these
groups. When the boys’ group
came to a high bluff overlooking
the Scioto River near the Shaw-
nee village of Chalagawtha (Chilli
cothe) most of the group took a
hidden path to the river below,
but several warriors stayed on
the bhlff, high above, with the two
white children.
It was explained to Stephen
that he had acted bravely and
was a strong boy, now they would
find out if his six-year-old brother,
Abraham was brave and strong
too.
Stephen was led to a log, which
jutted out abtve the river and
Abraham was left several feet
away. They wee told the warriors
below would jrdge them as they
made their war to the village be-
low.
A white renegade among them
spoke English to Stephen.
“1 have been where you are
right now,” he said. “Right now,
you and your brother have no
home. You have no family You
have no past and you have no fu-
ture. You are simply Children of
the Wind. You can change that,
here and now. Or you can die.”
Stephen was confused as he was
eased out onto the,,log,,dozens of
feet above the water of the Scioto
River, as the howls and shouts of
excitement echoed up from the
river from the dozens of warriors
who stood watching.
“How do you expect us to get
down there?” he asked the ren-
egade white warrior who was an
obvious leader.
The renegade and other war-
riors standing near the two boys
laughed a deep and genuine
laugh.
Then the renegade pointed to
little Abraham, and the warrior
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American and early Pioneer history of
QW‘S
northeast Kentucky, is now available
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The 148-page book contains numerous
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chapters devoted to the conflict between
Native Americans and Pioneers in the
17703 and 17803 with particular
attention and focus on the events
leading up to and involving the battle of
Lower Blue Licks, August 1782.
Send payment to:
nearest him shoved him over
the edge of the bluff. Abraham
fell several feet, hit the bank,
bounced, fell again, bounced
again, fell again and landed on
the river’s edge. He got to his
feet, winced, bent to his knees
and then straightened slightly, in
defiant posture, without ever
crying out.
The roar from the warriors was
near deafening and all eyes now
turned to Stephen.
Stephen turned in a defensive
posture to those nearest him as
he stepped farther onto the log.
“Oh, don’t worry, we won’t
push you,” his interpreter said.
“You are going to jump volun-
tarily, and it would probably be
a good idea if you made it to the
other side of the river without any
warrior being able to catch you,
once you’re in the water.”
The warrior touched his scalp
ing knife in his beaded waistband
with one hand, and motioned Ste-
phen to step out further onto the
log with his other. But Stephen
noticed the look on the white ren-
egade’s face. It wasn’t laced in an-
ger or hatred like the expressions
of many warriors he‘d seen. Ste
phen was convinced it was a look
of reassurance and hope.
It turned out to be a long way
down, and the river was wide,
but Stephen survived the fall and
made it to the other side of the
river without a warrior coming
close to him
Abraham was on the other
side of the river waiting on him
when he emerged and the two
embraced.
Several of the village elders
had arrived on the scene and ap
peared to take pleasure in the
activity.
When the renegade leader of
the small group of warriors was
asked his assessment of the boys,
the warrior said the youngest,
Abraham, had floated through
the air like a Black Hawk before
sbiking the ground, and the older
boy, Stephen, had swam between
the warriors like a slippery, Big
Fish, after his jump. '
Days later Abraham Ruddle, or
as the Shawnee would call him,
Mkate'kwaawithi, (Black Hawk),
and Stephen Ruddle, or Sinna-
matha, (Big Fish), were formally
adopted into the Shawnee Tribe
and thus they were no longer
numbered among the Children of
the Wind.
Now they were Children of the
Wolf.
They would remain so for 15
more years, and would eventually
become totally assimilated with
the Children of the Wolf, Children
of the Loon, Children of the Deer,
and the Shawnee tribal members
who made up the other 10 clans
among the five major sects of the
Shawnee Nation. We will learn
more about their life and the
people they lived with in future
columns, if the Good Lord is will-
ing, dear reader.
“PUBLIC AUCTION”
Sale Conducted by
Fleming County Real Estate and Auction Service
Principal Broker: Anthony Marshall
Principal Auctioneer — Sales Associate — David W. Johnson
606-782-1706
606-782—4568
Saturday, August 28, 2021
10:00 am.
2.02 Acres of Premium Real Estate
3 Phase Electric, Water, Sewer, Gas
Approximately 7 miles North of Morehead of KY Hwy 32
Signs will be Posted
REAL ESTATE TERMS: 10% down day of sale.
Balance with deed within 30 days after the Auction.
All announcements made day of sale take precedence over advertisements.
OWNERS: Dale Mabry, Sr., Dale Mabry Tonya Gaye Mabry
Not Responsible for Accidents ll!
Pigeon Forge V
Consignment Auction
August21, 2021
NOTICE
NEW
LOCATION
Samuel Adel Girod
Residence
114 Crouch Road,
Owingsville, KY 40360
3% Buyer
Premium
Take l-64 to Exit 121 South 1 1/2 miles to highway 965, then
turn right 2 miles to Blevins Valley Road, then turn left 1/2 mile
to the auction site on Crouch Road.
Taking all types of good quality consignments up until 8:00
AM sale day. Livestock, lots of poultry, new & used tack, tools,
new & used furniture, farm equipment and household items.
Poultry sells with cage.
Breakfast sandwiches and lunch will be available as well as
Amish baked goods.
Charles Mattox
884 Hall Road
Flemingsburg, Kentucky 41041
Free shipping .
Commission rates: 20% up to $300. 15% $301 & up with
$300 cap.
Minimum Commission: $1.00I$25.00. No sale fee may
apply on bigger items. Cash or check day of sale with
proper ID.
Questions: Contact Samuel 606-674-8538 or Reuben 606-
336-6373.
Leave a Message and Call back number.
Lovmg and Learning
Owingsvtlle BaptiSt Church
Daycare
92 COYIGS'treet
Auction committee has the right to turn down any items of little
or no value. Statements made day of sale and take proceeds
over any printed matter.
Sale Conducted By:
LISA ROGERS REALTY
Bobby Rogers
Principal Auctioneer
L.W. Patton -
Auctioneer
Vernon Stamper
Auctioneer
1261 West Highway 80
Owingsville, KY 40360
(606)674-2699
Lisa Rogers
Principal Broker
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