A Woman of Courage on the West Virginia Frontier (13 page)

Once there, Joe was adopted but not before he was forced to run the gauntlet. This was part of almost all the woodland Indian tribes’ adoption ritual, and in this case, the young settler’s gauntlet consisted of Shawnee boys his own age who struck him with sticks and their fists. Young Joe not only made it through the gauntlet, but when he neared its end, he also turned on his tormentors and struck back. The adult Shawnee laughed at this display of courage but also appeared pleased that their new family member was so brave. Joe would remain with the Shawnee for sixteen years before he would be ransomed back to his family at age twenty-three. During that time, he forgot almost all of the English language he had been raised to speak, except for his name. Whenever he was alone throughout those sixteen years, he would whisper, “Joe Cunningham, Joe Cunningham,” to himself repeatedly as his only way to maintain a connection to his former life and family.
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However, a worse tragedy would eventually visit the Cunningham family, arriving on a late summer day in 1785.

T
HE
W
YANDOT
C
OME TO
C
UNNINGHAM
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S
R
UN

In early August 1785, Thomas Cunningham decided to make a final trip to Pittsburgh before the fall harvest and the winter that would soon follow. He packed up his horses with furs he and Edward had trapped, which would be sold for cash or traded for supplies, and said farewell to Phebe and their four children, probably assuring her that he would return in a few weeks time with everything they needed for the coming winter. Knowing that Edward and his thirteen-year-old son, Benjamin, would be able to provide some protection to his family and relying on the militia scouts for warning of any Indian activity, Thomas likely left with as little trepidation as one living on the frontier at that time could have.

As Thomas made his way down the Monongahela, Phebe continued her daily routine, working around the farm, performing seemingly endless household chores and, of course, taking care of her children. The last day of August soon arrived, and it began much the same as all the other summer days that preceded it. The only thing that was remotely noteworthy was the presence of a small bird that flew in the window during the early morning and fluttered about Phebe’s cabin. Given that the cabin doors and windows were usually open during summer days, this was not a particularly strange occurrence. However, based on what would happen later that day, every time a bird flew into her house for the rest her life, Phebe would see it as a bad omen, becoming anxious, frightened and often moved to tears.
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As the morning progressed, Phebe washed her favorite red and white coverlet and then carefully draped it over the fence in front of the cabin to dry. With that task complete, she went inside to cook a large lunch for her children, as Sarah did the same a few yards away in her cabin. The noon meal Phebe prepared that day included a main course of bear meat plus new potatoes and fresh peas from the garden, with applesauce made from apples grown in their own orchard. The meal would be topped off with dessert in the form of a fresh-baked vinegar pie and sweet milk for her children.
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As midday arrived, Phebe set the table, and since Thomas was expected home at any time, she even set a place for him at the table. Then she rounded up her children and sat down to eat with them, not knowing that danger hovered nearby.

That danger came from a raiding party of Wyandot warriors, who were at that moment crouched in the woods, watching and waiting for the right moment to move from their hiding place and attack the farm in what was likely intended as a captive-taking raid. On this occasion, the militia scout system had failed to detect the raiding party’s presence in the area, and the warriors had probably been observing the farm for some time. As a result, they knew that Edward and Benjamin were the only ones capable of making any meaningful resistance and that a total of two women and ten children were the potential prizes as captives. Furthermore, the noon meal offered an excellent opportunity to make their approach, as everyone was inside, focused on eating their meals and conversing, while the cabin doors stood wide open. Their plan seems to have been for one warrior to first enter Phebe’s cabin, where they knew no man was present to resist them. Once inside, the warrior could use his rifle to provide cover for the rest of the attackers, as they tried to get inside Edward and Sarah’s cabin before Edward and his son could reach their rifles and close the front door.

As the Cunningham families ate their lunch, the warriors crept out from the woods and hid behind the coverlet drying on the fence. Then, one of the Wyandot, a tall, heavy man painted for war in red, yellow and black, crossed the yard and crept toward Phebe’s cabin. Inside, Phebe sat at the end of the table closest to the cabin door, chatting with her children and eating her meal. Suddenly, her peripheral vision detected movement, and she turned toward the door to see the shadow of a tomahawk crossing its threshold. Before she could move to close the door or cry out the alarm, the Wyandot quickly entered the cabin, closing the door behind him.
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Often described as a handsome, rugged people, this Barbara Kiwak sculpture,
The Huron
, gives us an idea of what the warriors who came to the Cunningham farm might have looked like.
Courtesy of the artist
.

As Phebe and her children sat frozen in their chairs, the warrior helped himself to their food, eating a potato, all the pie and drinking down much of the milk. He then asked in halting English how many men were in the cabin next door, and Phebe replied by holding up and extending the fingers of both hands to indicate ten.
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He frowned and said, “Augh Sagh,” which Phebe later learned meant ten.
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Since he almost certainly knew exactly how many men were in the other cabin, he likely found her attempt to trick him brave but somewhat foolish. He then turned to the small window and firing port in the cabin wall that faced Edward and Sarah’s cabin and peered across the yard.

At this point, the Wyandot’s plan for a surprise attack on the other cabin went wrong. Edward had seen the warrior enter Phebe’s cabin and immediately closed their cabin door, grabbed his loaded rifle and moved to the window, where he saw the Wyandot peer through the firing port in Phebe’s cabin wall. Realizing that Edward was watching him and was even now taking aim with his rifle, the warrior quickly raised his musket and fired at Edward. Phebe’s brother-in-law saw this just in time to avoid the shot that quickly followed. Bark from the window frame next to Edward’s head was knocked off by the ball and flew up into his face. He quickly shook off the shards and returned fire as the warrior ducked below his window for cover.

As Edward rushed to reload, another of the raiding party jumped from hiding and ran across the yard toward Edward and Sarah’s cabin. Hearing his war cry, Edward raised the now reloaded musket and took aim on his new target. As soon as the warrior saw the weapon pointed in his direction, he turned and tried to get out of range. However, just as he was about to spring over the fence, Edward fired, and the Wyandot fell forward. The ball hit him in the leg, fracturing his thighbone, and he hobbled over the fence, taking shelter behind the coverlet before Edward could reload and fire again.

Meanwhile, the Wyandot who had fired from Phebe’s cabin saw his comrade’s misfortune and, realizing that their plan had failed, apparently decided to make an escape. Up to this moment, Phebe had not attempted to get away as she feared any attempt to do so would be seen and draw the warrior’s anger. Moreover, even if she managed to escape, the other raiders would likely kill her before she could make it to Edward and Sarah’s cabin. Worst of all, however, she knew that it was impossible for her to take the children with her, and she could not simply leave them alone with the warrior. Phebe held the forlorn hope that he would decide to withdraw without molesting any of them. Tragically, that would not be the case.

The warrior grabbed another potato, shoved it in his mouth and then proceeded to set fire to blankets from the nearby beds. Thick smoke began to fill the room and pour out the doors and windows, masking the view from Edward and Sarah’s cabin. Once he was sure he would not be seen escaping, the Wyandot apparently decided he needed to do something to ensure Phebe’s cooperation. Grabbing her two-year old son, Walter, he raised his tomahawk and swiftly brought it down, smashing the little boy’s skull and killing him before his mother’s horrified eyes. As a scream caught in her throat, he jerked Phebe up from her chair, put the infant, Tommy, in her arms and ordered her and the other two children to leave with him via the front door. The Wyandot, who continued to drag Walter’s lifeless body with him, then led her away from the house with the baby in her arms and Henry and Lydia hanging onto her skirts. Despite the smoke, Edward could see Phebe and her family being led away by the warrior. He took aim, but the smoke was too dense to risk a shot that might hit Phebe or one of the children. Instead, Edward did about the only thing he could. He plaintively called out Phebe’s name across the yard, telling her not to lose hope and that a rescue would be coming soon.

Once hidden among the trees, the warrior promptly took Walter’s scalp and tossed his body aside, and the raiding party watched as the flames from Phebe’s cabin jumped to the roof of Edward and Sarah’s home.
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The Wyandots hoped that the flames would drive the family from the house, but soon they could see that Edward and Benjamin had climbed up to the loft, thrown off the loose boards that covered it and were attempting to extinguish the fire. The raiding party began to take shots at them in an attempt to stop them from putting out the fire, but this effort failed. Edward and Benjamin quickly extinguished the blaze and began to return the warriors’ shots. Seeing that this particular target was going to be too hard to take, the raiding party elected to withdraw, taking their wounded comrade and new captives with them. However, before they traveled more than a few yards, the warriors decided to lighten their load.

Although the goal of the raid was most likely to take captives, events had turned against the Wyandot. If their plan had succeeded, they would have eliminated Edward and Benjamin and, with them, any chance of an alarm being raised in the countryside. Then they could have easily retired from the area and made their way home, despite being slowed by the presence of twelve captives. Now, however, they knew it was only a matter of hours before armed militiamen would be dispatched in pursuit, and they had a badly wounded warrior to care for. Given that, military expediency made their captives excess baggage they could ill afford. While Phebe could probably keep up with them as they marched westward and carry little Tommy, four-year-old Henry and three-year-old Lydia were too great a liability. The warriors quickly killed both children with tomahawk blows as Phebe watched in motionless horror, probably expecting to receive the same fate, along with Tommy.

With their wounded comrade carried on a rough litter, the raiding party and their two surviving captives crossed the nearby ridge to Bingamon Creek and then made their way to a smaller stream known today as Little Indian Run. There, they took shelter for the night in a cave formed by a large sandstone rock with a projecting roof, which was located about two miles from the Cunningham farm.
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After nightfall, the raiding party returned to the farm, and seeing that the rest of the Cunningham family had fled, they plundered the cabin before setting it ablaze.

This monument along County Route 8 west of Peora, West Virginia, marks the location of the Cunningham farm. The sandstone rock comes from the cave in which the Wyandot hid with Phebe and her infant son.
Photo by the author
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Edward, Sarah, and their children were actually hiding in the neighboring woods, watching helplessly as their home burned to the ground. In the morning, they made their way to the nearest farm and gave the alarm. As the Wyandots had anticipated, a company of men was quickly raised to go in pursuit of the raiding party. When they arrived at the Cunningham’s farm, they found both houses now in ashes, and before long, they discovered the bodies of Phebe’s three children. After a quick burial, they set off in an attempt to find the Wyandots’ trail. Unfortunately, the raiders had covered their tracks well, and initially, no traces of them were uncovered.