Woman on the American Frontier | Page 2

that we are the lawful
inheritors of their work, and as Americans are partakers in their glory.
In the preparation of this work particular pains have been taken to
avoid what was trite and hackneyed, and at the same time preserve
historic truth and accuracy. Use has been made to a limited extent of
the ancient border books, selecting the most note-worthy incidents
which never grow old because they illustrate a heroism, that like
"renown and grace cannot die." Thanks are due to Mrs. Ellet, from

whose interesting book entitled "Women of the Revolution," a few
passages have been culled. The stories of Mrs. Van Alstine, of Mrs.
Slocum, Mrs. McCalla, and Dicey Langston, and of Deborah Samson,
are condensed from her accounts of those heroines.
A large portion of the work is, however, composed of incidents which
will be new to the reader. The eye-witnesses of scenes which have been
lately enacted upon the border have furnished the writer with materials
for many of the most thrilling stories of frontier life, and which it has
been his aim to spread before the reader in this work.

ILLUSTRATIONS.
A VIRGINIA MATRON ENCOURAGING THE PATRIOTISM OF
HER SONS AT THE DEATH-BED OF THEIR FATHER,
LOST IN A SNOW STORM,
THE HUNTRESS OF THE LAKES SURPRISED BY INDIANS,
A HEROIC EXPLOIT IN SUPPLYING WITH POWDER A
BLOCK-HOUSE BESIEGED BY INDIANS,
DARING EXPLOIT OF MISS VAN ALSTINE,
FOOD AND CLOTHING SUPPLIED TO THE REVOLUTIONARY
ARMY BY PATRIOTIC WOMEN,
PERILOUS CROSSING OF THE ALLEGHANY RIVER,
WAGON TRAIN ON THE PRAIRIE,
STRATAGEM OF MRS. DAVIESS IN CAPTURING A KENTUCKY
ROBBER,
TWO KENTUCKY GIRLS CAPTURED BY INDIANS,
PARTED FOR EVER,
AN EQUESTRIAN FEAT,
TREED BY A BEAR,
RESCUING A HUSBAND FROM WOLVES,
DEFEAT OF GUERILLAS,
MASTERING BANDITS,

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

WOMAN AS A PIONEER, America's Unnamed Heroines. Maids and
Matrons of the "Mayflower." Woman's Work in Early Days.
Devotion and Self-sacrifice. Strange Story of Mrs. Hendee. Face to
Face with the Indians. A Mother's Love Triumphant Woman among the
Savages. The Massacre of Wyoming. Sufferings of a Forsaken
Household. The Patriot Matron and her Children. The Acmé of
Heroism. Adventures of an English Traveler. Woman in the Rocky
Mountains. A Story of a Lonely Life. Nocturnal Visitors and their
Reception. Life in the Far West. Mrs. Manning's Home in Montana,
Female Emigrants on the Plains. A True Heroine.

CHAPTER II.
WOMAN'S WORK IN FLOODS AND STORMS, The Frontier two
Centuries ago. The Pioneer Army. The Pilgrim "Mothers." Story of
Margaret Winthrop. Danger in the Wilderness. A Reckless Husband
and a Watchful Wife. Lost in a Snow-storm. The Beacon-fire at
Midnight. Saved by a Woman. Mrs. Noble's Terrible Story. Alone with
Famine and Death. A Legend of the Connecticut. What befel the Nash
Family. Three Heroic Women. In Flood and Storm. A Tale of the
Prairies. A Western Settler and her Fate. Battling with an Unseen
Enemy. Emerging from the Valley of the Shadow. Heartbroken and
Alone.

CHAPTER III.
EARLY PIONEERS.--WOMAN'S ADVENTURES AND HEROISM,
In the Maine Wilderness. Voyaging up the Kennebec. The Huntress of
the Lakes. Extraordinary Story of Mrs. Trevor. Two Hundred Miles
from Civilization. Sleeping in a Birch-bark Canoe. A Fight with Five
Savages. A Victorious Heroine. The Trail of a Lost Husband. Only just
in Time. A Narrow Escape, Voyaging in an Ice-boat. Snow-bound in a
Cave. Fighting for Food. Grappling with a Forest Monster. Mrs. Storey,

the Forester. Alida Johnson's Thrilling Narrative. Caught in a
Death-trap. A Desperate Measure and its Result. The Connecticut
Settlers. Their Courage and Heroism.

CHAPTER IV.
ON THE INDIAN TRAIL A Block-house Attacked. Wild Pictures of
Indian Warfare. Exploits of Mrs. Howe. A Pioneer Woman's Record.
Holding the Fort alone. Treacherous "Lo." Witnessing a Husband's
Tortures. The Beautiful Victim. Forced to Carry a Mother's Scalp. The
Fate of the Glendennings. A Feast and a Massacre. Led into Captivity.
Elizabeth Lane's Adventures. In Ambush. Siege of Bryant's Station.
Outwitting the Savages. Mrs. Porter's Combat with the Indians. Ghastly
Trophies of her Prowess. "Long Knife Squaw." Smoking out Redskins.
The Widows of Innis Station. A Daring Achievement. The Amazon of
the Stockade.

CHAPTER V.
CAPTIVE SCOUTS--HEROINES OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY,
The Poetry of Border Life. Mrs. Mack in her Forest Fort. The Ambush
in the Cornfield. The Night-watch at the Port-hole. A Shot in the Dark.
The Hiding Place of her Little Ones. A Sad Discovery. An Avenger on
the Track. Massy Herbeson's Strange Story. On the Trail. Miss
Washburn and the Scouts. An Extraordinary Rencontre. A Wild
Fight with the Savages. Mysterious Aid. Passing through an Indian
Village. Hairbreadth Escapes. Courageous Conduct of Mrs. Van
Alstine. Settlements on the Mohawk. Circumventing a Robber Band.
How she Saved him. The Pioneer Woman at Home.

CHAPTER VI.

PATRIOT WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION Times that Tried Men's