Kenneth Chamberlin

Broken Promises, Stolen Land Kenneth Chamberlin

A long line of settlers walked slowly alongside their wagons, snaking through the valley leading south from Fort Dearborn. The late summer day had become uncomfortably hot, while dust swirled about the procession in suffocating clouds. In what seemed like spontaneous combustion, their Native escorts turned as one upon the white settlers. The ensuing slaughter was swift and surgical in its brutality. No one, be they woman or child, was spared the horror that descended upon them. The muffled shouts and war whoops of the attackers, mingled with musket shots, bugle calls and the screams of the dying could be heard by the observers in hiding in the tree-top. The Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Shawnee and Tecumseh tribes beat the near defenseless settlers with no quarters or mercy given. Soldiers of the fort were struck down with arrows and muskets in a devastating crossfire. There seemed little the settlers could do but lay down their weapons, fall to their knees and pray for mercy. They knew that they had brought this disaster upon themselves. Visit my website at: http: //kennethchamberlin.wixsite.com/author