At the same time this skirmish was occurring, Alex ran out of the trees to the stake and cut Martha loose, then ran with her back into the trees to rendezvous with the Longhunter and Jonas.
“Well, the first half of the plan worked perfectly. Let’s see if the second half does, too,” said Alex to the Longhunter and Jonas while he held Martha’s hand.
“It seems like I am always rescuing you out of some sticky situation,” said Alex to Martha, giving her a hug.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” replied Martha, hugging him back.
Alex’s men reached Fort Watauga ahead of the warriors and closed the gates and barred them as the last man ran into the fort. The men scurried up the ladders, up to the elevated walkways, where they could reload their muskets and fire down on the attackers.
It didn’t take long for the Raven and his braves to determine that they were losing too many warriors too quickly and this attack was another disaster. Realizing that they had been tricked, they withdrew from the engagement and ran back toward the now-empty stake.
* * * *
Robert and Hugh
“Robber do ye think it might be getting too dark find a sulfur deposit anytime soon?” asked Hugh.
Robert glanced over at Hugh and kept riding south, following a promising valley several miles west of Fort Watauga. They had just ridden through a pass and into a valley that was bounded by mountain ridges to the east and west. The two men had turned south southwest to follow a small stream that flowed through the valley. Robert pulled his reins up to stop his horse and got down to examine something he saw in the stream. He waded out into the stream and picked up something yellow out of it.
“What ye got there Robber; is it sulfur?” asked Hugh.
“Nae,” answered Robert as he examined what he had pick out of the stream. “It’s gold.”
Hugh immediately jumped down off his horse to examine the gold nugget. He took the nugget out of Robert’s hand and bit down on it with his teeth. It was soft, as he had suspected, and his bite left a small indention in the nugget.
“It is gold alright,” said Hugh. “We’re rich.”
“No were not,” replied Robert.
“Why not?” asked Hugh.
“It’s only one nugget.”
“Yeah, but I bet there’s more around here.”
“Maybe you’re right and maybe not.”
“Weel, let’s have a look-see.”
“Okay, you wade back down this stream looking for more nuggets, and I’m going to explore this side stream that feeds into the creek right here, where the water is a little warmer,” said Robert as he strode off into the brush and up toward the ridge.
After some exploration, Robert found a warm spring in a cleft located a short way up the ridge, where it had pooled into a shallow rocky basin. When Hugh finally gave up his fruitless search for more gold nuggets, he followed the same side stream that Robert had traveled upward. When Hugh arrived at the basin, he found Robert had stripped off all his clothes. He was lying on his back almost asleep in the warm water, relaxing in the mineral springs. Robert opened his eyes just as Hugh walked up to the warm pool.
“Robber, can I get ye something to drink, like wine or Scotch whiskey, lad?” asked the grinning Hugh.
“Did you find any more gold?” Robert asked, changing the subject.
“Nae, I guess we’re not rich.”
“Do you smell anything in this pool?” asked Robert.
“Aye, it smells rich like minerals.”
“That’s the smell of sulfur and some other elements. There must be a natural deposit of sulfur around here somewhere since this spring smells of it. Sulfur springs are said to have healing properties. You might want to get in and join me. It’s too dark for any more exploration today anyway.”
“Aye, I believe I will,” said Hugh stripping off his clothes and wading into the pool to lie down in the water across from Robert.
* * * *
Alex
“Martha, keep running no matter what I do behind you,” shouted Alex toward Martha’s back as they ran through the trees.
Martha nodded and yelled, “Okay”, raising her hand and waving as she ran, to indicate that she had heard and understood. It was too dark for Alex to see her nod and he didn’t hear her yell, but he did see her raise her hand and wave, so he assumed that she had heard him and understood his request. Alex, Martha, the Longhunter, and Jonas were running through the trees in a wide circle around Fort Watauga headed toward the Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River, which was only a short distance from the fort. Jonas led the way, followed by the Longhunter, then Martha. Alex ran at the rear of the group. The order that they were running in had been predetermined as a part of the plan that Alex, Jonas, and the Longhunter had devised before they climbed out of the back of the fort.
When the Cherokees arrived at the empty stake, they knew in an instant what had happened and how they had been tricked. It didn’t take them long to pick up the trail and soon they were running behind Alex and closing the gap quickly. Martha had not had time to tie up her skirts, so she was slowing Alex down quite a bit. There was a widening gap between her and the Longhunter. That was fine with Alex because it was also part of the plan.
When the Cherokees closed the gap and got close enough to Alex, he stopped, turned around and dropped to one knee. He pulled the loaded pistol from his belt, cocked his flintlock, and fired a ball into the chest of the leading pursuer. The Cherokees slowed their charge as Alex stood up, turned around, and ran back toward Martha. It didn’t take him long to catch up with Martha, but the maneuver had served its purpose and given the Longhunter and Jonas time to increase their lead on him and Martha.
Sycamore Shoals is a wide, rocky stretch of river rapids where the Watauga River flows over a shallow bottom. It was used by the early settlers who lived in the area as a convenient place to ford the river. However, recent rains in the upper Watauga watershed had increased the flow of the Watauga to a swifter torrent. In normal times, one could wade across the Watauga at Sycamore Shoals because the water depth there was usually no more the knee high. But the recent rains had raised the water level to entirely cover the rocks, and it was flowing very rapidly. It was not an easy task to wade across with the water with it running so swiftly. It was almost chest deep in some places.
There was normally a birch bark canoe tied up on each bank of the Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals. These two canoes were the property of the entire community and were used to ferry across the river both dry goods and people who did not want to get wet. Jonas and the Longhunter arrived at Sycamore Shoals well ahead of Alex and Martha. They struggled across the river in the high, fast-flowing water and gathered both canoes, positioning them in the shallows near the fort side bank. As a result, the canoes were located where they would be easy to board and paddle away into the downstream river flow.
As Alex approached the Watauga River, where he knew that Jonas and the Longhunter were waiting with the canoes, he repeated his maneuver of stopping, turning around, and dropping to one knee. This time he raised Slayer, cocked his flintlock, and killed the leading Cherokee pursuer dead on the trail. This bought him and Martha a little more precious time as they raced toward the river. As soon as they reached the shallows just ahead of the braves, Martha and Alex boarded one of the canoes, with Alex in the rear paddling position. Jonas and the Longhunter boarded the other canoe, with the Longhunter in the rear paddling position, as they all pushed off into the river. Jonas and the Longhunter took the lead since they could paddle faster than Alex and Martha. They paddled as fast as they could to get themselves out into the middle of the river and headed downstream with the river flow.
The warriors soon arrived at the river and began to run along the bank, paralleling the canoes, while firing arrows at them whenever they found a break in the dense foliage that grew along the river bank. The darkness and the bouncing, moving canoes made it almost impossible to score a hit with a bow and arrow. A
lex watched them as he and Martha paddled. To his amazement, the Raven, who was the young warrior that he and Martha had nursed back to health, raced ahead of the others along the bank. The Raven was very swift, almost as fast as Alex, and soon he had even raced ahead of the canoes.
When the young warrior found a good spot where there was a large gap in the foliage, he turned abruptly toward the river and raced down the bank into the shallows. As soon as he reached a depth of water up to his knees, without pausing, he dived straight out in a desperate flying leap. He was attempting to strike Alex and Martha’s canoe with his hands to overturn it. Alex’s rifle and pistol were still unloaded, since he had recently fired both. He had not had time to reload, so he dropped his paddle into the bottom of the canoe and grasped Slayer like a quarterstaff. Just as the leaping Raven reached for the canoe, Alex swung Slayer in a tight arc so that the barrel caught the Raven on his temple as he was about to strike the canoe. This stopped his forward momentum, and he fell just short of the canoe.
Alex set Slayer back down in the canoe and resumed paddling. He turned and watched the unconscious young warrior float face down in the river behind the canoe. He couldn’t tell if the Raven was alive or dead.
The canoes were soon out of sight of the young brave and the rest of the warriors as Alex and his companions paddled to safety down the river.
“That was a close call,” said Alex to Martha as they paddled downstream in the center of the Watauga River.
“It was, and I am going to have to change one thing, if we keep this up,” said Martha.
“What’s that?” asked Alex.
“I’m going to have to start wearing pants so I can run faster,” said Martha with a smile.
* * * *
Captain Ferguson
“Captain Ferguson, your recommendations about the fortifications at Stony Point were spot on,” said General Clinton.
The captain almost said, “I told you so,” but he caught himself just before he blurted it out and instead said, “I fear that you are correct, General.”
“The rebels have already abandoned Stony Point because they realized that they could not hold those inferior fortifications either. I am going to appoint you Governor and Commandant of both Stony Point and Verplanck’s Point on the opposite bank. I want you to completely rebuild those ramparts and add anything else you believe necessary to make sure that they do not fall into enemy hands again,” said General Clinton.
“I want you to keep the King’s Ferry in service at all costs. We need that ferry to move men and supplies back and forth across the Hudson River. I also want to deny the enemy access to this supply line,” continued the general.
“I will do my best,” replied Captain Ferguson.
“I don’t know how long I will need you at Stony Point, but I will give you as much warning of any changes as I can. General Washington has deployed his army into strong defensive positions and refuses to be drawn out into a general confrontation,” continued the general.
“I understand, sir,” replied the captain.
Captain Ferguson packed his gear and took a few men with him for the forty mile ride from New York to Stony Point. When he arrived at Stony Point, he immediately set about the task of improving the fortifications. All his work was for naught a few months later, when he was ordered to dismantle the works and return to New York.
* * * *
Alex
“Snag, on yer left,” shouted the Longhunter.
Alex lowered his paddle into the stream and steered his canoe to the right following the Longhunter and Jonas as they paddled with the current down the Watauga River.
“Let me take the lead,” shouted Alex as he and Martha paddled past Jonas and the Longhunter when they slowed to navigate around the snag.
After following the river with the current for another quarter mile, Alex paddled for the north bank of the river to a sandy spot on the shore where he could beach his canoe. The Longhunter and Jonas followed close behind. They piled out of the canoes and pulled them up out of the water onto the bank.
“We can’t keep paddling down the river at night with it running this fast. We’re sure to hit something in the dark and that would be a disaster,” said Alex.
“Yer right lad, what do ye think we ought to do?” asked the Longhunter.
“The Watauga flows due west from here for another quarter mile. Then it curves north and bends back east, forming a horseshoe. We are standing on the neck of the horseshoe right now. We can carry the canoes across the neck tonight and set them on the bank of the other side, ready to go as soon as it’s light. Then we can make a camp beside the canoes for what’s left of the night. We’ll take turns at sentry duty on this bank right here so that if anyone comes down the river tonight, the sentry can hightail it back across the neck and help us launch the canoes. That way, we will still have at least a quarter mile head start on anyone following us.
“Tomorrow morning as soon as it’s light, we can launch the canoes and paddle downstream to Fort Patrick Henry,” continued Alex. “We’ll try to round up enough men there to hike back down to Fort Watauga and attack the Cherokees from behind. If we can catch them between us and the troops in Fort Watauga, they might not expect it. We stand a good chance of breaking the siege and running them off.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me. Let’s haul these canoes across the neck,” said the Longhunter.
As soon as they had positioned the canoes on the far bank, they set up camp on that bank for what was left of the night.
“I’ll take the first watch,” said the Longhunter as he left the camp to hike back across the neck to watch on the bank.
No one disagreed with him, and soon Alex, Martha and Jonas fell into an exhausted sleep.
* * * *
Robert and Hugh
“It looks like we found the sulfur deposit that we were looking for. The Pattons will be very happy,” said Hugh.
Robert nodded.
Robert and Hugh had soaked in the sulfur springs all evening and into the night, until their skin was soft and wrinkled. They camped near the hot springs and got up early next morning to explore more of the area around the springs. Their search soon turned up several deposits of sulfur in the area. They collected enough raw sulfur to fill their saddle bags for the trip back to the Pattons’ gunpowder mill.
“I also found something else,” said Robert glancing at Hugh.
“And just what would that be?”
“Come and take a look at this,” said Robert, who led Hugh up above the springs and pulled back some bushes so that Hugh could see what he had found.
As he held back the bushes, Robert pointed to an outcrop in the side of the ridge just above the sulfur springs.
“What is it, Robber?”
“It’s a vein of gold ore that runs right into the ridge under this shelf. That nugget I found in the creek must have broken off of this vein and washed down the ridge into the hot pool. From there it must have washed down into the creek.”
“Then we are rich.”
“Not exactly,” replied Robert. “We would have to come up with a way to mine the ore and then convert it to something we can spend. Besides, we don’t even own this land.”
“Who does own it?”
“I have no idea; probably the Cherokees if I had to guess.”
“What do you think we ought to do?”
“I’m not sure, but for right now, I think that we should cover up this gold vein with rocks to hide it until we can decide what to do about it. Let’s scout down from the hot spring and then down the stream a ways to pick up any more gold nuggets that may have washed down. We need the sulfur more than we need the gold right now. No one but you and I needs to know about the gold. Let’s keep it to ourselves,” said Robert, glancing at Hugh, who nodded in agreement.
Robert and Hugh worked together to carry some large boulders and smaller rocks to stack up by the bushes in front of the gold vein under the shelf. They made it look like it was
a natural rock fall that had come down from higher up on the ridge. They also added some loose foliage and wiped away all the traces of their work. Anyone who ventured close would have difficulty finding it if they didn’t already know it was there. Then they walked down from the hot spring and continued down the creek for about a mile, picking up any gold nuggets that they spied in the creek. When they had finished, they had collected three large nuggets and a pouch full of smaller ones. Robert put the large gold nuggets in the pouch with the small ones and placed it under some of the large rocks that they had piled up at the gold vein in the ridge.
“Robber, how are we going to find this place again?” asked Hugh.
“I’ve been thinking about that, and I think that we should follow this valley and the stream north northeast, staying between the two ridges on the east and west of us. It appears to run fairly straight, with nothing blocking it as far as I can tell. We’re sure to arrive at the south fork of the Holston River or the Watauga River after we travel a few miles. I am fairly sure that this stream must run into one of those rivers. When we get there we will need to mark the intersection of this stream and the river on the river bank somehow. So to come back, all we have to do is to follow the Watauga to the south fork of the Holston, if it is that far, to the place we mark on the bank. Then we ride south southwest between the ridges along this stream and that should lead us right back here,” replied Robert.
They camped for a second night at their newly discovered sulfur spring. Early the next morning, they double-checked their work to make sure everything looked like they had left it. They also took bearings on top of both ridges so that they had a good idea how to identify the area again when they came back. As soon as they were sure they could find the spot again, they packed up their gear and loaded the raw sulfur that they had found on their horses. They mounted up and rode north northeast along the stream, toward the river, keeping as close to the stream as they could. Robert estimated that they should arrive at the south fork of Holston River or the Watauga River in about three hours of riding.
Kings Pinnacle Page 26