A Passion Unbreakable:
The Story of Red Bear and Lying Doe
At the time of Braddock's defeat a child was born. He was named Red Bear and was son of Running Fox, an elder in the Skarureh tribe. He had no mother, for she died while giving birth to him and his father was killed while fighting the Red coats. With no parents to watch over him his Uncle took him in and raised him up to be a fine hunter. At eleven he was already able to kill the great sleeping bears and was soon to go on his right to manhood. He knew a little about this journey, but was strong and ready for this challenge. For one season he stayed out in the wilderness, lonely and determined to reach manhood.
After one season had passed he came back to his village. He was now twelve and was well respected by the young men. Many seasons passed after that and he became a great hunter for the Sakiuma. He had then married a young girl named Lying Doe. She was a beautiful young Native with long dark hair, which was clubbed and wrapped, soft tan skin, and she often wore a hemp shirt and long wrap skirt. For many years they lived together in peace and harmony. In time they had a baby. After seventy days of pregnancy, Lying Doe started to develop many cravings for such things as squash, corn, and beans, but one day she started to yearn for the sweet taste of potatoes. Potatoes at that time were not commonly grown by the Natives, but were grown by many Europeans. The closest area to their home in New York was Kentucky. This land was many miles away from Red Bear's homelands and a journey like that made him shiver with fright and excitement for he had never been to these distant lands, but he loved his wife very much and was willing to go beyond the limits to calm her cravings. As night fell over their home in the great longhouse he thought of what he might need for this journey and tried his best to get as much rest as possible.
At dawn he packed his bear skin pouch with several clusters of jerk meat, parched corn, and pumpkin, as well as a small pot and wooden spoon. Then he took up his quiver of arrows and his bow and quilled neck knife which he hung upon his proud shoulders and set off into the backwoods toward Kentucky. On his way he noticed a robin flying suspiciously ahead. Thinking that it may know the way toward Kentucky he chased it down until he ended up in a small forested area near a brook. This place had many cut down trees and looked as if a large number of men had left the vicinity just a few hours earlier. The robin then fluttered onto the branch of a sugar maple and started to twitch and turn with much excitement. "How, brother, have you seen white devils pass by here?" Red Bear asked. "Yes, they went far north just at dawn. They don't seem like very smart folk, but they got strong armaments, those I must say look pretty vicious. I reckon, it might be smart of ya to stay away from them. Yep!" the robin told him. "Brother, might you know way to Kentucky?" Red bear asked. "Yep, I sure do. Just follow the path of those white folk and you'll come to a small fork. Head left for three days and you should find Kentucky." The robin told him kindly and then flew away.
Red Bear followed the robin's counsel and took the path that the British had left behind. As he walked he started to become quite famished, so he took rest behind a large redwood a mile away from the road. He then took parched corn out of his pouch and started to feast upon the tasty kernels. As he did he heard the rustling of leaves and the snapping of twigs in the distance. He dropped his corn on the hide he had been sitting upon and slowly lifted his knife from its sheath. Then he stealthily snuck over to the place in which he had heard the noises. As he hid himself safely behind a large tree he heard the faint sound of growling. As he pulled his head delicately around the tree he was startled by a large black bear. As it saw his head fly around the tree, he put away his knife and took up his bow and slowly pulled back an arrow. As it came to its feet and walked toward Red Bear's hiding place, he jumped out from behind the tree and shot the arrow into the bear's chest. Then he shot a second arrow, which had missed the bear. Now the bear was to close for him to shoot a third so he took out his knife and thrust it into the bear's heart. With many turns he tore the flesh of the bear and it fell to the earth. He then cut it to his fancy and packed his pouch full of the succulent meat. That night he camped beside the redwood, and cooked a bear stew. That had been one of the greatest feasts he had had in a long while and he savored each piece slowly chewing the very tender meat.
At dawn he awoke to a beautiful sunrise and started back on the path. He ambled along the dusty path until he finally arrived at the split where he turned left and went on his way. For three days he walked along the path, but in his excitement to be halfway finished with his voyage he became lost in the middle of the rainy, dark woods. Not knowing where to go he sat down under a small pine tree, trying his best to stay dry. As he sat, a small coon toddled by soaked, because of his long journey across the land to find a good place to live. As he padded along in the cold, wet rain Red Bear stopped him and asked directions to Kentucky. "How, brother, might you know way to Kentucky?" Red Bear asked politely. "Huh? What ya say stranger, I don't need no trouble from any you human folk now, must be on my way." The raccoon told him as he started to walk away. "Wait, brother, I say, you know which way Kentucky?" Red Bear asked him once more. "Why yes, I bout got hit by one of them bullets up in Kentucky, good thing I knows how to run, or I woulda been a cap for one of them whites. Well, as I said, yeah I knows the way to Kentucky. First you go west through that holler over there. Then after you're on top of that mountain over there, you turn right and follow the road for at least six days and you'll end up in Kentucky, got that?" the coon told him and then ran off in the rain, because in all honesty he was tired of listening to Red Bear's rambling.
As soon as the rain let up Red Bear followed the directions that the raccoon gave him and ended up in another Iroquoian village. This was the land of the Onondaga, a close friend of the Skarureh. Red Bear knew many of the villagers and his father was a good friend of the chief. Red Bear immediately went to see the chief and asked him if he might be able to reside in their town for a little while. The chief agreed to it and he was welcomed into a longhouse along with forty two others. Being crowded he slept on the his hide beside two young boys. As he laid himself down he spoke with the young ones and they became very fond of him. They were both around thirteen and had already made a good reputation for themselves. The next day he agreed to play the ball game (lacrosse) with the two and ended up losing by four points. As the days went on he became more acquainted with the young ones and decided to stay a little longer. He ended up staying for at least a month and before his leave the village prepared a feast for him. As he walked into the woodlands, the next day, the two boys came running to ask of him a question. He then stopped to listen as they asked if they could go along with him. At first he thought it wouldn't be a very good idea, but then they begged and pleaded until he gave in. They followed him all the way through the backwoods and all the way to the lands of Pennsylvania, at least one-thousand miles from home. There they found many dead and injured Delaware lying in the fields. They knew that there must have been some sort of battle there and that the men who had been the victors were not far from here, because of the fresh footprints left over in the sludge. They followed tracks of the men for miles and miles until they came to a field of buffalo. Red Bear again having no clue which way he was going asked the buffalo for directions. "How, brother, might you know way to Kentucky?" asked Red Bear. "Yep, but I ain't tellin' anythin' to you unless you wanna help me out." The buffalo told Red Bear. "Ok, brother, what is challenge?" Red Bear asked. "If you go and get me some fresh water from the lake just east of here and provide me with some fresh grass and not this dead stuff, I might just tell ya the way." The buffalo told them. Red Bear and the boys then walked east to find the lake. As they walked along Red Bear started to daydream of his precious Lying Doe. He missed her so and wished to be with her and the little one. As he thought he forgot about all things around him and stopped walking. When he came to his senses the boys were jumping back and forth away from the claws of an enormous grizzly. They were in no shape to fight such an immense beast.
For many long minutes they jumped back and forward, dodging slash after slash and jabbing their small daggers into the sides of the grizzly. As they were stabbing it it began to wobble back and forth as if ill and then it fell to the ground, where they saw a large arrow lodged in the back of the monster. Red Bear had much accuracy and was an amazing archer, and became tired by just looking at the boys jump and run like that, so he took matters into his own hands and got rid of the animal. The boys then bent to rip the arrow out of its back, and successfully did so. Then the three took the fur of the bear, and used the hide to cover themselves from the cold for the journey home for which they were to soon take. Then they cut up the meat and roasted it upon a small fire, until it was very tender and stuck three pounds of it into one of the boys' pouches. After such they kept east and after a short period of time reached the lake, where they found more trouble. At the bank was an alligator. Red Bear at first asked the creature politely if they could have some of his water, but the answer of course was no and they again engaged in battle. This scuffle was much easier and after the proper stabs the alligator was killed easily, but this time both of the boys were severely bitten. Red Bear unfortunately had no herbs or medicine at hand so in result went out to find some. Thankfully a mile away from the lake was a medicine man. He safely bought a few herbs and took out the pot and small wooden spoon to mix and mash together the ingredients. When he reached the lake he added water and then slowly poured the medicine over each of their wounds. Then he took out two large plants and wrapped each wound up. As they walked back they both became too weak to continue so he carried them for the rest of the way. When they reached the buffalo Red Bear laid down the possessions and once again asked the buffalo for directions to Kentucky. This time the buffalo told them, instead of making them slave around for him. He told them that if they followed the stream just west of there that they would finally come to an enormous potato farm in Kentucky.
As they walked they sweated horribly and almost toppled over onto the ground for they were not used to such hot weather. A few times they stopped and splashed a little water into their faces, but after a while that started to change. As they walked the stream started to get lower and lower until it was finally gone and they ended up in very hot grasslands. Again they were directed in the wrong way, so they decided to instead follow their hearts. As they walked and walked they started to become thirsty. Thankfully Red Bear had a little water, that he had scooped up from the stream and there were still small scattered ponds. As they walked they started to become very nauseous and then the boys fell to the dirt of the earth's floor. Red Bear then provided them with the last little bit of the water he had left over. As they continued on they became hotter and hotter and Red Bear knew that they would never reach Kentucky if this continued on, for it was at least eighty in this weather. Then as he was walking he threw himself to his knees and prayed to his gods, asking for something, anything to keep them going. Then as the boys picked him back up over the mountains they saw a great bird. The children had no clue what it was, but Red Bear knew that it was the legendary thunderbird. As it bent over Red Bear jumped for joy as it began to rain. They hadn't seen any rainfall in a long while, and couldn't help but to bizarrely jump, play, and roll in the cool puddles of water. After such behavior they continued on their journey, walking for many long miles. After three lengthy and exhausting days in these lands of Maryland, they were pleased to finally find cool lands. There they set up camp and stayed. For much of the night he and the two boys talked of hunting, food, and what they were to do when they returned home. As they thought, Red Bear brought up his wife. He talked of her kind smile and a beauty. He also talked of the way he loved to here her laugh and watch her out in the fields, harvesting during fall for the coming winters. He missed her quite dearly and wished he were able to just go back home to her, but not to disappoint her in any way, so the next morning they continued on.
As they walked from western Virginia to Kentucky they began to wonder how the potatoes might taste. Red Bear certainly did not want to bring a rotten potato back to his wife so he made it a promise to check all the potatoes before he picked the perfect one. Then they came upon a high hill. This wasn't too much of a challenge for the Natives, but what was to come would be one of the greatest challenges of their lives. As they trotted down the opposite side of the hill they saw a small plantation. They knew there was to be a great number of potatoes there, but they did not know that they would have to go through an army of white devils to get some. As they walked into the town they started to see many white men, dressed in cotton and linen, carrying a scalpel at their sides, and holding a large musket. This struck Red Bear severely with fright; for at the very moment they had come to realize this, a couple of the men pointed their guns straight at the heads of the natives. As this happened Red Bear and the boys began to run, and in addition the men began also to run or rather chase them. Through the fields and gardens and into the forest they ran, and as they did one of the men shot a large musket ball, which landed straight into the heart of Checkwea, the younger of the two boys. Red Bear could not take such filth being done to his own kind and thus he shot an arrow into each of the men's hearts, killing them right away. He would not stand for such evilness and immediately ran into the town and ran at a large number of the men with his great dagger. Two of them he killed and the other four became injured by the remaining boy. After such wrong doing he ran to the nearest potato field and took their ripest potatoes, and then after burned down six of the town's smallest buildings.
As he left the town he spit upon the soil and took up the now dead boy. When he reached the lands of Kentucky, he properly had a burial for the young one in his hometown. There was much bloodshed on the day that he took up the great potatoes from their roots, but he was a brave man of honor and respect and had no intention of letting his wife down. As the villagers and he mourned for the lost boy, Red Bear bid them fare well and two days later reached his home in New York. As he walked slowly into his town, dirty and bloody from his very long journey he met up with the Sakiuma, who told him much of all the things that had happened while he was away and sadly informed him of his father's death just two days ago. As Red Bear heard this news he fell to the ground and shed tear after tear for his now deceased father. As he yelled and mourned at his hands and knees he heard the laugh of a babe. Then he looked up to see what it was and smile came upon his wet face. Lying Doe had bore a baby boy that she named Clawing Bear. Though sad, Red Bear was filled with joy for he was once again reunited with his wife and had just met the newest addition to the family. As the years went by Clawing Bear grew to be strong young man and became one of the greatest lacrosse players of that time. Each day at dusk Lying Doe would sit outside in the warmth of her knew grizzly coat and watch Red Bear and Clawing Bear engage in long games of lacrosse. They knew life was short, but all in all they lived their lives for the moment and never had any problems ever again.