[Illustration:  HALF A DOZEN INDIANS BOLTED IN]

One day I saw a big Indian shake her by the shoulder because she wouldn’t give him bread.  She was ironing at the time, and threatened him with a hot flat iron till he hurried out.  Another came in one warm summer afternoon, shut the door behind him, and leaned against it, glowering at her.  For once she was thoroughly frightened.  He had with him a tomahawk, having a hollow handle and head, that could be used as a pipe.  However, her wits did not desert her.  Seeing the cat sleeping peacefully in the corner, she cried, “How did that cat get in here!” and catching up the broom she chased pussy around till she reached the door, when seizing the heavy iron latch she pulled it wide open, sending Mr. Indian into the middle of the room; she then pushed the door back against the wall and set a chair against it.  The Indian stood still for a minute, then uttered a grunt and took himself off, probably thinking she was too dangerous a person for him to attempt to bully.

The Indians used to offer for sale venison, fish, and maple sugar, but the line was always drawn on the latter, for it was commonly reported that they strained the sap through their blankets.  And you should have seen their blankets!  About 1846 a company of civilized Oneidas, some of whom my father had known in the East, camped near by and manufactured a large number of handsome and serviceable baskets.  From wild berries they would make dyes that never faded, and print them on the baskets with stamps cut from potatoes.  Some of their designs were quite artistic.  A small basket and a rattle which they gave my year-old sister showed their good will.

I soon learned to have no fear of the tribesmen, although sometimes a fleet of fifty canoes would be in sight at once, passing down the river to Koshkonong; but the first Germans who came to our parts nearly scared the life out of me.  Their heavy beards, long coats, broad-visored caps, and arm-long pipes, made me certain that nothing less than a fat boy of five would satisfy their appetites; and whenever they appeared I would hunt my mother.  They had bought a considerable tract of land about five miles from our place, and always wanted to know of us the road thither.  The result was just such a “jabber match” as could be expected where neither side knew the other’s tongue; but by pointing and motioning my mother was always able to direct them.  Sometimes they wished to come in and make tea or coffee on our stove, and eat the luncheon of bread and meat that they had brought across the water.  They would then always urge their food upon me, so I came to like their black bread very much and soon revised my first estimate of their character.  All those people cut fine farms out of the heavy timber and died rich.

The first settlers were mostly Americans, from New York and New England; but before leaving the old farm we used to hear of English, Irish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Welsh settlements.  The latter people enveloped and overflowed our own particular community and came to form a good portion of the population.