Narrative of the Capture and Providential Escape of Misses Frances and Almira Hall [with] ...The Interesting Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of Philip Brigdon.
[Rare Black Hawk War Imprint]. Narrative of the Capture and Providential Escape of Misses Frances and Almira Hall….[with] The Interesting Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of Philip Brigdon. First edition. 1832. Copyright [and published?] by William P. Edwards, n.p. [St. Louis]. Paper wraps. Octavo (9 x 5 ½ in.), 24 pp. In 1832, settler William Davis built a dam across Indian Creek to power his mill near present-day Earlville and Sheridan, Illinois, which infuriated the local Native Americans as the fish they relied on could no longer swim upstream. Eventually, tensions resulted in the "Indian Creek Massacre," in which approximately 15 settlers were killed and the two Hall sisters were taken into captivity (their correct names were Rachel and Sylvia) by a party of Sauk and Fox warriors (the sisters were subsequently released upon negotiation with the Winnebago). "Replete with tortures, scalpings, murders and barbarities 'too shocking to be presented to the public,' the Hall narrative was published to recruit militia for service in the so-called Black Hawk War to 'to revenge cruelties perpetrated' by the Indians 'on the infant, the mother, and the defenseless.” Appended is the narrative of Philip Brigdon and notice of the attack on the Naper settlement. Ayer 210: "A true captivity." Braislin 886. Brinley 5551. Church 1343. Field 635. Hoover, Adventures & Sufferings 13. Howes H61. The pamphlet has three full-page woodcuts depicting the capture and march of the girls into captivity, the first on the front wrap or cover and the second opposite the title page and the last on the back wrap. Covers soiled and pages are toned and foxed. Marginal tears and edge chips to most pages, not affecting the text; a tape mend to a two inch-tear on the inside of the front cover midway down the page. Uncommon.
Item #93Price: $400.00