 |
Agiochook: Deadly Prophesy Appalachia, December 2001 As the rangers fled, one of the St. Francis elders issued a prophesy: "The Great Spirit will scatter darkness upon the path of the pale-faces" (Spaulding, 34). A group of the survivors pursued the rangers south into the surrounding mountains, where the rangers were separated into small groups during the pursuit through the dense forest. One group of nine rangers attempted to find their way back to the White Mountains but became hopelessly lost. They happened upon an Algonquian who offered to guide them, but they didn't realize that he was one of the St. Francis tribe and determined to fulfill the elder's prophesy. The guide led the rangers along the Connecticut River and then east along a stream to the northern passageway to the White Mountains. At one point, he stopped and would go no further, professing fear of the Great Spirit. He handed a rough map made of birch bark to the ranger who had been carrying the plunder from the St. Francis church. As the guide handed the map to the ranger, he appeared to slip accidentally and scratched the back of the ranger's hand with it. The guide departed. A few minutes later, the ranger noticed that his scratched hand was swelling, and soon his entire body was shaking with pain. The ranger realized that the map had been poisoned, probably with the venom of a rattlesnake. Panicking, the poisoned ranger ran to the top of a nearby cliff and flung himself to his death. The men, desperate to escape the fate of the prophesy, buried the plunder along with their companion. Even then the prophesy was not completely fulfilled. The remaining rangers lost their way and wandered for days through the wilderness, victims of hunger and the bitter cold of the rapidly oncoming winter. One by one, they fell to the ground and could go no further. Finally, only one ranger was left alive. Eventually he made his way to a settlement, carrying as emblems of his deadly journey the six knives of his compatriots (Spaulding, 32-37). In this tale, revenge is the culmination of human cleverness and natural forces; the very severity and remoteness of the wilderness assure that the revenge is complete.
|
|||
 |
