During the next two months I was called upon to witness heart-rending
scenes; first the brutal treatment of the dead bodies of our
husbands', as well as cruelty to ourselves; for even under Pritchard's
care we were not safe and did not know what minute would be our last.
Not content with murdering them in cold blood, they must needs perform
diabolical deeds which causes me to shudder when I think of it. They
danced around them with demoniac glee, kicking and pulling them in
every direction, and we were the unwilling witnesses of such
behaviour. And when we had them buried under the church they burned it
down, with dancing and yelling, accompanied with hysterical laughter.
The sight was sickening to me and I was glad they moved in the
direction of Fort Pitt, leaving that place with all its associations
of suffering and death. But when I heard that they intended to take
the Fort, and destroy more life, I felt that I would rather remain
where we were than witness any more scenes of so sad a nature. I have
no happy tale to tell for this period was filled with woe and pain.
--Two months in the camp of Big Bear
by Theresa Gowanlock and Theresa Delaney (Primary source documents / Timeline)
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