A BUTLER RANGER By ELMO SCOTT WATSON OR a century and a half he has been written down In presumably accurate histories as the “arch-flend of the Revolution.” With Simon Girty, “the notorious renegade,” he has shared the unenviable reputa- tion of being (the words are those of a well-known historian) “mis- creants who present no redeeming quality to plead for excuse.” Still another historian characterizes him as “a man of enterprising bold- hess, whose heart was a compound of ferocious hate, Insatiable cruelty and unappeasable re- venge."” But the novelists more than the historians hare made his name a word of loathing almost as wuch as the name of Benedict Arnold. One of ‘hem writes of “Cherry Valley, where, through tbe wintry dawn, young Walter Butler damned kis soul for all eternity while men, women and children, old and young, died horribly amid the Qripping knives and bayonets of his painted fiends, or fell under the butchering hatchets of his Senecas.” So, after reading for so long that Walter But- ler was a villain of the deepeSt dye, it is all the more amazing to pick up a book and read that “Obviously he was no scoundrel, and certainly no murderer of women and children as all the hooks have said. He Is the typleal, proud, rest less, unhappy, luckless figure of romance, who throws away his life for a lost cause” —obvl ously the stuff of which heroes afe made. The book is “War Out of Niagara—Walter Butler and the Tory Rangers,” published recently by the Columbia University Press for the New York State Historical association, and the man who has painted a new portrait of the “infamous Walter Butler” is Howard Swiggett, author of a care fully-documented blography, based upon source material hitherto untouched by the historians Why has the name of Walter Butler for so long been tarnished with ill fame? There are two reasons, closely associated. Even before the outbreak of the Revolution there was en- mity between some of the “half-feudal aristoe racy” of the Mohawk valley, notably the John- sons and the Butlers, and the Dutch and Ger man peasantry of that region. So when the conflict came and Walter Butler cast his fortunes with the logical cause for him to espouse, It iz small wonder that these commoners should refuse to eredit him with be- ing actuated by as much sincerity and high prin. ciple as they were in making their choice. His father, John Butler, was an assistant to the great Sir William Johason, the King's superin- tendent of Indian affairs in the Northern de. partment and a lieutenant-colonel in a Colonial militia regiment. Brought up In the belief that the greatest chance for honorable advancement Jay in “the King's service,” what more natural than that this young aristocrat should choose the side of His Majesty rather than that of the “rebels”? It must be remembered that the Revolution was more than a conflict between a stubborn foreign king and his rebellious subjects It was also a civil war In which one group of native Americans, called Patriots, was pitted against another group of native Americans, called Torles or Loyalists. There is no war more bitter than civil war and no crime too black for one side to charge against the other, when families are divided among themselves and friend turns against friend. So the legends of Tory infamy began growing early among the Patriots and the first histori ans who gathered their material among the sur vivors of the Revolution and who do not seem to have been animated by any tooscrupulous re gard for accuracy, accepted most of these leg. ends as facts. Then, too, they seem to have had the quite-understandable desire (a desire still in evidence among some Americans of today, even though it is not so understandable) to try to make the Patriots and their cause seem all the whiter and purer by painting the Tories and their cause all the blacker and more Infamous, Unfortunately for Walter Butler they made him the scapegoat for most of their Tory ha- treds., No doubt the particular reason for this was that the Butlers, father and son, were in- strumental In winning the Iroquois Indians to the British side and became leaders of the par. tisan forces with which these Indians co-oper- ated. So they were bitterly hated because they “enlisted red savages as their allies, loosed them on the frontiers and encouraged their atrocities of men, women and children.” But the indignation of the early historians against the use of the Indians by the British and the Tories would be more ¢onvincing if they did not overlook or ignore these facts: that these same Patriots, as English colonists during the wars with the French, had been glad enough to have the Iroquols as allies against the French, that early in the Revolution they had tried to win the warriors of the Long House to THEIR side and that during the Revolution some of the nental commanders, as well a« the Brit ish, use Indiang as alles, - YT, V. JOSEPH BRANT a of of : on THE CASTLE AT FORT NIAGARA Since Walter Butler was the apotheosis of the worst type of enemy to the cause of Liberty, it would seem natural that our Information about him should be fairly complete. And yet, as the author of “War Out of Niagara” says: “There Is an absorbing mystery about his life and char acter. The date of his birth is unknown. . There is no physical description of him except in fiction. Letters about him In catalogues, even of the Schuyler Papers, the Gates Papers, the Library of Congress and many other papers are mysteriously marked missing Timothy Dwight, the President of Yale university, Invented a great myth about him tit got into every Amer. ican history in the Nineteenth century. Lafay. ette Is sald to have been his friend but there is no authority for It. Haldimand (British com- mander in Canada) Is sald to have refused to receive him after Cherry Valley and this book contains an original letter from Haldimand ap proving of his conduct that November day. He appears plainly to have broken his parole as a prisoner but, with «every horror of massacre and rapine laid at his door, for some reason that seems to have escaped notice. Brant, the In- dian, Is portrayed as a noble paladin, horrified at Butler's excesses. Yet Simms, the gossip of the Revolution, In ‘The Frontiersmen of New York,' tiresome in the multiplicity of its detail, never places Walter Butler at the scene of any of the atrocities in the North, Thousands of men are mentioned by name but young Butler is mentioned only at Cherry Valley.” But, thanks to the researches of this histori. an, some of the mystery of Walter Butler is dis solved and we see him, not as the “bloody mon- ster,” painted by the early historians. Instead there stands forth “An amazing figure—a young man who could not have been over twenty. eight when he was killed, to the rejoicing of all New York, a most dauntless and enterprising leader, eager, ambitions, tireless, offering to cover Albany, Fort Pitt and Detroit for Haldl- mand, grasping early in the war the grand strat. egy of the long Northwestern flank, Impatient of older men, defending his every action at Cher. ry Valley, scorning to make war on women and children, while pointing out the treatment of his mother and sister held as hostages in A) bany. He Is condemned for his red allies and was himself killed and scalped by an Indian ally of the Continental Army and the newspapers an. nouncing his death sa¥, ‘The Oneida Indians be haved well in the action and deserve much eredit.’ ” So In “War Out of Niagara” we see Walter Butler as a boy at Butlersbury, seeing his fa. ther and Sir William Johnson returning in tri nmph at the head of Colonia) troops from the wars with the French. We see him busy at his law studies in Albany and as a rising young Inwyer at the outbreak of the Revolution. Then when the break comes in 1775 and those whe live in New York province must choose between King and their native land, he casts his lot with the Loyalists (who were decidedly In the ma. Jority In that province). But the Patriot forces under General Schuyler galn temporary ascend ancy and Guy Johnson and Sir John Johnsoa, nephew and son of Sir Willlam and his success ors in charge of Indian affairs, Col. John Butler and Walter Butler and Joseph Brant of the Mo hawks go to Oswego. » Next we find Walter Butler as an ensign in the Eighth regiment, the King's Own, in the fighting around Montreal and Quebec. From there he goes to Fort Niagara, which is to be his principal headquarters as leader of the But. ler Rangers from that time on. In 1777 Le ac | companies St. Leger in the expedition which, | with Bargoyne coming down from the north | and Howe coming up from the south, is to end the war In one campaign. At old Fort Stanwix i (renamed Fort Schuyler) the stubborn defense | of Colonels Gansevoort and Marinus Willett hold | up St. Leger's advance and the bloody Battle of i Oriskany results finally in its defeat. i Soon afterwards Walter Butler starts down | the Mohawk river toward German Flats to raise recruits for the British army. He Is captured, | tried as a spy before a court martial, over which | Colonel Willett sits as judge advocate, and is | sentenced to be hanged. But General Schuyler | intercedes for him and he Is taken to the Al | bany jail from which he soon escapes to Quebec. | The next year he goes again to Niagara and | leads the expedition against Cherry Valley, from | which he is to return with “the most hated | name In New York for a hundred and fifty | years” : Most of the historians who have written of | this affair, making Butler the villain and Brant | the protector of the eaptured women and chil dren, lay emphasis upon the 31 people who were killed In the massacre. But Swiggett brings out | the fact that it was Butler who protected seven. eighths of the Inhabitants, the 178 survivors and offers strong evidence that it was Brant who incited the-Indians to the killing of at least ® part of the 31. The next two years find Walter Butler as cap- tain of the corps of rangers fighting in the bat. tiles against General Sullivan, whom Washing. ton has sent to smash the power of the Long House, going on a mission to Detroit and “main. taining the post of Miamis” a cold and lonely | outpost in the wilderness far west of Detroit. | But in 1780 he is back in Montreal and again at Niagara and from there the next year, he sets out upon his last expedition. As second In com- mand under Major Ross, the raiding force of about 700 Is within 12 miles of Schenectady on October 25, 1781. They have left a trail of burn. ing farmhouses, mills and granaries behind them as they turn to retreat toward Johnstown. | But Marinus Willett and his Continentals are hot on thelr trail and In the Battle of Johns | town, Ross and Butler are defeated. The disor | ganized raiders must retreat through the wilder ness toward the north, They reach Canada creek and at a ford there Walter Butler Ig covering | the retreat when he is shot down and an Onelda scout In Willett's command takes his sealp. Visit the city of Schenectady today and they | will take you to historic old St. George's church | and tell you that the dust of Walter Butler les | under its floor—even pointing out the very pew | under which his body, broukht secretly hy the Tories from the ford at Canada creek, Is sup posed to have been buried. But Swiggett doubts this. “It seems unlikely,” he says, “Wolves were closiog In on the army.” And on that grisly note the tragedy and the mystery of Wal | ter Butler ends. (® by Western Newspaper Unies.) Egg’s High Value on Family Menu Its Minerals, Vitamins, and Protein Important Elements. Nutritionally spenking, the fact that eggs are so low in price this season Is most important, FEggs are recognized as one of the foods which contribute the most to the diet, be. cause they are so well balanced themselves, In comparison to most foods. They are equaled and ex- ceeded perhaps only by milk, We would expect this to he the ease because If the egg 18 allowed to develop into a chicken, from It must be taken all the material necessary to form bones, muscles and blood. Tt murt, therefore, contain minerals and vitaming as well as protein for this purpose, All these except calelum and vitamin C we get from the egg white anfl yolks when we eat it. Cal elum Is provided by the eggshell, which Is ahsorbed in the formation of the chicken but which is not as eatable for human consumption, Mast of the Important constituents garnish for canapes or vegetables and is one of the ingredients often used for sauces. An egg does Its part in the diet plan no matter how it Is served, Eggs What Have You. Make two cups of white sauce and to it add one cup of minced meat, fish or vegetables, Season with one teaspoon onion julee, two tablespoons minced pimento or green pepper. Serve over poached egg, halves of hard-cooked eggs or with French or foamy omelet, ©. 1933, Bell Byndicate. WN Service, Dr. Pierce's Pellets are best for liver, bowels and stomach. One little Pellet for a laxative—three for a cathartic —Ady. Human Nature Most men follow the calling they want to whether It pays or not, of the exg ean be found In the yolk Here are concentrated fron, phos and D. as well ag protein, egg white we get protein and snl phur, as vou have found ont from the way silver spoong are hlackened by contact with egg whites, The protein In the ezg is of excel ean take the place of ment or other protein milk egg furnishes nn safeguard to the diet of Infants and veung chil dren. The ‘egg volk Is more often put Into the hahles This iz nartienlarly on ae count af the fron and eontent. needs to be supplemented hy a which Ig an efficient source important mineral. The Iron In ezes is In na ntilized In a recent search work In regard to the diet of form which le ecampletely nilece af re children it has heen found that eoes have a distinctively favorshle Infln ence upon the phyvsien! well being Yitamin D Ig a snfernard rickets nnd It has heen found that there Ig enouch In one exe volk te protect a child from this disease In the winter months when little 18 nro vided hy the sun Fegs provide a higher roncentrate of vitamin I than | How to train BABY'S BOWELS | Babies, bottle-fed or breast-fed, | with any tendency to be constipated, would thrive if they received daily half a teaspoenful of this old family doctor's prescription for the bowels, That is one sure way to train tiny bowels to healthy regularity. To avoid the fretfulness, vomiting, crying, failure to gain, and other ills of constipated babies. Dr. Caldwell’s Syrup Pepsin is good for any baby. For this, you lave the word of a famous doctor. Forty- seven years of practice taught him just what babies need to keep their little bowels active, regular; keep little bodies plump and healthy. For Dr. Caldwell specialized in the treat- ment of women and little ones. He | attended over 3500 births without loss of one mother or baby. Da. W. B. Carowerr's SYRUP PEPSIN A Doctors Family Laxative liver ofl nx a member of the food category Thies fond. medicine Iz of course, many fimes as rich in vita min as opr volk Peer ean be eaten raw or conked ne far nas thelr nutritive an are concerned 1Hities Onur opin gard to them has changed in the last year, Onee hard boiled errs wore considered diffienlt to a pest and raw egos were considered high In the diet list. It has heen found that there Is merely a Aiffer ence In the time of digestion which may be In favor of the first Because most of the food value of the ege Is In the volk, infants are often given egg yolk without the white, which supplies the same kind of protein as the milk which i= al ready in the diet. Thix is an espe cially advantageous when eggs are expensive, as the house keeper can always find a good nse for egg whites in the preparation of souflies, cakes and desserts for the family table, Eggs find a place at other meals besides breakfast, with whish they are so closely associated. Omelets, poached eggs with various savory sauces, deviled eggs and salads are all popular luncheon dishes. With dinner the egg serves often as a cusiom Cuticura Works Wonders in the Care of Your Hair Massage the scalp with the Ointment to remove the dan. druff, Then shampoo with the Soap to cleanse the hair and re- store its natural gloss and vigor. Soap Ic. Ointment 25 and 50c. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers