It was always on the side nearest the spring. The
whole structure of the fort was bullet-proof and was erected
without an iron nail or spike. In the border wars these forts
withstood all attacks. The savages, having proved that they could
not storm them, generally laid siege and waited for thirst to
compel a sortie. But the crafty besieger was as often outwitted
by the equally cunning defender. Some daring soul, with silent
feet and perhaps with naked body painted in Indian fashion, would
drop from the wall under cover of the night, pass among the
foemen to the spring, and return to the fort with water.
Into the pioneer's phrase-making the Indian influence penetrated
so that he named seasons for his foe. So thoroughly has the term
"Indian Summer," now to us redolent of charm, become
disassociated from its origins that it gives us a shock to be
reminded that to these Back Country folk the balmy days following
on the cold snap meant the season when the red men would come
back for a last murderous raid on the settlements before winter
should seal up the land. The "Powwowing Days" were the mellow
days in the latter part of February, when the red men in council
made their medicine and learned of their redder gods whether or
no they should take the warpath when the sap pulsed the trees
into leaf.
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