A Disappointment
But the council proved a deep disappointment. Instead of the hundreds of captives that had been promised and expected there were about two dozen. But the Indians were very plausible in their excuses and apologies. They declared that the captives were unwilling to return as they had become strongly attached to their Indian friends. The chiefs also claimed they found it hard to induce their people to drive from them the captives who were unwilling to return to the whites.
The council opened August 12th. Our ancestor soon satisfied himself that his sons were not among the small number of restored captives, and he may have had tidings of them from Indians who were present. He was deeply disappointed, but would not give up to despair. But what could he do among the hundreds who were present looking for their captive friends? He was not accustomed to the transaction of business in a large public gathering such as this was. It is doubtful whether he could speak the English language which was used by the men in charge of the council. But he was unwilling to leave the council till he had made at least some effort to secure the return of his sons. We can easily believe that he spent an anxious, troubled night but in the morning he had decided what to do.
Taken from p. 42 of
Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler, by Rev. Harvey Hostetler, D.D., 1912. This portion was prepared by William F. Hochstetler.
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