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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>In 1868 my great grandfather, Jacob Houk, his wife and her
family, crossed the plains in a wagon. Years later his sister-in-law,
Florence Courtney Melton, wrote her memories of that journey. My
grandfather, William Houk, was born 3 weeks after they arrived in Linn County,
OR. The following is from that writing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=+1> "Ours was a family of pioneers, always
going west. My mother's grandfather<FONT size=3> (Jacob
Ashbaugh)</FONT> was a Holland Dutchman. He, or his father, was a
captain of a sailing ship that sailed on Chesepeake Bay, and other coastal
points. He married and Englishwoman. They settled in Maryland not
far from Chesepeake Bay. There was constant war with the Indians.
Each was determined to annihilate the other. In one of their skirmishes,
our ancestor, with others, was taken prisoner by the Indians. It was
customary with that tribe, where any of their braves were killed in battle,
their nearest of kin had a right to choose from the prisoners [someone] to take
his place. One aged squaw had lost her only son. The prisoners were
lined up for her to take her choice. She chose my great grandfather.
He had a wife and two babies, so he was careful to make good to his old Indian
mother. All the other prisoners were put to death. He helped her
carry her loads, cut her wood, and treated her like he was accustomed to seeing
white women treated. He could not eat some of the dishes as prepared by
the Indians. His civilized stomach revolted; he would throw up and the
braves would laugh with great glee, but the old Indian mother would cook
something especially for him. The men laughed to see him doing squaw work,
but kindness will usually win out, and his squaw mother was very fond of
him. Before the white settlers got knowledge that he was alive and got
strength enough to win any concessions from the Indians, more than a year had
elapsed. He was finally redeemed by the colonists and nearly two years had
passed when he was united with his family. His Indian mother wept bitterly
when parted from him.</FONT><FONT size=4>"</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Read "the rest of the story" at:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><A
href="http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cchouk/courtney/">http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cchouk/courtney/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Cecil</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret.<BR>PO Box 530833<BR>San Diego CA
92153<BR>FAX 619-428-6434<BR><A
href="mailto:cchouk@cox.net">mailto:cchouk@cox.net</A><BR>ANDERSON - BLAKELY -
FORD - HOUK - KIMSEY - MOE - RULAFORD - SIMPSON<BR>Searchable GEDCOM: <A
href="http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk">http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk</A><BR>My
web page MENU: <A
href="http://members.cox.net/~cchouk/">http://members.cox.net/~cchouk/</A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>