FAREWELL SONG OF THE
WYANDOT INDIANS.
JAMES RANKINS, UPPER SANDUSKY.
[Mr. Emil Schlup, President of the
Wyandot County Pioneer
Association, is authority for the
statement that Rev. James Wheeler,
the resident missionary, preached the
farewell sermon at the Old Mis-
sion Church, Upper Sandusky, in the
forepart of July, 1843, to the
assembled Wyandot Indians. Squire John
Greyeyes, a converted Wy-
andot Indian, preached the sermon in the
Wyandot language, which ser-
mon was interpreted into the English
language by John McIntyre Arm-
strong. Many present were moved to tears
when Greyeyes bade adieu
to the surrounding scenes amid which his
people had long lived. This
pathetic event inspired the poet. The
Wyandots, about seven hundred
souls in number, left Upper Sandusky for
the far west, July 11, 1843.
- EDITOR.]
Adieu to the graves where my fathers now
rest!
For I must be going to the far distant
west.
I've sold my possessions; my heart fills
with woe
To think I must leave them, Alas! I must
go.
Farewell ye tall oaks in whose pleasant
green shade
In childhood I sported, in innocence
played;
My dog and my hatchet, my arrows and
bow,
Are still in remembrance, Alas! I must
go.
Adieu ye loved scenes, which bind me
like chains,
Where on my gay pony I chased o'er the
plains.
The deer and the turkey I tracked in the
snow.
But now I must leave them, Alas! I must
go.
Adieu to the trails which for many a
year
I traveled to spy the turkey and deer,
The hills, trees and flowers that
pleased me so
I must now leave, Alas! I must go.
Sandusky, Tymochtee, and Brokensword
streams,
Nevermore shall I see you except in my
dreams,
Adieu to the marshes where the
cranberries grow
O'er the great Mississippi, Alas! I must
go.
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