[WARNING: mentions of beating ]

__________________________

Oh hello there! You must be freezin'! Please, come in, come in. Don't wander in that blizzard! You'll catch cold. Yes, I know I'm a stranger but that don't mean I'll leave you out in such harsh weather! My name's Anna Beth. Come on you can sit here next to the fire, I'll put another log on. There, and here's a blanket too.

Hmm? Oh yeah, that name does sound a bit southern for way up here in the north don't it? That's 'cause my folks moved up here a while back. We used to live in Mississippi. Close to the west side of the Mississippi River. But After Granpa George died the family moved out of state. Why? Well he wouldn't stop goin' on about tryin' to find some Indian that he claimed lived around there. Of course no one ever saw the man. Everyone thought Grandpa George was mad until a friend of his vouched for him saying a dark skinned man did used to live around there, though only years ago. He ain't been seen since.

Who was he? Well he was the man in that paintin' right there above the hearth. The only reason we keep it is 'cause Grandpa George and Pawpaw both are real peculiar about keepin' it there. Personally I wish they'd take it down. I don't see how they can stand to look at a picture of a beaten man tied up and about to be branded. It just don't make no sense to me....

But if we try to take it down Pawpaw has a right fit, so we keep it there. Usually we have it covered but since Pawpaw is visitin' it ain't.

Why'd they have it? Well that there is the man I was talkin' about, the one about to be branded. He and Grandpa George fought a lot back in the eighteen thirties. Grandpa George was my Great Great Grandpa. Pawpaw is his grandson. It was a long time ago after the Trail of Tears that they started fightin'. Grandpa George has told the story many times.

He said that after all the Choctaw had been moved out that man stayed, along with some others. But he stayed longer. All the other Choctaw that stayed behind were either killed or forcefully sent off to Oklahoma. He and Grandpa George fought a lot, he always said that the man was tryin' to kill him. 'Course I can see why as he said he always aimed a tomahawk at him. But I can't really blame the man m'self... In all honesty if I'd been in his shoes I'd have done it too.

But one day Grandpa George caught the man. He'd been sittin' next to a creek for some reason or other and George and some buddies of his caught him and tied him up and hauled him off back to one of their farms. They tied him to one of stakes you use to break horses ya know? Left him there for days. With nothin' to eat or drink. It's awful really... awful plain and simple. I don't see how they could've done that to anyone. Just let's me know what a bad man Grandpa George was.

Well it wasn't too long after that, that the man got free. He ran off but they somehow caught him again and tied him back up and beat him. Whipped him too. But he still kept managin' to run off again and again. Until they caught him the last time, tied him back to the stake again and Grandpa George got out a brandin' iron. One that he used for cattle. He branded the man then slung him, still tied, on the back of a horse and led him off to someone else's farm. From there they drug him off to Oklahoma with the other Choctaw. I don't know what happened to him after that but Grandpa George seemed real pleased with himself. 

I'm disgusted with him. With all of'em. That was inhuman and completely unnecessary!
And all Grandpa George could say was that he wished he'd taken one of the man's eyes... I guess as a retaliation for the man stabbing him with the bear claw he had around his neck... hmph I'm ashamed to admit we were ever related.

Pardon? Why did he want one of his eyes? Well George said they were odd. Oddly colored. The man looked like other Indians except for his eyes. Said they were a dark pink. Or light red. Couldn't ever make up his mind. Either way he always sad they were akin to mixin' blood an' water. A weird description if you ask me. We don't know if he was tellin' the truth or not. This paintin's all we got to go on about the incident. And I'd rather just not think about it m'self.

It's kinda odd though.... As beaten up as that man was he should've died from those injuries alone... And if not the infection he got from the brand should've killed him. But he never did...
I feel real sorry for him. That he had to go through that.... Wherever he ended up I hope it was a better place than where he was with people like George....

Oh here I am ramblin', you probably wanna be on your way don't ya? Well it seems the storm's passed so I reckon you can go on about your business now. Here keep the blanket, it's still cold outside. Sorry to take up you ritme with such a sad story. I hope your day gets better. Stay well and have safe travels!