THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD
December 28, l899
Truth Stranger Than Fiction
Mrs. Nancy J. Stevens, from Jefferson, Green county, Iowa, is now
in Sidney on a visit to her family friends here, consisting of
Mrs. John Moomaw and Mrs. J. D. Curran, sisters, and James and
H.D. Fletcher, brothers. Mrs. Stevens has passed through an
experience that falls to the lot of few and from which all would
pray to be exempted. She was married in 1860
to a man named Morton and accompanied him on one occasion on a
freighting trip, with Denver as their destination. They had
fallen in with a number of teams that traveled together, taking
precaution in camping each night for fear of an attack by
Indians. They had encamped one night on what was called Plum
Creek, near the Platt river, when just at day-break on the
following morning a party of sixty Indians, together with four
white men, rode down over the bluff at the foot of which they
were encamped and made an onset upon the party, killing eleven of
the men and one boy, destroying such property as they could not
carry off and capturing Mrs. Morton, whose husband was among the
killed. She was kept a prisoner among the Indians from the time
of the capture August, 1864, until the February following, when
her ransom was purchased by the government. But so treacherous
were these red rascals that the purchase had to be repeated four
times before the prisoner secured her liberty, the Indians
turning upon the rescuing party each time and thus recapturing
the prisoner for a fresh ransom. Plans were laid at the last
purchase for a rapid trip on horseback that should be too swift
for successful pursuit, stations being established at convenient
distances with fresh horses in waiting, so that 100 miles were
cleared on the first day. The sum of $1600 was paid at the last
purchase and a faithful half-breed was intrusted with the plans
whereby the escape was successfully made. Mrs. Stevens reached
her friends in safety, who received her as one risen from the
dead. She passed through some dreadful experiences that only
nerve and courage could enable her to endure and maintain an
existence. She was witness to the burning of one female prisoner
and was led to expect the same experience for herself. At one
time the fire was kindled for her cremation and only the
admiration of the savages for the coolness and courage with which
she witnessed these preparations saved her from this terrible
fate. She affected great joy that she was about to relieve them
of the burden of her maintenance and that she would so soon pass
to the happy hunting grounds beyond. The braves rode around the
fire in a threatening manner and suffered it to burn entirely
away with the laudatory exclamation of "white squaw heap
brave, white squaw heap brave!" While with the Indians Mrs.
Stevens endured great privations, at one time traveling four days
with nothing on which to subsist except a few berries. She
married her present husband some time after her return from
captivity, with whom she is now enjoying a home near Jefferson,
Iowa, and in the midst of the blessings of Christian
civilization.