Story told by Elmer Swagerty, 1972
In Missouri, Sampson and his brother used to hire an Indian to go hunting with them because he would help them be very successful in their hunt . After awhile the Indian became selective on who he would let hire him. Sampson and his brother were favorite customers because they would follow the two important rules he insisted upon. The first rule was no campfire at night and the second was no camping down by the river because it was an invitation to any disgruntled Indians to do you in. One evening the brothers and this Indian were camping without a fire up a ridge looking down at the river. There along the river was a group that had a campfire going and were close to the river. Obviously they had broken the guide’s hard fast rules. The next morning the Swagerty brothers and the Indian guide went down by the river to check out who was using such careless camping set up. They found a group of several white men with their throats slit. The Indian guide knew what he was talking about.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 