Arriving late in the afternoon within view of the village, the Ottawas
hid in ambush. One of the old women of the Mush-co-desh was going
through the bushes looking for young basswood bark from which to
manufacture twine or cord. She came right where the Ottawas were lying
in ambush. She was terribly surprised, but the Ottawas persuaded her
not to reveal their presence by telling her they would give her a young
man as her husband, pointing to one of the best looking young warriors
there. They told her, early in the morning they were going to fall upon
the village and kill every one of the Mush-co-desh, but when she heard
the war-whoop she must run to them and she should not be killed but be
protected. The foolish woman believed and kept the secret. Early in the
morning the war cry was heard, and she ran to the Ottawas to be
protected, but she was the first one to be slain. It was indeed a
terrible calamity for the Mush-co-desh. At the begining of the noise of
massacre, the chief of the Mush-co-desh ran forward and screamed loud
as he could, saying, "O! My father, Saw-ge-maw, what is the cause of
your coming upon us so suddenly with death, as we have never wronged
your race?" "Have you already forgotten" said Saw-ge-maw triumphantly,
"that you have greatly insulted me on your borders? You have pelted me
with ashes when I was lamenting over the loss of my braves." When the
Mush-co-desh saw they could not prevail on Saw-ge-maw, nor could
withstand an adversary so formidable and such well prepared warriors,
they endeavored to flee, but they were overtaken and slaughtered. Only
the swift-footed young men escaped, taking the sad message to other
villages of Mush-co-desh, and as fast as the news reached them they
fled with their women and children toward the south along the shore of
Lake Michigan, and continued to fly, although they were not pursued by
the Ottawas, till they reached the St. Joseph River, and there they
stopped, and formed a union village, and began to cultivate the soil
again.