A Darker View of George Ash

There have been a number of stories about George Ash, who was captured by Shawnee Indians, lived as an Indian for years, and then left them and later moved into Switzerland County, Ind.

There are several different versions of his life story, as told by George. Most downplay his involvement in attacks on whites. However, a dramatically different account published in the Vevay (Ind.) Reveilles of March 14, 1874 and March 21, 1874. These were published as having come originally from the Madison Progress.

The account of George's capture states that a little boy and girl were killed immediately. These two are not mentioned in other stories. Another girl, mentioned in other accounts, was taken with George, but was finally tomahawked when she wouldn't keep quiet

The first newspaper episode contains a story of George's being a Shawnee by virtue of surviving a gauntlet run and then being adopted by an older warrior and his wife.

At some time after he was 18, the Shawnees camped on low ground just north of the site of Madison, Ind. He detailed how he stood on the shore and hailed a passing flat boat, telling them he had escaped from the Shawnees. The boat eventually landed and its crew members were slaughtered. Shortly after this, he and the Shawnees fought in a battle against Creek Indians, apparently in Indiana.

He then participated in a raid in Kentucky, in which his brother Henry was reportedly killed. He then again surveyed as a decoy to lure a ship to the Ohio River banks, but failed. The Shawnees were then defeated by the Creeks, losing 100 out of 150 men.

They returned to Indiana, hiding their boats on the Indian-Kentuck Creek, just upstream from the site of modern Brooksburg, Ind. They lured four more boats to the shore and killed the crews and seized the goods.

Ash then resolved to return to his family. And here is where the account different dramatically from others, which picture his father as welcoming George, but his second wife as not wanting him. The Progress/Reveille account says the wife (erroneously called Ash's mother) was willing to accept George, but the father was not, because the settlers knew about George's participation in the raid in which Henry was killed.

This account does not mention Ash's Indian wife, She Bear. It does state that his bride (not named, but known to be Hannah Combs) continued to deal with George in spite of her father's opposition and that they ran away to be married.

One final interesting note is that the March 21 installment states George built a shack in Indiana, before he built the brick house that still stands. It states that "Col. Ash was born in the shanty spoken of..."

George's son, George Col. Ash was born in 1812 and this suggests that the house was built a few years after the dates previously claimed.