Читать книгу A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner. U.S. Interpreter at the Saut de Ste. Marie онлайн

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James Schoolcraft was a “gay, handsome” man, and Tanner was supposed to have killed him for having improper relations with Tanner’s daughter. This would imply a young daughter, for among Indians the value of chastity was realistically appraised; it was common practice among many tribes to put a higher value on a girl, for purposes of marriage, if she was a virgin. Bear in mind that a husband invariably paid the parents for a girl he married, and her marriage value decreased as her sexual experience increased. In this respect the Indians were quite civilized.

But none of Tanner’s children had lived with him for years; all accounts agree on that. Therefore it appears that the last two children born to his second wife must have returned with her to her people, and likely the small child of his third wife must have been taken with her; this last child, at any rate, would have been too young for any normal relationship with James Schoolcraft—and nothing else is even implied. Therefore there was only Martha who may have been in Sault Ste. Marie (Lucy and Mary both having died), and Martha was probably 38 years old, and far beyond the age where an Indian would feel impelled to kill to preserve her value, or a white parent to protect her honor. In other words, she had reached the age of discretion. For the record, however, no hint is ever given that Martha was involved, and all accounts say that she lived a good and useful life.