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A Brock cousin sent me this story.
“Two Friends”
“It was in the 1800s on a bright sunny day when a young Indian girl was getting water from a running brook. She looked across the brook and saw a beautiful white girl. She had a hand-woven dress on, and her long blonde hair was hanging down her back. She was picking up wood to build a fire to cook the evening meal. Both girls looked silently at each other for a long time. The Indian girl smiled at the white girl, and the white girl smiled back at the Indian girl. Then, the two girls went their own ways.
The girls ran into each other quite often. For a long time, they said nothing. Then, they began a friendship. They learned each other’s language enough so they could talk.
One pretty summer day they planned to meet in the woods to pick blackberries. The Indian girl was up early. She put on her buckskin skirt and shirt that were made from hides of animals which her father had killed on his hunts. She did her chores and got a wooden bucket and took off to the woods without saying a word about where she was going.
When she got to the spot where she was to meet her friend, she couldn’t see her. So, we went on to where they were to pick blackberries. There she saw her friend’s long blonde hair hanging on the blackberry bushes. Indians had cut her hair, left it on the bushes and taken her body off where no one could find it. Her family could never find her, nor was she ever heard from again. Only her Indian girlfriend knew about her.
The Indian girl never told anyone what had happened until she was very old. She told her daughter, Nancy, who was married to a half-Indian by the name of Brock. The old Indian woman told Nancy that she had named her Nancy because that was the name of her white girlfriend killed by the Indians.
The old Indian woman, before she died, returned to the place where her white friend was killed. She prayed a prayer for her. The place is called ‘Rocky Point’ and is located in Leslie County. The old Indian woman told the story to her daughter, Nancy, and Nancy told her children. This is how the story has passed down from generation to generation.
The girl with blonde hair could have been Chief Red Bird’s daughter. Chief Red Bird was killed and robbed near the Red Bird River that was named for him. Chief Red Bird came to Kentucky and settled in the mountain section. At that time the section was in Clay County. Later, that part of Clay County was made a part of Leslie County.
Red Bird was a Cherokee Indian, and he brought with him another Indian who was crippled, named Willie. The crippled Indian did the cooking and skinned the animals that Red Bird killed. Later, white settlers came to that section. Dillion Asher who was one of the first, made a treaty with Red Bird. The two families lived in peace.”
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Now, after talking to Minnie Collett, wife of Billy, I’ve discovered something some of you may already know. The old Indian woman was either Martha Roark Brock, wife of Ephraim and mother of Willie and Nancy Brock (among others). Or, she was Nancy Brock, Martha’s mother, who was married to John Roark. I know in the story it says that she was married to a half Indian named Brock, but John Roark was half Brock since his mother was Elizabeth Brock. What are your thoughts on this?
I thought these stories were too interesting and important to not be shared with cousins who, hopefully, will pass these stories along to their children too.
I hope this finds all of you in good health and spirits. I wish I could visit with you all, see all your children, and catch up on all your news. Until then, take care and keep in touch. The best of holidays to you all.
Shalom,
Diane
My g-g-grandma was Mary Roark daughter of John Roark mentioned in the story and Mary Roark was the g-g-granddaughter of Aaron Brock aka Chief Redbird.
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