I am not sure any 19-year-old would be ready to endure a year in captivity after expecting to embark on a great adventure, but that is exactly what happened to my 5th-great-grandfather, Christian Fast, son of German immigrants Nicklaus and Catarina Fast. I have written about him before, but during the American Revolution he joined a militia to fight against British and Native American forces on the western frontier. Warfare in the West was brutal, with frontiersmen and warriors attacking settlements and often sparing neither women nor children.
While traveling down the Ohio River near the Falls of the Ohio, Christian’s company was ambushed by Delaware Indians, and the men were either killed or captured. Captured militiamen were not always spared, but Christian used both determination and quick thinking to survive. Wounded in the leg and unable to walk, he reportedly moved on his hands when ordered to keep going.
Whether it was desperation or remarkable presence of mind under pressure, his life was spared, and he was adopted into the tribe, living among them for about a year. But that was not the end of his story. When he learned of plans to attack settlements in western Virginia and Pennsylvania, he decided it was time to return home. He could not take up arms against his own family and community, so he devised a plan to escape and warn them.
Pretending to go for water, he left his containers and belongings by the riverbank, crossed the stream, and made his way back to his parents’ settlement. After convincing the villagers—reportedly speaking in his native German, which must have been quite a sight coming from someone dressed and living as an Indian—he warned them of the coming danger.
What makes Christian’s story even more remarkable is that this was not his first military service. He had already enlisted in the militia at ages sixteen and eighteen, making him a seasoned young frontiersman. Still, this was surely an ordeal and adventure far beyond anything he could have imagined.
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