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the attack of the killer frozen dumplings



Colleagues:

        Since this is Friday and I value your expertise, I thought to share
with you one of the stranger incidents I have come across in my research
into American Frontier History, the attack on the frozen dumplings. James
Hubbard, an early settler in east Tennessee, was a noted "Indian fighter",
and, I must confess, my ancestor. About 1783, during the Cherokee Wars in
Tennessee,  he had a chance encounter with a Native American named "Watts".
instead of fighting, they set down together on the trail to share a hasty
common meal. It must have been about this time of the year, the dead of
winter. Hubbard brought out venison and other game and offered to share it.
Watts is said to have brought out of his larder a "mess" or perhaps a "mass"
"of frozen dumplings". During the course of the meal, Watts "sprang to his
feet drew a frozen dumpling and hit Hubbard on the upper lip cutting it
badly". You can guess what followed. All of this is taken from the Draper
Manuscript Collection for Tennessee. What I want to know is has any one ever
heard of a "frozen dumpling" being used as an attack weapon or for any other
purpose? And what in the world was a "frozen dumpling" in 1783? Was it a
staple of native American diet, frontier fare?

Thanks,

Russell P. Baker, CA
Arkansas History Commission and State Archives
One Capitol Mall
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-682-6900
russell.baker@mail.state.ar.us <mailto:russell.baker@mail.state.ar.us>

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