The Legend of Chocorua

In the early days of the colonial settlement of New England, a farmer by the name of Campbell settled on the outskirts of the New Hampshire colony along the Swift River. He was an amiable fellow, and got along well with the as-of-yet unsuspicious natives. One of them, a widower father named Chocorua, left his only son with the Campbells while he went on a trip to trade furs downriver. During his father's absence, the Indian lad fell ill. The Campbells, by their own account, did their best to save the boy, and leached him heavily. He died, but his body was still warm when his father returned. Chocorua suspected foul play and evil intentions on the part of the Campbells. What are the chances that a boy will suddenly fall ill and die in just a few days? And the chances that those days are the first time he's left with whites?

Chocorua took revenge. He had lost all respect for the Campbells, and convinced of their guilt he slew young Patrick Campbell, who was a few years older than Chocorua's own son had been. To the settlers, the murder was not revenge, but an unwarranted attack, making the pain of losing a son all the more bitter. At the urging of his wife, Campbell gathered all the settlers in the area and went out looking for the unrepentant Chocorua. It took a day and a half to locate him, but after that the chase was unrelenting. Abandoning his canoe, the Indian took to the woods in the thickest areas, which he knew well and the whites not at all. Nonetheless, they followed him, steadily climbing deeper into the woods and higher up the southern face of the mountains the settlers called "White". The rocky top of the highest peak in that area has changed little over 300 years, and still affords little shelter from either the elements or other humans. Chocorua, not wanting to spend his life running or leave behind the woods where he'd grown up, climbed steadily higher. At that highest peak, he stopped and faced the lagging pursuers. They had effectively spread out, and encircled the peak with precision. At a word, the peak and the lone father were raked with musketfire from all sides. Chocorua's body, considered unsanitary, was left to be picked by the birds on the peak that now bears his name.

Source: NH historical marker.