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In the month of July, two British captains, McKee and Caldwell, with a company of rangers from the British posts
McKee and at Detroit, gathered together over one thou- Caldwell', sand Indians, - the largest body of troops up
army to that time collected west of the Alleghanies. It was their intention to attack Wheeling, but on their march thither, news reached them that General Clark was
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DIVISION OF THE COUNTY
on his way to surprise the towns of the Shawnee Indians. They turned back to defend these towns, and, to their mortification, found that the report was false. This so discouraged the Indians that a large number of them deserted; but the more resolute British officers were not to be thus deterred from their purpose to harass and fight the Americans. They succeeded in holding a com- pany of over three hundred Indians and rangers, with which they pushed on into Kentucky, to attack the weak stations in Fayette County.
They reached Bryan's station on the morning of the 16th of August, 1782. Halting in the neighborhood of the fort, they sent a few Indian spies ahead to Bryan's sta-
draw out the whites, meaning then to rush upon tion attacked them with the whole body of their forces. Most fortunately, the majority of the men were inside the fort, making ready to go to the assistance of the stations on the south of the Kentucky River, whither the Wyandots had gone after Estill's defeat. The spies were discovered; and the oft-tried Kentuckians, wise in the tactics of Indian warfare, understood the meaning of their presence, and immediately began preparations for a siege.
Now there was no spring inside the walls of the fort; and water would be a necessity if the attack should continue long. The fetching of water was everywhere Heroism of the the work of women, a fact which the Indians women
knew. If the men should go for it now, the spies would immediately suspect that they had been discovered. The attack might then begin at once, which would be fatal to the garrison.
It was unlikely, however, that the women would be disturbed, and they were called together. The situation was explained to them. They were urged to go for the
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PIONEER DAYS
water and to act as though they did not know that a band of savages was within gunshot.
There was a moment of intense excitement, of inde- cision and shrinking from the task; but the women in those stirring times of danger had acquired a warlike courage. Moreover, they had learned to forget them- selves, and to think only of the good of their family, their station, and their country. The bravest among the
Marching to the Spring
older women stepped forward and declared their readi- ness to go on the trying mission. One by one, the younger women and girls followed, emboldened by this resolute spirit, until the whole body of women marched to the spring with their buckets, laughing and talking unconcernedly together. On their return, however, their steps grew faster and faster, and they fairly rushed into the safety of the fort.
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DIVISION OF THE COUNTY
Immediately afterward the attack began; but the gar. rison was now ready for it. Swift-footed runners were sent to summon assistance from the neighbor- ing stations. Five miles away, at Lexington, The siege Major Levi Todd, with forty men, had just started for the southern border of the country. A messenger overtook him, and in a short time he reached Bryan's Station. The British officers now saw that all hope of taking the fort by surprise was vain. At night the Indians attempted to set fire to it; but, being unsuccessful, they were quite ready to depart. However, there was a young white leader among them who determined to make another effort to force the fort to surrender.
This was Simon Girty, -known far and wide to the border people of that day as the "White Renegade," - a man despised by every one. When he was a boy, his father had been killed by Indians, and Simon Girty he himself had been adopted by them. He had grown up a savage, and chose to remain one. He possessed all the cunning cruelty of his foster brethren, and by his knowl- edge of English he became a power among them in their schemes to torture the Americans. He now made a speech to the fort's defenders. He spoke of the numbers with him, and of the reinforcements and artillery that were ex- pected; but he told them that if they would surrender they would not be harmed. The Kentuckians knew that their rude fortifications could not withstand cannon; but they could not be intimidated.
One of their young men, Aaron Reynolds, answered Girty in a bold, bantering spirit that won the admiration of his associates. He assured Girty that they were not at all afraid of his artillery or of his numbers; that, as for the latter, all the country was coming to their assistance.
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PIONEER DAYS
Girty knew this, as did the Indians, and they concluded it would be the part of wisdom to leave; but they did all the injury possible, destroying the fields and killing hun- dreds of cattle, sheep, and hogs. On the following morn- ing, they took their departure, having had five of their number slain and several wounded. Four of the whites were killed, and three injured.
It did not take long to gather the riflemen of Kentucky. They answered the summons for assistance as hurriedly
Gathering of as did the clansmen of Scotland the signal of
the riflemen the "fiery cross." 1 On the afternoon of the day the Indians left Bryan's Station, 182 men, many of them commissioned officers, mustered there under the command of Colonel John Todd, the ranking officer of Kentucky, Lieutenant Colonels Trigg and Boone, and Majors McGary, Harlan, and Levi Todd. Without wait- ing for Colonel Logan, who was to follow as soon as possible with the forces of Lincoln County, they pushed on the trail of the Indians, and overtook them near the Blue Licks, on the morning of August 19. They halted and held a council of war. The Licking River lay be- tween them and the enemy. Should they cross and open the attack at once, or should they await the arrival of Logan's troops ?
The prudent decision was cast in favor of the latter course, when Major McGary, an impulsive man, filled with a passionate hatred of all Indians because his son had been
1 In the border warfare of Scotland, "an ancient method of gathering the people was by sending the ' fiery cross ' through the country. This mysterious symbol of haste and danger was formed of yew, first set on fire and then quenched in the blood of a goat. Every man who received it was bound to pass on with it through torrents, or over mountains, by day or night, until another took it off his hands." See, also, THE GATHERING, III. CANTO, The Lady of the Lake.
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DIVISION OF THE COUNTY
killed by some of them, plunged forward into the river, waving his hat over his head and shouting : "Let all who are not cowards follow me!" Immediately, Battle of the as if fired by his taunt, the impatient troops Blue Licks
rushed after him. The sober officers had no alternative but to follow. Soon the battle began. From the first the advantage was with the enemy, because of superior num-
McGary in the River
bers. Colonel Trigg was killed, then Harlan with nearly all his advance guard was swept away. John Todd and Boone tried to rally the men, until Todd himself was shot down. Then a wild panic took place. Leaving the dead on the field of battle, every one attempted to escape.
The fighting had lasted only about five minutes, and in that time the Kentuckians had lost seventy of their bravest
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PIONEER DAYS
soldiers, twelve had been wounded, and seven captured. The loss on the other side was insignificant in com-
After the parison. Several days later, Colonel Logan
battle arrived at the scene of the tragedy with four hundred men, - a force large enough to have completely overwhelmed the Indians. But all was over now. Nothing remained to do but to bury the dead where they had fallen. By the rash act of one man was brought about the greatest disaster that had ever befallen Kentucky.
It is impossible to describe the anguish of that time. Sorrow and wailing prevailed everywhere. For weeks the women could not be consoled. But the unconquerable Kentuckians did not long rest in their mourning. The blow must be retaliated. Troops quickly gathered at the Falls under Colonel Floyd and at Bryan's Station under Colonel Logan. Uniting at the mouth of the Licking under General Clark, they marched rapidly into the Indian country. On the 10th of November, 1782, the Miami towns were burnt to the ground. Warning had been given the Indians, and they escaped into the woods ; but all their valuable property was destroyed. From village to village, the mighty force of Kentuckians swept with their desolating firebrands. At last the Indians were conquered. Though, for ten years longer, occasionally a few straggling savages would disturb the security of the settlers, Kentucky never again suffered any serious Indian invasion.
RECAPITULATION
Kentucky County divided.
Jefferson, Fayette, and Lincoln coun- ties. Military officers and surveyors ap- pointed
Great eagerness to obtain lands. Indians preparing for war. Samuel Wells's magnanimity. Estill pursues a band of Indians. A young girl killed at his fort.
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DIVISION OF THE COUNTY
Indians overtaken near Mount Ster- ling.
Estill's defeat.
McGee and Caldwell's army of over one thousand Indians.
A false alarm changes the course of the army.
A smaller force marches into Ken- tucky.
Attack on Bryan's Station. Heroic women supply the fort with water.
The siege begun. Runners summon assistance.
Indians fail to burn the fort.
Girty attempts to frighten the men into surrendering.
Aaron Reynolds's fearless answer. KENT. HIST. - 4
Indians do great damage before de- parting.
The riflemen of Kentucky gather.
One hundred and eighty-two men at Bryan's Station.
The officers of the company.
The Indians are pursued.
Council of war held.
A prudent decision made. McGary's rash act.
Battle of the Blue Licks.
Terrible slaughter of the whites.
Great anguish caused.
The blow retaliated.
Village after village destroyed.
The Indians are conquered.
No more serious invasions of Ken. tucky.
II -- THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPEND- ENCE, 1782-1792
CHAPTER V
THE DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY, 1782-1784
BEYOND the borders of Kentucky, the Confederated Colonies were passing through their victorious conflict for independence from Great Britain - six terrible Kentucky's
struggle for years of ceaseless warfare from the battle at existence Lexington, 1775, to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, 1781. Cut off from the East by the high wall of the Cumberland Mountains, separated from the neighboring regions of the Northeast, the North, and the West by a connected system of waters, Kentucky was waging alone, unaided by continental arms and con- tinental supplies, an equally terrible conflict. In the his- tory of this era, too little recognition has been made of this struggle, whose successful issue gave to the nation a strong, faithful State, and opened the way for the con- quest of the vast, rich West.
At Paris, France, on the 30th of November, 1782, the preliminary treaty of peace between the United States and Peace with Great Britain was signed. There were no England ocean cables in those days, no telegraph lines, no railroads, no postal service. Slowly the news reached
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THE DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
the far-away land of Kentucky, told by traveler to trav- eler, or written in letters which were borne to friends by immigrants to the country. But early in the following spring the cheering fact was known.
At this time there were less than thirty thousand people in Kentucky. Now the growth became very rapid. By 1790, the population had increased to more Immigration to than seventy-five thousand. The long war Kentucky which had just closed had left the Atlantic States impov- erished. The fertile lands of Kentucky offered an allur- ing prospect to families whose fortunes had been thus injured. From Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Carolinas, especially from Virginia, came this great influx of people to Kentucky. Of course there were some men among them of low character and slender ability ; but the majority of them were clever, educated people of moral strength, who were notable even in that most remarkable epoch of American history.
Among them were officers whose military genius had hastened the victory of the Revolution; soldiers whose unselfish loyalty had aided the cause; and young men of talent, fresh from the colleges of the East. Their names will fill the pages of the following period. The men whose rare courage and entertaining adventures stirred us in the story of the pioneer days, have passed away ; either death has come to them, or they have finished their great work. Only one or two recur in the narrative of the public affairs of the new era opening before us.
By an act of the Virginia legislature the three counties, Jefferson, Fayette, and Lincoln, were united in 1783 and Kentucky District was established. A district court was erected, and John Floyd, Samuel Kentucky District established McDowell, and George Muter were appointed
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
judges. Walker Daniel was also commissioned attorney- general, and John May was selected to be the clerk of the court.
Shortly after his appointment, John Floyd, the vigorous, intellectual pioneer, was killed by an Indian. He had The District fought, unscathed, through the terrible border
judges wars, and now, in the time of peace, riding unguardedly in the woods near his home, wearing his scar- let wedding coat, - a definite mark for the savages, - he received his death wound. It is a curious coincidence that two other members of this district court, pioneers like Floyd, met a similar death, - Walker Daniel in 1784, John May in 1790. The other judges were Virginians, whom the close of the war brought to Kentucky. They had been officers in the Revolution and each bore the rank of colonel. Their recognized worth and ability are indicated by their appointment to this position of trust and dignity. We shall have need to refer to them frequently in the fol- lowing pages.
An Ohio River Flatboat
On the third day of March, 1783, the court was opened at Harrodsburg ; but there being no house large enough at Founding of that place for its accommodation, it adjourned Danville to a church six miles away. One of its first official acts was to order a log courthouse to be built at some safe place near Crow's Station (about ten miles from
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THE DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
Harrodsburg), and a jail also, of "hewed or sawed logs at least nine inches thick." The location was wisely chosen ; it was on the Wilderness Road, the great highway through Kentucky, and within the famous Blue Grass region. From this judicial beginning grew the town of Danville, which became the seat and center of all the public affairs of the District, and whose early history suggests SO many picturesque
Pack Horses
and interesting events. Each town in Kentucky has its particular tone. Danville may be characterized as sober and intellectual, self-respecting in the management of its own affairs, and unworldly.
Security and hope prevailed in Kentucky District, and its reputation increased abroad. - Flatboats Prosperity filled with immigrants were constantly landing
at the Falls (Louisville), in the northwestern part of the
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
settled region, and at Limestone (now Maysville), in the northeast. Heavily laden pack horses brought a contin- ued stream of settlers through Cumberland Gap, over the Wilderness Road.
At Louisville, Daniel Brodhead, an officer in the Revo- lution, who had recently come to Kentucky, opened a shop where all kinds of goods, imported from Philadelphia, were sold. The home-woven cotton gowns and sunbon- Brodhead's nets were replaced by gay-figured calicoes and store straw bonnets. There were also more costly articles for gala days,-silks and parasols for the maidens, broadcloths and silk stockings for the men. A French- man, landing at the Falls in 1784, described a party of young people that he saw thus attired starting off for an excursion on the river.
There is on record, also, an account of a party given by Mrs. Martha Donne to cele- brate the first crop of wheat raised at the Falls, in 1783. Early merry- The wheat was makings ground with a hand mill, James Wilkinson sifted through a cambric handkerchief which Mistress Martha had brought from Philadelphia, shortened with raccoon fat, baked, and served for the refreshment of the guests. Thus early the town of Louisville took on its brilliant, fashionable, hospitable tone.
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THE DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
In February, 1784, General James Wilkinson made his advent into Lexington as the representative of a mercan- tile firm in Philadelphia of which he was the head. Wil- kinson was brilliant in mind and affable in James Wilkin- son's advent manner, but corrupt in morals and selfish in character. He acted an important part in the political events of the period. Wilkinson's shop, like Brodhead's, was a great advantage to the neighboring region.
At this time there were eight towns in Kentucky : Louisville and Bardstown, in Jefferson County; Harrods- burg, Boonesborough, and Danville, in Lincoln Lexington's County ; and Lexington, Leestown, and Green- position ville, in Fayette County. Of these, Lexington was the larg- est. Never rapid, but always steady in growth, Lexington was advancing into that substantial business and social position which she has maintained until the present day. Her early interest in all things intellectual caused her to become the center of the literary culture of the District, and gave to her the title, -in the high-sounding phrase- ology of the time, - Athens of the West.
Here John Filson 1 wrote the first history of Kentucky, which was likewise the first history of any portion of that vast region lying west of the Alleghanies. The fame of the "happy climate and plentiful soil" of
Kentucky had reached Filson in his home in John Filson
southern Pennsylvania, and he went thither to secure lands for himself. This was probably in the year 1782, when he was about thirty-six years old. He was a schoolmaster, and very well educated except in the matter of spelling and the use of capitals. He led a roaming, stirring life until his death in 1788. Shortly before that time, he had
1 The Life of John Filson. By Reuben T. Durrett. Filson Club Publi- cation No. I.
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
entered into a partnership with Matthias Denman and Colonel Robert Patterson (one of the founders of Lexington) to lay off a town where the present city of Cincinnati stands. Filson
brought his Greek, Latin, and
French knowl- edge into use to coin a name for his town: Losan- tiville - the city opposite the mouth of the Licking. While out survey- ing, he became separated from
his companions John Filson and was never again seen. He was killed either by the savage Indians, or by the beasts of the forest.
Filson gained the information for his history, and the map with which it is illustrated, from a close intercourse First history with Daniel Boone, Levi Todd, James Harrod, of Kentucky Christopher Greenup, John Cowan, and Wil- liam Kennedy, whose " distinguished assistance " he grate- fully acknowledges. Beside the map, the history is made further entertaining by a narrative of "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone," which the author learned from the old pioneer himself. There was no printing press in Ken-
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THE DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
tucky at that time, so Filson carried the manuscript of the history to Wilmington, Delaware, and that of the map to Philadelphia, where the book was published in 1784. One year later it was translated into French by M. Parraud, and published in Paris. This little book is now very rare and valuable.
We have noticed the early desire of Kentuckians for education. Thus far, all that had been possible were little private schools held within the stations. Now Transylvania we are to learn something of the first school University or college in the West. In 1780, the Virginia founded
legislature passed an act to establish such a school in Kentucky as soon as the condition of the country should permit. An endowment of eight thousand acres of land was given to it and thirteen trustees were appointed. In 1783, the trustees were increased to twenty-five and the endowment of land to twenty thousand acres. The school was to be called Transylvania Seminary, and the trustees were to hold their first meeting at Crow's Station (Dan- ville) the second Monday in November of that same year. The trustees were influential men in the District. The names of those who attended the first meeting have been preserved for us. They are John Craig, Walker Daniel, Willis Green, Christopher Greenup, Robert Johnson, Sam- uel McDowell, David Rice, James Speed, Isaac Shelby, and Caleb Wallace. The Reverend David Rice was elected chairman of the board. "Father Rice," as he was commonly called, had lately arrived in Kentucky from Virginia. He was the first Presbyterian preacher in the District, an earnest man, and well educated for that day, being a graduate of Nassau Hall, afterward Princeton College.
At this first meeting, the trustees did little but grow
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
more enthusiastic concerning the advantages of education. Their uncultivated lands gave them no money with which either to buy a schoolhouse or to pay teachers. Two years later, however, the seminary was opened at the home of the chairman, near Danville, and, in 1788, it was removed to Lexington. Before long, theological differ- ences arose in the school, and, in 1796, the Presbyterians withdrew their support and established Kentucky Acad- emy, at Pisgah. But in 1798 all disagreements were adjusted, and the rival institutions were united at Lexing- ton under the name "Transylvania University."
RECAPITULATION
Kentucky's unaided struggle during the Revolution era.
Her important service to the nation. Treaty of peace, November 30, 1782, proclaimed in Kentucky the fol- lowing spring.
High class of immigrants.
Pioneers pass away.
New names appear in public affairs. Kentucky District established, 1783. Samuel McDowell and George Muter. Judiciary appointments.
Floyd, Daniel, and May murdered by Indians.
Court opened at Harrodsburg. Removed to Crow's Station. Danville founded.
Characteristics of Danville. Prosperity in the District. Brodhead's store. Louisville's flourishing condition Early merrymakings.
Wilkinson's arrival in Kentucky. Lexington's substantial position. John Filson comes to Kentucky. Filson's first history of the region. Transylvania Seminary established Becomes Transylvania University.
CHAPTER VI
BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE, 1784-1786
THE security of the Kentuckians was beginning to be disturbed. The country which the Americans wrested from Great Britain consisted of the Atlantic Military States, extending from Canada to the thirty- posts in the Northwest first degree of latitude, and Kentucky and the Illinois country, which the pioneers had won. Off in the Northwest, - far away then, but now at the very threshold of that vast region, which has become thickly settled, -at and about Detroit, the British still held the military sta- tions which they had gained from the French. In their treaty of peace with the United States the British had promised to surrender these posts; but, because of cer- tain complications, they now refused to comply with their agreement.
When the news of this fact reached Kentucky, great fears of Indian hostilities were felt. We have learned that the Indians had been instigated to attacks Indian upon the Kentuckians by the British. If the hostilities anticipated British still held stations in America, then the
Indians would still be urged to warfare. Virginia was far away from Kentucky -too far to send her assistance in time of trouble. But as Kentucky was not independent, no military expedition could be undertaken beyond the borders of the District unless so ordered by the Virginia
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
government. The question of asking for separation from Virginia was continually discussed.
The Congress of the Confederation of States did not advise any attempt to exterminate the Indians; but rec- Causes of In- ommended a peaceful course of action toward dian hostilities them. To this end, commissioners were ap- pointed to treat with the various tribes to induce them to recognize the authority of the victorious States. But cer- tain Indians on the east of the Miami River, who had been induced against their will to enter into a treaty, still re- tained their animosity toward the Kentuckians; and certain others farther to the west, who had never entered into any treaty, were likewise inflamed at the thought of the Americans possessing their lands. Furthermore, law- less men in Kentucky, who believed there could be no good in any Indian and that it was never well to let one live, would sometimes kill those that were harmless. The revengeful savages retaliated by murdering innocent white men.
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