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kee) Indians." The consideration paid for this great section of Kentucky between the river of that name and the Cumberland, was £10,000 sterling in merchandise. Another treaty in re- gard to Kentucky, is said by John Filson,* to have been nego- tiated with the Five Nations, for the country between the Ken- tucky river, and the great Kenhawa, by Colonel Donaldson of Virginia, in consideration of £500 sterling. All the research which the author has, through the courtesy of the Governor of Kentucky, been able to institute on the subject of these ancient Indian negotiations, remains without an answer. In both these instances, certainly in the first, the legislature invalidated the private purchase in favor of the public domain; and assigned compensation to the individuals, in large cessions of lands. This Indian title was, notwithstanding the subsequent acknow- ledgment of Virginia, contrary to her own sense of Indian rights, as well as that of the Cherokees; if there has been no mistake in an anecdote told us by judge Haywood in his His- tory of Tennessee. At the treaty of Fort Stanwix, which has so often been unavoidably brought to the reader's attention, the judge says, in 1766, but the author thinks by mistake, some of the Cherokees are said to have attended. They had killed on their route some game for their support; and upon their arrival at the treaty ground, tendered the skins to the Six Nations, saying, "they are yours, we killed them after passing the big river," the name by which they had always designated the Tennessee. In 1769, Dr. Walker and Colonel Lewis were sent as commissioners by Lord Bottetourt, to correct the mis- takes of Mr. Stewart, the southern superintendent of Indian affairs, in regard to the Cherokee claims. These gentlemen had long been conversant, says Dr. Franklin, in Indian affairs, and were well acquainted with the actual extent of the Cherokee coun- try. Yet they most positively informed Mr. Stewart, that "the country southward of the Big Kenhawa was never claimed by the Cherokees, and now is the property of the crown,as Sir William Johnson purchased it of the Six Nations, at a very considerable expense; and took a deed of cession from them at Fort Stanwix."
Filson's Kentucky, 1793.
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Such, however, as the title might be, it was purchased, and constituted into the colony of Transylvania, by Col. Henderson and his associates ; though subsequently invalidated as respected the grantees, by the government of Virginia. The claims of Col. Henderson & Co. were compromised, by a grant of 200,000 acres of land at the mouth of Green river, by Virginia, and as much in Powel's valley by North Carolina.
It was at this treaty, that Daniel Boone was told by an old Indian, who had signed the treaty, taking him by the hand, "brother," says he, "we have given you a fine land, but I believe you will have much trouble in settling it;" words, as events mourfully proved, of most ominous meaning. The troubles of Kentucky have been marked broad and deep in blood; and still deeper in the keen wounds of the heart, which often shew them- selves by that consuming grief, which withers up the sources of joy, and at length wears away its victim to the grave.
Thus by fair and repeated treaties; first of 1768, with the Six Nations, by which the Indian title to Kentucky, was extin- guished as far south as the Tennessee river; secondly, by the treaty with the Shawanees with Lord Dunmore, in 1774; thirdly, by the treaty with the Cherokees in 1775, in consideration of £10,000 sterling, their title was extinguished to that portion of Kentucky, between the river of that name and the Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland river; also, by the treaty of Fort M'Intosh* in 1785; confirmed and enlarged by the treaty of Greenville in 1795; and, lastly, by the treaty with the Chicka- saws in 1818; all that part of Kentucky west of the Tennessee and south of the Ohio was acquired. Are not these documents, rights and title deeds, which the people of Kentucky may proudly point out to the cavillers against her title? No private proprie- tor, no freeholder in the land, can exhibit a better connected chain of title to his possessions, than the State of Kentucky can shew to her domain. In this investigation, the author has not thought it within his province, to engage in metaphysical dis- cussions of natural right. He gladly prefers to such unsettled discussions, the authority and practical decisions of the govern-
. On the Ohio river, near Big Beaver Creek.
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ment and the high judicial tribunals of his country. Nor have the statesmen and jurists of the United States differed from those of the great European powers on these high questions of social rights and political obligations between them and the Indian tribes on this continent. This relation is forcibly stated in the following extract from the negotiations at Ghent, on the part of the American ministers .* "The Indians residing with- in the United States, are so far independent, that they live under their own customs, and not under the laws of the United States; that their rights upon the lands where they inhabit, or hunt, are secured to them by boundaries defined in amicable treaties between the United States and themselves; and that wherever these boundaries are varied, it is also by amicable and voluntary treaties, by which they receive from the United States ample compensation for every right they have to the lands ceded to them. They are so far dependent as not to have the right to dispose of their lands to any private persons, nor to any power other than the United States, and to be under their protec- tion alone, and not under that of any other power." This sub- · ject is further enlarged as follows: "the United States while intending never to acquire lands from the Indians otherwise than peaceably, and with their free consent, are fully determined in that manner, progressively, and in proportion as their growing population may require, to reclaim from a state of nature, and to bring into cultivation, every portion of the territory contained within their acknowledged boundaries. In thus providing for the support of millions of civilized beings, they will not violate any dictate of justice or humanity, for they will not only give to the few thousand savages scattered over that territory, an ample equivalent for any right they may surrender, but will always leave them the possession of lands more than they can cultivate, and more than adequate to their subsistence, comfort, and enjoy- ment by cultivation."
But the author is not disposed in this deduction of title founded on solemn treaties, such as have from time immemorial governed the relations of political societies, to overlook the valor and
· State Papers, vol. ix. 396, 406
1 ... .
5
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enduring hardihood, by which the rights of Kentucky have been confirmed and sealed in the blood and by the arms of her sons. The right of arms and of conquest are parts of the law of na- tions; and the people of Kentucky are entitled to their operation, as much as every other body politic. Such indeed, is the uncer- tain condition of even civilized society, that helpless are the plainest rights of men, which are not supported and vindicated when necessary, by the courage and the manly firmness of their possessors. To the fruits of this courage and endurance of suf- fering in every appalling form, no portion of the western country has superior claim to that of Kentucky. She has been the nursing mother of the west, the blood of her children has flowed freely on every battle field; and now, let them and their poster- ity enjoy the honors so manfully won.
CHAPTER II.
Policy of the British Government-Proclamation of 1763-Violations of it-Visit of Dr. Walker in 1747-Names the Shawanee river, Cumberland-Visit of John Finley-of Daniel Boone -- Long hunters-Visit of Capt. Thomas Bullitt and MeAfees-Surveys of Louisville-Simon Kenton-Burning of Hendricks-Adventures of the McAfces -- James Harrod settles Harrodsburg-Battle of Point Pleasant -- Treaty of 1774-Treaty of 1775-Settlement of Boonesborough and St. Asaphs-Indian method of siege.
The British government seems to have suspected the policy of extending her colonies freely, on this side the Alleganies; though several large grants of land had been made to different land companies .* The proclamation of the king, however, in 1763, expressly prohibited the granting warrants of survey, or passing "patents for any lands beyond the heads or sources of any. of the rivers, which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the west of north-west." But so irresistible is the love of adven- ture in the carly state of society, so irrepressible is its fondness for new and unexplored scenes of enterprise, that as was once said in the senate of the United States, "you might as well inhibit the fish from swimming down the western rivers to the sca, as to prohibit the people from settling on the new lands."
+ 4th vol. Franklin's Works; Ohio Settlement; Marshall's Colonial History, p. 251. B *
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The whole history of our country, and particularly of its wes- tern section, is an exemplification of this enterprising spirit: nor could tenfold the energies of the British government have repressed this darling passion of society. Accordingly it was found seeking its gratification, by numerous pioneers, who sometimes singly, and at other times in parties, little stronger, considering the fearful odds of enemies and distance, opposed to them, engaged in exploring this new region of the West. No doubt the military conflicts of our countrymen with the French and Indians, in the war of '55, and the distinguished success with which it closed, must have brought many gallant spirits acquainted imperfectly with the country on the lower Ohio; and as far as it was imperfect, so much more would their ar- dent imaginations enhance its interest, and would their curiosity be stimulated. Indeed, the actual occupation of the country acquired by the peace of 1763, obliged the British officers to pass through the western country to St. Vincents, as Vincennes was then called, to Kaskaskias and Cahokia.
Previous to this time, as early as* 1747, Dr. Walker, of Vir- ginia led an exploring party through the north-eastern portion of the State and gave the name of Cumberland, after the "Bloody Duke," of that name, to the present river, formerly called Shawanee river, and likewise Louisa, to the Big Sandy river on the east, a name now confined to one of its upper forks; but which was at first applied to the Kentucky .; This party, having unfortunately fallen upon the most mountainous portion of the State, did not effect much, in favor of Kentucky by their report. John Finley, of North Carolina, and his com- panions, are said by Daniel Boone, to have visited the country, in 1767, without however leaving, it is believed, a trace of their expedition beyond their names; now so briefly, but unavoida- bly recorded. Two years after the return of Finley, Daniel Boone tells us in his meagre #narrative, that "on the first of May , 1769, he left his peaceable habitation on the Yadkin Ri- ver, in North-Carolina," in quest of the country of Kentucky,
+ Dr Walker do informed John Brown, Em., of Frankfort. t McAfee and Ray. } Com- posed by John Filson, from the dictation of Boone, In 1784.
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in company with John Finley, John Stewart, and three others. To a philosophic observer in the ancient and ripened states of society, could any thing appear more forlorn and quixotic, than thus to abandon peaccable habitations in the very spring and seed time of the year; to go in quest of a distant and unknown country, infested with wild beasts and enemies not less savage; a region beset with every variety of difficulty and hardship! Yet while these difficulties deter the quiet and industrious, they only stir the blood and string the nerves of the enterprising and the restless. Both characters have their appropriate periods and sphere of social utility.
Our daring explorer continues; "we proceeded successfully, and after a long and fatiguing journey, through a mountainous wilderness in a western direction, on the 7th day of June follow- ing, we found ourselves on Red River, the northernmost branch of the Kentucky river; where John Finley had formerly been trading with the Indians, and from the top of an eminence, we saw with pleasure; the beautiful level of Kentucky." Let us attend to the first recorded impressions, which, this new coun- try made upon its hardy and fearless explorers; "we found" says the narrative "every where abundance of wild beasts of all sorts through this vast forest." The buffaloes (or the bison of the naturalist) were more frequent than I have seen, says Boone, "cattle in the settlements, browzing on the leaves, or cropping the herbage on these extensive plains." The party continued "hunting with great success until the 22d of December follow- ing." Soon after this, John Stewart was killed, the first victim, as far as is known, in the hecatombs of white men, offered by the Indians to the god of battles, in their desperate and ruth- less contention for Kentucky. Our author or pamphleteer then says, that he and his brother Squire Boone, who had reached the country some time before in pursuit of his roving relative, continued during the winter undisturbed, until the first of May; when the former returned to the settlements, as the more densely inhabited parts of the country were called.
During this same year,* a party of about forty stout hunters,
* Marshall, 2, 9.
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"from New River, Holston and Clinch" united in a hunting expe- dition west of the Cumberland Mountains.
Nine of this party, led on by Col. James Knox, reached Ken- tucky; and, from the time they were absent from home, they "obtained the name of the Long Hunters." This expedition reached "the country south of the Kentucky river," and became acquainted with Green river, and the lower part of the Cumber- land.
In addition to these parties, so naturally stimulated by the ardent curiosity incident to early and comparatively, idle so- ciety, the claimants of military bounty lands which had been obtained from the British crown, for services against the French, furnished a new and keen band of western explorers. Their land warrants were surveyed on the Kenhawa and the Ohio; though most positively against the very letter of the royal pro- clamation of '63. But at this distance from the royal court, it was nothing new in the history of government that edicts ema- nating, even from the king in council, should be but imperfectly regarded. However, this may be, land warrants were actually surveyed on the Kenhawa as early as 1772, and in 1773, seve- ral surveyors were deputied to lay out bounty lands on the Ohio river.
Amongst others Thomas Bullitt, uncle to the late Alexander Scott Bullitt, first lieutenant governor of Kentucky; and Han- cock Taylor, engaged in this adventurous work. These gen- tlemen with their company were overtaken on the 28th of May, 1773, by the McAfees, whose exertions will hereafter occupy a conspicuous station in this narrative.
On the 29th, the party in one boat and four canoes, reached the Ohio river, and elected Bullitt their captain.
There is a romantic incident connected with this gentleman's descent of the Ohio, evincing singular intrepidity and presence of mind; it is taken from his journal, as Mr. Marshall says, and the author has found it substantially confirmed by the McAfee papers. While on his voyage, he left his boat and went alone through the woods to the Indian town of Old Chilicothe, on the Scioto. He arrived in the midst of the town undiscovered by the
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Indians, until he was waving his white flag as a token of peace. He was immediately asked what news? Was he from the Long Knife? And why, if he was a peace-messenger, he had not sent a runner? Bullitt, undauntedly replied, that he had no bad news; was from the Long Knife, and as the red men and the whites were at peace, he had came among his brothers to have a friendly talk with them, about living on the other side of the Ohio; that he had no runner swifter than himself; and, that he was in haste and could not wait the return of a runner. "Would you," said he, "if you were very hungry, and had killed a deer, send your squaw to town to tell the news, and wait her return before you eat?" This simple address to their own feelings, soon put the Indians in good humor, and at his desire a coun- cil was assembled to hear his talk the next day. Captain Bul- litt then made strong assurances of friendship on the part of the whites and acknowledged that these "Sha wanees and Delawares, our nearest neighbors," "did not get any of the money or blan -; kets given for the land, which I and my people are going to set- tle. But it is agreed by the great men, who own the land, that they will make a present to both the Delawares and Shawanees, the next year; and the year following, that shall be as good." On the ensuing day, agreeably to the very deliberate manner of the Indians in council, Capt. Bullitt was informed, that "he seemed kind and friendly, and that it pleased them well." That as to "settling the country on the other side of the Ohio with your people, we are particularly pleased that they are not to disturb us in our hunting. For we must hunt, to kill meat for our women and children, and to get something to buy our powder and lead with, and to get us blankets and clothing." In these talks, there seems a strange want of the usual sagacity of the Indians as to the consequences of white men settling on their hunting grounds; so contrary to their melancholy experience for a century and a half previous; yet, the narrative is unim- peachable. On the part of Bullitt, too, the admission of no com- pensation to the Delawares and Shawanees, appears to be irre- concilable with the treaty at fort Stanwix with the master tribes of the confederacy, the Six Nations. However, this may
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be, the parties separated in perfect harmony, and Captain Bul- litt proceeded to the Falls. Here he pitched his camp above the mouth of Beargrass creek, retiring of a night to the upper point of the shoal above Corn Island, opposite to the present city of Louisville. It was this gentleman, who, according to the testi- mony of Jacob Sodowsky, a respectable farmer, late of Jessa- , mine county, in this State, first laid off the town of Louisville, in August, 1773. He likewise surveyed Bullitt's Lick in the adjoining county, of the same name.
Another surveyor by the name of James Douglass, followed Captain Bullitt during the same year, and on his way to the Falls landed near the celebrated collection of mammoth bones, which goes by the emphatic name of Big Bone Lick. Here Douglass remained forming his tent poles of the ribs of some of the enormous animals, which formerly frequented this remarka- ble spot, and on these ribs blankets were stretched for a shelter from the sun and the rain. Many teeth were from eight to nine, and some ten feet in length; one in particular was fastened in a perpendicular direction in the clay and mud, with the end six feet above the surface of the ground; an effort was made, by six men in vain, to extract it from its mortise. The lick exten- ded to about ten acres of land bare of timber, and of grass or herbage; much trodden, eaten and depressed below the original surface; with here and there a nob remaining to shew its for- mer elevation. Thereby indefinitely indicating a time when this resort of numerous animals had not taken place. Through the midst of this lick ran the creek, and on each side of which, a never-failing stream of salt water, whose fountains were in the open field. To this lick, from all parts of the neighboring country, were converging roads, made by the wild animals that resorted to the place for the salt, which both the earth and the water contained.
When the McAfces visited this lick with Captain Bullitt, se- veral Delaware Indians were present; one of these being ques- tioned by James McAfee, about the origin and nature of these extraordinary bones, replied, that they were then just as they had been, when he first saw them in his childhood. Yet this
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Indian appeared to be at least seventy years of age. Collections of the bones of animals, which have ceased to tenant the earth, are now familiar not only in the United States, but in other parts of the world; but none exceed the one in question, of the bones of the mammoth or the mastodon. About this time Colonel John Floyd visited Kentucky, as the deputy of Francis Preston, who- was surveyor of Fincastle co. in Virginia, and was one of the party conducted 'in' by Boone; he afterwards returned in 1775, settled six miles from the Falls, at what was called Floyd's sta- tion on the middle fork of Beargrass creek; he afterwards dis- tinguished himself in the history of the State. About this pe- riod, possibly not till 1774,* Simon Kenton, who afterwards, temporarily changed his name to Butler, descended the Ohio to Cabin creek, a few miles above the present Maysville. Shortly afterwards, Kenton in company with two others, reached the neighborhood of Mayslick, and for the first time, was struck with the uncommon beauty of the country and the fertility of the soil. Here the travelers fell in with a great buffalo trace, which, in a few hours brought them to the Lower Blue Lick. "The flats upon each side of the river were crowded with im- mense herds of buffalo, that had come down from the interior for the sake of the salt; and a number of elk were seen upon the bare ridges, which surrounded the springs." The same pro- fusion of game presented itself at the Upper Blue Lick. "Re- turning as quick as possible, they built a cabin on the spot, where the town of Washington, in Mason county, now stands; and having cleared an acre of ground in the centre of a large canebrake, they planted it with Indian corn." Soon after this, Kenton and his two companions, having left one Hendricks, a fellow hunter at their camp, for the purpose of escorting another companion on his way home, upon returning, found the camp plandered with every mark of violence; and at a little distance in a low ravine, they obseved a thick smoke ascending, as if from a fire just beginning to burn. The party "believing that Hendricks had fallen into the hands of the Indians," who were now burning him, fled with a precipitation unworthy of their
McClung's Sketches, 99, 101
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leader's subsequent fame; and they did not venture to return, until the evening of the next day. The fire was still burning, though faintly, and after carefully reconnoitering the adjacent ground, they found the skull and bones of their unfortunate friend, as far as they had been left unconsumed. Hendricks had evidently, been burned to death by a party of Indians, and was the first, and as it is believed the last of such diabolical sa- crifices, on the soil of Kentucky. Still, this most savage of the Indian customs, was often fearfully, and with every aggravation of torment inflicted on prisoners at their towns: It seems, however, during the late war of 1812, that it was greatly inter- mitted, if not entirely abandoned. Such is a faint instance of some of the horrors, endured by the early hunters of Kentucky. Peace to their ashes, and everlasting honor to their manly memory !
The McAfees next present themselves as an energetic deter- mined family of men, even in the hardy and adventurous times which occupy this history. * This party consisting of James, George, and Robert McAfee, James McCoun, Jr. and Samuel Adams, left Sinking creek in Bottertourt county, Virginia, on the first of June, 1773; they struck across the country to New river, where, having sent back their horses by John McCoun and James Pawling, they descended the river in canoes. The party continued in company with Bullitt and his companions as has been mentioned, until they came to the mouth of the Ken- tucky river. At this point the company separated, Capt. Bullitt proceeding, as before observed, to the Falls, and the McAfees, with Hancock Taylor, ascended the Kentucky river, or Lerisa. (possibly a corruption of Louisa,) to Drennon's lick creek, which they went up, as high as the lick. Here, they found a white man of the name of Drennon, who had crossed the country from the Big Bone Lick, and got before the McAfees one day. The same appearances presented themselves here, as at all the , licks of the western country, a profusion of every sort of game struggling for the salt, all in sight at once; and the roads about the lick, as trodden and wide, as in the neighborhood of a
« Mic A fee papers in the possession of Gen. R. B. McAfee, in perfect preservation.
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