USA > Kentucky > Madison County > Boonesborough > Boonesborough; its founding, pioneer struggles, Indian experiences, Transylvania days, and revolutionary annals; > Part 6
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stronghold, for, according to one of its defenders,1 its whole fighting force then amounted to but thirty men and twenty boys.2 One may well believe it after the loss of the salt-makers, the return home of the militia and discouraged immigrants, and the absence of a few of the riflemen with Clark. The women,3 though, should have been reckoned in- they certainly deserved to be-for in courage and marksmanship they were not to be despised. Neither concealment nor surprise was attempted by the Indians, not only because they knew that the garrison was already warned, but for other reasons. They were hopeful of capturing the place without a fight. They were greatly attached to Boone,4 who understood them so well, and who certainly was not a vindictive enemy, and in spite of his desertion they were confident that he was equally attached to them and could be persuaded to return to his adopted home. They evidently believed that the garrison was so favorably impressed with their
' William Bailey Smith.
2 In addition to the boys who lived in the fort were several who were there temporarily, having come in as pack-horse drivers.
3 Jemima Boone and the wives and daughters of the few families still remaining in the fort, including Richard Calloway's and Squire Boone's, comprised almost the entire white female population during the siege.
4 There is nothing more plainly expressed in Boone's Narrative than this. He declares that he had the "entire friendship" of the Shawanese King ; that he "had a great share in the affections of his new parents, brothers, sisters, and friends," and that the Indians refused a ransom of five hundred dollars for him.
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good faith at the Blue Licks surrender, and their really humane treatment of the captured salt-makers, and that the settlers had suffered such long and terrible privations that all that was needed to insure a capitulation was the appearance of an overwhelming force, an assurance of honorable terms, of a safe conduct to the tempting flesh- pots of Detroit, and of a comfortable refuge there from the certain miseries of the approaching winter. It is a mat- ter of record that Hamilton himself labored for a while under the same delusion,2 and this belief of the savages, strange as it may sound to civilized ears, cut no small figure in this event, partly accounts for their remarkable forbearance at the beginning of the siege, and resulted in great advantage to the garrison. There is no contem- porary evidence to support the time-honored but fanciful assertion that the enemy marched up to Boonesborough "brandishing their rifles and with fearful yells." The truth is that they made no hostile demonstrations what- ever when they first appeared, but, on the contrary, they immediately sent forward an unarmed English-speaking messenger with a flag of truce, and as he passed over
" It is only fair to the much-abused Hamilton to say that the conduct of the Ohio Indians at this time tallied with the declaration in his report of July 6, 1781, that he then, at least, tried to carry out the orders of Lord George Germain to restrain the Indians from barbarities. (See Hal- dimand manuscripts.)
2 See Hamilton to Carleton in Haldimand manuscripts.
MIM-1900
-......
FORT BOONESBOROUGH
Just before the Celebrated Siege of September, 1,78.
Design, from the Henderson Plan and Historical Data, by the Author.)
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the cleared ground that intervened between the sheltered Indians and the fort there were no more alarming tokens of a martial host than the neighing and stamping of a multitude of pack-horses and ponies.
In its shape and outlines, at least, Boonesborough at this time was substantially what it had always been, but instead of but one double bastion, as formerly, another story had been added to each of the three single ones, so that now all four of the corners were provided with regular block-houses, and cabins occupied some of the spaces guarded before only by the pickets of the stockade.
The lonely station never looked more peaceful than it did in the cool of this early summer-like morning, for it was determined before the Indians arrived to conceal as much as possible the feebleness of its force by keeping close within the stockade and out of sight of the enemy. The lumbering gates were. closed, and the sounds of life were so faint and few that but for the smoke that ascended from the rude kitchen chimneys the inex- perienced might have imagined that the garrison slept. But all the same every soul within the station was keen- ly alive to the magnitude and the imminence of the danger, and hearts were beating painfully, eyes were glued to port-holes, and ears were strained to catch the slightest sound as the messenger of the savages advanced.
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Mounting a stump within easy calling distance of the fort, and keeping his white flag conspicuously displayed, he gave notice of his presence by the usual prolonged and peculiar "hello" of the woodsman. There was no reply and no sign that he was even seen. The leaders of Boonesborough understood Indian nature too well to betray their weakness by either hurry or excitement, and it was only after the call was repeated that an answering "hello" came from the block-house nearest to him. He then announced himself as a messenger from a British force, with instructions to say that its commander was the bearer of letters from Governor Hamilton' to Captain Boone, and desired a meeting of the opposing chiefs to consider their contents. The garrison, secretly delighted with this chance to open negotiations with the hope of gaining time for the arrival of the Holston men, con- sented, after a deliberate silence and apparent reluctance, to receive the letters, but only under the guns of the fort and at the hands of three unarmed leaders of the enemy. These conditions were agreed to, and the bearer of the flag of truce not only quickly announced the presence of Black Fish, DeQuindre, and Moluntha, but, as a token of their good faith, brought from them a present of seven roasted buffalo tongues,2 which had a
* Bradford and McAfee.
2 Bradford.
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welcome from the half-starved settlers that the enemy little dreamed of. The two chiefs and the Canadian were met by Captain Boone, Colonel Calloway, and Major W. B. Smith,' carrying only a pipe and a white handker- chief tied to a ramrod, and the messenger acted as interpreter. This meeting with his adopted father was embarrassing enough to the runaway Boone, for Black Fish had in truth made him a member of his family, but even more was he troubled at meeting Moluntha, "the Shaw- anese King," who had been particularly kind to him,2 for that chief sorrowfully reproached him for killing his son "the other day over the Ohio," but Boone assured him that that act was not his. Hamilton's letters, which were delivered by Black Fish, evidently contained a demand for the surrender of the post on terms that both the Governor and the Indians thought too seductive to be resisted, for the old chief, with neighborly consideration, assured the Boonesborough delegation that " he had come to take the people away easily; that he had brought along forty horses for the old folks, the women, and the children to ride."3 The pioneers, apparently pleased, but intent on delay, proposed a truce of two days to enable
" Some writers on this subject hopelessly confuse the actions of the messenger and the proceedings of this meeting with the subsequent treaty conference, observing neither order nor the sequence of the events.
2 Boone's Narrative.
3 Bradford.
I2
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all the garrison to consider the Governor's terms. To this the complacent savages, blinded by the bloodless capitulation at the Blue Licks, immediately consented, and the meeting closed. After an astonishingly free and friendly stroll together about the exterior of the still silent fort, the parties separated, and each retired in high good humor to its own camp, from which neither side was to make a hostile movement until the expiration of the truce.
Great as were the odds against them, and desperate as the situation seemed, the men and women of Boones- borough made short work of Hamilton's proposition. Convinced by this time that the enemy had no artillery, confident from the statement about the "forty horses" that the savages were ignorant of the weakness of the garrison, protected by walls that laughed at rifles-walls which the benumbed salt-makers had so fatally lacked - and hoping still for the Virginia militia who had made no sign, they unanimously decided against a surrender and proceeded at once to make every arrangement that the emergency permitted to withstand a siege. For- tunately the fort had already been repaired, and the horses of the scouting party at least were within the stockade, but, alas, the well had been neglected until every soul was needed for the work of defense alone, and all sud-
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denly realized that they were to be cut off from their regular water-supply when the weather was hottest and when the very fate of the garrison might depend upon it. But, to the surprise and delight of the settlers, there were no hostile movements whatever from the Indians when trips were made to and from the fort to the Lick Spring, and all the water was secured that could possibly be obtained without exciting their suspicions. There was a general cleaning of rifles and picking of flints, powder was distributed, an extra stock of bullets moulded, and the women and children, as well as the men, though intensely excited, resolutely pushed on the preparations. Toward sunset there was another striking exhibition of the forbearance of the singularly friendly savages, for the cows and other live stock were unmolested by them and came up to the back of the fort as usual, and they were not only brought in and penned, but as soon as darkness permitted the garden that had been possible only under the very guns of the fort was gleaned of such of its scant store of vegetables as could be used by man or beast. That night a sentinel was on the lookout in every block-house, and every man in the station, whether watch- ing or dozing, held on to his rifle, but no shot was fired either then or the next day, for the painted warriors hon- orably observed the truce to its close, and then in the
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cool of the second evening the white flag was seen again, and Black Fish and his little party soon arrived in front of the fort and confidently awaited the announcement of its surrender. The answer from Boone himself that the garrison had "determined to defend the fort while a man was living," and the sudden realization that their favorite and enforced kinsman had no intention of returning to his adopted tribe, astonished, disappointed, and exasper- ated the Indians, who, in this matter, seem to have indeed been "children of the forest." But they were as grave and impassive as ever when they heard the news, when they stepped aside to deliberate, and when, after the speedy adoption of a new plan of action, they returned to the meeting-place. They were convinced that there was no chance for either a complete surprise or a peace- ful surrender of the place. To attempt to storm it with no appliances whatever for that purpose was not to be thought of and would be not only directly contrary to their usual wily and cautious course, but especially dan- gerous and unadvisable in view of the recent report of reinforcements,' which the conduct of the garrison seemed
" Before they started on this expedition the Shawanese had captured a Kentucky prisoner who, for his own purposes, no doubt, gave out the news that the forts there "had lately been reinforced with three com- panies each of seventy men." (See Hamilton to Haldimand about Sep- tember 1, 1778, in Haldimand manuscripts.)
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to confirm. The decision was for stratagem, and the settlers, who expected an immediate opening of hostilities, were in turn astonished when conciliatory overtures were made by DeQuindre through the interpreter, DeChaine. The Canadian said they had come to talk of peace, not of war; that they had not contemplated war even if a sur- render was declined; if they had, they never would have allowed the cattle to enter the stockade; that Governor Hamilton's orders were to avoid bloodshed, and that, therefore, he suggested that a meeting be held to frame a treaty of peace, and that if nine representative men from the garrison would sign such a treaty, the Indians would withdraw.1 Ordinarily such a proposition from such a greatly superior force would have been regarded at once as sinister and absurd, but the circumstances were far from being ordinary. The pioneers had the same strong reason as ever for wanting to gain time. They hoped a little from the genuine friendship of Hamilton for Boone, more from the affection of the Shawanese for their adopted
' Speaking of this proposition of DeQuindre, Colonel Bowman says in his letter to Clark of October 14, 1778 (see Appendix) : "Hearing that the Indians gladly treated with you at the Illinois gave them (the Boones- borough men) reason to think that the Indians were sincere." In a letter of September 5, 1778, Hamilton says: "For the French inhabitants at all the outposts, I firmly believe, there is not one in twenty whose oath of allegiance would have force enough to bind him to his duty; added to this, that the greatest part of the traders among them, who are called English, are rebels in their hearts." (Haldimand manuscripts.)
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kinsman, but above all they were encouraged to treat by the wonderful transformation that Clark had brought about in "the Illinois." They knew that there the French Canadians had not only become enthusiastic adherents of the American cause, but had strongly influ- enced the savages the same way. The settlers had heard of the gratifying change of front of the Indians at Cahokia, and rumors were rife that even the British traders and interpreters were secretly working against the King, and that he had enemies inside the very walls of Detroit itself. These rumors were subsequently verified, and, with the light we now have from British sources, one can imagine without much effort the possibility of a repe- tition of the Cahokia transaction at Boonesborough at this time if another Clark had then confronted the Indians and Canadians.1 Hopeful, but especially intent on gaining time, the Kentuckians consented to the conference to be held the next morning ; but, suspicious ever of the savages, they took care to do so only on condition that it be held
I The united influence of the French Alliance and Clark's success on the Indians and Canadians of the West was great. One of the most important leaders of the Boonesborough expedition, Black Bird, went over to the Americans immediately after this siege, as did, later on, one of the officers, Baubin, who had aided in the capture of the salt-makers at the Blue Licks. Some of LaMothe's company of Detroit militia deserted Ham- ilton, and so many others-Indians, officers, and men-proved false, that Hamilton afterward declared that "the secret treason" of such had ruined him. (See Haldimand manuscripts.)
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in the hollow at the Lick Spring,' which could be easily swept by riflemen from the bastion nearest to it. Black Fish and his colleagues retired to their camp, and the garrison selected its peace commissioners. As far as known, they were Daniel Boone, Richard Calloway, Will- iam Bailey Smith, and William Buchanan, with their "subalterns," Squire Boone, Flanders Calloway, Stephen Hancock, and William Hancock.2 Instructions were given for every woman and child, white and black, in the fort to make a showing at the pickets the next morning, as men, to impress the enemy with the strength of the gar- rison, and for that purpose every old hat and hunting- shirt in the station was gathered up, and some new ones even were hastily manufactured. 3
The next morning, Wednesday, the 9th, when Black Fish, DeQuindre, the older chiefs, interpreters, and attend- ants filed down to the meeting-place they did not fail to note the large number of hatted heads that bobbed up at the top of the stockade to see them pass, and were doubtless disgusted at the apparent confirmation of the report as to the strength of the garrison. What they
" John Bowman and R. B. McAfee manuscripts.
2 John Bowman, Peck, and records Circuit Court Clerk's office, Madi- son County, Kentucky. Boone is indefinite and gives no names. Accord- ing to Judge William Chenault, Buchanan was from Virginia, where he had been a captain of militia.
3 Daniel Trabue.
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did not see when Boone and his companions joined them was the little band of sharpshooters that moved at once to the block-house that commanded the rendezvous. Both parties, unarmed, sought the shade of the great sycamores near the Lick Spring, where the pioneers were invited to seat themselves on deerskins and panther-skins spread on the ground by their hospitable enemies, who passed around the pipe and the whisky. The day was spent in pow-wows, which the settlers protracted, and in feasting - the besiegers seeking, with suspicious generosity, to beguile the half-starved "rebels" with eatables and drinkables from the British commissary department at Detroit, such as most of them had not seen, much less tasted, in many a long month. By sunset a compact, inscrutable to this day, was agreed to, which was to be signed the next morning. The settlers seemed completely hoodwinked, hilarity reigned, and DeQuindre was confident that the royal standard of England would quickly float over the wooden walls of Boonesborough. Neither party was sin- cere. That night, unseen, a strong detachment of the Indian army, detailed to assist in a surprise, hid itself in the weeds and underbrush that skirted the hollow. The next morning when Black Fish led the way toward a rude table under the great elm, the watchful settlers were struck by the fact that stalwart young bucks had taken
2
II.
Daniel Boone
CLIMAX OF THE TREATY.
Treachery of the British and Indians, Designed from Historical Data by the Author, with copies of Autographs of Boone and DeQuindre, referred to on pages 103 and 168.)
Даднских дедисаду
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the place of most of the old Indians who had figured as attendants the day before,' and they mentioned it, but Black Fish coolly and unblushingly declared that his party was unchanged. Be that as it may, every rifleman in the fort was ordered to keep his eye on the hollow and to fire on the redskins at the waving of a hat. The sham treaty was signed, and Black Fish then declared that it must be confirmed by what he said was the Indian cus- tom - a hand-shake all around, two braves to each white brother .? It was the signal for treachery. The young Indians, in apparently high good-humor, seized the hands of the pioneers, but in the very act they betrayed their purpose by too tight a grasp and by a sudden movement toward the underbrush. Suspicious, alert, and quick, with the quickness of desperation the hunters freed themselves almost as soon as touched, and in the same thrilling moment, as they sprang aside and waved their hats, came the deadly crack of the ready rifles from the block-house, and the unarmed savages vanished in the surrounding thickets.3 Then up the steep hill dashed the fleeing pioneers, bounding from tree to tree and from stump to stump to protect themselves from the hail of bullets sent after them by the enraged ambuscaders, whose carefully
I Bradford.
2 Bowman ..
3 Bowman, Smith, Boone, and Trabue.
I3
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planned rush on the fort was summarily defeated, as they were far too wise to expose themselves in the open to the fire of such a force as they believed defended the rough but formidable stockade. At least two hundred guns were fired by the invisible combatants, but the leaden storm was mainly spent on the logs of the block-house and on the sycamores at the lick, for all the "rebels" but one gained the fort at last unhurt. Squire Boone was wounded in the left shoulder, and another "com- missioner," caught within range of the Indian rifles, remained for many weary hours flat on his face behind a stump, and only reached the fort when night came down and hid him from savage view. But the firing, the swift- running, and the "treeing" that followed the treachery at the elm were succeeded with surprising suddenness by totally different sounds and movements in the camp of the enemy. All during the afternoon there was a bustle that indicated the gathering up and gearing of ponies and the loading of pack-horses, and many orders that were given with suspicious loudness were understood by members of the garrison familiar with the Indian tongue. The Shawanese evidently meant it to be known that they were disgusted with their luck and were preparing to leave. That night - Thursday -a heavy detail of Indians was again concealed as close to the fort as possible, and
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the next morning just before day, when it was still too dark for the watching settlers to distinguish any thing clearly, what seemed the whole force of the enemy noisily retreated.1 Their horses were heard splashing and clat- tering as they crossed the river. The calls of DeQuindre's bugle resounded through the neighboring hills, and then grew fainter and fainter, and died away at last in the dark and wooded distance. Then the marching Indians quickly and noiselessly retraced their steps and posted themselves in ambush near the buffalo road and close to the north bank of the river. And so another trap was set for the pioneers, but it was set in vain. When the sun rose that Friday morning it was on a quiet and peaceful scene. There was neither sight nor sound of the enemy, nor the faintest hint of an ambuscade. The savages seemed of a certainty to have left the station far behind them, but all the same no settler stepped foot outside its walls. How the pioneers detected their danger is not now known, but detect it they did, and the gates of the fort remained as securely barred as ever. This convinced the impatient Indians that their trick had failed, and inside of an hour they were as thick about Boonesborough as before. All that day, protected by trees and stumps and prostrate behind logs and hillocks,
I R. B. McAfee.
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the savages directed their rifle balls at every crack and port-hole of the station that might possibly have life behind it. The deep gorge of the Kentucky echoed and re-echoed with the shots of the contending forces, and at night the surrounding forests, the solemn cliffs, and the everlasting hills were doubly sublime in the red glow of a multitude of savage camp-fires. The siege was now prosecuted in earnest, and every effort short of direct assault was made to reduce the wooden stronghold. Such an assault up and over no small area of cleared and open ground, that could be swept by such a force- of sharp- shooters as the Indians believed the fort contained, was not a part of the cautious savage programme. This was made still more evident the very day the enemy returned from the pretended retreat. Between the spells of firing new sounds like those of woodchoppers at work were heard coming up from the river bank back of the fort, and shortly after a broad muddy streak was noticed to commence in the water at the same locality and extend further and further down the stream. The curiosity these suspicious signs awakened inside the station grew at once into lively alarm, when, after no little exposure and risk, one of the garrison reported that he had caught a glimpse over the cliff of a pole moving as if it was being used to loosen' dirt. All jumped to the conclusion that DeQuindre,
1 Trabue, McAfee, and Draper.
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concealed and protected by the cliff, was trying to push a mine from the river bank up to or under the back wall of the fort, and that the incessant firing of the Indians was mainly intended to hide his design by drowning the sounds of the work and diverting attention from its loca- tion. As it was important to determine as quickly as possible whether this surmise was correct, the settlers erected of thick lumber a rough but bullet-proof attempt at a watch-tower.1 It was built on top of the cabin which three years before had served Henderson as a kitchen, and which was evidently nearest to the scene of the suspected mischief. The fears of the garrison were now confirmed, for the watchers saw the fresh earth as it was thrown from the excavation into the river. It was a thrilling discovery. Great and unexpected dangers threat- ened them. The allies certainly designed either to blow up the fort or to suddenly capture it by throwing their force into it through this underground passage. But the garrison faced these new perils as resolutely as it had confronted the others. The tower was made still stronger to serve as a sort of "battery," and day and night it was occupied by scant details of riflemen, who wearily watched with ready guns for any suspicious thing that might spring up outside the wall from the now danger- charged earth. Inside the fort little relays of its defenders
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