Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 76

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II > Part 76

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The fort was now vigorously assailed by the Indian force, and as vigorously defended by the garrison. The men were constantly at their posts, whilst the women were actively engaged in moulding bullets. But the weakness of the garrison was not their only grievance. The scarcity of powder and ball. one of the greatest inconveniences to which the settlers were not unfrequently exposed, began now to be seriously felt. There were no indications that the siege would be speedily abandoned ; and a protracted resistance seemed impracticable, with- out an additional supply of the munitions of war. The settlements on Holston could furnish a supply-but how was it to be obtained ? And, even if men could be found rash and desperate enough to undertake the journey, how improbable was it that the trip could be accomplished in time for the relief to be available. Logan stepped forward, in this extremity, determined to take the dangerous office upon himself. Encouraging his men with the prospect of a safe and speedy re- turn, he left the fort under cover of the night, and, attended by two faithful com- panions of his own selection. crept cautiously through the Indian lines without discovery. Shunning the ordinary route through Cumberland Gap, he moved, with incredible rapidity, over mountain and valley-arrived at the settlement on the Holston-procured the necessary supply of powder and lead-immediately retraced his steps, and was again in the fort in ten days from the time of his de- parture. He returned alone. The necessary delay in the transportation of the stores, induced him to entrust them to the charge of his companions ; and his presence at St. Asaph's was all-important to the safety of its inhabitants. His return inspired them with fresh courage ; and, in a few days, the appearance of Col. Bowman's party compelled the Indians to retire.

In the fall of the year 1779, Samuel Daviess, who resided in Bedford county,

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Virginia, moved with his family to Kentucky, and lived for a time at Whitley's station, in Lincoln. He subsequently moved to a place called Gilmer's Lick, some six or seven miles distant from said station, where he built a cabin, cleared some land, which he put in corn next season, not apprehending any danger from the Indians, although he was considered a frontier settler. But this imaginary state of security did not last long ; for on a morning in the month of August, in the year 1782, having stepped a few paces from his door, he was suddenly sur- prised by an Indian's appearing between him and the door, with tomahawk up- lifted, almost within striking distance. In this unexpected condition, and being entirely unarmed, his first thought was, that by running around the house, he could enter the door in safety ; but, to his surprise, in attempting to effect this object, as he approached the door he found the house full of Indians. Being closely pursued by the Indian first mentioned, he made his way into the corn - field, where he concealed himself, with much difficulty, until the pursuing Indian had returned to the house.

Unable as he was to render any relief to his family. (there being five Indians), he ran with the utmost speed to the station of his brother James Daviess-a dis- tance of five miles. As he approached the station-his undressed condition told the tale of his distress, before he was able to tell it himself. Almost breathless, and with a faltering voice, he could only say, his wife and children were in the hands of the Indians. Scarcely was the communication made, when he obtained a spare gun, and the five men in the station, well armed, followed him to his resi- dence. When they arrived at the house, the Indians, as well as the family, were found to be gone, and no evidence appeared that any of the family had been killed. A search was made to find the direction the Indians had taken ; but ow- ing to the dryness of the ground, and the adroit manner in which they had departed, no discovery could be made. In this state of perplexity, the party, be- ing all good woodsmen, took that direction in pursuit of the Indians, which they thought it most probable they would take. After going a few miles, their atten- tion was arrested by the howling of a dog, which afterwards turned out to be a house-dog that had followed the family, and which the Indians had undertaken to kill, so as to avoid detection, which might happen from his occasionally bark- ing. In attempting to kill the dog, he was only wounded, which produced the howling that was heard. The noise thus heard satisfied them that they were near the Indians, and enabled them to rush forward with the utmost impetuosity. Two of the Indians being in the rear as spies, discovering the approach of the party, ran forward where the other Indians were with the family-one of them knocked down the oldest boy, about eleven years old. and while in the act of scalping him, was fired at, but without effect. Mrs. Daviess, seeing the agita- tation and alarm of the Indians, saved herself and sucking child by jumping into a sink hole. The Indians did not stand to make fight, but fled in the most pre- cipitate manner. In that way the family was rescued by nine o'clock in the morning, without the loss of a single life, and without any injury but that above mentioned. So soon as the boy had risen on his feet, the first word he spoke was, " curse that Indian. he has got my scalp."

After the family had been rescued, Mrs. Daviess gave the following account of the manner in which the Indians had acted. A few minutes after her husband had opened the door and stepped out of the house, four Indians rushed in, whilst the fifth, as she afterwards found out. was in pursuit of her husband. Herself and children were in bed when the Indians entered the house. One of the Indi- ans immediately made signs, by which she understood him to enquire how far it was to the next house. With an unusual presence of mind, knowing how im- portant it would be to make the distance as far as possible. she raised both hands, first counting the fingers of one hand then of the other-making a distance of eight miles. The Indian then signed to her that she must rise ; she immediately got up, and as soon as she could dress herself, commenced showing the Indians one article of clothing and then another, which pleased them very much : and in that way delayed them at the house nearly two hours. In the mean time, the In- dian who had been in pursuit of her husband returned, with his hands stained with poke berries, which he held up, and with some violent gestures and waving of his tomahawk. attempted to induce the belief, that the stain on his hands was the blood of her husband, and that he had killed him. She was enabled at once

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to discover the deception, and instead of producing any alarm on her part, she was satisfied that her husband had escaped uninjured.

After the savages had plundered the house of every thing that they could con- veniently carry off with them, they started, taking Mrs. Daviess and her chil- dren-seven in number-as prisoners, along with them. Some of the children were too young to travel as fast as the Indians wished, and discovering, as she believed, their intention to kill such of them as could not conveniently travel, she made the two oldest boys carry them on their backs. The Indians, in starting from the house, were very careful to leave no signs of the direction they had ta- ken, not even permitting the children to break a twig or weed as they passed along. They had not gone far, before an Indian drew his knife and cut off a few inches of Mrs. Daviess' dress, so that she would not be interrupted in traveling.

Mrs. Daviess was a woman of cool deliberate courage, and accustomed to han- dle the gun, so that she could shoot well, as many of the women were in the habit of doing in those days. She had contemplated, as a last resort, that if not rescued in the course of the day, when night came on and the Indians had fallen asleep, she would deliver herself and children by killing as many of the Indians as she could-thinking that in a night attack as many of them as remained would most probably run off. Such an attempt would now seem a species of madness ; but to those who were acquainted with Mrs. Daviess, little doubt was entertained, that if the attempt had been made, it would have proved successful.

The boy who had been scalped was greatly disfigured, as the hair never after grew upon that part of his head. He often wished for an opportunity to avenge himself upon the Indians for the injury he had received. Unfortunately for him- self, ten years afterwards, the Indians came to the neighborhood of his father and stole a number of horses. Himself and a party of men went in pursuit of them, and after following them for some days, the Indians finding that they were likely to be overtaken, placed themselves in ambush, and when their pursuers came up, killed young Daviess and one other man ; so that he ultimately fell into their hands when about twenty-one years old. - The next year after, the father died ; his death being caused, as it was sup- posed, by the extraordinary efforts he made to release his family from the Indians. An act of courage subsequently displayed by Mrs. Daviess is calculated to ex- hibit her character in its true point of view.

Kentucky, in its early days, like most new countries, was occasionally troubled by men of abandoned character, who lived by stealing the property of others, and after committing their depredations, retired to their hiding places, thereby eluding the operation of the law. One of these marauders, a man of desperate character, who had committed extensive thefts from Mr. Daviess as well as from his neigh- bors, was pursued by Daviess and a party whose property he had taken, in order to bring him to justice. While the party were in pursuit, the suspected individ- ual, not knowing any one was pursuing him, came to the house of Daviess, armed with his gun and tomahawk-no person being at home but Mrs. Daviess and her children. After he had stepped in the house, Mrs. Daviess asked him if he would drink something-and having set a bottle of whisky upon the table, requested him to help himself. The fellow, not suspecting any danger, set his gun up by the door, and while drinking, Mrs. Daviess picked up his gun. and placing herself in the door, had the gun cocked and levelled upon him by the time he turned around, and in a peremptory manner ordered him to take a seat, or she would shoot him. Struck with terror and alarm, he asked what he had done. She told him he had stolen her husband's property, and that she intended to take care of him herself. In that condition, she held him a prisoner, until the party of men returned and took him into their possession.

Sallust says : " The actions of the Athenians doubtless were great, yet I believe they are somewhat less than fame would have us conceive them." Not so with the pioneers of Kentucky. But we may say of their exploits, as this author says of the actions of the Romans : "History has left a thousand of their more brilliant actions unrecorded, which would have done them great honor, but for want of eloquent historians."

In the fall of 1779, William Montgomery the elder, the father-in-law of Gen- eral Logan, with his family, and son-in-law, Joseph Russell, and his family, moved from Virginia to Kentucky, and took refuge in Logan's fort. Here they

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remained but a few months, when, apprehending no danger from Indians, the old man, with his sons, William, John, Thomas and Robert, and his son-in-law, Rus- sell, built four log cabins on the head waters of Greene river, about twelve miles in a south-west direction from Logan's fort, to which they removed in the latter part of the winter or early in the spring of 1780. They had, however, been there but a short time, when the savages discovered and attacked the cabins. In one of the cabins lived William Montgomery the elder and wife, and his sons Thomas and Robert, and daughters Jane and Betsey, with two younger children, James and Flora. Mrs. Montgomery with her youngest child, Flora, were then at Lo- gan's fort ; and Thomas and Robert were absent spying. William Montgomery, jr., his wife and one child, the late Judge Thomas Montgomery, son of a former wife, and a bound boy, occupied another. John Montgomery, then but lately married, occupied a third ; and Joseph Russell, his wife and three children, the - fourth. These were all the white persons, but there were, besides, several slaves.

In the month of March, 1780, at night, a small body of Indians surrounded the cabins, which were built close to each other, and rather in a square. On the suc- ceeding morning, between daylight and sunrise, William Montgomery the elder, followed by a negro boy, stepped out at the door of his cabin. They were imme- diately fired at and both killed by the Indians, the boy's head falling back on the door-sill. Jane, the daughter, then a young woman, afterwards the wife of Col. William Casey, late of Adair county, sprang to the door, pushed out the negro's head, shut the door and called for her brother Thomas' gun. Betsey, her sister, about twelve years of age, clambered out at the chimney, which was not higher than a man's head, and took the path to Pettit's station, distant about two and a half miles. An Indian pursued her for some distance, but being quite active, she was too fleet for him, and reached the station in safety. From Pettit's a mes- senger was immediately dispatched to Logan's fort.

From some cause or other, probably the call of Jane for her brother's rifle, which was doubtless overheard by the Indians, they did not attempt to break into the cabin. William Montgomery, jr., on hearing the first crack of a gun, sprang to his feet, seized a large trough which had been placed in his cabin to hold sugar- water, placed it against the door, and directing the apprentice boy to hold it, grasped his rifle, and through a crevice over the door, fired twice at the Indians, in rapid succession, before they left the ground, killing one and severely wound- ing another. John Montgomery was in bed, and in attempting to rise, was fired upon through a crack, and mortally wounded, his door forced open, and his wife made prisoner. Joseph Russell made his escape from his cabin, leaving his wife and three children to the mercy of the savages. They, with a mulatto girl, were also made prisoners.

The Indians commenced an early retreat, bearing off their wounded companion, and taking with them their captives. A few minutes after their departure, and when they were barely out of sight, the Indian who had pursued Betsey Mont- gomery returned, and being ignorant of what had occurred in his absence, mounted a large beech log in front of the younger William Montgomery's door, and com- menced hallooing. Montgomery, who had not yet ventured to open his door, again fired through the crevice, and shot him dead.

As soon as the messenger reached Logan's fort, General Logan, with his horn, sounded the well known note of alarm, when, in a few minutes, as if by magic, a company of some twelve or fifteen men, armed and equipped for battle, were at his side. They instantly commenced their march, passed the cabins where the attack had been made, and took the trail of the Indians. By the aid of some signs which Mrs. Russell had the presence of mind to make, by occasionally breaking a twig and scattering along their route pieces of a white handkerchief which she had torn in fragments, Logan's party found no difficulty in the pursuit. After traveling some distance, they came upon the yellow girl, who had been toma- hawked, scalped and left for dead ; but who, on hearing the well-known voice of General Logan, sprang to her feet, and afterwards recovered.

The Indians, as was known to be their habit when expecting to be pursued, had a spy in the rear, who was discovered by Logan's party at the same instant he got his eves upon them, and a rapid march ensued. In a few minutes they came in sight of the savages, when Logan ordered a charge, which was made with a shout, and the Indians fled with great precipitancy, leaving their wounded

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companion, who was quickly dispatched. A daughter of Mrs. Russell, about twelve years of age, upon hearing Logan's voice, exclaimed in ecstacy, " there's uncle Ben," when the savage who had her in charge struck her dead with his tomahawk. The remainder of the prisoners were recaptured without injury. As the force of the Indians was about equal to that of the whites, Gen. Logan, now encumbered with the recaptured women and children, wisely determined to return immediately ; and reached the cabins, in safety, before dark on the same day.

The particulars of the foregoing narrative have been received from the Mont- gomery family-but principally from Mrs. Jane Casey, who was an actor in the drama.

In the spring of the year 1784, three young men-DAVIS, CAFFREE and M'CLURE -pursued a party of southern Indians, who had stolen horses from Lincoln county ; and were resolved, if they could not previously overtake them, to proceed as far as their towns on the 'Tennessee river, and make reprisals. They had reached, as they supposed, within a few miles of the Indian town called Chickamauga, when they fell in with three Indians, traveling in the same direction with them- selves. By signs the two parties agreed to travel together; but each was evi- dently suspicious of the other. The Indians walked upon one side of the road and the whites upon the other, watching each other attentively. At length, the Indians spoke together in tones so low and earnest, that the whites became satis- fied of their treacherous intentions, and determined to anticipate them. Caffree being a very powerful man, proposed that he himself should seize one Indian, while Davis and McClure should shoot the other two. He accordingly sprung upon the nearest Indian, grasped his throat firmly, hurled him to the ground, and, draw- ing a cord from his pocket, attempted to tie him. At the same instant, Davis and McClure leveled their rifles at the others. McClure fired and killed his man, but Davis' gun missed fire. Davis, McClure. and the Indian at whom the former had flashed, immediately took trees, and prepared for a skirmish, while Caffree remained upon the ground with the captured Indian, both exposed to the fire of the others. In a few seconds, the savage at whom Davis had flashed, shot Caf- free as he lay upon the ground, and gave him a mortal wound, and was instantly shot in turn by McClure, who had reloaded his gun. Caffree, becoming very weak, called upon Davis to come and assist him in tying the Indian, and instantly afterwards expired. As Davis was running up to the assistance of his friend, the Indian, now released by the death of his captor, sprung to his feet, and seizing Caffree's rifle, presented it menacingly at Davis, whose gun was not in order for service, and who ran off into the forest, closely pursued by the Indian. McClure hastily reloaded his gun, and taking up the rifle which Davis had dropped, fol- lowed them for some distance into the forest, making all those signals which had been concerted between them, in case of separation. All, however, was vain ; he saw nothing more of Davis, nor could he ever afterwards learn his fate. As he never returned to Kentucky, however, he probably perished.

McClure, finding himself alone in the enemy's country, and surrounded by dead bodies, thought it prudent to abandon the object of the expedition and re- turn to Kentucky. He accordingly retraced his steps, still bearing Davis' rifle in addition to his own. He had scarcely marched a mile, before he saw advancing, from the opposite direction, an Indian warrior, riding a horse with a bell around its neck, and accompanied by a boy on foot. Dropping one of the rifles, which might have created suspicion, McClure advanced with an air of confidence, ex- tending his hand and making other signs of peace. The opposite party appeared frankly to receive his overtures, and dismounting, seated himself upon a log, and drawing out his pipe, gave a few puffs himself, and then handed it to MeClure

In a few minutes another bell was heard, at the distance of half a mile, and a second party of Indians appeared upon horseback. The Indian with MeClure now coolly informed him by signs, that when the horsemen arrived, he (McClure) was to be bound and carried off as a prisoner, with his feet tied under the horse's belly. In order to explain it more fully. the Indian got astride of the log, and locked his legs together underneath it. McClure. internally thanking the fellow for his excess of candor, determined to disappoint him, and while his enemy was busily engaged in riding the log and mimicking the actions of a prisoner, he very

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quietly blew his brains out, and ran off into the woods. The Indian boy instantly mounted the belled horse, and rode off in an opposite direction.

McClure was fiercely pursued by several small Indian dogs, that frequently ran between his legs and threw him down. After falling five or six times, his eyes became full of dust, and he was totally blind. Despairing of escape, he doggedly lay upon his face, expecting every instant to feel the edge of the toma- nawk. To his astonishment, however, no enemy appeared ; and even the Indian dogs, after tugging at him for a few minutes, and completely stripping him of his breeches, left him to continue his journey unmolested. Finding every thing quiet, in a few moments he arose, and taking up his gun, continued his march to Ken- tucky. He reached home in safety.

As he was nearing his home, the first person he saw was the mother of his brother's wife-who did not recognize him, but was alarmed at his ap- - pearance and ran. He ran after her, and to re-assure her began to whistle a reel which he often played upon the violin for her and others' amusement. She ran on, until the numbers of the reel caught her ear-when she turned and recognized him, saying " Lord, Rab, is that you ?" " Yes, Jenny, it's all that's left of me,"-so ragged was his clothing, and torn to tatters by the briars and dogs, and so scratched, and bloody, and dusty his face .*

Capt. Wm. McClure, brother of Robert above, commenced keeping tavern at Stanford in the fall of 1789. Gen. Ben. Logan stepped in, one day, and said to his wife : " Becky, a good many men have stood by us in our troubles, who will come often to your tavern, and I'm afraid they will get Billy to drinking. So, I think you had better pull up, and go to Shelby county, where I will sell you a hundred acres of land which he can pay me for by degrees ; but if he do n't, your (son) Bob can pay my Bob." The offer was accepted, and McClure's family removed accordingly ; and three years after, Gen. Logan and his family settled within three miles of them. "Gen. Logan," added Mrs. Stuart, the daughter of Capt. Wm. McClure, when telling to the author this incident, " was one of the loftiest spirits I ever knew, for his gentleness, his amiableness, and his liberality to the poor."

The Mortality before 1784-the result almost exclusively of the life-for-life encounters with the Indians-gives a vivid picture of the personal dangers incurred in the settlement of Kentucky. The late Capt. Nathaniel Hart, of Woodford co, thus wrote in 1840: " I went with my mother, in Jan., 1783, to Logan's station, to prove my father's will. He had fallen in the preceding July. Twenty armed men were of the party. Twenty-three (23) widows were in attendance upon the court -- to obtain letters of administration on the estates of their husbands, who had been killed during the past year." This is exclusive of the much larger number who were killed, leaving no estate which required administration.

Springs .- The Crab Orchard neighborhood, in the castern part of Lincoln county, is distinguished for the number, variety, and excellence of its mineral springs. They were known in 1857 as-1. The two Crab Orchard springs (Caldwell's), both chalybeate; 2 Brown's spring, chalybeate, half a mile out, on the Lancaster turnpike; 3. Howard's white sulphur well, 13 miles out, on the Mt. Vernon road; 4. Epsom spring, No. 1, 1 mile ont, on the Lan- caster turnpike ; 5. Epsom spring at Foley's, half a mile from the center of Crab Orchard, on the Fall Dick road ; 6. Sowder's spring. 13 miles out, on the N. of the hill towards Dick's river ; 7. Bryant's springs near Crab Orchard, seven in number, chalybeate, sulphur, etc. The "Crab Orchard salts," ob- tained by carefully evaporating the water of the two Epsom or of Sowder's springs to dryness in iron kettles, have been sold by drugsists throughout the country, and have become an officinal article; they are less drastic and more tonic than pure unmixed Epsom salts, and more likely to act on the liver in the manner of calomel when taken in small doses + The sulphate of magne- sia (Epsom salt) is the principal saline ingredient of several of the springs.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 76

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1654

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654