Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 99

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 99

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On the 15th of July, the company left Drennon's lick, and, on the succeeding day, crossed the Kentucky river below where Frankfort now stands, where Robert Mc Afee had two surveys made, embracing six hundred acres, and including Frank- fort bottom. On the 17th, they left their encampment, and, proceeding up the Kentucky river, on the 18th reached the Cave Springs .* Tarrying here two days, they continued their march, in a westerly direction, to Salt river, which they called Crooked creek, and made their surveys of four hundred acres each, from the mouth of Hammond's creek, up Salt river, to about two miles above where Harrodsburg now stands.

The further history of the McAfee company we quote, in a condensed form, from a small work by the Rev. Dr. Davidson :

"On the 31st of July, they (the McAfee company), turned their faces home- ward. They proceeded under showers of rain, and suffering various hardships. When they reached the foot of the mountains, their stock of provisions failed, and game was difficult to procure. To cross the mountains proved likewise a very laborious undertaking, covered as they were with laurel, underbrush, and pine.

"The 12th of August was a gloomy day to this little band. They had gained the highest point of the craggy range dividing the head waters of the Kentucky and Clinch rivers ; a region that seemed the abode of desolation. Nothing but barren rocks frowned on every side, and silence and solitude reigned uninterrupted. Not a living animal was to be seen, nor a bird to cheer them with its wild notes. They were exposed to a broiling sun; their feet were blistered ; and their legs were torn and raw from the effect of the briers ; add to which, they were literally starving, not having had a mouthful to eat for two days. Such a combination of misfortunes was enough to appal the stoutest heart.

" The day was drawing to a close ; the sun was sinking in the west, and gild- ing the mountain's top with his last setting beams; they had not as yet seen a solitary animal that could serve for food ; and the herbage was not only scanty but unfit for sustenance. To complete their distress, they found the head -springs of the water-courses dried up by the excessive heat, and not affording a drop to

* This is a remarkable spring, situated under a rock, on the road between Frankfort and Harrods burg,-at that time called Cave Spring; but now known as Lillard's Spring.

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allay their thirst. Exhausted by fatigue, hunger and despair, George McAfee and young Adams threw themselves on the ground, declaring themselves unable to proceed any farther. As a last desperate effort, Robert McAfee then determined to compass the ridge in quest of game, leaving James with the two others to rally their spirits. He had not proceeded a quarter of a mile, when a young buck crossed his path ; and although agitated by intensely anxious feelings. he was so good a marksman as to bring him down at the first shot. On hearing the report of his gun, the rest of the company, forgetting their fatigue, sprang up, and ran to the spot whence the sound proceeded. The meal, thus opportunely furnished, they devoured with keen appetites, and slaked their thirst from a branch which they discovered adjacent ; while their hearts overflowed with gratitude to that Providence, which, by so timely an interposition, had rescued them from the jaws of death. Recruited in strength, they resumed their journey, and soon reached their homes ; where, in spite of the hardships and hazards attending the exploit, the accounts they published inspired a general enthusiasm to imitate their example.

" Indian wars and the battle of Kanhawa, detained them in Virginia during the succeeding year ; but the year 1775 found them among the cane-brakes. Robert, Samuel, and William McAfee, allowed themselves to be persuaded by Colonel Henderson, to unite their fortunes with his, against the wholesome advice of their elder brother James, who assured them that Henderson's claim could not be valid, because without the sanction of government. 'They went to Boonsborough, entered land and raised corn, but, as was predicted, the scheme proved abortive. In the fall, we find the company reunited, consisting of William, George, and Robert McAfee, George McGee, David Adams, John McCoun, and some others, and under the protection of the newly erected Harrod's station, they cleared fif- teen acres of ground below the mouth of Armstrong's Branch, in Mercer county, and planted it in corn. A part of the company wintered here, while the rest went back to Virginia, leaving forty head of cattle to fatten on the luxuriant cane and herbage. These last mentioned persons took measures to return in the spring following, calculating that the corn and cattle would, by this time, be in a con- dition to support them.

" Accordingly, in May, 1776, they packed up their household property and farmning utensils, with a quantity of seeds of various kinds, barrels of corn and flour, and stores of coffee, sugar, and spices, not omitting a few bottles of whis- ky and spirits, (by way of medicine, no doubt,) which they placed, for security, in the middle of the flour and corn barrels, and attempted to convey them in cances down the Gauley and Kanhawa rivers ; but finding this impracticable, they re- solved to go back for pack horses. Having built a strong log cabin, resembling the caches described by Washington Irving in his Astoria, as used by the fur-tra- ders, they deposited in it all their property, and covering it with bark, left it in this situation in the wilderness. The rumor of hostilities, and the war of the Revolution caused a delay of several months; and when they returned in Sep- tember, they found the cache, to their dismay, broken open, the roof torn off, and

rugs, blankets, barrels, and stores, strewed in confusion around, and totally ruined. On making some search, they found evidences of some one having taken out the bedding to sleep on, under an adjacent cliff, and that the same person had rum- maged their kegs and barrels, in order to get at the liquor.

" No Indian sign, as the traces of the savages were called, was visible; but upon searching by parties of two, they found, within half a mile of the spot. a diminutive red-haired man, on whose person they discovered some of the missing articles. Vexed at the wanton destruction of so many valuable stores of coffee, sugar, spices, and the like articles, which they had been for years collecting, at a time too, when they were so much needed, and could not be replaced where they were going ; and provoked beyond endurance by the wretch's denial, although proofs were on his person, one of the party felled him to the ground with his tom- ahawk, and was on the point of dispatching him with his knife, when his brother seized his arm and prevented the rash act.

" The fellow's name was Edward Sommers. He was a convict servant, who had ran off from his master in the interior of Virginia, and was making the best of his way to the Indians. As soon as he recovered from the stunning effect of the blow he had received, he was led to the cabin, where a council was held upon

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the case. He was adjudged to have forfeited his life according to the laws of the land, but as none of the company was willing to execute the hangman's office, the miserable wretch escaped with his life. He was compelled, however, to accompany them back to Virginia, where he was delivered up into the hands of his master, and very probably received such a scourging as made him more desi- rous to run away than ever.

"The war with Great Britain, in which the members of this company and all their connexions heartily united, hindered the resumption of their darling project for the next two years, during which time the cattle they had left ran wild, in the woods, or fell the prey of Indian marauders, and were irrecoverably lost.

" The year 1779 saw these enterprising adventurers settled with their families on their new territory, having passed the Cumberland Gap with pack-horses. Their first care was to fortify themselves in a quadrangular enclosure of cabins and stockades, to which was given the name of Mc.Afee's station. A winter of unexampled severity ensued ; and from the middle of November to the middle of February, snow and ice continued on the ground without a thaw. Many of the cattle perished ; and numbers of bears, buffalo, deer, wolves, beavers, otters, and wild turkeys were found frozen to death. Sometimes the famished wild animals would come up in the yard of the stations along with the tame cattle. Such was the scarcity of food, that a single jonny-cake would be divided into a dozen parts, and distributed around to the inmates to serve for two meals. Even this resource failed, and for weeks they had nothing to live on but wild game. Early in the spring, some of the men went to the Falls of the Ohio, now Louisville, where they gave sixty dollars (continental money) for a bushel of corn ; which was considered an enormous price, even making allowance for its depreciated value ; but the only alternative was starvation.

" A delightful spring, and the rapid growth of vegetation, promised to repay them for the hardships they had undergone. The peach-trees they had planted five years before, were loaded with fruit, and the apple-trees were also in a thriv- ing condition. Plenty and happiness smiled upon the settlement, when, by one of those unexpected reverses, which seem designed by Providence to admonish us of what we are too apt to forget, the uncertain tenure of our earthly prosperity, and the small reliance to be placed upon present appearances, their flattering prospects were all at once damped by a melancholy event that filled every heart with gloom.

"Joseph McCoun, a promising lad, the youngest and the darling son of his father, and the favourite of the whole family, was surprised and carried off by a party of Shawanee Indians, while looking after some cattle in an adjoining glade. His companion escaped, and immediately gave the alarm ; but pursuit was vain. The savages carried their unhappy victim to a little town on the head waters of Mad river, about six miles above the spot now occupied by the town of Spring- field, Ohio, where they tied him to a stake and burned him with excruciating tor- tures. After this heart-rending event, which took place in March, 1781, the fam- ilies, seven in number, abandoned the farms they had been cultivating, and took refuge in the station. This step was rendered absolutely necessary, for the In- dians were prowling in every direction, stealing horses, attacking the armed companies that passed from one station to another, and killing and scalping every unfortunate straggler that fell into their hands. The expedition under General George Rogers Clark, in which the men of the Salt river settlement, burning for vengeance, participated, daunted them for a time, and restored quiet."

The insecurity of the settlers, and the hazards to which they were exposed about this period, appear to have been very great. There was no communication between the stations, of which there were now several, except by armed compa- nies. The inhabitants, not daring to spend the night out of the forts, cultivated their corn during the day, with the hoe in one hand and a gun in the other. A large party went one morning to a neighboring plantation to assist in pulling flax, a friendly office always cheerfully tendered, but were unconsciously waylaid by eight or nine Indians. The wily savages, afraid to make an open attack, cut down bushes, and constructed a screen in a fit situation for an ambuscade, so that no one would be able to discover thein till within a few yards. Behind this leafy screen they lay, watching for the return of their unsuspecting victims, and an- ticipating with savage eagerness the pleasure of scalping the whole party. But

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JAMES RAY.

Providence ordered otherwise. One of the young men (John McCoun, Jr.) pro- posed to his companions, on their way homeward, to deviate a little for the sake of gathering plums, a quantity of which grew at no great distance. As the sun was not yet down, they consented ; and in consequence of this happy sug- gestion, they reached home by a more circuitous but safer route. We may imag- ine the mingled amazement and delight with which they discovered next day what an escape they had made from imminent danger. The deserted blind, and the spot where the Indians lay, till their impatience and chagrin became insup- portable, were objects of curiosity for several years. Surprise, however, was not the only emotion excited on this occasion ; it is gratifying to be able to add, that a deep and salutary impression was made on the whole party, of the obliga- tions under which they were placed to Providence for so signal a deliverance ..

And it may be here mentioned to the credit of the McAfees and McCouns, that when a few years after they erected a rural church in their settlement, (the same over which the venerable Dr. Cleland now presides), mindful of the frequent in- terpositions of benignant Heaven in their favor, from the relief on the Alleghany mountains, through the entire progress of their history, they gave it the appropri- ate name of Providence church. Who can doubt, that from this humble structure built of logs, this church in the woods, the hymn and the prayer went up, as ac- ceptable to the ear of the Almighty, as though it had been one of those stately and elegant temples which have been reared in later years, attesting, if not the increased devotion, at least the increased wealth of the west.

The incursions of the savages gradually diminished from this period, as the country was more and more occupied by numerous emigrants, or Long Knives, as the Indians termed the whites. The McAfee station, like all the others, became a prominent centre of population, and was looked up to as one of the main props of the country. Grist-mills began now to be erected ; improvements of all kinds were projected ; and uninterrupted prosperity finally crowned the enterprising pioneers. Having mentioned grist-mills, it may not be amiss to relate, out of the MSS., how their grain had been ground hitherto. Hand-mills were in use, of a primitive and almost oriental character, consisting of a pair of slabs of limestone, about two feet in diameter, which were placed in a hollow tree, generally syca- more or gum ; and every morning each family would grind as much as would supply them through the day.

General George Rogers Clark first came to Kentucky in 1775, and penetrated to Harrodsburg, which had been re-occupied by Colonel Harrod. In this visit, from his well known and commanding talents, he was voluntarily placed in com- mand of the irregular troops then in Kentucky. In the fall, he returned to Vir- ginia, and came back again to Kentucky in 1776. Mr. Butler relates the follow- ing anecdote, received from the lips of General Ray, as having occurred with General Clark upon his second visit : "I had come down," said General Ray, " to where I now live, (about four miles north of Harrodsburg,) to turn some hor- ses in the range. I had killed a small blue-wing duck, that was feeding in my spring, and had roasted it nicely on the brow of the hill, about twenty steps east of my house. After having taken it off to cool, I was much surprised on being suddenly arrested by a fine, soldierly looking man, who exclaimed, 'How do you do, my little fellow ? What is your name ? A'nt you afraid of being in the woods by yourself ?' On satisfying the inquiries, I invited the traveler to par- take of my duck, which he did without leaving me a bone to pick, his appetite was so keen, though he should have been welcome to all the game I could have killed, when I afterwards became acquainted with his noble and gallant soul." After satisfying his questions, he inquired of the stranger his own name and busi- ness in this remote region. "My name is Clark," he answered, " and I have come out to see what you brave fellows are doing in Kentucky, and to lend you a helping hand if necessary." General Ray, then a boy of sixteen, conducted Clark to Harrodsburg, where he spent his time in observations on the condition and prospects of the country, natural to his comprehensive mind, and assisting at every opportunity in its defence.

At a general meeting of the settlers at Harrodstown, on the 6th of June, 1775. General George Rogers Clark, and Gabriel John Jones were chosen to represent

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them in the assembly of Virginia .* For the manner in which they discharged the trust committed to them, see sketch of General Clark.

In March, 1777, while James Ray, his brother, and another man were engaged in clearing some land about four miles from Harrodstown, (the same place which afterwards continued to be the residence of the venerable pioneer, General James Ray, until his death,) they were attacked by a party of forty-seven hostile Indians, under the command of the celebrated chief, Blackfish. The Indians were attrac- ted to the place by the noise of the axes, and rushing upon the choppers, killed the younger Ray, and took the third prisoner. The elder Ray, (distinguished afterwards as General James Ray) being uninjured by the discharge of rifles, fled in the direction of the fort. Several of the swiftest Indians followed him in full chase, but such was his fleetness and activity, that he distanced them all, and reached the fort in safety. The remarkable swiftness of Ray elicited the admira- tion of the Indians, and Blackfish himself remarked to Boone after his capture at the Blue Licks the succeeding year, that some boy at Harrodstown had outrun all his warriors.

The speed of Ray was a fortunate circumstance for the fort at Harrodstown, as his information enabled the garrison to prepare for the expected attack. The militia was organized, ammunition prepared, water and provision secured, and the fort put in the best possible state of defence. On the morning of the 7th of March, 1777, several days after the escape of Ray, the Indians approached the vicinity of the fort, and preliminary to an attack, fired an out cabin on the east side of the town. The garrison, unconscious of the proximity of the enemy, and supposing the fire to be the result of accident, rushed out of the fort with a view to extinguish the flames. The Indians, doubtless intending to decoy the garrison, instantly attempted to intercept their return to the fort. The whites retreated, keeping up a random fire, until they reached a piece of woods on the hill, (now occupied by the court house in Harrodsburg,) where each man took a tree, and soon caused the Indians, in turn, to give back, when they succeeded in regaining the fort. The Indians soon afterwards withdrew. In this conflict, one Indian was killed, and four of the whites wounded, one of whom subsequently died.

In the " Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions of Kentucky," by the Rev. Dr. Spalding, of the Catholic church, in 1844 published, a different version is given of the attack on the wood-choppers, than that published by Mr. Butler. " The third man," Dr. Spalding says, "was William Coomes; but there was yet a fourth man, named Thomas Shores," who, and not William Coomes, " was taken prisoner by the Indians, at the Shawanee Springs." The statement of Mr. Coomes, as furnished Dr. Spalding by his son, is as follows :

"The party of choppers alluded to, consisted of the two Rays, Wm. Coomes, and Thomas Shores, who were engaged in clearing land, at the Shawanee Springs, for Hugh McGary, the step-father of the two Rays. On the 6th of March, 1777, the two Rays, and Shores, visited a neighboring sugar-camp, to slake their thirst, leaving Mr. Coomes alone at the clearing. William Coomes, alarmed at their protracted absence, had suspended his work, and was about to start in search of them, when he suddenly spied a body of Indians-fifteen in number-coming directly towards him, from the direction of the sugar-camp. He instantly con- cealed himself behind the trunk of the tree which he had just felled, at the same time seizing and cocking his rifle .. Fortunately, the Indians had not observed him, owing to the thick cane-brake and undergrowth : they passed by him, in In- dian file, to a temporary log cabin, which the woodmen had erected for their ac commodation.

"So soon as they were out of sight, Coomes escaped towards the sugar-camp, to find out what had become of his companions. Discovering no trace of them, he concealed himself amidst the boughs of a fallen hickory tree, the yellow leaves of which were of nearly the same color as his garments. From his hiding-place he had a full view of the sugar-camp ; and, after a short time, he observed a party of forty Indians halt there, where they were soon rejoined by the fifteen whom he had previously seen. They tarried there for a long time, drinking the syrup, sing- ing their war-songs, and dancing their war-dance. Coomes was a breathless spectator of this scene of revelry, froin the distance of only fifty or sixty yards.

* They hailed as representatives from "the western part of Fincastle county, on the Kentucky river."

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JAMES RAY.

Other straggling parties of savages also came in, and the whole number amounted to about seventy, instead of forty-seven, as stated by Butler and Marshall.

" Meantime, James Ray had escaped, and communicated the alarm to the peo- ple of Harrodstown. Great was the terror and confusion which ensued there. The hot-headed McGary openly charged James Harrod with having been want- ing in the precautions and courage necessary for the defence of the fort. These two men, who had a personal enmity against each other, quarreled, and leveled their fatal rifles at each other's bosoms. In this conjuncture, the wife of McGary rushed in and turned aside the rifle of her husband, when Harrod immediately withdrew his, and the difficulty was temporarily adjusted.

" McGary insisted that a party of thirty should be immediately dispatched with him, in search of Coomes, Shores, and his step-son, William Ray. Harrod; the commandant of the station, and Col. George Rogers Clark, thought this mea- sure rash and imprudent, as all the men were necessary for the defence of the place, which might be attacked by the Indians at any moment. At length, how- ever, the request of McGary was granted, and thirty mounted men were placed under his command, for the expedition.

" The detachment moved with great rapidity, and soon reached the neighbor- hood of the sugar-camp, which the Indians had already abandoned. Near it they discovered the mangled remains of William Ray, at the sight of which, McGary turned pale, and was near falling from his horse, in a fainting fit. As soon as the body was discovered, one of the men shouted out: 'See there! they have killed poor Coomes !' Coomes, who had hitherto lurked in his hiding-place, now sallied forth, and ran towards the men, exclaiming : ' No, they haven't killed me, by Job ! I'm safe !'

"The party, having buried Ray and rescued Coomes, returned in safety to Har- rodstown, which they reached about sunset."

During the year 1777, the Indians collected in great numbers around Harrods- town, in order, it is supposed, to prevent any corn from being raised for the sup- port of the settlers. In this period of distress and peril, Ray, at that time but seventeen years old, rendered himself an object of general favor, by his intre- pidity, courage and enterprise. He often rose before day, and left the fort, on an old horse,-the only one left by the Indians, of forty brought to the country by Maj. McGary,-in order to procure food for the garrison. Proceeding cautiously to Salt river, (generally riding in the water, or in the bed of some small stream, in order to conceal his route), when sufficiently out of hearing, he would kill his load of game, and bring it in to the suffering inhabitants after night-fall. Older and more experienced hunters, in similar hazardous enterprises, were killed by the Indians .*

During the same year, while Ray and a man named M'Connell were shooting at a mark near the fort, the latter was suddenly shot down by the Indians. Ray instantly glanced his eye in the direction of the shot, and perceiving the enemy, raised his rifle to avenge the death of his friend, when he was suddenly attacked by a large body of Indians, who had crept near him unseen. His powers as a runner were again called into requisition, and Ray bounded towards the fort, dis- tant a hundred and fifty yards, with the speed of an antelope, amidst showers of bullets from the savages. But when he approached the gates of the fort, he found them closed, and the garrison too much under the influence of their fears to open them for his admission. In this critical situation, pursued by the savages, and refused shelter by his friends, Ray threw himself flat upon the ground, behind a stump just large enough to protect his body. Here. within seven steps of the fort wall, in sight of his mother, he lay for four hours, while the Indians kept up an incessant fire, the balls often striking and tearing up the ground on either side of him. At last, becoming somewhat impatient, he called out to the garrison, " for God's sake dig a hole under the cabin wall, and take me in." Strange as may have appeared the suggestion, it was immediately carried out, and the noble young hunter was speedily within the shelter of the fort and in the arms of his friends !

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 99

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