USA > Kentucky > History of pioneer Kentucky > Part 12
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Notwithstanding Bowman's defeat, the immigration to Kentucky continued as rapidly as before. The Indians, indeed, had been too severely crippled to send any con- siderable force into the country ; only small parties con- tinued to infest the roads and cut off the people as they came in.8 There were many isolated conflicts with these during the year, but none of enough moment to merit narration. But a far worse foe than the Indians was now to be encountered ; it was the terrible winter of 1779. This was the longest and coldest winter that the Kentuckians had ever experienced.9 It began the first of November and continued until February 20th. During all that time the ground was covered with snow and ice several feet deep, and the rivers were frozen solid to the very bottom. The brute life of the land was practically exterminated, and only a few of the domestic animals lived through the winter. Men and women died by the score for want of food, and the survivors were reduced to the extremity of eating the horses and dogs that had perished from hunger. The population of Kentucky at this time was for the most part living in isolated cabins, and communication was dif- ficult. The commonest articles of food could be secured
8 Notwithstanding the destruction of the corn, it grew again into a good crop. Statement of Joseph Jackson, Boone MSS., Vol. XI. º Autobiography of Daniel Trabue.
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only at enormous prices. The bitter winter affected the incoming settlers most cruelly of all. Traveling was re- duced to two or three miles a day, and many parties were unable to pass the mountains and were forced to spend the winter in camp.10
The Virginia Assembly in its May session had passed several acts that were of importance to Kentucky. One of these acts provided for a ferry over the Kentucky River.11 It was to be established at Boonesborough and was put under the charge of Richard Calloway. The provision for this ferry, although insignificant in itself, is of importance as showing the drift of settlers to the north of the Ken- tucky and the gradual settling of the land. It was prob- ably the first public ferry west of the Alleghanies. The same Assembly had passed an act establishing a pack horse road to Kentucky by way of Cumberland Gap.12 Two men were appointed to mark this road and it was designed to facilitate immigration into the western lands. Boone's old trace which he had blazed for Henderson was utilized and was eventually improved until it became the most serv- iceable road in the west. Still another act of the As- sembly concerned itself with the military condition of Kentucky.13 For the better defense of her westernmost county Virginia enacted that two battalions of militia should be enlisted. Each battalion was to consist of ten companies and each company of fifty men. The men were to be enrolled for nine months and to receive pay from Virginia. But perhaps the most important of the acts
10 Shane MSS., Vol. I, p. 129.
11 Hening, Vol. X, p. 196.
12 Ibid., p. 143. Calloway and Evan Shelby were appointed to mark this road, but Shelby refused to serve, and Captain Kinkead was appointed.
13 Ibid., p. 135.
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passed at this session was the land act, establishing a Court of Land Commissioners to adjudicate claims under the Virginia Land Law.14 By the provision of this act prac- tically all the land claims in Kentucky were validated and the settlers were given an opportunity to buy greater tracts on credit. It was a most liberal law, and the evils that arose from it were due to lax administration and not to the law itself. It played a great part in the bringing of settlers to Kentucky. So great, indeed, was the rush of immigrants to Kentucky and so imperfect were the methods of surveying that the danger became great that conflicting claims would be recorded. The Commissioners appointed for the adjusting of claims hurried to Kentucky and began their work. There were four members of this court, William Fleming, Edmund Lyne, James Barbour and Stephen Trigg. It is noticeable that none of these were natives of Kentucky, but were all appointed from Virginia. The court met October 13th, at St. Asaph, where John Williams was appointed clerk and a multitude of claims were passed upon. A future Governor, Isaac Shelby, enjoyed the honor of presenting the first claim. On the twenty-sixth of October the court, out of accom- modation, removed to Harrodstown, on November 16th to Louisville, December 18th, to Boonesborough, and on Jan- uary 3d, to Bryant's Station. Over three thousand claims were presented during the first year of the court's exist- ence. 15
The year 1779 came to a close with a disaster that served to warn the Kentuckians that their land, after all, was but a frontier country, and that their enemies had not lost their vigilance. Colonel David Rogers, a member of
14 Ibid., p. 18.
15 Clarke MSS., Vol. X, p. 368.
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the Virginia Assembly, had been sent by Governor Henry down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans to bring back some goods that had been deposited there for Vir- ginia.16 He was also carrying instructions to Clarke in the Illinois country and expected to be escorted homeward by a military guard. He accomplished his mission suc- cessfully and started on his return to Fort Pitt in the fall of 1779. He had three keel boats laden with stores and had nearly one hundred men on board. As the three boats reached the great sandbar, some three miles below the mouth of the Little Miami, the men on board were surprised to see a vast number of Indian-laden rafts shoot out from the mouth of the Miami into the Ohio. These were a party of Indians returning from a hunting trip and they were under the leadership of the so-called rene- gades, Elliot and the three Girtys. Rogers, thinking him- self unseen, promptly landed his men, in the hope of am- bushing the Indians. As it proved, however, the Indians had observed him, and scarcely had the white men landed when they found themselves surrounded by several hun- dred Indians. Only about ten men escaped to their homes. One boat with five men aboard escaped by pushing into the current and drifting down to the Falls. In a desperate effort to break through the enemy's line, Captain Benham was so wounded as to be unable to walk, while a compan- ion, Watson, had both arms broken. Each, however, lay concealed until the Indians withdrew, when, discovering each other, they both, by utilizing one pair of legs and a single pair of arms, managed to sustain life until a chance flatboat rescued and carried them to the Falls. This dis- aster occurred October 3d, and the magnitude of it cast gloom over the closing days of 1779.
16 Butterfield, History of the Girtys, p. 110.
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Yet the immigration of 1780 broke all previous records. The Ohio River route was now being utilized as well as the better known way through Cumberland Gap. This route, being along the borders of the Shawnese, was the more dangerous of the two, and there were innumerable outrages committed on its waters and along its banks. The use of it tended greatly to the upbuilding of north- ern Kentucky. Heretofore settlements had been slow to move out of the Bluegrass; now Fort Nelson, from its position at the Falls, began to be the goal of immigration. In the spring of 1780 three hundred boatloads of immi- grants landed at the Falls. Many of these remained at Fort Nelson, but many also ventured to establish indepen- dent stations along the Beargrass. Notable, too, was the change in the character of the immigration. The previous immigrants had been drawn almost exclusively from Vir- ginia and North Carolina; now over the northern route began to come in the people of Maryland and of Pennsyl- vania. The increase of people meant, of course, more work for the Land Court. In May, 1780, the county surveyor, John May, opened his office at Harrodstown, and was thenceforth kept busy with the numerous demands for his services.
Virginia's plans of the previous year were, after all, not able to be carried out for the military defense of Kentucky. In May, 1780, the Virginia Assembly decided to send but one regiment of troops to Kentucky, instead of the two provided by the act of 1779. Colonel Slaugh- ter's corps of infantry was designated as a part of the troops that were to be sent to Kentucky. This act of Vir- ginia's in curtailing the military establishment was made necessary by stringent financial conditions. At the same time Virginia directed that her militia in service in Illinois
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should be withdrawn to Kentucky. This action was taken because of the fact that the paper money of Virginia would not pass current in Illinois, and she had no way of paying her militia there.17
Early in the spring of 1780 Colonel Slaughter's regi- ment arrived at Fort Nelson with one hundred and fifty Virginia troops. The arrival of these made the Falls of the Ohio the best fortified post in Kentucky. Moreover, Colonel Clarke was again in the fort, having returned thither after giving into the hands of John Todd the civil administration of Illinois. But neither Clarke nor the troops were to remain long at the Falls. The Virginia authorities were not yet content with the limits of their State. Annexation had become a contagious disease. Having appropriated Kentucky and possessed themselves of Illinois, Virginia looked longingly toward Canada and the Mississippi. But the renewed activities of the restless Shawnese made any expedition against Detroit out of the question. Nothing was needed to insure the expansion to the Mississippi, save outraging some friendly Indians and violating a well-kept peace. Neither of these troubled the official conscience of Virginia. Clarke was ordered by Jefferson to proceed to the mouth of the Ohio and plant a fort upon the Mississippi.18 Clarke, accordingly, in the last days of April, descended the Ohio with two hundred men and built a fort about five miles below its junction with the Mississippi. The Chickasaws, not yet initiated into the mysteries of Virginia diplomacy, might well stand amazed at this move. Up to this time they had not mo- lested the Kentucky settlements; when they realized the
17 Hening, Vol. X, p. 215.
18 It was Jefferson's intention to purchase territory from the Cherokees. Clarke MSS., Vol. L. Jefferson to Martin.
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significance of the new fort in their territory, they turned their fury against the exposed settlements in more impla- cable wrath than the Shawnese themselves.
The Chickasaws were not alone in their disapproval of Clarke's movement; the Kentuckians denounced it from the beginning. Their enemy, they asserted, was at the north and not the west. If Clarke wished to aid Ken- tucky, let him lead them against the northern Indians, or at least stay and aid them against the invasion they felt was preparing. The placing of a fort on the Mississippi would bring the Chickasaws promptly down upon them. Clarke had made himself unpopular by leaving Boones- borough defenseless while he invaded Illinois, but the suc- cess of this expedition had restored him to favor. The new project turned the people once more against him. Kentucky felt that it was being abandoned by Virginia and her officers. The first mutterings were heard against being governed by transmontane authority. Kentucky was sullen, discontented and apprehensive.
Kentucky had good reason to be apprehensive. As the British officers had in 1778 taken advantage of Clarke's absence to send an expedition against Boonesborough, so they lost no time in seizing this second opportunity. While Clarke was at Fort Jefferson, Colonel Byrd, of the English army, collected a motley army of six hundred Canadians and Indians and set out for Kentucky. He had six pieces of artillery with him; these probably were intended as much for inspiring the Indians as for intimidating the Kentuckians. Simon Girty was along in charge of the Wyandots. The army made its way down the Miami River to the Ohio, from which place it was planned to descend upon Fort Nelson. But on reaching the river
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they found the waters of the Licking at full flood and easily high enough to admit boats. The plans were ac- cordingly changed, and the entire force embarked on the Licking for the interior of Kentucky. Progress was easy until they reached the forks of the river where Falmouth now stands. Here the shallowness of the river made it necessary to land the cannon and haul them overland to Ruddle's, the objective point of the expedition. It was found necessary to cut a wagon road and, consequently, it was not till June 22d that the force appeared before Ruddle's, having consumed eleven days in coming from the Ohio. Nevertheless, the garrison was taken entirely by surprise. It must be remembered that it was an unusually wet spring and much of the country was flooded. The settlers at Ruddle's had no thought that the Indians would attempt to penetrate into the interior of Kentucky while the floods were on. Moreover, they thought, with the other Kentuckians, that Louisville would be the object of attack. Byrd's army found them altogether unsuspecting.
Bryd made known his presence by firing his cannon.19 The sight of an enemy so numerous dispirited the com- mander, Ruddle, but failed to shake the fortitude of his men. But after a second discharge of the cannon, Ruddle prevailed on the men to surrender. A written agreement was entered into by Byrd and the Kentuckians, by which the former undertook to ensure good treatment. There is no reason to believe that Byrd was insincere in this, but when the gates were thrown open, the red allies were not to be restrained. Although little murder was done, the Indians took possession of the prisoners and mistreated them in every way that suggested itself to their savage
19 Clarke MSS., Vol. XXIX, p. 25.
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fancy. Families were separated, and complaints, if made, were silenced rudely by the club or tomahawk. Ruddle's was at the junction of South Licking and Hinkston Creek and Martin's Station was but five miles away up the banks of the former stream. Thither the Indians, highly elated at their success, hastened their way. Byrd, before approaching the fort, made it plain to the Indians that in case of a sur- render the prisoners must be given good treatment.20 And, in fact, the Indians did observe the agreement at Martin's, rifling the property, but respecting the prisoners.21 Both these forts having succumbed so readily, many of the In- dians were for marching directly on the older settlements and sweeping Kentucky clear of white men. But wiser counsels prevailed. The Indian leaders were satisfied with what they had done, and were not confident of further success if they penetrated into the more settled portions of Kentucky. Byrd urged that the Licking was rapidly falling and there was need to take their cannon out of the country before the alarm was spread. The tradition that Byrd refused to go further because of the inhumanity of the Indians may safely be dismissed as idle fancy. It is not reasonable to suppose that an officer so well acquainted with the Indians as to be trusted with the command of them on an important expedition could have been so igno- rant of their customs as to feel shocked at their recent behavior.
After the fall, then, of the two stations, Byrd's entire army retreated to the site of the present Falmouth. At this place the army divided into two sections; some were content to go home slowly, while others preferred a more rapid retreat. The other settlements did not remain long
20 Butterfield, History of the Girtys, p. 115.
21 In all, Byrd took 129 prisoners at the two forts.
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ignorant of Byrd's expedition and its success. On the first night after the British force divided at the forks of the Licking, one of the prisoners of the Indians, John Hink- ston, escaped, and, after much wandering about, reached Lexington and told of the fall of the two stations. Ken- tucky, roused and stung by the double defeat, turned her thoughts to retaliation. A clamor arose for an expedition against the Shawnese.
Meanwhile Clarke had marched from Fort Jefferson to the relief of Cahokia, which was menaced by a British force, and learning there that Byrd was marching against Kentucky, he hastened to Louisville with what men he could spare and began preparations for a retaliatory expedition against the Shawnese. Clarke and the Virginia authori- ties had had in mind such an expedition since the first of the year.22 In January, Jefferson had written to Clarke that he expected him to invade the Shawnese territory some time in the summer ; a little later he informed him that, in addition to his own force, there was preparing another expedition to march from Fort Pitt and co-operate with him. But this second expedition had to be given up, and by June it had been practically decided that the Ken- tucky force would not be raised until the following year. In the meantime the Kentuckians had been growing more and more eager for such an enterprise. In March, 1780, Richard Henderson spent some little time at Boones- borough trying to collect provisions for his proposed set- tlement on the land given him by North Carolina near Nashville. When he finally set out down the Kentucky River on the way to his new home, the Boonesborough peo- ple took occasion to send by him to Clarke a petition ask-
22 Clarke MSS., Vol. L. Correspondence of Jefferson, Clarke and Brodhead.
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ing that the latter lead them against the Shawnese.23 As Henderson passed down the river the inhabitants of Bryant's and Lexington put in his charge similar peti- tions to Clarke for the invasion, expressing their confidence in the "great guns" that Clarke had at his command. These petitions were delivered to Clarke at Louisville before he set out for Fort Jefferson, but he was unable to act upon them. However, they confirmed him in his resolu- tion to invade Ohio at the first suitable opportunity.
Thus it happened that when Clarke returned to the Bluegrass he found no trouble in getting the people en- listed in the expedition that he for so long had had in mind. He sent throughout the settlements a proclamation of his intended enterprise and appealed to the people to rally to its support. He called for a general rendezvous at the mouth of the Licking. Nearly one thousand men gathered at the appointed place August 1st; among these were the State troops that had previously come from Virginia with Slaughter.24 Clarke, as commander of this force, divided it into two divisions under the leadership of Colonel Linn and Colonel Logan. The army tarried a few days at the mouth of the Licking, built two block houses and then, with Simon Kenton as guide, set out for the Shawnese towns. There was little likelihood that Ken- ton would lose his way; he had been over the ground a score of times in forays and horse-stealing expeditions. Here two years before as an unlucky sequel to a horse- stealing adventure of more than ordinary flagrance, he had been captured, forced to run the gauntlet and finally tied to a stake to be burned. This interesting event was prevented only by the interference of his old friend Girty.
23 Ibid., Vol. L.
24 Clarke MSS., Vol. XXVI, p. 101.
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Such incidents were not calculated to make him forget the country. As they marched a road had to be cut for the artillery, and it was the sixth of August before they reached the Indian towns. They found the towns de- serted and they lost no time in applying the torch to the houses. The orchards and corn were cut to the ground. After this martial and civilized pastime had been ex- hausted, the army passed on to Piqua on the Big Miami. Here, however, the Indians made a stand and held their own until the use of cannon compelled them to retreat. The loss of the white force was fourteen killed and thir- teen wounded; the Indian loss was triple this, but they managed to carry off their dead in the night. More than eight hundred of well-cultivated corn was destroyed.
The Kentuckians hoped by this expedition to prevent further invasion of their country. They argued that the destruction of the villages and cornfields of the Indians would render them destitute and helpless; it was so late that no further crops could be raised that year and suf- fering must result during the winter. This reasoning was as fallacious as it was ingenious. The Indians could re- build their cabins in a few days' time. They were not dependent on their cornfields for supplies. The British in Canada would see to it that their red allies did not want; they would not risk disaffection by a failure to afford supplies. The next spring the Indians would re- build their cabins, replant their cornfields and take up their guerrilla warfare against Kentucky with a ferocity only increased by the destruction of their property. Kentucky was destined to have peace only when the In- dians themselves were appeased or their British aid with- drawn.
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The raising of one thousand troops for this expedi- tion shows plainly how great had been the immigation during the year. Desire for Kentucky land was not the only motive these people had in crossing the mountains. Over on the seacoast the British were beginning to carry the war into the south. The dread of their coming drove many families over the Cumberlands; they preferred to encounter the Indians rather than the British. Many royalists, too, fled to Kentucky rather than stay at home and be compelled to oppose the British. Neither royalist nor patriot was much inclined to settle in Kentucky ; as soon as they thought the dangers passed at home they returned. A worse class of settlers and one that Ken- tucky could well have spared were the land speculators. The looseness of the land laws made it possible for specu- lators to take up immense tracts without the formality of seeing them. The warrants for these, readily obtained, they industriously sold to the prospective settlers. The warrants were issued by Virginia. But neither Virginia nor the settler knew whether they represented actual land or not. The proud possessor of them, on reaching Ken- tucky, often found the land entirely fictitious or pos- sessed by some one else. The speculators became experts also in Indian signs. An Indian scare always resulted in many people leaving the country and selling their holdings for whatever they would bring. It was the policy of the speculators to manufacture as many Indian scares as pos- sible in order to buy up the lands cheaply. Such tactics were later to bring results of great moment to Kentucky.
Virginia had not been unmindful of this great growth in her western domain. In November, 1780, the Virginia Assembly passed an act dividing Kentucky into three
25 Hening, Vol. X, p. 315.
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counties. 25 North of the Kentucky River was Fayette County ; west of the same river was Jefferson, while the residue received the name of Lincoln. Each county had a completely organized government similar in detail to those of eastern Virginia. It is to be noticed that in the crea- tion of these three new counties, the time honored name, Kentucky, disappeared. For a little while there was no "Kentucky," but the name survived in the speech of the people and came to life in a few years as the name of a court. This creation of more county units was necessarily accompanied by a better and more complete organization of the militia. Kentucky was expanding and growing, but the peril from the Indians was increased rather than lessened by the fact; there was now both more at stake and the foe was better organized than ever before. Ken- tucky had need of her militia. Logan commanded in Lin- coln County, Floyd in Jefferson, and Todd in Fayette. Daniel Boone was second in command under Todd, Trigg under Logan and Pope under Floyd. All these men were tried fighters and tested leaders. In their hands Ken- tucky had reason to believe that the long-desired peace would come to her borders.
When Kentucky County was established in 1776 her southern boundary was fixed at the northern line of North Carolina. This would have been eminently definite had any one known where the said northern line was located. Neither Virginia nor North Carolina had more than the vaguest idea of the boundary between their territory be- yond the mountains. But as Tennessee and Kentucky began to be filled with actual settlers, it became increas- ingly important that the line should be determined. Ac- cordingly, in the latter part of 1778 Virginia had ap-
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pointed a commission to act with one selected by North Carolina to survey the line to the Ohio or the Tennessee. 26 At the head of the Virginia commission was Dr. Thomas Walker, while the North Carolina men were under the direc- tion of Richard Henderson.27 Walker had led the first exploring party into Kentucky and Henderson had estab- lished the first colony within its borders. Their names were reminiscent of a time even then fast fading from memory. The commissioners were to follow the parallel 36° 30' until they ran into the Tennessee, the Ohio or the Mississippi. Jefferson suspected that the line would strike the Tennessee first, and he instructed Walker that in that emergency he should go down the Tennessee and the Ohio and ascertain the latitude of the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi.28 It will be remembered that these in- structions were given before the building of Fort Jeffer- son and when the land beyond the Tennessee was yet ad- mitted to be Indian territory. The commissioners met by appointment and began their survey. The prejudice of the surveyors or the inaccuracy of their instruments soon resulted in a difference in surveying. They separated and ran different lines ; when they reached the top of the Cumberland Mountains Henderson quit while Walker con- tinued his survey alone.29 He ran to the Tennessee River and marked his line. Perceiving that the extension of this line would enter Indian territory and would strike the Mis- sissippi, he abandoned the work. Walker's line was sub- sequently adopted by Kentucky, but at the Tennessee River
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