USA > Kentucky > History of pioneer Kentucky > Part 8
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17 Cal. Va. St. Papers, Vol. I.
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Campbell,18 accompanied by two boys, had crossed the river at Boonesborough for a hunt. Almost immediately the Shawnese had set upon them and scalped the boys, but Campbell escaped. Boone started in pursuit, found one of the boys scalped, tracked the Indians to the Ohio, but made no discovery of the fate of the other boy.
Meanwhile Hogg had proceeded to Philadelphia on his mission of securing from the Continental Congress a recog- nition of the Transylvania colony.19 He had sanguine expectations of success. The plans of the Transylvania Company had been under consideration in the Virginia Convention and had received warm support from both Jefferson and Henry. Henry, in pre-revolutionary times, had himself negotiated for a share in the Transylvania Company. Henderson had written personal letters of thanks to both Jefferson and Henry and thought he could count on their support.20 But times had changed. Henry now saw a way of expanding Virginia at the expense of Transylvania, whereas before the suppressing of Transyl- vania would have helped only England. So the Virginia delegates in the Congress opposed the recognition, and Jefferson "gently hinted" that the Kentucky country really belonged to Virginia. Other members of the Congress, notably the two Adamses and Silas Deane, were favorably inclined to the colony, and, in general, acknowledged the validity of the charter. But against the opposition of Virginia nothing could be done.
In the spring of 1776, George Rogers Clarke reap- peared at Harrodstown and the bad feeling there came
18 Williams' Letter to Proprietors, Perrin's History of Kentucky, p. 136.
19 Proprietors to Henry and Jefferson, in Rancke's Boonesborough (Appendix).
20 American Archives, Vol. IV, p. 543.
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rapidly to a head.21 At his suggestion a convention was called at Harrodstown, June 6th, which decided to appoint Clarke and Gabriel Jones as delegates to the Virginia Convention. The two were instructed to appeal to Vir- ginia to overthrow Transylvania and incorporate the coun- try under her own government. At the same time Slaugh- ter and Harrod were appointed to visit the northern In- dians and find out their intentions in the war that was just begun between the colonies and England.22 For at that critical time the attitude of the Indians was of great importance to all Kentucky. Every one knew the provi- sions of the treaty that had closed Dunmore's war; they also knew the extreme improbability of their being kept. In fact, the Indians were already violating it; they had killed two boys at Boonesborough, murdered Lee at Lees- town, and were constantly prowling in predatory bands throughout the land.
The action of the Harrodstown people was not at all to Clarke's liking; he preferred independence first and negotiation with Virginia later. He knew, also, enough about the Tidewater brand of statesmanship to realize that for himself and Jones a seat in the Virginia Assembly was about as attainable as a habitation in the Elysian fields. Nevertheless, they undertook the journey and set out for Williamsburg.23 They carried with them a petition to the Virginia Assembly to reassert her claim to Kentucky and relieve the land from the tyranny and exactions of Hen- derson. The petitioners stated that they were convinced the land belonged to Virginia and that the reason for the lateness of their action was because they had only recently
21 English, Life of Clarke, p. 68.
22 Draper, MSS. Life of Boone, Vol. IV, p. 74.
23 American Archives, Vol. VI, p. 1529.
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heard of the treaty of Fort Stanwix. This statement would indicate either a very slow rate of speed for colonial news or else an extraordinary deafness on the part of the citi- zenship of Harrodstown.
When the two envoys had come into the neighborhood of Charlottesville, they found that the elusive Assembly had already adjourned, not to meet again until October.24 Jones, thereupon, made his way to the Holstein Valley for a visit, but Clarke pushed on to Hanover County to see the Governor. The Governor of Virginia was Patrick Henry, who was finding in patriotism and office holding a quick forgetfulness of his early negotiations with the Transylvania Company. By him Clarke was received in a most cordial and noncommittal manner. Clarke was given a letter to Virginia's executive council and imme- diately demanded of it an assumption of jurisdiction over Kentucky. The form of the jurisdiction, Clarke urged, should be the sending of five hundred pounds of powder across the mountains, so that Harrodstown might defend itself against the Indians. The council after much hesi- tation declared it could not assert jurisdiction, but was willing to lend Clarke the powder. Clarke lost no time in rejecting this offer and declared that Kentucky would assert her independence. Thereupon the council, per- haps not to his joy, granted his request and gave him an order for the powder.
This action foreshadowed the permanent policy of Vir- ginia. When her Assembly met in the autumn Jones and Clarke were present and handed in the Harrodstown peti- tion.25 It was signed by eighty-four men, eighty-three of whom sank, or remained, in merited oblivion. Harrod,
24 The assembly had met at Williamsburg.
25 American Archives, Vol. VI, p. 1573.
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alone, was a man of worth. He had been a member of the Boonesborough Convention and was much trusted by Henderson. A satisfactory reason for his change of heart has not appeared after a century of searching. Hender- son was there, also, and Campbell, to present the claims of Transylvania. But Virginia's thirst had not been satiated by the confiscation of Indiana or the theft of Fort Pitt. It was in vain that Henderson called to their memory the legal opinions of the Imperial counsellor, or recounted his hardships in settling the land. The Assembly passed an act incorporating all Kentucky as far as the Tennessee River and naming it Kentucky County.26
Transylvania ended, as it began, in bloodshed. As the Colony grew unconsciously to a close, Indian activities were reported in many places. Two of these deserve, per- haps, a place in history. At Boonesborough, Jemima Boone, suffering from a cane stab in her foot, persuaded her two friends Frances and Elizabeth Calloway to join her in a canoe ride that she might bathe the injured foot in the cool water.27 While the attention of the three was given to other things, the canoe gradually drifted down stream and went aground on a sandbar near the northern shore. Immediately five Indians sprang into the water from their place of concealment and seized the canoe. Notwithstanding Elizabeth Calloway's use of the paddle, the girls were quickly overpowered, hurried on shore and marched rapidly northward. The men at the fort were apprised of the capture by the shrieks of the girls and at once hurried in pursuit; Boone, with seven men, fol- lowed on foot while others followed on horseback. The capture was made on Sunday afternoon and the following
26 Hening's Statutes, Vol. IV, p. 257.
27 Draper, MSS. Life of Boone, Vol. IV, p. 78.
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Tuesday morning the pursuers came up with the Indians as they were preparing their breakfast near the Lower Blue Licks. A swift rescue was effected with but one Indian escaping. The affair had its romantic side in the fact that three of Boone's men-Holder, Henderson and Callo- way-were the lovers and later the husbands of Frances Calloway, Elizabeth Calloway and Jemima Boone.
The second occasion of Indian activity was less roman- tic and more perilous. In December, Jones and Clarke, returning from Williamsburg, came by way of Fort Pitt in order to get the powder collected for them there by Virginia.28 A small boat and seven boatmen were secured and the party started down the Ohio for Kentucky. But the Indians had news of the cargo and lost no time in pursuing. Clarke, however, reached Three Islands near the present Maysville, and disembarking secreted the pow- der along the banks of Limestone Creek and set the boat adrift as a decoy. Then the whole party set out overland for central Kentucky to secure help in bringing in the ammunition. On the west fork of Licking they came upon the deserted cabin of Hinkston and found several survey- ors in the vicinity. These told them Captain Todd was near with enough men to bring in the powder. Todd not appearing, Clarke with two companions, and guided by Kenton, pushed on to Harrodstown. Hardly had he left when Todd appeared; though he had but six men he yet resolved on hearing of the powder, to go and bring it in. His rashness received a speedy reward. At the Lower Blue Licks he was ambushed by the Indians who had found Clarke's trail and were following him. Two men were killed, of whom Jones was one, and two captured; Todd
28 Bradford, Notes on Kentucky, p. 25.
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and the others escaped to McClellan's Fort. Clarke re- turning from Harrodstown found them here and the whole party were soon attacked by the victorious Indians. The red men, however, were beaten and their leader killed. Clarke then safely carried in the powder.
In this connection it may not be inappropriate to sketch the future fortunes of the Transylvania proprietors. The act creating Kentucky County and nullifying Transylvania was passed in the autumn of 1776. A committee had been appointed by the Virginia Convention the preceding July to investigate the Henderson purchase and report. William Russell, Arthur Campbell, Thomas Madison, Edmund Winston, John Bowyer, John May, Samuel McDowell, J. Harvey, Abram Hite, Charles Sims, James Woods, Hugh Innes, Paul Carrington, Bennet Goode and Joseph Speed composed the committee and gave in their report in the winter of 1778. Virginia by establishing Kentucky Coun- ty had prejudged the case. The committee in the course of a period of investigation extending over two years, heard the evidence of practically every person of impor- tance connected with the affair. The depositions are pre- served in the Calendar of Virginia State Papers and are almost without exception favorable to Henderson. But when the committee made its report affairs were too far gone to ever be turned back. Henderson had kept up a continual agitation before the Virginia Assembly and that body in the fall of 1778, in tardy and partial compensa- tion, gave him two hundred thousand acres of land at the mouth of Green River, Kentucky.
North Carolina took a similar action, allowing him two hundred thousand acres around the present Nashville. It will be remembered that Henderson's purchase extended
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far down into Tennessee, and the territory now granted him was a part of the original tract. Henderson removed to his North Carolina property and enjoyed many honors at the hands of his fellow citizens until his death. He was once to revisit Kentucky in 1780, when he made a short stay at his old capital Boonesborough while he collected supplies for his new post on the Cumberland. North Caro- lina appointed him one of her commissioners to run the boundary line between that State and Virginia, and he later served as a member of the North Carolina Legisla- ture. There are few cases in history where a man after being denounced by a government as a traitor, enjoyed such high honors at its hands. Henderson's later career speaks well for the uprightness and rectitude of his life.
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KENTUCKY COUNTY.
W HILE Virginia and Transylvania had been wrang- ling about Kentucky, the ill-feeling between England and her colonies had reached a climax. On the fourth of July, 1776, after a year of hostilities, the colonies had as- serted their independence and thenceforth the revolt widened into a revolution. The struggle was characterized on both sides by weird inefficiency and brutality. It was a contest in which the one country was not able unaided to attack nor the other powerful unaided to defend. England was hindered by intervening oceans, hampered by inefficient or half-hearted commanders, and harassed by a network of enemies ; the colonies were doomed to divided action and un- tried counsels. Neither could utilize its full strength and both speedily began a search for allies. The colonies ob- tained help from abroad and contended against England to secure the aid of the Indians at home. But in the rivalry for Indian assistance the colonists were from the beginning at a hopeless disadvantage. Of the Indians, some tribes, as the Six Nations, preferred the English to colonist because of long alliance; others, and they were the most numerous, took the side of the English because of the fact that they hated the colonists, a hatred sufficiently justified by their past experience. So, not without great outlay of gifts and persuasion, the Indians of all sections took up arms for the English. Nor was the course of England one of unusual turpitude; the colonists did the same. The American condemnation of English policy in this instance is apparently due to the fact that England obtained the alliance which the colonists could only desire.
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There can be no real understanding of Kentucky his- tory without a clear conception of conditions existing in the region north of the Ohio River. The history of Ken- tucky is inextricably mingled with that of the northern Indians and of early Canada. At the beginning of the Revolution Sir Guy Carleton was sent out from England to be Governor of Canada. His capital was at Quebec and he had jurisdiction over all the British possessions not within the limits of the thirteen original colonies. Acting under Carleton were several lieutenant-governors located at the exposed forts on the Canadian frontier. The office of Superintendents of Indian Affairs was filled by these lieutenant-governors and their chief duty was to keep the Indian tribes well disposed to England and hostile to her enemies. To Henry Hamilton, residing at Detroit and managing the Indians from that place, fell the duty of arranging the Indian forays into Kentucky. He arrived at Detroit in November, 1775, and performed most admir- ably the duties of his trying situation until he was captured by Clarke in 1778. Before his appointment he had seen service in the English army as a lieutenant and possessed respectable military ability. He was personally a kind- hearted, genial man who constantly did all in his power to mitigate the horrors of savage warfare. To the north and west of Detroit was the fort of Michilimacinack where De Peyster held command of two companies of soldiers and acted as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, Patrick Sinclair. For the various towns in the Illinois, David Abbot was the lieutenant-gover- nor and had his headquarters at Vincennes.1
1 Matthew Johnson had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Illinois country, but never reached his post-a fact which did not at all prevent him from drawing the salary pertaining to it.
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England possessed on the Great Lakes a small but very efficient navy, built for the most part at Detroit. There were four schooners and four sloops on Lake Erie, one sloop on Lake Huron and one on Lake Michigan. In addi- tion to this naval force Hamilton held about five hundred men under the command of Captain Lernoult. Among these were two companies of Rangers which it was the custom to intermix with the Indians on their expeditions. On such occasions both Indians and Rangers were put under the special command of "Indian officers," who were men that had by long service become thoroughly familiar with Indian manners and customs. These officers were never Indians.
Such were the military arrangements of the English in the northwest. On the colonial side, Fort Pitt, at the present site of Pittsburg, occupied the same position that Detroit held among the English. There, early in 1776, the Continental Congress had placed George Morgan as Indian agent for the tribes north of the Ohio, with wide instructions for dealing with the Indians. At the same place they had located General Edward Hand of the Con- tinental army to have charge of the military operations that might be necessary in the west. Fort Pitt was at this time in the possession of the Virginians; they had built several other forts along the lower course of the Ohio, as a step toward retaining their hold on the western regions. Of these, Fort Henry, where Wheeling, West Virginia, now stands, and Fort Randolph, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, were the most important.
There was a continued rivalry between Hamilton at Detroit and Morgan at Fort Pitt to secure the active or passive assistance of the Indians. In the summer of 1775, Carleton sent emissaries to the various tribes, inciting them
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to take up arms for the King. In the spring of 1776 a grand treaty was held at Detroit where, after five days consumed in speeches, the Indians definitely declared for England. Morgan, however, soon heard of this, and by a personal visit to the Delawares and Shawnese, did much to nullify Hamilton's work. He induced many of the tribes to attend a meeting at Fort Pitt and make a treaty of peace. He went even further and planned an expedi- tion to capture the British posts in the Illinois, but his plans miscarried. In the spring of 1777, Hamilton had another meeting with the Indians at Detroit, delivered the war hatchet and many presents to them and sent them out on the warpath toward the forts south of the Ohio. Before the year was out more than a thousand warriors, officered by Englishmen, were hovering around the little forts at Fort Pitt, Henry, Randolph and the Kentucky stockades.
Of the frontier posts against which this force was directed, none were more exposed than those in Kentucky. It lay like a shield across the western region of Virginia and penetrated the Indian country for two hundred miles. The feeblest vision could foresee that there were troub- lous times in store for Kentucky if the Indians should again take the warpath. Moreover, at this time of greatest need the Kentucky settlements were at their weakest stage. Indian depredations and the rumors of war had, at the opening of 1777, well-nigh depopulated the country. Three hundred people 2 had left the country and seven stations had been abandoned.3 Boonesborough, Harrods- town and McClelland's alone survived, and the last named was abandoned in the early days of 1777. There were,
2 Draper, MSS. Life of Boone, Vol. IV, p. 104.
3 Huston's, Hinkston's, Bryant's, Whitley's, Logan's, Harrod's and Leestown.
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then, in the beginning of 1777, but two settlements and a possible one hundred and fifty men in Kentucky. Many of the people from the abandoned forts had found refuge at Boonesborough or Harrodstown, the latter gaining many accessions, particularly from Logan's 4 and McClel- land's. The enmity between Boonesborough and Harrods- town had not abated. Rather had it increased because of Virginia's action in making Harrodstown the capital of the new county.
The year opened with two months of deceptive calm. The Indians committed no depredations and seemed to have abandoned, or at least to have deferred, their wrath against Kentucky. In February Logan moved his family back to Saint Asaph and reoccupied his fort. The settlers began to recover their spirits and venture away from the support and protection of the stockades. Such peaceful times were destined, however, to be by no means lasting. Already the British Governor of Canada was directing his Indian allies toward Kentucky with comprehensive instructions to destroy the settlements there. The blow was not long in falling. But even the short delay of a few weeks had sufficed for completing the military organization of the people. Colonel Bowman 5 was to lead a regiment of troops from Virginia ; Clarke, who had been commissioned Major, personally commanded at Harrodstown; Captain Calloway and Captain Boone had charge at Boonesborough, and Captain Logan was supreme at Saint Asaph. Clarke was in charge of the entire militia of the county until Bowman arrived in September.6
4 Logan himself with his slaves remained at the fort to continue his improvements.
5 Morehead, Settlement of Kentucky, p. 59.
6 Bradford, Notes on Kentucky, p. 26.
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The Indians, in their attempt to destroy the Kentucky settlements, struck first at Harrodstown. Their forces were under the command of the great chieftain, Blackfish, and their coming was as silent as Indian caution could make it. Accident alone saved the fort from murderous surprise. It so happened that the two Ray brothers,7 accompanied by William Coomes and Thomas Shores, had gone a little distance from the fort in order to clear some land. Three of them in the course of the day started off to visit a neighboring sugar camp, leaving Coomes at work in the clearing. The three fell in with Blackfish's Indians and two were killed at the first volley.8 But James Ray, who possessed what were possibly the longest legs on the western continent, took to his heels and made his escape while the Indians stood dumfounded at his speed. Reaching the fort, he gave the alarm, and McGary, with thirty men, set out for the sugar camp.9 They found the lifeless body of William Ray and soon came upon Coomes who had discovered the Indians, but had concealed himself so thoroughly that he escaped detection.
This incident occurred on the sixth of March, and the Indians, chagrined at their failure to surprise the fort, abandoned the attack for two days, hoping to lull the white men into a sense of security. At the expiration of this time they set fire to an isolated cabin outside the fort in order to lure the settlers to come out. The white men, apparently untaught by the death of Ray, rushed out to extinguish the flames, only to find themselves face to face with an overwhelming number of savages. Aided,
7 Spalding, Sketches of Early Catholic Missions in Kentucky, p. 35. 8 Clarke in his "Diary" says both men were killed.
9 On hearing the news the anguished McGary upbraided Harrod for neglecting the defense of the fort. A conflict between the two was prevented only by the earnest efforts of McGary's wife.
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however, by the forests, the settlers succeeded in reaching the fort. Four white men were wounded and one Indian killed. After killing all the cattle they could find, the Indians withdrew, but roving bands continued to molest the fort throughout the year. Probably a score of men were lost by the three forts through isolated murders and many more in the concerted attacks. Truly, as Draper has said, "The year 1777 was one of constant watchfulness and anxiety in Kentucky."
It is a striking revelation of the pioneer character, that in the midst of such suffering and anxiety, they seemed to have no thought of leaving their exposed position. Not- withstanding the Indian massacres, they proceeded with the organization of their government for all the world as if Kentucky was a land of peace and destined to lasting quiet. On April 19th, an election-the second in Ken- tucky-was held, and Calloway and John Todd chosen to represent the county in the Virginia Legislature. Clarke worked without ceasing to improve the military condition of the county. In April he called upon the commanders of the different forts to appoint two patrols, each to range along the Ohio and give notice of Indian approach. From Boonesborough, Boone appointed Kenton and Thomas Brooks; Harrod named Moore and Collier; and Logan, Conrad and Martin. These were to range by turns in pairs along the Ohio, changing each week. They did excellent service, but were more than once eluded by their crafty foes. At the same time Clarke dispatched two men 10 to the Illinois country to gather information for a scheme he had in mind.
10 Linn and Moore. Bradford, Notes on Kentucky, p. 27.
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The most northern, and consequently the most exposed of the three settlements, was Boonesborough; against it the Indians directed their attacks with even greater fury than against Harrodstown. The first attempt was made on April 15th by the same Indians who had shortly before retired from Harrodstown.11 There were only twenty-two "guns" in the fort as compared to the hundred under the command of Blackfish, yet after two days of fighting, the Indians withdrew in complete discomfiture. They con- tinued, however, to infest the forest and to cut off all strag- glers, keeping the settlers confined to the fort. On April 24th, about forty or fifty of the original band made another concerted attack on the fort. Attacking and tomahawking a laboring man near the gate, they drew Boone outside by feigning a retreat. Boone, pursuing with ten men, sud- denly found himself cut off from the fort. He only re- gained it after desperate efforts.12 Seven men, including Boone, were wounded and the fort was besieged for three days. On May 23d a third attempt was made, and the fighting lasted two days, resulting in no loss to the whites except three men slightly wounded.18
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