USA > Kentucky > The history of Kentucky, from its earliest discovery and settlement, to the present date, V. 1 > Part 25
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178
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
1 Among the most intelligent and prominent pioneers of Kentucky, Col- onel Aquila Whittaker may justly be ranked. He was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, in the year 1755, and came to Kentucky in an exploring company in the year 1775. He was a man of medium size, of great nerve, strength, and energy, and fond of adventures. He was a bold and active leader, and took part in many dangerous and thrilling scenes, perilous inci- dents and trials, in the exploration and settlement of Kentucky. In 1779, he moved his family to Kentucky, and settled at Sullivan's station, near the Falls of Ohio. In 1783, he moved to the neighborhood of Shelbyville, where he lived for many years. At this place, his brother, John Whittaker, was killed by the Indians, near the present town boundary, while clearing up the ground for cultivation. In the important military and aggressive movements made by General George Rogers Clark, in and from Kentucky, he was a lieutenant and captain, and ranked high as a brave. efficient, and intrepid officer, adding greatly, by his ability as an officer and soldier, to the achievement of the great success attending these movements. Prior to 1794, he was captain of the different parties from Boone's, Wells', and Whittaker's stations, and other stations (now Shelby and Jefferson), in pur- suit of marauding bands of Indians, and many were the rencounters with them while engaged in their descent and forages on the settlements in that section of the State.
So troublesome had the Indians become in the section of country in the rear of Louisville, that Squire Boone determined to abandon his station on Clear creek, in Shelby county, and to remove all the families and their household goods and stock, for protection, to the stronger forts on Bear- grass. As the men were moving, encumbered with families and property, they were attacked by a party of Indians and dispersed in much confusion through the forest, with considerable loss, near Long Run. Colonel John Floyd, hearing of the disaster, hastily collected about thirty men, and pur- sued the Indians, whom he supposed on the retreat. He advanced with his usual caution, dividing his force into two parties, one led by Captain Holden, and the other by himself. This prudence did not avail; for he was surprised by an ambuscade of Indians, estimated to be two hundred in number, whose deadly fire killed and wounded half the whites, or more; the latter stubbornly holding their ground until overpowered and attacked with tomahawks, when they were forced to retreat. Some ten of the Indians were killed. While Colonel Floyd was retreating on foot, almost exhausted and closely pursued by the Indians, Captain Samuel Wells. who yet retained his horse, dismounted and forced him into the saddle, and ran by his side to protect and support him. The magnanimity of this action was enhanced by the fact that the two men had been estranged in friendship, and were person- ally hostile to each other. This was now canceled, and the two men were ever after the warmest of friends. These raids were very harassing and
I Allen's History of Kentucky.
179
ATTACK ON MRS. WOODS' CABIN.
fatal to this section during 1781, and over one hundred lives of men, women, and children were sacrificed to savage atrocity, within a radius of thirty miles of Louisville, in less than a year. Near the Shelbyville turnpike, and sixteen miles from Louisville, on the land of Mr. Abner J. Smith, stands a marble monument, erected by order of the Legislature of Kentucky, with the following inscription: "Erected by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, to the memory of fourteen brave soldiers, who fell, under Captain John Floyd, in a contest with the Indians, in 1783."
An incident, illustrative of the perils which fell to every member of the household of the pioneer, occurred near Crab Orchard, in Lincoln county : One morning Mr. Woods left his family, consisting of a wife, a daughter not yet grown, and a lame negro man, and rode off to the station, near by, for the day. Mrs. Woods, while out a short distance from the cabin, spied several Indians approaching, and screaming loudly to give the alarm, ran into the house and attempted to shut the door. One Indian in advance, however, pressed inside before the door could be closed and fastened. He was instantly seized by the lame negro, who threw and held him on the floor. Mrs. Woods busy at the door to keep it fastened, the negro called to the girl to seize the ax and kill the savage while he held him. This, after some effort, she did with a well-directed blow on the head. The other Indians were endeavoring to force the door, when the plucky black man, elated with his prowess, called out, "Missus, jes' let the red devils in, one at a time, and we'll kill 'em fast as dey come!" But there was no need of the doubtful experiment. The cabin was in easy hearing of the station, and the men from the latter, coming promptly to the rescue, fired on the Indians and killed one more of their number, when the remainder sought safety in flight.
Bryan's station was much infested with raiding Indians this season, and the people were compelled to hunt in bodies of ten or twenty. In May, William Bryan, the brother-in-law of Boone, left the fort with twenty men for a hunt on Elkhorn. 1 Reaching the ground, he divided his men into two parties of ten each, one led by James Hogan, to hunt on both sides of the creek. They were to meet at night and camp at the mouth of Cane Run. Hogan had not gone far before a loud voice, in pretty good English, called out, "Stop, boys!" Looking back, they saw several Indians in hot pur- suit, when they put spurs to their horses and dashed off through the woods, the enemy pursuing. A led horse, for packing game, was left behind, with a bell on, and fell into the hands of the Indians. After such a disorderly retreat, and out of sight of the Indians, it occurred to the party that they might venture to give the savages a check, or feel of their numbers. They crossed Elkhorn to unite the forces, that they might more safely reach the fort in case of necessity. They then dismounted and awaited the enemy. Night coming on, the Indians were heard coming, when presently a single warrior descended the bank and began to wade through the stream. When
I McClung's Sketches.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
about the middle, Hogan fired on him, and he fell, splashing the water, after which all became quiet again. This stopped pursuit, and Hogan's party re- turned to the fort. To apprize Bryan of danger, they left the fort at daylight next morning, and rode rapidly down toward the mouth of Cane Run. When near where they supposed Bryan's camp to be, they heard the reports of many guns, and conjectured that Bryan's party had fallen in with a herd of buffaloes, and hastened their steps to take part in the sport. The morning being misty, as they approached the banks of the stream they came upon the Indians, comfortably seated around and preparing their pipes. Both combatants were startled; but recovering quickly, both sheltered themselves behind covers, and the action opened briskly. For half an hour the Indians maintained their position, but a flank move put them on the retreat, which ended in a rout and sharp loss. Of the whites, one was killed and three wounded.
It happened that Bryan's party had camped at the mouth of Cane Run, as agreed on, and were unable to account for Hogan's absence. About day- light, they heard the familiar sound of the bell worn by the pack horse captured, and Bryan and Grant mounted their horses and went in search, as they supposed, of Hogan's party. They soon fell into an ambuscade, and were fired on by the Indians, and Bryan wounded mortally and Grant seriously. Both, however, kept the saddle, and rode into the station shortly after breakfast. The Indians next fell upon Bryan's camp and dispersed the remainder of the men, and were in the act of resting and regaling them- selves when Hogan came upon them.
From McClung's Sketches we learn that early in May, 1781, McAfee station, in the neighborhood of Harrodsburg, was alarmed. On the morn- ing of the 9th, Samuel McAfee, accompanied by another man, left the fort, in order to visit a small plantation in the neighborhood, and at the distance of three hundred yards from the gate, they were fired upon by a party of Indians in ambush. The man who accompanied him instantly fell, and McAfee attempted to regain the fort. While running rapidly for that pur- pose, he found himself suddenly intercepted by an Indian, who, springing out of the cane-brake, placed himself directly in his path. There was no time for compliments ; each glared upon the other for an instant in silence, and both raising their guns at the same moment pulled the triggers together. The Indian's rifle snapped, while McAfee's ball passed directly through the former's brain. Having no time to reload his gun, he sprang over the body of his antagonist, and continued his flight to the fort.
When within one hundred yards of the gate, he was met by his two brothers, Robert and James, who, at the reports of the guns, had hurried out to the assistance of their brother. Samuel hastily informed them of their danger, and exhorted them to return. James readily complied, but Robert, , deaf to all remonstrances, declared he must have a view of the dead Indian. He ran on for that purpose, and, having regaled himself with that spectacle,.
181
ROBERT M'AFEE'S ADVENTURE.
was hastily returning by the same path, when he saw five or six Indians between him and the fort, evidently bent upon taking him alive. All his activity and presence of mind were now put in requisition. He ran rapidly from tree to tree, endeavoring to turn their flanks and reach one of the gates, and, after a variety of turns and doublings in the thick woods, he found himself pressed by only one Indian. McAfee, hastily throwing him- self behind a fence, turned upon his pursuer, and compelled him to take shelter behind a tree.
Both stood still for a moment, McAfee having his gun cocked, and the sight fixed upon the tree at the spot where he supposed the Indian would thrust out his head in order to have a view of his antagonist. After waiting a few seconds, he was gratified. The Indian slowly and cautiously exposed a part of his head, and began to elevate his rifle. As soon as a sufficient mark presented itself, McAfee shot and the Indian fell. While turning, in order to continue his flight, he was fired on by a party of six, which com- pelled him again to tree. But scarcely had he done so, when, from the opposite quarter, he received the fire from three more enemies, which made the bark fly around him and knocked up the dust about his feet. Thinking his post rather too hot for safety, he neglected all shelter and ran directly for the fort, which, in defiance of all opposition, he reached in safety, to the inexpressible joy of his brothers, who had despaired of his return.
The Indians now opened a heavy fire upon the fort in their usual manner, but, finding every effort useless, they hastily decamped, without any loss beyond the two who had fallen by the hands of the brothers, and without having inflicted more on the garrison. Within half an hour Major McGary brought up a party from Harrodsburg at full gallop, and, uniting with the garrison, pursued the enemy with all possible activity. They soon over- took them, and a sharp action ensued. The Indians were routed in a few minutes, with the loss of six warriors left dead upon the ground and many others wounded, who, as usual, were borne off. The pursuit was continued for several miles, but, from the thickness of the woods and the extreme activity and address of the enemy, was not very effectual. McGary lost one man dead upon the spot and another mortally wounded.
1 In 1781, a band of Indians came into Hardin county, and, after nu- merous depredations and killing some women and children, were pursued by the whites. During the pursuit, a portion of the Indians who were on stolen horses took a southerly direction, so as to strike the Ohio about where Brandenburg is now situated, while the other party, who were on foot, at- tempted to cross the Ohio at the mouth of Salt river. The whites pursued each party, the larger portion following the trail of the horses, the smaller the foot party. Among the latter was the hero of this sketch, Peter Ken- nedy. Young Kennedy was noted for his fleetness of foot, strength of body, and wary daring. He was selected as their leader. They pursued the
: Collins, Vol. II , p. 312.
182
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Indians to within a mile of the river, the latter awaiting them in ambush. They were ten in number, the whites six. As they were hurried on by their daring leader in an effort to overtake them before they could reach the river, all of his comrades were shot down, and he was left to contend single- handed with ten fierce and savage Indians. This was an odds calculated to make the bravest tremble; but young Kennedy was determined to sell his life as dearly as possible. With a bound, he reached a tree, and awaited an op- portunity to wreak vengeance upon the foe. The savages, with their usual wariness, kept their cover; but at last one, more impatient than the remain- der, showed his head from behind a tree. As quick as thought, Kennedy buried a rifle-ball in his forehead, and instantly turned to flee; but no sooner did he abandon his cover than nine deadly rifles were leveled at him and instantly fired, and with the fire a simultaneous whoop of triumph, for the brave Kennedy fell pierced through the right hip with a ball. Disabled by the wound and unable to make further resistance, he was taken prisoner. and immediately borne off to the Wabash, where the tribe of the victorious party belonged.
The wound of Kennedy was severe, and the pain which he suffered from it was greatly aggravated by the rapid movement of the Indians. The arrival of the party was hailed with the usual demonstrations of Indian triumph; but Kennedy, owing to his feeble and suffering condition, was treated with kindness. His wound gradually healed, and, as he again found himself a well man, he felt an irresistible desire for freedom. He deter- mined to make his escape, but how to effect it was the question. In this state of suspense he remained for two years, well knowing that, however kindly the Indians might treat a prisoner when first captured, an unsuc- cessful attempt to escape would be followed by the infliction of death, and that, too, by the stake. But still Kennedy was willing to run this risk to regain that most inestimable of gifts-freedom. The vigilance of the Indians ultimately relaxed, and he seized the opportunity and made good his escape to this side of the Ohio.
Hitherto Kennedy had rapidly pressed forward without rest or nourish- ment, for he knew the character of the savages and anticipated a rapid pursuit. Hungry and exhausted, he was tempted to shoot a deer which crossed his path, from which he cut a steak, cooked it, and had nearly completed his meal, when he heard the shrill crack of an Indian rifle, and felt that he was again wounded, but fortunately not disabled. He grasped his gun and bounded forward in the direction of Goodin's station, distant nearly thirty miles. Fortunately, he was acquainted with the localities, which aided him greatly in his flight. The chase soon became intensely exciting. The fierce whoop of the Indians was met with a shout of defiance from Kennedy. For a few minutes at the outset of the chase the Indians appeared to gain on him, but he redoubled his efforts and gradually widened the distance between the pursuers and himself. But there was no abatement
183
THE IMMIGRATION OF FEMALES.
of effort on either side, both the pursuers and pursued putting forth all their energies. The yell of the savages as the distance widened became fainter and fainter; Kennedy had descended in safety the tall cliff on Rolling Fork, and found himself, as the Indians reached the summit, a mile in advance.
Here the loud yell of the savages reverberated along the valleys of that stream, but, so far from dampening, infused new energy into the flight of Kennedy. The race continued, Kennedy still widening the distance to within a short distance of Goodin's station, when the Indians, in despair, gave up the chase. He arrived safely at the station, but in an exhausted state. His tale was soon told. The men in the station instantly grasped their rifles, and, under the direction of Kennedy, sallied forth to encounter the savages. The scene was now changed. The pursuers became the pur- sued. The Indians, exhausted by their long-continued chase, were speedily overtaken, and not one returned to their tribe to tell of the fruitless pursuit of Kennedy! Kennedy lived in Hardin to a very old age, and left a nu- merous and clever progeny.
Among the topics of interest worthy of description are those relating to the manners and characteristics of society in these primitive times of Ken- tucky history. Previous to 1781-2, the proportion of females to males in the country was small; painfully so. to the gallantry and devotion of the males. Within the last two years, great numbers of females came out to the West; and with the loss of life by Indian hostilities among the men, an equality of the sexes was fairly established. A license to marry is said to have been the first process issued by the clerks of the new counties, and it is probably as true that they were the most numerous processes. It was the almost universal rule for the young men and women to marry, and at an early age.
The conventional restrictions and artificial obstacles, real and imagined, which a falsely-fashioned civilization imposes to deter the young of both sexes from assuming the relations of the divinely-ordered institution of mar- riage, did not then exist. The husband and the wife were the complement and perfection of the domestic unit, on which God has ordained that society shall be based. The young husband and wife were helpmates for each other; all sufficient, because they could in simplicity adapt themselves to circum- stances, and live and love together, burdened with few of the cares of the modern elaborate household. If there were no servants, the meal was grated or pounded, the woods were cleared, the fields and gardens were planted, the wood was chopped and hauled, and all other rough work done by the men ; while the women cooked, spun and wove, milked the cows, and did all the housework, and with cheerful happiness and content. If there were no mansion of many apartments, there were plenty and content in the log ยท cabin, and these in the reach of all who had the industry to secure them.
But few lawsuits existed at this time in Kentucky, as lands and property were too cheap and too much in common to be subjects of litigation or dis-
184
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
pute. Deerskins were extensively used for dress, to compose tne hunting- shirt, the overalls, and the soft and pliable moccasins; while the skins of the bear and buffalo furnished the bed and the covering for the night. Ropes and strings were made of thongs cut from hides. Stores and shops were unknown .. Wooden vessels prepared by the cooper, the turner, or the rude axman, were the common substitutes for table furniture. Gourds for drink- ing and dipping water, and larger ones for storing many articles of domestic use, were grown in the gardens, and boiled and scraped at maturity, until clean and pure for use. A tin cup or a piece of china-ware were things of rare luxury, and so was an iron fork. Every hunter carried a knife, too aptly called a scalping-knife in the hands of the white man, as well as the Indian. Two or three knives would usually compose the cutlery for the family, usually four or five members to each knife. The furniture of the cabin was appropriate; the table was a slab, or thick, flat timber split, and roughly hewn with the ax, and supported by wooden legs prepared with the same instrument. The ax was the . principal tool of all mechanical work ; and fortunate was the man who could count also his rifle, his augur, and his adze in addition. Stools made on the order of the tables supplied the place of chairs. The bed was on slabs laid across poles, and the latter supported by forks set in the ground, unless the floor was covered with pun- cheons; in such case the bed was of hewn pieces, let into the sides of the cabin by augur-holes in the logs. The baby was not neglected. A cradle, much after the fashion of the sugar-trough that was made to receive the sap of the maple, was hewn out of half a log, of the right length, scooped on the flat side, and made to rock smoothly on the round outside.
The food in these rude habitations was the richest of milk and butter, furnished by the luxuriant pastures of bluegrass and clover, varied with the rich peavine and perennial cane. The beef and pork were unsurpassed for tenderness and nutrition, while the forests supplied abundant meat of the buffalo, bear, deer, turkey, and smaller game. Corn meal and hominy were the staple breadstuffs, with a limited addition of wheat bread. Of vegeta- ble, unctuous roasting ears, pumpkins, potatoes, beans, and other garden products, were usually plentiful. Wild fruits and nuts from the woods, and the products of the orchards now beginning to bear, gave variety and plenty from these sources as well. There was little of money and less of markets. The surplus that one neighbor had was divided with another, and the kind- ness hardly thought to possess the name of merit.
This fertility and abundance of food supply is often said to have afforded that assistance to the pioneers, without which they could never have main- tained their possession of the country against the fierce hostilities of the aborigines. The immense distance, and the obstacles of mountains and forests, would have been insuperable to the transportation of supplies enough to the interior to have met the wants of settlers; while the Indians would have intercepted the same, both by river and land.
185
SKETCH OF PRIMITIVE SOCIETY.
The hospitality of these times was less a merit than we might suppose; yet it was generous and unrestrained. It was usually an enjoyment and social relief, as well as protection. to both host and guest. The entertain- ment was rude and without ceremony. but ever hearty and genuine in its ex- pression. The life and men of the times are well portrayed further by Butler : "It would not, however, be justice to the manners and character of the present state of society, any more than to those of the times we are describing, to conclude the portrait here. Hardihood, bravery, endurance of suffering, and generosity were prominent features in the character of the first settlers of Kentucky. These qualities are attested by the whole history of their gallant, hardy, and magnanimous deeds in the conquest which they made of this lovely land, from such wily, ferocious, and formidable tribes of Indians. assisted by the ample resources of Great Britain. Literature and science, with their train of humanizing arts, and the thousand delightful excitements to activity of mind which they furnish, it would be worse than folly to expect in these primitives of Kentucky. Government was nearly as simple as the impalpable policy subsisting among the Indians; the complexities of law were uncalled for in this condition of few wants and nearly universal means of gratifying them. Trade there was none, for there was nothing yet to give in exchange. Did any man want land? He could occupy any quantity that he could defend against the Indians. Did he want clothing or subsist- ence? His rifle would furnish any supply of either which his activity and his industry could command. Avarice and the love of gain had scarcely, at first, a temptation to develop them. What a chasm must there have existed to be filled by one of the fiercest and most insatiate passions of the human mind! Still, let it not be supposed that our early society was quite one of Arcadian fiction. Though politics did not distract the community with their noisy dins and bitter contentions; though traffic and labor did not furnish their topics of strife and sources of discontent; still, there was no absence of rivalry, and that pursued with sufficient bitterness. They would dispute who was the best shot, who the most supple wrestler, the strongest man, or the " better man" in a fight; nor were these disputes always bloodless, and even sometimes were settled with the knife and the rifle. The female sex, though certainly an object of much feeling and regard, was doomed to endure much hardship. In fine, our frontier people were much allied to their contemporaries of the forest in many things more than in their com- plexions. To be sure, this is but a general sketch of the early mass; there were among them men of finer mold and superior character, who would have adorned any state of society; and these remarks must be severely re- stricted to the body of the earliest emigrants. This picture has little or no resemblance of Clark, of Harrod and Boone, Bullitt and Logan, Floyd, the Todds, Hardin, and no doubt many other noble spirits who were the lights and guides of their times. It was a state of society peremptorily exterting high physical faculties, more than mental exertions or artificial endowments."
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