The Winning of the West, Volume Two by Theodore Roosevelt

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In the fall, when the hickories had turned yellow and the oaks deep red,
during the weeks of still, hazy weather that mark the Indian summer,
their favorite hunting season, [Footnote: Usually early in
November.--McAfee MSS.] the savages again filled the land, and Logan was
obliged to repeat his perilous journey. [Footnote: Marshall, 50.] He
also continually led small bands of his followers against the Indian
war--and hunting-parties, sometimes surprising and dispersing them, and
harassing them greatly. Moreover he hunted steadily throughout the year
to keep the station in meat, for the most skilful hunters were, in those
days of scarcity, obliged to spend much of their time in the chase.
Once, while at a noted game lick, [Footnote: These game licks were
common, and were of enormous extent. Multitudes of game, through
countless generations, had tramped the ground bare of vegetation, and
had made deep pits and channels with their hoofs and tongues. See McAfee
MSS. Sometimes the licks covered acres of ground, while the game trails
leading towards them through the wood were as broad as streets, even 100
feet wide. I have myself seen small game licks, the largest not a
hundred feet across, in the Selkirks, Coeur d'Alenes, and Bighorns, the
ground all tramped up by the hoofs of elk, deer, wild sheep, and white
goats, with deep furrows and hollows where the saline deposits existed.
In the Little Missouri Bad Lands there is so much mineral matter that no
regular licks are needed. As the game is killed off the licks become
overgrown and lost.] waiting for deer, he was surprised by the Indians,
and by their fire was wounded in the breast and had his right arm
broken. Nevertheless he sprang on his horse and escaped, though the
savages were so close that one, leaping at him, for a moment grasped the
tail of the horse. Every one of these pioneer leaders, from Clark and
Boon to Sevier and Robertson, was required constantly to expose his
life; each lost sons or brothers at the hands of the Indians, and each
thinned the ranks of the enemy with his own rifle. In such a primitive
state of society the man who led others was expected to show strength of
body no less than strength of mind and heart; he depended upon his
physical prowess almost as much as upon craft, courage, and headwork.
The founder and head of each little community needed not only a shrewd
brain and commanding temper, but also the thews and training to make him
excel as woodsman and hunter, and the heart and eye to enable him to
stand foremost in every Indian battle.

Clark Shares in the Defense of Kentucky.

Clark spent most of the year at Harrodstown, taking part in the defence
of Kentucky. All the while he was revolving in his bold, ambitious heart
a scheme for the conquest of the Illinois country, and he sent scouts
thither to spy out the land and report to him what they saw. The Indians
lurked round Harrodstown throughout the summer; and Clark and his
companions were engaged in constant skirmishes with them. Once, warned
by the uneasy restlessness of the cattle (who were sure to betray the
presence of Indians if they got sight or smell of them), they were able
to surround a party of ten or twelve, who were hidden in a tall clump of
weeds. The savages were intent on cutting off some whites who were
working in a turnip patch two hundred yards from the fort; Clark's party
killed three--he himself killing one,--wounded another, and sold the
plunder they took, at auction, for seventy pounds. At other times the
skirmishes resulted differently, as on the occasion chronicled by Clark
in his diary, when they "went out to hunt Indians; one wounded Squire
Boon and escaped." [Footnote: Clark's Diary, entry for July 9th.]

The corn was brought in from the cribs under guard; one day while
shelling a quantity, a body of thirty-seven whites were attacked, and
seven were killed or wounded, though the Indians were beaten off and two
scalps taken. In spite of this constant warfare the fields near the
forts were gradually cleared, and planted with corn, pumpkins, and
melons; and marrying and mirth-making went on within the walls. One of
Clark's scouts, shortly after returning from the Illinois, got married,
doubtless feeling he deserved some reward for the hardships he had
suffered; on the wedding night Clark remarks that there was "great
merriment." The rare and infrequent expresses from Pittsburg or
Williamsburg brought letters telling of Washington's campaigns, which
Clark read with absorbed interest. On the first of October, having
matured his plans for the Illinois campaign, he left for Virginia, to
see if he could get the government to help him put them into execution.

The Holston men Help Kentucky.

During the summer parties of backwoods militia from the Holston
settlements--both Virginians and Carolinians--came out to help the
Kentuckians in their struggle against the Indians; but they only stayed
a few weeks, and then returned home. In the fall, however, several
companies of immigrants came out across the mountains; and at the same
time the small parties of hunters succeeded in pretty well clearing the
woods of Indians. Many of the lesser camps and stations had been broken
up, and at the end of the year there remained only four--Boonsborough,
Harrodstown, Logan's station at St. Asaphs, and McGarry's, at the
Shawnee Springs. They contained in all some five or six hundred
permanent settlers, nearly half of them being able-bodied riflemen.
[Footnote: The McAfee MSS. give these four stations; Boon says there
were but three. He was writing from memory, however, and was probably
mistaken; thus he says there were at that time settlers at the Falls, an
evident mistake, as there were none there till the following year.
Collins, following Marshall, says there were at the end of the year only
one hundred and two men in Kentucky,--sixty-five at Harrodstown,
twenty-two at Boonsborough, fifteen at Logan's. This is a mistake based
on a hasty reading of Boon's narrative, which gives this number for
July, and particularly adds that after that data they began to
strengthen. In the McAfee MSS. is a census of Harrodstown for the fall
of 1777, which sums up: Men in service, 81; men not in service, 4;
women, 24; children above ten, 12; children under ten, 58; slaves above
ten, 12; slaves under ten, 7; total, 198. In October Clark in his diary
records meeting fifty men with their families, (therefore permanent
settlers), on their way to Boon, and thirty-eight men on their way to
Logan's. At the end of the year, therefore, Boonsborough and Harrodstown
must have held about two hundred souls apiece; Logan's and McGarry's
were considerably smaller. The large proportion of young children
testifies to the prolific nature of the Kentucky women, and also shows
the permanent nature of the settlements. Two years previously, in 1775,
there had been, perhaps, three hundred people in Kentucky, but very many
of them were not permanent residents.]

Boon Captured.

Early in 1778 a severe calamity befell the settlements. In January Boon
went, with twenty-nine other men, to the Blue Licks to make salt for the
different garrisons--for hitherto this necessary of life had been
brought in, at great trouble and expense, from the settlements.
[Footnote: See Clark's Diary, entry for October 25, 1777.] The following
month, having sent three men back with loads of salt, he and all the
others were surprised and captured by a party of eighty or ninety
Miamis, led by two Frenchmen, named Baubin and Lorimer. [Footnote:
Haldimand MSS. B., 122, p. 35. Hamilton to Carleton, April 25, 1778. He
says four-score Miamis.] When surrounded, so that there was no hope of
escape, Boon agreed that all should surrender on condition of being well
treated. The Indians on this occasion loyally kept faith. The two
Frenchmen were anxious to improve their capture by attacking
Boonsborough; but the fickle savages were satisfied with their success,
and insisted on returning to their villages. Boon was taken, first to
Old Chillicothe, the chief Shawnee town on the Little Miami, and then to
Detroit, where Hamilton and the other Englishmen treated him well, and
tried to ransom him for a hundred pounds sterling. However, the Indians
had become very much attached to him, and refused the ransom, taking
their prisoner back to Chillicothe. Here he was adopted into the tribe,
and remained for two months, winning the good-will of the Shawnees by
his cheerfulness and his skill as a hunter, and being careful not to
rouse their jealousy by any too great display of skill at the
shooting-matches.

Hamilton was urging the Indians to repeat their ravages of the preceding
year; Mingos, Shawnees, Delawares, and Miamis came to Detroit, bringing
scalps and prisoners. A great council was held at that post early in
June. [Footnote: _Do._, June 14, 1778.] All the northwestern tribes took
part, and they received war-belts from the Iroquois and messages calling
on them to rise as one man. They determined forthwith to fall on the
frontier in force. By their war parties, and the accompanying bands of
tories, Hamilton sent placards to be distributed among the frontiersmen,
endeavoring both by threat and by promise of reward, to make them desert
the patriot cause. [Footnote: Do., April 25, 1778.]

Boon Escapes and Makes a Foray.

In June a large war party gathered at Chillicothe to march against
Boonsborough, and Boon determined to escape at all hazards, so that he
might warn his mends. One morning before sunrise he eluded the vigilance
of his Indian companions and started straight through the woods for his
home where he arrived in four days, having had but one meal during the
whole journey of a hundred and sixty miles. [Footnote: Boon's
Narrative.]

On reaching Boonsborough he at once set about putting the fort in good
condition; and being tried by court-martial for the capture at the Blue
Licks, he was not only acquitted but was raised to the rank of major.
His escape had probably disconcerted the Indian war party, for no
immediate attack was made on the fort. After waiting until August he got
tired of the inaction, and made a foray into the Indian country himself
with nineteen men, defeating a small party of his foes on the Sciota. At
the same time he learned that the main body of the Miamis had at last
marched against Boonsborough. Instantly he retraced his steps with all
possible speed, passed by the Indians, and reached the threatened fort a
day before they did.

Boonsborough again Beseiged.

On the eighth day of the month the savages appeared before the stockade.
They were between three and four hundred in number, Shawnees and Miamis,
and were led by Captain Daigniau de Quindre, a noted Detroit partisan
[Footnote: Haldimand MSS. Aug. 17, 1778, Girty reports that four hundred
Indians have gone to attack "Fort Kentuck." Hamilton's letter of Sept.
16th speaks of there being three hundred Shawnees with de Quindre (whom
Boon calls Duquesne).]; with him were eleven other Frenchmen, besides
the Indian chiefs. They marched into view with British and French colors
flying, and formally summoned the little wooden fort to surrender in the
name of his Britannic Majesty. The negotiations that followed showed, on
the part of both whites and reds, a curious mixture of barbarian cunning
and barbarian childishness; the account reads as if it were a page of
Graeco-Trojan diplomacy. [Footnote: See Boon's Narrative.] Boon first got
a respite of two days to consider de Quindre's request, and occupied the
time in getting the horses and cattle into the fort. At the end of the
two days the Frenchman came in person to the walls to hear the answer to
his proposition; whereupon Boon jeered at him for his simplicity,
thanking him in the name of the defenders for having given them time to
prepare for defence, and telling him that now they laughed at his
attack. De Quindre, mortified at being so easily outwitted, set a trap
in his turn for Boon. He assured the latter that his orders from Detroit
were to capture, not to destroy, the garrison, and proposed that nine of
their number should come out and hold a treaty. The terms of the treaty
are not mentioned; apparently it was to be one of neutrality,
Boonsborough acting as if it were a little independent and sovereign
commonwealth, making peace on its own account with a particular set of
foes. At any rate, de Quindre agreed to march his forces peaceably off
when it was concluded.

Boon accepted the proposition, but, being suspicious of the good-faith
of his opponents, insisted upon the conference being held within sixty
yards of the fort. After the treaty was concluded the Indians proposed
to shake hands with the nine white treaty-makers, and promptly grappled
them. [Footnote: Apparently there were eighteen Indians on the treaty
ground, but these were probably, like the whites, unarmed.] However, the
borderers wrested themselves free, and fled to the fort under a heavy
fire, which wounded one of their number.

The Indians then attacked the fort, surrounding it on every side and
keeping up a constant fire at the loop-holes. The whites replied in
kind, but the combatants were so well covered that little damage was
done. At night the Indians pitched torches of cane and hickory bark
against the stockade, in the vain effort to set it on fire, [Footnote:
McAfee MSS.] and de Quindre tried to undermine the walls, starting from
the water mark. But Boon discovered the attempt, and sunk a trench as a
countermine. Then de Quindre gave up and retreated on August 20th, after
nine days' fighting, in which the whites had but two killed and four
wounded; nor was the loss of the Indians much heavier. [Footnote: De
Quindre reported to Hamilton that, though foiled, he had but two men
killed and three wounded. In Haldimand MSS., Hamilton to Haldimand,
October 15, 1778. Often, however, these partisan leaders merely reported
the loss in their own particular party of savages, taking no account of
the losses in the other bands that had joined them--as the Miamis joined
the Shawnees in this instance. But it is certain that Boon (or Filson,
who really wrote the Narrative) greatly exaggerated the facts in stating
that thirty-seven Indians were killed, and that the settlers picked up
125 pounds' weight of bullets which had been fired into the fort.]

This was the last siege of Boonsborough. Had de Quindre succeeded he
might very probably have swept the whites from Kentucky; but he failed,
and Boon's successful resistance, taken together with the outcome of
Clark's operations at the same time, ensured the permanency of the
American occupation. The old-settled region lying around the original
stations, or forts, was never afterwards seriously endangered by Indian
invasion.

Ferocious Individual Warfare.

The savages continued to annoy the border throughout the year 1778. The
extent of their ravages can be seen from the fact that, during the
summer months those around Detroit alone brought in to Hamilton
eighty-one scalps and thirty-four prisoners, [Footnote: Haldimand MSS.
Letter of Hamilton, September 16, 1778. Hamilton was continually sending
out small war parties; thus he mentions that on August 25th a party of
fifteen Miamis went out; on September 5th, thirty-one Miamis; on
September 9th, one Frenchman, five Chippewas, and fifteen Miamis, etc.]
seventeen of whom they surrendered to the British, keeping the others
either to make them slaves or else to put them to death with torture.
During the fall they confined themselves mainly to watching the Ohio and
the Wilderness road, and harassing the immigrants who passed along them.
[Footnote: McAfee MSS.]

Boon, as usual, roamed restlessly over the country, spying out and
harrying the Indian war parties, and often making it his business to
meet the incoming bands of settlers, and to protect and guide them on
the way to their intended homes. [Footnote: Marshall, 55.] When not on
other duty he hunted steadily, for game was still plentiful in Kentucky,
though fast diminishing owing to the wanton slaughter made by some of
the more reckless hunters. [Footnote: McAfee MSS.] He met with many
adventures, still handed down by tradition, in the chase of panther,
wolf, and bear, of buffalo, elk, and deer. The latter he killed only
when their hides and meat were needed, while he followed unceasingly the
dangerous beasts of prey, as being enemies of the settlers.

Throughout these years the obscure strife, made up of the individual
contests of frontiersman and Indian, went on almost without a break. The
sieges, surprises, and skirmishes in which large bands took part were
chronicled; but there is little reference in the books to the countless
conflicts wherein only one or two men on a side were engaged. The west
could never have been conquered, in the teeth of so formidable and
ruthless a foe, had it not been for the personal prowess of the pioneers
themselves. Their natural courage and hardihood, and their long training
in forest warfare, [Footnote: The last point is important. No Europeans
could have held their own for a fortnight in Kentucky; nor is it likely
that the western men twenty years before, at the time of Braddock's war,
could have successfully colonized such a far-off country.] made them
able to hold their own and to advance step by step, where a peaceable
population would have been instantly butchered or driven off. No regular
army could have done what they did. Only trained woodsmen could have led
the white advance into the vast forest-clad regions, out of which so
many fair States have been hewn. The ordinary regular soldier was almost
as helpless before the Indians in the woods as he would have been if
blindfolded and opposed to an antagonist whose eyes were left uncovered.

Much the greatest loss, both to Indians and whites, was caused by this
unending personal warfare. Every hunter, almost every settler, was
always in imminent danger of Indian attack, and in return was ever
ready, either alone or with one or two companions, to make excursions
against the tribes for scalps and horses. One or two of Simon Kenton's
experiences during this year may be mentioned less for their own sake
than as examples of innumerable similar deeds that were done, and woes
that were suffered, in the course of the ceaseless struggle.

Simon Kenton's Adventures.

Kenton was a tall, fair-haired man of wonderful strength and agility;
famous as a runner and wrestler, an unerring shot, and a perfect
woodsman. Like so many of these early Indian fighters, he was not at all
bloodthirsty. He was a pleasant, friendly, and obliging companion; and
it was hard to rouse him to wrath. When once aroused, however, few were
so hardy as not to quail before the terrible fury of his anger. He was
so honest and unsuspecting that he was very easily cheated by sharpers;
and he died a poor man. He was a staunch friend and follower of Boon's.
[Footnote: See McClung's "Sketches of Western Adventure," pp. 86-117;
the author had received from Kenton, and other pioneers, when very old,
the tales of their adventures as young men. McClung's volume contains
very valuable incidental information about the customs of life among the
borderers,] and about Indian warfare; but he is a very inaccurate and
untrustworthy writer; he could not even copy a printed narrative
correctly (see his account of Slover's and McKnight's adventures), and
his tales about Kenton must be accepted rather as showing the adventures
incident to the life of a peculiarly daring Indian fighter than as being
specifically and chronologically correct in Kenton's individual case.
Once, in a fight outside the stockade at Boonsborough, he saved the life
of his leader by shooting an Indian who was on the point of tomahawking
him. Boon was a man of few words, cold and grave, accustomed to every
kind of risk and hairbreadth escape, and as little apt to praise the
deeds of others as he was to mention his own; but on this occasion he
broke through his usual taciturnity to express his thanks for Kenton's
help and his admiration for Kenton himself.

Kenton went with his captain on the expedition to the Scioto. Pushing
ahead of the rest, he was attracted by the sound of laughter in a
canebrake. Hiding himself, he soon saw two Indians approach, both riding
on one small pony, and chatting and laughing together in great
good-humor. Aiming carefully, he brought down both at once, one dead and
the other severely wounded. As he rushed up to finish his work, his
quick ears caught a rustle in the cane, and looking around he saw two
more Indians aiming at him. A rapid spring to one side on his part made
both balls miss. Other Indians came up; but, at the same time, Boon and
his companions appeared, running as fast as they could while still
keeping sheltered. A brisk skirmish followed, the Indians retreated, and
Kenton got the coveted scalp. When Boon returned to the fort, Kenton
stayed behind with another man and succeeded in stealing four good
horses, which he brought back in triumph.

Much pleased with his success he shortly made another raid into the
Indian country, this time with two companions. They succeeded in driving
off a whole band of one hundred and sixty horses, which they brought in
safety to the banks of the Ohio. But a strong wind was blowing, and the
river was so rough that in spite of all their efforts they could not get
the horses to cross; as soon as they were beyond their depth the beasts
would turn round and swim back. The reckless adventurers could not make
up their minds to leave the booty; and stayed so long, waiting for a
lull in the gale, and wasting their time in trying to get the horses to
take to the water in spite of the waves, that the pursuing Indians came
up and surprised them. Their guns had become wet and useless; and no
resistance could be made. One of them was killed, another escaped, and
Kenton himself was captured.

The Indians asked him if "Captain Boon" had sent him to steal horses;
and when he answered frankly that the stealing was his own idea, they
forthwith proceeded to beat him lustily with their ramrods, at the same
time showering on him epithets that showed they had at least learned the
profanity of the traders. They staked him out at night, tied so that he
could move neither hand nor foot; and during the day he was bound on an
unbroken horse, with his hands tied behind him so that he could not
protect his face from the trees and bushes. This was repeated every day.
After three days he reached the town of Chillicothe, stiff, sore, and
bleeding.

Next morning he was led out to run the gauntlet. A row of men, women,
and boys, a quarter of a mile long, was formed, each with a tomahawk,
switch, or club; at the end of the line was an Indian with a big drum,
and beyond this was the council-house, which, if he reached, would for
the time being protect him. The moment for starting arrived; the big
drum was beaten; and Kenton sprang forward in the race. [Footnote: For
this part of Kenton's adventures compare the "Last of the Mohicans."]
Keeping his wits about him he suddenly turned to one side and darted off
with the whole tribe after him. His wonderful speed and activity enabled
him to keep ahead, and to dodge those who got in his way, and by a
sudden double he rushed through an opening in the crowd, and reached the
council-house, having been struck but three or four blows.

He was not further molested that evening. Next morning a council was
held to decide whether he should be immediately burnt at the stake, or
should first be led round to the different villages. The warriors sat in
a ring to pass judgment, passing the war club from one to another; those
who passed it in silence thereby voted in favor of sparing the prisoner
for the moment, while those who struck it violently on the ground thus
indicated their belief that he should be immediately put to death. The
former prevailed, and Kenton was led from town to town. At each place he
was tied to the stake, to be switched and beaten by the women and boys;
or else was forced to run the gauntlet, while sand was thrown in his
eyes and guns loaded with powder fired against his body to burn his
flesh.

Once, while on the march, he made a bold rush for liberty, all unarmed
though he was; breaking out of the line and running into the forest. His
speed was so great and his wind so good that he fairly outran his
pursuers; but by ill-luck, when almost exhausted, he came against
another party of Indians. After this he abandoned himself to despair. He
was often terribly abused by his captors; once one of them cut his
shoulder open with an axe, breaking the bone.

His face was painted black, the death color, and he was twice sentenced
to be burned alive, at the Pickaway Plains and at Sandusky. But each
time he was saved at the last moment, once through a sudden spasm of
mercy on the part of the renegade Girty, his old companion in arms at
the time of Lord Dunmore's war, and again by the powerful intercession
of the great Mingo chief, Logan. At last, after having run the gauntlet
eight times and been thrice tied to the stake, he was ransomed by some
traders. They hoped to get valuable information from him about the
border forts, and took him to Detroit. Here he stayed until his
battered, wounded body was healed. Then he determined to escape, and
formed his plan in concert with two other Kentuckians, who had been in
Boon's party that was captured at the Blue Licks. They managed to secure
some guns, got safely off, and came straight down through the great
forests to the Ohio, reaching their homes in safety. [Footnote: McClung
gives the exact conversations that took place between Kenton, Logan,
Girty, and the Indian chiefs. They are very dramatic, and may possibly
be true; the old pioneer would probably always remember even the words
used on such occasions; but I hesitate to give them because McClung is
so loose in his statements. In the account of this very incident he
places it in '77, and says Kenton then accompanied Clark to the
Illinois. But in reality--as we know from Boon--it took place in '78,
and Kenton must have gone with Clark first.]

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