The treaty with Cornstalk and his allies, after the victory of the Virginia forces at Point Pleasant, made safe for the time being, the upper Ohio river and correspondingly reduced the dangers attendant upon those who ventured into Kentucky. The result was that men who had faith in Indian treaties and perhaps some who had not, took up the line of march for Kentucky where they hoped to get lands, erect homes, raise crops and thereafter live in peace. While this was a vain hope, as was later proven, yet it served a good purpose in that it brought into the unsettled territory men who could in most respects, be depended upon to aid in its defense against future savage incursions.

There is a hint in McElroy, the latest of Kentucky historians, that Daniel Boone, of whose character the historian does not seem to have had too high an estimate, came first to Kentucky as the confidential agent of what was afterward known as the Transylvania Company He states that this cannot be ascertained with authority, but declares "that not many months after the battle of Point Pleasant, Boone was acting as the trusted and secret agent of such a corporation." This may be true of Boone, yet the latter day antagonism to anything bearing the name of a corporation should not be permitted to dim the record of what Daniel Boone did towards wrest

Vol. I-2.

ing Kentucky from savage control and making it a safe home for the white man.

Colonel Richard Henderson now begins to loom large upon the history of the west. He was a Virginian, who had gone to North Carolina, where he became a superior court judge. He was a man of talent, possibly of that restless Anglo-Saxon spirit which is never content with present surroundings, but impels its possessor to go forward towards better things and wider fields of action. Henderson, with eight associates, formed a corporation the purpose of which was the purchase from the Cherokees of a great body of land in Kentucky on which to found a colony. Whatever may be said of his purposes or of his further designs, he should not be derided for his effort to open to civilization so fair a land as that which had attracted him. It was a great scheme, that of Colonel Henderson, but in the America of even that early day there seemed to have been the germ of liberty and his great proprietary idea came to naught in the end.

A great council of about twelve hundred of the Cherokee Indians, with their chiefs in control, was held at the Sycamore Shoals on the Watago river, following a propitiatory visit from Colonel Henderson. At this council a deed was drawn and signed with the formality usual in dealing with the Indians, which conveyed to Colonel Henderson and his asso17

ciates in a corporate capacity, as "Proprietors of the Colony of Transylvania," a district composing, according to McElroy, "one-half of the modern state of Kentucky and the adjacent part of Tennessee lying within the southerly bend of the Cumberland river." In consideration of the payment of ten thousand pounds sterling in goods, this treaty was signed March 17, 1775. It would be interesting to know the value set upon these goods by the white signatories to the treaty There is a possibility that they might put to the blush some of the values put upon every-day commodities of the present day by the trusts which have taken control of so many of our present necessities. It is not every trust that is of recent birth. Our progenitors had, also, some business capacity Henderson had made his purchase, but had not calculated far enough into the future; he had "bought a pig in a poke," but had not secured actual possession of the pig. He had not, nor could he, secure a fair title to the lands which he claimed because the charter rights of the colony of Virginia included the lands which he claimed as well as the charter rights of the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Of course, the Indians also set up a claim to these lands, but that claim was not to be considered, as no other claim of theirs to any lands whatsoever, was considered in those days. “Let him take who has the power; let him keep who can" was the ruling idea, and the rights of the Indian were never considered at all,

Henderson had a formal possession of the land granted him by the Cherokees, but actual possession was a matter of more moment. To possess this wide domain, he must settle it; to settle it, he must bring people from the East, which then meant Virginia and North Carolina. This being true, what more natural than that Colonel Henderson should secure the services of Daniel Boone? He had been to Kentucky; had spent many months in that country; he knew more about it than any other man, and, in addition, he was a trained

hunter and pioneer; he knew the Indians to whom he had been a captive and from whom he had escaped; he had lived alone for many months in the new country and there was no other man with knowledge equal to his. It is to the credit of Henderson, whatever one may think of his schemes, that he should have selected Boone for the difficult task of marking a road to the principality which he hoped to possess. Nor does it seem that Boone should be blamed for accepting employment from a corporation whose object, however objectionable some may deem it, in other respects was to open a new land to civilization and settlement.

Boone accepted employment from Colonel Henderson and, according to John Filson, to whom every historian of early Kentucky is indebted, "collected a number of enterprising men well armed, proceeded with all necessary expedition until they came within fifteen miles of where Boonesborough now stands, and there were fired upon by a party of Indians who killed two and wounded two of the number; yet, although surprised and taken at a disadvantage, they stood their ground. This was March 20, 1775. Three days afterwards we were fired upon again and two men killed and three wounded. Afterward we continued on to Kentucky river without opposition, and on April 5th began to erect the fort of Boonesborough at a salt lick, about sixty yards from the river on the south side."

On the 20th of March, three days after the treaty with the Cherokees had been signed at Wataga, Colonel Henderson proved that his ambitious designs were backed by the brave spirit of the pioneer who dares all and risks all. He set out from Wataga at the head of thirty other adventurous spirits, for what he hoped was his new dominion, his purpose being to set up a land office in the fort at Boonesborough.

Henderson's diary shows that his progress was accompanied by many incidents that are

the accompaniment of all pioneer movements. These incidents, some of them trivial enough, are set forth with a particularity which indicates that Henderson took himself and his enterprise very seriously, as well he might.

Some of these incidents, however, were serious enough, as for instance the entry of April 7th, which is noted by Collins in full as follows: "About eleven o'clock received a letter from Mr. Littereals' camp that there were five persons killed on the road to the Cantuckee, by Indians. Captain Hart upon the receipt of this news, retreated back with his company and determined to settle in the valley to make corn for the Cantucky people. The same day received a letter from Daniel Boone that his company was fired upon by Indians who killed two of his men, though he kept the ground and saved the baggage, etc." Collins in his "History of Kentucky" gives the text of Boone's letter which was addressed to "Col. Henderson-"these with care," as follows:

"DEAR COLONEL: After my compliments to you, I shall acquaint you of our misfortunes. On March the 25th, a party of Indians fired on my company about half an hour before day and killed Mr. Twetty and his negro and wounded Mr. Walker very deeply, but I hope he will recover.

"On March the 28th, as we were hunting for provisions, we found Samuel Tates' son, who gave us an account that the Indians fired on their camp on the 27th day. My brother and I went down and found two men killed and scalped, Thomas McDowell and Jeremiah McPheeters. I have sent a man down to all the lower companies in order to gather them all to the mouth of the Otter creek. My advice to you, Sir, is to come or send as soon as possible; your company is greatly desired, for the people are very uneasy but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you, and now is the time to frustrate the intentions of the Indians and keep the country whilst we are in it. If we give way to them now, it will ever be the case. This day we start from the battleground for the mouth of Otter creek, where we shall immediately erect a fort which will be done before you can come or send-then we can send ten men to meet you, if you send for them.

"I am Sir, your most obedient

"DANIEL BOONE."

A side-light is thrown upon this letter of Daniel Boone and the conditions of those troublous times by the following narrative, prepared years afterward by Felix Walker, who is mentioned in Boone's communication to Colonel Henderson:

"In the month of February in that year [1775] Captain William Twetty, Samuel Coburn, James Bridges, Thomas Johnson, John Hart, William Hicks, Jas. Peeke, and myself set out from Rutherford county, N. C., to explore a country by the name of Leowvisay, greatly renowned and highly spoken of as the best quality of land, abounding in game, now in the State of Kentucky.

"We placed ourselves under the care and direction of Captain Twetty, an active and enterprising woodsman, of good original mind and great benevolence, and although a light-bodied man, in strength and agility of bodily powers was not surpassed by any of his day and time, well calculated for the enterprise.

"We proceeded to Watawgo river, a tributary stream of Holsteen, to the residence of Col. Charles Robertson, now in the State of Tennessee, where a treaty was held by Col. Richard Henderson and his associates, with the Cherokee tribe of Indians, for the purchase of that section of the country we were going to visit, then called Bloody Ground, so named from the continual wars and quarrels of hunting parties of Indians of different tribes who all claimed the ground as their own, and the privilege of hunting the game; who murdered and plundered each other as opportunity offered.

"We continued at Watawgo during the treaty, which lasted about twenty days. Among others there was a distinguished chief called Atticullaculla, the Indian name, known to the white people by the name of Little Carpenter-in allusion, say the Indians, to his deep, artful and ingenious diplomatic abilities, ably demonstrated in negotiating treaties with the white people, and influence in their national councils; like as a white carpenter could make every notch and joint fit in wood, so he could bring all his views to fill and fit their places in the political machinery of his nation. He was the most celebrated and influential Indian among all the tribes then known; considered as the Solon of his day. He was said to be about ninety years of age, a very small

man, and so lean and light habited that I scarcely believe he would have exceeded more than a pound for each year of his life. He was marked with two large scores or scars on each cheek, his ears cut and banded with silver, hanging nearly down on each shoulder, the ancient Indian mode of distinction in some tribes and fashion in others. In one of his public talks delivered to the whites, he spoke to this effect: He was an old man, had presided as chief in their councils, and as president of his nation for more than half a century, had formerly been appointed agent and evoy extraordinary to the King of England on business of the first importance to his nation; he crossed the big water, arrived at his destination, was received with great distinction, had the honor of dining with his majesty and the nobility; had the utmost respect paid him by the great men among the white people; had accomplished his mission with success, and from the long standing in the highest dignities of his nation, he claimed the confidence and good faith in all and everything he would advance in support of the rightful claims of his people to the Bloody Ground, then in treaty to be sold to the white people. His name is mentioned in the life of General Marion, at a treaty held with the Cherokees at Kewee, in South Carolina, in the year 1762 or '63. The treaty being concluded and the purchase made, we proceeded on our journey to meet Col. Daniel Boone with other adventurers, bound to the same country; accordingly we met and rendezvoused at the Long Island on Holsteen river, united our small force with Colonel Boone and his associates, his brother Squire Boone, and Col. Richard Calloway, of Virginia. Our company, when united, amounted to thirty persons. We then, by general consent, put ourselves under the management and control of Colonel Boone, who was to be our pilot and conductor through the wilderness to the promised land; perhaps no adventurers since the days of Don Quixote, or before, ever felt so cheerful and elated in prospect; every heart abounded with joy and excitement in anticipating the new things we would see, and the romantic scenes through which we must pass; and exclusive of the novelty of the journey, the advantages and accumulations ensuing on the settlement of a new country was a dazzling object with many of our company. Under the influence of those impressions we went our way rejoicing with transporting views of our success, taking our leave of the civilized world for a season.

"About the 10th of March we put off from the Long Island, marked our track with our hatchets, crossed the Clinch and Powell's river, over Cumberland mountain, and crossed Cumberland river

came to a water course called by Col. Rockcastle river; killed a fine bear on our way, camped all night and had an excellent supper.

"On leaving that river we had to encounter and cut our way through a country of about twenty miles, entirely covered with dead brush, which we found a difficult and laborious task; at the end of which we arrived at the commencement of a cane country; traveled about thirty miles through thick cane and reed, and as the cane ceased, we began to discover the pleasing and rapturous appearance of the plains of Kentucky. A new sky and strange earth seemed to be presented to our view. So rich a soil we had never seen before; covered with clover in full bloom; the woods were abounding with wild game-turkey so numerous that it might be said they appeared but one flock, universally scattered in the woods. It appeared that nature, in the profusion of her bounty, had spread a feast for all that lives, both for the animal and rational world. A sight so delightful to our view and grateful to our feelings almost inclined us, in imitation of Columbus, in transport to kiss the soil of Kentucky, as he hailed and saluted the sand on first setting foot on the shores of America. The appearance of the country came up to the full measure of our expectations, and seemed to exceed the fruitful source of our imaginary prospects.

"We felt ourselves as passengers through the wilderness just arrived at the fields of Elysium, or at the garden where was no forbidden fruit. Nothing can furnish the contemplative mind with more sublime reflections than nature unbroken by art. We can there trace the wisdom of the Great Architect in the construction of his works in Nature's simplicity, which, when he had finished, he pronounced all good. But, alas, fond man! the vision of a moment made dream of a dream, and shadow of a shade! Man may appoint, but One greater than man can disappoint. A sad reverse overtook us two days after on our way to the Kentucky river. On the 27th of March, 1775, we were fired on by the Indians in our camp asleep, about an hour before day. Captain Twetty was shot in both knees, and died the third day after; a black man, his body servant, killed dead; myself badly wounded; our company dispersed. So fatal and tragical an event cast a deep gloom of melancholy over all our prospects and high calculations of long life and happy days in our newly-discovered country were prostrated; hope vanished from the most of us, and left us suspended in the tumult of uncertainty and conjecture. Colonel Boone and a few others appeared to possess firmness and fortitude. In our

calamitous situation a circumstance occurred one morning after our misfortunes that proved the courage and stability of our few remaining men (for some had gone back). One of our men who had run off at the fire of the Indians on our camp, was discovered peeping from behind a tree by a black woman belonging to Colonel Calloway while gathering small wood. She ran in and gave the alarm of Indians. Colonel Boone instantly caught his rifle, ordered the few men to form, take trees and give battle, and not to run till they saw him fall. They formed agreeable to his directions, and I believe they would have fought with equal bravery to any Spartan band ever brought to the field of action, when the man behind the tree announced his name and came in. My situation was critical and, dangerous, being then a youth, three hundred miles from white inhabitants. My friend and guardian, Captain Twetty, taken dead from my side, my wounds pronounced by some to be mortal, produced very serious reflections. Yet withal I retained firmness to support me under the pressure of distress, and did not suffer me to languish in depressing mind.

"But where shall I begin, or where can I end, in thanks and grateful acknowledgments to that benign and merciful Protector who spared and preserved me in the blaze of danger and in the midst of death! I trust I shall remember that singular and protecting event with filial sensations of gratitude while I retain my recollection.

"We remained at the same place twelve days; I could not be removed sooner without the danger of instant death. At length I was carried on a litter between two horses twelve miles, to Kentucky river, where we made a station and called it Boonesborough, situated in a plain on the south side of the river, wherein was a lick with two sulphur springs strongly impregnated. On entering the plain we were permitted to view a very interesting and romantic sight. A number of buffaloes of all sizes, supposed to be between two and three hundred, made off from the lick in every direction; some running, some walking, others loping slowly and carelessly, with young calves playing, skipping and bounding through the plain. Such a sight some of us never saw before, nor perhaps never again. But to proceed: Col. Richard Henderson, Col. Luttrell, from North Carolina, Capt. William Cock, since the Hon. Judge Cock, of Tennessee, and Col. Thomas Slaughter, of Virginia, arrived in the month of April, with a company of about thirty men. Our military forces, when united, numbered about sixty or sixty-five men, expert riflemen. We lived plentifully on wild meat, buffalo, bear, deer and turkey, without bread

or salt, generally in good health, until the month of July, when I left the country.

"Col. Richard Henderson, being the chief proprietor of the bloody ground (indeed so to us), acted as governor, called an assembly by election of members out of our small numbers, organized a government, convened the assembly in May, 1775, consisting of eighteen members, exclusive of the speaker, and passed several laws for the regulation of our little community, well adapted to the policy of an infant government.

"The assembly was held under two shade trees in the plains of Boonsborough. This was the first feature of civilization ever attempted in what is now called the western country.

"This small beginning; that little germ of policy by a few adventurers from North Carolina has given birth to the now flourishing state of Kentucky. From that period the population increased with such rapidity that in less than twenty years it became

a state.

"In justice to Colonel Henderson it may be said that his message or address to the assembly alluded to was considered equal to any of like kind ever delivered to any deliberate body in that day and time.

"In the sequel and conclusion of my narrative I must not neglect to give honor to whom honor is due. Colonel Boone conducted the company under his care through the wilderness with great propriety, intrepidity and courage; and was I to enter an exception to any part of his conduct it would be on the ground that he appeared void of fear and of consequence-too little caution for the enterprise. But let me, with feeling recollection and lasting gratitude, ever remember the unremitting kindness, sympathy, and attention paid to me by Colonel Boone in my distress. He was my father, my physician and friend; he attended me as his child, cured my wounds by the use of medicines from the woods, nursed me with paternal affection until I recovered, without the expectation of reward. Gratitude is the only tribute I can pay to his memory. He is now beyond the praise or the blame of mortals in that world unknown from whose bourne no traveler returns. I also was kindly treated by all my companions, particularly John Kennedy. From Captain Cook I received kind and friendly attentions.

"We continued in our station; our men were out viewing and exploring the country, choosing such tracts of land as suited them, plenty for all, and thought all was our own.

"Col. James Harrod, my old acquaintance in North Carolina, came up to see me, and tarried a few days. Being a little recovered, I went home with him to