The militia discharged--Captain Boone returns to his
family--Henderson's company--Various companies of emigrants to
Kentucky--Bounty lands--Harrod's party builds the first log-cabin
erected in Kentucky, and founds Harrodsburg--Proceedings of
Henderson's company--Agency of Captain Boone--He leads a company to
open a road to Kentucky River--Conflicts with the Indians--Captain
Boone founds Boonesborough--His own account of this expedition--His
letter to Henderson--Account of Colonel Henderson and the
Transylvania Company--Failure of the scheme--Probability of Boone
having been several years in the service of Henderson.
On the conclusion of Dunmore's war, the militia were discharged from
service, the garrisons which had been under Captain Daniel Boone's
command were broken up, and he once more returned to his family, who
were still residing on Clinch River. But he was not long permitted to
remain comparatively idle. Captain Boone's character as an able officer
and a bold pioneer, was now well known and appreciated by the public.
The marks of confidence bestowed on him by Governor Dunmore rendered
him one of the most conspicuous men in the Southern colonies, and his
services were soon to be put in requisition by the most considerable and
remarkable of all the parties of adventurers who ever sought a home in
the West. This was Henderson's company, called the Transylvania Company,
to whose proceedings we shall presently refer.
Between 1769 and 1773, various associations of men were formed, in
Virginia and North Carolina, for visiting the newly-discovered regions
and locating lands; and several daring adventurers, at different times
during this period, penetrated to the head-waters of the Licking River,
and did some surveying; but it was not till the year 1774 that the
whites obtained any permanent foothold in Kentucky. From this year,
therefore, properly dates the commencement of the early settlements of
the State.[22]
The first great impetus given to adventure in Kentucky was by the bounty
in Western land given by Virginia to the officers and soldiers of her
own troops who had served in the British army in the old war in Canada
between the English and French. These lands were to be surveyed on the
Ohio River, and its tributaries, by the claimants thus created, who
had the privilege of selecting them wherever they pleased within the
prescribed regions. The first locations were made upon the Great Kenawha
in the year 1772, and the next on the south side of the Ohio itself the
following year. During this year, likewise, extensive tracts of land
were located on the north fork of the Licking, and surveys made of
several salt-licks, and other choice spots. But 1774 was more signalized
than had been any preceding year by the arrival, in the new "land of
promise," of the claimants to portions of its territory, and the
execution of surveys. Among the hardy adventurers who descended the Ohio
this year and penetrated to the interior of Kentucky by the river of
that name, was James Harrod, who led a party of Virginians from the
shores of the Monongahela. He disembarked at a point still known as
"Harrod's Landing," and, crossing the country in a direction nearly
west, paused in the midst of a beautiful and fertile region, and _built
the first log-cabin_ ever erected in Kentucky, on or near the site of
the present town of Harrodsburg. This was in the spring, or early part
of the summer, of 1774.[23]
The high-wrought descriptions of the country north west of the Laurel
Ridge, which were given by Daniel Boone upon his return to North
Carolina after his first long visit to Kentucky, circulated with
great rapidity throughout the entire State, exciting the avarice of
speculators and inflaming the imaginations of nearly all classes of
people. The organization of several companies, for the purpose of
pushing adventure in the new regions and acquiring rights to land, was
immediately attempted; but that which commenced under the auspices of
Colonel Richard Henderson, a gentleman of education and means, soon
engaged public attention by the extent and boldness of its scheme, and
the energy of its movements; and either frightened from their purpose,
or attracted to its own ranks, the principal of those individuals who
had at first been active in endeavoring to form other associations.
The whole of that vast extent of country lying within the natural
boundaries constituted by the Ohio, Kentucky, and Cumberland rivers, was
at this time claimed by a portion of the Cherokee Indians, who resided
within the limits of North Carolina; and the scheme of Henderson's
Company was nothing less than to take possession of this immense
territory, under color of a purchase from those Indians, which they
intended to make, and the preliminary negotiations for which were opened
with the Cherokees, through the agency of Daniel Boone, as soon as the
company was fully organized. Boone's mission to the Indians having been
attended with complete success, and the result thereof being conveyed
to the company, Colonel Henderson at once started for Fort Wataga, on
a branch of the Holston River, fully authorized to effect the purchase;
and here, on the 17th of March, 1775, he met the Indians in solemn
council, delivered them a satisfactory consideration in merchandise,
and received a deed signed by their head chiefs.
The purchase made, the next important step was to take possession of the
territory thus acquired. The proprietors were not slow to do this, but
immediately collected a small company of brave and hardy men, which
they sent into Kentucky, under the direction of Daniel Boone, to open a
road from the Holston to the Kentucky River, and erect a Station at the
mouth of Otter Creek upon this latter.
After a laborious and hazardous march through the wilderness, during
which four men were killed, and five others wounded, by trailing and
skulking parties of hostile Indians, Boone and his company reached the
banks of the Kentucky on the first of April, and descending this some
fifteen miles, encamped upon the spot where Boonesborough now stands.
Here the bushes were at once cut down, the ground leveled, the nearest
trees felled, the foundations laid for a fort, and the first settlement
of Kentucky commenced.
Perhaps the reader would like to see Boone's own account of these
proceedings. Here is the passage where he mentions it in his
autobiography. He has just been speaking of Governor Dunmore's war
against the Shawanese Indians: "After the conclusion of which, he says,
the militia was discharged from each garrison, and I being relieved from
my post, was solicited by a number of North Carolina gentlemen, that
were about purchasing the lands lying on the South side of Kentucky
River from the Cherokee Indians, to attend their treaty at Wataga, in
March, 1775, to negotiate with them, and mention the boundaries of the
purchase. This I accepted; and at the request of the same gentlemen,
undertook to mark out a road in the best passage through the wilderness
to Kentucky, with such assistance as I thought necessary to employ for
such an important undertaking?
"I soon began this work, having collected a number of enterprising men,
well armed. We proceeded with all possible expedition until we came
within fifteen miles of where Boonesborough now stands, and where we
were fired upon by a party of Indians, that killed two, and wounded two
of our number; yet, although surprised and taken at a disadvantage,
we stood our ground. This was on the twentieth of March, 1775. Three
days after we were fired upon again, and had two men killed and three
wounded. Afterward we proceeded on to Kentucky River without opposition,
and on the fifth day of April began to erect the fort of Boonesborough
at a salt-lick, about sixty yards from the river, on the south side."
"On the fourth day, the Indians killed one of our men. We were busily
engaged in building the fort, until the fourteenth day of June
following, without any further opposition from the Indians."
In addition to this account by Captain Boone, we have another in a sort
of official report made by him to Colonel Richard Henderson, the head
of the company in whose service Boone was then employed. It is cited by
Peck in his Life of Boone, as follows:
"April 15th, 1775.
"Dear Colonel: After my compliments to you, I shall acquaint you with
our misfortune. On March the 25th a party of Indians fired on my company
about half an hour before day, and killed Mr. Twitty 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
Tate's 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 McPeters. I have sent a man down
to all the lower companies in order to gather them all to the mouth
of Otter Creek. My advice to you, sir, is to come or send as soon as
possible. Your company is desired greatly, for the people are very
uneasy, but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you; and
now is the time to flusterate their (the Indians) intentions, 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 battle-ground 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.
"N.B.--We stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till day, and lost
nothing. We have about fifteen miles to Cantuck, at Otter Creek."
Colonel Henderson was one of the most remarkable men of his time.
He was born in Hanover County, Virginia, April 20th, 1735, the same year
with Boone. He studied law, and was appointed judge of the Superior
Court of North Carolina under the Colonial government. The troubled
times of the Regulators shut up the courts of justice. In 1774 he
engaged in his grand scheme of founding the republic of Transylvania,
and united with him John Williams, Leonard Hendly Bullock, of Granville;
William Johnston, James Hogg, Thomas Hart, John Lutterell, Nathaniel
Hart, and David Hart, of Orange County, in the company which made the
purchase of the immense tract of lands above referred to.
The company took possession of the lands on the 20th of April, 1775; the
Indians appointing an agent to deliver them according to law.
The Governor of North Carolina, Martin, issued his proclamation in 1775,
declaring this purchase illegal. The State subsequently granted 200,000
acres to the company in lieu of this.
The State of Virginia declared the same, but granted the company a
remuneration of 200,000 acres, bounded by the Ohio and Green rivers. The
State of Tennessee claimed the lands, but made a similar grant to the
company in Powell's Valley. Thus, though the original scheme of founding
an independent republic failed, the company made their fortunes by the
speculation. Henderson died at his seat in Granville, January 30, 1785,
universally beloved and respected.
What makes Henderson and his company particularly interesting to the
admirers of Daniel Boone is, the strong probability that the purchase of
the Cherokees was made on his representation and by his advice. This is
the opinion of Judge Hall and of Mr. Peck, who also believe that Boone
was already in the service of Henderson when he made his long journey
to Kentucky. "This theory," says Mr. Peck, "explains why his brother,
Squire Boone, came out with supplies, and why they examined the country
so fully and particularly between the Kentucky and Cumberland rivers."
[Footnote 22: Gallagher.]
[Footnote 23: Gallagher.]