Indian hostilities resumed--Expedition of Davis, Caffre and
McClure--Murder of Elliot--Marshall's river adventure--Attack
on Captain Ward's boat--Affair near Scaggs' Creek--Growth of
Kentucky--Population--Trade--General Logan calls a meeting at
Danville--Danger of the country from Indian hostilities, and
necessity of defense considered--Convention called--Separation from
Virginia proposed--Other conventions-Virginia consents--Kentucky
admitted as an independent State of the Union--Indian
hostilities--Expedition and death of Colonel Christian--Attack
on Higgins' Fort--Expedition of General Clark--Its utter
failure--Expedition of General Logan--Surprises and destroys
a Shawanese town--Success of Captain Hardin--Defeat of
Hargrove--Affairs in Bourbon County--Exploits of Simon
Kenton--Affairs at the Elkhorn settlements--Treaty--Harman's
expedition--Final pacification of the Indians after Wayne's
victory.
Kentucky was not yet entirely freed from Indian hostilities. There was
no formidable invasion, such as to call for the exertions of Boone,
Kenton and the other warriors of the border, but there were several
occurrences which occasioned considerable alarm.
In the spring of 1784, a number of families started down the Ohio from
Louisville in two flat boats. They were pursued by Indians in canoes,
but awed by the determined aspect of the whites, they drew off, without
so much as a gun being fired on either side.
This same spring a party of southern Indians stole some horses from
Lincoln County. Three young men, Davis, Caffre and McClure, pursued
them, but failing to overtake them, concluded to make reprisals on the
nearest Indian settlement. Not far from the Tennessee River, they fell
in with an equal number of Indians. The two parties saluted each other
in a very friendly manner, and agreed to journey in company. The
whites, however, were by no means convinced of the sincerity of their
companions, and, seeing them talking together very earnestly, became
assured of their hostile intentions. It being determined to anticipate
the Indians' attack; Caffre undertook to capture one of them, while his
companions shot the other two. Accordingly he sprung upon the nearest
Indian, and bore him to the ground; Davis's gun missed fire but McClure
shot his man dead. The remaining Indian sprung to a tree from which
shelter he shot Caffre, who was still struggling with the Indian he had
grappled. He, in his turn was immediately shot by McClure. The Indian
whom Caffre had attacked, extricated himself from the grasp of his
dying antagonist, and seizing his rifle presented it at Davis, who was
coming to the assistance of his friend. Davis took to flight, his rifle
not being in good order, and was pursued by the Indian into the wood.
McClure, loading his gun, followed them, but lost sight of both.
Davis was never heard of afterward.
McClure now concluded to retreat, but he had not proceeded far, before
he met an Indian on horseback attended by a boy on foot. The warrior
dismounted, and seating himself on a log, offered his pipe to McClure.
Soon other Indians were seen advancing in the distance, when McClure's
sociable friend, informed him that when his companions came up, they
would take him (McClure) and put him on a horse, tying his feet under
its belly. In order to convey to his white brother an adequate idea of
the honor intended him, the Indian got astride the log and locked his
feet together. McClure took this opportunity of shooting his amiable but
rather eccentric companion, and then ran off into the woods and escaped.
This affair the reader will bear in mind, was with southern Indians, not
with those of the north-western tribes, from whom the Kentuckians had
suffered most. The only demonstration of hostility made by these, this
year, appears to have been the pursuit of the boats mentioned before.
In March, 1785, a man of the name of Elliot, who had emigrated to the
country near the mouth of the Kentucky River, was killed by Indians,
and his house destroyed and family dispersed.
As Colonel Thomas Marshall from Virginia was descending the Ohio, in a
flat boat, he was hailed from the northern shore by a man, who announced
himself as James Girty, and said that he had been placed by his brother
Simon, to warn all boats of the danger of being attacked by the Indians.
He told them that efforts would be made to decoy them ashore by means of
renegade white men, who would represent themselves as in great distress.
He exhorted them to steel their hearts against all such appeals, and to
keep the middle of the river. He said that his brother regretted the
injuries he had inflicted upon the whites, and would gladly repair them
as much as possible, to be re-admitted to their society, having lost all
his influence among the Indians. This repentance on the part of Girty
seems to have been of short duration, as he remained among the Indians
till his death, which according to some took place at the battle of the
Thames, though others deny it.
However sincere or lasting Girty's repentance had been, he could never
have lived in safety among the whites; he had been too active, and if
common accounts are to be credited, too savage in his hostility to them,
to admit of forgiveness; and it is probable that a knowledge of this
prevented him from abandoning the Indians.
"About the same time," says McClung, "Captain James Ward, at present a
highly-respectable citizen of Mason County, Kentucky, was descending the
Ohio, under circumstances which rendered a rencontre with the Indians
peculiarly to be dreaded. He, together with half a dozen others, one of
them his nephew, embarked in a crazy boat, about forty-five feet long,
and eight feet wide, with no other bulwark than a single pine plank,
above each gunnel. The boat was much encumbered with baggage, and seven
horses were on board. Having seen no enemy for several days, they had
become secure and careless, and permitted the boat to drift within
fifty yards of the Ohio shore. Suddenly, several hundred Indians showed
themselves on the bank, and running down boldly to the water's edge,
opened a heavy fire upon the boat. The astonishment of the crew may be
conceived."
Captain Ward and his nephew were at the oars when the enemy appeared,
and the captain knowing that their safety depended upon their agility
to regain the middle of the river, kept his seat firmly, and exerted
his utmost powers at the oar, but his nephew started up at sight of
the enemy, seized his rifle, and was in the act of leveling it, when
he received a ball in the breast, and fell dead in the bottom of the
boat. Unfortunately, his oar fell into the river, and the Captain,
having no one to pull against him, rather urged the boat nearer to the
hostile shore than otherwise. He quickly seized a plank, however, and
giving his oar to another of the crew, he took the station which his
nephew had held, and unhurt by the shower of bullets which flew around
him, continued to exert himself until the boat had reached a more
respectable distance. He then, for the first time, looked around him
in order to observe the condition of the crew.
His nephew lay in his blood, perfectly lifeless; the horses had been
all killed or mortally wounded. Some had fallen overboard; others were
struggling violently, and causing their frail bark to dip water so
abundantly as to excite the most serious apprehensions. But the crew
presented the most singular spectacle. A captain, who had served with
reputation in the continental army, seemed now totally bereft of his
faculties. He lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat, with hands
uplifted, and a countenance in which terror was personified, exclaiming
in a tone of despair, "Oh Lord! Oh Lord." A Dutchman, whose weight
might amount to about three hundred pounds, was anxiously engaged in
endeavoring to find shelter for his bulky person, which, from the
lowness of the gunnels, was a very difficult undertaking. In spite of
his utmost efforts, a portion of his posterior luxuriance appeared above
the gunnel, and afforded a mark to the enemy, which brought a constant
shower of balls around it.
"In vain he shifted his position. The hump still appeared, and the balls
still flew around it, until the Dutchman losing all patience, raised
his head above the gunnel, and in a tone of querulous remonstrance,
called out, 'Oh now! quit tat tamned nonsense, tere, will you!' Not
a shot was fired from the boat. At one time, after they had partly
regained the current, Captain Ward attempted to bring his rifle to
bear upon them, but so violent was the agitation of the boat, from the
furious struggles of the horses, that he could not steady his piece
within twenty yards of the enemy, and quickly laying it aside, returned
to the oar. The Indians followed them down the river for more than an
hour, but having no canoes they did not attempt to board; and as the
boat was at length transferred to the opposite side of the river, they
at length abandoned the pursuit and disappeared. None of the crew, save
the young man already mentioned, were hurt, although the Dutchman's
seat of honor served as a target for the space of an hour; and the
continental captain was deeply mortified at the sudden, and, as he said,
'unaccountable' panic which had seized him. Captain Ward himself was
protected by a post, which had been fastened to the gunnel, and behind
which he sat while rowing."[53]
"In October, a party of emigrants were attacked near Scagg's Creek, and
six killed. Mrs. McClure, with four children, ran into the woods, where
she might have remained concealed, if it had not been for the cries of
her infant, whom she could not make up her mind to abandon. The Indians
guided to her hiding-place by these cries, cruelly tomahawked the three
oldest children, but made her prisoner with her remaining child. Captain
Whitley, with twenty-one men, intercepted the party on its return, and
dispersed them, killing two, and wounding the same number. The prisoners
were rescued. A few days after, another party of emigrants were
attacked, and nine of them killed. Captain Whitley again pursued the
Indians. On coming up with them, they took to flight. Three were killed
in the course of the pursuit; two by the gallant Captain himself. Some
other depredations were committed this year, but none of as much
importance as those we have mentioned."
These acts of hostility on the part of the Indians led to the adoption
of measures for the defense of the Colony, to which we shall presently
call the reader's attention.
"Although," says Perkins,[54] "Kentucky grew rapidly during the year
1784, the emigrants numbering twelve, and the whole population thirty
thousand; although a friendly meeting was held by Thomas J. Dalton, with
the Piankeshaws, at Vincennes, in April; and though trade was extending
itself into the clearings and among the canebrakes--Daniel Brodhead
having opened his store at Louisville the previous year, and James
Wilkinson having come to Lexington in February, as the leader of a large
commercial company, formed in Philadelphia, still the cool and sagacious
mind of Logan led him to prepare his fellow-citizens for trial and
hardships. He called, in the autumn of 1784, a meeting of the people
at Danville, to take measures for defending the country, and at this
meeting the whole subject of the position and danger of Kentucky was
examined and discussed, and it was agreed that a convention should meet
in December to adopt some measures for the security of the settlements
in the wilderness. Upon the 27th of that month it met, nor was it long
before the idea became prominent that Kentucky must ask to be severed
from Virginia, and left to her own guidance and control. But as no such
conception was general, when the delegates to this first convention
were chosen, they deemed it best to appoint a second, to meet during
the next May, at which was specially to be considered the topic most
interesting to those who were called on to think and vote--a complete
separation from the parent State--political independence."
Several other conventions took place, in which the subject of a
separation from Virginia was considered. In 1786 the Legislature of
Virginia enacted the necessary preliminary provisions for the separation
and erection of Kentucky into an independent State, with the condition
that Congress should receive it into the Union, which was finally
effected in the year 1792.
Previously to this event, Indian hostilities were again renewed.
"A number of Indians in April, 1786, stole some horses from the
Bear Grass settlement, with which they crossed the Ohio. Colonel
Christian pursued them into the Indian country, and, coming up with
them, destroyed the whole party. How many there were is not stated. The
whites lost two men, one of whom was the Colonel himself whose death was
a severe loss to Kentucky. The following affair, which took place the
same year, is given in the language of one who participated in it:
"'After the battle of the Blue Licks, and in 1786 our family removed
to Higgins' block-house on Licking River, one and a half miles above
Cynthiana. Between those periods my father had been shot by the Indians,
and my mother married Samuel Van Hook, who had been one of the party
engaged in the defense at Ruddell's Station in 1780, and on its
surrender was carried with the rest of the prisoners to Detroit.
"'Higgins' Fort, or block-house, had been built at the bank of the
Licking, on precipitous rocks, at least thirty feet high, which served
to protect us on every side but one. On the morning of the 12th of June,
at daylight, the fort, which consisted of six or seven houses, was
attacked by a party of Indians, fifteen or twenty in number. There was
a cabin outside, below the fort, where William McCombs resided, although
absent at that time. His son Andrew, and a man hired in the family,
named Joseph McFall, on making their appearance at the door to wash
themselves, were both shot down--McCombs through the knee, and McFall
in the pit of the stomach. McFall ran to the block-house, and McCombs
fell, unable to support himself longer, just after opening the door of
his cabin, and was dragged in by his sisters, who barricaded the door
instantly. On the level and only accessible side there was a corn-field,
and the season being favorable, and the soil rich as well as new, the
corn was more than breast high. Here the main body of the Indians lay
concealed, while three or four who made the attack attempted thereby to
decoy the whites outside of the defenses. Failing in this, they set fire
to an old fence and corn-crib, and two stables, both long enough built
to be thoroughly combustible. These had previously protected their
approach in that direction. Captain Asa Reese was in command of our
little fort. 'Boys,' said he, 'some of you must run over to Hinkston's
or Harrison's.' These were one and a half and two miles off, but in
different directions. Every man declined. I objected, alleging as my
reason that he would give up the fort before I could bring relief; but
on his assurance that he would hold out, I agreed to go. I jumped off
the bank through the thicket of trees, which broke my fall, while they
scratched my face and limbs. I got to the ground with a limb clenched in
my hands, which I had grasped unawares in getting through. I recovered
from the jar in less than a minute, crossed the Licking, and ran up a
cow-path on the opposite side, which the cows from one of those forts
had beat down in their visits for water. As soon as I had gained the
bank I shouted to assure my friends of my safety, and to discourage the
enemy. In less than an hour I was back, with a relief of ten horsemen,
well armed, and driving in full chase after the Indians. But they had
decamped immediately upon hearing my signal, well knowing what it meant,
and it was deemed imprudent to pursue them with so weak a party--the
whole force in Higgins' block-house hardly sufficing to guard the women
and children there. McFall, from whom the bullet could not be extracted,
lingered two days and nights in great pain, when he died, as did
McCombs, on the ninth day, mortification then taking place.'
"While these depredations were going on, most of the Northwestern tribes
were ostensibly at peace with the country, treaties having recently
been made. But the Kentuckians, exasperated by the repeated outrages,
determined to have resort to their favorite expedient of invading the
Indian country. How far they were justified in holding the tribes
responsible for the actions of these roving plunderers, the reader
must judge for himself. We may remark, however, that it does not seem
distinctly proved that the Indians engaged in these attacks belonged
to any of the tribes against whom the attack was to be made. But the
backwoodsmen were never very scrupulous in such matters. They generally
regarded the Indian race as a unit: an offense committed by one warrior
might be lawfully punished on another. We often, in reading the history
of the West, read of persons who, having lost relations by Indians of
one tribe, made a practice of killing all whom they met, whether in
peace or war. It is evident, as Marshall says, that no authority but
that of Congress could render an expedition of this kind lawful. The
Governor of Virginia had given instructions to the commanders of the
counties to take the necessary means for defense; and the Kentuckians,
giving a free interpretation to these instructions, decided that the
expedition was necessary and resolved to undertake it.
"General Clark was selected to command it, and to the standard of
this favorite officer volunteers eagerly thronged. A thousand men
were collected at the Falls of the Ohio, from whence the troops marched
by land to St. Vincennes, while the provisions and other supplies
were conveyed by water. The troops soon became discouraged. When the
provisions reached Vincennes, after a delay of several days on account
of the low water, it was found that a large proportion of them were
spoiled. In consequence of this, the men were placed upon short
allowance, with which, of course, they were not well pleased. In the
delay in waiting for the boats, much of the enthusiasm of the men had
evaporated; and it is said by some that General Clark dispatched a
messenger to the towns, in advance of the troops, to offer them the
choice of peace or war, which greatly lessened the chances of the
success of the expedition. Though this measure would be only complying
with the requirements of good faith, it is very doubtful if it was
adopted, so utterly at variance would it be with the usual manner
of conducting these expeditions.
"At any rate, when the army arrived within two days' march of the Indian
towns, no less than three hundred of the men refused to proceed, nor
could all the appeals of Clark induce them to alter their determination.
They marched off in a body; and so discouraged were the others by this
desertion, and the unfavorable circumstances in which they were placed,
that a council held the evening after their departure concluded to
relinquish the undertaking."
The whole of the troops returned to Kentucky in a very disorderly
manner. Thus did this expedition, begun under the most favorable
auspices--for the commander's reputation was greater than any other in
the West, and the men were the elite of Kentucky--altogether fail of its
object, the men not having even seen the enemy. Marshall, in accounting
for this unexpected termination, says that Clark was no longer the man
he had been; that he had injured his intellect by the use of spirituous
liquors. Colonel Logan had at first accompanied Clark, but he soon
returned to Kentucky to organize another expedition; that might, while
the attention of the Indians was altogether engrossed by the advance of
Clark, fall upon some unguarded point. He raised the requisite number
of troops without difficulty, and by a rapid march completely surprised
one of the Shawanee towns, which he destroyed, killing several of the
warriors, and bringing away a number of prisoners. In regard to the
results of the measures adopted by the Kentuckians, we quote from
Marshall:
"In October of this year, a large number of families traveling by land
to Kentucky, known by the name of McNitt's company, were surprised in
camp, at night, by a party of Indians, between Big and Little Laurel
River, and totally defeated, with the loss of twenty-one persons killed;
the rest dispersed, or taken prisoners.
"About the same time, Captain Hardin, from the south-western part of
the district, with a party of men, made an excursion into the Indian
country, surrounding the Saline; he fell in with a camp of Indians whom
he attacked and defeated, killing four of them, without loss on his
part.
"Some time in December, Hargrove and others were defeated at the mouth
of Buck Creek, on the Cumberland River. The Indians attacked in the
night, killed one man, and wounded Hargrove; who directly became engaged
in a rencontre with an Indian, armed with his tomahawk; of this he was
disarmed, but escaped, leaving the weapon with Hargrove, who bore it
off, glad to extricate himself. In this year also, Benjamin Price was
killed near the three forks of Kentucky.
"Thus ended, in a full renewal of the war, the year whose beginning had
happily witnessed the completion of the treaties of peace.
"By this time, one thing must have been obvious to those who had
attended to the course of events--and that was, that if the Indians came
into the country, whether for peace or war, hostilities were inevitable."
'If the white people went into their country, the same consequences
followed. The parties were yet highly exasperated against each other;
they had not cooled since the peace, if peace it could be called; and
meet where they would, bloodshed was the result.'
"Whether the Indians to the north and west had ascertained, or not, that
the two expeditions of this year were with or without the consent of
Congress, they could but think the treaties vain things; and either made
by those who had no right to make them, or no power to enforce them.
With Kentuckians, it was known that the latter was the fact. To the
Indians, the consequence was the same. They knew to a certainty, that
the British had not surrendered the posts on the lakes--that it was from
them they received their supplies; that they had been deceived, as to
the United States getting the posts, and they were easily persuaded to
believe, that these posts would not be transferred; and that in truth,
the British, not the United States, had been the conquerors in the late
war."
"Such were the reflections which the state of facts would have
justified, and at the same time have disposed them for war. The invasion
of their country by two powerful armies from Kentucky, could leave no
doubt of a disposition equally hostile on her part Congress, utterly
destitute of the means for enforcing the treaties, either on the one
side or the other, stood aloof, ruminating on the inexhaustible abundance
of her own want of resources--and the abuse of herself for not possessing
them."
After this year, we hear of but few independent expeditions from
Kentucky. Their militia were often called out to operate with the United
States troops, and in Wayne's campaign were of much service; but this
belongs to the general history of the United States. All that we have to
relate of Kentucky now, is a series of predatory attacks by the Indians,
varied occasionally by a spirited reprisal by a small party of whites.
It is estimated that fifteen hundred persons were either killed or made
prisoners in Kentucky after the year 1783.
"On the night of the 11th of April, 1787," says McClung, "the house of
a widow, in Bourbon County, became the scene of an adventure which we
think deserves to be related. She occupied what is generally called a
double cabin, in a lonely part of the country, one room of which was
tenanted by the old lady herself, together with two grown sons, and a
widowed daughter, at that time suckling an infant, while the other was
occupied by two unmarried daughters, from sixteen to twenty years of
age, together with a little girl not more than half grown. The hour was
eleven o'clock at night. One of the unmarried daughters was still busily
engaged at the loom, but the other members of the family, with the
exception of one of the sons, had retired to rest. Some symptoms of an
alarming nature had engaged the attention of the young man for an hour
before any thing of a decided character took place.
"The cry of owls was heard in the adjoining wood, answering each other
in rather an unusual manner. The horses, which were enclosed as usual in
a pound near the house, were more than commonly excited and by repeated
snorting and galloping, announced the presence of some object of terror.
The young man was often upon the point of awakening his brother, but was
as often restrained by the fear of incurring ridicule and the reproach
of timidity, at that time an unpardonable blemish in the character of a
Kentuckian. At length hasty steps were heard in the yard, and quickly
afterward, several loud knocks at the door, accompanied by the usual
exclamation, 'Who keeps house?' in very good English. The young man,
supposing from the language that some benighted settlers were at the
door, hastily arose, and was advancing to withdraw the bar which secured
it, when his mother, who had long lived upon the frontiers, and had
probably detected the Indian tone in the demand for admission, instantly
sprung out of bed, and ordered her son not to admit them, declaring that
they were Indians.
"She instantly awakened her other son, and the two young men seized
their guns, which were always charged, prepared to repel the enemy. The
Indians, finding it impossible to enter under their assumed characters,
began to thunder at the door with great violence, but a single shot from
a loop-hole compelled them to shift the attack to some less exposed
point and, unfortunately, they discovered the door of the other cabin,
containing the three daughters. The rifles of the brothers could not be
brought to bear upon this point, and by means of several rails taken
from the yard fence, the door was forced from its hinges, and the three
girls were at the mercy of the savages. One was instantly secured, but
the eldest defended herself desperately with a knife which she had been
using at the loom, and stabbed one of the Indians to the heart before
she was tomahawked.
"In the mean time the little girl, who had been overlooked by the enemy
in their eagerness to secure the others, ran out into the yard, and
might have effected her escape, had she taken advantage of the darkness
and fled; but instead of that, the terrified little creature ran around
the house wringing her hands, and crying out that her sisters were
killed. The brothers, unable to hear her cries without risking every
thing for her rescue, rushed to the door and were preparing to sally
out to her assistance, when their mother threw herself before them and
calmly declared that the child must be abandoned to its fate; that the
sally would sacrifice the lives of all the rest, without the slightest
benefit to the little girl. Just then the child uttered a loud scream,
followed by a few faint moans, and all was again silent. Presently the
crackling of flames was heard, accompanied by a triumphant yell from
the Indians, announcing that they had set fire to that division of the
house which had been occupied by the daughters, and of which they held
undisputed possession.
"The fire was quickly communicated to the rest of the building, and it
became necessary to abandon it or perish in the flames. In the one case
there was a possibility that some might escape; in the other, their fate
would be equally certain and terrible. The rapid approach of the flames
cut short their momentary suspense. The door was thrown open, and the
old lady, supported by her eldest son, attempted to cross the fence
at one point, while her daughter, carrying her child in her arms, and
attended by the younger of the brothers, ran in a different direction.
The blazing roof shed a light over the yard but little inferior to that
of day, and the savages were distinctly seen awaiting the approach of
their victims. The old lady was permitted to reach the stile unmolested,
but in the act of crossing received several balls in her breast and fell
dead. Her son, providentially, remained unhurt, and by extraordinary
agility effected his escape.
"The other party succeeded also in reaching the fence unhurt, but
in the act of crossing, were vigorously assailed by several Indians,
who, throwing down their guns, rushed upon them with their tomahawks.
The young man defended his sister gallantly, firing upon the enemy as
they approached, and then wielding the butt of his rifle with a fury
that drew their whole attention upon himself, and gave his sister an
opportunity of effecting her escape. He quickly fell, however, under the
tomahawks of his enemies, and was found at daylight, scalped and mangled
in a shocking manner. Of the whole family consisting of eight persons,
when the attack commenced, only three escaped. Four were killed upon the
spot, and one (the second daughter) carried off as a prisoner.
"The neighborhood was quickly alarmed, and by daylight about thirty men
were assembled under the command of Colonel Edwards. A light snow had
fallen during the latter part of the night, and the Indian trail could
be pursued at a gallop. It led directly into the mountainous country
bordering upon Licking, and afforded evidences of great hurry and
precipitation on the part of the fugitives. Unfortunately a hound had
been permitted to accompany the whites, and as the trail became fresh
and the scent warm, she followed it with eagerness, baying loudly and
giving the alarm to the Indians. The consequences of this imprudence
were soon displayed. The enemy finding the pursuit keen, and perceiving
that the strength of the prisoner began to fail, instantly sunk their
tomahawks in her head and left her, still warm and bleeding, upon the
snow."
As the whites came up, she retained strength enough to waive her
hand in token of recognition, and appeared desirous of giving them
some information, with regard to the enemy, but her strength was too
far gone. Her brother sprung from his horse and knelt by her side,
endeavoring to stop the effusion of blood, but in vain. She gave him her
hand, muttered some inarticulate words, and expired within two minutes
after the arrival of the party. The pursuit was renewed with additional
ardor, and in twenty minutes the enemy was within view. They had taken
possession of a steep narrow ridge and seemed desirous of magnifying
their numbers in the eyes of the whites, as they ran rapidly from tree
to tree, and maintained a steady yell in their most appalling tones.
The pursuers, however, were too experienced to be deceived by so common
an artifice, and being satisfied that the number of the enemy must be
inferior to their own, they dismounted, tied their horses, and flanking
out in such a manner as to enclose the enemy, ascended the ridge as
rapidly as was consistent with a due regard to the shelter of their
persons.
The firing quickly commenced, and now for the first time they discovered
that only two Indians were opposed to them. They had voluntarily
sacrificed themselves for the safety of the main body, and succeeded in
delaying pursuit until their friends could reach the mountains. One of
them was instantly shot dead, and the other was badly wounded, as was
evident from the blood upon his blanket, as well as that which filled
his tracks in the snow for a considerable distance. The pursuit was
recommenced, and urged keenly until night, when the trail entered a
running stream and was lost. On the following morning the snow had
melted, and every trace of the enemy was obliterated. This affair must
be regarded as highly honorable to the skill, address, and activity
of the Indians; and the self-devotion of the rear guard, is a lively
instance of that magnanimity of which they are at times capable, and
which is more remarkable in them, from the extreme caution, and tender
regard for their own lives, which usually distinguished their warriors.
From this time Simon Kenton's name became very prominent as a leader.
This year, at the head of forty-six men, he pursued a body of Indians,
but did not succeed in overtaking them, which he afterward regarded as a
fortunate circumstance, as he ascertained that they were at least double
the number of his own party. A man by the name of Scott, having been
carried off by the Indians, Kenton followed them over the Ohio, and
released him.
As early as January, 1783, the Indians entered Kentucky, two of them
were captured near Crab Orchard by Captain Whitley. The same month, a
party stole a number of horses from the Elkhorn settlements; they were
pursued and surprised in their camp. Their leader extricated his hand,
by a singular stratagem. Springing up before the whites could fire, he
went through a series of the most extraordinary antics, leaping and
yelling as if frantic. This conduct absorbing the attention of the
whites, his followers took advantage of the opportunity to escape.
As soon as they had all disappeared, the wily chief plunged into the
woods and was seen no more. The attacks were continued in March. Several
parties and families suffered severely. Lieutenant McClure, following
the trail of a marauding party of Indians, fell in with an other body,
and in the skirmish that ensued, was mortally wounded.
In 1789, a conference was held at the mouth of the Muskingum, with most
of the northwestern tribes, the result of which was the conclusion of
another treaty. The Shawanese were not included in this pacification.
This tribe was the most constant in its enmity to the whites, of all
the Western Indians. There was but little use in making peace with the
Indians unless all were included; for as long as one tribe was at war,
restless spirits among the others were found to take part with them,
and the whites, on the other hand, were not particular to distinguish
between hostile and friendly Indians.
Though the depredations continued this year, no affair of unusual
interest occurred; small parties of the Indians infested the
settlements, murdering and plundering the inhabitants. They were
generally pursued, but mostly without success. Major McMillan was
attacked by six or seven Indians, but escaped unhurt after killing two
of his assailants.
A boat upon the Ohio was fired upon, five men killed, and a woman
made prisoner. In their attacks upon boats, the Indians employed the
stratagem of which the whites had been warned by Girty. White men would
appear upon the shore, begging the crew to rescue them from the Indians,
who were pursuing them. Some of these were renegades, and others
prisoners compelled to act this part, under threats of death in its most
dreadful form if they refused.
The warning of Girty is supposed to have saved many persons from this
artifice; but too often unable to resist the many appeals, emigrants
became victims to the finest feelings of our nature.
Thus in March, 1790, a boat descending the river was decoyed ashore, and
no sooner had it reached the bank than it was captured by fifty Indians,
who killed a man and a woman, and made the rest prisoners. An expedition
was made against the Indians on the Sciota by General Harmer, of the
United States army, and General Scott, of the Kentucky militia, but
nothing of consequence was achieved. In May a number of people
returning from Divine service, on Bear Grass Creek, were attacked, and
one man killed, and a woman made prisoner, who was afterward tomahawked.
Three days after, a boat containing six men and several families was
captured by sixteen Indians without loss. The whites were all carried
off by the Indians, who intended, it is said, to make them slaves; one
of the men escaped and brought the news to the settlements.
In the fall Harmer made a second expedition, which was attended with
great disasters. Several marauding attacks of the Indians ensued; nor
was peace finally restored until after the treaty of Greenville, which
followed the subjugation of the Indians by General Wayne in 1794.
[Footnote 53: McClung.]
[Footnote 54: "Western Annals."]