[Illustration: “LONG KNIFE WAS TAKEN FAIRLY AND SQUARELY IN THE
BREAST.”--P. 63.]
WITH BOONE ON
THE FRONTIER
OR
_THE PIONEER BOYS OF OLD
KENTUCKY_
BY
CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL
AUTHOR OF “THE BOYS OF THE FORT,” “WITH CUSTER IN
THE BLACK HILLS,” “WHEN SANTIAGO FELL,”
“THE YOUNG BANDMASTER,” ETC.
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1903
BY
THE MERSHON COMPANY
PREFACE
“WITH BOONE ON THE FRONTIER” relates the adventures of two youths
who, with their families, go westward into what was at that time the
wilderness of Kentucky, to join Daniel Boone in settling what has since
become one of the richest and most prosperous of our States.
The history of this movement, and the history of the man who was
its greatest leader, are as fascinating as the most exciting novel
ever written. Daniel Boone was a character almost unique in American
history, a man the very embodiment of pluck and energy, and one who
knew neither fear nor the meaning of the word fail. For years he had
his eye on the great green fields of Kentucky, and he resolved, in
spite of the dangers from natural causes and from the Indians, to open
up this territory to the hundreds of pioneers who had become tired
of life along the eastern seacoast or close to it, and who wanted to
go where they would be less under the rule of those English who were
making themselves offensive at that time. While those in the East were
fighting the War for Independence he and his trusty followers were
working equally hard to give to this nation a stretch of land of which
any people might well be proud.
The first settlement in Kentucky was at Boonesborough, about eighteen
miles to the southeast of Lexington, on the Kentucky River. To-day this
village is of small importance, but at that time, in 1775, it boasted
of a fort which, built under the directions of Daniel Boone, was a
rallying point for all the settlers of that territory and a place to
which they fled for safety at the first sign of an Indian uprising.
It is in and around this fort that many incidents of the present tale
occur.
It may be that some, in reading this story, will deem many of the
statements made therein overdrawn. Such is far from being the fact.
The days in which Daniel Boone lived were full of dire peril to those
who lived on the frontier, or who attempted to push further westward
over the hunting grounds of the jealous red men, and many were the
outrages committed by the Indians, not alone on the men and boys among
the pioneers, but also among the women and girls, and even the little
children. Let us all be thankful that such days are now past never to
return.
CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL.
_July 1, 1903._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. TWO BOYS OF THE WILDERNESS, 1
II. PURSUED BY THE INDIANS, 11
III. A DISMAYING DISCOVERY, 20
IV. LOST UNDERGROUND, 30
V. THE ESCAPE OF THE CAPTIVES, 40
VI. HARRY AND THE BEAR, 50
VII. WHAT HAPPENED IN THE RAIN, 60
VIII. DAYS OF PERIL, 70
IX. DANIEL BOONE, THE PIONEER, 80
X. BOONE LEADS THE WAY, 90
XI. WITH NO TIME TO SPARE, 100
XII. SETTLING DOWN AT BOONESBOROUGH, 110
XIII. PERILS OF THE YOUNG HUNTERS, 120
XIV. ON THE TRAIL OF A THIEF, 130
XV. FIGHTING THE FLAMES, 140
XVI. THE FALL OF A HICKORY TREE, 150
XVII. AN ADVENTURE ON SNOWSHOES, 166
XVIII. NIGHT WITH THE WOLVES, 176
XIX. THE HUNTERS HUNTED, 185
XX. DANIEL BOONE’S GREAT SHOT, 195
XXI. THE FOOT RACE AT THE FORT, 205
XXII. WHO WAS THE WINNER? 222
XXIII. THE RESCUE OF JEMIMA BOONE, 231
XXIV. A NIGHT RAID BY THE INDIANS, 240
XXV. IN A FOREST FIRE, 250
XXVI. THE ATTACK ON THE FORT, 266
XXVII. SHOT ON THE ROOF, 276
XXVIII. THE RETREAT OF THE INDIANS, 292
XXIX. THE LONG-LOST AT LAST, 302
XXX. BACK TO THE CABIN--CONCLUSION, 312
WITH BOONE ON THE FRONTIER
CHAPTER I
TWO BOYS OF THE WILDERNESS
“Hark, Joe, what was that?”
“It sounded like the report of a gun, Harry. But I didn’t imagine that
anybody was within gunshot of this place outside of ourselves.”
“That was what I was thinking. Do you imagine any of those Indians we
met yesterday had guns?” went on Harry Parsons thoughtfully.
“I didn’t see any,” answered Joe Winship. “And if they had ’em I think
we would have seen ’em,” he added, as he took up his gun from where it
was resting against a tree and looked at the priming.
“We didn’t come out here to have trouble,” continued Harry Parsons.
“We only came to see if we couldn’t bag a fine deer or two. If those
Indians followed our party----”
The youth came to a stop, for at that instant another gunshot
rang out, somewhat closer than the first which had attracted their
attention. Then came a rush through the forest and a few seconds later
four beautiful deer burst into view.
“Deer!” cried Joe Winship, and leveled his gun at the nearest of the
game.
“Don’t shoot, Joe!” cried his companion.
“Why not?”
“If the Indians are after ’em we may have trouble.”
There was no time to argue the matter, for even as Harry Parsons spoke
the deer leaped the small brook which wound its way through the mighty
forest and in a twinkling were out of sight again. Then all became as
quiet as before.
“Don’t hear any Indians,” was Joe Winship’s comment, after straining
his ears for a full minute. “And lost a tremendously good shot,” he
added regretfully.
“Well, it’s best to be on the safe side. If half a dozen redskins were
after those deer we wouldn’t stand any show at all against ’em,” said
Harry Parsons, with a decided shake of his curly-haired head. “You
remember what our folks told us--to keep out of trouble.”
“But what beautiful deer they were!”
“You are right. And it isn’t likely they’ll come back this way----”
“Hush!”
As Joe Winship uttered the word he caught his companion by the sleeve
and pointed through the forest to where there was an opening, perhaps
an acre in extent, dotted here and there with small brushwood.
“What did you see, Joe?”
“A couple of Indians. There they are again--getting ready to cross the
brook!”
“They came up quietly enough. What shall we do?”
“Let us get behind yonder bushes. They are on the trail of the game,
and I don’t think they’ll come this way. But if they do we’ll have
trouble just as sure as you are born,” concluded Joe Winship, and
led the way to the shelter he had mentioned, quickly followed by his
companion.
Joe Winship was a youth of fifteen, tall and as strong as outdoor life
can make a boy of that age. He was the only son of Ezra Winship, a
hardy hunter and pioneer, one of the number who did so much to build up
our country in years gone by. Besides Joe, the family consisted of the
boy’s mother and his two sisters, named respectively Cora and Harmony,
both of whom were younger than himself.
Harry Parsons was a few months older than Joe. He too was an only son,
and had one sister, Clara, two years older than himself. His father,
Peter, had in years gone by been a cattle dealer doing business in and
around Philadelphia, and had there married his wife, Polly, of Quaker
stock.
It was during a visit to Williamsburgh that Mr. Peter Parsons had
fallen in with Ezra Winship, about four years previous to the opening
of this story. A chance acquaintanceship had ripened into true
friendship, which speedily spread from all the members of one family to
all the members of the other.
From Williamsburgh the Winships and the Parsons migrated to a small
settlement in North Carolina known by the name of Jackson’s Ford. Here
log cabins were built and some planting was done by the boys and the
others, while Mr. Winship and Mr. Parsons spent a good deal of their
time in bringing down game in the almost trackless forests to the west
of the rude settlement--the game being used to supply the table with
meat and the pelts being sold or traded for household commodities at a
trading-post thirty-five miles away.
In those days--just previous to the Revolution of 1776--the great
West was an unknown country to the American colonists. There were
settlements in plenty along the Atlantic seacoasts, and for several
hundreds of miles inland, but beyond this was, to them, the trackless
forests and the unknown mountains, inhabited by game of all sorts and
Indians.
One of the leading pioneers of those times, and one who will figure
quite largely in our story, was Daniel Boone. Boone had already gone
into the wilderness beyond the Kentucky River, and had come back to
tell of the richness of the land there and the abundance of game. As a
result a company was formed to settle the territory now known as the
State of Kentucky, and among the first of the pioneers to take part in
this move westward was Peter Parsons, who helped to erect a fort at
what was afterwards called Boonesborough.
The settlement at Boonesborough was quickly followed by other
settlements at Harrodsburgh, Boiling Spring, and St. Asaph, and when it
became an assured fact that Kentucky was to be settled and held by the
bold pioneers who had followed in the footsteps of Daniel Boone, Peter
Parsons sent back word to Jackson’s Ford asking Ezra Winship to join
him in this “far western country,” and bring all the members of the
two families with him. He stated that he had selected two fine grants
of land upon which they could build, and that upon his arrival Mr.
Winship should have his pick of the two prospective farms.
In those days to move, especially with one’s household effects, was no
easy matter, and it was a good two months before all was in readiness
for the start. The Winship and the Parsons family did not go alone,
but were accompanied by four other pioneers and their families and a
pack train of fourteen horses, for to get anything like a wagon or cart
through the wilderness was utterly impossible.
To the boys the move westward seemed to promise no end of sport, and
they willingly did all they could to further the project. But the
girls and their mothers dreaded to think of this step into the great
wilderness, and Mrs. Parsons shook her head doubtfully as she said in
her quaint Quaker way:
“Friend Ezra, since Peter wishes me to come to him, I will go with
thee. But I am of a mind that our journey will be a troublous one, and
that the Indians will not be as friendly as thee imagines.”
“Have no fear, Mistress Parsons, but that we will get through in
safety,” answered Ezra Winship. “The trail has now been used half
a score of times, so we cannot very well get lost, and as for the
Indians, if we do not harm them I doubt if they harm us.”
But even though he spoke thus, Ezra Winship knew that all who were to
move westward with him were sure to encounter more or less of peril.
Wild animals roamed the forest, and the Indians, although apparently
friendly, were not to be trusted. To this were to be added the perils
of storms and of forest fires, and the dangers of crossing rapidly
flowing streams in such frail craft as they could build, or upon
horseback.
All told, there were five men and six boys in the train that started
out from Jackson’s Ford one warm and pleasant day. Before the exodus
began Ezra Winship called the men and the older boys aside and gave
them a little advice.
“We are moving into a strange territory,” he said. “There is no telling
what perils we may have to face. You have made me your leader, and
that being so, I feel it my duty to warn each one to be on his guard
constantly. In traveling, always be sure to keep the rest of our
train in sight, and never discharge your weapons without reloading
immediately. If any Indians appear, treat them well so long as they are
friendly, but do not trust them too far.”
The progress westward was slow, but twelve miles being covered the
first day, fifteen the second, and ten the third. The trail--a narrow
path used occasionally by the buffalo and by the Indians--was an
exceedingly rough one, winding in and out of the forest and along the
banks of rivers and small streams. At certain spots were huge rocks,
over which buffalo and Indians could scramble with ease, but around
which the pack horses had to make their way slowly and cautiously.
The party were out a week before any Indians appeared. Then one of the
pioneers announced that he had discovered three red men looking down
upon them from a nearby cliff.
“They disappeared the minute I spotted ’em,” said the pioneer, whose
name was Pepperill Frost, generally shortened to Pep Frost.
“We must be on our guard against them,” said Ezra Winship, and that
night a strict guard was kept, but no red men appeared.
But the next afternoon, about three o’clock, four Indians showed
themselves at a spot where the trail crossed a shallow, rocky brook.
They came up with their hands before them and with their bows and
arrows and other weapons slung over their backs.
“To what place journey our white brothers?” questioned one of the
Indians, after the usual greeting in his native tongue.
“To some place where they can live in peace with our red brethren,”
answered Ezra Winship cautiously.
After this the Indians said little, but begged for some tobacco and
some Indian meal, a small quantity of which was given to them. They
then departed into the forest, disappearing as rapidly as they had come.
“I think we’ll see more of those Indians,” said Pep Frost.
“I believe you,” answered Ezra Winship. “And perhaps they’ll not be so
friendly another time. But do not alarm the women folks, for it will do
no good.”
Early the following morning an accident happened which came close to
proving fatal to one of the boys, Chet Rockley by name. He was driving
a pack horse loaded with provisions along the river bank when the horse
slipped and fell into the stream, carrying the lad with him. In the
struggle that followed the boy was kicked in the head by the animal.
Chet Rockley was rescued by Ezra Winship, but the horse was carried
away by the swift current and drowned, and the provisions were lost.
It was decided to rest for two days, to care for young Rockley, and
to bring in some game to take the place of the provisions which had
been lost. A temporary camp was established at the fork of two small
streams, and as soon as this was done the men folks and the boys took
turns in going out hunting and fishing.
Joe and Harry had been cautioned not to go too far, and to keep a
close watch for Indians. But their anxiety to bring in at least one
good-sized deer had caused them to roam further from the camp than at
first anticipated. They had seen no game until the four deer burst into
view, closely followed by the two Indians already mentioned.