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[Illustration: DANIEL BOONE.]
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF COL. DANIEL BOONE, HUNTER, SOLDIER, AND PIONEER.
With
Sketches of Simon Kenton, Lewis Wetzel, and Other
Leaders in the Settlement of the West.
"_Of all men
Who passes for in life and death most lucky,
Of the great names which in our faces stare,
Is Daniel Boone, backwoodsman of Kentucky._
_Crime came not near him--she is not the child
Of solitude. Health shrank not from him, for
Her home is in the rarely-trodden wild._"
by
EDWARD S. ELLIS,
Author of "The Life of Colonel David Crockett," "Ned in the
Block-House," "Ned in the Woods," etc.
[Illustration]
Philadelphia:
Porter & Coates.
Copyright, 1884,
By
Porter & Coates.
INTRODUCTION.
Daniel Boone was the ideal of the American pioneer--brave, cool,
self-reliant, a dead shot with his rifle, a consummate master of
woodcraft, with sturdy frame, hopeful at all times, and never
discouraged by disasters which caused many a weaker spirit to faint by
the way. All that the pen of romance depicts in the life of one whose
lot is cast in the Western forests, marked the career of Boone. In the
lonely solitudes he encountered the wild animal and the fiercer wild
man; and he stood on the bastions at Boonesborough through the flaming
sun or the solemn hours of night, exchanging shots with the treacherous
Shawanoe, when every bullet fired was meant to extinguish a human
life; he was captured by Indians three times, his companions were shot
down at his side, his daughter was carried away by savages and quickly
rescued by himself and a few intrepid comrades, his oldest boy was
shot dead before he set foot in Kentucky, and another was killed while
bravely fighting at Blue Licks; the border town named after him was
assaulted and besieged by overwhelming bodies of British and Indians,
his brother was slain and he himself underwent all manner of hardship
and suffering.
Yet through it all, he preserved his honest simplicity, his unswerving
integrity, his prudence and self-possession, and his unfaltering faith
in himself, in the future of his country, and in God.
He lived through this crucial period to see all his dreams realized,
and Kentucky one of the brightest stars in the grand constellation of
the Union.
Such a life cannot be studied too closely by American youth; and in the
following pages, we have endeavored to give an accurate description of
its opening, its eventful progress and its peaceful close, when, in the
fullness of time and in a ripe old age, he was finally laid to rest,
honored and revered by the great nation whose possessions stretch from
ocean to ocean, and whose "land is the fairest that ever sun shone on!"
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Birth of Daniel Boone--Fondness for Hunting--An Alarming
Absence--A Pedagogue of the Olden Time--Sudden Termination
of Young Boone's School Education--Removal to North
Carolina--Boone's Marriage--His Children 1
CHAPTER II.
Social Disturbances in North Carolina--Eve of the American
Revolution--Boone's Excursions to the West--Inscription on
a Tree--Employed by Henderson and Company--The "Regulators"
of North Carolina--Dispersed by Governor Tryon--John
Finley--Resolution to go West 11
CHAPTER III.
The Party of Exploration--Daniel Boone the Leader--More than
a Month on the Journey--On the Border of Kentucky--An
Enchanting View--A Site for the Camp--Unsurpassed Hunting--An
Impressive Solitude--No Signs of Indians 19
CHAPTER IV.
Boone and Stuart start out on a Hunt--Captured by Indians
and Disarmed--Stuart's Despair and Boone's Hope--A Week's
Captivity--The Eventful Night 28
CHAPTER V.
The Escape--The Hunters find the Camp Deserted--Change of
Quarters--Boone and Kenton--Welcome Visitors--News from
Home--In Union there is Strength--Death of Stuart--Squire
Boone returns to North Carolina for Ammunition--Alone in
the Wilderness--Danger on Every Hand--Rejoined by his
Brother--Hunting along the Cumberland River--Homeward
Bound--Arrival in North Carolina--Anarchy and Distress--Boone
remains there Two Years--Attention directed towards
Kentucky--George Washington--Boone prepares to move Westward 34
CHAPTER VI.
Leaving North Carolina--Joined by a Large Company at
Powell's Valley--Glowing Anticipations--Attacked by
Indians in Cumberland Gap--Daniel Boone's Eldest
Son Killed--Discouragement--Return to Clinch River
Settlement--The Check Providential--Boone acts as a Guide
to a Party of Surveyors--Commissioned Captain by Governor
Dunmore, and takes command of Three Garrisons--Battle of
Point Pleasant--Attends the making of a Treaty with Indians
at Wataga--Employed by Colonel Richard Henderson--Kentucky
claimed by the Cherokees--James Harrod--The First Settlement
in Kentucky--Boone leads a Company into Kentucky--Attacked
by Indians--Erection of the Fort at Boonesborough--Colonel
Richard Henderson takes Possession of Kentucky--The Republic
of Transylvania--His Scheme receives its Death-blow--Perils
of the Frontier--A Permanent Settlement made on Kentucky Soil 46
CHAPTER VII.
Boone Rejoins his Family at the Clinch River Settlement--Leads
a Company of Immigrants into Kentucky--Insecurity of
Settlers--Dawn of the American Revolution--British Agents
Incite the Indians to Revolt against the Settlements 61
CHAPTER VIII.
Comparative Quiet on the Frontier--Capture of Boone's Daughter
and the Misses Callaway by Indians--Pursued by Boone and
Seven Companions--Their Rescue and Return to their Homes 69
CHAPTER IX.
General Uprising of the Indians--The Border Rangers--Attack
upon Boonesborough--Repulse of the Assailants--Second Attack
by a Larger Force and its Failure--Arrival of Forty-five
Men--Investment of Logan's Fort--Timely Arrival of Colonel
Bowman with Reinforcements--Attack upon Harrodsburg 79
CHAPTER X.
A Diner-out--The "Hannibal of the West"--Election of General
Clark and Gabriel Jones as Delegates to the Virginia
Legislature--Their Journey to the Capital--General Clark
obtains the Loan of a Large Supply of Ammunition--Erection of
the County of Kentucky--General Clark attacked and pursued by
Indians on his Voyage down the Ohio--Conceals the Ammunition
and delivers it safely at the Border Stations--General
Clark marches upon Kaskaskia and captures the obnoxious
Governor Rocheblave--Governor Hamilton of Detroit organizes
an Expedition against the Settlements--General Clark
captures Fort St. Vincent and takes Governor Hamilton a
Prisoner--Captures a Valuable Convoy from Canada and Forty
Prisoners--Secures the Erection of Important Fortifications
by Virginia 85
CHAPTER XI.
Boone leads a Party to the Blue Licks to make Salt--Capture
of Boone and Surrender of the Entire Party--Conducted to
Detroit--His Captors Refuse to Exchange him--He is Adopted
by the Shawanoes--He discovers a Formidable Expedition is
to move against Boonesborough--The Attack Postponed--Boone
leads a Party against an Indian Town on the Scioto--Encounter
with a War Party--Returns to Boonesborough--The State
Invested by Captain Duquesne and a Large Force--Boone and the
Garrison determine to Defend it to the Last--Better Terms
Offered--Treachery Suspected--The Attack--The Siege Raised 96
CHAPTER XII.
The Peculiar Position of Boonesborough--Boone rejoins his
Family in North Carolina--Returns to Boonesborough--Robbed
of a Large Amount of Money--Increased Emigration to the
West--Colonel Rogers and his Party almost Annihilated--
Captain Denham's Strange Adventure 112
CHAPTER XIII.
Colonel Bowman's Expedition--Its Disastrous Failure--Death
of Boone's Son--Escape of Boone--Colonel Byrd's Invasion--
Capture of Ruddell's and Martin's Station--Daring Escape
of Captain Hinkston 120
CHAPTER XIV.
Colonel Clark's Invasion of the Indian Country--Boone is
Promoted to the Rank of Colonel--His Brother Killed at
Blue Licks and Boone narrowly Escapes Capture--Attack
upon the Shelbyville Garrison--News of the Surrender of
Cornwallis--Attack upon Estill's Station--Simon Girty the
Renegade--He Appears before Bryant's Station, but Withdraws 130
CHAPTER XV.
Arrival of Boone With Re-enforcements--Pursuit of the
Indian Force--Boone's Counsel Disregarded--A Frightful
Disaster--Reynold's Noble and Heroic Act--His Escape 136
CHAPTER XVI.
General Clark's Expedition--A Dark Page in American History--
Colonel Crawford's Disastrous Failure and his own Terrible
Fate--Simon Girty 144
CHAPTER XVII.
Adventures of the Spies White and M'Clelland--Daring Defence of
her Home by Mrs. Merrill--Exploits of Kernan the Ranger 155
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Three Counties of Kentucky united into One District--
Colonel Boone as a Farmer--He outwits a Party of Indians
who seek to capture him--Emigration to Kentucky--Outrages
by Indians--Failure of General Clark's Expedition 172
CHAPTER XIX.
General Harmar's Expedition against the Indians--Colonel
Hardin Ambushed--Bravery of the Regulars--Out-generaled by
the Indians--Harmar and Hardin Court-martialed--General St.
Clair's Expedition and its Defeat 180
CHAPTER XX.
The Brilliant Victory of Mad Anthony Wayne brings Peace to the
Frontier--Boone Loses his Farm--He Removes to Missouri--Made
Commandant of the Femme Osage District--Audubon's Account of
a Night with Colonel Boone--Hunting in his Old Age--He Loses
the Land granted him by the Spanish Government--Petitions
Congress for a Confirmation of his Original Claims--The
Petition Disregarded 186
CHAPTER XXI.
Last Days of Colonel Boone--Reinterment of the Remains of
Himself and Wife at Frankfort--Conclusion 201
GENERAL SIMON KENTON.
CHAPTER I.
Birth of Kenton--Desperate Affray with a Rival--Flees to the
Kentucky Wilderness--He and Two Companions attacked by
Indians--One is Killed and the Survivors Escape--Rescued,
after great Suffering--Kenton spends the Summer alone in the
Woods--Serves as a Scout in the Dunmore War--Kenton and Two
Friends settle at Upper Blue Lick--Joined by Hendricks, who
meets with a Terrible Fate 207
CHAPTER II.
Kenton and his Friends Visit Boonesborough--Desperate Encounter
with Indians--Proceeds with Two Companions to Reconnoitre
an Indian Town on the Little Miami--Captured while Making
Off with a Number of Horses--Brutal Treatment--Bound to the
Stake and Runs the Gauntlet--Friendship of Simon Girty, the
Renegade--Finally Saved by an Indian Trader--Removed to
Detroit, and Escapes--Commands a Company in General Clark's
Expedition--Receives Good News--Visits Virginia--Death of his
Father--Reduced to Poverty--Removes to Urbana, Ohio--Elected
Brigadier-General--His Conversion--His Last Days 222
LEWIS WETZEL.
Birth of Lewis Wetzel--His Father Killed by Indians, and
Himself and Brother carried off Prisoners--Their Remarkable
Escape--Murder of an Indian--Serves in Crawford's
Expedition--Pursued by Four Indians, and Kills Three--Escape
from the Custody of General Harmar--Wetzel's Hunts for
Indians--Assists a Relative to Recover his Betrothed from
Savages--Old Age and Death 251
LIFE AND TIMES
OF
COLONEL DANIEL BOONE.
CHAPTER I.
Birth of Daniel Boone--Fondness for Hunting--An Alarming Absence--A
Pedagogue of the Olden Time--Sudden Termination of Young Boone's
School Education--Removal to North Carolina--Boone's Marriage--His
Children.
Daniel Boone was born in Exeter township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania,
on the 11th of February, 1735, so that he was just three years the
junior of Washington.
Daniel had six brothers and four sisters, he being the fourth child of
Squire Boone, whose father landed at Philadelphia from England, October
10, 1717, bringing with him two daughters and nine sons. The township
of Exeter, as it is now known in Pennsylvania, was named by the elder
Boone after the city in England near which he was born.
There is good authority for believing that the Boone family, when
living in the mother country, were attached to the Established Church;
but, when they had resided some time amid the peaceful surroundings
and gentle influences of the friends and followers of George Fox, they
inclined to their religious belief, though it will hardly be claimed
that Daniel Boone continued orthodox throughout his adventurous life.
In those days, the educational advantages given youth were very meagre,
and frequently none at all. The old-time pedagogue was a man stern and
repelling to children, knowing little of the true means of imparting
knowledge. About the only branch he handled with any skill was that
which came from the nearest tree; and, had he possessed the ability to
teach, he lacked, in the generality of cases, the education necessary.
A century and a half ago, Exeter township abounded with game, and the
town itself was a pioneer settlement of the most primitive order,
consisting of log-houses almost entirely surrounded by forests, in
whose depths roamed bears, panthers, deer, and the smaller game so
attractive to sportsmen.
It was these which were to educate young Boone more than were the crude
means and the tippling teacher in whose charge he was placed. Nothing
delighted the lad more than to wander for hours through the woods, gun
in hand, stealing among the cool shadows, behind the mossy rocks and
along the purling streams, with the soft tread of the Indian, while the
keen eyes of the young hunter searched tree-top and bush for the first
signs of game, and his ear was ever strained to catch the cautious
footstep of the wild beast as it crept faintly over the leaves.
Thus in the grand school of Nature was the great pioneer trained. While
yet a small boy, he became noted for his unerring aim with the rifle,
and the skill with which he read the "signs" among the trees, that were
as closed volumes to others.
The privilege of wandering with gun and dog was all the happiness
he asked, and as an inevitable consequence of this mode of life, he
grew sturdy, strong, active, and capable of immense exertion without
fatigue. It is in just such nurseries as this that the great explorers
and pioneers of the world are educated.
One morning, Daniel shouldered his rifle, and whistling to his dog, the
two plunged into the woods for one of their usual hunts. The sun was
just rising in a clear sky, the air was crisp and invigorating, and
the prospect was all that the heart of the young hunter could wish.
Those of his relatives who saw him depart thought nothing of it, for
the sight was a very common one with him and his brothers, and young as
they were, they learned among the rudiments of their training the great
fundamental truth to trust in God and themselves.
As the shades of night closed over settlement and forest, the boy
Daniel was expected home, though the family had no special misgiving
when the hours passed without bringing him, it being supposed that he
had penetrated so far into the wilds that he preferred to encamp for
the night rather than take the long tramp home.
But, when the second day had passed, and he failed to appear, the
parents were in great distress, for it seemed certain that some fatal
accident must have overtaken their child. The mature and experienced
hunter is always in peril from wild beasts or the wilder human beings
who prowl and skulk through the wilderness, and many a man who has
braved the dangers of a score of years, has fallen a victim to the
treacherous biped or quadruped, who has sought his life with greater
cunning than he has done his own work.
It was impossible therefore for them to feel anything but the most
painful anxiety for their boy, and, unable to remain idle longer, they
called upon their neighbors, and a search-party was organized.
The trail made by the lad was too faint to be followed successfully,
and the parties scattered and hunted for traces as best they could.
Hours passed by, every man doing his utmost to discover the fate of the
boy, who they hoped was still living somewhere in the depths of the
wilderness, though it would seem scarcely possible that, if alive, he
was not in a suffering or helpless condition.
But the shouts and reports of their guns remained unanswered, and they
pushed forward, hoping against hope. The bonds of sympathy are nowhere
stronger than in such frontier settlements, where a common feeling
of brotherhood exists, and the men who were searching for the lost
Daniel, were hardly less anxious concerning him than were the parents
themselves.
Suddenly someone descried a faint, thin column of smoke rising from a
nondescript sort of structure, and hurrying toward it, they saw one
of the most primitive of cabins, made of limbs and brush and sods of
grass piled together. Stealing around to the rude entrance, they peeped
in, and saw Daniel himself, looking like an old hunter who had settled
down for the season. On the earth-floor of his structure were strewn
the skins of the game he had shot, while he was cooking the choicest
pieces before the smoking fire. He was only three miles from home, but
it might as well have been a hundred, for all the additional comfort it
afforded his friends and parents.
The lad looked up with an expression of surprise, wondering what all
the excitement was about; and when he found they were hunting for him,
it was hard to understand the necessity for doing any such thing.
It was not the first time he had been alone in the woods, and he
thought he was as well able to take care of himself as were any of the
older pioneers who came to look for him. However, as he was a dutiful
son, and had no wish to cause his parents any unnecessary alarm, he
gathered up his game and peltries, and went back home with the hunters.
Nothing can be more pleasant to the American boy than just such a life
as that followed by Daniel Boone--wandering for hours through the
wilderness, on the look-out for game, building the cheery camp-fire
deep in some glen or gorge, quaffing the clear icy water from some
stream, or lying flat on the back and looking up through the tree-tops
at the patches of blue sky, across which the snowy ships of vapor are
continually sailing.
But any parent who would allow a child to follow the bewitching
pleasures of such a life, would commit a sinful neglect of duty, and
would take the surest means of bringing regret, sorrow, and trouble to
the boy himself, when he should come to manhood.
The parents of young Boone, though they were poor, and had the charge
of a large family, did their utmost to give their children the
rudiments of a common school education, with the poor advantages that
were at their command.
It is said that about the first thing Daniel's teacher did, after
summoning his boys and girls together in the morning, was to send them
out again for a recess--one of the most popular proceedings a teacher
can take, though it cannot be considered a very great help in their
studies.
While the pupils were enjoying themselves to their fullest bent, the
master took a stroll into the woods, from which he was always sure
to return much more crabbed than when he went, and with his breath
smelling very strongly of something stronger than water.
At times he became so mellowed, that he was indulgence itself, and at
other times he beat the boys unmercifully. The patrons of the school
seemed to think their duty ended with the sending of their children
to the school-house, without inquiring what took place after they got
there.
One day Daniel asked the teacher for permission to go out-doors, and
receiving it, he passed into the clear air just at the moment that a
brown squirrel was running along the branch of a fallen tree.
Instantly the athletic lad darted in pursuit, and, when the nimble
little animal whisked out of sight among a dense clump of vine and
bushes, the boy shoved his hand in, in the hope of catching it. Instead
of doing so, he touched something cold and smooth, and bringing it
forth, found it was a whiskey bottle with a goodly quantity of the
fiery fluid within.
"That's what the teacher comes out here for," thought Daniel, as his
eyes sparkled, "and that's why he is so cross when he comes back."
He restored the bottle to its place, and returned to the school-room,
saying nothing to any one until after dismissal, when he told his
discovery to some of the larger boys, who, like all school-children,
were ever ripe for mischief.
When such a group fall into a discussion, it may be set down as among
the certainties that something serious to some one is sure to be the
result.
The next morning the boys put a good charge of tartar emetic in the
whiskey bottle, and shaking it up, restored it to its former place of
concealment. Then, full of eager expectation, they hurried into school,
where they were more studious than ever--a suspicious sign which ought
to have attracted the notice of the teacher, though it seems not to
have done so.
The Irish instructor took his walk as usual, and when he came back and
resumed labor, it may be imagined that the boys were on the tip-toe of
expectation.
They had not long to wait. The teacher grew pale, and gave signs of
some revolution going on internally. But he did not yield to the
feeling. As might have been expected, however, it increased his
fretfulness, and whether he suspected the truth or not, he punished
the boys most cruelly, as though seeking to work off his illness by
exercising himself with the rod upon the backs of the lads, whose only
consolation was in observing that the medicine taken unconsciously by
the irate teacher was accomplishing its mission.
Matters became worse and worse, and the whippings of the teacher
were so indiscriminate and brutal, that a rebellion was excited. The
crisis was reached when he assailed Daniel, who struggled desperately,
encouraged by the uproar and shouts of the others, until he finally got
the upper hand of the master, and gave him an unquestionable trouncing.
After such a proceeding it was not to be expected that any sort of
discipline could be maintained, and the rest of the pupils rushed
out-doors and scattered to their homes.
The news of the outbreak quickly spread through the neighborhood,
and Daniel was taken to task by his father for his insubordination,
though the parent now saw that the teacher possessed not the first
qualification for his position. And the instructor himself must have
felt somewhat the same way, for he made no objections when he was
notified of his dismissal, and the school education of Daniel Boone
ended.
It was a misfortune to him, as it is to any one, to be deprived of the
privilege of storing his mind with the knowledge that is to be acquired
from books, and yet, in another sense, it was an advantage to the
sturdy boy, who gained the better opportunity for training himself for
the great work which lay before him.
In the woods of Exeter he hunted more than ever, educating the eye,
ear, and all the senses to that wonderful quickness which seems
incredible when simply told of a person. He became a dead shot with
his rifle, and laid the foundations of rugged health, strength and
endurance, which were to prove so invaluable to him in after years,
when he should cross the Ohio, and venture into the perilous depths of
the Dark and Bloody Ground.
Boone grew into a natural athlete, with all his faculties educated to
the highest point of excellence. He assisted his father as best he
could, but he was a Nimrod by nature, instinct and education, and while
yet a boy, he became known for miles around the settlement as a most
skilled, daring, and successful hunter.
When he had reached young manhood, his father removed to North
Carolina, settling near Holman's Ford, on the Yadkin river, some eight
miles from Wilkesboro'. Here, as usual, the boy assisted his parents,
who were gifted with a large family, as was generally the case with the
pioneers, so that there was rarely anything like affluence attained by
those who helped to build up our country.
While the Boones lived on the banks of the Yadkin, Daniel formed the
acquaintance of Rebecca Bryan, whom he married, according to the best
authority attainable, in the year 1755, when he was about twenty years
of age.
There is a legend which has been told many a time to the effect that
Boone, while hunting, mistook the bright eyes of a young lady for those
of a deer, and that he came within a hair's-breadth of sending a ball
between them with his unerring rifle, before he discovered his mistake.
But the legend, like that of Jessie Brown at Lucknow and many others in
which we delight, has no foundation in fact, and so far as known there
was no special romance connected with the marriage of Boone to the
excellent lady who became his partner for life.
The children born of this marriage were James, Israel, Jesse, Daniel,
Nathan, Susan, Jemima, Lavinia, and Rebecca.