xt7vq814nm5g https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vq814nm5g/data/mets.xml Eubank, Rice S. 1913  books b92-121-28575459 English R.A. Owen Pub. Co., : Dansville, N.Y., Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky History. Story of Kentucky  / by R.S. Eubank. text Story of Kentucky  / by R.S. Eubank. 1913 2002 true xt7vq814nm5g section xt7vq814nm5g 

















INSTRUCTOR LITERATURE SERIES



The Story of Kentucky




      By N. S. Eulbank, A. 'B.










   F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING COMPANY,
          DANSVILLE, N. Y.



Copyright 19g3, by F. A. Owen Publishing Co

 
This page in the original text is blank.


 














         The Story of Kentucky

         Geography and First White Visitor
  Lying west of the Allegheny Mountains and extending
westward for some three hundred miles, bounded, for
the most part, on the north by the Ohio River and ex-
tending to the Mississippi, lies the State of Kentucky.
In its eastern portion, constituting nearly one-third of
its area, the surface is broken, and so high as to be
termed mountainous. A large area occupying the cen-
tral third, and in the early day mostly a prairie land, is
now known as the famous Blue Grass section. The wes-
tern third of the State is practically level, being but a
few feet above the sea, and cypress swamps are not
infrequent.  This section is commonly termed "The
Pennyrile. "
  In the middle of the eighteenth century, Kentucky was
a portion of that unexplored western realm belonging by
grant to the State of Virginia, and designated as a part
of Fincastle County. The eastern portion in the early
day abounded in wild game common to the Appalachian
forests. The undulating grass lands in the central part
of the State provided ample grazing for the herds of buf-
falo and deer that were found there at the time of the
coming of man. The skeletons that have been exhumed
indicate that it was the feeding ground of the giant mas-
todon before the discovery of America.
  About two hundred years after Columbus discovered
America, a young man twenty-two years of age came to



 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



Canada from the Old World. On his arrival he learned
from the settlers and Indians the possibilty of a passage
to the South Sea, which they then thought the Gulf of
Mexico to be. Desirous of making this journey, and
lured by the possibility of reaching the Pacific by water,
he secured the assistance of Indians and some white hun-
ters as guides and set out upon an expedition of explora-
tion into the country concerning which he had heard
such fascinating stories.
  Crossing the St. Lawrence and traveling southward,
he came to what is now called Allegheny River. Secur-
ing birchbark canoes, he and his party descended the
Allegheny to its junction with the Monongahela, then
turning southwestward on the beautiful stream formed
by these two small rivers and now known as the Ohio,
he explored the country along the banks of the river to
what was called by him the Rapids of the Ohio. Thus,
LaSalle was the first to gaze, upon the country from the
mouth of the Big Sandy to the present site of Louisville,
and to make a record of such discoveries.

         The Virginians and Daniel Boone
  Near the middle of the eighteenth century, or about
1750, a party of Virginia hunters, growing weary of the
monotony of home life and desiring to find better hunt-
ing grounds, penetrated the Appalachian Mountains by
way of Powell's Valley and through Cumberland Gap,
into the eastern portion of what is now Kentucky, and
hence were the first white men to approach the land
from the eastern side. In 1767, John Finley and Daniel
Boone, hearing of the fine hunting in this section, came
to Kentucky from North Carolina and built a cabin on
Red River, near where Estill, Powell, and Clark counties
are now joined. Two years later, about forty hunters
and adventurers came to the territory and made their



4

 







           THE STORY OF KENTUCKY                 5

 camp at what they then called Price's Meadows, about
 six miles from the present site of Monticello in Wayne
 County. This camp, by virtue of its location near the
 Cumberland River, developed into a distributing point
 for the country lying along the Cumberland, now in-
 cluded in Wayne, Green, Barren and Warren counties.
 Another station was built near Greensburg. These sta-
 tions or camps seem to have served only the immediate
 needs of the hunters while they were in the territory.
 Daniel Boone seems to have been
 the only one of these hunters to whom
 the wilderness especially appealed.
 Consequently, for many years he made
 frequent trips into the territory, stay-
 ing as long as two years on one occa-
 sion, and winning the title of The Long
 Hunter. Boone was alone on many of
 these trips, never seeing the face of a
 white man, but frequently meeting    1)el one
 roving bands of Indians. From a cave in the side of Pilot
 Knob in Powell County, he could catch glimpses of the
 joyous sports of the Shawnee boys at Indian Fields; and
 from the projecting rocks he feasted his eyes on the herds
 of buffalo winding across the prairie.
 No permanent Indian villages were found in Kentucky.
 It seems to have been a choice bit of hunting ground
 strongly contested by the tribes of the North and the
 tribes of the South. The Shawnees had a village at In-
 dian Fields, in the eastern portion of Clark County, near
 the beautiful stream called Lulbegrud Creek.
 Boone seems to have been endowed with the faculty
 that enabled him to pass, in his first years of wandering,
from tribe to tribe; and from these Indians he learned
that the common name of the country, known to all, was
Kan-tuckee (kane-tooch-ee), so called by the Indians be-



 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



cause of the abundance of a peculiar reed growing along
the river, now known as pipe-stem cane.
  Boone remained in the wilderness so long that his
brother and a searching party came to find him. They
found him in good health and spirits, enjoying life, and
living in peace with the Indian tribes. The party, with
Boone, returned to the valley of the Yadkin, and told
such stories of the enchanted land as caused the settlers
of the region to listen eagerly, and to feel the stirring of
the pioneer spirit. Not caring for the growing crops and
with no relish for the monotonous labor, Boone easily
persuaded a company of men to come with him to the
wilderness and to bring their families.




                     U C            (  'NX
          boonesboro      d    4      64







        ; A= A

                     Bone's Tail

  The journey was tedious. Those on foot went ahead
and blazed a trail for the few wagons, pack horses and
domestic animals, and killed game to furnish meat when
the next camp should be struck at nightfall. It was a
courageous, jolly party that thus marched through Cum-
berland Gap, and blazed a way which has since been
known as Boone's Trail. Hostile Indians had to be



6



 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



fought along the way, and several of the party were
slain, among them being Boone's son. An Englishman,
also, was killed, and his young son was adopted by Boone
and thereafter known as his own son.

              Beginnings of Settlements
 The party passed the present site of Richmond in Madi-
 son County, and reached a point on the Kentucky River, in
 1775, where Boonesborough was built. The site selected
 was a broad, level stretch of land, with the river to
 the north, and high
 hills to the south.
 This  particular
 spot was selected
 because of a fine
 spring of water,
 and high hills that
 could be used for
 sentinel towers,
 inclosing fine level4
 ground for cultiva-
 tion. The settlers                              j
 cut trees and con-             Boone' Fort
 structed a stockade
 in the form of a hollow square. It was from this fort that
 Rebecca Boone and the Calloway girls were stolen by
 Indians while boating on the Kentucky River.
 About the same time that Boonesborough was being
 established, Captain James Harrod with a party of forty
 men descended the Ohio River, stopped for a time at the
 mouth of Licking River, and felled some trees on the
 present site of Cincinnati. Not being satisfied with the
 location of the settlement, they followed the Ohio to the
 mouth of the Kentucky River and ascended the Kentucky
 to a spot now known as Oregon Landing. Being fatigued



7

 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



from their long and difficult voyage, they left their boats
and took a course from the river and found a big spring
at which they built a stockade on the present site of Har-
rodsburg.
  The large flowing spring one mile west of the present
town of Stanford, Lincoln County, was made the site of a
third settlement. Capt. Benjamin Logan headed this
party of pioneers, and the station was, for a time, known
as Logan's Fort. Afterward, because of the fact that the
fort was made by planting logs on end, it was called
Standing Fort, and in later years the town was called
Stanford. In the Logan party was a priest who was a
musician of rare ability.  In his daily walks, he was
accustomed to sit, meditating, at the mouth of the cave
from which ran the water of this great spring. The rip-
ple of the stream flowing from the cavern, over the rocks
and through the spearmint, was music to the Father's
ear, and to him it seemed the spirit of St. Asaph, the
director of King David's choir. He it was who named
the spring and the creek which flows from it, St. Asaph's.
While the people busied themselves at Harrodsburg,
Boonesborough and Logan's Fort, Simon Kenton, disap-
pointed in a love affair in Virginia, seeking relief from
sorrow by satisfying his hunger for hunting and atthe
same time acting in the interest of Lord Dunmore, came
to Kentucky. He reached a point near Old Washington
in Mason County, where he and his party cleared an
acre of land, planted corn and ate the roasting ears the
same summer. So far as we know, this was the first
agricultural activity in the Commonwealth.
In April, 1775, the first battle of the Revolutionary War
was fought at Lexington, Mass. At that time a party of
hunters was camped at the big spring near the present
site of the Fayette County courthouse, in Lexington, Ky.
Months later, the news of the American victory reached



8



 







THE STORY OF. KENTUCKY



the settlers, and because of their great joy over the vic-
tory gained, they named the camp site Lexington.
   Limestone (now Maysville), Royal Springs (now George-
town) and Martin's Station were also built this year.
  In 1779, Lexington was first permanently improved and
cabins built. From these rude stockade cabins grew the
the beautiful city of the Blue Grass, in which town for
many years were manufactured practically all the fur hats
worn in the Ohio and
Mississippi valleys.
Being in the center of
the hemp-growing sec-
tion, practically all the
ropes and cables used
in boating on the Ohio,
Mississippi and Ken-
tucky rivers were made
in Lexington.  These
commercial enterprises,
together with the ex-
ceptional fertility of the  stokade and Cabin at Lexington
soil, account for the development of the city of Lexington
more rapidly than the surrounding forts and stations.
  Daniel Boone was consulted regarding the advisability
of the location of all settlements made during the early
days, because he knew the country better than any other
one person, and knew the wilderness as few have
known it.
  Hunters and trappers began to traffic along the Ohio
River, and supplies for the more northern settlements
were shipped on the Ohio and unloaded at Limestone or
at The Rapids. At this latter point it was necessary, if
supplies were sent farther down the stream, to unload
and carry them to a point below the rapids, when the
boats would have to be launched again and reloaded.



9



 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



This necessitated a delay, especially as the traders soon
fell upon the plan of having one line of boats plying
above the rapids and another plying between points below
the rapids. Men for unloading and loading were kept
always on the ground. This little settlement became per-
manent, and is now the largest town in the State-Louis-
ville.
        How the Pioneers Lived and Fought
  After the wives of the settlers in the various forts
came to Kentucky, home life took on the appearance of a
settled community. Homes were built outside the stock-
ades, nearly every man of family had a farm of his own,
land was cleared, fruit trees were set out, attention was
given to the raisingof hogs, sheep, cattle and horses, and a
                                      little Empire of
                                      the West began
                                      to appear. The
                                      women were
                                      busy with spin-
                                      ning, weaving
                                      and   general
                               housework.
                                      The men clear-
                                      ed and fenced
                                      their land. The
FirstStoekde and Cabins t the Fallsof Ohio now  fortifications
tuisville. Built by George Rogers Clark in 1776. eeketol
          By itw Aged it Ad were kept only
as a refuge in time of an attack by the Indians-which,
however, was not infrequent, because the French in the
North coveted the rich lands beyond the Alleghenies, and
incited the Indians to warfare against the white people
who were settling there. It was the sturdy pioneers of
Kentucky, acting in the name of Virginia, who held the
f rontier against the encroachments of the French, as the
property of the English crown.



10

 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



   The notorious renegade, Simon Girty, a white man
 who for certain reasons forsook civilized society and asso-
 ciated himself with the Indians of Northern Ohio, was
 willing at all times to harass the settlers on the frontier
 at the suggestion of the French military commanders.
 This man cared not for spilling the blood of his own race,
 and frequently would lead his hostile bands in attacks
 against the unprotected settlements. His favorite time
 for attack seemed to be in the spring of the year, when
 the men were at work in the fields and offered the least
 resistance by a speedy rally of forces.
 We have noticed that all these forts were built near a
 spring of unfailing water. The pioneers seem always to
 have left the spring outside the inclosure, however, and
 since this worked a great hardship in time of siege, it
 seems to have been bad judgment. Girty's Indians at-
 tacked Logan's Fort. The supply of water inside the
 fort was exhausted, and the suffering was intense. After
 this siege, General Logan decided never again to be sub-
 jected to such an extremity. He could not bring the
 spring to the fort, and it was also difficult to transplant
 the fort. So he summoned the settlers and proposed a
 plan to which they agreed. The hours when they were
 not working in the fields or building new cabins they spent
 in digging, until a tunnel was made from the stockade to
 the spring. In succeeding attacks, the General had his
 granaries and storehouses well supplied with food and
 ammunition, and it was an easy matter to send a boy with
 a bucket through the tunnel to the spring for water. This
precaution on the part of the General prevented exhaus-
tion during the next attack on Logan's Fort. The Indians,
unable to understand how the settlers in the fort could
do so long without water, supposed them to be miracu-
lously defended by the Great Spirit, and never afterward
could Girty lead his band to attack Logan's Fort.



11

 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



  The settlers at Bryan's Station, a few miles from Lex-
ington, did not take a similar precaution. During one
of the Indian attacks on them the supply of water in
the fort became exhausted, and surrender seemed un-
avoidable. The women of the fort volunteered to go for
water, and taking buckets marched down to the spring.
The Indians were surprised, superstitious, and panic-
stricken, and refused to fire on them. The women filled
their buckets and returned in safety to the stockade.
  Notwithstanding the bounteous provision made by
Nature to supply the needs of the settler in the way of
fruits, wild meats, and skins for clothing, life in the
settlements was plain in the extreme. Furniture and
household utensils were scant and crude, for the most
part being of home construction. Salt was one of the
greatest needs of the settlers. At first, they made it from
the water of the numerous salt licks, each family making
its supply by boiling the water in a kettle until the mois-
ture had evaporated, leaving the salt encrusted in the
kettle. These kettles were crude, and invariably small.
Hence it was more difficult to supply a family with salt
than with sugar, which was easily made by boiling down
the sap from the maple trees. After awhile, the Virginia
authorities sent out a number of large kettles and two
expert salt makers, who reported to Captain Boone for
service. Boone, with his two experts and thirty other
men, left Boonesborough for the Lower Blue Lick Spring,
fifty or more miles toward the north. Here they made a
camp and set to work to manufacture a stock of salt suf-
ficient to supply the needs of all the settlements for a
period of twelve months. From time to time a small
party was sent back to the different forts with pack-
horses laden with salt. On their return, they would
bring supplies, parched corn, and perhaps a few of the
simple comforts that seemed almost luxuries to the hardy



12

 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



backwoodsmen. Meat constituted the chief article of
diet for the workers of the salt factory. It required no
small amount to satisfy the appetites of thirty vigorous
men. Boone, as the most expert hunter among them,
undertook to supply the camp with meat. The task was,
to him, a thoroughly congenial one, which we cannot
imagine the more civilized task of manufacturing salt to
have been.
  It was Boone's custom to go out some miles from camp
every morning, returning at the close of the day with as
much game as he could carry, and often leaving a quan-
tity at a particular spot to be sent for with a packhorse.
One afternoon Boone was making his way toward the
salt works after a day of successful hunting, when he
suddenly found himself surrounded by a company of In-
dians. Not having seen a redskin for months, and be-
lieving it unlikely that they could be present in large
numbers at that time of the year, Boone was not as
keenly on the alert as usual. The savages had found
Boone's trail while wandering through the woods. He
was taken captive, adopted into the tribe, his hair picked
out in Indian fashion, and the war paint added. Boone's
failure to return led the men in the camp to suspect the
presence of Indians, and to guess that Boone had fallen
captive. The alarm was quickly sent to the surrounding
forts. Maj. Harlan, Col. Trigg, Col. Todd, and Boone's
brother led a body of men against the Indians in what
proved to be the bloodiest battle recorded in the annals
of the territory, and known as the Battle of Blue Licks.
In this battle, Boone's eldest son was slain, and it is said
the old man never could refer to the battle without shed-
ding tears. In the midst of the battle, Boone escaped
from his captors and rejoined the settlers.



13



 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



      George Rogers Clark and the Revolution
  Among the many men of sterling quality who for vari-
ous reasons came out to Kentucky, was one stalwart,
well-trained, military genius known in history as General
George Rogers Clark. His first trip to Kentucky was
semi-official, as a representative of the Virginia Legisla-
ture, to visit the various forts and settlements and to
report progress to the state government. He found the
settlers in dire need of powder. Reporting this to the
Virginia authorities, he succeeded in
securing for the settlers a quantity,
which was yet insufficient to defend
them against the Indians.
  Of Clark's second appearance in
Kentucky, General Ray, who was at
that time a boy of sixteen, living at
Harrodsburg (or Harrod's Station as it  X
was then called), gives the following
account: "I had come down to where George Rogers Clark
I now live, about four miles from Har-
rodsburg, to turn some horses on the range. I had killed a
small blue-winged duck that was feeding in my spring, and
had roasted it nicely by a fire on the brow of the hill. While
waiting for the duck to cool, I was startled by the sud-
den apppearance of a fine, soldierly-looking man. 'How
do you do, my little fellow What is your name Aren't
you afraid of being in the woods by yourself' Answer-
ing his inquiries, I invited him to partake of my duck,
which he did, without leaving me a bone to pick, his
appetite was so keen. Had I known him then as I did
afterwards, he would have been welcome to all the game
I could have killed. Having devoured my duck, he
asked me questions about the settlers, the Indians and
the condition of affairs in the locality." These the boy
answered as well as he could, and then ventured to ask



14

 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



the name of his guest. "My name is Clark," was the
response, "and I have come out here to see how you
brave fellows are doing in Kentucky, and to lend you a
helping hand, if necessary."
  With the universal consent of the settlers, Clark nat-
urally assumed the military leadership of the territory,
visiting all the fortifications, looking after their military
stores, drilling the men, and otherwise strengthening
the defenses of the pioneers. Clark made other trips to
Virginia in behalf of the frontiersmen, but since the re-
sources of Virginia were severely taxed by the necessary
support given to the other colonies during the Revolu-
tionary War, he received little or no encouragement, and
practically nothing in the way of military supplies. It
is stated that he provided the necessities at his own ex-
pense, defraying the cost of transportation and distribu-
tion. Later, powder was made by the settlers of Ken-
tucky by leaching saltpetre from the soil in various
sections and combining it with charcoal and other in-
gredients.
  The English army officers formed alliances with the In-
dian tribes living north of the Ohio River in the territory
now composing Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and incited
them to frequent attacks on the Kentucky settlements,
with the hope that they would the sooner capture the
State of Virginia by an approach from the west.  Clark,
as military commander of Kentucky, sent spies into this
northern country to determine the location of the for-
tresses and the number of English and Indians in each.
One of these spies was the celebrated Simon Kenton,
who was not content with locating the enemy but at-
tempted to recapture a lot of horses stolen from Ken-
tucky by the Indians on a former raid. Kenton and his
companions were not able to travel fast with the num-
ber of horses they had secured, and when they were at-



 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



tacked by a band of Indians, Kenton's companions were
slain and he was captured. The Indians hated him cor-
dially and began to beat him unmercifully, calling him
the "hoss-steal." They easily could have murdered
Kenton on the spot, but since he had proved such a ter-
rible foe to them in the past, they preferred to enjoy
their capture all the more by torturing him for awhile.
He was carried by the Indians to Chillicothe, where he
was several times forced to run the gauntlet. Finally,
when tied to the stake to be burned, he was recognized
by his boyhood friend, Simon Girty, who sent him to
Detroit, from which place he made his escape and re-
turned to Kentucky, reporting to General Clark the con-
ditions as he had found them.
  Other spies returned, and from the general reports
General Clark thought it necessary to make another ap-
peal to Virginia for aid. In 1778, Governor Patrick
Henry of Virginia gave to Clark a commission as com-
manding officer to take such soldiers as he could secure
in Virginia, together with his Kentuckians, and go
against the British and Indians north of the Ohio River.
Leaving Corn Island, now Louisville, he and his brave
followers marched northward through swamps and swam
streams, capturing every fortification to which they
came. Among -these were Kaskaskia and Vincennes.
By this heroic deed of Clark's the great territory north
of the Ohio River was secured from the British, and be-
came a part of Virginia's territory. Clark continued at
the head of military affairs in Kentucky, but his greatest
work was done before he was thirty years of age.

          Later Days of Famous Pioneers
 When peace came, Clark settled about eight miles from
Louisville and fell into habits of intemperance which
unfitted him for public service. He was given large



1 6

 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



land bounties by Virginia, in recognition of services
rendered, but conflicting claims prevented him coming
into possession of the land for years, thus leaving him
helpless and poor in his old age. The Virginia legisla-
ture voted him a jeweled sword, which was sent to the
old man by a special messenger. When the young man
made his speech presenting the sword, Clark replied,
"Young man, go tell Virginia, when she needed a sword
I found one. Now, I need bread." The worn-out old
soldier lived only a little while longer, and in 1818 died
and was buried at Locust Grove, Ky. It has been said
that a French officer who met Clark at Yorktown, on his
return to France, said to the king: "Sire, there are two
Washingtons in America." "What do you mean" said
the king.  "I mean," said the officer, "that there is
Washington whom the world knows; and there is George
Rogers Clark, the conqueror of the Northwest, as great
a man as Washington in his field of action and for his
opportunity. "
  Simon Kenton shared a like fate. Losing his land,
acre by acre, this simple-hearted old pioneer found him-
self penniless in his old age. He was then allowed by
law, to the shame of all civilization, to be cast into prison
for debt upon the same spot upon which he had built his
first cabin in 1775. In 1799, as a beggar, he moved into
Ohio. In 1813, he joined Governor Shelby's troops and
was with them in the Battle of the Thames. In 1820,
this poor old man moved to a site on Scioto river, where
the Indians forty years before had tied him to a stake to
be burned. Near the close of his life he was given some
mountain lands and a small pension.
  Daniel Boone lost all his fine lands in Kentucky, also,
and came to such poverty as to lead him in one of his
petitions to say, "I have not a spot of ground whereon
to lay my bones. " He left Kentucky, saying he would



17

 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



never return to live in a country so ungrateful. About
1796 he moved to Missouri and settled fifty miles from
St. Louis. Spain owned that territory then, and the
Spanish government gave him a liberal grant of land.
Around him his sons and daughters and their families
settled. The broad forests were full of game, and here
Boone again indulged his passion for a hunter's life.
The old hunter neglected to complete his titles to his new
lands, and these he also lost. Congress afterward made
him a smaller grant. He died in Missouri in 1820, at the
age of eighty-six, and was buried in a coffin which he
had made for himself some years before. In 1845, the
Legislature of Kentucky had the remains of the pioneer
and his wife removed and buried with honor in the
cemetery at Frankfort. A suitable monument was erected
to mark their resting place.
  In the early days of the settlement of Kentucky, all
men were not engaged in fighting Indians, building forts
and clearing ground. On the contrary, the fertility of
the soil and the wealth of timber and mineral led men to
look to the commercial value of real estate, and conse-
quently there was formed a powerful company known as
The Transylvania Land Company, which had for its pur-
pose the ownership and control of the valuable lands.
Judge Richard Henderson, a native of Virginia, was the
leader in the formation of this Company.
  Taking advantage of the unsettled boundaries west of
the mountains and knowing that the several states
claimed the country by right of grants from the kings of
the countries of Europe, the Transylvania Company at-
tempted to organize the territory into a separate govern-
ment. These men gave the settlers no little worry over
the ownership of their lands, and because Virginia was
engaged in the War of the Revolution little attention was
paid to affairs in Kentucky. Finally, in 1776, the settlers



is



 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



in Kentucky called a meeting at Harrodsburg and sent
Gabriel Jones and George Rogers Clark to the Legisla-
ture of Virginia with a statement that unless Virginia
should protect the settlers against the Transylvania Com-
pany and others, the people would organize the territory
into a separate government, and take their place among
the States. To this statement the Virginia Legislature
gave heed, and cut off from Fincastle County, Virginia,
all that unsurveyed territory west of the Allegheny
Mountains, and organized it into the County of Ken-
tucky, as a part of Virginia. This act enabled the set-
tlers to have a regular form of county government with
a sheriff and other county officials, as well as two repre-
sentatives in the Virginia Assembly.
  Things went well in the new county for awhile. Agri-
culture was engaged in more extensively and the good
work of developing the country went steadily on, inter-
rupted all too frequently by the attacks of the Indians
from the north, in very much the same manner as before,
though less frequently.
  People in the eastern colonies heard of the fertility of
the soil and of the many attractive features of the coun-
try, and as a result large numbers from all the older
settlements determined to try their fortunes in the
favored land. Population increased to such an extent that
it was thought advisable to divide the territory into three
counties (Jefferson, Lincoln and Fayette), and courts were
established.
               After the Revolution
  The treaty of peace which ended the War of the Revo-
lution was concluded in November, 1782, but the people
of Kentucky did not get the news for nearly four months
later. All were rejoiced that the struggle was ended and
confidently expected that trouble with the Indians would
cease, since there seemed no further reason for inciting



19

 







THE STORY OF KENTUCKY



them to make war on the Kentuckians. The people were
doomed to disappointment. The treaty left possessions
so poorly defined that not only did the Indians make oc-
casional invasions into the territory to plunder, under
the direction of the military commanders of the north,
but the people were threatened by a still graver danger.
The unsettled boundaries and titles of lands along the
Mississippi River caused a question of ownership to arise
between France, England and Spain. Spain at that time
controlled the lower Mississippi River, and men from
that country secretly came to Kentucky attempting to
arouse the people to the act of establishing a separate
nation under the protection of Spain. The loyalty of the
good men of Kentucky to the rights of Virginia cannot
be too highly praised. There were some persons, though,
who for glory and private gain did all in their power to
stir up the rebellion and to establish a separate govern-
ment. Kentucky was virtually left to her fate beyond
the mountains during the trying times following the close
of the Revolution.
  The needs of the territory and the constant menace
from these Spanish agents led the better class of men in
Kentucky to consider the question of asking Virginia to
be allowed the privilege of separation, with the expec-
tation of the territory's being formed into a State, equal
with others of the Union. This would give a better ad-
ministration of affairs and would put an end to the ef-
forts of agents from other countries desiring to establish
a separate nation.
  On May 23, 1785, a convention of delegates met at
Danville and sent the following resolution to the Virginia
Assembly: "Resolved: That it is the duty of the con-
vention, as they regard the prosperity and happiness of
their constituents, to pray the General Assembly at the
ensuing session for an act to separate this district from