xt7zkh0dvx0f https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7zkh0dvx0f/data/mets.xml Smith, Henry Clay. 1923  books b92-80-27254529 English Frank Remington, Printer, : Paris, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. North Middletown Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Disciples of Christ Kentucky. Outline history of the Wilderness of Kentucky ; and, The religious movements of the early settlers of our country, and the, Church history of the North Middletown community  / by H.C. Smith. text Outline history of the Wilderness of Kentucky ; and, The religious movements of the early settlers of our country, and the, Church history of the North Middletown community  / by H.C. Smith. 1923 2002 true xt7zkh0dvx0f section xt7zkh0dvx0f 





















































JUDGE H. C MITH

 


       OUTLINE HISTORY
  Of The Wilderness of Kentucky

                 And

 The Religious Movements of the Early
        Settlers of Our Country

                And The


Church History of the North

   Middletown Community




             By F C SMITH



          CONSULTING COMMITTEE
   W. S. Jones, J. W. Young, Sr., F. M. Tinder, H. C.
      Smith, appointed by Board of Officers of
        North Middletown Christian Church



Frank Remington. Printer. Paris, Ky.



 












































CONSULTING COMMITTEE

 
        TO THE MEMORY OF
The Church Board and members of the North
Middletown Christian Church of the past,
who by their faithful performance of Christian
duty made possible the beautiful building we
have to worship and serve our Savior in to-
day; and the fine congregation we have at
this date, 1923.
                       The Committee.

 


Preface



   The Committee appointed by the Board of Officers
of the North Middletown Christian Church to write
a History of the Church with a request that they go
back to the very beginning of Church History, to the
pioneer days of our vicinity in religious movements,
and bring the annals up to the present date, believe
the most satisfactory record we can make is to give
an Outline History of the trials, hardships and dan-
gers our forefathers and mothers had to and did
undergo in settling this beautiful, productive coun-
try, wrestling it from the savages and going through
so many privations and dangerous experiences, and
while it may be but the reminder of what many
have read before, there may be some that have not
taken the time to become accquainted with what the
Committee has gathered up and put in an abbrev-
iated form who will enjoy it. And it will be time
well spent by all to call their minds back to what the
present generation owe in gratitude to those who
gave us this beautiful, rich country in which to live,
and who have "long since gone to that Country from
which no traveler returns."
   "Gratitude," to our minds, is the most impressive
word in the English language, and should be indel-
ibly stamped upon the minds of everyone. The
Committee thinks the best way to get to the beginning
of religious worship in our community is to go back
to pioneer times; trace the history of Christian wor-
ship from the advent of the Anglo-American upon
this continent; trace it across the Alleghany moun-
tains, and give a cursory record of it in the wilder-

 
ness of Kentucky and its advancement to our County
and Precinct. We have at the close of our Church
history made an addenda of the annals and progress
of education in our community, from pioneer days
when the first school was started up to the present
date, being strong advocates that Religion and
Education go hand-in-hand in the progress of civil-
ization of the world. Either without the other
would be a failure.
   The Committee with gratitude acknowledges the
use of many excerpts from the first edition of Col-
lins' "History of Kentucky," Johnson's "History of
Kentucky," Ellis' "History of the United States,"
Smith's "History of Kentucky," Thomas Jefferson on
"Virginia," John Augustus Williams' "Life of John
Smith," and other records we had access to, and most
of all to the records of Brother John W. Jones, Sr.,
(in diary form) of more than thirty years, that made
possible the data we have used in this record.
               CoMMrrrEE: W. S. JoNEs,
                            J. W. YOUNG, SR.,
                            F. M. TINDER,
                            H. C. SlrTH.

 
This page in the original text is blank.


 
            Outline History of
     The Wilderness of Kentucky

                  CHAPTER I.
   In 1763 The Peace of Paris brought to a close the
tremendous contest between England and France for
the possession and ownership of Canada and the
Ohio Valley, with the result that the flag of England
waved over the hitherto disputed territory undis-
turbed and with none to dispute the sovereignty of
England.
   During the pendency of the war but little had
been done in the matter of exploration of the dis-
puted territory, and there are no absolutely accurate
data covering that period. Very shortly after the
close of the war of 1763, King George the Third
issued a proclamation declaring the British possess-
ions west of the Alleghany Mountains and south of
the southern border of Canada should be set apart
as an Indian Reservation into which no white settlers
should enter, and commissioners were appointed to
determine the line of demarcation between the
Indian and white territories. The Conmissioners,
not regarding very closely the orders of the Crown,
made the Ohio River to the mouth of the Tennessee
River the northern line of demarcation, thus leaving
south and east of the line almost all of what is now
Kentucky and exempting it from the restrictions
which King George the Third's proclamation imposed
upon the reserved district.
   Thus the territory that is now Kentucky was
thrown open to white explorers and settlers, while
                       [7)

 
the other regions west of the Alleghanies were closed
by Royal Decree, and to this fact is due, in no small
degree, that she became the pioneer colony of the
West; for in the valley of the Yadkin in North Car-
olina, the prince of pioneers was waiting to head the
host which was waiting to invade the "Dark and
Bloody Ground" and to make it an inhabited land.
   Daniel Boone now appears on the great canvass
upon which is depicted the early struggles which
made Kentucky a bright jewel in the crown of the
states which form the American Union. There had
been, as has been shown, adventurous spirits who
came into the territory before Boone, some of whom
were later to join him in the conquest of the land
from it's original savage holders who fought so
strongly to retain its possession.
   Whatever others may have done earlier and dur-
ing the strenuous after days when Boone was strug-
gling for possession of the fair land, he was the hero,
"the voice of one crying in the wilderness," who
gave Kentucky to the white man, and whose place in
song and story of the new land none may take.
Kentucky and Daniel Boone are synonymous terms
in history. Though he left the new land, finding his
holdings too much encroached upon, with the spirit
of the true pioneer he journeyed to the Westward in
search of more elbow room, and finally laid down the
burden of his years in Missouri. Kentucky, mindful
of her debt to the brave old pioneer, brought back
his remains and those of his faithful, patient old wife,
and side by side they sleep in the state cemetery at
Frankfort, an appropriate and modest monument
marking their last resting place.
  It is not the purpese of this committee to write
                       [8)



 
the biography of Daniel Boone (for those who wish
the history of Boone's life we recommend The Life of
Boone, written by John Filson, as the most desirable
and accurate), but it is impossible to make an outline
history of the early days of Kentucky without fre-
quently referring to Daniel Boone, the greatest
pioneer of the early settlement of the territory that
was afterwards Kentucky; in fact, as stated a few
lines above, Kentucky and Daniel Boone are
synonymous terms in Kentucky history. So we will
frequently have to speak of Boone to get a true out-
line of Kentucky history in its earliest settlements.
                 CHAPTER II.
   Kentucky is an Indian word, and by the best
authorities means "The Dark and Bloody Ground;"
was given to that region of the wilderness
between the Alleghaney Ridge of mountains on the
east, the Mississippi River on the west, south of the
Ohio River and north of the land inhabited by the
southern tribes of Indians: Cherokees, Creeks, Cataw-
bas and other tribes. It was heavily timbered with
the largest forest trees :oak, chestnut, walnut, poplar,
pine, sugar tree and other monarchs of the forests;
with cane-brakes ten to fifteen feet high, almost too
thick to get through, making it indeed a dark forest. It
was the Indian's ideal hunting ground, and some
writers have interpreted the Indian word Kentucky
to mean "the happy hunting ground," the region
abounding with wild game of many kinds: buffalo,
elk, bear, deer, wild turkey and other species of
game. No permanent settlement existed within its
borders. The Indians of the south, the Cherokees,
Creek, Catawba and other southern tribes, and the
                       r9]

 
northern hostile tribes of Shawnees, Delawares,
Wyandots and other northern tribes, knowingof the
abundance of game, made it their hunting ground,
and when on hunting trips to these dark forests
would sometimes meet, when there would be a
bloody battle, each claiming it as their hunting
ground by right of discovery-hence the name of
Kentucky or "The Dark and Bloody Ground." Each
and all of these tribes of Indians on their hunting
trips encountered the Anglo-American pioneer and
fiercely disputed the settlement of the country.
   It is certain, however, that these were not the
original occupants of the country lying between the
Alleghany Ridge of mountains and the Mississippi
River. Geological monuments of deep interest speak
in language not to be mistaken of a race of men who
preceded the rude tribes encountered by Boone and
Finley. Their origin, language and history are
buried in darkness, which perhaps may never be
dispelled, but the scanty vestiges which they have
left behind them enable us to affirm with confidence
that they far surpassed the rude tribes which suc-
ceeded them in art, in civilization and in knowledg-
They had certainly worked the copper mines of the
west and were in possession of copper tools for work
in wood and stone. Their pipes and household uten-
sils, elaborately fashioned of clay, are far above the
rude and clumsy contrivances of their successors,
while their large fortifications, constructed of solid
masonry and artifically contrived for defense and
convenience, show that they had foes to resist and
that they had made considerable progress in the
military art. How long they occupied the country,
whence they came, whither they have gone or
                       [10]



 
whether they perished within the crumbling walls
which alone speak of their existence, the present
state of our knowledge does not enable us to decide.
The historical facts with certainty to be inferred
from the data which exist are few and meager. In
relation to time we can only affirm that the fortifi-
cations and cemeteries which have been examined
are certainly more than nine hundred years old, but
how much older they may be can only be conjectured.
Time and future investigation may throw some addi-
tional light upon the history of this ancient race, but
at present we can only say, they lived, they strug-
gled against enemies, they made progress in
arts and civilization, and "the places which once
knew them, know them no more."
                 CHAPTER III.
   Neglecting the obscure visit of Dr. Walker to the
northeastern portion of Kentucky in 1758, and equally
obscure but more thorough examination of the
country by Finley in 1767, we may regard the com-
pany headed by Daniel Boone in 1M  and by Knox
in 1770 as the earliest visits to Kentuckv worthy of
particular attention. Boone's party remained two
years in the country and traversed it's northern and
middle regions with great attention. The party led
by Col. Tames Knox, called the "long hunters," came
one year later and remained aboul tne same length
of time. Both parties were in the wilderness at the
same time but never met.
   Boone was a native of Pennsylvania but had
immigrated to North Carolina. Knox's party was
from Holston, on the Clinch River, and thoroughly
explored the middle and southern regions of Ken-
                       [11]

 
tucky. Boone's party was harrassed by the Indians
and one of their number, James Stuart, was killed.
Boone himself at one time fell into their hands but
escaped. Daniel Boone's younger brother, Squire
Boone, and acompanion, followed him into the wilder-
ness sometime after Daniel Boone's party had left
the settlement in North Carolina to try to find him
and join his party, and by the luckiest of accidents
came upon his camp and remained with him. One
winter the two brothers were in the wilderness
alone, and except the short while when Squire Boone
returned to North Carolina for ammunition and then
returned to Daniel Boone's camp, was with him until
their return to the North Carolina settlement. In
1771 they returned from their long hunting excur-
sion and spread throughout the western settlements
of Virginia and North Carolina the most glowing
accounts of the inexhaustible fertility of the soil.
The bounty in lands, which had been given to the
Virginia troops who had served throughout the old
French war by the Virginia Legislature, were to be
located upon the western waters of Virginia terri-
tory; and within less than two years after the return
of Boone and Knox, surveyors were sent to locate
lands south of the Ohio River in 1773. Many surveys
were executed in Kentucky and large portions of the
country explored with a view of future settlements.
In the summer of 1774 other parties of surveyors and
hunters followed. During this year James Harrod
erected a log cabin upon the spot where Harrodsburg
now stands, which rapidly grew into a station, prob-
ably the oldest in Kentucky.



[12]



 
                 CHAPTER IV.
   During this year Col. Richard Henderson pur-
chased from the Cherokee Indians the whole of the
Indian hunting grounds south of the Kentucky river.
His purchase was subsequently declared null and
void by the legislature of Virginia, which claimed the
sole right to purchase land from the Indians within
the bounds of the royal charter of the Crown. But
great activity was displayed by Henderson in taking
possession of his new Indian purchase and granting
land to settlers, before the act of the Virginia legis-
lature overturned his scheme.
   Daniel Boone was employed by him to direct the
survey of the country and select favorable and desir-
able locations. Early in the spring of 1775 the selec-
tion and foundation of Boonesboro was laid under
the title of Henderson. Squire Boone was one of
Daniel Boone's party on this trip. From the 22nd
of March to the 14th of April Boone was actively
engaged in constructing the fort afterwards called
Boonesboro, during which time his party was exposed
to an attack from the Indians. By the middle of
April the fort was completed. Within two months
from that time his wife and daughter joined him and
resided in the fort, the first white woman who ever
stood upon the banks of the Kentucky River. From
this time Boonesboro and Harrodstown (afterwards
Harrodsburg) became the nucleus and support of
immigration and settlement in Kentucky.
   In 1775 the renowned pioneer, Simon Kenton,
erected a log cabin and raised a crop of corn in the
now county of Mason upon the spot where the town
of Washington now stands, and continued to occupy
the spot until late fall of that year when he removed
                       [13]



 
to Boonesboro. In the month of September of this
year, and three months after the arrival of Mrs.
Boone and daughters, the young colony was increased
by the arrival of three more white women, Mrs.
Denton, Mrs. McGary and Mrs. Hogan, who with their
husbands and children settled at Harrodsburg. Early
in the spring of 1776 Col. Richard Calloway brought
his wife and two daughters to Boonesboro, and in
March of the same year Col. Benjamin Logan brought
his wife and family to Logan's fort, about one mile
west of the present town of Stanford, in now Lincoln
County, where he with a few slaves had raised a crop
of corn in 1775.
                  CHAPTER V.
  In the winter of this year the territory given the
name of Kentucky by the Indians was formed into
a county of Virginia by the Virginia Legislature and
called Kentucky County of Virginia. Up to this
date the territory was a part of Fincastle County,
Virginia, but was so far from the county seat, Fin-
castle Court House, over the Alleghany Ridge and
by being'given county rights entitled to a separate
county court, to justices of the peace, a sheriff, con-
stable, courier and militia of officers. Law with it's
authority (upon a small scale) for the first time had
it's jurisdiction in Kentucky. In the spring of 1777
the court of quarterly sessions held its first sittings
at Harrodsburg, attended by the sheriff of the
county and it's clerk, Levi Todd. The first court of
Kentucky County was composed of John Todd, John
Floyd, Benjamin Logan, John Bowman and Richard
Calloway. This court only had jurisdiction over
petit larceny and misdemeanor cases. The first 17
                       [14]



 
cases that came before this court a majority of them
were for running tippling houses, in modem par-
lance, bootlegging.
   In the winter of 1774-1775 the Virginia Legisla-
ture passed a law donating 400 acres of land in Ken-
tucky territory to every person who made an
improvement, built a cabin, cleared a piece of ground
and raised a crop of corn. This opportunity of pro-
curing cheap farms brought many adventurous per-
sons to Kentucky County in 1775-1776.
   In the year of 1775 news was received from an
Indian runner bv a party of hunters who were
encamped on one branch of Elkhorn, that the first
battle of the Revolution had been fought at Lexing-
ton, in the vicinity of Boston, Massachusetts, between
the British and Provincial forces. In commemora-
tion of the event they called the spot of their
encampment "Lexington." No settlement was then
made, but about four years afterwards, in 1779, about
April 1, a solitary block house with some adjacent
defenses was erected by Robert Patterson upon the
spot where the hunters camped four years before,
and on that same location the city of Lexington now
stands. One of the-most heautiful cities upon the
American continent, noted for its educational insti-
tutions, both male and female, universities and col-
leges. It has the distinction of having the oldest
university west of the Alleghany Mountains and
ranks with the first cities of the nation as an educa-
tional center.
                 CHAPTER VI.
   In 1776 Colonel Benjamin Harrison, at the head of
a party, settled in the northern part of what was
                       [15]

 
afterwards Bourbon County and later southern part
of Harrison County, and organized a colony with the
building of block houses and a fort for their protec-
tion and place of abode near the site where Hinkston
Station was located. This station was settled by Col.
John Hinkston in April, 1775. It was on the old Buf-
falo trace or Indian route from the big spring at
Georgetown to the Lower Blue Licks in the present
county of Nicholas. There was quite a fierce
engagement here with the Indians, shortly after its
settlement, Col. Hinkston being in command of the
station, and the notorious renegade, Simon Girty, of
the Indian forces. The ammunition gave out at the
station and Col. Hinkston was forced to surrender
himself to the Indians as a hostage, this under prom-
ise that the remainder of the men, women and chil-
dren should remain at the station unmolested. Col.
Hinkston made his escape from the Indians the next
night and made his way back to the station. The
station was abandoned after this for a few years,
most of the parties going back to Virginia. Of the
party that came with Col. Hinkston, several had the
honor of the streams near their settlement being
named for them, Hinkston Creek was named for
Col. Hinkston, Townsend Creek for John Townsend,
one of their party, and Cooper's Run for John
Cooper, another one of the company. The two com-
panies referred to above as commanded by Col.
Hinkston and Col. Benjamin Harrison were perhaps
the first visitors to what is now Harrison County,
unless those pioneer hunters, Boone and Kenton had
passed through it on hunting excursions. Most of
the parties belonging to the companies referred to
were driven from their early improvements through
                      [16]



 
fear of the Indians. Many of the settlements were
attacked, the settlers captured, the settlements
laid waste and the whites either murdered or carried
away as prisoners. Ruddles Station was one of the
early settlements made in this vicinity. It was upon
the site of the improvements made by Hinkston and
others who were driven away by the Indians. The
occupants of Ruddles Station had to abandon it on
account of the frequent and fierce raids of the
Indians. Some years later Isaac and James Ruddles,
with a few companions, re-settled it, moving from
the settlement they had made on Licking River three
miles below the junction of Hinkston and Stoner
branches of the same stream. About the same time
Martin's Station on Stoner Creek, about three miles
below where Paris is now located, was established.
The Homestead Law, passed by the Virginia Legisla-
ture at the session of 1774 and 1775 and given in
another part of this history, was the reason for so
many adventurers and settlers coming into the new
territory and establishing homes where they could
get farm lands so cheap. About this time and for
two or three years afterwards, many stations were
established in this part of the territory and our lim-
ited space keeps us from naming many of them.
                 CHAPTER VII.
   In July, 1776, the two Calloway girls and Daniel
Boone's daughter were out in a canoe on the river
near the fort of Boonesboro taking a boat ride, and
were captured by five Indians; with their prison-
ers the Indians started for the hill country and the
Ohio River. The girls, by their screams, aroused the
occupants of the fort. Boone with a party of eight
                       [17]

 
started without delay in pursuit. The rescue party
had no trouble following the trail made by the
devices of the girls. The trail passed near where
the city of Winchester, the towns of North Middle-
town and Little Rock are now located and on
towards Upper Blue Licks, where the rescue party
came upon the Indians in camp and fired upon them,
killing two of the Indians and wounding two others,
only one getting back to the Indian settlement. The
girls were rescued without harm, except the fatigue
of traveling about forty-five miles and the great
fright they were in while prisoners of the Indians.
The oldest Calloway girl, Elizabeth, who did the
greater part of making the trail plain, was in the
early fall married to Samuel Henderson, one of the
rescue party, the ceremony being performed by
Squire Boone, an ordained minister of the Baptist
Church. This was the first white marriage in Ken-
tucky. The other two girls, though younger, had
sweethearts among the rescuers, and sometime after
this first Kentucky marriage the other two girls
married: Fannie Calloway to Col. John Holden and
Jemima Boone to Flanders Calloway, the son of Col.
Calloway.
   The year of 1776 is memorable in the early his-
tory of Kentucky County as one of peculiar peril.
The woods literally swarmed with the Indians, who
seemed excited to desperation by the formation of
so many settlements in their old hunting grounds
and abandoned themselves to the commission of
every species of outrage. Savage ingenuity seemed
stimulated to the utmost to devise new methods and
modes of annoyance to the settlers. Col. Benjamin
Logan deemed it prudent to place his wife and fam-
                       r18]



 
ily behind the more secure defenses of Harrodsburg,
where they would be less exposed to danger than in
his own remote and comparatively undefended sta-
tion. He himself remained with his slaves and
attended to the cultivation of his farm. In Decem-
ber of that year Col. Logan's oldest son, William,
was born at Harrodsburg, the first white child born
in Kentucky (ounty. William Logan became one of
the most honored citizens of his time, was twice
judge of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, besides
filling other high offices of trust.

                CHAPTER VIII.
   The year of 1777 had many startling events to
transpire in Kentucky County. The first court held
in the county, that convened at Harrodsburg, which
is recorded in another part of this outline history
more fully, had adjourned but a short time when the
wilderness seemed alive with Indians. On April 15,
a simultaneous attack was made on Boonesboro,
Harrodsburg and Logan's Fort with several hundred
Indians in each of the attacking parties. The onset
was furious but unsuccessful, with the exception of
destroying the corn and cattle of the whites. The
Indian loss in killed and wounded was so great that
they after several days retired with precipitation.
   On the fourth of July following, Boonesboro was
again attacked by 200 warriors. The garrison of
less than half the number of the assailants made a
vigorous defense, repulsing the enemy with the loss
of many warriors killed and wounded. The siege
lasted two days and nights when the Indians made a
rapid and tumultuous retreat. Boonesboro had still
another attack. The red man was now furious at
                       [ is9

 
the occupation of his beloved Kain-tuck-ee by the
"longknife." The incursions into the country by the
exasperated foe were frequent and bloody and every
station was hotly besieged. Boonesboro sustained
three. So great were the assaults that the smaller
forts and settlements, McClellan's Fort, on the site
where Georgetown now stands, Hinkston's Station,
already spoken of, and other small forts and stations,
were abandoned and the settlers in great gloom and
amidst the lamentations of the women and children,
departed for Harrodsburg Station.
   Simon Kenton (before mentioned), after piloting
the settlers that abandoned their settlements and
forts to Harrodsburg Station, made his way to
Boonesboro. The Indian raids were numerous and
in such large parties that Boone (who had been
selected a Colonel of Militia) appointed eight spies to
watch the Indians and give timely notice of their
approach. Their duties were to range by twos up
and down the Ohio River and about the deserted
stations looking for Indian signs. By this means the
settlers had timely notice during the year of the
approach of the enemy. But on one occasion Ken-
ton and two others were early one morning in the
gate of Boonesboro when two men in the field were
fired on by the Indians. They fled, not being hurt,
but the Indians pursued them and a warrior overtook
and tomahawked one of the men within 70 yards of
the fort and proceeded leisurely to scalp him. Ken-
ton shot the daring savage dead and immediately
with his hunting companions gave chase to the oth-
ers. Boone, hearing the noise, with ten men has-
tened out of the fort to the assistance of his spies.
Kenton turned and observed an Indian taking aim at
                       [20]



 
Boone and quick as thought he brought his rifle to
his shoulder and pulled the trigger and the red man
bit the dust. Boone, having advanced some distance,
now discovered that his small party consisting of
fourteen men, was cut off from the fort by a large
body of Indians, which had gotten between him and
the gate. There was no time to be lost. Boone
gave the word-"Right about, fire, charge!"-and the
intrepid hunters dashed among their adversaries in
a desperate endeavor to reach the fort. At the first
fire from the Indians seven of the fourteen whites
were wounded, among the number the gallant
Boone, whose leg was broken, which stretched him
on the ground. An Indian sprang on him with
uplifted tomahawk, but before the blow descended,
Kenton, everywhere present, rushed on the warrior,
discharged his gun in his breast and bore his leader
into the fort when the gate was closed and all things
secure. Boone sent for Kenton, "Well, Simon," said
the old pioneer, "you have behaved yourself like a
man. Indeed you are a fine fellow." This was
great praise from Boone, who was a silent man and
little given to compliments. Kenton had deserved
the eulogium. He had saved the life of his captain
and killed three Indians without time to scalp them,
much to his regret. There was little time to spare
we may well believe when Kenton could not stop to
take an Indian scalp. The Indians, after keeping up
the siege for three days retired, this being the third
attempt the Indians made to take Boonesboro in this
year, failing in every attempt.

                 CHAPTER IX.
   After these failures of the Indians a short period
                       [21]

 
of tranquility was now allowed to the distressed and
harrassed garrison. But early in the year 1778 an
event happened that was the most severe calamity
that had yet befallen the infant settlements. This
was the capture of Boone and twenty-seven of his
men at Blue Licks. where they had gone to make
salt for the garrison. The prisoners were taken to
Chillicothe, in the present state of Ohio, an old
Indian settlement, and from there to Detroit, the
home of the English Governor, Hamilton. The pris-
oners, with the exception of Boone, were sold to Gov-
ernor Hamilton, but the Indians would not sell
Boone but took him back to Chillicothe and adopted
him into an Indian family, showing the high appre-
ciation they had for Boone. In the spring Boone
accompanied the Indians on a visit to Detroit and
Governor Hamilton offered them one hundred pounds
(500) for his ransom, but so strong were the affec-
tions of the Indians for their prisoner that it was
unhesitatingly refused. Several English gentlemen
located at Detroit, touched by sympathy for his mis-
fortunes, made pressing offers of money and other
articles, but Boone steadily refused to receive bene-
fits which he could never return. We are unin-
formed as to any of the particular incidents which
occurred during his captivity; we only know gener-
ally that by his equanimity, his seeming patience, his
cheerful submission to the fortune which had made
him a captive, and his remarkable skill as a woods-
man, he succeeded in powerfully exciting the admir-
ation and conciliating the good will of his captors.
On Boone's return from Detroit to Chillicothe he
observed that a large number of warriors had assem-
bled, painted and equipped for an expedition against
                       [22]



 
Boonesboro. His anxiety became so great that he
determined to effect his escape at every hazard.
During the whole of this agitating period, however,
he permitted no symptom of anxiety to escape, but
continued to hunt and shoot with the Indians as
usual until the morning of the 16th of June, when
making an early start he left Chillicothe and shaped
his course for Boonesboro. This journey, exceeding
a distance of one hundred and sixty miles, he per-
formed in four days, during which time he ate only
one meal. He was received at the garrison like one
risen from the dead, his family, supposing him killed,
had returned to North Carolina.
                 CHAPTER X.
   During this year of 1778, Kenton, still acting as a
spy, with a companion named Montgomery, made a
trip to Chillicothe late in the fall to steal back some
of the white men's horses which the Indians had
stolen in their raids in Kentucky. They succeeded
in getting a number of horses and got back as far as
the Ohio River. They found the river had risen so
much that they could not get the horses into the
river, the wind and waves being very high. The
Indians soon discovered the loss of their horses, made
an immediate pursuit and came upon Kenton and
captured him close to the banks of the Ohio River.
Montgomery came to his assistance, fired without
effect and fled. Two of the Indians gave chase and
in a short time returned with his bleeding scalp.
The Indians put Kenton through the greatest of
punishments, making him run the gauntlet and whip-
ping him with switches and s