xt7jdf6k163f https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7jdf6k163f/data/mets.xml Forbes-Lindsay, Charles Harcourt Ainslie, 1860- 1908  books b92-59-27077888 English J.B. Lippincott, : Philadelphia ; London : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820 Fiction. Daniel Boone, backwoodsman  / by C.H. Forbes-Lindsay ... ; with ilustrations by Frank McKernan. text Daniel Boone, backwoodsman  / by C.H. Forbes-Lindsay ... ; with ilustrations by Frank McKernan. 1908 2002 true xt7jdf6k163f section xt7jdf6k163f 












DANIEL BOONE
BACKWO ODS MAN
C. H. FORB ES-LINDSAY

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DANIEL BOONE
  BACKWOODSMAN

  TWELFTH IMPRESSION


 




The Trail Blazers Series



WITH SAM HOUSTON IN TEXAS
By EDWIN L. SABIN. Eight illustrations. Portrait
of Houston and maps. s2mo. Cloth.
GOLD SEEKERS OF '49
By EDWIN L. SABIN. Illustrated in color and black
and white by Chas. H. Stephens. I2Mo. Cloth.
BUFFALO BILL AND THE
OVERLAND TRAIL
By EDWIN L. SABIN. Illustrated in color and black
and white by Chas. H. Stephens. x2mo. Cloth.
ON THE PLAINS WITH CUSTER
By EDWIN L. SABIN. Illustrated by Chas. H.
Stephens. Frontispiece in color. I2mo. Cloth.
WITH CARSON AND FREMONT
By EDWIN L. SABIN. Illustrated. Mrno. Cloth.
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH
By C. H. FORBES-LINDSAY. Four illustrations in
color. Cloth.

DANIEL BOONE: Backwoodsman
By C. H. FORBES-LINDSAY. Illustrated. zamo.
Cloth.
DAVID CROCKETT: Scout
By CHARLES FLETCHER ALLEN. Illustrated in
color and black and white by Frank McKernan. x2mo.
Cloth.


 





































































IMMEDIATELY IEI BECAME A TARGET.



Pagc V9P;

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DANIEL BOONE

     BACKWOODSMAN

               BY
    C. H. FORBES-LINDSAY
Autbor of " John Smith, Gentleman Adventurer," "India t
     Past and Present," "America's Insular
            Possessions," etc.


       WITH ILLUS7TR aIONS Br
       FRANK McKERNAN



   "Who passes for in life and death most lucky,
   Of the great namnes which in our faces stare
   Is Daniel Boonc, backwoodsman of Kentucky."
                      -BYRoN



PHILADELPHIA 



LONDON



J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY



I



I

 
























       COPYRIGHT, 1908

B-z J. B. Llt'PINCOTT COMPANY



Fliarotyped and prinetd bA 7. B. Lippinott Companp
The WagIhington Sqare Press, Philadelphia, U. S. a.


 










CONTENTS



CHAPTER
    I THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN

    II HARDY GOODFELLOW .

    III THE YOUNG HUNTER .

  IV THE DARING PIONEER .

  V IN FAIR KENTUCKY .

  VI HARDY'S FIRST INDIAN

  VII THE CAPTURE OF BOONE .

  VIII THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST

  IX THE VICTORY OF VINCENNES

  X A FEAT OF STRENGTH .

  XI " BIG TURTLE .

  XII DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND .

  XIII BOONESBOROUGH IS BESIEGED .

  XIV KENTON'S STORY .

  XV THE YOUNG SCOUT .

  XVI THE WHITE SQUAW .

XVII A STRING OF DISASTERS .

XVIII "THE BLOODY YEAR " .

XIX SIMON GIRTY, RENEGADE .

  XX BATTLE OF THE BLUE LICKS.

  XXI AN OLD BIRD .

XXII THE LAST HUNT    . . . . .



           PAGE
             9

..... ...........24

             3

..... ...........54
..... ..........68

          .86

   .101


   .1316


      .   145

           .I60

      .'  I74

           .I88

      ... 202

   .216

...............229

....-- 243

...............257

...............270

..... ..........285

..............300

  ... . . 3II



V

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            ILLUSTRATIONS


                                            rAGR
IMMEDIATELY HE BECAME A TARGET . . Frontispiece


"MY SCALP, I RECKON, YOUNG FELLOW " . . . . . 96


BOONE WAS NEARING THE LIMIT OF His ENDURANCE . 155


His WEAPON WHIZZED THROUGH THE AIR AND BURIED
   ITSELF IN THE SKULL OF THE FOREMOST . . . . 296

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         Daniel Boone



                       I.
       THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN


THE BACKWOODS TOWN IN COLONIAL DAYS-THE PLACE OF THE
  BACKWOODSMEN IN THE MARCH OF PROGRESS-BOONE AND
  HIS DESCENDANTS AMONG THE LEADING PIONEERS-HOW
  THE BACKWOODS FIGHTERS FORCED THE BOUNDARY WESTWARD
  -THE FRONTIER FARMER WAS NECESSARILY HUNTER AND
  FIGHTER-THE CHARACTER OF THE BACKWOODSMAN AND HIS
  MANNER OF LIFE-THE DWELLINGS, DRESS AND WEAPONS OF
  THE FRONTIER-DANIEL BOONE, A TYPICAL BACKWOODS-
  MAN-HIS BIRTH AND BOYHOOD IN A FRONTIER SETTLEMENT-
  HIS PARENTS MIGRATE TO NORTH CAROLINA-THEN HE
  MARRIES AND SETTLES ON THE BORDER-HE EXPLORES KEN-
  TUCKY AND FORMS A DETERMINATION TO SETTLE THERE.

  WE shall be able to follow the story of Daniel
Boone with a better understanding if, before enter-
ing upon it, we take a brief survey of the country
in which his entire life was passed and the people
among whom he lived-the American backwoods
and the American backswoodsmen.
  At the outbreak of the Revolution the American
                       9

 
DANIEL BOONE



colonies extended no farther west than the Alle-
ghany Mountains, and consisted of the narrow strip
of territory lying between that rocky wall and the
Atlantic seaboard. By far the greater portion of
the population dwelt along the coast in urban
centres, or in comparatively closely settled districts
which had been cleared and cultivated. In this belt
were found the large plantations and wealthy slave-
owners. Beyond it, the land was covered with vir-
gin forest, dense, impenetrable, except along the
trails, and infested by wild beasts and savages.
  In the portion of this region that lay nearest to
civilization a rude backwoods town might be found
here and there. It lay in a clearing of a few hun-
dred acres, and usually at the junction of several
frequented trails. It consisted of a cluster of log
cabins, a general store, perhaps a smithy, a school, a
tavern, and court-house.  The inhabitants seldom
numbered more than three or four hundred. It
may not be strictly proper to speak of a people to
whose midst the schoolmaster and the judge pene-
trated, as beyond the bounds of civilization, and, of
course, the expression is used in a comparative sense.
The backwoods dominie was hardly worth consider-
ing as an educational factor. He was generally
                        I0

 

THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN



ignorant, f requently intemperate, and sometimes
immoral. The law lost much of its wonted majesty
in a community where an unpopular judge was
liable to be mobbed and a dishonest sheriff to be
lynched.
  The fact is that these people were entirely differ-
ent from the colonists of the coast-different in
origin, in religion, in manners, and customs. With
splendid natural qualities, such as made them pecu-
liarly fitted to act as the pioneers of the nation, they
were rude, unlettered, and impatient of restraint.
In the upbuilding of the infant nation, these path-
finders formed the muscle and sinew, whilst the
older communities supplied the brain. Although
both classes were essentially Americans, in the Revo-
lutionary period they had hardly anything in com-
mon but their patriotism.
  The inhabitants of the backwoods towns were in
general the less bold spirits. Deeper in the forest
wilderness were found more daring souls, scattered
along the mountain border that divided the colonies
from the Indian territory. They lived face to face
and in constant touch with the fierce savages, and
acted as a buffer to their countrymen behind them.
  The term " backwoods" conflicts somewhat with
                        II

 

DANIEL BOONE



a proper sense of the actual situation. From the
time that they turned their backs on the mother
country, our people faced steadily towards the west,
and maintained a forward march in that direction
until they reached the distant shores of the continent.
A marked peculiarity of the class we have under
consideration is that when they arrived in the coun-
try, they pushed through the ranks of the colonists
and, assuming the vanguard, continued at the head
of the advance, first taking possession of Kentucky
and Tennessee, then settling Mississippi and Mis-
souri, and ultimately marching across the continent
to the Pacific. Son followed father, and continued
on when the latter lay in the peace of the grave.
Two children of Boone were among the first Ameri-
cans to make homes beyond the " Father of
Waters "; a grandson was the first settler in Kan-
sas; another among the earliest in Colorado; and
a third-the famous Kit Carson-acted as scout
and guide to the expedition of General Fremont.
  Many backwoods families devoted themselves,
through several generations, to the winning of the
wilderness with rifle and axe. The debt of the
nation to these people is a heavy one. They may
be compared to the outposts of an encamped army,
                       12

 

THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN



the border settlers being the sentries, stretching
along the enemy's face, and the backwoods towns
the pickets. As an army sleeps in security behind
its outposts, so was the main body of the colonists,
screened from the Indians by the backwoods settlers,
enabled to build up towns and cultivate its planta-
tions in safety. And as, wvhen an army resumes
the march, the outpost of the night before forms
the advance guard, so these border sentinels were
ever in the front of our territorial progress.
  In 1783 the western boundary of the United
States had been carried forward to the Mississippi
River. The large area between it and the Alle-
ghanies had been won for us by the dauntless back-
woodsmen after a decade of intense struggle. By
holding the border Indians in check they performed
a valuable service to the colonies in their fight for
freedom. The settlement of Kentucky made pos-
sible the capture of the British posts in the Illinois
and Indiana regions, and paved the way for the
acquisition of our Western territory.
  Whilst working out the destiny of a nation, the
simple-minded backwoodsmen were quite uncon-
scious of any such high purpose. They pushed
forward into the wilderness because land was to be
                        13

 

DANIEL BOONE



had there for practically nothing. They desired to
make homes for their children, and were willing
to risk their lives in the venture. As to the hard-
ships, they and their fathers had been accustomed
to arduous poverty in the old country. The life
of the hunter, which was an inseparable part of
backwoods existence, appealed to them as it does
to all healthy men. In fact, the majority of them
grew to love their hard lot, with its constant adven-
ture. Many, like Boone, became so enamoured of
the life, despite its dangers and hardships, that they
shunned the approach of civilization and moved
farther into the forest whenever the region they
had opened up began to be at all thickly populated.
  The backwoodsman was at once hunter, fighter,
and farmer. He could not look for aid or protec-
tion from the Government. He had to depend upon
his own resources and, even in the acquisition of
new territory, upon his own strong right arm. This
was particularly the case with the pioneer settlers
of Kentucky, for the movement took place when all
the men and material available were needed to
strengthen the Continental forces, and the back-
woodsmen battling with the Indian allies of the
British had difficulty in getting sufficient powder
                        14

 

THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN



and lead to carry on the conflict. Every man and
youth was a home-made soldier. Most of the
women could handle a rifle, and the annals of the
frontier teem with stories of brave mothers and
daughters who, in the absence of their men-folk,
successfully defended their cabins against the attacks
of savages. In the frequent sieges of the forts the
women loaded the weapons, moulded bullets, and
sometimes stood to a port-hole. It is significant
of the life of the backwoodsmen that every male
among them who was old enough to carry fire-arms
was spoken of as a " gun."
  For the most part, the people of the backwoods
were of Scotch or Irish descent, with a strong
sprinkling of English and Germans, but in the sec-
ond generation differences of nationality were rarely
detectable. Their characters and even their physi-
cal traits were greatly affected by the peculiar con-
ditions of their lives, which created a type the mem-
bers of which were all much alike, whilst they dif-
fered widely from the colonists in general. Their
isolation tended to develop some of the best human
qualities. It taught them independence and self-
reliance and at the same time prompted them to help
one another. On the border men practiced the
                       '5

 

DANIEL BOONE



golden rule and maintained a homely code of mo-
rality and justice. They were hard, rough and self-
contained, but neither ungenerous, cruel, nor
morose.
   In their dealings with hostile Indians the back-
woodsmen may appear to have exercised merciless
severity, but that is hardly to be wondered at when
the provocation is considered. The wanton barbar-
ity of their enemies hardened them and goaded them
to revenge. This sometimes took the form of de-
plorable cruelty but, as a rule, the backwoodsmen
were neither inhuman nor bloodthirsty. They
fought in defence of their homes and property, and
when they carried the conflict into the Indian's coun-
try it was usually in retaliation for an attack and
with a view to checking further hostilities. The
settler was always glad to live in peace if he might.
  As to the respective rights of the white men and
their red foes, a great deal has been said on both
sides, and perhaps it would be impossible to exactly
weigh the equities in the case. It was, however,
inevitable that a growing and energetic race should
have contested the possession of the soil with the
mere handful of savages that did not occupy it but
merely roamed over it, hunting and camping here

 

THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN



and there and keeping up a perpetual warfare among
themselves. They set up claims, it is true, to the
exclusive possession of certain large areas but, even
among themselves, such claims were only sustained
by superior strength, and one tribe frequently ousted
another from its accustomed territory.
   The most ardent defenders of the Indians must
find it difficult to establish a case of trespass against
the settlers of Kentucky. The territory that is now
comprised within that State was ceded by the Indians
in more than one treaty and purchased for a definite
sum. Moreover, it had not been the home or coun-
try of any particular tribe, but was held as a hunting-
ground common to all and in which none were
allowed to settle. It contained no permanent Indian
villages, nor was an acre of its soil cultivated until
the white man cleared the land.
  The pioneers of the wilderness made their settle-
ments in groups of five or six families. The first
thing they did was to erect their cabins and form a
fort. This was usually accomplished by raising the
former in a row and making their backs one side of
a palisaded enclosure, with blockhouses at the cor-
ners. This was the refuge of all during an attack
by the Indians, but otherwise each family lived in
     2                 17

 

DANIEL BOONE



a cabin upon its farm. The clearings were gener-
ally four hundred acres in extent and lay at some
distance from each other in the heart of the forest.
The trees having been felled, the settler left the
stumps standing, rolled the trunks to one side and
burned the branches on the spot. He then planted
his fields with maize or other cereals. Some stock
was raised and a few sheep, but only in sufficient
numbers to supply local needs. Corn, or maize, was
the principal reliance of the frontier farmer. His
wife made a coarse flour and hominy from it, and
a bag of the parched grains served him for food on
his hunting expeditions.
  The backwoods cabin was commonly a one-
roomed structure of unhewn logs, chinked with
clay and moss. After a while, when the owner
became fairly settled and had his fields in good
order, this would give place to a larger building,
containing perhaps as many as three rooms and an
attic reached by a ladder. A huge stone fireplace
occupied one end of the cabin, and the door was
always furnished with heavy bolts. The logs were
hewn, at least on the inside, and the roof covered
with clapboards. There was little furniture and few
utensils in such a place. The table was a board
                        j8

 

THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN



set on trestles, and three-legged stools served to sit
upon. The beds were rough wooden contrivances
covered with skins. The dishes and platters were
often of wood and the spoons and forks of pewter,
the hunting-knife serving admirably to cut the meat.
The family depended very largely upon its head to
furnish the larder with venison and bear-steaks.
  The dress of the backwoodsman was a distinctive
one. He wore a hunting-shirt of buckskin, or
homespun, ornamented with a fringe of the same
material, or perhaps with porcupine quills. It was
a loose tunic, descending nearly to the knees and
fastened round the waist with a belt, from which
were suspended the tomahawk and hunting-knife.
From his shoulders hung by a strap the powder-horn
and bullet-pouch, in which he also carried spare
flints. On his head he wore a fur cap or a soft
felt hat, and his feet were covered with moccasins,
after the fashion of the Indians, from whom the
dress was in large part borrowed. His legs were
encased in leather leggings or trousers.
  The backwoodsman's principal weapon was the
heavy flint-lock rifle. It was five feet, and some-
times slightly more, in length, and although it did
not carry very far was exceedingly accurate. The
                       I9

 

DANIEL BOONE



most marvellous feats of marksmanship were per-
formed by some of the pioneers with these weapons.
Every boy learned to shoot almost as soon as he was
strong enough to lift a gun, and his training in
woodcraft commenced even earlier, so that it is not
surprising that many a youth, such as Kit Carson
and Simon Kenton, exhibited the qualities of the
expert hunter and Indian fighter before his beard
was grown.
  There was little money in the backwoods, pelts
serving instead. Almost all the needs of the people
were supplied by themselves.  The women made
homespun, in which they clothed the children and
themselves. Every man was something of a smith,
and most of the rifles were of backwoods manufac-
ture. The men tanned the skins and their wives
sewed them into foot-gear and garments. Trench-
ers and bowls, and even harrows and sleds, were
made without much difficulty.
  There were, however, a few very necessary
articles for which the settlers had to depend upon
the outside world. These were salt, iron, powder
and lead. In the fall the members of a settlement
would make a joint collection of fur-skins and send
two or three of their number to some large town,
                      20

 

THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN



such as Baltimore, to get what was needed. Thus,
a train of several peltry-laden horses would make
the long, slow journey over a distance which we may
cover in these days in two or three hours.
  Daniel Boone was a typical backwoodsman. Born
in a frontier settlement, he passed his long and ad-
venturous life in sparsely-peopled regions and died
in a pioneer community beyond the Mississippi.
Boone's father, a native of England, after living in
different parts of Pennsylvania, took up some land
on what was then the frontier, in Oley township,
about eight miles from the site of the present city
of Reading. Here Daniel was born in November,
I734. His early life was that of the ordinary back-
woods boy. It embraced no considerable oppor-
tunity for scholarship. He learned to read and
write but, having little occasion in the course of his
active life for the exercise of either accomplishment,
his spelling was poor to the day of his death. He
helped his mother with the chores and, when old
enough, was entrusted with the care of the stock
at pasture. His days were spent in the open and
he grew to be a lusty lad, well versed in nature
and the ways of wild beasts and the less dangerous
denizens of the forest. When he had reached the
                       21

 

DANIEL BOONE



age of twelve, his father gave him a rifle, with which
he soon became a good shot and furnished his
mother's kitchen with an ample supply of game.
His winters were now spent in hunting, and he
often roamed long distances from home in his soli-
tary expeditions, returning with skins secured by his
trap or gun.
  In 1750 Boone's parents with their children mi-
grated south and settled on the banks of the upper
Yadkin, in the northwestern corner of North Caro-
lina. The location was even wilder than that they
had left, and their lives were harder and more ad-
venturous. Attacks by the Indians were not infre-
quent, and a few years later a border war cost many
lives in the Yadkin Valley. Here Daniel, following
the custom of young backwoodsmen, married as
soon as he had arrived at manhood and set up house-
keeping in a log cabin.
  Ten years were passed after the usual manner
of backwoods existence, in hunting, farming, and
fighting Indians. But Boone's hunting expeditions
sometimes partook of the character of explorations.
He went far beyond the frontier in various direc-
tions, and on two or three occasions crossed the
mountains into Kentucky. The beauty and rich-
                       22

 
    THE AMERICAN BACKWOODSMAN

ness of the country and the abundance of game filled
him with an irresistible desire to make his home
there. In the fall of 1773 Boone sold his farm on
the Yadkin and set out at the head of a company,
consisting of his own family and several others
that he had induced to accompany them, to make
new homes in the lovely valleys of Kentucky. It
is at this point that we take up his story.


 








                       II.

             HARDY GOODFELLOW



BOONE LEADS A COMPANY TOWARD THE PROMISED LAND OF
   KENTUCKY-THEY ARE ATTACKED BY INDIANS IN POWELL'S
   VALLEY-SIX OF THE PARTY ARE SLAIN AND AMONG THEM
   BOONE'S ELDEST SON-THE SORROW OF A STRONG MAN AND
   HIS SENSE OF DUTY-THE DEAD ARE BURIED AND THE MARCH
   RESUMED-BOONE'S LONELY WATCH OVER THE SLEEPING
   SETTLERS-HIS ENCOUNTER WITH HARDY GOODFELLOW IN
   THE GRAY DAWN-" NOW THAT FATHER'S DEAD, I'M ALL
   ALONE "-HARDY FINDS A NEW FATHER AND BOONE ANOTHER
   SON-MAN AND BOY MAKE A STRANGE COMPACT-" MAYBE
   THE LORD MEANT IT THAT WAY-WHO KNOWS"

   " ISTN'T it about time to make camp, Captain"
   " Pretty near that, but I don't exactly fancy
campin' right on a trace. I reckon we'll push on
a bit and see if we can't find a likelier location."
  The first speaker was not a backwoodsman but
a Charlestown surveyor. The day's march had
wearied him to the point of exhaustion, and he felt
faint for lack of a good meal, for the frontiersman
ate plenteously but once in the twenty-four hours
and that at the close of the day. He turned to his
                       24

 

HARDY GOODFELLOW



pipe for solace, first offering his plug of strong
tobacco to his companion.
  "Have a fill, Captain"
  "Thanks; I don't use it."
  "You don't smoke, Captain " said the other, in
astonishment.
  " No; I never learned and I don't see that it
would have (lone me any particular good if I had.
It seems to take pretty hard hold on a man. I've
seen hunters well nigh crazy when their tobacco run
out, and I shouldn't like to be that way myself.
Then it's apt to make trouble in other ways. A deer
could scent your pipe half a mile away, and an
Injun's nose is near as keen."
  " You don't think there are any Indians here-
abouts, do you" asked the surveyor, with some
show of apprehension.
  "I wouldn't like to say one way or the other.
There might be a hundred in there "-he jerked
his head in the direction of the dense undergrowth-
"and we not know it till they showed themselves.
You see, a redskin's like a copperhead-you don't
know where he is till he strikes."
  The men who thus conversed were following a.
forest trail, or " trace," as it was called at the time,
                       25

 
DANIEL BOONE



in Powell's Valley, which lay near the point where
the States of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee
meet. On either side stretched forest so dense that
the sun never penetrated the canopy of leaves.
Even at midday a gloom prevailed, and now, as
evening approached, it was impossible for any but
the keenest eyes to see farther than a few yards in
the growing dusk. The undergrowth was so thick
as to be impenetrable at most points without the aid
of the axe. Only a practiced woodsman dare enter
that tangle of shrubs and vines. Had Mr. Sproul,
the surveyor, ventured a hundred yards from the
trail, he could only have found it again by accident
and would in all probability have died of hunger,
unless, indeed, his sufferings had been cut short
by wild beasts or Indians.
  It was precisely in this manner that Stuart,
Boone's companion in his first expedition to Ken-
tucky, lost his life. He wandered from their camp
and, failing to find his way back, probably died of
starvation after his ammunition became exhausted.
Years afterwards his skeleton was found in a hol-
low sycamore and identified by the powder-horn
which bore his initials.
  Of the two men we have under notice, one would
                       26

 

HARDY GOODFELLOW



have attracted immediate attention in any company,
or under any conditions. He was verging upon his
fortieth year and in the prime of life. Five feet
ten inches in height, his erect carriage gave him an
appearance of greater stature. His body, encased
in the deerskin dress of the backwoodsman, was
splendidly formed, the extraordinarily broad and
deep chest giving evidence of great strength. A
sculptor might have taken the head, with its noble
brow and fine features, for a model. The long hair
was plaited and rolled into a knot. The clear, keen,
blue eye had a mild expression, but force was writ-
ten in the large, aquiline nose and the square chin,
while the thin, compressed lips denoted resolution.
It was a face on which courage and composure were
strongly stamped. As he swung along with easy
stride, his rifle over his shoulder, the movement of
the sinewy limbs betrayed strength and agility.
  It did not appear to the surveyor that his compan-
ion was particularly mindful of his surroundings
but, as a matter of fact, nothing escaped the ever-
watchful eyes of Daniel Boone. To him a twig, a
leaf, a stone, the bark of a tree, or the lightest im-
pression on the earth, told a story that none but a
master of woodcraft might read. Throughout the
                       27

 

DANIEL BOONE



day his piercing glance had fallen on this side and on
that, taking in every detail as he passed along the
trail. This caution was habitual with the back-
woodsman, but on the present occasion Boone's vigi-
lance was, if possible, keener than usual because he
was responsible for the safety of a large company
which included many women and children. Behind
the leader came a train of settlers bound for the
promised land beyond the mountains.
  The band, which had left their homes at Boone's
persuasion, numbered about forty men and the
women and children of five families including his
own. The majority were old neighbors from the
Yadkin Valley who had been fired by the glowing
accounts of Boone and other hunters who had pene-
trated to the wonderful country that was the favor-
ite hunting-ground of the Indians. The settlers had
crossed the Blue Ridge and some lesser ranges and
were approaching the Cumberland Gap, which was
the gateway to the region they sought. The hard-
ships of a backwoods migration were nothing to
them, but they were a little apprehensive about push-
ing so far into the interior and going hundreds of
miles from the nearest settlement. Such a thing
had never been done, and probably would not have
                       28

 

HARDY GOODFELLOW



been attempted except under the guidance of Boone,
who was already an acknowledged leader on the
frontier and one in whom all placed the utmost
reliance.
  It was now the 6th of October and the party had
left the Yadkin district on the 25th of the preceding
month. Their progress was necessarily slow, owing
to the nature of the country they had to traverse
and the character of the cavalcade. The narrow
and rough trail forbade their using wagons as did
the later pioneers in crossing the prairie regions. A
string of pack-horses, tied head to tail, carried their
bedding, clothing, and other belongings. Aside
from corn, maple-sugar, and salt, they did not need
to burden the animals with provisions, for the men
could always be depended upon to supply the even-
ing camp-kitchen with an abundance of meat. Wild
turkeys were numerous, and at this time of the year
fat and lazy. Pigeons, quail, and other game birds
abounded in the forest, and an occasional deer or
bear was to be had.
  Here and there in the line a woman rode, holding
a child before her, but for the most part the back-
woods women tramped along with the men. Some
mothers placed their infants in baskets, Indian fash-
                       29

 

DANIEL BOONE



ion, and hung them to the sides of the ponies.
Others carried them slung to their backs or strad-
dled across their hips. Early in life the little ones
became accustomed to tramping and a boy or girl
of ten years, born in the wilderness, made small
matter of a ten or twelve miles journey on foot.
   At night they encamped near some spring or
creek. Meat was broiled over the flames of the fire,
and bread baked in the ashes. Each family or
group of men made its fire in front of the shelter
for the night. so that they might lie with their feet
to it. A low structure, open in front and sloping
towards the back, was readily raised by means of
poles covered with skins. A comfortable bed was
made of dry leaves or grass, with a blanket or pelt
for covering. With such accommodations, these
hardy, simple people deemed themselves well pro-
vided for, and without doubt they enjoyed better
health than would have been their lot under the
softer conditions of city life.
  Boone and Mr. Sproul-whom it is needless to
describe, for he does not figure any further in our
story-were pacing the path in silence when several
shots fired in rapid succession rang out. The sur-
veyor dropped his pipe and stood paralyzed with
                       30

 

HARDY GOODFELLOW



alarm. At the first sound the hunter had wheeled
about, and before the last report, which his trained
ear told him was half a mile at least in the rear,
had died away, he was speeding past the string of
pack-animals with his rifle in readiness. In passing
he called on five men to follow him and ordered the
remainder to guard the women and children.
  It was evident that the attack-for the character
of the firing clearly indicated an attack-had been
upon the party set to guard and drive the cattle,
which often lagged a long way behind. Boone re-
membered, with a sudden pang, that his young son
was one of the cattle escort that day, and the thought
spurred him onward. Presently a savage whoop of
triumph broke upon his ears and the next instant
he was upon the scene.
  The animals had plunged into the thicket and
scattered. Six figures lay upon the earth, still in
death. Five Indians, each exultantly brandishing a
bleeding scalp, were in the act of diving into the
neighboring undergrowth. A sixth bent over one
of the prostrate forms, with his fingers entwined
in the hair and knife raised to make the circular
sweep in the crown of the head. Boone's rifle went
up, and had hardly touched his shoulder before it
                       3'

 

DANIEL BOONE



spoke. The Indian dropped, shot through the brain.
  The father had the poor consolation of having
saved his boy's body from mutilation. That to a
backwoodsman was a source of satisfaction, but it
did not go far towards mitigating Boone's present
grief. He stood for some minutes, leaning upon
his rifle and looking down at the face of his dead
boy. The convulsive twitching of his features told
of the inward commotion. But there was urgent
duty at hand and Boone sternly put his grief behind
him and turned to it. When he lifted his head, his
companions saw that the features, though drawn,
were calm and the eyes keen and alert as ever.
  Reloading his rifle, Boone stepped into the forest
at the point where the Indians had disappeared. In
ten minutes' time he rejoined the anxiously waiting
men.
  " Only seven," he said. " No likelihood of an-
other attack. McCurdy, you go and fetch back
f