<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap">xt7w0v89h86f https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7w0v89h86f/data/mets.xml Perry, F. M. (Frances Melville) 1900  books b92-106-27901818 English Werner, : New York ; Chicago : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820. Clark, George Rogers, 1752-1818. Crockett, Davy, 1786-1836. Carson, Kit, 1809-1868. Pioneers United States. Indians of North America Wars.Beebe, Katherine, 1860- Four American pioneers: Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, David Crockett, Kit Carson :  : a book for young Americans / by Frances M. Perry and Katherine Beebe. text Four American pioneers: Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, David Crockett, Kit Carson :  : a book for young Americans / by Frances M. Perry and Katherine Beebe. 1900 2002 true xt7w0v89h86f section xt7w0v89h86f 


THE FOUR GREAT AMERICANS SERIES
    BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES FOR YOUNG READERS
      Edited by JAMES BAmwiN, Ph.D.


FOUR AMERICAN PIONEERS


The Four Great Americans Series

            Edited by JAMES BALDWIN, Ph.D.

       BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS FOR
                 YOUNG AMERICAN READERS


ClI


I. FOUR GREAT AMERICANS
      George Washington         Benjamin Franklin
      Daniel Webster            Abraham Lincoln
                 By James Baldwin, Ph.D.
sth.       Illustrated.       246 pages.


Price 50c


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         Patrick Henry            Alexander Hamilton
         Andrew Jackson           Ulysses S. Grant
                   By Alma Holman Burton
       Author of "The Story of Our Country," "Lafayette," etc.
Cloth.       Illustrated.       2 56 pages.        Price 5oc

III.  FOUR AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES
         Paul Jones                   Oliver H Perry
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                    By Mabel Borton Beebe
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VI. FOUR AMERICAN PIONEERS
         Daniel Boone            George Rogers Clark
         David Crockett           Kit Carson
             By Frances M  Perry and Katherine Beebe
Cloth.       Illustrated.       256 pages.         Price 50C

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FOUR AMERICAN

      PIONEERS

      DANIEL BOONE
    GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
      DAVID CROCKETT
         KIT CARSON

    A Book for roung Americans

             BY
       FRANCES M. PERRY
            AND
       KATHERINE BEEBE


AMERICAN BOOK


COMPANY


CINCINNATI


NEW YORK


CH ICAGO


        COPYRIGHT, 1900,

By WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY


           PIONEERS

           E-P 12


        CONTENTS


THE STORY OF DANIEL BOONE


CHILDHOOD    .

A YOUNG HUNTER

WESTWARD Ho!

A SECOND ROBINSON CRUSOE

EAST AGAIN

PREPARING THE WAY

THE NEW KENTUCKY HOME

INDIAN HOSTILITIES

BOONE MADE PRISONER

CAPTIVITY AND ESCAPE

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SIEGE

THE SIEGE OF BOONESBOROUGH

DARK DAYS   .

OLD AGE
                5


         PAGE

     .  II

     .  '4

   .     ' I7

   .    21

       . 25

          28

   .  .  3 '

        35

        39

        42

       . 46

     .  49

        55

   .    6i


CHAPTER

  I.

  II.

  III.

  IV.

  V.

  VI.

VII.

VIII.

Ix.

  X.

  XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.


CONTENTS.


THE STORY OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK

CHAPTER                                       PAGE

   I. BOYHOOD AND YOUTH         .   .   .   . 73

   II. "KENTUCKI  .   .    .   .   .   .   .    75

 III. THE CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS  .   .   .   . 80

 IV. COLONEL CLARK AND THE INDIANS    .   .   89

 V. INDIAN TREATIES   .   .   .    .   .   . 95

 VI. VINCENNES   .   .   .   .   .    .   .  I0I

 VII. THROUGH THE  DROWNED LANDS    .   .    . 105

 VIII. THE CAPTURE OF FORT SACKVILLE   .   .   110

 IX. THE DELAWARE INDIANS  .   .    .   .   . ii8

 X. BACK IN KENTUCKY     .   .   .   .   .   120

 XI. LOCHRY's DEFEAT                         I.. .   . 24

 XII. BORDER TROUBLES                         1..   .    .   .   26

XIII. AFTER THE WAR           .   .   .      . 128


6


CONTENTS.


7


THE STORY OF DAVID CROCKETT


PAGE


CHAPTER


  I. A NEGLECTED CHILD        .         .    . 135

  II. A HOMESICK BoY      .    .       .   .   I38

  III. A RUNAWAY     .   .   .   .    .   .   . I42

  IV. A HIRED HAND                             1.. .   .       145

  V. A HoUSEIIOLDER.      .   .   .    .     . I50

  VI. A SOLDIER     .    .   .   .      .   .  I54

VII. A LEADING CITIZEN .    .   .            . 158

VIII. A BEAR HUNTER   .   .    .   .   .   .   I65

IX. A CONGRESSMAN      .   .   .   .        . 172

X. A TRAVELER         .   .    .         .   I75

XI. A DARING ADVENTURER           .         . 179

XII. A HERO OF THE ALAMO    .     .           I88


CONTENTS.


  THE STORY OF I


PREPARATION

GETTING A START

TRAPPING IN CALIFORNIA

THE SECOND EXPEDITION

FREE TRAPPING

FAIR AND CAMP

HUNTING IN THE ROCKIES


CARSON AND FREMONT

WEST WITH FREMONT

AGAIN ON THE MARCH


KIT CARSON

                   PAGE

      . .   .   . '97

       .   .   .   20I


      . .   .   . 207

       .  .   .   2I5

     .  .   .   . 22I


      .   .   .   225

.  .   .    .   . 230


       .   .      237


      . .   .   . 242

       .        245


XI. AT HOME


8


CHAPTER

  I.

  II.


  III.

  IV.


  V.

  VI.

VII.

VIII.


IX.

  X.


249


THE STORY


D A N I E L


B OO N E


By FRANCES M. PERRY


O F


DANIEL BOONE.


       DANIEL BOONE

         THE HERO OF KENTUCKY


                   I.-CHILDHOOD.
  When Daniel Boone was a child the land west of the
Alleghanies was a wilderness inhabited only by Indians.
But in Virginia, and other places east of the mountains,
there were fine houses with broad porches and large,
richly-furnished rooms There stately men in powdered
wigs and knee-breeches, and queenly dames in stiff
brocades and high-heeled shoes, lived and brought up
little American boys and girls after the fashion of their
English cousins.
  However, it was not in such a house nor among such
people that Daniel Boone learned to walk, and talk, and
think. His father was a poor man who lived in a rude
log cabin on the outskirts of a dark forest in Pennsyl-
vania. There Daniel spent his happy childhood.
  The cabin was small, but that made it very snug in
winter when the snow was blowing outside and the logs
were blazing in the great stone fireplace. And in sum-
mer, if there was not room enough for the large family
                         II


DANIEL BOONE.


in the small house, there was plenty of space out of
doors. The little folks in that humble home were not
fed on pies and cakes, but they had an abundance of
plain food which makes strong muscles; and sharp
appetites gave it flavor. The beds were hard, but all
slept too soundly to think of that.
  The rough hunter loved his children fondly. When
he came home from a day's hunt and Daniel toddled
down the path to meet him, he tossed the sturdy little
fellow upon his shoulder and let him examine the heavy
flint-lock with eager baby fingers. Or perhaps he had
brought a shy rabbit or cunning squirrel to his boy, just
as your father sometimes brings a ball or a toy to your
younger brother.
  Daniel loved animals and had no fear of them.
These tiny creatures of the woods were his play-
fellows, and his father's hunting-dogs were his com-
rades.
  As soon as he was old enough he went with his
brothers and sisters to the log schoolhouse to learn to
read and write. The schoolroom was small, dark, and
comfortless. The master was cross and unjust. The
place seemed like a prison to Daniel.
  He was glad to shun such a place and plunge into the
forest with his gun on his shoulder and his dog at his
heels. There he felt free and happy. Long, solitary
tramps through the woods in quest of game were his
greatest pleasure.  He was usually so successful in


1 2


CHILDHOOD.


hunting that his father made no objection to his staying
away from school.
  The youthful hunter might have been hurt or
lost while on these lonely rambles, but he rarely had a
mishap; for he was as cautious as he was brave. His
habit of hunting   alone
made him observing and    AX
self-reliant, for there was
no one to whom he could
go for advice when in
trouble.
  When exploring new   re-
gions in fair weather he was
guided  by the sun;   and
when the day was dark and
cloudy the thick moss on the
north side of the tree-trunks
told him  which way to go.
He rarely needed such guides,
however, for, like the wild animals, he
seemed to know his way by instinct.
  He soon knew the forest for miles   A HUNTER'S EQUIP-
around. He could name the trees at        MENT.
a distance from the color of their leaves. In the winter
he knew them by their bark, their manner of branching,
and their forms. He could find the finest nuts and the
most luscious berries. He knew the tiniest wild flowers,
and where and when to look for them.


I3


DANIEL BOONE.


  He was very much interested in animals, and studied
their haunts and habits. He became a good marksman,
for he could keep a cool head and a steady hand at the
most exciting moment.
  He knew many Indians; he visited their tents; ate
their food; hunted with them; traveled with them; and
learned their customs, their tricks, and their character.
  Thus, while other American boys were being schooled
in English manners and were being prepared to meet
the British on equal terms and defeat them, Daniel
Boone was taking the lessons in forest lore and Indian
craft that were to fit him to subdue the wilderness and
vanquish the red man.


              II.-A YOUNG HUNTER.
  Daniel Boone grew to manhood without caring much
for the peaceful, industrious habits of civilization.
Farming he did not like. Business and politics were
uninteresting. He was even indifferent to the war with
the French and Indians, which was then exciting his
countrymen. Hunting claimed the most of his time
and attention. He was an ideal hunter, having been
fitted by nature and training for that life at a period
when hunting was not a sport, but a serious occupa-
tion.
  Though not unusually tall, he was finely formed. He


14


A YOUNG HUNTER.


had the grace and freedom of a strong man who has
plenty of the right kind of exercise. His broad, deep
chest showed that he could run very fast without getting
out of breath or panting.  His light springing step
carried him over the ground so swiftly and easily that
men hurrying along the road behind him were sur-
prised to see how fast the distance between them
increased.
  When necessary he could work harder and longer
without food or rest than other men. No Indian was
more quick and nimble or more artful and cunning
than Boone when he was trying to outwit an enemy or
surprise timid game.
  He had a fine head and his face was by no means
commonplace. The high forehead, the clear, calm eyes
and the firm mouth, all told of a manly courage to
which imprudence and fear were equally impossible.
  In his disposition he was kind and accommodating,
and his friends and relatives respected and admired the
quiet youth, of whose skill and strength wonderful
stories were told. Of course there were fault-finding
strangers who did not think so well of him, but criti-
cised his rough clothes and called him stupid because
he was not interested in the same subjects that they
were.
  It made little difference to Daniel Boone whether
people liked or disliked his conduct, so long as he could
forget the rest of the world in the old forest with its


15


DANIEL BOONE.


woody odors, its deep silences, and numberless living
creatures. But when at last the sound of the woodman's
ax began to rival the report of the hunter's gun in his
beloved forest, and the frontiersman's cabin and corn-
field appeared in the clearings, he became dissatisfied.
He did not like to see his hunting grounds turned into
farm-lands. He was well pleased, therefore, when his
father decided to move to a new settlement on the
Yadkin River, in North Carolina, which was reported to
be a fine hunting district.
  There were no railroads then, not even wagon roads,
and movers had to travel on foot or on horseback.
Fortunately, they seldom had many articles of sufficient
value to carry with them. When the Boone family
reached the end of their long journey, Daniel helped his
father and brothers to make a loghouse much like their
old Pennsylvania home.
  This cabin did not shelter him many months. He
met a bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked lass in the settlement.
He loved her so dearly that he decided to build a little
home of his own if he could only persuade the sweet
Rebecca to be its mistress. He was very happy when
he found that she loved him in return, and they were
soon married. They went to housekeeping in a poor
but romantic cabin on the edge of a beautiful forest.
  For a while this forest furnished them with all they
needed, but as more people came to live in the neigh-
borhood Daniel Boone again saw the game driven away


ir6


WESTWARD HO!


by advancing civilization. He tried to cultivate the
soil and manage a small farm, but he found such work
much harder than hunting.
  Then, too, the inequality of the settlers in wealth and
position distressed him. The rich had large plantations,
fine houses, slaves, and luxuries of all kinds. They
seemed to think their wealth gave them rights which
their poor neighbors who dressed in deerskins and lived
in log cabins did not have. This vexed the independent
Boone and he became unhappy and restless.


               III.-WESTWARD HO!
  Boone heard glowing reports of the hunting-grounds
beyond the mountains, from John Finley, who had been
there trading with the Indians. He thought that such
a country would be an ideal place in which to live.
He talked the matter over with his friends and found
five tried hunters who were willing to go with him
on a hunting and exploring expedition through that
region.
  So in the spring of 1769, when his neighbors were
hard at work sowing and planting, Daniel Boone said
farewell to his wife and children and started for the
distant west.
  He and his companions were going to a country
where there were no hotels, no houses, not even stores


17


DANIEL BOONE.


where they might buy food, clothing or blankets.
Money would be useless to them there. Yet they car-
ried with them no provisions or other articles except
powder and bullets, for their rifles and hatchets must
furnish them with the necessities of life.
  As they passed through the settlement the people
came to their doors to look after the six men. They

                                        PaL.
                        O hio          ----------. --
                                , NTU   cPLd
               [nci.  LUELICK, 
                    co  _OROUGH  p
          KENTUCK9OBR          -  
      --en. R                     / GN IA
                    EgL    --- - .NORTH
                 Term.     . CAROLI

                                     SC. K

          MAP SHOWING THE PLACES VISITED BY BOONE.

,wore comfortable deerskin hunting-suits trimmed with
fringes of slashed deerskin. On their feet were stout
moccasins of the same material. Full powder horns
dangled from their belts, and every man had a strong
hunting-knife, a tomahawk, and a rifle.
  All the boys who saw them on that pleasant spring
morning thought they looked very brave and manly and
told their mothers that they too would be hunters when
they grew up. But the older people shook their heads


I8


                    WESTWARD HO!                    I9

and said that it was much better to be a farmer or a mer-
chant. And the boys might have agreed with them if
they could have traveled for a day or two with those
hunters.,
  While the weather was fair and bright the hunters
kept in good spirits. But heavy rains soon fell. The
mountain paths were muddy and slippery. There were
no bridges, and so they had to cross the swollen moun-
tain streams as best they could, sometimes wading, and
sometimes floating themselves over on logs or rude rafts.
  Wet through, cold, often hungry, they could not help
sighing for the comfortable homes they had left. But
they were hardy men, and trudged on with no thought
of turning back.
  The bad weather continued.   As they got deeper
among the wild and unexplored mountains, the difficulty
of traveling increased.  They did not know at what
moment they might be attacked by a band of Indians.
Even Boone thought it a most unpleasant journey. He
called the cliffs "wild " and "horrid" and said it was
"impossible to behold them without terror." To him
they looked like the "ruins of the world."
  After a month's hard tramping they reached the crest
of the heights that overlook the rich plains of central
Kentucky.  As they viewed the valleys and rolling
forest lands below them they felt rewarded for their
difficult march.  The scene was beautiful and prom-
ising. Large herds of buffaloes were seen grazing on


DANIEL BOONE.


the hillsides or browsing on the leaves in the cane-
brakes. Deer and all sorts of choice game assured them
of abundant food.
  They built a rude hunters' lodge of logs and bark, as
a shelter from rain. This they made their headquarters.
In the morning they started out by twos and later in
the day all returned to the lodge, bringing the fruits of
a day's hunt. In the evening they cooked and ate a
hearty supper and told the adventures of the day.
  Sometimes one reported that he had seen signs of
Indians. Then all were cautious for a short time. As
they became acquainted with the neighboring country
they took longer trips, meeting less often at the lodge.
In this way they spent the summer and fall.
  A few days before Christmas, as Daniel Boone and a
single companion were enjoying a ramble through a
beautiful section of the country, rich in game and
timber, they were waylaid by a party of fifteen Indians.
It was useless to make resistance, and they were over-
powered and made prisoners.
  Boone knew the Indian character well. He knew
that the savages would probably kill them if they were
troublesome or disagreeable, and so he acted as if he
were well pleased with his new life. His friend fol-
lowed his example; and when the Indians found that
the prisoners could march just as far as they them-
selves could, that they could go as long without food,
always appeared contented, and never tried to get away,


20


A SECOND ROBINSON CRUSOE.


they thought them very brave fellows and did not watch
them so closely.
  On the seventh night after they had been made pris-
oners, Boone saw that they were unwatched. While
all the Indians were sleeping lie roused his companion
and, seizing their rifles, the two stole away. When the
Indians awoke next morning, their former prisoners
were already far on their way toward the old lodge.


        IV.-A SECOND ROBINSON CRUSOE.
  The fugitives hastened to the old meeting place
expecting to find friends and good cheer. Instead they
found the lodge empty and deserted. At first they, were
struck with dismay. They were full of anxiety for
their companions. They were sorry to lose the valu-
able skins they had collected. And after their recent
experience with the Indians it was not pleasant to
know that they were the only white men west of the
mountains.
  But Daniel Boone was not the man to be driven
from his purpose by fear or discomfort or any ordinary
disaster. This ill-fortune only made him more de-
termined to succeed. The two men went to work with
energy to repair their loss.
  A few days later, on returning from a long hunt,
they saw two white men approaching their camp.


21


DANIEL BOONE.


Hurrying to welcome the new-comers, Boone was sur-
prised to meet his own brother, Squire Boone. He had
started with a fellow adventurer to explore the country
and find, if possible, some trace of Daniel.  By the
marks which the hunters had left along the route, he
had been able to trace them to the camp.
  You may imagine how glad Daniel Boone was to see
his brother and hear from his wife and children. And
you may imagine how glad Squire Boone was to meet
the brother whom he had begun to fear that he should
never see again.
  A larger fire than usual was made that night in the
little cabin, and the choicest game was roasted over
it for the cold and hungry travelers.  In talking over
their adventures and plans, all forgot that they were
tired, and the fire burned low before they went to sleep
in their warm buffalo robes.
  The following days were spent in hunting and ex-
ploring. The men were cheerful and hopeful. Four
seemed to them a goodly company; but their number
was soon reduced again to two. Squire Boone's com-
panion returned home, and Daniel's friend was killed
by the Indians.
  The brothers prepared a more comfortable cabin for
their winter quarters and passed that season in safety.
In the spring their supply of powder and lead got so low
that it was necessary for one of them to go back to
Carolina 'or more. It was decided that Squire Boone


22


A SECOND ROBINSON CRUSOE.


should go. He started on the first of May. So, just
one year from the day on which Daniel Boone had left
his home and set out for the West, he was left alone
in the wilderness.
  After his brother had left he was as lonely as Robin-
son Crusoe. He had not a dog or a horse to keep him


ALONE AT THE HUNTERS' CAMP.


company. He was in constant danger of being cap-
tured or shot by Indians. His only food was game and
wild fruit.
  Few men could have endured such privations. But
Boone's life from childhood had prepared him to
accept such circumstances almost as a matter of course.


23


24                 DANIEL BOONE.

At first he felt lonesome and thought much of his wife
and children, but he had no fear.
  He explored the country, following the traces or
roads, mnade through the cane by buffaloes and other
animals, to the salt licks. He traced streams to their
sources, named rivers, noted the forests and the vege-
table products of different regions, and marked good
locations for settlements. He often traveled far from
his camp on these occasions and slept under the open
sky.  At night he heard wolves howl and panthers
screech, but he knew they were too well supplied with
game to care to molest him.
  He was always on the lookout for Indians. He learned
that he was in a territory which was the home of no
tribe, but the common hunting and battle ground of
many. He knew that his camp had been discovered,
and he feared it was watched; for on returning to it he
often found that it had been visited.
  In spite of so many dangers he really enjoyed this life
better than the uneventful life of a farmer, and never
regretted the step he had taken. Still when three
months had passed he began to look rather uneasily at
his small store of ammunition and watch anxiously for
his brother. And he felt sincerely thankful when he
met him at last in the old camp. Squire Boone brought
horses, powder, lead, and, best of all, news of the health
and prosperity of the dear ones at home.
  After another fall and winter spent in hunting and


EAST AGAIN.


exploring the land along the Cumberland River. the
brothers returned to Carolina. But Daniel Boone had
found the place that he wished to make his home and
left it with the expectation of returning soon with his
family and friends.

                   V.-EAST AGAIN.
  Daniel Boone did not telegraph to his wife that he
was coming home, nor did he write to her, for you must
remember that there was no telegraph then, and there
were no mail coaches in that part of the world. But if
Mrs. Boone had been getting ready for weeks, the
floor could not have been whiter, the tins could not
have been more shining bright, the fire could not have
blazed more merrily, the corn-bread could not have been
lighter, and the children could not have been more trim
and neat than they were on that spring evening when
the weather-beaten hunter stood again at his own door
after an absence of two years.
  How overjoyed they were to see him ! No wonder
the brisk little woman in homespun let the bowl of li-s-
cious strawberries fall with a crash on the clean floor
while she gave a cry of delight and ran into his out-
stretched arms. Then those tall, fine-looking boys and
girls, who had grown so that he scarcely knew them,
crowded about him and almost smothered him with
caresses.


25


DANIEL BOONE.


  When the news of Boone's return spread through the
neighborhood, friends and relatives came in to welcome
him. He was quite a hero. Every one wanted to
hear of his adventures and learn about the rich land
he had found. Mrs. Boone was so proud of her brave
husband, and so happy in having him home again, that
she forgot all about the two long years of hard work and
separation.
  He gave such a glowing account of Kentucky that
all his family thought it would be fine to go there and
were pleased to hear him say that he would take them
back with him. Some of the neighbors said they would
be glad to join them.  This was just what Boone
wanted, and he began at once to organize a party of
emigrants and prepare for the departure.
  The farm had to be sold. Provision had to be made
for the comfort of women and children. Then, there
were delays caused by people changing their minds
after they had promised to go, and more than a year
passed before a company of five families was ready,
with cattle and household goods, to start for the new
home in the wilderness.
  They began the journey in good spirits. In Powell's
Valley they were joined by forty men. The whole
party pressed eagerly forward, full of hope. They had
crossed two ranges of mountains and were nearing the
third when those in front were.startled by rifle reports
in the rear.


26


E.AST AGAIN.


  They turned back and found that the young men
driving the cattle had been attacked by a band of In-
dians. The emigrants charged upon the savages and
drove them away. But six of their boys had fallen in
the first fire.
  Among those killed was Daniel Boone's eldest son.
Overcome with grief and fear, the party would not go
on. Boone, therefore, led them back to the settlements


                 OLD FLINT LOCK RIFLE USED BY BOONE.

oin the Clinch River. Here, still far from his promised
land, he staid with his family until 1774.
  The fame of Boone's explorations in Kentucky
reached the ears of the governor of Virginia, who at
that time had a party of surveyors working along the
Ohio River. The Indians had become so hostile that
these men dared not come back the way they had gone,
and it was dangerous for them to stay where they were.
  The governor requested Boone to go to the Falls of
the Ohio to find and conduct them home, overland. He
was glad to do this and set forth at once with one com-
panion. About two months later he returned to the set-
tlement with the surveyors, having made the journey
of eight hundred miles through a country without roads
in sixty-two days.


27


DANIEL BOONE.


  A little later the governor made him captain of three
garrisons, and sent him to fight the Indians. A treaty of
peace soon put an end to the hostilities between Virginia
and the Indians, and Daniel Boone was again without
employment, but not for long.


            VI.-PREPARING THE WAY.
  A company of rich men in North Carolina thought
they might increase their wealth by buying a large tract
of land in famous Kentucky and selling it off to settlers
in small farms. They would first have to buy the land
of the Indians.
  As Daniel Boone knew all about the land, they wished
him to take charge of this part of the business. Accord-
ingly he went, in their behalf, to a council of Indians
and bought the land on terms satisfactory to both Indians
and white men.
  After the treaty was made an old Indian shook hands
with Boone and said: " We have given you a fine
country, brother, but you will have trouble to settle it."
  The men who had bought the land wished to see it
occupied. In order to encourage movers to go there
they wished to have a road opened and a fort built.
Boone was put in charge of this undertaking. A better
man for the work could not have been found. He had a
personal interest in it, for the road was to be traveled


28


PREPARING THE WAY.


by his own family and the fort would protect them in
their new home.
  At the head of a band of well-armed workmen, hired
for thirty-three cents a day, he commenced the work
promptly. It went forward rapidly, for the road was no
more than a rude path, marked and cleared so that a
line of pack horses might travel over it. Although


              THE FORT AT BOONUSBOROUGH.

always on the lookout for anl attack from the Indians,
the road-makers were not molested until they had nearly
completed their work. When within fifteen miles of
the place which Boone had decided upon for the station,
the party was fired upon by Indians. Though the white
men finally drove the savages away, two of their num-
ber were killed and two wounded.
  Three days later the Indians made a second assault.


29


DANIEL BOONE.


That time Boone lost two more of his men and three
were wounded. This resistance only roused the deter-
mined leader to put forth greater effort to finish the
road and build a strong fort to defend his employers'
property against the claims of men who, he thought,
had no right to it.
  On the first day of April, 1775, they began to build a
fort near a salt lick about one hundred and eighty feet
south of the Kentucky River. While busy with this
work, which was not completed until the middle of
June, they lost one man. When finished, the station
was named, in honor of the man to whom it owed its
existence, Boonesborough.
  The fame of the fertility of Kentucky had spread, and
several parties of Virginians ventured that year to cross
the mountains and visit the wonderful hunting-ground.
  Their object was to claim lands for future settlement.
For Virginia, the state to which the territory of Ken-
tucky belonged, had offered four hundred acres of land
to every one who would clear a portion of it, raise a crop
of Indian corn, and build a rude cabin.
  The settlers did not fell the large trees, but cut the
bark so that they would die.  Then having cleared
away the underbrush, planted corn, and put up rude
huts on desirable tracts of land, most of them went
back to their homes in the East. These men expected
to sell or use their lands when the country was better
settled and less dangerous.


30


THE NEW KENTUCKY HOME.


  Daniel Boone had no thought of getting rich by claim-
ing and selling Kentucky lands. To him it seemed a
good place for a home just as it was.
  As soon as the fort was completed he left it in charge of
a few men and returned to the settlement on the Clinch
River, to move his family to the home he had prepared
for them.


        VII.-THE NEW KENTUCKY HOME.
  Boone was a happy man when he said good-by to the
quiet little community east of the Cumberland Moun-
tains and set forth with his wife and children for the
land he loved.
  It took much courage for Mrs. Boone to leave home
and friends and attempt a second time the perilous jour-
ney through the wilderness from Clinch River to Boones-
borough. But she was a brave woman, and, if her heart
was heavy with sorrow and fear when she passed the spot
where, two years before, her eldest boy was shot, she hid
her grief, and her husband did not know that she was
less happy than he. She noticed the beautiful scenery
and spoke of the fine air.
  Where the way was broad enough, Daniel Boone rode
beside her. His happiness made him more talkative
than usual, and he pointed out objects of interest or
related some adventure that had befallen him here or
there along the road. Then lie spoke of the new fQrt


3x


DANIEL BOONE.


Ii
z
04


32


THE NEW KENTUCKY HOME.


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