$Ar -i'v '' ' rf : l
By Richard Splllane.
PEOM London, not long after "Wolfe,
R n th field of Abraham, won
continent for the .English King,
there came a proclamation that was
supposed by its author to meet the
needs of a vexatious' situation. The
proclamation was drafted by Lord
! Hillsborough, Secretary' for the Col
' wnles. because of the long-continued
' border troubles with the Indians. His
' Lordship could not understand why
the whites could not -remain within
' their own districts and the Indians
within theirs, lie saw;no reason for
' friction, strife or bloodshed. There
was no profit In it for the King. There
! was profit for the Kins in the rich
jfur trade of the Indians, and it was
i His Lordship's desire and Intention to
foster this trada for the benefit of his
' royal master. So His Lordship drew
Nup the royal proclamation by which
!tbe white people of JSorth America
were forbidden from taking up any
land beyond the headwaters of rivers
'which emptied Into the Atlantic Ocean
from the west. In other words, the
subjects of King Georgo III. were to
1 confine themselves to the narrow strip
; along the coast. To go beyond the
.Appalachian range was to disobey the
King. "
Lord Hillsborough did not know the
. people to whom he addressed this proc
lamation in 176S. The French who
came to the New World In the early
days were fired by religious zeal or
1 military ardor to carry the banner of
St. Louis far and wide. They followed
the water courses and made of the St.
Lawrence and the Great Lakes on
avenue to the west. Along this avenue
they built forts and established settle
ments. Down the Mississippi and up
the Missouri they pushed their work
f exploration and conquest. The Eng
lish, on the other hand, had clun,g to
the seacoast. They knew nothing of
the land beyond but what they learned
from the French." They were content
with the narrow strip, between the
mountains and the sea. They were
wore gregarious than the French. But
their children and their children's chil
dren were not content.; As the popu
lation Increased the border gradually
was pushed further Inland until they
neared the mountains,, and then- they
looked beyond. The land beyond the
mountains was the domain of the red
man. To the north, between the Ohio
River and the lakes, was the rich ter
ritory of the Shawnees' and the Iro
quois. Far to the south. In what now is
Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi,
was the territory of the Cherokees. Be
tween the two territories was a beau
tiful stretch of virgin country, claimed
ly the Indians of the north and by the
Indians of the south, but occupied by
neither. It was known as the dark and
bloody ground, for hero they fought
whenever their hunting parties met
'nd here for centuries the Indian of
ths north and the Indian of the south
d met In conflict. '
Dark and Bloody Ground.
The dark and bloody ground was
.Kentucky. Game was In' abundance.
Droves of buffalo dotted Its meadows
nd deer and bear roamed Its hills and
'forests. There was no more beautiful
land In all America. '.
To the restless, roving spirits among
the colonists who had ventured across
the mountains or had .heard highly
colored stories from those who had
visited the great hunting region, the
tfark and bloody ground was a land of
promise. They had little respect for
the rights of the red man. They were
land hungry and, feeling cramped in
the territory east of the mountains,
they looked beyond with longing eyes.
Lord Hillsborough did not know the
plrit or the temper of the colonists of
the borderland. They were a different
people from the early Bottlers. They
treated the proclamation iwith scant re
spect. The great landowners of Virginia
and Carolina were more politic In their
remarks, but none the lees strong In
vhelr opposition to the royal order. Tho
"Virginians were an agricultural people
and had a wider development and a
larger prosperity than any other colon
ists. To obey the order of the King
meant a check to the growth of Virginia.
What was the benefit of the French and
Indian war, of what avail was the ex
pulsion of the French from North Amer
ica If the lands beyond the mountains
were to be left to the Indian 7
From Virginia an agent went to the
chiefs of the Six Nations, the head men
of the tribes of the North, and from, these
chiefs the agent got a release of their
claims to the dark and bloody ground.
' The Indians got presents In exchange
'for their shadowy title to the land, but
.' they probably were actuated as much, in
making the .deal by their vanity and
their desire to injure their .Southern foes
as they were by the gifts showered upon
them. It flattered them mightily to have
the whites recognize them as the hold
ers of the buffer territory. Pride plays
a large part In the mind of the Indian.
However much the Secretary for the
Colonies may have disliked to do so. he
recognized the deal between the Virgin
ians and the Six Nations. Officially It
Is known as the treaty of Fort Stanwlx
(Rome, N. T.), and was signed In 1768.
But for that treaty and the Impetus it
gave to tho movement toward Kentucky
the world might never have heard of
Daniel Boone. t
About eight miles from where now Is
the city of Reading. Pa..- Boone was born
on November 2. 1734. His parents were
Quakers. His father was a weaver and
a blacksmith. The boy, too, became a
weaver and a blacksmith, but from child
hood he was a hunter. He loved the
woods and solitude. He knew animals and
their habits like a naturalist. Before he
was able to handle a gun he was so ex
pert In throwing a sapling which he had
fashioned into a sort of Javelin that he
could kill birds or small animals with
ease.
Ills First Gun.
"When he was 12 years old he got his
first gun. Thereafter he spent most of
his time In the woods. Upon him the
family relied for their meat supply, and!
tho beaver, deer and other skins he sent
to Philadelphia helped materially toward
the support of his father's big household.
The wife of one of his older brothers
taught him the three Ra. Ills spelling
was weird, but - he wrote a good hand,
and In the backwoods, where book learn
ing was at a discount, he was considered
a scholar. He learned enough about sur
veying to pass muster in that branch of
activity. Before he was fully grown the
family moved to the upper fork of the
Yadkin River, in North Carolina. That
was a great Journey in those days, the
distance being nearly BOO miles. He
found more profit in the woods than' in
tilling the soil, and for months at a time
lie was away hunting beaver, otter, bear.
dear, wolves and wildcats. Garbed in
hunting shirt of deerskin, with leggins
and moccasins of the same material.
and with powder horn, bullet pouch.
scalping knife and tomahawk, the world
afforded him plenty. The bare ground
or the bushes furnished him a bed, and
the sky was his canopy. His skill with
a gun or in throwing a tomahawk was
marvelous. Of Indian fighting he had
enough to satisfy.
The Cherokees, outraged at the en
croachments of whites and encouraged
by the French, who deemed the English
as intruders into lands they had dis
covered, made Intermittent raids on the
settlers. The Indian, cruel; bloodthirsty
and no respecter of age or sex, fought
like a savage and the whites of the
border country fought the same way.
The scalping knife was .used not alone
by the Indian. In the Tadkln Valley In
dian scares were numerous and at times
the settlers combined and carried the
war into the Indian country, destroy
ing the villages and crops of their ene
mies and paying off old scores, Boone
was & leader in all these expeditions.
He served, too, in Lyttleton's campaign
against the Cherokees which ultimate
ly brought a short peace. But when
Indian raids stopped in the Tadkin
country a new trouble developed for
Boone. Settlers came in suoh numbers
that game became scarce. Boone need
ed a wide range. Neighbors he did not
fancy, unless they were four-footed
ones. He began to think of Kentucky.
In the autumn of 1767 he and a few
companions crossed the mountains and
hunted in the valleys of the Holston,
the Clinch and the Big Sandy. They
spent a year on this hunt and had a
great store of skins when their camp
was surrounded by a band of Shawnees
and the hunters captured. The Indians
took their year's accumulation of skins
and then released the prisoners.
Boone and one companion, enraged at
the loss, followed the Indians for two
days and then, at night, managed to
seize five horses of the Indians. In turn
they were pursued by the Indians, re
captured and held captive for a week.
Then they were released. Boone's com
panion returned to the "Tadkin, but
BooneTemained in Kentucky. For a
year he was alone. He had neither
horse nor dog, and was without bread,
salt or sugar.- He changed his. station
frequently. Sometimes he had a rude
shelter of bark or made his home In a
oave, but generally he slept In the
thicket. In his wanderings he reached
the falls of the Ohio, where the city of
Louisville now Is situated.
When Boone returned to civilization
he learned of the signing of the Fort
Stanwlx treaty. There was a lot of
THE SUXDAT OEEGOXIAN, PORTLAND, APRIL 17, 1910.
- T
land excitement in Virginia and North
Carolina. Western settlement filled the
minds of many people. He was content
for several years to go each year for
a long hunting trip to Kentucky, but In
1773 he organized a large expedition to
establish a settlement In Clinch Valley.
While the settlers were on the- road a
war party of Shawnees killed five ot
the members. Among those slain was
Boone's eldest son James. This tragedy
so affected tle members of the expedi
tion that all returned to Virginia or
North Carolina except Boone and his
family. He went on to Clinch River
and built a rude home. The following
Spring the whole borderland of Vir
ginia was aflame' with war.
Transylvania.
The Shawnees and Mingos, wrought
up to a high pitch of excitement by
atrocities committed by frontier ruf
fians, began the conflict which gener
ally Is known as Lord Dunmore's war.
Various bands of surveyors and land
site locators had ventured far into
Kentucky. To notify them of their
danger and guide them back to the
settlements, Boone and another back
woodsman were engaged. In 61 days
they traveled 800 miles, mostly through
an unbroken forest.
They gathered the various bands to
gether and so skillfully piloted their
charges that they met with no mishap.
The victory at Point Pleasant practi
cally ended the war. Boone celebrated
the victory by going on a long hunt.
His hunt over, Boone found himself
In sudden demand. Judge Richard Hen
derson, of North Carolina, had pur
chased from the Shawnees a vast tract
of land in Kentucky and had organized
the Transylvania Company. Boone was
engaged to establish a road into the
new territory, and lay out a capital
for the colony. With a force of SO men
he built the famous Wilderness road
across the mountains and through the
forests, and on April 6, 1775, on the
Kentucky River, at Big L!ck, he halted
his party fend laid out the town of
Boonesborough, which was to be the
capital of Transylvania. -
There were three other settlements
established In the Transylvania grant
Harrodsburg. Boiling Springs and St!
Aspath. Hardly did the colonists arrive
than there was trouble. Most of the
pioneers were adventurers and not
homemakers. They deserted. Next the
Colonial Governors of Virginia and
North Carolina denounced the Transyl
vanians as land pirates, and threatened
all sorts of punishment. Then, to make
good measure, the Indians began to
harass the newcomers. For a year the
situation was desperate. Upon Boone
the people of Boonesborough had to de
pend mainly for food, and he was kept
busy with his gun. In 1776 there was
a rift in the clouds. There was quite
an increase in immigration, but this
was followed by a general Indian war,
and soon most of the newcomers were
fleeing back to Virginia.
Boonesborougli.
"
England, taking a leaf
out of the
book of France, had made friends with
the Indians when the colonies revolted,
and armed and equipped them. The Iro
quois, the Shawnees, the Mingos and
the Cherokees, spurred and supported
as they had not been for years, ravaged
the whole frontier, Half a dozen at
tacks were made on Boonesborough.
Once when the settlers made a sortie
Boone was shot through the ankle. 'The
bone was shattered, and for several
months he was crippled. The Indians
were so active that all Kentucky was
swept clear of whites, except those in
Boonesborough and Harrodsburg. When
late in 1777, some militiamen from the
Virginia frontier arrived at Boones
borough to aid the besieged settlers
there was great rejoicing.
'But the arrival of reinforcements led
to carelessness that came near destroy
ing Boone and all his followers. One
Winter day Boone was captured while
hunting and taken to the camp of a
large force of Shawnees nearby. With
the Indians were two Frenchmen and
two renegade Americans. The Indians
were planning to attaclt 27 of Boone's
companions who were engaged boiling
salt at a salt lick some miles from
Boonesborough. The Indian force was
overwhelming, and there could be but
one result If the whites were attacked.
Boone thereupon entered upon a
work of diplomacy and strategy that
was remarkable Indeed. If- the salt
boilers were attacked the people in the
village would be helpless, for there
had been no warning of the approach
of the Indians.
The Indians had great respect for
Boone as a hunter and a warrior, and
when he said he had a suggestion to
make they listened gravely. He told
them to save bloodshed he would ask
the salt-makers to surrender If the In
dians would promise good treatment
and not attack Boonesborough. In the
Spring, he said, the Indians and their
captives could return, move the women
and children north of the' Ohio, where
all could be taken into the Shawnee
tribe or placed under the protection of
the British Governor, Hamilton, at De
troit. It was this man Hamilton who
offered S20 apiece for American pris
oners, dead or alive, and who became
known later as the "hair buyer," by
reason of his purchase of scalps.
Captive.
The Indians thought Boone's sugges
tion good. He was taken to the salt
boilers and induced them to surrender.
But when the Indians had the 28 whites
captive here came near being a slaugh
ter. Only toy a vote of 61 to 51 did
the Indians decide on postponing the
killing of the prisoners. Bound and
watched with the utmost care, the cap
tives were taken to the Shawnee town
on the Little Miami, 10 days' Journey
away. Boone and 16 of. his men were
adopted formally Into the ttfibe. and
Boone got the name of Big Turtle and
was taken by Chief Black Fish as his
son. For months Boone lived with the
savages and won high favor by his
skill In shooting and his knowledge of
nature. All the while, however, he was
watched day and night. In March he
was taken to Detroit with those whites
who had not fjeen adopted into the
tribe. The Indians wanted to collect
the bounty from the "hair buyer" on all
of them but Boone. Almost dally the
Indians put Boone's companions' to
some form -of torture, usually making
them run the gauntlet. He had to run
the gauntlet Bever8.1Ime early In his
captivity, tout after Tils a-Boption by
Black Flshythis ended. Running the
gauntlet -' generally meant "painful
wounds to the victim, the Indian beat
ing tbenfortunate white with dubs
or jabbing -faijn with knife' or toma
hawk. ' " -. '"
Governor Hamilton paid a lot of at'
tendon to Boone, who had an old com-1
mission from Lord Dunmore as captain
of rcllitia. Hamilton, when he saw the
document and heard the good reports
of Black Fish. oitH a ransom Boone
for , $500, bat Itlack Fls vxefused to
give up his "son." Then Hamilton gave
a horse and a lot of supplies to Boone
and bade him remember his duty to
King George.
Back to the Indian town jwent Boone
and Black Fish. The Indians were pre
paring for a Summer raid on Boones
borough. They are slow movers, how-
ever, unless they are fleeing, and It
was well along In June before they had
their plans matured. Meanwhile Boone
was ever looking for a chance to es
cape. On June 16 the opportunity came.
Four days later he was In Boones
borough. 160 miles away. His wife, giv
ing him up for dead, had returned
Kast, ' and many of the settlers had
fled, but Boone rallied the others-to
meet the Shawnee attack, which he
knew would come soon. When the
Shawnees arrived their force consisted
of 400 braves, and with them .were
Wyandottes, Cherokees, Delawares and
Mingos and. about 40 French Cana
dians. ' The Siege.
There was a parley before the attack.
Black Fish reproached Boone bitterly
for his unfllial conduct and begged him
to return to his wigwam. - The old In
dian had real affection for his adopted
son.
The siege of Boonesborough was one
of the most stubborn in border warfare.
For ten days the Indians kept up the
sttuggle. The fort was badly planned,
nearby woods affording plenty of cover
for an attacking force. Only the con
stant rains saved it from being burned,
the wood being too wet to burn when
the Indians, In their night attacks, ap
plied the torch. The women did al
most as much for the defense of the
fort as the men. Every artifice known
to the Indians and every scheme that
could be suggested by the French Cana
dians was tried" without avail. At the
end of ten days the Indians in despair
suddenly departed. They left 37 dead.
How many more were killed and
wounded Is not known. In the fort
were 60 persons, but only 40 were cap
able of bearing arms. Remarkable to
relate, Boone lost only -two killed and
four wounded.
The siege of Boonesborough has tak
en Its place as a Western classic. Rare
ly have Indians maintained a siege so
long. Rarely have whites maintained
so stubborn a defense with so little
loss.
Never did the Indians attack Boones
borough again. That one tragedy was
too costly ever to be forgotten.
The land tltles granted to the Trans
ylvania Company having been declared
void, Boone went back to Virginia to
try and get new warrants. While there
he met Hamilton, the "Hair Buyer,"
who had' been captured at Vincennes
by George Rogers Clark and sent East
a prisoner. Boone pleaded for better
treatment for the "Hair Buyer," and
got it, despite the fact that tho feel
ing was Intensely bitter against Ham
ilton at that time.
Poor Daniel Boone. He had no head
for business. All the lands he had lo
cated In Kentucky before the Revortf
tlon he lost through failing to comply
with simple regulations, and after his
interests In Boonesborough were wiped
out he had to turn to hunting again.
Then he became guide and provision
furnisher to parties of immigrants
coming along his wilderness trail
through Cumberland Gap and the moun
tains. Virginia, sympathizing with the
honest but unbuslness frontiersman,
granted 1000 acres to him In what now
is Bourbon County, Kentucky. He built
a cabin there, but soon after he moved
his family into it the place was at
tacked by Indians and two of his sons
killed.
Syndic of Jevr Spain -- '
There was nopes.ee in Kentucky until
long, long after the " Revolution ended.
The British still maintained posts at De
troit and other points on the lakes and
stirred the Indians to attack the whites.
Boone, child of the "wilderness, fought
7 v-r JfcZauiiuB' o-a
f- -vJ U--
v7
-t- 7u.
Indians, hunted, acted as guide, surveyor.
Justice of the Peace or frontier legislator
as the occasion required, and made no
progress for himself or family. Between
17S5 and 179S he again lost all the lands
he had located for himself and family
after his first costly experiences. He
never could be Induced to follow the
forms prescribed by law. When, Just at
the close of the eighteenth century, the
last of his acres were taken from him he
left Kentucky In disgust. Spain had the
territory west of the Mlsslssippl.and there
he went, settling on Fernme Oaage Creek,
Mo. A grant of 1000 arpents of land was
made to him, and he was made a syn
dic. He held this office until the cession
of Louisiana to the United States. , They
tell some droll stories of how he held
court. Rules of evidence had no weight
with him. Sometimes he fined both par
ities to a case. He administered law ac
cording to common sense as the frontiers,
man knows It. He was primitive and ar
bitrary, but the French and Spanish knew
his good heart and respected him highly.
Boone had little reason to rejoice over
the cession of Louisiana to the United
States. He not only lost his office, but
again he lost his land. He had failed to
send the warrant granting the 1000
arpents to New Orleans for the signature
of the Governor. The paper waB signed
by tho Lieutenant-Governor, but was not
sufficient.
But he did not despair. The hunting
was good. He was past 70, but he wan
dered far afield in his chase of game.
Sometimes he went into Kansas, some-
HIGH PRICES
SENATOR LODGE has discovered
that this Is not the only time we
have had high prices- In this country.
He told the senate on Wednesday about
the discovery.
His authority was a memorandum of
a Government clerk made in 1837 and
attached to a recommendation of the
Secretary of tho Treasury that the sal
aries of employes in his department
should be raised.
"The memorandum shows," the Sen
ator remarked with his well-known
impresslveness, "that the price of sugar
was 14 cents a pound, flour JS a bar
rel and illuminating oil $1 a gallon."
This Is terrible but true. But why
did the Massachusetts Senator stop
with sugar, flour and illuminating oil?
Why did he not give other details of
the terrible story?
In point of fact, there is every reason
to believe that in 1837 ordinary elec
tric lights were beyond the reach of
the wealthiest citizens of the Nation.
Even the occupants of the White House
were forced to go without them.
The possibility of correspondence by
electric telegraph was absolutely out
of the question for even the million
aire.. Not a single household of that
period dared to dream of being able
to enjoy the . benefits of a telephone
service.
The very richest citizens could not
buy motor cars, even of the most or
dinary make. This may sound incred
ible to many, but we have it on good
authority that the statement is lit
erally true. "'
...It' la a-uch considerations as these
if not examined too closely that give
us the best Idea of the awful cost of
bigh living In 1837 and not the figures
on sugar, flour and Illuminating oil
discovered by the Senator in a long
forgotten document. (
If illuminating oil. for example, cost
$1 a gallon, the vast majority of house
holds doubtless managed to get along
ArtO -. - '
a2-t. w-3Sjs.
acAr-
times Into Nebraska. Once he went to
the foot of the Rockies. His dream was
to cross the great mountains. He had
heard of the Yellowstone region and he
longed to get there. Congress hearing
how ke had lost his land took pity on
him. The Spanish grant was confirmed
to him as an act of Justice to "a man
who had opened the way to millions of
men."
Even after he was 80 years old he wont
on his long hunts, usually being gone
months at a time.
He fretted because he was not permit
ted to enlist foif service in tho War of
1812; he fretted, too, because the tide of
Immigration was narrowing his hunting
grounds. He wanted to move farther
West, where there was elbow room for a
hunter, but his children would not permit
him. He died September 6, 1SJ0, in his
86th year. The convention for drafting the
constitution of Missouri was in session at
St. Louis at tiie'tlme. Upon hearing of
his death the convention adjourned for
the day and the members wore crepe for
20 days. Kentucky, years after his death,
had his bones removed to Frankfort,
where a monument now marks their rest
ing place.
The Fort Stanwix treaty is forgotten.
Transylvania Is enly a memcry. Boones
borough has crumbled and disappeared,
but Daniel Boone still lives In the mem
ory of man.
Of all the hunters and all the pathfind
ers of the United States only one, per
haps, can be ranked with him. and that
one was his grandson, Kit Carson.
(Copyright, 1910. by Richard BplllaoeJ
IN YEAR 1837
very nicely with candlesticks and can
dles and thus eliminated oil as- an item
In the list of domestic expenditures.
As for sugar and flour, the people
were accustomed individually to use
less of the former and to keep more
of the former for home consumption
than now, so that the market price of
both these articles is, to a certain ex
tent, misleading.
To make a real Impression, Senator
Lodge, therefore, should have used the
automobiles or telephones or tele
graphs for examples. He might even
have mentioned the airships, if he had
deeired really to annihilate his op
ponents. Chicago Inter-Ocean.
A Kbcial Call.
Detroit Free Ptmi.
When Mrs. . Readymoney found
a c&rd -upcm
her polished floor
V'hlch Mra. Ooldenhalr had pushed that nttr-
noon bene&Ui the door.
6h picked it up and read the name, then o
her face there crept a grin.
And Mrs. Readymoney said: "I'm mighty lad
I wasn't in."
Then Mrs. Readymoney worn, to call on Mrs.
GoMenhair,
And she, too, left a calling card bertoae aha
didn't find her there:
She neither sighed nor frowned nor -wor
t look to Indicate chaerin.
Sie -merely told lier husband this: "I'm might?
glad she wasn't, la.".
Next time they met, sheaald: "My dear," and
fumbled with her tortoise ooinb
"I was so sorry to have had you call when I
was not at home?
Nor tan I tell you -my regret," and here hs
sadly dropped her cbin.
"Upon the afternoon I called on you and
didn't find you in."
And then both Mrs. Goldenhair and Mrs.
Readymoney told
Each other Just how sad they were, their grief
was more than they could bold:
Then each one parted, each one smiled, and
later each was heard to say,
"Thank goodness that is over now, and that's
a visit, anyway."
I