hi'""' EDUC.« PSYCK. LIB8ABft THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Educatioa GIFT OF Mrs. Earle Brown Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/danielboonewildeOOwhitrich DANIEL BOONE Wildemesf Scout And so i7i this pathless, blinded forest .... the Indians movedy invisible y silent .... awaiting the moment to strike EUJC- PSYCH. UBsm YOUNG MODERNS BOOKSHELF DANIEL BOONE WILDERNESS SCOUT The Greatest Story of the Greatest Frontiersman BY STEWART EDWARD WHITE The Sun Dial Press, Inc. NEW YORK Eduoation Add'l GIFT CL COPYRIGHT, 1922, BT DOUBLEDAT, PACE & COMPANY. COPYRIGHT, I92I, 1922, BYTHE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE OOUMTRT LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y. EUUC- , PSYCH. LlBBAXli DANIEL BOONE Wilderness Scovi crOi-v DANIEL BOONE: WILDERNESS SCOUT I CHAPTER I WHEN we think of American pioneers we recall automatically certain names — ^Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Kit Carson, perhaps Simon Kenton. Of course there were hundreds, yes thousands of others, who met the same dangers, ex^ hibited at least approximate skill, fought the same savages. But the names of most of them are im- known: and of the rest only the especial student is aware. Often the more obscure men have performed specific deeds that common legend ascribes to better known names. Columbus, as we know, was really hot the first to discover America. Common belief has it that Daniel Boone "discovered" Kentucky; but actually, as we shall see, he first entered Kentucky lured by the glowing tales of a man named Finley who had, with others, preceded him. Did you ever hear of Finley? But we have all heard of Boone. 1 2 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout This is because these men have possessed some quality that the others did not. It did not matter what especial deeds they performed. Others must have performed similar feats, or the West would never have been conquered. Those deeds became renowned, not so much because they were thrilling, but because of the men who did them. Thus Daniel Boone's name is inseparably con- nected with the occupation of "the dark and bloody ground " because he was Daniel Boone. He was one of the many great Indian fighters of his time: lived for years with his rifle and tomahawk next his hand : lost brothers and sons under the scalp- ing knife. He was a master of woodcraft, able to find his way hundreds of miles through unbroken forests, able to maintain himself alone not merely for a day or a week but for a year or more without other resources than his rifle, his tomahawk, and his knife; and this in the face of the most wily of foes. He was muscular and strong and enduring; victor in many a hand-to- hand combat, conqueror of farms cut from the forest; performer of long journeys afoot at speed that would seem incredible to a college athlete. He was a dead shot with the rifle, an expert hunter of game. Other men, long since forgotten, were all these things. But Daniel Boone was reverent in the belief that he was ordained by God to open the wilderness. He was Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 3 brave with a courage remarkable for its calmness and serenity. Calmness and serenity, indeed, seem to have been his characteristics in all his human re- lations. Those who knew him remark frequently on this, speak of the fact that where everyone else was an Indian hater, Boone never cherished rancour against them, so that as honourable antagonists they always met, both in peace and war. He was trust- worthy, so that when wilderness missions of great responsibility were undertaken, he was almost in- variably the one called. He was loyal to the last drop of his blood, as you shall see in this narrative. He was ready ever to help others. These are simple, fundamental qualities, but they are never anywhere too common; they are rarely anywhere combined in one man: and in those rough times of primitive men they sufficed, when added to his wilderness skill and determination, to make him the leading and most romantic figure. If the Boy Scouts would know a man who in his attitude toward the life to which he was called most nearly embodied the precepts of their laws let them look on Daniel Boone. Gentle, kindly, modest, peace-loving, absolutely fearless, a master of Indian warfare, a mighty hunter, strong as a bear and active as a panther, his life was lived in daily danger, almost perpetual hardship and exposure; yet he died in his bed at nearly ninety years of age. CHAPTER II )1 NY normal and healthy boy would have /-\ revelled in a youth similar to that of Daniel Boone. He was the fourth of seven brothers; and was born on the banks of the Delaware River about twenty miles above Philadelphia. His place in history can be better remembered than by dates when you know that he was just three years younger than George Washington. When he was three years old, the family moved up state to a frontier settle- ment that has since become the city of Reading. Here he spent his boyhood and his early youth, and here he took his first lessons in a school that was to help him through all his life, the Wilderness. For at that time Reading was a collection of huts situated in a virgin country. People lived in log houses set in clearings that were slowly and labori- ously cut out from the forest. They spent their days swinging the axe, hauling and burning the brush and logs, heaving out the snarled and snaggy stumps which were sometimes burned, but more often dragged to the boundaries of fields where they were set on edge and so formed a fence of many twisted i Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 5 arms and crevices and holes and devious passageways through which such things as woodchucks or squirrels or ruffed grouse or small boys could slip in a fascinat- ing series of games or escapes. And then the soil must be ploughed and planted. Cattle roamed the woods near by, with bells so that they could be more easily found. These must be brought in every night; and while usually they gathered of their own accord anticipating the reward of a few handfuls of corn, often they must be sought for in the depths of the forest. That was in itself a fine training in wood- craft; for not only must one find the cows, but must not get lost oneself. The clothes worn were spun and woven on the place; every item of food and wear, with very few exceptions, were grown or fashioned at home. Never was there lack of fascinating and use- ful occupation for the little Boones, occupation that not only developed their muscles but their wits. For one thing was never forgotten. This was on the border of the Indian country. The little settle- ment of Reading was not near enough the savages' home country to be exposed to the frequent attacks in force which we in company with Boone shall see later; but it was always in danger of raids and forays by stray war parties from over the mountains. It was settled and inhabited in great part by men who in their youth had fought the Indians. As part of 6 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout their earliest education the children were taught caution when out of sight of home. The woodcraft of moving quietly in the forest, of trying always to see everything before affording a chance of being seen, of freezing into immobility and silence at the slightest unknown sound or movement until it could be identified was impressed upon them as a mother partridge impresses the same thing on her young. Nor was there lack of opportunity for practice. Plenty of Indians visited the little settlement. They were "friendly" Indians: that is to say, they were not at war with these settlers and came on peaceful errands. But as Indians they were always to be suspected by a brace of small boys hunting cows in the forest. And so very early in life these children became more expert in observation and more skilful in concealment than anybody could possibly be nowadays, unless he had the same training. No more thrilling, fascinating game of I-spy or hide-and- seek could be imagined than this penetration of the leafy dark forest, every sense alert for every sound and movement; the mind recognizing them instantly — red squirrel scratching the bark, to wee the leaves; the rare weird scrape of a leaning tree rubbing another as the wind touched it; the cautious pad of the lynx as it crossed a patch of dead and sodden leaves; the innumerable disguised voices of wind and Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 7 water and the cautious conversation of woods crea- tures — there are a thousand of them; and they all indicate life or movement, and any of them might be a prowling savage, unless one is so familiar with them that he recognizes them for what they are. And when unmistakably that sound or movement is the savage, stalking confidently along in the forest aisles with head shaven all but the long scalplock at the crown, painted from head to toe in the bright colours that indicate peace, his black eyes shifting keenly with the perpetual restlessness of the man who lives among dangers, what a triumph to fade so unobtru- sively into concealment that the warrior passes imnoticing! There was a zest to this game. For many, many times on the frontier of those days it had happened, in communities quite as peaceful, ap- parently, as this, that the warrior stalking by had been painted for war — the war paint varied with different tribes: but was most often black with white markings — and that the children searching the woods for the cattle had not managed to escape notice. Then they had been tomahawked or their brains dashed out against trees or carried away. Just such a thing might happen at any time, any- where. You may be sure that that thought was im- pressed upon them, until it was always present in their minds. And so, later, when you read of marvellous 8 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout escapes, feats of woodcraft, wiles of strategy tliat seem incredible, remember this training from the earliest years. Later when the day's work was over and the fire was roaring in the fireplace, the elders' conversation had largely to do with the strategy and wiles of Indian warfare. These men talked of it not merely in the way of reminiscence or to tell a tale; but practically. They compared notes and exchanged ideas earnestly, as men would exchange experiences or methods of any job. Thus young Daniel crouched in the chimney corner and listening with all his eai-s learned of the innumerable wiles and stratagems in which the Indians were so skilful and ingenious; and he learned them, not the way you and I learn them — • ttS curious matters of interest — but as practical expedients to be used in life; much as you now would listen to experts talking about exactly how and where to fish where you are going on your vacation. These items of experience had been bought with blood and massacre. Each trick of the foe had probably suc- ceeded one or more times. Only thus did these pioneers learn to maintain themselves. Besides the necessity of getting in the cattle were other errands that took our youngsters abroad. In those timei< were tasks for every pair of hands, no matter how small. We of this age hardly know what Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 9 poverty is, as these men and women knew it, "We may know discomfort and squalor; but we rarely front the danger of famine, for example, face to face. These people perforce travelled life with a light pack. Like the hunter far from his base, they must take every advantage the country offered. Thus the hickory nuts, and walnuts, and beechnuts and butter- nuts, that to us mean merely a good time in the fall, to them were an essential part of the foodstuffs, and were carefully gathered and stored. That was the children's job. Then, too, there were the berries and wild fruits — blackberries, raspberries, huckleberries, wild plums, wild grapes — which were to be garnered in their proper season; and edible roots. The knowl-. edge of these, together with the possibilities of the inner bark of certain trees, came to these young people, not in the way of play, but in the course oi every-day life. Later when it became necessary, as it often did, for them to cut loose from all contact with civilization and to rely on the wilderness for every item of their food, clothing, and shelter, — save powder and lead, — they could do so. Another phase of this unique schooling was that which is now done by our games and gymnasiums. I refer to the building of their physical bodies. They had pretty good stock to start from. Their immediate forbears were picked men — picked by the energy and 10 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout restlessness of their dispositions to leave the more contented stay-at-homes and set sail into a new world; picked again from the more settled seaboard by the enterprise and audacity of their spirits to push out into a hard and dangerous wilderness. But in addition to a good heredity they had the advantage of a healthy life. There were privations and even sufferings, to be sure; but in the majority of cases these served merely to harden the fibre. Year in year out the food was wholesome and generally abundant. Besides the game, fish, berries, and other wild products they had cornbread, Indian pudding, maple sugar, milk, butter, and sweet potatoes. Their days were spent in the open air. From the time they could toddle they were given tasks within their strength, all of which required long continued muscu- lar effort. When in their teens they used the axe, drove the teams, lifted at the logs and timbers, held the plough, wrestled with the clearing and the planting of the stubborn soil. As offset to this heavy labour, which might otherwise tend to make them clumsy and musclebound, were their expeditions into the forest; at first, as we have said, after the cattle and wild nuts and berries near at home, later in pursuit of game for the family meat supply. The necessity for wariness, not only to get the game but to save their own scalps, made them as supple and endur- Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 11 ing as their home labour made them sinewy and strong. This physical prowess was further encouraged by the sports of the day. They did not have baseball, nor basket ball nor football. But when boys, or grown men, got together they played games just the same. Catch-as-catch-can wrestling was much in vogue. There were no complicated rules. You just got hold of the other fellow and tried to throw him. Technicalities did not go. It did you no good to prove that both shoulders were not on the ground; you were flat on your back, and that was enough. It got you nowhere to flop promptly and then play a defensive game flat on your tummy; you were down, and — what was the real point — ^your opponent could beat your face in or tomahawk you, were it the real thing. You were licked. They ran footraces, too, at all distances; jumped, both high and wide. One of the most important of sports was throwing a knife or a tomahawk at a mark. So, of course, was shoot- ing. About the only real game, as we understand that term, was lacrosse. I suppose you all have a theoretical knowledge of that game; some of you have seen it; and perhaps a few of you have played it. If not, look it up. It is sufficient to say here that there is no game that involves more long-continued fast running, is harder on the wind, or that requires more 12 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout endurance. When later you read some astonishing stories of feats of running performed by men escaping, or attempting to escape, from the Indians, remember all this early, easy, natural, almost unconscious train- ing. These boys exercised not at stated intervals, or between hours spent indoors, but every day, all day. One other thing. They often underwent what to most of us would seem extreme discomfort. We certainly do hate to be literally wet to the skin. Often we say we are "drenched through" when in reality we are wet outside and sort of chilly damp in a few places that touch our skin. But to be really wet through, as when one falls in a river, is to most ot us pretty tough and we think we've had a hard time, even when we have very shortly a warm house to go to. These children had no umbrellas, no waterproof coats, no rubbers. Indeed, their usual foot covering was the deerskin moccasin; and that, as the old-timer expressed it, will wet through two days before it rains. They were so often wet, so often cold, that early in life they took these conditions merely as annoying but inevitable. They slept in un warmed rooms that in winter were so cold that water in a pail or pan would freeze solid to the bottom. In the morning they had to pile out in that atmosphere, break the ice, and wash. I am not going to harrow your tender feelings Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 13 further. These things were not sufferings, were not so very terrible. I do not doubt that a certain number of my readers in the rural districts may be a good deal in the same boat themselves. But in addition to all the rest it was hardening and tempering them later to endure. You must understand the way they were raised and the training they had in order intelligently to read of their later adventures. I am tempted to digress at this point and tell you a story of five of these boys, aged from nine to thirteen years. It has nothing to do with Daniel Boone, except that it shows what this backwoods training can do toward making young lads self-reliant beyond their years. It was in the year 1785. The two Linn brothers, a boy named Brasher, one named Wells, and another whose name we do not know left home to shoot ducks* They camped overnight near the Ohio River. The fact that they were allowed thus to go alone at a dis- tance shows that the country must have been for some time quiet and that Indians were not expected. However, hardly had they returned from their shoot- ing and lighted their cooking fire when they found themselves surrounded by savages. In spite of the fact that they were completely encircled Linn and Brasher made a dash for it. Brasher was a fast run- ner and an expert dodger, even at the age of twelve, 14 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout but he stumbled over a root and was seized. Linn made better progress, and might even have broken through and escaped, but he refused to drop his ducks ! Gathered together about their own fire the Indians proceeded to question them. "Where you from.?" demanded their leader. "From Louisville," instantly answered Linn, naming a place at some distance in order to conceal the nearness of his own people. They were marched at a swift pace for many days imtil they reached the Indian town. Indians on such a journey travel steadily all the day through, without pause. They carry as provisions only com and maple sugar. Their pace is rapid and over rough country. If any captive lags or falls behind, he is tomahawked. Yet these boys of from nine to thirteen kept pace with their captors. At the Indian town the women and children rushed out to meet them shouting abuse, pelting them with dirt and sticks, finally approaching near enough to pinch and slap them. The Kentucky boys drew close in a little group. Finally Linn picked out the biggest Indian boy of the lot and knocked him down with a straight left. It appears that as a lead the straight left was a complete surprise to these rough- and-tumble right-handed fighters. That particular Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout IS Indian boy was so much hurt, or — more likely — ^so much astonished, that he did not get up; but another promptly flew at young Linn for revenge. Linn licked this one. That was too much. Every young- ster in the village piled in. The white boys stood back to back and met them. It was Kentucky against the field. The squaws too tried to mix in the rumpus, but the Indian men, interested in this battle against odds, forbade them. And in spite of those odds the white boys won the battle. They were adopted into the tribe, and to a boy entered into the life wholeheartedly and with appar- ent enthusiasm, as though they had no regrets for, had forgotten, their own people. This was dissimu- lation so well carried out, even by the nine-year-old^ as completely to deceive the sharp-eyed watchfulness keen for any signs of grief, homesickness or regret. They took part in the himting, in the wrestling, the riding and racing. Gradually they gained the confidence of the Indians until at last they were sen^ on a fishing expedition in charge of a very old Indian and a squaw. Down the river they consulted anxiously and changed their minds a number of times. To get home they must cross alone many miles of dense forest wilderness absolutely unknown to them. Think how hard it is to keep from getting lost in a 16 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout very moderate-sized swamp bottomland, and realize what that means. This wilderness, moreover, was full of enemies; and they were certain to be pursued by the most skilled woodcraftsmen as soon as their absence was discovered. They had almost no food; and no weapons except their knives. They were, as we have seen, only boys. Try to think of yourself in their places. Yet their hesitation was on account of none of these things. They were matters-of- course, only to be expected. But they knew that if they were to get clear away it would be absolutely necessary for them to kill the old Indian and the squaw; and that was a dreadful decision for boys to face. But it was their only chance. Shortly the tribe would be moving so far away as to make thought of escape hopeless. The deed was done. It took them just three weeks to reach the river, three weeks in the wilderness without food or shelter other than they could pick up by the way, without other directions than those their wits suggested, and at the last pursued by the Indians. They found their way, they fed themselves on the berries, barks, and roots their education had taught them; they eluded the savages; and so at last came out just where they wanted to be, on the bank of the river opposite Louis- ville. Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 17 Here they shouted until they were seen. But the people of the town were afraid to cross to them. It resembled a very old Indian stratagem. Again and again apparent white people, speaking good English, had appeared on river banks opposite towns or flat' boats floating down the current. They told piteous tales of escape from captivity, of imminent pursuit, and begged frantically for rescue before the Indians at their heels should appear and destroy them. No decent man could resist such an appeal. Yet when the flatboat had been swung to the shore, or when a rescue party had crossed from the town, suddenly had uprisen hundreds of warriors, and the decoys among them. A good many massacres had taken place in this manner, enough to make that particular stratagem well known. So though the boys used every means at their command to carry conviction, they failed. The river was here too wide to talk across. "We'll be caught if we stay here," said Linn desperately at last, **the Indians are not far behind as." They turned up-stream and then, with no other tools than their knives, they set about making a raft. They went up-stream so that when they crossed the current would not take them below the town. They collected pieces of driftwood and down logs small 18 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout enough to manage, and bound them together with strips of bark. (Would you know, as they did, just what bark would come off in strips at that time of year and would be tough enough to use thus?) The raft was done in a very short time. Four sat on it and Linn swam behind^ pushing. So real had been the necessity of haste that before they had much more than reached mid-stream the Indians appeared on the banks behind them! It sounds almost too much like a moving-picture plot; but it is true. The Indians fired at them, and the bullets splashed the water all about them; but they arrived safely. So when you read, or someone tells you, that Daniel Boone or his contemporaries were "ignorant and uneducated," don't you believe them. Edu- cation is the learning of things that fit one for life. These men may have been to a certain extent illiter- ate in that they did not read many books; but they read life and nature more closely than we ever will, and to greater purpose than most of us will ever read anything. Daniel Boone's spelling was on a free and untrammelled principle of his own, though he could express himself well and clearly; but it was not one per cent, as free and untrammelled as our readings would be of the things that meant happiness, life, or death in his kind of life. He was a very highly edu- cated man; and this is proved by his character, his Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 19 intelligence, and his wisdom. The value of any kind of education is not whether you know more of certain things — book or otherwise — than the other fellow, but what intelligence, wisdom, and character you de- velop by its means. One item of this education, and one of the most important, I have left until the last. The entire meat supply of those days came from the wild game. If a man would provide for his family he must be a hunter, and a good one. It is a mistake to suppose that abundance of game always means easier hunting. It may be easier to find where game is, but the indi- vidual animal was just as wary then as now, and its successful pursuit demanded as much woodcraft. iBesides the usual supply of fresh meat from this source, it was customary also to lay aside each year sufficient dried meat in strips, or "jerkey." It might be interesting for you to know that the word " jerkey " is a corruption of an ancient Peruvian word from the time of the Incas, char qui, meaning dried meat. Therefore at proper times of year, in addition to the usual short excursions near at hand, the settlers of those days used to make specifically hunting trips at a distance for the purpose of laying in as much meat as they could to last over the winter. Hunting was not only a sport but a serious occupation. Fortunately the game was abundant. Deer 20 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout roamed the forests in herds; bear were incredibly nmnerous; squirrels and grouse were everywhere; wild turkey frequented the woods in large flocks. Although as yet beyond the reach of young Boone, buffalo and elk swarmed but just over the seaboard mountains. Youngsters were not merely permitted to learn to shoot, nor left more or less to their own devices in the process; they were painstakingly taught to shoot just as soon as they could lift, how- ever waveringly, the long, heavy rifles of the day. After a certain amount of preliminary instruction the small boy got a licking if he missed; and he was openly shamed if he hit a squirrel anywhere but in the head. At the age of twelve he was made a "fort soldier ", and assigned a particular loophole in case of attack. In all this varied education young Daniel Boone took part and profited. Indeed he may be said to have been a precocious scholar, graduating younger than his mates and with higher honours. He had a true passion for hunting, a passion that lasted all his life and into his extreme old age. In very early boyhood he had a cabin all of his own, built by him- self, at some distance from home, where he used to live for considerable periods by himself, for the purpose of better hunting. This most wholesome of sports took him constantly far afield, led him into Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 21 All the nooks and intricate byways of tlie wilder- ness about him, coaxed him into grandeurs and beauties that stay-at-home pioneering could never have shown him. That is what makes the chase of wild animals noble. That is why the man who kills his deer on a still hunt is miles above the one who stops at a salt lick or runway; why he who makes his own stalk can look down on the man who tails a guide. Why is a mountain sheep a trophy and a merino sheep not.^ Because the former requires skill and knowledge to acquire. If somebody else is furnishing the skill and knowledge, and you are just trailing along and pulling the trigger when you are told to, why not shoot the merino? It means just as much, really: you can make the actual riiSe shot as distant as you please. But if you do shoot the mountain sheep, or the elk, or whatever it is, after a guide has done all the real work for you, and you hang its head on the wall, aren't you tacitly indulging in a little false pretence .^^ A mountain sheep head, in a way, is a sort of advertisement or certificate that a certain amount of woodcraft and especial skill has been used to get it. That is the only reason why a tame sheep's head is not just as good. If you hang it on your wall, as your trophy, you imply that you had and used that wood- craft and especial skill. Did you.? The real aim £2 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout of sportsmanlike hunting, the real value of the hunting instinct, is not the killing of animals; it is the acquiring of qualities of wisdom and hardihood and patience and knowledge that will enable you to find and kill animals. CHAPTER m SINCE the two most important single items in the life and development of those times were the axe and the rifle, and since fire- arms and shooting are interesting in themselves, it will be amusing and worth while to talk about them a little. I suppose it would not be an exaggeration to say that from cradle to grave one or the other of these instruments was in the hands of any pioneer during fully half his waking hours. Of the axe there is not much of importance. The !A.merican pioneer developed the well-balanced instru- ment we use to-day. Before him — and indeed in many parts of Europe still — the helve was straight and clumsy. But every frontier farm had to be cleared by chopping, and the wielders of the axes soon refined the old implement to a long, slender affair with a light head. The material was softer than that of our present-day axes. It blunted more easily; but in compensation it could be sharpened readily on stones to be picked up almost anywhere. As to the rifle, there is the widest misconception. Those who do not know very much about rifles are 24 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout quite apt to ascribe impossible accuracy to them. James Fenimore Cooper had a lot to do with that by telling in his Leatherstocking Tales of Hawkeye hitting nail heads at a hundred yards, clipping the heads off soaring hawks, placing one bullet on top of another, and a whole variety of wonderful tales. The tradition has been carried forward by romancers and just plain and fancy liars ever since. Now item one: you cannot see a nail head at one hundred yards; and anybody who can hit what he cannot see is wasting his time when there are so many other miracles to be performed. Item two: there is such a thing as the "error of dispersion." That is to say, if you place any rifle in a machine rest and from it fire a series of shots, you will not find the bullets superimposed one over the other: they will be found grouped very close together, and the diameter of that group is the error of dispersion. This error is due to a number of things, some in- herent in the weapon and the ammunition, and some due to temperature, wind, barometric pressure, and the like. The error of dispersion at Cooper's hun- dred yards for the most accurate rifle ever made would average an inch or two wider than any nail head. But James Fenimore Cooper is not alone re- sponsible. We get many honestly intended stories Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 25 of the prowess of "a man I know." One man of my acquaintance used to turn an interesting purple at even an eyebrow raised over his story of an acquaintance who habitually killed running coyotes at eight hundred yards with a 30-30 carbine. I do not know the exact error of dispersion of that weapon at that range but it is somewhere between ten and forty feet! And, mind you, in considering only the error of dispersion we are assuming that the shooter sees perfectly, holds perfectly, can esti- mate distance to a yard, lets off perfectly. Having thus disposed of the dispersion error as a reason for distrusting the Dick Dead-eyes, we will now examine another little joker called the triangle of error. You lay your rifle across some sort of solid rest; and, without touching it, you look through the sights. About forty feet away you have a friend with a pencil, and a piece of white paper pinned against a box. The friend moves the point of the pencil here and there at your command until the sights are accurately aligned on it. Then you yell Mark! and the friend makes a little dot — invisible to you — where the point of the pencil happens to be. He removes the pencil, you remove your eye from the sights, and try it again of course without dis- turbing the gun. If your eye is absolutely accurate the second pencil dot should be on top of the first. 26 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout Only it isn't. The triangle formed by three trials is the above-mentioned triangle of error. It meas- ures the variations of sighting your eye has be- trayed you into through the fixed sights of an un- moved gun. The size of the triangle will humiliate you. It can be reduced by practice; and it must be reduced by practice if you are to become a good shot; but it will never entirely disappear. Its error must be added to — or, in case of a lucky shot, subtracted from — the dispersion error. Up to this moment you have not touched the gun, yet already the Leatherstocking feats have been shown to be absurd. Now you must introduce the personal element, the consideration of whether you are a good shot or not. Daniel Boone and his companions were wonderful shots, but they were not perfect shots. No man is that. And this personal error, no matter how small, must be added to the mechanical errors mentioned above. No wonder people get a false idea of the capabilities of rifle shooting, so that when they see some really good shooting it does not seem much to them. And no wonder those who do know something about it come to distrust all the old stories. But these have gone to the other extreme in their" disparagement of the arms of those days. They are wilHng to acknowledge that the men who used Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 27 them were wonderful shots, considering the arms they had to use; but that with modern weapons they would have been very much better shots. For the old flint-lock rifles of those days they have a good- humoured contempt. They point out the ex- cessively long, heavy barrel, the short, light stock with its scooped butt plate; the simple open sights; and they clinch the matter by calhng attention to the flint lock and what they think must have been its slow action, amounting practically to "hang fire." In contrast they show us the modern light, high-velocity rifle with its balance, its aperture or telescopic sights, its true, quick-acting locks, the speed and precision of its percussion ignition. The legend emanating from this body of opinion is that accurate shooting, as we imderstand it, must have been quite impossible. Well, let us see. The typical "Kentucky rifle" looks to us like a uselessly and stupidly clumsy afiFair, to be sure. It was so long that a tall man could rest his chin on its muzzle when the butt was on the ground. In contrast to its heavy, long octagonal barrel, the stock was short and light, which made it muzzle heavy. The low sights consisted of a plain bar with a nick in it for the rear, and a knife-blade of silver or bone in front. It was fired, of course, by 28 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout a flint lock. Boone's rifle, which is still in ex- istence, was five feet three and a half inches long, of which the barrel was over four feet. It carried a round ball that weighed 55 to the pound, or 130 grains — 15 grains more than a .32 Winchester. As the balls were round, however, the calibre was about 44. It weighed eleven pounds. Now why did Boone pick that particular kind of weapon? Most people do not realize that there were then plenty of what we call light and handy rifles in existence, and they shot well, too. All sorts of ideas were tried out very thoroughly. There^ was plenty of opportunity to experiment. If Boone and his companions and contemporaries deliber- ately chose all their lives to carry eleven pounds of metal, to burden themselves with five feet or so of gun, then they must have had good reasons. As a matter of fact, they did have good reasons. In the backwoods, remote from all sources of supply, economy of powder and lead was greatly desirable. It became an absolute necessity when, as did Boone, the hunter cut loose for a year at a time. He should be able to vary his charge of powder according to the distance he had to shoot and the game to be shot. Now a patched round bullet in a barrel with a slow twist is the only sort whose consistent shooting is not affected by great Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 29 variations of powder charge. A rifle shooting a long or conical bullet must be resighted with any radical increase or reduction of the charge. It will be just as accurate with the new charge, per- haps, but the bullets will hit to the right or left of the old sighting. Increase of powder behind a patched round ball, however, does not affect the sighting at all. It will merely add velocity, and so cause it to shoot farther and hit harder. The sighting does not have to be changed. Thus the hunter when shooting small game at close ranges would often use but a thimbleful of powder, while for extreme distances he would pour in double! Each man tried out his own rifle with different charges until he knew exactly what it would do. Usually about half the weight of the bullet in powder made a full load. He took the same sight up to about fifty yards with the thimble- ful charge that he would at one hundred with the full charge, or a hundred and fifty with a double charge. There is a very persistent legend, which probably you have heard, that they used to measure the powder by pouring it on a bullet held in the palm of the hand until the bullet was completely covered. No such inaccurate method would have been tolerated for a moment by any good shot.. When once the proper charge was determined the 30 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout hunter made him a little charge cup to hold just the proper amount, usually from the tip of a deer's horn, and this was suspended by the bottom (to keep it dry) from the powder horn. Thus we have found a very good reason for the round ball, and for the fact that the front and rear sights were fixed. They did not need to be moved because the point of aim was always the same: the powder was varied for different ranges, and as there was no increased "drift" it was unnecessary to move them sideways. But why the very long, thick, and therefore heavy barrel? We are usually told that it was to "burn all the powder." It is a fact, however, that in a machine rest a barrel a foot, or even eighteen inches, shorter is just as accurate. As a matter of fact, the reason is the same as for the round ball: scarcity of ammunition. The aim had to be deadly. It might be added that without muzzle loaders, and without the advantage of our magazines, it was extremely desirable to make the first shot count! And so, again, the aim had to be deadly. It must be re- membered that these weapons were developed in a country where most of the shooting was done in the deep shade of forests. Aperture sights were out of the question: and aperture sights are the only sort th^t do not blur near the eye. Try it. Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout SI You will find it impossible to focus sharply on the rear sight, the front sight, and the object of aim all at the same time. One of them must be blurred somewhat. Usually it is the rear sight, because a slight blur there is of lesser importance. How can this be obviated? By getting the eyes farther away from the rear sight. Try that. Lay your rifle across a table and then look over the sights from a little distance back. Both the sights and the object of aim will be clear and well defined; and naturally that makes for better accuracy. The only way to gain this result is to build a very long barrel and place the rear sight some distance down it. For remember, if you want accuracy there must be considerable distance between the front and rear sights. In addition to this consideration there is no question that a strong man can hold a muzzle- heavy gun steadier than he can a muzzle-light gun; and these were all strong men. Besides, the thick barrel vibrates less than the thin barrel, has less "whip", as it is called. A modern light rifle often has a tremendous "whip", sufficient to throw the bullet far off the mark, but since the whip is always the same it can be com- pensated for by the sights. If the powder charge is changed, however, then the amount and perhaps the direction of the whip changes, so that your former 32 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout sighting would be no good at all. That is one reason why reduced charges are so unsatisfactory in modern rifles. But these thick, heavy barrels reduced whip to almost nothing. It was still further reduced by the material from which the barrels were made, a very soft iron, so soft that a shaving could be cut from the edge of the octagon barrel without dulling a knife. The fact that they made the knives showed that they could make harder metal; but this soft iron had less vibration, less whip. There was also less recoil to a heavy gun. That does not sound important; certainly these husky fron- tiersmen ought not to have minded that, especially in view of the "kick" we get along with in our rifles. It was not important when the butt was rested against the shoulder. But very often the butt was rested on the upper arm, or even in the crook of the elbow. It enabled the shooter to hold looser and across his body, which made for steadiness: but it was especially practised because he could shoot from behind a tree without exposing more than an eye and his forearm. And that was a healthy thing to do! The sights were set low on the barrel not only for the obvious reason that they were less liable to in- jury, but also to prevent the rifleman from "drawing coarse," that is taking in too much of the front sight Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 33 and hence shooting too high. We do that on purpose sometimes when shooting at longer ranges, but they got the same effect, it must be remembered, by in- creasing the powder charges. As has been said, the sights were in forest country adjusted for one hundred yards for full charges and one hundred and fifty yards for the double charges. In the open country and in war they made these point-blank ranges longer. Shooting across the body and from behind trees accounts for the deep scooped butt-plates and for the shortness and "drop" of the stocks. On the right eide of the latter was a trap with a hinged brass cover for patches and grease. You may be sure that the brass was never polished! Indeed when the metal anywhere began to show bright it was rubbed with the crushed pod of a green hazelnut or some other vegetable acid. No one wanted a glint of light to betray him to his foes. The bore at the muzzle was very slightly enlarged to permit of seating the bullet easily, which rested on a greased patch and was rammed home so as just to touch the powder, but not to crush the grains. That is another silly legend, that the bullet must be rammed down hard "until the ramrod jumps out of the barrel." Such a procedure would give an as- tounding variety of pressures; and our forebears knew better. Home-made linen was used for the patches. 84 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout It is generally buckskin in the story books; but buck- skin was too thick and was never used when linen could be had. It permitted quicker loading, because the bullet did not need to be forced in to make a tight fit; it made a gas check that prevented the gaa from getting into the barrel ahead of the bullet; it prevented stripping the ball, and so "leading" the barrel; and it made possible firing many times with- out cleaning. The flint lock, of course, they used because they had no other. If they could have had percussion they would have been the more pleased. But a properly made flint lock was not too slow for accurate shooting. They are judged mainly by the crude specimens to be found on the old Brown Bess muskets and similar atrocities to be seen hanging on our walls. These had a ponderous hammer with a long sweep, a cumbersome heavy trigger, an appreciable hang fire. Click — floo — 6an^.' went they. But the rifles of the hunters were furnished with finely adjustable set triggers that went off at a touch. For the benefit of those who do not know: a set trigger outfit consists of two triggers; when one is pressed it "sets" the other, which will then go off literally "at a touch." Until set, however, it is safe. The spring, lock, and pan all worked smoothly and accurately together, "like two sides of a wolf trap," as somebody expressed Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 35 It . " The mainspring," wrote the same man, " has an even velvety feel, soft yet quick and sharp. It shot with remarkable evenness. This was due to the fact that the same amount of gas escaped from the touch hole each time it was fired. The touch hole was bushed with platinum and therefore never burned out. And, finally, I never saw this arm misfire. Its owner never used any but the finest French flints, thin and very sharp. They were semi-transparent, and one would fire 150 shots." That was something all these men insisted on, the thin, clear flint, scraped very fine and clean, and held by very tight-set screws. That, with the other de- tails noted above, practically obviated hang fires. Another thing they were extremely particular about was the quality of the powder. They made gunpowder in America then, but it was of an inferior quality, consumed mainly by farmers. Occasionally a backwoodsman might employ it on game near home but never, if he could help it, on any serious business. He wanted French powder, with its fine, hard grains of a glossy black. This was quicker and more uniform in action, and when it was used the rifle did not need wiping out so often. Caked pow- der dirt, as we all know, is fatal to accuracy. This powder was carried in a powder horn of from a half pound to a pound capacity. It was hterally 36 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout a cow or buffalo horn, but was far from the ugly clumsy makeshifts we see hanging on old muskets. Our frontiersman used to scrape and scrape again until the horn was almost as thin as isinglass. When the grains of the powder could be seen through the horn, it was considered a good job. From the tip of the horn depended by a thong the charger, hung mouth down to keep it dry. Never in any circum- stances did they use metal powder horns. They were made even then, but they were used exclusively by the farmer and the military. Powder carried for any length of time in copper or iron is sure to de- teriorate because these metals "sweat," — accumulate moisture at different temperatures. Powder came from the factories in canisters, but was invariably transferred to wooden kegs when it was to be stored for any length of time; or in gourds for lighter trans- portation. Lewis and Clark had the ingenious idea of carrying their main powder supply in caskets of lead, which does not sweat; and they made the cas- kets of just enough lead to melt into bullets for the amount of powder they contained. The bullets were carried in a pouch, which, by the way, was called the shot pouch, never the bullet pouch. With this outfit the first-class shot could not drive nails at a hundred yards, nor superimpose balls one over the other, but he could do excellent shooting. Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 37 In comparison with what anybody else could do in those days with any other weapon then extant, he did marvellous shooting. Muskets were elsewhere in almost universal use, long smooth bores. Their bore was a little larger than that of a 12-gauge shot- gun, and carried a round ball of about 600 grains. If carefully aimed it would hit a mark a foot square at forty yards. At one hundred yards, where Cooper's riflemen were driving nails, about half the balls would go into a four-foot square. At two hundred yards it is on record that an "expert" triumphantly planted a bullet on a mark eighteen feet square! This was all very well when all you had to do was to hit a whole regiment in the close formation of that day, but when it came to a squirrel's head or an In- dian's eye ! It is a little diflScult to get accurate records, for they did not keep them. The men did a good deal of match shooting, but the proposition was to come closest to a pin point dead centre. A cross was marked on a piece of board, and the contestant pinned over the cross anything he pleased, large or small, to aim at. After he had fired they took down the paper and examined to see how near the centre of the cross his bullet had hit. It is related quite casually of Daniel Boone that at a siege by Indians he shot through the head a man perched in a tree two 88 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout hundred paces away. That would be excellent shoot- ing to-day. Hangar, a British officer, says of the backwoodsman that "Provided he can draw good and true sight he can hit the head of a man at two hundred yards." As you have learned, it was customary to shoot squirrels in the head! Of course, that is close range, from twenty to forty yards. It seems prob- able that within the limits of their range, even with the "clumsy flint-lock rifles," they held even with the best shots of our day, making up in practice and care of detail what little they lacked in refinement of weapon. And how they could handle that weapon ! Kephart tells of an old-timer who, on request, gave an exhibi- tion of loading. He performed the feat in under ten seconds. This was a percussion lock. Probably a flint lock would be about as fast, for the time neces- sary to cap a nipple or prime a pan would be ap- proximately the same. It was a commonplace that any hunter should be able to reload at a gallop on horseback, or when running fast afoot. That was no light feat of sleight-of-hand — to pour the powder in the muzzle, ram home the ball, prime the pan. It strikes me there must have been a lot of powder spilled in the learning! Of course in the rapid close-range work of a pitched bnttle extreme care was unnecessary. Speed was. Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 39 much more important. The powder was poured in by guess direct from the horn. The bullets were held in the mouth. Without the greased patch they were small enough to drop down the barrel of their own weight: and being wet with saliva they stuck to the powder and so did not roll out again. But that 'vas for pressure of business. Whenever he had the seconds to spare the frontiersman loaded carefully, and was ready to pick off a foe who exposed no more than an eye or an elbow from behind the tree. CHAPTER IV WHEN the young Daniel Boone was about fifteen years old his father decided to move farther south into a newer country. You may be sure Daniel eagerly seconded that move. Although the surroundings of Reading would have seemed wild enough for us, young Boone already knew them so thoroughly that his restless spirit de- manded new countries to explore. They trekked across Maryland and Virginia on their journey, prob- ably transporting all their goods in wagons, and ac- companied by their little herds. This must have been a delightful journey through a beautiful coun- try, a perpetual picnic of camps by the wayside. They settled finally near a little river called the South Yadkin in the western part of North Carolina. This was then a region wild enough and rugged enough to suit any spirit of adventure. Here Daniel grew up to man's full estate in his father's house. There was an immense labour to be performed in building, in clearing, and in planting; and here he rounded out, brought to perfection, the education so well begun. His time was divided between being a farmer and being a hunter; with, however, con- 40 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 41 siderable emphasis on the latter. Plenty of good farmers were to be had, but very few hunters as crafty, as well-informed, and as successful as Boone. To him was confided a great deal of the business of hunting, the procuring of the meat supply, for the rest of the family realized that from a given expendi- ture of powder, lead, and time Daniel could produce better results than any two of them. And results were what they must have. Sport came second. As Daniel had a true passion for hunting, everybody was satisfied and happy. In due time other families moved into the neigh- bourhood. Among them were the Bryans. Within a brief period Daniel met Rebecca Bryan, and within' briefer period after that they were married. The wedding was typical of the day. People came from many miles, sometimes in vehicles, but more generally on horseback. Some had crude saddles of a sort, but many rode quite simply with blanket and surcingle, the women sitting behind and clinging tight to the men's waists. Everybody was out for a good time. The practical joker was in his element. The "road," which was most often a narrow trail through the mountain forests, they blocked by trees felled across it, so that the travellers had either to jump, to make long detours, or to do a little axe work. They tied vines across at a good height to knock off a hat 42 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout That does not sound like much fun, but you must remember there were plenty of girls there; and every- body could show ofiF, and help them over the logs, and disentangle them from the vines, and generally skylark about. Sometimes the jokers would make a mock ambuscade, and there would be much firing of blank charges, and shrieks from the girls who would be so scared that thoughtlessly they would cling tight to their cavaliers. After the wedding ceremony there was a grand feast of beef, pork, fowls, venison, wild turkey, bear meat, potatoes, cabbages, and corn bread. Then they danced square dances and reels on the punch- eon floor to the squeaking of a fiddle. The young couple moved farther back into the wilderness, nearer the mountain, and built them- selves their home. The neighbours, of course, helped when cooperation was necessary. They called these occasions "raisings." After Boone had cut and trimmed the logs for his house, then his friends gathered with their wives and other womenfolk and bringing their horses and axes. They notched the logs, laid the mudsills, erected the frame of the house, hauling the logs up on skidways to their places. The horses strained, the axes rang, the yellow chips flew, the men shouted. And over in the maple grove the women had fires going and pots Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 43 bubbling, so that when dinner time came another feast was under way, with the squeaky fiddle not far off before they turned in under the open sky. In this manner the house and the barns and the corn- crib went up like magic, so that when these neigh- bours, shouting their good-byes, trooped away down the forest aisles the Boones had only to chink and roof their new habitations before moving in. A great deal of frontier work was done in this fashion. It was much more efficient, and loads more fun, to get together. There were " log rollings " when the trees that had been felled to make the clearing were rolled off to the edge of the forest; and "quilt- ings" when the women sewed together thousands ot jscraps to make crazy-quilts. When the corn crops had all been gathered and housed, they assembled at "husking bees." They stripped the husks and flung the yellow ears aside to the tune of laughter and again that squeaky fiddle. If a girl uncovered a red ear of the corn she must be kissed by the nearest young man. So it was with much of the similar work. Each man did his own job; but also he helped do his neighbour's, and his neighbour in turn helped him. Tasks that would have been interminable, lonesome, and tiresome, thus became pleasant. As the years went on the little valley of the Yad- kin slowly became settled. The smoke from Boone's 44 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout cabin was not the only one that rose agamst the mountain. As his neighbours crowded closer it be- came necessary to set boundaries and limits to his fields. He began to need elbow room. Some people have written that Boone was a mis- anthrope, hating his fellow-beings and the world. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The writ- ings of those who knew him are filled with his kind- liness, his neighbourliness, his charity and wisdom in his dealings with men. But his was the pioneer spirit. He was interested in things as long as they were under construction; but he lost all interest in them when they were finished and ready to be en- joyed. "Something hid behind the ranges" was always whispering to him. And "something hid behind the ranges" was in this case no mere figure of speech. All the settle- ment of the Atlantic seaboard had been to the east of the AUeghanies, and had stopped short when that rampart was encountered. Concerning unexplored country that lay beyond, the wildest stories were told. As one little sample: it was told, and believed, that in that land there were snakes with horns on the end of their tails, which they used ag- weapons. One of these horns, stuck into a tree, no niatter how big, blasted it at once! No one knew the truth of them, for none could speak at first hand. There Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 45 were the dark blue mountains, and their skyline lay sharp against the sunset, but on what the last rays' were looking when they sank below this unknown world no man could say. Out from secret paths occasionally came small parties of Indians bent on trade or sightseeing. They spoke of noble rivers, deep forests, wide plains, abun- dant game. But they spoke of it also, and fiercely, as a "dark and bloody ground," that no tribe owned or inhabited, but in which all tribes hunted and made war; a country of perils, of certain death, or cap- tivity that would never end. What hope had the white man, no matter how bold and self-reliant, to cross the labyrinth of pathless and frowning ranges, to thread these great forests, to escape or make head against the hordes of fierce beasts and fiercer savages that there roamed? Only a very strong expedition would seem to have any chance at all; and by what means, by what road, could a strong party get there; and how maintain itself when arrived.^ The fore- most minds of the day realized that there lay the country of the future, but the time was not yet. Nevertheless there it lay, an ever-present lure to the soul of adventure. We can imagine many hardy men, like Boone, smoking their after-supper pipes before the doors of their cabins, looking upon that gilded skyline with longing and speculative eye. 46 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout It was a theme of never-ending discussion around the winter fires. No story concerning it was too wild or too absurd. A legend, a formidable legend, grew up about it, its dangers, its beauties, the fertility of its soil, the brilliance of its birds, the swarms of its game, the deadliness of its perils. To such a man as Boone this legend could not fail to have a strong appeal. The appeal was strength- ened not only by the crowding settlement of the Yadkin valley, but by the fact that at this time the exactions and abuses of the ojQficers of the law be- came very oppressive. The governors sent out from England to administer the colonies were all of the aristocratic class, trained in the traditions of that dass, fond of show and luxury, and inclined to ap- point men of their own ilk for the lesser oflBces. By the time that spirit had filtered down to the outlying settlements it had become petty. Fees were charged by these lawyers and court officials for the most trivial of daily business : one man sued another at the slightest provocation, being urged thereto by these same officials, who would profit by it; and you may be sure the litigation was not permitted to die. The settlers, with increasing ease, began to rival each other in show and ornament. To a great extent the old intimate friendliness of a common danger and a conmion privation shared was giving way to th^ Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 47 more complicated relationships of society. All this irked Boone. He was a man of simple friendliness, simple but true justice, a hearty despiser of scheming or cunning. And, strangely enough, in spite of his long record of warfare later, he was a man of peace; preferring, in spite of a sociable nature, solitude to the wild wranglings about him. But he was a proper pacifist in that he would fight for his own right to be peaceful! These considerations, strongly re enforced by his adventurous spirit and his love of hunting, were working him toward a climax of resolve. The " some- thing hid behind the ranges" was calling him louder and louder. He might have gone, irresponsibly, at any time, for he was bold and enterprising; but he was not longing for a mere hunting trip. Somewhere in that vast wilderness must be a place where men could live again in peace with each other; in the simplicity of the early days. But not just yet, in the cares of family life and making a living, did the vision form to him as of "one ordained by God to open a wilderness to a people." CHAPTER V jkT THIS precise moment there drifted into the ZjL valley of the Yadkin a man named John -*- -^ Finley who had actually been over the mountains and had come back to tell the tale! He was a bachelor without ties, and he and a number of others like him had formed a hunting party and had traversed a portion of what is now Kentucky and Tennessee. They, like the other wandering hunters and trappers of this and other far countries, were primarily adventurers, out for new game fields, prac tical men who wanted meat and furs; and they had ^o interest at all in the possibilities of the country for settlement. The Indians, ignorant as yet that such little advance parties would mean to their country what the white man had meant to the Atlantic seaboard, disdained to attack them. They returned and you may be sure that in every cabin, in every crossroads store, their tales and descriptions were listened to with the greatest eagerness. They had been in a country concerning which men's wonder had long been exercised. Before, in the language of Judge Marshall, " the country be- 48 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 49 yond the Cumberland mountain still appeared to the generality of the people of Virginia almost as ob- scure and doubtful as America itself to the people of Europe before the voyage of Columbus. A country there was — of this none could doubt; but whether land or water, mountain or plain, fertility or barren- ness predominated; whether inhabited by men or beasts, or both, or neither, they knew not." Now Finley and his friends could resolve some of these doubts. And you may be certain that Boone was one of his most eager listeners. Indeed it is related that he took Finley with him to his cabin, and there kept him for some months as guest, while each evening he listened to the hunter's glowing tales. Nevertheless, it was not the custom of these men to leap at things rashly. They believed Finley 's stor- ies of the richness and attractions of the country and the abundance of the game; but they knew also, by sad experience, the great power of the Indian. Any party of settlers, with the mountains between them- selves and the settlements, would have to shift entirely for itself; and then would depend for its very life on the numbers and ferocity of the savages. They knew that while Finley and his party had come through, their safety was due to the fact that they were the first to cross the mountains and the Indians they had encountered had not known what to do 50 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout We will discuss later the Indian of that day, but it is sufficient to say here that he was not individually inclined to be unfriendly. Matters of personal re^- venge, or matters of tribal policy made him hostile. But by now the news that at last the first white men had crossed the mountains from the east would have spread through all the tribes. The elders and the wise men would have heard of it. And these elders and wise men, of the most intelligent of our Indians, would have had time to think the thing over. They could not fail to perceive that a little beginning would end inevitably in the settlement of the whole country. They had seen that happen many times before. So it was extremely unlikely that a second party, even of hunters, would be permitted without pretty careful scrutiny; while an expedition of set- tlers would take the gravest risks. To the Indian intelligence the stray hunters and especially the traders from the north and northeast were of differ- ent portent. Nevertheless, in the Boone cabin it was resolved that, if possible, a party of men should be formed to visit the new land under the guidance of John Finley. They were to explore, to spy out the possibilities for settlement, to estimate the risks. Then they would return; and, if it seemed wise, organize an expedition of settlers. Incidentally^ they would hunt and trap,' Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 51 and the peltries would pay them for their time and trouble. Rebecca Boone listened to these plans and approved. Her sons were by now old enough to take their share of the work; and she was a true fron- tiersman's wife, ready to do her part. After much discussion four other men were in- vited. They were John Stuart,* Joseph Holden, James Murray, and William Cool; all steady, courage- ous men, and graduates of the great school of wood- craft we have described. They started on the first of May, 1769, selecting a date when the weather was most likely to be good. Since the routes were unknown, they went afoot in- stead of horseback, as was the custom ordinarily. *' Their dress," says Peck, "was of the description usually worn at that period by all forest rangers. The outside garment was a hunting shirt, or loose open frock, made of dressed deerskins. Leggins or drawers of the same material covered the lower ex- tremities, to which was appended a pair of moccasins for the feet. The cape or collar of the hunting shirt and the seams of the leggins were adorned with fringes. The undergarments were of coarse cotton." They wore leather belts, with the buckles in the rear both to avoid glitter and catching in the brush. The tomahawk was slung on the right side of the belt. The bullet, or "shot," pouch was swung on a strap *See note on p. 67. 52 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout over the left shoulder and hung on the right side, the powder horn immediately above it. The knife was in the belt on the left side. Each man carried also a small pack containing extras, chiefly powder and lead. They had little in the way of bedding, no extra clothes, no shelters, almost no food, none of the things we take when we think we are "roughing it" severely. The wilderness was to be their home, and from the wilderness they must take all they needed. If it rained, they must contrive a shelter from the materials at hand, or else go wet. If they became hungry, the wilderness must supply them food. They attacked the journey boldly, and were al- most at once cursed with bad weather. All day they had to travel in the rain, through wet brush that soaked them even more thoroughly than mere rain could ever do. Near nightfall they made their camp. For this they selected a big down-log on a flat space, cleared out in front of it, set upright forked poles with a cross pole seven or eight feet from the logs; laid other poles from the cross pole over to the log: on them placed bark or skins or anything handy that would shed water, and so became possessed of a lean-to shelter that would keep out the rain. The big down-log was the back wall, the height of the forked poles in front determined the slant of the roof, and that was arranged not only best to shed the rain^j Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 53 but also most effectively to reflect down the heat from the fire. Both in the location of the fire and in the building of it they took the greatest pains. Camp was always placed in a secluded hollow, or in a thicket whence, under the most careful scrutiny, no gleam of light could escape. When in imminent danger of Indians sometimes no fire at all would be made, and the men would lie close to each other for the sake of warmth, but as they had almost no blankets at all, this was avoided whenever possible. The fire was urgently needed, not only for warmth and for cooking, but also to dry out daily their sodden belongings. From the slanting roof the heat re- flected downward. It is astonishing how comfortable one can be in these circumstances even in the coldest weather and with but a single blanket. However, it did not rain all the time. One month and seven days after they had left the valley of the Yadkin, late in the afternoon, they struggled up the last ascents of the formidable mountains and looked ahead to the west. The skyline of a hill has ever a remarkable fascination: always one is eager to see what lies beyond, and almost invariably one hastens his steps as he nears the point where he can see. Imagine the eagerness of these men who were at last, after GiVe weeks of hard travel, to look upon a new and strange land! 54 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout They had come out opposite one of the headwater* of the Kentucky River. Immediately at their feet, of course, rolled the billows of the lesser ranges and of the foothills, but creeping out from that and rising to the horizon opposite their eyes lay a rich and beau- tiful country of forests and openings, of low hills and vales, and a vast level plain. The details were lost in the golden mist of evening, but enough could be seen to justify Finley's tales. Long they stood, leaning on their rifles, gazing in a muse of speculation or anticipation each after his desires. Perhaps it was from this high point that Boone received his inspira- tion that he was ordained by God to open an empir? to a people. They camped that night in a ravine that headed near by. Early next morning they descended ex- citedly to the lower country below. What they found exceeded their wildest expecta- tions. As hunters they were most of all interested in the game. Turkeys were so numerous that Boone later described them as being like one vast flock through the whole forest. Deer were in herds. Elk roamed the woodlands. Bear were, next to deer, the most numerous of all. But the buffalo amazed them most. As our party descended the mountains they became aware of a dull, continuous rumbling soimd that puzzled them greatly. They found that Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 55 ihis sound came from the trampling of innumerable buffalo. "We found everywhere abundance of wild beasts of all sorts," said Boone himself. "The buffalo were more frequent than I have seen cattle in the settlements : sometimes we saw hundreds in a drove, and the numbers about the salt springs were amaz- ing." They picked a site on the Red River, built them- selves a small rude cabin, and proceeded to hunt and explore the country. From the first of May until the twenty-second of December they roamed without seeing even an in^ dication of Indians. All this region was claimed by Cherokee and Shawanese, but with none too good a title. As a significant fact no Indians at all inhabited it. Their villages were many days' journey distant, and they themselves visited it only on hunting or war parties. This fact made it a continual battleground when enemies were encountered. Whenever villages were near at hand, the Indians had either to keep peaceful or to go to war in good earnest; for their homes lay open to reprisals. But if those homes were so far away as to require a long journey before a counter blow could be struck, the smallest parties could get up little wars of their own. The bales of peltries grew in number. All through the summer the hunters lived literally on the fat of 56 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout the land. Kentucky before the days of cultivation was as fertile, though in a different way, as she is now. The forests were high and beautiful with flowers and vines and birds; the canebrakes luxuriated; the plains were sweet with clover; the open woods were like orchards carpeted with grass. Everywhere the game roamed. His companions would have been content to hunt close about the little cabin, for the game was as abundant there as farther afield, but Boone had other things in view besides hunting. He wanted to see what the country was like. Always in the back of his mind was the thought that some day he would be returning with his family, at the head of an expedition of settlers. He wanted to examine for himself the possibilities. Ever in view he kept the requisites of what he sought. For a good location in those days he needed to find a gently sloping swell of land on which thickly growing cane, pawpaws, and clover indicated good soil. The trees round about must be abundant enough for building purposes, but should stand sparsely enough, and free enough from underbrush so that a man could ride horseback through them at least at half speed. A grove of sugar maples should grow not too far away; and a salt lick was desirable. Salt did not come in cartons then, but had to be boiled from the water of salt springs. An ideal site should have a good Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 57 limestone spring so located that it could be enclosed within the stockade walls; but this was not absolutely essential. Many writers wonder why forts were ever built without enclosing springs and they point out several celebrated instances where the besieged in- mates were starved for water. At first thought it would seem essential; but these men were thoroughly acquainted with the Indian character. An Indian siege rarely lasted longer than a day or two at most, and ample reservoirs were supposed to be kept filled for such emergencies: though sometimes people got careless through long immunity and neglected to fill them. It was very difficult to find sites suitable in other ways and also possessing such springs. In this prolonged wandering they had many ad- ventures. One of the most exciting occurred one day as they were crossing an open plain and en- countered a great horde of buffalo. The animals were frightened by something and came thundering down in a dense mass directly toward the little group of himters. To the five newcomers there seemed to be no escape; but Finley, who knew some- thing of these animals, with great coolness shot one of the leaders dead. Like a stream about a rock the rushing herd divided around the dead buffalo, only to close in again as the pressure forced them to- gether. But as that did not happen inunediately 58 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout a narrow clear space was left, and into the centre of this our hunters immediately advanced. There they stood while, with a thunder of hoofs and a cloud of dust, the fear-crazy animals swept by. The continued absence of any sign of a foe at last lulled them to a feeling of sufficient security so that they divided into pairs for their hunting trips in- stead of all six staying together as heretofore. Everything went well until December twenty-second. On that date Boone and Stuart were hunting in the Canebrake country. This was so thickly grown that it could be penetrated only by means of the buffalo trails; or streets as they were called because of their breadth. Some of these streets had been jused for years and years. This type of country was especially adapted to ambuscade, and it is extremely probable that Boone and his companion would not have ventured into it had they had any intimation that Indians ever visited that part of the world. However, just as they were surmounting a little hill, a large party of Indians rushed on them so suddenly that they had no chance even to throw up their rifles for a shot. It is the universal testimony that no circum- stances ever ruffled Boone's temper or judgment. He submitted with apparent good humour, and ad- vised Stuart to do the same. The whole party Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 59 started off at a rapid gait through the forest. Boone knew the Indian character well. He was perfectly aware that only a fearless bearing, an apparent contentment with his lot, and complete patience would help him. Even in later days, when warfare between white and red became embittered, and when he himself had acquired reputation with the Indians of being a formidable enemy, Boone seemed always to command an enormous respect from and influence over them. For all their ferocity in war, the In- dians of that day and place responded readily to fair treatment or generous nature. Boone fought Indians all his life, but he never hated Indians. He. understood their minds thoroughly, possessing the rare faculty of being able to take fully their point of view and to know what was going on in their thoughts. He must, too, have been an actor of considerable ability, for in his various captivities he never seems to have failed to impress the savages with the apparent sincerity of his desire to become one of them. That was always his first move toward escape; the building up of the idea that he was contented with his lot, that he was on the whole rather glad to have been captured, that he intended to become a member of the tribe and to settle down contentedly with them. Somehow, as we shall see, he always did manage to avoid death, even when 60 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout the Indians were killing all their other captives; and he always did manage eventually to escape. The former was probably to a great extent due to the placidity, the courage, and the unruffled benevo- lence of his character; the latter to his great patience, for he never tried to get away until the time seemed ripe. An unsuccessful effort to escape was certain death. The Indians looked upon it as a breach of hospitality, a bitter offence, that a captive they had treated kindly should make such an attempt. Therefore Boone, and on his advice Stuart, went with their captors cheerfully. So well did he in- gratiate himself in every way that the savages were fully convinced that he really wanted to become a member of their tribe; and promised to adopt him. At first guards were set over the white men every night, but by the seventh day their suspicions were so far lulled that they dispensed with that protec- tion. It is evident that this was a hunting party, and not a war party out for scalps and prisoners, or the white men would have been better guarded. They had been picked up in passing. On this night the guards for the first time were omitted, though Boone and his friend were each made to lie down between two Indians. Stuart promptly fell asleep, for he was depending on Boone to judge the right time. About midnight, when the fires weret Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 61 flickering low, the night at its darkest, and the Indians sleeping most soundly after an especial feed of roasted buffalo meat, Boone cautiously raised himself on his elbow. An Indian stirred; he dropped prone again. The second attempt was more for- tunate. He touched Stuart, who was instantly broad awake. The two men rose by inches; by inches moved across the little camp. The Indians were lying all about them, men accustomed to midnight alarms sleeping "with one eye open," alert to spring to wakefulness at the slightest sound. The breaking of a twig, even the sudden rustling of a leaf, would have been enough to bring them to their feet, tomahawk in hand. But the two managed it, they succeeded even in regaining their rifles and equipment; and once outside the circle of the firelight they made their way as rapidly as possible back to their camp. There is no record of their being pursued, as they would certainly have been had this been a war party. Probably their escape was not discovered for some time, and it was considered too much trou- ble to back track on a long and laborious pursuit. But when they reached the cabin they found it ransacked and their companions gone. All the pel- tries, result of eight months' work, had been stolen. Their four companions, including Finley himself, were never heard of again. They may have been 62 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scoid killed or carried off by the Indians who plundered the camp; but if so nobody ever heard of it in later years, and as a usual thing such victories are boasted of by the Indians. They may have perished in the wilder- ness, attempting to regain civilization. No one knows. One account purports to tell of their return to civihzation; but I have been unable with the documents at my command to trace it. It would seem that such a return would have brought the news of Boone's capture, which does not appear to have been known. Most men after such an experience would have themselves given it up as a bad job; but Boone and Stuart, instead of being discouraged, resolved grimly to start all over again. They could not afford to return empty handed; for in order to make this jour- ney they had gone into debt. They built themselves a small hut in another and more secret place, and patiently set about retrieving their fortunes. It might be well to tell you here that the main ob- ject of their hunt in the past summer had been deer- skins. The pelts of the fur-bearing creatures are not good at that time of year, but buckskin is always in season. Roughly dressed deerskins were worth about a dollar each and a horse could carry about a hundred of them. You must remember a dollar then was worth many of our dollars now. In wintei Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 68 beaver and other pelts could be had, worth from three to five dollars. Buffalo hides, bearskins, and elk hides were fine for bedding and warmth in camp, but they were too bulky to carry long distances. The deer season was over, but beavers and others were coming in, and the hunters could now profitably turn them- selves into trappers. Their outlook was none too rosy. Ammunition was by now getting very low. The Indians had at last shown themselves, and were known to be abroad in the country. Fortunately the fur-bearing animals they were now to take would be captured by traps, so they could save their precious powder and lead for food and defence. In January Boone saw in the distance two men rid- ing through the woods. He hastily concealed himself. "Hullo, strangers, who are you?" he called at length, as he saw they were but two. "White men and friends," hastily replied the new- comers. They approached and Daniel, to his great joy, found that one of them was a younger brother. Squire Boone. Squire, in company with another adventur- ous spirit named Neeley, had started out to find his brother, and had succeeded! This was at once an admirable piece of woods- manship and extraordinary luck. He had not the 64 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout slightest idea of where to look: he just started out; and his journey was just as bold, just as exploratory, just as indicative of highly specialized education as that of his older brother nearly a year before. In- deed it was even more courageous, for here were but two men where had been six. Many writers have ex- pressed the greatest wonder that the two parties en* countered at all, pointing out that the wilderness is not supplied with a guide book, and that there was no one from whom to enquire. It was indeed good luck, and went far to justify Boone's faith in his destiny; but to a woodsman it is not as extraordinary as would at first appear. Squire undoubtedly knew where his brother had started, and perhaps his route for a certain distance. In a mountain district the "lay of the land" is generally so strongly marked that the best route and the best passes are inevitable to the eye of a trained man however confusing the choice might be to one less experienced. So Squire, having started right, was almost forced by the common sense of the situation to follow the route taken by Daniel. It is also extremely probable that the latter had marked his trail for future reference, though it is not likely that he blazed it plainly to his front door. That would be asking for trouble, and fairly inviting the foe to visit him. Squire brought with him ample ammunition and Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 65 supplies. The four men, delighted with this change in luck, took up their hunting again. Daniel and Stuart held together, while Squire and Neeley struck partnership. The pairs would often go on expedi- tions lasting for several days at a time, visiting wide- flung trapping routes, or exploring new country, which was as you may imagine a never-failing source of delight. During these expeditions the two men in turn would often separate for the day, meeting at sundown at some agreed spot for the night's camp. One night Stuart did not appear. Boone, in alarm, searched the forest. He found at length traces of a fire where his friend had spent the night but no feign or trail of the man himself. Five years later he came across Stuart's bones in a hollow sycamore tree. He knew them for Stuart's because of the name cut on the powder horn. What happened has always remained a mystery. From the fact that the bones were in a hollow tree, it is likely that he had bee» wounded badly enough to die while in hiding. At any rate, this mysterious disappearance fright- ened Neeley so badly that he decided he would start for home, which he did. He would have done better to have taken a chance with the brothers, for he never was heard of again: unless an unidentified skeletoi^ found years later may have been his. Daniel and Squire Boone settled down to mind their 66 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout traps and gain enough pelts to pay their debts. They took every precaution against the Indians; and suc- cessfully. A new cabin was constructed in a more secret place. All cooking was done at night, so no smoke was ever visible. The trail to the hiding- place was carefully blinded by all the devices known to them. For example, part of the approach was made by walking in the stream; on the ground the trail often turned at angles; or doubled back on it- self so that apparently it led nowhere. AVhen possible it was taken over rocks or smooth down trees that would show no trace. One device was to swing on the tough hanging wild-grape vines. Always, when any« where near home, the footprints were painstakingly covered with leaves. This was a lot of trouble, but these men were protecting their Hves, and no trouble is too much for that. "When spring came they had a good store of pelts, but again ammunition was running low. By the flickering little fire, carefully guarded and screened, they held many anxious consultations. They might both return, and as Daniel missed keenly his wife and children, this appealed to him most. But, on the other hand, he had gone deeply in debt to make possible this expedition. Furthermore, it was ex- tremely desirable, if later he was to settle in the new land, that he explore it farther afield; something he. Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 67 had been unable to do thoroughly while the main job was hunting. So finally it was agreed that Squire should return to the settlements for supplies, and to sell the skins, while Daniel should remain. On May first Squire started. The distance was five hundred miles of howhng, dangerous, uncharted wilderness, which he was to traverse alone and bur- dened with the handicap of laden pack horses. It is hard to tell whose coiu'age most to admire: that of \hQ man who stayed, or that of the man who went. *Mrs. Salisbury Field, — ^Teuila of This Life I've Loved — , calls my at- tention to the fact that I seem to have involved one of her ancestors in mild scandal. Her family documents show that James Stewart, as those documents spell the name, was at this period no new acquaintance of Boone. He had married Hannah, Boone's youngest sister, some years before, and already had had by her a chUd, Teuila's ancestor. I hasten to correct myself, — and my sources — , to remove this implication of bar sinister^ CHAPTER VI I EFT thus alone Boone acknowledges quite J simply that he "passed a few days uncom- fortably." "I confess," said he, "I never before was under greater necessity of exercising philosophy and fortitude. A few days I passed un- comfortably. The idea of a beloved wife and family, and their anxiety upon the account of my absence and exposed situation, made a sensible impression on my heart." In another place he says that he was "one' by myseM — without bread, salt, or sugar — without company of any fellow creatures, or even a horse or dog." But he soon shook off this depression. Boone was a profound lover of nature and of her beauties. He "undertook a turn through the country" as his stilted amanuensis makes him express it, "and the diversities and beauties of nature I met expelled every gloomy and vexatious thought." As ammuni- tion was now scarce and so, except for food, hunting was impossible, he spent his time in exploring, "for to look and for to see." There was no object in staying near the little cabin; indeed there was every Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 69 reason for avoiding it. Alone in a hostile country, where news of the presence of these white men had by now spread to all the tribes, he must take extra pre- caution against the Indians. He changed his habi- tation frequently, hving in camps of bark or boughs, or in caves. Even in such temporary quarters he rarely ventured to sleep, retiring some distance into the thickets and dense canebrakes unless the weather was very bad. It was a hard and dangerous life, but it had its compensations in the thrill of solitary exploration, the dangers avoided, and the beauty of the new country whose features were thus discovered, "poone wandered far over the thickly forested hills dnd valleys, the wide plains. He found and followed watercourses; he climbed high hills to look abroad; he revelled in the flowers; in the stately and beautiful trees in their great variety — the sugar maples, the honey locusts, the catalpas, the pawpaws, all the hardwoods; he visited the mineral springs that have since become famous. Big Lick, Blue Lick, Big Bone Lick, where he must have looked with interest and awe on the remains of mastodons down and perished cen- turies before when they had come to the licks for salt. During these months he gained the intimate fir^t-hand knowledge of the whole country which later was to prove so valuable to himself and to others. The only person who could have told all the details 70 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout of this most fascinating solitary sojourn in a new land was, naturally, Daniel Boone himself; and unfor- tunately he has not told much. He was of few words. Seven years later a man named Filson purported to put down "in Boone's own words" an account of the Hunter's hfe; but the words were Filson's, and Filson was highflown, not to say elegant. The following is his idea of how Boone would express himself: "Just at the close of day the gentle gales retired and left the place to the disposal of a profound calm. Not a breeze shook the most tremulous leaf." Filson had the advantage of getting the facts from our Hunter, no matter how fantastically he dressed them; only unfortunately Boone had a habit of pass- ing casually over a five-hundred-mile journey full of dangers, difficulties, and escapes with the statement, "I returned safe to my own habitation." So of the miany things it would be interesting to know of this exploration we have very Httle. We can never know how many times Boone encountered Indians, nor how many times he managed to elude them. We know that once he met a large band near the Ohio River, but managed to keep out of sight. On another oc- casion he came upon an Indian fishing from the trunk of a fallen tree. Nobody knows the circumstances; but Boone, in telHng of this incident later, would re- mark gravely but with a twinkle deep in his eyes: Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 71 "While I was looking at the fellow he tumbled into the river and I saw him no more." Boone was at that moment, in all likelihood, "looking at the fellow" over the sights of his rifle! Again, while he was exploring a new and strange river, he found himself suddenly faced on three sides by his enemies. The fourth side was a precipice sixty feet high. Without a moment's hesitation Boone made the leap, landed in the top of a sugar maple, shd down the trunk, ducked down below the cut bank of the river, ran along the little beach there, plunged into the river, •swam across, and so escaped from the astounded Indians. It is to be noted, as additional evidence of his coolness in danger, that he retained throughout his grasp of his five-foot eleven-pound rifle. He says that during his absence his cabin was several times visited and ransacked. About the time he had reason to expect the return of his brother he came in from his wanderings. The latter part of July Squire Boone appeared, having for the third time accompHshed the diflScult journey undetected. His arrival was most cheering. In the first place, he brought news of Daniel's family and that all was going well; in the second place, he reported that he had made a favourable sale of the furs, and had paid oflt the whole debt; and in the third place he had brought two pack horses laden with supplies. 72 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout The brothers opened another season against the deer. It was highly successful, so that in a very short time Squire was able to pack up the horses and once more head out for the settlements full laden. This time he made the round trip in two months, again without molestation. In the science of wood- craft he seems to have been quite the equal of his more famous brother. By December he was back again, and the two entered upon another winter of combined trapping and exploration. They did more of the latter this winter. They had horses; and they were now fully determined to bring settlement to this beautiful land. Boone says himself that he "esteemed it a second Paradise." It was in March of this winter that they finally determined the site of their future home on the Kentucky River. Shortly after, convinced that at last he knew all that was necessary to know, Boone turned his face homeward. CHAPTER Vn BOONE'S return was like the return of Colum- bus. The legendary land over the mountains had been entered by someone people knew. He could tell what lay behind the ranges. He had not only visited that land, but he had maintained himself successfully in it for two years. The im- penetrable mountains had been crossed, not once, but several times, so that it might fairly be said that a route had been established. From being a dream, that strange far country had become a possibility. Men wanted to know about it in detail. Boone's statements and opinions were eagerly sought and listened to, and his opinions were weighed. But when it came to action there was a good deal to be thought of. The Boones had lived there and returned, to be sure: but where were Finley and Cool and Holden and Murray and Stuart of the original six? And where was the man who had started out with Squire Boone? It was one thing to go into a country as a hunter, lightly equipped, mobile. Such was able to dodge and skulk and hide; and in any case was never the object of any determined effort by the 73 74 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout Indians. If he fell in their way, he was likely to lose his scalp; but they would not bother especially to hunt for him. But settlement was a different matter. It offered a definite point of attack. And further- more the Indians knew very well from experience that settlement meant that sooner or later they would be crowded on, and they were on that account hostile to anything like permanent occupation. No matter how attractive the picture or how much a brand-new game country appealed to these bold men, there was a lot to be thought of before one sold his farm and ventured. Two years passed before Boone made the move. In that period, however, he several times visited Kentucky, alone or in company with two or three companions, partly for the purpose of further ex- ploration, but mainly to enjoy his favom-ite sport of hunting. Other parties of hunters also went in. Many of these marked with their tomahawks possible farm sites. One party, called the Long Hunters, were just making camp for the night when they heard a "singular noise proceeding from a considerable distance in the forest." The leader told his man to keep perfectly still and he himself sneaked carefully from one tree to another toward this "singular noise." He was thunderstruck to find "a man bareheaded, stretched flat on his back on a deerskin spread on Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 75 the ground, singing merrily at the top of his voice." It^ was Daniel Boone who was whiling away the time waiting for his brother, Squire. The report does not seem to be a very high testimony for Daniel's singing! He and his companions had many interesting ad- ventures in this free gypsying around. There was no formal Indian war on, but in tlie "dark and bloody ground" every man's hand was against every other's. As we have said before, there were no Indian settlements in Kentucky; but there were swarms of hunters and raiders. The villages were all at a distance. There was no need, therefore, to conciliate the whites, as they had to do when the villages were near enough to suffer retaliation. Oa the other hand, the Indians could never carry on a very long war at a time because they were so far from their base, which made it easier for the pioneers. In this situation it happened that two white hunters had their camps a few miles apart, but without knowing it. One day they caught sight of one another, and promptly sprang behind trees. In the usual fashion of Indian combat they advanced, dart- ing from tree to tree, trying to get a shot, but trying equally not to expose themselves. This went on for about three hours with neither man getting the advantage. They were equally skilful at this fasci- nating game that meant life or death. Every strata- 76 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout gem known was used to draw the other man's fire without too much danger of getting hit. Whoever shot first and missed was of course at a big disad- vantage. Before he could reload his flint lock the other man would be upon him. At length one be- came impatient over this long-drawn, futile ma- noeuvring. " Come out of that, you 'tarnal redskin ! " he shouted. "Redskin yourseK!" retorted the other. And then they had a good laugh and joined forces; for they each agreed they had never before met any one so skilful at "Injun fighting." Every precaution was always taken against .sur- prise, yet in the dense forests, and in unusual con- ditions of wind and weather, surprises would happen. One day Boone and his small party of hunters were eating limch when suddenly about fifty feet away appeared a large party of Indians. Both sides were equally surprised here, and neither wanted to start anything. With an assumption of indifference, and as if that was what they had intended right along, the Indians squatted down and began to eat their lunch. There the two parties sat, eyeing each other, neither wanting to make the first move. Finally Boone arose and saimtered over, picking a bone. He greeted the Indians, who answered cautiously. Then he asked to look at a curious knife one of the Indians Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 77 was using. The warrior handed it over. With the intent black eyes focussed upon his every movement Boone apparently swallowed the knife, produced it from his shirt, and handed it back. With a howl of dismay the Indian threw it as far as he could into the brush, and the whole party disappeared. Another time the situation was reversed. A small party of Indians met a larger party of whites. Before the latter could fire the Indians began to cut up the most extraordinary monkeyshines, running in circles, crawling about on their hands and knees, hopping fantastically about, standing on their heads. So imbecile was this unexpected performance that the white men stared at them bung-eyed in astonishment./ And before they could recover their wits, the Indians one by one had faded away. Boone had the great gift of patience. Two years he had spent in his almost solitary explorations, and now again he was willing to wait. There is no use in rushing things to failure. Willing to take the most terrible chances when it seemed necessary, he believed in having things as near right as possible before he started any big project. It would be all well enough to take his family in and establish it; but defence, companionship, and above all the ful- filment of his dream demanded that others should' accompany and follow him. So patiently he made 78 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout his calm recital over and over, forming public senti- ment until at last in September, three years before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Daniel and Squire Boone and their families left their old home. Farther along toward the mountains they were joined by ^ve other families. The party was now a strong one. There were forty men, well armed. They had with them the materials for permanent settlement — pack horses, cattle, milk cows for the children, swine, seeds, the simple household utensils of that time, including now full-sized axes instead of the tomahawks the explorers had used. For bedding they carried blankets and quilts where the hunters had been content with skins. To be sure this does not seem like great luxury, especially when we con- sider that wooden plates and platters and gom-d cups were in exclusive use on the table. The hunters of the f amihes used their hunting knives, while the rest of the family had one or at most two knives among them. The very well-to-do might own, as a matter of great pride, a few pewter dishes and spoons; but these were imusual. There were always a few iron cooking kettles. Beyond that the necessities and luxuries of life were to be fashioned in the wilderness from the original materials. The journey began propitiously under the direction of the Boones. Squire had been over the road so Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 79 often that he knew it every foot, where the best camping places were, and how long each day's journey should be. All went well until they were well into the mountains and were actually approaching the gap. Here the party went into camp to await the arrival of still others who had agreed to meet them at this point: some forty men who had decided to go without their families for the time being, and a man named Russell. While waiting Boone sent his eldest son> James, a boy of sixteen, with two men and some pack horses to notify Russell and to get some flour and farming tools that had been promised. They made the journey safely, and were returning laden, ac* eompanied by Russell's son, two of Russell's negro slaves, and two or three white workmen. Somehow they either missed their way, or were belated, and went into camp for the night only about three miles from the main party. At daybreak they were fired into by a Shawnee war party and all were killed on the spot except one of the white labourers and a negro, who managed to escape. Boone hearing the firing galloped up with his men; but too late. This tragedy not only threw the httle party into the profoundest grief for those who had been killed, but it also gave pause to the whole enterprise. There had been no expectation of Indian hostility on this side of the mountains. This might be merely a 80 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout chance raiding party of a few irresponsible braves, of course; but, on the other hand, it might be intended as a warning that immigration of settlers would not be tolerated. Indians were no fools. Except in mo- ments of drunkenness or imgovernable anger, they always treated well the traders, of whatever nation- ahty, who came among them. Often, as we have seen, they even half tolerated the stray hunters who pushed out in advance of exploration. But on settle- ment they were apt to look with suspicion, or even with hostihty. It must be remembered that this venture was a Ettle different from any of the pioneering that had gone before. Heretofore the frontier had been ex- tended by somebody's going to live just a little farther out than anybody else, but still keeping in touch. It was a slow growth outward. But here these settlers were pushing boldly out to form an island entirely surrounded by savagery. So these few men thought that if the Indians had made up their minds to resist, it would be mad folly to cut themselves away from all support. What could forty do against thousands.? In spite of Boone's protests it was decided to abandon the expedition. They were not cowards, lightly turned aside by the first opposition, but they considered the time not propitious. Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 81 Some of them returned to whence they had come; but the majority, Boone among them, having sold their old farms, were unwilling to turn back. So they settled in the Chnch Valley, near where they had stopped, and there made themselves homes. CHAPTER Vm WE ARE now in our story face to face with the Indians, as was Boone. Perhaps it might be well to say a few words about them, so that we can have a clearer idea of the long series of fights that are now to follow. There are two schools of opinion about the Indian, as there are two schools about the accuracy of the flint-lock rifle: and, as in that case, the truth lies somewhere between them. One school paints him as a fiend incarnate, without a single redeeming fea- ture, a wild beast. That, it must be confessed^ was the view held by perhaps a majority of the borderers. The other school depicts him as the "noble redman" possessed of aU the primitive virtues; despoiled of his ancient heritage; cheated and robbed and made vicious by the injustice of the whites; a lofty and pathetic figure. There is truth in both pictures: and there is falsity. You must remember, to start with, that the Indians of those days must not be judged by the Indians we know now. They were of a different and in many respects higher stock than the plains Indians we are Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 83 most apt to see. In addition, they were living their own life in their own coimtry, and so possessed faculties in full exercise. In a hundred and fifty years of a different kind of existence the Indian will change mentally and physically as fast as, or faster than, the white, and we all know the difference even two generations will make in our foreign immigrants. So first of all, consider the Indian of Boone's time as a very intelligent person, with a high sense of tra- dition, living a life that was fitted to him, and there- fore developing to a high point of his capabilities. Since he had to make his own living and protect himseK he was keen and sharp intellectually; so that his great men were indeed great men with judgment well developed. There were certain ideals he held to very rigidly. He had a high sense of his personal integrity, so that he would rather die — and often did — than smirch his honour in any way. Of course his idea of what was honourable might differ in some respects from ours, but such as it was he held to it a lot more consistently than we are apt to do, and would sacrifice to it more unhesitatingly than most of us. Also it must be confessed that most of his points of honour were admirable — courage, endurance of pain, generosity, loyalty to friendship, faithfulness to a trust once undertaken are all pretty good qualities. They are not bad ideals for us to uphold. 84 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout Nobody ever really doubted an Indian's courage, though it was customary to speak of the "cowardly skulking savage." It was part of the settled system of tactics in Indian warfare never to suffer undue loss. War to them meant inflicting loss on the other fellow, not the winning of what we call victory. With prac- tically an unbroken forest between the Atlantic Coast and the Mississippi River it could not seem vastly important to them whether they held or gained any certain point in that forest or not. But in hand-to-hand combat or in the higher courage that barehanded meets danger unruffled the Indian must command respect. With us a coward is looked down upon; among those Indians he was quite apt to be eliminated. The celebrated chief Cornstalk is said to have tomahawked those of his own men who showed the slightest signs of flinching. The endurance of pain, and incidentally of dis- comfort, was with them a religion. Early in life the children were practised in hardships. At eight years a child was made to fast a haK day at a time; at twelve a whole day; at eighteen he was placed in a camp some miles from his village and fasted as long as he could hold out without absolutely perishing. When he had stood all of that he could, he was plunged into cold water. This was by way of prac- tice. It was a point of honour never to show signs of Darnel Boone: Wilderness Scout 85 suffering, so that people began to think Indians actually did not suffer; but their nervous systems were much the same as ours. When captured the tortures became a contest between the enemies: one to elicit some sign of pain, and the other to endure. It is many times on record that a captive, while under- going tortures so exquisite that it is useless to harrow your imaginations with an account of them, never- theless laughed at his captors, reviling them as rank amateurs, and informing them that if any of them ever got caught by his tribe they would learn how to do it. One young man, after some hours of tor- ment, informed his tormentors that if they would bring him certain materials he would show them some tortures worth while. They did so; and he demon- strated on his own body ! In their generosity they were whole hearted. It was literally a fact that they "shared their last crust, " not once and as a special deed of beneficence, but always and as a matter of course. If a visitor in any of their villages happened to enter one of their dwellings, he was at once offered food, the best that dwelling possessed. To refuse it or not to offer it was equally insulting. This was done even though the house might be literally starving and the visitor fresh from a banquet. On the march also the proverbial "last crust" was always shared. The 86 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout testimony of captives, otherwise roughly treated, is that their captors divided scrupulously the scanty provisions and that the prisoners always received their full shares. Colonel James Smith, who was cap- tured by the Dela wares, tells of this: "If any of the town folks would go to the same house several times in one day," he writes, "he would be invited to eat of the best; and with them it is bad manners to re- fuse to eat when it is offered. At this time hominy, plentifully mixed with bear's oil and sugar, or dried venison, bear's oil, and sugar is what they offer to everyone who comes in any time of the day; and so they go on until their sugar, bear's oil, and venison are all gone, and then they have to eat hominy by itself without bread, salt, or anything else; yet still they invite everyone that comes in to eat while they have anything; but if they can in truth only say we have got nothing to eat, this is accepted as an honourable apology." Another incident narrated by Smith gives an excellent example of how seriously this type of Indian took his obligations. He was on an expedition with his friend, Tontileaugo; himself with a horse, the Indian with a canoe. On account of a high wind they encamped for some days near the shore of a lake. Tontileaugo went to hunt, leaving Smith to keep camp. "When he was gone," Smith records, "a Wyandot came to our camp. I gave him Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 87 a shoulder of venison which I had by the fire well foasted, and he received it gladly: told me he was hungry, and thanked me for my kindness. When Tontileaugo came home I told him that a Wyandot had been at camp, and that I gave him a shoulder of roasted venison. He said that was very well, *and I suppose you gave him also sugar and bear's oil to eat with his venison.' I told him I did not as the sugar and bear's oil were down in the canoe, I did not go for it. He replied, *You have behaved just like a Dutchman. Do you not know that when strangers come to our camp we ought always to give them the best we have?' I acknowledged that I was wrong. He said that he could excuse this, as I was but young: but I must learn to behave like a warrior, and do great things." Loyalty was another of their virtues that was developed consistently to a very high point. The books are full of stories wherein an Indian friend of a white man has undergone great difficulty and danger to carry warning or safety to his pal among the whites. There have even been instances where the carrying of that warning meant certain death. As to faithfulness to the given word, that is a trait of the wild Indians to this day. Twenty-odd years ago, in the Hudson Bay country, I found that the post keepers were accustomed to extend credit for all sorts 88 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout of supplies to quite large amounts. The Indians would then disappear into the forest and be lost to view for a year. I asked the Factor whether he did not lose considerable sums by this loose way of doing business; but he assured me that in all his experience he had known of but one Indian defaulter. Sometimes in a bad season the Indian might not come back the next year, but sooner or later he re- turned and paid his debt. The Indians also held strictly to their treaties as far as they were able to do so. There were always two factors working against any complete carrying out of tribal as contrasted with personal agreements: one was drink, and the other was the fact that the authority of the chiefs who made the agreements was limited. It was literally true that at times they "could not control their young men"; and it is literally true that each warrior thought of himself first as an independent individual and only second as a respon- sible member of a community. The chiefs might make a peace which all would observe except a few headstrong young men; but a raid by those few was quite enough. Again the chiefs might prom- ise safe-conduct to the inhabitants of a fort sur- rendering, but in some fashion the Indians might get access to rum and a massacre would follow. For more than any other human creature liquor Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 89 seems to change the Indian. He is totally insane when drunk. So well did they themselves know this that when serious deliberations were on they banished the rum pannikin. Their councils were formal, and they never made decisions until all sides were heard; and then not until twenty-four hours had passed for deliberation. They were good tacticians in their own kind of warfare. Their movements were intelligent and wonderfully carried out, especially considering the thick cover and the difficulties of keeping in touch with each other. The various manoeuvres were com- manded by various sorts of whoops. Each man fought for himself his individual fight; and yet the sum total of all these individual fights was somehow handled as a unit. And they were very effective warriors. The white man in battle won a number of "victories," and suffered some crushing de- feats, but many of the victories were at heavy cost and because, as we have seen, the Indian meas- ured success not by ground gained or held, but by loss inflicted. It is not generally known that at every battle of any importance except that of Point Pleasant the whites greatly outnumbered the Indians. This was especially true at what have been called decisive battles — ^Bushy Run where Bouquet by 90 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout clever strategy gained the day, but over inferior numbers, and only after a bitter struggle wherein he lost four times as many men; or Anthony Wayne's final engagement, where he outnumbered the Indians three to one. The losses were nearly always corres- pondingly disproportionate. Braddock's and Grant's regulars, without knowledge of Indian warfare, are estimated to have slain about one Indian for every hundred of themselves who fell! Naturally when the whites were skilled backwoodsmen this proportion fell off; but rarely — in spite of boastful accounts of the participants — were losses equal. Roosevelt says in his "Winning the West": "In Braddock's war the borderers are estimated to have suffered a loss of fifty souls for every Indian slain; in Pontiac's war they had learned to defend themselves better and the ratio was probably as ten to one; whereas in this war, if we consider only males of fighting age, it is probable that a good deal more than half as many Indians as whites were killed." This was because of two things : the white man hated to run away in any circumstances, while the Indian would just as soon run away as not if there was anything to be gained by it; and the average white man could never quite equal the average Indian in woodcraft. Boone and such men as Kenton, Wetzel, Brady, McCulloch, and Mansker, could beat the Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 91 Indian at his own game; but they were the exceptions. We will tell more about that when we get to the great wars. At present we are merely illustrating Indian intelligence and effectiveness in their sort of contest. But there were four major traits in the otherwise most admirable and human character of the redman, and a number of minor faults that made all the trouble. The major traits were cruelty, love of Hquor, a capacity for hatred and revenge that equalled their capacity for friendship and loyalty, and improvidence. Their minor faults were an inability to do long-con- tinued team work, a touchy pride, ungovernable rages.' Cruelty was partly born in them and partly the result of the training in bearing hardship and pain. If you have schooled yoiu*self to pay no attention to a cut finger you have Httle patience with the fellow who bellows and raises a big fuss over it. Extend that idea and you will see what I mean. The fact remains that the Indian was inconceivably cruel, not only to his enemies, but to his domestic animals. Children were from the earhest years present at the tortures and taught to take part in them. It was part of a warrior's education. Like all children everywhere they carried over this business of life into their play. They played prisoner; they played 92 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout torture; and often they used some unfortunate animal as a toy to give reality to the game. The result was inevitable: a cruelty for cruelty's sake that has been equalled only by the Holy Inquisition of the Middle Ages. Roosevelt says: "Any one who has ever been in an encampment of wild Indians, and has had the misfortune to witness the delight the children take in torturing little ani- mals will admit that the Indian's love of cruelty for cruelty's sake cannot possibly be exaggerated. The young are so trained that when old they shall find their keenest pleasure in inflicting pain in its most appalling form. Among the most brutal white borderers a man would be instantly lynched if ie practised on any creature the fiendish torture which in an Indian camp either attracts no notice at all, or else excites merely laughter." Thus cruelty became, you must remember, not a result of individual evil-mindedness or malice. When an Indian was cruel it was rarely in the personally malevolent fashion of a small boy tin-canning a dog: but it was because that was one of his racial char- acteristics. Outside his rages and enemies, or those who might become enemies, he was particularly warm-hearted. We have seen examples of his gen- erosity and loyalty. In his tribal relations he was a merry and warm-hearted person. He rarely whipped Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 93 his children, of whom he was very fond. If they must be punished he did it by ducking them under water. Colonel Smith, in mentioning this, remarks quaintly: "As might be expected, their children are more obedient in winter than in summer!" Never- theless, a deep ingrained racial cruelty is one of the Indian characteristics; and was a powerful factor, when the scales of Eternal Justice were poised, in bringing about his eHmination from the land. For however little it may be any one person's fault, if fault there be, it must have its consequence. To demonstrate responsibility by examples, both great and small, is possibly one reason our world exists. An amazing illustration of this complete indiffer- ence to the other fellow's feelings in the matter 13 supplied by a contemporary account of a captivity among the Dela wares. This man's companions were killed from ambush and he was seized. "They then set off and ran at a smart pace for about fifteen miles, and that night we slept without fire. The next morning they divided the last of their provisions and gave me an equal share, which was about two or three ounces of mouldy biscuit: this and a young ground hog, about as large as a rabbit, roasted, and also equally divided, was all the provision we had until we came to the Loyal Hamm, which was about fifty miles." On arrival at the 94 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout Indian village, however, the Indians ran out in great numbers "stripped naked, excepting breech clouts, and painted in the most hideous manner, of various colours. As they approached, they formed them- selves into two long ranks. I was told by an Indian that could speak English that I must run betwixt these ranks and that they would flog me all the way as I ran. I started to the race with all the resolution and vigour I was capable of exerting, found that it was as I had been told, for I was flogged the whole Way. When I got near the end of the lines I was struck with something that appeared to me a stick, or the handle of a tomahawk, which caused me to fall to the ground. On my recovering my senses I endeavoured to renew my race; but as I arose someone cast sand in my eyes, which blinded me so I could not see where to run. They continued beat- ing me most intolerably, until I was at length in- sensible; but before I lost my senses I remember my wishing them to strike the fatal blow for I thought they intended killing me." The Indians then took him to Fort DuQuesne and put him under the care of a French surgeon. It took him some time to recover; then the Indians re- claimed him and ever after, for the four years of his captivity, treated him with the greatest affection, as one of themselves. Our hero enquired of the Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 95 Indian who spoke English, "a man of considerable understanding. I asked him if I had done anything that had offended the Indians, which caused them to treat me so unmercifully. He said no; it was only an old custom the Indians had, and that it was like *how do you do'." When this innate and everyday and thoughtless cruelty was carried into border warfare and used by the savages against men, women, and children in- discriminately, it aroused a vindictive hatred and thirst for revenge that had behind it a strong driving force. Of that more later. The second great fault, that of drunkenness, was the first cause of the Indian's undoing. In the old phrase, "he could not carry his liquor well." In- deed rum made of him a different man, an irrespon- sible, insane creature who was likely to do almost anything. The Indians recognized this themselves. Many travellers and traders describe to us the or- derly fashion in which the savages used to arrange for a big drunk; depositing all their arms in a safe place; detailing certain members of the band whose duty it was to keep sober for the purpose of pre- venting deadly fights, to take care of the helplessly intoxicated, and to see that none of the maddened participants managed to get hold of weapons. When all these matters were arranged, the lucky ones who 60 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout had the privilege proceeded deliberately to get drunk. These sprees were terrible, lasting sometimes two or three days; and it was a rare thing that, in spite of those delegated to stay sober, someone was not badly in^m-ed or killed. All the savage passions seemed to be unleashed by the liquor. They shrieked and yelled and danced and rolled on the ground; they staggered away aimlessly, and woe to the man who stood in their way! The great massacres, as at Fort William Henry, were not due to any pre- arranged plan — quite the contrary — but to the fact that the savages, armed, got access to the liquor barrels. The Indians themselves realized thoroughly all these facts. One of the traders testifies of them that they were "reasonable when sobered, and do not bear a grudge for violence by traders to subdue them when drunk." At the little trading outposts a supply of laudanum was always on hand to be mixed with the rum when matters were going too far. We shall add that the Indian soon grew to love alcohol with a great longing, so that he would travel great distances and part with anything to get it. No negotiation or purchase or sale had any chance of success unless the rum pannikin was forthcoming or promised. Every settler's cabin in those days had its whiskey jug; every fort its supply of hquor. Such things were Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 97 a matter of course, a daily supply, a ration as habitual as bread. So in a successful raid the savages always found the wherewith to inflame his mind; and thus by the hght of burning cabins atrocities were com- mitted beyond what even native cruelty would have urged without the Hquor. And that added to the trouble. If you had laboured for some years hard, with axe and plough, and had at length bit by bit made yourself a cabin and a little farm; if one by one you had accumulated and bred until you had a tiny little herd of cows and pigs; if you and your wife had worked early and late, and your little baby was just getting big enough to toddle to the door to meet you '^and then suppose some evening at sundown you were to return home from an absence, full of eager- ness, and as you came around the point of the woods you saw a blackened smoking heap where your cabin had stood. As you ran forward you saw your cattle killed and left wantonly where they had fallen; your crops burned down. And at the house lay your little baby, its skull crushed when some Indian swung it by the feet against a tree. Your wife was gone. In desperation you aroused the neighbours, and per- haps by fortune you overtook the Indians after a number of days' travel. The Indians had had time to torture her. Your gentle, pretty wife has had her xiails bent back; she has had her soft body burned by 98 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout gun barrels heated red hot; she has had charges of powder fired into her; she has had the joints of her ten fingers and her ten toes burned off one by one. She has in her prolonged agony cried for water, and they have brought her molten lead. Perhaps I should not tell you even these few details, but it is necessary for you to get the vivid picture so you can gain even a faint understanding. Purposely I have omitted the worst of the Indian tortures. They were expert at prolonging the most exquisite agony for a very long period. One man writing at the time said that the "Indians could only torture him three hours before he died; but his screams were particularly horrible." I quote from memory. Can you wondei that such a man whose place you have for the moment taken, and all his neighbours, looked on the perpetra- tors of such a tragedy as fiends .^^ And when this, or worse, happens not once or twice, but hundreds of times, can you marvel that at last the tendency was for the average settler to look on all Indians as wild beasts to be shot at sight as wild beasts are.^^ And you must remember that the Indian was kind, generous, and loyal to those who were his friends, or against whom he did not make war. Only, he made war cruelly; and so in the slow movement of evolution he had to take the consequences. This antagonism between white and red was further Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 99 intensified by the Indian's fierce and haughty pride. He was very touchy. IncHned to be friendly at first, he was inflamed to sudden anger at fancied sh'ghts or rebuffs. Very tender of his dignity was he; and very suspicious that his dignity was of set purpose assailed. Once he had a grievance, or thought he had, he was revengeful to an extraordinary degree. Things a white man would never notice, or if he did notice, would forget the next instant, the Indian would brood over and make a reason for retaliation. And that retaliation might come instantly, in a burst of rage; or it might not come about until years later. If possible it was at once, for the savage was subject to fits of ungovernable anger. It is very hard, at the best, to get along with such people. We all have them among our acquaintance, and they take very careful handling. But the white borderers were not inclined to be particularly tender of their red neighbours' feelings; looking down on them as savages, and treating them with at best a good-natured toler- ance and at worst with a fierce contempt. Each side thus firmly believed itself superior to the other: for the Indian considered himself in every way better than the white — in honour, in bravery, in military skill, in endurance, in woodcraft. As to all but the first they were certainly right, and as to honour, within their understanding of that term, they hdd 100 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout to their code at least as closely as we did to ours. They did not understand our virtues of steadfast* ness, industry, inventiveness, and the like. " The Indians do not fear our numbers, which they deride," writes Eastburn, "because of our unhappy divisions in consequence of which they expect to conquer us completely." Thus just in the make-up of the two races we have good material for trouble; even if nothing else were to urge them against each other. But the last of the evil fairies of the Indian dis- position was his improvidence. He had little or no notion either of producing enough of anything to assure the future, or of saving a little to-day so as to have something for to-morrow. Most of us are a bit unwise that way; but the germ of thrift is in our race, and it was not in the Indian. We have seen how he fed everybody who entered his dwelling until the last was gone, even with a hard winter ahead and though the visitor had just had eight square meals. That was exactly typical. He raised some corn and vegetables, to be sure, because he liked them; but he rarely made sufficient store to last him through the season; and the winters were histories of famines. This trait was not entirely, nor even principally, ignoble. It sprang not so much from laziness as from faith. The Indian, within his simple belief. Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 101 was deeply religious, in that he made his religion a part of his daily life. He beUeved that death did not amount to very much, that men went right on doing things on the other side of the Veil, and that to pass from this hfe to that was merely like going from a forest he knew to one he did not know. Indeed the usual way of expressing death in some tribes was to say that a man "changed his climate." One of the beUefs of his religion was that men are under the personal care of the Great Spirit; that nothing can happen to them without the consent and intention of the Great Spirit; that good luck and bad luck, fortune and misfortune, happiness and misery, plenty and famine, are all bestowed by the Great Spirit for the purpose of punishing, rewarding, training, or de- veloping his children. Our old friend, James Smith, after he had been for a long time captive of the Delawares, was out with an old Indian named Tecaughutanego and a little boy named Nunganey. They were forty miles from anywhere, and they had the bad luck to encounter a spell of weather that made so thick a snow crust that Smith could not kill meat. The old man was laid up with rheumatism. After a while things, to Smith, became desperate. It looked as though noth- ing could save them from starvation. For two days he had had nothing at all to eat, and had hunted 102 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout frantically. The old Indian and the boy had huddled at home in the hut trying to keep warm and conserve their strength. But let Smith tell about it: "When I came into our hut Tecaughutanego asked what success. I told him not any. He asked me if I was not very hungry. I replied that the keen edge of appetite seemed to be in some measure removed, but I was both faint and weary. He commanded Nunganey to bring me something to eat, and he brought me a kettle with some bones and broth." This was made, it seemed, from some old bones of fox and wildcat that the ravens and buzzards had left. They did not contain much substance, but they warmed and revived Smith. Then the old Indian filled and lighted his pipe, and handed it to his white friend, waiting patiently until it was smoked out. After Smith, in answer to his inquiries, stated himself much refreshed, the old man said that he had something of importance to communicate. "He said the reason he deferred his speech till now was that few men are in a right humour to hear good talk when they are extremely hungry, as they are then generally fretful and discomposed; *but as you now appear to enjoy calmness and serenity of mind, I will now communicate to you the thoughts of my heart, and those things I know to be true. Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 103 "'Brother: as you have lived with the white people, you have not had the same advantage of knowing that the Great Being above feeds his people, and gives them their meat in due season, as we Indians have who are frequently out of provisions, and yet are wonderfully supplied, and that so frequently that it is evidently the hand of the great Owaneeyo that does this. Whereas the white people have commonly large stocks of tame cattle that they can kill when they please, and also their barn cribs filled with grain, and therefore have not the same opportunity of seeing and knowing that they are supported by the Ruler of heaven and earth. ^* 'Brother: I know that you are now afraid that we will all perish with hunger, but you have no just reason to fear this. "'Brother: I have been young, but now am old; and I have frequently been under the like circum- stances that we now are, and that some time or other in almost every year of my life; yet I have hitherto been supported, and my wants supplied in times of need. "'Brother: Owaneeyo sometimes suffers us to be in want, in order to teach us our dependence upon him, and to let us know that we are to love and serve him; and likewise to know the worth of the favours we receive and make us thankfuL 104 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout "'Brother: Be assured that you will be supplied with food, and that just in the right time; but you must continue diligent in the use of means. Go to sleep, and rise early in the morning and go a-hunt- ing; be strong, and exert yourself like a man, and the Great Spirit will direct your way'. " It is pleasant to relate that the old man's words were justified, and that the very next day Smith ran across some buffalo and managed to kill a cow. But such faith in divine care naturally takes it for granted that the means must be at hand. These Indians had no behef in manna from heaven. They thought Owaneeyo would throw game in their way when it suited his purpose: but there must be game to throw. If a race of men are to depend solely on th« natural sustenance of the wilderness, then they neei a very large area of country. Wild animals requir. more space than tame and pasture-fed animals; so dc wild men. The Indians realized very thoroughly that the coming of the white man in any numbers portended the killing and driving away of the game: which meant in time that the Great Spirit could no longer take care of his children. So the wars were not only wars of revenge, wars of hatred, but were also wars of preservation of what they considered their own, wars to defend the very continuance of the kind of life in agreement with their rehgion. CHAPTER IX NOR as a race were the white men without blame. Never did the most brutal of them quite get down to the ferocious cruelty of the Indians; but it must be remembered that cruelty with the Indian was something taught as honourable against an enemy, while with the white man it was purely a personal matter. Nevertheless, some of them were bad enough; and we seem to have had an anhappy faculty of doing things that alienated even' those inclined at first to be friendly. The pioneers were a rough race, even with each other. They were moulded for a hard job; and with the majority of them fineness of fibre or delicacy of feeling was not marked. Their jokes were boisterous and crude, their manners noisy; their perceptions quite incapable of appreciating the fact that they might be hurting the other man's feelings, in their every-day dealings they had little of that grave and calm ceremony so much esteemed by the Indians. Add to these natural disadvantages the fact that they looked down on the savages with contempt which they took small pains to conceal; and you can readily 105 106 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout see that there could be no great sympathy between the races. But we must go a step beyond that. There is no doubt but that the white man committed many unwar- ranted deeds of aggression. One of the worst was his persistence in seUing the Indians hquor. We have seen how rum changed the savage's whole nature. The earliest settlers soon realized that with the help of a Httle fire water the Indian could be persuaded to almost anything. It was very useful in making treaties or trading. By its aid thousands of bad bargains — for the red man — were carried through quite legally; bargains great and small, but ending always in the Indian having less than he had before. It was all open and above board; and the savage went into it of his own free will; but the fact remained that his judgment had been clouded, or completely taker away. When he came to himself, he realized this fact. He could not do anything about it, but, dimly or clearly, he felt the injustice and nursed a grievance. And on the next occasion the same thing happened again; for once he had acquired the taste, he could not resist. Many of the greater chiefs knew this, and begged the whites to keep liquor from their people. It might be stated in justice to the whites that whiskey and rum were with them part of every bargain, busi- ness transaction, or social gathering. Even church Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 107 business was carried forward with vast seas of port and madeira. It was considered no disgrace to get drunk: indeed that was quite as natural a way of enjoying oneself as is now a game of cards or dancing. A sot was looked down on simply because he allowed pleasure to elbow aside the other business of Hfe. So our ancestors probably did not even have a passing suspicion that they were doing anything immoral in thus furnishing liquor. As to the cheating, as w© would now call it, that was an age of individualism wherein every man was supposed to take care of him^ self. We, in these days of the team-work idea, find it difficult to realize how completely this was true Every man was responsible only to himself for ninety- :iiine hundredths of his actions. Unless these actions directly and immediately harmed his neighbours, he could do as he pleased. He might wantonly kill a perfectly friendly Indian on the very fringe of town; his action might be deplored or even frowned upon by his neighbours, but he would not be called to ac- count. I am writing of borderers, not of the early blue-law Puritans. The neighbours would stop him fast enough if he tried to steal something off the wall, because they could see where that affected them : but so strongly were they independent as individuals that they could not perceive that in the long run Indian killing affected them more. And so we see 108 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout the first racial uneasiness begin to smoulder from a feeling of injustice. And a feeling of injustice in the matter of lands and pelts was strengthened by individual injustices of all kinds. There were three widely divergent classes of people who inflicted them: the strictly religious, the irresponsible ruffians, and those whose deadly enmity had been aroused by border outrages. The first sort is very well illustrated by the per- formance of that sweetly tolerant lot we revere as the Puritans. They were at first very well re- ceived by the Indians. One warrior in especial took a great liking to them, and was constantly with them and doing all sorts of favours for them. When the first Thanksgiving was proclaimed, he hastened to the forest eager to supply his bit to the white man's feast, and had the luck to kill a fat buck. He carried the deer on his shoulders to the settlement and proudly presented it to his new friends. They had him whipped. Why.f^ Because he had killed the deer on Sunday! What did the poor, friendly, eager savage know of Sunday .f* And what possible difference could it make to any but the religiously insane when a kind and generous deed is done! But you can imagine that the poor Indian, sore, bewildered, changed his mind about being a friend of the white man; and changed the minds of his people as far as Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 109 his influence extended. There were many similar instances. The ruffians were an even more serious matter. You must realize that a good many of the more southerly settlers were actually convicts, either sent over from the old country to be got rid of, or brought in as bondsmen. They and their descendants could not be expected to exemplify all the virtues. And among the better element are always roughs, men without scruple, scornful of the other man's rights, overbearing, bullying, ready fighters, indifferent to consequences, hard drinkers, "tough" boys. These are hard enough to handle in a modern city with all the faciHties of a police system. It was absolutely impossible to handle them in those days of individual irresponsibility, and nobody tried. They committed all sorts of absolutely unprovoked outrages; and the hatreds and revenges they inspired were laid to the whole white race. That sort of thing was done by both sides. A white settler who had lost family or friends was thenceforth an enemy of the Indians, good or bad; an Indian who had been insulted op cheated or maltreated by some renegade killed the first white man he saw. There was little to choose between the two sides; and these things, from small beginnings, accumulated, became worse and worse, witil there was an abiding enmity. The wonder is 110 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout not that white men and red men were so merciless^ to each other, but rather that there persisted so much personal friendship and mercy and decency in spite of everything. But outside of any question of justice or injustice, we must not forget that nothing could have saved the Indian in his old manner of life. He occupied and owned vast areas of land in the sense that he roamed over it and killed game on it. In the broader sense of ever having done anything to make it useful or productive he did not occupy it nor own it at all. Whether by peace or war, whether by slow evolution br swift force, it has always been the history of /he world that nomadic peoples disappear before pas- toral peoples, and they in turn give way to agricul- tural peoples. Sometimes the same race develops from hunters to herdsmen to farmers: sometimes, as with the Indian and with the Calif ornian-Spanish, it is thrust aside. As the country became settled, as it was necessary that fewer acres be required to support more people, it would be inevitable either that the Indian move on to a fresh game country or that he modify his nomadic life and support him- self in a new way. That is a law of evolution, and cannot be avoided. And in the present instance the Indians had less than their usual shadow of a title to the land. The Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 111 country south of the Ohio was a debatable ground always. It lay between the Cherokee races on the south and the Algonquin races on the north, and was used by both as a hunting and battle ground, but was settled by neither. Daniel Boone and his com- panions, members of a third race, going into Ken- tucky for the same purposes, thereby acquired just as good a title. However, as will be seen, treaties were here also made and broken. There we are. After some centuries of contact the two races, rightly or wrongly, faced each other a^ enemies. The Indians were formidable fighters; and in those days had advantages denied our plains Indians in their period of warfare with the whites. It is easier to learn plains' craft or mountain craft than wood- craft. Two or three men in the mountains or on the prairie can stand off a great number of Indians. But these savages dwelt and travelled and fought in a region of dark, tangled, gloomy forest. It was a forest of dense leafy undergrowth so thick that one could rarely see more than a few yards, and yet so yielding that one could glide almost anywhere through it. The high, straight trunks of the trees rose above it, branching and forked, leaning, the most excellent observation posts where a warrior could sit at ease scanning the mobile sea of brush bene^^th. No horse 112 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout could travel through it except on chopped paths or game trails, so that it was easy for the ambuscading savage to guess his mounted foe's route. Indeed even a foot traveller — imless he was an expert in woodcraft beyond the skill of most people even in those days — who strayed a hundred yards off known routes would be hopelessly lost. In such a forest there are few landmarks, a terrifying similarity. Only very occasionally was this forest opened by a meadow in a valley, or a "park" on a hillside, but ordinarily one could travel Hterally for weeks on end without either seeing clearly the sun or any other prospect but the tree trunks and the thick, leafy screen of the underbrush. About the only exceptions were the "openings" in Kentucky. Now it is all very well to have told you of the wood- craft education our little white boys were given, and it was a wonderful education; but it could not possibly equal that of the Indian lads. The red boy had the advantage of inheriting qualities the white boy's ancestry could not hand down to him; and in addition he was, in all this, leading his normal every -day life, where the white boy was merely being taught, how- ever thoroughly, for an emergency. As Roosevelt says: "To their keen eyes, trained for generations to more than a wild beast's watchfulness, the wilderT?i»s» Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 113 was an open book; nothing at rest or in motion escaped them. They had begun to track game as soon as they could walk; a scrape on a tree trunk, a bruised leaf, a faint indentation of the soil which the eye of no white man could see, all told them a tale as plainly as if it had been shouted in their ear. They could no more get lost in a wilderness than a white man could get lost on a highway." Their accustomed moccasins could move silently and surely among dried twigs and dead leaves. The "broken dried twig" of fiction has become somewhat of a joke, its mention occurs so often, yet any one who has done any still hunting in the forest knows that this is the most frequent, the most difficult to avoid, and the loudest and most advertising of any of the minor accidents. The abiHty to move with absolute silence is a rare gift. Savages shared it with cougars and wildcats. And so in this pathless blinded forest, where every tree trunk, every leafy bush, every stone was a ready- made ambush, where thousands of obstacles to easy travel made the clumsy white man as obvious as a circus parade, the Indians moved, invisible, silent, watching their foes with fierce contempt, awaiting the moment to strike. For days they would follow a party as wolves follow a herd, skulking unsuspected, leaving a trail that only an expert could recognize. 114 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout They were never as good shots with the rifle as a white hunter; and as a rule they were not as strong physically in a rough-and-tumble; but they were better shots than the regular soldiers, and a hand-to- hand combat with knife and tomahawk they never avoided, and often won. They had superior endur- ance. Their ability to travel long distances enabled them to strike unexpectedly, and far from their own villages. They appeared silently from unknown forests, robbed and murdered, and disappeared. There was always the utmost difficulty in following them, and nobody could guess where next they would attack. Add to these things their cunning and quiet stealth, their courage and skill in fight, and the fiendish cruelty of their deeds, you cannot wonder that the settlers looked on them as devils out of the black forest. Now can you longer wonder that when Braddock or Grant led into this wilderness the very best white troops trained in European warfare, they were not only defeated, but massacred? They were helpless. They could not stray thirty yards from the column without getting lost; and a column offered only too fair a mark to the savages. They could never catch the smallest glimpse of the silently flitting foe. The Indians attacked such clustered huddled opponents without the slightest hesitation, shooting them dowiv Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 115 as they would herded buffalo. The soldiers might as well have been blindfolded. It was only when the trained borderers took a hand that the white man made head, slowly. And now you can understand more clearly what it means when you are told that Boone, Kenton, Mansker, and their contemporaries beat the Indian at his own game. CHAPTER X WITH a full knowledge of the dangers and horrors of any determined Indian warfare before him, Daniel Boone knew better than to push forward into the new Paradise without some sort of backing; and as at present it seemed impossible to get that, he settled down in the Clinch Valley as patiently as he could to await the turn of events. Now it happened that in those times, as to-day, it was the custom after a war was over to give the soldiers who had fought in that war a bounty or bonus. This took the form of lands. After the French war, that preceded the Revolution, the cus- tom had been followed, and Virginia had located her bounty lands in Kentucky! To be sure nobody could get at that land; but, on the other hand, it was re- ported to be very rich, so it would probably be valuable some day. The legislators had no concern with ways and means. "Here," they told the soldier, "the land is there: for we have been rehably informed as to that fact. We have voted it to you. It is none of our business how you get it — or whether you ever get it." 116 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 117 But at that time a man named Lord Dunmore was Governor of Virginia. He was much hated and vilified later, when his loyalty to his own country impelled him quite naturally to take the British side, but he seems to have been a man of vision and of energy. He, too, was much taken with the stories of the new West; and in 1772 he had made arrangements to explore in company with George Washington. The expedition fell through, but both Washington — fts a friend of the soldier; and Dunmore — as being interested in opening new country for his colony of Virginia — occupied themselves in making more defi- nite the rather vague bounty claims. To this end they sent in surveyors. These bold and hardy men under an expert woods- man named Thomas BulHtt, and including many names later famous, made their way down the Ohio River to the Falls; following thus the custom of tak- ing the easy routes by waterway. Here they built ft fortified camp and proceeded methodically about "iheir business. This was in 1773. The next year, as these were unmolested, other surveyors were sent in; and Captain James Harrod with a party of forty-one men came down the Ohio River looking out possible locations for the bounty land. Another party came up the Ken- tucky River to about the present site of Louisvilleif 118 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout None of these men brought their families nor any of their household goods. They were exactly like the hunting parties who had preceded them, except that they had other thoughts in view besides the pursuit ot game and pelts. You may be sure the Indians viewed these en- croachments with uneasiness. They had not yet come to the point of declaring an open war nor advancing on these rather strong bands of white men in sufficient force to destroy them; but raiding parties of young men were constantly on the warpath or on horse-stealing expeditions — a favourite form of sport. Lonely cabins on the east side of the mountains were attacked and their occupants killed or carried cap* live. Many white people were thus slain before a drop of Shawnee blood was shed. The borderers grew more and more exasperated and surly at these swift blows struck in the dark by an enemy who disappeared before the blow could be countered. Once in a while they set forth in retaliation, and then the chances were nine out of ten that they killed the wrong Indians, which made them still more enemies. Everything was ripe for a grand explosion. The whites were anxious for a war that would settle these forays; the Shawnees and Mingos were haughty and yet at the same time uneasy over the westward ad- vance of the whites; Lord Duninore desired to add Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scovi 119 definitely the Kentucky lands to his Colony of Virginia, and at the same time, probably, in view of the increasing trouble with England, he would have been delighted to distract the Virginians' minds by an Indian war. All that was needed was an excuse. Lord Dunmore saw plainly that the excuse could not be long wanting, and that if the surveying parties in the back country were not to perish in the first blast of the tempest, they must be immediately warned. In this need he sent for Daniel Boone^ Whose name was already well known, and whose daring journey was celebrated. As Boone expresses it, Lord Dunmore "solicited" him to go in to warn the surveyors. "I immediately complied with the Governor's ^quest," says Boone simply. He picked out one of his acquaintance named Stoner, another master woodcraftsman, and the two started on their journey. It was doubly peril- ous, not only because of the growing hostility of the Indians, but also because the necessity for making speed rendered it impossible for them to be as care- ful as usual. It was a most extraordinary feat, for it covered over eight hundred miles and was completed in two months. It was entirely overland, for the easiei 120 Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout water routes — along which the surveyors had en-* tered — were now closed by Indians. They found and visited all the surveyors' camps, no light feat in itself, and they warned Captain Harrod and his party of landlookers. Boone, with characteristic far-sightedness, lost no opportunity of getting more first-hand information of the land. So pressing was the need of this warning that only a few days after Boone's arrival at the Falls of the Ohio, while the surveyors and settlers were breaking camp get- ting ready to go, a number of them who had gone to the spring for water were attacked suddenly. The survivors had to scatter and escape as best they could. One man, with the Indians about two jumpa behind him, fled along an Indian trail and shortly arrived at the Ohio River. Here, at the end of the trail, by the greatest good luck, was a bark canoe. He flung himself into it and shoved off, lying low until the swift current at this part of the river had carried him out of range. By the time he dared raise his head he was far down stream, around many bends and headlands. To make head against the force of the stream, with probably the Indians wait- ing for him, seemed impossible; especially as the fugitive had no idea whether or not he would find his comrades still living. It seemed easier to keep on going, so he did. In the bark canoe he floated Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout 121 down the entire length of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, a distance of two thousand miles, and in some manner made his way up the Atlantic coast to Philadelphia. It was certainly a roundabout way to get home, and a most extraordinary journey. The time was summer, so that wild grapes and ber- ries were plentiful; besides which, like all frontiers- men who never stirred step without rifle, he was armed. By secret ways and with great dangers and natural difficulties avoided Boone led his little band across the mountains and safe to civilization. The Hunter himself remarked that they overcame "many obstacles," which was an emphatic statement from Jbim. Considering the fact that during his absence war had finally blazed in all its fury, so that now must be avoided an aroused and active foe, Boone's successful conduct of this party was truly remarkable. During his absence the needed spark had been struck that should fire the tinder so long prepared. At that time one of the most noted men on the border, red or white, was Logan, an Iroquois, but now chief among the Senecas and Mingos. He was a man of very high character, a great orator, a man of vision and intelligence, one who knew the in- tegrity of his word and his honour. An individual named Lowden has told us that he considere