The Winning of the West, Volume Two | Page 5

galloping his gallant white horse in
safety across the plain. To this day the place is known by the name of
McColloch's leap. [Footnote: In the west this feat is as well known as is
Putnam's similar deed in the north.]
In Virginia and Pennsylvania the Indian outrages meant only the
harassing of the borderers; in Kentucky they threatened the complete
destruction of the vanguard of the white advance and, therefore the
stoppage of all settlement west of the Alleghanies until after the
Revolutionary war, when very possibly the soil might not have been
ours to settle. Fortunately Hamilton did not yet realize the importance
of the Kentucky settlements, nor the necessity of crushing them, and
during 1777 the war bands organized at Detroit were sent against the
country round Pittsburg; while the feeble forts in the far western
wilderness were only troubled by smaller war parties raised among the
tribes on their own account. A strong expedition, led by Hamilton in
person, would doubtless at this time have crushed them.
The Struggle in Kentucky.
As it was, there were still so few whites in Kentucky that they were
greatly outnumbered by the invading Indians. They were, in
consequence, unable to meet the enemy in the open field, and gathered
in their stations or forted villages. Therefore the early conflicts, for the
most part, took the form of sieges of these wooden forts. Such sieges,
had little in common with the corresponding operations of civilized
armies. The Indians usually tried to surprise a fort; if they failed, they
occasionally tried to carry it by open assault, or by setting fire to it, but
very rarely, indeed, beleaguered it in form. For this they lacked both the
discipline and the commissariat. Accordingly, if their first rush
miscarried, they usually dispersed in the woods to hunt, or look for
small parties of whites; always, however, leaving some of their number
to hover round the fort and watch any thing that took place. Masters in
the art of hiding, and able to conceal themselves behind a bush, a stone,
or a tuft of weeds, they skulked round the gate before dawn, to shoot
the white sentinels; or they ambushed the springs, and killed those who
came for water; they slaughtered all of the cattle that had not been
driven in, and any one venturing incautiously beyond the walls was
certain to be waylaid and murdered. Those who were thus hemmed in

the fort were obliged to get game on which to live; the hunters
accordingly were accustomed to leave before daybreak, travel eight or
ten miles, hunt all day at the risk of their lives, and return after dark.
Being of course the picked men of the garrison, they often eluded the
Indians, or slew them if an encounter took place, but very frequently
indeed they were themselves slain. The Indians always trusted greatly
to wiles and feints to draw their foes into their power. As ever in this
woodland fighting, their superiority in hiding, or taking advantage of
cover, counterbalanced the superiority of the whites as marksmen; and
their war parties were thus at least a match, man against man, for the
Kentuckians, though the latter, together with the Watauga men, were
the best woodsmen and fighters of the frontier. Only a very few of the
whites became, like Boon and Kenton, able to beat the best of the
savages at their own game.
The innumerable sieges that took place during the long years of Indian
warfare differed in detail, but generally closely resembled one another
as regards the main points. Those that occurred in 1777 may be
considered as samples of the rest; and accounts of these have been
preserved by the two chief actors, Boon and Clark. [Footnote: In
Boon's narrative, written down by Filson, and in Clark's diary, as given
by Morehead. The McAfee MSS. and Butler's history give some
valuable information. Boon asserts that at this time the "Long Knives"
proved themselves superior to their foe in almost every battle; but the
facts do not seem to sustain him, though the statement was doubtless
true as regards a few picked men. His estimates of the Indian numbers
and losses must be received with great caution.]
Boonsborough Attacked.
Boonsborough, which was held by twenty-two riflemen, was attacked
twice, once in April and again in July, on each occasion by a party of
fifty or a hundred warriors. [Footnote: Boon says April 15th and July
4th. Clark's diary makes the first date April 24th. Boon says one
hundred Indians, Clark "40 or 50." Clark's account of the loss on both
sides agrees tolerably well with Boon's. Clark's diary makes the second
attack take place on May 23d. His dates are probably correct, as Boon
must have written only from memory.] The