Daniel Boone: The Pioneer of Kentucky
every bird and beast in the woods. The skill in imitation which they
thus acquired was wonderful. Hidden in a thicket they would gobble like
a turkey and lure a whole flock of these birds within reach of their
rifles. Bleating like the fawn they would draw the timid dam to her
death. The moping owls would come in flocks attracted by the screech of
the hunter, while packs of wolves, far away in the forest, would howl in
response to the hunter's cry. The boys also rivalled the Indians in the
skill with which they would throw the tomahawk. With a handle of a given
length, and measuring the distance with the eye, they would throw the
weapon with such accuracy that its keen edge would be sure to strike the
object at which it was aimed. Running, jumping, wrestling were pastimes
in which both boys and men engaged. Shooting at a mark was one of the
most favorite diversions. When a boy had attained the age of about
twelve years, a rifle was usually placed in his hands. In the house or
fort where he resided, a port-hole was assigned him, where he was to do
valiant service as a soldier, in case of an attack by the Indians. Every
day he was in the woods hunting squirrels, turkeys and raccoons. Thus he
soon acquired extraordinary expertness with his gun.
The following interesting narrative is taken from Ramsay's Annals of
Tennessee, which State was settled about the same time with Kentucky and
with emigrants from about the same region:
"The settlement of Tennessee was unlike that of the present new country
of the United States. Emigrants from the Atlantic cities, and from most
points in the Western interior, now embark upon steamboats or other
craft, and carrying with them all the conveniences and comforts of
civilized life--indeed many of its luxuries--are, in a few days, without
toil, danger or exposure, transported to their new abodes, and in a few
months are surrounded with the appendages of home, of civilization and
the blessings of law and of society.
"The wilds of Minnesota and Nebraska, by the agency of steam or the
stalwart arms of Western boatmen, are at once transformed into the
settlements of a commercial and civilized people. Independence and Saint
Paul, six months after they are laid off, have their stores and their
workshops, their artisans and their mechanics. The mantua-maker and the
tailor arrive in the same boat with the carpenter and mason. The
professional man and the printer quickly follow. In the succeeding year
the piano, the drawing-room, the restaurant, the billiard table, the
church bell, the village and the city in miniature are all found, while
the neighboring interior is yet a wilderness and a desert.
"The town and comfort, taste and urbanity are first; the clearing, the
farm house, the wagon road and the improved country, second. It was far
different on the frontier of Tennessee. At first a single Indian trail
was the only entrance to the Eastern border of it, and for many years
admitted only the hunter and the pack-horse. It was not till the year
1776 that a wagon was seen in Tennessee. In consequence of the want of
roads--as well as of the great distance from the sources of supply--the
first inhabitants were without tools, and of course without
mechanics--much more without the conveniences of living and the comforts
of housekeeping.
"Luxuries were absolutely unknown. Salt was brought on pack-horses from
Augusta and Richmond and readily commanded ten dollars a bushel. The
salt gourd in every cabin was considered as a treasure. The sugar maple
furnished the only article of luxury on the frontier; coffee and tea
being unknown or beyond the reach of the settlers. Sugar was seldom made
and was used only for the sick, or in the preparation of a sweetened
dram at a wedding, or on the arrival of a new comer.
"The appendages of the kitchen, the cupboard and the table, were scanty
and simple. Iron was brought at great expense from the forges east of
the mountains, on pack-horses, and was sold at an enormous price. Its
use was, for this reason, confined to the construction and repair of
ploughs and other farming utensils. Hinges, nails and fastenings of that
material were seldom seen. The costume of the first settlers
corresponded well with the style of their buildings and the quality of
their furniture: the hunting shirt of the militia man and the hunter was
in general use. The rest of their apparel was in keeping with
it,--plain, substantial and well adapted for comfort, use and economy.
The apparel of the pioneer's family was all home-made; and in a whole
neighborhood there would not be seen, at the first settlement of the
country, a single article of dress of foreign manufacture. Half the
year, in many families, shoes were not worn. Boots, a fur hat and a
coat, with buttons on each side, attracted the gaze of the beholder and
sometimes received censure or rebuke. A stranger from the old States
chose to doff his ruffles, his broad-cloth and his cue rather than
endure the scoff and ridicule of the backwoodsman.
"The dwelling house on every frontier in Tennessee was the log-cabin. A
carpenter and a mason were not needed to build them--much less the
painter, the glazier and the upholsterer. Every settler had, besides his
rifle, no other instrument but an axe or hatchet and a butcher-knife. A
saw, an auger, a file and a broad-axe would supply a whole settlement,
and were used as common property in the erection of the log-cabin.
"The labor and employment of a pioneer family were distributed in
accordance with surrounding circumstances. To the men was assigned the
duty of procuring subsistence and materials for clothing, erecting the
cabin and the station, opening and cultivating the farm, hunting the
wild beasts, and repelling and pursueing the Indians. The women spun the
flax, the cotton and the wool, wove the cloth, made them up, milked,
churned and prepared the food, and did their full share of the duties of
housekeeping.
"Could there be happiness or comfort in such dwellings and such a state
of society? To those who are accustomed to modern refinements the truth
appears like fable. The early occupants of log-cabins were among the
most happy of mankind. Exercise and excitement gave them health. They
were practically equal, common danger made them mutually dependent.
Brilliant hopes of future wealth and distinction led them on. And as
there was ample room for all, and as each new comer increased individual
and general security, there was little room for that envy, jealousy and
hatred which constitute a large portion of human misery in older
societies.
"Never were the story, the joke, the song and the laugh better enjoyed
than upon the hewed blocks or puncheon stools, around the roaring log
fire of the early western settler.
"On the frontier the diet was necessarily plain and homely, but
exceedingly abundant and nutritive. The Goshen of America furnishes the
richest milk and the most savory and delicious meats. In their rude
cabins, with their scanty and inartificial furniture, no people ever
enjoyed, in wholesome food a greater variety, or a superior quality of
the necessaries of life."
A writer of that day describes the sports of these pioneers of Kentucky.
One of them consisted in "driving the nail." A common nail was hammered
into a target for about two thirds of its length. The marksmen then took
their stand at the distance of about forty paces. Each man carefully
cleaned the interior of his gun, and then placed a bullet in his hand,
over which he poured just enough powder to cover it. This was a charge.
A shot which only came close to the nail was considered a very
indifferent shot. Nothing was deemed satisfactory but striking the nail
with the bullet fairly on the head. Generally one out of three shots
would hit the nail. Two nails were frequently needed before each man
could get a shot.
_Barking of Squirrels_ is another sport. "I first witnessed," writes the
one to whom we have above alluded, "this manner of procuring squirrels,
while near the town of Frankfort. The performer was the celebrated
Daniel Boone. We walked out together and followed the rocky margins of
the Kentucky river, until we reached a piece of flat land, thickly
covered with black walnuts, oaks, and hickories. Squirrels were seen
gambolling on every tree around us. My companion Mr. Boone, a stout,
hale, athletic man, dressed in a homespun hunting shirt, bare legged and
moccasined, carried a long and heavy rifle, which, as he was loading it,
he said had proved efficient in all his former undertakings, and which
he hoped would not fail on this occasion, as he felt proud to show me
his skill.
"The gun was wiped, the powder measured, the ball patched with six
hundred thread linen, and a charge sent home with a hickory rod. We
moved not a step from the place, for the squirrels were so thick, that
it was unnecessary to go after them. Boone pointed to one of these
animals, which had observed us and was crouched on a tree, about fifty
paces distant, and bade me mark well where the ball should hit. He
raised his piece gradually, until the head, or sight of the barrel, was
brought to a line with the spot he intended to strike. The whip-like
report resounded through the woods, and along the hills, in repeated
echoes. Judge of my surprise, when I perceived that the ball had hit the
piece of bark immediately underneath the squirrel, and shivered it into
splinters; the concussion produced by which had killed the animal, and
sent it whirling through the air, as if it had been blown up by the
explosion of a powder magazine, Boone kept up his firing, and before
many hours had elapsed, we had procured as many squirrels as we wished.
Since that first interview with the veteran Boone, I have seen many
other individuals perform the same feat.
"The _Snuffing of a Candle_ with a ball, I first had an opportunity of
seeing near the banks of Green River, not far from a large pigeon roost,
to which I had previously made a visit. I had heard many reports of guns
during the early part of a dark night, and knowing them to be rifles, I
went towards the spot to ascertain the cause. On reaching the place, I
was welcomed by a dozen tall, stout men, who told me they were
exercising for the purpose of enabling them to shoot in the night at the
reflected light from the eyes of a deer, or wolf, by torch-light.
"A fire was blazing near, the smoke of which rose curling among the
thick foliage of the trees. At a distance which rendered it scarcely
distinguishable, stood a burning candle, which in reality was only fifty
yards from the spot on which we all stood. One man was within a few
yards of it to watch the effect of the shots, as well as to light the
candle, should it chance to go out, or to replace it should the shot cut
it across. Each marksman shot in his turn. Some never hit neither the
snuff or the candle, and were congratulated with a loud laugh; while
others actually snuffed the candle without putting it out, and were
recompensed for their dexterity with numerous hurrahs. One of them, who
was particularly expert, was very fortunate and snuffed the candle three
times out of seven; while all the other shots either put out the candle
or cut it immediately under the light."
CHAPTER III.
_Louisiana, its Discovery and Vicissitudes._
Louisiana, and its eventful history.--The Expedition of De Soto.--The
Missionary Marquette.--His voyage on the Upper Mississippi.--The Expedition
of La Salle.--Michilimackinac.--Its History.--Fate of the "Griffin."--Grief
of La Salle.--His voyage of Discovery.--Sale of Louisiana to the United
States.--Remarks of Napoleon.
The transfer of Louisiana to the United States is one of the most
interesting events in the history of our country. In the year 1800,