Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-10-11

1Be treaty was forgotten or made into
wadding- The besiegers had lost charac-
ter and time Boone and his company
had shown the savages, at the beginning
of what lion-hearted courage they were
made up This display was of the very
kind to intimidate the Indian. Any such
exercise of great personal strength told
upon the savage with force beyond any
other species of reasoning.
DuQuesne and Blackfsh now began the
/ siege in earnest They had force that
could pour into the fort power of ammu-
/ milton, that if white man presented him
I self within range must DE fatal The
siege lasted nine days and nights. for the
Invaders was in mum Der sufficient to take
alternate watches. 1t is easy for US to
/ give these details to the page, or to pur-
sue them, but the reality of that fight
/ never could be effaeed from the memory
of those who participated in it, II was
one of the most heroic of that series of
struggles which gave to Kentucky such
bloody admission into the family of ma
tions. A few gallant men, trained in
forest school, were shut up in feeble
fort, which, if the enemy had possessed
artillery or scaling ladders, might have
been knocked to pieces or covered with
men. They had around them those whose
life was dearer than their own The
balls fell like rain and there was no hour
for rest. 1t needed such n scene to illus
trate the energy Of the Poneers charac-
ter His conduct on this occasion shows
hlm to rank among the bravest warriors
OF the country. Indeed, Boone personal
ly enacted an heroism immeasurably su-
perIor to that of many to whom history
assigns his laurel Alone or at the head
OF his men, he was ever the brave man.
content to do his duty under every form
or circumstance of peril
The men at the fort fred when they
cod bit, while the savages seemed to have
fired away, as conscious of full treasury
of powder and lead on which they could
rely, Boone says: after they were gone
we picked up one hundred and twenty five
pounds Of bullets besides what stuck in
the logs of our fort-which certainly
is great proof of their industry -
1t was a great proof Of the fact that the
Indian knew, by fatal experience, that if
/ he showed himself within range he was
destined to know the accuracy of Ken
tucklan's aim. The picture of the old
fort, so accurately given in Collins Ken
lucky, from a sketch by Col Henderson,
shows near it belt of woods These
probably sheltered the savagcs who blazed
away impotently, ouly at rare intervals
doing any injury. TIE defenders lost two
men. and there were four wounded. Of
this loss, one of the killed and one of the
wounded was in consequence of a deser-
tInn from tHn fort of yubo boI
capital rife. and also had been trained to
do execution with it, as was the education
of all those in the fort He got into a
tree, and having a good aim, was soon one
of the most successful of the assalants
Boone found this out, watched him, and
when he saw his head. fired The man
was found after the battle-a ball in his
head-the shot being made at the distance
of one hundred and seventy-fve yards
five hundred and twenty five feet In all
his best days Leather Stocking never sur
passed this The Indian felt Boone in
every hour of the siege
One of Boone's daughters remained in
the fort Why she did not accompany
her mother in the return to North Carroll
ma, is not from the records apparent but
as it was with her when married to Mr.
Galloway. that he in bis old age resided,
it may be that her attachment to her faith
er was so great that she preferred the per
lis of the fort rather than to be separated
from him. She was noble girl
"Of such sire defendant true"
She labored in tIadefence as zealously as
her strength permitted, and was of those
who supplied the ammunition She was
wounded, and when the annals of the he
role women of America is written, her
name deserves a conspicuous place. The
Indians tried that by which they had often
won horrible passage TO the dwelling of
the white man They threw FIRE on the
fort and it took and for a time it seem
ed as if the fated hour for Boonesborough
had come There was no time for thought
At all risk the fire must be extingulshed
and by the boldness and bravery of one
young man, who risked and dared all the
| storms of balls, the impending danger was
avertcd. All these things disheartened
the Indians. for they had no resource be
youd the immediate act. and when in the
conflict Of physical strength they were
overcome, they could see no recourse but
flight for, notwithstanding all that is said
VI bIclI bl dNcI y tHc 1uNidh WAS uulbe
ready to recognize that there is time to
run. Bowman says the ire was kept up
during all the siege without intermission !;
but this must be somewhat fgurative, as
during nine days and nights, if the battle
| had not sometimes wavered or ceased. the
| physical endurance of the garrison must
have failed
Boone relates one of the best tactics Of
the besiegers The enemy began to un-
/ dermine our fort. which was situated fifty
yards from kentucky River They began
ct the watermark and proceeded in the
bank some distance, which we understood
by their making the water muddy with the
CLAW and we immediately proceeded to
dizappoint their design BY cutting a
trench across their subterranean passage.
! The elemy discovering our countermine
by the clav we threw out of the fort, de-
/ sisted from that stratagem
This device was too good to have been
{ Suryested hv the Indians 1t was a point