Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1875-07-22

by the passage of the proposed bill, Trott op-
posed it, and mainly by his opposition it was
defeated. During the session of 17O1, butfew
laws were enacted, and none Of very great
Importance to the prosperity of the colony.
The time of the members was consumed in an
gry and excited debates. There was one law
ratified on the 1st of March, 1901, which serves
to confirm the truthfulness of one of the tradi'
tions of the country. 1t is we'll known to all
the old inhabitants of the State that less than
century ago the country was full of wild
horses. Such was the case within the recol-
lection of some persons still living. In Fair
field county there is a stream which is now
known by the local name Of Horse river The
original name of the stream was Horse-Pen
Branch. This name was given to the stream
because the farmers constructed pens near it
for the purpose of catching wild horses.
Now, the question may be asked, how did
the wild horses get into the country? It's
we'll known that when the colony was first
planted at Charles Town, there we're neither
hogs, horses nor cows in the territory. Hor-
ses were brought from the northern colonies,
but especially from Virginia. Great numbers
of these animals were, during the few last
years of the seventeenth century, driven from
Virginia to Charles Town. Some were sold
to the planters; but the larger number of them
were turned loose in the swamps. Here they
were permitted to remain, summer and winter,
and in these swamps they increased in num-
bers, and in short time many Of them be-
came 80 wild as never to be recovered by
their owners As the low country became
more densely populated and the swamps
drained, the wild horses, as we'll as the other
wild animals made their way into the up
country. The northern colonies, and espe-
cially Virginia, made South Carolina gra-
zing ground. Any and every kind Of horses
were brought into the colony, and turned out
to Craze. This had tendency to increase
the number of horses, but to injure the quality.
The planters paid little attention to breed
ing, either fine or serviceable horses; but de.
pended upon what was called "woods colts"
To prevent stock being driven into the
State, and "for the better encouragement OF
more serviceable horses to be bred amongst
u.s." the Assembly passed law that twenty
five dollars should be paid for each horse
brought by land into the colony.
It is probable that this had the effect to
lessen the number of horses brought into the
settlement about Charles Town but it did not
wholly prevent the practice.
We find that forty years after this, the prac-
tice of driving horses from Virginia to South
Carolina still continued. Richard Kirkland
came to Fairfield county about 1745. He
came from Virginia, and settled on the Wa
teree, in the eastern part of Fairfield county.
His descendants, at least many Of them, still
form part of the population Of the county.
He was man of considerable wealth for that
time, and brought with him large amount of
stock, amongst which were fifty brood horses.
Whilst this subject is under consideration,
we cannot refrain from remarking that the
general features of the up-country have been
very greatly changed in the last one hundred
and twenty-five years. At that time. accord
ing to reliable traditions, there we're but few
large trees in the forests, and the country was,
during the summer, covered with clover and
wild pease. Many ofthe branch bottoms and
some of the ridges, were covered with canes.
Stock of all kinds became fat during the sum-
mer, and suffered but comparatively little
during the winter. A large portion of Able
vile county was, when first settled, cane
brake, and all the Wateree section of Fair
field was covered with red clover; and in some
sections it still remains in spite of the raids
made upon the forest by the devotees of COT
ton. These facts, together with others of a
similar kind, which might be presented, &C
counts for the practice of the Virginians driv-
ing their horses down into South Carolina :;
and also for the fact that there were many
wild horses in the country shortly after its
first settlement.
We now return to the main subject. In
April, 1902, Governor Moore again summon
ed the Assembly. So soon as they met, the
members concluded that it was to their inter-
est to adjourn until the 5th Of May. The
reason assigned for this was, that since most of
the members were planters, and April was the
month for planting the crops, it was impor-
tant for them to be at home experimenting
their farms. On the 5th of May they met,
and Governor Moore abused them for ad-
journing, charging them with sel6shuess. To
retaliate, he prorogued the Assembly till Au-
gust. 1t is clear that bitter feelings existed.
The Assembly had lost all confidence in the
Governor, if, indeed, it ever had any; and
the Governor was bitterly enraged by the in
dependent course of the Assembly.
To increase the mutual dstrust, it was cur.
rently reported that, at the suggestion of Rob-
ert Daniel, the Governor had determined to
declare martial law. This infuriated the AS
sembly, and but for shrewd device of the
Governor, something in keeping with their
feelings might have been done. For several
reasons Governor Moore determined to make
an attack upon St. Augustine. The real OBJ
ject of the Governor was, in all probability,
to capture Indians and reduce them to slaves,
and plunder the Spanish towns.
No friendly feelings existed between the
colonists and the Spanish and no doubt Moore
thought that by proposing to the Assembly
an expedition against St. Augustine, he could
divert their minds from the frauds which had
been practiced in the recent election. The
expedition was proposed, and with closed