River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-08-09
SIMON KENYON.
An Interesting Adventure Of This
Brave Pioneer.
Ills Adroitness At Stealing Horses from
the fndiaus-IIis Capture and
the TorturcS 20 Which lie
Was Subjected.

the Torturc> 20 Which lie
Was Subjected.
Ono ~ TIE mos interesting advent
urcs iu tl. lif,. az simon kenton. the
brave ana -tuTwart b0rderer. who did
more 20 gvre-t Kentucky from the saw
age than amy other man-Hsniel
Boone. perhaps excepted vas his
captJra Is Indians while ON raid
INTO their country stealing horses
This seems 80 have been favOrite
pa-tim.. - business. IN the early
period ID tine State. both with the
pioucei- and with the Indians. The
latter would make an incursion across
the Ohio. steal all the horses they
could dud. and rccrOss back tO the
north side aud make their way back To
the towns with their booty. Then the
whites would band together. and in
small partie. penetrate the Indian
country. steal back their horses.
and as many more as they
could lax hand, On. and return 10
the settlements Thus matters went
on for several years. and in the practice
Of horse stealing \ .uton was not only
success bat Il leader. lie would run
greater risks, and more Of them, to
steal horse from an Indian than for
any thing else. except to defend the
settlers against Indian attacks His
raids. with "A few chosen followers, into
the Indian country were numerous,
and characterized by many hair-breadth
escapes. But. as we shall sec, the
pitcher went once too often to the
fountain.
K-r,ou returned from KaskaslIia,
H., IN LIS. having accompanied Cen
cral Gyorgc Rogers Clark in his ex-
pedtioa against that place, ard found
Daniel Boone fleming "a party Ia pro-
cncd agajus. au Indian town on Paint
creek iu The Ouio country. for the pur-
POS. 30 chastising the -avages for some
at their dcprcdatiOns on the Kentucky
settlements. This was am opportunity
mot to De- lost 10y Kcnton. and he hesi-
tatcd not 10 Join Boone and his ex-
petition Boone crossed the Ohio, but
did not penetrate far before nc learned
that large war party had SCI out to
attack the fort In Kentucky. This de-
termiued Boone 10 Immediately return.
hut Keuion could not thiuk of leaving
the Indian country without stealing a
horse. Accordingly, he remained be-
hind with "a companion named Alex
auder Montgomery, and together they
proceeded to the Indian village. whore
they finally sole horse apiece. and
succeeded in making their way back tn
Kentucky. This ~ elated them that
they determined To try second ad
venture, and i'm September with a
third companion -George Clark -they
crossed tire Ohio. and pushed boldly
into the Indian country, nor paused
until they reached old ChiIlicothe.
They arrived IN the vicinity of the
town vitbuut their presence being dis
covered AID waited for night To settle
down and conceal their operations
with her mantle o. gloom. Aided by
the friendly darkness, they explored
the cuvirons 81 the town and found
q number of fine horses graz
ing on the prT.iries adjoin-
inc. They succeeded in securing
seven animals. but In doing 80
made considerable noise, thereby
arousiug tn. -,tyagcs. Keniou and his
party mounted and laid whip with a
horde Of yelling ard euragcd -avagcs
q; hrir actt-. New commenced race
for ,ile Tho whites made for the
ono river. and though mounted. the
Inoitv- uu foot. a. they were. had AN
a5-agta..ss over their foes In that they
wee thoroughly familiar with the
a. .ufr. and could hold them an I'M
comfortably close race. All night long
ard Tic next day keutlu and ais com
psnIons kept up their Hight. and late
in the evening" came to the Ohio in the
present comfy of Brown. q short dis
taucc below Limestone. now Maysyille.
They found the river dashed into fury
bv wind that blew almost hurri-
came The rolling waves. though pre-
scutiug no terror Ia the intrepid
whites. 81 frightened the horses that
an efforts Ia for-c them into the river
failed. and nothing remained but to
secure them and wait for the gale TO
subSidc This did not occur until the
following day. when another attempt
was made. bat the horses had not re-
cuprrated from their fright and still
obstin1tely refused To enter the water.
Feeling an absolute certainty they
were pursued by the savages.
they abandoned the attempt to cross.
and each selecting one of the finest
horses in the collection. turned the
others loose. mounted and started for
the Falls of the Ohio, where there We're
then few men stationed. But no
sooner had they loosed their horses
and allowed them 70 stray away, than
with the reckic-sness characteristic of
their leader. they separated 10 hunt
them up again that they might take
them on their proposed route TO the
Falls. keuton soon fell into a large
body of the Indians. and his gun lash
ing in the pan. he was captured.
Montgomery. hearing the report Of the
skirmish. came 70 his rescue. but was
instantly killed and >calped. while
Clarke succeeded in making his escape.
and finally reached the Kentucky set
Elements
Kcntun was now subjected 20 >y>-
tenn Cf barbarOus treatment such a.
only The American savage can intlict-
He wss tied. Mazeppa-like. upon one
Of the widest of their horses. and
a pair 81 moceasius fastened securely
upon his hands. that he might
not ne able To shield his face
from the brush. and the horse
turned loose The frightened an
final kicked. reared and plunged about
in the widest manner. eudeav0ring 70
free himself from his burden, but the
savaces had done their work wen.
After cxhausting himself the horse fol-
lowed the cavalcade as peaceably as
his involuntary rider. Al Chillicothe.
he was compelled TO run the gauntlet.
when he was roughly handled. reeeiv-
ing severe wounds
Many OF the young readers Of the
C1urf-r--5ourvdl are doubtless ignorant
Of the term running the gauntlet as
praxti-ed among the hostile Indians OF
Amctu-.- The warriors were drawn
nan f r.-g 14str-tfTaT lines and armed