Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-11-14

side in the Seven Tears War. and had
rendered valuable service az the cap
ture Of Fort Duqussne. At the out
break of the Revolutionary War, fierce
feuds with the encroaching settlers led
them to take the part of the Crown.
and, in company with Tory guerillas,
they carried on the work of butchery
for more than a year. until at last they
were crushed by John Sewer. the Lion
of the border" With their villages
and crops destroyed. they were starved
into submission, and by a treaty in
| 1777 they renowned all claim to the
| territory between the Tennessee and
Cum berlaud Rivers.
Such were the beginnings of Ken
lucky and Tennessee, and such was
the progress already made to the west
of the mountains, when, in the spring
of 1873, It was discovered that Colonel
Hamilton. the British commander at
Detroit, was engaged in stirring up
the western Indians to make con-
certed attack along the entire frontier.
Patrick Henry. Governor of Virginia,
considering the matter. soon made up
his mind that an ounce of prevention
was worth pound of cure. a bold ad-
venturer, eager to carry the war into
the enemy's country, was ready at
hand.
George Rogers Clark. youth of
twenty-five years had already proposed
to Thomas Jefferson the conquest of
the northwestern territory, and the
plan had been favOrably considered
Accordingly, having collected boats and
few pieces of light artillery, Clark
started from Pittsburgh with one hun
dred and eighty picked rifemen, and
rowed swiftly down the Ohio river a
thousand miles,. to its junction with
the Mississippi The British garrison
strengthen the posts at Detroit and
Niagara, and the town was an easy prey.
Hiding his boats in a, creek, Clark
marched across the prairie and seized
the place without resistance The
French inhabitants were quite we'll dis
posed toward the. change, especially
when they heard the new alliance be-
TWEEN the United States and Louis XVI.
Cahokia and two other neighbOring
villages readily submitted for the same
reason, and all the inhabitants took an
oath of allegiance to the State of Vir-
ginia. A Catholic priest volunteered
to carry Clark proposals to Vincennes
on the Wabash. and this important
post likewise submitted without delay.
As the Spanish commandant at st.
Louis was friendly to Clark, he felt
secure from molestation for the present,
and sent a party home to Virginia with
the news of the bioOdless conquest.
The territory north of the Ohio was
thus annexed to Virginia as the ''cOun-
ty" OF Illinois, and force of FIVE hun
dred men was raised for its defense.
When these proceedings came to the
cars of Colonel Hamilton at Detroit,
he started out with a force of about
five hundred men, regulars, Tories and
Indians. and, after a march Of seventy
days through the primeval forest,
reached Vincennes and took possession
of it. He spent the winter intriguing
with the Indian tribes, and threatened
the Spanish governor at St Louis With
dire vengence if he should lend aid or
countenance to'the nefarious proceed
ings of the American +-rebels."
While he thus intrigued and blus-
tered, the crafty young Virginian was
preparing catastrophe for him. Send
ing q few boats, with light artillery
and provisions. to ascend the Ohio and
the Wabash. Clark started overland
from Kaskaskia with one hundred and
seventy men, and, after an arduOus
winter march of sixteen days across
what is now the State of Illinois, he
appeared before Vincennes in time to
pick up his boats and cannon.
In the evening of February 23d the
town surrendered, aud the tOwns-peOple
gladly assisted in the assault upon the
fort. After a brisk cannOnade and
muslet-fre for twenty hours, Colonel
Hamilton surrendered at discretion,
and British authority in this region
was forever at an end.
An expedition descending from Pitts
burgh in boats had already captured
Natchez and ousted the British from
the Lower Mississippi. Shortly after.
the Cherokees and other Indians whom
Hamilton had melted to take the war
path were overwhelmed by Colonel
Shelby, and on the upper Ohio and Al
leghany the Indian country was so
thoroughly devastated by Colonel BrOd-
head that all along the frontier there
reigned profound peace, instead of
the carnival of burning and scalping
which the British commander had con-
templated.
The stream of immigration now be-
gan to flow steadily. Fort Jefferson
was established on the Mississippi
river to guard the mouth of the Ohio.
Another fortress higher up on the
beautiful river which La Sale had dis
covered and Clark had cOnqured be-
came the site of Louisville, so named
in honor of the French king with
whom we were newly allied.
James Robertson again appeared on
the scene, and became the founder OF
Western Tennessee, as he had already
led the colonization of the eastern part
of that great State. On bold bluff on
the southern bank of the. Cumberland
river Robertson founded city which
took its name from the gallant General
Nj Ia, Ii, IL, hnt tia Of C.,,,,,