The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-19
HERO Of IBE NLDS
Remarkable Career,of General
Simon Kent.On.
DISAPPOIN TMENT IN LOVE
Drove Him Forth to be an
Original ExpanSionist.
DISAPPOINTMENT IN LOVE

Chilicothe, o., Jan. 1S.-Of all the re-
markable men who braved the dangers Of
the western forests century ago and
secured for their pos i2erity the broad
heIds and forests of the great Northwest
Territory none was more remarkable than
General Simon Kenton. and vet so littIe
has been written about his life that he is
comparatively unknown sas compared
with other men Of the same day, who did
no more than he to merit admiration
Captain John Mcdonald has written an
excellent account of his life, but 'Mc
Donald's Sketches" as the book was
called, has long been out of print. and is
now found only in the corner of a few
libraries and in the collections of few
men who have made a study of State
history. Yet. these sketches, written
simply and without any striving for eff
feet. contain fund Of information which
it is impossible to obtain elsewhere.
Kenton was born in Virginia in 1855.
and, as his parents Wrere poor. was
brought up without receiving any .edu-
cation, so that he grew to, manhood with
out even learning the alphabet. He was
driven to seek his fortune.in the West bv
peculiar circumS tances
Simon had fallen deeply in love with
CIR! Of 1.-THE neighborhood, but she mar
ried young man by the name of Veach
Simon went to the wedding and raised a
disturbance, in consequence Of which he
received a severe beating. Some DAYS
later he found William Veach alone, and
the two had a fight in which Kenton
off Y Ia cd
of long hair round a sapling and beat and
kicked him until veach was unconscious
This brought Kenton to his right mind,
and, appalled, at what he had done. and
believing Veach dead he fed to the woods
without stopping to say a word to any
body, and made for the Allegheny Noun
tains. This was on the 9Th of April, III.
when he was only sixteen years of age.
He travelled only by night, lying conceal
ed all day so great was his fear of cap
ture.
In this way he passed over the noun !
tains and changed his name to Simon /
Butler. He Joined a party of hunters who !
were going down the Ohio, and reached /
Pittsburg, where he met Simon Girty, J
who subsequently saved his life For two !
years Kenton hunted and trapped, and it |
was not until March, 1913, that Kenton !
had the first Of that long series of en-
counters with the Indians which subse- |
quently made him such a prominent fig !
ure in frontier life.
He and afew other trappers had gone /
into camp on the Big Kanawha, and one |
evening they were loling Ground near the
camp when they were fired upon from
ambush. Kenton and another man es-
capped but they had no arms and scarcely
any clothing, having fed at the first
alarm. For six days and nights they
wandered without fire or food. barefoot /
ed. and almost naked, and exposed to all
the seventies of the weather on the
sixth day their feet were so swollen and
infiamed they lay down to die. They had
been able to travel only three miles the
previous day. and had no hope of being
able to reach settlement
Toward afternoon of the sixth dav
they rose again and staggered slowly for
ward. and toward evening came out upon
the Ohio River. What was their jov at
seeing party of trappers descending the
river in a canoe. They signaled to them
and were saved.
Nothing daunted by this terrible ex-
pericnoe Kenton returned TO the wilder
ness. and for nearly year explored the
country along the Scioto.
In the spring OF 1174 he enlisted as a spy
the Indians, and led the expedition
against the Pickaway towns on the Sci
otto. the position Of which he knew well.
The campaign ended with a treaty Of
peace with the Indians. which they did
not, however. long respecttt
At the outbreak of the Revolution Ken
ton at once entered the frontier service.
and did more than any other one man
TO render abortive the attacks OF the In
dams, which were directed at that time
against every one Of the settlements. He
against them, had a hundred hairbreadth
escapes. but always by some fortunate
chance escaped injury. II was not until
l57S that he fell into the power OF the In
dams. the episode being one Of the most +.
exciting in his adventurous life.
In September, lis. he in company with
two other men, set or from Bones sta :