The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-04-10
BY RICHARD sPIUEANE.


From London. not long after Wolfe.
on the field Of Abraham, won con-
tinent for the English King, there
came a proclamation that was sup
posed by its author to meet the needs
or veXatious situation. The procla-
nation was drafted by Lord Hitis- |
borough. Secretary for the Colonies
because of the long continued border
troubles with the Indians. His Lord
ship could not understand why the
whites could not remain within their
own districts and the indians within
theirs He saw no reason for friction,
strife or bloodshed There was no
profit in 1t for the King. There was
profit for the King in the rich fur
trade of the Indians, and 1t was HIS
Iordship's desire and intention to
foster this trade for the benefit of
his royal master. SO His Lordship
drew up the royal proclamation by
which the white people of North
America were forbidden from taking
up any land beyond the headwaters OF
rivers which emptied into the Atlantic
ocean from the west. In other words,
the subjects of King George III were
10 confine themselves TO the narrow
strip along the coast. To go beyond
the Appalachian range was to disobey
the King.
Lord Hillsborougll did not know the
people to whom he addressed this proc
lamation in 1853 The French who
came 10 the New World in the early
DAYS were fired by religious zeal or
military ardor to carry the banner Of
ST Louis far and wide. They followed
the water courses and made of the
ST. Lawrence and the Great Lakes
an avenue to the West. Along this
,t,n NIL prtc nd e he'd
settlements. Down the Mississippi ana
UP the Missouri they pushed their
work of exploration and conquest.
The English, on the other hand. had
chung to the seacoast. They knew
nothing of the land beyond but what
they learned from the French They
were content with the narrow strip
between the mountains and the sea.
They were more gregarious than the
French. But their children and their
children's children were not content
AS the population increased the bor-
der gradually was pushed further in
land until they neared the mountains,
and then rhay Looked beyond. The
land beyond" the mountains was the
domain of the red man. To the north.
between the Ohio River and the lakes,
was the rich territory of the shaw
nees and the Iroquois. Far to the
bama and Mississippi. was the terri
torv of the Cherokees Between the
two territories was beautiful stretch
of virgin country, claimed by the
Indians of the north and by the In
dians of the SOUTH hut occupied by
neither. II was known as the dark
and bloody ground, for here they
fought whenever their hunting parties
met, and here for centuries the Indian
! ha
south had met In conflict.
Dark and Bloody Ground.
The dark and bloody ground was
Kentucky. Game was in abundance.
Droves of Buffalo dotted It's meadows
and deer and bear roamed its hills
and forests There was no more beau
tiful land in all America.
To the restless, rowing spirits among
the colonists who had ventured across
tho mountains or had heard highly
colored stories from those who hac
visited the great hunting region. the
dark and bloody ground was a LAND
OF promise. They had little respect
for the rights of the red man. They
were land hungry, and, feeling
cramped in the territory east of the
mountains, they looked beyond witt
longing eyes.
Lord Hulsborough did not know the
of the horderland They were diff
ferent people from the early settlers
They treated the proclamation viii
scapt respect. The great land owner!
of Virginia and Carolina were more
polite in their remarks. but none tht
less strong in their opposition TO I'll,
royal order, The Nirginians were al
agricultural people and had wide
development and larger prosperit,
than any other colonists. TO ODE
the order of the King meant checl
10 the growth or Virginia What wa
the benefit of the French and Indial
War. of what avail was the expulsio
OF the French from North America.
theTaNfs beyond the mountains wer
to be left To the Indian?
From Virginia an agent went to tn
chiefs of the SIX Nations. the hea
men OF the tribes OF the north, an
from these chiefs the agent got
release OF their claims TO the dar
and bloody ground. Tho Indians &c
presents in exchange for their shadow
title TO the land. but they probabl
were actuated as much in making tt
deal by their vanity and their Gesil
TO inture their southern foes as the
were by the gifts showered upon then
IL flattered them nightly to have II
whites recognize them as the holder
of the buffer territory. Pride plays
large part in the mind OF the India
However much the Secretary FOR Il
Colonies may have disliked TO do i
ne recognized the deal between Il
r4alH II is known as the treaty