Show n wr d ab ra still W VV here aa AN r I 1 C paa t 3 t 1 91 a lo 10 ive IN t V 44 az 7 yaa rr 0 V ar ya by ELMO SCOTT WATSON imagine a great parallelogram made of log cabins no set fet end to end their common outside wall be inythe ing the wall of the tort fort and at the he tour four corners r of the parallelogram ram the cabins gutted out with ports in the angle ancle in order to give a flanking fire in case the savages reached the palisade and then there were huge log gates with watchtowers watch towers z on either side fide where sentries gentries sat ant day and night scanning the forest line within the tort fort was a big biff common dotted with forest trees where such cattle as had bad been saved browsed on the scanty grass there had been bu but the one scrawny horse before our arrival and the settlers how shall I 1 describe them as tb they crowded around us inside the gates some star bared e dat at us with sallow faces and eyes brightened by t the he fever yet others othere had the red glow of health many ot of th the men wore rough beards unkempt and yellow w athern worn bunting shirts often stain ed with blood the barefooted women wore sunbonnet sunbonnets sun bonnets a and loose homespun gowns some of linen made from nettles while the children swarmed here and there and everywhere in any cost costume that chance had given them all seemingly talked at once they plied us with question after question of the trace the wata watauga ga as settle ments the news in the carolinas and how bow the war went of course the love of the frontier was in the grain of these men but what did they come back to day after day would the sun rise over the forest nid and beat down upon the little enclosure in t chich we were penned the row of cabins lean in ing 9 against the stockade marked the boundaries of our diminutive world beyond them invisible lurked a relentless toe foe within the greater souls alone were calm and a mans worth was set down to a hales hairs bread breadth tIL some were always to be found squatting on their doorsteps cursing the hour which had bad seen them depart for this land some wrestled and fought on the common tor for a flat fist fight with a fair field and no favor was a favorite amusement of the backwoodsmen backwoodsman backwoods men so the summer wore away while we lived from hand band to mouth on such scanty fare as the two of them shot and what we could venture to gather in the unkempt fields near the gate A winter of famine lurked ahead and men were goaded near to madders at the thought of made and corn P planted in the spring within reach of their hands as it were and they might not harvest it UCH la Is the picture of an american scene years vears ago which winston churchill S painted in his book the crossing for if you remember that great novel of a quarter of a century ago you will recall that churchill was writing of those american who in the words of arthur Gul bulterman terman the poet built their lonely stations and the logs logo were cut and hewn by the breed of simon kenton and the blood of daniel boone they stood ethod behind the loopholes in their rugged pall palisades through hot and weary sieges attacks and am bus eades they shot and made their sallies sailles till the shawnees broke end and lied fled while the women charged the rifles and the women shaped the lead the women nursed the wounded and the women watched by night the women brought the water through uie the peril of the fight the mothers never faltered and the bons that then were w ere small email grew as an hunters of kentucky and were strong and brave and tall and this great parallelogram made of log cabins set end to end was the cradle of kentucky the first english settlement west of the Alleg banies the place which has been aptly called the jamestown Hames town of the west ht historic Harrods harrodsburg burg although the stirring events which took place within and around its walls are now a century and a halt in the past that historic past still lives go to Harrods harrodsburg burg today and you will viii rub your eyes in astonishment for there you yon will see these logs and cabins broiling in the midsummer son much as churchill has described them and as you walk through the huge log gates naich stand invitingly open it Is easy to forget that you are arc living in the twentieth century america of radios and automobiles and airplanes and it Is easy to believe that some gome magic has carried you back bach to that far off time when the nation was in the making for on the edge of the modern city of narrows burp burg ky Is a park which has been presented to the state by the citizens of Harrods harrodsburg burg as a memorial to her pioneers and dominating all of the other reminders of the past Is a heavily enclosure a replica ot of harrods fort As you stroll across the grussy grassy common inelda its walls it Is not difficult to people those cabins around with you with the pioneers who once lived and loved labored and fought and some of them died there over in that doorway stands james Elar harrod rod tall massive strong accle dignified one of 0 the handsomest ren of his time look through the doorway of that cabin and there you might see eee a young man tall square built sun reddened sandy of hair his piercing cIng blue eyes scanning intently the papers which litter the hand band hewn table before which he be sits it is george rogers clark planning his conquest of the british forts in the illinois country from another cabin comes the sound of voices in loud dispute there Is an angry note in the deep coarse voice of a short thickset thick set man for hugh mcgary Is a hot tempered man a brane brae man but a 3 rash and hasty man as the story of the disastrous battle of blue licks testifies equally brave are joseph bowman john floyd john todd and benjamin Benjum ln logan but they cannot persuade hugh SIc Gary and alea speaks up the quiet voice of another aws TW V laae R Z f 0 1 zill portraits or traits of hamilton and dark clark from Qu alfes othe e capture of old vincennes Vinc ennet courtesy of bobbs merrall co photographs of the fort and lincoln oln cabin by the author around whose broad mouth there Is always the trace of a smile and in whose blue eyes there glints always a kindly kandl but determined look and all of them listen for this man Is daniel boone cut brit not all of the imaginary inhabitants of harrods nar rods fort which you might see are fighting men and generals and empire builders from one of the cabins comes the hum of young voices and as you peep through the window you see the homespun clad form of mrs william coomes around whom are gathered a group of youngsters learning their letters front from paddles crude reproductions of the old english horn hooks of queen elizabeths time for this Is the first school west of the Alleg hanles linnies but before some stupid or mischievous child learns that these paddles have another use at the hands of mistress coomes let us investigate the steady hum bum which comes from another cabin for there sits anne mcginty at the spinning wheel which she has brought with her over the long mountain trail and she Is busy spinning the thread of combination duffala wool and lint from wild nettles back bach of her stands ane loom which she has resigned for weaving wearing the coarse but warm cloth which so many of the pioneers of harrods Car rods station are wearing anne also experimented with nuts and barks for dyeing her goods for having an artistic eye she was not satisfied with the drab tones of the natural colors one of the charming women of Harrods harrodsburg burg who act as guides through the fort will iiii tell you the inner bark of white walnut produced dull yellows black walnut dark browns indigo blues madder dingy reds oak purple cedar berries dove or lead color with these pretty colors the women made bright dresses of the linsey woolsey and the boman who could originate the most beautiful combination of colors or deriggs derig rs the most perfect broken plaids was a woman ot of note anne was rarely skillful and full of energy ant and so soon as the indians indiana had scalped scalded a husband she selected at will from the waiting list before her little wonder that the citizens of the harrods burg of today have taken pains to recreate the atmosphere mo sphere of the past and to tale late pride in the history of their city for they lave undisputed claim to the following historic firsts the first white settlement of kentucky 1771 1774 the first white child born in kentucky the first summer resort in kentucky tie TI e first court for kentucky county the first school in kentucky the first sermon preached in kentucky the first presbyterian church organized in kentucky the first representative from kentucky to in the continental congress the first election in kentucky sending george rogers clark and gaball jones to the virginia legislature the first sunday school organized in kentucky the first spina spinning lug wheel for making nosey the first grist will mill driven by water near harrodsburg Harrods burg the first race course in kentucky the first manufacturing of pottery fabrics plows etc at the ot two of the principal streets in a granite boulder with a bronze tablet bearing erected by the womans comans club of harrodsburg Harrods burg honoring the mother town of kentucky founded june 10 16 1774 and remembering the first mothers nira of the west to enter the wilderness mrs daniel boone mrs richard nogan hogan sirs mrs hugh mccary BIc Gary mrs thomas denton A tribute from the womanhood of the present to the womanhood of the past june IG 1326 although that simple inscription suggs suggests ts the glory of Harrods burgs historic past it Is not until one visits the pioneer memorial state p park ark previously referred to that the past can be visualized for besides the replica of the fort there one finds a monument erected by the same womans comans club to that washington of the west george rogers clark nearly too Is the pioneer cemetery old fort cemetery it Is called in which lie burled buried wore more than KOO of the pioneers of that region in front of the fort stands another reminder of the past a log cabin which has a compelling intel lute est iest for all visitors for it Is the log cabin in which nancy hanks franks lived N when nhen hen a girl and in which she was married to thomas lincoln by rev jesse head bead of har bar rods burg a methodist circuit rider in this cabin which stood originally on the lincoln farm in washington county but which was moved to the Harrods harrodsburg burg path park several years ago thomas lincoln and his bride lived for two or three years before moving to the farm near hodgen tille where on february 12 1809 this pioneer mother gave birth to the son alao was destined to become one of the great men of all time abraham lincoln Harrods harrodsburg burg gets its right to the title of the mother town from the fact that on june 1774 a party of settlers led by col james harrod pitched their camp beside a big spring on its site and proceeded to lay ot oft a town there they assigned one acre in lott on each side of the street running east and west and ten acre outlets to each of the inhabitants they then proceeded to build four or five cabins on their la in lots and drew lots tor for cabins scattered over a wide territory which were called lottery cabins soon after their arrival they were joined by isaac imite a surveyor and another party of men while they were busy planning the town daniel boone and michael stoner mes messengers from lord dunmore who had come miles in 62 02 days to warn the venturesome pioneers ers in kentucky that the indians were on the warpath karpath war path arrived while there boone became interested in their plans and was given a lot in the new town adjoining that of evan hinton A double log cann cabin was built to serve both boone and hinton and stood there until it was burned by the indians in 1777 thus it will be seen boone had a hand in settling harrodsburg Harrods burg before he did the town which bore his name the settlers at harrodsburg Harrods burg remained there until july then as a result of the warning brought by boone and stoner returned to take part in the Dunmore war and fought in that historic engagement the battle of point pleasant on march 15 1775 harrod and his settlers returned to make their permanent settlement at harrodsburg Harrods burg since boone began his bisi fort at boonesborough Boones borough april 1 1775 Harrods harrodsburg burg has a priority of more than two week over boones borough as a permanent settlement by september 8 the wives and families of the narrows burg settlers had arrived and finding the original fort inadequate and scarcely safo as a defense from the indian attacks which sure to come a second and larger one was built on old fort hill within its narrow confines that stronghold contained all the elements that have made kentucky famous courage and kindliness which distinguished such leaders as boone and harrod and logan religion as practiced by rev john lythe and squire boone who came with bible in one hand an ax in the other culture and statesmanship as exemplified in john todd superb generalship for there george rogers clark planned his conquest of the northwest territory so reads a descriptive pamphlet of the fort situated on the wilderness road it was conveniently reached and provided a refuge for other footers when indians were on the warpath karpath war path brave pioneers placed their whis alies and children there for safety when unable to protect them at their own forts people traveling over this wilderness road stopped there and found cordial welcome except perhaps gen henry hamilton called the hair buyer who rested there alien sent in chains to williamsburg Willi ainsburg the captive of george rogers clark black fish attacked attached it cart john ila Ilag gln in capt john Il Inkson capt john mclelland Mi Clelland col robert patterson general logan john maxwell and scores of others whose names adorn the lie pages of our om pioneer history lil story occupied Ilar flar rods tort fort at some time during daring those eventful years to them all we must accord the honor due for they came as the revolution began lieh held their ground defended Virgin virginias las buck door und saved an eu ela pire to the nation |