Show cl d 04 S wh am re go PW fla 0 tt st I 1 L V 1 X r W T Z 10 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON imagine a great parallelogram made of log cabins net end to end and their common outside wall being beiner the wall of the fort and at the tour four corners of the parallelogram the cabins jutted butted out it 11 ports in the angle in order to give a flanking fire in case the savages reached the palisade and then there were huge log gates with watch watchtowers towers on either side bide where sentries sent rles sat day and night scanning the forest line within the tort fort was a big common dotted with forest trees where such cattle as had been saved caved browsed on the scanty grass there had been but the one scrawny horse before our arrival and the settlers I 1 ilow how shall I 1 describe them a as th they y crowded around us ua inside the gates some som at stared red at us with sallow faces and eyes brightened by y the fever yet others had the red glow of health many of the men wore rough beards unkempt and yel yellow low worn hunting shirts of often teis stained with blood the bari barefooted footed women wore sunbonnets eun sun bonnets and loose homespun gowns nome of linen made fro from m nettles while the children warmed swarmed here and there and everywhere in any costume that chance had given them all seemingly talked at once they plied piled us with question after question of the trace the watauga settle ments the news in the carolinas Caroll nas and how the war went of course the tha love of the frontier was in the grain of these men but what did they come back to tot day after day would the sun rise over the forest and beat down upon the little enclosure in 6 E which we were penned the row of cabins lean ing 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 hairs breadth some were always to be found squatting on their doorsteps cursing the hour which had seen them depart tor for this land some wrestled and fought on the common for a a hat flat f dent hi with a fair held field and no favor was waa a favor 1 ito ite amusement of the damen eo 0 o the summer wore aw awny ny while we w lived from hand band to mouth on such scanty fare as the he two of them shot and what wo we could venturo venture to gather inthe in the unkempt fields near the gate A winter of famine lurked she ahead ad and men were goaded near to madress at the thought of clea clearings clearl rinus nes made and corn planted in the spring within reach of their hands as it were and they might not harvest it UCH Is the picture of an american scene years ago which winston churchill painted in his book tile the crossing for it 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 bulterman Gul terman the poet built their lonely stations and the logs were cut and hewn by the breed of simon kepton kenton and the blood of daniel boone they stood behind the loopholes in their rugged j palisades through hot and weary sieges attacks and am bus cades eades they shot and made their sallies till the shawnees broke and fled while the women charged the rifles and the women shaped the lead the women nursed the tha wounded and the women i watched by night the women brought the water through the peril of the fight the tha mothers never faltered and the sons that then were small grew as au hunters anter a of kentucky and wre were strong and brave and nd tall and this great parallelogram made of log cabins set end to end was the cradle of kentucky the first E english settlement west of the the place which has been aptly called tho the of the west historic harrodsburg Harrods burg although the stirring events which took place within and around its walls are now nov a century and a half in tho the past that hf historic past still lives go to Harrods harrodsburg burg today and you will rub your eyes in astonishment for there you will see these logs and cabins broiling in the midsummer sun much as churchill has described them hem and as you walk through the huge log gates which stand invitingly open it Is easy to forget that you are aie living in the twentieth century america of radios and automobiles and airplanes and it Is easy to believe that some magic has carried you back to that tar off oft time when the nation was in the making for on tho the edge of the modern city of harrods 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 0 the other reminders of the past Is a heavily blockaded enclosure a replica of harrods fort As you stroll across the grassy comdoll inside its walls it is ant 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 harrod tall massive strong active dignified one of the handsomest ren of his time look through the doorway of that cabin and there you might flee bee a young man tall square built sun reddened sandy bandy of hair his piercing blue eyes scanning intently the papers which litter the hand hown table before which he sim bits it is george rogers dark clark planning his conquest of the british forts in tho the illinois country from another cabin comes the sound of voices in loud dispute there is an angry note I 1 in i n the deep coarse voice of a short thickset thick set roan man for hugh mcgury mcgary Is a hot tempered roan man a brave man but a rash and hasty marf man as the story of tile the disastrous battle of blue licks testifies equally brave are joseph bowman john floyd john todd and benjael Benja ml logan but they cannot persuade hugh mcgary and then speaks up the quiet voice of sua another tEar IMI 7 K z L ja portraits of hamilton and dark clark from Qu alfes the capture of old vincennes cour courtesy courtany tacy of Bobbs Merrill co photographs of the fort and lincoln cabin by the author round around whose broad mouth there Is always the trace of a smile and in whose blue eyes there glints always a kindle but determined look and all of them listen for this man Is daniel boone but not nil all of the imaginary inhabitants of harrods fort which you might see are fighting men and generals and empire bui builders loers from one of the cabins comes the hum of young voices and as aa you peep through tho the window you see the homespun clad form of mrs william coomes around whom are gathered a group of youngsters Je learning arning their letters from paddles crude reproductions of the old english born hooks of queen elizabeths time for this Is the first school west of the alleghenies 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 which comes from another cabin for there sits anno 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 bi buffalo buffalin wool and lint from wild nettles 4 back of her stands ane loom which she has resigned for weaving the coarse but warm cloth which so many of the pioneers of harrods 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 tell you the inner bark of white walnut produced dull yellows black walnut dark browns indigo blues madder dingy reds oak purple purple cedar berries dove or lend 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 de designs agns the most perfect broken plaids was a woman of note anne was rarely skillful and full of energy anti and so soon as the indians had scalped scalded a husband she selected at will from the waiting leht before her little wonder that the citizens of the Ilar rods burg of today have taken pains to recreate the atmosphere mo sphere of the past and to take pride in the history of their city for they lavo undisputed claim to the following historic firsts the first white settlement of kentucky 1774 tile the first white child born in kentucky the first summer resort in kentucky the 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 in the continental congress the first election in kentucky sending george rogers dark clark and gabriel 1 l jones to the virginia legislature the first sunday school organized in n kentucky the first spinning wheel for making linsey the first grist mill driven by water near Harrods harrodsburg burg tho the first race course in kentucky the first manufacturing of pottery fabrics plows etc at the intersection of two of the principal streets in Harrods harrodsburg burg stands a granite boulder with a bronze tablet bearing tills this inscription erected by the womans comans club of Harrods harrodsburg burg honoring the mother town of kentucky founded june 10 1774 and remembering the first mothers of the west to enter the he wilderness mrs daniel boone mrs richard hogan mrs hugh Ble mcgary Gary mrs thomas denton A tribute from the womanhood of the present to the womanhood of the abe past juno june 10 16 1020 1920 although that simple inscription suggests the glory of Harrods burga burgs historic past it Is not until ono visits the pioneer memorial state park previously referred to that the alia past can be visualized for besides the replica of the fort there one bluds cuds a monument erected by the samo same domans womans club to that washington of the west george rogers dark clark nearly too Is the alie pioneer cemetery old fort hill cemetery it Is called in which lie burled buried more than GOO COO of the pioneers of that region in front of the fort stands another reminder of the past a loi log cabin which has a compelling interest for all visitors N 0 xa ff 0 ak 2744 for it is the log cabin in which nancy hanks lived when a girl and in which she was married to thomas lincoln by rev jesse jease read head of harrods burg a methodist circuit rider in this cabin which stood originally on the lincoln farm in washington county but which was moved to the harrodsburg Harrods burg park several years ago thomas thomaa lincoln and his bride lived for two or ahr ahrea years before moving to the farm near near fl hodgen odgen ville where on february 12 1809 this mother gave birth to the son who was destined to become one of the great men of all time abraham lincoln harrodsburg Harrods burg gets its right to 4 to the title of the mother town from the fact that on june 10 1774 a party of settlers led by col james harrod pitched their camp beside a lie big spring on its site and proceeded to lay off a town there they assigned one acre in loav 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 tn in lots and drew lots for cabins scattered over a wide territory which were called lottery cabins soon after their arrival they were joined by isaac hite a surveyor and another party of men while they were busy planning the town daniel boone and michael stoner messengers from lord dunmore who had come miles in 62 days to warn the venturesome pioneers in kentucky that the indians were or on the warpath karpath war path arrived while there doone boone became interested in their plans and was wag 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 harrad and his settlers dett lers returned turn ed to make their permanent settlement at harrodsburg Harrods burg since boone began his fort at boonesborough Boones borough april 1 1775 harrodsburg Harrods burg has a priority of more than two weeks over boones borough as a permanent settlement by september 8 the wives and families of the harrods burg settlers had arrived and finding the original fort inadequate and scarcely as a defense from the indian attacks which were sure to come a second and larger one was built on old F fort ort 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 ond hand an ax in the other culture and statesmanship as exemplified in john todd superb generalship for there george rogers dark clark planned his conquest of the northwest territory so reads a descriptive pamphlet of the fort situated on the wilderness road it was conveniently readied reached and provided a refuge for other footers ahem indians were on the karpath warpath war path brave pioneers erp placed their wives 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 c 0 r welcome except perhaps gen henry hamilton called the hair buyer who rested there when sent in chalus chains to williamsburg the captive of george rogers dark clark black fish attacked it capt cam john baggin haggan capt john Il inkson capt john mcclelland Clelland Uc col robert patterson general logan john maxwell laxwell Jk and scores of others whose names adorn the pages of our pioneer history occupied harrods fort at some borne time during those eventful years to them all we must accord the honor due for they came as the revolution began held their ground defended virginias back door aud aud saved aved un empire to the nation |