| Show GEORGE GEOR E ROGERS fl flET T AN GREATEST OF T oF TIti S Sc c ti N A 0 t ea f fLOUIS LOUIS AE J F At I o y r o o 7 a I Y a I r I b s z t vES r R r RY y JS pr I 0 R A Os I I J o 47 pD ci i r hf a o M 0 I ARO C f ENri R L i o i WL Qu COUNTRY ae I z A f KASKASKIA KA I ASKI 1 MAP SHOWING HOWN 17 ZE or of THE OlD N AND ROOTER p wa n 1 1 ss c RE ThE ORl INAL r TO 1 IA GENERAL GEORGE EOR JE fRS ClARk 1 Ts 9 OR a 11 man who by his military FOR genius and his daring won fur for forthe the United States that marvel marvelously marvelously rich territory embraced b by bythe the tho of Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan and Wisconsin and that por portion tion of oC east of the river George Rogers Clark bus hus received but scant recognition from Cram the Republic He should be ranked among the greatest figures of Revolutionary lass u s It was for Cor him perhaps that he served Nerved simply as a of oC the state stale of and not as an officer of the continental arm army In the tho Jealousies that developed the states stales soon after the In Independence independence dependence of the nation was e eged ed b by England little notice was given Iven to his achievements and even cven Virginia did not ant do Justice to him while ho lived Broken In spirits spirit In bod body and In purse he passed the last years of his Info sad fad end embittered There Is a story that when In his old age commissioners brought to him a ornamented sword the state or of Virginia lnla voted to him he broke the sword with his crutch and When Virginia needed a sword I gave her ono one Now she sends me lI a to toy I want bread Clark was born Nov No 19 1702 He was less ess than 27 years old when at old Vincennes he won what was then the northwest Like Lafayette ho was red redheaded redheaded headed but he was cast In a ruder and sterner mold than the marquis His birthplace was near Monticello Va and he hc and James 1 Madison were waro play playmates playmates mates In boyhood The fields and the forests hall had more attraction for Cor Lim than the schoolroom but he picked up upa a 1 fair education nevertheless He wa was good nt at mathematics but never neer won prizes as a spoiler speller Before d ho was 18 he was w n a surveyor or and an had crossed the tho and had traversed hundreds hun hundreds of oC miles of what then was the tho wilderness beyond I BEYOND THE That lan land beyond the fascinated him He pictured th the beauties o of Kentucky to his father and urged him to emigrate rate In nil all Ken Kentuck Kentucky tuck tucky at that time lime there were ani only a afew L few hundred whites and these were In Inconstant inconstant constant danger ot of attack b by the Indians In King George Georgo III did not favor Caval Immigration In fact he prohibited It except by royal grant lie He wanted all the territory between the and the Mississippi left leCt open as an In dlan hunting ground His royal ma maj maJesty j Jesty t was not actuated b by motives of oC regard for the red men exactly but the Indians sold Id the skins o of the animals thc they hunted and trapped to the English and French tra traders ers ut at Detroit Mack Inac Vincennes and other poets and bought their supplies there There Thore was un an immense In this business nearl nearly all of o which was handled through the tho English companies at Montreal that hUd had succeeded the old French concerns King Geor George e too was not at all pleased with the way waylIs his lIs subjects In the 13 colonies behaved toward him They were not so obedient and subservient as his Canadian sub subjects subjects and he did not want them Ulem to en encroach croach on the territory which brought such good returns to his more molO loyal loal people The royal mandate mandato was not of OC much consideration to the people who saw In inK K the beautiful valleys alles beyond the Aile homes for Cor those who were strong and Ve enough to defend W them As their hunting grounds were encroached upon the Indians sought to drive out the invaders 1 Massacre fol followed followed lowed massacre and for Cor a time the In invasion would be halted hanell but only for forlI fora lI a time When In 1774 the Indian tribes combined and harried the borderland of the colon colony from Lake Erie to Cumberland Gap Lord Dunmore Dun Dunmore more governor of oC Virginia led an army against them The Indians Indian were defeated Probably It puzzled them to see the representative or of the king fi ht Ing them bec because luse they were making reprisals on those who were showing a contemptuous disregard for Cor his nm ma jests commands about their hunting grounds But then the In Indians lans or of the country never neer could understand the white man First came the tho Frenchman and after actor Lim the English Then for a century and U a bait the Frenchman and the English Englishman man fought for time the land that was comas the tho Indians And AmI after aCter the Englishman won the tho offspring of the Englishmen I kicked out time the victor I THE HAIR BUYER In this Lord Dunmore DunmoN w war r George Georgo Rogers Clark saw his first military service In the peace terms the Indians gate up their interests In the hunting grounds or of Kentucky Kentuck It was not long after this Lord Lor nar closed that the tho War of oC the tho Revolution began Then the Indian hl had an opportunity for At the British post of De Dc trait there was stationed CO Got Henry Hamilton a clove clever I resolute and brutal amen who had an abiding hatred hatrell tor lor the people Nople who were t trying to throw oft off tho British h yoke He called together time the the Sax and the Foxes the the Potta w and other Indians armed and provisioned them and turning them loose on the colonists of the borderland promised them a certain reward for every scalp the they brought In Hamilton practically was acting within orders from Lord George e Germ Germain ln the tho minis minister tel ter in London In so 10 doing Lord George Gcorge believed In 11 the rear as well as time the front door of time tho colonists home and he saw In this Indian a curtailment of recruits In the tho Continental tal arm army To show his sympathy with tho Indians Hamilton Is said to Im have Joined then them In het their scalp dances und anti their blood songs and to lo have sat In council with then them while the they planned their various arlous attacks It was not long before his purchase or of the scalps of the American farmers earned arned for him the name of The Tho Hall Hair Buyer Bands of his Indians swooped down Into Ken Kentuck tuck tucky burning homes torturing prison prisoners ers and committing numerous horrors So widespread were their ral raids s that all but o 01 GOO whites lied from flom the tel ter territory and these thesEl 1 people Ople were ens easy reach of the little frontier forts at Harro Harrodsburg Boonesboro Prices and Logans This was the condition when In Aug Iiii 1777 George Rogers Clark left lert Ken tuck tucky and went to Williamsburg then the capital of Virginia to lay a a plan before Patrick Hem Henry the governor which ho he believed not only would re rc lieve the frontier of oC the Indian menace menaco but break bleak the power powel of England throughout hout the tho northwest In effect ire he told Patrick Henr Henry this The British have posts at D Detroit MackInac connes cennes Kaska Kaskaskia klu and I have reliable advices that with the exception of Detroit the posts are ure not strongly guarded They Irate hae no thought of be InS ing attacked With n a force or of men I can capture some If IC not all 1111 of ts But nil all depends on f secrecy Fur the powder and ball for the give mo the mone money to raise the themen men and I will attend to the rest PATRICK HENRY It must be appreciated that at this time ever even Virginia did not have a clear claim to the Kentucky territory Penn s hanla had some designs on lands beyond the and so did North Carolina There Thero even was n 11 vate project to set up an Independent State to b called Transylvania But neither Patrick Henry nor George Rob Rog ers Clark thought so o much of state claims IS as the they did or of the national wel fare Care The They realized full fully that the suc cess of the tho enterprise would nican not I only the suppression of time the Indian raids but the establishment or of POsses Ion of oC the tho whole northwest which In the thc event or of the recognition of oC ence would add all that territory to the 13 original states Henry entered Into the project heart and soul The utmost secrecy was essary to SUccess Ir II ever a secret was well kept that one was It Is doubtful Ir If the members or of the general who voted for the supplies knew what the they were Intended for Clark was con com a lieutenant colonel In Janu ar ary 18 1778 and In May of that year reat ho left lert the Alleghany river with a party part of about IW That was all he could raise Few If nn any of oC the tho Jn know knew the real purpose In which they were well enlisted It lad had been difficult Indeed for Clark to get I Ot recruits Thero was y vigorous opposition from many Soldiers were needed for Cor the Con army and patriotic Jl people sat v bO brood ll material going west that It seem cd to them should go 10 cast Others thought though t the frontiersmen were needed to defend 1 the mountain valleys There was waI too from tho those who suspected some political or private design In the th e trip of the men So much of an up roar was created that vigorous effort e were made to get the met men to desert When Clark finally got hili little army arm Y aboard flatboats It made a queer ap There were no uniforms Many Ian or of the volunteers were Scotch Irish and some of then them were ele In High lard land Others wore buckskin o or r homespun outfits with In tend of at shoes All were well armed annc Li and nearly all were fine marksmen fy DOWN wN THE OHIO War Var parties of oC Indians were plentiful ul In the Ohio River country but Clark s flotilla want down to the Falls ot of th thY Y i w r Y I J V Vt t u t nT r 1 P t 1 7 I SI IBI 01 1 w L Sf J T h Z t r f sly 1 li I 7 kf rry u 4 I nN eN I Ohio Louisville without molestation Thera Thelo Clark made e his headquarters on ona ona a bit of land called Corn Island He selected this for Cor safety and convenience some sOllie of his men havIng become mutinous nw mu tinous owing to time the secrecy ho hall had to m Here Hare he was joined b by afew a afew few Kentuckians and after arler building a rude rudl tort fort and leaving the fainthearted of his followers behind he be set out on June 26 shot the falls and proceeded down time the river raver to Fort Massacre about I four mites miles bolow the mouth of time the Tennessee where he hid Iris his boats and started overland for fOl He was reluctant to go down time the Ohio to Its i ts mount and then thon up time the Mississippi to because spies or scouts would warn the people In time the fort Across country It was eras a L journey journe ot of miles A hunter one of Go a party part or o four that Clark had met near Fort Massacre M had volunteered to guide time the little arm army but ho got and Clark Clrk fearing treachery threatened him with death Just In n the nick of at limo the hunter got his bearings and thereafter was ryas o of excellent service to Clark With painstaking caution Clark went through the woods and ail over the prairies and on the night of oC JuI July 4 arrived all on the east bank of the Kaska Kaskaskia ricer t miles from the limo town From n 11 farmer Carmer and hIs family who teho were taken prisoners Clark learned that Philippe do time the Frenchman who commanded time the British fort had heard something of oC a L threatened attack and hall had sent out spies and scouts but as they got no news vigilance had been relaxed r There were about 00 men menn In i n he learned and the place could be taken only by surprise Finding boats enough h at the farm Clark crossed the elver rel and late that night crept Into Kaskaskia I The Tho com comman commandant mandant man ant was captured In his be bed and the garrison was overawed without firIng a shot The surprise was com complete p lete At daylight the tho sol soldiers lers and people disarmed O OMENS To persons who 11 lay stress on omens or coincidences there ma may be Interest In these two lave facts There was an eclipse of oC the tho sun as the tho boats of Clark shot the tails falls of the Ohio and Kaskaskia the town lown oC o romance time the Pails of time the Mississippi valle valley In the early carly days was captured on the second anniversary of oC the Declaration of In dependence Most of oC the people or of Kaskaskia were of French descent and the tho feared for Cor their lives at the hands or of the Amer kans ieans but when Clark assured them they hm had nothing to fear that the French government hind had cone come to the as assistance assistance of the tho struggling colonists and that upon taking tho oath of oC allegiance to time tho United States the they would he bo permitted to go and como come as tho they pleased the they were overjoyed One of oC the first to take the oath was smas Father Pierre the parish priest Clark Clarl told him an American officer had noth In Ing to do with churches churchell but to defend then them roam Insult and that under time tho laws or of Virginia the Catholic religion had as great privileges as an any other Father Gibault from COm that time forward was ono one of Clarks most earnest and valuable friends But Commander was dlf forent Corent Ho He was so In l s con conduct duct that Clark sent him to the Falls Fails of the Ohio a L prisoner and with him bin ho sent a portion ot o the garrison so as asto to lessen the danger dnn er of oC an outbreak The da day following the tho capture of oC Ki Kas s kaskia Clark Clarl sent a force to capture the tho oldest post JOISt In time tho Mis t allo alloy Is n a few fe tulle miles s south or of East St Louts The French greeted time the Americans jo joy On his own Father Cl Ci bault was ryas sent to with Dr do de Fout head of oC the Kaskaskia semi seminary seminary nary and several others The They re turned In August Au with the tho news that through Father Influence the inhabitants had raised the tho American m flag lIal over the tho post and the small Eng Ens garrison bpd lied fiod Clark timer there thereupon e upon sent lent Capt Balms to take tako chars charge e i 7 7 o of the tho French militia at Vincennes and assume aume Command of oC the tho post HAMILTON MOVES I But Clark was In a 1 precarious position tion Detroit was the bass baso of oC Eng lish supplies S The e points lie had cap il Ju riI riIS em I without t the loss of a man ere only the southern stations of the ter territory ry Into which ho he had penetrated Ills His small force outnumbered 20 or o r 40 tImes by mho tho Indians time the English had armed and equipped and GO Gov Hamilton was certain to hurry to attack him him Not only that but the ime t for which his men had enlisted was tuns up and the they were easer eager to return home He had to use time the utmost persuasion per persuasion suasion to Induce of his men to re reenlist enlist e and ho had to use the utmost art and amI diplomacy to win the creoles o of and Kaskaskia to raise ralso companies c and join his farce Corce The In had ha far moro more regard for tor the French than the and Clarks diplomacy had the tho effect or o bringing about a better feeling on time the part of some ome s of the Indian tribes Not only that but Clark got Into communIcation tion wilh the SpanIards who held hellI the country countr beyond the Mississippi and ho he homade made such a friend ot of Don Francl Francisco co code de Leyba mho tho lieutenant governor that the tho don was teas willing milling to glue give him ref uge u ge beyond beon the tho should It be necessary for far him to retreat there Hamilton was not Idle No sooner did ho he hear the tho news from and Vincennes |
