litigious spirit, and often a disregard of the legal right in general, which presented itself in odious and afflicting aspects. It is doubtful if it would not better have subserved the ends of justice and humanity, had the doors of the courts been altogether closed to this long torment of land litigation."

In the fall of the year 1779, Samuel Daviess, who resided in Bedford county, Virginia, moved with his family to Kentucky, and lived for a time at Whitley's station, in Lincoln county. He subsequently moved to a place called Gilmer's Lick, some six or seven miles from said station. He built a cabin, cleared some land, which he put in corn next season, not apprehending any danger from the Indians, although he was considered a frontier settler. But this imaginary state of security did not last long; for in August, 1782, having stepped a few paces from the door, he was suddenly surprised by an Indian appearing between him and the door, with tomahawk uplifted, almost within striking distance. 1 In this unexpected condition, and being entirely unarmed, his first thought was, that by running around the house, he could enter the door in safety; but to his surprise, in attempting to effect this object, as he approached the door he found the house full of Indians. Being closely pursued by the Indian first mentioned, he made his way into the corn-field, where he concealed himself, with much difficulty, until the pursuing Indian had returned to the house.

Unable as he was to render any relief to his family, there being five Indians, he ran with the utmost speed to the station of his brother, James Daviess, a distance of five miles. As he approached the station, his undressed condition told the tale of his distress before he was able to tell it himself. Almost breathless, and with a faltering voice, he could only say his wife and children were in the hands of the Indians. Scarcely was the communication made when he obtained a spare gun, and the five men in the station, well armed, followed him to his residence. When they arrived at the house the Indians, as well as the family, were found to be gone, and no evidence appeared that any of the family had been killed. A search was made to find the direction the Indians had taken; but, owing to the dryness of the ground and the adroit manner in which they had departed, no discovery could be made. In this state of perplexity the party, being all good woodsmen, took that direction in pursuit of the Indians which they thought it most probable they would take. After going a few miles, their attention was arrested by the howling of a dog, which afterward turned out to be a house dog that had followed the family, and which the Indians had undertaken to kill, so as to avoid detection, which might happen from his barking occasionally. In attempting to kill the dog he was only wounded. The noise thus heard satisfied them that they were near the Indians, and enabled them to rush forward with the utmost impetuosity. Two of the Indians, being in the rear as spies, discovered the approach of the party and ran

1 Collins, Vol. II., p. 470-1.

THE BRAVERY OF MRS. DAVIESS.

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forward where the other Indians were with the family. One of them knocked down the oldest boy, about eleven years old, and while in the act of scalping him was fired at, but without effect. Mrs. Daviess, seeing the agitation and alarm of the Indians, saved herself and nursing child by jumping into a sink-hole. The Indians fled in the most precipitate manner. In that way the family was rescued early in the day, without the loss of a single life and without any injury but that above mentioned. So soon as the boy had risen on his feet, the first word he spoke was, "Curse that Indian, he has got my scalp!"

After the family had been rescued, Mrs. Daviess gave the following account of the manner in which the Indians had acted: A few minutes after her husband had opened the door and stepped out of the house, four Indians rushed in, while the fifth, as she afterward found out, was in pursuit of her husband. Herself and children were in bed when the Indians entered the house. One of the Indians immediately made signs, by which she understood him to inquire how far was it to the next house. With an unusual presence of mind, knowing how important it would be to make the distance as far as possible, she raised both hands, first counting the fingers of one hand and then of the other, making a distance of eight miles. The Indians then signed to her that she must rise. She immediately got up, and as soon as she could dress herself commenced showing the Indians one article of clothing and then another, which pleased them very much, and in this way delayed them at the house nearly two hours. In the meantime, the Indian who had been in pursuit of her husband returned, with his hands stained with pokeberries, which he held up, and with some violent gestures and waving of his tomahawk, attempted to induce the belief that the stain on his hands was the blood of her husband, and that he had killed him. She was enabled at once to discover the deception, and instead of producing any alarm on her part, she was satisfied that her husband had escaped uninjured.

After the savages had plundered the house of everything that they could conveniently carry off with them, they started taking Mrs. Daviess and her children, seven in number, as prisoners, along with them. Some of the children were too young to travel as fast as the Indians wished, and discovering, as she believed, their intention to kill such of them as could not conveniently travel, she made the two oldest boys carry them on their backs. The Indians, in starting from the house, were very careful to leave no signs of the direction they had taken, not even permitting the children to break a twig or weed as they passed along. They had not gone far before an Indian drew his knife and cut off a few inches of Mrs. Daviess' dress, so that she could not be interrupted in traveling.

Mrs. Daviess was a woman of cool, deliberate courage, and accustomed to handle the gun so that she could shoot well, as many of the women were in the habit of doing in those days. She had contemplated, as a last resort,

that if not rescued in the course of the day, when night came on and the Indians had fallen asleep, she would deliver herself and children by killing as many of the Indians as she could, thinking, in a night attack, as many of them that remained would most probably run off. Such an attempt would. now seem a species of madness; but to those who were acquainted with Mrs. Daviess little doubt was entertained that, if the attempt had been made, it would have proven successful.

Unfor

The boy who had been scalped was greatly disfigured, as the hair never after grew upon that part of his head. He often wished for an opportunity to avenge himself upon the Indians for the injury he had received. tunately for himself, ten years afterward the Indians came to the neighborhood of his father and stole a number of horses. Himself and a party of men went in pursuit of them, and, after following them for some days, the Indians, finding that they were likely to be overtaken, placed themselves in ambush, and when their pursuers came up killed young Daviess and one other man; so that he ultimately fell into their hands when about twenty-one years old.

The next year after, the father died, his death being caused, as it was supposed, by the extraordinary efforts he made to release his family from the Indians. An act of courage subsequently displayed by Mrs. Daviess is calculated to exhibit her character in its true point of view.

Kentucky, in its early days, like most new countries, was occasionally troubled by men of abandoned character, who lived by stealing the property of others, and, after committing their depredations, retired to their hiding-places, thereby eluding the operation of the law. One of these marauders, a man of desperate character, who had committed extensive thefts from Mr. Daviess, as well as from his neighbors, was pursued by Daviess and a party whose property he had taken, in order to bring him to justice. While the party were in pursuit, the suspected individual, not knowing any one was pursuing him, came to the house of Daviess armed with a gun and tomahawk, no person being at home but Mrs. Daviess and her children. After he had stepped in the house, Mrs. Daviess asked him if he would drink something, and, having set a bottle of whisky on the table, requested him to help himself. The fellow, not suspecting any danger, set his gun up by the door, and, while drinking, Mrs. Daviess picked up his rifle, and, placing. herself in the door, had the gun cocked and leveled upon him by the time he turned around, and in a peremptory manner ordered him to take a seat or she would shoot him. Struck with terror and alarm, he asked what he had done. She told him he had stolen her husband's property, and that she intended to take care of him herself. In that condition she held him a prisoner until the party of men returned and took him into their possession.1 Those were days in which even the women and children were taught to be fearless in self-protection.

1 Collins, Vol. II., p. 471.

Sallust says:

EPIC AGE OF KENTUCKY HISTORY.

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"The actions of the Athenians doubtless were great, yet I believe they are somewhat less than fame would have us conceive them." Not so with the pioneers of Kentucky. But we may say of their exploits, as this author says of the actions of the Romans, "History has left a thousand of their more brilliant actions unrecorded, which would have done them great honor, but for want of eloquent historians." Of those actions and events which are of record, we are obliged to omit from the pages of this history many of thrilling interest, the relation of which is better suited to other annals, and the recital of which here might not only enlarge the volume beyond proper dimensions, but surfeit the reader with too much of the repulsive horrors of strife and carnage. Enough is told of adventure, of romance, and of heroism, to make of the pioneer age of Kentucky an epic as inspiring and enchanting as any of ancient times, if only received through the illusive glamours of tradition, and recited to us in the enchanting verse of an Odyssey or an Æneid.

1

CHAPTER XVIII.

(1783-85.)