Genealogy/Books/Kentucky/Collins 1975

Title: A History of Daniel Boone National Forest

Author: Robert F. Collins

Year: 1975

Link: https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/A-history-of-the-Daniel-Boone-National-Forest.pdf

Chapter 1 - Early Exploration

In 1761, a party of 19 Virginians passed through Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, giving the name of their home county, Cumberland, to the mountains. They apparently had traveled only a short distance into Kentucky before returning back to Virginia.

In the fall of 1763, this same group of Virginians again came through Cumberland Gap, spending the fall and early winter hunting and trapping along the Cumberland River before returning home.

Apparently these hunters found conditions favorable in Kentucky as they again came through the Cumberland Gap in 1764. Making their hunt on the Rockcastle River, they came upon a large orchard of sweetly blooming crab apple trees at a great spring. This spot they named Crab Orchard which later became a significant point on the Wilderness Road.

This hunting ground proved to be so fruitful that they returned there each fall for several years. Because of the long trip to these hunting grounds, as well as the long time they were absent from home each year, they were referred to as the "Long Hunters" and so history has recorded them.

Chapter 3 - The Search

Travel in the wilderness was a hard life. Boone had a family to support. True, his wife and growing family could raise much of their food on the home farm, but many other things were needed. A frontier farmer depended on his fall and winter hunting and trapping for most of his cash income. Deer skins were a valuable article of trade, bringing from fifty cents to five dollars each, according to their size and quality and the local market. At the trading post, where deer skins were marketed, they were classified as bucks and does - the bucks being larger, heavier and more valuable. It is from this classification that we get the term buck, meaning a dollar, in our present-day language.

Chapter 7 - Judge Henderson's Plan

Judge Richard Henderson of Hillsborough, North Carolina, was destined to play a leading role in the early settlement of that part of Kentucky in which the Daniel Boone National Forest lies. He was born in Hanover County, Virginia, April 20, 1735. At the age of 10, his family moved to Granville County where his father was appointed Sheriff and where young Richard, as constable and deputy, performed many of the duties of his father's office.

As a young man, Richard read law under the direction of his uncle, John Williams. After only a year's study, he passed the examination with a high rating and was admitted to the bar where he rose rapidly in his profession. He was appointed to the Superior Court of North Carolina as one of the two Associate Justices by Governor William Tryon of North Carolina on March 1, 1769.

While yet a young attorney, Richard Henderson became aware of the demands of the increasing population for new lands for settlement. His in terest was particularly directed to the lands beyond the Cumberland Mountains, probably by the tales of the Long Hunters, Dr. Walker and frontiersmen such as Daniel Boone who had traveled and hunted there re peatedly. Several well-known and reliable writers of early western history have stated that Daniel Boone, Henry Skaggs and Samuel Callaway were employed by Henderson at various times in exploration of the country in which he was interested. Boone, according to historic record, was employed by Henderson as early as 1764 to explore the western wilderness of Virginia and North Carolina. It was the opinion of those best informed that Boone had been a secret agent of Henderson and his associates in the western land scheme for several years.

As Judge Henderson's interest in western lands grew, there developed in his mind a scheme of colonization of a magnitude far beyond that which would be expected of a country lawyer. His plan was not a scheme to extend the western boundaries of North Carolina or Virginia, but a plan to establish a new colony with himself and associates in control, and with the right to establish the government and sell land to the colonists. He had visions of great power and wealth. He was not only a man of visions and plans, but he was a man of action. His first move to implement these plans was taken while he was still a young attorney. In association with Thomas Hart, a member of the State Senate, and his law partner, John Williams, he organized a land company under the title of Richard Henderson & Company.

For a number of years there was little activity by this company other than the accumulation of information of the western country brought back by Daniel Boone and others who were probably employed on an intermittent basis. One reason for this activity on the part of Henderson was the press of business. As an Associate Justice of the Superior Court, his time and energies were fully occupied by the duties of that office.

t was during his term in office that the activities of the Regulators in creased to the point of violence. As a result of his sincere efforts to enforce the law and to maintain order, he became involved in some of the incidents created by this movement which had its central headquarters in Hillsborough, the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina. By September, 1770, the situation had developed to the point where the Regulators invaded the court room of Judge Henderson with demands. The crowd suddenly became a mob threatening to beat John Williams and Judge Henderson. This mob did beat several other prominent men, among whom were Thomas Hart and John Luttrell, both of whom were later members of the Transylvania Company. The mob broke into the courthouse and entered comments on the court records that were sneering, ludicrous, and profane. In November, 1770, the Regulators burned a barn and stables belonging to Judge Henderson, together with a quantity of corn and several horses. Two days later they burned a house belonging to him. As the regular March term of court approached, the Regulators defied him to hold court. The records show that the three justices of the Superior Court, Howard, Henderson and Moore, petitioned the Governor's Council to suspend that term of court, which was approved. This unsettled condition continued until the Regulators were soundly defeated at the Battle of Alamance on May 6, 1771, after which the three judges held court at Hillsborough. The trials at this term of court resulted in the execution of six Regulators and imprisonment of many others, and terminated the activities of that organization.

These demanding activities, together with the loss of property at the hands of the Regulators, may well account for the lack of action on the part of Judge Henderson and his partners, then Henderson & Company. The return of Boone from his extensive travels in Kentucky in the early summer of 1 771 , brought to Henderson detailed information as to the character of the country and the glowing endorsement of Daniel Boone as to the suitability of Ken tucky as the site of the proposed colony. This information may well have influenced Judge Henderson that the country described by Boone was the logical location for his colony, but he still had duties and responsibilities as a Justice of the Superior Court of North Carolina. In addition, there was a matter of financing such a venture and, more important, the matter of how to obtain legal title to the lands in question. To this question Judge Henderson had undoubtedly been addressing himself for some time.

Being familiar with the law and legal processes, it is certain that Judge Henderson had searched the laws pertaining to the acquisition of the western lands and their settlement. The results of this search must have been most disturbing, as they revealed legal obstacles to the plan as great as the towering white limestone cliffs of the Cumberlands offered to the western travelers. However, as the western travelers had found a way through these cliffs by means of Cumberland Gap, so Judge Henderson proposed to find a route through or around the legal obstacles to his scheme of colonization.

The portion of Kentucky where Henderson proposed to establish his colony lay within the region reserved for the Indians by the British Government Proclamation of 1763. By the Treaty of Paris in 1763, all of the Indians in Canada and east of the Mississippi River, formerly under the jurisdiction of the French, now came under the rule of the British. Widespread Indian unrest, manifest by Pontiac's conspiracy and similar reactions made some action to reassure the Indians mandatory. In addition, the British Government was motivated by British traders to take action which would discourage the white residents of the colony from leaving the coastal areas. The result was the King's Proclamation of 1763 which established specific restrictions regarding the use and occupation of lands west of the Allegheny River watershed. Some of the more pertinent portions of this Royal Proclamation read:

"... that no Governor or Comander in Chief ... do presume for the present, and until out further Pleasure be known, to grant Warrants for Survey, pass Patents for any Lands beyond the Heads or Sources of any Rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from West and North West, or upon any Lands whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us aforesaid, are reserved to said Indians, or any of them And We do, hereby strictly forbid, on Pain of our Displeasure, all our loving Subjects from making any Purchases or Settlements whatever, or taking Possession of any Lands above reserved, without our special leave and Licence for that Purpose first obtained We do, with Advice of our Privy Council strictly enjoin and require, that no private Person do presume to make any Purchases from the said Indians of any Lands re served to the said Indians, within these parts of our Colonies where, We have thought proper to allow Settlement; but that, if at any Time any of the said Indians should be inclined to dispose of the said Lands, the same shall be Purchased only for Us in our Name, at some public Meeting or Assembly of the said Indians, to be held for that Purpose by the Governor or Commander in Chief of our Colony respectively within which they shall lie ... ."

These restrictions, when considered in the light of the colonization plans of Richard Henderson & Company, could only be interpreted as restrictive or prohibitive as far as the Kentucky country was concerned unless the British Government should remove the restrictions or be induced to make some exception in this case. Even then, the venture would be bound by the regula tions established by the British Board of Trade. We may be sure that Judge Henderson and his associates considered the situation from every angle.

Judge Henderson, being a lawyer, searched diligently for a loop-hole or "weasel words" in British law which might give him a toehold for his venture, and he eventually found one. This was the famous Camden-Yorke opinion of 1757 which the historian Samuel Wharton describes as briefly as:

"In 1757, the East India Company of London petitioned the King, that in a new charter which it was then soliciting, a clause might be inserted, for enabling them to hold and enjoy, subject to the King's right of sovereighty, all such districts and territories as they had acquired, or might hereafter acquire, (in Asia) from any nation, state or people, by treaty, grant or conquest, upon which these respectable lawyers Camden and Yorke (being then the King of England's Attorney and Solicitor General) officially advised him, 'that in respect to such territories as having been, or shall be acquired by treaty or grant from the Great Mogul, or any of the Indian princes or governments, your Majesty's letters patent are not necessary; the property of the soil vesting in the Company by the Indian grant subject only to your Majesty's right of sovereignty over the settlements, as English settlements, and over the inhabitants, as English subjects, who carry with them your Majesty's laws wherever they form colonies, and receive your Majesty's protection by virtue of your royal charters . . . ' "

While this opinion pertained to British India, prominent British promoters of western colonial projects were quick to claim it also applied to Indian lands in America. Two of the most eminent lawyers of London had written opinions, the essence of which was that the Camden-Yorke opinion was appli cable to the Indian grants. These promoters utilized this opinion in an at tempt to convince British authorities that it was applicable to America as well as Asia. What they overlooked, perhaps intentionally, was that the word "Indian" in the opinion refers to the Indian of Asia, not the American Indian, and the rights declared by the opinion to be vested in the East India Com pany were inherent in its Royal Charter. It is difficult to understand how these promoters could reason that this opinion could be applied to a land company in America which had no Royal Charter. However, Judge Hender son seized on this opinion as justification and proceeded to have his concept confirmed by an opinion from Lord Mansfield, a prominent English lawyer, which indicated approval of Henderson's plan to purchase land from the Indians. It appears that even lawyers and judges can rationalize actions which they desire to take. Judge Henderson had, to his own satisfaction, found the answer to one of his problems. It had now become an opportunity.

Chapter 8 - The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals

Dramatic speech by Chief Dragging Canoe:

The chief began by describing the extent and affluence which the Cherokee Nation had once enjoyed. He spoke of the coming of the white man and of his encroachment on the land of the Indians compelling them to move from the home of their ancestors as a result of the never-ending greed of the white people for more land. He voiced the hope of the Indians that the whites would not expand beyond the mountains, but would be satisfied with the lands to the east. That hope had now vanished, he said: the whites had passed beyond the mountains and had occupied Cherokee land and now wished to have their trespasses legalized by the confirmation of a treaty.

Chief Dragging Canoe continued that, should the occupation be legalized by a treaty, the same spirit of encroachment would only lead the whites to occupy other lands of the Cherokees, new concessions would be demanded and, finally, all of the country which the Cherokees and their forefathers had owned and lived in so long would be demanded of them, and the small remnant remaining of this once great and formidable nation would be compelled to seek homes in some far distant wilderness. Pressing the situation further, Dragging Canoe said that even in such a remote retreat they could dwell only a short time before the advance of the white man who, being unable to designate a further retreat for the remnant of the Cherokees, would demand the extinction of the entire race.

Chief Oconistoto (Dragging Canoe) closed his oration with a strong plea to his people to resist any further encroachment of their territory by the whites, regardless of the consequences.

However, the displays of the bright-colored trade goods and the firm groundwork established by the Transylvania Company representatives during the previous months had accomplished their purpose. The Council voted to approve the sale of the lands desired.

Deposition before Virginia Assembly committee on July 3, 1776 by Charles Robertson, prominent citizen:

Throughout the 20 days of the Council, there was continuous discussion of the proposed boundaries of the territory under consideration, the wisdom of making such a sale, and the adequacy of the amount to be received in payment. Interpreters from both sides were kept busy translating talks, speeches and documents. Many of the younger chiefs of the Cherokees were bitterly opposed to selling any of the tribal hunting grounds, and they voiced their opposition eloquently to their people. Both Chief Dragging Canoe and Chief Raven, principal representatives of the Cherokee nation, voiced their opposition strongly, but without success. The continued display of the trade goods, coupled with the skillful contacts made by the employees of the Transylvania Company, such as Daniel Boone, turned the tide and over 1,200 Cherokees present agreed to the signing of the great grant...

The legal right of power to participate as a party to a treaty is a right of sovereignty possessed only by national governments, whereby a group to whom the power of treaty making or sovereignty has been legally and specifically granted, as in the case of a Charter. Since Richard Henderson & Company, the Louisa Company, the Transylvania Company or any other individuals named in the transfer document had no charter or other designation of this power, it follows that to call the transfer document a Treaty is not in keeping with the facts, and reduced to plain facts, the transfer document signed by the Cherokee Nation at Sycamore Shoals through its designated representatives was a deed such as any two groups would employ to transfer land from one to another.

As a knowledgeable and well-informed lawyer, Colonel Henderson was fully aware of the facts of this situation. In addition, as an astute politician as well as an ambitious one, his knowledge of the growing unrest throughout the colonies with British rule undoubtedly enabled him to anticipate the Revolutionary War which, even then, was manifesting itself in Boston and at other points along the Atlantic Coast. If there was ever a time to take advantage of a situation, this was it. Richard Henderson and his associates were allowing no grass to grow under their feet.

Governor Martin writing to Earl of Dartsmouth in England, 1775/3/10:

A certain Mr. Henderson, an attorney of some eminence in this Province, has lately executed a most extraordinary project for the particulars of which I have heard I beg leave to refer your Lordship to the Copy of the Proclamation herewith enclosed. It is an enterprise which threatens the worst consequences, in my opinion, and the more as Henderson is industriously persuading the people that purchases from the Indians are good in law against the crown as well as for any other Claimant, and I shall be glad to receive his Majesty's commands upon this point."

As Lord Dunmore was personally interested in engaging in enterprises in western lands, the action of Henderson concerned him deeply, and he planned to leave no stone unturned to defeat Henderson's scheme of colonization. Apparently believing that his proclamation would not be honored by Henderson, he dispatched a letter to the Cherokees in which he attempted to influence them against the land sale.

Among the prominent Virginians greatly interested in western lands was George Washington, who appears to have very much alarmed by the Sycamore Shoals purchase. In a letter to Colonel Preston he said, "There is something in that affair which I neither understand, nor like, and wish I may not have cause to dislike it worse as the mystery unfolds."

The Governors of Virginia and North Carolina were on solid ground in issuing their proclamation forbidding Henderson and his associates to take over the Kentucky territory. Their actions were a direct violation of the royal proclamation of October 17, 1763, both in letter and in spirit. Despite the growing resentment against the Crown, there was no legal basis or justification for a group of nine individuals like the Transylvania Company, without charter or other authority, to take possession of British lands for their own use and profit. Dr. W. S. Lester in his book, The Transylvania Colony, sums up this situation with the statement, "It is only logical to conclude that, if the Revolutionary War had not intervened, the British Government would have easily and successfully maintained its rights against the attempt of the Transylvania Company."

Chapter 9 - Boone Trace

April the First, 1775

Dear Colonel:

After my compliments to you I shall acquaint you of our misfortune. On March the 25 a party of Indians fired on my Company about half an hour before day and killed Mr. Twetty and his negro and wounded Mr. Walker very deeply, but I hope he will recover. On March 28 as we were hunting for provisions we found Samuel Tate's son, who gave us an account that the Indians fired on their camp on the 27 day. My brother and I went down and found two men killed and scalped, Thomas McDowell and Jerimiah McPeters.

"I have sent a man down to all the lower companies in order to gather them all to the mouth of Otter Creek. My advise to you, sir, is to come or send as soon as possible. Your company is desired greatly, for the people are very uneasy, but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you, and now is the time to flustrate their intentions and keep the country, whilst we are in it. If we give way to them now, it will ever be the case. This day we started from the battle ground, for the mouth of Otter Creek, where we shall immediately erect a fort, which will be done before you can come or send - then we can send 10 men to meet you, if you send for them.

I am sir your most obedient,

Daniel Boone

Dr. William S. Lester, in his book, The Transylvania Colony, tells us that, "In 15 days of wilderness travel Daniel Boone had brought his little expedition 200 hundred miles over rough country little frequented by men, 50 miles of it through trackless wilderness, dead brush and extensive patches of cane. With the true sense of topography of a modern engineer he had followed the most accessible route. He had followed the rivers and creeks, found the lowest mountain passes and the best fords with unerring accuracy. It is significant that today's railroads, surveyed by the most skillful engineers, lie for the most part along the route he established."

This Trace, from below the Rockcastle to Boone's Gap, had crossed an area of forest land that would, some 200 years later, become a part of a great national forest named in honor of that Kentucky pioneer, Daniel Boone, whose personal interest, exploration and leadership, and personal participation was largely responsible for the first marked trace from Cumberland Gap to the Kentucky River and which was the base for the Wilderness Road over which the forces of western migration would flow to achieve the settlement of middle America.

Felix Walker of Captain Twetty's party, to whose journal we are indebted for an eye-witness account of the trip from the Holston to the Kentucky, included in his records his personal evaluation of Daniel Boone. He wrote, "I must not neglect to give honor to whom honor is due. Colonel Boone conducted the company under his care through the wilderness with great propriety, intrepidity, and courage; and was I to enter an exception to any part of his conduct, it would be on the grounds that he appeared void of fear and of consequences — too little caution for the enterprise. But let me, with feeling recollection and lasting gratitude, ever remember the unremitting kindness, sympathy, and attention paid to me by Colonel Boone in my distress. He was my father, my physician, and friend; he attended me as his child, cured my wounds by the use of medicine from the woods, nursed me with paternal affection until I recovered, without expectation of reward."

Chapter 10 - Henderson Travels to Kentucky

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Judge Henderson believed it essential that the Transylvania Company occupy and organize its newly acquired territory without delay. His expedition to fulfill that requirement left Watauga on March 20, 1775, just three days after the close of the Grand Council.

The party of travelers that left Watauga that morning, for its destination on the Kentucky River some 250 miles distant, was equipped for the per manent occupation of a frontier settlement. In addition to Judge Richard Henderson and 40 mounted riflemen armed and equipped for frontier travel, the party included 40 pack horses, a herd of cattle, several Negro slaves and a train of heavily loaded wagons. Packed securely on these wagons were the many items essential for frontier living, such as powder, bar lead, flints, tools, materials for making gunpowder, garden seed, seed corn, food items and personal effects.

The first 10 days of travel following Boone's marked route brought the expedition to the end of the road at Martin's Station in Powells Valley, the last occupied settlement of the frontier. Here it was necessary to reorganize and repack the entire load. The trail ahead was rough, rocky, steep and hardly fit for foot and horse travel. Shelters were constructed for the wagons. The heavy and bulky items such as salt, sulphur, bar lead and other items not immediately required at the new settlement were stored away for transport at a later date. From March 30 through April 4, they were busy at this task.

On the afternoon of April 5, 1775, the expedition left Powells Valley and continued its way along the trail to Kentucky. On the morning of April 7, snow started falling about daybreak increasing the difficulty of travel and the discomfort of the travelers. About 1 1 o'clock it was learned that Indians had murdered five people on the trail to Kentucky. When this news arrived, Captain Nathaniel Hart and his immediate party turned back for Powells Valley with the intention of settling there and began making corn for the people in Kentucky. He must have changed his mind, however, as he and his party rejoined the expedition three days later and continued on to Fort Boone with them. Later the same day Boone's letter requesting reinforcements and telling of the Indian attack at Twetty's Fort reached Judge Henderson. This information, coupled with the previous information of Indian attacks on travelers to Kentucky, caused much concern and many again considered turning back to the settlements.

The next morning, April 8, 1775, travel was resumed about 10 o'clock, and continued through Cumberland Gap. About four miles beyond the Gap, they met a group of 40 people returning from Kentucky because of the news of the Indian murders of travelers. Knowing the effect of these returning travelers on the members of his party, Judge Henderson endeavored to persuade these people to join his party and return to Kentucky. Only one man agreed, but several Virginians of the Henderson party joined the returning travelers so the result for Judge Henderson was a net loss, much to his concern. The expedition continued to the Cumberland River where, on April 9, they met two more returning travelers, Robert Willis and his son, on their way back to the settlements until the Indian troubles were settled.

The rumors brought back by returning travelers, coupled with the infor mation in Boone's letter, was occasion for great concern for Judge Henderson. He had invested his entire fortune in this venture. He had learned that the Governor of Virginia had issued a proclamation against him and his land purchase on the day following his departure from Watauga, which had directed all Virginia officers to apprehend Henderson and prevent his colonization effort. He dare not return to Virginia at this time. It was essential that he establish his new settlement in Kentucky. To accomplish this, it was most necessary that Daniel Boone and his party hold their ground at the mouth of the Otter. If they failed to do this and returned along the trace, he knew that his expedition would also turn back and the entire effort would have failed. He realized that it was imperative that he let Boone know as soon as possible that he was on the way with reinforcements and supplies. He attempted to find one of his party that would ride ahead and carry a letter to Boone with this information but, in view of the many Indian rumors and general apprehension that developed, no such individual could be found. A trip of 130 miles alone through an unknown wilderness infested with hostile Indians appeared to be the height of folly. As an inducement, Judge Henderson offered a generous gift of land as payment for the service. At this point Captain Cocke, the gallant Virginian, volunteered to carry the message. Both he and Judge Henderson attempted to obtain another volunteer to accompany him for the same payment, but without success.

The following morning, April 10, 1775, Captain Cocke, equipped with "... A good Queen Ann musket, ammunition, a Dutch blanket, a toma hawk, a large knife and a quantity of jerked beef," and mounted on a good horse, all provided by Judge Henderson, set out to carry the message to Daniel Boone at the mouth of the Otter on the Kentucky River some 130 miles distant. As they watched this brave messenger disappear into the forest along the marked trace, most of the members of the party expected that they would never see him alive again. Judge Henderson wrote later that Captain Cocke ". . . Carried with him, besides his own enormous load of fearful apprehensions, a considerable burden of my own uneasiness."

At this point it is interesting to note that in 1796, some of the private arrangements between Captain Cocke and Judge Henderson came to light as the result of a lawsuit filed by Cocke, who had become a United States Senator from Tennessee, against the original proprietors of the Transylvania Company to secure 15,000 acres of land, or its equivalent value, as payment promised for his services as messenger on this trip. In the testimony of the suit, Senator Cocke stated that Judge Henderson had come to him on the night of April 9, 1775, with tears in his eyes and offered ten thousand acres of land as a reward for making the trip and saying that he and the Transylvania Company would be ruined if this initial settlement on the Kentucky was not established. Senator Cocke further stated that when Judge Henderson arrived at Fort Boone, he confirmed this offer and that ". . . Entries were made in the Book kept by said Henderson & Company, called the Book of Entries, to that effect."

Ranck, in his Filson Club publication No. 16, Boonesborough, calls this ride ". . . One of the most romantic deeds in the annals of the wilderness ..." regardless of the offer of reward. Captain Cocke completed the trip in good time and without difficulty, catching up with another traveler, Page Portwood, the two completing the trip together. Ranck tells us further "...When Captain Cocke arrived at Fort Boone, the savages were almost forgotten and he, greatly to his surprise, found that his plucky adventure and the letters he had brought excited as much interest as the news of reinforcements which he had risked his life to bring."

With the departure of Captain Cocke on the morning of April 10, 1775

By the morning of April 12, the expedition made camp just north of the present City of Barbourville where they had been held up by high water in Richland Creek. That evening another party of 1 1 returning travelers from Kentucky, led by a Mr. Stewart, camped nearby. Their rumors of Indians so impressed some of the Virginians that Abraham Hanks and Phillip Drake, of the Calk party, turned back with them. By the night of April 15, the party camped on the north shore of the Rockcastle River.

Before arriving there Judge Henderson had lost additional people from his venture. While camped at Powells Valley, Benjamin Logan and William Gillespie, accompanied by a number of slaves, had joined the caravan with the intention of accompanying it to Kentucky. When they arrived at the Hazel Patch, where the trail taken by Boone and Stoner the previous year left the marked trace and proceeded west to the Falls of the Ohio, Logan and Gillespie left the Henderson party. They traveled west to the vicinity of the present town of Stanford where they established Logan's Fort, later known as St. Asaph's Station. Here they raised a crop of corn in the summer of 1775. In later years this trail from the Hazel Patch to the Falls of the Ohio, which passed through Crab Orchard, became known as Skaggs' Trace.

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About noon on April 16, Judge Henderson's party met the party of James McAfee which consisted of 18 people, three of whom were James McAfee's brothers. They told Judge Henderson that they had been to Kentucky and had established McAfee's Station, but were abandoning it and returning to the settlements due to the Indian trouble. Judge Henderson made every effort to convince them to return with him, offering them lands and permitting them to make entries. His motive was twofold. First he was anxious to establish settlements on the Transylvania lands, and he feared that more of his party would leave and return to Virginia with the McAfee party. However, he encountered resistance on the part of James McAfee who not only rejected his proposition, but told the members of his party that Judge Henderson's claim to title could not be valid as he had purchased the land from the Cherokees without the approval of the Colonial government and could not protect the title to such land if granted to them. This advice was sound and correct. However, so convincing was Judge Henderson as to the benefits to be derived from his plan for establishing the colony that James McAfee's three brothers, William, George and Robert, joined Judge Henderson's party for travel to Fort Boone.

The Henderson party continued its travel across the head of Dick's River. About noon on April 18, they were met by Michael Stoner and three other men from Boone's party with pack horses to assist the Henderson party and to guide them to Fort Boone . That night the party camped in the edge of the Bluegrass which Judge Henderson called ". . . The eye of the rich land." Hunters from the party killed two buffalo that evening and all feasted on bison beef with great relish. The following morning the hunters killed three more buffalo as the party made an early start knowing that they were nearing the end of their journey. About eleven o'clock the party passed Twetty's Fort, the scene of the Indian attack on Boone's party, much to the interest of all members. William Calk's journal tells us, " . . About 1 1 o'clock we came to where the Indians fired on Boone's company & killed 2 men and a dog & wounded one man in the thigh. We camped this night on Otter Creek . . ."

On April 20, which was Judge Henderson's 40th birthday, William Calk's journal describes the arrival of the Henderson party at Fort Boone. He wrote, "Thursday 20th this morning is Clear and cool We start Early & git Down to cainuck to Boones foart about 12 oclock wheare we stop and they come out to meet us & welcom us in with a voley of guns."

Judge Henderson's entry in his journal for this day reads, "Thursday 20th Arrived at Fort Boone on the mouth of Otter Creek, Cantukey River where we were saluted by a running fire of about 25 guns, all that was then at Fort — The men appeared in high spirits and much rejoiced on our arrival."

In writing to members of the Transylvania Company back in North Carolina of his arrival at Fort Boone, of finding Captain Cocke had arrived safely and of finding Daniel Boone and his company still in place, Judge Henderson wrote, ". . . Here it was that the whole load, as it were, dropped off my shoulders at once, and I questioned if a happier creature was to be found under the sun. . . To get clear of all of this at once, was as much as we could well bear; and though we had nothing here to refresh ourselves with, but cold water and lean buffalo beef, without bread, it certainly was the most joyous banquet I ever saw."

Chapter 11 - Transylvania Colony Established

When Judge Henderson and his company of over 40 people arrived at the chosen location on the Kentucky River on his fortieth birthday, April 20, 1775, he found that Daniel Boone and his party had not been idle during the preceding three weeks.

Second, as the head of the new colony, he felt that he had a responsibility for its defense and well being of its inhabitants. The refusal of the members of the Boone party to complete the cabins for their own defense in the event of an Indian attack not only puzzled him, but gave him great concern for the safety of the settlement. If he had known it, these factors were only the beginning of a growing attitude on the Kentucky frontier of a disregard of the land title claims of the Transylvania Company, and a resistance to any type of discipline which could provide for the safety of all concerned.

It is apparent that his best efforts of leadership, and those of Daniel Boone, produced little results in overcoming this problem. In his initial report to the proprietors of the Transylvania Company remaining in North Carolina, which he wrote on June 12, 1775, he commented on this situation at some length. He wrote, . . . "It will no doubt surprise you, but it is nevertheless true, that we are in no posture of defense or security at this time; and, for my own part, do not expect it will ever be effected, unless the Indians should do us the favor of annoying us, and regularly scalping a man every week until it is performed."

Three basic facts had developed from his discussions. They were:

"The primary interest of all of the men now assembled at Fort Boone was the ownership of good land."

"Regardless of this personal interest on the part of the individuals, it was his responsibility, as their leader, to insure their continued safety and welfare if they were to remain to establish a settlement and colony of the Transylvania Company."

"Many people, other than those now assembled at Fort Boone, had already moved into the area covered by the Transylvania Company purchase from the Cherokees, and were initiating settlements without title or other permission from the Company. If the Company was to retain any kind of control over this vast territory, he must organize a Colonial Government promptly, demand payment for the land occupied, and be prepared to issue grants, titles or other evidence or ownership to those individuals occupying or claiming land under terms of the Transylvania Company. If he was to control the land purchased, he must establish dominion over it."

t was apparent that the procurement of food for the little establishment must be approached on an organized basis, both to conserve available supply of wild game and to insure a daily supply. Bread was almost nonexistent and, although the Boone party had planted a small patch of corn on their arrival, it would be late summer before a harvest could be expected from this source. To insure a continuing supply of wild game, the 65 riflemen of the settlement were divided into hunting parties to which was scheduled the responsibility of providing the settlement with meat. This was no small task, as it was necessary for them to travel as far as the present locations of Mt. Sterling, Lexington and Georgetown to find game. Apparently even this arrangement did not insure adequate food at all times as Judge Henderson recorded in his journal some weeks later, ". . . No meat but fat bear. Almost starved. Drank a little coffee & trust to luck for dinner."

He finally decided on a site located on a small ridge or plateau just across the Lick from Fort Boone and about three hundred yards from it. He conferred briefly with his principal associates as to the suitability of this site. All, including Daniel Boone, Mr. Luttrell and Colonel Callaway, agreed that the site was most desirable for the proposed fort. However, when he asked Captain Hart for his opinion of the site, the Captain replied in a cold and indifferent manner that, "He thought it might do well enough." With this majority agreement, the final decision on the site of the proposed fort was agreed upon on the morning of Saturday, April 22, 1775. On that same day Judge Henderson, Mr. Luttrell and their immediate parties moved their tents to the fort site and occupied it in the name of the Transylvania Company.

The fort consisted of a hollow rectangle with a blockhouse, with over hanging second story, at each corner, a total of 26 cabins, whose backs would form the outside of the fort, connected by stockades between the cabins and at the two gates — one on either of the long sides. In addition a powder magazine was constructed in the center to protect the all-important powder supply of the settlement. The cabins, the backs of which formed the outer walls, were to have shed-type roofs sloping toward the inside to catch rainwater for the garrison in time of siege. The outer walls of the blockhouses and the cabins were provided with portholes from which the defenders could fire as occasion demanded. The fort, as designed and constructed, was 180 feet in width and 260 feet in length. The outer walls were staked out on the ground with the rear wall roughly parallel with the river and about 60 yards from it. One blockhouse was closer to the river than the other to take advantage of the level top of the ridge.

As the little settlement was dependent on its supply of gunpowder for its food as well as its defense, the initial structure was the powder magazine located near the center of the fort. The construction of the magazine was started under the direction of Daniel Boone on the morning of Saturday, April 29, and completed on Wednesday, May 3, 1775. It was a small log structure, half of which was below ground level, with a shed roof liberally plastered with clay as protection against sparks from chimneys, live chunks carried to transfer fire from one cabin to another, and from fire arrows and torches which might be tossed over the walls by Indians in the event of attack. With the completion of the magazine Judge Henderson, Daniel Boone and other leaders felt that a milestone in the security of the settlement had been achieved.

The area cleared for the fort was extensive. Only a few shade trees were left inside the fort and along the river. The area between the fort and the river was cleared as well as a considerable area in front of the fort which faced the long ridge, already known as Hackberry Ridge, to insure during an attack an open field of fire for the long rifles of the defenders. The area towards the lick was also cleared to insure an open field of fire to cover anyone bringing water from the spring to the fort. Only the large sycamores and majestic elm were left in the hollow around the springs. These precautions were to prove their worth in the later history of the fort.

Up to this time the new fort under construction had no name. The little group of cabins in the hollow downstream was known as Fort Boone and it was recognized that the new fort, which was to be the center of the new settlement, should be named. In view of the part that Daniel Boone had played in the establishment of the settlement, it was unanimously agreed that the new fort should be called Fort Boonesborough. The first official recognition of this name was afforded by Judge Henderson when, on May 8, 1775, he ordered an election of members of "A House of Delegates of the Colony of Transylvania to be held at Boonesborough on the 23rd of May, 1775." In this action he had officially designated the name of the new colony to be Transylvania and its capital Boonesborough, names which they bore from that date.

Work on the fort continued slowly through the spring and early summer of 1775, at which time the hunters, who were out daily throughout the country in search of game, reported that Indian signs had ceased. With this news, work on the fort ceased entirely and, despite the urging of Judge Henderson, Daniel Boone, Mr. Luttrell and others, the men refused to work further on the fort and returned to work on their own property. While additional cabins were added to the fort from time to time, full construction in accordance with Judge Henderson's plan was not completed until the early fall of 1778, when the news of the approaching force of Indians and British motivated the inhabitants to complete the fort in a period of 10 days just prior to the Great Siege.