In 1778, Boone with a small party of men left the settlement to get a supply of salt. They were surrounded by a large band of Indians and carried north. Boone was taken as far as the present site of Detroit. He remained with the savages several months without having an opportunity to let his family know his fate. Learning that the Indian warriors were preparing to attack the Kentucky settlements, he managed to escape and made his way two hundred miles southward, through the wilderness swarming with enemies, in time to warn the settlements and to help defend Boonesborough against attack. His family, thinking him dead, had returned to North Carolina. He followed them and returned with them to his chosen home a few months later.
For years there was almost constant warfare against the Indians in the “Dark and Bloody Ground,” as Kentucky was well called. It is said within seven years—from 1783 to 1790—fifteen hundred whites were killed or taken captive in Kentucky.
In 1792 Kentucky, which had been a county of Virginia, was made a state; at this time Boone’s title to his land was found defective. In his old age he was deprived of his small share of the great country he had helped to settle and open to the English.
He moved west to the country owned by Spain, and stopped near the present site of St. Louis. The Spanish governor granted him about eight thousand acres of land. When this territory was sold to the United States, his title was upset and he was deprived of this estate also.
This typical American pioneer died in 1820.
Oliver Hazard Perry and Thomas Macdonough
Two Naval Commanders in the War of 1812
The war of 1812 was brought about by the war between the French and English in Europe. France and England each issued orders forbidding trade with the other. Both claimed the right to confiscate all vessels that engaged in trade with its rival. The English claimed also the right to search American vessels for British seamen; and they seized hundreds of men, many of whom were not English seamen at all but Americans.
In order to avoid war, instead of resisting these unjust demands at once, the United States passed the Embargo Act, forbidding American vessels to sail to any foreign country; this act occasioned discontent and was soon repealed; only trade with England was forbidden. The English impressments of American seamen continued until finally America had to fight for her rights. War was declared, June 18, 1812. Most of the American victories in this war were won at sea. The most famous of the naval commanders was Perry.
Oliver Hazard Perry was the descendant of an English Quaker, who came to America about the middle of the seventeenth century to enjoy the free exercise of his religion. He went first to Plymouth where Quakers were disliked; finally he purchased a tract of land in Roger Williams’ Rhode Island colony and settled there. Here his descendants remained and here Oliver Hazard Perry was born in 1785. His father served in the American navy during the Revolution and became so fond of the sea that he continued his voyages as captain of a merchant-vessel.
Oliver was sent first to a school near his home. A few years later his parents moved from South Kingston to Newport to give their children the advantage of better schools. The war between England and France was now going on, and it seemed at this time as if America would be drawn into war against France. President Adams, therefore, resolved to establish a navy. Captain Perry was given command of a vessel called the General Greene, the business of which was to defend American merchant-vessels trading with the West Indies. Oliver, now thirteen, begged his father to let him enter the navy. Permission was granted, and Oliver became a midshipman on his father’s vessel.