PREFACE.
In this volume we offer the reader a combination of two of the most fascinating qualities which a book can possess. It is almost strictly historical, and yet as marvelous as the most romantic fiction. The sketches and incidents here gathered are all authenticated; yet many of them, in their wonderful interest and pathos, exceed the bounds of fancy. They belong to two classes: those which are connected with the Revolution, and those which chronicle the peculiar events of our Frontier History. While they will absorb the attention of the most intelligent reader, they are charmingly adapted to attract young people, who will be both instructed and delighted. Boys will find examples worthy of emulation, and will learn to appreciate those traits of character which made the glory and the progress of our young republic; while girls may gain dignity of mind by contemplating the devotion, courage and endurance of the women of those days.
An insight will be afforded into the customs of the Indians, and into the manner of life of the early settlers, whose dangers and difficulties, privations and calamities, are almost incredible. Many of the most thrilling events in our national history are herein related, along with the fearless adventures of our brave pioneers, and the perils and catastrophes which befell the families of those whose protectors were absent on the field of battle, or whose cabins failed to find sufficient defense in the rifles of their owners.
The reader will linger over these pages, thrilled by the consciousness that the scenes so vividly brought before him are real—a living, abiding part of our existence as a people. The "storied Rhine" and "classic Italy" are laid and overlaid thickly with traditions which give a vague interest to soil, ruin, mountain and sky. We, also, have our traditions—different in kind, but of wild and marvelous interest—and the day shall come when the banks of the fair Ohio, the blue Muskingum, the picturesque Allegany, the noble Mississippi, shall be trodden by reverent feet, while the thoughts of the traveler speed back to the days of the lurking red-man and the bold ranger. It is no mean duty of the chronicler to treasure up the threads of a thousand little facts, and weave them into a web which shall perpetuate them for the future.
The publishers believe that this volume will not only be a favorite in the hands of men, young and old, but will have its appropriate place by the fireside.
CONTENTS.
| Abduction of General Wadsworth, | [236] |
| Anecdotes of an early settler of Kentucky, | [61] |
| Anecdotes of juvenile heroism, | [202] |
| Anecdotes of Washington, | [111] |
| A remarkable hunting excursion, | [133] |
| Big Joe Logston's struggle with an Indian, | [69] |
| Boquet's expedition into Indian territory, | [277] |
| Brady's leap, | [363] |
| Brant and the boy, | [32] |
| Brave deeds of Logan, | [245] |
| British atrocities during the Revolution, | [340] |
| Captain Hubbell's adventure on the Ohio, | [123] |
| Captain John Sevier, | [313] |
| Captivity of Jonathan Alder, | [270] |
| Close quarters with a rattlesnake, | [141] |
| Colonel Horry, of Marion's brigade, | [143] |
| Davy Crockett's adventure with a cougar, | [56] |
| Deborah Sampson, the maiden warrior, | [82] |
| Dick Moxon's fight with the deer, | [137] |
| Downing's remarkable escape from an Indian, | [120] |
| Elerson's twenty-five mile race, | [160] |
| Ethan Allen, a prisoner of war, | [229] |
| Execution of Colonel Isaac Hayne, | [335] |
| Female characters of the Revolution, | [175] |
| General Dale's adventure, | [310] |
| Harrison's invasion of Canada and death of Tecumseh, | [219] |
| Heroic death of Cornstalk, sachem of the Shawnees, | [252] |
| Horrible atrocities by savages, | [264] |
| Horrible cruelties by British troops, | [297] |
| Horsewhipping a tyrant, | [223] |
| Interesting anecdotes of Mrs. Fisher's courage, | [352] |
| John Minter's bear fight, | [53] |
| Joseph Bettys' bloody career, | [291] |
| Major Robert Rogers' adventure, | [303] |
| Marvelous escape of Weatherford, | [309] |
| Miss Sherrill's flight to the fort, | [314] |
| Molly Pitcher at Monmouth, | [172] |
| Moody, the refugee, | [286] |
| Morgan's prayer, | [100] |
| Mrs. Austin and the bear, | [48] |
| Mrs. Slocumb at Moore's Creek, | [347] |
| Murphy saving the fort, | [18] |
| Nathan Hale's arrest and execution, | [341] |
| Proctor's massacre at River Basin, | [212] |
| Sargeant Jasper's adventures in the British camp, | [153] |
| Sargeant Jasper and the young Creole girl, | [88] |
| Simon Girty's attack on Bryant Station, | [317] |
| Simon Kenton and his Indian torture-ride, | [5] |
| Spirited adventures of a young married couple, | [350] |
| Tecumseh saving the prisoners, | [309] |
| The Baroness de Reidesel, | [183] |
| The chieftain's appeal, | [325] |
| The Grand Tower massacre, | [76] |
| The implacable governor, | [332] |
| The Johnson boys killing their captors, | [116] |
| The leap for life, | [300] |
| The little sentinel, | [197] |
| The mother's trial, | [242] |
| The women defending the wagon, | [261] |
| Thrilling anecdotes of women of the Revolution, | [93] |
| William Kennan's flight from thirty Indians, | [165] |
ILLUSTRATIONS.
| SIMON KENTON'S TORTURE-RIDE, | [2] |
| MURPHY SAVING THE FORT, | [25] |
| BRANT AND YOUNG M'KOWN, | [33] |
| MRS. AUSTIN AND THE BEAR, | [49] |
| JOE LOGSTON'S ENCOUNTER WITH AN INDIAN, | [66] |
| DEBORAH, THE MAIDEN WARRIOR, | [89] |
| GENERAL MORGAN'S PRAYER, | [105] |
| JOHNSON BOYS KILLING THEIR CAPTORS, | [121] |
| SWEATLAND'S HUNTING ADVENTURE, | [130] |
| COLONEL HORRY'S EXPLOITS, | [145] |
| ELERSON'S TWENTY-FIVE MILE RACE, | [161] |
| MOLLY PITCHER AT MONMOUTH, | [177] |
| THE LITTLE SENTINEL, | [194] |
| TECUMSEH SAVING THE PRISONERS, | [217] |
| HORSEWHIPPING A TYRANT, | [233] |
| THE MOTHER'S TRIAL, | [249] |
| WOMEN DEFENDING THE WAGON, | [258] |
| CAPTIVITY OF JONATHAN ALDER, | [273] |
| MOODY, THE REFUGEE, | [289] |
| THE LEAP FOR LIFE, | [305] |
| THE CHIEFTAIN'S APPEAL, | [322] |
| THE IMPLACABLE GOVERNOR, | [337] |
| MRS. SLOCUMB AT MOORE'S CREEK, | [353] |
| BRADY'S LEAP, | [361] |
