From: "Faith Keahey" <keahey@cyberhighway.net> To: LONGHUNTERS-L@rootsweb.com Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 23:03:21 -0600 Subject: Capt Spencer Records #11 Message-ID: <007701beb6ec$74a8a8e0$a632a1d1@keahey> Return-path: <LONGHUNTERS-L-request@rootsweb.com> Received: from mx2.boston.juno.com (mx2.boston.juno.com [207.205.100.55]) by x11.boston.juno.com with SMTP id AAA5YM2HSAWC5NF2 for <hermfagley@juno.com> (sender <LONGHUNTERS-L-request@rootsweb.com>); Tue, 15 Jun 1999 01:13:20 -0400 (EST) Received: from bl-11.rootsweb.com (bl-11.rootsweb.com [204.212.38.27]) by mx2.boston.juno.com with SMTP id AAA5YM2HSADJWVJ2 (sender <LONGHUNTERS-L-request@rootsweb.com>); Tue, 15 Jun 1999 01:13:20 -0400 (EST) Received: (from slist@localhost) by bl-11.rootsweb.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) id WAA27775; Mon, 14 Jun 1999 22:11:39 -0700 (PDT) Resent-From: LONGHUNTERS-L@rootsweb.com Resent-Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 22:11:39 -0700 (PDT) Resent-Sender: LONGHUNTERS-L-request@rootsweb.com Resent-Message-ID: <hryMwD.A.2xG.KCeZ3@bl-11.rootsweb.com> X-Status: Read X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 X-Juno-Att: 0 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This spring I was elected Captain, and recieved my commission from the Governor of VA, to take rank 27 May 1789. About the same time, a small station settled on the Ohio, at the mouth of Lee's creek, about 8 miles from us. Sometime in May, Amos Woods and his wife, who lived in the station, came to my father's on a visit, and put his horses in a small pasture near the house. That day I was ploughing near the house, and after dark I put my horses out in the woods, which I did every night, for fear the Indians would steal them. He refused to put his out, thinking there was no danger. In the morning they were gone, and mine safe. The Indians had been watching us, saw me ploughing and thought my horses were in the field. Their tracks were on the ploughed ground, not 20 yds from the house, where they had been in search of them. Some time after that, Woods crossed the Ohio to hunt; in the evening on his return to his canoe, it was supposed that he discovered Indians, for he was heard to halloo, and was seen running by the people of the station, but they could not help him, he was killed and scalped. This summer [1789] a gentleman by the name of Coleman came from VA to Washington. Having land on Licking, he got Simon Kenton to go and show him his land, and as it was dangerous times, he hired 10 armed men to go with him. They set off from Washington, 12 of them, and passing about 5 miles south of us, fell onto an old buffalo path, that lead down to Camp Creek. About noon, they came to where the path crossed the creek, slanting down it about 50 yds to the point of a bluff on the left hand side. The bluff was about 6' high, and the ground fell back lower from the bluff. After they had crossed the creek, they turned up it about 50 yds, where the woods were open, clear of underbrush, and plenty of pea-vine. There they halted to refresh themselves, and let their horses feed, placing a sentry at the creek. The bluff would completely hide them from the Indians, should they follow. That same day I set out to hunt in company of Tobias Woods; when we came to the path, we saw the trail of a number of horses going down it, and not knowing that white men were out, we supposed that the Indians had been to Washington and stolen horses. I said to Tobias, "Let us follow them, and if we can come up with them, we will fire on them, and try to kill a couple of them, probably the rest will run and leave the horses, so we can get them; but if they turn on us, we must run." Having agreed to this, we threw down our hats, and ran down a path a mile when we came to the creek. Hearing a horse snort, I said, "There they are." We stopped to see that our guns were well primed and in good order. Just as we came to the creek the sentry saw us. At that time both of us had black hair and were bareheaded. Both of us had dark-colored hunting shirts. Supposing us to be Indians, he ran to the company, and told them that the Indians were following them. We caught a glimpse of him running, knew that we were discovered, and treed ourselves to see what we had to do. The company being alarmed, some started to run, we then heard Kenton halloo, "Stand your ground; not a man run." Knowing it to be the voice of a white man I halloed and he answered. We went over to them and told them that we had been following them, as we thought they were Indians who had stolen horses. Coleman asked me, what we two thought we could have done with so many of them, if they had been Indians. I told him we intended to kill a couple of them, and we thought the rest would run and leave the horses, so we could get then, but if they did not run, but turned on us, then we must run too. He said, if we would go with us, he would give us each 50 cents a day in cash. I told him we could not do it, for if we did not return home at night, our people would think us killed by Indians. We went back, got our hats and went on hunting. Some 15 or 20 years afterwards, when I was residing in the state of Ohio, which was the last time I saw Kenton, I travelled with him about 20 miles. After talking over many incidents that occurred while we were acquainted in KY, such as hunting, following Indians and the like, he mentioned Woods and our following them that day. He said he thought he had men he could depend on, from the wat he had heard the brag and boast, but he found that if it had not been for him, they would have run and left their horses. I should have suppose that Gen Kenton would have known better from his long acquaintance with men, and living a great part of his life in danger of Indians. It is well established fact, that the more men brag and boast when there is no danger, the less may be expected of them when they think there is danger. This brings to my mind a saying of Jane Sproul, a little girl, when we were living in PA in 1779. We had left home for fear of the Indians, and were living at her father's. Her brother Hugh and James Roberts were sitting by the fire, boasting and bragging about what great things they could do among the Indians. After hearing them for sometime she said, "It is easy to fight Indians, sitting in the chimney corner, with your bellies full of mush and milk." Although this was the saying of a little girl about 11 years of age, it is full of good sense. Had they been far from home, in the Indian country, and half starved, as many a poor fellow has often been, perhaps they would have different feelings. cont ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.