1785, the first great assaults were made
on the wilderness, in that mountainous region which has been the
principal scene of our tale. The Indians had been driven off, in a
great measure, by the events of the revolution; and the owners of
estates, granted under the crown, began to search for their lands in
the untenanted woods. Such isolated families, too, as had taken refuge
in the settlements, now began to return to their deserted possessions;
and soon the smokes of clearings were obscuring the sun. Whitestown,
Utica, on the site of old Fort Stanwix, Cooperstown, for years the seat
of justice for several thousand square miles of territory, all sprang
into existence between the years 1785 and 1790. Such places as Oxford,
Binghamton, Norwich, Sherburne, Hamilton, and twenty more, that now dot
the region of which we have been writing, did not then exist, even in
name; for, in that day, the appellation and maps came after the place;
whereas, now, the former precede the last.

The ten years that elapsed between 1785 and 1795, did wonders for all
this mountain district. More favourable lands lay spread in the great
west, but the want of roads, and remoteness from the markets, prevented
their occupation. For several years, therefore, the current of
emigration which started out of the eastern states, the instant peace
was proclaimed, poured its tide into the counties mentioned in our
opening chapter--_counties_ as they are to-day; _county_ ay,
and fragment of a county, too, as they were then.

The New York Gazette, a journal that frequently related facts that
actually occurred, announced in its number of June 11th, 1795, "His
Majesty's Packet that has just arrived"--it required half a century to
teach the journalists of this country the propriety of saying "His
_Britannic_ Majesty's Packet," instead of "His Majesty's," a bit of
good taste, and of good sense, that many of them have yet to
learn--"has brought _out_," _home_ would have been better
"among her passengers, Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Willoughby, and
his lady, both of whom are natives of this state. We welcome them back
to their land of nativity where we can assure them they will be
cordially received notwithstanding old quarrels. _Major_
Willoughby's kindness to American prisoners is gratefully remembered;
nor is it forgotten that he desired to exchange to another regiment in
order to avoid further service in this country."

It will be conceded, this was a ve