f the enterprise,
however, which was the checking of Indian depredations, was accomplished.
Clarke afterwards engaged in other military enterprises and held high
civil offices in Kentucky; but at the capture of Vincennes his fame
reached its greatest brilliancy, and posterity will not willingly let it
die.

-----

[A] Butler.

BENJAMIN LOGAN.

The real heroic spirit, which delights in braving the greatest dangers in
the cause of humanity, was embodied in Benjamin Logan, one of the first
settlers in Kentucky. This distinguished borderer was born in Augusta
county, Virginia. At an early age he displayed the noble impulses of his
heart; for upon the death of his father, when the laws of Virginia allowed
him, as the eldest son, the whole property of the intestate, he sold the
farm and distributed the money among his brothers and sisters, reserving a
portion for his mother. At the age of twenty-one, Logan removed to the
banks of the Holston, where he purchased a farm, and married. He served in
Dunmore's war. In 1775, he removed to Kentucky, and soon became
distinguished among the hardy frontiersmen for firmness, prudence, and
humanity. In the following year he returned for his family, and brought
them to a small settlement called Logan's Fort, not far from
Harrodsburgh.

[Illustration: LOGAN JOURNEYING INTO KENTUCKY.]

On the morning of the 20th of May, 1777, the women were milking the cows
at the gate of the little fort, and some of the garrison attending them,
when a party of Indians appeared and fired at them. One man was shot dead,
and two more wounded, one of them mortally. The whole party instantly ran
into the fort, and closed the gate. The enemy quickly showed themselves at
the edge of the canebrake, within rifle-shot of the gate, and seemed
numerous and determined. A spectacle was now presented to the garrison
which awakened interest and compassion. A man, named Harrison, had been
severely wounded, and still lay near the spot where he had fallen. The
poor fellow strove to crawl towards the fort, and succeeded in reaching a
cluster of bushes, which, however, were too thin to shelter his person
from the enemy. His wife and children in the fort were in deep distress at
his situation. The case was one to try the hearts of men. The numbers of
the garrison were so small, that it was thought folly to sacrifice any
more lives in striving to save one seemingly far spent. Logan endeavored
to persuade some o