to their laws.
As we have mentioned they called into requisition on their side the
merciless energies of the savage, openly declaring to the world that
they were justified in making use of whatever weapons God and nature
might place in their hands. From the strong British garrisons at
Detroit, Vincennes and Kaskaskia, the Indians were abundantly supplied
with rifles, powder and bullets, and were offered liberal rewards for
such prisoners, and even scalps, as they might bring in.

The danger which threatened these settlements in Kentucky was now such
as might cause the stoutest heart to quail. The savage had been adopted
as an ally by the most wealthy and powerful nation upon the globe. His
marauding bands were often guided by the intelligence of British
officers. Boone organized what might be called a corps of explorers to
go out two and two, penetrating the wilderness with extreme caution, in
all directions, to detect any indication of the approach of the Indians.
One of these explorers, Simon Kenton, acting under the sagacious counsel
of Colonel Boone, had obtained great and deserved celebrity as among the
most heroic of the remarkable men who laid the foundation of the State
of Kentucky. It would be difficult to find in any pages of romance
incidents of more wonderful adventure, or of more dreadful suffering, or
stories of more miraculous escape, than were experienced by this man.
Several times he was taken captive by the Indians, and though treated
with great inhumanity, succeeded in making his escape. The following
incident in his life, occurring about this time, gives one a very vivid
picture of the nature of this warfare with the Indians:

"Colonel Bowman sent Simon Kenton with two other men, Montgomery and
Clark, on an exploring tour. Approaching an Indian town very cautiously
in the night, on the north side of the Ohio river, they found a number
of Indian horses in an enclosure. A horse in the wilderness was one of
the most valuable of prizes. They accordingly each mounted an animal,
and not daring to leave any behind, which would aid the Indians to
pursue them, by hastily constructed halters they led the rest. The noise
which the horses made awoke the Indians, and the whole village was at
once in a state of uproar. The mounted adventurers dashed through the
woods and were soon beyond the reach of the shouts and the yells which
they left behind them. They knew, however, full well that the
swift-footed Indian