l Government; therefore

"Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That
our Senators in Congress be requested to make use of their exertions to
procure a grant of land in said territory to said Boone, either the ten
thousand acres to which he appears to have an equitable claim, from the
grounds set forth to this Legislature, by way of confirmation, or to
such quantity in such place as shall be deemed most advisable by way of
donation."

While this question was pending before Congress, Colonel Boone met with
the heaviest grief he had thus far encountered on his stormy pilgrimage.
In the month of March, 1813, his wife, whom he tenderly loved, died at
the age of seventy-six. She had been one of the best of wives and
mothers, seeking in all things to conform to the wishes of her husband,
and aid him in his plans. She was a devoted wife and a loving mother.
Colonel Boone selected upon the summit of a ridge the place for her
burial, and marked out the spot for his own grave by her side.

We have no means of knowing what were the religious views which
sustained Mrs. Boone in her dying hour. Her life was passed in the
discharge of the humble duties of a home in the wilderness, and she had
no biographer. But we do know that the religion of Jesus had penetrated
many of these remote cabins, and had ennobled the lives of many of these
hardy pioneers.

Under the Spanish Government, the Roman Catholic Religion was the
established religion of the province, and none other was openly
tolerated. Still, the authorities were so anxious to encourage
emigration from the United States, that they avoided any rigorous
enforcement of the law. Each emigrant was required to be "a good
Catholic," _un bon Catholique_. But by connivance of the authorities,
only a few general questions were asked, such as:

"Do you believe in Almighty God? in the Holy Trinity? in the true
Apostolic Church? in Jesus Christ our Saviour? in the Holy Evangelists?"

The ceremony was closed by the declaration that the applicant was _un
bon Catholique_. Thus many Protestant families entered the Spanish
territory, and remained undisturbed in their religious principles.
Protestant clergymen crossed over the Mississippi river and, unmolested,
preached the gospel in the log cabins of the settlers. The Catholic
priests received their salaries from the Spanish crown, and no taxes for
religion were imposed.

The Reverend John Clark, a very zealous C