so close as to pass through the rim of
his hat, and Colonel Abraham Owen, Thomas Randolph and others were
killed at his side. "Upon one occasion, as he was approaching an angle
of the line, against which the Indians were advancing with horrible
yells. Lieutenant Emmerson of the dragoons seized the bridle of his
horse and earnestly entreated that he would not go there; but the
Governor, putting spurs to his horse, pushed on to the point of attack,
where the enemy was received with firmness and driven back."

To these traits, his fearless courage and willingness to share in the
burdens and hardships of the common soldier, may be attributed his great
and lasting hold on the affections of the old Kentucky and southern
Indiana Indian fighters. To them he was not only a hero, but something
almost approaching a demi-god. It is pleasing to remember that when the
expedition against the Prophet was noised abroad, that Colonel Joseph H.
Daviess, then one of the most eloquent and powerful advocates at the
Kentucky bar, offered in a personal letter to the General, to join the
expedition as a private in the ranks; that Colonel Abraham Owen, one of
the most renowned Indian fighters of that day, joined the army
voluntarily as an aide to its leader, and that Governor Scott, of
Kentucky, sent two companies of mounted volunteer infantry under
Captains Funk and Geiger, to participate in the campaign. It is also
pleasing to remember that the warm affection of the pioneers of that
early day was transmitted to another and younger generation who grew up
long after the Indian wars were over, and who gave a rousing support to
the old general that made him the ninth president of the United States.

On his arrival at Vincennes in 1801, the population of that town was
about seven hundred and fourteen persons. The surrounding country
contained about eight hundred and nineteen more, while fifty-five
fur-traders were scattered along the Wabash, who carried on a traffic
more or less illicit with the Indians. A large part of the inhabitants
of Vincennes belonged to that class of French-Canadians, who produced
the La Plantes, the Barrens, and the Brouillettes of that time, some of
them renowned Indian interpreters and river guides, who figured
prominently in the scenes and contests that followed. The remaining part
of the population consisted of settlers from the states, the more
conspicuous being the Virginians, who were afterwards denominated as the
"