rriors,
mounted upon superb horses, advanced boldly within gunshot. The red men
coolly surveyed the little army, but when a force was sent to attack
them they rode away so swiftly that pursuit was useless.
Village after village was burned to the ground, and rich fields of corn
were left in ruins. The pioneers were determined to rid themselves once
and for all of further possibilities of attacks by the ferocious
Shawnees.
The alarm over the advance of Colonel Clark had spread throughout the
entire region, and with one accord the red men had abandoned their homes
and fled into the wilderness beyond.
When the attacking forces at last disbanded and the men returned to
their homes, Daniel Boone and Peleg Barnes went back with their friends
into Kentucky. The warfare with the Indians was ended. The Kentucky
homes were now free from the attacks of the Shawnees or Cherokees.
Peleg was no longer a boy. The years that had passed during these
pioneer days had made of him a man. He now had his own home and a tract
of land adjoining that of his great friend, Daniel Boone.
Not a word was heard concerning Henry. There were occasional vague
reports of the presence of a white man among the Shawnees, but whether
or not this referred to "the white Shawnee" was never known.
As for Daniel Boone, it seemed as if the days of his peril were ended.
The region which he had opened up for the incoming people had now become
well settled. The sound of the axe was heard more frequently than the
rifle. Prosperity smiled upon the efforts of the sturdy settlers, and
the steadily advancing civilization and the spread of education wrought
wonders among the people.
In the diary of Daniel Boone there occurs the following:
"Two darling sons and a brother I have lost by savage hands which
have also taken from me 40 valuable horses and abundance of cattle.
Many dark and sleepless nights have I spent, separated from the
cheerful society of man, scorched by the summer's sun, and pinched
by the winter's cold, an instrument ordained to settle the
wilderness."
Another writer has left the following:
"He (Boone) has left behind him a name strongly written in the
annals of Kentucky, and a reputation for calm courage softened by
humanity, conducted by prudence, and embellished by a singular
modesty of deportment. His person was rough, robust, and indicating
strength rather than activity;
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