with
him had gone off to the interior of Kentucky, but several were left, and
these settled on an island near the falls, where they raised a crop of
corn; and in the autumn they moved to the mainland. On the site thus
chosen by the clear-eyed frontier leader there afterwards grew up a
great city, named in honor of the French king, who was then our ally.
Clark may fairly be called its founder. [Footnote: It was named
Louisville in 1780, but was long known only as the Falls. Many other men
had previously recognized the advantages of the place; hunters and
surveyors had gone there, but Clark led thither the first permanent
settlers. Conolly had laid out at the Falls a grant of two thousand
acres, of which he afterwards surrendered half. His grant, covering much
of the present site of the city, was on July 1, 1780, declared to be
forfeited by a jury consisting of Daniel Boon and eleven other good men
and true, empanelled by the sheriff of the county. See Durrett MSS. in
"Papers Relating to Louisville, Ky."]

Clark at the Falls.

Here Clark received news of the alliance with France, which he hoped
would render easier his task of winning over the habitants of the
Illinois. He was also joined by a few daring Kentuckians, including
Kenton, and by the only Holston company that had yet arrived. He now
disclosed to his men the real object of his expedition. The Kentuckians,
and those who had come down the river with him, hailed the adventure
with eager enthusiasm, pledged him their hearty support, and followed
him with staunch and unflinching loyalty. But the Holston recruits, who
had not come under the spell of his personal influence, murmured against
him. They had not reckoned on an expedition so long and so dangerous,
and in the night most of them left the camp and fled into the woods. The
Kentuckians, who had horses, pursued the deserters, with orders to kill
any who resisted; but all save six or eight escaped. Yet they suffered
greatly for their crime, and endured every degree of hardship and
fatigue, for the Kentuckians spurned them from the gates of the wooden
forts, and would not for a long time suffer them to enter, hounding them
back to the homes they had dishonored. They came from among a bold and
adventurous people, and their action was due rather to wayward and
sullen disregard of authority than to cowardice.

When the pursuing horsemen came back a day of mirth and rejoicing was
spent between the troops who we