He told Governor Patrick Henry that if Kentucky was not worth defending against the Indians, it was not worth having. At this the Virginian lawmakers made Kentucky into a Virginia county and gave Clark five hundred pounds of powder, which he carried down the Ohio River to Kentucky. [Sidenote: =Life at Harrodsburg=] Clark lived at Harrodsburg where, for more than a year, he was kept busy helping the settlers fight off the Indians. This was the very time when Boonesboro and other settlements were so often surrounded by Indians who had been aroused by the British officers at Detroit. These officers paid a certain sum for each scalp of an American the Indians brought them. [Illustration: GEORGE ROGERS CLARK _From a painting on wood by John Wesley Jarvis, now in the State Library at Richmond, Virginia_] [Sidenote: =Turns to Patrick Henry in time of need=] After having seen brave men and women scalped by the Indians, Clark decided to strike a blow at the British across the Ohio. But where could he find money and men for an army? Kentucky did not have men enough. Clark thought of that noble patriot across the mountains, Patrick Henry. He mounted his horse and guided some settlers back to Virginia, but kept his secret. In Virginia he heard the good news that Burgoyne had surrendered. Governor Henry was heart and soul for Clark's plan. He made Clark a colonel, gave him six thousand dollars in paper money, and ordered him to raise an army to defend Kentucky. [Sidenote: =A colonel with a secret=] =112. The Campaign against Old Vincennes.= In May, 1778, Clark's little army of about one hundred fifty backwoodsmen, with several families, took their flatboats and floated down the Monongahela to Fort Pitt. Clark did not dare tell the riflemen where they were going, for fear the British might get the word. Here they took on supplies and a few small cannon. [Sidenote: =Floating down the beautiful Ohio=] On they floated, in the middle of the river to keep away from the Indians who might be hiding in the deep, dark forests on the river banks. At the falls of the Ohio, on Corn Island, Clark landed his party. He built a blockhouse and cabins, and drilled the riflemen into soldiers while the settlers planted corn. This was the beginning of the city of Louisville. [Sidenote: =Clark tells his secret=] One day Clark called his men together and told them the secret--he was really leading them against the British forts on the Illinois and the Wabash rivers. A few of the men refused to go so far from home--a thousand miles--but the rest were willing to follow their leader. [Sidenote: =A long march begun=]