4. What kind of Indian fighter was Sevier? 5. Tell all you can about his personal appearance. What do you admire about him? CHAPTER X GEORGE ROGERS CLARK Among the foremost of those who promoted the westward growth of our country stands George Rogers Clark. He was born near Monticello, Virginia, November 19, 1752. He came of a good family and he received fairly good training in school. But he learned much more from life than from books. [Illustration: George Rogers Clark.] When twenty years old he was already a woodsman and surveyor on the Upper Ohio, and did something also at farming. About two years later, with measuring rod and axe, he moved on to Kentucky, where he continued his work as a surveyor. A deadly struggle was going on here, you remember, with the Indians, who had been roused by the British against the backwoodsmen, and in this struggle Clark became a leader. Why it was that in hardly more than a year's time this young man of twenty-four rose to a position of leadership among the settlers, and was chosen one of their lawmakers, we shall understand when we come to see more of his sterling qualities. Nature had given him a pleasing face which men trusted. His forehead was high and broad under a shock of sandy hair, and honest blue eyes peered out from under heavy, shaggy eyebrows. His strong body could endure almost any hardship, and his splendid health was matched by his adventurous spirit. His fearless courage was equal to any danger, and his resolute purpose would not give way in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties. His great task would have been impossible except as he possessed these qualities, and we know that one does not come by them suddenly. They grow by bravely conquering the fears of every-day life and not giving in to difficulties. It was in this way that the fearless hunters of Kentucky quickly recognized in him a master spirit. Clark, as you may imagine, was not content to remain in Kentucky merely as a skilful hunter and bold leader of war parties sent out to punish Indian bands. His keen mind had worked out a brilliant plan, which he was eager to carry through. It was nothing less than to conquer for his country the vast stretch of land lying north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, now included in the present Great Lake States. In this vast region of forest and prairie the only settlements were the scattered French hamlets, begun in the early days of exploration, when the French occupied the land and traded with the Indians for fur. These hamlets had passed into the hands of the English after the Last French War and were made the centres of English power, from which, as we have seen, the English commanders aroused the Indians against the backwoodsmen remote from their home settlements.