The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852Casseday, Ben
History
The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852
Casseday, Ben
Louisville (Ky.) -- Description and travel; Louisville (Ky.) -- History
Only a few months ago, some gentlemen traveling near the south-eastern
boundary of the city, discovered in an old tree the name of _D. Boone_ and
the date 1779, appended. Considering this a great curiosity, one of them
removed it from the tree and attempted to confirm the authenticity of the
date by counting the circles in the wood of the tree. Finding these to
agree with the date marked, he carefully preserved the block containing
this record, which is now to be seen in the library of the Kentucky
Historical Society. This circumstance is mentioned here only still further
to confirm the authenticity of this block by stating a similar case which
occurred in 1811. In the spring of 1779, Squire Boone, the brother of
Daniel, in company with two others, went from the falls to Bullitt's Lick
to shoot buffalo. After finishing their sport, they were returning home,
when night overtook them at Stewart's Spring. The young men proposed to
remain here for the night, but Boone objected, fearing an attack from the
Indians. They accordingly turned off some 300 yards to the West, where
they encamped for the night. There, while Boone and another of the party
were arranging for the encampment, the third, being idle, amused himself
by cutting a name and a few words on the bark of the tree. Afterwards, in
1811, during some legal investigation about lands, Boone testified to the
existence of these marks near Stewart's Spring, and upon examination they
were found just as he had stated, although 32 years had elapsed since the
cut was made. This fact is placed upon record in the Court of Appeals and
does not admit of a doubt. The instance before referred to is of a
precisely similar character, and the marks are probably equally authentic
as those of the last.
It would be easy to relate numerous instances, similar to those already
given, both as to the wonderful skill of the pioneers in woodcraft, and
their daring, danger and miraculous escapes in the Indian fights, but, as
has already been said, these anecdotes, often incorrect, and always
difficult to narrate without embellishment, are so familiar to the
majority of readers, and possess such similarity of outline that they
would be interesting here only to those who have some personal knowledge
of the actors in those scenes. There will be occasion hereafter, in
speaking of some of the distinguished men of another period of this
history, to refer again to subjects kindred to those above narrated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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