sea full of little islands. Whereas now, from the Woodland Garden to the foot of Fifteenth Street, a distance of nearly three miles, not one of these lakes is to be seen. It is not to be wondered at that, as the trees were removed from the surface and the face of these ponds exposed to the burning sun, they should spread the seeds of death all around them. As long as life was precarious from a hundred other causes, this one remained unnoticed, but as soon as the settlements began to be relieved from other fears for life and property, this was taken up, and in 1805 the Legislature authorised the Trustees to remove "those nuisances in such a manner as the majority of them should prescribe." But the means in the treasury being incompetent to this purpose, any efficient action in relation to it was delayed until after the fearful epidemics of 1822 and 1823, of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter, when the Board of Health appointed to examine into the causes of the diseases and the means of removing the same, urged the prompt and immediate removal of these ponds. The Legislature during the latter year also authorised the raising of $40,000 by lottery to be applied to draining not only the ponds in Louisville, but also all those between the town and the mouth of Salt River. Under this act these ponds were drained, but those below the city were then left untouched. Many of them however have been since removed under a recent renewal of the act. But we have been led beyond the era of which we were speaking, and must now return, in another chapter, to the history of the town from its establishment by law in 1780. CHAPTER II. 1780-During the same year in which the town was established Kentucky received many valuable additions to its inhabitants; among these several persons of wealth or of talent came from the Atlantic States to settle among the "wild countries of the West," and they were accompanied by many others without either of these requisites, ready at once to seek any and every means of existence. Col. George Slaughter accompanied by 150 State troops descended to the falls and took up his quarters there during this year. This accession placed the inhabitants in comparative security, but it was only comparative, for, emboldened by the knowledge that their fortress was impregnable to the attacks of their foes, men became more careless and unguarded, and the Indians were the very foe to take advantage of this fancied security; so that, as the historian of the period says, the very strength of the settlement and the security of its inhabitants "had the effect of apparently drawing the Indians into that quarter. The fact, too, that the Ohio formed the natural boundary separating friend and foe was advantageous to the Indians. "They could approach its banks upon their own ground; they might cross it when convenient, reach the settlement, strike a blow and recross the river before a party could be collected or brought to pursue them. The river always presented an object of difficulty and very often an insuperable obstacle to further pursuit. In this state of things it is no matter of surprise that soldiers were shot near the fort, or that in the settlements of Beargrass lives were lost, prisoners taken and horses stolen, with frequent impunity, or but sometimes retaliated."* Connected with these predatory incursions of the Indians, a great many wonderful stories are told of "hair-breadth 'scapes by field and flood." Histories of incidents in the Indian wars are, however, so similar in their character and so often told and widely known that we shall limit ourselves to the relation of only those that seem in their nature to demand admission here. The first of these presents one of those rare instances of magnanimity and true heroism that ever demands the attention of the chronicler. The station where Shelbyville now stands was a weak and inefficient one, and becoming alarmed by the presence of Indians in their vicinity, its inhabitants determined to remove to Beargrass. In this attempted emigration, however, they were attacked by their foes near Floyd's Fork, defeated and scattered. Col. John Floyd, hearing of this, immediately started to their relief. In his party was Capt. Samuel Wells who had been on very unfriendly and even inimical terms with his superior officer. Arrived near the point, Col. Floyd separated his men and cautiously approached the enemy. But despite his skill and caution, he fell into an ambuscade and was in his turn defeated with great loss. He himself must have fallen into the hands of the victors but for the magnanimity of Wells. Floyd *MARSHALL, Vol. I, p. 104. had dismounted and was nearly exhausted, being closely pursued, when Wells, who had not quitted his horse, rode up and dismounting, helped his old enemy into the saddle and running by his side, supported and protected him till out of the reach of danger. This noble and generous action resulted in the fast and lasting friendship of the two men. Another incident will show the education, even in boyhood, which the nature of the times demanded. Four young lads, two of them named Linn, accompanied by Wells and Brashears, went on a hunting party to a pond about six miles South-West of Louisville. They succeeded well in their sport, having killed among other game, a small cub bear. While they were assisting the elder Linn to strap the bear on his shoulders, and had laid down their guns, they were surprised by a party of Indians, and hurried over to the White river towns, where they remained in captivity several months. One of the party had in the mean time been carried to another town; and late in the fall the remaining three determined to effect their escape. When night had come, they rose quietly, and having stunned the old squaw, in whose hut they were living, by repeated blows with a small axe, they stole out of the lodge and started for Louisville. After daybreak, they concealed themselves in a hollow log, where they were frequently passed by the Indians who were near them everywhere; and at night they resumed their march, guided only by the stars and their knowledge of woodcraft. After several days, during which they subsisted on the game they could procure, they reached the river at Jeffersonville. Arrived here they halooed for their friends, but did not succeed in making themselves heard. They had however no time to lose; the Indians were behind them and if they were retaken, they knew their doom. Accordingly, as two of them could not swim, they constructed a raft of the drift-logs about the shore and tied it together with grape vines, and the two launched upon it, while Brashears plunged into the water, pushing the raft with one hand and swimming with the other. Before they had arrived at the other shore, and when their raft was in a sinking condition from having taken up so much water, they were descried from this side, and boats went out and returned them safely to their friends.* 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 * Directory for 1832. |