The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852 Part 3

And it was answer enough. The gentleman begged Mike to shoot the infected sheep and throw them into the river. This was exactly what Mike wanted, but he pretended to resist. "It mought be a mistake," he said; "they'll may be git well. He didn't like to shoot Manny's sheep on his own say so.

He'd better go an' ask some of the neighbors ef it was the murrain sure 'nuf." The gentleman insisted, and Mike modestly resisted, until finally he was promised a couple of gallons of old Peach Brandy if he would comply. His scruples thus finally overcome, Mike shot the sheep, threw them into the eddy and got the brandy. After dark, the men jumped into the water, hauled the sheep aboard, and by daylight had them neatly packed away and were gliding merrily down the stream.[5]

Another story, of a rather different character, is told to ill.u.s.trate the recklessness of the man. It occurred on the Mississippi river. A negro had come down to the bank to gaze at the pa.s.sing boat, who had the singularly projecting heel peculiar to some races of Africans. This peculiarity caught Mike's eye, and so far outraged his ideas of symmetry that he determined to correct it. Accordingly he raised his rifle to his shoulder and fired, carrying away the offensive projection. The negro fell crying murder, believing himself mortally wounded. Mike was apprehended for this trick, at St. Louis, and found guilty, but we do not hear of the infliction of any punishment. A writer in the Western Monthly Review for July, 1829, in a letter to the editor of that magazine, a.s.serts that he has himself seen the records of this case in the books of the court, and that Mike's only defense was that "the fellow couldn't wear a genteel boot and he wanted to fix it so that he could."

One of his feats with the rifle which Mike most loved to boast of occurred somewhere in Indiana. Mike's boat was lying to, from some cause, and he had gone ash.o.r.e in pursuit of game. "As he was creeping along with the stealthy tread of a cat, his eye fell upon a beautiful buck, browsing on the edge of a barren spot a little distance off. Repriming his gun and picking his flint, Mike made his approach in his usual noiseless manner.

At the moment he reached the spot from which he meant to take aim, he observed a large Indian intent upon the same object, advancing from a direction little different from his own. Mike shrank behind a tree with the quickness of thought, and keeping his eye fixed upon the hunter, waited the result with patience. In a few moments the Indian halted within fifty paces and leveled his piece at the deer. Instantly Mike presented his rifle at the body of the savage, and at the moment smoke issued from the gun of the latter, the bullet of Fink pa.s.sed through the red man's breast. He uttered a yell and fell dead at the same instant with the deer.

Mike re-loaded his rifle and remained in covert some minutes to ascertain whether any more enemies were at hand. He then stepped up to the prostrate savage, and having satisfied himself that life was extinct, turned his attention to the buck, took from the carca.s.s the pieces suited to jerking and retraced his steps in high glee to the boat."[6] He used to say that was what he called "killing two birds with one stone."

In all his little tricks, as Mike called them, he never displayed any very accurate respect to the laws either of propriety or property, but he was so ingenious in his predations that it is impossible not to laugh at his crimes. The stern rigor of Justice, however, did not feel disposed to laugh at Mike, but on the contrary offered a reward for his capture. For a long time Mike fought shy and could not be taken, until an old friend of his, who happened to be a constable, came to his boat when she was moored at Louisville and represented to Mike the poverty of his family; and, presuming on Mike's known kindness of disposition, urged him to allow himself to be taken, and so procure for his friend the promised reward. He showed Mike the many chances of escape from conviction, and withal plead so strongly that Mike's kind heart at last overcame him and he consented--_but upon one condition_! He felt at home nowhere but in his boat and among his men: let them take him and his men in the yawl and they would go. It was the only hope of procuring his appearance at court and the constable consented. Accordingly a long-coupled wagon was procured, and with oxen attached it went down the hill, at Third Street for Mike's yawl. The road, for it was not then a street, was very steep and very muddy at this point. Regardless of this, however, the boat was set upon the wagon, and Mike and his men, with their long poles ready, as if for an aquatic excursion, were put aboard, Mike in the stern. By dint of laborious dragging the wagon had attained half the height of the hill, when out shouted the stentorian voice of Mike calling to his men--SET POLES!--and the end of every long pole was set firmly in the thick mud--BACK HER!--roared Mike, and down the hill again went wagon, yawl, men and oxen. Mike had been revolving the matter in his mind and had concluded that it was best not to go; and well knowing that each of his men was equal to a moderately strong ox, he had at once conceived and executed this retrograde movement. Once at the bottom, another parley was held and Mike was again overpowered. This time they had almost reached the top of the hill, when _Set poles!--Back her!_ was again ordered and again executed. A third attempt, however, was successful, and Mike reached the court house in safety; and, as his friend, the constable, had endeavored to induce him to believe, he was acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence. Other indictments, however, were found against him, but Mike preferred not to wait to hear them tried; so, at a given signal he and his men boarded their craft again and stood ready to weigh anchor. The dread of the long poles in the hands of Mike's men prevented the _posse_ from urging any serious remonstrance against his departure. And off they started with poles "tossed." As they left the court house yard Mike waved his red bandanna, which he had fixed on one of the poles, and promising to "_call again_" was borne back to his element and launched once more upon the waters.

After the introduction of steamboats on the Western rivers, Mike's occupation was gone. He could not consent, however, altogether to quit his free, wild life of adventure; and accordingly in 1822, he, together with Carpenter and Talbot, who were his firmest friends, joined Henry and Ashley's company of Missouri trappers, and with this company they proceeded in the same year up to the mouth of the Yellow Stone river. Here a fort was built and from this point parties of hunters were sent out in all directions. Mike with his two friends and nine others formed one of these parties, and preferring to live to themselves, they dug a hole in the river bluff and here spent the winter. While here, Mike Fink and Carpenter had a fierce quarrel, caused probably by rivalry in the favors of a certain squaw. Previous to this time the friends.h.i.+p of these two men had been unbounded. Carpenter was equally as good a shot as Mike and it had been their custom to place a tin cup of whisky on each other's head by turns and shoot it off at the distance of seventy yards with their rifles.

This feat they had often performed and always successfully.

After the quarrel, and when spring had returned, they re-visited the fort and over a cup of whisky they talked over their difficulty and rendered their vows of amity, which were to be ratified by the usual trial of shooting at the cup. They "skyed a copper" for the first shot and Mike won it. Carpenter, who knew Mike thoroughly, declared he was going to be killed, but scorned to refuse the test. He prepared himself for the worst.

He bequeathed his gun, pistols, wages, &c., to Talbot, in case he should be killed. They went to the field, and while Mike loaded his gun and prepared for the shot, Carpenter filled a tin cup to the brim, and, without moving a feature, placed it on his devoted head. At this target Mike levelled his piece. After fixing his aim, however, he took down his gun, and laughingly cried, "Hold your noddle steady, Carpenter, and don't spill the whisky, for I shall want some presently." Then raising his rifle again, he pulled the trigger, and in an instant Carpenter fell and expired without a groan. The ball had penetrated the center of his forehead about an inch and a half above the eyes. Mike coolly set down his rifle and blew the smoke out of it, keeping his eye fixed on the prostrate body of his quondam friend. "Carpenter," said he, "have you spilt the whisky?" He was told that he had killed Carpenter. "It is all an accident," said he, "I took as fair a bead on the black spot on the cup as ever I took on a squirrel's eye. How could it happen?" And he fell to cursing powder, gun, bullet and himself.

In the wild country where they then were, the hand of justice could not reach Mike and he went unmolested. But Talbot had determined to avenge Carpenter, and one day, after several months had elapsed, when Mike, in a drunken fit of boasting, swore in Talbot's presence that he had killed Carpenter intentionally and that he was glad of it, Talbot drew out one of the pistols which had been left him by the murdered man and shot Mike through the heart. In less than four months after this Talbot was himself drowned in attempting to swim the t.i.tan river, and with him perished "the last of the boatmen."

Mike Fink's person is thus described by the writer in the Western Monthly before referred to. "His weight was about 180 pounds; height about five feet, nine inches; broad, round face, pleasant features, brown skin, tanned by sun and rain; blue, but very expressive eyes, inclining to grey; broad, white teeth, and square brawny form, well proportioned; and every muscle of the arms, thighs and legs, was fully developed, indicating the greatest strength and activity. His person, taken altogether, was a model for a Hercules, except as to size." Of his character, Mike has himself given the best epitome. He used to say, "I can out-run, out-hop, out-jump, throw down, drag out and lick any man in the country. I'm a Salt-river roarer; I love the wimming and I'm chock full of fight."

The early history of steamboat navigation will appear in its proper place.

CHAPTER III.

Having pa.s.sed over these pleasant and exciting histories of personal adventure, the reader now returns to the soberer chronicles of general history. In the spring of 1783 it became known in Kentucky that peace had been declared, and this joyous news could not have arrived at a more opportune time. The people had been harra.s.sed by war until they were sick and disheartened, and although the news of peace did not drive off all fear of attack from the Indians, yet the consciousness that the posts formerly held by the British, which had been the chief depot of supplies for the Indians, would now fall into the possession of their countrymen, and consequently, that, although not yet arrived, the time would come when even the Indian hostility would cease; all this put a new life into the settlements of Kentucky.

Peace with Great Britain having been declared, the necessity for an army on the borders of Virginia no longer existed; and as that State was pressed for means, this army was disbanded, and the commission of Gen.

Clark withdrawn, with many thanks to this gentleman "for his very great and singular services." This was soon followed by a much more substantial testimony of the favor in which he was held by his native State, for during the same year he and his soldiers received a grant of one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land lying north of the Ohio, to be located where they chose. They selected the region opposite to the falls, and thus was founded the town of Clarksville, which still remains in a state scarcely more improved than it then was.

Something like security and confidence was now established, and consequently the immigration here was constant and large. Factories for supplying the necessities of the household were established, schools were opened, the products of the soil were carefully attended to, and abundant crops were collected; several fields of wheat were gathered near Louisville, and the whole country changed its character from that of a series of military outposts to the more peaceful and more attractive one of a newly settled, but rich and fruitful territory, where industry met its reward, and where every one could live who was not too proud or too indolent to work. It was during this year that a new era was opened to the citizens of Louisville. A lot of merchandise, all the way from Philadelphia, arrived at the falls, and Daniel Brodhead opened there a retail store. The young ladies could now throw aside all the homely products of their own looms, take the wooden skewers from their ill-bound tresses, and, on festive occasions, s.h.i.+ne in all the glories of flowered calico and real horn combs. It is not known whether it was this worthy Mr.

Brodhead who was the first to introduce the luxury of gla.s.s window-lights, but it is certain that previous to this time such an extravagance was unknown; and there is an incident connected with the first window pane which deserves a place here, and which is recorded in the words of an author who is not more celebrated for his many public virtues, than for his unceasing and incurable exercise of the private vice of punning. After referring to the introduction of this innovation, this gentleman says: "A young urchin who had seen gla.s.s spectacles on the noses of his elders, saw this spectacle with astonishment, and running home to his mother exclaimed, 'O, Ma! there's a house down here with specs on!" "This," he adds, "may be considered a very precocious manifestation of the power of generalization in the young Kentuckian."

Another curious incident of the times will close the record of this year.

The notorious Tom Paine had written a book ridiculing the right of Virginia to this State, and urging Congress to take possession of the whole territory. Among the disciples of this absurd production were two Pennsylvanians, named Galloway and Pomeroy. The latter of these came to the falls and produced considerable annoyance to some of the landholders there by the dissemination of his doctrines, which induced others to pay no respect to the t.i.tles of their neighbors. This was an exigency which the laws had never contemplated, and although it was everywhere admitted that the man deserved punishment, it was difficult to find a law bearing upon his case. Legal investigation, however, soon drew to light an old law of Virginia which enforced a penalty in tobacco upon "the propagation of false news, to the disturbance of the good people of the colony." Under this law, in May of the next year, Pomeroy was tried and sentenced to pay 2,000 pounds of tobacco, and had also to give security for his good behavior in the sum of 3,000, pay costs, &c. A similar fate awaited Galloway, who had gone to Lexington and had there advocated these same doctrines. It was impossible for either of these men to procure the amount of tobacco required; and accordingly, when it was hinted to them that they would not be pursued if they left the country, they gladly embraced the offer and departed. And thus perished the effects of Mr. Paine's wonderful book.

The next year, 1784, does not present in its annals anything of much importance in relation to Louisville. It was at this time that the first convention was held at Danville, where the subject of the separation of Kentucky and its erection into an independent State was first broached. It was not, however, thought advisable by this convention to make any serious movement in this matter until the following year, inasmuch as the people generally had not heard of the proposed separation, or had had no time to debate upon its feasibility. As yet no press had been established in the territory, and oral news was not readily or speedily disseminated through the State. On these accounts no action was had by the convention at this time, but a new convention was appointed for the following May, at which this subject was to be seriously considered.

We find by the report of a traveler in this year, that Louisville contained "63 houses finished, 37 partly finished, 22 raised but not covered, and more than 100 cabins."

In the year 1785 the convention again met, first on the 23d of May, and afterwards on the 8th of August, to take action in relation to the formation of the new State. An address to Virginia and another to Kentucky, together with resolutions in favor of the proposed separation, were unanimously pa.s.sed in the earlier of these meetings. These addresses, however, were not deemed strong enough by the third or August convention, and that meeting accordingly changed them to a new and still stronger form of pet.i.tion or remonstrance, and sent them forward for the action of the parent State. Accordingly in January of 1786, Virginia pa.s.sed a law allowing independence to Kentucky, on this, among other conditions, that the separation should not take place until Congress should a.s.sent thereto, which a.s.sent of Congress was not gained until 1791.

In January of this year the county of Nelson was erected out of all that part of Jefferson county south of Salt river.

In the early part of 1785 Gen. Clark, together with Messrs. Lee and Butler, had held a treaty with the Western Indians at Fort McIntosh; but later in the year an Indian council of a hostile character had also been held on the Wabash, and the Indians had annoyed the settlers greatly during the latter part of the year. It was therefore thought advisable to enter into another treaty with the Indians on the Wabash, and accordingly Gen. Clark and Messrs. Butler and Parsons met those tribes at the mouth of the Great Miami in January of 1786. It was with great difficulty that the various tribes could be brought to treat at all, and, but for Gen. Clark's knowledge of their character, and for the high estimation in which he was held by them, these commissioners would have been murdered outright. Judge Hall, of Cincinnati, has given a glowing and vivid description of this meeting, which is here inserted. After noticing their abrupt and scornful manner of entering the council, he says: "The commissioners, without noticing the disorderly conduct of the other party, or appearing to have discovered their meditated treachery, opened the council in due form. They lighted the peace-pipe, and after drawing a few whiffs, pa.s.sed it to the chiefs, who received it. Col. Clark then rose to explain the purpose for which the treaty was ordered. With an unembarra.s.sed air, with the tone of one accustomed to command, and an easy a.s.surance of perfect security and self-possession, he stated that the Commissioners had been sent to offer peace to the Shawnees; that the President had no wish to continue the war; he had no resentment to gratify; and, if the red men desired peace, they could have it on reasonable terms. 'If such be the will of the Shawnees,'

he concluded, 'let some of their wise men speak.'

"A chief arose, drew up his tall person to its full height, and a.s.suming a haughty att.i.tude, threw his eye contemptuously over the commissioners and their small retinue, as if to measure their insignificance in comparison with his own numerous train, and then stalking to the table, threw upon it two belts of wampum, of different colors--the war and the peace belt.

"'We come here,' he exclaimed, 'to offer you two pieces of wampum; they are of different colors; you know what they mean; you can take which you like!' and turning upon his heel, he resumed his seat.

"The chiefs drew themselves up, in consciousness of having hurled defiance in the teeth of the white men. They had offered an insult to the renowned leader of the Long Knives, to which they knew it would be hard for him to submit, while they did not suppose he dared resent it. The council-pipe was laid aside. Those fierce wild men gazed intently at Clark. The Americans saw that the crisis had arrived; they could no longer doubt that the Indians understood the advantage they possessed, and were disposed to use it; and a common sense of danger caused each eve to be turned on the leading commissioner. He sat undisturbed and apparently careless until the chief who had thrown the belts upon the table had taken his seat; then with a small cane which he held in his hand, he reached, as if playfully, toward the war belt, entangled the end of the stick in it, drew it towards him, and then with a switch of the cane threw the belt into the midst of the chiefs. The effect was electric. Every man in the council of each party sprang to his feet, the savage with a loud exclamation of astonishment, "Hugh!" the Americans in expectation of a hopeless conflict against overwhelming numbers. Every hand grasped a weapon.

"Clark alone was unawed. The expression of his countenance changed to a ferocious sternness and his eye flashed, but otherwise he was unmoved. A bitter smile was perceptible upon his compressed lips as he gazed upon that savage band, whose hundred eyes were bent fiercely and in horrid exultation upon him as they stood like a pack of wolves at bay thirsting for blood, and ready to rush upon him whenever one bolder than the rest should commence the attack. It was one of those moments of indecision when the slightest weight thrown into either scale will make it preponderate; a moment in which a bold man conversant with the secret springs of human action, may seize upon the minds of all around him and sway them at his will.

"Such a man was the intrepid Virginian. He spoke, and there was no man bold enough to gainsay him; none that could return the fierce glance of his eye. Raising his arm and waving his hand toward the door, he exclaimed, "_Dogs, Begone!_" The Indians hesitated for a moment, and then rushed tumultuously out of the council-room." To this a writer of the Encyclopaedia Americana adds that the Indians were heard all that night debating in the bushes near the fort; a part of them for war and a part of them for peace. The latter prevailed, and the next morning they came back and sued for peace. All this, however, did not remove the annoyances experienced from the attacks of the more distant Indians. These annoyances were of such a character as to induce the general government to send two companies of military to the Falls, to authorize the raising of militia in Kentucky and the invasion of the hostile territory. In pursuance of the spirit of this authority, if not in direct consonance with it, a body of a thousand men had rendezvous at Louisville, and marched thence in September toward Vincennes. At this point the little army waited, contrary to the advice of Gen. Clark, their commanding officer, for nine days, expecting provisions and ammunition. This delay was fatal. The soldiers became weary, and seeing the frequent inebriety of their general, lost their confidence in him, and refused their obedience. A body of about three hundred, dissatisfied that their wishes in regard to their officers were not attended to, actually returned homeward, regardless of the earnest pleadings and almost the tears of their general; and the rest soon followed them. This expedition was a sad blow to Clark, for it put into the hands of his enemies a powerful weapon against him; and one which they remorselessly used. Had his advice been heeded before the delay was determined upon, he would never have become inebriated or exposed himself in an undignified light to his soldiery, and the expedition might have been successful. Palliated as may be his fault, it cannot be denied that, in this sortie, he was not what he had been. The sun of his military glory had not sunk below the horizon, but it was obscured by clouds whose thick shadows promised long to hide its beams.

The troubles in relation to the navigation of the Mississippi river were now the topics of all absorbing interest in every part of the West. We have not before alluded to these troubles, preferring to connect them entirely with the period of which we are now writing. A brief retrospect of the question will enable the reader readily to understand the subject in dispute and its bearing on the residents on the western waters. In 1781, Spain, having previously declared herself mistress of the Great Mississippi, took possession of the North-West in the name of her king.

Mr. Jay, then in Madrid, had received instructions not to insist upon the American claim to this river, if he could not effect a treaty without yielding it. The Spanish Government, during the whole of 1782, was laboring to induce the United States not only to yield the Mississippi, but also to give up a part of her actual possessions in the West; and her pretensions to these a.s.serted rights were upheld by France. In this condition matters rested till 1785, when a representative of the Spanish Government appeared before Congress. Mr. Jay was at once authorized to negociate with him, and these negociations came again before Congress in May 1786; Mr. Jay having asked the guidance of that body in the matter. He showed them the importance of a treaty in commerce with a people so intimately connected with them as was Spain, and explained the difficulty in forming this treaty, owing to the unwillingness of Spain either to yield the river or to decrease her boundary claims. He could see no safer plan than, as a sort of compromise, to yield for a term of twenty-five or thirty years, the navigation of the river below the boundaries of the United States. This plan was vehemently opposed by Southern Congressmen and an attempt was made to take the negociations out of the hands of Mr.

Jay altogether. In this attempt they were defeated, and Mr. Jay was not only retained in office, but was authorized to continue his negociations without being bound to insist on the immediate use of the river. The rumor of these movements at the capitol soon reached the West, but in the distorted form which rumor ever employs. Mr. Jay's position was represented as positive and as having been a.s.sumed without reference to Congress. This news created great indignation in the West and led to the first dream of secession. The people felt that if the navigation of the Mississippi was denied them on the one hand, and in case of a quarrel with Spain, the protection of the General Government on the other, secession was inevitable. Either they must conquer Spain or unite with her. And as if to show that they were in earnest in the matter, "a board of field-officers at Vincennes determined to garrison that point, to raise supplies by impressment, and to enlist new troops. Under this determination Spanish property was seized, soldiers were enrolled, and steps were taken to hold a peace-council with the natives; all under the direction of Gen. Clark. Soon after this, Thomas Green wrote from Louisville to the Governor and Legislature of Georgia, which State was involved in the boundary quarrel with Spain, that Spanish property had been seized in the North-West as a hostile measure, and not merely to procure necessaries for the troops, which Clark afterward declared was the case, and added that the General was ready to go down the river with 'troops sufficient' to take possession of the lands in dispute, if Georgia would countenance him." The following extract from another letter written from Louisville, professedly to some one in New England, and probably also written by Green, will serve as additional evidence to prove that the people were seriously deliberating upon their position. It reads thus:

"'Our situation is as bad as it possibly can be, therefore every exertion to retrieve our circ.u.mstances must be manly, eligible and just.

"'We can raise 20,000 troops this side of the Alleghany and Apalachian Mountains, and the annual increase of them by emigration from other parts is from two to four thousand.

"'We have taken all the goods belonging to the Spanish merchants at post Vincennes and the Illinois; and are determined they shall not trade up the river, provided they will not let us trade down it. Preparations are now making here (if necessary) to drive the Spaniards from their settlements, at the mouth of the Mississippi. In case we are not countenanced or succored by the United States, (if we need it,) our allegiance will be thrown off and some other power applied to. Great Britain stands ready with open arms to receive and support us. They have already offered to open their resources for our supplies. When once re-united to them, 'farewell, a long farewell to all your boasted greatness.' The province of Canada and the inhabitants of these waters, of themselves, in time, will be able to conquer you. You are as ignorant of this country as Great Britain was of America. These are hints which if rightly improved may be of some service; if not, blame yourselves for the neglect.'

"This letter was shown by the bearer of it to several persons at Danville, who caused copies to be taken of it, and enclosed these to the Executive of Virginia. Early in 1787, the Council of this State had action on this subject, condemned Gen. Clark's conduct, disavowed the powers a.s.sumed by him, ordered the prosecution of the persons concerned in the seizure of property, and laid the matter before Congress. It was presented in detail to that body upon the 13th of April, and upon the 24th of that month, it was resolved that the troops of the United States be employed to dispossess the unauthorized intruders who had taken possession of St.

Vincents."[7]

The full details of the Mississippi troubles belong rather to a history of the State or of the United States than to that of a single city. What has already been stated in regard to them has been written to show the feeling that existed on the subject among the earlier residents of the city and of the State, as well as to display the part which was had in these difficulties by the prominent men of Louisville years ago. It would be foreign to the purposes of the present volume to go further into all these details, wherein the celebrated names of Wilkinson, Sebastian, Brown, Innis and Burr, are so involved, wherein so many splendid intellects were led astray from the paths pointed out by honor and patriotism, and sacrificed at the sordid shrine, of love of self and love of gain. Not to leave the unhistorical reader without any knowledge as to the issue of these troubles, it will however be necessary to point out as briefly as may be, the ultimate results of all the scheming, plotting and unlawful machinations against established government which for so long disturbed and disgraced Kentucky.

Pa.s.sing over, then, all the intermediate s.p.a.ce, we come to the fact that in 1795, a treaty was concluded with Spain by which not only the right to navigate the Mississippi was conceded to the United States, but a right to deposit at New Orleans was also yielded them. This, in effect, was all that Kentucky needed. This grant of a right to deposit, however, was only guaranteed by the treaty for three years; but with the proviso that, should the grant be withdrawn at the end of the three years, some other place than New Orleans should be afforded for the same purpose, near the mouth of the river. In 1802 this right was withdrawn by the Spanish Intendant and no other place of deposit allowed. Spain had evidently violated her treaty, and the whole West was again thrown into a state of fearful excitement and commotion. Nor was this at all lessened when it became known that Louisiana had been ceded to France, and that it was now in possession of the dreaded Napoleon. Mr. Monroe was immediately dispatched to France to have an interview with the First Consul on this subject. Napoleon, then upon the eve of a rupture with England, plainly foresaw that it would be impossible for him to retain possession of so distant and isolated a colony as Louisiana while Great Britain was mistress of the seas. His sagacity had therefore determined him to get rid of so unprofitable a place as this. And much to the surprise of Mr.

Monroe, "when he expected simply to negotiate for a place of deposite at the mouth of the river, he was informed that for the trifling sum of fifteen millions, he could purchase a magnificent empire. No time was lost in closing this extraordinary sale, as Bonaparte evidently apprehended that Louisiana would be taken by the British fleet within six months after hostilities commenced. And thus the first great annexation of territory to the United States was accomplished."[8] And thus ended a long series of difficulties which had, in their course, blotted the escutcheon of Kentucky and tempted so many of her n.o.blest intellects to forget their greatness in vain attempts at personal aggrandizement.

The following extracts from the records of the court during this year will not give a very favorable idea of the high degree of enlightenment among our ancestors in 1786. On the 21st day of October in this year, it is recorded that "negro Tom, a slave, the property of Robert Daniel," was condemned to death for stealing "two and three-fourth yards of cambric, and some ribbon and thread, the property of Jas. Patten." This theft, small as it now appears, if estimated in the currency of the times would produce an astonis.h.i.+ng sum, as will appear by the following inventory rendered to the court of the property of a deceased person:

To a coat and waistcoat 250; an old blue do. and do. 50 300 To pocket book 6; part of an old s.h.i.+rt 3 9 To old blanket 6s; 2 bushels salt 480 480 6s.

-------- 789 6s.

These were the times when the price of whisky was fixed by law at $30 the pint, and hotel-keepers were allowed and expected to charge $12 for a breakfast and $6 for a bed. Payment however was always expected in the depreciated continental money, then almost the only currency.

In the latter part of this year, the legislature of Virginia again pa.s.sed an act giving three years more time to the purchasers of lots in Louisville to complete their t.i.tles by building houses in consonance with the terms of the original purchase. The act offers as a reason for this extension, "the frequent incursions of the Indians and the difficulty of procuring materials for building."

In the next year--1787--a new feature was exhibited to the people of Kentucky. Mr. John Bradford established at Lexington a weekly newspaper, printed at first on a demy sheet and called the Kentucky Gazette. The politicians of the State had now an opportunity to address themselves to the people in a new and easy way, and they fully availed themselves of it.

But the establishment of a newspaper was not the only proof of advancement among the Kentuckians, though it seemed the herald of progress; for, in one year after the first issue of the Gazette, a grammar school was opened, an almanac published, and a dancing school established, all in Lexington; while still a year later (1789) the first brick house was built in Louisville. This structure was erected by Mr. Kaye, an ancestor of our well known citizen and former Mayor, on Market street, between Fifth and Sixth streets; the second brick building in Louisville was erected by Mr.

Eastin, on the North side of Main, below the corner of Fifth street; and the third by Mr. Reed at the North Western corner of Main and Sixth streets. It was about this time that the present city of Cincinnati was laid out. It was first called Losantiville, a name which is thus fancifully derived. _Ville_--the town--_anti_--opposite--_os_--the mouth--_L_--of Licking. This name was invented by a Mr. Filson, whose philological acuteness deserves immortality.

The three years given to the owners of lots in Louisville by the Act of '86, being now expired, the legislature again pa.s.sed an act granting yet other three years for the same purpose; and at the same time appointed eleven new trustees for the town. The number of trustees was now so large that it was neither agreeable to the citizens, nor did it facilitate the business of the town. Accordingly the very next meeting of the a.s.sembly (in 1790) pa.s.sed a new act with the following preamble:--"Whereas, It is represented to this present General a.s.sembly that inconveniences have arisen on account of the powers given to the Trustees and Commissioners of the Town of Louisville, in the County of Jefferson, not being sufficiently defined, for remedy whereof, &c."--This Act deposed from office all the former Trustees of the town, and in lieu of them, appointed the following persons: "J. F. Moore, Abraham Hite, Abner M. Donne, Basil Prather and David Standiford, gentlemen;" as sole Trustees, with power to sell and convey lots, levy taxes, improve the town by means of taxes so levied, and fill vacancies in their own body by election. Under their regime the records of the council show quite an improvement in the prosperity of the embryo city.

Early in April of the year now spoken of, Louisville received an accession to the number of her citizens in the person of the renowned Major Quirey.

This man's immense muscular power; his daring and activity have made him a scarcely less remarkable personage than was the celebrated Peter Francisco, of Virginia. Arriving here at a period when physical power was far more appreciated, and held in far higher reverence than mental capacity, Quirey soon gained a strong hold on the affections of the people around him. He was a native of Pennsylvania, but married at nineteen years of age, and soon thereafter removed to Kentucky. He was six feet and two inches in height, and weighed 250 pounds; he had no inclination to embonpoint but was muscular and robust. The palm of his enormous hand would easily have served a modern fine lady for a writing-desk.--Physiologists may feel inclined to doubt the truth of the a.s.sertion, but it is nevertheless confidently believed that his breast was a solid plate of bone, no appearance of the usual separation of the ribs being discernable, even after his death. Like all the men of his day, Quirey was a good hater alike of Indians and of cowards. A proof of this latter aversion occurred as he was descending the Ohio to Louisville. The Indians had recently been very successful in their battles with the emigrant boats, and were emboldened to attack all within their reach.

Accordingly, Quirey's boat, containing beside himself and his family, only a single individual, whose name is not remembered, came in for its share of the hostility. A large party of Indians made an attack upon them somewhere above the present site of Maysville. Quirey fought bravely, but the other man became dreadfully alarmed, and running into the boat, concealed himself among the cargo. Quirey, still standing upon his boat, received the guns as they were loaded by his wife, and handed to him, and fired on either not missing his comrade or supposing him dead. After the engagement, in which, despite the fearful odds, Quirey was victorious, they found their trembling and cowardly companion who was slowly sneaking from his place of concealment. With an impulse quick as thought, Quirey seized him with one hand around the waist, and bearing him above his head, would in another moment have dashed him into the waves, but the tears and entreaties of Mrs. Quirey saved him for the time. With so cowardly a disposition, however, it might have spared the poor wretch much agony had he perished then; for Quirey set him ash.o.r.e in the forest near Limestone, pointing him the way to the fort and there left him, surrounded on every side by objects to him of terror, there to "do or die." History is silent as to his fate.

After reaching Louisville, Quirey soon established his reputation for strength in a way that none dared gainsay it. One Peter Smith, who had long held undisputed sway as the most expert fighter and the strongest man in Louisville, and who was withal what is more pertinently than politely called a _bully_, the terror of his whole neighborhood, having heard that a very large and strong man had arrived from Pennsylvania, determined, as he said, "either to whip Quirey, or if Quirey proved too much for him to leave the country." He accordingly found his man, and proposed a trial at a fisty-cuff. This Quirey declined, urging that it would be better for them to turn their strength against the common enemy, and professing that he was willing to admit Smith to be his superior. Finding that this only made his antagonist the more determined, Quirey proposed a trial of skill in lifting or in some athletic game. Smith, however, was not to be thus appeased, but stripping the upper part of his body to the skin and tightening his belt, he advanced urging Quirey to get ready for the fight.