The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio; or, Clearing the Wilderness

by St. George Rathborne

  NOTES

  NOTE 1 (PAGE 1)

  AMONG the people of the frontier it was customary, when fortune waskind, so that they happened to possess an overabundance of freshvenison, to dry a stock of this meat for the lean time when food wouldbe scarce. This was known as dried or "jerked" venison, and could benibbled at when on a tramp, or else served in the form of a stew, beingfairly palatable. Of course they picked up this habit of laying in astore against a time of necessity from the Indians, who had possiblydone this same thing through the centuries of the past, long before thenew America became known to the people of the Old World.

  NOTE 2 (PAGE 10)

  The deer which had fallen to the guns of Bob and Sandy was of thecommon red Virginia species. This animal has always been found east ofthe Mississippi, and ranging from the Great Lakes down to the tip endof the Florida peninsula. The farther south one goes, the smaller thedeer becomes; so that it is not uncommon for a successful hunter amongthe palmetto-bordered shores of the Mexican Gulf to carry his quarryhome on his back, with little effort.

  NOTE 3 (PAGE 32)

  The usual costume of the day consisted of a heavy jacket and trousers,and under the jacket a sort of jerkin or close waistcoat made of wool.Underneath this was another garment that might perhaps be called ashirt, woven in the crude, home-made hand loom, and adding much to thecomfort of the wearer.

  Except for the woollen jerkin, all the clothing was made of astout cloth that in later days came to be known as jeans. It waswear-resisting to a remarkable degree, which of course proved to be ablessing all around, for new clothes in the families of most pioneersmust always be an event never to be forgotten in the lives of thechildren.

  Moccasins usually covered the feet, shoes being expensive luxurieswhich few among the settlers could afford. To tan a deerskin, andfashion a pair of moccasins, was an accomplishment quickly learned fromthe Indians.

  NOTE 4 (PAGE 55)

  Perhaps to the boy of to-day the Armstrong home would have appeared avery cheerless place. The sleeping-places in the loft were reached bymeans of a pair of steep stairs that when not in use could be drawnup to the board ceiling, thus affording more room below. Over in onecorner stood the spinning-wheel which was responsible for so many ofBob and Sandy's comforts in the way of clothes. In another quarter wasthe loom at which the good woman of the house was wont to fashion thestout cloth from which the outer garments of both boys, as well as Mr.Armstrong himself, were made.

  Under the small window stood the locker in which the housewife keptwhat small remnant of former luxuries in the way of linen remained toher from the stores in the comfortable home in Richmond that had beentheirs before trouble found them out.

  The light from the open windows fell upon the bunches of herbs anddried vegetables that hung from the low rafters overhead, and upon thesteaming pot that hung over the blaze in the wide-throated fireplace.

  NOTE 5 (PAGE 112)

  Daniel Boone at this time was still a comparatively young man; butalready his intrepid soul had drank deeply of the cup of adventure; andhe felt within him the yearning of a true explorer.

  He had, some years before, given up his comfortable home in the Yadkinvalley, away back in North Carolina, because the country there wasbecoming "too thickly settled" to please his ideas of comfort. When itbecame necessary to mark the boundaries of his fields, and he couldactually see the smoke of another cabin not over half a mile away, heresolved to put into action the designs for a westward move which insecret he had long been cherishing.

  His faithful wife gave herself heart and soul to his ambition to settlein that mysterious Golden West that seemed to be beckoning Boone on.They made a first step by crossing the Cumberland Mountains, andstarting a new home to the west of this range.

  But Boone had already been further in Kentucky, and there was that inthe rich plains of the interior to draw him like a magnet. When onehas seen the region long known as the "Blue Grass country," aroundLexington, and realized what a paradise on earth it has ever been,it is not so hard to understand why Daniel Boone refused to contenthimself with a home in a safer locality, less favored by Nature.

  In history Boone will always stand at the head of the brave pioneerswho opened up the grand country south of the Ohio. All his later lifehe was engaged in trying to defend the infant settlements against theassaults of the red men. These Indians learned to respect him as a manmore than any other "paleface" known to the times.

  Kentucky was known for many years as the "debatable ground," simplybecause of the tremendous efforts of the Shawanees, allied with otherIndian tribes, to burn the new settlements, and drive out the pioneers.But by slow degrees they found themselves obliged to sue for peace, andcede their glorious lands to their conquerors in exchange for certainvaluable commodities.

  To show what this remarkable man endured for the sake of the principlewhich he had made a part of his life, his own words, when speaking ofKentucky, may be given as evidence of his sincerity of purpose:

  "My footsteps have often been marked by blood, and therefore I cantruly subscribe to its title of the 'dark and bloody ground.' Twodarling sons and a brother have I lost by savage hands. Many dark andsleepless nights have I been a companion for owls, separated from thecheerful society of men, scorched by the summer's sun, and pinched bythe winter's cold--an instrument ordained to settle the wilderness.But now the scene is changed; peace crowns the sylvan shade!"

  NOTE 6 (PAGE 113)

  Simon Kenton was very young at this time; but already in Boone he seemsto have found the type of man whom he aspired to imitate. Brave to astage of rashness, he lacked many of the most admirable qualities thatstamped that peerless pioneer, but he had a personality that inspiredthe respect and admiration of all.

  Kenton's association with Boone in those early days had a greatinfluence on his future life. His one failing was rashness; and, whendealing with a sly and treacherous foe, such as the red men invariablyproved themselves to be, this was indeed a weakness that if notcorrected would sooner or later have brought about the death of theventuresome frontiersman.

  Boone frequently took his younger companion to task for hasty words,or reckless conduct; and it was due to his wise counsel and examplethat Kenton became later a leader among the pioneers second only ininfluence and ability to Boone himself.

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