Contents ▼▲
Front Matter At Boonesborough Beginning of the Story Boone on the Yadkin Boone Moves his Family Ready for the Journey What we Wore Driving Cattle and Sheep Camping at Nightfall The Long Halt Jimmy Boone Goes to Clinch Murder of Jimmy Boone A Time of Mourning The Faint-hearted Return A New Home Making Moccasins Tanning Leather Governor Dunmore Our Home on the Clinch Household Duties Attacked by a Wildcat Fighting the Wildcat Boone and Father Return The Wilderness Road Building the Forts Boonesborough Gathering Salt Boonesborough Precautions Our Home in the Fort Ready for Cooking Furnishing the House The Hominy Block The Supply of Water Sports Inside the Fort Wrestling and Running Religion of the Indians Indian Babies Colonel Callaway Arives News from Eastern Colonies Venturing Outside the Fort Dividing the Land Who Owned Kentucky? Ready to Build a Home Billy's Hard Lot Preparing Flax Spinning and Soap Making Broom Making More Indian Murders Indian "Signs" Woodcraft and Hunting Pelts Used as Money Petition of the Settlers Making Sugar Building Fences Capture of the Girls My Willful Thoughts Finding the Trail The Pursuit The Story Told by Jemima Elizabeth's Heroism Rescuing the Girls Alarm Among the Settlers Indians on the Warpath The First Wedding The Wedding Festivities The Brides Home The Housewarming Attacks by the Indians Besieged by the Savages In the Midst of the Fight The Assault by the Indians Failure of the Assault Watchfulness of the Indians The Sortie My Father Wounded Our Wounded

Hannah of Kentucky - James Otis




Attacks by the Indians

Within a week after Simon Kenton left us, for, in order to warn our people when danger threatened, he was going about from place to place learning what he could of the movements of the Indians, we heard that the men at McClelland's Station had had a regular battle with the Shawnees; worst of all, two had been killed. and two others captured, only to be tortured at the stake.

[Illustration] from Hannah of Kentucky by James Otis

From that day we heard nothing but news of massacres and attacks, and there was no longer any question but that the Indians were bent on our destruction.

Once more we were shut up closely within the fort. Samuel and Elizabeth Henderson came into the stockade, leaving their beautiful home; and we were able to gather only the smallest part of our crops. Again we women and children went out into the fields harvesting, with all the men of the settlement to guard us, and scurried in whenever an alarm was raised. By day we watched for the savages and at night dreamed that they were upon us, until our life, which had been so peaceful by comparison, was much the same as a torture.

Day by day word came that not only the Shawnees, but all the other Indians around, were coming into Kentucky, being sent by the British in Detroit, who hoped to serve their king by hiring the savages to attack all the settlers in this part of the country.

In this spring of 1777 there have been many days when we were actually hungry, although there was game to be had in abundance if our people could have gone out after it. First, we killed the oldest of the sheep for meat, because the supply of meal had run short, and then, one after another, the rest of the live stock, hoping all the while that the savages would not dare attack so strong a fort as ours at Boonesborough.