Governor Dunmore Sends for Mr. Boone

Thus the days passed until warm weather came once more. We were beginning to make preparations for leaving the old cabin, when a messenger came from Watauga in search of Jemima's father. He told us that Governor Dunmore had sent him to ask Mr. Boone and my father to go into Kentucky and warn the white people, who were in the wilderness surveying the land, against remaining any longer. It was the governor's plan to wage war upon the Indians who had their hunting grounds where our people wanted to settle, and he wished to make certain that all "the white men should know what was about to happen.

Had we dreamed that father might be away from us long, both mother and I would have said all we could to prevent him from leaving us; but, not realizing how difficult and dangerous the task was to be, and rejoicing because he had a chance to earn some money, we held our peace, only insisting that a generous supply of meat should be brought in before he started.

The messenger from Watauga joined our fathers in the hunt, and within three days there was piled up in front of the cabin, or hanging from the trees, as much game as could be cured before it would spoil.

Israel Boone and Billy were cautioned to keep a sharp watch for Indian signs, and not to wander very far into the forest when they went hunting. The messenger left us to return to Watauga, and then, promising to come back as soon as the surveyors had been warned, our fathers marched away, carrying with them for food only one large journey cake and four or five slices of cooked deer meat.

Mother insisted that they should have half of our store of salt, but both men declared they would not take anything so precious, for in Powell's Valley a bushel of salt was worth a good cow and a calf, while in the settlements on the Yadkin it sold for fifty cents a quart.