The Winning of the West, Volume Two

The Winning of the West,
Volume Two - From the
Alleghanies to the Mississippi,
1777-1783

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Winning of the West, Volume
Two
by Theodore Roosevelt This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere
at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,
give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Winning of the West, Volume Two From the Alleghanies to
the Mississippi, 1777-1783
Author: Theodore Roosevelt
Release Date: April 7, 2004 [EBook #11942]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WINNING
OF THE WEST, V2 ***

Produced by Mark Hamann, Terry Gilliland and PG Distributed
Proofreaders

PRESIDENTIAL EDITION

THE WINNING OF THE WEST
BY
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
VOLUME TWO
FROM THE ALLEGHANIES TO THE MISSISSIPPI 1777-1783
WITH MAPS

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH HIS PERMISSION TO
FRANCIS PARKMAN
TO WHOM AMERICANS WHO FEEL A PRIDE IN THE PIONEER
HISTORY OF THEIR COUNTRY ARE SO GREATLY INDEBTED
CONTENTS.

CHAPTER
I.--THE WAR IN THE NORTHWEST, 1777-1778.
II.--CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE ILLINOIS, 1778.
III.--CLARK'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST VINCENNES, 1779.
IV.--CONTINUANCE OF THE STRUGGLE IN KENTUCKY AND
THE NORTHWEST, 1779-1781.
V.--THE MORAVIAN MASSACRE, 1779-1782.
VI.--THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CONQUERED FRENCH
SETTLEMENTS, 1779-1783.
VII.--KENTUCKY UNTIL THE END OF THE REVOLUTION,
1782-1783.
VIII.--THE HOLSTON SETTLEMENTS, 1777-1779.
IX--KING'S MOUNTAIN, 1780.
X.--THE HOLSTON SETTLEMENTS TO THE END OF THE
REVOLUTION, 1781-1783.

XI.--ROBERTSON FOUNDS THE CUMBERLAND SETTLEMENT,
1779-1780.
XII.--THE CUMBERLAND SETTLEMENTS TO THE CLOSE OF
THE REVOLUTION, 1781-1783.
XIII.--WHAT THE WESTERNERS HAD DONE DURING THE
REVOLUTION.
APPENDICES:
APPENDIX A--To
CHAPTER I
. APPENDIX B--To
CHAPTER II
. APPENDIX C--To
CHAPTER III
. APPENDIX D--To
CHAPTER IV
. APPENDIX E--To
CHAPTER VII
. APPENDIX F--To
CHAPTER VII
. APPENDIX G--To
CHAPTER X
. APPENDIX H--To
CHAPTER XII
. APPENDIX I--To
CHAPTER XIII
. APPENDIX J--To
CHAPTER XIII
.
INDEX
[Illustration: The Colonies in 1774, when the First Continental

Congress assembled. The heavy line marks roughly the extension of
population westward. Based on a map by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New
York and London.]
[Illustration: The States in 1783, when peace was declared. Based on a
map by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London.]

CHAPTER I
.
THE WAR IN THE NORTHWEST, 1777-1778.
The Tribes Hold Councils at Detroit.
In the fall of 1776 it became evident that a formidable Indian war was
impending. At Detroit great councils were held by all the northwestern
tribes, to whom the Six Nations sent the white belt of peace, that they
might cease their feuds and join against the Americans. The later
councils were summoned by Henry Hamilton, the British
lieutenant-governor of the northwestern region, whose head-quarters
were at Detroit. He was an ambitious, energetic, unscrupulous man, of
bold character, who wielded great influence over the Indians; and the
conduct of the war in the west, as well as the entire management of
frontier affairs, was intrusted to him by the British Government.
[Footnote: Haldimand MSS. Sir Guy Carleton to Hamilton, September
26, 1777.] He had been ordered to enlist the Indians on the British side,
and have them ready to act against the Americans in the spring;
[Footnote: Do., Carleton to Hamilton, October 6, 1776.] and
accordingly he gathered the tribes together. He himself took part in the
war-talks, plying the Indians with presents and fire-water no less than
with speeches and promises. The headmen of the different tribes, as
they grew excited, passed one another black, red or bloody, and
tomahawk belts, as tokens of the vengeance to be taken on their white
foes. One Delaware chief still held out for neutrality, announcing that if
he had to side with either set of combatants it would be with the
"buckskins," or backwoodsmen, and not with the red-coats; but the
bulk of the warriors sympathized with the Half King of the Wyandots
when he said that the Long Knives had for years interfered with the
Indians' hunting, and that now at last it was the Indians' turn to threaten
revenge. [Footnote: "Am. Archives," 1st Series, Vol. II., p. 517. There

were several councils held at Detroit during this fall, and it is
difficult--and not very important--to separate the incidents that
occurred at each. Some took place before Hamilton arrived, which,
according to his "brief account," was November 9th. He asserts that he
did not send out war parties until the following June; but the testimony
seems conclusive that he was active in instigating hostility from the
time of his arrival.]
Lt-Gov. Henry Hamilton. Scalp Buying.
Hamilton was for the next two years the mainspring of Indian hostility
to the Americans in the northwest. From the beginning he had been
anxious to employ the savages against the settlers, and when