CHAPTER n

rrHE CRT FOB BEYENOB

We had in Danville the next day one of those public
meetings which we call a convention. Kentucky was
to become a State in the following year^ and her leaders
would take measures for that important event. More-
over^ they were to send men to St. Clair^ f or^ as I have
said^ it was a heroic vanguard which bled and suffered
much and never gave back; but that terrible cloud of
Indian war in the North had long hung upon it^ and the
air was growing too heavy to breathe* They must have
relief^ and it was St. Glair who should bring it. There-
fore they, the men of the border, in their absolute free-
dom, hating military leaders and military discipline,
would give to St Clair all the help that they could, hop-
ing to find relief through him. So they came, and,
whether it was for peac^ or war, every one brought a
rifle. The time was not yet, when a man in the West
could afford to ride without a weapon in his hand.
It was a serious and solemn race that gathered
there, bearing already upon its face the stamp of its
trials, and the prevailing note that day in the voice
of all these men was the cry for revenge* When you
study their case you will not blame them. I do not
find in history a record of any people who endured more
cruel sufferings than they. It is an honour to be the
vanguard of a mighty movement, but you pay a price.
