rtunity, induced him to desert his countrymen and league
himself with the Indians. That Girty was an applicant or candidate
for some office, and was defeated in his efforts to obtain it by an
individual who was generally considered less deserving of it than he,
my informant has distinct recollections; and also remembers that his
defeat was occasioned principally through the exertions, in behalf of his
opponent, of Colonel William Crawford. This affords a key to the cause
of Girty's fiend-like conduct toward the Colonel when, some ten years
afterward, the latter was bound to the stake at one of the Wyandot
towns, and in the extremity of his agony besought the renegade to put
an end to his misery by shooting him through the heart: it offers no
apology, however, for Girty's brutality on that occasion.

The career of the renegade, commenced by treason and pursued through
blood to the knee, affords a good lesson, which might well receive some
remark; but this narrative has already extended to an unexpected length,
and must here close. It is a dark record; but the histories of all new
countries contain somewhat similar passages, and their preservation in
this form may not be altogether without usefulness.[49]

[Footnote 46: Gallagher: "Hesperian," vol. i., p. 343.]

[Footnote 47: Gallagher.]

[Footnote 48: Gallagher.]

[Footnote 49: Gallagher.]

CHAPTER XVIII.

Season of repose--Colonel Boone buys land--Builds a log-house and
goes to farming--Kentucky organized on a new basis--The three
Counties united in one district, and Courts established--Colonel
Boone surprised by Indians--Escapes by a bold stratagem--Increase
of emigration--Transportation of goods commences--Primitive manners
and customs of the settlers--Hunting--The autumn hunt--The hunting
camp-Qualifications of a good hunter--Animals hunted--The process
of building and furnishing a cabin--The house-warming.

After the series of Indian hostilities recorded in the chapters
immediately preceding this, Kentucky enjoyed a season of comparative
repose. The cessation of hostilities between the United States and
Great Britain in 1783, and the probable speedy cession of the British
posts on the Northwestern frontier, discouraged the Indians, stopped
their customary incursions on the Kentuckians, and gave them leisure
to acquire and cultivate new tracts of land.

Colonel Boone, notwithstanding the heavy loss of money (w