omply with the legal formalities necessary to secure his
title.

In addition to the ten thousand arpents of land thus lost, he had been
entitled as a citizen to one thousand arpents of land according to the
usage in other cases; but he appears not to have complied with the
condition of actual residence on this land, and it was lost in
consequence.

In 1812, Colonel Boone sent a petition to Congress, praying for a
confirmation of his original claims. In order to give greater weight
to his application, he presented a memorial to the General Assembly of
Kentucky, on the thirteenth of January, 1812, soliciting the aid of that
body in obtaining from Congress the confirmation of his claims.

The Legislature, by a unanimous vote, passed the following preamble and
resolutions.

"The Legislature of Kentucky, taking into view the many eminent services
rendered by Col. Boone, in exploring and settling the western country,
from which great advantages have resulted, not only to this State, but
to his country in general; and that from circumstances over which he had
no control, he is now reduced to poverty, not having, so far as appears,
an acre of land out of the vast territory he has been a great instrument
in peopling; believing, also, that it is as unjust as it is impolitic,
that useful enterprise and eminent services should go unrewarded by a
government where merit confers the only distinction; and having
sufficient reason to believe that a grant of ten thousand acres of land,
which he claims in Upper Louisiana, would have been confirmed by the
Spanish government, had not said territory passed, by cession, into the
hands of the general government: wherefore.

"Resolved, by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky,--That our Senators in Congress be requested to make use of
their exertions to procure a grant of land in said territory to said
Boone, either the ten thousand acres to which he appears to have an
equitable claim, from the grounds set forth to this Legislature, by way
of confirmation, or to such quantity in such place as shall be deemed
most advisable, by way of donation."

Notwithstanding this action of the Legislature of Kentucky, Colonel
Boone's appeal, like many other just and reasonable claims presented to
Congress, was neglected for some time. During this period of anxious
suspense, Mrs. Boone, the faithful and affectionate wife of the
venerable pioneer, who had shared his toils and anxieties, a