, yet in time the mysterious will of Heaven is unfolded, and
we behold our conduct, from whatsoever motives excited, operating to
answer the important designs of Heaven. Thus we behold Kentucky, lately
a howling wilderness, the habitation of savages and wild beasts, become
a fruitful field; this region, so favorably distinguished by nature,
now become the habitation of civilization, at a period unparalleled in
history, in the midst of a raging war, and under all the disadvantages
of emigration to a country so remote from the inhabited parts of the
continent. Here, where the hand of violence shed the blood of the
innocent; where the horrid yells of savages and the groans of the
distressed sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and adorations
of our Creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the miserable abodes
of savages, we behold the foundations of cities laid, that, in all
probability, will equal the glory of the greatest upon earth. And we
view Kentucky, situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising
from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of the stars
of the American hemisphere.

The settling of this region well deserves a place in history. Most
of the memorable events I have myself been exercised in; and, for the
satisfaction of the public, will briefly relate the circumstance of my
adventures, and scenes of life from my first movement to this country
until this day.

It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my
domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable
habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the
wilderness of America, in quest of the country of Kentucky, in company
with John Finley, John Stewart, Joseph Holden, James Monay, and William
Cool. We proceeded successfully, and after a long and fatiguing journey
through a mountainous wilderness, in a westward direction. On the 7th
of June following we found ourselves on Red River, where John Finley
had formerly been trading with the Indians, and, from the top of an
eminence, saw with pleasure the beautiful level of Kentucky. Here let
me observe that for some time we had experienced the most uncomfortable
weather, as a pre-libation of our future sufferings. At this place we
encamped, and made a shelter to defend us from the inclement season,
and began to hunt and reconnoitre the country. We found everywhere
abundance of wild beasts of all sorts, through this vast forest.