driven from the valley, and compelled to proceed on foot sixty miles
through the great swamp, almost without food or clothing. A number
perished in the journey, principally women and children; some died of
their wounds; others wandered from the path in search of food, and were
lost, and those who survived called the wilderness through which they had
passed, "the shades of death!" a name which it has since retained.

[Illustration: THE BLOCK-HOUSE.]

HEROIC WOMEN OF THE WEST.

The following incidents are taken from a letter addressed by Captain
Nathaniel Hart, of Woodford county, Kentucky, to Governor Morehead:

DEAR SIR.--Connected with your address delivered at the celebration of the
first settlement of Kentucky, at Boonesborough, the circumstances
attending the escape and defence of Mrs. Woods, about the year 1784-5,
near the Crab Orchard, in Lincoln county, may not be without interest. I
have a distinct recollection of them. Mr. Woods, her husband, was absent
from home, and early in the morning, being a short distance from her
cabin, she discovered several Indians advancing towards it. She reached it
before all but one, who was so far ahead of the others, that before she
could close and fasten the door, he entered. Instantly he was seized by a
lame negro man of the family, and after a short scuffle, they both
fell--the negro underneath. But he held the Indian so fast, that he was
unable to use either his scalping knife or tomahawk, when he called upon
his young mistress to take the axe from under the bed, and dispatch him by
a blow upon the head. She immediately attempted it: but the first attempt
was a failure She repeated the blow and killed him. The other Indians were
at the door endeavoring to force it open with their tomahawks. The negro
rose, and proposed to Mrs. Woods to let in another, and they would soon
dispose of the whole of them in the same way. The cabin was but a short
distance from a station, the occupants of which, having discovered the
perilous situation of the family, fired on the Indians, and killed
another, when the remainder made their escape.

[Illustration: MRS. DUREE OVER THE DEAD BODY OF HER HUSBAND.]

This incident is not more extaordinary than one that happened, in the
fall or winter of 1781-2, to some families belonging to our own fort
at the White Oak Spring. My father settled this fort in 1779. It was
situated about a mile above Boonesborough and in the same bottom of the
r