ettlements on Holston
river and Kentucky river. No little knowledge of the country, and
judgment were requisite for the proper fulfilment of this service. A
great many different routes must be examined, before the most
practicable one could be fixed upon. The duty was, however, executed by
Boone, promptly and faithfully. The labor was great, owing to the rugged
and mountainous country, through which the route led. The laborers, too,
suffered from the repeated attacks of Indians. Four of them were killed,
and five wounded. The remainder completed this work, by reaching
Kentucky river, in April, of the same year. They immediately proceeded
to erect a fort near a salt spring, where Boonesborough now stands. The
party, enfeebled by its losses, did not complete the erection of the
fort until June. The Indians troubled them exceedingly, and killed one
man. The fort consisted of a block-house, and several cabins, surrounded
by palisades.

The fort being finished, Boone returned to his family, and soon after
removed them to this first garrison of Kentucky. The purpose on which
his heart had so long been set, was now accomplished. His wife and
daughters were the first white women that ever stood on the banks of
Kentucky river. In our zeal to blazon our subject, it is not affirmed,
that Boone was absolutely the first discoverer and explorer of Kentucky,
for he was not. But the high meed of being the first actual settler and
cultivator of the soil, cannot be denied him. It was the pleasant season
of the close of summer and commencement of autumn, when the immigrants
would see their new residence in the best light. Many of its actual
inconveniences were withheld from observation, as the mildness of the
air precluded the necessity of tight dwellings. Arrangements were made
for cultivating a field in the coming spring. The Indians, although far
from friendly, did not attempt any immediate assault upon their new
neighbors, and the first events of the settlement were decidedly
fortunate. The game in the woods was an unfailing resource for food. The
supplies brought from their former homes by the immigrants were not yet
exhausted, and things went on in their usual train, with the added
advantage, that over all, in their new home, was spread the charm of
novelty.

Winter came and passed with as little discomfort to the inmates of the
garrison as could be expected from the circumstances of their position.
The cabins were thoroughly daub