Rowing into its mouth the men landed and, led by the
colonel, climbed up the bank to look for the foe.

They found far more than they had counted on. The canoe-load of savages
was but a decoy to lure them ashore, and as they ascended the river-bank
a hot fire was opened on them by a large body of Indians hidden in the
undergrowth. A trap had been laid for them and they had fallen into it.

The sudden and deadly volley threw the party into confusion, though
after a minute they returned the fire and rushed upon the ambushed foe,
Colonel Rogers at their head. Following him with cheers and yells, the
men were soon engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand conflict, the sound of
blows, shots, and war-cries filling the air, as the whites and red men
fought obstinately for victory. But the Indians far outnumbered their
opponents, and when at length the brave Rogers was seen to stagger and
fall all hope left his followers. It was impossible to regain the boats
which they had imprudently left, and they broke and fled into the
forest, pursued by their savage foes.

Many days later the survivors of the bloody contest, thirteen in all,
came straggling wearily into a white settlement on the Kanawha River in
Virginia. Of the remainder of their party and their gallant leader
nothing was ever heard again. One of the men reported that he had stayed
with the wounded colonel during the night after the battle, where he
"remained in the woods, in extreme pain and utterly past recovery." In
the morning he was obliged to leave him to save his own life, and that
was the last known on earth of Colonel Rogers.

As for the ammunition for which he had been sent, and which he had been
decoyed by an Indian trick into abandoning, it fell into the hands of
the savages, and was probably used in the later war in the service of
those against whom it was intended to be employed. Such is the fortune
of war.

_HOW COLONEL CLARK WON THE NORTHWEST._

On the evening of the 4th of July, 1778, a merry dance was taking place
at the small settlement of Kaskaskia, in that far western region
afterward known as Illinois. It must not be imagined that this was a
celebration of the American Independence day, for the people of
Kaskaskia knew little and cared less about American independence. It was
only by chance that this day was chosen for the dance, but it had its
significance for all that, for the first step was to be taken there that
day in adding the great Nor