262 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



tempting circumstances, the settlement is thickest and 

 most numerous. As is the case commonly, the first 

 houses of these colonists are merely of logs laid one 

 over another, which however keep off the bullets of 

 the Indians, against whom, so far, the settlers must be 

 continually on their guard. 



Among the first to settle there, a certain Hender- 

 son + won for himself a particular regard, but he 

 brought them to the observance of a few general laws, 

 and made the beginnings of a separate republican or- 

 ganization ; and in the course of time it will be a ques- 

 tion whether or not they will recognize the authority of 

 the state of Virginia in whose jurisdiction they lie.* 

 The rapid growth of the population in these farther re- 

 gions is already causing vigilance and anxiety in the old 

 provinces. Thus Pensylvania has made a law by which 

 it is declared high treason for any one soever, in the 

 western territory of the province, to go about estab- 

 lishing independent communities. But it is, and will 

 continue to be difficult for the Congress or the individ- 

 ual states to keep dependent these beginning western 

 states, which having no great advantage to expect 

 from the United States will never be inclined to give 



* An English journal of this year, 1785, gives the following 

 news : Extract of a letter from Danville in Kentucky, May 31, 

 1785 "Our second Assembly has just opened. It is decided 

 " to ask of the state of Virginia a formal Act of Separation. 

 " Sundry laws of the Virginia Assembly, which are very bur- 

 " densome to this region, compel us to adopt this measure 

 " earlier than would have otherwise happened, although in the 

 " end it may be the better for us. This new state is to be 

 "called the Commonwealth of Kentucky; and at the present 

 " time contains by estimation 30,000 souls ; but before the 

 " separation takes place the number will be vastly increased." 



