Spread of English-Speaking Peoples 233 



this time he had lived at peace with the borderers, 

 for though some of his kin had been massacred by 

 them years before, he had forgiven the deed per- 

 haps not unmindful of the fact that others of his 

 kin had been concerned in still more bloody mas- 

 sacres of the whites. A skilled marksman and 

 mighty hunter, of commanding dignity, who treat- 

 ed all men with a grave courtesy that exacted the 

 same treatment in return, he was greatly liked and 

 respected by all the white hunters and frontiersmen 

 whose friendship and respect were worth having; 

 they admired him for his dexterity and prowess, 

 and they loved him for his straightforward honesty, 

 and his noble loyalty to his friends. One of these 

 old pioneer hunters has left on record 21 the state- 

 ment that he deemed "Logan the best specimen of 

 humanity he ever met with, either white or red." 

 Such was Logan before the evil days came upon 

 him. 



Early in the spring the outlying settlers began 

 again to suffer from the deeds of straggling In- 

 dians. Horses were stolen, one or two murders were 

 committed, the inhabitants of the' more lonely cabins 

 fled to the forts, and the backwoodsmen began to 

 threaten fierce vengeance. On April i6th, three 

 traders in the employ of a man named Butler were 

 attacked by some of the outlaw Cherokees, one 

 killed, another wounded, and their goods plundered. 

 Immediately after this Conolly issued an open let- 

 ter, commanding the backwoodsmen to hold them- 



21 See "American Pioneer," I, p. 189. 



