CHAPTER II 



BOONE AND THE SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY, 1775 



LORD DUNMORE'S war, waged by Americans 

 for the good of America, was the opening act 

 in the drama whereof the closing scene was played 

 at Yorktown. It made possible the twofold charac- 

 ter of the Revolutionary War, wherein on the one 

 hand the Americans won by conquest and coloniza- 

 tion new lands for their children, and on the other 

 wrought out their national independence of the 

 British king. Save for Lord Dunmore's war we 

 could not have settled beyond the mountains until 

 after we had ended our quarrel with our kinsfolk 

 across the sea. It so cowed the Northern Indians 

 that for two or three years they made no further 

 organized effort to check the white advance. In con- 

 sequence, the Kentucky pioneers had only to con- 

 tend with small parties of enemies until time had 

 been given them to become so firmly rooted in the 

 land that it proved impossible to oust them. Had 

 Cornstalk and his fellow-chiefs kept their hosts un- 

 broken, they would undoubtedly have swept Ken- 

 tucky clear of settlers in 1775, as was done by the 

 mere rumor of their hostility the preceding sum 

 mer. Their defeat gave the opportunity for Boone 



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