In the Current of the Revolution 33 



down the steep, bowlder-covered cliff-broken slope. 

 Good luck, aided by the wonderful skill of the rider 

 and the marvelous strength and surefootedness of 

 his steed, rewarded, as it deserved, one of the most 

 daring feats of horsemanship of which we have any 

 authentic record. There was a crash, the shock 

 of a heavy body, half springing, half falling, a 

 scramble among loose rocks, and the snapping of 

 saplings and bushes; and in another moment the 

 awe-struck Indians above saw their unharmed foe, 

 galloping his gallant white horse in safety across 

 the plain. To this day the place is known by the 

 name of McColloch's leap. 17 



In Virginia and Pennsylvania the Indian outrages 

 meant only the harassing of the borderers; in Ken- 

 tucky they threatened the complete destruction of 

 the vanguard of the white advance and, therefore, 

 the stoppage of all settlement west of the Allegha- 

 nies until after the Revolutionary War, when very 

 possibly the soil might not have been ours to settle. 

 Fortunately Hamilton did not yet realize the im- 

 portance of the Kentucky settlements, nor the neces- 

 sity of crushing them, and during 1777 the war 

 bands organized at Detroit were sent against the 

 country round Pittsburg; while the feeble forts in 

 the far Western wilderness were only troubled by 

 smaller war parties raised among the tribes on 

 their own account. A strong expedition, led by 

 Hamilton in person, would doubtless at this time 

 have crushed them. 



17 In the West this feat is as well known as is Putnam's 

 similar deed in the North. 



