In the Current of the Revolution 135 



back to Detroit, leaving them at the British store in 

 one of the upper Miami towns, in charge of a bom- 

 bardier. The bombardier did not prove a very 

 valorous personage, and on the alarm of Clark's ad- 

 vance, soon afterward, he permitted the Indians to 

 steal his horses, and was forced to bury his ordnance 

 in the woods. 35 



Before this inroad took place Clark had been plan- 

 ning a foray into the Indian country, and the news 

 only made him hasten his preparations. In May 

 this adventurous leader had performed one of the 

 feats which made him the darling of the backwoods- 

 men. Painted and dressed like an Indian so as to 

 deceive the lurking bands of savages, he and two 

 companions left the fort he had built on the bank of 

 the Mississippi, and came through the wilderness 

 to Harrodsburg. They lived on the buffaloes they 

 shot, and when they came to the Tennessee River, 

 which was then in flood, they crossed the swift tor- 

 rent on a raft of logs bound together with grape- 

 vines. At Harrodsburg they found the land court 

 open, and thronged with an eager, jostling crowd 

 of settlers and speculators, who were waiting to en- 

 ter lands in the surveyor's office. Even the dread 

 of the Indians could not overcome in these men's 

 hearts the keen and selfish greed for gain. Clark 

 instantly grasped the situation. Seeing that while 



35 Haldimand MSS. Letter of Bombardier Wm. Homan, 

 Aug. 1 8, 1780. He speaks of "the gun" and "the smaller 

 ordnance," presumably swivels. It is impossible to give 

 Bird's numbers correctly, for various bands of Indians kept 

 joining and leaving him. 



