94 The Winning of the West 



not increase very fast for some years after the close 

 of the Revolutionary War; and the settlers were, 

 as a rule, harsh, sturdy backwoodsmen, who lived 

 lives of toil and poverty. Nevertheless, there was 

 a good deal of speculation in Cumberland lands; 

 great tracts of tens of thousands of acres were pur 

 chased by men of means in the old districts of 

 North Carolina, who sometimes came out to live 

 on their estates. The looseness of the system of 

 surveying in vogue is shown by the fact that where 

 possible these lands were entered and paid for under 

 a law which allowed a warrant to be shifted to 

 new soil if it was discovered that the first entry 

 was made on what was already claimed by some 

 one else. 6 



Hamlets and homesteads were springing up on 

 the left bank of the upper Ohio, in what is now 

 West Virginia; and along the streams flowing into 

 it from the East. A few reckless adventurers were 

 building cabins on the right bank of this great 

 river. Others, almost as adventurous, were pushing 

 into the neighborhood of the French villages on the 

 Wabash and in the Illinois. At Louisville men were 

 already planning to colonize the country just oppo 

 site on the Ohio, under the law of the State of Vir 

 ginia, which rewarded the victorious soldiers of 

 Clark's famous campaign with grants in the region 

 they had conquered. 



The great growth of the West took place in 

 Kentucky. The Kentucky country was by far the 



Clay MSS., Jesse Benton to Thos. Hart, April 3, 1786. 



