386 The Winning of the West 



immigrants who went down it. After passing the 

 Muskingum no boat was safe. If the war parties, 

 lurking along the banks, came on a boat moored to 

 the shore, or swept thither by wind or current, the 

 crew was at their mercy ; and grown bold by success, 

 they sometimes launched small flotillas of canoes 

 and attacked the scows on the water. In such at 

 tacks they were often' successful, for they always 

 made the assault with the odds in their favor; 

 though they were sometimes beaten back with heavy 

 loss. 



When the war was at its height, the boats going 

 down the Ohio preferred to move in brigades. An 

 army officer has left a description 12 of one such flo 

 tilla, over which he had assumed command. It 

 contained sixteen flat-boats, then usually called 

 "Kentuck boats," and two keels. The flat-boats were 

 lashed three together and kept in one line. The 

 women, children, and cattle were put in the middle 

 scows, while the outside were manned and worked 

 by the men. The keel boats kept on either flank. 

 This particular flotilla was unmolested by the In 

 dians, but was almost wrecked in a furious storm 

 of wind and rain. 



The Federal authorities were still hopelessly en 

 deavoring to come to some understanding with the 

 Indians; they were holding treaties with some of 

 the tribes, sending addresses and making speeches 

 to others, and keeping envoys in the neighborhood 

 of Detroit. These envoys watched the Indians who 



1S Denny's Military Journal, April 19, 1790. 



