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K E N T U C K Y SPORTS.
IT may not be amiss, kind reader, before I attempt to give you some
idea of the pleasures experienced by the sportsmen of Kentucky, to introduce
the subject with a slight description of that State.
Kentucky was formerly attached to Virginia, but in those days the
Indians looked upon that portion of the western wilds as their own, and
abandoned the district only when forced to do so, moving with disconsolate
hearts farther into the recesses of the unexplored forests. Doubtless
the richness of its soil, and the beauty of its borders, situated as they are
along one of the most beautiful rivers in the world, contributed as much
to attract the Old Virginians, as the desire so generally experienced in
America, of spreading over the uncultivated tracts, and bringing into
cultivation lands that have for unknown ages teemed with the wild luxuriance
of untamed nature. The conquest of Kentucky was not performed
without many difficulties. The warfare that long existed between the intruders
and the Redskins was sanguinary and protracted ; but the former
at length made good their footing, and the latter drew off their shattered
bands, dismayed by the mental superiority and indomitable courage
of the white men.
This region was probably discovered by a daring hunter, the renowned
DANIEL BOON. The richness of its soil, its magnificent forests, its numberless
navigable streams, its salt springs and licks, its saltpetre caves, its coal
strata, and the vast herds of buffaloes and deer that browsed on its hills and
amidst its charming valleys, afforded ample inducements to the new settler,
who pushed forward with a spirit far above that of the most undaunted
tribes, which for ages had been the sole possessors of the soil.
The Virginians thronged towards the Ohio. An axe, a couple of
horses, and a heavy rifle, with store of ammunition, were all that were considered
necessary for the equipment of the man, who, with his family, removed
to the new State, assured that, in that land of exuberant fertility,
he could not fail to provide amply for all his wants. To have witnessed
the industry and perseverance of these emigrants, must at once have
proved the vigour of their minds. Regardless of the fatigue attending
every movement which they made, they pushed through an unexplored
region of dark and tangled forests, guiding themselves by the sun alone,
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and reposing at night on the bare ground. Numberless streams they
had to cross on rafts, with their wives and children, their cattle and their
luggage, often drifting to considerable distances before they could effect
a landing on the opposite shores. Their cattle would often stray amid
the rice pasturage of these shores, and occasion a delay of several days.
To these troubles add the constantly impending danger of being murdered,
while asleep in their encampments, by the prowling and ruthless
Indians; while they had before them a distance of hundreds of miles to
be traversed, before they could reach certain places of rendezvous called
Stations. To encounter difficulties like these must have required energies
of no ordinary kind; and the reward which these veteran settlers
enjoy was doubtless well merited.
Some removed from the Atlantic shores to those of the Ohio in more
comfort and security. They had their waggons, their Negroes, and their
families. Their way was cut through the woods by their own axemen,
the day before their advance, and when night overtook them, the hunters
attached to the party came to the place pitched upon for encamping,
loaded with the dainties of which the forest yielded an abundant supply,
the blazing light of a huge fire guiding their steps as they approached,
and the sounds of merriment that saluted their ears assuring them that all
was well. The flesh of the buffalo, the bear, and the deer, soon hung in
large and delicious steaks, in front of the embers; the cakes already prepared
were deposited in their proper places, and under the rich drippings
of the juicy roasts, were quickly baked. The waggons contained the
bedding, and whilst the horses which had drawn them were turned loose
to feed on the luxuriant undergrowth of the woods, some perhaps hoppled,
but the greater number, merely with a light bell hung to their
neck, to guide their owners in the morning to the spot where they might
have rambled,, the party were enjoying themselves after the fatigues of
the day.
In anticipation all is pleasure ; and these migrating bands feasted in
joyous sociality, unapprehensive of any greater difficulties than those to
be encountered in forcing their way through the pathless woods to the
land of abundance ; and although it took months to accomplish the journey,
and a skirmish now and then took place between them and the Indians,
who sometimes crept unperceived into their very camp, still did
the Virginians cheerfully proceed towards the western horizon, until the
various groups all reached the Ohio, when, struck with the beauty of that
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