They had not gone far when they heard
disquieting news. After leaving Martin's Station, at the gates of
his new domain, Henderson received a letter from Boone telling of
an attack by Indians, in which two of his men had been killed,
but "we stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till the day
and lost nothing."* These tidings, indicating that despite
treaties and sales, the savages were again on the warpath, might
well alarm Henderson's colonists. While they halted, some
indecisive, others frankly for retreat, there appeared a company
of men making all haste out of Kentucky because of Indian unrest.
Six of these Henderson persuaded to turn again and go in with
him; but this addition hardly offset the loss of those members of
his party who thought it too perilous to proceed. Henderson's own
courage did not falter. He had staked his all on this stupendous
venture and for him it was forward to wealth and glory or retreat
into poverty and eclipse. Boone, in the heart of the danger, was
making the same stand. "If we give way to them [the Indians]
now," he wrote, "it will ever be the case."
* Bogart, "Daniel Boone and the Hunters of Kentucky." p. 121.
Signs of discord other than Indian opposition met Henderson as he
resolutely pushed on. His conversations with some of the
fugitives from Kentucky disclosed the first indications of the
storm that was to blow away the empire he was going in to found.
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