The most beautiful sight she had
seen in Kentucky, she said, was a young man dying a natural death
in his bed. Dead but unmarred by hatchet or scalping knife, he
was so rare and comely a picture that the women of the post sat
up all night looking at him.
But, we ask, what golden emoluments were showered by a grateful
country on the men who thus held the land through those years of
want and war, and saved an empire for the Union? What practical
recognition was there of these brave and unselfish men who daily
risked their lives and faced the stealth and cruelty lurking in
the wilderness ways? There is meager eloquence in the records.
Here, for instance, is a letter from George Rogers Clark to the
Governor of Virginia, dated May 27, 1783:
"Sir. Nothing but necessity could induce me to make the following
request to Your Excellency, which is to grant me a small sum of
money on account; as I can assure you, Sir, that I am exceedingly
distressed for the want of necessary clothing etc and don't know
any channel through which I could procure any except of the
Executive. The State I believe will fall considerably in my debt.
Any supplies which Your Excellency favors me with might be
deducted out of my accounts."*
* "Calendar of Virginia State Papers," vol.
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