Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 4).djvu/154

 exterminating war against all the whites who had the temerity to brave {127} their decided and fixed determination to adhere to their mutual guarantee of their hunting grounds.

Much blood was shed on both sides, and many parties of the whites were cut off, but their perseverance at last prevailed, and Kentucky became one of the United States of America.

The negro who carried our baggage from the boat to the tavern, regretted much that we had not arrived a little earlier in the day, to get some of the people's money who had been assembled at a gathering. On our inquiring "how"—he replied by asking if we were not play-actors, and if we had not got our puppetshew things in some of the trunks and boxes we had with us. He had probably conceived this idea from our having in the skiff a large box of medicines, which we had taken in at Marietta for a doctor Merrit at French Grant, and besides we had more baggage than it was usual for him to see carried by travellers, who had occasion to stop at Point Pleasant.

Our landlord's name was John Allen, a young man, who had lived here since his infancy twenty years.—On a late journey to Richmond he had married a young woman there, who sat at supper with us, but who seemed to wish to appear rather above the doing the honours of a tavern table. He had lately been chosen one of the members of the legislature for Mason county, and seemed fond of discussing politicks, but apparently more for the sake of information, than for insisting dogmatically, according to the prevailing mode, on any opinion of his own. In short, he seemed to regret the blind illiberality of the improperly self-termed federalists, and of their equally prejudiced democratick antagonists, and seemed desirous of meriting the character of a disinterested patriot, and a federal republican in its real and literal sense, without perhaps understanding either term.