Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/241

 CLARK

CLARK

twenty-five miles below Wheeling. In 1774 the Indian troubles began which resulted in Dunniore's war. Clark was either on Dun- more's staff or in command of a company, and rendered such efficient services that he was offered a position in the British arpiy, which he declined. In the spring of 1775 he was engaged as a deputy surveyor under Capt. Hancock Lee to lay out lands on the Kentucky river for the Ohio company. He was charmed with the beauty and fertility of the country and remained there until the fall of 1775, making his headquarters at Leestown and Harrodstown. In the spring of

1776, after a visit home, he returned to Kentucky, where he became a leader of the settlers. He was chosen a member of the Virginia legislature and after a joui'ney to Williamsburg found that body adjourned. It was necessary, however, for the settlers in Kentucky to be supplied "with gun- powder, and Clark obtained an audience with Gov. Patrick Henry and from him a letter to the executive council. No law had been made which would authorize the council to comply with Clark's request and they refused to do so unless Clark would be responsible for the value of the powder if the legislature failed to legalize the transaction. Clark wrote to the council, declin- ing to assume any risk on the ground that if Virginia claimed Kentucky she should protect it from the savages, " for a country which was not wortli protecting was not worth saving."' The ammunition was granted and Kentucky was recognized as a part of Virginia. On the re- assembling of the state legislature Clark was present and succeeded in gaining foi-mal recogni- tion of the Kentucky country and its organiza- tion as a county with the same name and boundaries it now has as a state. In January,

1777, the five hundred pounds of gunpowder was delivered in Kentuckj', having been conveyed there with great danger and some loss of life. Clark stopped at Leestown and McClelland's and set about to organize aggressive warfare against the Indians, who had been making serious depre- dations among the settlers. He was given the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and was instructed by Governor Henry to enlist seven companies of soldiers, of fifty men each. With this force he was to attack the British post at Kaskaskia. Early in May, 1778, he departed from Red Stone with only one-third of the troops expected. He stopped at the mouth of the Kentucky river with the intention of establishing a post there, but finally moved forward to the falls of the Ohio and selected Corn Island for his camping ground. His men numbered about one hundred and seventy, and on June 24, 1778, they started for Kaskaskia, arriving there on the evening of July 4. Before daylight they had disarmed the town.

Clark immediately hastened to send a part of his force to take possession of the French villages up the Mississippi, especially Cahokia, a few miles below what is now St. Louis. Capt. Joseph Bowman was detailed for this service, and suc- ceeded in accomplishing his mission, capturing Prairie du Rocher, Cahokia, and other villages. Meanwhile Clark secured the allegiance of the inhabitants of Vincennes, the most important post on the river. He then visited Cahokia, held councils with representatives from several tribes, and secured treaties of peace with them. On Feb. 5, 1779, the little army left Kaskaskia for Vincennes, a distance of two hundred and forty miles. For ten days they were forced to march through the waters then overflowing the Wabash river and all its tributaries, and they completely surprised the posts. Fort Sackville and Vin- cennes were both captured after considerable fighting and some loss of blood. Clark received a commission from Governor Henry, dated Dec. 14, 1778, promoting him colonel. He seriously contemplated attacking Detroit, but decided it to be impracticable, owing to his scanty force. On June 12, 1779, Virginia presented Colonel Clark with a costly swoi'd in recognition of his services. He returned to the falls of the Ohio later in 1779 and found that the garrison left on Corn Island had removed to the mainland and had constructed a fort in what is now Louisville, Ky. He drew and submitted a plan for the pro- posed town and had it been adopted it would have made Louisville one of the most beautiful cities on the continent. Early in 1780 he proceeded to the mouth of the Ohio river and built Fort Jeffer- son a few miles below, but owing to sickness and Indian attacks, the fort was abandoned in 1781. In that year he was commissioned brigadier-gen- eral and at once began to i-ecruit troops for an attack on Detroit. This expedition, through the failure of Colonel Lochry to reach Wheeling until after Clark's departure, was unsuccessful, and the defeat is said to have embittered Clark's after life. Affairs in Kentucky continued to grow alarming from frequent and disastrous conflicts with the savages, and on Clark's return to the west he set about organizing the militia. Fort Nelson, on the site of Louisville, was con- structed, and early in November, 1782, at the head of one thou.sand men, he marched against the Indians on the Miami river and completely subdued them. In January, 1784, the treaty of peace with Great Britain was ratified by congress and the attention of the country was turned toward the vast territory of land actjuired through the efforts of General Clark. But Vir- ■ ginia, exhausted by the war, failed sufficiently to provide for his troops, and on June 2, 1783, he was relieved of his command. His financial