Part 6

[5] Hugh H. Brackenridge was at this time the most prominent lawyer in Pittsburg, whither he had come in 1781, after graduating at Princeton and serving as chaplain in the regular army. Brackenridge was a Scotch-Irishman, and a Democrat in politics; therefore he sympathized with the uprising known as the Whiskey Rebellion, and wrote a work in its defense, although his influence had been exercised to moderate its excesses. Gallatin defeated him for Congress in 1794; but later he took his place upon the bench of the state supreme court, and served with great ability until his death in 1816.--ED.

[6] _Physostegia Virginiana_, Benth.--C. S. S.

[7] _Hedeoma pulegiodes_, Pers.--C. S. S.

[8] Col. Francis Vigo was a Sardinian, who came to Louisiana in the Spanish army. Settling at St. Louis as a trader, he embraced the cause of American independence, rendering substantial aid in many ways to George Rogers Clark, in the latter’s Illinois campaigns. Vigo took the oath of allegiance to the United States, and later settled at Vincennes, where he died in poverty in 1836. His just claims upon the government were not settled until thirty years after his death.--ED.

[9] A Spanish document of this period complains of Audrain as having misappropriated funds for his contracts, also charges him with being a radical republican, receiving all the patriots at his house, where dinners were given and toasts drunk to the downfall of monarchy. See American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, p. 1049.

The commandant at St. Louis was Captain Don Zenon Trudeau, who held the office from 1792-99.--ED.

[10] This Frenchman was known in Pittsburg as J. B. C. Lucas, and was appointed associate judge of Allegheny County in 1800. His Democratic principles were so strong that he brought about the impeachment of his colleague, Judge Addison, a well-known Federalist.--ED.

[11] The writer here uses the term “Fort Pitt” as the name of the town; the brick fortification which was being demolished was the one known by that name, built by Stanwix in 1759-61. It stood between the rivers, below Third, West, and part of Liberty streets. A redoubt, built in 1764 as a part of these works, is still standing, and has been restored by the Pittsburg chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, whom it serves as a museum. See _Frontier Forts of Western Pennsylvania_ (Harrisburg, 1896), ii, pp. 99-159.--ED.

[12] Fort Fayette, a stockade erected in 1792 for protection against the Indians. It stood about a quarter of a mile above Fort Pitt, on the present Penn Street, at the crossing of Garrison Avenue.--ED.

[13] _E. atropurpureus_, Jacq.--C. S. S.

[14] This is probably his _Sicyos lobata_ (_Echinocystis lobata_ of Torr. and Gray) which, according to the _Flora_, was detected by Michaux “in _occidentalibus Pensylvaniae, juxta fluvium Ohio_.” The “_corolla 5 partita_” is retained by Richard in his description.--C. S. S.

[15] Wheeling was founded upon land taken up by Col. Ebenezer Zane in 1770. During Lord Dunmore’s War a stockade was built at this place, called Fort Fincastle; later, the name was changed in honor of Patrick Henry, first governor of the state of Virginia. Fort Henry was thrice besieged during the Revolution--in 1777, 1781, and 1782. Many romantic incidents are told of these events; most notable, that of the sortie for additional powder, successfully executed by Elizabeth Zane. Colonel Zane laid out the place in town-lots in 1793; two years later, the Virginia legislature incorporated it. In 1797 Wheeling became the seat of Ohio County; and early in the nineteenth century appeared likely to surpass Pittsburg in prosperity, and as an important emporium for Western trade.--ED.

[16] The site for Fort Harmar was chosen by Gen. Richard Butler (1785), on his journey to Cincinnati to make peace with the Miami Indians. A detachment under Major Doughty began building the fort--named in honor of Gen. Josiah Harmar--in the autumn of this year; its completion in 1786 afforded protection to the frontier inhabitants of Virginia. Two years later (1788), the Ohio Company of Associates--New England veterans of the Revolution--came out under the leadership of Gen. Rufus Putnam, and began the settlement of Marietta, “the Plymouth Rock of the West.”--ED.

[17] For the Little Kanawha, see Croghan’s _Journals_, vol. i of this series, note 98.--ED.

[18] For the Great Kanawha and its historical associations, see Croghan’s _Journals_, vol. i of this series, note 101; also Thwaites, _On the Storied Ohio_.--ED.

[19] For the history of this French settlement on the Ohio, see _Journal_ of F. A. Michaux, _post_.--ED.

[20] Jean G. Petit was the most prominent man of this settlement, acting both as physician and judge.--ED.

[21] For a description of the Scioto, and its early historical importance, see Croghan’s _Journals_, vol. i of this series, note 102; also Thwaites, _On the Storied Ohio_.--ED.

[22] The Three Islands were noted landmarks in the early history of Kentucky. Kennedy and his company encamped there in 1773, but the settlement was in a dangerous location, as this was near an Indian crossing place. In 1791, twenty men were told off to garrison the settlement. The upper island was near Brush Creek, in Ohio. Only one island remains at this place.--ED.

[23] Limestone (now Maysville) was long the chief river post for Kentucky, but was not early settled owing to its exposure to Indian attacks. Bullitt and the McAfees were there in 1773; Simon Kenton settled farther up on Limestone Creek in 1776. The same year, George Rogers Clark landed at this place the powder provided by Virginia for the protection of the Kentucky settlements. The first blockhouse was built on the site of Limestone in 1783; four years later, the town was incorporated by the Virginia legislature.--ED.

[24] Alexander D. Orr was representative in Congress for Kentucky, from its admission and through the fourth Congress (1792-97). A Virginian by birth (1765), he removed to Mason County at an early period, and had much influence in his neighborhood, where he lived as a planter until his death, June 21, 1835. Michaux’s visit to Colonel Orr is probably significant of the fact that Orr was interested in the former’s mission.--ED.

[25] Gen. Henry Lee was one of the earliest settlers in Mason County. Coming to Kentucky as a surveyor in 1779, six years later he established Lee’s Station, near Washington--one of the earliest in northeastern Kentucky. Lee was Kentucky delegate in the Virginia house of burgesses (1788), a member of the convention that adopted the federal constitution, and later member of the Danville conventions for organizing the State of Kentucky; his political influence, therefore, was important. Unlike many of the pioneers, he prospered in business and amassed a considerable fortune, dying on his estate in 1845.--ED.

[26] For the history of Big Bone Lick, see Croghan’s _Journals_, vol. i of this series, note 104.--ED.

[27] This was either May’s Lick, in Mason County, or the Lower Blue Licks, in Nicholas County. It is evident that the buffalo had nearly disappeared from this region, where less than thirty years before Croghan had found them in such vast numbers. Butricke (_Historical Magazine_, viii, p. 259) says that in 1768 they were scarce above the Scioto River. The last buffalo was killed in the Great Kanawha Valley, about twelve miles below Charleston, West Virginia, in 1815.--ED.

[28] There is some doubt thrown upon the commonly-accepted statement that the first cabin at Lexington was built in 1775, and the place named in honor of the opening battle of the Revolution, news of which had just been received. The permanent settlement was not made until 1779; the following year the town was made county seat of the newly-erected Fayette County, and itself incorporated in 1782.--ED.

[29] Paris was laid out in 1786, the first court of Bourbon County being held there in 1787. Two years later, it was incorporated by the Virginia legislature as Hopewell; the present designation was adopted in 1790.--ED.

[30] Danville was laid off as a town by Walker Daniel in 1781, and rapidly rose to importance, being the centre of political activity and the seat of the conventions in which statehood for Kentucky was agitated (1785-92). After the admission of Kentucky as a state, Frankfort was chosen capital, and the importance of Danville declined.--ED.

[31] Joshua Barbee was born in Virginia, and after serving in the Revolution removed to the vicinity of Danville, early in the Kentucky settlement. He was militia officer in 1791, a member of the political club of Danville, and of the state legislature. A man of wealth and prominence, his family became intimately associated with Kentucky history. He died in 1839.

Pierre Tardiveau was a French merchant who had an extensive business in the West, and connections in Bordeaux. With his partner, Honoré, he carried on trade with New Orleans, and made frequent trips thither. Tardiveau embarked in Genet’s enterprise, and was appointed interpreter in chief by Michaux, who appears to have used him to communicate with agents in New Orleans. See Claiborne, _Mississippi_ (Jackson, 1880), pp. 152, 153; also American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 952, 1026, 1096. Tardiveau removed to Louisiana when it came under American dominion.--ED.

[32] John Brown, one of Kentucky’s most prominent public men, was born at Staunton, Virginia, in 1757, and while a student at Princeton joined the Revolutionary army as aid to Lafayette. At the close of the war he removed to Kentucky, was its first representative to the old Congress (1787-89); then to Congress under the Constitution (1789-92), where he was employed in securing the admission of Kentucky as a state. Upon that event (1792), Brown was sent to the United States Senate, of which he remained a prominent member until 1805. He was a personal friend of Washington, Jefferson (with whom he studied law), and Madison, and when he died in 1837 was the last survivor of the Congress of the Confederation. Brown was cognizant of Michaux’s plans, and evidently sympathized with them, having been interested in previous separatist movements for Kentucky. See Butler, _Kentucky_, and John Mason Brown, “Political Beginnings of Kentucky,” Filson Club _Publications_ No. 6. Brown gave letters of introduction to Michaux. See American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 982, 983, 1010.--ED.

[33] Brown refers here to the embassy of Carmichael, and the negotiations entered into by him and Pinckney, the minister at Madrid, that ultimately led to the treaty of 1794.

The Creek Indians lay south of the United States territory in West Florida, and were believed by the Westerners to be incited to attacks upon Americans by the Spanish authorities of this province and of Louisiana.--ED.

[34] Michaux went to what was known as St. Asaph’s, or Logan’s Station, in Lincoln County, to see the well-known pioneer and Indian fighter, Gen. Benjamin Logan. Next to Clark, Logan was, doubtless, the best known person in Kentucky, and had been chosen by Genet as second in command of the expedition. That he afterwards decided to enter upon this affair, seems evident from his letter to Clark of December 31, 1793, in American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, p. 1026. Logan was a Scotch-Irishman, born in Virginia in 1743. When but fourteen his father died, and he was left as eldest son of the family. Having removed to Holston, he was out with Bouquet in 1764, and ten years later in Lord Dunmore’s War. Locating his station in Kentucky in 1775, he brought out his family the following year, and sustained many Indian attacks as well as led several aggressive campaigns against the savages. As county lieutenant he was a safeguard for the new settlements, and was revered and respected by all his neighbors. Having served in the legislature and the convention that drew up the Kentucky constitution, he died at his home in Lincoln County in 1802.--ED.

[35] There was no better-known character in the West, than Governor Shelby. Born in Maryland in 1750, the family were of pioneer stock, and early moved to Western Virginia, where young Shelby was sheriff (1771), and lieutenant under his father, Evan Shelby, at the Battle of Point Pleasant (1774). The next year he surveyed in Kentucky, and then returned to the Holston to engage in the Revolutionary struggles. To his forethought is attributed the success of the battle of King’s Mountain, after which he served in the North Carolina legislature. Removing to Kentucky in 1783, Shelby was welcomed as a hero by the new community, and made the first governor of the State. He served a second term during the War of 1812-15, reinforcing Harrison at a critical juncture for the Western division of the army. Refusing the portfolio of war, offered by Monroe in 1817, Shelby retired to his farm in Lincoln County, where he died in 1826. Michaux carried letters to Shelby; see American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 983, 984. On Shelby’s later attitude toward the expedition, see _ibid._, pp. 934, 1023, 1040, _note_.--ED.

[36] Knob Licks, Lincoln County, was formed as a settlement in 1776 by Governor Shelby. De Pauw, one of the French agents, resided here. See American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 977, 1002, 1023, 1102-1106. The Knobs were a peculiar formation of detached hillocks.--ED.

[37] Beardstown (Bardstown) was an important settlement in early Kentucky history, established (1788) near the Salt River in what is now Nelson County, and named for the proprietor, David Baird. It is now a small village, although still the county seat.--ED.

[38] For the founding of Louisville, see Croghan’s _Journals_, vol. i of this series, note 106. The old road from Bardstown to Louisville went via the Salt Works (Shepherdsville, Bullitt County), and was reckoned at forty-five miles. See Speed, “Wilderness Road,” Filson Club _Publications_ (Louisville, 1886), p. 17. The new road was more direct, went across country from Bardstown, and joined the old about ten miles below Louisville.--ED.

[39] For the letters of Genet and Clark, see American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 967, 986.--ED.

[40] In Clark’s letter to Genet, he seems to indicate that this obstacle was the leaking out of the secret, by which intimations might reach the Spaniards. Possibly he refers to the Spanish mission which caused Logan’s hesitation; see _ante_, note 33; also American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, p. 1007-1009.--ED.

[41] The home of Clark’s father, with whom he resided, was known as “Mulberry Hill,” situated in the environs of Louisville.--ED.

[42] _E. Americanus, L._--C.S.S.

[43] On the early mail routes, see Speed, _Wilderness Road_, pp. 65-68.--ED.

[44] James Hogan was a pioneer of Kentucky who settled at Bryan’s Station before 1779, and took a leading part in its defense against Indians (1781). He was granted (1785) by the Virginia legislature the right to maintain a ferry across the Kentucky River.--ED.

[45] The principal ferry on the road from Danville to Lexington was at the mouth of Hickman’s Creek, so named in honor of the first Baptist preacher in Kentucky, Rev. William Hickman.--ED.

[46] See letter of this date, written by Michaux to Clark (American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, p. 1010), in which he gives his address at “Mᵗᵉ Isham Prewitt, Jefferson County, near Danville.”--ED.

[47] The original letter sent by this messenger is in the Wisconsin Historical Library (Draper MSS., 55 J 5), and is printed in American Historical Association Report, 1896, p. 1013.--ED.

[48] This reply is given in American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 1007-1009. The break in the manuscript of Michaux’s diary is occasioned by the completion of one blank book and the commencement of another.--ED.

[49] Nicholas was one of a famous coterie of Virginia constitutional lawyers. Born in 1743, the son of a distinguished lawyer, Robert Cary Nicholas, he served as captain in the Revolution, and at its close qualified for the bar. His services in the Virginia convention which adopted the federal constitution, were important. Shortly after its close he removed to Kentucky, and there aided in the adoption of its state constitution, which is reputed to have been drawn up by his hand. Upon the formation of the state government, he was chosen first attorney general. Nicholas adopted a moderate position in regard to Western politics; the scheme here outlined, seems characteristic. In 1799 he was appointed law professor in Transylvania University, but died during the same year.--ED.

[50] Michaux returned to Philadelphia by the well-known “Wilderness Road,” the chief means of exit from Kentucky. Parties frequently waited at Crab Orchard--the western terminus in Lincoln County--until enough had gathered to act as protection against the Indians. See Speed, “Wilderness Road,” Filson Club _Publications_, No. 2 (Louisville, 1886); also Hulbert, _Historic Highways of America_, vol. vi.--ED.

[51] _Lygodium palmatum_, Swz.--C.S.S.

[52] Three words are here frayed away in the manuscript of the Journal.--C.S.S.

[53] Cumberland Gap, in southeastern Kentucky, emerging into Tennessee, was explored in 1750 by Dr. Thomas Walker, who named both mountains and river in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II.--ED.

[54] The Clinch and Holston rivers are upper waters of the Tennessee, in southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee. The settlements in these valleys were among the first on the west-flowing streams. See map in Turner, “State Making in the Revolutionary Era,” in _American Historical Review_, i, p. 74.--ED.

[55] Both of these stations are mentioned in an early journal; see Speed, _Wilderness Road_, p. 21. The first was the seat for Hawkins County, Tennessee.--ED.

[56] The forks of the road was at the junction of the north and south forks of the Holston River, near the present town of Kingsport, Sullivan County, Tennessee.--ED.

[57] Abingdon, originally known as Wolf Hills, was one of the earliest settlements in the Valley of Virginia, and the seat of Washington County. It was established as a town in 1778. It is still the county seat, and a station on the Norfolk & Western Railway.--ED.

[58] Wytheville, near the centre of the county of that name, and its county seat.--ED.

[59] The early route through the Virginia Valley crossed New River at Ingles’s Ferry, a short distance west of Blacksburg, Montgomery County. A new road shortened the distance and crossed the New River about five miles farther up the stream, at a ferry operated by the pioneer family of Pepper. They are alluded to in the Draper MSS., Wisconsin Historical Library, I QQ 97.--ED.

[60] Botetourt Court House, now Fincastle, the seat of Botetourt County (established in 1769), was laid off as a town in 1772 on land donated for the purpose by Israel Christian. It was named for the ancestral seat of Lord Botetourt, an early governor of Virginia.--ED.

[61] Lexington was established by law in 1777 as county seat for Rockbridge, then newly-formed out of Augusta and Botetourt. See _ante_, note 28.--ED.

[62] Col. James McDowell, who lived near Fairfield, Rockbridge County, was a descendant of the Scotch-Irish settler, Capt. John McDowell, who came to the valley as a surveyor in 1737, and was killed in the first Indian fight therein (1742).--ED.

[63] The present roads through the Valley of Virginia follow the course described by Michaux, passing through the same towns. Staunton is one of the earliest towns of the region, having been settled in 1732 by John Lewis, a Scotch-Irishman, whose sons Andrew and Charles were among the most prominent borderers. Andrew commanded the Sandy Creek expedition in 1756; and at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, where Charles was slain. Staunton was laid out as a town in 1748, at the “Beverly Mill Place,” but was not established by act of legislature until 1761.--ED.

[64] This town is generally known as Harrisonburg, from its founder, Thomas Harrison (1780). The county of Rockingham was erected in 1778, and held its first court at the house of Daniel Smith, which was two miles north of Harrisonburg.--ED.

[65] The upper or northern portion of the Valley of Virginia was first settled by German emigrants from Pennsylvania. Woodstock was laid off as a town by Jacob Miller, and established by law in 1761.--ED.

[66] Newtown, or Stephensburg, was founded by Lewis Stephens on the site of his father’s first claim. Peter Stephens came to Virginia in 1732, with Joist Hite, an early settler of the northern portion of the Valley. His son established the town in 1758, it being called Newtown to distinguish it from the older Winchester. Newtown is now a small hamlet, without a post-office.--ED.

[67] Winchester was built upon Lord Fairfax’s grant in 1752. In 1738 there were two cabins at this place, which was then called “Shawnee Springs,” and was the frontier outpost in that direction. The population was a mixture of Germans and Scotch-Irishmen. Col. James Wood is accredited with the foundation of the town of Winchester.--ED.

[68] Charlestown, in what was then Berkeley County, but now the seat for Jefferson County, West Virginia, was laid off (1786) upon his own land by Col. Charles Washington, brother of the general, and christened from his own Christian name.--ED.

[69] Harper’s Ferry takes its name from the first settler, Robert Harper, who formed part of the German emigration of 1734. Washington perceived the strategic importance of this place, and recommended it as the site of a national arsenal.--ED.

[70] Frederick City, Maryland, was laid out in 1745 by Patrick Dulany, and named in honor of the sixth Lord Baltimore. The first house, however, was not erected on this site until 1748, when it became the seat of the newly-erected Frederick County. Most of the early settlers were Germans, with an admixture of Scotch-Irish. At Frederick the road from Virginia crossed the National Road from Baltimore to Wheeling.--ED.

[71] Woodsboro is a small village in Frederick County, Maryland. Littlestown, in Adams County, Pennsylvania, was laid out in 1765 by one of the early German settlers of the region, called Peter Klein (Little). It was frequently called Petersburg in the earlier days. It is now a small station on the Fredericksburg branch of the Pennsylvania Railway.--ED.

[72] Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, was laid out upon a tract granted by Lord Baltimore to John Digges in 1728. The proprietors of Maryland claimed this region, and Digges settled a number of German immigrants upon his tract of 10,000 acres, which was known as “Digges’s Choice.” A Scotch-Irishman, Richard McAllister, emigrated thither about 1749 and acquired great influence over the German settlers of the neighborhood, where he kept a store and tavern. He laid out the town and named it Hanover in 1763 or 1764.--ED.

[73] Michaux is mistaken in placing the Pennsylvania boundary so far north, as he had entered that state before reaching Littlestown. This territory, however, had been in dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland, but was settled by the running of Mason and Dixon’s line in 1763. York was not settled on the lands of the Penn estate until 1741, when there were 2,000 settlers within the bounds of what is now York County. The town became an incorporated borough in 1785.--ED.

[74] For the early history of Harris Ferry, see Post’s _Journals_, vol. i of this series, note 73.--ED.

[75] Dr. Daniel Rittenhouse was one of America’s best known scientists. Born in Pennsylvania in 1732, his talent for mathematics early manifested itself, and he became a clock and instrument maker, and finally an astronomer of much repute. He held important positions in the new State of Pennsylvania, was its treasurer (1777-89), also first director of the United States mint. Rittenhouse was employed to settle the boundary between Virginia and his own state, and during 1784-85 was in service in the field, directing the running of the line. He succeeded Franklin as president of the American Philosophical Society in 1790, retaining the office until his death in 1796.--ED.

[76] The manuscript is so frayed that the figures for these two distances are destroyed. The footing requires 60 M. for the two.--C. S. S.