History of La Porte County, Indiana; Together With Sketches of Its Cities, Villages, and Townships Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and ... of Representative Citizens History of Indiana - Livres de poche

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: EXPEDITIONS OF COL. GEOKGE ROGERS CLARK. In the summer of 1778, Col. George Rogers Clark, a native of Albemarle county, Va., led a memorable expedition against the ancient French settlements about Kaskaskia and Post Vincennes. With respect to the magnitude of its design, the valor and perseverance with which it was carried on, and the memorable results which were produced by it, this expedition stands without a parallel in the early annals of the valley of the Mississippi. That portion of the West called Kentucky was occupied by Henderson and Co., who pretended to own the land and who held it at a high price. Col. Clark wished to test the validity of their claim and adjust the government of the country so as to encourage immigration. He accordingly called a meeting of the citizens at Harrodstown, to assemble June 6,1776, and consider the claims of the company and consult with reference to the interest of the country. He did not at first publish the exact aim of this movement, lest parties would be formed in advance and block the enterprise; also, if the object of the meeting were not announced beforehand, the curiosity of the people to know what was to be proposed would bring out a much greater attendance. The meeting was held on the day appointed, and delegates were elected to treat with the government of Virginia, to see whether it would be best to become a county in that State and be protected by it, etc. Various delays on account of the remoteness of the white settlers from the older communities of Virginia and the hostility of Indians in every direction, prevented a consummation of this object until some time in 1778. The government of Virginia was friendly to Clark's enterprise to a certain extent, but claimed that they had not authority to do much more than to lend a ...