KENTUCKY.

KENTUCKY was originally included in the limits of Virginia, and the name, said to signify, in the Indian tongue, "The dark and bloody ground," is in

ARMS OF KENTUCKY.

dicative of her early conflicts with a wily and savage foe. The first explorer of her territory of whom we have any very definite knowledge was Col. James Smith, who traveled westward in 1766, from Holston River, with three men and a mulatto slave. The beautiful tract of country near the Kentucky River appears to have been reserved by the Indians as a hunting ground, and consequently none of their settlements were found there. The dark forests and cane thickets of Kentucky separated the Creeks, Cherokees and Catawbas of the south from the hostile tribes of the Shawnees, Wyandots and · Delawares of the north.

In 1767, John Findley and some others made a trading expedition from North Carolina to this region. In 1769, Daniel Boone (the great pioneer of Kentucky), with five others, among whom was Findley, undertook a journey to explore the country. After a long fatiguing march over a mountainous wilderness, they arrived upon its borders, and from an eminence discovered the beautiful valley of the Kentucky. Boone and his companions built a cabin on Red River, from whence they made various excursions. Boone being out hunting one day, in company with a man named Stuart, was surprised and both taken prisoners by the Indians. They eventually succeeded in making their escape. On regaining their camp, they found it dismantled and deserted. The fate of its inmates was never ascertained. After an absence of nearly three years, Boone returned to his family in North Carolina.

In 1770, Col. James Knox led into Kentucky a party from Holston, on Clinch River, who remained in the country about the same length of time with Boone's party, and thoroughly explored the middle and southern part of the country. Boone's party traversed the northern and middle region with great attention. Although both parties were in the country together, they

never met. When these pioneers returned, they gave glowing descriptions of the fertility of the soil throughout the western territories of Virginia and North Carolina. The lands given to the Virginia troops for their services in the French war were to be located on the western waters, and within two years after the return of Boone and Knox, surveyors were sent out for this purpose. In 1773, Capt. Bullitt led a party down the Ohio to the Falls, where a camp was constructed and fortified.

In the summer of 1774, parties of surveyors and hunters followed, and within the year James Harrod erected a log cabin where Harrodsburg is now built; this soon grew into a settlement or station-the oldest in Kentucky. In 1775, Daniel Boone constructed a fort, afterward called Boonesborough, during which time his party was exposed to fierce attacks from the Indians. By the middle of April, the fort was completed, and soon after his wife and daughters joined him and resided in the fort-the first white women who ever stood on the banks of Kentucky River.

In 1775, the renowned pioneer Simon Kenton erected a log cabin where the town of Washington now stands, in Mason county. In the winter of this year, Kentucky was formed into a county by the legislature of Virginia. 1n the spring of 1777, the court of quarter sessions held its first sitting at Harrodsburg.

The years 1780 and 1781 were distinguished for a great emigration to Kentucky, and great activity in land speculations, and by inroads of the Indians. In 1780, an expedition of Indians and British troops, under Col. Byrd, threatened the settlements with destruction. Cannon were employed against the stockade forts, some of the stations were destroyed, and the garrisons taken.

In 1781, every portion of the country was continually in alarm, and many lives were lost. The most important battle between the whites and Indians ever fought on its soil was on the 19th of August, 1782, near the Blue Lick Springs. The celebrated Col. Boone bore a prominent part in this engagement, in which he lost a son. The whites numbered but 182, while the Indians were twice or thrice that number. From the want of due caution in advancing against the enemy, they were, after a short but severe action, routed with the loss of seventy-seven men and twelve wounded. Kentucky being the first settled of the western states, a large number of expeditions were sent out by her from time to time against the Indians in the then wilderness country north of the Ohio; these were mostly within the present limits of Ohio, which thus became the battle ground of Kentucky, and was watered with the blood of her heroic pioneers.

After the revolutionary war, there was a period of political discontent. This arose partly from the inefficient protection of Virginia and the old federal congress against the inroads of the Indians, and partly by a distrust lest the general government should surrender the right to navigate the Mississippi to its mouth.

Kentucky was the central scene of the imputed intrigues of Aaron Burr and his coadjutors to form a western republic. What the precise designs of Burr really were has perhaps never been fully understood.

Kentucky took an active part in the war of 1812. After the surrender of Hull at Detroit, the whole quota of the state, consisting of upward of 5,000 volunteers, was called into active service. In addition to these, a force of mounted volunteers was raised, and at one time upward of 7,000 Kentuckians are said to have been in the field, and such was the desire in the state to

enter into the contest that executive authority was obliged to interpose to limit the number. At this period, Isaac Shelby, a hero of the revolutionary At the barbarous massacre of the River war, was governor of the state. Raisin, and also in the unfortunate attempt to relieve Fort Meigs, many of her brave sons perished. In the recent war with Mexico, several of her distinguished citizens engaged in the contest.

Kentucky was separated from Virginia in 1786, after having had several conventions at Danville. In 1792, it was received into the Union as an independent state. The first constitution was formed in 1790, the second in 1796. The financial revulsion which followed the second war with Great The violence of the crisis was much Britain was severely felt in Kentucky. enhanced in this state by the charter of forty independent banks in 1818, with a capital of nearly ten millions of dollars, which were permitted to redeem their notes with the paper of the bank of Kentucky. The state was soon flooded with the paper of these banks. This soon depreciated, and the state laws were such that the creditor was obliged to receive his dues at one half their value. The people of the state became divided into two parties; the debtor party, which constituted the majority, was called the Relief, and the creditors the Anti-Relief party. The judges of the courts declared the acts of the legislature, in sustaining the currency, unconstitutional. The majority attempted to remove them from office by establishing new courts; the people became divided into the "new court" and "old court" parties. The contest was finally decided in the canvass of 1826, when the old court party pervailed.

Kentucky is bounded N. by the Ohio River, separating it from the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois; E. by Virginia; W. by the Mississippi River, separating it from Missouri, and S. by Tennessee. It is situated between 36° 30′ and 39° 10′ N. Lat., and between 81° 50′ and 89° 20′ W. Long. Its length is about 400 miles, and its breadth 170 miles, containing 37,680 square miles.

Kentucky presents a great diversity of surface. In the eastern part, where it is bordered by the Cumberland Mountains, there are numerous lofty elevations; and on the Ohio River, through nearly the whole extent of the state, there is a strip of hilly but fertile land from five to twenty miles in breadth. On the margin of the Ohio are numerous tracts of bottom lands, which are periodically overflowed. Between the hilly country of the more mountainous eastern counties and Green River is a fertile tract, frequently called the "garden of the state. This is in the blue limestone region, in the midst of which is the beautiful town of Lexington. The line demarking this region passes from the Ohio round the heads of Licking and Kentucky Rivers, Dick's River, and down Great Green River to the Ohio; and within this compass of above one hundred miles square is found one of the most fertile The soil is and extraordinary countries on which the sun has ever shone. of a loose, deep and black mold, without sand-on first-rate lands, from two to three feet deep-and exceedingly luxuriant in all its productions. It is well watered by fine springs and streams, and its beautiful climate and the salubrity of the country are unequalled; the winter, even, being seldom so inclement as to render the housing of cattle necessary. In a state of nature, nearly the whole surface of this region was covered with a dense forest of majestic trees, and a close undergrowth of gigantic reeds, forming what in the country are called canebrakes. In the southern part, however, on the head waters of Green River and its tributaries, is an extensive tract, thinly

wooded, and covered in summer with high grass growing amid scattered and stunted oaks. Struck with the contrast this region presented to the luxuriant forests of the neigboring districts, the first settlers gave the country the unpromising name of "barrens."

În 1800, the legislature considering this tract but of little value, made a gratuitous grant of it to actual settlers. This land proved to be excellent for grain, and also adapted to the raising of cattle. The whole state, below the mountains, has, at the usual depth of eight feet, a bed of limestone, which has frequent apertures. The rivers have generally worn deep channels in the calcareous rocks over which they flow. There are precipices on the Kentucky River of solid limestone 300 feet high. Iron ore and coal are widely diffused; coal, especially, occupies an extensive field. Salt springs are numerous, and mineral springs are found in many places. The great agricultural productions are hemp, flax, Indian corn, tobacco, wheat and live stock. More than half of all the hemp raised in the Union is grown in Kentucky. Population, in 1790, 73,077; in 1820, 564,317; in 1840, 779,828; in 1850, 982,405; in 1860, 1,185,567, of whom 225,490 were slaves.

South-eastern view of Frankfort.

Showing the appearance of the place from the railroad. The southern entrance of the tunnel through the limestone bluff, and under the State Arsenal and foot path to the Cemetery, is seen on the right. The Capitol and some other public buildings are seen in the central part, Kentucky River in front on the left.

FRANKFORT, the capital of Kentucky, is 25 miles N. W. from Lexington, and 53 E. from Louisville. It is beautifully situated on the right or northeast bank of Kentucky River, 60 miles above its mouth, in the midst of the wild and picturesque scenery which renders that stream so remarkable. The city stands on an elevated plain between the river and the high bluffs, which rise 150 feet immediately behind the town. The river, which is navigable for steamboats to this place, is nearly 100 yards wide, and flows through a deep channel of limestone rock. A chain bridge crosses the river here, con necting the city with South Frankfort, its suburb. The railroad from Lex

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through the limestone rock or ledge Frankfort is well built, and has fine The State House is a handsome ed

ifice of white marble. The city is well supplied with excellent spring water, which is conveyed into the town by iron pipes. The State Penitentiary is located here, and the trade of the place is facilitated by railroads in various directions. The Kentucky Military Institute, a thriving institution, is in the vicinity of Frankfort. Population about 5,000.

"Frankfort was established by the Virginia legislature in 1786, though the first survey of 600 acres was made by Robert McAfee, on the 16th

of July, 1773. The seat of government was located in 1792, and the first session of the assembly was held in 1793. The public buildings not being ready, the legislature assembled in a large frame house belonging to Maj. James Love, on the bank of the river, in the lower part of the city."

The Frankfort Cemetery is laid out on the summit of the high and commanding bluffs which immediately rise in an eastern direction from the city. The "Military Monument" (an engraving of which is annexed) was erected in pursuance of an act of the legislature, Feb., 1848. The following inscriptions and names are engraved upon it, viz:

MILITARY MONUMENT ERECTED BY
KENTUCKY, A. D., 1860.

Mexico, Lt. J. W. Powell; Boonesborough, Harmar's Defeat, Capt. J. McMurtsy; Monterey, P. M.` Barbour; Buena Vista, Col. William R. McKee, Lieut. Col. Clay, Capt. Wm. T. Willis, Adjutant E. P. Vaughn; Raisin, Col. John Allen, Maj. Benjamin Graves, Capt. John Woolfolk, Capt. N. G. S. Hart, Capt. James Meade, Capt. Robert Edwards, Capt. Virgil McCracken, Capt. William Price, Capt. John Edmundson, Capt. John Simpson, Capt. Pascal Hickman, Lieut. John Williamson; Thames, Col. Wm. Whitley, Capt. Elijah

The small monument in front is that of Maj. Bar

bour; in the distance is shown that of Col. R. M. Johnson.