One morning, having loaded their guns for a hunt, Kenton and two
companions were standing in the gate of Fort Boone, when two men, who
were driving in some horses from a near-by field, were fired upon by
Indians. They fled toward the fort, the Indians after them, and one of
them was overtaken and killed and was being scalped, when Kenton and his
companions ran up, killed one of the Indians and pursued the others to
the edge of the clearing. Boone, meanwhile, had heard the firing, and
came hurrying out with reinforcements, only, a moment later, to be cut
off from the fort by a strong body of savages. There was nothing to do
but to cut their way back through them, and in the charge, Boone
received a ball through the leg, breaking the bone. As he fell, the
Indian leader raised his tomahawk to kill him, but Kenton, seeing his
comrade's peril, shot the Indian through the heart, and succeeded in
dragging Boone inside the fort.
During the Dunmore war, Kenton ranged the Indian country as a spy,
carrying his life in his hand, and accompanied George Rogers Clark on
his famous Illinois campaign. A short time later, with one or two
others, he started on an expedition to run off some horses from the
Miami villages, and had nearly succeeded, when he was captured. The
Indians hated him more bitterly than they hated Boone himself, and they
prepared to enjoy themselves at his expense.
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