Part 23 (1/2)

HIS LOG CABIN.

FOOD OF THE BACKWOODSMEN.

LIFE OF THE PIONEER BOY.

BOONE'S DAUGHTER CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS.

HIS ADOPTION BY AN INDIAN TRIBE.

BOONE'S IMPORTANT WORK.

TO THE PUPIL

1. Try to form a picture of Boone alone in the woods in his boyhood, and then tell the story of what he did.

2. Do the same with Boone alone in the Kentucky forest after his brother had left him.

3. What do you admire in Boone's character? How did he dress?

Describe his log cabin. Give some facts about the Kentucky settlers' diet.

4. Tell something about the life of the pioneer boy.

5. Give an account of Boone's adoption into an Indian tribe.

6. What was Boone's great work?

CHAPTER XIX

Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase

[1743-1826]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Thomas Jefferson.]

Through the achievements of early pioneers and settlers, of whom Daniel Boone is the type, the region lying between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi River came into the possession of the United States. In a very different way did the territory lying between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains become a part of the national domain. It was acquired not by exploration or settlement, but by purchase, and the man most intimately a.s.sociated with this purchase was Thomas Jefferson.

He was born in 1743 near Charlottesville, Va., on a plantation of nearly 2,000 acres. From his father, a man of great physical strength and energy, Thomas inherited a hardy const.i.tution. As a boy he lived an out-of-door life, sometimes hunting for deer, wild turkeys, and other game, sometimes swimming or paddling his boat in the river near his home, and sometimes riding one of his father's horses. A skilful and a daring rider, he remained to the end of his long life fond of a fine horse.

When he was five years of age he entered school, and thus early began his life-long habit of reading and study. Even in his younger boyhood days he was known among his playmates for industry and thoroughness.

At seventeen he entered William and Mary College, at Williamsburg, Va.

Although Williamsburg was a village of only 1,000 people, it was the State capital, and represented the most aristocratic and refined social life of the colony. As a young college student Jefferson received the full advantage of this good society, and at the same time studied very hard, sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day. But for his strong body and sound health he must have broken down under such a severe strain.

Being simple, refined, and gentle in manner, with a cheerful disposition and rare intelligence, he easily won and kept warm friends. One of these was the rollicking, fun-loving Patrick Henry, who with his jokes and stories kept everyone about him in good humor. He and Jefferson were, in their youth, the best of friends, and spent many an hour in playing their violins together.

While in college at Williamsburg Jefferson, according to a description left of him as he appeared at that time, was six feet two and one-half inches tall, with a slender frame, a freckled face, sandy hair, hazel-gray eyes, and large feet and hands. He stood erect, straight as an arrow, a perfect picture of health and vigorous young manhood.

It was during the last of his five-year stay at Williamsburg that Jefferson, then twenty-two-years old, stood one day at the door of the court-house earnestly listening to his friend Patrick Henry as he delivered his famous speech. The impa.s.sioned words of the great orator, bitterly denouncing the Stamp Act, made a deep impression upon young Jefferson's fervid nature. They fell as seed in good soil, and a few years later yielded harvest in the cause of liberty.

These two men, devoted friends as they were, had many traits in common.