in less than six months. Some river traders who went on board with the view of purchasing, made an estimate, that the proceeds of the entire cargo, at fair prices, would not be more than sufficient to defray the expense of the voyage; from which it was inferred, that there was something connected with it, which did not meet the eye. This surmise was strengthened by the fact, that the barge came to, on the Kentucky shore, a mile below the town, where there were neither improvements nor inhabitants; and that she remained there one or two days before she came up to the landing, at Cincinnati.

Mr. Powers, who commanded the barge, was an intelligent, enterprising man, born and educated in Great Britain, though he had become a Spanish subject; and it was understood that he and a Mr. Nolan, who professed to be a trader in Spanish horses, and who probably ascended the river in the same boat, were in the employ of the individuals before alluded to. From these circumstances it was believed, that the barge had been sent by the Spanish Governor, with money, for purposes not consistent with the allegiance due from Americans, to their government; and that the object of landing on the Kentucky shore, in the night, was to deliver it, without giving rise to curiosity or suspicion. The whole movement was certainly mysterious, and cannot be rationally accounted for, on the common principles of mercantile business.

This expedition was connected, in public opinion, with a similar one which had failed during the preceding year, under the management of Mr. Owen, an Irish gentleman of fine education and very polished manners. He had then recently married an accomplished young lady, in Elizabethtown, New Jersey; and soon after that, came to the western country to better his fortune. He brought letters of introduction to the principal officers of the army; and very soon after his arrival, he was sent to New Orleans, professedly on public business. From that place

he came up the Mississippi in a barge, and arrived safely at the mouth of the Ohio. But soon after he entered that river, he was murdered, and his boat plundered.

The first report of the catastrophe was, that he had been murdered and robbed by the Indians, or by white men, disguised as Indians. According to another version of the fatal tragedy, he was assassinated by the crew of the barge, by whom it was robbed and sunk. Mr. Owen had a large amount of specie on board, destined for Cincinnati; and public opinion did not hesitate to name the persons for whom it was intended. Both these shipments were considered as the fruits of the intrigue above alluded to, which was generally called the Sebastian conspiracy.

In the summer of 1797, the American troops were ordered to the West, under the command of General Wilkinson. In the year following, the Mississippi Territory was established by Congress; and Winthrop Sargent, having resigned the office of Secretary of the North-western Territory, was appointed Governor of the new Territory. At the same time, William H. Harrison, who had resigned his commission of Captain in the army, was appointed to the office relinquished by Governor Sargent.

Before the Governor left Cincinnati for Natchez, the seat of government of the new Territory, he gave the writer of these notes a pressing invitation to accompany him, as a member of his family, promising him his patronage, and holding out the prospect of a rapid accumulation of fortune. From a fear of the effects of the climate, on a debilitated constitution, the advantageous and flattering invitation was declined. At that time, titles to real estate in the Mississippi Valley, were in a very unsettled condition, and it was foreseen, that as soon as the courts of the Territory were established by Congress, controversies, involving property of immense value, would arise; suits multiply, and lawyers flourish; which proved to be the case. It was therefore apparent, that the prospect of professional ad

vancement, connected with the patronage of the Governor, presented strong temptations to risk the dangers of the climate.

Most of the members of the bar who migrated to that Territory, at that early day, with fair pretensions to talents and legal knowledge, and who were proof against the miasma of the valley, soon acquired fortunes. According to the theory of chances, if chance there be, in the moral world, the writer might also have found a short road to wealth, had he accepted the offer of Governor Sargent; but on the other hand, he might have found a shorter one to the grave. Upon the whole, after a review of all the eircumstances connected with the decision then made, declining the flattering invitation of the Governor, and giving up the alluring prospects of preferment and wealth, he can repeat the cheering words of Æneas, to his shipwrecked companions-" Forsan et hæc olim, meminisse juvabit."

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CHAPTER XXV.

Sale of public lands on credit.-Debts due to Government from purchasers. -Exceeding twenty millions of dollars.-Embarrassments in the Western Country. Purchasers unable to pay.-Lands on the eve of forfeiture.Resistance to the execution of the land laws apprehended.-A plan for relief concerted at Cincinnati.-Memorial to Congress drawn.-Printed, and circulated through the entire West.-The law of 1821 passed, in conformity with the memorial.—Grant of lands to Ohio, for Canal purposes.-Conditions annexed.-Not assented to.-Grant lost.-In 1829-30, the conditions repealed, and a further grant made.-Miami Extension completed.-Simon Kenton.-Biographical sketches of him.

UNDER the system established for the sale of the public domain, by the law of 1800, and the acts supplementary thereto, an immense debt was contracted, and became due to the government of the United States, from the people of the West, exceeding by estimation, the entire amount of money then circulating in the Western States. That debt had been accumulating more than twenty years, and was swelling daily, with increasing rapidity.

In 1821, it far exceeded the ability of the debtors to pay. Neither the speculator, who had purchased with a view of selling at a profit, nor the farmer, who bought for the purpose of cultivation, and who expected nothing more than to obtain a subsistence for his family, could procure the money which was necessary to secure his title.

It is well known that the first emigrants to the west, and the greater part of those who followed them, from time to time, were compelled by necessity to purchase on credit. Some of them exhausted their means to the last dollar, in raising the first payment on their entries, and others were

not able to make up that sum without the aid of their friends.

The writer, who was one of the early adventurers to the West, was residing in the Miami country before, and at the time, when the sales of the public lands commenced, and had a general knowledge of the situation of the great mass of purchasers, who were indebted to the government. It was his opinion, repeatedly expressed in conversation and in the newspapers of the day, that nine-tenths of those debtors would lose their lands and improvements, under the laws then in force, unless relief should be obtained from Congress. That opinion was founded on the general condition of the country. It was manifest that the pecuniary embarrassment which prevailed, was great and universal— that the banks in the Western States, had all suspended payment-that credit was at an end-that money was not to be had, because it was not in the country, and of course that no property could be sold for cash on any terms. This appalling prospect, spread a deep gloom on the countenance of the community. The people were sinking in despairhope had deserted them, and they were preparing to meet their fate, with the best resolution they could command.

The debt due to the government in 1820, at the different Land Offices in the Western States, amounted to twentytwo millions of dollars; a sum which more than tripled the ability of the country to pay. There was in fact, a crisis in its affairs, and the most buoyant spirits could not indulge a rational hope, that the gathering storm could be scattered, or its ruinous consequences be repaired.

Thousands of industrious men, some of whom had paid one, some two, and others three instalments on their lands, and had toiled day and night, in clearing, enclosing, and improving them, became convinced that they would be forfeited, and their money and labor would be lost. The amount of the debt beyond the means of payment, was