Conquest of the country northwest of the river Ohio, 1778-1783 : and, life of Gen George Rogers Clark . - that it hadnot been preserved with its native forest trees upon it, as athing of beauty and a sacred memory of the first settlementat the falls of the Ohio. Planting a few willow trees uponits margins would have saved it from being washed away,and not a single wall would have been necessarv to pre-serve it, if it had had the protection of growing willowsupon its margins. It is much to be regretted that Colonel Durretts appealsin favor of protecting the island were disregarded, as itcertain
Conquest of the country northwest of the river Ohio, 1778-1783 : and, life of Gen George Rogers Clark . - that it hadnot been preserved with its native forest trees upon it, as athing of beauty and a sacred memory of the first settlementat the falls of the Ohio. Planting a few willow trees uponits margins would have saved it from being washed away,and not a single wall would have been necessarv to pre-serve it, if it had had the protection of growing willowsupon its margins. It is much to be regretted that Colonel Durretts appealsin favor of protecting the island were disregarded, as itcertainly would have been an object of great historical in-terest, increasing more and more with the passing vears. What it was in the natural exuberance of its fertility atthe time Clark took possession of it in June, 1778, canwell be imagined. It was at that time, no doubt, exceedinglv romantic andbeautiful, but it had other attractions for Clark. It was agood location, not only for defense, but to hold his force together, as hehad alreadyexplained, andfor which there. w as muchneed, as wassoon proven. Here on thelower end ofthe island he built cabins, temporary store-houses and forti- CORN ISLAND—FALLS OF THE OHIO. CAPTAIN JOHN MONTGOMERY. 137 fications. The banks were comparatively high and steepat this point, which was the highest and narrowest part ofthe island, and a row of pickets across on the upper sidegave some protection in that direction. The buildingswere of the roughest kind, made from the timber of thelocality. It was a part of the island where the current ofwater was strong and deep, its spray and roar necessarilyunpleasant to permanent residents, and the inhabitants gen-erally abandoned it within a year for the main shore. About the time of the first occupancy of the island,Colonel John Bowman, the county lieutenant, and severalother prominent Kentuckians from the interior, arrived,and, after full consultation with Colonel Clark, it was de-cided that Kentucky, at t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidco, booksubjectclarkfamily
