George Rogers Clark

Red-headed George Rogers Clark, son of a Virginia planter, explored part of the Ohio River in a canoe at the age of 19.  He moved to Kentucky in 1776 at the age of 24.  At the outbreak of the American Revolution, he was sent to the Virginia legislature.  With the help of Governor Patrick Henry he got 500 pounds of gunpowder for the defense of Kentucky settlements.  Clark and seven men ran 400 miles  of ambushes to get the gunpowder into the settler's hands.

Clark returned to Virginia and persuaded officials to mount a counter attack against the British in Illinois country.  In 1778, he and 175 Virginia volunteers boated down the Ohio River and defeated the British at the key fort of Vincennes, strengthening the American claims to the region from the Ohio River to the Canadian border and west to the Mississippi River.

After the Revolution, Clark was impoverished as Virginia failed for years to repay money he had previously spent on his troops (his own money). Without that money, his troops would have starved to death.  He died in 1818 with little to show for a life of service and bravery.

Next time...A settlement hewn from the forest
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Today in Pioneer History:  On October 12, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sights a Bahamian island, believing he has reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.