Upon receiving his commission, Clark issued, over his own signature, a set of "Proposals for raising volunteers for the reduction of the Spanish posts on the Mississippi, for opening the trade of that river and giving freedom to all its inhabitants," etc. "All persons serving on the expedition," he announced, are "to be entitled to one thousand acres of land. Those that engage for one year will be entitled to two thousand acres-if they serve two years, or during the present war, with France, they will have three thousand acres, of any unappropriated land that may be conquered the officers in proportion; pay, etc., as other French troops. All lawful plunder to be equally divided according to the custom of war. Those that serve the expedition will have their choice of receiving their land, or one dollar per day." This document was printed in the "Kentucky Gazette" of February 8th, 1794,1 and Clark's fame, together with these glittering promises, induced many to volunteer for the expedition, little realizing what momentous consequences would result, if it were carried out, and confident that Clark would engage in no enterprise which he believed to be contrary to the best interests of his State and of his country.

Their estimate of Clark's character was probably correct. It is unfair to conclude that, because he undertook to lead such an expedition, he was a traitor. If we assume this attitude, we condemn a large percentage of the American citizens of that day. It was a time of bitter party feeling, so bitter, indeed, that even Washington did not escape charges of disloyalty, and even of personal dishonesty. Genet had turned the Coast States upside

1 Reprinted from the "Sentinel" of the Northwestern Territory.

down, with his liberty caps and his revolutionary motto. He had felt himself so strong that he had even dared openly to resist the decrees of American law, and to threaten to appeal from Washington to his people, if his demands were not speedily complied with:1 and Clark, in his willingness to accept a commission under France, stood, if not with the majority, at least among a very respectable minority of his fellow-citizens, and acted upon what he believed to be the best policy for his country.

2

When Washington learned what Clark and his associates were planning, he at once notified Governor Shelby that he "should take those legal measures which might be necessary to prevent such enterprise," as negotiations were already under way to gain for Kentucky the navigation which she so much desired; and that any rash act, such as the one now contemplated, would render these negotiations ineffective, as well as expose the participants therein to punishment.

Governor Shelby's reply was to the effect that no such attempt had come to his knowledge, but that he would be particularly attentive to prevent one. Whether Governor Shelby was perfectly open and honest in this statement may be justly questioned. It seems impossible that he could have failed to discover that such an expedition was preparing, and that quite openly, for the "Kentucky Gazette" freely published articles calculated to encourage it and to

1 In the "Kentucky Gazette" of September 28, 1793, appears a communication signed John Jay and Rufus King, asking that the editor make public their assertion that "Mr. Genet, the French minister, said he would appeal to the people from certain decisions of the President."

2 Marshall, II, p. 94.

3 Ibid. Letters quoted.

justify disobedience to the orders of the nation's constituted authorities. It told the people, "that they had too long placed an implicit dependence on the impartiality and virtue of the general government;" which, however, did not at all represent the facts, the desire to trust the Government, in the matter of the navigation of the Mississippi, never having been very apparent in Kentucky or the West. The Secretary of State had written (November 6, 1793), telling him of the departure from Philadelphia, of the four French agents whose duty it was to serve France by inciting the western settlers to defy the orders of their own government, and requesting that Governor Shelby would prevent their carrying out their designs within the State of Kentucky. Next, the Secretary of War had empowered him, in the name of the President, to use military force if necessary, to prevent the contemplated breach of neutrality; at the same time pledging the United States for payment of all expense incurred in so doing. The Governor of the Northwest Territory had sent a similar warning; 1 but all alike had been disregarded.

General Wayne, however, having received full information of what was transpiring in Kentucky, acted with promptness and decision, thus forcing Governor Shelby to declare his position. On January 6th, 1794, he wrote to Shelby, enclosing a letter to the commander of the United States Cavalry, stationed near Lexington, directing him to give assistance in suppressing the expedition, in case Governor Shelby should request it. He also enclosed a letter which he had received the previous month from Governor St. Clair, stating the general nature of the plans of "certain Frenchmen," and declaring that he had duly 1 Collins, I, p. 278.