Series: 9 CC (Volume 9)
Scope and Content Note: William Whitley papers. The manuscript narrative by Whitley (d. 1813), pioneer settler near the Crab Orchard and Kentucky Indian fighter, forms the core of this volume. Dictated by Whitley to his son-in-law, Philip Sublette, the undated narrative described events from Whitley's arrival in Kentucky in 1775 to 1791, with emphasis on the many Indian depredations in southern Kentucky and on John Bowman's expedition into the Indian country in 1779. Numerous other Kentuckians are mentioned but especially Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, and Benjamin Logan. Accompanying the manuscript are Draper's notes on its acquisition and on its use by Humphrey Marshall; interviews with Whitley descendants in 1851; a detailed index, with citations and notes on Whitley's life found in other sources, compiled by Draper in 1852; and a few eighteenth-century newspaper clippings and miscellaneous pieces relating to Indian attacks along the Wilderness Road and to Whitley's life.