Here this humble family remained for two years.  They were both as contented with their lot as other people are.  They were about as well off as most of their neighbors.  Neither of them ever cherished a doubt that they belonged to the aristocracy of the region.  They did not want for food or clothing, or shelter, or a warm fireside.  They had their merry-makings, their dances, and their shooting-matches.  Let it be remembered that this was three quarters of a century ago, far away in the wilds of an almost untamed wilderness.

Two children were born in this log cabin.  David began to feel the responsibilities of a father who had children to provide for.  Both of the children were sons.  Though David’s family was increasing, there was scarcely any increase of his fortune.  He therefore decided that the interests of his little household demanded that he should move still farther back into the almost pathless wilderness, where the land was not yet taken up, and where he could get a settler’s title to four hundred acres, simply by rearing a cabin and planting some corn.

He had one old horse, and a couple of colts, each two years old.  The colts were broken, as it was called, to the halter; that is, they could be led, with light burdens upon their backs, but could not be ridden.  Mrs. Crockett mounted the old horse, with her babe in her arms, and the little boy, two years old, sitting in front of her, astride the horse’s neck, and occasionally carried on his father’s shoulders.  Their few articles of household goods were fastened upon the backs of the two colts.  David led one, and his kind-hearted father-in-law, who had very generously offered to help him move, led the other.  Thus this party set out for a journey of two hundred and fifty miles, over unbridged rivers, across rugged mountains, and through dense forests, whose Indian trails had seldom if ever been trodden by the feet of white men.

This was about the year 1806.  The whole population of the State then amounted to but about one hundred thousand.  They were generally widely dispersed through the extensive regions of East Tennessee.  But very few emigrants had ventured across the broad and rugged cliffs of the Cumberland Mountains into the rich and sunny plains of Western Tennessee.  But a few years before, terrible Indian wars desolated the State.  The powerful tribes of the Creeks and Cherokees had combined all their energies for the utter extermination of the white men, seeking to destroy all their hamlets and scattered cabins.

At a slow foot-pace the pioneers followed down the wild valley of the Holston River, often with towering mountains rising upon each side of them.  If they chanced, at nightfall, to approach the lonely hut of a settler, it was especial good fortune, as they thus found shelter provided, and a fire built, and hospitable entertainment ready for them.  If, however, they were overtaken in the wilderness by darkness, and even a menacing storm, it was a matter