Samuel Lowe was a tall man even by tall standards. He had been raised in a small town in Central Kentucky on a large farm owned by his father and was going to be his fathers until eternity if the elder Lowe had any thing to say about it.

Samuel was brought up to appreciate hard work and the hard-core Christian beliefs of his family. He had not become a person of strong attachment to the Christian following but was considered to be a person of honesty and integrity following his heart in matters of faith and business.

The life of the young man in the late 1700s with no money or land of his own was not one Samuel wanted to adjust too.  He knew his father would live for many years or should live for many years and he did not want to waste his life waiting for the farm to come his way. Being the only son it was in time going to come to him but even if it was over 1100 acres of prime Kentucky bottom land with excellent water and drainage he had a longing to have a place of his own and to getting started on building something for himself and hopefully later on a family.

He had spent his time as a child and young man roaming the countryside at every opportunity to get away from the farm and his father. Not that he was trying to get away from work his work was of the first order and always completed before any of his fathers indentured servants or even his father. Samuel worked as a loner and tried to keep away from the servants and his family as much as possible to learn all he could about life. This gave him the change to learn about the land and all of its inhabitants by silently observing his surroundings. 

He moved about the county through the woods and valleys as if he had Indian blood him instead of the fiery Irish blood of his father.  The farmers of Elliott county always knew when Samuel was passing through their farms he would appear as if by magic in the middle of a field where a farmer was working or they would find him at the steps of their front porches wanting to talk a few minutes before moving on into the woods.

During the mid to late 1700s there were strangers always passing through the central part of Kentucky on their way to a new and better life that sometimes ended in death at the Indian’s hands.  The Shawnee were still fighting for the land of Kentucky as their own sacred hunting grounds.  For the most part they had been run out of the country by men such as Simon Keaton, Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone and many more of the frontiersmen who had come down the Ohio River looking for a wilderness to explore and tame. The Indians were moved across the Ohio River to an area that is now Chillicothe, Ohio but that did not keep them from crossing the river in small raiding parties and killing the more isolated settlers and burning down the cabins and hay fields.

Samuel had come across the strangers, the Indians and the rough frontiersmen in his backwoods rambling.  He had a way of always knowing when someone was in the same area as he was and managed to keep himself invisible unless he wanted to make his presence known.

At times he had observed Indians moving back toward the Ohio River with captives taken in the numerous raids by the Shawnee.  When ever this happened he would steal away to the nearest settlement or farm to sound the alarm for help in pursuing the Indians and try to save the captives.

At other times he would come upon a group of men camping for the night or silently moving through the woods to avoid the Indians and to stay away from civilization safe guarding their independence from society.  Samuel would follow the groups of men for miles to get a feeling for the type of men they were.  It usually became apparent after a few miles if they were on the run or simply moving from one place to another in the vast new country.

Most of the groups were small with only a few men and some times there were children and wives.  The last big group he had come across had been camped out on the Licking River at the mouth of Davis creek.  He had wanted some time away from the people of the farm so he decided to take some time and go to his favorite fishing hole on the Licking River. 

He was more than half a mile from the stream when he first smelled the smoke from the fire.  The smoke smelled of green wood and animal fat burning and Samuel knew he was going to come upon a group of greenhorn settlers or at worst another group of thieves that had migrated from the Ohio River.  No self respecting woodsmen or Indian would build a fire using green wood.  The smoke traveled too far and the smell was too strong.

Samuel slowed his pace down and started to work his way toward the smell of the fire. The closer he got the stronger the smell became and then the sound of loud voices could be heard.  He could make out the sound of drunken men singing and knew this group was not going to live long in the wilderness if they continued to make themselves be noticed. 

He had come to the edge of a clearing that was about 50 feet from the edge of the river and he could see a large number of mules tied up alone the edge of the clearing.  Samuel could see no guard posted and the men were gathered around a large fire they had started out in the very middle of the clearing.

Noticing all the rifles scattered around the fire and leaning against trees he knew he was going into a camp of dead men.  There was no way they could survive this country with Indians always roaming looking for groups such as these.

He slowly moved away from the tree he was standing against and spoke out in a firm loud voice to get their attention as a friend, he doubted if they would even notice him.

“Hello the camp”!

This did not get their attention so he tried again.

“Hello the camp”!

Finally he said to hell with it and just walked across the clearing and moved in close to the fire and sat down next to a sad looking character with his boots off and his feet almost in the fire.

“Say would you mind telling me who is the head man around here?” Samuel asked.

The man slowly lifted his head from his chest and through the fog of rot gut whiskey looked at Samuel, It took a few seconds for him to realize that a stranger had made his way into the camp and no one had noticed.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

“Well I would like to talk to the leader of this group if he is around.”

Rising up on one knee after more than one try the man looked around the camp shading his eyes with one hand and steadying himself with the other.

Raising his arm he pointed over to the side of the clearing next to the river.

“There he is setting under that tree with the gal we brought alone” and it appears he don’t want to be bothered at the present time.”

“Well what he wants is immaterial to me and since I don’t want to have come back and bury the lot of you best if he talks to me now”

Getting up Samuel moved away from the smell of the smelly men and rot gut whiskey and walked over to the edge of the clearing where the leader was apparently concentrating on proving he was man enough to take care of a woman and run the camp.

Samuel was now disgusted with what he had found and had decided he would try to talk some sense into the leader only if he proved to be a man who would listen.  You can talk sense to a mule all day and still at the end of he day he will do as he damn well pleased. Some men were of the same disposition and Samuel had fishing to do.

“Pardon the interruption sir but could you take some time away from pleasuring that young lady and tell me who you are?”

The man jumped up surprised that anyone would bother him at a time like this. He pulled up his pants and kicked the blanket over the naked girl lying on the ground.  Getting his bearings back shook his head to shake some of the alcohol fog out of his brain he finally looked to see who had the nerve to interrupt him.

To add to his surprise he was looking at a man who was not part of his party, this he could tell by the way the man was neatly dressed, clean shaven and carried a fishing pole.  

“Who are you and how the hell did you get in my camp without the guard seeing you?”

“Well my name is Samuel Lowe and you don’t have a guard or if you do he is asleep somewhere.”

“What do you want here?”

I don’t want anything other than to give you a few words of advice.”

“And what advice can a backwoods boy give us” the name snickered and looked down at the young lady still lying on the ground wrapped up in the dirty piece of a blanket, trying to booster his ego without knowing he was making a fool of himself.

“Mister, I have lived in these woods all my life and I can assure you if you and your men don’t change your ways you are not going to live out the week.”  Burning green wood is a formal invitation for the Indians to come and take your scalp, furthermore you need at least 3 guards working the outer areas of your camp and then you won’t be able to keep the Indians out if they decide to raid this camp.”

Standing up to his full 5 foot 7 inch height the man puffed out his chest and further made a bigger fool of himself.

“Well Mister Samuel Lowe or who ever the hell you are my name is Seth Montgomery and my partner John Swift and I have fought the Spanish, the British and the French on the high seas and I doubt if your Indians can handle the likes of us.”

Samuel was becoming more disgusted by the minute and decided he was not the man’s keeper or the keeper of the drunken lot scattered out behind him.

“Sir I have given you good advice if you want to pay heed to it fine but I would clean up this camp and the men and post guards. The Indians seldom come this far unless they are on a raiding party and this group would go down in a minute.” Saying that Samuel turned to walk away when the little man reach up and grabbed him by the shoulder and tried to turn Samuel around again.

“Wait a minute you can’t come in this camp and speak to me that way.” The Little man tried again to turn Samuel around but was having no luck.

“Seth leave the man alone and find out what happened to the guard you were supposed to have posted when we made camp last night.”

Another man has moved from the shadows of the trees and walked over to where Samuel and the man were standing.  The group of men in the camp had yet to realize there was a stranger among them and was concentrating on raising more noise.

Seth Montgomery started to say something but instead gave Samuel a murderous look and turned and walked to the camp. 

“Sir, My name is John Swift” extending his out arm out to shake hands with Samuel.  “I can assure you I am not the fool my partner is.” But this is the best bunch I could get together to haul my supplies and do the work needed.”

“What is your business in this country Mr. Swift if I may ask?”

“I am looking for a place to settle around here and start a lumber milling operation.”

Samuel knew he was looking at a man who was telling him a lie and could care less; he had done the best he could trying to talk to the two men.

He saw there was no use in continuing the conversation and decided it was time to go fishing even if he had to go farther upstream. This place was too overcrowded for fishing. Since the men had been there overnight it was possible they had attracted the attention of band of Indian raiders and he wanted to be shed of the place as soon as possible.

Well Mr. Swift I have talked to your partner and if I was you I would clean up this camp, sober the men up and move on to another location. This place is not safe now, the smoke will draw Indians like flies if they are in the country and you are not equipped to handle a raiding party with this bunch.”

Having said his fill Samuel turned and walked away into the woods not giving Swift a change to respond.  Walking pass a large pile of supplies haphazardly thrown on the ground he noticed a large iron kettle some large wooden boxes nailed shut and banded.  There were also a pile of empty canvas bags scattered around the edges of the pile.  

Thinking to himself as he walked away from the mess of drunks and fools he knew there was little change the men would be alive in a week.

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Grown to a full man in 1761 Samuel had become more and more disillusioned working his life away for some one else even if it was his father. He was impatient to become a landowner in his own right and knew that would never happen if he stayed in the foothills of Kentucky but without money as a means of obtaining that land he was held to the land owned by his father.   Moving through the woods after a hard day of work in the fields behind a couple of ornery mules pulling a double plow he was again contemplating how to earn money for his own home.

There were still thousands of acres of free land to be had in the western part of the country and all he had to do was walk away and head west to claim some of it for his own but Samuel was not inclined to begin dead broke even if he could have land. He had lived with watching his father work his fingers to the bone trying to bring all his land into a profitable farm and now it was but it had broken his fathers spirit and his body to accomplish the feat he had started over 30 years ago after stepping off the ship from Ireland.

Samuel was not a lazy person but he felt there was a better way to start a farm without breaking the first sod with a worn out push plow and he was determined to keep looking until he found the right situation.

Samuel was slowly walking through a small valley rimmed by high cliffs of sandstone and granite keeping the valley floor almost in darkness even during the middle of the day.  He had accidentally flushed up a large whitetail buck deer while daydreaming about his future and decided to stalk the deer to see where it had bedded down again.  He had over the years stalked many deer after the first flush and creep upon them after they had bedded down again away from the danger that has moved them in the first place. In doing so he would almost always take home a good mess of venison for the farm workers.  Even though there was beef on the farm the stock was there for growth not eating, at least not for a few more years when the herd was bigger.  If he could bring in fresh venison then it would save a beef for market. 

The sound of a twig breaking to his left and within 200 feet of him caused Samuel to stop and not move until he was sure it was the deer moving ahead of him, instead he heard the distinct sound of a man’s voice spoken softly so as to carry only to the a person close at hand.  If the man’s voice had been out in the open country Samuel would not have caught the sound and would stumbled upon the group of men which might have been a problem if they were Indians. Samuel cursed himself for placing too much attention on following the tracks of the deer and loosing his focus on his surroundings.

He again started to move and plot a path ahead of himself to get closer to the men to get a look at who and what they were.  Indians were not on his agenda for the evening and unless they held some captives he would rather just let them move on their way and avoid a heads up meeting.  Moving to the left side of the valley to gain an advantage on looking down into the valley floor Samuel settled in on a small earth ledge, moving down into the bed of soft leaves to make sure he became part of the surroundings he waited for the group of men to advance up the valley.  Although the shadows had gotten darker Samuel could make out a large group of men leading mules up the valley floor guiding them around the large trees causing a disconcerted group.

Samuel knew he had seen this group before and sure enough the leader was the same little man who had been more interested in taking pleasure with a woman that making sure his men were safe. Samuel never turned his head but allowed his eyes to keep track of the men and the mules.  This time he had more time to observe the men closer.  The men were moving slowly as if they had been on the trail for many days and were in need of a hot meal and a few days rest. All had on city made clothing and each one appeared to be out of his element in the shadows of the valley. These men were not part of the breed of men who had made this country instead they appeared to be the kind that would take from the man who worked for his keep.  The lead mule was balking on the driver and starting to cause a ruckus that was infecting the entire mule train. All of the mules were overloaded with heavy canvas bags tied to their sides instead of riding on their back’s as a normal pack should be loaded on a mule.

The one thing missing was the young woman he had seen the first time he had come across this group.  Apparently the large group of men had used up the woman and left her for dead or at some settler’s cabin. 

Suddenly the lead mule sounded out a loud scream and started bucking, kicking the driver in the side of the head and knocking him against the base of a large tree.  The force of the mule kick killed the man instantly otherwise the hit against the tree base would have killed any man. At the first sound of the mule screaming all of the men and the mules were moving in different directions trying to find the cause of the commotion.  The mules were kicking and snorting and the men in a tired state of agitation were milling about unsure of what was happening and what they should do.

This problem was soon solved for them as two of the men fell to the ground with arrows sticking out of their chest.  This was the clue the rest needed to determine what was going on and what they were going to do.  There was little time to for anyone to take control of the situation. The men fired shoots into the woods surrounding them but they were shooting at shadows and the Indians never showed themselves except to step from behind a tree to fire off an arrow. Luckily the last driver and mule in line made the right decision and made their way back out of the valley to the safety of the open fields and a way to escape.

Of the fifteen men in the party only two got away with four of the mules running after them.  The Indians had not pursued the two men that escaped; instead they were busy cutting the canvas bags from the mules that were caught.  Mules were not as good as horses but they would make good packhorses and even better dried meat for the winter ahead.  One of the Indians had dragged a canvas bag off the side of a mule and slashed the side of it open and hundreds of silver coins spilled out on the ground.  The Indians were not overjoyed at finding only silver in the bags wanting instead items they could use such as blankets and other items to make a cold winter easier to live with.

They knew the silver coins had value but there were to many of them and there were few places they could get rid of the coins without causing trouble for themselves.  Indians were not the ignorant savages that most people believed they were and always worked situations to their advantage.  The coins could come in handy at a later date but for now they were on a raiding party.

The Indians were in a hurry to get back across the Ohio River and did not want the mules to be carrying the heavy canvas bags.  Instead they hurriedly pushed the canvas bags into a small cave a few feet up the side of hill under a large outcropping of rock. And then covered the opening with old tree limbs and leaves.  In a few days no one would notice the opening or the work done to cover it up.  Since no one was moving through the small valley anyway it would never be found and the Indians could come back for the bags at a later date.

No one would have believed the scene Samuel Lowe had just witnessed.  The smell of blood was heavy in the air from the dead mule and the thirteen men who had their lives cut short in a lonely valley deep in the heart of Kentucky.  Samuel watched as the Indians rustled around catching the half crazed mules and cutting the canvas bags from the sides of the mules.  The leader of the party was standing to one side directing the other Indians in catching the mules and stripping the dead men of all their belongings including their scalps.  The leader walked over to one bag that had been cut open and reach into the bag and brought out a handful of new silver coins with a disgusted look on his face he threw the coins against a tree. He motioned for the Indians to gather up the rest of the bags and pointed toward the small cave where the rest of the bags had been placed.

Samuel could not believe his eyes the Indians were going to leave the bags of coins and take only the mules. Settling deeper into the bed of leaves Samuel decided he would just wait and see if the Indians made camp or gathered up their plunder and moved on. He made sure he stayed as low and quiet as possible knowing he would not have a change of escaping the Indians if they saw or heard him.

Watching the Indians tie the horses together in a string Samuel knew they would soon be leaving. They were still carrying the heavy bags of coins up the hill to the shallow cave and had only two bags left.

Finally the Indians had the bags all hidden and the mules ready for the trail.  The leader took one last look around and started back out of the valley in the direction of the two men that has escaped with the four mules.

Samuel set still for over an hour longer waiting to make sure the Indians were really gone. Then he came off the side of the hill and started following the Indians to make sure they were headed in the direction of the Ohio River. He followed their trail for over 2 hours making sure he never got to close and always watching to make sure there was not a scout working the tail end of the party to make sure they were not being followed.   The Indians were headed in the direction of the settlement of Maysville and Samuel Knew they were trying to get back across the river as fast as they could with the mules before a party of angry settlers took out after them. Once across the river it was not safe for any party to follow the Indians, as there was still a lot of territory on the banks of the Ohio the Indians controlled.

Samuel finally worked his way back to the small valley were the carnage had taken place.  He tried to ignore the smell and sight of the dead men as he made his way to the ledge of rock the Indians had hid the bags of silver coins.  It took him over half an hour to move all the rocks and limbs placed there by the Indians to get the opening large enough so he could get to the bags. Finally he pulled one bag out and from the weight he guessed it weight over one hundred pounds.

Pulling the string loose from the top of the bag he stuck his hand down into the bag and pulled out a handful of newly minted English crowns.   He saw at last the chance to have his own land and a future away from a dominating father and a farm he really did not want.  He put the coins back and covered up the mouth of the cave as close as he could get it to the way the Indians had left it. He knew it would be days before the Indians came back for the coins and he knew the white men would never come back if they were even still alive.  The Indians were moving fast and could have caught up to them, killing them and taking the rest of the mules back across the river with them.

Samuel sat for a long time just looking at the pile of coins he had spilled from the bag and trying to decide what to do.

He knew he had to go to the nearest settlement to tell someone about the Indians and the dead men that lay scattered on the valley floor.  Would they find the cave with the treasure in it or should he tell them about the money and what happened that day.  After thinking long and hard he decided he would do what any other man would do if they were in that situation and wanted a better life.  The men were gone, no one knew where the money came from and from the looks of the men who were moving through the country with the money they had either stolen it or were moving it for someone who had.

He had no moral dilemma about the money. It was gone from the people who had owned it. Most if not all were dead and there was no one who knew where the money was other than the Indians and more than likely all of those would be dead within a year. So the money would just stay hidden in the cave for eternity or he could put it to good use.

There was too much money there and it was all newly minted, the feel of oil was still on the coins and the bags were soaked with oil. English crowns were still the currency of choice and would spend anywhere in the country particularly in the northern areas of the country. The coastal towns and cities were still controlled by the English and used English money. Out in the backwoods the money was good but it was seldom used as the backwoods people hated the control of the English and refused to give in even a little not even for money. Samuel Lowe was of the same mind as the rest of the country but he did not mind having a large amount of the British money if it would help him obtain his goals. Replacing the coins into the bag he put it back into the cave and covered up the entrance even better than the Indians did and made sure there were no tracks leading up the hill to the cave from the pile of dead men lying on the valley floor.

Samuel went straight back to his fathers farm and saddled up a horse and made his way to the nearest settlement called Stanton, nothing more than a trading store and a few cabins erected to make the place look and feel like a town.

It took Samuel over three weeks to get the canvas bags moved from the valley to a safe place on his fathers farm. He always expected to find the Indians waiting for him when he entered the little valley every time but the rewards were going to be greater than the risk of running into a party of Indians waiting for him to return.  He always made sure to make one trip every other day and worked his back trail so the Indians could not track him.  He knew deep down the Indians could track any one anywhere but that was the change he had to take.

The bags where finally all moved and he felt it was time to make his move away from the farm to his future.  There was no way to tell or explain to his father what he was going to do. He knew it would break his heart as he expected Samuel to stay with the farm and take over all operations when be became too old. Samuel had been working on his plan for years and had refined it until he was sure it would work. Now he had more money than he knew what to do with.  The plan had to be refined and thought out again since he had more money than he could ever spend.

The thought of having the money and just running away and living a life of ease never entered his mind. The money was the tool he was going to use to start his new life and a plot of land he could call his own.  Being a landowner was worth more than all the gold and silver in the world to him and he intended to make it happen now.

The first thing to do was find a way to move all the silver from Kentucky to New York City.  This was the place he had decided to start his new life from.  Not a man of education Samuel instead held a purpose in his heart and that would guide him as he entered a land and way of life he had only heard about from strangers passing through the land.

Samuel had 20 large bags of silver coins he had to transport to New York and after many hours of studying the situation he decided it would be best to go to the Ohio River and move the silver up the Ohio to a port that would give him access to a route to New York.  

He had one more thing to do before he walked away from his life and that was to leave a note and 1 bag of the silver for his father.  He wrote the letter on a piece of parchment he had been saving to make a list of what he wanted in life but now he had it and could put the paper to better use.  The Letter was hard to write as he did love his family and would miss seeing them but he knew if he was to have a life of his own it was now or never.  Samuel knew his father would accept the silver coins after he had read the letter and understood there was no one to claim the money.  Although his father was an honest man he was also the most practical man Samuel had ever met. Maybe that was why he had made a success of the farm starting with nothing but the desire to be a farmer and a successful one at that.

He also felt that the man would understand what he was doing. He had always had a kinship with his father when it came to land and how it should be held in trust, nurtured and cared for. At less he hoped he would understand why he was leaving for his own life.