A Compass Pointing Home

Amidst the wilds of Kentucky in the 1790s, no one was safe. In this untamed wilderness, William Bratton learned to be a man. He honed his hunting and survival skills and learned a gunsmith trade before he embarked with Lewis and Clark on a westward expedition. His journey to the Pacific Ocean might have been his greatest adventure but it was not his only adventure. William Bratton worked as a boatman on the Mississippi River when the New Madrid earthquake struck causing the river to briefly run backwards. He served in the War of 1812 and survived the River Raisin Massacre only to become a prisoner of war and marched across Canada in the dead of winter. He carved out a life as a pioneer in Indiana. He was a man of courage, endurance and strength in both body and mind. This is his story.