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diff --git a/42322-0.txt b/42322-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b660cea --- /dev/null +++ b/42322-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12347 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42322 *** + +Early Western Travels + +1748-1846 + + +Volume XXVI + + + + + Early Western Travels + + 1748-1846 + + + A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best and + rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive of + the Aborigines and Social and Economic Conditions in + the Middle and Far West, during the Period of Early + American Settlement + + + Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by + + Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL.D. + + Editor of "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents," + "Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition," + "Hennepin's New Discovery," etc. + + + Volume XXVI + + Part I of Flagg's The Far West, 1836-1837 + + + [Illustration] + + + Cleveland, Ohio + The Arthur H. Clark Company + 1906 + + + + + COPYRIGHT 1906, BY + THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY + + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + The Lakeside Press + R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY + CHICAGO + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXVI + + + PREFACE TO VOLUMES XXVI AND XXVII. _The Editor_ 9 + + THE FAR WEST: OR, A TOUR BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS. Embracing + Outlines of Western Life and Scenery; Sketches of the + Prairies, Rivers, Ancient Mounds, Early Settlements + of the French, etc. etc. (The first thirty-two chapters, + being all of Vol. I of original, and pp. 1-126 of Vol. II.) + _Edmund Flagg._ + + Copyright Notice 26 + + Author's Dedication 27 + + Author's Preface 29 + + Author's Table of Contents 33 + + Text (chapters i-xxxii; the remainder appearing in + our volume xxvii) 43 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME XXVI + + + Map of Oregon; drawn by H. J. Kelley, 1830 24 + + Facsimile of title-page to Vol. I of Flagg's _The Far West_ 25 + + + + +PREFACE TO VOLUMES XXVI-XXVII + + +These two volumes are devoted to reprints of Edmund Flagg's _The Far +West_ (New York, 1838), and Father Pierre Jean de Smet's _Letters and +Sketches, with a Narrative of a Year's Residence among the Indian +Tribes of the Rocky Mountains_ (Philadelphia, 1843). Flagg's +two-volume work occupies all of our volume xxvi and the first part of +volume xxvii, the remaining portion of the latter being given to De +Smet's book. + +Edmund Flagg was prominent among early American prose writers, and +also ranked high among our minor poets. A descendant of the Thomas +Flagg who came to Boston from England, in 1637, Edmund was born +November 24, 1815, at Wescasset, Maine. Being graduated with +distinction from Bowdoin College in 1835, in the same year he went +with his mother and sister Lucy to Louisville, Kentucky. Here, in a +private school, he taught the classics to a group of boys, and +contributed articles to the Louisville _Journal_, a paper with which +he was intermittently connected, either as editorial writer or +correspondent, until 1861. + +The summer and autumn of 1836 found Flagg travelling in Missouri and +Illinois, and writing for the _Journal_ the letters which were later +revised and enlarged to form _The Far West_, herein reprinted. +Tarrying at St. Louis in the autumn of 1836, our author began the +study of law, and the following year was admitted to the bar; but in +1838 he returned to newspaper life, taking charge for a time of the +St. Louis _Commercial Bulletin_. During the winter of 1838-39 he +assisted George D. Prentice, founder of the Louisville _Journal_, in +the work of editing the Louisville _Literary News Letter_. Finding, +however, that newspaper work overtaxed his health, Flagg next accepted +an invitation to enter the law office of Sergeant S. Prentiss at +Vicksburg, Mississippi, where in addition to his legal duties he found +time to edit the Vicksburg _Whig_. Having been wounded in a duel with +James Hagan of the _Sentinel_ in that city, Flagg returned to the less +excitable North and undertook editorial duties upon the _Gazette_ at +Marietta, Ohio (1842-43), and later (1844-45) upon the St. Louis +_Evening Gazette_. He also served as official reporter of the Missouri +state constitutional convention the following year, and published a +volume of its debates; subsequently (until 1849) acting as a court +reporter in St. Louis. + +The three succeeding years were spent abroad; first as secretary to +Edward A. Hannegan, United States minister to Berlin, and later as +consul at Venice. In February, 1852, he returned to America, and +during the presidential campaign of that year edited a Democratic +journal at St. Louis, known as the _Daily Times_. Later, as a reward +for political service, he was made superintendent of statistics in the +department of state, at Washington--a bureau having special charge of +commercial relations. Here he was especially concerned with the +compilation of reports on immigration and the cotton and tobacco +trade, and published a _Report on Commercial Relations of the United +States with all Foreign Nations_ (4 vols., Washington, 1858). Through +these reports, particularly the last named, Flagg's name became +familiar to merchants in both the United States and Europe. From 1857 +to 1860 he was Washington correspondent for several Western +newspapers, and from 1861 to 1870 served as librarian of copyrights in +the department of the interior. Having in 1862 married Kate Adeline, +daughter of Sidney S. Gallaher, of Virginia, he moved to Highland +View in that state (1870), and died there November 1, 1890. + +In addition to his labors in the public service and as a newspaper +man, Flagg found time for higher literary work, and won considerable +distinction in that field. His first book, _The Far West_, although +somewhat stilted in style, possesses considerable literary merit. +Encouraged by the success of his initial endeavor, he wrote the +following year (1839) the _Duchess of Ferrara_ and _Beatrice of +Padua_, two novels, each of which passed through at least two +editions. The _Howard Queen_ (1848) and _Blanche of Artois_ (1850) +were prize productions. _De Molai_ (1888), says the New York _Sun_ of +the period, is "a powerful, dramatic tale which seems to catch the +very spirit of the age of Philip of France. It is rare to find a story +in which fact and invention are so evenly and adroitly balanced." Our +author also wrote several dramas, which were staged in Louisville, +Cincinnati, St. Louis, and New York; he also composed numerous poems +for newspapers and magazines. His masterpiece, however, was a history +dedicated to his lifelong friend and colleague, George D. Prentice, +entitled _The City of the Sea_ (2 vols., New York, 1853). This work +was declared by the _Knickerbocker_ to be "a carefully compiled, +poetically-written digest of the history of the glorious old Venice--a +passionate, thrilling, yet accurate and sympathetic account of the +last struggle for independence." At the time of his death Flagg had in +preparation a volume of reminiscences, developed from a diary kept +during forty years, but this has never been published.[1] + + [1] For a list of Flagg's prose and poetical writings, contributions + to periodicals, and editorial works, see "Annual Report of the + Librarian of Bowdoin College for the year ending June 1, 1891," + in Bowdoin College _Library Bulletin_ (Brunswick, Maine, 1895). + +"In hope of renovating the energies of a shattered constitution," we +are told, Flagg started in the early part of June, 1836, on a journey +to what was then known as the Far West. Taking a steamboat at +Louisville, he went to St. Louis by way of the Ohio and the +Mississippi, and after a brief delay ascended the latter to the mouth +of the Illinois, and thence on to Peoria. Prevented by low water from +proceeding farther, he returned by the same route to St. Louis, whence +after three weeks' stay, spent either in the sick chamber or in making +short trips about the city and its environs, the traveller crossed the +Mississippi and struck out on horseback across the Illinois prairies, +visiting Edwardsville, Alton, Carlinsville, Hillsborough, Carlisle, +Lebanon, Belleville, and the American Bottoms. In July, after +recrossing the Mississippi, he visited in like manner St. Charles, +Missouri, by way of Bellefontaine and Florissant; crossed the +Mississippi near Portage des Sioux, and passed through the Illinois +towns of Grafton, Carrollton, Manchester, Jacksonville, Springfield, +across Grand Prairie to Shelbyville, Mount Vernon, Pinkneyville, and +Chester, and returned to St. Louis by way of the old French +settlements of Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia. + +During this journey Flagg wrote for the Louisville _Journal_, as +already stated, a series of letters describing the country through +which he travelled. Hastily thrown together from the pages of his note +book, this correspondence appeared anonymously under the title, +"Sketches of a Traveller." They were, however, soon attributed to +Flagg, and two years later were collected by the author and published +in two small volumes by Harper and Brothers (New York, 1838), as _The +Far West_. These volumes are in many respects the best description of +the Middle West that had appeared up to the time they were written. +Roughly following the journals of Michaux, Harris, and Cuming by +forty, thirty, and twenty years respectively, Flagg skillfully shows +the remarkable growth and development of the Western country. His +descriptions of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Illinois rivers are still +among the best in print, particularly from the artistic standpoint. +His account of the steamboat traffic is valuable for the history of +navigation on the Western rivers, and shows vividly the obstacles +which still confronted merchants of that time. Chapters xi, xii, and +xiii, dealing with St. Louis and its immediate vicinity, are the most +detailed in our series, while the descriptions of St. Charles and the +Illinois towns through which Flagg passed, are excellent. + +The modern reader cannot but wish that Flagg had devoted less space to +his youthful philosophizing, but the atmosphere is at least wholesome. +Unlike Harris, whose criticism of Western society was keen and acrid, +Flagg was a man of broad sympathies, possessing an insight into human +nature remarkable for so youthful a writer--for he was but twenty +years of age at the time of his travels, and twenty-two when the book +was published. Although mildly reproving the old French settlers for +their lack of enterprise, he fully appreciates their domestic virtues, +and gives a faithful picture of these pleasure-loving, contented, +unprogressive people. His description of the once thriving villages of +Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia, are valuable historically, +as showing the decay settling upon the French civilization after a few +years of American occupation. Our author's interview with the Mormon +convert, his conversations with early French and American settlers, +his accounts of political meetings, his anecdotes illustrating Western +curiosity, and particularly his carefully-recounted local traditions, +throw much light on the beliefs, manners, and customs of the Western +people of his time. _The Far West_ is thus not only a graphic and +often forceful description of the interesting region through which the +author travelled, but a sympathetic synopsis of its local annals, +affording much varied information not otherwise obtainable. The +present reprint, with annotations that seek to correct its errors, +will, we think, prove welcome in our series. + +In the _Letters and Sketches_ of Father de Smet, we reprint another +Western classic, related to the volumes of Flagg by their common +terminus of travel at St. Louis. + +No more interesting or picturesque episode has occurred in the history +of Christian missions in the New World, than the famous visit made in +the autumn of 1831 to General William Clark at St. Louis by the +Flathead chiefs seeking religious instruction for their people. +Vigorously exploited in the denominational papers of the East, this +delegation aroused a sentiment that led to the founding of Protestant +missions in Oregon and western Idaho, and incidentally to the solution +of the Oregon question. But in point of fact, the Flathead deputation +was sent to secure a Catholic missionary; and not merely one but four +such embassies embarked for St. Louis before the great desideratum, a +"black robe" priest, could be secured for ministration to this +far-distant tribe. Employed in the Columbian fur-trade were a number +of Christian Iroquois from Canada, who had been carefully trained at +St. Regis and Caughnawaga in all the observances of the Roman Catholic +church. Upon the Pacific waterways and in the fastnesses of the +Rockies, these Iroquois taught their fellow Indians the ordinances of +the church and the commands of the white man's Great Spirit. John +Wyeth (see our volume xxi) testifies to the honesty and humanity of +the Flathead tribe: "they do not lie, steal, nor rob any one, unless +when driven too near to starvation." He also testifies that they +"appear to keep the Sabbath;" and that their word is "as good as the +Bible." These were the neophytes who craved instruction, and to whom +was assigned that remarkable Jesuit missionary, Father Jean Pierre de +Smet. + +Born in Belgium in 1801, young De Smet was educated in a religious +school at Malines. When twenty years of age he responded to an appeal +to cross the Atlantic and carry the gospel to the red men of the +Western continent. Arrived in Philadelphia (1821), the young Belgian +was astonished to see a well-built town, travelled roads, cultivated +farms, and other appurtenances of civilization; he had expected only a +wilderness and savages. Two years were spent in the Jesuit novitiate +in Maryland, before the zealous youth saw any traces of frontier life. +Then the youthful novice was removed to Florissant, Missouri, not far +from St. Louis, where the making of a log-cabin and the breaking of +fresh soil furnished a mild foretaste of his future career. Still more +years elapsed before the cherished project of missionary labor could +be realized. In 1829 St. Louis University was founded, and herein the +young priest, who had been ordained in 1827, was employed upon the +instructional force. Later years (1833-37) were spent in Europe, while +recruiting his health and securing supplies for the infant university. +It was not until 1838 that the first missionary enterprise was +undertaken by Father de Smet, when a chapel for the Potawatomi was +built on the site of the modern Council Bluffs. There, in 1839, the +fourth Flathead deputation rested after the long journey from their +Rocky Mountain home; and at the earnest solicitation of the young +missioner, he was in the spring of 1840, detailed by his superior to +ascertain and report upon the prospects of a mission to the mountain +Indians. + +Of the two tribesmen who had come down to St. Louis, Pierre the +Left-handed (Gaucher) was sent back to his people with news of the +success of the embassy, while his colleague Ignace was detained to +serve as guide to the adventurous Jesuit who in April, 1840, set forth +for the Flathead country with the annual fur-trade caravan. The route +traversed was the well-known Oregon Trail as far as the Green River +rendezvous; there the father was rejoiced to meet a deputation of ten +Flatheads, sent to escort him to their habitat, and at Prairie de la +Messe was celebrated for them the first mass in the Western mountains. +The trail led them on through Jackson's and Pierre's Holes; and in the +latter valley the waiting tribesmen to the number of sixteen hundred +had collected, and received the "black robe" as a messenger from +Heaven. Chants and prayers were heard on every side; "in a fortnight," +reports the delighted missionary, "all knew their prayers." After two +months spent among his "dear Flatheads," wandering with them across +the divide, and encamping for some time at the Three Forks of the +Missouri--where nearly forty years before Lewis and Clark first +encountered the Western Indians--De Smet took leave of his neophytes. +Protected by a strong guard through the hostile Blackfeet country, he +arrived at last at the fur-trade post of Fort Union at the junction of +the Missouri and the Yellowstone. Descending thence to St. Louis he +arrived there on the last day of December, 1840. + +The remainder of the winter was occupied in preparations for a new +journey, and in securing men and supplies for the equipment of the +far-away mission begun under such favorable auspices. Once more the +father departed from Westport--this time in May, 1841. The little +company consisted, besides himself, of two other priests and three lay +brothers, all of the latter being skilled mechanics. Among the members +of the caravan were a number of California pioneers, one of whom has +thus related his impressions of the young missionary: "He was genial, +of fine presence, and one of the saintliest men I have ever known, and +I cannot wonder that the Indians were made to believe him divinely +protected. He was a man of great kindness and great affability under +all circumstances; nothing seemed to disturb his temper."[2] + + [2] John Bidwell, "First Emigrant Train to California," in + _Century Magazine_, new series, xix, pp. 113, 114. + +Father de Smet's letters describe in detail the scenery and incidents +of the route from the eastern border of Kansas to Fort Hall, in Idaho, +where the British factor received the travellers with abounding +hospitality. Here some of the Flatheads were in waiting to convey the +missionaries to the tribe, the chiefs of which met them in Beaver Head +Valley, Montana, and testified their welcome with dignified +simplicity. Passing over to the waters of the Columbia, they founded +the mission of St. Mary upon the first Sunday in October, in the +beautiful Bitter Root valley at the site of the later Fort Owen. +Thence Father de Smet made a rapid journey in search of provisions to +Fort Colville, on the upper Columbia, but was again at his mission +stockade before the close of the year. In April a longer journey was +projected, as far as Fort Vancouver, on the lower Columbia, where Dr. +McLoughlin, the British factor, received the good priest with that +cordial greeting for which he was already famous. During this journey +the father narrowly escaped drowning in the turbulent rapids of the +Columbia, where five of his boatmen perished. Returned to St. Mary's, +the prospects for a harvest of souls both among the Flatheads and the +neighboring tribes appeared so promising that the missionary +determined to seek re-enforcement and further aid in Europe. Thereupon +he left his companions in charge of the "new Paraguay" of his hopes, +and once more undertook the long and adventurous journey to the +settlements, this time by way of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers, +arriving at St. Louis the last of October, 1842. At this point the +journeys detailed in the volume here reprinted come to an end. The +later career of Father de Smet and his subsequent journeyings will be +detailed in the preface to volumes xxviii and xxix, in the latter of +which will appear his _Oregon Missions_. + +Father de Smet's writings on missionary subjects ended only with his +death, and were increasingly voluminous and detailed. The _Letters and +Sketches_ were his first published work, with the exception of a +portion of a compilation that appeared in 1841, on the Jesuit missions +of Missouri. We find therefore, in the present reprint, the vitality +and enthusiasm of the young traveller relating new scenes, and the +abounding joy of the successful missionary uplifting a barbaric race. +The book was written with the avowed purpose of creating interest in +his newly-organized work, and securing contributions therefor. The +freshness of description, the wholesome simplicity of the narrative, +the frank presentation of wilderness life, charm the reader, and make +this book a classic of early Western exploration. Cast in the form of +letters, wherein there is more or less repetition of statement, it is +nevertheless evident that these have been subjected to a certain +editorial revision, and that literary quality has been considered. +Aside from the interest evoked by the personality of the writer, and +the events of his narrative, the work throws much light upon +wilderness travel, the topography and scenery of the Rocky Mountain +region, and above all upon the habits and customs, modes of thought, +social standards, and religious conceptions of the important tribes of +the interior. + +After the present series of reprints had been planned for, and +announced in a detailed prospectus, there was issued from the press of +Francis P. Harper of New York the important volumes edited by Major H. +M. Chittenden and Alfred Talbot Richardson, entitled _Life, Letters, +and Travels of Father Pierre Jean de Smet, S. J., 1801-73_. This +publication contains much new material, derived from manuscript +sources, which has been interwoven in chronological order with the +missionary's several books; and to it all have been added an adequate +biography and bibliography of De Smet. This scholarly work has been of +great service to us in preparing for accurate reprint the original +editions of the only two of Father de Smet's publications that fall +within the chronological field of our series. + +In the preparation for the press of Flagg's _The Far West_, the Editor +has had the assistance of Clarence Cory Crawford, A. M.; in editing +Father de Smet's _Letters and Sketches_, his assistant has been Louise +Phelps Kellogg, Ph.D. + + R. G. T. + MADISON, WIS., April, 1906. + + + + + PART I OF FLAGG'S THE FAR WEST, 1836-1837 + + Reprint of Volume I, and chapters xxiii-xxxii of Volume II, of + original edition: New York, 1838 + + + + + [Illustration: MAP OF OREGON.] + + + + + THE FAR WEST: + OR, + A TOUR BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS. + + EMBRACING + + OUTLINES OF WESTERN LIFE AND SCENERY; SKETCHES + OF THE PRAIRIES, RIVERS, ANCIENT MOUNDS, EARLY + SETTLEMENTS OF THE FRENCH, ETC., ETC. + + + "If thou be a severe, sour-complexioned man, then I here + disallow thee to be a competent judge."--IZAAK WALTON. + + "I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and + cry, ''Tis all barren.'"--STERNE. + + "Chacun a son stile; le mien, comme vous voyez, n'est pas + laconique."--ME. DE SEVIGNE. + + + IN TWO VOLUMES. + + VOL. I. + + + NEW-YORK: + PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS + NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET. + 1838. + + + + + [Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by + HARPER & BROTHERS, + in the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York.] + + + + + TO ONE-- + + AT WHOSE SOLICITATION THESE VOLUMES WERE COMMENCED, AND + WITH WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT THEY HAVE BEEN COMPLETED-- + + + TO MY SISTER LUCY + + ARE THEY AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. + + + + +TO THE READER + + "He that writes + Or makes a feast, more certainly invites + His judges than his friends; there's not a guest + But will find something wanting or ill dress'd." + + +In laying before the majesty of the public a couple of volumes like +the present, it has become customary for the author to disclaim in his +preface all original design of _perpetrating a book_, as if there were +even more than the admitted _quantum_ of sinfulness in the act. +Whether or not such disavowals now-a-day receive all the credence they +merit, is not for the writer to say; and whether, were the prefatory +asseveration, as in the present case, diametrically opposed to what it +often is, the reception would be different, is even more difficult to +predict. The articles imbodied in the following volumes were, a +portion of them, in their original, hasty production, _designed_ for +the press; yet the author unites in the disavowal of his predecessors +of all intention at that time of perpetrating _a book_. + +In the early summer of '36, when about starting upon a ramble over the +prairies of the "Far West," in hope of renovating the energies of a +shattered constitution, a request was made of the writer, by the +distinguished editor of the Louisville Journal, to contribute {vi} to +the columns of that periodical whatever, in the course of his +pilgrimage, might be deemed of sufficient interest.[1] A series of +articles soon after made their appearance in that paper under the +title, "_Sketches of a Traveller_." They were, as their name purports, +mere sketches from a traveller's _portfeuille_, hastily thrown upon +paper whenever time, place, or opportunity rendered convenient; in the +steamboat saloon, the inn bar-room, the log-cabin of the wilderness, +or upon the venerable mound of the Western prairie. With such favour +were these hasty productions received, and so extensively were they +circulated, that the writer, on returning from his pilgrimage to "the +shrine of health," was induced, by the solicitations of partial +friends, to enter at his leisure upon the preparation for the press of +a mass of MSS. of a similar character, written at the time, which had +never been published; a thorough revision and enlargement of that +which had appeared, united with _this_, it was thought, would furnish +a passable volume or two upon the "Far West." Two years of residence +in the West have since passed away; and the arrangement for the press +of the fugitive sheets of a wanderer's sketch-book would not yet, +perhaps, have been deemed of sufficient importance to warrant the +necessary labour, had he not been daily reminded that his productions, +whatever their merit, were already public property so far as could be +the case, and at the mercy of every one who thought proper to assume +paternity. "Forbearance ceased to be longer a virtue," and the result +is now before the {vii} reader. But, while alluding to that aid which +his labours may have rendered to others, the author would not fail +fully to acknowledge his own indebtedness to those distinguished +writers upon the West who have preceded him. To Peck, Hall, Flint, +Wetmore, and to others, his acknowledgments are due and are +respectfully tendered.[2] + +In extenuation of the circumstance that some portions of these +volumes have already appeared, though in a crude state, before the +public, the author has but to suggest that many works, with which the +present will not presume to compare, have made their debut on the +unimposing pages of a periodical. Not to dwell upon the writings of +Addison and Johnson, and other classics of British literature, several +of Bulwer's most polished productions, the elaborate Essays of Elia, +Wirt's British Spy, Hazlitt's Philosophical Reviews, Coleridge's +Friend, most of the novels of Captain Marryatt and Theodore Hook, and +many of the most elegant works of the day, have been prepared for the +pages of a magazine. + +And now, with no slight misgiving, does the author commit his +firstborn bantling to the tender mercies of an impartial public. +Criticism he does not deprecate, still less does he brave it; and +farther than either is he from soliciting undue favour. Yet to the +_reader_, as he grasps him by the hand in parting, would he commit his +book, with the quaint injunction of a distinguished but eccentric old +English writer upon an occasion somewhat similar: + +"I exhort all people, gentle and simple, men, {viii} women, and +children, to buy, to read, to extol these labours of mine. Let them +not fear to defend every article; for I will bear them harmless. I +have arguments good store, and can easily confute, either logically, +theologically, or metaphysically, all those who oppose me." + + E. F. + New-York, Oct., 1838. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I + + The Western Steamboat-landing--Western Punctuality--An + Accident--Human Suffering--Desolation of Bereavement-- + A Contrast--Sublimity--An Ohio Freshet--View of Louisville-- + Early History--The Ohio Falls--Corn Island--The Last Conflict 43 + + +II + + The Early Morn--"Sleep no more!"--The Ohio--"_La Belle + Rivière!_"--Ohio Islands--A Cluster at Sunset--"Ohio Hills"-- + The Emigrant's Clearing--Moonlight on the Ohio--A Sunset-scene-- + The Peaceful Ohio--The Gigantic Forest-trees--The Bottom-lands-- + Obstructions to Navigation--Classification--Removal--Dimensions + of Snags--Peculiar difficulties on the Ohio--Leaning Trees-- + Stone Dams--A Full Survey--The Result 52 + + +III + + An Arrest--Drift-wood--Ohio Scenery--Primitive River-craft-- + Early Scenes on the Western Waters--The Boatmen--Life and + Character--_Annus Mirabilis_--The Steam-engine in the West-- + The Freshet--The Comet--The Earthquakes--The first Steamboat-- + The _Pinelore_--The Steam-engine--Prophecy of Darwin--Results-- + Sublimity--Villages--A new Geology--Rivers--Islands--Forests-- + The Wabash and its Banks--New Harmony--Site--Settlement-- + Edifices--Gardens--Owen and the "Social System"--Theory and + Practice--Mental Independence--Dissension--Abandonment-- + Shawneetown--Early History--Settlement--Advancement--Site-- + United States' Salines--Ancient Pottery 59 + + +IV + + Geology of the Mississippi Valley--Ohio Cliffs--The Iron + Coffin--"Battery Rock"--"Rock-Inn-Cave"--Origin of Name--{x} + A Visit--Outlines and Dimensions--The Indian _Manito_--Island + opposite--The Freebooters--"The Outlaw"--The Counterfeiters-- + Their Fate--Ford and his Gang--Retributive Justice--"Tower + Rock"--The Tradition--The Cave of Hieroglyphics--Islands-- + Golconda--The Cumberland--Aaron Burr's Island--Paducah--Name-- + Ruins of Fort Massac--The Legend--Wilkinsonville--The "Grand + Chain"--Caledonia--A Storm--Sunset--"The Meeting of the + Waters"--Characteristics of the Rivers--"Willow Point"--The + place of Meeting--Disappointment--A Utopian City--America 70 + + +V + + Darkness Visible--The "Father of Waters"--The Power of Steam-- + The Current--"English Island"--The Sabbath--A Blessed + Appointment--Its Quietude--The New-England Emigrant--His + Privations--Sorrows--Loneliness--"The Light of Home"--Cape + Girardeau--Site--Settlement--Effects of the Earthquakes-- + A severer Shock--Staples of Trade--The Spiral Water-wheels-- + Their Utility--"Tyowapity Bottom"--Potter's Clay-- + A Manufactory--_Rivière au Vase_--Salines--Coal-beds-- + "Fountain Bluff"--The "Grand Tower"--Parapet of Limestone-- + Ancient Cataract--The Cliffs--Divinity of the Boatmen-- + The "Devil's Oven"--The "Tea-table"--Volcanic and Diluvial + Action--The Torrent overcome--A Race--Breathless Interest-- + The Engineer--The Fireman--Last of the "Horse and Alligator" + species--"Charon"--A Triumph--A Defeat 82 + + +VI + + Navigation of the Mississippi--The First Appropriation-- + Improvements of Capt. Shreve--Mississippi and Ohio Scenery + contrasted--Alluvial Deposites--Ste. Genevieve--Origin--Site-- + The _Haunted_ Ruin--The old "Common Field"--Inundation of + '85--Minerals--Quarries--Sand-caves--Fountains--Salines-- + Indians--Ancient Remains--View of Ste. Genevieve--Landing-- + Outrage of a Steamer--Indignation--The Remedy--A Snag and a + Scene--An Interview with "Charon"--Fort Chartres 93 + + +{xi} VII + + The Hills! the Hills!--Trosachs of Loch Katrine--Alluvial + Action--Bluffs of Selma and Herculaneum--Shot-towers--Natural + Curiosities--The "Cornice Cliffs"--The Merrimac--Its + Riches--Ancient Lilliputian Graves--Mammoth Remains--Jefferson + Barracks--Carondelet--Cahokia--U. S. Arsenal--St. Louis in the + Distance--Fine View--Uproar of the Landing--The Eternal + River--Character--Features--Sublimity--Statistics--The Lower + Mississippi--"Bends"--"Cut-offs"--Land-slips--The Pioneer Cabin 102 + + +VIII + + "Once more upon the Waters!"--"Uncle Sam's Tooth-pullers"--Mode + of eradicating a Snag--River Suburbs of North St. Louis--Spanish + Fortifications--The Waterworks--The Ancient Mounds--Country + Seats--The Confluence--Charlevoix's Description--A Variance-- + A View--The Upper Mississippi--Alton in distant View--The + Penitentiary and Churches--"Pomp and Circumstance"--The City + of Alton--Advantages--Objections--Improvements--Prospects-- + Liberality--Railroads--Alton Bluffs--"Departing Day"--The + Piasa Cliffs--Moonlight Scene 113 + + +IX + + The _Coleur de Rose_--The Piasa--The Indian Legend--Caverns-- + Human Remains--The Illinois--Characteristic Features--The + Canal--The Banks and Bottoms--Poisonous Exhalations--Scenes on + the Illinois--The "Military Bounty Tract"--_Cape au Gris_--Old + French Village--River Villages--Pekin--"An Unco Sight"--Genius + of the Bacchanal--A "Monkey Show"--Nomenclature of Towns--The + Indian Names 122 + + +X + + An Emigrant Farmer--An Enthusiast--Peoria--The Old Village and + the New--Early History--Exile of the French--Fort Clarke--Indian + Hostilities--The Modern Village--Site--Advantages--Prospects-- + Lake _Pinatahwee_--Fish--The Bluffs and Prairie--A Military + Spectacle--The "Helen Mar"--Horrors of Steam!--A Bivouac--The + Dragoon Corps--Military {xii} Courtesy--"Starved Rock"--The + Legend--Remains--Shells--Intrenchments--Music--The Moonlight + Serenade--A Reminiscence 132 + + +XI + + Delay--"A Horse!"--Early French Immigration in the West--The + Villages of the Wilderness--St. Louis--Venerable Aspect--Site + of the City--A French Village City--South St. Louis--The Old + Chateaux--The Founding of the City--The Footprints in the Rock-- + The First House--Name of City--Decease of the Founders--Early + Annals--Administration of St. Ange--The Common Field--Cession + and Recession--"_L'Annee du Grand Coup_"--"_L'Annee des Grandes + Eaux_"--Keel-boat Commerce--The Robbers Culbert and Magilbray-- + "_L'Annee des Bateaux_"--The First Steamboat at St. Louis-- + Wonder of the Indians--Opposition to Improvement--Plan of St. + Louis--A View--Spanish Fortifications--The Ancient Mounds-- + Position--Number--Magnitude--Outlines--Arrangement--Character-- + Neglect--Moral Interest--Origin--The Argument of Analogy 142 + + +XII + + View from the "Big Mound" at St. Louis--The Sand-bar--The + Remedy--The "Floating Dry-dock"--The Western Suburbs--Country + Seats--Game--Lakes--Public Edifices--Catholic Religion-- + "Cathedral of St. Luke"--Site--Dimensions--Peal of Bells-- + Porch--The Interior--Columns--Window Transparencies--The + Effect--The Sanctuary--Galleries--Altar-piece--Altar and + Tabernacle--Chapels--Paintings--Lower Chapel--St. Louis + University--Medical School--The Chapel--Paintings--Library-- + Ponderous Volumes--Philosophical Apparatus--The Pupils 160 + + +XIII + + An Excursion of Pleasure--A fine Afternoon--Our Party--The + Bridal Pair--South St. Louis--Advantages for Manufactures-- + Quarries--Farmhouses--The "Eagle Powder-works"--Explosion-- + The Bride--A Steeple-chase--A Descent--The Arsenal--Grounds-- + Structures--Esplanade--Ordnance--Warlike Aspect--Carondelet-- + Sleepy-Hollow--River-reach {xiii}--Time Departed--Inhabitants-- + Structures--Gardens--Orchards--_Cabarets_--The Catholic + Church--Altar-piece--Paintings--Missal--Crucifix--Evergreens-- + Deaf and Dumb Asylum--Distrust of Villagers--Jefferson + Barracks--Site--Extent--Buildings--View from the Terrace--The + Burial Grounds--The Cholera--Design of the Barracks--_Corps + de Reserve_--A remarkable Cavern--Our Guide--Situation of + Cave--Entrance--Exploration--Grotesque Shapes--A Foot--Boat-- + Coffin in Stone--The Bats--_Rivière des Pères_--An Ancient + Cemetery--Antiquities--The Jesuit Settlers--Sulphur Spring-- + A Cavern--A Ruin 170 + + +XIV + + City and Country at Midsummer--Cosmorama of St. Louis--The American + Bottom--Cahokia Creek--A Pecan Grove--The Ancient Mounds--First + Group--Number--Resemblance--Magnitude--Outline--Railroad to the + Bluffs--Pittsburg--The Prairie--Landscape--The "Cantine + Mounds"--"Monk Hill"--First Impressions--Origin--The + Argument--Workmanship of Man--Reflections suggested--Our + Memory--The Craving of the Heart--The Pyramid-builders--The + Mound-builders--A hopeless Aspiration--"Keep the Soul embalmed" 180 + + +XV + + The Antiquity of Monk Mound--Primitive Magnitude--Fortifications + of the Revolution--The Ancient Population--Two Cities--Design + of the Mounds--The "Cantine Mounds"--Number--Size--Position-- + Outline--Features of Monk Mound--View from the Summit--Prairie-- + Lakes--Groves--Bluffs--Cantine Creek--St. Louis in distance-- + Neighbouring Earth-heaps--The Well--Interior of the Mound-- + The Monastery of La Trappe--Abbé Armand Rance--The Vows--A + Quotation--Reign of Terror--Immigration of the Trappists-- + Their Buildings--Their Discipline--Diet--Health--Skill--Asylum + Seminary--Worldly Charity--Palliation--A strange Spectacle 187 + + +{xiv} XVI + + Edwardsville--Site and Buildings--Land Mania--A "Down-east" + Incident--Human Nature--The first Land Speculator--Castor-oil + Manufacture--Outlines of Edwardsville--Collinsville--Route to + Alton--Sultriness--The Alton Bluffs--A Panorama--Earth-heaps-- + Indian Graves--Upper Alton--Shurtliff College--_Baptized_ + Intelligence--Knowledge not Conservative--Greece--Rome-- + France--England--The Remedy 197 + + +XVII + + The Traveller's Whereabout--The Prairie in a Mist--Sense of + Loneliness--The Backwoods Farmhouse--Structure--Outline-- + Western Roads--A New-England Emigrant--The "Barrens"--Origin + of Name--Soil--The "Sink-holes"--The Springs--Similar in + Missouri and Florida--"Fount of Rejuvenescence"--Ponce de + Leon--"Sappho's Fount"--The Prairies--First View--The Grass-- + Flowers--Island-groves--A Contrast--Prairie-farms--A Buck + and Doe--A Kentucky Pioneer--Events of Fifty Years--The + "Order Tramontane"--Expedition of Gov. Spotswood--The Change-- + A Thunderstorm on the Prairies--"A Sharer in the Tempest"-- + Discretionary Valour 207 + + +XVIII + + Morning after the Storm--The Landscape--The sprinkled Groves-- + Nature in unison with the Heart--The Impress of Design-- + Contemplation of grand Objects elevates--Nature and the Savage-- + Nature and Nature's God--Earth praises God--Indifference and + Ingratitude of Man--"All is very Good"--Influence of Scenery + upon Character--The Swiss Mountaineer--Bold Scenery most + Impressive--Freedom among the Alps--Caucasus--Himmalaya-- + _Something_ to Love--Carlinville--"Grand Menagerie"--A Scene-- + The Soil--The Inn--Macoupin Creek--Origin of Name--A Vegetable-- + An Indian Luxury--Carlinville--Its Advantages and Prospects--A + "Fourth-of-July" Oration--The thronging Multitudes--The huge + Cart--A Thunder-storm--A Log-cabin--Women and Children--Outlines + of the Cabin--The Roof and Floor--The Furniture and Dinner-pot-- + A Choice of Evils--The _Pathless_ Prairie 219 + + +{xv} XIX + + Ponce de Leon--The Fount of Youth--The "Land of Flowers"-- + Ferdinand de Soto--"_El Padre de los Aguas_"--The Canadian + Voyageurs--"_La Belle Rivière_"--Sieur La Salle--"A Terrestrial + Paradise"--Daniel Boone--"Old Kentucke"--"The Pilgrim from the + North"--Sabbath Morning--The Landscape--The Grass and + Prairie-flower--Nature at Rest--Sabbath on the Prairie--Alluvial + Aspect of the Prairies--The Soil--Lakes--Fish--The Annual + Fires--Origin--A Mode of Hunting--Captain Smith--Mungo Park-- + Hillsborough--Major-domo of the Hostelrie--His Garb and + Proportions--The Presbyterian Church--_Picturesqueness_--The + "_Luteran_ Church"--Practical Utility--The Dark Minister-- + A Mistake--The Patriotic Dutchman--A Veritable Publican-- + Prospects of Hillsborough--A Theological Seminary--Route to + Vandalia--The Political Sabbath 230 + + +XX + + The Race of Vagabonds--"Yankee Enterprise"--The Virginia + Emigrant--The Western Creeks and Bridges--An Adventure in + Botany--Unnatural Rebellion--Christian Retaliation--Vandalia-- + "First Impressions"--The Patriotic Bacchanal--The High-priest-- + A Distinction Unmerited--The Cause--Vandalia--Situation-- + Public Edifices--Square--Church--Bank--Land-office--"Illinois + Magazine"--Tardy Growth--Removal of Government--Adventures of + the First Legislators--The Northern Frontier--Magic of Sixteen + Years--Route to Carlisle--A Buck and Doe--An old Hunter-- + "Hurricane Bottom"--Night on the Prairies--The Emigrant's + Bivouac--The Prairie-grass--Carlisle--Site--Advantages-- + Growth--"Mound Farm" 238 + + +XXI + + The Love of Nature--Its Delights--The Wanderer's Reflections-- + The Magic Hour--A Sunset on the Prairies--"The Sunny Italy"-- + The Prairie Sunset--Route to Lebanon--Silver Creek--Origin of + Name--The "Looking-glass Prairie"--The Methodist Village-- + Farms--Country Seats--Maize-fields--Herds--M'Kendreean College-- + "The Seminary!"--Route to Belleville--The Force of Circumstance-- + A Contrast--Public {xvi} Buildings--A lingering Look--Route to + St. Louis--The French Village--The Coal Bluffs--Discovery of + Coal--St. Clair County--Home of Clouds--Realm of Thunder--San + Louis 248 + + +XXII + + Single Blessedness--Text and Comment--_En Route_--North St. + Louis--A Delightful Drive--A Delightful Farm-cottage--The + Catholic University--A Stately Villa--Belle Fontaine--A Town + plat--A View of the Confluence--The _Human Tooth_--The Hamlet + of Florissant--Former Name--Site--Buildings--Church--Seminary-- + _Tonish_--_Owen's Station_--Scenery upon the Route-- + _La Charbonnière_--The Missouri Bottom--The Forest-Colonnade-- + The Missouri--Its Sublimity--Indian Names--Its Turbid + Character--Cause--An Inexplicable Phenomenon--Theories-- + Navigation Dangerous--Floods of the Missouri--Alluvions-- + Sources of the Missouri and Columbia--Their Destinies--Human + Life--The Ocean of Eternity--Gates of the Rocky Mountains-- + Sublimity--A Cataract--The Main Stream--Claims stated 257 + + +{iii} XXIII + + View of St. Charles and the Missouri--The Bluffs--"A stern round + Tower"--Its Origin--The Windmill--A sunset Stroll--Rural Sights + and Sounds--The River and Forest--The Duellist's Grave--The Hour + and Scene--_Requiescat_--Reflections--Duelling--A sad Event-- + Young B----.--His Request--His Monument--"Blood Island"--Its + Scenes and Annals--A visit to "_Les Mamelles_"--The Forest-path-- + Its Obscurity--Outlines of the Bluffs--Derivation of Name-- + Position--Resemblance--The Missouri Bluffs--View from The + Mamelle--The Missouri Bottom--The Mamelle Prairie--The distant + Cliffs and Confluences--Extent of Plain--Alluvial Origin-- + Lakes--Bed of the Rivers--An ancient Deposite 268 + + +XXIV + + St. Charles--Its Origin--Peculiarities--Early Name--Spanish + Rule--Heterogeneous Population--Germans--The Wizard Spell-- + American Enterprise--Site of the Village--Prospects--The + Baltimore Settlement--Catholic Religion and Institutions-- + "St. Charles College"--The Race of Hunters--A Specimen--The + Buffalo--Indian Atrocities--The "Rangers"--Daniel Boone-- + "Too Crowded!"--The "Regulators"--Boone's Lick--His Decease-- + His Memory--The Missouri Indians--The Stoccade Fort--Adventure + of a Naturalist--Route from St. Charles--A Prairie without a + Path--Enormous Vegetation--The Cliffs--The Column of Smoke-- + Perplexity--A delightful Scene--A rare Flower--The Prairie + Flora in Spring--In Summer--In Autumn--The Traveller loiters 276 + + +{iv} XXV + + Novel Feature of the Mamelle Prairie--A Footpath--An old French + Village--Bewilderment--Mystery--A Guide--_Portage des Sioux_-- + Secluded Site--Advantages--"Common Field"--Garden-plats--A brick + Edifice--A _courteous_ Welcome--An _amiable_ Personage--History + of the Village--Origin--Earthquakes--Name--An Indian Legend-- + Teatable Talk--_Patois_ of the French Villages--An Incident!-- + A Scene!--A civil Hint--A Night of Beauty--The Flush of Dawn-- + The weltering Prairie--The Forest--The river Scene--The + Ferry-horn--Delay--Locale of Grafton--Advantages and Prospects 288 + + +XXVI + + Cave in the Grafton Cliffs--Outlines--Human Remains--_Desecration_ + of the Coopers--View from the Cave's Mouth--The Bluffs--Inclined + Planes--The Railroad--A Stone-heap--A beautiful Custom--Veneration + for the Dead--The Widow of Florida--The Canadian Mother--The + Orientals--An extensive View--The River--The Prairie--The Emigrant + Farm--The Illinois--A _tortuous_ Route--Macoupin Settlement-- + Carrolton--Outlines of a Western Village--Religious Diversity--An + agricultural Village--Whitehall--The Emigrant Family _en route_-- + A Western Village--Its rapid Growth--Fit Parallels--Manchester-- + The Scarcity of Timber not an insurmountable Obstacle-- + Substitutes--Morgan County--Prospects--Soil of the Prairies-- + Adaptation to _coarse_ Grains--Rapid Population--New-England + Immigrants--The Changes of a few Years--Environs of + Jacksonville--Buildings of "Illinois College"--The Public Square 295 + + +XXVII + + Remark of Horace Walpole--A Word from the Author--Jacksonville-- + Its rapid Advancement--Its Site--Suburbs--Public Square-- + Radiating Streets--The Congregational Church--The Pulpit--A + pleasant Incident--The "New-England of the West"--Immigrant + Colonies--"Illinois College"--The Site--Buildings--"Manual + Labour System"--The Founders--Their Success--Their Fame-- + Jacksonville--Attractions for the Northern Emigrant--New England + Character--A faithful {v} Transcript--"The Pilgrim Fathers"-- + The "Stump"--Mr. W. and his Speech--Curious Surmisings--Internal + Improvements--Route to Springfield--A "Baptist Circuit-rider"-- + An Evening Prairie-rider 305 + + +XXVIII + + The Nature of Man--Facilities for its Study--A Pilgrimage of + Observation--Dissection of Character, Physical and Moral--The + young Student--The brighter Features of Humanity--An unwitting + Episode--Our World a _Ruin_--Sunrise on the Prairies-- + Springfield--Its Location--Advantages--Structures--Society-- + Prospects--The Sangamon River--Its Navigation--Bottom-lands-- + Aged Forests--Cathedral Pomp--A splendid Phenomenon--Civic + Honours--"_Sic itur ad astra!_"--A Morning Ride--"Demands of + Appetite"--"Old Jim"--A tipsy Host--A revolting Exhibition-- + Jacob's Cattle and the Prairie-wolves--An Illinois Table-- + The Staples--A Tea Story--Poultry and Bacon--_Chicken Fixens_ + and _Common Doins_--An Object of Commiseration 315 + + +XXIX + + The Burial-ground--A _holy_ Spot--Our culpable Indifference-- + Cemeteries in our Land--A sad Reflection--The last Petition-- + Reverence for the Departed--Civilized and Savage Nations--The + last Resting-place--Worthy of Thought--A touching Expression + of the Heart--FRANKLIN--The Object of Admiration and _Love_-- + The Burial-ground of Decatur--The dying Emigrant--The Spirit's + Sympathy--A soothing Reflection to Friends--The "Grand Prairie"-- + The "Lost Rocks"--Decatur--Site and Prospects--A sunset Scene-- + The Prairie by Moonlight--The Log-cabin--The Exotic of the + Prairie--The Heart--The Thank-offering--The Pre-emption Right-- + The Mormonites--Their Customs--Millennial Anticipations--The + Angelic Visitant--The _dénouément_--The Miracle!--The System + of "New Light"--Its Rise and Fall--Aberrations of the Mind-- + A melancholy Reflection--Absurdity of Mormonism 325 + + +XXX + + A wild Night--An Illusion--Sleeplessness--Loneliness--A + Storm-wind on the Prairies--A magnificent Scene--Beauty of + {vi} the lesser Prairies--Nature's _chef d'oeuvre_--Loveliness + lost in Grandeur--Waves of the Prairie--Ravines--Light and + Shade--"Alone, alone, all, all alone!"--Origin of the Prairie-- + Argument for _Natural_ Origin--Similar Plains--Derivation of + "_Prairie_"--Absence of Trees accounted for--The _Diluvial_ + Origin--Prairie Phenomena explained--The Autumnal Fires--An + Exception--The Prairie _sui generis_--No Identity with other + Plains--A Bed of the Ocean--A new Hypothesis--Extent of + Prairie-surface--Characteristic Carelessness--Hunger and + Thirst--A tedious Jaunt--Horrible Suggestions!--Land ho!-- + A Log-cabin--Hog and Honey 338 + + +XXXI + + Cis-atlantic Character--Avarice--Curiosity--A grand Propellant-- + A Concomitant and Element of Mental Vigour--An Anglo-American + Characteristic--Inspection and Supervision--"Uncle Bill"--The + Quintessence of Inquisitiveness--A Fault "on Virtue's Side"-- + The People of Illinois--A Hunting Ramble--A Shot--_Tempis + fugit_--Shelbyville--Dame Justice _in Terrorem_--A Sulphur + Spring--The Inn Register--Chill Atmosphere of the Forest-- + Contrast on the Prairie--The "Green-head" Prairie-fly--Effect + upon a Horse--Numerous in '35--The "Horse-guard"--The _Modus + Bellandi_--_Cold Spring_--A _presuming_ Host--Musty Politics-- + The Robin Redbreast--Ornithology of the West--The Turtle-dove-- + Pathos of her Note--Paley's Remark--Eloquence of the + Forest-bird--A Mormonite, _Zion_ward--A forensic Confabulation-- + Mormonism Developed--The seduced Pedagogue--_Mount Zion_ Stock-- + The Grand Tabernacle--Smith and Rigdom--The Bank--The Temple-- + The School--Appearance of Smith--Of Rigdom--Their Disciples-- + The National Road--Its Progress--Structure--_Terminus_--Its + enormous Character--A Contrast--"Shooting a Beeve"--The + Regulations--Salem--A New-England Seaport--The Location--The + Village Singing-school--_The Major_ 348 + + +XXXII + + Rest after Exertion--A Purpose--"Mine Ease in mine Inn"-- + The "Thread of Discourse"--A Thunder-gust--Its Approach and + Departure--A Bolt--A rifted Elm--An impressive {vii} Scene-- + Gray's _Bard_--Mount Vernon--Courthouse--Site--Medicinal + Water--A misty Morning--A _blind_ Route--"Muddy Prairie"-- + Wild Turkeys--Something Diabolical!--The _direct_ Route-- + A vexatious Incident--The unerring Guide--A _Tug_ for a + _Fixen_--An evening Ride--Pinkneyville--Outlines and + Requisites--The blood-red Jail--The _Traveller's Inn_-- + "'Tis true, and Pity 'tis"--A "Soul in Purgatory"--An + _unutterable_ Ill--_Incomparable_--An unpitied and + unenviable Situation--A laughable Bewilderment--Host and + Hostess--The Mischief of a Smile--A Retaliation 362 + + + + +THE FAR WEST + + + + +[PART I] + + + + +I + + "I do remember me, that, in my youth, + When I was wandering--" + MANFRED. + + +It was a bright morning in the early days of "leafy June." Many a +month had seen me a wanderer from distant New-England; and now I found +myself "once more upon the waters," embarked for a pilgrimage over the +broad prairie-plains of the sunset West. A drizzly, miserable rain had +for some days been hovering, with proverbial pertinacity, over the +devoted "City of the Falls," and still, at intervals, came lazily +pattering down from the sunlighted clouds, reminding one of a hoiden +girl smiling through a shower of April tear-drops, while the quay +continued to exhibit all that wild uproar and tumult, "confusion worse +confounded," which characterizes the steamboat commerce of the Western +Valley. The landing at the time was thronged with steamers, and yet +the incessant "boom, boom, boom," of the high-pressure engines, the +shrill hiss of scalding steam, and the fitful port-song of the negro +firemen rising ever and anon upon the breeze, gave notice of a +constant {14} augmentation to the number. Some, too, were getting +under way, and their lower _guards_ were thronged by emigrants with +their household and agricultural utensils. Drays were rattling hither +and thither over the rough pavement; Irish porters were cracking their +whips and roaring forth alternate staves of blasphemy and song; clerks +hurrying to and fro, with fluttering note-books, in all the fancied +dignity of "brief authority;" hackney-coaches dashing down to the +water's edge, apparently with no motive to the nervous man but noise; +while at intervals, as if to fill up the pauses of the Babel, some +incontinent steamer would hurl forth from the valves of her +overcharged boilers one of those deafening, terrible blasts, echoing +and re-echoing along the river-banks, and streets, and among the lofty +buildings, till the very welkin rang again. + +To one who has never visited the public wharves of the great cities of +the West, it is no trivial task to convey an adequate idea of the +spectacle they present. The commerce of the Eastern seaports and that +of the Western Valley are utterly dissimilar; not more in the staples +of intercourse than in the mode in which it is conducted; and, were +one desirous of exhibiting to a friend from the Atlantic shore a +picture of the prominent features which characterize commercial +proceedings upon the Western waters, or, indeed, of Western character +in its general outline, at a _coup d'oeil_, he could do no better +than to place him in the wild uproar of the steamboat quay. Amid the +"crowd, the hum, {15} the shock" of such a scene stands out Western +peculiarity in all its stern proportion. + +Steamers on the great waters of the West are well known to indulge no +violently conscientious scruples upon the subject of punctuality, and +a solitary exception at our behest, or in our humble behalf, was, to +be sure, not an event to be counted on. "There's dignity in being +waited for;" hour after hour, therefore, still found us and left us +amid the untold scenes and sounds of the public landing. It is true, +and to the unending honour of all concerned be it recorded, very true +it is our doughty steamer ever and anon would puff and blow like a +porpoise or a narwhal; and then would she swelter from every pore and +quiver in every limb with the ponderous labouring of her huge +enginery, and the steam would shrilly whistle and shriek like a spirit +in its confinement, till at length she united her whirlwind voice to +the general roar around; and all this indicated, indubitably, an +intention to be off and away; but a knowing one was he who could +determine the _when_. + +Among the causes of our wearisome detention was one of a nature too +melancholy, too painfully interesting lightly to be alluded to. +Endeavouring to while away the tedium of delay, I was pacing leisurely +back and forth upon the _guard_, surveying the lovely scenery of the +opposite shore, and the neat little houses of the village sprinkled +upon the plain beyond, when a wild, piercing shriek struck upon my +ear. I was hurrying immediately forward to the spot whence it seemed +to proceed, {16} when I was intercepted by some of our boat's crew +bearing a mangled body. It was that of our second engineer, a fine, +laughing young fellow, who had been terribly injured by becoming +entangled with the flywheel of the machinery while in motion. He was +laid upon the passage floor. I stood at his head; and never, I think, +shall I forget those convulsed and agonized features. His countenance +was ghastly and livid; beaded globules of cold sweat started out +incessantly upon his pale brow; and, in the paroxysms of pain, his +dark eye would flash, his nostril dilate, and his lips quiver so as to +expose the teeth gnashing in a fearful manner; while a muttered +execration, dying away from exhaustion, caused us all to shudder. And +then that wild despairing roll of the eyeball in its socket as the +miserable man would glance hurriedly around upon the countenances of +the bystanders, imploring them, in utter helplessness, to lend him +relief. Ah! it is a fearful thing to look upon these strivings of +humanity in the iron grasp of a power it may in vain resist! From the +quantity of blood thrown off, the oppressive fulness of the chest, and +the difficult respiration, some serious pulmonary injury had evidently +been sustained; while a splintered clavicle and limbs shockingly +shattered racked the poor sufferer with anguish inexpressible. It was +evident he believed himself seriously injured, for at times he would +fling out his arms, beseeching those around him to "hold him back," as +if even then he perceived the icy grasp of the death angel creeping +over his frame. + +{17} Perhaps I have devoted more words to the detail of this +melancholy incident than would otherwise have been the case, on +account of the interest which some circumstances in the sufferer's +history, subsequently received from the captain of our steamer, +inspired. + +"Frank, poor fellow," said the captain, "was a native of Ohio, the son +of a lone woman, a widow. He was all her hope, and to his exertions +she was indebted for a humble support." + +Here, then, were circumstances to touch the sympathies of any heart +possessed of but a tithe of the nobleness of our nature; and I could +not but reflect, as they were recounted, how like the breath of +desolation the first intelligence of her son's fearful end must sweep +over the spirit of this lonely widow; for, like the wretched +Constance, she can "never, never behold him more."[3] + + "Her life, her joy, her food, her all the world! + Her widow-comfort, and her sorrow's cure!" + +While indulging in these sad reflections a gay burst of music arrested +my attention; and, looking up, I perceived the packet-boat "Lady +Marshall" dropping from her mooring at the quay, her decks swarming +with passengers, and under high press of steam, holding her bold +course against the current, while the merry dashing of the wheels, +mingling with the wild clang of martial music, imparted an air almost +of romance to the scene. How strangely did this contrast with that +misery from which my eye had just turned! + +There are few objects more truly grand--I had {18} almost said +sublime--than a powerful steamer struggling triumphantly with the +rapids of the Western waters. The scene has in it a something of that +power which we feel upon us in viewing a ship under full sail; and, in +some respects, there is more of the sublime in the humbler triumph of +man over the elements than in that more vast. Sublimity is a result, +not merely of massive, extended, unmeasured greatness, but oftener, +and far more impressively, does the sentiment arise from a +_combination_ of vast and powerful objects. The mighty stream rolling +its volumed floods through half a continent, and hurrying onward to +mingle its full tide with the "Father of Waters," is truly sublime; +its resistless power is sublime; the memory of its by-gone scenes, and +the venerable moss-grown forests on its banks, are sublime; and, +lastly, the noble fabric of man's workmanship struggling and groaning +in convulsed, triumphant effort to overcome the resistance offered, +completes a picture which demands not the heaving ocean-waste and the +"oak leviathan" to embellish. + +It was not until the afternoon was far advanced that we found +ourselves fairly embarked. A rapid freshet had within a few hours +swollen the tranquil Ohio far beyond its ordinary volume and velocity, +and its turbid waters were rolling onward between the green banks, +bearing on their bosom all the varied spoils of their mountain-home, +and of the rich region through which they had been flowing. The finest +site from which to view the city we found to be the channel of the +Falls upon the Indiana side of the stream, called the _Indian_ {19} +chute, to distinguish it from two others, called the _Middle_ chute +and the _Kentucky_ chute. The prospect from this point is noble, +though the uniformity of the structures, the fewness of the spires, +the unimposing character of the public edifices, and the depression of +the site upon which the city stands, give to it a monotonous, perhaps +a lifeless aspect to the stranger. + +It was in the year 1778 that a settlement was first commenced upon the +spot on which the fair city of Louisville now stands.[4] In the early +spring of that year, General George Rodgers Clarke, under authority of +the State of Virginia, descended the Ohio with several hundred men, +with the design of reducing the military posts of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, +and Fort Vincent, then held by British troops. Disembarking upon Corn +Island at the Falls of the Ohio, opposite the present city, land +sufficient for the support of six families, which were left, was +cleared and planted with _corn_. From this circumstance the island +received a name which it yet retains. General Clarke proceeded upon +his expedition, and, in the autumn returning successful, the emigrants +were removed to the main land, and a settlement was commenced where +Louisville now stands. During the few succeeding years, other families +from Virginia settled upon the spot, and in the spring of 1780 seven +stations were formed upon Beargrass Creek,[5] which here empties into +the Mississippi, and Louisville commenced its march to its present +importance. + +The view of the city from the Falls, as I have remarked, is not at all +imposing; the view of the {20} Falls from the city, on the contrary, +is one of beauty and romance. They are occasioned by a parapet of +limestone extending quite across the stream, which is here about one +mile in width; and when the water is low the whole chain sparkles with +bubbling foam-bells. When the stream is full the descent is hardly +perceptible but for the increased rapidity of the current, which +varies from ten to fourteen miles an hour.[6] Owing to the height of +the freshet, this was the case at the time when we descended them, and +there was a wild air of romance about the dark rushing waters: and the +green woodlands upon either shore, overshadowed as they were by the +shifting light and shade of the flitting clouds, cast over the scene +a bewitching fascination. "_Corn Island_," with its legendary +associations, rearing its dense clump of foliage as from the depths of +the stream, was not the least beautiful object of the panorama; while +the receding city, with its smoky roofs, its bustling quay, and the +glitter and animation of an extended line of steamers, was alone +necessary to fill up a scene for a limner.[7] And our steamer swept +onward {21} over the rapids, and threaded their maze of beautiful +islands, and passed along the little villages at their foot and the +splendid steamers along their shore, till twilight had faded, and the +dusky mantle of departed day was flung over forest and stream. + +_Ohio River._ + + + + +II + + "How beautiful is this visible world! + How glorious in its action and itself!" + MANFRED. + + "The woods--oh! solemn are the boundless woods + Of the great Western World when day declines, + And louder sounds the roll of distant floods." + HEMANS. + + +Long before the dawn on the morning succeeding our departure we were +roused from our rest by the hissing of steam and the rattling of +machinery as our boat moved slowly out from beneath the high banks and +lofty sycamores of the river-side, where she had in safety been moored +for the night, to resume her course. Withdrawing the curtain from the +little rectangular window of my stateroom, the dark shadow of the +forest was slumbering in calm magnificence upon the waters; and +glancing upward my eye, the stars were beaming out in silvery +brightness; while all along the eastern horizon, where + + "The gray coursers of the morn + Beat up the light with their bright silver hoofs + And drive it through the sky," + +{22} rested a broad, low zone of clear heaven, proclaiming the coming +of a glorious dawn. The hated clang of the bell-boy was soon after +heard resounding far and wide in querulous and deafening clamour +throughout the cabins, vexing the dull ear of every drowsy man in the +terrible language of Macbeth's evil conscience, "sleep no more!" In a +very desperation of self-defence I arose. The mists of night had not +yet wholly dispersed, and the rack and fog floated quietly upon the +placid bosom of the stream, or ascended in ragged masses from the +dense foliage upon its banks. All this melted gently away like "the +baseless fabric of a vision," and "the beauteous eye of day" burst +forth in splendour, lighting up a scene of unrivalled loveliness. + +Much, very much has been written of "the beautiful Ohio;" the pens of +an hundred tourists have sketched its quiet waters and its venerable +groves; but there is in its noble scenery an ever salient freshness, +which no description, however varied, can exhaust; new beauties leap +forth to the eye of the man of sensibility, and even an humble pen may +not fail to array them in the drapery of their own loveliness. There +are in this beautiful stream features peculiar to itself, which +distinguish it from every other that we have seen or of which we have +read; features which render it truly and emphatically _sui generis_. +It is not "the blue-rushing of the arrowy Rhone," with castled crags +and frowning battlements; it is not the dark-rolling Danube, shadowy +with the legend of departed time, upon whose banks armies have met and +battled; it is not {23} the lordly Hudson, roaming in beauty through +the ever-varying romance of the Catskill Highlands; nor is it the +gentle wave of the soft-flowing Connecticut, seeming almost to sleep +as it glides through the calm, "happy valley" of New-England: but it +is that noble stream, bounding forth, like a young warrior of the +wilderness, in all the joyance of early vigour, from the wild +twin-torrents of the hills; rolling onward through a section of +country the glory of a new world, and over the wooded heights of whose +banks has rushed full many a crimson tide of Indian massacre. Ohio,[8] +"_The River of Blood_," was its fearfully significant name from the +aboriginal native; _La Belle Rivière_ was its euphonious distinction +from the simple Canadian voyageur, whose light pirogue first glided on +its blue bosom. "The Beautiful River!"--it is no misnomer--from its +earliest commencement to the broad _embouchure_ into the turbid +floods of the Mississippi, it unites every combination of scenic +loveliness which even the poet's sublimated fancy could demand.[9] Now +it sweeps along beneath its lofty bluffs in the conscious grandeur of +resistless might; and then its clear, transparent waters glide in +undulating ripples over the shelly bottoms and among the pebbly heaps +of the white-drifted sand-bars, or in the calm magnificence of their +eternal wandering, + + "To the gentle woods all night + Sing they a sleepy tune." + +From either shore streams of singular beauty and euphonious names come +pouring in their tribute {24} through the deep foliage of the fertile +bottoms; while the swelling, volumed outlines of the banks, piled up +with ponderous verdure rolling and heaving in the river-breeze like +life, recur in such grandeur and softness, and such ever-varying +combinations of beauty, as to destroy every approach to monotonous +effect. From the source of the Ohio to its outlet its waters imbosom +more than an hundred islands, some of such matchless loveliness that +it is worthy of remark that such slight allusion has been made to them +in the numerous pencillings of Ohio scenery. In the fresh, early +summertime, when the deep green of vegetation is in its luxuriance, +they surely constitute the most striking feature of the river. Most of +them are densely wooded to the water's edge; and the wild vines and +underbrush suspended lightly over the waters are mirrored in their +bosom or swept by the current into attitudes most graceful and +picturesque. In some of those stretched-out, endless reaches which are +constantly recurring, they seem bursting up like beautiful _bouquets_ +of sprinkled evergreens from the placid stream; rounded and swelling, +as if by the teachings of art, on the blue bosom of the waters. A +cluster of these "isles of light" I well remember, which opened upon +us the eve of the second day of our passage. Two of the group were +exceedingly small, mere points of a deeper shade in the reflecting +azure; while the third, lying between the former, stretched itself far +away in a narrow, well-defined strip of foliage, like a curving gash +in the surface, parallel to the {25} shore; and over the lengthened +vista of the waters gliding between, the giant branches bowed +themselves, and wove their mingled verdure into an immense Gothic +arch, seemingly of interminable extent, but closed at last by a single +speck of crimson skylight beyond. Throughout its whole course the Ohio +is fringed with wooded bluffs; now towering in sublime majesty +hundreds of feet from the bed of the rolling stream, and anon sweeping +inland for miles, and rearing up those eminences so singularly +beautiful, appropriately termed "Ohio hills," while their broad +alluvial plains in the interval betray, by their enormous vegetation, +a fertility exhaustless and unrivalled. Here and there along the green +bluffs is caught a glimpse of the emigrant's low log cabin peeping out +to the eye from the dark foliage, sometimes when miles in the +distance; while the rich maize-fields of the bottoms, the girdled +forest-trees and the lowing kine betray the advance of civilized +existence. But if the scenes of the Ohio are beautiful beneath the +broad glare of the morning sunlight, what shall sketch their +lineaments when the coarser etchings of the picture are mellowed down +by the balmy effulgence of the midnight moon of summer! When her +floods of light are streaming far and wide along the magnificent +forest-tops! When all is still--still! and sky, and earth, and wood, +and stream are hushed as a spirit's breathing! When thought is almost +audible, and memory is busy with the past! When the distant bluffs, +bathed in molten silver, gleam like beacon-lights, and the far-off +vistas of the {26} meandering waters are flashing with the sheen of +their ripples! When you glide through the endless maze, and the bright +islets shift, and vary, and pass away in succession like pictures of +the kaleidoscope before your eye! When imagination is awake and +flinging forth her airy fictions, bodies things unseen, and clothes +reality in loveliness not of earth! When a scene like this is +developed, what shall adequately depict it? Not the pen. + +Such, such is the beautiful Ohio in the soft days of early summer; and +though hackneyed may be the theme of its loveliness, yet, as the dying +glories of a Western sunset flung over the landscape the mellow +tenderness of its parting smile, "fading, still fading, as the day was +declining," till night's dusky mantle had wrapped the "woods on shore" +and the quiet stream from the eye, I could not, even at the hazard of +triteness, resist an inclination to fling upon the sheet a few hurried +lineaments of Nature's beautiful creations. + +There is not a stream upon the continent which, for the same distance, +rolls onward so calmly, and smoothly, and peacefully as the Ohio. +Danger rarely visits its tranquil bosom, except from the storms of +heaven or the reckless folly of man, and hardly a river in the world +can vie with it in safety, utility, or beauty. Though subject to rapid +and great elevations and depressions, its current is generally +uniform, never furious. The forest-trees which skirt its banks are the +largest in North America, while the variety is endless; several +sycamores were pointed out to us upon the shores from thirty to fifty +feet in circumference. Its alluvial {27} bottoms are broad, deep, and +exhaustlessly fertile; its bluffs are often from three to four hundred +feet in height; its breadth varies from one mile to three, and its +navigation, since the improvements commenced, under the authority of +Congress, by the enterprising Shreve, has become safe and easy.[10] +The classification of obstructions is the following: _snags_, trees +anchored by their roots; fragments of trees of various forms and +magnitude; _wreck-heaps_, consisting of several of these stumps, and +logs, and branches of trees lodged in one place; _rocks_, which have +rolled from the cliffs, and varying from ten to one hundred cubic feet +in size; and _sunken boats_, principally flat-boats laden with coal. +The last remains one of the most serious obstacles to the navigation +of the Ohio. Many steamers have been damaged by striking the wrecks of +the _Baltimore_, the _Roanoke_, the _William Hulburt_,[11] and other +craft, which were themselves snagged; while keel and flat-boats +without number have been lost from the same cause.[12] Several +thousands of the obstacles mentioned have been removed since +improvements were commenced, and accidents from this cause are now +less frequent. Some of the snags torn up from the bed of the stream, +where they have probably for ages been buried, are said to have +exceeded a diameter of six feet at the root, and were upward of an +hundred feet in length. The removal of these obstructions on the Ohio +presents a difficulty and expense not encountered upon the +Mississippi. In the latter stream, the root of the snag, when +eradicated, is deposited in some deep {28} pool or bayou along the +banks, and immediately imbeds itself in alluvial deposite; but on the +Ohio, owing to the nature of its banks in most of its course, there is +no opportunity for such a disposal, and the boatmen are forced to +blast the logs with gunpowder to prevent them from again forming +obstructions. The cutting down and clearing away of all leaning and +falling trees from the banks constitutes an essential feature in the +scheme of improvement; since the facts are well ascertained that trees +seldom plant themselves far from the spot where they fall; and that, +when once under the power of the current, they seldom anchor +themselves and form snags. The policy of removing the leaning and +fallen trees is, therefore, palpable, since, when this is once +thoroughly accomplished, no material for subsequent formation can +exist. The construction of stone dams, by which to concentrate into a +single channel all the waters of the river, where they are divided by +islands, or from other causes are spread over a broad extent, is +another operation now in execution. The dams at "Brown's Island,"[13] +the shoalest point on the Ohio, have been so eminently successful as +fully to establish the efficiency of the plan. Several other works of +a similar character are proposed; a full survey of the stream, +hydrographical and topographical, is recommended; and, when all +improvements are completed, it is believed that the navigation of the +"beautiful Ohio" will answer every purpose of commerce and the +traveller, from its source to its mouth, at the lowest stages of the +water. + +_Ohio River._ + + + + +III + + "The sure traveller, + Though he alight sometimes, still goeth on." + HERBERT. + + "A RACE-- + Now like autumnal leaves before the blast + Wide scattered." + SPRAGUE. + + +Thump, thump, crash! One hour longer, and I was at length completely +roused from a troublous slumber by our boat coming to a dead stop. +Casting a glance from the window, the bright flashing of moonlight +showed the whole surface of the stream covered with drift-wood, and, +on inquiry, I learned that the branches of an enormous oak, some sixty +feet in length, had become entangled with one of the paddle-wheels of +our steamer, and forbade all advance. + +We were soon once more in motion; the morning mists were dispersing, +the sun rose up behind the forests, and his bright beams danced +lightly over the gliding waters. We passed many pleasant little +villages along the banks, and it was delightful to remove from the +noise, and heat, and confusion below to the lofty _hurricane deck_, +and lounge away hour after hour in gazing upon the varied and +beautiful scenes which presented themselves in constant succession to +the eye. Now we were gliding quietly on through the long island {30} +chutes, where the daylight was dim, and the enormous forest-trees +bowed themselves over us, and echoed from their still recesses the +roar of our steam-pipe; then we were sweeping rapidly over the broad +reaches of the stream, miles in extent; again we were winding through +the mazy labyrinth of islets which fleckered the placid surface of the +stream, and from time to time we passed the lonely cabin of the +emigrant beneath the venerable and aged sycamores. Here and there, as +we glided on, we met some relic of those ancient and primitive species +of river-craft which once assumed ascendency over the waters of the +West, but which are now superseded by steam, and are of too infrequent +occurrence not to be objects of peculiar interest. In the early era of +the navigation of the Ohio, the species of craft in use were +numberless, and many of them of a most whimsical and amusing +description. The first was the barge, sometimes of an hundred tons' +burden, which required twenty men to force it up against the current a +distance of six or seven miles a day; next the keel-boat, of smaller +size and lighter structure, yet in use for the purposes of inland +commerce; then the Kentucky flat, or broad-horn of the emigrant; the +enormous ark, in magnitude and proportion approximating to that of the +patriarch; the fairy pirogue of the French voyageur; the birch caïque +of the Indian, and log skiffs, gondolas, and dug-outs of the pioneer +without name or number.[14] But since the introduction of steam upon +the Western waters, most of these unique and primitive contrivances +{31} have disappeared; and with them, too, has gone that singular race +of men who were their navigators. Most of the younger of the settlers, +at this early period of the country, devoted themselves to this +profession. Nor is there any wonder that the mode of life pursued by +these boatmen should have presented irresistible seductions to the +young people along the banks. Fancy one of these huge boats dropping +lazily along with the current past their cabins on a balmy morning in +June. Picture to your imagination the gorgeous foliage; the soft, +delicious temperature of the atmosphere; the deep azure of the sky; +the fertile alluvion, with its stupendous forests and rivers; the +romantic bluffs sleeping mistily in blue distance; the clear waters +rolling calmly adown, with the woodlands outlined in shadow on the +surface; the boat floating leisurely onward, its heterogeneous crew of +all ages dancing to the violin upon the deck, flinging out their merry +salutations among the settlers, who come down to the water's edge to +see the pageant pass, until, at length, it disappears behind a point +of wood, and the boatman's bugle strikes up its note, dying in +distance over the waters; fancy a scene like this, and the wild +bugle-notes echoing and re-echoing along the bluffs and forest shades +of the beautiful Ohio, and decide whether it must not have possessed a +charm of fascination resistless to the youthful mind in these lonely +solitudes. No wonder that the severe toils of agricultural life, in +view of such scenes, should have become tasteless and irksome.[15] The +lives of these {32} boatmen were lawless and dissolute to a proverb. +They frequently stopped at the villages along their course, and passed +the night in scenes of wild revelry and merriment. Their occupation, +more than any other, subjected them to toil, and exposure, and +privation; and, more than any other, it indulged them, for days in +succession, with leisure, and ease, and indolent gratification. +Descending the stream, they floated quietly along without an effort, +but in ascending against the powerful current their life was an +uninterrupted series of toil. The boat, we are told, was propelled by +poles, against which the shoulder was placed and the whole strength +applied; their bodies were naked to the waist, for enjoying the +river-breeze and for moving with facility; and, after the labour of +the day, they swallowed their whiskey and supper, and throwing +themselves upon the deck of the boat, with no other canopy than the +heavens, slumbered soundly on till the morning. Their slang was +peculiar to the race, their humour and power of retort was remarkable, +and in their frequent battles with the squatters or with their +fellows, their nerve and courage were unflinching. + +It was in the year 1811 that the steam-engine commenced its giant +labours in the Valley of the West, and the first vessel propelled by +its agency glided along the soft-flowing wave of the beautiful +river.[16] Many events, we are told, united to render this year a most +remarkable era in the annals of Western history.[17] The +spring-freshet of the rivers buried the whole valley from Pittsburgh +to New-Orleans {33} in a flood; and when the waters subsided +unparalleled sickness and mortality ensued. A mysterious spirit of +restlessness possessed the denizens of the Northern forests, and in +myriads they migrated towards the South and West. The magnificent +comet of the year, seeming, indeed, to verify the terrors of +superstition, and to "shake from its horrid hair pestilence and war," +all that summer was beheld blazing along the midnight sky, and +shedding its lurid twilight over forest and stream; and when the +leaves of autumn began to rustle to the ground, the whole vast Valley +of the Mississippi rocked and vibrated in earthquake-convulsion! +forests bowed their heads; islands disappeared from their sites, and +new one's rose; immense lakes and hills were formed; the graveyard +gave up its sheeted and ghastly tenants; huge relics of the mastodon +and megalonyx, which for ages had slumbered in the bosom of earth, +were heaved up to the sunlight; the blue lightning streamed and the +thunder muttered along the leaden sky, and, amid all the elemental +war, the mighty current of the "Father of Waters" for hours rolled +back its heaped-up floods towards its source! All this was the +prologue to that mighty drama of _Change_ which, from that period to +the present, has been sweeping over the Western Valley; it was the +fearful welcome-home to that all-powerful agent which has +revolutionized the character of half a continent; for at that epoch +of wonders, and amid them all, the first steamboat was seen descending +the great rivers, and the awe-struck Indian {34} on the banks beheld +the _Pinelore_ flying through the troubled waters.[18] The rise and +progress of the steam-engine is without a parallel in the history of +modern improvement. Fifty years ago, and the prophetic declaration of +Darwin was pardoned only as the enthusiasm of poetry; it is now little +more than the detail of reality: + + "Soon shall thy arm, unconquer'd steam, afar + Drag the slow barge or drive the rapid car; + Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear + The flying chariot through the fields of air; + Fair crews triumphant, leaning from above, + Shall wave their fluttering kerchiefs as they move, + Or warrior bands alarm the gaping crowd, + And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud."[19] + +The steam-engine, second only to the press in power, has in a few +years anticipated results throughout the New World which centuries, in +the ordinary course of cause and event, would have failed to produce. +The dullest forester, even the cold, phlegmatic native of the +wilderness, gazes upon its display of beautiful mechanism, its +majestic march upon its element, and its sublimity of power, with +astonishment and admiration. + +Return we to the incidents of our passage. During the morning of our +third day upon the Ohio we {35} passed, among others, the villages of +_Rome_, _Troy_, and Rockport.[20] The latter is the most considerable +place of the three, notwithstanding _imposing_ titles. It is situated +upon a green romantic spot, the summit of a precipitous pile of rocks +some hundred feet in height, from which sweeps off a level region of +country in the rear. Here terminates that series of beautiful bluffs +commencing at the confluence of the mountain-streams, and of which so +much has been said. A new geological formation commences of a bolder +character than any before; and the face of the country gradually +assumes those features which are found near the mouth of the river. +Passing Green River with its emerald waters,[21] its "Diamond +Island,"[22] the largest in the Ohio, and said to be _haunted_, and +very many thriving villages, among which was Hendersonville,[23] for +some time the residence of Audubon,[24] the ornithologist, we found +ourselves near midday at the mouth of the smiling Wabash, its high +bluffs crowned with groves of the walnut and pecan, the _carya +olivoeformis_ of Nuttal, and its deep-died surface reflecting the +yet deeper tints of its verdure-clad banks, as the far-winding stream +gradually opened upon the eye, and then retreated in the distance. The +confluence of the streams is at a beautiful angle; and, on observing +the scene, the traveller will remark that the forests upon one bank +are superior in magnitude to those on the other, though of the same +species. The appearance is somewhat singular, and the fact is to be +accounted for only from the reason that the soil {36} differs in +alluvial character. It has been thought that no stream in the world, +for its length and magnitude, drains a more fertile and beautiful +country than the Wabash and its tributaries.[25] Emigrants are rapidly +settling its banks, and a route has been projected for uniting by +canal its waters with those of Lake Erie; surveys by authority of the +State of Indiana have been made, and incipient measures taken +preparatory to carrying the work into execution.[26] + +About one hundred miles from the mouth of the Wabash is situated the +village of New-Harmony, far famed for the singular events of which it +has been the scene.[27] It is said to be situated on a broad and +beautiful plateau overlooking the stream, surrounded by a fertile and +heavily-timbered country, and blessed with an atmosphere of health. +It was first settled in 1814 by a religious sect of Germans called +Harmonites, resembling the Moravians in their tenets, and under the +control of George Rapp, in whose name the land was purchased and held. +They were about eight hundred in number, and soon erected a number of +substantial edifices, among which was a huge House of Assemblage an +hundred feet square. They laid out their grounds with beautiful +regularity, and established a botanic garden and an extensive +greenhouse. For ten years the Harmonites continued to live and labour +in love, in the land of their adoption, when the celebrated Robert +Dale Owen,[28] of Scotland, came among them, and, at the sum of one +hundred and ninety thousand dollars, purchased the establishment +entire. His design was of rearing up a community {37} upon a plan +styled by him the "Social System." The peculiar doctrines he +inculcated were a perfect equality, moral, social, political, and +religious. He held that the promise of never-ending love upon marriage +was an absurdity; that children should become no impediment to +separation, as they were to be considered members of the community +from their second year; that the society should have no professed +religion, each individual being indulged in his own faith, and that +all temporal possessions should be held in common. On one night of +every week the whole community met and danced; and on another they +united in a concert of music, while the Sabbath was devoted to +philosophical lectures. Many distinguished individuals are said to +have written to the society inquiring respecting its principles and +prospects, and expressing the wish at a future day to unite with it +their destinies. Mr. Owen was sanguine of success. On the 4th of +July, 1826, he promulgated his celebrated declaration of mental +independence;[29] a document which, for absurdity, has never, perhaps, +been paralleled. But all was in vain. Dissension insinuated itself +among the members; one after another dropped off from the community, +until at length Mr. Owen retired in disgust, and, at a vast sacrifice, +disposed of the establishment to a wealthy Scotch gentleman by the +name of M'Clure, a former coadjutor.[30] Thus was abandoned the +far-famed _social system_, which for a time was an object of interest +and topic of remark all over the United States and even in Europe. The +Duke of Saxe Weimar passed here a {38} week in the spring of 1826, and +has given a detailed and amusing description of his visit. + +About ten miles below the mouth of the Wabash is situated the village +of Shawneetown, once a favourite dwelling-spot of the turbulent +Shawnee Indian, the tribe of Tecumseh.[31] Quite a village once stood +here; but, for some cause unknown, it was forsaken previous to its +settlement by the French, and two small mounds are the only vestige of +its existence which are now to be seen. A trading-post was established +by the early Canadian voyageurs; but, on account of the sickliness of +the site, was abandoned, and the spot was soon once more a wilderness. +In the early part of 1812 a land-office was here located, and two +years subsequent a town was laid off by authority of Congress, and +the lots sold as other public lands. Since then it has been gradually +becoming the commercial emporium of southern Illinois. + +The buildings, among which are a very conspicuous bank, courthouse, +and a land-office for the southern district of Illinois, are scattered +along upon a gently elevated bottom, swelling up from the river to the +bluffs in the rear, but sometimes submerged. From this latter cause it +has formerly been subject to disease; it is now considered healthy; is +the chief commercial port in this section of the state, and is the +principal point of debarkation for emigrants for the distant West. +Twelve miles in its rear are situated the Gallatin Salines, from which +the United States obtains some hundred thousands of bushels of salt +annually.[32] It is manufactured by {39} the evaporation of salt +water. This is said to abound over the whole extent of this region, +yielding from one eighth to one twelfth of its weight in pure muriate +of soda. In many places it bursts forth in perennial springs; but most +frequently is obtained by penetrating with the augur a depth of from +three to six hundred feet through the solid limestone substratum, when +a copper tube is introduced, and the strongly-impregnated fluid gushes +violently to the surface. In the vicinity of these salines huge +fragments of earthenware, apparently of vessels used in obtaining +salt, and bearing the impress of wickerwork, have been thrown up from +a considerable depth below the surface. Appearances of the same +character exist near Portsmouth, in the State of Ohio, and other +places. Their origin is a mystery! the race which formed them is +departed![33] + +_Ohio River._ + + + + +IV + + "Who can paint + Like Nature? Can imagination boast, + Amid its gay creations, hues like hers? + Or can it mix them with that matchless skill, + And lose them in each other, as appears + In every bud that blooms?" + THOMSON. + + "Precipitous, black, jagged rocks, + For ever shattered, and the same forever." + COLERIDGE. + + +It was near noon of the third day of our passage that we found +ourselves in the vicinity of that singular series of massive rock +formations, stretching along for miles upon the eastern bank of the +stream. The whole vast plain, extending from the Northern Lakes to the +mouth of the Ohio, and from the Alleghany slope to the boundless +prairies of the far West, is said by geologists to be supported by a +bed of horizontal limestone rock, whose deep strata have never been +completely pierced, though penetrated many hundred feet by the augur. +This limestone is hard, stratified, imbedding innumerable shells of +the terebratulæ, encrinites, orthocerites, trilobites, productus, and +other species. Throughout most of its whole extent it supports a +stratum of bituminous coal, various metals, and saline impregnations: +its constant decomposition has fertilized the soil, and its absorbent +and cavernous nature has prevented swamps from accumulating upon the +surface. Such, in general outline, is this vast limerock substratum +{41} of the Western Valley. It generally commences but a few feet +below the vegetable deposite; at other places its range is deeper, +while at intervals it rises from the surface, and frowns in +castellated grandeur over objects beneath. These huge masses of +limestone sometimes exhibit the most picturesque and remarkable forms +along the banks of the western rivers, and are penetrated in many +places by vast caverns. The region we were now approaching was a +locality of these singular formations, and for miles before reaching +it, as has been remarked, a change in scenery upon the eastern bank is +observed. Instead of the rounded wooded summits of the "Ohio hills" +sweeping beautifully away in the distance, huge, ponderous rocks, +heaped up in ragged masses, "Pelion upon Ossa," are beheld rearing +themselves abruptly from the stream, and expanding their Briarean arms +in every direction. Some of these cliffs present a uniform, jointed +surface, as if of masonry, resembling ancient edifices, and reminding +the traveller of the giant ruins of man's creations in another +hemisphere, while others appear just on the point of toppling into the +river. Among this range of crags is said to hang an _iron coffin_, +suspended, like Mohammed's, between heaven and earth. It contains the +remains of a man of singular eccentricity, who, previous to his +decease, gave orders that they should be deposited thus; and the +gloomy object at the close of the year, when the trees are stripped of +their foliage, may be perceived, it is said, high up among the rocks +from the deck of the passing {42} steamer. This story probably owes +its origin to an event of actual occurrence somewhat similar, at a +cliff called by the river-pilots "Hanging Rock."[34] It is situated in +the vicinity of "Blennerhasset's Island."[35] The first of these +singular cliffs, called "Battery Rock," stretches along the river-bank +for half a mile, presenting a uniform and perpendicular façade upward +of eighty feet in height. The appearance is striking, standing, as it +does, distinct from anything of a kindred character for miles above +and for some distance below. Passing several fine farms, which sweep +down to the water's edge, a second range of cliffs are discovered, +similar to those described in altitude and aspect; but near the base, +through the dark cypresses skirting the water, is perceived the ragged +entrance to a large cavernous fissure, penetrating the bluff, and +designated by the name of "Rock-Inn-Cave."[36] It is said to have +received this significant appellation from emigrants, who were +accustomed to tarry with their families for weeks at the place when +detained by stress of weather, stage of the river, or any other +circumstance unfavourable to their progress. + +It was near noon of a beautiful day when the necessary orders for +landing were issued to the pilot, and our boat rounded up to the low +sand-beach just below this celebrated cavern. As we strolled along the +shore beneath "the precipitous, black, jagged rocks" overhanging the +winding and broken pathway towards the entrance, we could not but +consider its situation wild and rugged enough to please the rifest +fancy. The entrance, {43} at first view, is exceedingly imposing; its +broad massive forehead beetling over the visiter for some yards before +he finds himself within. The mouth of the cavern looks out upon the +stream rushing along at the base of the cliff, and is delightfully +shaded by a cluster of cypresses, rearing aloft their huge shafts, +almost concealed in the luxuriant ivy-leaves clinging to their bark. +The entrance is formed into a semi-elliptical arch, springing boldly +to the height of forty feet from a heavy bench of rock on either side, +and eighty feet in width at the base, throwing over the whole a +massive roof of uniform concavity, verging to a point near the centre +of the cave. Here may be seen another opening of some size, through +which trickles a limpid stream, and forming an entrance to a second +chamber, said to be more extensive than that below. The extreme length +of this cavern is given by Schoolcraft[37] as one hundred and sixty +feet, the floor, the roof, and the walls gradually tapering to a +point. The rock is a secondary limestone, abounding with testacea and +petrifactions, a fine specimen of which I struck from the ledge while +the rest of our party were recording their names among the thousand +dates and inscriptions with which the walls are defaced. + +Like all other curiosities of Nature, this cavern was, by the Indian +tribes, deemed the residence of a _Manito_[38] or spirit, evil or +propitious, concerning {44} whom many a wild legend yet lives among +their simple-hearted posterity. They never pass this dwelling-place of +the divinity without discharging their guns (an ordinary mark of +respect), or making some other offering propitiatory of his favour. +These tributary acknowledgments, however, are never of much value. The +view of the stream from the left bench at the cave's mouth is most +beautiful. Immediately in front extends a large and densely-wooded +island, known by the name of the Cave, while the soft-gliding waters +flow between, furnishing a scene of natural beauty worthy an Inman's +pencil; and, if I mistake not, an engraving of the spot has been +published, a ferocious-looking personage, pistol in hand, crouched at +the entrance, eagerly watching an ascending boat. This design +originated, doubtless, in the tradition yet extant, that in the latter +part of the last century this cavern was the rendezvous of a notorious +band of freebooters which then infested the region, headed by the +celebrated Mason,[39] plundering the boats ascending from New-Orleans +and murdering their crews. From these circumstances this cave has +become the scene of a poem of much merit, called the "Outlaw," and has +suggested a spirited tale from a popular writer. Many other spots in +the vicinity were notorious, in the early part of the present century, +for the murder and robbery of travellers, whose fate long remained +enveloped in mystery. On the summit of a lofty bluff, not far from the +"Battery Rock," was pointed out to us a solitary house, with a single +chimney rising from its roof. Its {45} white walls may be viewed for +miles before reaching the place on descending the river. It was here +that the family of Sturdevant carried on their extensive operations as +counterfeiters for many years unsuspected; and on this spot, in 1821, +they expiated their crimes with their lives. A few miles below is a +place called "Ford's Ferry,"[40] where murder, robbery, forgery, and +almost every crime in the calendar were for years committed, while not +a suspicion of the truth was awakened. Ford not only escaped +unsuspected, but was esteemed a most exemplary man. Associated with +him were his son and two other individuals, named Simpson and Shouse. +They are all now gone to their account. The old man was mysteriously +shot by some person who was never discovered, but was supposed to have +been Simpson, between whom and himself a misunderstanding had arisen. +If it were so, the murderer was met by fitting retribution, for _he_ +fell in a similar manner. Shouse and the son of Ford atoned upon the +gallows their crimes in 1833. Before reaching this spot the traveller +passes a remarkable mass of limestone called "Tower Rock." It is +perpendicular, isolated, and somewhat cylindrical in outline. It is +many feet in altitude, and upon its summit tradition avers to exist +the ruins of an antique tumulus; an altar, mayhap, of the ancient +forest-sons, where + + "Garlands, ears of maize, and skins of wolf + And shaggy bear, the offerings of the tribe + Were made to the Great Spirit." + +In the vicinity of the cliff called "Tower Rock," and not far from +Hurricane Island, is said to exist a {46} remarkable cavern of +considerable extent. The cave is entered by an orifice nine feet in +width and twelve feet high; a bench of rock is then ascended a few +feet, and an aperture of the size of an ordinary door admits the +visiter into a spacious hall. In the mouth of the cavern, on the +façade of the cliff, at the altitude of twenty-five feet, are engraved +figures resembling a variety of animals, as the bear, the buffalo, and +even the lion and lioness. All this I saw nothing of, and am, of +course, no voucher for its existence; but a writer in the Port Folio, +so long since as 1816, states the fact, and, moreover, adds that the +engraving upon the rock was executed in "a masterly style."[41] + +From this spot the river stretches away in a long delightful reach, +studded with beautiful islands, among which "Hurricane Island," a +very large one, is chief.[42] Passing the compact little village of +Golconda with its neat courthouse, and the mouth of the Cumberland +River with its green island, once the rendezvous of Aaron Burr and his +chivalrous band, we next reached the town of Paducah, at the outlet of +the Tennessee.[43] This is a place of importance,[44] though deemed +unhealthy: it is said to have derived its name from a captive Indian +woman, who was here sacrificed by a band of the Pawnees after having +been assured of safety. About eight miles below Paducah are situated +the ruins of Fort Massac, once a French military post of +importance.[45] There is a singular legend respecting this fort still +popular among the inhabitants of the neighbouring region, the outlines +of which {47} are the following: The fortress was erected by the +French while securing possession of the Western Valley, and, soon +after, hostilities arising between them and the natives, the latter +contrived a stratagem, in every respect worthy the craft and subtlety +of the race, to obtain command of this stronghold. Early one morning a +body of Indians, enveloped each in a bearskin, appeared upon the +opposite bank of the Ohio. Supposing them the animal so faithfully +represented, the whole French garrison in a mass sallied incontinently +forth, anticipating rare sport, while the remnant left behind as a +guard gathered themselves upon the glacis as spectators of the scene. +Meanwhile, a large body of Indians, concealed in rear of the fort, +slipped silently from their ambush, and few were there of the French +who escaped to tell the tale of the scene that ensued. They were +_massacred_ almost to a man, and hence the name of _Massac_ to the +post. During the war of the revolution a garrison was stationed upon +the spot for some years, but the structures are now in ruins. A few +miles below is a small place consisting of a few farmhouses, called +Wilkinsonville,[46] on the site where Fort Wilkinson once stood; just +opposite, along the shore, commences the "Grand Chain" of rocks so +famous to the Ohio pilot, extending four miles. The little village of +Caledonia is here laid off among the bluffs. It has a good landing, +and is the proposed site of a marine hospital. + +It was sunset when we arrived at the confluence of the rivers. In +course of the afternoon we had been visited by a violent thunder-gust, +accompanied {48} by hail. But sunset came, and the glorious "bow of +the covenant" was hung out upon the dark bosom of the clouds, spanning +woodland and waters with its beautiful hues. And yet, though the hour +was a delightful one, the scene did not present that aspect of +vastness and sublimity which was anticipated from the celebrity of the +streams. For some miles before uniting its waters with the +Mississippi, the Ohio presents a dull and uninteresting appearance. It +is no longer the clear, sparkling stream, with bluffs and woodland +painted on its surface; the volume of its channel is greatly increased +by its union with two of its principal tributaries, and its waters are +turbid; its banks are low, inundated, and clothed with dark groves of +deciduous forest-trees, and the only sounds which issue from their +depths to greet the traveller's ear are the hoarse croakings of frogs, +or the dull monotony of countless choirs of moschetoes. Thus rolls on +the river through the dullest, dreariest, most uninviting region +imaginable, until it sweeps away in a direction nearly southeast, and +meets the venerable Father of the West advancing to its embrace. The +volume of water in each seems nearly the same; the Ohio exceeds a +little in breadth, their currents oppose to each other an equal +resistance, and the resultant of the forces is a vast lake more than +two miles in breadth, where the united waters slumber quietly and +magnificently onward for leagues in a common bed. On the right come +rolling in the turbid floods of the Mississippi; and on looking upon +it for the first time with preconceived ideas of the magnitude of the +mightiest {49} river on the globe, the spectator is always +disappointed. He considers only its breadth when compared with the +Ohio, without adverting to its vast depth. The Ohio sweeps in +majestically from the north, and its clear waters flow on for miles +without an intimate union with its turbid conqueror. The +characteristics of the two streams are distinctly marked at their +junction and long after. The banks of both are low and swampy, totally +unfit for culture or habitation. "Willow Point," which projects itself +into the confluence, presents an elevation of twenty feet; yet, in +unusual inundations, it is completely buried six feet below the +surface, and the agitated waters, rolling together their masses, form +an enormous lake. How strange it seemed, while gazing upon the view I +have attempted to delineate, now fading away beneath the summer +twilight--how very strange was the reflection that these two noble +streams, deriving their sources in the pellucid lakes and the clear +icy fountains of their highland-homes, meandering majestically through +scenes of nature and of art unsurpassed in beauty, and draining, and +irrigating, and fertilizing the loveliest valley on the globe--how +strange, that the confluence of the waters of such streams, in their +onward rolling to the deep, should take place at almost the only stage +in their course devoid entirely of interest to the eye or the fancy; +in the heart of a dreary and extended swamp, waving with the gloomy +boughs of the cypress, and enlivened by not a sound but the croaking +of bullfrogs, and the deep, surly misery note of {50} moschetoes! +Willow Point is the property of a company of individuals, who announce +it their intention to elevate the delta above the power of +inundations, and here to locate a city.[47] There are as yet, however, +but a few storehouses on the spot; and when we consider the +incalculable expense the only plan for rendering it habitable +involves, we can only deem the idea of a city here as the chimera of a +Utopian fancy. For more than twelve miles above the confluence, the +whole alluvion is annually inundated, and forbids all improvement; but +were this site an elevated one, a city might here be founded which +should command the immense commerce of these great rivers, and become +the grand central emporium of the Western Valley. + +Upon the first elevated land above the confluence stands the little +town called America. This is the proposed _terminus_ to the grand +central railroad of the Internal Improvement scheme of Illinois, +projected to pass directly through the state,[48] uniting its northern +extremity with the southern. The town is said to have been much +retarded in its advancement by the circumstance of a sand-bar +obstructing the landing. It has been contemplated to cut a basin, +extending from the Ohio to a stream called "Humphrey's Creek," which +passes through the place, and thus secure a harbour. Could this plan +be carried into execution, America would soon become a town of +importance. + +_Ohio River._ + + + + +V + + "The groves were God's first temples." + BRYANT. + + "Oh! it's hame, and it's hame, it's hame wad I be, + Hame, hame, hame, to my ain countrie." + CUNNINGHAM. + + "Those Sabbath bells, those Sabbath bells, + I hear them wake the hour of prime." + LAMB. + + "She walks the waters like a thing of life." + BYRON. + + +It was late before we had passed the confluence of the Ohio with the +dark-rolling tide of the "endless river," and the mellow gorgeousness +of summer sunset had gently yielded to the duskiness of twilight, and +that to the inky pall of night. The moon had not risen, and the +darkness became gradually so dense that doubts were entertained as to +the prudence of attempting to stem the mighty current of the +Mississippi on such a night. These, however, were overruled; and, +sweeping around the low peninsula of Cairo, our steamer met the +torrent and quivered in every limb. A convulsed, motionless struggle +ensued, in which the heavy labouring of the engine, the shrill whistle +of the safety-valve, the quick, querulous crackling of the furnaces, +the tumultuous rushing of the wheels, and the stern roar of the +scape-pipe, gave evidence of the fearful power summoned up to overcome +the flood. At length we began very slowly to ascend the stream. {52} +Our speed was about five miles an hour, and the force of the current +nearly the same, which so impedes advancement that it requires as long +to ascend from the confluence to St. Louis as to descend to the same +point from the Falls, though the distance is less than half. All night +our steamer urged herself slowly onward against the current, and the +morning found us threading a narrow channel amid a cluster of +islands, from whose dense foliage the night-mists were rising and +settling in dim confusion. Near the middle of the stream, above this +collection, lays a very large island, comprising eight or ten thousand +acres. It is called English Island;[49] is heavily timbered; huge +vines of the wild grape are leaping like living things from branch to +branch, and the wild pea flourishes all over the surface of the soil +in most luxuriant profusion. The stream here expands itself to the +breadth of four miles, and abounds with islands. + +As the morning advanced the sun burst gloriously forth from the mists; +and as I gazed with tranquillized delight upon the beautiful scenery +it unrolled, I remembered that it was the morning of the Sabbath--the +peaceful Sabbath. It is a sweet thing to pass the hours of holy time +amid the eloquent teachings of inanimate nature. It is pleasant to +yield up for a season the sober workings of reason to the warm +gushings of the heart, and to suffer the homage of the soul to go up +before the Author of its being unfettered by the chill formalities, +the bustling parade, the soulless dissembling of the unbending +courtesies of ordinary life. Amid the {53} crowded assemblage, there +is but little of that humbleness of spirit and that simple-hearted +fervour of worship which it is in man to feel when communing within +the shadowy solitudes of Nature with his God. There are moments, too, +when the soul of man is called back from the heartlessness of life, +and pours forth its emotions, gush upon gush, in all the hallowed +luxuriance of its nature; when, from the fevered turmoil of daily +existence, it retires to well up its sympathies alone beneath the +covert of a lulled and peaceful bosom; and surely such a season is the +calm, waveless hour of Sabbath sacredness. And it is a blessed +appointment that, in a world whose quietude too often is disturbed by +the untamed heavings of unholy feeling, there should yet be moments +when the agitated events of the past are forgotten, when the +apprehensions of the future are unthought of, and the generous +emotions of the heart are no more repressed. Such moments are the +crystal fount of the _oasis_, girt, indeed, by the sands and +barrenness of the desert; yet laughing forth in tinkling melody amid +its sprinkled evergreens, in all the sparkling freshness of mimic +life, to bathe the languid lip of the weary one. Such moments are the +mellow radiance of the departing sun when the trials of the day are +over; and tenderly and softly do their influences descend upon the +heart. Like the pure splendour of the star of even, how calmly does +the sacred Sabbath-time beam out from the dark, unquiet firmament of +life! 'Tis the blessed rainbow of promise and of consolation amid the +rough storms of our pilgrimage, {54} and its holy influences elicit +all the untold richness of the heart. It is a season soft as the +memorial of buried affection, mild as the melody of departed years, +pure as the prayer of feebleness from the lip of childhood, beautiful +as yon floating islet sleeping in sunset radiance on the blue evening +wave. "Gone, gone for ever!" Another Sabbath is over, and from its +gathering shades it is good to cast back a glance of reflection. + +A company of emigrants, in course of the morning, were landed from our +boat at a desolate-looking spot upon the Missouri shore; men, women, +and little ones, with slaves, household stuff, pots, kettles, dogs, +implements of husbandry, and all the paraphernalia of the backwood's +farm heaped up promiscuously in a heterogeneous mass among the +undergrowth beneath the lofty trees. A similar party from the State of +Vermont were, during our passage, landed near the mouth of the Wabash, +one of whom was a pretty, delicate female, with an infant boy in her +arms. They had been _deck-passengers_, and we had seen none of them +before; yet their situation could not but excite interest in their +welfare. Poor woman! thought I, as our boat left them gazing anxiously +after us from the inhospitable bank, little do you dream of the trials +and the privations to which your destiny conducts, and the hours of +bitter retrospection which are to come over your spirit like a blight, +as, from these cheerless solitudes, you cast back many a lingering +thought to your dear, distant home in New-England; whose very +mountain-crags and fierce storms {55} of winter, harsh and unwelcome +though they might seem to the stranger, were yet pleasant to you: + + "My native land! my native land! + Though bare and bleak thou be, + And scant and cold thy summer smile, + Thou'rt all the world to me." + +A few years, and all this will have passed away. A new home and new +ties will have sprung up in the wilderness to soothe the remembrance +of the old. This broad valley will swarm with population; the warm +breath of man will be felt upon the cheek, and his tread will be heard +at the side; the glare of civilization and the confused hum of +business will have violated these solitudes and broken in upon their +gloom, and here empire shall have planted her throne; and then, +perchance, that playful boy upon the bosom may rise to wield the +destinies of his fellows. But many a year of toil and privation must +first have passed away; and who shall record their annals? A thousand +circumstances, all unlooked for, will seize upon the feelings of the +emigrant; the harshness of strangers, the cold regard of recent +acquaintance, the absence of relatives and of friends long cherished, +the distance which separates him from his native home, and the dreary +time which must elapse between all communications of the pen. And then +the sweet chime of the Sabbath-bell of New-England, pealing out in +"angels' music"[50] on the clear mountain-air, to usher in the hours +of holy time, and to summon the soul of man to communion with its +Maker; will this be heard amid the forest solitude? and all that quiet +{56} intermingling of heart with heart which divests grief of half its +bitterness by taking from it all its loneliness? And the hour of +sickness, and of death, and of gushing tears, as they come to all, may +not be absent here; and where are the soothing consolations of +religious solemnity, and the sympathies of kindred souls, and the +unobtrusive condolence of those who alone may enter the inner temple +of the breast, where the stranger intermeddleth not? Yes, it must +be--notwithstanding the golden anticipations indulged by every humble +emigrant to this El Dorado of promise--it must be that there will +arise in his bosom, when he finds himself for the first time amid +these vast forest solitudes, attended only by his wife and children, a +feeling of unutterable loneliness and desertion. Until this moment he +has been sustained by the buoyancy of anticipated success, the +excitement of change, the enlivening influences of new and beautiful +scenes; and the effect of strange faces and strange customs has been +to divert the attention, while the farewell pressure of affection yet +has warmly lingered. All this is over now, and his spirit, left to its +own resources, sinks within him. The sacred spot of his nativity is +far, far away towards the morning sun; and there is the village church +and the village graveyard, hallowed by many a holy remembrance; there, +too, are the playmates and the scenes of his boyhood-days; the +trysting-place of youthful love and of youthful friendship, spots +around which are twined full many a tendril of his heart; and he has +turned from them all _for ever_. Henceforth he is a wanderer, and a +distant soil must {57} claim his ashes. He who, with such +reflections, yearns not for the home of his fathers, is an alien, and +no true son of New-England. + +It was yet early in the morning of our first day upon the Mississippi +that we found ourselves beneath the stately bluff upon which stands +the old village of Cape Girardeau.[51] Its site is a bold bank of the +stream, gently sloping to the water's edge, upon a substratum of +limerock. A settlement was commenced on this spot in the latter part +of the last century. Its founders were of French and German +extraction, though its structures do not betray their origin. The +great earthquakes of 1811, which vibrated through the whole length of +the Western Valley, agitated the site of this village severely; many +brick houses were shattered, chimneys thrown down, and other damage +effected, traces of the repairs of which are yet to be viewed. The +place received a shock far more severe, however, in the removal of the +seat of justice to another town in the county: but the landing is an +excellent one; iron ore and other minerals are its staples of trade, +and it is again beginning to assume a commercial character. The most +remarkable objects which struck our attention in passing this place +were several of those peculiarly novel mills put in motion by a spiral +water-wheel, acted on by the current of the river. These screw-wheels +float upon the surface parallel to the shore, rising or falling with +the water, and are connected with the gearing in the millhouse upon +the bank by a long shaft. The action of the current upon {58} the +spiral thread of the wheel within its external casing keeps it in +constant motion, which is communicated by the shaft to the machinery +of the mills. The contrivance betrays much ingenuity, and for purposes +where a _motive_ of inconsiderable power is required, may be useful; +but for driving heavy millstones or a saw, the utility is more than +problematical. + +In the vicinity of Cape Girardeau commences what is termed the +"Tyowapity Bottom," a celebrated section of country extending along +the Missouri side of the stream some thirty miles, and abounding with +a peculiar species of potter's clay, unctuous in its nature, +exceedingly pure and white, and plastic under the wheel.[52] This +stratum of clay is said to vary from one foot to ten in depth, resting +upon sandstone, and covered by limestone abounding in petrifactions. A +manufactory is in operation at Cape Girardeau, in which this substance +is the material employed. Near the northern extremity of this bottom +the waters of the Muddy River enter the Mississippi from Illinois.[53] +This stream was discovered by the early French voyageurs, and from +them received the name of _Rivière au Vase_, or _Vaseux_. It is +distinguished for the salines upon its banks, for its exhaustless beds +of bituminous coal, for the fertility of the soil, and for a +singularly-formed eminence among the bluffs of the Mississippi, a few +miles from its mouth. Its name is "_Fountain Bluff_," derived from the +circumstance that from its base gush out a number of limpid +springs.[54] It is said to measure eight miles {59} in circumference, +and to have an altitude of several hundred feet. Its western declivity +looks down upon the river, and its northern side is a precipitous +crag, while that upon the south slopes away to a fertile plain, +sprinkled with farms. + +A few miles above the Big Muddy stands out from the Missouri shore a +huge perpendicular column of limestone, of cylindrical formation, +about one hundred feet in circumference at the base, and in height one +hundred and fifty feet, called the "Grand Tower."[55] Upon its summit +rests a thin stratum of vegetable mould, supporting a shaggy crown of +rifted cedars, rocking in every blast that sweeps the stream, whose +turbid current boils, and chafes, and rages at the obstruction below. +This is the first of that celebrated range of heights upon the +Mississippi usually pointed out to the tourist, springing in isolated +masses from the river's brink upon either side, and presenting to the +eye a succession of objects singularly grotesque. There are said to +exist, at this point upon the Mississippi, indications of a huge +parapet of limestone having once extended across the stream, which +must have formed a tremendous cataract, and effectually inundated all +the alluvion above. At low stages of the water ragged shelves, which +render the navigation dangerous, are still to be seen. Among the other +cliffs along this precipitous range which have received names from the +boatmen are the "Devil's Oven," "Teatable," "Backbone," &c., which, +with the "Devil's Anvil," "Devil's Island," &c., indicate pretty +plainly the divinity most religiously propitiated {60} in these +dangerous passes.[56] The "Oven" consists of an enormous promontory +of rock, about one hundred feet from the surface of the river, with a +hemispherical orifice scooped out of its face, probably by the action, +in ages past, of the whirling waters now hurrying on below. It is +situated upon the left bank of the stream, about one mile above the +"Tower," and is visible from the river. In front rests a huge fragment +of the same rock, and in the interval stands a dwelling and a garden +spot. The "Teatable" is situated at some distance below, and the other +spots named are yet lower upon the stream. This whole region bears +palpable evidence of having been subjected, ages since, to powerful +volcanic and diluvial action; and neither the Neptunian or Vulcanian +theory can advance a superior claim. + +For a long time after entering the dangerous defile in the vicinity of +the _Grand Tower_, through which the current rushes like a racehorse, +our steamer writhed and groaned against the torrent, hardly advancing +a foot. At length, as if by a single tremendous effort, which caused +her to quiver and vibrate to her centre, an onward impetus was gained, +the boat shot forward, the rapids were overcome, and then, by chance, +commenced one of those perilous feats of rivalry, formerly, more than +at present, frequent upon the Western waters, A RACE. Directly before +us, a steamer of a large class, deeply laden, was roaring and +struggling against the torrent under her highest pressure. During our +passage we had several times passed and repassed each other, as either +boat was delayed {61} at the various woodyards along the route; but +now, as the evening came on, and we found ourselves gaining upon our +antagonist, the excitement of emulation flushed every cheek. The +passengers and crew hung clustering, in breathless interest, upon the +galleries and the boiler deck, wherever a post for advantageous view +presented; while the hissing valves, the quick, heavy stroke of the +piston, the sharp clatter of the _eccentric_, and the cool +determination of the pale engineer, as he glided like a spectre among +the fearful elements of destruction, gave evidence that the challenge +was accepted. But there was one humble individual, above all others, +whose whole soul seemed concentrated in the contest, as from time to +time, in the intervals of toil, his begrimed and working features were +caught, glaring through the lurid light of the furnaces he was +feeding. This was no less a personage than the doughty fireman of our +steamer; a long, lanky individual, with a cute cast of the eye, a +knowing tweak of the nose, and an interminable longitude of phiz. His +checkered shirt was drenched with perspiration; a huge pair of +breeches, begirdling his loins by means of a leathern belt, covered +his nether extremities, and two sinewy arms of "whipcord and bone" +held in suspension a spadelike brace of hands. During our passage, +more than once did I avail myself of an opportunity of studying the +grotesque, good-humoured visage of this _unique_ individual; and it +required no effort of fancy to imagine I viewed before me some +lingering remnant of that "horse and alligator race," now, like {62} +the poor Indian, fast fading from the West before the march of +steamboats and civilization, _videlicet_, "the Mississippi boatman." +And, on the occasion of which I speak, methought I could catch no +slight resemblance in my interesting fireman, as he flourished his +ponderous limbs, to that faithful portraiture of his majesty of the +Styx in Tooke's Pantheon! though, as touching this latter, I must +confess me of much dubiety in boyhood days, with the worthy +"gravedigger" Young, having entertained shrewd suspicions whether the +"tyrant ever sat." + +But in my zeal for the honest Charon I am forgetting the exciting +subject of the race. During my digression, the ambitious steamers have +been puffing, and sweating, and glowing in laudable effort, to say +nothing of stifled sobs said to have issued from their labouring +bosoms, until at length a grim smile of satisfaction lighting up the +rugged features of the worthy Charon, gave evidence that not in vain +he had wielded his mace or heaved his wood. A dense mist soon after +came on, and the exhausted steamers were hauled up at midnight beneath +the venerable trees upon the banks of the stream. On the first +breakings of dawn all was again in motion. But, alas! alas! in spite +of all the strivings of our valorous steamer, it soon became but too +evident that her mighty rival must prevail, as with distended jaws, +like to some huge fish, she came rushing up in our wake, as if our +annihilation were sure. But our apprehensions proved groundless; like +a civil, well-behaved rival, she speeded on, hurling forth a triple +bob-major of {63} curses at us as she passed, doubtless by way of +salvo, and disappeared behind a point. When to this circumstance is +added that a long-winded racer of a mail-boat soon after swept past us +in her onward course, and left us far in the rear, I shall be believed +when it is stated that the steamer on which we were embarked was +distinguished for anything but speed; a circumstance by none regretted +_less_ than by myself. + +_Mississippi River._ + + + + +VI + + "I linger yet with Nature." + MANFRED. + + "Onward still I press, + Follow thy windings still, yet sigh for more." + GOETHE. + + "God's my life, did you ever hear the like! + What a strange man is this!" + BEN JONSON. + + +But a very few years have passed away since the navigation of the +Mississippi was that of one of the most dangerous streams on the +globe; but, thanks to the enterprising genius of the scientific +Shreve, this may no longer with truth be said. In 1824 the first +appropriation[57] was voted by Congress for improving the navigation +of the Western rivers; and since that period thousands of snags, +sawyers, {64} planters, sand-bars, sunken rocks, and fallen trees have +been removed, until all that now remains is to prevent new obstacles +from accumulating where the old have been eradicated. For much of its +course in its lower sections, the Mississippi is now quite safe; and +as the progress of settlements advances upon its banks, the navigation +of this noble stream will doubtless become unobstructed in its whole +magnificent journey from the falls of the "Laughing Water" to the +Mexican Gulf. The indefatigable industry, the tireless perseverance, +the indomitable enterprise, and the enlarged and scientific policy of +Captain Shreve, the projector and accomplisher of the grand national +operations upon the Western rivers, can never be estimated beyond +their merit. The execution of that gigantic undertaking, the removal +of the Red River Raft, has identified his history with that of the +empire West;[58] his fame will endure so long as those magnificent +streams, with which his name is associated, shall continue to roll on +their volumed waters to the deep. + +These remarks have been suggested by scenes of constant recurrence to +the traveller on the Mississippi. The banks, the forests, the islands +all differ as much as the stream itself from those of the soft-gliding +Ohio. Instead of those dense emerald masses of billowy foliage +swelling gracefully up from the banks of "the beautiful river," those +of the Mississippi throw back a rough, ragged outline; their sands +piled with logs and uprooted trees, while heaps of wreck and +drift-wood betray the wild ravages of the stream. In the midst of {65} +the mass a single enormous sycamore often rears its ghastly limbs, +while at its foot springs gracefully up a light fringe of the pensile +willow. Sometimes, too, a huge sawyer, clinging upon the verge of the +channel, heaves up its black mass above the surface, then falls, and +again rises with the rush of the current. Against one of these sawyers +is sometimes lodged a mass of drift-wood, pressing it firmly upon the +bottom, till, by a constant accumulation, a foundation is gradually +laid and a new island is formed: this again, by throwing the water +from its course, causes a new channel, which, infringing with violence +upon the opposite bank, undermines it with its colonnade of enormous +trees, and thus new material in endless succession is afforded for +obstructions to the navigation. The deposites of alluvion along the +banks betray a similar origin of gradual accumulation by the annual +floods. In some sections of the American Bottom,[59] commencing at its +southern extremity with the Kaskaskia River, the mould, upward of +thirty feet in depth, is made up of numerous strata of earth, which +may be readily distinguished and counted by the colours. + +About twenty miles above the mouth of the Kaskaskia is situated Ste. +Genevieve, grand deposite of the lead of the celebrated ancient mines +_La Motte_, and _A'Burton_, and others, some thirty miles in the +interior, and the market which supplies all the mining district of the +vicinity.[60] It was first commenced about the year 1774 by the +original settlers of Upper Louisiana; and the Canadian {66} French, +with their descendants, constitute a large portion of its present +inhabitants. The population does not now exceed eight hundred, though +it is once said to have numbered two thousand inhabitants. Some of the +villagers are advanced in years, and among them is M. Valle, one of +the chief proprietors of _Mine la Motte_, who, though now some ninety +years of age, is almost as active as when fifty.[61] Ste. Genevieve +is situated about one mile from the Mississippi, upon a broad alluvial +plain lying between the branches of a small stream called _Gabourie_. +Beyond the first bottom rises a second steppe, and behind this yet a +third, attaining an elevation of more than a hundred feet from the +water's edge. Upon this elevated site was erected, some twenty years +since, a handsome structure of stone, commanding a noble prospect of +the river, the broad American Bottom on the opposite side, and the +bluffs beyond the Kaskaskia. It was intended for a literary +institution; but, owing to unfavourable reports with regard to the +health of its situation, the design was abandoned, and the edifice was +never completed. It is now in a state of "ruinous perfection," and +enjoys the reputation, moreover, of being _haunted_. In very sooth, +its aspect, viewed from the river at twilight, with its broken windows +outlined against the western sky, is wild enough to warrant such an +idea or any other. A courthouse and Catholic chapel constitute the +public buildings. To the south of the village, and lying upon the +river, is situated the common field, originally comprising {67} two +thousand _arpens_; but it is now much less in extent, and is yearly +diminishing from the action of the current upon the alluvial banks. +These common fields were granted by the Spanish government, as well as +by the French, to every village settled under their domination. A +single enclosure at the expense of the villagers was erected and kept +in repair, and the lot of every individual was separated from his +neighbour's by a double furrow. Near this field the village was +formerly located; but in the inundation of 1785, called by the old +_habitans_ "_L'annee des grandes eaux_," so much of the bank was +washed away that the settlers were forced to select a more elevated +site. The Mississippi was at this time swelled to thirty feet above +the highest water-mark before known; and the town of Kaskaskia and the +whole American Bottom were inundated. + +Almost every description of minerals are to be found in the county, of +which Ste. Genevieve is the seat of justice. But of all other species, +iron ore is the most abundant. The celebrated _Iron Mountain_ and the +_Pilot Knob_ are but forty miles distant.[62] Abundance of coal is +found in the opposite bluffs in Illinois. About twelve miles from the +village has been opened a quarry of beautiful white marble, in some +respects thought not inferior to that of Carrara. There are also said +to be immense caves of pure white sand, of dazzling lustre, quantities +of which are transported to Pittsburg for the manufacture of flint +glass. There are a number of beautiful fountains in the neighbourhood, +one of which is said to be of surpassing loveliness. It is several +{68} yards square, and rushes up from a depth of fifteen or twenty +feet, enclosed upon three sides by masses of living rock, over which, +in pensile gracefulness, repose the long glossy branches of the forest +trees. + +The early French settlers manufactured salt a few miles from the +village, at a saline formerly occupied by the aborigines, the remains +of whose earthen kettles are yet found on the spot. About thirty years +since a village of the Peoria Indians was situated where the French +common field now stands;[63] and from the ancient mounds found in the +vicinity, and the vast quantities of animal and human remains, and +utensils of pottery exhumed from the soil, the spot seems to have been +a favourite location of a race whose destiny, and origin, and history +are alike veiled in oblivion. The view of Ste. Genevieve from the +water is picturesque and beautiful, and its landing is said to be +superior to any between the mouth of the Ohio and the city of St. +Louis. The village has that decayed and venerable aspect +characteristic of all these early French settlements. + +As we were passing Ste. Genevieve an accident occurred which had +nearly proved fatal to our boat, if not to the lives of all on board +of her. A race which took place between another steamer and our own +has been noticed. In some unaccountable manner, this boat, which then +passed us, fell again in the rear, and now, for the last hour, had +been coming up in our wake under high steam. On overtaking us, she +attempted, contrary to all rules and regulations {69} for the +navigation of the river provided, to pass between our boat and the +bank beneath which we were moving; an outrage which, had it been +persisted in a moment longer than was fortunately the case, would have +sent us to the bottom. For a single instant, as she came rushing on, +contact seemed inevitable; and, as her force was far superior to our +own, and the recklessness of many who have the guidance of Western +steamers was well known to us all, the passengers stood clustering +around upon the decks, some pale with apprehension, and others with +firearms in their hands, flushed with excitement, and prepared to +render back prompt retribution on the first aggression. The pilot of +the hostile boat, from his exposed situation and the virulent feelings +against him, would have met with certain death; and he, consequently, +contrary to the express injunctions of the master, reversed the motion +of the wheels just at the instant to avoid the fatal encounter. The +sole cause for this outrage, we subsequently learned, was a private +pique existing between the pilots of the respective steamers. One +cannot restrain an expression of indignant feeling at such an +exhibition of foolhardy recklessness. It is strange, after all the +fearful accidents of this description upon the Western waters, and +that terrible prodigality of human life which for years past has been +constantly exhibited, there should yet be found individuals so utterly +regardless of the safety of their fellow-men, and so destitute of +every emotion of generous feeling, as to force their way heedlessly +onward into {70} danger, careless of any issue save the paltry +gratification of private vengeance. It is a question daily becoming of +more startling import, How may these fatal occurrences be successfully +opposed? Where lies the fault? Is it in public sentiment? Is it in +legal enactment? Is it in individual villany? However this may be, our +passage seemed fraught with adventure, of which this is but an +incident. After the event mentioned, having composed the agitation +consequent, we had retired to our berths, and were just buried in +profound sleep, when crash--our boat's bow struck heavily against a +snag, which, glancing along the bottom, threw her at once upon her +beams, and all the passengers on the elevated side from their berths. +No serious injury was sustained, though alarm and confusion enough +were excited by such an unceremonious turn-out. The dismay and +tribulation of some of our worthy company were entirely too ludicrous +for the risibles of the others, and a hearty roar of cachinnation was +heard even above the ejaculations of distress; a very improper thing, +no doubt, and not at all to be recommended on such occasions, as one +would hardly wish to make a grave "unknell'd and uncoffin'd" in the +Mississippi, with a broad grin upon his phiz. + +In alluding to the race which took place during our passage, +honourable mention was made of a certain worthy individual whose +vocation was to feed the furnaces; and one bright morning, when all +the others of our company had bestowed themselves in their berths +because of the intolerable {71} heat, I took occasion to visit the +sooty Charon in the purgatorial realms over which he wielded the +sceptre. "Grievous work this building fires under a sun like that," +was the salutation, as my friend the fireman had just completed the +toilsome operation once more of stuffing the furnace, while floods of +perspiration were coursing down a chest hairy as Esau's in the +Scripture, and as brawny. Hereupon honest Charon lifted up his face, +and drawing a dingy shirt sleeve with emphasis athwart his eyes, +bleared with smut, responded, "Ay, ay, sir; it's a sin to Moses, such +a trade;" and seizing incontinently upon a fragment of tin, fashioned +by dint of thumping into a polygonal dipper of unearthly dimensions, +he scooped up a quantity of the turbid fluid through which we were +moving, and deep, deep was the potation which, like a succession of +rapids, went gurgling down his throat. Marvellously refreshed, the +worthy genius dilated, much to my edification, upon the glories of a +fireman's life. "Upon this hint I spake" touching the topic of our +recent race; and then were the strings of the old worthy's tongue let +loose; and vehemently amplified he upon "our smart chance of a gallop" +and "the slight sprinkling of steam he had managed to push up." "Ah, +stranger, I'll allow, and couldn't I have teetotally obfusticated her, +and right mightily used her up, hadn't it been I was sort of bashful +as to keeping path with such a cursed old mud-turtle! But it's all +done gone;" and the droughty Charon seized another swig from the +unearthly dipper; and closing hermetically his lantern jaws, and +resuming his _infernal_ {72} labours, to which those of Alcmena's son +or of Tartarean Sysiphus were trifles, I had the discretion to betake +myself to the upper world. + +During the night, after passing Ste. Genevieve, our steamer landed at +a woodyard in the vicinity of that celebrated old fortress, Fort +Chartres, erected by the French while in possession of Illinois; once +the most powerful fortification in North America, but now a pile of +ruins.[64] It is situated about three miles from _Prairie de Rocher_, +a little antiquated French hamlet, the scene of one of Hall's Western +Legends.[65] We could see nothing of the old fort from our situation +on the boat; but its vast ruins, though now a shattered heap, and +shrouded with forest-trees of more than half a century's growth, are +said still to proclaim in their finished and ponderous masonry its +ancient grandeur and strength. In front stretches a large island in +the stream, which has received from the old ruin a name. It is not a +little surprising that there exists no description of this venerable +pile worthy its origin and eventful history. + +_Mississippi River._ + + + + +VII + + "The hills! our mountain-wall, the hills!" + _Alpine Omen._ + + "But thou, exulting and abounding river! + Making thy waves a blessing as they flow + Through banks whose beauty would endure for ever, + Could man but leave thy bright creation so--" + _Childe Harold._ + + +There are few objects upon the Mississippi in which the geologist and +natural philosopher may claim a deeper interest than that singular +series of limestone cliffs already alluded to, which, above its +junction with the Ohio, present themselves to the traveller all along +the Missouri shore. The principal ridge commences a few miles above +Ste. Genevieve; and at sunrise one morning we found ourselves beneath +a huge battlement of crags, rising precipitously from the river to the +height of several hundred feet. Seldom have I gazed upon a scene more +eminently imposing than that of these hoary old cliffs, when the +midsummer-sun, rushing upward from the eastern horizon, bathed their +splintered pinnacles and spires and the rifted tree-tops in a flood of +golden effulgence. The scene was not unworthy Walter Scott's graphic +description of the view from the Trosachs of Loch Katrine, in the +"Lady of the Lake:" + + "The _eastern_ waves of _rising_ day + Roll'd o'er the _stream_ their level way; + Each purple peak, each flinty spire, + Was bathed in floods of living fire. + + * * * * * + + Their rocky summits, split and rent, + Form'd turret, dome, or battlement, + Or seem'd fantastically set + With cupola or minaret, + Wild crests as pagod ever decked + Or mosque of eastern architect." + +{74} All of these precipices, not less than those on the Ohio, betray +palpable indication of having once been swept by the stream; and the +fantastic excavations and cavernous fissures which their bold +escarpments expose would indicate a current far more furious and +headstrong than that, resistless though it be, which now rolls at +their base. The idea receives confirmation from the circumstance that +opposite extends the broad American Bottom, whose alluvial character +is undisputed. This tract once constituted our western border, whence +the name. + +The bluffs of Selma and Herculaneum are distinguished for their beauty +and grandeur, not less than for the practical utility to which they +have been made subservient. Both places are great depositories of lead +from the mines of the interior, and all along their cliffs, for miles, +upon every eligible point, are erected tall towers for the manufacture +of shot. Their appearance in distant view is singularly picturesque, +perched lightly upon the pinnacles of towering cliffs, beetling over +the flood, which rushes along two hundred feet below. Some of these +shot manufactories have been in operation {75} for nearly thirty +years.[66] Herculaneum has long been celebrated for those in her +vicinity. The situation of the town is the mouth of Joachim Creek; and +the singular gap at this point has been aptly compared to an enormous +door, thrown open in the cliffs for the passage of its waters. A few +miles west of this village is said to exist a great natural curiosity, +in shape of a huge rock of limestone, some hundred feet in length, +and about fifty feet high. This rock is completely honeycombed with +perforations, and has the appearance of having been pierced by the +mytilus or some other marine insect. + +A few miles above Herculaneum comes in the Platine Creek;[67] and here +commence the "Cornice Rocks," a magnificent escarpment of castellated +cliffs some two or three hundred feet in perpendicular altitude from +the bed of the stream, and extending along the western bank a distance +of eight or ten miles. Through the façade of these bluffs pours in the +tribute of the Merrimac, a bright, sparkling, beautiful stream.[68] +This river is so clear and limpid that it was long supposed to glide +over sands of silver; but the idea has been abandoned, and given place +to the certainty of an abundant store of lead, and iron, and salt upon +its banks, while its source is shaded by extensive forests of the +white pine, a material in this section of country almost, if not +quite, as valuable.[69] Ancient works of various forms are also found +upon the banks of the Merrimac. There is an immense cemetery near the +village of Fenton, containing {76} thousands of graves of a pigmy +size, the largest not exceeding four feet in length. This cemetery is +now enclosed and cultivated, so that the graves are no longer visible; +but, previous to this, it is said that headstones were to be seen +bearing unintelligible hieroglyphical inscriptions.[70] Human remains, +ancient pottery, arrow-heads, and stone axes are daily thrown up by +the ploughshare, while the numerous mounds in the vicinity are +literally composed of the same materials. Mammoth bones, such as those +discovered on the Ohio and in the state of New-York, are said also to +have been found at a salt-lick near this stream. + +It was a bright morning, on the fifth day of an exceedingly long +passage, that we found ourselves approaching St. Louis. At about noon +we were gliding beneath the broad ensign floating from the flagstaff +of Jefferson Barracks.[71] The sun was gloriously bright; the soft +summer wind was rippling the waters, and the clear cerulean of the +heavens was imaged in their depths. The site of the quadrangle of the +barracks enclosing the parade is the broad summit of a noble bluff, +swelling up from the water, while the outbuildings are scattered +picturesquely along the interval beneath; the view from the steamer +cannot but strike the traveller as one of much scenic beauty. Passing +the venerable village of Carondelet, with its whitewashed cottages +crumbling with years, and old Cahokia buried in the forests on the +opposite bank, the gray walls of the Arsenal next stood out before us +in the rear of its beautiful esplanade.[72] A fine quay is erected +upon the river in front, and the extensive grounds {77} are enclosed +by a wall of stone. Sweeping onward, the lofty spire and dusky walls +of St. Louis Cathedral, on rounding a river bend, opened upon the eye, +the gilded crucifix gleaming in the sunlight from its lofty summit; +and then the glittering cupolas and church domes, and the fresh aspect +of private residences, mingling with the bright foliage of +forest-trees interspersed, all swelling gently from the water's edge, +recalled vividly the beautiful "Mistress of the North," as my eye has +often lingered upon her from her magnificent bay. A few more spires, +and the illusion would be perfect. For beauty of outline in distant +view, St. Louis is deservedly famed. The extended range of limestone +warehouses circling the shore give to the city a grandeur of aspect, +as approached from the water, not often beheld; while the +dense-rolling forest-tops stretching away in the rear, the sharp +outline of the towers and roofs against the western sky, and the +funereal grove of steamboat-pipes lining the quay, altogether make up +a combination of features novel and picturesque. As we approached the +landing all the uproar and confusion of a steamboat port was before +us, and our own arrival added to the bustle. + +And now, perchance, having escaped the manifold perils of sawyer and +snag, planter, wreck-heap, and sand-bar, it may not be unbecoming in +me, like an hundred other tourists, to gather up a votive offering, +and--if classic allusion be permissible on the waters of the +wilderness West--hang it up before the shrine of the "Father of +Floods." + +{78} It is surely no misnomer that this giant stream has been styled +the "eternal river," the "terrible Mississippi;"[73] for we may find +none other imbodying so many elements of the fearful and the sublime. +In the wild rice-lakes of the far frozen north, amid a solitude broken +only by the shrill clang of the myriad water-fowls, is its home. +Gushing out from its fountains clear as the air-bell, it sparkles over +the white pebbly sand-beds, and, breaking over the beautiful falls of +the "Laughing Water,"[74] it takes up its majestic march to the +distant deep. Rolling onward through the shades of magnificent +forests, and hoary, castellated cliffs, and beautiful meadows, its +volume is swollen as it advances, until it receives to its bosom a +tributary, a rival, a conqueror, which has roamed three thousand miles +for the meeting, and its original features are lost for ever. Its +beauty is merged in sublimity! Pouring along in its deep bed the +heaped-up waters of streams which drain the broadest valley on the +globe; sweeping onward in a boiling mass, furious, turbid, always +dangerous; tearing away, from time to time, its deep banks, with their +giant colonnades of living verdure, and then, with the stern despotism +of a conqueror, flinging them aside again; governed by no principle +but its own lawless will, the dark majesty of its features summons up +an emotion of the sublime which defies contrast or parallel. And then, +when we think of its far, lonely course, journeying onward in proud, +dread, solitary grandeur, {79} through forests dusk with the lapse of +centuries, pouring out the ice and snows of arctic lands through every +temperature of clime, till at last it heaves free its mighty bosom +beneath the Line, we are forced to yield up ourselves in uncontrolled +admiration of its gloomy magnificence. And its dark, mysterious +history, too; those fearful scenes of which it has alone been the +witness; the venerable tombs of a race departed which shadow its +waters; the savage tribes that yet roam its forests; the germes of +civilization expanding upon its borders; and the deep solitudes, +untrodden by man, through which it rolls, all conspire to throng the +fancy. Ages on ages and cycles upon cycles have rolled away; wave +after wave has swept the broad fields of the Old World; an hundred +generations have arisen from the cradle and flourished in their +freshness, and, like autumn leaflets, have withered in the tomb; and +the Pharaohs and the Ptolemies, the Cæsars and the Caliphs, have +thundered over the nations and passed away; and here, amid these +terrible solitudes, in the stern majesty of loneliness, and power, and +pride, have rolled onward these deep waters to their destiny! + + "Who gave you your invulnerable life, + Your strength, your speed, your fury, and your joy? + God! let the torrents, like a shout of nations, + Answer!" + +There is, perhaps, no stream which presents a greater variety of +feature than the Mississippi, or phenomena of deeper interest, whether +we regard the soil, productions, and climate of its valley, its +individual character and that of its tributaries, or {80} the outline +of its scenery and course. The confluents of this vast stream are +numerous, and each one brings a tribute of the soil through which it +has roamed. The Missouri pours out its waters heavily charged with the +marl of the Rocky Mountains, the saffron sands of the Yellow Stone, +and the chalk of the White River; the Ohio holds in its floods the +vegetable mould of the Alleghanies, and the Arkansas and Red Rivers +bring in the deep-died alluvion of their banks. Each tributary mingles +the spoils of its native hills with the general flood. And yet, after +the contributions of so many streams, the remarkable fact is observed +that its breadth and volume seem rather diminished than +increased.[75] Above the embouchure of the Missouri, fifteen hundred +miles from the Mexican gulf, it is broader than at New-Orleans, with +scarce one tenth of its waters; and at the foot of St. Anthony's Falls +its breadth is but one third less. This forms a striking +characteristic of the Western rivers, and owes, perhaps, its origin +partially to the turbid character of their waters: as they approach +their outlet they augment in volume, and depth, and impetuosity of +current, but contract their expanse. None, however, exhibit these +features so strikingly as the grand central stream; and while, for its +body of water, it is the narrowest stream known, it is charged with +heavier solutions and has broader alluvions than any other. The depth +of the stream is constantly varying. At New-Orleans it exceeds one +hundred feet. Its width is from half of one mile to two miles; the +breadth of its valley {81} from six miles to sixty; the rapidity of +its current from two miles to four; its mean descent six inches in a +mile, and its annual floods vary from twelve feet to sixty, commencing +in March and ending in May. Thus much for Statistics. + +Below its confluence with its turbid tributary, the Mississippi, as +has been observed, is no longer the clear, pure, limpid stream, +gushing forth from the wreathy snows of the Northwest; but it whirls +along against its ragged banks a resistless volume of heavy, sweeping +floods, and its aspect of placid magnificence is beheld no more. The +turbid torrent heaves onward, wavering from side to side like a living +creature, as if to overleap its bounds; rolling along in a deep-cut +race-path, through a vast expanse of lowland meadow, from whose +exhaustless mould are reared aloft those enormous shafts shrouded in +the fresh emerald of their tasselled parasites, for which its alluvial +bottoms are so famous. And yet the valley of the "endless river" +cannot be deemed heavily timbered when contrasted with the forested +hills of the Ohio. The sycamore, the elm, the linden, the cotton-wood, +the cypress, and other trees of deciduous foliage, may attain a +greater diameter, but the huge trunks are more sparse and more +isolated in recurrence. + +But one of the most striking phenomena of the Mississippi, in common +with all the Western rivers, and one which distinguishes them from +those which disembogue their waters into the Atlantic, is the +uniformity of its meanderings. The river, in its onward course, makes +a semicircular sweep almost {82} with the precision of a compass, and +then is precipitated diagonally athwart its channel to a curve of +equal regularity upon the opposite shore. The deepest channel and most +rapid current is said to exist in the bend; and thus the stream +generally infringes upon the _bend-side_, and throws up a sandbar on +the shore opposite. So constantly do these sinuosities recur, that +there are said to be but three _reaches_ of any extent between the +confluence of the Ohio and the Gulf, and so uniform that the boatmen +and Indians have been accustomed to estimate their progress by the +number of bends rather than by the number of miles. One of the sweeps +of the Missouri is said to include a distance of forty miles in its +curve, and a circuit of half that distance is not uncommon. Sometimes +a "_cut-off_," in the parlance of the watermen, is produced at these +bends, where the stream, in its headlong course, has burst through the +narrow neck of the peninsula, around which it once circled. At a point +called the "Grand Cut-off," steamers now pass through an isthmus of +less than one mile, where formerly was required a circuit of twenty. +The current, in its more furious stages, often tears up islands from +the bed of the river, removes sandbars and points, and sweeps off +whole acres of alluvion with their superincumbent forests. In the +season of flood the settlers, in their log-cabins along the banks, are +often startled from their sleep by the deep, sullen crash of a +"land-slip," as such removals are called. + +The scenery of the Mississippi, below its confluence {83} with the +Missouri, is, as has been remarked, too sublime for beauty; and yet +there is not a little of the picturesque in the views which meet the +eye along the banks. Towns and settlements of greater or less extent +appear at frequent intervals; and then the lowly log-hut of the +pioneer is not to be passed without notice, standing beneath the tall, +branchless columns of the girdled forest-trees, with its luxuriant +maize-fields sweeping away in the rear. One of these humble +habitations of the wilderness we reached, I remember, one evening near +twilight; and while our boat was delayed at the woodyard, I strolled +up from the shore to the gateway, and entered easily into +confabulation with a pretty, slatternly-looking female, with a brood +of mushroom, flaxen-haired urchins at her apron-string, and an infant +at the breast very quietly receiving his supper. On inquiry I learned +that eighteen years had seen the good woman a denizen of the +wilderness; that all the responsibilities appertained unto herself, +and that her "man" was proprietor of some thousand acres of _bottom_ +in the vicinity. Subsequently I was informed that the worthy +woodcutter could be valued at not less than one hundred thousand! yet, +_en verite_, reader mine, I do asseverate that my latent sympathies +were not slightly roused at the first introduction, because of the +seeming poverty of the dirty cabin and its dirtier mistress! + +_St. Louis._ + + + + +VIII + + "Once more upon the waters, yet once more!" + _Childe Harold._ + + "I believe this is the finest confluence in the world." + CHARLEVOIX. + + "'Tis twilight now; + The sovereign sun behind his western hills + In glory hath declined." + BLACKWOOD'S _Magazine_. + + +A bright, sunny summer morning as ever smiled from the blue heavens, +and again I found myself upon the waters. Fast fading in the distance +lay the venerable little city of the French, with its ancient edifices +and its narrow streets, while in anticipation was a journeying of some +hundred miles up the Illinois. Sweeping along past the city and the +extended line of steamers at the landing, my attention was arrested by +that series of substantial stone mills situated upon the shore +immediately above, and a group of swarthy little Tritons disporting +themselves in the turbid waters almost beneath our paddle-wheels. +Among other singular objects were divers of those nondescript +inventions of Captain Shreve, yclept by the boatmen "Uncle Sam's +Tooth-pullers;" and, judging from their ferocious physiognomy, and the +miracles they have effected in the navigation of the great waters of +the West, well do they correspond to the _soubriquet_. {85} The craft +consists of two perfect hulls, constructed with a view to great +strength; united by heavy beams, and, in those parts most exposed, +protected by an armature of iron. The apparatus for eradicating the +snags is comprised in a simple wheel and axle, auxiliary to a pair of +powerful steam-engines, with the requisite machinery for locomotion, +and a massive beam uniting the bows of the hulls, sheathed with iron. +The _modus operandi_ in tearing up a snag, or sawyer, or any like +obstruction from the bed of the stream, appears to be this: +Commencing at some distance below, in order to gain an impetus as +powerful as possible, the boat is forced, under a full pressure of +steam, against the snag, the head of which, rearing itself above the +water, meets the strong transverse beam of which I have spoken, and is +immediately elevated a number of feet above the surface. A portion of +the log is then severed, and the roots are torn out by the windlass, +or application of the main strength of the engines; or, if +practicable, the first operation is repeated until the obstacle is +completely eradicated. The efficiency of this instrument has been +tested by the removal of some thousand obstructions, at an average +expense of about twelve or fifteen dollars each. + +Along the river-banks in the northern suburbs of the city lie the +scattered ruins of an ancient fortification of the Spanish government, +when it held domination over the territory; and one circular structure +of stone, called "Roy's Tower," now occupied as a dwelling, yet +remains entire. There is also an {86} old castle of stone in tolerable +preservation, surrounded by a wall of the same material.[76] Some of +these venerable relics of former time--alas! for the irreverence of +the age--have been converted into limekilns, and into lime itself, for +aught that is known to the contrary! The waterworks, General Ashley's +beautiful residence, and that series of ancient mounds for which St. +Louis is famous, were next passed in succession, while upon the right +stretched out the long low outline of "Blood Island" in the middle of +the stream.[77] For several miles above the city, as we proceeded up +the river, pleasant villas, with their white walls and cultivated +grounds, were caught from time to time by the eye, glancing through +the green foliage far in the interior. It was a glorious day. Silvery +cloudlets were floating along the upper sky like spiritual creations, +and a fresh breeze was rippling the waters: along the banks stood out +the huge spectral Titans of the forest, heaving aloft their naked +limbs like monuments of "time departed," while beneath reposed the +humble hut and clearing of the settler. + +It was nearly midday, after leaving St. Louis, that we reached the +embouchure of the Missouri. Twenty miles before attaining that point, +the confluent streams flow along in two distinct currents upon either +shore, the one white, clayey, and troubled, the other a deep blue. The +river sweeps along, indeed, in two distinct streams past the city of +St. Louis, upon either side of Blood Island, nor does it unite its +heterogeneous floods for many miles below. At intervals, as the huge +mass rolls itself {87} along, vast whirls and swells of turbid water +burst out upon the surface, producing an aspect not unlike the sea in +a gusty day, mottled by the shadows of scudding clouds. +Charlevoix,[78] the chronicler of the early French explorations in +North America, with reference to this giant confluence, more than a +century since thus writes: "I believe this is the finest confluence in +the world. The two rivers are much of the same breadth, each about +half a league, but the Missouri is by far the most rapid, and seems to +enter the Mississippi like a conqueror, through which it carries its +white waves to the opposite shore without mixing them. Afterward it +gives its colour to the Mississippi, which it never loses again, but +carries quite down to the sea." This account, with all due +consideration for the venerable historian, accords not precisely with +the scene of the confluence at the present day, at least not as it has +appeared to myself. The Missouri, indeed, rolls in its heavy volume +with the impetuosity and bearing of a "conqueror" upon the tranquil +surface of its rival; but entering, as it does, at right angles, its +waters are met in their headlong course, and almost rolled back upon +themselves for an instant by the mighty momentum of the flood they +strike. This is manifested by, and accounts for, that well-defined +line of light mud-colour extending from bank to bank across its mouth, +bounded by the dark blue of the Upper Mississippi, and flowing +sluggishly along in a lengthened and dingy stain, like a fringe upon +the western shore. The breadth of the embouchure is about one mile, +and its {88} channel lies nearly in the centre, bounded by vast +sand-bars--sediment of the waters--upon either side. The alluvial +deposites, with which it is heavily charged, accumulate also in +several islands near the confluence, while the rivers united spread +themselves out into an immense lake. As the steamer glides along among +these islands opposite the Missouri, the scene with its associations +is grand beyond description. Far up the extended vista of the stream, +upon a lofty bluff, stands out a structure which marks the site of the +ancient military post of "Belle Fontaine;"[79] while on the opposite +bank, stretching inland from the point heavily wooded, lies the broad +and beautiful prairie of the "Mamelles."[80] Directly fronting the +confluence stand a range of heights upon the Illinois shore, from the +summit of which is spread out, like a painting, one of the most +extraordinary views in the world. + +The Mississippi, above its junction with its turbid tributary, is, as +has been remarked, a clear, sparkling, beautiful stream; now flashing +in silvery brilliance over its white sand-bars, then retreating far +into the deep indentations of its shady banks, and again spreading out +its waters into a tranquil, lakelike basin miles in extent, studded +with islets. + +The far-famed village of Alton, situated upon the Illinois shore a few +miles above the confluence, soon rose before us in the distance. When +its multiform declivities shall have been smoothed away by the hand of +enterprise and covered with handsome edifices, it will doubtless +present a fine appearance {89} from the water; as it now remains, its +aspect is rugged enough. The Penitentiary, a huge structure of stone, +is rather too prominent a feature in the scene. Indeed, it is the +first object which strikes the attention, and reminds one of a gray +old baronial castle of feudal days more than of anything else. The +churches, of which there are several, and the extensive warehouses +along the shore, have an imposing aspect, and offer more agreeable +associations. As we drew nigh to Alton, the fireman of our steamer +deemed proper, in testimonial of the dignity of our arrival, to let +off a certain rusty old swivel which chanced to be on board; and to +have witnessed the marvellous fashion in which this important +manoeuvre was executed by our worthies, would have pardoned a smile +on the visage of Heraclitus himself. One lanky-limbed genius held a +huge dipper of gunpowder; another, seizing upon the extremity of a +hawser, and severing a generous fragment, made use thereof for +wadding; a third rammed home the charge with that fearful weapon +wherewith he poked the furnaces; while a fourth, honest wight--all +preparation being complete--advanced with a shovel of glowing coals, +which, poured upon the touchhole, the old piece was briefly delivered +of its charge, and the woods, and shores, and welkin rang again to the +roar. If we made not our entrance into Alton with "pomp and +circumstance," it was surely the fault of any one but our worthy +fireman. + +The site of Alton, at the confluence of three large and navigable +streams; its extensive back country {90} of great fertility; the vast +bodies of heavy timber on every side; its noble quarries of stone; its +inexhaustible beds of bituminous coal only one mile distant, and its +commodious landing, all seem to indicate the design of Nature that +here should arise a populous and wealthy town. The place has been laid +off by its proprietors in liberal style; five squares have been +reserved for public purposes, with a promenade and landing, and the +corporate bounds extend two miles along the river, and half a mile +into the interior. Yet Alton, with all its local and artificial +advantages, is obnoxious to objections. Its situation, in one section +abrupt and precipitous, while in another depressed and confined, and +the extensive alluvion lying between the two great rivers opposite, it +is believed, will always render it more or less unhealthy; and its +unenviable proximity to St. Louis will never cease to retard its +commercial advancement. + +The _city_ of Alton, as it is now styled by its charter, was founded +in the year 1818 by a gentleman who gave the place his name;[81] but, +until within the six years past, it could boast but few houses and +little business. Its population now amounts to several thousands, and +its edifices for business, private residence, or public convenience +are large and elegant structures. Its stone churches present an +imposing aspect to the visiter. The streets are from forty to eighty +feet in width, and extensive operations are in progress to render the +place as uniform as its site will admit. A contract has been recently +entered upon to construct a culvert over the Little Piasa Creek, {91} +which passes through the centre of the town, upon which are to be +extended streets. The expense is estimated at sixty thousand dollars. +The creek issues from a celebrated fountain among the bluffs called +"Cave Spring." Alton is not a little celebrated for its liberal +contribution to the moral improvements of the day. To mention but a +solitary instance, a gentleman of the place recently made a donation +of ten thousand dollars for the endowment of a female seminary at +Monticello,[82] a village five miles to the north; and measures are in +progress to carry the design into immediate execution. Two railroads +are shortly to be constructed from Alton; one to Springfield, seventy +miles distant, and the other to Mount Carmel on the Wabash. The stock +of each has been mostly subscribed, and they cannot fail, when +completed, to add much to the importance of the places. Alton is also +a _proposed_ terminus of two of the state railroads, and of the +Cumberland Road.[83] + +At Alton terminates the "American Bottom," and here commences that +singular series of green, grassy mounds, rounding off the steep +summits of the cliffs as they rise from the water, which every +traveller cannot but have noticed and admired. It was a calm, +beautiful evening when we left the village; and, gliding beneath the +magnificent bluffs, held our way up the stream, breaking in upon its +tranquil surface, and rolling its waters upon either side in +tumultuous waves to the shore. The rich purple of departing day was +dying the western heavens; the light gauzy haze of twilight was +unfolding itself like a veil over the forest-tops; "Maro's shepherd +{92} star" was stealing timidly forth upon the brow of night; the +flashing fireflies along the underbrush were beginning their splendid +illuminations, and the mild melody of a flute and a few fine voices +floating over the shadowy waters, lent the last touching to a scene of +beauty. A little French village, with its broad galleries, and steep +roofs, and venerable church, in a few miles appeared among the +underbrush on the left.[84] Upon the opposite shore the bluffs began +to assume a singular aspect, as if the solid mass of limestone high up +had been subjected to the excavation of rushing waters. The cliffs +elevated themselves from the river's edge like a regular succession of +enormous pillars, rendered more striking by their ashy hue. This giant +colonnade--in some places exceeding an altitude of an hundred feet, +and exhibiting in its façade the openings of several caves--extended +along the stream until we reached Grafton,[85] at the mouth of the +Illinois; the calm, beautiful, ever-placid Illinois; beautiful now as +on the day the enthusiast voyageur first deemed it the pathway to a +"paradise upon earth." The moon was up, and her beams were resting +mellowly upon the landscape. Far away, even to the blue horizon, the +mirror-surface of the stream unfolded its vistas to the eye; upon its +bosom slumbered the bright islets, like spirits of the waters, from +whose clear depths stood out the reflection of their forests, while to +the left opened upon the view a glimpse of the "Mamelle Prairie," +rolling its bright waves of verdure beneath the moonlight like a field +of fairy land. For an hour we gazed upon this magnificent scene, and +the bright {93} waves dashed in sparkles from our bow, retreating in +lengthened wake behind us, until our steamer turned from the +Mississippi, and we were gliding along beneath the deep shadows of the +forested Illinois. + +_Illinois River._ + + + + +IX + + "A tale of the times of old! The deeds of days of other years!" + OSSIAN. + + "Thou beautiful river! Thy bosom is calm + And o'er thee soft breezes are shedding their balm; + And Nature beholds her fair features portray'd, + In the glass of thy bosom serenely display'd." + BENGAL ANNUAL. + + "Tam saw an unco sight." + BURNS. + + +It is an idea which has more than once occurred to me, while throwing +together these hasty delineations of the beautiful scenes through +which, for the past few weeks, I have been moving, that, by some, a +disposition might be suspected to tinge every outline indiscriminately +with the "_coleur de rose_." But as well might one talk of an +exaggerated emotion of the sublime on the table-rock of Niagara, or +amid the "snowy scalps" of Alpine scenery, or of a mawkish sensibility +to loveliness amid the purple glories of the "_Campagna di Roma_," as +of either, or of both combined, in the noble "valley beyond the +mountains." Nor is the interest experienced {94} by the traveller for +many of the spots he passes confined to their scenic beauty. The +associations of by-gone times are rife in the mind, and the +traditionary legend of the events these scenes have witnessed yet +lingers among the simple forest-sons. I have mentioned that remarkable +range of cliffs commencing at Alton, and extending, with but little +interruption, along the left shore of the Mississippi to the mouth of +the Illinois. Through a deep, narrow ravine in these bluffs flows a +small stream called the Piasa. The name is of aboriginal derivation, +and, in the idiom of the Illini, denotes "_The bird that devours +men_." Near the mouth of this little stream rises a bold, precipitous +bluff, and upon its smooth face, at an elevation seemingly +unattainable by human art, is graven the figure of an enormous bird +with extended pinions. This bird was by the Indians called the +"_Piasa_;" hence the name of the stream. The tradition of the Piasa is +said to be still extant, among the tribes of the Upper Mississippi, +and is thus related:[86] + +"Many thousand moons before the arrival of the pale faces, when the +great megalonyx and mastodon, whose bones are now thrown up, were +still living in the land of the green prairies, there existed a bird +of such dimensions that he could easily carry off in his talons a +full-grown deer. Having obtained a taste of human flesh, from that +time he would prey upon nothing else. He was as artful as he was +powerful; would dart suddenly and unexpectedly upon an Indian, bear +him off to one of the caves in the bluff, and devour him. Hundreds of +warriors attempted for years to destroy him, but without success. {95} +Whole villages were depopulated, and consternation spread throughout +all the tribes of the Illini. At length _Owatoga_, a chief whose fame +as a warrior extended even beyond the great lakes, separating himself +from the rest of his tribe, fasted in solitude for the space of a +whole moon, and prayed to the Great Spirit, the Master of Life, that +he would protect his children from the _Piasa_. On the last night of +his fast the Great Spirit appeared to him in a dream, and directed him +to select twenty of his warriors, each armed with a bow and pointed +arrows, and conceal them in a designated spot. Near the place of their +concealment another warrior was to stand in open view as a victim for +the _Piasa_, which they must shoot the instant he pounced upon his +prey. When the chief awoke in the morning he thanked the Great Spirit, +returned to his tribe, and told them his dream. The warriors were +quickly selected and placed in ambush. _Owatoga_ offered himself as +the victim, willing to die for his tribe; and, placing himself in open +view of the bluff, he soon saw the _Piasa_ perched on the cliff, eying +his prey. _Owatoga_ drew up his manly form to its utmost height; and, +placing his feet firmly upon the earth, began to chant the death-song +of a warrior: a moment after, the _Piasa_ rose in the air, and, swift +as a thunderbolt, darted down upon the chief. Scarcely had he reached +his victim when every bow was sprung and every arrow was sped to the +feather into his body. The _Piasa_ uttered a wild, fearful scream, +that resounded far over the opposite side of the river, and expired. +_Owatoga_ was safe. {96} Not an arrow, not even the talons of the bird +had touched him; for the Master of Life, in admiration of his noble +deed, had held over him an invisible shield. In memory of this event, +this image of the Piasa was engraved in the face of the bluff." + +Such is the Indian tradition. True or false, the figure of the bird, +with expanded wings, graven upon the surface of solid rock, is still +to be seen at a height perfectly inaccessible; and to this day no +Indian glides beneath the spot in his canoe without discharging at +this figure his gun. Connected with this tradition, as the spot to +which the Piasa conveyed his human victims, is one of those caves to +which I have alluded. Another, near the mouth of the Illinois, +situated about fifty feet from the water, and exceedingly difficult of +access, is said to be crowded with human remains to the depth of many +feet in the earth of the floor. The roof of the cavern is vaulted. It +is about twenty-five feet in height, thirty in length, and in form is +very irregular. There are several other cavernous fissures among these +cliffs not unworthy description. + +The morning's dawn found our steamer gliding quietly along upon the +bright waters of the Illinois. The surface of the stream was tranquil; +not a ripple disturbed its slumbers; it was currentless; the mighty +mass of the Mississippi was swollen, and, acting as a dam across the +mouth of its tributary, caused a _back-water_ of an hundred miles. The +waters of the Illinois were consequently stagnant, tepid, and by no +means agreeable to the taste. There was present, also, a peculiarly +bitter twang, {97} thought to be imparted by the roots of the trees +and plants along its banks, which, when motionless, its waters steep; +under these circumstances, water is always provided from the +Mississippi before entering the mouth of the Illinois. But, whatever +its qualities, this stream, to the eye, is one of the most beautiful +that meanders the earth. As we glided onward upon its calm bosom, a +graceful little fawn, standing upon the margin in the morning +sunlight, was bending her large, lustrous eyes upon the delicate +reflection of her form, mirrored in the stream; and, like the fabled +Narcissus, so enamoured did she appear with the charm of her own +loveliness, that our noisy approach seemed scarce to startle her; or +perchance she was the pet of some neighbouring log-cabin. The Illinois +is by many considered the "_belle rivière_" of the Western waters, +and, in a commercial and agricultural view, is destined, doubtless, to +occupy an important rank. Tonti, the old French chronicler, speaks +thus of it:[87] "The banks of that river are as charming to the eye as +useful to life; the meadows, fruit-trees, and forests affording +everything that is necessary for men and beasts." It traverses the +entire length of one of the most fertile regions in the Union, and +irrigates, by its tributary streams, half the breadth. Its channel is +sufficiently deep for steamers of the larger class; its current is +uniform, and the obstacles to its navigation are few, and may be +easily removed. The chief of these is a narrow bar just below the town +of Beardstown,[88] stretching like a wing-dam quite across to the +western bank; and any boat which may pass this bar {98} can at all +times reach the port of the Rapids. Its length is about three hundred +miles, and its narrowest part, opposite Peru, is about eighty yards in +width. By means of a canal, uniting its waters with those of Lake +Michigan, the internal navigation of the whole country from New-York +to New-Orleans is designed to be completed.[89] + +The banks of the Illinois are depressed and monotonous, liable at all +seasons to inundation, and stretch away for miles to the bluffs in +broad prairies, glimpses of whose lively emerald and silvery lakes, +caught at intervals through the dark fringe of cypress skirting the +stream, are very refreshing. The bottom lands upon either side, from +one mile to five, are seldom elevated much above the ordinary surface +of the stream, and are at every higher stage of water submerged to the +depth of many feet, presenting the appearance of a stream rolling its +tide through an ancient and gloomy forest, luxuriant in foliage and +vast in extent. It is not surprising that all these regions should be +subject to the visitations of disease, when we look upon the miserable +cabin of the woodcutter, reared upon the very verge of the water, +surrounded on every side by swamps, and enveloped in their damp dews +and the poisonous exhalations rising from the seething decomposition +of the monstrous vegetation around. The traveller wonders not at the +sallow complexion, the withered features, and the fleshless, +ague-racked limbs, which, as he passes, peep forth upon him from the +luxuriant foliage of this region of sepulchres; his only astonishment +is, that in such an atmosphere the human constitution {99} can +maintain vitality at all. And yet, never did the poet's dream image +scenery more enchanting than is sometimes unfolded upon this beautiful +stream. I loved, on a bright sunny morning, to linger hours away upon +the lofty deck, as our steamer thridded the green islets of the +winding waters, and gaze upon the reflection of the blue sky flecked +with cloudlets in the bluer wave beneath, and watch the startling +splash of the glittering fish, as, in exhilarated joyousness, he flung +himself from its tranquil bosom, and then fell back again into its +cool depths. Along the shore strode the bluebacked wader; the wild +buck bounded to his thicket; the graceful buzzard--vulture of the +West--soared majestically over the tree-tops, while the fitful chant +of the fireman at his toil echoed and re-echoed through the recesses +of the forests. + +Upon the left, in ascending the Illinois, lie the lands called the +"_Military Bounty Tract_," reserved by Congress for distribution among +the soldiers of the late war with Great Britain.[90] It is +comprehended within the peninsula of the Illinois and Mississippi +Rivers, about an hundred and seventy miles in length and sixty broad, +embracing twelve of the northwest counties of the state. This tract of +country is said to be exceedingly fertile, abounding in beautiful +prairies and lakes; but the delta or alluvial regions cannot but prove +unhealthy. Its disposition for the purpose of military bounties has +retarded its settlement behind that of any other quarter of the state; +a very inconsiderable portion has been appropriated by the soldiers; +most of the titles have {100} long since departed, and the land has +been disposed of past redemption for taxes. Much is also held by +non-residents, who estimate it at an exorbitant value; but large +tracts can be obtained for a trifling consideration, the purchaser +risking the title, and many flourishing settlements are now springing +up, especially along the Mississippi. + +Near the southern extremity of the Military Tract, at a point where +the river sweeps out a deep bend from its western bank, about fifty +years since was situated the little French village of _Cape au Gris_, +or Grindstone Point, so named from the neighbouring rocks. The French +seem to have vied with the natives in rendering the "signification" +conformable to the "thing signified," in bestowing names upon their +explorations in the West. The village of _Cape au Gris_ was situated +upon the bank of the river, and, so late as 1811, consisted of twenty +or thirty families, who cultivated a "common field" of five hundred +acres on the adjacent prairie, stretching across the peninsula towards +the Mississippi. At the commencement of the late war they were driven +away by the savages, and a small garrison from the cantonment of Belle +Fontaine, at the confluence, was subsequently stationed near the spot +by General Wilkinson. A few years after the close of the war American +emigration commenced. This is supposed to have been the site, also, of +one of the forts erected by La Salle on his second visit to the +West.[91] + +As we ascended the Illinois, flourishing villages were constantly +meeting the eye upon either bank of the stream. Among these were the +euphonious {101} names of Monroe, Montezuma, Naples, and Havana! At +Beardstown the rolling prairie is looked upon for the first time; it +afterward frequently recurs. As our steamer drew nigh to the renowned +little city of Pekin, we beheld the bluffs lined with people of all +sexes and sizes, watching our approach as we rounded up to the +landing.[92] Some of our passengers, surprised at such a gathering +together in such a decent, well-behaved little settlement as Pekin, +sagely surmised the loss of a day from the calendar, and began to +believe it the first instead of the last of the week, until reflection +and observation induced the belief that other rites than those of +religion had called the multitude together. Landing, streets, tavern, +and groceries--which latter, be it spoken of the renowned Pekin, were +like anything but "angel's visits" in recurrence--all were swarmed by +a motley assemblage, seemingly intent upon _doing nothing_, and that, +too, in the noisiest way. Here a congregation of keen-visaged +worthies were gathered around a loquacious land-speculator, beneath +the shadow of a sign-post, listening to an eloquent holding-forth upon +the merits, relative and distinctive, of prairie land and bluff; there +a cute-looking personage, with a twinkle of the eye and +sanctimoniousness of phiz, was vending his wares by the token of a +flaunting strip of red baize; while lusty viragoes, with infants at +the breast, were battering their passage through the throng, crowing +over a "bargain" on which the "cute" pedler had cleared not _more_ +than cent. per cent. And then there were sober men and men not sober; +individuals half seas over and whole seas {102} over, all in as merry +trim as well might be; while, as a sort of presiding genius over the +bacchanal, a worthy wag, tipsy as a satyr, in a long calico gown, was +prancing through the multitude, with infinite importance, on the +skeleton of an unhappy horse, which, between _nicking_ and _docking_, +a spavined limb and a spectral eye, looked the veritable genius of +misery. The cause of all this commotion appeared to be neither more +nor less than a redoubted "monkey show," which had wound its way over +the mountains into the regions of the distant West, and reared its +dingy canvass upon the smooth sward of the prairie. It was a spectacle +by no means to be slighted, and "divers came from afar" to behold its +wonders. + +For nothing, perhaps, have foreign tourists in our country ridiculed +us more justly than for that pomposity of nomenclature which we have +delighted to apply to the thousand and one towns and villages +sprinkled over our maps and our land; instance whereof this same +renowned representative of the Celestial Empire concerning which I +have been writing. Its brevity is its sole commendation; for as to the +taste or appropriateness of such a name for such a place, to say +naught of the euphony, there's none. And then, besides Pekin, there +are Romes, and Troys, and Palmyras, and Belgrades, Londons and +Liverpools, Babels and Babylons _without account_, all rampant in the +glories of log huts, with sturdy porkers forth issuing from their +sties, by way, doubtless, of the sturdy knight-errants of yore +caracoling from the sally-ports of their illustrious {103} namesakes. +But why, in the name of all propriety, this everlasting plagiarizing +of the Greek, Gothic, Gallic patronymics of the Old World, so utterly +incongruous as applied to the backwoods settlements of the New! If in +very poverty of invention, or in the meagerness of our "land's +language," we, as a people, feel ourselves unequal to the task--one, +indeed, of no ordinary magnitude--of christening all the newborn +villages of our land with melodious and appropriate appellations, +may it not be advisable either to nominate certain worthy +dictionary-makers for the undertaking, or else to retain the ancient +Indian names? Why discard the smooth-flowing, expressive appellations +bestowed by the injured aborigines upon the gliding streams and +flowery plains of this land of their fathers, only to supersede them +by affixes most foreign and absurd? "Is this proceeding just and +honourable" towards that unfortunate race? Have we visited them with +so _many_ returns of kindness that this would overflow the cup of +recompense? Why tear away the last and only relic of the past yet +lingering in our midst? Have we too many memorials of the olden time? +Why disrobe the venerable antique of that classic drapery which alone +can befit the severe nobility of its mien, only to deck it out in the +starched and tawdry preciseness of a degenerate taste? + +_Illinois River._ + + + + +X + + "It is a goodly sight to see + What Heaven hath done for this delicious land! + What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree! + What goodly prospects o'er the hills expand!" + _Childe Harold._ + + +"Good-evening, sir; a good-evening to ye, sir; pleased with our +village, sir!" This was the frank and free salutation a genteel, +farmer-looking personage, with a broad face, a broad-brimmed hat, and +a broad-skirted coat, addressed to me as I stood before the inn door +at Peoria, looking out upon her beautiful lake. On learning, in reply +to his inquiry, "Whence do ye come, stranger?" that my birth spot was +north of the Potomac, he hailed me with hearty greeting and warm grasp +as a brother. "I am a Yankee, sir; yes, sir, I am a genuine export of +the old 'Bay State.' Many years have gone since I left her soil; but I +remember well the 'Mistress of the North,' with her green islands and +blue waters. In my young days, sir, I wandered all over the six +states, and I have not forgotten the valley of the Connecticut. I have +seen the 'Emporium' with her Neapolitan bay, and I have looked on the +'city of the monuments and fountains;' but in all my journeyings, +stranger, I have not found a spot so pleasant as this little quiet +Peoria of the Western wilderness!" Whether to smile in admiration +{105} or to smile at the oddity of this singular compound of truth and +exaggeration, propounded, withal, in such grandiloquent style and +language, I was at a loss; and so, just as every prudent man would +have acted under the circumstances, _neither_ was done; and the quiet +remark, "You are an enthusiast, sir," was all that betrayed to the +worthy man the emotions of the sublime and ridiculous of which he had +been the unwitting cause. + +But, truly, the little town with this soft Indian name is a beautiful +place, as no one who has ever visited it has failed to remark. The +incidents of its early history are fraught with the wild and romantic. +The old village of Peoria was one of the earliest settlements of the +French in the Mississippi Valley; and, many years before the memory of +the present generation, it had been abandoned by its founders, a new +village having been erected upon the present site, deemed less +unhealthy than the former. The first house is said to have been built +in new Peoria, or _La ville de Maillet_, as was its _nom de nique_, +about the year 1778; and the situation was directly at the outlet of +the lake, one mile and a half below the old settlement.[93] Its +inhabitants consisted chiefly of that wild, semi-savage race of Indian +traders, hunters, trappers, voyageurs, _couriers du bois_, and +half-breeds, which long formed the sole link of union between the +northern lakes and the southwest. After residing nearly half a +century on this pleasant spot, in that happy harmony with their +ferocious neighbours for which the early French were so remarkable, +they were at length, in the {106} autumn of 1812, exiled from their +ancient home by the militia of Illinois, on charge of conniving at +Indian atrocities upon our people, a party having been fired on at +night while anchored before the village in their boats. The villagers +fled for refuge to their friends upon the Mississippi. In the autumn +of the succeeding year, General Howard,[94] with 1400 men, ascended +the Illinois; a fortress was constructed at Peoria in twelve days from +timber cut on the opposite side of the lake. It was named Fort Clarke, +and was occupied by a detachment of United States' troops. In course +of a few weeks the whole frontier was swept of hostile Indians. On the +termination of hostilities with Great Britain the fort was abandoned, +and soon after was burned by the Indians, though the ruins are yet to +be seen. The present settlement was commenced by emigrants but a few +years since, and has advanced with a rapidity scarcely paralleled even +in the West. Geographically, it is the centre of the state, and may at +some future day become its seat of government. It is the shire town of +a county of the same name; has a handsome courthouse of freestone; the +neighbouring regions are fertile, and beds of bituminous coal are +found in the vicinity. These circumstances render this spot, than +which few can boast a more eventful history, one of the most eligible +_locales_ in the state for the emigrant. + +Its situation is indescribably beautiful, extending along the lake of +the same name, the Indian name of which was _Pinatahwee_, for several +miles from its outlet. This water-sheet, which is little more than an +expansion of the stream of from one to three miles, stretches away for +about twenty, and is divided near its middle by a contraction called +the _Narrows_. Its waters are exceedingly limpid, gliding gently over +a pebbly bottom, and abounding in fish of fifty different species, +from which an attempt for obtaining oil on a large scale was commenced +a few years since, but was abandoned without success. Some of the +varieties of these fish are said to be rare and curious. Several +specimens of a species called the "Alligator Garr" have been taken. +The largest was about seven feet in length, a yard in circumference, +and encased in armour of hornlike scales of quadrilateral form, +impenetrable to a rifle-ball. The weight was several hundred pounds; +the form and the teeth--of which there were several rows--similar to +those of the shark, and, upon the whole, the creature seemed not a +whit less formidable. Another singular variety found is the +"spoonfish," about four feet in length, with a black skin, and an +extension of the superior mandible for two feet, of a thin, flat, +shovel-like form, used probably for digging its food. The more +ordinary species, pike, perch, salmon, trout, buffalo, mullet, and +catfish, abound in the lake, while the surface is covered with geese, +ducks, gulls, a species of water turkey, and, not unfrequently, swans +and pelicans. Its bottom contains curious petrifactions and carnelions +of a rare quality. + +From the pebbly shore of the lake, gushing out with fountains of +sparkling water along its whole extent, rises a rolling bank, upon +which now stands most of the village. A short distance and you ascend +a second eminence, and beyond this you reach {108} the bluffs, some of +them an hundred feet in height, gracefully rounded, and corresponding +with the meandering of the stream below. From the summit of these +bluffs the prospect is uncommonly fine. At their base is spread out a +beautiful prairie, its tall grass-tops and bright-died flowerets +nodding to the soft summer wind. Along its eastern border is extended +a range of neat edifices, while lower down sleep the calm, clear +waters of the lake, unruffled by a ripple, and reflecting from its +placid bosom the stupendous vegetation of the wooded alluvion beyond. + +It was near the close of a day of withering sultriness that we reached +Peoria. Passing the Kickapoo, or Red Bud Creek,[95] a sweep in the +stream opened before the eye a panorama of that magnificent +water-sheet of which I have spoken, so calm and motionless that its +mirror surface seemed suspended in the golden mistiness of the summer +atmosphere which floated over it. As we were approaching the village a +few sweet notes of a bugle struck the ear; and in a few moments a +lengthened troop of cavalry, with baggage-cars and military +paraphernalia, was beheld winding over a distant roll of the prairie, +their arms glittering gayly in the horizontal beams of the sinking sun +as the ranks appeared, were lost, reappeared, and then, by an +inequality in the route, were concealed from the view. The steamer +"Helen Mar" was lying at the landing as we rounded up, most terribly +shattered by the collapsing of the flue of one of her boilers a few +days before in the vicinity. She had been swept by the death-blast +from one extremity {109} to the other, and everything was remaining +just as when the accident occurred, even to the pallets upon which had +been stretched the mangled bodies, and the remedies applied for their +relief. The disasters of steam have become, till of late, of such +ordinary occurrence upon the waters of the West, that they have been +thought of comparatively but little; yet in no aspect does the angel +of death perform his bidding more fearfully. Misery's own pencil can +delineate no scene of horror more revolting; humanity knows no +visitation more terrible! The atmosphere of hell envelops the victim +and sweeps him from the earth! + +Happening casually to fall in with several gentlemen at the inn who +chanced to have some acquaintance with the detachment of dragoons I +have mentioned, I accepted with pleasure an invitation to accompany +them on a visit to the encampment a few miles from the town. The moon +was up, and was flinging her silvery veil over the landscape when we +reached the bivouac. It was a picturesque spot, a low prairie-bottom +on the margin of the lake, beneath a range of wooded bluffs in the +rear; and the little white tents sprinkled about upon the green +shrubbery beneath the trees; the stacks of arms and military +accoutrements piled up beneath or suspended from their branches; the +dragoons around their tents, engaged in the culinary operations of the +camp, or listlessly lolling upon the grass as the laugh and jest went +free; the horses grazing among the thickets, while over the whole was +resting the misty splendour of the moonlight, {110} made up a _tout +ensemble_ not unworthy the crayon of a Weir.[96] The detachment was a +small one, consisting of only one hundred men, under command of +Captain S----, on an excursion from Camp des Moines, at the lower +rapids of the Mississippi, to Fort Howard, on Green Bay, partially +occasioned by a rumour of Indian hostilities threatened in that +vicinity.[97] They were a portion of several companies of the first +regiment of dragoons, levied by Congress a few years since for the +protection of the Western frontier, in place of the "Rangers," so +styled, in whom that trust had previously reposed. They were all +Americans, resolute-looking fellows enough, and originally +rendezvoused at Jefferson Barracks. The design of such a corps is +doubtless an excellent one; but military men tell us that some +unpardonable omissions were made in the provisions of the bill +reported by Congress in which the corps had its origin; for, according +to the present regulations, all approximation to discipline is +precluded. Captain S---- received us leisurely reclining upon a +buffalo-robe in his tent; and, in a brief interview, we found him +possessed of all that gentlemanly _naïveté_ which foreign travellers +would have us believe is, in our country, confined to the profession +of arms. The night-dews of the lowlands had for some hours been +falling when we reached the village drenched with their damps. + +Much to our regret, the stage of water in the Illinois would not +permit our boat to ascend the stream, as had been the intention, to +Hennepin, some twenty miles above, and Ottawa, at the foot of the +rapids.[98] Nearly equidistant between these {111} flourishing towns, +upon the eastern bank of the Illinois, is situated that remarkable +crag, termed by the early French "_Le Rocher_," by the Indian +traditions "_Starved Rock_," and by the present dwellers in its +vicinity, as well as by Schoolcraft and the maps, "_Rockfort_." It is +a tall cliff, composed of alternate strata of lime and sandstone, +about two hundred and fifty feet in height by report, and one hundred +and thirty-four by actual measurement. Its base is swept by the +current, and it is perfectly precipitous upon three sides. The fourth +side, by which alone it is accessible, is connected with the +neighbouring range of bluffs by a natural causeway, which can be +ascended only by a difficult and tortuous path. The summit of the crag +is clothed with soil to the depth of several feet, sufficient to +sustain a growth of stunted cedars. It is about one hundred feet in +diameter, and comprises nearly an acre of level land. The name of +"Starved Rock" was obtained by this inaccessible battlement from a +legend of Indian tradition, an outline of which may be found in +Flint's work upon the Western Valley, and an interesting story wrought +from its incidents in Hall's "Border Tales." A band of the Illini +having assassinated Pontiac, the Ottoway chieftain, in 1767, the +tribe of the Pottawattamies made war upon them. The Illini, being +defeated, fled for refuge to this rock, which a little labour soon +rendered inaccessible to all the assaults of their enemy. At this +crisis, after repeated repulse, the besiegers determined to reduce the +hold by _starvation_, as the only method remaining. The tradition of +this siege affords, perhaps, {112} as striking an illustration of +Indian character as is furnished by our annals of the unfortunate +race. Food in some considerable quantity had been provided by the +besieged; but when, parched by thirst, they attempted during the night +to procure water from the cool stream rushing below them by means of +ropes of bark, the enemy detected the design, and their vessels were +cut off by a guard in canoes. The last resource was defeated; every +stratagem discovered; hope was extinguished; the unutterable tortures +of thirst were upon them; a terrific death in anticipation; yet they +yielded not; the speedier torments of the stake and a triumph to their +foes was the alternative. And so they perished--all, with a solitary +exception--a woman, who was adopted by the hostile tribe, and was +living not half a century since. For years the summit of this old +cliff was whitened by the bones of the victims; and quantities of +remains, as well as arrow-heads and domestic utensils, are at the +present day exhumed. Shells are also found, but their _whence_ and +_wherefore_ are not easily determined. At the only accessible point +there is said to be an appearance of an intrenchment and rampart. A +glorious view of the Illinois, which, forming a curve, laves more than +half of the column's base, is obtained from the summit. An ancient +post of the French is believed to have once stood here.[99] + +Brightly were the moonbeams streaming over the blue lake Pinatahwee as +our steamer glided from its waters. Near midnight, as we swept past +Pekin, we were roused from our slumbers by the plaintive {113} notes +of the "German Hymn," which mellowly came stealing from distance over +the waters; and we almost pardoned the "Menagerie" its multifold +transgressions because of that touching air. There is a chord in +almost every bosom, however rough and unharmonious its ordinary +emotions, which fails not to vibrate beneath the gentle influences of +"sweet sounds." From this, as from the strings of the wind-harp, a +zephyr may elicit a melody of feeling which the storm could never have +awakened. There are seasons, too, when the nerves and fibres of the +system, reposing in quietness, are most exquisitely attempered to the +mysterious influences and the delicate breathings of harmony; and such +a season is that calm, holy hour, when deep sleep hath descended upon +man, and his unquiet pulsings have for an interval ceased their +fevered beat. To be awakened then by music's cadence has upon us an +effect unearthly! It calls forth from their depths the richest +emotions of the heart. The moonlight serenade! Ah, its wild witchery +has told upon the romance of many a young bosom! If you have a +mistress, and you would woo her _not vainly_, woo her thus! I remember +me, when once a resident of the courtly city of L----, to have been +awakened one morning long before the dawn by a strain of distant +music, which, swelling and rising upon the still night-air, came +floating like a spirit through the open windows and long galleries of +the building. I arose; all was calm, and silent, and deserted through +the dim, lengthened streets of the city. Not a light gleamed from a +casement; not a {114} footfall echoed from the pavement; not a breath +broke the stillness save the crowing of the far-off cock proclaiming +the morn, and the low rumble of the marketman's wagon; and then, +swelling upon the night-wind, fitfully came up that beautiful gush of +melody, wave upon wave, surge after surge, billow upon billow, winding +itself into the innermost cells of the soul! + + "Oh, it came o'er my ear like the sweet South, + That breathes upon a bank of violets, + Stealing and giving odour." + +_Illinois River._ + + + + +XI + + "You will excuse me if I do not strictly confine myself to + narration, but now and then interpose such _reflections_ as + may offer while I am writing."--NEWTON. + + "Each was a giant heap of mouldering clay; + There slept the warriors, women, friends, and foes; + There, side by side, the rival chieftains lay, + And mighty tribes swept from the face of day." + FLINT. + + +More than three weeks ago I found myself, one bright morning at +sunrise, before the city of St. Louis on descending the Illinois; and +in that venerable little city have I ever since been a dweller. A +series of those vexatious delays, ever occurring to balk the designs +of the tourist, have detained me longer than could have been +anticipated. Not the {115} most inconsiderable of these preventives to +locomotion in this bustling, swapping, chaffering little city, +strange as it may seem, has been the difficulty of procuring, at a +conscionable outlay of dollars and cents, a suitable steed for a +protracted jaunt. But, thanks to the civility or _selfism_ of a +friend, this difficulty is at an end, and I have at length succeeded +in securing the reversion of a tough, spirited little bay, which, by +considerate usage and bountiful foddering, may serve to bear me, with +the requisite quantum of speed and safety, over the prairies. A few +days, therefore, when the last touch of _acclimation_ shall have taken +its leave, and "I'm over the border and awa'." + +The city of San' Louis, now hoary with a century's years, was one of +those early settlements planted by the Canadian French up and down the +great valley, from the Northern Lakes to the Gulf, while the English +colonists of Plymouth and Jamestown were wringing out a wretched +subsistence along the sterile shores of the Atlantic, wearied out by +constant warfare with the thirty Indian tribes within their borders. +Attracted by the beauty of the country, the fertility of its soil, the +boundless variety of its products, the exhaustless mineral treasures +beneath its surface, and the facility of the trade in the furs of the +Northwest, a flood of Canadian emigration opened southward after the +discoveries of La Salle, and the little villages of Cahokia, +Kaskaskia, Prairie du Po, Prairie du Rocher, St. Phillipe, St. +Ferdinand, Peoria, Fort Chartres, Vuide Poche, Petites Cotes, now St. +Charles, Pain Court, now St. Louis, and others, successively sprang up +in {116} the howling waste. Over nearly all this territory have the +Gaul, the Spaniard, the Briton, and the Anglo-American held rule, and +a dash of the national idiosyncrasy of each may be detected. +Especially true is this of St. Louis. There is an antiquated, +venerable air about its narrow streets and the ungainly edifices of +one portion of it; the steep-roofed stone cottage of the Frenchman, +and the tall stuccoed-dwelling of the Don, not often beheld. A +mellowing touch of time, which few American cities can boast, has +passed over it, rendering it a spot of peculiar interest to one with +the slightest spirit of the antiquary, in a country where all else is +new. The modern section of the city, with its regular streets and +lofty edifices, which, within the past fifteen years, has arisen under +the active hand of the northern emigrant, presents a striking contrast +to the old. + +The site of St. Louis is elevated and salubrious, lying for some miles +along the Mississippi upon two broad plateaux or steppes swelling up +gently from the water's edge. Along the first of these, based upon an +exhaustless bed of limestone, which furnishes material for building, +are situated the lower and central portions of the city, while that +above sweeps away in an extensive prairie of stunted black-jack oaks +to the west. The latter section is already laid out into streets and +building-lots; elegant structures are rapidly going up, and, at no +distant day, this is destined to become the most courtly and beautiful +portion of the city. It is at a pleasant remove from the dust and +bustle of the landing, {117} while its elevation affords a fine view +of the harbour and opposite shore. Yet, with all its improvements of +the past few years, St. Louis remains emphatically "a little _French_ +city." There is about it a cheerful village air, a certain _rus in +rube_, to which the grenadier preciseness of most of our cities is the +antipodes. There are but few of those endless, rectilinear avenues, +cutting each other into broad squares of lofty granite blocks, so +characteristic of the older cities of the North and East, or of those +cities of tramontane origin so rapidly rising within the boundaries of +the valley. There yet remains much in St. Louis to remind one of its +village days; and a stern _eschewal_ of mathematical, angular +exactitude is everywhere beheld. Until within a few years there was no +such thing as a row of houses; all were disjoined and at a +considerable distance from each other; and every edifice, however +central, could boast its humble _stoop_, its front-door plat, bedecked +with shrubbery and flowers, and protected from the inroads of +intruding man or beast by its own tall stoccade. All this is now +confined to the southern or French section of the city; a right Rip +Van Winkle-looking region, where each little steep-roofed cottage yet +presents its broad piazza, and the cosey settee before the door +beneath the tree shade, with the fleshy old burghers soberly +luxuriating on an evening pipe, their dark-eyed, brunette daughters at +their side. There is a delightful air of "old-fashioned +comfortableness" in all this, that reminds us of nothing we have seen +in our own country, but much of the antiquated villages of which we +have {118} been told in the land beyond the waters. Among those +remnants of a former generation which are yet to be seen in St. Louis +are the venerable mansions of Auguste and Pierre Chouteau, who were +among the founders of the city.[100] These extensive mansions stand +upon the principal street, and originally occupied, with their +grounds, each of them an entire square, enclosed by lofty walls of +heavy masonry, with loopholes and watch-towers for defence. The march +of improvement has encroached upon the premises of these ancient +edifices somewhat; yet they are still inhabited by the posterity of +their builders, and remain, with their massive walls of stone, +monuments of an earlier era. + +The site upon which stands St. Louis was selected in 1763 by M. +Laclede, a partner of a mercantile association at New-Orleans, to whom +D'Abbadie, Director-general of the province of Louisiana, had granted +the exclusive privilege of the commerce in furs and peltries with the +Indian tribes of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. By the +treaty of that year France had ceded all her possessions east of the +Mississippi to Great Britain, and there was on the western shore only +the small village of Ste. Genevieve. This was subsequently deemed too +distant from the mouth of the Mississippi to be a suitable depôt and +post for the fur-trade; and Laclede, having surveyed all the +neighbouring region, fixed upon the spot where St. Louis now stands as +a more eligible site. Whether this site was selected by the flight of +birds, by consultation of the entrails of beasts, or the voice of an +oracle; whether by accident {119} or design, tradition averreth not. +Yet sure is it, that under the concurrence of all these omens, a more +favourable selection could not have been made than this has proved. It +_is related_, however, that when the founder of the city first planted +foot upon the shore, the imprint of a human foot, naked and of +gigantic dimensions, was found enstamped upon the solid limestone +rock, and continued in regular succession as if of a man advancing +from the water's edge to the plateau above.[101] By a more +superstitious age this circumstance would have been deemed an omen, +and, as such, commemorated in the chronicles of the city. On the 15th +of February, 1764, Colonel Auguste Chouteau, with a number of persons +from Ste. Genevieve, Cahokia, and Fort Chartres, arrived at the spot, +and commenced a settlement by felling a splendid grove of forest-trees +which then reared itself upon the bank, and erecting a building where +the market-house now stands. The town was then laid off, and named in +honour of Louis XV., the reigning monarch of France, though the +settlers were desirous of giving it the name of its founder: to this +Laclede would not consent. He died at the post of Arkansas in 1778; +Colonel Chouteau followed him in the month of February of 1829, just +sixty-four years from the founding of the city. He had been a constant +resident, had seen the spot merge from the wilderness, and had become +one of its most opulent citizens. + +For many years St. Louis was called "_Pain_ {120} _Court_," from the +scarcity of provisions, which circumstance at one period almost +induced the settlers to abandon their design. In 1765 Fort Chartres +was delivered to Great Britain, and the commandant, St. Ange, with his +troops, only twenty-two in number, proceeded to St. Louis; and +assuming the government, the place was ever after considered the +capital of the province.[102] Under the administration of St. Ange, +which is said to have been mild and patriarchal, the _common field_ +was laid open, and each settler became a cultivator of the soil. This +field comprised several thousand acres, lying upon the second steppe +mentioned, and has recently been divided into lots and sold to the +highest bidder. Three years after the arrival of St. Ange, Spanish +troops under command of Don Rious took possession of the province +agreeable to treaty;[103] but, owing to the dissatisfaction of the +inhabitants, no official authority was exercised until 1770. Thirty +years afterward the province was retroceded to France, and from that +nation to the United States. In the spring of 1778 an attack was made +upon the village by a large body of the northern Indians, at the +instigation of the English. They were repulsed with a loss of about +twenty of the settlers, and the year was commemorated as "_L'annee du +grand coup_."[104] In the spring of 1785, the Mississippi rose thirty +feet above the highest water-mark previously known, and the American +Bottom was inundated. This year was remembered as "_L'annee des +grandes eaux_." + +At that period commerce with New-Orleans, for {121} the purpose of +obtaining merchandise for the fur trade, was carried on exclusively by +keel-boats and barges, which in the spring started upon their voyage +of more than a thousand miles, and in the fall of the year slowly +returned against the current. This mode of transportation was +expensive, tedious, and unsafe; and it was rendered yet more hazardous +from the murders and robberies of a large band of free-booters, under +two chiefs, Culburt and Magilbray, who stationed themselves at a place +called Cotton Wood Creek, on the Mississippi, and captured the +ascending boats. This band was dispersed by a little fleet of ten +barges, which, armed with swivels, ascended the river in company. This +year was remembered as "_L'annee des bateaux_."[105] All the +inconvenience of this method of transportation continued to be +experienced until the introduction of steam upon the Western waters; +and the first boat of this kind which made its appearance at the port +of St. Louis was the "General Pike," in 1814. This boat was commanded +by Captain Jacob Reed, and, at the time of its arrival, a large body +of a neighbouring Indian tribe chanced to have an encampment in the +suburbs of the city. Their astonishment, and even _terror_, at first +sight of the evolutions of the steamer, are said to have been +indescribable. They viewed it as nothing less than a living thing; a +monster of tremendous power, commissioned by the "Great Spirit" for +their extermination, and their humiliation was proportional to their +terror. Great opposition was raised against steamers by the boatmen, +some thousands of whom, by their introduction, would {122} be thrown +out of employment; but this feeling gradually passed away, and now +vessels propelled by steam perform in a few days a voyage which +formerly required as many months. A trip to the city, as New-Orleans, +_par excellence_, was styled, then demanded weeks of prior +preparation, and a man put his house and household in order before +setting out: now it is an ordinary jaunt of pleasure. The same dislike +manifested by the old French _habitans_ to the introduction of the +steamer or _smoke-boat_, "bateau à vapeur," as they termed it, has +betrayed itself at every advance of modern improvement. Erected, as +St. Louis was, with no design of a city, its houses were originally +huddled together with a view to nothing but convenience; and its +streets were laid out too narrow and too irregular for the bustle and +throng of mercantile operations. In endeavouring to correct this early +error, by removing a few of the old houses and projecting balconies, +great opposition has been encountered. Some degree of uniformity in +the three principal streets parallel to the river has, however, by +this method been attained. Water-street is well built up with a series +of lofty limestone warehouses; but an irretrievable error has been +committed in arranging them at so short a distance from the water. On +some accounts this proximity to the river may be convenient; but for +the sake of a broad arena for commerce; for the sake of a fresh and +salubrious circulation of air from the water; for the sake of scenic +beauty, or a noble promenade for pleasure, there should have been no +encroachment upon the precincts {123} of the "eternal river." In view +of the miserable _plan_ of St. Louis, if it may claim anything of the +kind, and the irregular manner and singular taste with which it has +been built, the regret has more than once been expressed, that, like +Detroit,[106] a conflagration had not swept it in its earlier days, +and given place to an arrangement at once more consistent with +elegance and convenience. + +From the river bank to the elevated ground sweeping off in the rear of +the city to the west is a distance of several hundred yards, and the +height above the level of the water cannot be far from an hundred +feet. The ascent is easy, however, and a noble view is obtained, from +the cupola of the courthouse on its summit, of the Mississippi and +the city below, of the broad American Bottom, with its bluffs in the +distance, and a beautiful extent of natural scenery in the rear. Along +the brow of this eminence once stood a line of military works, erected +for the defence of the old town in 1780 by Don Francois de Cruzat, +lieutenant governor "_de la partie occidentale des Illinois_," as the +ancient chronicles style the region west of the Mississippi.[107] +These fortifications consisted of several circular towers of stone, +forty feet in diameter and half as many in altitude, planted at +intervals in a line of stoccade, besides a small fort, embracing four +demilunes and a parapet of mason-work. For many years these old works +were in a dismantled and deserted state, excepting the fort, in one +building of which was held {124} the court, and another superseded the +necessity of a prison. Almost every vestige is now swept away. The +great earthquakes of 1811 essentially assisted in toppling the old +ruins to the ground. The whole city was powerfully shaken, and has +since been subject to occasional shocks.[108] + +It is in the northern suburbs of the city that are to be seen those +singular ancient mounds for which St. Louis is so celebrated; and +which, with others in the vicinity, form, as it were, a connecting +link between those of the north, commencing in the lake counties of +Western New-York, and those of the south, extending deep within the +boundaries of Mexico, forming an unbroken line from one extremity of +the great valley to the other. Their position at St. Louis is, as +usual, a commanding one, upon the second bank, of which I have spoken, +and looking proudly down upon the Mississippi, along which the line is +parallel. They stand isolated, or distinct from each other, in groups; +and the outline is generally that of a rectangular pyramid, truncated +nearly one half. The first collection originally consisted of ten +tumuli, arranged as three sides of a square area of about four acres, +and the open flank to the west was guarded by five other small +circular earth-heaps, isolated, and forming the segment of a circle +around {125} the opening. This group is now almost completely +destroyed by the grading of streets and the erection of edifices, and +the eastern border may alone be traced. North of the first collection +of tumuli is a second, four or five in number, and forming two sides +of a square. Among these is one of a very beautiful form, consisting +of three stages, and called the "Falling Garden." Its elevation above +the level of the second plateau is about four feet, and the area is +ample for a dwelling and yard; from the second it descends to the +first plateau along the river by three regular gradations, the first +with a descent of two feet, the second of ten, and the lower one of +five, each stage presenting a beautiful site for a house. For this +purpose, however, they can never be appropriated, as one of the +principal streets of the city is destined to pass directly through the +spot, the grading for which is already commenced. The third group of +mounds is situated a few hundred yards above the second, and consists +of about a dozen eminences. A series extends along the west side of +the street, through grounds attached to a classic edifice of brick, +which occupies the principal one; while opposite rise several of a +larger size, upon one of which is situated the residence of General +Ashley, and upon another the reservoir which supplies the city with +water, raised from the Mississippi by a steam force-pump upon its +banks. Both are beautiful spots, imbowered in forest-trees; and the +former, from its size and structure, is supposed to have been a +citadel or place of defence. {126} In excavating the earth of this +mound, large quantities of human remains, pottery, half-burned wood, +&c., &c., were thrown up; furnishing conclusive evidence, were any +requisite farther than regularity of outline and relative position, of +the artificial origin of these earth-heaps. About six hundred yards +above this group, and linked with it by several inconsiderable mounds, +is situated one completely isolated, and larger than any yet +described. It is upward of thirty feet in height, about one hundred +and fifty feet long, and upon the summit five feet wide. The form is +oblong, resembling an immense grave; and a broad terrace or apron, +after a descent of a few feet, spreads out itself on the side looking +down upon the river. From the extensive view of the surrounding region +and of the Mississippi commanded by the site of this mound, as well as +its altitude, it is supposed to have been intended as a vidette or +watch-tower by its builders. Upon its summit, not many years ago, was +buried an Indian chief. He was a member of a deputation from a distant +tribe to the agency in St. Louis; but, dying while there, his remains, +agreeable to the custom of his tribe, were deposited on the most +commanding spot that could be found. This custom accounts for the +circumstance urged against the antiquity and artificial origin of +these works, that the relics exhumed are found near the surface, and +were deposited by the present race. But the distinction between the +remains found near the surface and those in the depths of the soil is +too palpable and too {127} notorious to require argument. From the +_Big Mound_, as it is called, a _cordon_ of tumuli stretch away to the +northwest for several miles along the bluffs parallel with the river, +a noble view of which they command. They are most of them ten or +twelve feet high; many clothed with forest-trees, and all of them +supposed to be tombs. In removing two of them upon the grounds of Col. +O'Fallon,[109] immense quantities of bones were exhumed. Similar +mounds are to be found in almost every county in the state, and those +in the vicinity of St. Louis are remarkable only for their magnitude +and the regularity of their relative positions. It is evident, from +these monuments of a former generation, that the natural advantages of +the site upon which St. Louis now stands were not unappreciated long +before it was pressed by the first European footstep. + +It is a circumstance which has often elicited remark from those who, +as tourists, have visited St. Louis, that so little interest should be +manifested by its citizens for those mysterious and venerable +monuments of another race by which on every side it is environed. When +we consider the complete absence of everything in the character of a +public square or promenade in the city, one would suppose that +individual taste and municipal authority would not have failed to +avail themselves of the moral interest attached to these mounds and +the beauty of their site, to have formed in their vicinity one of the +most attractive spots in the West. These ancient tumuli could, at no +considerable expense, have been {128} enclosed and ornamented with +shrubbery, and walks, and flowers, and thus preserved for coming +generations. As it is, they are passing rapidly away; man and beast, +as well as the elements, are busy with them, and in a few years they +will quite have disappeared. The practical utility of which they are +available appears the only circumstance which has attracted attention +to them. One has already become a public reservoir, and measures are +in progress for applying the larger mound to a similar use, the first +being insufficient for the growth of the city. It need not be said +that such indifference of feeling to the only relics of a by-gone race +which our land can boast, is not well in the citizens of St. Louis, +and should exist no longer; nor need allusion be made to that +eagerness of interest which the distant traveller, the man of literary +taste and poetic fancy, or the devotee of abstruse science, never +fails to betray for these mysterious monuments of the past, when, in +his tour of the Far West, he visits St. Louis; many a one, too, who +has looked upon the century-mossed ruins of Europe, and to whose eye +the castled crags of the Rhine are not unfamiliar. And surely, to the +imaginative mind, there is an interest which attaches to these +venerable beacons of departed time, enveloped as they are in mystery +inscrutable; and from their origin, pointing, as they do, down the dim +shadowy vista of ages of which the ken of man telleth not, there is an +interest which hallows them even as the hoary piles of old Egypt are +hallowed, and which feudal Europe, with all her {129} time-sustained +battlements, can never boast. It is the mystery, the impenetrable +mystery veiling these aged sepulchres, which gives them an interest +for the traveller's eye. They are landmarks in the lapse of ages, +beneath whose shadows generations have mouldered, and around whose +summits a gone _eternity_ plays! The ruined tower, the moss-grown +abbey, the damp-stained dungeon, the sunken arch, the fairy and +delicate fragments of the shattered peristyle of a classic land, or +the beautiful frescoes of Herculaneum and Pompeii--around _them_ time +has indeed flung the silvery mantle of eld while he has swept them +with decay; but _their_ years may be _enumerated_, and the +circumstances, the authors, and the purposes of their origin, together +with the incidents of their ruin, are chronicled on History's page for +coming generations. But who shall tell the era of the origin of these +venerable earth-heaps, the race of their builders, the purpose of +their erection, the thousand circumstances attending their rise, +history, desertion? Why now so lone and desolate? Where are the +multitudes that once swarmed the prairie at their base, and vainly +busied themselves in rearing piles which should exist the wonder of +the men of other lands, and the sole monument of their own memory long +after they themselves were dust? Has war, or famine, or pestilence +brooded over these beautiful plains? or has the fiat of Omnipotence +gone forth that as a race their inhabitants should exist no longer, +and the death-angel been commissioned to sweep them from off the face +of {130} the earth as if with destruction's besom? We ask: the inquiry +is vain; we are answered not! Their mighty creations and the tombs of +myriads heave up themselves in solemn grandeur before us; but from the +depths of the dusky earth-heap comes forth no voice to tell us its +origin, or object, or story! + + "Ye mouldering relics of a race departed, + Your names have perished; not a trace remains, + Save where the grassgrown mound its summit rears + From the green bosom of your native plains." + +Ages since--long ere the first son of the Old World had pressed the +fresh soil of the New; long before the bright region beyond the blue +wave had been the object of the philosopher's revery by day and the +enthusiast's vision by night--in the deep stillness and solitude of an +unpeopled land, these vast mausoleums rose as now they rise, in lonely +grandeur from the plain, and looked down, even as now they look, upon +the giant flood rolling its dark waters at their base, hurrying past +them to the deep. So has it been with the massive tombs of Egypt, amid +the sands and barrenness of the desert. For ages untold have the +gloomy pyramids been reflected by the inundations of the Nile; an +hundred generations, they tell us, have arisen from the cradle and +reposed beneath their shadows, and, like autumn leaves, have dropped +into the grave; but from the deep midnight of by-gone centuries comes +forth no daring spirit to claim these kingly sepulchres as his own! +And shall the dusky piles on the plains of distant Egypt affect so +deeply our reverence for the {131} departed, and these mighty +monuments, reposing in dark sublimity upon our own magnificent +prairies veiled in mystery more inscrutable than they, call forth no +solitary throb? Is there no hallowing interest associated with these +aged relics, these tombs, and temples, and towers of another race, to +elicit emotion? Are they _indeed_ to us no more than the dull clods we +tread upon? Why, then, does the wanderer from the far land gaze upon +them with wonder and veneration? Why linger fondly around them, and +meditate upon the power which reared them and is departed? Why does +the poet, the man of genius and fancy, or the philosopher of mind and +nature, seat himself at their base, and, with strange and undefined +emotions, pause and ponder amid the loneliness which slumbers around? +And surely, if the far traveller, as he wanders through this Western +Valley, may linger around these aged piles and meditate upon a power +departed, a race obliterated, an influence swept from the earth for +ever, and dwell with melancholy emotions upon the destiny of man, is +it not meet that those into whose keeping they seem by Providence +consigned should regard them with interest and emotion? that they +should gather up and preserve every incident relevant to their +origin, design, or history which may be attained, and avail themselves +of every measure which may give to them perpetuity, and hand them +down, undisturbed in form or character, to other generations? + +The most plausible, and, indeed, the only plausible argument urged by +those who deny the artificial {132} origin of the ancient mounds, is +_their immense size_. There are, say they, "many mounds in the West +that exactly correspond in _shape_ with these supposed antiquities, +and yet, from their _size_, most evidently were not made by man;" and +they add that "it would be well to calculate upon the ordinary labour +of excavating canals, how many hands, with spades, wheelbarrows, and +other necessary implements, it would take to throw up mounds like the +largest of these within any given time."[110] We are told that in the +territory of Wisconsin and in northern Illinois exist mounds to which +these are molehills. Of those, Mount Joliet, Mount Charles, Sinsinewa, +and the Blue Mounds vary from one to four hundred feet in height; +while west of the Arkansas exists a range of earth-heaps ten or twelve +miles in extent, and two hundred feet high: there also, it might be +added, are the Mamelle Mountains, estimated at one thousand +feet.[111] The adjacent country is prairie; farms exist on the +summits of the mounds, which from their declivity are almost +inaccessible, and _springs gush out from their sides_. With but one +exception I profess to know nothing of these mounds from personal +observation; and, consequently, can hazard no opinion of their +character. The fact of the "gushing springs," it is true, {133} +savours not much of artificialness; and in this respect, at least, do +these mounds differ from those claimed as of artificial origin. The +earth-heaps of which I have been speaking can boast no "springs of +water gushing from their sides;" if they could, the fact would be far +from corroborating the theory maintained. The analogy between these +mounds is admitted to be strong, though there exist diversities; and +were there _none_, even Bishop Butler says that we are not to infer a +thing true upon slight presumption, since "there may be probabilities +on both sides of a question." From what has been advanced relative to +the character of the mounds spoken of, it is believed that the +probabilities strongly preponderate in favour of their artificial +origin, even admitting their _perfect_ analogy to those "from whose +sides gush the springs." But more anon. + +_St. Louis._ + + + + +XII + + "Where, through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault, + The pealing anthem swells the note of praise." + GRAY. + + "Some men have been + Who loved the church so well, and gave so largely to't, + They thought it should have canopied their bones + Till doomsday." + + +There are few more delightful views in the vicinity of St. Louis of a +fine evening than that commanded by the summit of the "Big Mound," of +which I have spoken, in the northern suburbs of the city. Far away +from the north comes the Mississippi, sweeping on in a broad, smooth +sheet, skirted by woodlands; and the rushing of its waters along the +ragged rocks of the shores below is fancied faintly to reach the ear. +Nearly in the middle of the stream are stretched out the long, low, +sandy shores of "Blood Island," a spot notorious in the annals of +duelling. Upon the Illinois shore beyond it is contemplated erecting a +pier, for the purpose of throwing the full volume of the current upon +the western shore, and thus preserving a channel of deep water along +the landing of the city. Within a few years past an extensive sand-bar +has accumulated opposite the southern section of the city, which +threatens, unless removed, greatly to obstruct, if not to destroy, the +harbour. To remedy this, an appropriation {135} has been made by +Congress, surveys have been taken, measures devised and their +execution commenced.[112] Upon the river-bank opposite the island +stands the "Floating Dry Dock," an ingenious contrivance, the +invention of a gentleman of St. Louis, and owned by a company of +patentees.[113] It consists of an indefinite number of floats, which +may be increased or diminished at pleasure, each of them fourteen feet +in breadth, and about four times that length, connected laterally +together. After being sunk and suspended at the necessary depth in the +water, the boat to be repaired is placed upon them, and they rise till +her hull is completely exposed. + +As the spectator, standing upon the Mound, turns his eye to the south, +a green grove lies before him and the smaller earth-heaps, over which +are beheld the towers and roofs of the city rising in the distance; +far beyond is spread out a smooth, rolling carpet of tree-tops, in the +midst of which the gray limestone of the arsenal is dimly perceived. +The extent between the northern suburbs of St. Louis and its southern +extremity along the river curve is about six miles, and the city can +be profitably extended about the same distance into the interior. The +prospect in this direction is boundless for miles around, till the +tree-tops blend with the western horizon. The face of the country is +neither uniform nor broken, but undulates almost imperceptibly away, +clothed in a dense forest of black-jack oak, interspersed with +thickets of the wild-plum, the crab-apple, and the hazel. Thirty years +ago, and this broad plain was a treeless, shrubless waste, {136} +without a solitary farmhouse to break the monotony. But the annual +fires were stopped; a young forest sprang into existence; and +delightful villas and country seats are now gleaming from the dark +foliage in all directions. To some of them are attached extensive +grounds, adorned with groves, orchards, fish-ponds, and all the +elegances of opulence and cultivated taste; while in the distance are +beheld the glittering spires of the city rising above the trees. At +one of these, a retired, beautiful spot, residence of Dr. F----, I +have passed many a pleasant hour. The sportsman may here be indulged +to his heart's desire. The woods abound with game of every species: +the rabbit, quail, prairie-hen, wild-turkey, and the deer; while the +lakes, which flash from every dell and dingle, are swarmed with fish. +Most of these sheets of water are formed by immense springs issuing +from _sink-holes_; and are supposed, like those in Florida, which +suggested the wild idea of the _fountain of rejuvenescence_, to owe +their origin to the subsidence of the bed of porous limestone upon +which the Western Valley is based. Many of these springs intersect the +region with rills and rivulets, and assist in forming a beautiful +sheet of water in the southern suburbs of the city, which eventually +pours out its waters into the Mississippi. Many years ago a dam and +massive mill of stone was erected here by one of the founders of the +city; it is yet standing, surrounded by aged sycamores, and is more +valuable and venerable than ever. The neighbouring region is abrupt +and broken, varied by a delightful vicissitude of hill and dale. The +borders {137} of the lake are fringed with groves, while the steep +bluffs, which rise along the water and are reflected in its placid +bosom, recall the picture of Ben Venue and Loch Katrine:[114] + + "The mountain shadows on her breast + Were neither broken nor at rest; + In bright uncertainty they lie, + Like future joys to Fancy's eye." + +This beautiful lake and its vicinity is, indeed, unsurpassed for +scenic loveliness by any spot in the suburbs of St. Louis. At the +calm, holy hour of Sabbath sunset, its quiet borders invite to +meditation and retirement. The spot should be consecrated as the +trysting-place of love and friendship. Some fine structures are rising +upon the margin of the waters, and in a few years it will be rivalled +in beauty by no other section of the city. + +St. Louis, like most Western cities, can boast but few public edifices +of any note. Among those which are to be seen, however, are the large +and commodious places of worship of the different religious +denominations; an elegant courthouse, occupying with its enclosed +grounds one of the finest squares in the city; two market-houses, one +of which, standing upon the river-bank, contains on its second floor +the City Hall; a large and splendid theatre, in most particulars +inferior to no other edifice of the kind in the United States; and an +extensive hotel, which is now going up, to be called the "St. Louis +House," contracted for one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The +Cathedral of St. Luke, the University, Hospital, Orphan Asylum, and +the {138} "Convent of the Sacred Heart," are Catholic Institutions, +and well worthy of remark.[115] For many years after its settlement, +the Roman Catholic faith prevailed exclusively in St. Louis. The +founders of the city and its earliest inhabitants were of this +religious persuasion; and their descendants, many of whom are now +among its most opulent and influential citizens, together with foreign +immigrants of a recent date, form a numerous and respectable body. The +names of Chouteau, Pratte, Sarpy, Cabanné, Menard, Soulard, &c., &c., +are those of early settlers of the city which yet are often +heard.[116] + +The "Cathedral of St. Luke" is a noble structure of stone.[117] It +was consecrated with great pomp in the autumn of '34, having occupied +three years in its erection. The site is unfavourable, but it +possessed an interest for many of the old citizens which no other spot +could claim. Here had stood their ancient sanctuary, with which was +associated the holy feelings of their earliest days; here had been the +baptismal font and the marriage altar; while beneath reposed the +sacred remains of many a being, loved and honoured, but passed away. +The former church was a rude structure of logs. The dimensions of the +present building are a length of about one hundred and forty feet, to +a breadth of eighty and an altitude of forty, with a tower of upward +of an hundred feet, surmounted by a lofty cross. The steeple contains +a peal of six bells, the three larger of which were cast in Normandy, +and chime very pleasantly; upon the four sides of the tower are the +dial-plates of a clock, which strikes the hours upon {139} the bells. +The porch of the edifice consists of four large columns of polished +freestone, of the Doric order, with corresponding entablature, +cornice, pediment, and frieze, the whole surface of the latter being +occupied with the inscription "_In honorem S. Ludovici. Deo Uni et +Trino, Dicatum, A. D. MDCCCXXXIV_," the letters elevated in +_basso-relievo_. Over the entrances, which are three in number, are +inscribed, in French and in English, passages from Scripture, upon +tablets of Italian marble. The porch is protected from the street by +battlements, surmounted by an iron railing, and adorned by lofty +candelabra of stone. The body of the building is divided by two +colonnades, of five pillars each, into three aisles. The columns, +composed of brick, stuccoed to imitate marble, are of the Doric order, +supporting a cornice and entablature, decorated with arabesques and +medallions; and upon them reposes the arch of the elliptic-formed and +panelled ceiling. Between the columns are suspended eight splendid +chandeliers, which, when lighted at night, produce a magnificent +effect. The walls are enriched by frescoes and arabesques, and the +windows are embellished with transparencies, presenting the principal +transactions of the Saviour's mission. This is said to be one of the +first attempts at a substitute for the painted glass of the Middle +Ages, and was executed, together with the other pictorial decorations +of the edifice, by an artist named _Leon_, sent over for the purpose +from France. The effect is grand. Even the garish sunbeams are +mellowed down as they struggle dimly through the richly-coloured {140} +hangings, and the light throughout the sacred pile seems tinged with +rainbow hues. In the chancel of the church, at the bottom of the +centre aisle, elevated by a flight of steps, and enclosed by a +balustrade of the Corinthian order, is situated the sanctuary. Upon +either side stand pilasters to represent marble, decorated with +festoons of wheat-ears and vines, symbolical of the eucharist, and +surmounted with caps of the Doric order. On the right, between the +pilasters, is a gallery for the choir, with the organ in the rear, and +on the left side is a veiled gallery for the "Sisters of Charity" +connected with the convent and the other institutions of the church. +The altar-piece at the bottom of the sanctuary represents the Saviour +upon the cross, with his mother and two of his disciples at his feet; +on either side rise two fluted Corinthian columns, with a broken +pediment and gilded caps, supporting a gorgeous entablature. Above the +whole is an elliptical window, hung with the transparency of a dove, +emblematic of the Holy Ghost, shedding abroad rays of light. The high +altar and the tabernacle stand below, and the decorations on festal +occasions, as well as the vestments of the officiating priests, are +splendid and imposing. Over the bishop's seat, in a side arch of the +sanctuary, hangs a beautiful painting of St. Louis, titular of the +cathedral, presented by the amiable Louis XVI. of France previous to +his exile.[118] At the bottom of each of the side aisles of the church +stand two chapels, at the same elevation with the sanctuary. Between +two fluted columns of the Ionic order is suspended, in each chapel, an +{141} altar-piece, with a valuable painting above. The piece on the +left represents St. Vincent of Gaul engaged in charity on a winter's +day, and the picture above is the marriage of the blessed Virgin. The +altar-piece of the right represents St. Patrick of Ireland in his +pontifical robes, and above is a painting of our Saviour and the +centurion, said to be by Paul Veronese. At the opposite extremity of +the building, near the side entrances, are two valuable pieces; one +said to be by Rubens, of the Virgin and Child, the other the martyrdom +of St. Bartholemew.[119] Above rise extensive galleries in three rows; +to the right is the baptismal font, and a landscape of the Saviour's +immersion in Jordan. Beneath the sanctuary of the church is the lower +chapel, divided into three aisles by as many arches, supported by +pilasters, which, as well as the walls, are painted to imitate marble. +There is here an altar and a marble tabernacle, where mass is +performed during the week, and the chapel is decorated by fourteen +paintings, representing different stages of the Saviour's +passion.[120] + +In the western suburbs of the city, upon an eminence, stand the +buildings of the St. Louis University, handsome structures of +brick.[121] The institution is conducted by Jesuits, and most of the +higher branches of learning are taught. The present site has been +offered for sale, and the seminary is to be removed some miles into +the interior. Connected {142} with the college is a medical school of +recent date. The chapel of the institution is a large, airy room, hung +with antique and valuable paintings. Two of these, suspended on each +side of the altar, said to be by Rubens, are master-pieces of the art. +One of them represents Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of +Jesuits; the other is the full-length picture of the celebrated +Francis Xavier, apostle to the Indies, who died at Goa while engaged +in his benevolent labours. In an oratory above hangs a large painting +by the same master; a powerful, though unfinished production. All the +galleries of the buildings are decorated with paintings, some of which +have but little to commend them to notice but their antiquity. The +library embraces about twelve hundred volumes, mostly in the French +language. The _Universal Geography_ of Braviara, a valuable work of +eleven folios, brilliantly illuminated, and the _Actæ Sanctorum_, an +enormous work of _forty-two_ folio volumes, chiefly attract the +visiter's attention.[122] The philosophical apparatus attached to the +institution is very insufficient. Most of the pupils of the +institution are French, and they are gathered from all quarters of the +South and West; a great number of them are from Louisiana, sons of the +planters. + +_St. Louis._ + + + + +XIII + + "Away! away! and on we dash! + Torrents less rapid and less rash." + _Mazeppa._ + + "Mark yon old mansion frowning through the trees, + Whose hollow turret woos the whistling breeze." + ROGERS. + + +It was a pleasant afternoon when, in company with a number of friends, +I left the city for an excursion into its southern suburbs, and a +visit to the military works, a few miles distant. The atmosphere had +that mild, mellowy mistiness which subdues the fierce glare of the +sunbeams, and flings over every object a softened shade. A gentle +breeze from the south was astir balmily and blandly among the leaves; +in fine, it was one of those grateful, genial seasons, when the senses +sympathize with the quietude of external creation, and there is no +reason, earthly or unearthly, why the inward man should not sympathize +with the man without; a season when you are at peace with yourself, +and at peace with every object, animate, inanimate, or vegetable, +about you. Our party consisted of eight precious souls, and "all agog +to dash through thick and thin," if essential to a jovial jaunt. And +now fain would I enumerate those worthy individuals, together with +their several peculiarities and dispositions, good and bad, did not a +certain delicacy forbid. {144} Suffice it to say, the excursion was +devised in honour, and for the especial benefit, of a young and +recently-married couple from "the city of monuments and fountains," +who were enjoying their honey-moon in a trip to the Far West. Passing +through the narrow streets and among the ancient edifices of the _old_ +city, we came to that section called South St. Louis. This is destined +to become the district of manufactures; large quantities of bituminous +coal, little inferior to that of the Alleghanies, is here found; and +railroads to the celebrated Iron Mountain, sixty miles distant, and to +the coal-banks of the Illinois bluffs, as well as to the northern +section of the city, are projected. The landing is good, the shore +being composed of limestone and marble, of two different species, both +of which admit a high degree of polish. There is also quarried in this +vicinity a kind of freestone, which, when fresh from the bed, is soft, +but, on exposure to the atmosphere, becomes dense and hard. We passed +a number of commodious farmhouses as we ambled along; and now and +then, at intervals through the trees, was caught a glimpse of the +flashing sheen of the river gliding along upon our left. At a short +distance from the road were to be seen the ruins of the "Eagle +Powder-works," destroyed by fire in the spring of '36. They had been +in operation only three years previous to their explosion, and their +daily manufacture was three hundred pounds of superior powder. The +report and concussion of the explosion was perceived miles around the +country, and the loss sustained by the proprietors was estimated +{145} at forty thousand dollars. The site of these works was a broad +plain, over which, as our horses were briskly galloping, a +circumstance occurred which could boast quite as much of reality as +romance. + +To my own especial gallantry--gallant man--had been intrusted the +precious person of the fair bride, and lightly and gracefully pressed +her fairy form upon the back of a bright-eyed, lithe little animal, +with a spirit buoyant as her own. The steed upon which I was myself +mounted was a powerful creature, with a mouth as unyielding as the +steel bit he was constantly champing. The lady prided herself, not +without reason, upon her boldness and grace in horsemanship and her +skill in the _manège_; and, as we rode somewhat in advance of our +cavalcade, the proposal thoughtlessly dropped from her that we should +elope and leave our companions in the lurch. Hardly had the syllables +left her lip, than the reins were flung loose upon the horses' manes; +they bounded on, and away, away, away the next moment were we skirring +over the plain, like the steed of the Muses on a steeple-chase. A +single shout of warning to my fair companion was returned by an +ejaculation of terror, for her horse had become his own master. The +race of John Gilpin or of Alderman Purdy were, either or both of them, +mere circumstances to ours. For more than a mile our excited steeds +swept onward in their furious course to the admiration of beholders; +and how long the race might have been protracted is impossible to say, +had not certain sons of Erin--worthy souls {146}--in the innocence of +their hearts and the ignorance of their heads, and by way of +perpetrating a notable exploit, thought proper to throw themselves +from the roadside directly before us. The suddenness of the movement +brought both our animals nearly upon their haunches, and the next +minute saw the fair bride quietly seated in the dust beneath their +feet. The shock had flung her from her seat, but she arose uninjured. +To leap from my saddle and place the lady again in hers was the work +of a moment; and when the cortége made its appearance, our runaway +steeds were ambling along in a fashion the most discreet and exemplary +imaginable. + +The situation of the Arsenal, upon a swelling bank of the river, is +delightful. It is surrounded by a strong wall of stone, embracing +extensive grounds, through which a green, shady avenue leads from the +highway. The structures are composed chiefly of unhewn limestone, +enclosing a rectangular area, and comprise about a dozen large +buildings, while a number of lesser ones are perceived here and there +among the groves. The principal structure is one of four stories, +looking down upon the Mississippi, with a beautiful esplanade, forming +a kind of natural glacis to the whole armory, sweeping away to the +water. Upon the right and left, in the same line with the rectangle, +are situated the dwellings of the officers; noble edifices of hewn +stone, with cultivated garden-plats and fruit-trees. The view of the +stream is here delightful, and the breeze came up from its surface +fresh and free. A pair of pet deer were frolicking along the shore. +Most of the remaining structures are offices and {147} workshops +devoted to the manufacture of arms. Of these there were but few in the +Arsenal, large quantities having been despatched to the South for the +Florida war. It is designed, I am informed, to mount ordnance at these +works--to no great extent, probably; there were several pieces of +artillery already prepared. The slits and loop-holes in the deep +walls, the pyramids of balls and bombshells, and the heavy carronades +piled in tiers, give the place rather a warlike aspect for a peaceable +inland fortress. + +A ride of a few miles brought us to the brow of a considerable +elevation, from which we looked down upon the venerable little hamlet +of Carondelet, or _Vuide Poche_, as it is familiarly termed; a _nom de +nique_ truly indicative of the poverty of pocket and the richness of +fancy of its primitive habitans. The village lies in a sleepy-looking +hollow, scooped out between the bluffs and the water; and from the +summit of the hill the eye glances beyond it over the lengthened vista +of the river-reach, at this place miles in extent. Along the shore a +deeply-laden steamer was toiling against the current on her passage to +the city. Descending the elevation, we were soon thridding the narrow, +tortuous, lane-like avenues of the old village. Every object, the very +soil even, seemed mossgrown and hoary with time departed. More than +seventy years have passed away since its settlement commenced; and +now, as then, its inhabitants consist of hunters, and trappers, and +river-boatmen, absent most of the year on their various excursions. +The rude, crumbling tenements {148} of stone or timber, of peculiar +structure, with their whitewashed walls stained by age; the stoccade +enclosures of the gardens; the venerable aspect of the ancient +fruit-trees, mossed with years, and the unique and singular garb, +manner, and appearance of the swarthy villagers, all betoken an +earlier era and a peculiar people. The little dark-eyed, dark-haired +boys were busy with their games in the streets; and, as we paced +leisurely along, we could perceive in the little _cabarets_ the older +portion of the _habitans_, cosily congregated around the table near +the open door or upon the balcony, apparently discussing the gossip of +the day and the qualities of sundry potations before them. Ascending +the hill in the rear of the village, we entered the rude chapel of +stone reared upon its brow: the inhabitants are all Catholics, and to +this faith is the edifice consecrated. The altar-piece, with its +decorations, was characterized by simplicity and taste. Three ancient +paintings, representing scenes in the mission of the Saviour, were +suspended from the walls; the brass-plated missal reposed upon the +tabernacle; the crucifix rose in the centre of the sanctuary, and +candles were planted on either side. Evergreens were neatly festooned +around the sanctuary, and every object betrayed a degree of taste. +Attached to the church is a small burial-ground, crowded with tenants. +The Sisters of Charity have an asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, in a +prosperous condition. Our tarry was but a brief one, as the distrust +with which our movements were regarded by the villagers was evident; +nor is this {149} suspicion at all to be wondered at when we consider +the numberless impostures of which, by immigrants, they have been made +the victims. + +A few miles through groves of oaks brought us in view of that +beautiful spot, Jefferson Barracks. The buildings, constructed of +stone, are romantically situated on a bold bluff, the base of which is +swept by the Mississippi, and were intended to garrison an entire +regiment of cavalry for frontier service. Three sides of the +quadrangle of the parade are bounded by the lines of galleried +barracks, with fine buildings at the extremities for the residence of +the officers; while the fourth opens upon a noble terrace overlooking +the river. The commissary's house, the magazines, and extensive +stables, lie without the parallelogram, beneath the lofty trees. From +the terrace is commanded a fine view of the river, with its alluvial +islands, the extensive woodlands upon the opposite side, and the pale +cliffs of the bluffs stretching away beyond the bottom. In the rear of +the garrison rises a grove of forest-trees, consisting of heavy oaks, +with broad-spreading branches, and a green, smooth sward beneath. The +surface is beautifully undulating, and the spot presents a specimen of +park scenery as perfect as the country can boast. A neat burial-ground +is located in this wood, and the number of its white wooden slabs +gave melancholy evidence of the ravages of the cholera among that +corps of fine fellows which, four years before, garrisoned the +Barracks. Many a one has here laid away his bones to rest far from the +home of his nativity. There is another cemetery {150} on the southern +outskirts of the Barracks, where are the tombs of several officers of +the army. + +The site of Jefferson Barracks was selected by General Atkinson as the +station of a _corps de reserve_, for defence of the Southern, Western, +and Northern frontiers. For the purpose of its design, experience has +tested its efficiency. The line of frontier, including the advanced +post of Council Bluffs on the Missouri,[123] describes the arch of a +circle, the chord of which passes nearly through this point; and a +reserve post here is consequently available for the entire line of +frontier. From its central position and its proximity to the mouths of +the great rivers leading into the interior, detachments, by means of +steam transports, may be thrown with great rapidity and nearly equal +facility into the garrison upon the Upper Mississippi, the Missouri, +the Arkansas, Red, or Sabine Rivers. This was tested in the Black Hawk +war, and, indeed, in every inroad of the Indian tribes, these troops +have first been summoned to the field. When disengaged, the spot +furnishes a salubrious position for the reserve of the Western army. +By the latest scheme of frontier defence, a garrison of fifteen +hundred troops is deemed necessary for this cantonment. + +A few miles below the Barracks, along the river-bank, is situated +quite a remarkable cave.[124] I visited and explored it one fine +afternoon, with a number of friends. With some difficulty, after +repeated inquiry, we succeeded in discovering the object of our +search, and from a neighbouring farmhouse {151} furnished ourselves +with lights and a guide. The latter was a German, who, according to +his own account, had been something of a hero in his way and day; he +was with Napoleon at Moscow, and was subsequently taken prisoner by +Blucher's Prussian Lancers at Waterloo, having been wounded in the +knee by a musket-ball. To our edification he detailed a number of his +"moving accidents by flood and field." A few steps from the farmhouse +brought us to the mouth of the cavern, situated in the face of a +ragged limestone precipice nearly a hundred feet high, and the summit +crowned with trees and shrubbery; it forms the abrupt termination to a +ravine, which, united to another coming in on the right, continues on +to the river, a distance of several hundred yards, through a wood. The +entrance to the cave is exceedingly rough and rugged, piled with huge +fragments of the cliff which have fallen from above, and it can be +approached only with difficulty. It is formed indeed, by the rocky bed +of a stream flowing out from the cave's mouth, inducing the belief +that to this circumstance the ravine owes its origin. The entrance is +formed by a broad arch about twenty feet in altitude, with twice that +breadth between the abutments. As we entered, the damp air of the +cavern swept out around us chill and penetrating. An abrupt angle of +the wall shut out the daylight, and we advanced by the light of our +candles. The floor, and roof, and sides of the cavern became +exceedingly irregular as we proceeded, and, after penetrating to the +depth of several hundred yards, {152} the floor and ceiling approached +each other so nearly that we were forced to pursue our way upon our +hands and knees. In some chambers the roof and walls assumed grotesque +and singular shapes, caused by the water trickling through the porous +limestone. In one apartment was to be seen the exact outline of a +human foot of enormous size; in another, that of an inverted boat; +while the vault in a third assumed the shape of an immense coffin. The +sole proprietors of the cavern seemed the bats, and of these the +number was incredible. In some places the reptiles suspended +themselves like swarms of bees from the roof and walls; and so +compactly one upon the other did they adhere, that scores could have +been crushed at a blow. After a ramble of more than an hour within +these shadowy realms, during which several false passages upon either +side, soon abruptly terminating, were explored, we at length once more +emerged to the light and warmth of the sunbeams, thoroughly drenched +by the dampness of the atmosphere and the water dripping from the +roof. + +Ancient Indian tumuli and graves are often found in this +neighbourhood. On the _Rivière des Pères_,[125] which is crossed by +the road leading to the city, and about seven miles distant, there are +a number of graves which, from all appearance, seem not to have been +disturbed for centuries. The cemetery is situated on a high bluff +looking down upon the stream, and is said to have contained skeletons +of a gigantic size. Each grave consisted of a shallow basin, formed by +flat stones {153} planted upon their edges; most of them, however, are +mossed by age, or have sunk beneath the surface, and their tenants +have crumbled to their original dust. Some years since, a Roman coin +of a rare species was found upon the banks of the _Rivière des Pères_ +by an Indian. This may, perhaps, be classed among the other +antiquities of European origin which are frequently found. A number of +Roman coins, bearing an early date of the Christian era, are said to +have been discovered in a cave near Nashville, in the State of +Tennessee, which at the time excited no little interest among +antiquaries: they were doubtless deposited by some of the settlers of +the country from Europe. Settlements on the _Rivière des Pères_ are +said to have been commenced at an early period by the Jesuits, and one +of them was drowned near its mouth: from this circumstance it derived +its name. In the bed of this stream, about six miles from the city, is +a sulphur spring, which is powerfully sudorific; and, when taken in +any quantity, throws out an eruption over the whole body. A remarkable +cavern is said to be situated on this river, by some considered +superior to that below the Barracks. A short distance from _Vuide +Poche_ are to be seen the remains of a pile of ruins, said to be those +of a fort erected by La Salle when, on his second visit, he took +possession of the country in the name of the King of France, and in +honour of him called it Louisiana.[126] + +_St. Louis_. + + + + +XIV + + "Here I have 'scaped the city's stifling heat, + Its horrid sounds and its polluted air; + And, where the season's milder fervours beat, + And gales, that sweep the forest borders, bear + The song of bird and sound of running stream, + Have come a while to wander and to dream." + BRYANT. + + "I lingered, by some soft enchantment bound, + And gazed, enraptured, on the lovely scene; + From the dark summit of an Indian mound + I saw the plain outspread in living green; + Its fringe of cliffs was in the distance seen, + And the dark line of forests sweeping round." + FLINT. + + +There are few things more delightfully refreshing, amid the fierce +fervour of midsummer, than to forsake the stifled, polluted atmosphere +of the city for the cool breezes of its forest suburbs. A freshened +elasticity seems gliding through the languid system, bracing up the +prostrated fibres of the frame; the nerves thrill with renewed +tensity, and the vital flood courses in fuller gush, and leaps onward +with more bounding buoyancy in its fevered channels. Every one has +experienced this; and it was under circumstances like these that I +found myself one bright day, after a delay at St. Louis which began at +length to be intolerably tedious, forsaking the sultry, sun-scorched +streets of {155} the city, and crossing the turbid flood for a tour +upon the prairies of Illinois. How delightful to a frame just freed +from the feverish confinement of a sick-chamber, brief though it had +been, was the fresh breeze which came careering over the water, +rippling along the polished surface, and gayly riding the miniature +waves of its own creation! The finest point from which to view the +little "City of the French" is from beneath the enormous sycamores +upon the opposite bank of the Mississippi. It is from this spot alone +that anything approaching to a cosmorama can be commanded. The city, +retreating as it does from the river's brink--its buildings of every +diversity of form, material, and structure, promiscuously heaped the +one upon the other, and the whole intermingled with the fresh green of +forest-trees, may boast of much scenic beauty. The range of white +limestone warehouses, circling like a crescent the shore, form the +most prominent feature of the foreground, while the forest of +shrub-oaks sweeps away in the rear. For some time I gazed upon this +imposing view, and then, slowly turning my horse's head, was upon the +dusty thoroughfare to Edwardsville. For the first time I found myself +upon the celebrated "American Bottom," a tract of country which, for +fertility and depth of soil, is perhaps unsurpassed in the world. A +fine road of baked loam extended along my route. Crossing Cahokia +Creek, which cuts its deep bed diagonally through the bottom from the +bluffs some six miles distant, and threading a grove of the beautiful +_pecan_, with its long trailing boughs and {156} delicate leaves, my +path was soon winding gracefully away among those venerable monuments +of a race now passed from the earth. The eye is struck at first by the +number of these eminences, as well as by their symmetry of form and +regularity of outline; and the most familiar resemblance suggested is +that of gigantic hay-ricks sprinkled over the uniform surface of the +prairie on every side. As you advance, however, into the plain, +leaving the range of mounds upon the left, something of arrangement is +detected in their relative position; and a design too palpable is +betrayed to mistake them for the handiwork of Nature. Upward of one +hundred of these mounds, it is stated, may be enumerated within seven +miles of St. Louis, their altitude varying from ten to sixty feet, +with a circumference at the base of about as many yards. One of these, +nearly in the centre of the first collection, is remarked as +considerably larger than those around, and from its summit is +commanded an extensive view of the scene. The group embraces, perhaps, +fifty tumuli, sweeping off from opposite the city to the northeast, in +form of a crescent, parallel to the river, and at a distance from it +of about one mile: they extend about the same distance, and a belt of +forest alone obstructs their view from the city. When this is removed, +and the prairie is under cultivation, the scene laid open must be +beautiful. The outline of the mounds is ordinarily that of a +gracefully-rounded cone of varying declivity, though often the form is +oblong, approaching the rectangle or ellipse. In some instances {157} +they are perfectly square, with a level area upon the summit +sufficient for a dwelling and the necessary purlieus. Most of them are +clothed with dense thickets and the coarse grass of the bottom; while +here and there stands out an aged oak, rooted in the mould, tossing +its green head proudly to the breeze, its rough bark shaggy with moss, +and the pensile parasite flaunting from its branches. Some few of the +tumuli, however, are quite naked, and present a rounded, beautiful +surface from the surrounding plain. At this point, about half a mile +from the river-bank, commencing with the first group of mounds, +extends the railroad across the bottom to the bluffs. The expense of +this work was considerable. It crosses a lake, into the bed of which +piles were forced a depth of ninety feet before a foundation for the +tracks sufficiently firm could be obtained. Coal is transported to St. +Louis upon this railway direct from the mines; and the beneficial +effects to be anticipated from it in other respects are very great. A +town called _Pittsburg_ has been laid out at the foot of the coal +bluffs.[127] + +Leaving the first collection of tumuli, the road wound away smooth and +uniform through the level prairie, with here and there upon the left a +slight elevation from its low surface, seeming a continuation of the +group behind, or a link of union to those yet before. It was a sweet +afternoon; the atmosphere was still and calm, and summer's golden haze +was sleeping magnificently on the far-off bluffs. At intervals the +soft breath of the "sweet South" {158} came dancing over the tall, +glossy herbage, and the many-hued prairie-flowers flashed gayly in the +sunlight. There was the _heliotrope_, in all its gaudy but magnificent +forms; there the deep cerulean of the fringed _gentiana_, delicate as +an iris; there the mellow gorgeousness of the _solidago_, in some +spots along the pathway, spreading out itself, as it were, into a +perfect "field of the cloth of gold;" and the balmy fragrance of the +aromatic wild thyme or the burgamot, scattered in rich profusion over +the plain, floated over all. Small coveys of the prairie-fowl, _tetrao +pratensis_, a fine species of grouse, the ungainly form of the +partridge, or that of the timid little hare, would appear for a moment +in the dusty road, and, on my nearer approach, away they hurriedly +scudded beneath the friendly covert of the bright-leaved sumach or the +thickets of the rosebush. Extensive groves of the wild plum and the +crab-apple, bending beneath the profusion of clustering fruitage, +succeeded each other for miles along the path as I rode onward; now +extending in continuous thickets, and then swelling up like green +islets from the surface of the plain, their cool recesses affording a +refreshing shade for the numerous herds. The rude farmhouse, too, with +its ruder outbuildings, half buried in the dark luxuriance of its +maize-fields, from time to time was seen along the route. + +After a delightful drive of half an hour the second group of +eminences, known as the "Cantine Mounds," appeared upon the prairie +at a distance of three or four miles, the celebrated "Monk Hill," +largest monument of the kind yet discovered in North America, heaving +up its giant, forest-clothed {159} form in the midst.[128] What are +the reflections to which this stupendous earth-heap gives birth? What +the associations which throng the excited fancy? What a field for +conjecture! What a boundless range for the workings of imagination! +What eye can view this venerable monument of the past, this mighty +landmark in the lapse of ages, this gray chronicler of hoary +centuries, and turn away uninterested? + +As it is first beheld, surrounded by the lesser heaps, it is mistaken +by the traveller for an elevation of natural origin: as he draws nigh, +and at length stands at the base, its stupendous magnitude, its lofty +summit, towering above his head and throwing its broad shadow far +across the meadow; its slopes ploughed with yawning ravines by the +torrents of centuries descending to the plain; its surface and +declivities perforated by the habitations of burrowing animals, and +carpeted with tangled thickets; the vast size of the aged oaks rearing +themselves from its soil; and, finally, the farmhouse, with its +various structures, its garden, and orchard, and _well_ rising upon +the broad area of the summit, and the carriage pathway winding up from +the base, all confirm his impression that no hand but that of the +Mightiest could have reared the enormous mass. At that moment, should +he be assured that this vast earth-heap was of origin demonstrably +artificial, he would smile; but credulity the most sanguine would fail +to credit the assertion. But when, with jealous eye, slowly and +cautiously, and with measured footsteps, he has circled its base; when +he has surveyed its slopes and declivities from every position, and +has {160} remarked the peculiar uniformity of its structure and the +mathematical exactitude of its outline; when he has ascended to its +summit, and looked round upon the piles of a similar character by +which it is surrounded; when he has taken into consideration its +situation upon a river-bottom of nature decidedly diluvial, and, of +consequence, utterly incompatible with the _natural_ origin of such +elevations; when he has examined the soil of which it is composed, and +has discovered it to be uniformly, throughout the entire mass, of the +same mellow and friable species as that of the prairie at its base; +and when he has listened with scrutiny to the facts which an +examination of its depths has thrown to light of its nature and its +contents, he is compelled, however reluctantly, yet without a doubt, +to declare that the gigantic pile is incontestibly the WORKMANSHIP OF +MAN'S HAND. But, with such an admission, what is the crowd of +reflections which throng and startle the mind? What a series of +unanswerable inquiries succeed! When was this stupendous earth-heap +reared up from the plain? By what race of beings was the vast +undertaking accomplished? What was its purpose? What changes in its +form and magnitude have taken place? What vicissitudes and revolutions +have, in the lapse of centuries, rolled like successive waves over the +plains at its base? As we reflect, we anxiously look around us for +some tradition, some time-stained chronicle, some age-worn record, +even the faintest and most unsatisfactory legend, upon which to repose +our credulity, and relieve the inquiring solicitude of the mind. But +{161} our research is hopeless. The present race of aborigines can +tell nothing of these tumuli. To them, as to us, they are veiled in +mystery. Ages since, long ere the white-face came, while this fair +land was yet the home of his fathers, the simple Indian stood before +this venerable earth-heap, and gazed, and wondered, and turned away. + +But there is another reflection which, as we gaze upon these venerable +tombs, addresses itself directly to our feelings, and bows them in +humbleness. It is, that soon _our_ memory and that of our _own_ +generation will, like that of other times and other men, have passed +away; that when these frail tenements shall have been laid aside to +moulder, the remembrance will soon follow them to the land of +forgetfulness. Ah, if there be an object in all the wide universe of +human desires for which the heart of man yearns with an intensity of +craving more agonizing and deathless than for any other, it is that +the memory should live after the poor body is dust. It was this +eternal principle of our nature which reared the lonely tombs of Egypt +amid the sands and barrenness of the desert. For ages untold have the +massive and gloomy pyramids looked down upon the floods of the Nile, +and generation after generation has passed away; yet their very +existence still remains a mystery, and their origin points down our +inquiry far beyond the grasp of human ken, into the boiling mists, the +"wide involving shades" of centuries past. And yet how fondly did they +who, with the toil, and blood, and sweat, and misery of ages, upreared +these stupendous piles, anticipate {162} an immortality for their name +which, like the effulgence of a golden eternity, should for ever +linger around their summits! So was it with the ancient tomb-builders +of this New World; so has it been with man in every stage of his +existence, from the hour that the giant Babel first reared its dusky +walls from the plains of Shinar down to the era of the present +generation. And yet how hopeless, desperately, eternally hopeless are +such aspirations of the children of men! As nations or as individuals, +our memory we can never embalm! A few, indeed, may retain the forlorn +relic within the sanctuary of hearts which loved us while with them, +and that with a tenderness stronger than death; but, with the great +mass of mankind, our absence can be noticed only for a day; and then +the ranks close up, and a gravestone tells the passing stranger that +we lived and died: a few years--the finger of time has been busy with +the inscription, and we are _as if we had never been_. If, then, it +must be even so, + + "Oh, let keep the soul embalm'd, and pure + In living virtue; that, when both must sever, + Although corruption may our frame consume, + Th' immortal spirit in the skies may bloom." + +_St. Clair Co., Illinois._ + + + + +XV + + "Are they here, + The dead of other days? And did the dust + Of these fair solitudes once stir with life + And burn with passion? All is gone; + All, save the piles of earth that hold their bones, + The platforms where they worship'd unknown gods, + The barriers which they builded from the soil + To keep the foe at bay." + _The Prairies._ + + +The antiquity of "Monk Mound" is a circumstance which fails not to +arrest the attention of every visiter. That centuries have elapsed +since this vast pile of earth was heaped up from the plain, no one can +doubt: every circumstance, even the most minute and inconsiderable, +confirms an idea which the venerable oaks upon its soil conclusively +demonstrate. With this premise admitted, consider for a moment the +destructive effects of the elements even for a limited period upon the +works of our race. Little more than half a century has elapsed since +the war of our revolution; but where are the fortifications, and +parapets, and military defences then thrown up? The earthy ramparts of +Bunker Hill were nearly obliterated long ago by the levelling finger +of time, and scarce a vestige now remains to assist in tracing out the +line of defence. The same is true with these works all over the +country; and even those of the last war--those at Baltimore, for +example {164}--are vanishing as fast as the elements can melt them +away. Reflect, then, that this vast earth-heap of which I am writing +is composed of a soil far more yielding in its nature than they; that +its superfices are by no means compact; and then conceive, if you +_can_, its stupendous character before it had bided the rains, and +snows, and storm-winds of centuries, and before the sweeping floods of +the "Father of Waters" had ever circled its base. Our thoughts are +carried back by the reflection to the era of classic fiction, and we +almost fancy another war of the Titans against the heavens-- + + "Conati imponere Pelio Ossam-- + --atque Ossæ frondosum involvere Olympum," + +if a quotation from the sweet bard of Mantua, upon a topic like the +present, may be pardoned. How large an army of labourers, without the +use of iron utensils, as we have every reason to suppose was the case, +would be required for scraping up from the prairie's surface this huge +pile; and how many years would suffice for its completion? No one can +doubt that the broad surface of the American Bottom, in its whole +length and breadth, together with all the neighbouring region on +either bank of the Mississippi, once swarmed with living men and +animals, even as does now the depths of its soil with their remains. +The collection of mounds which I have been attempting to describe +would seem to indicate two extensive cities within the extent of five +miles; and other groups of the same character may be seen upon a lower +section of the bottom, to say nothing of those within the more +immediate vicinity of St. {165} Louis. The design of these mounds, as +has been before stated, was various, undoubtedly; many were +sepulchres, some fortifications, some watch-towers or videttes, and +some of the larger class, among which we would place Monk Hill, were +probably devoted to the ceremonies of religion. + +The number of the earth-heaps known as the Cantine Mounds is about +fifty, small and great. They lie very irregularly along the southern +and eastern bank of Cahokia Creek, occupying an area of some miles in +circuit. They are of every form and every size, from the mere +molehill, perceptible only by a deeper shade in the herbage, to the +gigantic Monk Mound, of which I have already said so much. This vast +heap stands about one hundred yards from the creek, and the slope +which faces it is very precipitous, and clothed with aged timber. The +area of the base is about six hundred yards in circumference, and the +perpendicular altitude has been estimated at from ninety to upward of +a hundred feet. The form is that of a rectangle, lying north and +south; and upon the latter extremity, which commands a view down the +bottom, is spread out a broad terrace, or rather a steppe to the main +body, about twenty feet lower than the summit, extending the whole +length of the side, and is one hundred and fifty feet in breadth. At +the left extremity of this terrace winds up the sloping pathway from +the prairie to the summit of the mound. Formerly this road sloped up +an inclined plane, projecting from the middle of the terrace, ten feet +in breadth and twenty in extent, and seemed graded for that purpose at +{166} the erection of the mound. This declivity yet remains, but now +forms part of a corn-field. + +The view from the southern extremity of the mound, which is free from +trees and underbrush, is extremely beautiful. Away to the south sweeps +off the broad river-bottom, at this place about seven miles in width, +its waving surface variegated by all the magnificent hues of the +summer Flora of the prairies. At intervals, from the deep herbage is +flung back the flashing sheen of a silvery lake to the oblique +sunlight; while dense groves of the crab-apple and other indigenous +wild fruits are sprinkled about like islets in the verdant sea. To the +left, at a distance of three or four miles, stretches away the long +line of bluffs, now presenting a surface naked and rounded by groups +of mounds, and now wooded to their summits, while a glimpse at times +may be caught of the humble farmhouses at their base. On the right +meanders the Cantine Creek, which gives the name to the group of +mounds, betraying at intervals its bright surface through the belt of +forest by which it is margined. In this direction, far away in the +blue distance, rising through the mist and forest, may be caught a +glimpse of the spires and cupolas of the city, glancing gayly in the +rich summer sun. The base of the mound is circled upon every side by +lesser elevations of every form and at various distances. Of these, +some lie in the heart of the extensive maize-fields, which constitute +the farm of the proprietor of the principal mound, presenting a +beautiful exhibition of light and shade, shrouded as they are in the +dark, twinkling leaves. The most {167} remarkable are two standing +directly opposite the southern extremity of the principal one, at a +distance of some hundred yards, in close proximity to each other, and +which never fail to arrest the eye. There are also several large +square mounds covered with forest along the margin of the creek to the +right, and groups are caught rising from the declivities of the +distant bluffs. + +Upon the western side of Monk Mound, at a distance of several yards +from the summit, is a well some eighty or ninety feet in depth; the +water of which would be agreeable enough were not the presence of +sulphur, in some of its modifications, so palpable. This well +penetrates the heart of the mound, yet, from its depth, cannot reach +lower than the level of the surrounding plain. I learned, upon +inquiry, that when this well was excavated, several fragments of +pottery, of decayed ears of corn, and other articles, were thrown up +from a depth of sixty-five feet; proof incontestible of the artificial +structure of the mound. The associations, when drinking the water of +this well, united with its peculiar flavour, are not of the most +exquisite character, when we reflect that the precious fluid has +probably filtrated, part of it, at least, through the contents of a +sepulchre. The present proprietor is about making a transfer, I was +informed, of the whole tract to a gentleman of St. Louis, who intends +establishing here a house of entertainment. If this design is carried +into effect, the drive to this place will be the most delightful in +the vicinity of the city. + +Monk Mound has derived its name and much of {168} its notoriety from +the circumstance that, in the early part of the present century, for a +number of years, it was the residence of a society of ecclesiastics, +of the order _La Trappe_, the most ascetic of all the monastic +denominations. The monastery of La Trappe was originally situated in +the old province of Perche, in the territory of Orleannois, in France, +which now, with a section of Normandy, constitutes the department of +Orne. Its site is said to have been the loneliest and most desolate +spot that could be selected in the kingdom. The order was founded in +1140 by Rotrou, count of Perche; but having fallen into decay, and its +discipline having become much relaxed, it was reformed in 1664, five +centuries subsequent, by the Abbé Armand Rance. This celebrated +ecclesiastic, history informs us, was in early life a man of fashion +and accomplishments; of splendid abilities, distinguished as a +classical scholar and translator of Anacreon's Odes. At length, the +sudden death of his mistress Montbazon, to whom he was extremely +attached, so affected him that he forsook at once his libertine life, +banished himself from society, and introduced into the monastery of La +Trappe an austerity of discipline hitherto unknown.[129] The vows were +chastity, poverty, obedience, and perpetual silence. The couch was a +slab of stone, the diet water and bread once in twenty-four hours, and +each member removed a spadeful of earth every day from the spot of his +intended grave. The following passage relative to this monastery I +find quoted from an old French author; and as the {169} language and +sentiments are forcible, I need hardly apologize for introducing it +entire. + +"_C'est la que se retirent, ceux qui out commis quelque crime secret, +dont les remords les poursuivent; ceux qui sont tourmentes de vapeurs +mélancoliques et religieuse; ceux qui ont oublie que Dieu est le plus +miséricordieux des pères, et qui ne voient en lui, que le plus cruel +des tyrans; ceux qui reduisent à vieu, les souffrances, la mort et la +passion de Jesu Crist, et qui ne voient la religion que du cote +effrayent et terrible: c'est la que sont pratique des austerite qui +abregent la vie, et sont injure à la divinité._" + +During the era of the Reign of Terror in France, the monks of La +Trappe, as well as all the other orders of priesthood, were dispersed +over Europe. They increased greatly, however, notwithstanding +persecution, and societies established themselves in England and +Germany. From the latter country emigrated the society which planted +themselves upon the American Bottom. They first settled in the State +of Kentucky; subsequently they established themselves at the little +French hamlet of Florisant, and in 1809 they crossed the Mississippi, +and, strangely enough, selected for their residence the spot I have +been describing.[130] Here they made a purchase of about four hundred +acres, and petitioned Congress for a pre-emption right to some +thousands adjoining. The buildings which they occupied were never of a +very durable character, but consisted of about half a dozen large +structures of logs, on the summit of the mound about fifty yards to +the right {170} of the largest. This is twenty feet in height, and +upward of a hundred and fifty feet square; a well dug by the Trappists +is yet to be seen, though the whole mound is now buried in thickets. +Their outbuildings, stables, granaries, &c., which were numerous, lay +scattered about on the plain below. Subsequently they erected an +extensive structure upon the terrace of the principal mound, and +cultivated its soil for a kitchen-garden, while the area of the summit +was sown with wheat. Their territory under cultivation consisted of +about one hundred acres, divided into three fields, and embracing +several of the mounds. + +The society of the Trappists consisted of about eighty monks, chiefly +Germans and French, with a few of our own countrymen, under +governance of one of their number called Father Urbain.[131] Had they +remained, they anticipated an accession to their number of about two +hundred monks from Europe. Their discipline was equally severe with +that of the order in ancient times. Their diet was confined to +vegetables, and of these they partook sparingly but once in +twenty-four hours: the stern vow of perpetual silence was upon them; +no female was permitted to violate their retreat, and they dug their +own graves. Their location, however, they found by no means favourable +to health, notwithstanding the severe simplicity of their habits. +During the summer months fevers prevailed among them to an alarming +extent; few escaped, and many died. Among the latter was Louis Antoine +Langlois, a native of Quebec, more familiarly known as François {171} +Marie Bernard, the name he assumed upon entering the monastery. He +often officiated in the former Catholic church of St. Louis, and is +still remembered by the older French inhabitants with warm emotions, +as he was greatly beloved. + +The Trappists are said to have been extremely industrious, and some of +them skilful workmen at various arts, particularly that of +watchmaking; insomuch that they far excelled the same craft in the +city, and were patronised by all the unruly timepieces in the region. +They had also a laboratory of some extent, and a library; but the +latter, we are informed, was of no marvellous repute, embracing +chiefly the day-dreams of the Middle Ages, and the wondrous doings of +the legion of saints, together with a few obsolete works on medicine. +Connected with the monastery was a seminary for the instruction of +boys; or, rather, it was a sort of asylum for the orphan, the +desolate, the friendless, the halt, the blind, the deaf, and the dumb, +and also for the aged and destitute of the male sex. They subjected +their pupils to the same severe discipline which they imposed upon +themselves. They were permitted to use their tongues but two hours a +day, and then very _judiciously_: instead of exercising that "unruly +member," they were taught by the good fathers to gesticulate with +their fingers at each other in marvellous fashion, and thus to +communicate their ideas. As to juvenile sports and the frolics of +boyhood, it was a sin to dream of such things. They all received an +apprenticeship to some useful trade, however, and were no doubt +trained {172} up most innocently and ignorantly in the way they should +go. The pupils were chiefly sons of the settlers in the vicinity; but +whether they were fashioned by the worthy fathers into good American +citizens or the contrary, tradition telleth not. Tradition doth +present, however, sundry allegations prejudicial to the honest monks, +which we are bold to say is all slander, and unworthy of credence. +Some old gossips of the day hesitated not to affirm that the monks +were marvellously filthy in their habits; others, that they were +prodigiously keen in their bargains; a third class, that the younger +members were not so obdurate towards the gentler part of creation as +they _might have been_; while the whole community round about, _una +voce_, chimed in, and solemnly declared that men who neither might, +could, would, or should speak, were a little worse than dumb brutes, +and ought to be treated accordingly. However this may have been, it is +pretty certain, as is usually the case with our dear fellow-creatures +where they are permitted to know nothing at all about a particular +matter, the good people, in the overflowings of worldly charity, +imagined all manner of evil against the poor Trappist, and seemed to +think they had a perfect right to violate his property and insult his +person whenever they, in their wisdom and kind feeling, thought proper +to do so. But this was soon at an end. In 1813 the monks disposed of +their personal property, and leaving fever and ague to their +persecutors, and the old mounds to their primitive solitude, forsook +the country and sailed for France. + +{173} Though it is not easy to palliate the unceremonious welcome with +which the unfortunate Trappist was favoured at the hand of our people, +yet we can readily appreciate the feelings which prompted their +ungenerous conduct. How strange, how exceedingly strange must it have +seemed to behold these men, in the garb and guise of a distant land, +uttering, when their lips broke the silence in which they were locked, +the unknown syllables of a foreign tongue; professing an austere, an +ancient, and remarkable faith; denying themselves, with the sternest +severity, the simplest of Nature's bounties; how strange must it have +seemed to behold these men establishing themselves in the depths of +this Western wilderness, and, by a fortuitous concurrence of events, +planting their altars and hearths upon the very tombs of a race whose +fate is veiled in mystery, and practising their austerities at the +forsaken temple of a forgotten worship! How strange to behold the +devotees of a faith, the most artificial in its ceremonies among men, +bowing themselves upon the high places reared up by the hands of those +who worshipped the Great Spirit after the simplest form of Nature's +adoration! For centuries this singular order of men had figured upon +the iron page of history; their legends had shadowed with mystery the +bright leaf of poetry and romance, and with them were associated many +a wild vision of fancy. And here they were, mysterious as ever, with +cowl, and crucifix, and shaven head, and the hairy "crown of thorns" +encircling; ecclesiastics the most severe of all the orders of +monarchism. How strange must it all {174} have seemed! and it is +hardly to be wondered at, unpopular as such institutions undoubtedly +were and ever have been in this blessed land of ours, that a feeling +of intolerance, and suspicion, and prejudice should have existed. It +is not a maxim of _recent_ date in the minds of men, that "whatever is +peculiar is false." + +_Madison County, Ill._ + + + + +XVI + + "Let none our author rudely blame, + Who from the story has thus long digress'd." + DAVENANT. + + "Nay, tell me not of lordly halls! + My minstrels are the trees; + The moss and the rock are my tapestried walls, + Earth sounds my symphonies." + BLACKWOOD'S _Mag._ + + "Sorrow is knowledge; they who know the most + Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth; + The Tree of Knowledge is not that of Life." + MANFRED. + + +There are few lovelier villages in the Valley of the West than the +little town of Edwardsville, in whose quiet inn many of the preceding +observations have been sketched.[132] It was early one bright morning +that I entered Edwardsville, after passing a sleepless night at a +neighbouring farmhouse. The situation of the village is a narrow ridge +of {175} land swelling abruptly from the midst of deep and tangled +woods. Along this elevation extends the principal street of the place, +more than a mile in length, and upon either side runs a range of neat +edifices, most of them shaded by forest-trees in their front yards. +The public buildings are a courthouse and jail of brick, neither of +them worthy of farther mention, and two plain, towerless churches, +imbosomed in a grove somewhat in the suburbs of the village. There is +something singularly picturesque in the situation of these churches, +and the structures themselves are not devoid of beauty and symmetrical +proportion. At this place, also, is located the land-office for the +district. On the morning of my arrival at the village, early as was +the hour, the place was thronged with disappointed applicants for +land; a lean and hungry-looking race, by-the-by, as it has ever been +my lot to look upon. Unfortunately, the office had the evening before, +from some cause, been closed, and the unhappy speculators were forced +to trudge away many a weary mile, through dust and sun, with their +heavy specie dollars, to their homes again. I remember once to have +been in the city of Bangor, "away down East in the State of Maine," +when the public lands on the Penobscot River were first placed in the +market. The land mania had for some months been running high, but +could hardly be said yet to have reached a crisis. From all quarters +of the Union speculators had been hurrying to the place; and day and +night, for the week past, the steamers had been disgorging upon the +city their ravenous freights. The important {176} day arrived. At an +early hour every hotel, and street, and avenue was swarming with +strangers; and, mingling with the current of living bodies, which now +set steadily onward to the place of sale, I was carried resistlessly +on by its force till it ceased. A confused murmur of voices ran +through the assembled thousands; and amid the tumult, the ominous +words "_land--lumber--title-deed_," and the like, could alone be +distinguished. At length, near noon, the clear tones of the auctioneer +were heard rising above the hum of the multitude: all was instantly +hushed and still; and gaining an elevated site, before me was spread +out a scene worthy a Hogarth's genius and pencil. Such a mass of +working, agitated features, glaring with the fierce passion of +avarice and the basest propensities of humanity, one seldom is fated +to witness. During that public land-sale, indeed, I beheld so much of +the selfishness, the petty meanness, the detestable heartlessness of +man's nature, that I turned away disgusted, sick at heart for the race +of which I was a member. We are reproached as a nation by Europeans +for the contemptible vice of avarice; is the censure unjust? Parson +Taylor tells us that Satan was the first speculator in land, for on a +certain occasion he took Jesus up into an exceedingly high mountain, +and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory thereof, +and said to him, "All these things will I give to thee if thou wilt +fall down and worship me," when, in fact, the devil did not own one +inch of land to give! + + "Think of the devil's brazen phiz, + When not an inch of land was his!" + +{177} Yet it is to be apprehended that not a few in our midst would +not hesitate to barter soul and body, and fall down in worship, were a +sufficient number of _acres_ spread out before them as the recompense. + +Among other objects worthy the traveller's notice in passing through +Edwardsville is a press for the manufacture of that well-known, +agreeable liquid, _castor oil_: it is situated within the precincts of +what is termed, for distinction, the "Upper Village." The apparatus, +by means of which the oil is expressed from the bean and clarified, is +extremely simple, consisting merely of the ordinary jack-screw. One +bushel of the castor beans--_palma Christi_--yields nearly two gallons +of the liquid. The only previous preparation to pressing is to dry the +beans in an oven. This establishment[133] has been in operation upward +of ten years, and has rendered its proprietor, Mr. Adams, a wealthy +man.[134] He has a delightful villa, with grounds laid out with +taste; and though many years have passed away since he left his native +New-England, yet the generosity of his heart and the benevolence of +his character tell truly that he has not yet ceased the remembrance of +early principles and habits. The village of Edwardsville and its +vicinity are said to be remarkably healthy; and the location in the +heart of a fertile, well-watered, heavily-timbered section of country, +tilled by a race of enterprising yeomanry, gives promise of rapid +advancement. The town plat was first laid off in 1815; but the place +advanced but little in importance until five years afterward, when a +new {178} town was united to the old. About twelve miles southeast +from Edwardsville is situated the delightful little hamlet of +Collinsville, named from its founder, to which I paid a hasty visit +during my ramble on the prairies.[135] It was settled many years ago, +but till very recently had not assumed the dignity of a town. Its site +is the broad, uniform surface of an elevated ridge, ascending gently +from the American Bottom, beautifully shaded by forest-trees, and +extending into the interior for several miles. It is almost entirely +settled by northern emigrants, whose peculiarities are nowhere more +strikingly exhibited. Much attention is bestowed upon religion and +education; not a grocery exists in the place, nor, by the charter of +the town, can one be established for several years. This little +village presents a delightful summer-retreat to the citizens of St. +Louis, only ten miles distant. + +The sun had not yet risen when I left Edwardsville, after a pleasant +visit, and, descending into the Bottom, pursued my route over the +plain to Alton. The face of the country, for a portion of the way, is +broken, and covered with forests of noble trees, until the traveller +finds himself on the deep sand-plains, stretching away for some miles, +and giving support to a stunted, scragged growth of shrub-oaks. The +region bears palpable evidence of having been, at no distant period, +submerged; and the idea is confirmed by the existence, at the present +time, of a lake of considerable extent on the southern border, which, +from the character of the surface, a slight addition of water would +spread for miles. I shall not {179} soon forget, I think, the day I +entered Alton for the second time during my ramble in the West. It was +near the noon after an exceedingly sultry morning; and the earth +beneath my horse's hoofs was reduced by protracted drought to an +impalpable powder to the depth of several inches. The blazing +sunbeams, veiled by not a solitary cloud, reflected from the glassy +surface of the Mississippi as from the face of an immense steely +mirror and again thrown back by the range of beetling bluffs above, +seemed converged into an intense burning focus along the scorched-up +streets and glowing roofs of the village. I have endured heat, but +none more intolerable in the course of my life than that of which I +speak. + +In the evening, when the sultriness of the day was over, passing +through the principal street of the town, I ascended that singular +range of bluffs which, commencing at this point, extend along the +river, and to which, on a former occasion, I have briefly alluded. The +ascent is arduous, but the glorious view from the summit richly repays +the visiter for his toil. The withering atmosphere of the depressed, +sunburnt village at my feet was delightfully exchanged for the +invigorating breezes of the hills, as the fresh evening wind came +wandering up from the waters. It was the sunset hour. The golden, +slanting beams of departing day were reflected from the undulating +bosom of the river, as its bright waters stretched away among the +western forests, as if from a sea of molten, gliding silver. On the +left, directly at your feet, reposes the village of Alton, overhung by +hills, with the gloomy, castellated {180} walls of the Penitentiary +lifting up their dusky outline upon its skirts, presenting to the eye +a perfect panorama as you look down upon the tortuous streets, the +extensive warehouses of stone, and the range of steamers, alive with +bustle, along the landing. Beyond the village extends a deep forest; +while a little to the south sweep off the waters of the river, +bespangled with green islands, until, gracefully expanding itself, a +noble bend withdraws it from the view. It is at this point that the +Missouri disgorges its turbid, heavy mass of waters into the clear +floods of the Upper Mississippi, hitherto uncheckered by a stain. At +the base of the bluffs, upon which you stand, at an elevation of a +hundred and fifty feet, rushes with violence along the crags the +current of the stream; while beyond, upon the opposite plain, is +beheld the log hut of the emigrant couched beneath the enormous +sycamores, and sending up its undulating thread of blue, curling smoke +through the lofty branches. A lumber steam-mill is also here to be +seen. Beyond these objects the eye wanders over an interminable carpet +of forest-tops, stretching away till they form a wavy line of dense +foliage circling the western horizon. By the aid of a glass, a range +of hills, blue in the distance, is perceived outlined against the sky: +they are the bluffs skirting the beautiful valley of the Missouri. The +heights from which this view is commanded are composed principally of +earth heaped upon a massive ledge of limerock, which elevates itself +from the very bed of the waters. As the spectator gazes and reflects, +he cannot but be amazed that the {181} rains, and snows, and torrents +of centuries have not, with all their washings, yet swept these +earth-heaps away, though the deep ravines between the mounds, which +probably originated their present peculiar form, give proof conclusive +that such diluvial action to some extent has long been going on. As is +usually found to be the case, the present race of Indians have availed +themselves of these elevated summits for the burial-spots of their +chiefs. I myself scraped up a few decaying fragments of bones, which +lay just beneath the surface. + +At sunrise of the morning succeeding my visit to the bluffs I was in +the saddle, and clambering up those intolerably steep hills on the +road leading to the village of Upper Alton, a few miles distant. The +place is well situated upon an elevated prairie; and, to my own taste, +is preferable far for private residence to any spot within the +precincts of its rival namesake. The society is polished, and a +fine-toned morality is said to characterize the inhabitants. The town +was originally incorporated many years ago, and was then a place of +more note than it has ever since been; but, owing to intestine broils +and conflicting claims to its site, it gradually and steadily dwindled +away, until, a dozen years since, it numbered only _seven_ families. A +suit in chancery has happily settled these difficulties, and the +village is now thriving well. A seminary of some note, under +jurisdiction of the Baptist persuasion, has within a few years been +established here, and now comprises a very respectable body of +students.[136] It originated in a seminary {182} formerly established +at Rock Spring in this state. About five years since a company of +gentlemen, seven in number, purchased here a tract of several hundred +acres, and erected upon it an academical edifice of brick; +subsequently a stone building was erected, and a preparatory school +instituted. In the year 1835, funds to a considerable amount were +obtained at the East; and a donation of $10,000 from Dr. Benjamin +Shurtliff, of Boston, induced the trustees to give to the institution +his name. Half of this sum is appropriated to a college building, and +the other half is to endow a professorship of belles lettres. The +present buildings are situated upon a broad plain, beneath a walnut +grove, on the eastern skirt of the village; and the library, +apparatus, and professorships are worthy to form the foundation of a +_college_, as is the ultimate design, albeit a Western college and a +Northern college are terms quite different in signification. I visited +this seminary, however, and was much pleased with its faculty, +buildings, and design. All is as it should be. What reflecting mind +does not hail with joy these temples of science elevating themselves +upon every green hill and broad plain of the West, side by side with +the sanctuaries of our holy religion! It is intelligence, _baptized +intelligence_, which alone can save this beautiful valley, if indeed +it is to be saved from the inroads of arbitrary rule and false +religion; which is to hand down to another generation our civil and +religious immunities unimpaired. In most of the efforts for the +advancement of education in {183} the West, it is gratifying to +perceive that this principle has not been overlooked. Nearly all those +seminaries of learning which have been established profess for their +design the culture of the _moral_ powers as well as those of the +_intellect_. That _intelligence_ is an essential requisite, a prime +constituent of civil and religious freedom, all will admit; that it +is the _only_ requisite, the _sole_ constituent, may be questioned. +"Knowledge," in the celebrated language of Francis Bacon, "is power;" +ay! POWER; an engine of tremendous, incalculable energy, but blind in +its operations. Applied to the cause of wisdom and virtue, the richest +of blessings; to that of infidelity and vice, the greatest of curses. +A lever to move the world, its influence cannot be over-estimated; as +the bulwark of liberty and human happiness, its effect has been +fearfully miscalculated. Were man inclined as fully to good as to +evil, then might knowledge become the sovereign panacea of every civil +and moral ill; as man by nature unhappily _is_, "the fruit of the +tree" is oftener the stimulant to evil than to good. Unfold the sacred +record of the past. Why did not intelligence save Greece? Greece! the +land of intellect and of thought; the birthspot of eloquence, +philosophy, and song! whose very populace were critics and bards! +Greece, in her early day of pastoral ignorance, was free; but from the +loftiest pinnacle of intellectual glory she fell; and science, genius, +intelligence, all could not save her. The buoyant bark bounded +beautifully over the blue-breasted billows; but the helm, the helm of +{184} _moral_ culture was not there, and her broad-spread pinions +hurried her away only to a speedier and more terrible destruction. + +Ancient Rome: in the day of her rough simplicity, _she_ was free; but +from her proudest point of _intellectual_ development--the era of +Augustus--we date her decline. + +France: who will aver that it was popular _ignorance_ that rolled over +revolutionary France the ocean-wave of blood? When have the French, +_as a people_, exhibited a prouder era of mind than that of their +sixteenth Louis? The encyclopedists, the most powerful men of the age, +concentrated all their vast energies to the diffusion of science among +the people. Then, as now, the press groaned in constant parturition; +and essays, magazines, tracts, treatises, libraries, were thrown +abroad as if by the arm of Omnipotent power. Then, as now, the +supremacy of human reason and of human society flitted in "unreal +mockery" before the intoxicated fancy; and wildly was anticipated a +career of upward and onward advancement during the days of all coming +time. France was a nation of philosophers, and the great deep of mind +began to heave; the convulsed labouring went on, and, from time to +time, it burst out upon the surface. Then came the tornado, and +France, refined, intelligent, scientific, etherealized France, was +swept, as by Ruin's besom, of every green thing. Her own children +planted the dagger in her bosom, and France was a nation of +scientific, philosophic parricides! But "France was poisoned {185} by +infidelity." Yes! so she was: but why was not the subtle element +neutralized in the cup of _knowledge_ in which it was administered? Is +not "knowledge omnipotent to preserve; the salt to purify the +nations?" + +England: view the experiment there. It is a matter of parliamentary +record, that within the last twenty years, during the philanthropic +efforts of Lord Henry Brougham and his whig coadjutors, crime in +England has more than tripled. If knowledge, pure, defecated +knowledge, be a conservative principle, why do we witness these +appalling results? + +What, then, shall be done? Shall the book of knowledge be taken from +the hands of the people, and again be locked up in the libraries of +the few? Shall the dusky pall of ignorance and superstition again be +flung around the world, and a long starless midnight of a thousand +years once more come down to brood over mankind? By no means. _Let_ +the sweet streams of knowledge go forth, copious, free, to enrich and +irrigate the garden of mind; but mingle with them the pure waters of +that "fount which flows fast by the oracles of God," or the effect +now will be, as it ever has been, only to intoxicate and madden the +human race. There is nothing in cold, dephlegmated intellect to warm +up and foster the energies of the moral system of man. Intellect, mere +intellect, can never tame the passions or purify the heart. + +_Upper Alton, Ill._ + + + + +XVII + + "The fourth day roll'd along, and with the night + Came storm and darkness in their mingling might. + Loud sung the wind above; and doubly loud + Shook o'er his turret-cell the thunder-cloud." + _The Corsair._ + + "These + The unshorn fields, boundless and beautiful, + For which the speech of England has no name-- + The prairies." + BRYANT. + + +Whoever will take upon himself the trouble to run his eye over the +"Tourist's Pocket Map of Illinois," will perceive, stretching along +the western border of the state, parallel with the river, a broad +carriage highway, in a direction nearly north, to a little village +called Carlinville; if then he glances to the east, he may trace +a narrow pathway striking off at right angles to that section of +the state. Well, it is here, upon this pathway, just on the margin +of a beautiful prairie, sweeping away towards the town of +Hillsborough,[137] that I find myself at the close of the day, after a +long and fatiguing ride. The afternoon has been one of those dreary, +drizzly, disagreeable seasons which relax the nerves and ride like an +incubus upon the spirits; and my route has conducted me over a +broad-spread, desolate plain; for, lovely as may appear the prairie +when its bright flowerets and its tall grass-tops {187} are nodding in +the sunlight, it is a melancholy place when the sky is beclouded and +the rain is falling. There is a certain indescribable sensation of +loneliness, which steals over the mind of the solitary traveller when +he finds himself alone in the heart of these boundless plains, which +he cannot away with; and the approach to a forest is hailed with +pleasure, as serving to quiet, with the vague idea of _society_, this +sense of dreariness and desertion. Especially is this the case when +rack and mist are hovering along the border, veiling from the view +those picturesque woodland-points and promontories, and those green +island-groves which, when the sky is clear, swell out upon every side +into the bosom of the plain. Then all is fresh and joyous to the eye +as a vision: change the scene, and the grand, gloomy, misty +magnificence of old ocean presents itself on every side. The relief to +the picture afforded by the discovery of man's habitation can hardly +be described. + +It was near nightfall, when, wearied by the fatigue of riding and +drenched with mist, I reached the log-cabin of an old pioneer from +Virginia, beneath whose lowly roof-tree I am seated at this present +writing; and though hardly the most sumptuous edifice of which it has +been my lot to be an inmate, yet with no unenviable anticipations am I +looking forward to hearty refreshment and to sound slumber upon the +couch by my side. There are few objects to be met with in the +backwoods of the West more unique and picturesque than the dwelling of +the emigrant. After selecting an elevated spot as {188} a site for +building, a cabin or a log-house--which is somewhat of an improvement +upon the first--is erected in the following manner. A sufficient +number of straight trees, of a size convenient for removing, are +felled, slightly hewn upon the opposite sides, and the extremities +notched or mortised with the axe. They are then piled upon each other +so that the extremities lock together; and a single or double edifice +is constructed, agreeable to the taste or ability of the builder. +Ordinarily the cabin consists of two quadrangular apartments, +separated by a broad area between, connected by a common floor, and +covered by a common roof, presenting a parallelogram triple the length +of its width. The better of these apartments is usually appropriated +to the entertainment of the casual guest, and is furnished with +several beds and some articles of rude furniture to correspond. The +open area constitutes the ordinary sitting and eating apartment of the +family in fine weather; and, from its coolness, affords a delightful +retreat. The intervals between the logs are stuffed with fragments of +wood or stone, and plastered with mud or mortar, and the chimney is +constructed much in the same manner. The roof is covered with thin +clapboards of oak or ash, and, in lieu of nails, transverse pieces of +timber retain them in their places. Thousands of cabins are thus +constructed, without a particle of iron or even a common plank. The +rough clapboards give to the roof almost the shaggy aspect of thatch +at a little distance, but they render it impermeable to even the +heaviest and {189} most protracted rain-storms. A rude gallery often +extends along one or both sides of the building, adding much to its +coolness in summer and to its warmth in winter by the protection +afforded from sun and snow. The floor is constructed of short, thick +planks, technically termed "puncheons," which are confined by wooden +pins; and, though hardly smooth enough for a ballroom, yet well answer +every purpose for a dwelling, and effectually resist moisture and +cold. The apertures are usually cut with a view to free ventilation, +and the chimneys stand at the extremities, outside the walls of the +cabin. A few pounds of nails, a few boxes of glass, a few hundred feet +of lumber, and a few days' assistance of a house-carpenter, would, of +course, contribute not a little to the comfort of the _shieling_; but +neither of these are indispensable. In rear of the premises rise the +outbuildings; stables, corn-crib, meat-house, &c., all of them quite +as perfect in structure as the dwelling itself, and quite as +comfortable for residence. If to all this we add a well, walled up +with a section of a hollow cotton-wood, a cellar or cave in the earth +for a pantry, a zigzag rail fence enclosing the whole clearing, a +dozen acres of Indian corn bristling up beyond, a small garden and +orchard, and a host of swine, cattle, poultry, and naked children +about the door, and the _tout ensemble_ of a backwoods farmhouse is +complete. Minor circumstances vary, of course, with the peculiarities +of the country and the origin of the settlers; but the principal +features of the picture everywhere prevail. The present mode of +cultivation {190} sweeps off vast quantities of timber; but it must +soon be superseded. Houses of brick and stone will take the place of +log-cabins; hedge-rows will supply that of rail enclosures, while coal +for fuel will be a substitute for wood. + +At Upper Alton my visit was not a protracted one. In a few hours, +having gathered up my _fixens_ and mounted my _creetur_, I was +threading a narrow pathway through the forest. The trees, most of them +lofty elms, in many places for miles locked together their giant +branches over the road, forming a delightful screen from the sunbeams; +but it was found by no means the easiest imaginable task, after once +entering upon the direct route, to continue upon it. This is a +peculiarity of Western roads. The commencement may be uniform enough, +but the traveller soon finds his path diverging all at once in several +different directions, like the radii of a circle, with no assignable +cause therefor, and not the slightest reason presenting itself why he +should select one of them in preference to half a dozen others, +equally good or bad. And the sequel often shows him that there in +reality existed no more cause of preference than was apparent; for, +after a few tortuosities through the forest, for variety's sake, the +paths all terminate in the same route. The obstacle of a tree, a +stump, a decaying log, or a sand-bank often splits the path as if it +were a flowing stream; and then the traveller takes upon him to +exercise the reserved right of radiating to any point of the compass +he {191} may think proper, provided always that he succeeds in +clearing the obstruction. + +Passing many log-cabins, such as I have described, with their +extensive maize-fields, the rude dwelling of a sturdy old emigrant +from the far East sheltered me during the heat of noon; and having +luxuriated upon an excellent dinner, prepared and served up in right +New-England fashion, I again betook myself to my solitary route. But I +little anticipated to have met, in the distant prairies of Illinois, +the habitation of one who had passed his life in my own native state, +almost in my own native village. Yet I know not why the occurrence +should be a cause of surprise. Such emigrations are of constant +occurrence. The farmer had been a resident eight years in the West; +his farm was under that high cultivation characteristic of the +Northern emigrant, and peace and plenty seemed smiling around. Yet was +the emigrant satisfied? So far from it, he acknowledged himself a +disappointed man, and sighed for his native northern home, with its +bleak winds and barren hillsides. + +The region through which, for most of the day, I journeyed was that, +of very extensive application in the West, styled "Barrens," by no +means implying unproductiveness of soil, but a species of surface of +heterogeneous character, uniting prairie with _timber_ or forest, and +usually a description of land as fertile, healthy, and well-watered as +may be found. The misnomer is said to have derived its origin from +the early settlers of that section of Kentucky south of Green River, +which, presenting {192} only a scanty, dwarfish growth of timber, was +deemed of necessity _barren_, in the true acceptation of the +term.[138] This soil there and elsewhere is now considered better +adapted to every variety of produce and the vicissitudes of climate +than even the deep mould of the prairies and river-bottoms. The +rapidity with which a young forest springs forward, when the annual +fires have once been stopped in this species of land, is said to be +astonishing; and the first appearance of timber upon the prairies +gives it the character, to some extent, of barrens. Beneath the trees +is spread out a mossy turf, free from thickets, but variegated by the +gaudy petals of the heliotrope, and the bright crimson buds of the +dwarf-sumach in the hollows. Indeed, some of the most lovely scenery +of the West is beheld in the landscapes of these barrens or "oak +openings," as they are more appropriately styled. For miles the +traveller wanders on, through a magnificence of park scenery on every +side, with all the diversity of the slope, and swell, and meadow of +human taste and skill. Interminable avenues stretch away farther than +the eye can reach, while at intervals through the foliage flashes out +the unruffled surface of a pellucid lake. There are many of these +circular lakes or "sinkholes," as they are termed in Western dialect, +which, as they possess no inlet, seem supplied by subterraneous +springs or from the clouds. The outline is that of an inverted cone, +as if formed by the action of whirling waters; and, as sinkholes exist +in great numbers in the vicinity of the rivers, and possess an outlet +{193} at the bottom through a substratum of porous limestone, the idea +is abundantly confirmed. In the State of Missouri these peculiar +springs are also observed. Some of them in Greene county burst forth +from the earth and the fissures of the rocks with sufficient force to +whirl a _run_ of heavy buhrstones, and the power of the fountains +seems unaffected by the vicissitudes of rain or drought. These same +sinkholes, circular ponds, and gushing springs are said to constitute +one of the most remarkable and interesting features of the peninsula +of Florida. There, as here, the substratum is porous limestone; and it +is the subsidence of the layers which gives birth to the springs. The +volume of water thrown up by these boiling fountains is said to be +astonishingly great; many large ones, also, are known to exist in the +beds of lakes and rivers. From the circumstance of the existence of +these numerous springs originated, doubtless, the tradition which +Spanish chroniclers aver to have existed among the Indians of Porto +Rico and Cuba, that somewhere among the Lucayo Islands or in the +interior of Florida there existed a fountain whose waters had the +property of imparting _rejuvenescence_ and perpetuating perennial +youth. Only twenty years after the discoveries of Columbus, and more +than three centuries since, did the romantic Juan Ponce de Leon, an +associate of the Genoese and subsequent governor of Porto Rico, +explore the peninsula of Florida in search of this traditionary +fountain; of the success of the enterprise we have no account. Among +the other poetic founts of the "Land of {194} Flowers," we are _told_ +of one situated but a few miles from Fort Gaines, called "Sappho's +Fount,"[139] from the idea which prevails that its waters impart the +power of producing sweet sounds to the voices of those who partake of +them. + +It was near evening, when, emerging from the shades of the _barrens_, +which, like everything else, however beautiful, had, by continuous +succession, begun to become somewhat monotonous, my path issued rather +unexpectedly upon the margin of a wide, undulating prairie. I was +struck, as is every traveller at first view of these vast plains, with +the grandeur, and novelty, and loveliness of the scene before me. For +some moments I remained stationary, looking out upon the boundless +landscape before me. The tall grass-tops waving in the billowy beauty +in the breeze; the narrow pathway winding off like a serpent over the +rolling surface, disappearing and reappearing till lost in the +luxuriant herbage; the shadowy, cloud-like aspect of the far-off +trees, looming up, here and there, in isolated masses along the +horizon, like the pyramidal canvass of ships at sea; the deep-green +groves besprinkled among the vegetation, like islets in the waters; +the crimson-died prairie-flower flashing in the sun--these features of +inanimate nature seemed strangely beautiful to one born and bred amid +the bold mountain scenery of the North, and who now gazed upon them +"for the first." + + "The prairies! I behold them for the first, + And my heart swells, while the dilated sight + Takes in the encircling vastness." + +{195} As I rode leisurely along upon the prairie's edge, I passed many +noble farms, with their log-cabins couched in a corner beneath the +forest; and, verily, would a farmer of Yankee-land "stare and gasp" to +behold the prairie cornfield of the Western emigrant; and yet more +would he be amazed to witness the rank, rustling luxuriance of the +vegetable itself. Descending a swell of the prairie near one of these +farms, a buck with his doe leaped out from a thicket beside my path, +and away, away bounded the "happy pair" over the grass-tops, free as +the wind. They are often shot upon the prairies, I was informed by an +old hunter, at whose cabin, in the middle of the plain, I drew up at +twilight, and with whom I passed the night. He was a pioneer from _the +dark and bloody ground_, and many a time had followed the wild buck +through those aged forests, where Boone, and Whitley, and Kenton once +roved.[140] Only fifty years ago, and for the first time were the +beautiful fields of Kentucky turned up by the ploughshare of the +Virginia emigrant; yet their very descendants of the first generation +we behold plunging deeper into the wilderness West. How would the +worthy old Governor Spotswood stand astounded, could he now rear his +venerable bones from their long resting-place, and look forth upon +this lovely land, far away beyond the Blue Ridge of the Alleghany +hills, the very passage of which he had deemed not unworthy "the +horseshoe of gold" and "the order tramontane." "_Sic juvat +transcendere montes._" Twenty years before Daniel Boone, "backwoodsman +of Kentucky," was {196} born, Alexander Spotswood, governor of +Virginia, undertook, with great preparation, a passage of the +Alleghany ridge. For this expedition were provided a large number of +horseshoes, an article not common in some sections of the "Old +Dominion;" and from this circumstance, upon their return, though +without a glimpse of the Western Valley, was instituted the +"_Tramontane Order_, or _Knights of the Golden Horseshoe_," with the +motto above. The badge of distinction for having made a passage of the +Blue Ridge was a golden horseshoe worn upon the breast. Could the +young man of that day have protracted the limits of life but a few +years beyond his threescore and ten, what astonishment would not have +filled him to behold _now_, as "the broad, the bright, the glorious +West," the region _then_ regarded as the unknown and howling +_wilderness beyond the mountains_! Yet even thus it is.[141] + +A long ride over a dusty road, beneath a sultry sun, made me not +unwilling to retire to an early rest. But in a few hours my slumbers +were broken in upon by the glare of lightning and the crash of +thunder. For nearly five weeks had the prairies been refreshed by not +a solitary shower; and the withered crops and the parched soil, baked +to the consistency of stone or ground up to powder, betrayed alarming +evidence of the consequence. Day had succeeded day. The scorching sun +had gone up in the firmament, blazed from his meridian throne, and in +lurid sultriness descended to his rest. The subtle fluid had been +gathering and concentrating in the skies; and, early on the night of +{197} which I speak, an inky cloud had been perceived rolling slowly +up from the western horizon, until the whole heavens were enveloped in +blackness. Then the tempest burst forth. Peal upon peal the hoarse +thunder came booming over the prairies; and the red lightning would +glare, and stream, and almost hiss along the midnight sky, like +Ossian's storm-spirit riding on the blast. At length there was a hush +of elements, and all was still--"still as the spirit's silence;" then +came one prolonged, deafening, terrible crash and rattle, as if the +concave of the firmament had been rent asunder, and the splintered +fragments, hurled abroad, were flying through the boundlessness of +space; the next moment, and the torrents came weltering through the +darkness. I have witnessed thunder-storms on the deep, and many a one +among the cliffs of my native hills; but a midnight thunder-gust upon +the broad prairie-plains of the West is more terrible than they. A +more sublimely magnificent spectacle have I never beheld than that, +when one of these broad-sheeted masses of purple light would blaze +along the black bosom of the cloud, quiver for an instant over the +prairie miles in extent, flinging around the scene a garment of flame, +and then go out in darkness. + + "Oh night, + And storm, and darkness, ye are wondrous strong, + Yet lovely in your strength, as is the light + Of a dark eye in woman!" + + "Most glorious night! + Thou wert not sent for slumber! let me be + A sharer in thy fierce and far delight, + A portion of the tempest and of thee!" + +{198} And a sharer in the tempest surely was "a certain weary pilgrim, +in an upper chamber" of a certain log-cabin of the prairie. Unhappily +for his repose or quiet, had he desired either, the worthy host, in +laudable zeal for a window when erecting his hut, had thought proper +to neglect or to forget one of the indispensables for such a +convenience in shape of sundry panes of glass. Wherefore, as is easy +to perceive, said aperture commanding the right flank of the pilgrim's +dormitory, the warring elements without found abundant entrance for a +by-skirmish within. Sad to relate, the pilgrim was routed, "horse, +foot, and dragoons;" whereupon, agreeable to Falstaff's +_discretionary_ views of valour, seizing upon personal effects, he +beat a retreat to more hospitable realms. + +_Greene County, Ill._ + + + + +XVIII + + "What earthly feeling unabash'd can dwell + In Nature's mighty presence? mid the swell + Of everlasting hills, the roar of floods, + And frown of rocks and pomp of waving woods? + These their own grandeur on the soul impress, + And bid each passion feel its nothingness." + HEMANS. + + "La grace est toujours unie à la magnificence, dans les + scenes de la nature."--CHATEAUBRIAND'S "_Atala_." + + +It was morning. The storm had passed away, and the early sunlight was +streaming gloriously over the fresh landscape. The atmosphere, +discharged of its electric burden, was playing cool and free among the +grass-tops; the lark was carolling in the clouds above its grassy +nest; the deer was rising from his sprinkled lair, and the morning +mists were rolling heavily in masses along the skirts of the prairie +woodlands, as I mounted my horse at the door of the cabin beneath +whose roof I had passed the night. Before me at no great distance, +upon the edge of the plain, rose an open park of lofty oaks, with a +mossy turf beneath; and the whole scene, lighted up by the sunbeams +breaking through the ragged mists, presented a most gorgeous +spectacle. The entire wilderness of green; every bough, spray, leaf; +every blade of grass, wild weed, and floweret, was hung with trembling +{200} drops of liquid light, which, reflecting and refracting the +sun-rays, threw back all the hues of the iris. It was indeed a morning +of beauty after the tempest; and Nature seemed to have arrayed herself +in her bridal robes, glittering in all their own matchless jewellery +to greet its coming. + +Constituted as we all naturally are, there exist, bound up within the +secresies of the bosom, certain emotions and sentiments, designed by +our Creator to leap forth in joyousness in view of the magnificence +of his works; certain springs of exquisite delicacy deep hidden in the +chambers of the breast, but which, touched or breathed upon never so +lightly, strike the keys of feeling and fill the heart with harmony. +And I envy not the feelings of that man who, amid all "the glories of +this visible world," can stand a passionless beholder; who feels not +his pulses thrill with quickened vibration, and his heart to heave in +fuller gush as he views the beneficence of his Maker in the +magnificence of his works; who from all can turn calmly away, and in +the chill, withering accents of Atheism, pronounce it the offspring of +blind fatality, the resultant of meaningless chance! + +When we look abroad upon the panorama of creation, so palpable is the +impress of an omnipotent hand, and so deeply upon all its features is +planted the demonstration of design, that it would almost seem, in the +absence of reason and revelation, we need but contemplate the scenery +of nature to be satisfied of the existence of an all-wise, +all-powerful Being, whose workmanship it is. The {201} firmament, with +its marshalled and glittering hosts; the earth, spread out in +boundlessness at our feet, now draperied in the verdant freshness of +springtime, anon in the magnificent glories of summer sultriness, +again teeming with the mellow beauty of autumnal harvesting, and then +slumbering in the chill, cheerless desolation of winter, all proclaim +a Deity eternal in existence, boundless in might. The mountain that +rears its bald forehead to the clouds; the booming cataract; the +unfathomed, mysterious sounding ocean; the magnificent sweep of the +Western prairie; the eternal flow of the Western river, proclaim, in +tones extensive as the universe--tones not to be misunderstood, that +their CREATOR lives. + +It is a circumstance in the character of the human mind, which not +the most careless or casual observer of its operations can fail to +have remarked, that the contemplation of all grand and immeasurable +objects has a tendency to enlarge and elevate the understanding, lend +a loftier tone to the feelings, and, agreeable to the moral +constitution of man, carry up his thoughts and his emotions directly +to their Author, "from Nature up to Nature's God." The savage son of +the wilderness, as he roams through his grand and gloomy forests, +which for centuries have veiled the soil at their base from the +sunlight, perceives a solemn awe stealing over him as he listens to +the surges of the winds rolling among the heavy branches; and in +Nature's simplicity, untaught but by her untutored promptings, he +believes that "the Great Spirit is whispering in {202} the tree tops." +He stands by the side of Niagara. With subdued emotions he gazes upon +the majestic world of floods as they hurry on. They reach the barrier! +they leap its precipice! they are lost in thunder and in foam! And, as +the raging waters disappear in the black abyss; as the bow of the +covenant, "like hope upon a deathbed," flings its irised arch in +horrible beauty athwart the hell of elements, the bewildered child of +nature feels his soul swell within his bosom; the thought rises +solemnly upon him, "the Great Spirit is here;" and with timid +solicitude he peers through the forest shades around him for some +palpable demonstration of His presence. And such is the effect of all +the grand scenes of nature upon the mind of the savage: they lead it +up to the "Great Spirit." Upon this principle is the fact alone to be +accounted for, that no race of beings has yet been discovered +destitute of _all_ idea of a Supreme Intelligence to whom is due +homage and obedience. It is _His_ voice they hear in the deep hour of +midnight, when the red lightning quivers along the bosom of the cloud, +and the thunder-peal rattles through the firmament. It is _He_ they +recognise in the bright orb of day, as he blazes from the eastern +horizon; or, "like a monarch on a funeral pile," sinks to his rest. +_He_ is beheld in the pale queen of night, as in silvery radiance she +walks the firmament, and in the beautiful star of evening as it sinks +behind his native hills. In the soft breathing of the "summer wind" +and in the terrible sublimity of the autumn tempest; in the gentle dew +of heaven and {203} the summer torrent; in the sparkling rivulet and +the wide, wild river; in the delicate prairie-flower and the gnarled +monarch of the hills; in the glittering minnow and the massive +narwhal; in the fairy humbird and the sweeping eagle; in each and in +all of the creations of universal nature, the mind of the savage sees, +feels, _realizes_ the presence of a Deity. + + "Earth with her thousand voices praises God!" + +is the beautiful sentiment of Coleridge's hymn in the Vale of +Chamouni; and its truth will be doubted by no man of refined +sensibility or cultivated taste. In viewing the grand scenery of +nature, the mind of the savage and the poet alike perceive the +features of Deity; on the bright page of creation, in characters +enstamped by his own mighty hand, they read his perfections and his +attributes; the vast volume is spread out to every eye; he who will +may read and be wise. And yet, delightful and instructive as the study +of Nature's creations cannot fail to be, it is a strange thing that, +by many, so little regard is betrayed for them. How often do we gaze +upon the orb of day, as he goes down the western heavens in glory to +his rest; how often do we look away to the far-off star, as it pursues +in beauty its lonely pathway, distinct amid the myriads that surround +it; how often do we glance abroad upon the splendours of earth, and +then, from all this demonstration of Omnipotent goodness turn away +with not _one_ pulsation of gratitude to the Creator of suns and +stars; with not one aspiration of feeling, one acknowledgment of +regard to {204} the Lord of the universe? Yet surely, whatever +repinings may at times imbitter the unsanctified bosom in view of the +moral, the intellectual, or social arrangements of existence, there +should arise but one emotion, and that--_praise_ in view of +_inanimate_ nature. Here is naught but power and goodness; now, as at +the dawn of Creation's morning, "all is very good." But these are +scenes upon which the eye has turned from earliest infancy; and to +this cause alone may we attribute the fact, that though their grandeur +may never weary or their glories pall upon the sense, yet our gaze +upon them is often that of coldness and indifferent regard. Still +their influence upon us, though inappreciable, is sure. If we look +abroad upon the race of man, we cannot but admit the conviction that +natural scenery, hardly less than climate, government, or religion, +lays its impress upon human character. It is where Nature exhibits +herself in her loftiest moods that her influence on man is most +observable. 'Tis there we find the human mind most chainlessly free, +and the attachments of patriotic feeling most tenacious and exalted. +To what influence more than to that of the gigantic features of nature +around him, amid which he first opened his eyes to the light, and with +which from boyhood days he has been conversant, are we to attribute +that indomitable hate to oppression, that enthusiastic passion for +liberty, and that wild idolatry of country which characterizes the +Swiss mountaineer? _He_ would be free as the geyer-eagle of his native +cliffs, whose eyrie hangs in the clouds, whose eye brightens in {205} +the sunlight, whose wild shriek rises on the tempest, and whose fierce +brood is nurtured amid crags untrodden by the footstep of man. To +_his_ ear the sweep of the terrible _lauwine_, the dash of the +mountain cataract, the sullen roar of the mountain forest, is a music +for which, in a foreign land, he pines away and dies. And all these +scenes have but one language--and that is chainless _independence_! + +It is a fact well established, and one to be accounted for upon no +principle other than that which we advance, that the dwellers in +mountainous regions, and those whose homes are amid the grandeur of +nature, are found to be more attached to the spot of their nativity +than are other races of men, and that they are ever more forward to +defend their ice-clad precipices from the attack of the invader. For +centuries have the Swiss inhabited the mountains of the Alps. They +inhabit them still, and have never been entirely subdued. But + + "The free Switzer yet bestrides _alone_ + His chainless mountains." + +Of what _other_ nation of Europe, if we except the Highlands of +Scotland, may anything like the same assertion with truth be made? We +are told that the mountains of Caucasus and Himmalaya, in Asia, still +retain the race of people which from time immemorial have possessed +them. The same accents echo along their "tuneful cliffs" as centuries +since were listened to by the patriarchs; while at their base, chance, +and change, and conquest, like successive floods, have swept the +delta-plains of {206} the Ganges and Euphrates. These are but isolated +instances from a multitude of similar character, which might be +advanced in support of the position we have assumed. Nor is it strange +that peculiarities like these should be witnessed. There must ever be +_something_ to love, if the emotion is to be permanently called forth; +it matters little whether it be in the features of inanimate nature or +in those of man; and, alike in both cases, do the boldest and most +prominent create the deepest impression. Just so it is with our +admiration of character; there must exist bold and distinctive traits, +good or bad, to arouse for it unusual regard. A monotony of character +or of feeling is as wearisome as a monotony of sound or scenery. + +But to return from a digression which has become unconscionably long. +After a brisk gallop of a few hours through the delightful scenery of +the Barrens, I found myself approaching the little town of +Carlinville. As I drew nigh to the village, I found it absolutely +reeling under the excitement of the "Grand Menagerie." From all points +of the compass, men, women, and children, emerging from the forest, +came pouring into the place, some upon horses, some in farm-wagons, +and troops of others on foot, slipping and sliding along in a fashion +most distressing to behold. The soil in this vicinity is a black loam +of surpassing fertility; and, when saturated with moisture, it adheres +to the sole with most pertinacious tenacity, more like to an amalgam +of soot and soap-grease than to any other substance that has ever come +under my cognizance. The inn {207} was thronged by neighbouring +farmers, some canvassing the relative and individual merits of the +_Zebedee_ and the _Portimous_; others sagely dwelling upon the mooted +point of peril to be apprehended from the great _sarpent_--_Boy +Contractor_; while little unwashen wights did run about and +dangerously prophecy on the recent disappearance of the big elephant. + +Carlinville is a considerable village, situated on the margin of a +pleasant prairie, on the north side of Macoupin Creek, and is the seat +of justice for the county. The name _Macoupin_ is said to be of +aboriginal derivation, and by the early French chroniclers was spelled +and pronounced _Ma-qua-pin_, until its present uncomely combination of +letters became legalized on the statute-book. The term, we are told +by Charlevoix, the French _voyageur_, is the Indian name of an +esculent with a broad corolla, found in many of the ponds and creeks +of Illinois, especially along the course of the romantic stream +bearing its name. The larger roots, eaten raw, were poisonous, and the +natives were accustomed to dig ovens in the earth, into which, being +walled up with flat stones and heated, was deposited the vegetable. +After remaining for forty-eight hours in this situation, the +deleterious qualities were found extracted, and the root being dried, +was esteemed a luxury by the Indians. The region bordering upon +Carlinville is amazingly fertile, and proportionally divided into +prairie and timber--a circumstance by no means unworthy of notice. +There has been a design of establishing {208} here a Theological +Seminary, but the question of its site has been a point easier to +discuss than to decide.[142] My tarry at the village was a brief one, +though I became acquainted with a number of its worthy citizens; and +in the log-office of a young limb of _legality_, obtained, as a +special distinction, a glance at a forthcoming "Fourth-of-July" +oration, fruitful in those sonorous periods and stereotyped patriotics +indispensable on such occasions, and, at all hazard, made and provided +for them. As I was leaving the village I was met by multitudes, +pouring in from all sections of the surrounding region, literally +thronging the ways; mothers on horseback, with young children in their +arms; fathers with daughters and wives _en croupe_, and at intervals +an individual, in quiet possession of an entire animal, came sliding +along in the mud, in fashion marvellously entertaining to witness. A +huge cart there likewise was, which excited no small degree of +admiration as it rolled on, swarmed with women and children. An aged +patriarch, with hoary locks resting upon his shoulders, enacted the +part of charioteer to this primitive establishment; and now, in +zealous impatience to reach the scene of action, from which the +braying horns came resounding loud and clear through the forest, he +was wretchedly belabouring, by means of an endless whip, six unhappy +oxen to augment their speed. + +I had travelled not many miles when a black cloud spread itself +rapidly over the sky, and in a few moments the thunder began to +bellow, the lightnings to flash, and the rain to fall in torrents. +{209} Luckily enough for me, I found myself in the neighbourhood of +man's habitation. Leaping hastily from my steed, and lending him an +impetus with my riding whip which carried him safely beneath a +hospitable shed which stood thereby, I betook myself, without ceremony +or delay, to the mansion house itself, glad enough to find its roof +above me as the first big raindrops came splashing to the ground. The +little edifice was tenanted by three females and divers flaxen-pated, +sun-bleached urchins of all ages and sizes, and, at the moment of my +entrance, all in high dudgeon, because, forsooth, they were not to be +permitted to drench themselves in the anticipated shower. Like Noah's +dove, they were accordingly pulled within the ark, and thereupon +thought proper to set up their several and collective _Ebenezers_. + +"Well!" was my exclamation, in true Yankee fashion, as I bowed my head +low in entering the humble postern; "we're going to get pretty +considerable of a sprinkling, I guess." "I reckon," was the +sententious response of the most motherly-seeming of the three women, +at the same time vociferating to the three larger of the children, +"Oh, there, you Bill, Sall, Polly, honeys, get the gentleman a cheer! +Walk in, sir; set down and take a seat!" This evolution of "setting +down and taking a seat" was at length successfully effected, after +sundry manoeuvrings by way of planting the three pedestals of the +uncouth tripod upon the same plane, and avoiding the fearful yawnings +in the _puncheon_ floor. When all was at length quiet, I {210} +improved the opportunity of gazing about me to explore the curious +habitation into which I found myself inserted. + +The structure, about twenty feet square, had originally been +constructed of rough logs, the interstices stuffed with fragments of +wood and stone, and daubed with clay; the chimney was built up of +sticks laid crosswise, and plastered with the same material to resist +the fire. Such had been the backwoodsman's cabin in its primitive +prime; but time and the elements had been busy with the little +edifice, and sadly had it suffered. Window or casement was there none, +neither was there need thereof; for the hingeless door stood ever +open, the clay was disappearing from the intervals between the logs, +and the huge fireplace of stone exhibited yawning apertures, +abundantly sufficient for all the purposes of light and ventilation to +the single apartment of the building. The _puncheon_ floor I have +alluded to, and it corresponded well with the roof of the cabin, which +had never, in its best estate, been designed to resist the peltings of +such a pitiless torrent as was now assailing it. The water soon began +trickling in little rivulets upon my shoulders, and my only +alternative was my umbrella for shelter. The furniture of the +apartment consisted of two plank-erections designed for bedsteads, +which, with a tall clothes-press, divers rude boxes, and a +side-saddle, occupied a better moiety of the area; while a rough +table, a shelf against the wall, upon which stood a water-pail, a +gourd, and a few broken trenchers, completed the household +paraphernalia {211} of this most unique of habitations. A +half-consumed flitch of bacon suspended in the chimney, and a huge +iron pot upon the fire, from which issued a savoury indication of the +seething mess within, completes the "still-life" of the picture. Upon +one of the beds reclined one of the females to avoid the rain; a +second was alternating her attentions between her infant and her +needle; while the third, a buxom young baggage, who, by-the-by, was on +a visit to her sister, was busying herself in the culinary occupations +of the household, much the chief portion of which consisted in +watching the huge dinner-pot aforesaid, with its savoury contents. + +After remaining nearly two hours in the cabin, in hopes that the storm +would abate, I concluded that, since my umbrella was no sinecure +_within_ doors, it might as well be put in requisition _without_, and +mounted my steed, though the rain was yet falling. I had proceeded but +a few miles upon the muddy pathway when my compass informed me that I +had varied from my route, a circumstance by no means uncommon on the +Western prairies. During the whole afternoon, therefore, I continued +upon my way across a broad pathless prairie, some twelve or eighteen +miles in extent, and dreary enough withal, until nightfall, when I +rejoiced to find myself the inmate of the comfortable farmhouse upon +its edge from which my last was dated. + +_Hillsborough, Ill._ + + + + +XIX + + "Skies softly beautiful, and blue + As Italy's, with stars as bright; + Flowers rich as morning's sunrise hue, + And gorgeous as the gemm'd midnight. + Land of the West! green Forest Land, + Thus hath Creation's bounteous hand + Upon thine ample bosom flung + Charms such as were her gift when the green world was young!" + GALLAGHER. + + "Go thou to the house of prayer, + I to the woodlands will repair." + KIRK WHITE. + + "There is religion in a flower; + Its still small voice is as the voice of conscience." + BELL. + + +More than three centuries ago, when the romantic Ponce de Leon, with +his chivalrous followers, first planted foot upon the southern +extremity of the great Western Valley, the discovery of the far-famed +"Fountain of Youth" was the wild vision which lured him on. Though +disappointed in the object of his enterprise, the adventurous Spaniard +was enraptured with the loveliness of a land which even the golden +realms of "Old Castile" had never realized; and _Florida_,[143] "the +Land of Flowers," was the poetic name it inspired. Twenty years, and +the bold soldier Ferdinand de Soto, of Cuba, {213} the associate of +Pizarro, with a thousand steel-clad warriors at his back, penetrated +the valley to the far-distant post of Arkansas, and "_El padre de las +aguas_" was the expressive name of the mighty stream he discovered, +beneath the eternal flow of whose surges he laid his bones to their +rest.[144] "_La Belle Rivière!_" was the delighted exclamation which +burst from the lips of the Canadian voyageur, as, with wonder hourly +increasing, he glided in his light pirogue between the swelling +bluffs, and wound among the thousand isles of the beautiful Ohio. The +heroic Norman, Sieur La Salle, when for the first time he beheld the +pleasant hunting-grounds of the peaceful Illini, pronounced them a +"Terrestrial Paradise." Daniel Boone, the bold pioneer of the West, +fifty years ago, when standing on the last blue line of the +Alleghanies, and at the close of a day of weary journeying, he looked +down upon the beautiful fields of "Old Kentucke," now gilded by the +evening sun, turned his back for ever upon the green banks of the +Yadkin and the soil of his nativity, hailing the glories of a +new-found home.[145] + + "Fair wert thou, in the dreams + Of elder time, thou land of glorious flowers, + And summer winds, and low-toned silvery streams, + Dim with the shadows of thy laurel bowers." + +And thus has it ever been; and even yet the "pilgrim from the North" +rejoices with untold joy over the golden beauties of the Valley beyond +the Mountains. + +{214} It was a fine Sabbath morning when I mounted my steed at the +gate of the log farmhouse where I had passed the night, to pursue my +journey over the prairie, upon the verge of which it stood. The +village of Hillsborough was but a few miles distant, and there I had +resolved to observe the sacredness of the day. The showers of the +preceding evening had refreshed the atmosphere, which danced over the +plain in exhilarating gales, and rustled among the boughs of the green +woodlands I was leaving. Before me was spread out a waving, undulating +landscape, with herds of cattle sprinkled here and there in isolated +masses over the surface; the rabbit and wild-fowl were sporting along +the pathway, and the bright woodpecker, with his splendid plumage and +querulous note, was flitting to and fro among the thickets. Far away +along the eastern horizon stretched the dark line of forest. The +gorgeous prairie-flower flung out its crimson petals upon the breeze, +"blushing like a banner bathed in slaughter," and methought it snapped +more gayly in the morning sunbeams than it was wont; the long grass +rustled musically its wavy masses back and forth, and, amid the +Sabbath stillness around, methought there were there notes of +sweetness not before observed. The whole scene lay calm and quiet, as +if Nature, if not man, recognised the Divine injunction _to rest_; and +the idea suggested itself, that a solitary Sabbath on the wild +prairie, in silent converse with the Almighty, might not be all +unprofitable. {215} + + "Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, + The bridal of the earth and sky, + Sweet dews shall weep thy fall to-night, + For thou must die."[146] + +From the centre of the prairie the landscape rolled gracefully away +towards the eastern timber, studded along its edge with farms. The +retrospect from beneath the tall oaks of the prairie over which I had +passed was exceedingly fine; the idea strikes the spectator at once, +and with much force, that the whole plain was once a sheet of water. +Indeed, were we to form our opinion from the _appearance_ of many of +the prairies of Illinois, the idea would be irresistible, that this +peculiar species of surface originated in a submersion of the whole +state. There are many circumstances which lead us to the conclusion +that these vast meadows once formed the bed of a body of water similar +to the Northern lakes; and when the lowest point at the _Grand Tower_ +on the Mississippi was torn away by some convulsion of nature, a +uniform surface of fine rich mud was left. The ravines were ploughed +in the soft soil by subsequent floods, and hence, while the elevated +lands are fertile, those more depressed are far less so. The soil of +the prairies is of a character decidedly alluvial, being composed of +compact strata of loam piled upon each other, like that at the bottom +of bodies of water long stagnant. The first stratum is a black, +pliable mould, from two feet to five in depth; the second a red clay, +amalgamated with sand, from {216} five to ten feet in thickness; the +third a blue clay, mixed with pebbles, of beautiful appearance, +unctuous to the feeling, and, when exposed to the atmosphere, of a +fetid smell. Lakes are often found in the prairies abounding in fish, +which, when the waters subside, are removed by cartloads. The origin +of these vast prairie-plains is, after all, no easy matter to decide; +but, whatever the cause, they have doubtless been perpetuated by the +autumnal fires which, year after year, from an era which the earliest +chronicles of history or tradition have failed to record, have swept +their surface; for, as soon as the grass is destroyed by the plough, +the winged seeds of the cotton-wood and sycamore take root, and a +young growth of timber sprouts forth. The same is true along the +margin of creeks and streams, or upon steril or wet prairies, where +the vegetation does not become sufficiently heavy or combustible for +conflagration to a great extent. These fires originated either in the +friction of the sear and tinder-like underbrush, agitated by the high +winds, or they were kindled by the Indians for the purpose of +dislodging game. The mode of hunting by circular fires is said to have +prevailed at the time when Captain Smith first visited the shores of +Chesapeake Bay, where extensive prairies then existed. These plains, +by cultivation, have long since disappeared. Mungo Park describes the +annual fires upon the plains of Western Africa for a similar purpose +and with the same result.[147] Tracts of considerable extent in {217} +the older settlements of the country, which many years since were +meadow, are clothed with forest. + +"Coot morning, shur! A pleashant tay, shur! Coome in, shur!" was the +hospitable greeting of mine host, or rather of the major domo of the +little brick hostelrie of Hillsborough as I drove up to the bar-room +entrance. He was a comical-looking, bottle-shaped little personage, +with a jolly red nose, all the brighter, doubtless, for certain goodly +potations of his own goodly admixtures; with a brief brace of legs, +inserted into a pair of inexpressibles _à la Turque_, a world too big, +and a white capote a world too little, to complete the Sunday toilet. +He could boast, moreover, that amazing lubricity of speech, and that +oiliness of tongue wherewith sinful publicans have ever been prone to +beguile unwary wayfarers, _taking in travellers_, forsooth! Before I +was fully aware of the change in my circumstances, I found myself +quietly dispossessed of horse and equipments, and placing my foot +across the threshold. The fleshy little Dutchman, though now secure in +his capture, proceeded to redouble his assiduities. + +"Anything to trink, shur? Plack your poots, shur? shave your face, +shur?" and a host of farther interrogatories, which I at length +contrived to cut short with, "Show me a chamber, sir!" + +The Presbyterian Church, at which I attended worship, is a neat little +edifice of brick, in modern style, but not completed. The walls +remained unconscious of plaster; the orchestra, a naked scaffolding; +the pulpit, a box of rough boards; and, {218} more _picturesque_ than +all, in lieu of pews, slips, or any such thing, a few coarse slabs of +all forms and fashions, supported on remnants of timber and plank, +occupied the open area for seats. And marvellously comfortless are +such seats, to my certain experience. In the evening I attended the +"Luteran Church," as my major domo styled it, at the special instance +of one of its worthy members. This house of worship is designed for a +large one--the largest in the state, I was informed--but, like its +neighbour, was as yet but commenced. The external walls were quite +complete; but the rafters, beams, studs, and braces within presented a +mere skeleton, while a few loose boards, which sprang and creaked +beneath the foot, were spread over the sleepers as an apology for a +floor. There's practical utility for an economist! Because a church is +unfinished is no good and sufficient reason why it should remain +unoccupied! + +As we entered the building, my _cicerone_ very unexpectedly favoured +me with an introduction to the minister. He was a dark, solemn-looking +man, with a huge Bible and psalm-book choicely tucked under his left +arm. After sundry glances at my dress and demeanour, and other sundry +whisperings in the ear of my companion, the good man drew nigh, and +delivered himself of the interrogatory, "Are you a clergyman, sir?" At +this sage inquiry, so sagely administered, my rebellious lips +struggled with a smile, which, I misdoubt me much, was not unobserved +by the dark-looking minister; {219} for, upon my reply in the +negative, he turned very unceremoniously away, and betook him to his +pulpit. By-the-by, this had by no means been the first time I had been +called to answer the same inquiry during my ramble in the West. + +On returning to our lodgings after service, we found quite a +respectable congregation gathered around the signpost, to whom my pink +of major domos was holding forth in no measured terms upon the +propriety of "letting off the pig guns" at the dawning of the +ever-memorable morrow,[148] "in honour of the tay when our old farders +fought like coot fellows; they tid so, py jingoes; and I'll pe out at +tree o'glock, py jingoes, I will so," raphsodied the little Dutchman, +warming up under the fervour of his own eloquence. This subject was +still the theme of his rejoicing when he marshalled me to my dormitory +and wished me "pleashant treams." + +The first faint streak of crimson along the eastern heavens beheld me +mounting at the door of the inn; and by my side was the patriotic +domo, bowing, and ducking, and telling over all manner of kind wishes +till I had evanished from view. A more precious relic of the true +oldfashioned, swaggering, pot-bellied publican is rarely to be met, +than that which I encountered in the person of the odd little genius +whose peculiarities I have recounted: even the worthy old "Caleb of +Ravenswood," that miracle of major domos, would not {220} have +disowned my _Dutchy_ for a brother craftsman. The village of +Hillsborough is a pleasant, healthy, thriving place; and being +intersected by some of the most important state routes, will always +remain a thoroughfare. An attempt has been made by one of its citizens +to obtain for this place the location of the Theological Seminary now +in contemplation in the vicinity rather than at Carlinville, and the +offer he has made is a truly munificent one. The site proposed is a +beautiful mound, rising on the prairie's edge south of the village, +commanding a view for miles in every direction, and is far more +eligible than any spot I ever observed in Carlinville. + +After crossing a prairie about a dozen miles in width, and taking +breakfast with a farmer upon its edge, I continued my journey over the +undulating plains until near the middle of the afternoon, when I +reached my present stage. The whole region, as I journeyed through it, +lay still and quiet: every farmhouse and log-cabin was deserted by its +tenants, who had congregated to the nearest villages to celebrate the +day; and, verily, not a little did my heart smite me at my own +heedless desecration of the political Sabbath of our land. + +_Vandalia, Ill._ + + + + +XX + + "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, + There is a rapture on the lonely shore, + There is society where none intrudes--" + _Childe Harold._ + + "The sun in all his broad career + Ne'er looked upon a fairer land, + Or brighter skies or sweeter scenes." + + +Ever since the days of that king of vagabonds, the mighty Nimrod of +sacred story, and, for aught to the contrary, as long before, there +has existed a certain roving, tameless race of wights, whose chief +delight has consisted in wandering up and down upon the face of the +earth, with no definite object of pursuit, and with no motive of +peregrination save a kind of restless, unsatisfied craving after +change; in its results much like the migratory instinct of +passage-birds, but, unlike that periodical instinct, incessant in +exercise. Now, whether it so be that a tincture of this same vagrant, +Bohemian spirit is coursing my veins under the name of "Yankee +enterprise," or whether, in my wanderings through these wild, +unsettled regions, I have imbibed a portion thereof, is not for me to +decide. Nevertheless, sure it is, not unfrequently are its promptings +detected as I journey through this beautiful land. + +It is evening now, and, after the fatigues of a pleasant day's ride, I +am seated beneath the piazza {222} of a neat farmhouse in the edge of +a forest, through which, for the last hour, my path has conducted, and +looking out upon a broad landscape of prairie. My landlord, a +high-minded, haughty Virginia emigrant, bitterly complains because, +forsooth, in the absence of slave-labour, he is forced to cultivate +his own farm; and though, by the aid of a Dutchman, he has made a +pretty place of it, yet he vows by all he loves to lay his bones +within the boundaries of the "Ancient Dominion." My ride since noon +has been delightful; over broad plains, intersected by deep creeks, +with their densely-wooded bottoms. These streams constitute one of the +most romantic features of the country. I have crossed very many during +my tour, and all exhibit the same characteristics: a broad, deep-cut +channel, with precipitous banks loaded with enormous trees, their +trunks interwoven and matted with tangled underbrush and gigantic +vegetation. As the traveller stands upon the arch of the bridge of +logs thrown over these creeks, sometimes with an altitude at the +centre of forty feet, he looks down upon a stream flowing in a deep, +serpentine bed, and winding away into the dusky shades of the +overhanging woods, until a graceful bend withdraws the dark surface of +the waters from his view. In the dry months of summer, these creeks +and ravines are either completely free of water, or contain but a mere +rivulet; and the traveller is amazed at the depth and breadth of a +channel so scantily supplied. But at the season of the spring or +autumnal rains the scene is changed: a deep, turbid torrent rolls +{223} wildly onward through the dark woods, bearing on its surface the +trunks of trees and the ruins of bridges swept from its banks; and the +stream which, a few weeks before, would scarcely have wet the +traveller's sole, is now an obstacle in his route difficult and +dangerous to overcome. + +Within a few miles of my present quarters an adventure transpired of +some slight interest to _myself_, at least, as it afforded me a weary +trudge beneath a broiling sun. As I was leisurely pursuing my way +through the forest, I had chanced to spy upon the banks of the +roadside a cluster of wild flowers of hues unusually brilliant; and, +with a spirit worthy of Dr. Bat,[149] I at once resolved they should +enrich my "_hortus siccus_." Alighting, therefore, and leaving my +steed by the roadside, I at length succeeded, after most laudable +scramblings for the advancement of science, in gathering up a bouquet +of surpassing magnificence. Alas! alas! would it had been less so; for +my youthful steed, all unused to such sights and actions, and +possessing, moreover, a most sovereign and shameful indifference to +the glories of botany, had long, with suspicious and sidelong glances, +been eying the vagaries of his truant master; and now, no sooner did +he draw nigh to resume his seat and journey, than the ungracious and +ungrateful quadruped flung aloft his head, and away he careered +through the green branches, mane streaming and saddle-bags flapping. +In vain was the brute addressed in language the most mild and +conciliatory that ever insinuated itself into horse's lug; in vain was +he ordered, {224} in tones of stern mandate, to cease his shameless +and unnatural rebellion, and to surrender himself incontinently and +without delay to his liege: entreaty and command, remonstrance and +menace, were alike unsuccessful; and away he flew, "with flowing tail +and flying mane," in utter contempt of all former or future vassalage. +At one moment he stood the attitude of humbleness and submission, +coolly cropping the herbage of the high banks; and then, the instant +the proximity of his much-abused master became perilous to his +freedom, aloft flew mane and tail, and away, away, the animal was off, +until an interval consistent with his new-gained license lay behind +him. After an hour of vexatious toiling through dust and sun, a +happily-executed manoeuvre once more placed the most undutiful of +creatures in my power. And then, be ye sure, that in true Gilpin +fashion, "whip and spur did make amends" for all arrears of unavenged +misbehaviour. + + "Twas for your pleasure that I _walked_, + Now you shall RUN for mine," + +was the very Christian spirit of retaliation which animated the few +succeeding miles. + +"But something too much of this." Some pages back I was entering the +capital of Illinois. The town is approached from the north, through a +scattered forest, separating it from the prairies; and its unusually +large and isolated buildings, few in number as they are, stationed +here and there upon the eminences of the broken surface, give the +place a singularly novel aspect viewed from the adjacent {225} +heights. There is but little of scenic attraction about the place, +and, to the traveller's eye, still less of the picturesque. Such huge +structures as are here beheld, in a town so inconsiderable in extent, +present an unnatural and forced aspect to one who has just emerged +from the wild waste of the neighbouring prairies, sprinkled with their +humble tenements of logs. The scene is not in keeping; it is not +picturesque. Such, at all events, were my "first impressions" on +entering the village, and _first_ impressions are not necessarily +false. As I drew nigh to the huge white tavern, a host of people were +swarming the doors; and, from certain uncouth noises which from time +to time went up from the midst thereof, not an inconsiderable portion +of the worthy multitude seemed to have succeeded in rendering +themselves gloriously tipsy in honour of the glorious day. There was +one keen, bilious-looking genius in linsey-woolsey, with a face, in +its intoxicated state, like a red-hot tomahawk, whom I regarded with +special admiration as high-priest of the bacchanal; and so fierce and +high were his objurgations, that the idea with some force suggested +itself, whether, in the course of years, he had not screamed his lean +and hungry visage to its present hatchet-like proportions. May he +forgive if I err. But not yet were my adventures over. Having effected +a retreat from the abominations of the bar-room, I had retired to a +chamber in the most quiet corner of the mansion, and had seated myself +to endite an epistle, when a rap at the door announced the presence of +mine host, leading along an old {226} yeoman whom I had noticed among +the revellers; and, having given him a ceremonious introduction, +withdrew. To what circumstance I was indebted for this unexpected +honour, I was puzzling myself to divine, when the old gentleman, after +a preface of clearings of the throat and scratchings of the head, gave +me briefly to understand, much to my admiration, that I was believed +to be neither more nor less than an "Agent for a Western Land +Speculating Company of the North," etc., etc.: and then, in a +confidential tone, before a syllable of negation or affirmation could +be offered, that he "owned a certain tract of land, so many acres +prairie, so many timber, so many cultivated, so many wild," etc., +etc.: the sequel was anticipated by undeceiving the old farmer +forthwith, though with no little difficulty. The cause of this mistake +I subsequently discovered to be a very slight circumstance. On the +tavern register in the bar-room I had entered as my residence my +native home at the North, more for the novelty of the idea than for +anything else; or because, being a sort of cosmopolitan, I might +presume myself at liberty to appropriate any spot I thought proper as +that of my departure or destination. As a matter of course, and with +laudable desire to augment their sum of useful knowledge, no sooner +had the traveller turned from the register than the sagacious host and +his compeer brandy-bibbers turned towards it; and being unable to +conceive any reasonable excuse for a man to be wandering so far from +his home except for lucre's sake, the conclusion at once and +irresistibly followed that {227} the stranger was a land-speculator, +or something thereunto akin; and it required not many moments for +such a wildfire idea to run through such an inflammable mass of +curiosity. + +With the situation and appearance of Vandalia I was not, as I have +expressed myself, much prepossessed; indeed, I was somewhat +disappointed.[150] Though not prepared for anything very striking, yet +in the capital of a state we always anticipate something, if not +superior or equal, at least not inferior to neighbouring towns of less +note. Its site is an elevated, undulating tract upon the west bank of +the Kaskaskia, and was once heavily timbered, as are now its suburbs. +The streets are of liberal breadth--some of them not less than eighty +feet from kerb to kerb--enclosing an elevated public square nearly in +the centre of the village, which a little expenditure of time and +money might render a delightful promenade. The public edifices are +very inconsiderable, consisting of an ordinary structure of brick for +legislative purposes; a similar building originally erected as a +banking establishment, but now occupied by the offices of the state +authorities; a Presbyterian Church, with cupola and bell, besides a +number of lesser buildings for purposes of worship and education. A +handsome structure of stone for a bank is, however, in progress, +which, when completed, with other public buildings in contemplation, +will add much to the aspect of the place. Here also is a land-office +for the district, and the Cumberland Road is permanently located and +partially constructed to the {228} place. An historical and +antiquarian society has here existed for about ten years, and its +published proceedings evince much research and information. "The +Illinois Magazine" was the name of an ably-conducted periodical +commenced at this town some years since, and prosperously carried on +by Judge Hall, but subsequently removed to Cincinnati.[151] Some of +the articles published in this magazine, descriptive of the state, +were of high merit. It is passing strange that a town like Vandalia, +with all the natural and artificial advantages it possesses; located +nearly twenty years ago, by state authority, expressly as the seat of +government; situated upon the banks of a fine stream, which small +expense would render navigable for steamers, and in the heart of a +healthy and fertile region, should have increased and flourished no +more than seems to have been the case. Vandalia will continue the seat +of government until the year 1840; when, agreeable to the late act of +Legislature, it is to be removed to Springfield, where an +appropriation of $50,000 has been made for a state-house now in +progress. + +The growth of Vandalia, though tardy, can perhaps be deemed so only in +comparison with the more rapid advancement of neighbouring towns; for +a few years after it was laid off it was unsurpassed in improvement by +any other. We are told that the first legislators who assembled in +session at this place sought their way through the neighbouring +prairies as the mariner steers over the trackless ocean, by his +knowledge of the cardinal points. {229} Judges and lawyers came +pouring in from opposite directions, as wandering tribes assemble to +council; and many were the tales of adventure and mishap related at +their meeting. Some had been lost in the prairies; some had slept in +the woods; some had been almost chilled to death, plunging through +creeks and rivers. A rich growth of majestic oaks then covered the +site of the future metropolis; tangled thickets almost impervious to +human foot surrounded it, and all was wilderness on every side. +Wonderful accounts of the country to the north; of rich lands, and +pure streams, and prairies more beautiful than any yet discovered, +soon began to come in by the hunters.[152] But over that country the +Indian yet roved, and the adventurous pioneer neither owned the soil +he cultivated, nor had the power to retain its possession from the +savage. Only eight years after this, and a change, as if by magic, had +come over the little village of Vandalia; and not only so, but over +the whole state, which was now discovered to be a region more +extensive and far more fertile than the "sacred island of Britain." +The region previously the frontier formed the heart of the fairest +portion of the state, and a dozen new counties were formed within its +extent. Mail-routes and post-roads, diverging in all directions from +the capital, had been established, and canals and railways had been +projected. Eight years more, and the "Northern frontier" is the seat +of power and population; and {230} here is removed the seat of +government, because the older settlements have not kept pace in +advancement. + +It was a fine mellow morning when I left Vandalia to pursue my journey +over the prairies to Carlisle. For some miles my route lay through a +dense clump of old woods, relieved at intervals by extended glades of +sparser growth. This road is but little travelled, and so obscure that +for most of the way I could avail myself of no other guide than the +"_blaze_" upon the trees; and this mark in many places, from its +ancient, weather-beaten aspect, seemed placed there by the axe of the +earliest pioneer. Rank grass has obliterated the pathway, and +overhanging boughs brush the cheek. It was in one of those extended +glades I have mentioned that a nobly-antlered buck and his beautiful +doe sprang out upon the path, and stood gazing upon me from the +wayside until I had approached so near that a rifle, even in hands all +unskilled in "gentle woodcraft," had not been harmless. I was even +beginning to meditate upon the probable effect of a pistol-shot at +twenty paces, when the graceful animals, throwing proudly up their +arching necks, bounded off into the thicket. Not many miles from the +spot I shared the rough fare of an old hunter, who related many +interesting facts in the character and habits of this animal, and +detailed some curious anecdotes in the history of his own wild life. +He was just about leaving his lodge on a short hunting excursion, and +the absence of a rifle alone prevented me from accepting a civil +request to bear him company. + +{231} Most of the route from Vandalia to Carlisle is very tolerable, +with the exception of one detestable spot, fitly named "Hurricane +Bottom;" a more dreary, desolate, purgatorial region than which, I am +very free to say, exists not in Illinois.[153] It is a densely-wooded +swamp, composed of soft blue clay, exceedingly tenacious to the touch +and fetid in odour, extending nearly two miles. A regular highway over +this mud-hole can scarcely be said to exist, though repeated attempts +to construct one have been made at great expense: and now the +traveller, upon entering this "slough of despond," gives his horse the +reins to slump, and slide, and plunge, and struggle through among the +mud-daubed trees to the best of his skill and ability. + +Night overtook me in the very heart of a broad prairie; and, like the +sea, a desolate place is the prairie of a dark night. It demanded no +little exercise of the eye and judgment to continue upon a route +where the path was constantly diverging and varying in all directions. +A bright glare of light at a distance at length arrested my attention. +On approaching, I found it to proceed from an encampment of tired +emigrants, whose ponderous teams were wheeled up around the blazing +fire; while the hungry oxen, released from the yoke, were browsing +upon the tops of the tall prairie-grass on every side. This grass, +though coarse in appearance, in the early stages of its growth +resembles young wheat, and furnishes a rich and succulent food for +cattle. It is even asserted that, when running at large in fields +where the young wheat covers the {232} ground, cattle choose the +prairie-grass in the margin of the field in preference to the wheat +itself. A few scattered, twinkling lights, and the fresh-smelling air +from the Kaskaskia, soon after informed me that I was not far from the +village of Carlisle.[154] This is a pleasant, romantic little town, +upon the west bank of the river, and upon the great stage-route +through the state from St. Louis to Vincennes. This circumstance, and +the intersection of several other state thoroughfares, give it the +animated, business-like aspect of a market town, not often witnessed +in a village so remote from the advantages of general commerce. Its +site is elevated and salubrious, on the border of a fertile prairie: +yet, notwithstanding all these advantages, Carlisle cannot be said to +have increased very rapidly when we consider that twenty years have +elapsed since it was first laid off for a town. It is the seat of +justice for Clinton county, and can boast a wooden courthouse in +"ruinous perfection." In its vicinity are some beautiful +country-seats. One of these, named "Mound Farm," the delightful +residence of Judge B----, imbowered in trees and shrubbery, and about +a mile from the village, I visited during my stay. It commands from +its elevated site a noble view of the neighbouring prairie, the +village and river at its foot, and the adjacent farms. Under the +superintendence of cultivated taste, this spot may become one of the +loveliest retreats in Illinois. + +_Clinton County, Ill._ + + + + +XXI + + "To him who, in the love of Nature, holds + Communion with her visible forms, she speaks + A various language." + THANATOPSIS. + + "The sunny Italy may boast + The beauteous tints that flush her skies, + And lovely round the Grecian coast + May thy blue pillars rise: + I only know how fair they stand + About my own beloved land." + _The Skies._--BRYANT. + + +To the man of cultivated imagination and delicate taste, the study of +nature never fails to afford a gratification, refined as it is +exquisite. In the pencilled petals of the flower as it bows to the +evening breeze; in the glittering scales of the fish leaping from the +wave; in the splendid plumage of the forest-bird, and in the +music-tinklings of the wreathed and enamelled sea-shell rocked by the +billow, he recognises an eloquence of beauty which he alone can +appreciate. For him, too, the myriad forms of animate creation unite +with inanimate nature in one mighty hymn of glory to their Maker, from +the hum of the sparkling ephemeroid as he blithely dances away his +little life in the beams of a summer sun, and the rustling music of +the prairie-weed swept by the winds, to the roar of the shaggy woods +upon the mountain-side, and the fierce, wild shriek of the +ocean-eagle. To investigate {234} the more minute and delicate of +Nature's workings is indeed a delightful task; and along this fairy +and flowery pathway the cultivated fancy revels with unmingled +gratification; but, as the mind approaches the vaster exhibitions of +might and majesty, the booming of the troubled ocean, the terrible +sublimity of the midnight storm, the cloudy magnificence of the +mountain height, the venerable grandeur of the aged forest, it expands +itself in unison till lost in the immensity of created things. +Reflections like these are constantly suggesting themselves to the +traveller's thoughts amid the grand scenery of the West; but at no +season do they rise more vividly upon the mind than when the +lengthened shadows of evening are stealing over the landscape, and the +summer sun is sinking to his rest. This is the "magic hour" when + + "Bright clouds are gathering one by one, + Sweeping in pomp round the dying sun; + With crimson banner and golden pall, + Like a host to their chieftain's funeral." + +There is not a more magnificent spectacle in nature than summer sunset +on the Western prairie. I have beheld the orb of day, after careering +his course like a giant through the firmament, go down into the fresh +tumbling billows of ocean; and sunset on the prairies, which recalls +that scene, is alone equalled by it. + +Near nightfall one evening I found myself in the middle of one of +these vast extended plains, where the eye roves unconfined over the +scene, for miles unrelieved by a stump, or a tree, or a thicket, and +meets only the deep blue of the horizon on {235} every side, blending +with the billowy foliage of the distant woodland. Descending a +graceful slope, even this object is lost, and a boundless landscape +of blue above and green below is unfolded to the traveller's vision; +again, approaching the summit of the succeeding slope, the forest +rises in clear outline in the margin of the vast panorama. For some +hours the heavens had been so enveloped in huge masses of brassy +clouds, that now, when the shadows deepened over sky and earth, one +was at a loss to determine whether the sun had yet gone down, except +for a broad zone of sapphire girding the whole western firmament. Upon +the superior edge of this deep belt now glistened the luminary, +gradually revealing itself to the eye, and blazing forth at length +"like angels' locks unshorn," flinging a halo of golden effulgence far +athwart the dim evening prairie. A metamorphosis so abrupt, so rapid, +so unlooked for, seemed almost to realize the fables of enchantment. +One moment, and the whole vast landscape lay veiled in shadowy +dimness; the next, and every grass blade, and spray, and floweret, and +nodding wild-weed seemed suffused in a flood of liquid effulgence; +while far along, the uniform ridges of the heaving plain gleamed in +the rich light like waves of a moonlit sea, sweeping away, roll upon +roll, till lost in distance to the eye. Slowly the splendid disk went +down behind the sea of waving verdure, until at length a single point +of intense, bewildering brightness flamed out above the mass of green. +An instant, this too was gone--as + + "An angel's wing through an opening cloud, + Is seen and then withdrawn:"-- + +{236} and then those deep, lurid funeral fires of departing day +streamed, flaring upward even to the zenith, flinging over the vast +concave a robe of unearthly, terrible magnificence! Then, as the fount +of all this splendour sank deeper and deeper beneath the horizon, the +blood-red flames died gently away into the mellow glories of summer +evening skylight, bathing the brow of heaven in a tender roseate, +which hours after cheered the lonely traveller across the waste. + +The pilgrim wanderer in other climes comes back to tell us of sunnier +skies and softer winds! The blue heavens of Italy have tasked the +inspiration of an hundred bards, and the warm brush of her own +Lorraine has swept the canvass with their gorgeous transcript! But +what pencil has wandered over the grander scenes of the North American +prairie? What bard has struck his lyre to the wild melody of +loveliness of the prairie sunset? Yet who shall tell us that there +exists not a glory in the scene, amid the untrod wastes of the +wilderness West, which even the skies of "sunny Italy" might not blush +anew to acknowledge? No wandering Harold has roamed on a pilgrimage of +poetry over the sublime and romantic scenery of our land, to hymn its +praise in breathing thoughts and glowing words; yet here as there, + + "Parting day + Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues + With a new colour as it gasps away: + The last still loveliest, till--'tis gone--and all is gray!" + +I cannot tell of the beauties of climes I have never seen; but I have +gazed upon all the varied loveliness of my own fair, native land, from +the rising {237} sun to its setting, and in vain have tasked my fancy +to image a fairer. + +A pleasant day's ride directly west from Carlisle, over extensive and +beautiful prairies, intersected by shady woods, with their romantic +creeks, and the traveller finds himself in the quiet village of +Lebanon. Its site is a commanding, mound-like elevation in the skirts +of a forest, swelling gently up from the prairie on the west bank of +Little Silver Creek.[155] This stream, with the larger branch, +received its name from the circumstance that the early French settlers +of the country, in the zeal of their faith and research for the +precious metals, a long while mistook the brilliant specula of +_horneblende_ which flow in its clear waters for silver, and were +unwilling to be undeceived in their extravagant anticipations until +the absence of the material in their purses aroused them from their +error. In the neighbourhood of Rock Spring a shaft for a mine was +sunk.[156] It was early one beautiful morning that I found myself +approaching the village of Lebanon, though many miles distant in the +adjacent plain; appropriately named for its loveliness the +"Looking-glass Prairie." The rosy sunbeams were playing lightly over +the pleasant country-seats and neat farmhouses, with their white +palings, sprinkled along the declivity before me, imbowered in their +young orchards and waving maize-fields; while flocks and herds, {238} +gathered in isolated masses over the intervening meadow, were cropping +the rich herbage. To the right and left, and in the rear, the prairie +stretches away beyond the view. The body of the village is situated +about one mile from these suburbs, and its character and history may +be summed up in the single sentence, _a pleasant little Methodist +country village_. The peculiarities of the sect are here strikingly +manifested to the traveller in all the ordinary concerns and +occupations of life, even in the every-day garb and conversation of +its sober-browed citizens. It presents the spectacle, rare as it is +cheering, of an entire community characterized by its reverence for +religion. Located in its immediate vicinity is a flourishing seminary, +called McKendreean College.[157] It is under the supervision of the +Methodist Episcopal Church, and has at present two instructers, with +about fifty pupils in the preparatory department. It has a commodious +frame building, presenting from its elevated site an imposing view to +the traveller. As is usually the case with these little +out-of-the-world villages, when any object comes up in the midst +around which the feelings and interests of all may cluster, upon this +institution is centred the heart and soul of every man, to say not a +word of all the women and children, in Lebanon; and everything not +connected, either remotely or immediately, with its welfare, is deemed +of very little, if of any importance. "_The Seminary! The Seminary!_" +I defy a traveller to tarry two hours in the village without hearing +rung all the changes upon that topic for his edification. The +surrounding region is fertile, populous, {239} and highly cultivated; +and for an inland, farming village, it is quite as bustling, I +suppose, as should be expected; though, during my visit, its +streets--which, by-the-by, are of very liberal breadth--maintained a +most Sabbath-like aspect. + +The route from Lebanon to Belleville is, in fine weather, very +excellent. Deep woods on either side of the hard, smooth, winding +pathway, throw their boughs over the head, sometimes lengthening away +into an arched vista miles in extent. It was a sultry afternoon when +I was leisurely travelling along this road; and the shadowy coolness +of the atmosphere, the perfume of wild flowers and aromatic herbs +beneath the underbrush, and the profusion of summer fruit along the +roadside, was indescribably delightful. Near sunset, a graceful bend +of the road around a clump of trees placed before me the pretty little +village of Belleville; its neat enclosures and white cottages peeping +through the shrubbery, now gilded by the mellow rays of sunset in +every leaf and spray.[158] Whether it was owing to this agreeable +coincidence, or to the agreeable visit I here enjoyed, that I +conceived such an attachment for the place, I cannot say; but sure it +is, I fell in love with the little town at _first_ sight; and, what is +more marvellous, was not, according to all precedent, cured at second, +when on the following morning I sallied forth to reconnoitre its +beauties "at mine own good leisure." Now it is to be presumed that, +agreeable to the taste of six travellers in a dozen, I have passed +through many a village in Illinois quite as attractive as this same +Belleville: but to convince me of the fact would be no {240} easy +task. "Man is the sport of circumstance," says the fatalist; and +however this may be in the moral world, if any one feels disposed to +doubt upon the matter in the item before us, let him disembark from a +canal-boat at Pittsburgh on a rainy, misty, miserable morning; and +then, unable to secure for his houseless head a shelter from the +pitiless peltings, let him hurry away through the filthy streets, +deluged with inky water, to a crowded Ohio steamer; and if +"_circumstances_" do not force him to dislike Pittsburgh ever after, +then his human nature is vastly more forbearing than my own. Change +the picture. Let him enter the quiet little Illinois village at the +gentle hour of sunset; let him meet warm hospitality, and look upon +fair forms and bright faces, and if he fail to be pleased with that +place, why, "he's not the man I took him for." + +The public buildings of Belleville are a handsome courthouse of brick, +a wretched old jail of the same material, a public hall belonging to a +library company, and a small framed Methodist house of worship. It is +situated in the centre of "Turkey-hill Settlement," one of the oldest +and most flourishing in the state, and has a fine timber tract and +several beautiful country-seats in its vicinity. + +Leaving Belleville with some reluctance, and not a few "longing, +lingering looks behind," my route continued westward over a broken +region of alternating forest and prairie, sparsely sprinkled with +trees, and yet more sparsely with inhabitants. At length, having +descended a precipitous hill, the rounded summit of which, as well as +the adjoining heights, commanded an immense expanse of level {241} +landscape, stretching off from the base, I stood once more upon the +fertile soil of the "_American Bottom_." The sharp, heavy-roofed +French cottages, with low verandahs running around; the ungainly +outhouses and enclosures; the curiously-fashioned vehicles and +instruments of husbandry in the barnyards and before the doors; the +foreign garb and dialect of the people; and, above all, the amazing +fertility of the soil, over whose exhaustless depths the maize has +rustled half a century, constitute the most striking characteristics +of this interesting tract, in the section over which I was passing. +This settlement, extending from the foot of the bluffs for several +miles over the Bottom, was formed about forty years ago by a colony +from Cahokia, and known by the name of "_Little French Village_;" it +now comprises about twenty houses and a grogshop. In these bluffs +lies an exhaustless bed of bituminous coal: vast quantities have been +transported to St. Louis, and for this purpose principally is the +railway to the river designed. This vein of coal is said to have been +discovered by the rivulet of a spring issuing from the base of the +bluffs. The stratum is about six feet in thickness, increasing in size +as it penetrates the hill horizontally. Though somewhat rotten and +slaty, it is in some particulars not inferior to the coal of the +Alleghanies; and the vein is thought to extend from the mouth of the +Kaskaskia to that of the Illinois. About three miles below the present +shaft, a continuation of the bed was discovered by fire communicated +from the root of a tree; the bank of coal burnt for upward of a {242} +twelvemonth, and the conflagration was then smothered only by the +falling in of the superincumbent soil. St. Clair county, which +embraces a large portion of the American Bottom, is the oldest +settlement in the state. In 1795 the county was formed by the +Legislature of the Northwestern Territory, and then included all +settlements in Illinois east of the Mississippi. + +I had just cleverly cleared the outskirts of the little antediluvian +village beneath the bluffs, when a dark, watery-looking cloud came +tumbling up out of the west; the thunder roared across the Bottom and +was reverberated from the cliffs, and in a few moments down came the +big rain-drops dancing in torrents from the clouds, and pattering up +like mist along the plain. Verily, groaned forth the wo-begone +traveller, this is the home of clouds and the realm of thunder! Never +did hapless mortals sustain completer drenchings than did the +traveller and his steed, notwithstanding upon the first onset they had +plunged themselves into the sheltering depths of the wood. A half +hour's gallop over the slippery bottom, and the stern roar of a +steamer's 'scape-pipe informed me that I was not far from the "great +waters." A few yards through the belt of forest, and the city of San +Louis, with towers and roofs, stood before me. + +_St. Louis._ + + + + +XXII + + "I have no wife nor children, good or bad, to provide for; + a mere spectator of other men's fortunes and adventures, + and how they play their parts."--_Anat. of Melancholy._ + + "Oh ye dread scenes, where Nature dwells alone, + Serenely glorious on her craggy throne; + Ye citadels of rock, gigantic forms, + Veiled by the mists, and girdled by the storms; + Ravines, and glens, and deep-resounding caves, + That hold communion with the torrent waves." + HEMANS. + + +Ah, the single blessedness of the unmarried state! Such is the +sentiment of an ancient worthy, quietly expressed in the lines which I +have selected for a motto. After dozing away half his days and all his +energies within the dusky walls of a university, tumbling over musty +tomes and shrivelled parchments until his very brain had become +cobwebbed as the alcoves he haunted, and the blood in his veins was +all "adust and thin;" then, forsooth, the shameless old fellow issues +forth with his vainglorious sentiment upon his lips! And yet, now that +we consider, there is marvellous "method" in the old man's "madness!" +In very truth and soberness, there is a blessedness which the bachelor +can boast, _single_ though it be, in which the "man of family," though +_doubly_ blessed, cannot share! To the former, life may be made one +long holyday, and its path a varied and flowery one! while to the poor +{244} victim of matrimonial toils, _wife and children_ are the Alpha +and Omega of a weary existence! Of all travelling companionship, +forfend us from that of a married man! Independence! He knows not of +it! Such is the text and such the commentary: now for the practical +application. + +It was a balmy July morning, and the flutelike melody of the +turtle-dove was ringing through the woodlands. Leaving the pleasant +villa of Dr. F. in the environs of North St. Louis, I found myself +once more fairly _en route_, winding along that delightful road which +sweeps the western bottom of the Mississippi. Circumstances not within +my control, Benedict though I am, had recalled me, after a ramble of +but a few weeks over the prairies, again to the city, and compelled me +to relinquish my original design of a tour of the extreme Northwest. +Ah, the despotism of circumstance! My delay, however, proved a brief, +though pleasant one; and with a something of mingled _regret_ and +anticipation it was that I turned from the bright eyes and dark locks +of St. Louis--"forgive my folly"--and once again beheld its imposing +structures fade in distance. + +By far the most delightful drive in the vicinity of St. Louis is that +of four or five miles in its northern suburbs, along the river bottom. +The road, emerging from the streets of the city through one of its +finest sections, and leaving the "Big Mound" upon the right, sweeps +off for several miles upon a succession of broad plateaux, rolling up +from the water's edge. To the left lies an extensive range of heights, +surmounted by ancient mounds and crowned with {245} groves of the +shrub-oak, which afford a delightful shade to the road running below. +Along this elevated ridge beautiful country-seats, with graceful +piazzas and green Venitian blinds, are caught from time to time +glancing through the shrubbery; while to the right, smooth meadows +spread themselves away to the heavy belt of forest which margins the +Mississippi. Among these pleasant villas the little white +farm-cottage, formerly the residence of Mr. C., beneath the hills, +surrounded by its handsome grounds, and gardens, and glittering +fishponds, partially shrouded by the broad leaved catalpa, the willow, +the acacia, and other ornamental trees, presents, perhaps, the rarest +instance of natural beauty adorned by refined taste. A visit to this +delightful spot during my stay at St. Louis informed me of the fact +that, within as well as abroad, the hand of education and refinement +had not been idle. Paintings, busts, medallions, Indian curiosities, +&c., &c., tastefully arranged around the walls and shelves of an +elegant library, presented a feast to the visiter as rare in the Far +West as it is agreeable to a cultivated mind. Near this cottage is the +intended site of the building of the St. Louis Catholic University, a +lofty and commanding spot.[159] A considerable tract was here +purchased, at a cost of thirty thousand dollars; but the design of +removal from the city has for the present been relinquished. +Immediately adjoining is situated the stately villa of Colonel +O'Fallon, with its highly-cultivated gardens and its beautiful park +sweeping off in the rear. In a very few years this must become one of +the most delightful spots {246} in the West. For its elegant grounds, +its green and hot houses, and its exotic and indigenous plants, it is, +perhaps, already unequalled west of Cincinnati. No expense, attention, +or taste will be wanting to render it all of which the spot is +capable. + +Leaving the Bottom, the road winds gracefully off from the +Mississippi, over the hard soil of the bluffs, through a region broken +up by sink-holes, and covered with a meager growth of oaks, with small +farms at intervals along the route, until at length the traveller +finds himself at that beautiful spot on the Missouri, Belle Fontaine, +fifteen miles from St. Louis. On account of the salubrity and beauty +of the site, an army cantonment was located here by General Wilkinson +in the early part of the present century, and fortifications +consisting of palisade-work existed, and a line of log-barracks +sufficient to quarter half a regiment. Nothing now remains but a pile +of ruins. "The barracks have crumpled into dust, and the ploughshare +has passed over the promenade of the sentinel." Jefferson Barracks, in +the southern environs of the city, have superseded the old fortress, +and the spot has been sold to a company, which has here laid off a +town; and as most of the lots have been disposed of, and a +turnpike-road from St. Louis has been chartered, a succeeding tourist +may, at no distant period, pencil it in his notebook "a flourishing +village." _Cold Water Creek_ is the name of a clear stream which +empties itself into the Missouri just above, upon which are several +mill-privileges; and from the base of the bluff itself gushes a +fountain, on account {247} of which the place received its name from +the French. The site for the new town is a commanding and beautiful +one, being a bold, green promontory, rising from the margin of the +stream about four miles above its confluence with the Mississippi. The +view developed to the eye of the spectator from this spot on a fine +day is one of mingled sublimity and beauty. For some miles these old +giants of the West are beheld roaming along through their deep, +fertile valleys, so different in character and aspect that one can +hardly reconcile with that diversity the fact that their destiny is +soon to become _one_ and unchangeably the same. And then comes the +mighty "meeting of the waters," to which no pen can hope to render +justice. + +There is a singular circumstance related of the discovery of a large +_human tooth_ many years since at Belle Fontaine, in excavating a +well, when at the depth of forty feet. This was the more extraordinary +as the spot was not alluvion, and could have undergone no change from +natural causes for centuries. Various strata of clay were passed +through before the _tooth_ was thrown up; and this circumstance, +together with the situation of the place, would almost preclude the +possibility of a vein of subterraneous water having conveyed it to the +spot. This is mysterious enough, certainly; but the fact is authentic. + +Returning at an angle of forty-five degrees with the road by which he +approaches, a ride of a dozen miles up the Missouri places the +traveller upon a bold roll of the prairie, from which, in the +beautiful {248} valley below, rising above the forest, appear the +steep roofs and tall chimneys of the little hamlet of Florissant.[160] +Its original name was St. Ferdinand, titular saint of its church; and +though one of the most advanced in years, it is by no means the most +antique-looking of those ancient villages planted by the early French. +Its site is highly romantic, upon the banks of a creek of the same +name, and in the heart of one of the most fertile and luxuriant +valleys ever subjected to cultivation.[161] The village now embraces +about thirty or forty irregular edifices, somewhat modernized in style +and structure, surrounded by extensive corn-fields, wandering flocks +of Indian ponies, and herds of cattle browsing in the plain. Here also +is a Catholic Church, a neat building of brick, with belfry and bell; +connected with which is a convent of nuns, and by these is conducted +a Seminary for young ladies of some note. This institution--if the +Hibernian hostess of the little inn at which I dined is to be credited +in her statements--is the most flourishing establishment in all the +region far and near! and "_heducates_ the young _leddies_ in +everything but religion!" For the redoubtable _Tonish_, who whilom +figured so bravely on the prairies and in print, I made diligent +inquiry. His cottage--the best in the village--and a dirty little +brood of his posterity, were pointed out to me, but the old worthy +himself was, as usual, in the regions of the Rocky Mountains: when +last seen, he could still tell the stoutest lie with the steadiest +muscles of any man in the village, while he and his {249} hopeful son +could cover each other's trail so nicely that a lynx-eye would fail to +detect them. In the vicinity of Florissant is a settlement called +Owen's Station, formerly the site of a stoccade fort for defence +against the Indians, and of a Spanish _station_ on account of a fine +fountain in the vicinity.[162] + +The direct route from St. Louis to Florissant is an excellent one, +over a high rolling prairie, and commands a noble sweep of scenery. +From several elevated points, the white cliffs beyond the American +Bottom, more than twenty miles distant, may be seen, while farmhouses +and villas are beheld in all directions gleaming through the groves. +Scenery of the same general character presents itself upon the direct +route to St. Charles, with the exception of steeper hills and broader +plains. Upon this route my path entered nearly at right angles soon +after leaving the French village. Upon the right shore of the +Missouri, not far above Florissant, is situated _La Charbonnière_, a +name given to a celebrated coal-bank in a bluff about two hundred feet +in altitude, and about twice as long.[163] The stratum of coal is +about a dozen feet in thickness, and lies directly upon the margin of +the river: the quantity in the bank is said to be immense, and it +contains an unusual proportion of bitumen. Iron ore has also been +discovered at this spot. + +The road over the Missouri Bottom was detestable, as never fails to be +the case after a continued rain-storm, and my horse's leg sank to the +middle in the black, unctuous loam almost at every step. Upon either +side, like colonnades, rose up those {250} enormous shafts of living +verdure which strike the solitary traveller upon these unfrequented +bottoms with such awe and veneration; while the huge whirls of the +writhing wild-vine hung dangling, like gigantic serpents, from the +lofty columns around whose capitals they clung. On descending the +bluffs to the bottom, the traveller crosses a bed of limestone, in +which is said to exist a fissure perfectly fathomless. In a few +moments, the boiling, turbid floods of the Missouri are beheld rolling +majestically along at the feet, and to the stranger's eye, at first +sight, always suggesting the idea of _unusual_ agitation; but so have +they rolled onward century after century, age after age. The wild and +impetuous character of this river, together with the vast quantities +of soil with which its waters are charged, impart to it a natural +sublimity far more striking, at first view, than that of the +Mississippi. This circumstance was not unobserved by the Indian +tribes, who appropriately named it the "_Smoky Water_:" by others it +was styled the "_Mad River_," on account of the impetuosity of its +current; and in all dialects it is called the "_Mother of Floods_," +indicative of the immense volume of its waters. Various causes have +been assigned for the turbid character of the Missouri: and though, +doubtless, heavily charged by the volumes of sand thrown into its +channel by the Yellow Stone--its longest tributary, equal to the +Ohio--and by the chalky clay of the White River, yet we are told that +it is characterized by the same phenomenon from its very source. At +the gates of the Rocky Mountains, where, having torn {251} for itself +a channel through the everlasting hills, it comes rushing out through +the vast prairie-plains at their base, it is the same dark, wild +torrent as at its turbid embouchure. And, strange to tell, after +roaming thousands of miles, and receiving into its bosom streams equal +to itself, and hundreds of lesser, though powerful tributaries, it +still retains, unaltered, in depth or breadth, that volume which at +last it rolls into its mighty rival! Torrent after torrent, river +after river, pour in their floods, yet the giant stream rolls +majestically onward unchanged! At the village of St. Charles its depth +and breadth is the same as at the Mandan villages, nearly two thousand +miles nearer its source.[164] The same inexplicable phenomenon +characterizes the Mississippi, and, indeed, all the great rivers of +the West; for _inexplicable_ the circumstance yet remains, however +plausible the theories alleged in explanation. With regard to the +Missouri, it is urged that the porous, sandy soil of its broad +alluvions absorbs, on the principle of capillary attraction, much of +its volume, conveying it by subterraneous channels to the Mississippi; +and of this latter stream it is asserted that large quantities of its +waters are taken up by the innumerable bayous, lakes, and lagoons +intersecting the lower region of its course; and thus, unperceived, +they find their way to the gulf. + +The navigation of the Missouri is thought to be the most hazardous and +difficult of any of the Western rivers, owing to its mad, impetuous +current, to the innumerable obstructions in its bed, and the incessant +variation of its channel.[165] Insurance and pilotage {252} upon this +river are higher than on others; the season of navigation is briefer, +and steamers never pursue their course after dusk. Its vast length and +numerous tributaries render it liable, also, to frequent floods, of +which three are expected every year. The chief of these takes place in +the month of June, when the heaped-up snows of the Rocky Mountains are +melted, and, having flowed thousands of miles through the prairies, +reach the Mississippi. The ice and snows of the Alleghanies, and the +wild-rice lakes of the far Upper Mississippi, months before have +reached their destination, and thus a general inundation, unavoidable +had the floods been simultaneous, is prevented by Providence. The +alluvions of the Missouri are said to be higher than, and not so broad +as, those of the Mississippi; yet their extent is constantly varying +by the violence of the current, even more than those of the latter +stream. Many years ago the flourishing town of Franklin was completely +torn away from its foundations, and its inhabitants were forced to +flee to the adjacent heights; and the bottom opposite St. Charles and +at numerous other places has, within the few years past, suffered +astonishing changes.[166] Opposite the town now flow the waters of the +river where once stood farms and orchards. + +The source of the Missouri and that of the Columbia, we are told, are +in such immediate proximity, that a walk of but a few miles will +enable the traveller to drink from the fountains of each. Yet how +unlike their destiny! One passes off through a region of boundless +prairie equal in extent to a {253} sixth of our globe; and, after a +thousand wanderings, disembogues its troubled waters into the Mexican +Gulf; the other, winding away towards the setting sun, rolls on +through forests untrodden by human footstep till it sleeps in the +Pacific Seas. Their destinies reach their fulfilment at opposite +extremes of a continent! How like, how very like are the destinies of +these far, lonely rivers to the destinies of human life! Those who, in +the beautiful starlight of our boyhood, were our schoolmates and +play-fellows, where are they when our sun of ripened maturity has +reached its meridian? and what, and where are they and we, when +evening's lengthening shadows are gathering over the landscape of +life? Our paths diverged but little at first, but mountains, +continents, half a world of waters may divide our destinies, and +opposite extremes of "the great globe itself" witness their +consummation. Yet, like the floods of the far-winding rivers, the +streams of our existences will meet again, and mingle in the +ocean--that ocean without a shore--_ETERNITY_! + +The gates of the Rocky Mountains, through which the waters of the +Missouri rush forth into the prairies of the great Valley, are +described as one of the sublimest spectacles in nature. Conceive the +floods of a powerful mountain-torrent compressed in mid career into a +width of less than one hundred and fifty yards, rushing with the speed +of "the wild horse's wilder sire" through a chasm whose vast walls of +Nature's own masonry rear themselves on either side from the raging +waters to the precipitous {254} height of twelve hundred perpendicular +feet; and then consider if imagination can compass a scene of darker, +more terrible sublimity! And then sweep onward with the current, and +within one hundred miles you behold a cataract, next to Niagara, from +all description grandest in the world. Such are some of the mighty +features of the stream upon which I was now standing. + +As to the much disputed question which of the great streams of the +West is entitled to the name of the _Main River_, I shall content +myself with a brief statement of the arguments alleged in support of +the pretensions of either claimant. The volume of the Missouri at the +confluence far exceeds that of its rival; the length of its course and +the number and magnitude of its tributaries are also greater, and it +imparts a character to the united streams. On the other hand, the +Mississippi, geographically and geologically considered, is the grand +Central River of the continent, maintaining an undeviating course from +north to south; the valley which it drains is far more extensive and +fertile than that of the Missouri; and from the circumstance of +having first been explored, it has given a name to the great river of +the Western Valley which it will probably ever retain, whatever the +right. "_Sed non nostrum tantas componere lites._" + +_St. Charles, Mo._ + + + + +XXIII + + "Say, ancient edifice, thyself with years + Grown gray, how long upon the hill has stood + Thy weather-braving tower?" + HURDIS. + + "An _honourable_ murder, if you will; + For naught he did in hate, but all in honour." + + "The whole broad earth is beautiful + To minds attuned aright." + ROBT. DALE OWEN. + + +The view of St. Charles from the opposite bank of the Missouri is a +fine one. The turbid stream rolls along the village nearly parallel +with the interval upon which it is situated. A long line of neat +edifices, chiefly of brick, with a few ruinous old structures of logs +and plastering, relics of French or Spanish taste and domination, +extend along the shore; beyond these, a range of bluffs rear +themselves proudly above the village, crowned with their academic hall +and a neat stone church, its spire surmounted by the cross. Between +these structures, upon a spot somewhat more elevated, appears the +basement section of "a stern round tower of former days," now a ruin; +and, though a very peaceable {10} pile of limestone and mortar, +well-fitted in distant view to conjure up a host of imaginings: like +Shenstone's Ruined Abbey, forsooth, + + "Pride of ancient days; + Now but of use to grace a rural scene, + Or bound our vistas." + +The history of the tower, if tower it may be styled, is briefly +this.[167] During the era of Spanish rule in this region, before its +cession to France half a century since, this structure was erected as +a watch-tower or magazine. Subsequently it was dismantled, and +partially fell to ruins, when the novel project was started to plant a +_windmill_ upon the foundation. This was done; but either the wind was +too high or too low, too frequent or too rare, or neither; or there +was no corn to grind, or the projector despaired of success, or some +other of the fifty untoward circumstances which suggest themselves +came to pass; the windmill ere long fell to pieces, and left the old +ruin to the tender mercies of time and tempest, a monument of chance +and change. + +The evening of my arrival at St. Charles I strolled off at about +sunset, and, ascending the bluffs, approached the old ruin. The walls +of rough limestone are massively deep, and the altitude cannot now be +less than twenty feet. The view from the spot is noble, and peculiarly +impressive at the sunset hour. Directly at your feet lies the village, +from the midst of which come up the rural sounds of evening; the +gladsome laugh of children at their sports; the whistle of the +home-plodding labourer; the quiet hum of gossips around the open +doors; {11} while upon the river's brink a huge steam-mill sends forth +its ceaseless "boom, boom" upon the still air. Beneath the village +ripples the Missouri, with a fine sweep both above and below the town +not unlike the letter S; while beyond the stream extends its +heavily-timbered bottom: one cluster of trees directly opposite are +Titanic in dimensions. Upon the summit of the bluff, in the shadow of +the ruin by your side, lies a sunken grave. It is the grave of a +_duellist_. Over it trail the long, melancholy branches of a weeping +willow. A neat paling once protected the spot from the wanderer's +footstep, but it is gone now; only a rotten relic remains. All is +still. The sun has long since gone down. One after another the evening +sounds have died away in the village at the feet, and one after +another the lights have twinkled forth from the casements. A fresh +breeze is coming up from the water; the rushing wing of the night-hawk +strikes fitfully upon the ear; and yonder sails the beautiful "boat of +light," the pale sweet crescent. On that crescent is gazing many a +distant friend! What a spot--what an hour to meditate upon the varying +destinies of life! I seated myself upon the foot of the grave, which +still retained some little elevation from the surrounding soil, and +the night-wind sighed through the trailing boughs as if a requiem to +him who slumbered beneath. _Requiescat in pace_, in no meaningless +ceremony, might be pronounced over him, for his end was a troubled +one. Unfortunate man! you have gone to your account; and that +tabernacle in which once burned a beautiful flame has long since been +mingling with the dust: {12} but I had rather be even as thou art, +cold in an unhonoured grave, than to live on and wear away a miserable +remnant of existence, that "guilty thing" with crimsoned hand and brow +besprinkled with blood. To drag out a weary length of days and nights; +to feel life a bitterness, and all its verdure scathed; to walk about +among the ranks of men a being + + "Mark'd, + And sign'd, and quoted for a deed of shame;" + +to feel a stain upon the palm which not all the waters of ocean could +wash away; a smell of blood which not all the perfumes of Arabia +could sweeten; ah! give me death rather than this! That the custom of +duelling, under the present arrangements of society and code of +honour, in some sections of our country, is necessary, is more than +problematical; that its practice will continue to exist is certain; +but, when death ensues, "'tis the surviver dies." + +The stranger has never, perhaps, stood upon the bluffs of St. Charles +without casting a glance of anxious interest upon that lone, deserted +grave; and there are associated with its existence circumstances of +melancholy import. Twenty years ago, he who lies there was a young, +accomplished barrister of superior abilities, distinguished rank, and +rapidly rising to eminence in the city of St. Louis. Unhappily, for +words uttered in the warmth of political controversy, offence was +taken; satisfaction demanded; a meeting upon that dark and bloody +ground opposite the city ensued; and poor B---- fell, in the sunshine +of his spring, lamented by all {13} who had known him. Agreeable to +his request in issue of his death, his remains were conveyed to this +spot and interred. Years have since rolled away, and the melancholy +event is now among forgotten things; but the old ruin, beneath whose +shadow he slumbers, will long remain his monument; and the distant +traveller, when he visits St. Charles, will pause and ponder over his +lonely grave.[168] + + "But let no one reproach his memory. + His life has paid the forfeit of his folly, + Let that suffice." + +Ah! the valuable blood which has steeped the sands of that steril +island in the Mississippi opposite St. Louis! Nearly thirty years ago +a fatal encounter took place between Dr. F. and Dr. G., in which the +latter fell: that between young B. and a Mr. C. I have alluded to, +and several other similar combats transpired on the spot at about the +same time. The bloody affair between Lieutenants Biddle and Pettis, +and that between Lucas and Benton, are of more recent date, and, with +several others, are familiar in the memory of all. The spot has been +fitly named "Murder" or "Blood Island."[169] Lying in the middle of +the stream, it is without the jurisdiction of either of the adjoining +states; and deep is the curse which has descended upon its shores! + +{14} The morning star was beaming beautifully forth from the blue +eastern heavens when I mounted my horse for a visit to that celebrated +spot, "_Les Mamelles_." A pleasant ride of three miles through the +forest-path beneath the bluffs brought me at sunrise to the spot. +Every tree was wreathed with the wild rose like a rainbow; and the +breeze was laden with perfume. It is a little singular, the difficulty +with which visiters usually meet in finding this place. The Duke of +Saxe Weimar, among other dignitaries, when on his tour of the West +several years since, tells us that he lost his way in the +neighbouring prairie by pursuing the river road instead of that +beneath the bluffs. The natural eminences which have obtained the +appropriate appellation of Mamelles, from their striking resemblance +to the female breast, are a pair of lofty, conical mounds, from eighty +to one hundred feet altitude, swelling up perfectly naked and smooth +upon the margin of that celebrated prairie which owes to them a name. +So beautifully are they paired and so richly rounded, that it would +hardly require a Frenchman's eye or that of an Indian to detect the +resemblance designated, remarkable though both races have shown +themselves for bestowing upon objects in natural scenery significant +names. Though somewhat resembling those artificial earth-heaps which +form such an interesting feature of the West, these mounds are, +doubtless, but a broken continuation of the Missouri bluffs, which at +this point terminate from the south, while those of the Mississippi, +commencing at the same point, stretch away at right angles to the +west. {15} The mounds are of an oblong, elliptical outline, parallel +to each other, in immediate proximity, and united at the extremities +adjoining the range of highlands by a curved elevation somewhat less +in height. They are composed entirely of earth, and in their formation +are exceedingly uniform and graceful. Numerous springs of water gush +out from their base. But an adequate conception of these interesting +objects can hardly be conveyed by the pen; at all events, without +somewhat more of the quality of patience than chances to be the gift +of my own wayward instrument. In brief, then, imagine a huge _spur_, +in fashion somewhat like to that of a militia major, with the enormous +rowel stretching off to the south, and the heel-bow rounding away to +the northeast and northwest, terminated at each extremity by a vast +excrescence; imagine all this spread out in the margin of an extended +prairie, and a tolerably correct, though inadequate idea of the +outline of the Mamelles is obtained. The semicircular area in the bow +of the spur between the mounds is a deep dingle, choked up with +stunted trees and tangled underbrush of hazels, sumach, and +wild-berry, while the range of highlands crowned with forest goes back +in the rear. This line of heights extends up the Missouri for some +distance, at times rising directly from the water's edge to the height +of two hundred feet, rough and ragged, but generally leaving a +heavily-timbered bottom several miles in breadth in the interval, and +in the rear rolling off into high, undulating prairie. The bluffs of +the Mississippi extend to the westward in a similar {16} manner, but +the prairie interval is broader and more liable to inundation. The +distance from the Mamelles to the confluence of the rivers is, by +their meanderings, about twenty or thirty miles, and is very nearly +divided into prairie and timber. The extremity of the point is liable +to inundation, and its growth of forest is enormous. + +The view from the summit of the Mamelles, as the morning sun was +flinging over the landscape his ruddy dyes, was one of eminent, +surpassing loveliness. It is celebrated, indeed, as the most beautiful +prairie-scene in the Western Valley, and one of the most romantic +views in the country. To the right extends the Missouri Bottom, +studded with farms of the French villagers, and the river-bank +margined with trees which conceal the stream from the eye. Its course +is delineated, however, by the blue line of bluffs upon the opposite +side, gracefully curving towards the distant Mississippi until the +trace fades away at the confluence. In front is spread out the lovely +Mamelle Prairie, with its waving ocean of rich flowers of every form, +and scent, and hue, while green groves are beheld swelling out into +its bosom, and hundreds of cattle are cropping the herbage. In one +direction the view is that of a boundless plain of verdure; and at +intervals in the deep emerald is caught the gleam from the glassy +surface of a lake, of which there are many scattered over the +peninsula. All along the northern horizon, curving away in a +magnificent sweep of forty miles to the west, rise the hoary cliffs of +the Mississippi, in the opposite state, like towers and castles; while +{17} the windings of the stream itself are betrayed by the heavy +forest-belt skirting the prairie's edge. It is not many years since +this bank of the river was perfectly naked, with not a fringe of wood. +Tracing along the bold façade of cliffs on the opposite shore, +enveloped in their misty mantle of azure, the eye detects the +embouchure of the Illinois and of several smaller streams by the +deep-cut openings. To the left extends the prairie for seventy miles, +with an average breadth of five from the river, along which, for most +of the distance, it stretches. Here and there in the smooth surface +stands out a solitary sycamore of enormous size, heaving aloft its +gigantic limbs like a monarch of the scene. Upward of fifty thousand +acres are here laid open to the eye at a single glance, with a soil of +exhaustless fertility and of the easiest culture. + +The whole plain spread out at the foot of the Mamelles bears abundant +evidence of having once been submerged. The depth of the alluvion is +upward of forty feet; and from that depth we are told that logs, +leaves, coal, and a stratum of sand and pebbles bearing marks of the +attrition of running waters, have been thrown up. Through the middle +of the prairie pass several deep canals, apparently ancient channels +of the rivers, and which now form the bed of a long irregular lake +called _Marais Croche_; there is another lake of considerable extent +called _Marais Temps Clair_.[170] This beautiful prairie once, then, +formed a portion of that immense lake which at a remote period held +possession of the American Bottom; and at the base of the graceful +{18} Mamelles these giant rivers merrily mingled their waters, and +then rolled onward to the gulf. That ages have since elapsed, the +amazing depth of the alluvial and vegetable mould, and the ancient +monuments reposing upon some portions of the surface, leave no room +for doubt.[171] By heavy and continued deposites of alluvion, the vast +peninsula gradually rose up from the waters; the Missouri was forced +back to the bluff La Charbonnière, and the rival stream to the Piasa +cliffs of Illinois. + +_St. Charles, Mo._ + + + + +XXIV + + "Westward the star of empire holds its way." + BERKELEY. + + "Travellers entering here behold around + A large and spacious plain, on every side + Strew'd with beauty, whose fair grassy ground, + Mantled with green, and goodly beautified + With all the ornaments of Flora's pride." + + "The flowers, the fair young flowers." + + "Ye are the stars of earth." + + +Ten years ago, and the pleasant little village of St. Charles was +regarded as quite the frontier-post of civilized life; now it is a +flourishing town, and an early stage in the traveller's route to the +Far West. Its origin, with that of most of the early settlements in +this section of the valley, is French, and {19} some few of the +peculiar characteristics of its founders are yet retained, though +hardly to the extent as in some other villages which date back to the +same era. The ancient style of some of the buildings, the singular +costume, the quick step, the dark complexion, dark eyes and dark hair, +and the merry, fluent flow of a nondescript idiom, are, however, at +once perceived by the stranger, and indicate a peculiar people. St. +Charles was settled in 1769, and for upward of forty years retained +its original name, _Les Petites Cotes_. For some time it was under the +Spanish government with the rest of the territory, and from this +circumstance and a variety of others its population is made up of a +heterogeneous mass of people, from almost every nation under the sun. +Quite a flood of German emigration has, within six or seven years +past, poured into the county. That wizard spell, however, under which +all these early French settlements seem to have been lying for more +than a century, St. Charles has not, until within a few years past, +possessed the energy to throw off, though now the inroads of American +enterprise upon the ancient order of things is too palpable to be +unobserved or mistaken. The site of the town is high and healthy, upon +a bed of limestone extending along the stream, and upon a narrow +_plateau_ one or two miles in extent beneath the overhanging bluffs. +Upon this interval are laid off five streets parallel with the river, +only the first of which is lined with buildings. Below the village the +alluvion stretches along the margin of the stream for three miles, +until, reaching the termination of the {20} highlands at the Mamelles, +it spreads itself out to the north and west into the celebrated +prairie I have described. St. Charles has long been a great +thoroughfare to the vast region west of the Missouri, and must always +continue so to be: a railroad from St. Louis in this direction must +pass through the place, as well as the national road now in progress. +These circumstances, together with its eligible site for commerce; the +exhaustless fertility of the neighbouring region, and the quantities +of coal and iron it is believed to contain, must render St. Charles, +before many years have passed away, a place of considerable mercantile +and manufacturing importance. It has an extensive steam flouring-mill +in constant operation; and to such an extent is the cultivation of +wheat carried on in the surrounding country, for which the soil is +pre-eminently suited, that in this respect alone the place must become +important. About six miles south of St. Charles, upon the Booneslick +road, is situated a considerable settlement, composed chiefly of +gentlemen from the city of Baltimore.[172] The country is exceedingly +beautiful, healthy, and fertile; the farms are under high cultivation, +and the tone of society is distinguished for its refinement and +intelligence. + +The citizens of St. Charles are many of them Catholics; and a male and +female seminary under their patronage are in successful operation, to +say nothing of a nunnery, beneath the shade of which such institutions +invariably repose. "St. Charles College," a Protestant institute of +two or three years' standing, is well supported, having four +professors {21} and about a hundred students.[173] Its principal +building is a large and elegant structure of brick, and the seminary +will doubtless, ere long, become an ornament to the place. At no +distant day it may assume the character and standing of its elder +brothers east of the Alleghanies; and the muse that ever delights to +revel in college-hall may strike her lyre even upon the banks of the +far-winding, wilderness Missouri. + +Among the heterogeneous population of St. Charles are still numbered a +few of those wild, daring spirits, whose lives and exploits are so +intimately identified with the early history of the country, and most +of whose days are now passed beyond the border, upon the broad +buffalo-plains at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Most of them are +trappers, hunters, _couriers du bois_, traders to the distant post of +Santa Fé, or _engagés_ of the American Fur Company. Into the company +of one of these remarkable men it was my fortune to fall during my +visit at St. Charles; and not a little to my interest and edification +did he recount many of his "hairbreadth 'scapes," his "most disastrous +chances," + + "His moving accidents by flood and field." + +All of this, not to mention sundry sage items on the most approved +method of capturing _deer_, _bar_, _buffalo_, and _painters_, I must +be permitted to waive. I am no tale-teller, "but your mere traveller, +believe me," as Ben Jonson has it. The proper home of the buffalo +seems now to be the vast {22} plains south and west of the Missouri +border, called the Platte country, compared with which the prairies +east of the Mississippi are mere meadows in miniature. The latter +region was, doubtless, once a favourite resort of the animal, and the +banks of the "beautiful river" were long his grazing-grounds; but the +onward march of civilization has driven him, with the Indian, nearer +the setting sun. Upon the plains they now inhabit they rove in herds +of thousands; they regularly migrate with change of season, and, in +crossing rivers, many are squeezed to death. Dead bodies are sometimes +found floating upon the Missouri far down its course. + +With the village and county of St. Charles are connected most of the +events attending the early settlement of the region west of the +Mississippi; and during the late war with Great Britain, the +atrocities of the savage tribes were chiefly perpetrated here. Early +in that conflict the Sacs and Foxes, Miamis, Pottawattamies, Iowas, +and Kickapoo Indians commenced a most savage warfare upon the advanced +settlements, and the deeds of daring which distinguished the gallant +"rangers" during the two years in which, unaided by government, they +sustained, single-handed, the conflict against a crafty foe, are +almost unequalled in the history of warfare.[174] St. Charles county +and the adjoining county of Booneslick were the principal scene of a +conflict in which boldness and barbarity, courage and cruelty, +contended long for the mastery. The latter county to which I have +alluded {23} received its name from the celebrated Daniel Boone.[175] +After being deprived, by the chicanery of law, of that spot for which +he had endured so much and contended so boldly in the beautiful land +of his adoption, we find him, at the close of the last century, +journeying onward towards the West, there to pass the evening of his +days and lay away his bones. Being asked "_why_ he had left that dear +Kentucke, which he had discovered and won from the wild Indian, for +the wilderness of Missouri," his memorable reply betrays the leading +feature of his character, the _primum mobile_ of the man: "Too +crowded! too crowded! I want elbow-room!" At the period of Boone's +arrival in 1798, the only form of government which existed in this +distant region was that of the "Regulators," a sort of military or +hunters' republic, the chief of which was styled _commandant_. To this +office the old veteran was at once elected, and continued to exercise +its rather arbitrary prerogatives until, like his former home, the +country had become subject to other laws and other councils. He +continued here to reside, however, until the death of his much-loved +wife, partner of all his toils and adventures, in 1813, when he +removed to the residence of his son, some miles in the interior. Here +he discovered a large and productive salt-lick, long and profitably +worked, and which still continues to bear his name and give celebrity +to the surrounding country. To this lick was the old hunter accustomed +to repair in his aged days, when his sinews were unequal to the chase, +and lie in wait for the deer {24} which frequented the spring. In this +occupation and in that of trapping beavers he lived comfortably on +until 1818, when he calmly yielded up his adventurous spirit to its +God.[176] What an eventful life was that! How varied and wonderful +its incidents! How numerous and pregnant its vicissitudes! How strange +the varieties of natural character it developed! The name of Boone +will never cease to be remembered so long as this Western Valley +remains the pride of a continent, and the beautiful streams of his +discovery roll on their teeming tribute to the ocean! + +Of the Indian tribe which formerly inhabited this pleasant region, and +gave a name to the river and state, scarcely a vestige is now to be +seen. The only associations connected with the savages are of +barbarity and perfidy. Upon the settlers of St. Charles county it was +that Black Hawk directed his first efforts;[177] and, until within a +few years, a stoccade fort for refuge in emergency has existed in +every considerable settlement. Among a variety of traditionary matter +related to me relative to the customs of the tribe which formerly +resided near St. Charles, the following anecdote from one of the +oldest settlers may not prove uninteresting. + +"Many years ago, while the Indian yet retained a crumbling foothold +upon this pleasant land of his fathers, a certain Cis-atlantic +naturalist--so the story goes--overflowing with laudable zeal for the +advancement of science, had succeeded in penetrating the wilds of +Missouri in pursuit of his favourite study. Early one sunny morning a +man in strange {25} attire was perceived by the simple natives running +about their prairie with uplifted face and outspread palms, eagerly in +pursuit of certain bright flies and insects, which, when secured, were +deposited with manifest satisfaction into a capacious tin box at his +girdle. Surprised at a spectacle so novel and extraordinary, a fleet +runner was despatched over the prairie to catch the curious animal and +conduct him into the village. A council of sober old chiefs was called +to _sit upon_ the matter, who, after listening attentively to all the +phenomena of the case, with a sufficiency of grunting, sagaciously and +decidedly pronounced the pale-face a _fool_. It was in vain the +unhappy man urged upon the assembled wisdom of the nation the +distinction between a _natural_ and a naturalist. The council grunted +to all he had to offer, but to them the distinction was without a +difference; they could comprehend not a syllable he uttered. 'Actions +speak louder than words'--so reasoned the old chiefs; and as the +custom was to _kill_ all their own fools, preparation was forthwith +commenced to administer this summary cure for folly upon the unhappy +naturalist. At this critical juncture a prudent old Indian suggested +the propriety, as the fool belonged to the 'pale faces,' of consulting +their 'Great Father' at St. Louis on the subject, and requesting his +presence at the execution. The sentence was suspended, therefore, for +a few hours, while a deputation was despatched to General Clarke,[178] +detailing all the circumstances of the case, and announcing the +intention of killing the fool as soon as possible. {26} The old +general listened attentively to the matter, and then quietly advised +them, as the _fool_ was a _pale face_, not to kill him, but to conduct +him safely to St. Louis, that he might dispose of him himself. This +proposition was readily acceded to, as the only wish of the Indians +was to rid the world of a _fool_. And thus was the worthy naturalist +relieved from an unpleasant predicament, not, however, without the +loss of his box of bugs; a loss he is said to have bewailed as +bitterly as, in anticipation, he had bewailed the loss of his head." +For the particulars of this anecdote I am no voucher; I give the tale +as told me; but as it doubtless has its origin in fact, it may have +suggested to the author of "The Prairie" that amusing character, "Obed +Battius, M.D.," especially as the scene of that interesting tale lies +in a neighbouring region.[179] + +It was a sultry afternoon when I left St. Charles. The road for some +miles along the bottom runs parallel with the river, until, ascending +a slight elevation, the traveller is on the prairie. Upon this road I +had not proceeded many miles before I came fully to the conclusion, +that the route I was then pursuing would never conduct me and my horse +to the town of Grafton, Illinois, the point of my destination. In this +idea I was soon confirmed by a half-breed whom I chanced to meet. +Receiving a few general instructions, therefore, touching my route, +all of which I had quite forgotten ten minutes after, I pushed forth +into the pathless prairie, and was soon in its centre, almost buried, +with my horse beneath me, in the monstrous vegetation. {27} Between +the parallel rolls of the prairie, the size of the weeds and +undergrowth was stupendous; and the vegetation heaved in masses +heavily back and forth in the wind, as if for years it had flourished +on in rank, undisturbed luxuriance. Directly before me, along the +northern horizon, rose the white cliffs of the Mississippi, which, as +they went up to the sheer height, in some places, of several hundred +feet, presented a most mountain-like aspect as viewed over the level +surface of the plain. Towards a dim column of smoke which curled +lazily upward among these cliffs did I now direct my course. The broad +disk of the sun was rapidly wheeling down the western heavens; my +tired horse could advance through the heavy grass no faster than a +walk; the pale bluffs, apparently but a few miles distant, seemed +receding like an _ignis fatuus_ as I approached them; and there lay +the swampy forest to ford, and the "terrible Mississippi" beyond to +ferry, before I could hope for food or a resting-place. In simple +verity, I began to meditate upon the yielding character of +prairie-grass for a couch. And yet, of such surpassing loveliness was +the scene spread out around me, that I seemed hardly to realize a +situation disagreeable enough, but from which my thoughts were +constantly wandering. The grasses and flowering wild-plants of the +Mamelle Prairie are far-famed for their exquisite brilliancy of hue +and gracefulness of form. Among the flowers my eye detected a species +unlike to any I had yet met with, and which seemed indigenous only +here. Its fairy-formed corolla {28} was of a bright enamelled crimson, +which, in the depths of the dark herbage, glowed like a living coal. +How eloquently did this little flower bespeak the being and attributes +of its Maker. Ah! + + "There is religion in a flower; + Mountains and oceans, planets, suns, and systems, + Bear not the impress of Almighty power + In characters more legible than those + Which he has written on the tiniest flower + Whose light bell bends beneath the dewdrop's weight." + +One who has never looked upon the Western prairie in the pride of its +blushing bloom can hardly conceive the surpassing loveliness of its +summer flora; and, if the idea is not easy to conceive, still less is +it so to convey. The autumn flowers in their richness I have not yet +beheld; and in the early days of June, when I first stood upon the +prairies, the beauteous sisterhood of spring were all in their graves; +and the sweet springtime of the year it is when the gentle race of +flowers dance over the teeming earth in gayest guise and profusion. In +the first soft days of April, when the tender green of vegetation +begins to overspread the soil scathed by the fires of autumn, the +_viola_, primrose of the prairie, in all its rare and delicate forms; +the _anemone_ or wind-flower; the blue dewy harebell; the pale oxlip; +the flowering _arbute_, and all the pretty family of the pinks and +lilies lie sprinkled, as by the enchantment of a summer shower, or by +the tripping footsteps of Titania with her fairies, over the +landscape. The blue and the white then tint the perspective, from the +most {29} limpid cerulean of an _iris_ to the deep purple of the pink; +from the pearly lustre of the cowslip to the golden richness of the +buttercup. In early springtime, too, the island groves of the prairies +are also in flower; and the brilliant crimson of the _cercis +canadensis_, or Judas-tree; the delightful fragrance of the _lonicera_ +or honeysuckle, and the light yellow of the _jasimum_, render the +forests as pleasant to the smell as to the eye. But spring-time passes +away, and with her pass away the fair young flowers her soft breath +had warmed into being. Summer comes over the prairies like a giant; +the fiery dog-star rages, and forth leap a host of bright ones to +greet his coming. The _heliotrope_ and _helianthus_, in all their rich +variety; the wild rose, flinging itself around the shrub-oak like a +wreath of rainbows; the _orchis_, the balmy thyme, the burgamot, and +the asters of every tint and proportion, then prevail, throwing forth +their gaudy, sunburnt petals upon the wind, until the whole meadow +seems arrayed in the royal livery of a sunset sky. Scarcely does the +summer begin to decline, and autumn's golden sunlight to stream in +misty magnificence athwart the landscape, than a thousand gorgeous +plants of its own mellow hue are nodding in stately beauty over the +plain. Yellow is the garniture of the autumnal Flora of the prairies; +and the haughty golden-rod, and all the splendid forms of the +_gentiana_, commingling with the white and crimson _eupatorium_, and +the red spire of the _liatris_, everywhere bespangle the scene; while +the trumpet-formed corolla of the _bignonia radicans_ glitters {30} in +the sunbeams, amid the luxuriant wreathing of ivy, from the tall +capitals of the isolated trees. All the _solidago_ species are in +their glory, and every variety of the _lobelia_; and the blood-red +sumach in the hollows and brakes, and the _sagittaria_, or arrow-head, +with its three-leaved calyx and its three white petals darting forth +from the recesses of the dark herbage, and all the splendid forms of +the aquatic plants, with their broad blossoms and their cool +scroll-like leaves, lend a finished richness of hue to the landscape, +which fails not well to harmonize with the rainbow glow of the distant +forest. + + "----Such beauty, varying in the light + Of gorgeous nature, cannot be portrayed + By words, nor by the pencil's silent skill; + But is the property of those alone + Who have beheld it, noted it with care, + And, in their minds, recorded it with love." + +What wonder, then, that, amid a scene like this, where the summer +reigned, and young autumn was beginning to anticipate its mellow +glories, the traveller should in a measure have forgotten his +vocation, and loitered lazily along his way! + +_Portage des Sioux, Mo._ + + + + +XXV + + "There's music in the forest leaves + When summer winds are there, + And in the laugh of forest girls + That braid their sunny hair." + HALLECK. + + "The forests are around him in their pride, + The green savannas, and the mighty waves; + And isles of flowers, bright floating o'er the tide + That images the fairy world it laves." + HEMANS. + + +There is one feature of the Mamelle Prairie, besides its eminent +beauty and its profusion of flowering plants, which distinguishes it +from every other with which I have met. I allude to the almost perfect +uniformity of its surface. There is little of that undulating, +wavelike slope and swell which characterizes the peculiar species of +surface called prairie. With the exception of a few lakes, abounding +with aquatic plants and birds, and those broad furrows traversing the +plain, apparently ancient beds of the rivers, the surface appears +smooth as a lawn. This circumstance goes far to corroborate the idea +of alluvial origin. And thus it was that, lost in a mazy labyrinth of +grass and flowers, I wandered on over the smooth soil of the prairie, +quite regardless of the whereabout my steps were conducting me. The +sun was just going down when my horse entered a slight footpath +leading into a point of woodland upon {32} the right. This I pursued +for some time, heedlessly presuming that it would conduct me to the +banks of the river; when, lo! to my surprise, on emerging from the +forest, I found myself in the midst of a French village, with its +heavy roofs and broad piazzas. Never was the lazy hero of Diedrich +Knickerbocker--luckless Rip--more sadly bewildered, after a twenty +years' doze among the Hudson Highlands, than was your loiterer at +this unlooked-for apparition. To find one's self suddenly translated +from the wild, flowery prairie into the heart of an aged, moss-grown +village, of such foreign aspect, withal, was by no means easy to +reconcile with one's notions of reality. Of the name, or even the +existence of the village, I had been quite as ignorant as if it had +never possessed either; and in vain was it that I essayed, in my +perplexity, to make myself familiar with these interesting items of +intelligence by inquiry of the primitive-looking beings whom I chanced +to encounter, as I rode slowly on into the village through the tall +stoccades of the narrow streets. Every one stared as I addressed him; +but, shaking his head and quickening his pace, pointed me on in the +direction I was proceeding, and left me to pursue it in ignorance and +single blessedness. This mystery--for thus to my excited fancy did it +seem--became at length intolerable. Drawing up my horse before the +open door of a cottage, around which, beneath the galleries, were +gathered a number of young people of both sexes, I very peremptorily +made the demand _where I was_. All stared, and some few took it upon +them, graceless youths, to {33} laugh; until, at length, a dark young +fellow, with black eyes and black whiskers, stepped forward, and, in +reply to my inquiry repeated, informed me that the village was called +"_Portage des Sioux_;" that the place of my destination was upon the +opposite bank of the Mississippi, several miles above--too distant to +think of regaining my route at that late hour; and very politely the +dark young man offered to procure for me accommodation for the night, +though the village could boast no inn. Keeping close on the heels of +my _conducteur_, I again began to thrid the narrow lanes of the +hamlet, from the doors and windows of every cottage of which peeped +forth an eager group of dark-eyed women and children, in uncontrolled +curiosity at the apparition of a stranger in their streets at such an +advanced hour of the day. The little village seemed completely cut off +from all the world beside, and as totally unconscious of the +proceedings of the community around as if it were a portion of another +hemisphere. The place lies buried in forest except upon the south, +where it looks out upon the Mamelle Prairie, and to the north is an +opening in the belt of woods along the river-bank, through which, +beyond the stream, rise the white cliffs in points and pinnacles like +the towers and turrets of a castellated town, to the perpendicular +altitude of several hundred feet. The scene was one of romantic +beauty, as the moonbeams silvered the forest-tops and cliffs, flinging +their broad shadows athwart the bosom of the waters, gliding in oily +rippling at their base. The site of Portage des Sioux is about seven +miles above {34} the town of Alton, and five below the embouchure of +the Illinois. Its landing is good; it contains three or four hundred +inhabitants, chiefly French; can boast a few trading establishments, +and, as is invariably the case in the villages of this singular +people, however inconsiderable, has an ancient Catholic church rearing +its gray spire above the low-roofed cottages. Attached to it, also, is +a "common field" of twelve hundred _arpens_--something less than as +many acres--stretching out into the prairie. The soil is, of course, +incomparably fertile. The garden-plats around each door were dark with +vegetation, overtopping the pickets of the enclosures; and away to the +south into the prairie swept the broad maize-fields nodding and +rustling in all the gorgeous garniture of summer. + +My _conducteur_ stopped, at length, at the gate of a small brick +tenement, the only one in the village, whose modern air contrasted +strangely enough with the venerable aspect of everything else; and +having made known my necessities through the medium of sundry Babel +gibberings and gesticulations, he left me with the promise to call +early in the morning and see me on my way. + +"What's your _name_, any how?" was the courteous salutation of mine +host, as I placed my foot across his threshold, after attending to the +necessities of the faithful animal which had been my companion through +the fatigues of the day. He was a dark-browed, swarthy-looking man, +with exceedingly black hair, and an eye which one might have suspected +of Indian origin but for the genuine cunning {35}--the "lurking +devil"--of its expression. Replying to the unceremonious interrogatory +with a smile, which by no means modified the haughty moroseness of my +landlord's visage, another equally civil query was proposed, to which +I received the hurried reply, "Jean Paul de --." From this _amiable_ +personage I learned, by dint of questioning, that the village of +Portage des Sioux had been standing about half a century: that it +was originally settled by a colony from Cahokia: that its importance +now was as considerable as it ever had been: that it was terribly +shaken in the great earthquakes of 1811, many of the old cottages +having been thrown down and his own house rent from "turret to +foundation-stone"--the chasm in the brick wall yet remaining--and, +finally, that the village owed its name to the stratagem of a band of +Sioux Indians, in an expedition against the Missouris. The legend is +as follows: "The Sioux being at war with a tribe of the Missouris, a +party descended the Upper Mississippi on an expedition for pillage. +The Missouris, apprized of their approach, laid in ambush in the woods +at the mouth of the river, intending to take their enemies by surprise +as their canoes doubled the point to ascend. The Sioux, in the depths +of Indian subtlety, apprehending such a manoeuvre, instead of +descending to the confluence, landed at the portage, took their +canoes upon their backs, and crossed the prairie to the Indian village +on the Missouri, several miles above. By this stratagem the design of +their expedition was accomplished, and they had returned to their +canoes in safety with their plunder long {36} before the Missouris, +who were anxiously awaiting them at their ambuscade, were aware of +their first approach." + +Supper was soon served up, prepared in the neatest French fashion. +While at table a circumstance transpired which afforded me some little +diversion. Several of the villagers dropped in during the progress of +the meal, who, having seated themselves at the board, a spirited +colloquy ensued in the _patois_ of these old hamlets--a species of +_gumbo-French_, which a genuine native of _La Belle France_ would +probably manage to unravel quite as well as a Northern Yankee. From a +few expressions, however, the meaning of which were obvious, together +with sundry furtive glances to the eye, and divers confused +withdrawals of the gaze, it was not very difficult to detect some +pretty free remarks upon the stranger-guest. All this was suffered to +pass with undisturbed _nonchalance_, until the meal was concluded; +when the hitherto mute traveller, turning to the negro attendant, +demanded in familiar French a glass of water. _Presto!_ the effect was +electric. Such visages of ludicrous distress! such stealthy glancing +of dark eyes! such glowing of sallow cheeks! The swarthy landlord at +length hurriedly ejaculated, "_Parlez vous Français?_" while the +dark-haired hostess could only falter "_Pardonnez moi!_" A hearty +laugh on my own part served rather to increase than diminish the +_empressement_, as it confirmed the suspicion that their guest had +realized to the full extent their hospitable remarks. Rising from the +table to put an end to rather an awkward {37} scene, I took my +_portfeuille_ and seated myself in the gallery to sketch the events of +the day. But the dark landlord looked with no favouring eye upon the +proceeding; and, as he was by no means the man to stand for ceremony, +he presently let drop a civil hint of the propriety of _retiring_; the +propriety of complying with which civil hint was at once perceived, +early as was the hour; and soon the whole house and village was buried +in slumber. And then "the stranger within their gates" rose quietly +from his couch, and in a few moments was luxuriating in the fresh +night-wind, laden with perfumes from the flowerets of the prairie it +swept. And beautifully was the wan moonlight playing over forest, and +prairie, and rustling maize-field, and over the gray church spire, and +the old village in its slumbering. And the giant cliffs rose white and +ghastly beyond the dark waters of the endless river, as it rolled on +in calm magnificence, "for ever flowing and the same for ever." And +associations of the scene with other times and other men thronged +"thick and fast" upon the fancy. + +The first vermeil flush of morning was firing the eastern forest-tops, +when a single horseman was to be seen issuing from the narrow lanes of +the ancient village of Portage des Sioux, whose inhabitants had not +yet shaken off the drowsiness of slumber, and winding slowly along +beneath the huge trees skirting the prairie's margin. After an hour of +irregular wandering through the heavy meadow-grass, drenched and +dripping in the dews, and glistening in the morning sunlight, he +plunges into the {38} old woods on his right, and in a few moments +stands beneath the vine-clad sycamores, with the brilliant, +trumpet-formed flower of the _bignonia_ suspended from the branches +upon the margin of a stream. It is the "Father of Waters," and beyond +its bounding bosom lies the little hamlet of Grafton, slumbering in +quiet beauty beneath the cliffs. The scene is a lovely one: the mighty +river rolling calmly and majestically on--the moss-tasselled forest +upon its bank--the isles of brightness around which it ripples--the +craggy precipice, rearing its bald, broad forehead beyond--the smoking +cottages at the base, and the balmy breath of morning, with fragrance +curling the blue waters, are outlines of a portraiture which +imagination alone can fill up. + +Blast after blast from the throat of a huge horn suspended from the +limb of an aged cotton-wood, went pealing over the waters; but all the +echoes in the surrounding forest had been awakened, and an hour was +gone by, before a float, propelled by the sturdy sinews of a single +brace of arms, had obeyed the summons. And so the traveller sat +himself quietly down upon the bank beneath the tree-shade, and +luxuriated on the feast of natural scenery spread out before him. + +The site of the town of Grafton is an elevated strip of bottom-land, +stretching along beneath the bluffs, and in this respect somewhat +resembling Alton, fifteen or twenty miles below. The _locale_ of the +village is, however, far more delightful than that of its neighbour, +whatever the relative advantages for commerce they may boast, though +those of the {39} former are neither few nor small. Situated at the +_mouth_ of the Illinois as to navigation; possessing an excellent +landing for steamers, an extensive and fertile interior, rapidly +populating, and inexhaustible quarries for the builder, the town, +though recently laid off, is going on in the march of improvement; +and, with an hundred other villages of the West, bids fair to become a +nucleus of wealth and commerce. + +_Grafton, Ill._ + + + + +XXVI + + "When breath and sense have left this clay, + In yon damp vault, oh lay me not; + But kindly bear my bones away + To some lone, green, and sunny spot." + + "Away to the prairie! away! + Where the sun-gilt flowers are waving, + When awaked from their couch at the breaking of day, + O'er the emerald lawn the gay zephyrs play, + And their pinions in dewdrops are laving." + + +On the morning of my arrival at Grafton, while my brisk little hostess +was making ready for my necessities, I stepped out to survey the +place, and availed myself of an hour of leisure to visit a somewhat +remarkable cavern among the cliffs, a little below the village, the +entrance of which had caught my attention while awaiting the movements +of the ferryman on the opposite bank of the Mississippi. It is +approached by a rough footpath along the {40} river-margin, piled up +with huge masses of limestone, which have been toppled from the +beetling crags above: these, at this point, as before stated, are some +hundred feet in perpendicular height. The orifice of the cave is +elliptical in outline, and somewhat regular, being an excavation by +the whirling of waters apparently in the surface of the smooth +escarpment; it is about twenty feet in altitude, and as many in width. +Passing the threshold of the entrance, an immediate expansion takes +place into a spacious apartment some forty or fifty feet in depth, and +about the same in extreme height: nearly in the centre a huge +perpendicular column of solid rock rears itself from the floor to the +roof. From this point the cavern lengthens itself away into a series +of apartments to the distance of several hundred feet, with two lesser +entrances in the same line with that in the middle, and at regular +intervals. The walls of the cave, like everything of a geological +character in this region, are composed of a secondary limestone, +abounding in testaceous fossils. The spot exhibits conclusive evidence +of having once been subject to diluvial action; and the cavern itself, +as I have observed, seems little else than an excavation from the +heart of an enormous mass of marine petrifaction. Large quantities of +human bones of all sizes have been found in this cavern, leaving +little doubt that, by the former dwellers in this fair land, the spot +was employed as a catacomb. I myself picked up the _sincipital_ +section of a scull, which would have ecstasied a virtuoso beyond +measure; and {41} several of the _lumbar vertebræ_, which, if they +prove nothing else, abundantly demonstrate the aboriginal natives of +North America to have been no pigmy race. The spot is now desecrated +by the presence of a party of sturdy coopers, who could not, however, +have chosen a more delightful apartment for their handicraft; rather +more taste than piety, however, has been betrayed in the selection. +The view of the water and the opposite forest from the elevated mouth +of the cavern is very fine, and three or four broad-leafed sycamores +fling over the whole a delightful shade. The waters of the river flow +onward in a deep current at the base, and the fish throw themselves +into the warm sunlight from the surface. What a charming retreat from +the fiery fervour of a midsummer noon! + +The heavy bluffs which overhang the village, and over which winds the +great road to the north, though not a little wearisome to surmount, +command from the summit a vast and beautiful landscape. A series of +inclined planes are talked of by the worthy people of Grafton to +overcome these bluffs, and render their village less difficult of +inland ingress and regress; and though the idea is not a little +amusing, of rail-cars running off at an angle of forty-five degrees, +yet when we consider that this place, if it ever becomes of _any_ +importance, must become a grand thoroughfare and dépôt on the route +from St. Louis and the agricultural regions of the Missouri to the +northern counties of Illinois, the design seems less chimerical _than +it might be_. A charter, indeed, for a railroad {42} from Grafton, +through Carrolton to Springfield, has been obtained, a company +organized, and a portion of the stock subscribed;[180] while another +corporation is to erect a splendid hotel. The traveller over the +bluffs, long before he stands upon their summit, heartily covets any +species of locomotion other than the back of a quadruped. But the +scenery, as he ascends, caught at glimpses through the forest, is +increasingly beautiful. Upon one of the loftiest eminences to the +right stand the ruins of a huge stone-heap; the tumulus, perchance, of +some red-browed chieftain of other days. It was a beautiful custom of +these simple-hearted sons of the wilderness to lay away the relics of +their loved and honoured ones even upon the loftiest, greenest spots +of the whole earth; where the freed spirit might often rise to look +abroad over the glories of that pleasant forest-home where once it +roved in the chase or bounded forth upon the path of war. And it is a +circumstance not a little worthy of notice, that veneration for the +dead is a feeling universally betrayed by uncivilized nations. The +Indian widow of Florida annually despoils herself of her luxuriant +tresses to wreathe the headstone beneath which reposes the bones of +her husband. The Canadian mother, when her infant is torn from her +bosom by the chill hand of death, and, with a heart almost breaking, +she has been forced to lay him away beneath the sod, is said, in the +touching intensity of her affection, to bathe the tombstone of her +little one with that genial flood which Nature poured through her +veins for his nourishment {43} while living. The Oriental nations, it +is well known, whether civilized or savage, have ever, from deepest +antiquity, manifested an eloquent solicitude for the sepulchres of +their dead. The expiring Israelite, we are always told, "was gathered +to his fathers;" and the tombs of the Jewish monarchs, some of which +exist even to the present day, were gorgeously magnificent. The +nations of modern Turkey and India wreathe the tombs of their departed +friends with the gayest and most beautiful flowers of the season; +while the very atmosphere around is refreshed by fountains. + +From the site of the stone-heap of which I have spoken, and which may +or may _not_ have been erected to the memory of some Indian chieftain, +a glorious cosmorama of the whole adjacent region, miles in +circumference, is unfolded to the eye. At your feet, far below, flow +on the checkered waters of the Mississippi, gliding in ripples among +their emerald islands; while at intervals, as the broad stream comes +winding on from the west, is caught the flashing sheen of its surface +through the dense old woods that fringe its margin. Beyond these, to +the south, lies spread the broad and beautiful Mamelle Prairie, even +to its faint blue blending with the distant horizon laid open to the +eye, rolling and heaving its heavy herbage in the breeze to the +sunlight like the long wave of ocean. And the bright green +island-groves, the cape-like forest-strips swelling out upon its +bosom, the flashing surface of lakes and water-sheets, almost buried +in the luxuriance of vegetation, with thousands of {44} aquatic birds +wheeling their broad flight over them, all contribute to fill up the +lineaments of a scene of beauty which fails not to enrapture the +spectator. Now and then along the smooth meadow, a darker luxuriance +of verdure, with the curling cabin-smoke upon its border, and vast +herds of domestic cattle in its neighbourhood, betray the presence of +man, blending _his_ works with the wild and beautiful creations of +Nature. On the right, at a distance of two miles, come in the placid +waters of the Illinois, from the magnificent bluffs in the back-ground +stealing softly and quietly into the great river through the wooded +islands at its mouth. The day was a sultry one; the atmosphere was +like the breath of a furnace; but over the heights of the bluffs swept +the morning air, fresh and cool from the distant prairie. For some +miles, as is invariably the case upon the banks of the Western rivers, +the road winds along among bluffs and sink-holes; and so constantly +does its course vary and diverge, that a pocket compass is anything +but a needless appendage. Indeed, all his calculations to the contrary +notwithstanding, the traveller throughout the whole of this region +describes with his route a complete Virginia fence. The road is not a +little celebrated for its tortuosity. At length the traveller emerges +upon a prairie. On its edge beneath the forest stands a considerable +settlement, bordering on Macoupin Creek, from which it takes a name. +In the latter part of 1816 this settlement was commenced, and was then +the most northern location of whites in the Territory of +Illinois.[181] + +{45} It was evening, at the close of a sultry day, that the village +of Carrolton appeared before me among the trees.[182] I was struck +with the quiet air of simple elegance which seemed to pervade the +place, though its general outlines are those of every other Western +village I have visited. One broad, regular street extends through the +town, upon either side of which stand the stores and better class of +private residences; while in the back-ground, scattered promiscuously +along the transverse avenues, are log-cabins surrounded by cornfields, +much like those in the villages of the French. Three sides of the town +are bounded by forest, while the fourth opens upon the prairie called +"String Prairie." In the centre of the village, upon the principal +street, is reserved a square, in the middle of which stands the +courthouse, with other public structures adjacent, and the stores and +hotels along its sides. One thing in Carrolton which struck me as a +little singular, was the unusual diversity of religious denominations. +Of these there are not less than five or six; three of which have +churches, and a fourth is setting itself in order to build; and all +this in a village of hardly one thousand inhabitants. The courthouse +is a handsome edifice of brick, two stories, with a neat spire. The +neighbouring region is fertile and healthy; well proportioned with +prairie and timber, well watered by the Macoupin and Apple +Creeks,[183] and well populated by a sturdy, thriving race of +yeomanry. This is, indeed, strictly an agricultural village; and, so +far as my own observation {46} extended, little attention is paid or +taste manifested for anything else. + +About a dozen miles north of Carrolton is situated the village of +Whitehall, a flourishing settlement in the prairie's edge, from the +centre of which, some miles distant, it may be seen.[184] Three years +ago the spot was an uncultivated waste; the town has now two houses of +worship, a school, an incorporation for a seminary, two taverns, six +hundred inhabitants, and a steam mill to feed them withal. A few miles +from this place, on the outskirts of another small settlement, I was +met by a company of emigrants from Western New-York. The women and +children were piled upon the top of the household stuff with about as +much ceremony as if they constituted a portion thereof, in a huge +lumbering baggage-wagon, around which dangled suspended pots and +kettles, dutch-ovens and tin-kitchens, cheese-roasters and +bread-toasters, all in admired confusion, jangling harsh discord. The +cart-wheels themselves, as they gyrated upon the parched axles, like +the gates of Milton's hell on their hinges, "grated harsh thunder." In +the van of the cavalcade strode soberly on the patriarch of the +family, with his elder sons, axe upon shoulder, rifle in hand, a +veritable Israel Bush. For six weeks had the wanderers been +travelling, and a weary, bedusted-looking race were they, that +emigrant family. + +The rapidity with which a Western village goes forward, and begins to +assume importance among the nations, after having once been born and +{47} christened, is amazing. The mushrooms of a summer's night, the +wondrous gourd of Jonah, the astonishing bean of the giant-killer, or +the enchantments of the Arabian Nights, are but fit parallels to the +growth of the prairie-village of the Far West. Of all this I was +forcibly reminded in passing through quite a town upon my route named +Manchester, where I dined, and which, if my worthy landlord was not +incorrect, two years before could hardly boast a log-cabin.[185] It is +now a thriving place, on the northern border of Mark's Prairie, from +which it may be seen four or five miles before entering its streets; +it is surrounded by a body of excellent timber, always the _magnum +desideratum_ in Illinois. This scarcity of timber will not, however, +be deemed such an insurmountable obstacle to a dense and early +population of this state as may have been apprehended, when we +consider the unexampled rapidity with which a young growth pushes +itself forward into the prairies when once protected from the +devastating effects of the autumnal fires; the exhaustless masses of +bituminous coal which may be thrown up from the ravines, and creeks, +and bluffs of nearly every county in the state; the facility of +ditching, by the assistance of blue grass to bind the friable soil, +and the luxuriance of hedge-rows for enclosures, as practised almost +solely in England, France, and the Netherlands; and, finally, the +convenience of manufacturing brick for all the purposes of building. +There is not, probably, any quarter of the state destined to become +more populous and powerful {48} than that section of Morgan county +through which I was now passing. On every side, wherever the traveller +turns his eye, beautiful farms unfold their broad, wavy prairie-fields +of maize and wheat, indicative of affluence and prosperity. The +_worst_ soil of the prairies is best adapted to wheat; it is +_generally_ too fertile; the growth too rapid and luxuriant; the stalk +so tall and the ear so heavy, that it is lodged before matured for the +sickle. Illinois, consequently, can never become a celebrated wheat +region, though for corn and coarser grains it is now unequalled. + +The rapidity with which this state has been peopled is wonderful, +especially its northern counties. In the year 1821, that section of +country embraced within the present limits of Morgan county numbered +but twenty families; in 1830 its population was nearly fourteen +thousand, and cannot now be estimated at less than seventeen thousand! +Many of the settlers are natives of the New-England States; and with +them have brought those habits of industrious sobriety for which the +North has ever been distinguished. In all the enterprise of the age, +professing for its object the amelioration of human condition and the +advancement of civilization, religion, and the arts, Morgan county +stands in advance of all others in the state. What a wonderful +revolution have a few fleeting years of active enterprise induced +throughout a region once luxuriating in all the savageness of nature; +while the wild prairie-rose "blushed unseen," and the wilder +forest-son pursued the deer! Fair villages, {49} like spring violets +along the meadow, have leaped forth into being, to bless and to +gladden the land, and to render even this beautiful portion of God's +beautiful world--though for ages a profitless waste--at length the +abode of intelligence, virtue, and peace. + +It was near the close of the day that the extent and frequency of the +farms on either side, the more finished structure of the houses, the +regularity of enclosures, the multitude of vehicles of every +description by which I was encountered, and the dusty, hoof-beaten +thoroughfare over which I was travelling, all reminded me that I was +drawing nigh to Jacksonville, the principal town in Illinois. Passing +"Diamond Grove," a beautiful forest-island of nearly a thousand acres, +elevated above the surrounding prairie to which it gives a name,[186] +and environed by flourishing farms, the traveller catches a view of +the distant village stretching away along the northern horizon. He +soon enters an extended avenue, perfectly uniform for several miles, +leading on to the town. Beautiful meadows and harvest-fields on either +side sweep off beyond the reach of the eye, their neat white cottages +and palings peeping through the enamelled foliage. To the left, upon a +swelling upland at the distance of some miles, are beheld the brick +edifices of "Illinois College," relieved by a dark grove of oaks +resting against the western sky.[187] These large buildings, together +with the numerous other public structures, imposingly situated and +strongly relieved, give to the place a dignified, city-like aspect in +distant {50} view. After a ride of more than a mile within the +immediate suburbs of the town, the traveller ascends a slight +elevation, and the next moment finds himself in the public square, +surrounded on every side by stores and dwellings, carts and carriages, +market-people, horses, and hotels. + +_Jacksonville, Ill._ + + + + +XXVII + + "What a large volume of adventures may be grasped in this little + span of life by him who interests his heart in everything, and + who, having his eyes to see what time and chance are perpetually + holding out to him as he journeyeth on his way, misses nothing he + can _fairly_ lay his hands on."--STERNE'S _Sentimental Journal_. + + "Take this in good part, whosoever thou be, + And wish me no worse than I wish unto thee." + TURNER. + + +It was a remark of that celebrated British statesman, Horace Walpole, +that the vicissitudes of no man's life were too slight to prove +interesting, if detailed in the simple order of their occurrence. The +idea originated with the poet Gray, if an idea which has suggested +itself to the mind of every man may be appropriated by an individual. +Assuming the sentiment as true, the author of these SKETCHES has alone +presumed to lay his observations and adventures as a traveller before +the _majesty of the public_; and upon this principle _solely_ must +they rely for any interest they may {51} claim. A mere glance at those +which have preceded must convince the reader that their object has +been by no means exact geographical and statistical information. +Errors and omissions have, doubtless, often occurred in the hasty view +which has been taken: partially through negligence, sometimes through +lack of knowledge, misinformation, or attempt at brevity, but never +through aforethought or malice prepense. Upon the whole, the writer +admits himself completely laid open to criticism; and, should any +public-spirited worthy deem it his duty to rise up in judgment and +avenge the wrongs of literature and the community, he has undoubted +right so to do: nathless, he is most veritably forewarned that he will +hardly gather up his "labour for his pains!" But _allons_. + +It is only ten or twelve years since the town site of Jacksonville, +now, perhaps, the most flourishing inland village in Illinois, was +first _laid off_; and it is but within the past five years that its +present unprecedented advancement can be dated.[188] Its site is a +broad elevated roll in the midst of a beautiful prairie; and, from +whatever point it is approached, few places present a more delightful +prospect. The spot seems marked and noted by Nature for the abode of +man. The neighbouring prairie is undulating, and the soil uncommonly +rich, even in this land of fertility. It is mostly under high +cultivation, and upon its northern and western edge is environed by +pleasant groves, watered by many a "sweet and curious brook." The +public square in the centre of the town is of noble dimensions, {52} +occupied by a handsome courthouse and a market, both of brick, and its +sides filled up with dwelling-houses, stores, law-offices, a church, +bank, and hotel. From this point radiate streets and avenues in all +directions: one through each side of every angle near its vertex, and +one through the middle of every side; so that the town-plat is +completely cut up into rectangles. If I mistake not in my description, +it will be perceived that the public square of Jacksonville may be +entered at no less than twelve distinct avenues. In addition to the +spacious courthouse, the public buildings consist of three or four +churches. One of these, belonging to the Congregational order, betrays +much correct taste; and its pulpit is the most simply elegant I +remember ever to have seen. It consists merely of a broad platform in +the chancel of the building, richly carpeted; a dark mahogany bar +without drapery, highly polished; and a neat sofa of the same material +in a plain back-ground. The outline and proportion are perfect; and, +like the doctrines of the sect which worships here, there is an air +of severe, dignified elegance about the whole structure, pleasing as +it is rare. The number of Congregational churches in the West is +exceedingly small; and as it is always pleasant for the stranger in a +strange land to meet the peculiarities of that worship to which from +childhood-days he has been attached, so it is peculiarly grateful to +the New-England emigrant to recognise in this distant spot the simple +faith and ceremony of the Pilgrims. Jacksonville is largely made up of +emigrants from {53} the North; and they have brought with them many of +their customs and peculiarities. The State of Illinois may, indeed, be +truly considered the New-England of the West. In many respects it is +more congenial than any other to the character and prejudices of the +Northern emigrant. It is not a slave state; internal improvement is +the grand feature of its civil polity; and measures for the universal +diffusion of intellectual, moral, and religious culture are in active +progression. In Henry county, in the northern section of the state, +two town-plats have within the past year been laid off for colonies of +emigrants from Connecticut, which intend removing in the ensuing fall, +accompanied each by their minister, physician, lawyer, and with all +the various artisans of mechanical labour necessary for such +communities. The settlements are to be called Wethersfield and +Andover.[189] Active measures for securing the blessings of +education, religion, temperance, etc., have already been taken.[190] + +The edifices of "Illinois College," to which I have before alluded, +are situated upon a beautiful eminence one mile west of the village, +formerly known as "Wilson's Grove." The site is truly delightful. In +the rear lies a dense green clump of oaks, and in front is spread out +the village, with a boundless extent of prairie beyond, covered for +miles with cultivation. Away to the south, the wildflower flashes as +gayly in the sunlight, and {54} waves as gracefully when swept by the +breeze, as centuries ago, when no eye of man looked upon its +loveliness. During my stay at Jacksonville I visited several times +this pleasant spot, and always with renewed delight at the glorious +scenery it presented. Connected with the college buildings are +extensive grounds; and students, at their option, may devote a portion +of each day to manual labour in the workshop or on the farm. Some +individuals have, it is said, in this manner defrayed all the expenses +of their education. This system of instruction cannot be too highly +recommended. Apart from the benefits derived in acquiring a knowledge +of the use of mechanical instruments, and the development of +mechanical genius, there are others of a higher nature which every one +who has been educated at a public institution will appreciate. Who has +not gazed with anguish on the sunken cheek and the emaciated frame of +the young aspirant for literary distinction? Who has not beheld the +funeral fires of intellect while the lamp of life was fading, flaming +yet more beautifully forth, only to be dimmed for ever! The lyre is +soon to be crushed; but, ere its hour is come, it flings forth notes +of melody sweet beyond expression! Who does not know that protracted, +unremitting intellectual labour is _always_ fatal, unaccompanied by +corresponding physical exertion; and who cannot perceive that _any_ +inducement, be it what it may, which can draw forth the student from +his retirement, is invaluable. Such an inducement is the lively +interest which the cultivated mind {55} always manifests in the +operations of mechanical art. + +Illinois College has been founded but five or six years, yet it is now +one of the most flourishing institutions west of the mountains. The +library consists of nearly two thousand volumes, and its chymical +apparatus is sufficient. The faculty are five in number, and its first +class was graduated two years since. No one can doubt the vast +influence this seminary is destined to exert, not only upon this +beautiful region of country and this state, but over the whole great +Western Valley. It owes its origin to the noble enterprise of seven +young men, graduates of Yale College, whose names another age will +enrol among our Harvards and our Bowdoins, our Holworthys, Elliots, +and Gores, great and venerable as those names are. And, surely, we +cannot but believe that "some divinity has shaped their ends," when we +consider the character of the spot upon which a wise Providence has +been pleased to succeed their design. From the Northern lakes to the +gulf, where may a more eligible site be designated for an institution +whose influence shall be wide, and powerful, and salutary, than that +same beautiful grove, in that pleasant village of Jacksonville. + +To the left of the college buildings is situated the lordly residence +of Governor Duncan, surrounded by its extensive grounds.[191] There +are other fine edifices scattered here and there upon the eminence, +among which the beautiful little cottage of Mr. C., brother to the +great orator of the {56} West, holds a conspicuous station.[192] +Society in Jacksonville is said to be superior to any in the state. It +is of a cast decidedly moral, and possesses much literary taste. This +is betrayed in the number of its schools and churches; its lyceum, +circulating library, and periodicals. In fine, there are few spots in +the West, and none in Illinois, which to the _Northern_ emigrant +present stronger attractions than the town of Jacksonville and its +vicinity. Located in the heart of a tract of country the most fertile +and beautiful in the state; swept by the sweet breath of health +throughout the year; tilled by a race of enterprising, intelligent, +hardy yeomen; possessing a moral, refined, and enlightened society, +the tired wanderer may here find his necessities relieved and his +peculiarities respected: he may here find congeniality of feeling and +sympathy of heart. And when his memory wanders, as it sometimes must, +with melancholy musings, mayhap, over the loved scenes of his own +distant New-England, it will be sweet to realize that, though he sees +not, indeed, around him the beautiful romance of his native hills, yet +many a kindly heart is throbbing near, whose emotions, like his own, +were nurtured in their rugged bosom. "_Cælum non animum mutatur._" And +is it indeed true, as they often tell us, that New-England character, +like her own ungenial clime, is cold, penurious, and heartless; while +to her brethren, from whom she is separated only by an imaginary +boundary, may be ascribed all that is lofty, and honourable, and +chivalrous in man! This is an old {57} calumny, the offspring of +prejudice and ignorance, and it were time it were at rest. But it is +not for me to contrast the leading features of Northern character with +those of the South, or to repel the aspersions which have been heaped +upon either. Yet, reader, believe them not; many are false as ever +stained the poisoned lip of slander. + +It was Saturday evening when I reached the village of Jacksonville, +and on the following Sabbath I listened to the sage instruction of +that eccentric preacher, but venerable old man, Dr. P. of +Philadelphia, since deceased, but then casually present. "_The Young +Men of the West_" was a subject which had been presented him for +discourse, and worthily was it elaborated. The good people of this +little town, in more features than one, present a faithful transcript +of New-England; but in none do they betray their Pilgrim origin more +decidedly than in their devotedness to the public worship of the +sanctuary. Here the young and the old, the great and small, the rich +and poor, are all as steadily church-goers as were ever the pious +husbandmen of Connecticut--men of the broad breast and giant +stride--in the most "high and palmy day" of blue-laws and tything men. +You smile, reader, yet + + "Noble deeds those iron men have done!" + +It was these same church-going, psalm-singing husbandmen who planted +Liberty's fair tree within our borders, the leaves of which are now +for the "healing of the nations," and whose broad branches are +overshadowing the earth; and they watered it--ay, watered it with +their blood! The Pilgrim Fathers!--{58} the elder yeomanry of +New-England!--the Patriots of the American Revolution!--great names! +they shall live enshrined in the heart of Liberty long after those of +many a railer are as if they had never been. And happy, happy would it +be for the fair heritage bequeathed by them, were not the present +generation degenerate sons of noble sires. + +At Jacksonville I tarried only a few days; but during that short +period I met with a few things of tramontane origin, strange enough to +my Yankee notions. It was the season approaching the annual election +of representatives for the state and national councils, and on one of +the days to which I have alluded the political candidates of various +creeds _addressed the people_; that is--for the benefit of the +uninitiated be it stated--each one made manifest what great things he +had done for the people in times past, and promised to do greater +things, should the dear people, in the overflowing of their kindness, +be pleased to let their choice fall upon him. This is a custom of +universal prevalence in the Southern and Western states, and much is +urged in its support; yet, sure it is, in no way could a Northern +candidate more utterly defeat his election than by attempting to +pursue the same. The charge of _self-electioneering_ is, indeed, a +powerful engine often employed by political partisans. + +The candidates, upon the occasion of which I am speaking, were six or +seven in number: and though I was not permitted to listen to the +_eloquence_ of all, some of these harangues are said to have been +powerful productions, especially that of Mr. S. The day {59} was +exceedingly sultry, and Mr. W., candidate for the state Senate, was on +the _stump_, in shape of a huge meat-block at one corner of the +market-house, when I entered.[193] He was a broadfaced, farmer-like +personage, with features imbrowned by exposure, and hands hardened by +honourable toil; with a huge rent, moreover, athwart his left +shoulder-blade--a badge of democracy, I presume, and either neglected +or produced there for the occasion; much upon the same principle, +doubtless, that Quintilian counselled his disciples to disorder the +hair and tumble the toga before they began to speak. Now mind ye, +reader, I do not accuse the worthy man of having followed the Roman's +instructions, or even of acquaintance therewith, or any such thing; +but, verily, he did, in all charity, seem to have hung on his worst +rigging, and that, too, for no other reason than to demonstrate the +democracy aforesaid, and his affection for the _sans-culottes_. His +speech, though garnished with some little rhodomontade, was, upon the +whole, a sensible production. I could hardly restrain a smile, +however, at one of the worthy man's figures, in which he likened +himself to "the _morning sun_, mounting a stump to scatter the mists +which had been gathering around his fair fame." Close upon the heels +of this _ruse_ followed a beautiful simile--"a people free as the wild +breezes of their own broad prairies!" The candidates alternated +according to their political creeds, and denounced each other in no +very measured terms. The approaching election was found, indeed, to be +the prevailing topic of thought and conversation all over the land; +insomuch {60} that the writer, himself an unassuming wayfarer, was +more than once, strangely enough, mistaken for a _candidate_ as he +rode through the country, and was everywhere _catechumened_ as to the +articles of his political faith. It would be an amusing thing to a +solitary traveller in a country like this, could he always detect the +curious surmisings to which his presence gives rise in the minds of +those among whom he chances to be thrown; especially so when, from any +circumstance, his appearance does not betray his definite rank or +calling in life, and anything of mystery hangs around his movements. +Internal Improvement seems now to be the order of the day in Northern +Illinois. This was the hobby of most of the stump-speakers; and the +projected railway from Jacksonville to the river was under sober +consideration. I became acquainted, while here, with Mr. C., a young +gentleman engaged in laying off the route. + +It was late in the afternoon when I at length broke away from the +hustings, and mounted my horse to pursue my journey to Springfield. +The road strikes off from the public square, in a direct line through +the prairie, at right angles with that by which I entered, and, _like_ +that, ornamented by fine farms. I had rode but a few miles from the +village, and was leisurely pursuing my way across the dusty plain, +when a quick tramping behind attracted my attention, and in a few +moments a little, portly, red-faced man at my side, in linsey-woolsey +and a broad-brimmed hat, saluted me frankly with the title of +"friend," and forthwith announced himself a "Baptist {61} +circuit-rider!" I became much interested in the worthy man before his +path diverged from my own; and I flatter myself he reciprocated my +regard, for he asked all manner of questions, and related all manner +of anecdotes, questioned or not. Among other edifying matter, he gave +a full-length biography of a "_billards fever_" from which he was just +recovering; even from the premonitory symptoms thereof to the relapse +and final convalescence. + +At nightfall I found myself alone in the heart of an extensive +prairie; but the beautiful crescent had now begun to beam forth from +the blue heavens; and the wild, fresh breeze of evening, playing among +the silvered grass-tops, rendered the hour a delightful one to the +traveller. "Spring Island Grove," a thick wood upon an eminence to the +right, looked like a region of fairy-land as its dark foliage +trembled in the moonlight. The silence and solitude of the prairie was +almost startling; and a Herculean figure upon a white horse, as it +drew nigh, passed me "on the other side" with a glance of suspicion at +my closely-buttoned surtout and muffled mouth, as if to say, "this is +too lone a spot to form acquaintance." A few hours--I had crossed the +prairie, and was snugly deposited in a pretty little farmhouse in the +edge of the grove, with a crusty, surly fellow enough for its master. + +_Springfield, Ill._ + + + + +XXVIII + + "Hee is a rite gude creetur, and travels _all_ the ground + over most faithfully." + + "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill + together."--SHAKESPEARE. + + +It is a trite remark, that few studies are more pleasing to the +inquisitive mind than that of the _nature of man_. But, however this +may be, sure it is, few situations in life present greater facilities +for watching its developments than that of the ordinary _wayfaring_ +traveller. Though I fully agree with Edmund Burke, that "the age of +chivalry has passed away," with all its rough virtues and its follies, +yet am I convinced that, even in this degenerate era of sophisters, +economists, and speculators, when a solitary individual, unconnected +with any great movements of the day, throws himself upon his horse, +and sallies fearlessly forth upon the arena of the world, whether in +_quest_ of adventure or not, he will be quite sure to meet, at least, +with some slight "inklings" thereof. A thousand exhibitions of human +character will fling themselves athwart his pathway, inconsiderable +indeed in themselves, yet which, as days of the year and seconds of +the day, go to make up the lineaments of man; and which, from the +observation of the pride, and pomp, and circumstance of wealth and +equipage, would of necessity be veiled. Under the eye of the solitary +{63} wanderer, going forth upon a pilgrimage of observation among the +ranks of men--who is met but for once, and whose opinion, favourable +or otherwise, can be supposed to exert but trifling influence--there +is not that necessity for enveloping those petty weaknesses of our +nature in the mantle of selfishness which would, under more imposing +circumstances, exist. To the mind of delicate sensibility, unschooled +in the ways of man, such exhibitions of human heartlessness might, +perchance, be anything but _interesting_; but to one who, elevated by +independence of character above the ordinary contingencies of +situation and circumstance, can smile at the frailties of his race, +even when exhibited at his own expense, they can but afford a fund of +interest and instruction. The youthful student, when with fresh, +unblunted feeling he for the first time enters the dissecting-room of +medical science, turns with sickened, revolting sensibilities from the +mutilated form stretched out upon the board before him, while the +learned professor, with untrembling nerve, lays bare its secrecies +with the crimsoned knife of science. Just so is it with the +exhibitions of human nature; yet who will say that dissection of the +moral character of man is not as indispensable to an intimate +acquaintance with its phenomena, as that of his physical organization +for a similar purpose. + +But, then, there are the brighter features of humanity, which +sometimes hang across the wanderer's pathway like the beautiful tints +of a summer evening bow; and which, as they are oftenest met reposing +beneath the cool, sequestered shades of {64} retirement, where the +roar and tumult of a busy world are as the heavy swing of the distant +wave, so there, oftener than elsewhere, they serve to cheer the +pilgrim traveller's heart. Ah! it is very sweet, from the dull +Rembrandt shades of which human character presents but too much, to +turn away and dwell upon these green, beautiful spots in the wastes of +humanity; these _oases_ in a desert of barrenness; to hope that man, +though indeed a depraved, unholy being, is not that _thing_ of utter +detestation which a troubled bosom had sometimes forced us to believe. +At such moments, worth years of coldness and distrust, how +inexpressibly grateful is it to feel the young tendrils of the heart +springing forth to meet the proffered affection; curling around our +race, and binding it closer and closer to ourselves. But your pardon, +reader: my wayward pen has betrayed me into an episode upon poor human +nature most unwittingly, I do assure thee. I was only endeavouring to +present a few ideas circumstances had casually suggested, which I was +sure would commend themselves to every thinking mind, and which some +incidents of my wayfaring may serve to illustrate, when lo! forth +comes an essay on human nature. It reminds one of Sir Hudibras, who +_told the clock by algebra_, or of Dr. Young's satirised gentlewoman, +who _drank tea by stratagem_. + +"How little do men realize the loveliness of this visible world!" is +an exclamation which has oftentimes involuntarily left my lips while +gazing upon the surpassing splendour of a prairie-sunrise. This is at +all times a glorious hour, but to a lonely traveller {65} on these +beautiful plains of the departed Illini, it comes on with a charm +which words are powerless to express. We call our world a RUIN. Ah! it +_is_ one in all its moral and physical relations; but, like the elder +cities of the Nile, how vast, how magnificent in its desolation! The +astronomer, as he wanders with scientific eye along the sparkling +galaxy of a summer's night, tells us that among those clustering orbs, +far, far away in the clear realms of upper sky, he catches at times a +glimpse of _another_ world! a region of untold, unutterable +brightness! the high empyrean, veiled in mystery! And so is it with +our own humbler sphere; the glittering fragment of a world _we_ have +never known ofttimes glances before us, and then is gone for ever. + +Before the dawn I had left the farmhouse where I had passed the night, +and was thridding the dark old forest on my route to Springfield. The +dusky twilight of morning had been slowly stealing over the landscape; +and, just as I emerged once more upon my winding prairie-path, the +flaming sunlight was streaming wide and far over the opposite heavens. +Along the whole line of eastern horizon reposed the purple dies of +morning, shooting rapidly upward into broad pyramidal shafts to the +zenith, till at last the dazzling orb came rushing above the plain, +bathing the scene in an effulgence of light. The day which succeeded +was a fine one, and I journeyed leisurely onward, admiring the mellow +glories of woodland and prairie, until near noon, when a flashing +cupola above the trees reminded me I was approaching {66} +Springfield.[194] Owing to its unfavourable situation and the fewness +of its public structures, this town, though one of the most important +in the state, presents not that imposing aspect to the stranger's eye +which some more inconsiderable villages can boast. Its location is the +border of an extensive prairie, adorned with excellent farms, and +stretching away on every side to the blue line of distant forest. This +town, like Jacksonville, was laid out ten or twelve years since, but +for a long while contained only a few scattered log cabins: all its +present wealth or importance dates from the last six years. Though +inferior in many respects to its neighbour and rival, yet such is its +location by nature that it can hardly fail of becoming a place of +extensive business and crowded population; while its geographically +central situation seems to designate it as the capital of the state. +An elegant state-house is now erecting, and the seat of government is +to be located here in 1840. The public square, a green, pleasant lawn, +enclosed by a railing, contains the courthouse and a market, both fine +structures of brick: the sides are lined with handsome edifices. Most +of the buildings are small, however, and the humble log cabin not +unfrequently meets the eye. Among the public structures are a jail, +and several houses of worship. Society is said to be excellent, and +the place can boast much literary taste. The plan of Internal +Improvement projected for the state, when carried out, cannot fail to +render Springfield an important place. + +It was a cool, beautiful evening when I left Springfield and held my +way over the prairie, rolling its {67} waving verdure on either side +of my path. Long after the village had sunk in the horizon, the bright +cupola continued to flame in the oblique rays of the setting sun. I +passed many extensive farms on my route, and in a few hours had +entered the forest and forded Sangamon _River_--so styled out of pure +courtesy, I presume, for at the spot I crossed it seemed little more +than a respectable creek, with waters clear as crystal, flowing over +clean white sand.[195] At periods of higher stages, however, this +stream has been navigated nearly to the confluence of its forks, a +distance of some hundred miles; and in the spring of 1832 a boat of +some size arrived within five miles of Springfield. An inconsiderable +expense in removing logs and overhanging trees, it is said, would +render this river navigable for keelboats half the year. The +advantages of such a communication, through one of the richest +agricultural regions on the globe, can hardly be estimated. The +Sangamon bottom has a soil of amazing fertility, and rears from its +deep, black mould a forest of enormous sycamores; huge, overgrown, +unshapely masses, their venerable limbs streaming with moss. When the +traveller enters the depths of these dark old woods, a cold chill runs +over his frame, and he feels as if he were entering the sepulchre. A +cheerless twilight reigns for ever through them: the atmosphere he +inhales has an earthly smell, and is filled with floating greenish +exhalations; the moist, black mould beneath his horse's hoofs, piled +with vegetable decay for many feet, and upon whose festering bosom the +cheering light of day has not smiled for {68} centuries, is rank and +yielding: the enormous shafts leaning in all attitudes, their naked +old roots enveloped in a green moss of velvet luxuriance, tower a +hundred feet above his head, and shut out the heavens from his view: +the huge wild-vine leaps forth at their foot and clasps them in its +deadly embrace; or the tender ivy and pensile woodbine cluster around +the aged giants, and strive to veil with their mantling tapestry the +ravages of time. There is much cathedral pomp, much of Gothic +magnificence about all this; and one can hardly fling off from his +mind the awe and solemnity which gathers over it amid the chill, +silent, and mysterious solitude of the scene. + +Emerging from the river-bottom, my pathway lay along a tract of +elevated land, among beautiful forest-glades of stately oaks, through +whose long dim aisles the yellow beams of summer sunset were now +richly streaming. Once more upon the broad prairie, and the fragment +of an iris was glittering in the eastern heavens: turning back, my eye +caught a view of that singular but splendid phenomenon, seldom +witnessed--a heavy, distant rain-shower between the spectator and the +departing sun. + +Nightfall found me at the residence of Mr. D., an intelligent, +gentlemanly farmer, with whom I passed an agreeable evening. I was not +long in discovering that my host was a candidate for civic honours; +and that he, with his friend Mr. L., whose speech I had subsequently +the pleasure of perusing, had just returned from Mechanicsburg,[196] a +small village in the vicinity, where they had been exerting themselves +upon the stump to win the _aura popularis_ for the coming election. +"_Sic itur ad astra!_" + +{69} Before sunrise I had crossed the threshold of my hospitable +entertainer; and having wound my solitary way, partially by twilight, +over a prairie fifteen miles in extent, + + "Began to feel, as well I might, + The keen demands of appetite." + +Reining up my tired steed at the door of a log cabin in the middle of +the plain, the nature and extent of my necessities were soon made +known to an aged matron, who had come forth on my approach. + +"Some victuals you shall get, _stran-ger_; but you'll just take your +_creetur_ to the crib and _gin_ him his feed; _bekase_, d'ye see, the +old man is kind o' _drinkin_ to-day; yester' was 'lection, ye know." +From the depths of my sympathetic emotions was I moved for the poor +old body, who with most dolorous aspect had delivered herself of this +message; and I had proceeded forthwith, agreeable to instructions, to +satisfy the cravings of my patient animal, when who should appear but +my tipsified host, _in propria persona_, at the door. The little old +gentleman came tottering towards the spot where I stood, and, warmly +squeezing my hand, whispered to me, with a most irresistible +serio-comic air, "_that he was drunk_;" and "that he was four hours +last night getting home from _'lection_," as he called it. "Now, +stran-ger, you won't think hard on me," he continued, in his maudlin +manner: "I'm a poor, drunken old fellow! but old Jim wan't al'ays so; +old Jim wan't al'ays so!" he exclaimed, with bitterness, burying his +face in his toilworn hands, as, having now regained the house, he +seated himself with difficulty upon the {70} doorstep. "Once, my son, +old Jim could knock down, drag out, whip, lift, or throw any man in +all Sangamon, if he _was_ a _leetle_ fellow: but _now_--there's the +receipt of his disgrace--there," he exclaimed, with vehemence, +thrusting forth before my eyes two brawny, gladiator arms, in which +the volumed muscles were heaving and contracting with excitement; +ironed by labour, but shockingly mutilated. Expressing astonishment at +the spectacle, he assured me that these wounds had been torn in the +flesh by the teeth of infuriated antagonists in drunken quarrels, +though the relation seemed almost too horrible to be true. +Endeavouring to divert his mind from this disgusting topic, on which +it seemed disposed to linger with ferocious delight, I made some +inquiries relative to his farm--which was, indeed, a beautiful one, +under high culture--and respecting the habits of the prairie-wolf, a +large animal of the species having crossed my path in the prairie in +the gray light of dawn. Upon the latter inquiry the old man sat silent +a moment with his chin leaning on his hands. Looking up at length with +an arch expression, he said, "Stran-ger, I _haint_ no _larnin_; I +_can't_ read; but don't the Book say somewhere about old Jacob and the +ring-streaked cattle?" "Yes." "Well, and how old Jake's ring-streaked +and round-spotted _creeturs_, after a _leetle_, got the better of all +the stock, and overrun the _univarsal_ herd; don't the Book say so?" +"Something so." "Well, now for the wolves: they're all colours but +ring-streaked and round-spotted; and if the sucker-farmers don't look +to it, the prairie-wolves will get {71} the better of all the geese, +turkeys, and _hins_ in the barnyard, speckled or no!" + +My breakfast was now on the table; a substantial fare of corn-bread, +butter, honey, fresh eggs, _fowl_, and _coffee_, which latter are as +invariably visitants at an Illinois table as is bacon at a Kentucky +one, and that is saying no little. The exhilarating herb tea is rarely +seen. An anecdote will illustrate this matter. A young man, journeying +in Illinois, stopped one evening at a log cabin with a violent +headache, and requested that never-failing antidote, _a cup of tea_. +There was none in the house; and, having despatched a boy to a distant +grocery to procure a pound, he threw himself upon the bed. In a few +hours a beverage was handed him, the first swallow of which nearly +excoriated his mouth and throat. In the agony of the moment he dashed +down the bowl, and rushed half blinded to the fireplace. Over the +blaze was suspended a huge iron kettle, half filled with an inky +fluid, seething, and boiling, and bubbling, like the witches' caldron +of unutterable things in Macbeth. The good old lady, in her anxiety to +give her sick guest a _strong_ dish of tea, having never seen the like +herself or drank thereof, and supposing it something of the nature of +soup, very innocently and ignorantly poured the whole pound into her +largest kettle, and set it a boiling. Poultry is the other standing +dish of Illinois; and the poor birds seem to realize that their +destiny is at hand whenever a traveller draws nigh, for they +invariably hide their heads beneath the nearest covert. Indeed, so +invariably are poultry and bacon visitants at an Illinois table, that +{72} the story _may_ be true, that the first inquiry made of the guest +by the village landlord is the following: "Well, stran-ger, what'll ye +take: wheat-bread and _chicken fixens_, or corn-bread and _common +doins_?" by the latter expressive and elegant soubriquet being +signified bacon. + +Breakfast being over, my foot was once more in the stirrup. The old +man accompanied me to the gateway, and shaking my hand in a boisterous +agony of good-nature, pressed me to visit him again when he was _not +drunk_. I had proceeded but a few steps on my way when I heard his +voice calling after me, and turned my head: "Stran-ger! I say, +stran-ger! what do you reckon of sending this young Jack Stewart to +Congress?" "Oh, he'll answer." "Well, and that's what I'm a going to +vote; and there's a heap o' people always thinks like old Jim does; +and that's what made 'em get me groggy last night." + +I could not but commiserate this old man as I pursued my journey, +reflecting on what had passed. He was evidently no common toper; for +some of his remarks evinced a keenness of observation, and a depth and +shrewdness of thought, which even the withering blight of drunkenness +had not completely deadened; and which, with other habits and other +circumstances, might have placed him far above the beck and nod of +every demagogue. + +_Decatur, Ill._ + + + + +XXIX + + "Ay, but to die, and go we know not where!" + _Measure for Measure._ + + "Plains immense, interminable meads, + And vast savannas, where the wand'ring eye, + Unfix'd, is in a verdant ocean lost." + THOMSON. + + "Ye shall have miracles; ay, sound ones too, + Seen, heard, attested, everything but true." + MOORE. + + "Call in the barber! If the tale be long, + He'll cut it short, I trust." + MIDDLETON. + + +There are few sentiments of that great man Benjamin Franklin for which +he is more to be revered than for those respecting the burial-place of +the departed.[197] The grave-yard is, and should ever be deemed, a +_holy_ spot; consecrated, not by the cold formalities of unmeaning +ceremony, but by the solemn sacredness of the heart. Who that has +committed to earth's cold bosom the relics of one dearer, perchance, +than existence, can ever after pass the burial-ground with a careless +heart. There is nothing which more painfully jars upon my own +feelings--if I may except that wanton desecration of God's sanctuary +in some sections of our land {74} for a public commitia--than to see +the grave-yard slighted and abused. It is like wounding the memory of +a buried friend. And yet it is an assertion which cannot be refuted, +that, notwithstanding the reverence which, as a people, we have failed +not to manifest for the memory of our dead, the same delicate regard +and obsequy is not with us observed in the sacred rites as among the +inhabitants of the Eastern hemisphere. If, indeed, we may be permitted +to gather up an opinion from circumstances of daily notoriety, it +would seem that the plat of ground appropriated as a cemetery in many +of the villages of our land was devoted to this most holy of purposes +solely because useless for every other; as if, after seizing upon +every spot for the benefit of the living, this last poor _remnant_ was +reluctantly yielded as a resting-place for the departed. And thus has +it happened that most of the burial-grounds of our land have either +been located in a region so lone and solitary, + + "You scarce would start to meet a spirit there," + +or they have been thrust out into the very midst of business, strife, +and contention; amid the glare of sunshine, noise, and dust; "the +gaudy, babbling, and remorseless day," with hardly a wall of stones to +protect them from the inroads of unruly brutes or brutish men. It is +as if the rites of sepulture were refused, and the poor boon of a +resting-place in the bosom of our common mother denied to her +offspring; as if, in our avarice of soul, we grudged even the last +narrow house destined for all; and {75} fain would resume the last, +the only gift our departed ones may retain. Who would not dread "_to +die_" and have his lifeless clay deposited thus! Who would not, ere +the last fleeting particle of existence had "ebbed to its finish," and +the feeble breathing had forsaken its tenement for ever, pour forth +the anguish of his spirit in the melancholy prayer, + + "When breath and sense have left this clay, + In yon damp vault, oh lay me not! + But kindly bear my bones away + To some lone, green, and sunny spot." + +Reverence for the departed is ever a beautiful feature of humanity, +and has struck us with admiration for nations of our race who could +boast but few redeeming traits beside. It is, moreover, a circumstance +not a little remarkable in the history of funeral obsequy, that +veneration for the departed has prevailed in a ratio almost inverse to +the degree of civilization. Without attempting to account for this +circumstance, or to instance the multitude of examples which recur to +every mind in its illustration, I would only refer to that deep +religion of the soul which Nature has implanted in the heart of her +simple child of the Western forests, teaching him to preserve and to +honour the bones of his fathers! And those mysterious mausoleums of a +former race! do they convey no meaning as they rise in lonely grandeur +from our beautiful prairies, and look down upon the noble streams +which for ages have dashed their dark floods along their base! + +{76} But a few years have passed away since this empire valley of the +West was first pressed by the footstep of civilized man; and, if we +except those aged sepulchres of the past, the cities of the dead +hardly yet range side by side with the cities of the living. But this +cannot _always_ be; even in this distant, beautiful land, death _must_ +come; and here it doubtless has come, as many an anguished bosom can +witness. Is it not, then, meet, while the busy tide of worldly +enterprise is rolling heavily forth over this fair land, and the +costly structures of art and opulence are rising on every side, as by +the enchantment of Arabian fiction--is it _not_ meet that, amid the +pauses of excitement, a solitary thought would linger around that +spot, which must surely, reader, become the last resting-place of us +all! + +I have often, in my wanderings through this pleasant land, experienced +a thrill of delight which I can hardly describe, to behold, on +entering a little Western hamlet, a neat white paling rising up +beneath the groves in some green, sequestered spot, whose object none +could mistake. Upon some of these, simple as they were, seemed to have +been bestowed more than ordinary care; for they betrayed an +elaborateness of workmanship and a delicacy of design sought for in +vain among the ruder habitations of the living. This is, _surely_, as +it should be; and I pity the man whose feelings cannot appreciate such +a touching, beautiful expression of the heart. I have alluded to +Franklin, and how pleasant it is to detect the kindly, household +emotions of our nature throbbing beneath the {77} starred, dignified +breast of philosophy and science. FRANKLIN, the statesman, the sage; +he who turned the red lightnings from their wild pathway through the +skies, and rocked the iron cradle of the mightiest democracy on the +globe! we gaze upon him with awe and astonishment; involuntarily we +yield the lofty motto presented by the illustrious Frenchman,[198] +"_Eripuit fulmen coelo, mox sceptra tyrannis_." But when we behold +that towering intellect descending from its throne, and intermingling +its emotions even with those of the lowliest mind, admiration and +reverence are lost in _love_. + +The preceding remarks, which have lengthened out themselves far beyond +my design, were suggested by the loveliness of the site of the +graveyard of the little village of Decatur. I was struck with its +beauty on entering the place. It was near sunset; in the distance +slept the quiet hamlet; upon my right, beneath the grove, peeped out +the white paling through the glossy foliage; and as the broad, deep +shadows of summer evening streamed lengthening through the trees wide +over the landscape, that little spot seemed to my mind the sweetest +one in the scene. And should not the burial-ground be ever thus! for +who shall tell the emotions which may swell the bosom of many a dying +emigrant who here shall find his long, last rest? In that chill hour, +how will the thought of home, kindred, friendships, childhood-scenes, +come rushing over the memory! and to lay his bones in the {78} quiet +graveyard of his own native village, perchance may draw forth many a +sorrowing sigh. But this now may never be; yet it will be consoling to +the pilgrim-heart to realize that, though the resurrection morn shall +find his relics far from the graves of his fathers, he shall yet sleep +the long slumber, and at last come forth with those who were kind and +near to him in a stranger-land; who laid away his cold clay in no +"Potter's Field," but gathered it to their own household sepulchre. +The human mind, whatever its philosophy, can never utterly divest +itself of the idea that the spirit retains a consciousness of the +lifeless body, sympathizing with its honour or neglect, and affected +by all that variety of circumstance which may attend its existence: +and who shall say how far this belief--superstition though it be--may +smooth or trouble the dying pillow! How soothing, too, the reflection +to the sorrow of distant friends, that their departed one peacefully +and decently was gathered to his rest; that his dust is sleeping +quietly in some sweet, lonely spot beneath the dark groves of the +far-land; that his turf is often dewed by the teardrop of sympathy, +and around his lowly headstone waves the wild-grass ever green and +free! The son, the brother, the loved wanderer from his father's home, + + "Is in his grave! + After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well." + +The route leading to Decatur from the west lies chiefly through a +broad branch of the "Grand Prairie," an immense plain, sweeping +diagonally, with {79} little interruption, through the whole State of +Illinois, from the Mississippi to the Wabash. For the first time, in +any considerable number, I here met with those singular granite +masses, termed familiarly by the settlers "_lost rocks_"; in geology, +_boulders_. They are usually of a mammillated, globular figure, the +surface perfectly smooth, sometimes six hundred tons in weight, and +always lying completely isolated, frequently some hundred miles from a +quarry. They rest upon the surface or are slightly imbedded in the +soil; and, so far as my own observation extends, are of distinct +granitic formation, of various density and composition. Several +specimens I obtained are as heavy as metal, and doubtless contain +iron. Many of them, however, like those round masses dug from the +ancient works in Ohio, are pyritous in character. There is a mystery +about these "lost rocks" not easily solved, for no granite quarry has +ever yet been discovered in Illinois. Their appearance, in the midst +of a vast prairie, is dreary and lonely enough. + +The site of the town of Decatur is somewhat depressed, and in the +heart of a grove of noble oaks.[199] Long before the traveller reaches +it, the whole village is placed before his eye from the rounded summit +of the hill, over which winds the road. The neighbouring region is +well settled; the prairie high and rolling, and timber abundant. It is +not a large place, however; and perhaps there are few circumstances +which will render it otherwise for some years. It contains, +nevertheless, a few handsome buildings; several trading +establishments; a good tavern; is said to be healthy; and, upon the +whole, is a far {80} prettier, neater little village than many others +of loftier pretensions through which I have passed in Illinois. The +village will be intersected by two of the principal railroads of the +state, now projected, which circumstance cannot fail to place it in +the first rank as an inland trading town. + +My visit at Decatur was a short one; and, after tea, just as the moon +was beginning to silver the tops of the eastern oaks, I left the +village and rode leisurely through the forest, in order to enter upon +the prairie at dawn the following day. A short distance from Decatur I +again forded the Sangamon; the same insignificant stream as ever; and, +by dint of scrambling, succeeded in attaining the lofty summit of its +opposite bank, from which the surrounding scenery of rolling +forest-tops was magnificent and sublime. From this elevation the +pathway plunged into a thick grove, dark as Erebus, save where lighted +up by a few pale moonbeams struggling through a break in the +tree-tops, or the deep-red gleamings of the evening sky streaming at +intervals along the undergrowth. The hour was a calm and impressive +one: its very loneliness made it sweeter; and that beautiful hymn of +the Tyrolean peasantry at sunset, as versified by Mrs. Hemans, was +forcibly recalled by the scene: + + "Come to the sunset tree! + The day is past and gone; + The woodman's axe lies free, + And the reaper's work is done. + Sweet is the hour of rest! + Pleasant the wood's low sigh, + And the gleaming of the west, + And the turf whereon we lie." + +{81} After a ride of a few miles my path suddenly emerged from the +forest upon the edge of a boundless prairie, from whose dark-rolling +herbage, here and there along the distant swells, was thrown back the +glorious moonlight, as if from the restless, heaving bosom of the +deep. An extensive prairie, beneath a full burst of summer moonlight, +is, indeed, a magnificent spectacle. One can hardly persuade himself +that he is not upon the ocean-shore. And now a wild, fresh breeze, +which all the day had been out playing among the perfumed flowers and +riding the green-crested waves, came rolling in from the prairie, +producing an undulation of its surface and a murmuring in the heavy +forest-boughs perfect in the illusion. All along the low, distant +horizon hung a thin mist of silvery gauze, which, as it rose and fell +upon the dark herbage, gave an idea of mysterious boundlessness to the +scene. Here and there stood out a lonely, weather-beaten tree upon the +plain, its trunk shrouded in obscurity, but its leafy top sighing in +the night-breeze, and gleaming like a beacon-light in the beams of the +cloudless moon. There was a dash of fascinating romance about the +scene, which held me involuntarily upon the spot until reminded by the +chill dews of night that I had, as yet, no shelter. On casting around +my eye, I perceived a low log cabin, half buried in vegetation, +standing alone in the skirt of the wood. Although a miserable +tenement, necessity compelled me to accept its hospitality, and I +entered. It consisted of a single apartment, in which two beds, two +stools, a cross-legged deal table, {82} and a rough clothes-press, +were the only household furniture. A few indispensable iron utensils +sat near the fire; the water-pail and gourd stood upon the shelf, and +a half-consumed flitch of bacon hung suspended in the chimney; but the +superlatives of andirons, shovel and tongs, etc., etc., were all +unknown in this primitive abode. A pair of "lost rocks"--_lost_, +indeed--supplied the first, and the gnarled branch of an oak was +substituted for the latter. The huge old chimney and fireplace were, +as usual, fashioned of sticks and bedaubed with clay; yet everything +looked neat, yea, _comfortable_, in very despite of poverty itself. A +young female with her child, an infant boy, in her arms, was +superintending the preparation of the evening meal. Her language and +demeanour were superior to the miserable circumstances by which she +was surrounded; and though she moved about her narrow demesne with a +quiet, satisfied air, I was not long in learning that _affection_ +alone had transplanted this exotic of the prairie from a more +congenial soil. What woman does not love to tell over those passages +of her history in which the _heart_ has ruled lord of the ascendant? +and how very different in this respect is our sex from hers! Man, +proud man, "the creature of interest and ambition," often blushes to +be reminded that he has a heart, while woman's cheek mantles with the +very intensity of its pulsation! The husband in a few minutes came in +from attending to my horse; the rough table was spread; a humble fare +was produced; all were seated; and then, beneath that miserable roof, +{83} around that meager board, before a morsel of the food, poor as it +was, passed the lip of an individual, the iron hand of toil was +reverently raised, and a grateful heart called down a blessing from +the Mightiest! Ah! thought I, as I beheld the peaceful, satisfied air +of that poor man, as he partook of his humble evening meal with +gratefulness, little does the son of luxury know the calm contentment +which fills his breast! And the great God, as he looks down upon his +children and reads their hearts, does he not listen to many a warmer, +purer thank-offering from beneath the lowly roof-tree of the +wilderness, than from all the palaces of opulence and pride? So it has +ever been--so it has _ever_ been--and so can it never cease to be +while the heart of man remains attempered as it is. + +The humble repast was soon over; and, without difficulty, I entered +into conversation with the father of the family. He informed me that +he had been but a few years a resident of Illinois; that he had been +unfortunate; and that, recently, his circumstances had become more +than usually circumscribed, from his endeavours to save from +speculators a pre-emption right of the small farm he was cultivating. +This farm was his _all_; and, in his solicitude to retain its +possession, he had disposed of every article of the household which +would in any way produce money, even of a part of his own and his +wife's wardrobe. I found him a man of considerable intelligence, and +he imparted to me some facts respecting that singular sect styling +themselves Mormonites of which I was previously hardly aware. Immense +{84} crowds of these people had passed his door on the great road from +Terre Haute, all with families and household effects stowed away in +little one-horse wagons of peculiar construction, and on their journey +to Mount Zion, the New Jerusalem, situated near Independence, Jackson +county, Missouri! Their observance of the Sabbath was almost +pharisaically severe, never permitting themselves to travel upon that +day; the men devoting it to hunting, and the females to washing +clothes, and other operations of the camp! It was their custom, +likewise, to hold a preachment in every village or settlement, whether +men would hear or forbear: the latter must have been the case with +something of a majority, I think, since no one with whom I have ever +met could, for the life of him, give a subsequent expose of +_Mormonism_, "though often requested." + + "I never heard or could engage + A person yet by prayers, or bribes, or tears, + To name, define by speech, or write on page, + The _doctrines_ meant precisely by that word, + Which surely is exceedingly absurd." + +They assert that an angelic messenger has appeared to Joe Smith, +announcing the millennial dawn at hand; that a glorious city of the +faithful--the New Jerusalem, with streets of gold and gates of +pearl--is about to be reared upon Mount Zion, Mo., where the Saviour +will descend and establish a kingdom to which there shall be no end; +ergo, argue these everlasting livers, it befits all good citizens to +get to Independence, Jackson county, aforesaid, as fast as one-horse +wagons will convey them![200] Large quantities of arms and ammunition +have, moreover, been {85} forwarded, so that the item of "the sword +being beaten into a ploughshare, and spear into pruning-hook," seems +not of probable fulfilment according to these worthies. The truth of +the case is, they anticipated a brush with the long-haired +"pukes"[201] before securing a "demise, release, and for ever +quitclaim" to Zion Hill, said _pukes_ having already at sundry times +manifested a refractory spirit, and, from the following anecdote of my +good man of the hut, in "rather a ridic'lous manner." I am no voucher +for the story: I give it as related; "and," as Ben Jonson says, "what +he has possessed me withal, I'll discharge it amply." + +"One Sabbath evening, when the services of the congregation of the +Mormonites were over, the Rev. Joe Smith, priest and prophet, +announced to his expectant tribe that, on the succeeding Sabbath, the +baptismal sacrament would take place, when an angel would appear on +the opposite bank of the stream. Next Sabbath came, and 'great was the +company of the people' to witness the miraculous visitation. The +baptism commenced, and was now wellnigh concluded: 'Do our eyes +deceive us! can such things _be_! The prophecy! the angel!' were +exclamations which ran through the multitude, as a fair form, veiled +in a loose white garment, with flowing locks and long bright pinions, +stood suddenly before the assembled multitude upon the opposite shore, +and then disappeared! All was amazement, consternation, awe! But where +is Joe Smith? In a few moments Joe Smith was with them, and their +faith was confirmed. + +{86} "Again was a baptism appointed--again was the angel announced--a +larger congregation assembled--and yet again did the angel appear. At +that moment two powerful men sprang from a thicket, rushed upon the +angelic visitant, and, amid mingling exclamations of horror and +_execrations_ of piety from the spectators, tore away his long white +wings, his hair and robe, and plunged him into the stream! By some +unaccountable metamorphosis, the angel emerged from the river honest +Joe Smith, priest of Mormon, finder of the golden plates, etc., etc., +and the magi of the enchantment were revealed in the persons of two +brawny _pukes_." Since then, the story concludes, not an angel has +been seen all about Mount Zion! The miracle of walking upon water was +afterward essayed, but failed by the removal, by some impious wags, of +the _benches_ prepared for the occasion. It is truly astonishing to +what lengths superstition has run in some sections of this same +Illinois. Not long since, a knowing farmer in the county of Macon +conceived himself ordained of heaven a promulgator to the world of a +system of "New Light," so styled, upon "a plan entirely new." No +sooner did the idea strike his fancy, than, leaving the plough in the +middle of the furrow, away sallies he to the nearest village, and +admonishes every one, everywhere, forthwith to be baptized by his +heaven-appointed hands, and become a regenerate man on the spot. Many +believed--was there ever faith too preposterous to obtain proselytes? +the doctrine, in popular phrase, "took mightily;" and, it must be +confessed, the whole world, men, women, and children, were {87} in a +fair way for regeneration. Unfortunately for that desirable +consummation, at this crisis certain simple-hearted people +thereabouts, by some freak of fancy or other, took it into their +heads that the priest himself manifested hardly that _quantum_ of the +regenerated spirit that beseemed so considerable a functionary. Among +other peccadilloes, he had unhappily fallen into a habit every Sabbath +morning, when he rode in from his farmhouse--a neat little edifice +which the good people had erected for his benefit in the outskirts of +the village--of trotting solemnly up before the grocery-door upon his +horse, receiving a glass of some dark-coloured liquid, character +unknown, drinking it off with considerable gusto, dropping a +_picayune_ into the tumbler, then proceeding to the pulpit, and, on +the inspiration of the mysterious potation, holding vehemently forth. +Sundry other misdeeds of the reverend man near about the same time +came to light, so that at length the old women pronounced that +terrible fiat, "the preacher was no _better_ than he should be;" which +means, as everybody knows, that he was a good deal _worse_. And so the +men, old and young, chimed in, and the priest was politely advised to +decamp before the doctrine should get unsavoury. Thus ended the +glorious discovery of New-lightism! + +It is a humiliating thing to review the aberrations of the human mind: +and, believe me, reader, my intention in reviewing these instances of +religious fanaticism has been not to excite a smile of transient +merriment, nor for a moment to call in question the {88} reality of +true devotion. My intention has been to show to what extremes of +preposterous folly man may be hurried when he once resigns himself to +the vagaries of fancy upon a subject which demands the severest +deductions of reason. It is, indeed, a _melancholy_ consideration, +that, in a country like our own, which we fondly look upon as the hope +of the world, and amid the full-orbed effulgence of the nineteenth +century, there should exist a body of men, more than twelve thousand +in number, as is estimated, professing belief in a faith so +unutterably absurd as that styled Mormonism; a faith which would have +disgraced the darkest hour of the darkest era of our race.[202] But it +is not for me to read the human _heart_. + +_Shelbyville, Ill._ + + + + +XXX + + "The day is lowering; stilly black + Sleeps the grim waste, while heaven's rack, + Dispersed and wild, 'tween earth and sky + Hangs like a shatter'd canopy!" + _Fire-worshippers._ + + "Rent is the fleecy mantle of the sky; + The clouds fly different; and the sudden sun + By fits effulgent gilds the illumined fields, + And black by fits the shadows sweep along." + THOMSON. + + "The bleak winds + Do sorely ruffle; for many miles about + There's scarce a bush." + _Lear, Act 2._ + + "These are the Gardens of the Desert." + BRYANT. + + +Merrily, merrily did the wild night-wind howl, and whistle, and rave +around the little low cabin beneath whose humble roof-tree the +traveller had lain himself to rest. Now it would roar and rumble down +the huge wooden chimney, and anon sigh along the tall grass-tops and +through the crannies like the wail of some lost one of the waste. The +moonbeams, at intervals darkened by the drifting clouds and again +pouring gloriously forth, streamed in long threads of silver through +the shattered walls; while the shaggy forest in the back-ground, +tossing its heavy branches against the troubled sky, {90} roared forth +a deep chorus to the storm. It was a wild night, and so complete was +the illusion that, in the fitful lullings of the tempest, one almost +imagined himself on the ocean-beach, listening to the confused +weltering of the surge. There was much of high sublimity in all this; +and hours passed away before the traveller, weary as he was, could +quiet his mind to slumber. There are seasons when every chord, and +nerve, and sinew of the system seems wound up to its severest tension; +and a morbid, unnatural excitement broods over the mind, forbidding +all approach to quietude. Every one has _experienced_ this under +peculiar circumstances; few can _describe_ it. + +The night wore tediously away, and at the dawn the traveller was again +in the saddle, pushing forth like a "pilgrim-bark" upon the swelling +ocean-waste, sweeping even to the broad curve of undulating horizon +beyond. There is always something singularly unpleasant in the idea of +going out upon one of these vast prairies _alone_; and such the sense +of utter loneliness, that the solitary traveller never fails to cast +back a lingering gaze upon the last low tenement he is leaving. The +winds were still up, and the rack and clouds were scudding in wild +confusion along the darkened sky; + + "Here, flying loosely as the mane + Of a young war-horse in the blast; + There, roll'd in masses dark and swelling, + As proud to be the thunder's dwelling!" + +From time to time a heavy blast would come careering {91} with +resistless fury along the heaving plain, almost tearing the rider from +his horse. The celebrated "Grand Prairie," upon which I was now +entering, stretched itself away to the south thirty miles, a vast, +unbroken meadow; and one may conceive, not describe, the terrible +fury of a storm-wind sweeping over a surface like this.[203] As the +morning advanced, the violence of the tempest lulled into fitful +gusts; and, as the centre of the vast amphitheatre was attained, a +scene of grandeur and magnificence opened to my eye such as it never +before had looked upon. Elevated upon a full roll of the prairie, the +glance ranged over a scene of seemingly limitless extent; for upon +every side, for the first time in my ramble, the deep blue line of the +horizon and the darker hue of the waving verdure blended into one. + +The touching, delicate loveliness of the lesser prairies, so +resplendent in brilliancy of hue and beauty of outline, I have often +dwelt upon with delight. The graceful undulation of slope and swell; +the exquisite richness and freshness of the verdure flashing in native +magnificence; the gorgeous dies of the matchless and many-coloured +flowers dallying with the winds; the beautiful woodland points and +promontories shooting forth into the mimic sea; the far-retreating, +shadowy _coves_, going back in long vistas into the green wood; the +curved outline of the dim, distant horizon, caught at intervals +through the openings of the forest; and the whole gloriously lighted +up by the early radiance of morning, as with rosy footsteps she came +dancing {92} over the dew-gemmed landscape; all these constituted a +scene in which beauty unrivalled was the sole ingredient. And then +those bright enamelled clumps of living emerald, sleeping upon the +wavy surface like the golden Hesperides of classic fiction, or, like +another cluster of Fortunate Isles in the dark-blue waters, breathing +a fragrance as from oriental bowers; the wild-deer bounding in +startled beauty from his bed, and the merry note of the skylark, +whistling, with speckled vest and dew-wet wing, upon the resin-weed, +lent the last touchings to Nature's _chef d'oeuvre_. + + "Oh, beautiful, still beautiful, + Though long and lone the way." + +But the scene amid which I was now standing could boast an aspect +little like this. Here, indeed, were the rare and delicate flowers; +and life, in all its fresh and beautiful forms, was leaping forth in +wild and sportive luxuriance at my feet. But all was vast, +measureless, Titanic; and the loveliness of the picture was lost in +its grandeur. Here was no magnificence of _beauty_, no _gorgeousness_ +of vegetation, no _splendour_ of the wilderness; + + "Green isles and circling shores _ne'er_ blended here + In wild reality!" + +All was bold and impressive, reposing in the stern, majestic solitude +of Nature. On every side the earth heaved and rolled like the swell of +troubled waters; now sweeping away in the long heavy wave of ocean, +and now rocking and curling like the abrupt, broken bay-billow +tumbling around the {93} crag. Between the lengthened parallel ridges +stretch the ravines by which the prairie is drained; and, owing to the +depth and tenacity of the soil, they are sometimes almost impassable. +Ascending from these, the elevation swells so gradually as to be +almost imperceptible to the traveller, until he finds himself upon the +summit, and the immense landscape is spread out around him. + + "The clouds + Sweep over with their shadows, and beneath, + The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye; + Dark hollows seem to glide along and chase + The sunny ridges." + +The diversity of light and shade upon the swells and depressions at +the hour of sunrise, or when at midday clouds are drifting along the +sky, is endless. A few points here and there are thrown into prominent +relief; while others, deeply retreating, constitute an imaginary +back-ground perfect in its kind. And then the sunlight, constantly +changing its position, is received upon such a variety of angles, and +these, too, so rapidly vary as the breeze rolls over the surface, that +it gives the scene a wild and shifting aspect to the eye at times, +barely reconcilable with the idea of reality. + +As the sun reached the meridian the winds went down, and then the +stillness of death hung over the prairie. The utter desolateness of +such a scene is indescribable. Not a solitary tree to intercept the +vision or to break the monotony; not a sound to cheer the ear or +relieve the desolation; not a living {94} thing in all that vast wild +plain to tell the traveller that he was not + + "Alone, alone, all, all alone, + Alone on a wide, wide sea!" + +It is at such a season that the question presents itself with more +than ordinary vehemence to the mind, _To what circumstance do these +vast prairies owe their origin_? Amid what terrible convulsion of the +elements did these great ocean-plains heave themselves into being? +What mighty voice has rolled this heaped-up surface into tumult, and +then, amid the storm and the tempest, bid the curling billows stand, +and fixed them there? + + "The hand that built the firmament hath heaved + And smooth'd these verdant swells." + +The origin of the prairie has given rise to much speculation. Some +contend that we are to regard these vast plains in the same light as +mountains, valleys, forests, and other grand features of Nature's +workmanship. And, it is very true, plains of a character not +dissimilar are to be met with all over our earth; at every degree of +elevation of every extent, and of every stage of fertility, from the +exhaustless fecundity of the delta of the Nile to the barren sterility +of the sands of the desert. Northern Asia has her boundless _pastures_ +and _steppes_, where the wild Tartar feeds his flock; Africa may boast +her Bedouin _sands_, her _tablelands_, and her _karroos_; South +America her grassy _llanos_ and _pampas_; Europe her purple _heather_; +India her _jungles_; the southern sections of our own land their +beautiful _savannas_; and wherefore not the {95} vast regions of the +"Far West" their broad-rolling _prairies_? The word is of French +derivation, signifying _meadow_; and is applied to every description +of surface destitute of timber and clothed with grass. It was, then, +upon their own fair prairies of Judea and Mesopotamia that the ancient +patriarchs pitched their tents. The tough sward of the prairie, when +firmly formed, it is well known, refuses to receive the forest; but, +once broken into by the ploughshare or by any other cause, and +protected from the autumnal flames, and all is soon rolling with +green; and the sumach, the hazel, and the wild-cherry are succeeded by +the oak. Such is the argument for the _natural_ origin of the prairie, +and its cogency none will deny. But, assuming for a moment a +_diluvial_ origin to these vast plains, as a thousand circumstances +concur to indicate, and the phenomena are far more satisfactorily and +philosophically resolved. In a soil so exhaustlessly fertile, the +grasses and herbs would first secure possession of the surface. Even +now, whenever the earth is thrown up, from whatever depth, it is +immediately mossed with verdure by the countless embryos buried in +its teeming bosom; a proof incontestable of secondary origin. After +the grasses succeeded flowering shrubs; then the larger weeds; +eventually, thickets were formed; the surface was baked and hardened +by the direct rays of the sun, and the bosom of the soil, bound up as +if by bands of brass and iron, utterly refused to receive or nourish +the seeds of the forest now strewn over it. This is the unavoidable +conclusion wherever natural {96} causes have held their sway. Upon the +borders of rivers, creeks, and overflowing streams, or wherever the +soil has become broken, this series of causes was interrupted, and the +result we see in the numerous island-groves, and in the forests which +invariably fringe the water-courses, great and small. The autumnal +fires, too, aboriginal tradition informs us, have annually swept these +vast plains from an era which the memory of man faileth to record, +scathing and consuming every bush, shrub, or thicket which in the +lapse of ages might have aspired to the dignity of a tree; a nucleus +around which other trees might have clustered. Here and there, indeed, +amid the heaving waste, a desolate, wind-shaken, flame-blackened oak +rears its naked branches in the distance; but it is a stricken thing, +and only confirms the position assumed. From a concurrence of +fortuitous circumstances easily conceived, the solitary seed was +received into a genial soil; the tender shrub and the sapling were +protected from destruction, and at length it had struggled into the +upper air, and defied alike the flames and blasts of the prairie. + +The argument of _analogy_ for the _natural origin_ of the prairie may +also be fairly questioned, since careful examination of the subject +must convince any unprejudiced mind that the similarity of feature +between these plains and others with which we are acquainted is not +sufficiently striking to warrant comparison. The _pampas_, the +_steppes_, and the _sand-plains_, though not unlike in the more +prominent characteristics, are yet widely different {97} in +configuration, extent, and soil. The prairie combines characteristics +of each, exhibiting features of all in _common_, of no one in +_particular_. Who would institute comparison between the dark-rolling +luxuriance of the North American prairie, and the gloomy moor of +Northern Europe, with its heavy, funereal mantle of heather and +_ling_. Could the rifest fancy conjure up the _weird sisters_, all "so +withered and so wild in their attire," upon these beautiful plains of +the departed Illini! Nor do we meet in the thyme-breathing downs of +"merry England," the broad rich levels of France, the grape-clad +highlands of Spain, or in the golden mellowness of the Italian +_Campagna_, with a similitude of feature sufficiently striking to +identify our own glorious prairies with them. Europe can boast, +indeed, no peculiarity of surface assuming like configuration or +exhibiting like phenomena. + +When, then, we reflect, that of all those plains which spread out +themselves upon our globe, the North American prairie possesses +characteristics peculiar to itself, and to be met with nowhere beside; +when we consider the demonstrations of a soil of origin incontestably +diluvial; when we wander over the heaving, billowy surface, and behold +it strewed with the rocky offspring of another region, and, at +intervals, encased in the saline crust of the ocean-sediment; when we +dive into its fathomless bosom, and bring forth the crumbling relics +of man and animal from sepulchres into which, for untold cycles, they +have been entombed; and when we linger along those rolling streams by +which they {98} are intersected, and behold upon their banks the +mighty indications of whirling, subsiding floods, and behold buried in +the heart of the everlasting rock productions only of the sea, the +conviction is forced upon us, almost resistlessly, that here the broad +ocean once heaved and roared. To what circumstance, indeed, but a +revolution of nature like this, are we to refer that uniform +deposition of earthy strata upon the alluvial bottom-land of every +stream? to what those deep-cut race-paths which the great streams +have, in the lapse of centuries, worn for themselves through the +everlasting rock, hundreds of feet? to what those vast salt-plains of +Arkansas? those rocky heaps of the same mineral on the Missouri, or +those huge isolated masses of limestone, rearing themselves amid the +lonely grandeur, a wonder to the savage? Or to what else shall we +refer those collections of enormous seashells, heaped upon the soil, +or thrown up to its surface from a depth of fifty feet? + +Many phenomena in the Valley of the Mississippi concur to confirm the +idea that its vast delta-plains, when first forsaken by the waters of +the ocean, were possessed by extensive canebrakes, covering, indeed, +its entire surface. If, then, we suppose the Indians, who passed from +Asia to America in the early centuries of the Christian era, to have +commenced the fires in autumn when the reed was like tinder, and the +conflagration would sweep over boundless regions, we at once have an +hypothesis which accounts for the origin of the prairies. It is at +least as plausible as some others. The occasions of the autumnal fires +may have been {99} various. The cane-forests must have presented an +insurmountable obstacle in travelling, hunting, agriculture, or even +residence; while the friction caused by the tempestuous winds of +autumn may have kindled numerous fires among the dry reeds. + +The surface peculiar to the prairie is first perceived in the State of +Ohio. As we proceed north and west it increases in extent, until, a +few hundred miles beyond the Mississippi, it rolls on towards the +setting sun, in all the majesty and magnificence of boundlessness, to +the base of the Rocky Mountains. Such are the beautiful prairies of +the fair Far West; and if, gentle reader, my pen, all rapid though it +be, has lingered tediously to thee along their fairy borders, it may +yet prove no small consolation to thy weariness to reflect that its +errings upon the subject are wellnigh ended. + +It was yet early in the day, as I have intimated, when I reached the +centre of that broad branch of the Grand Prairie over which I was +passing; and, mile after mile, the narrow pathway, almost obliterated +here and there by the waving vegetation, continued to wind itself +along. With that unreflecting carelessness which characterizes the +inexperienced wayfarer, I had left behind me the last human habitation +I was for hours to look upon, without the slightest refreshment; and +now the demands of unappeased nature, sharpened by exercise, by the +keen atmosphere of the prairies, and, probably, by the force of fancy, +which never fails to aggravate privations which we know to be +remediless, had become absolutely painful. The faithful animal beneath +{100} me, also, from the total absence of water along our path, was +nearly exhausted; and there, before and around, and on every side, not +an object met the view but the broad-rolling, limitless prairie, and +the dim, misty horizon in the distance. Above, the heavens were calm +and blue, and the bright sun was careering on in his giant course as +gloriously as if the storm-cloud had never swept his path. League +after league the prairie lay behind me, and still swell upon swell, +wave after wave, heaved up itself in endless succession before the +wearied eye. There _is_ a point, reader, in physical, not less than in +moral affairs, where forbearance ceases to be a virtue; and, +veritably, suggestions bordering on the horrible were beginning to +flit athwart the fancy, when, happily, a long, low, wavering +cloud-like line was caught stretching itself upon the extremest verge +of the misty horizon. My jaded animal was urged onward; and slowly, +_very_ slowly, the dim outline undulated upward, and the green forest +rose gradually before the gladdened vision! A few miles, the path +plunged into the green, fresh woods; crossed a deep creek, which +betrayed its meandering by the grove along its banks, and the hungry +traveller threw himself from his horse before a log cabin imbowered in +the trees. The spot was one of those luxuriant copses in the heart of +the prairie, comprising several hundred acres, so common in the +northern sections of Illinois. "_Victuals and drink!_" were, of +course, the first demand from a female who showed herself at the door; +and, "_I judge_" was the laconic but cheering {101} reply. She stared +with uncontrolled curiosity at her stranger-guest. At the moment he +must have looked a perfect incarnation of ferocity; a very genius of +famine and starvation; but, all in good time, he was luxuriating over +a huge fragment of swine's flesh, a bowl of honey, and a loaf of +bread; and soon were his _miseries_ over. What! honey and hog's flesh +not a luxury! Say ye so, reader! Verily, then, were ye never half +starved in the heart of a Western prairie! + +_Salem, Ill._ + + + + +XXXI + + "No leave take I, for I will ride + As far as land will let me." + + "The long sunny lapse of a summer's daylight." + + "What fool is this!" + _As You Like It._ + + +Among that novel variety of feature which the perspicacity of European +tourists in America has enabled them to detect of Cis-atlantic +character, two traits seem ever to stand forth in striking relief, and +are dwelt upon with very evident satisfaction: I allude to Avarice and +Curiosity. Upon the former of these characteristics it is not my +purpose to comment; though one can hardly have been a traveller, in +any acceptation of the term, or in almost any section of our land, +without having arrived at a pretty decided opinion upon the subject. +Curiosity, {102} however, it will not, I am persuaded, be denied, +_does_ constitute a feature, and no inconsiderable one, in our +national character; nor would it, perhaps, prove a difficult task to +lay the finger upon those precise circumstances in our origin and +history as a people which have tended to superinduce a trait of this +kind--a trait so disgusting in its ultra development; and yet, in its +ultimate nature, so indispensably the mainspring of everything +efficient in mind. "_Low vice_," as the author of Childe Harold has +been pleased to stigmatize it; yet upon this single propellant may, in +retrospect, be predicated the cause of more that contributes to man's +happiness than perhaps upon any other. _Frailty of a little mind_, as +it _may_ be, and is often deemed; yet not the less true is it that the +omnipotent workings of this passion have ever been, and must, until +the nature of the human mind is radically changed, continue to remain, +at once the necessary concomitant and the essential element of a +vigorous understanding. If it be, then, indeed true, as writers and +critics beyond the waters would fain have us believe, that American +national character is thus compounded, so far from blushing at the +discovery, we would hail it as a leading cause of our unparalleled +advancement as a people in the time past, and as an unerring omen of +progression in future. + +My pen has been insensibly betrayed into these remarks in view of a +series of incidents which, during my few months rambling, have from +time to time transpired; and which, while they illustrate forcibly to +my mind the position I have assumed, {103} have also demonstrated +conclusively the minor consideration, that the passion, in all its +_phenomena_, is by no means, as some would have us believe, restricted +to any one portion of our land; that it _is_, in verity, a +characteristic of the entire Anglo-American race! Thus much for _sage +forensic_ upon "that low vice, curiosity." + +My last number left me luxuriating, with all the gusto of an amateur +prairie-wolf fresh from his starving lair, upon the _fat_ and _honey_ +of Illinois. During these blessed moments of trencher devotion, +several inmates of the little cabin whose hospitality I was enjoying, +who had been labouring in the field, successively made their +appearance; and to each individual in turn was the traveller handed +over, like a bale of suspected contraband merchandise, for +supervision. The interrogatories of each were quite the same, +embracing name and nativity, occupation, location, and destination, +administered with all the formal exactitude of a county-court lawyer. +With the inquiries of none, however, was I more amused than with those +of a little corpulent old fellow ycleped "Uncle Bill," with a +proboscis of exceeding rubicundity, and eyes red as a weasel's, to say +nothing of a voice melodious in note as an asthmatic clarionet. The +curiosity of the Northern Yankee is, in all conscience, unconscionable +enough when aroused; but, for the genuine quintessence of +inquisitiveness, commend your enemy, if you have one, to an army of +starving gallinippers, or to a backwoods' family of the Far West, who +see a traveller twice a year, and don't take the newspaper! Now {104} +mark me, reader! I mention this not as a _fault_ of the worthy +"Suckers:"[204] it is rather a misfortune; or, if otherwise, it +surely "leans to virtue's side." A _peculiarity_, nevertheless, it +certainly is; and a striking one to the stranger. Inquiries are +constantly made with most unblushing effrontery, which, under ordinary +circumstances, would be deemed but a single remove from insult, but at +which, under those to which I refer, a man of sense would not for a +moment take exception. It is _true_, as some one somewhere has said, +that a degree of inquisitiveness which in the more crowded walks of +life would be called impertinent, is perfectly allowable in the +wilderness; and nothing is more conceivable than desire for its +gratification. As to the people of Illinois, gathered as they are from +every "kindred, and nation, and tribe, and language under heaven," +there are traits of character among them which one could wish +universally possessed. Kind, hospitable, open-hearted, and confiding +have I ever found them, whether in the lonely log cabin of the prairie +or in the overflowing settlement; and some noble spirits _I_ have met +whose presence would honour any community or people. + +After my humble but delicious meal was concluded, mine host, a tall, +well-proportioned, sinewy young fellow, taking down his rifle from the +_beckets_ in which it was reposing over the rude mantel, very civilly +requested me to accompany him on a hunting ramble of a few hours in +the vicinity for deer. Having but a short evening ride before me, I +readily consented; and, leaving the cabin, we strolled {105} leisurely +through the shady woods, along the banks of the creek I have +mentioned, for several miles; but, though indications of deer were +abundant, without success. We were again returning to the hut, which +was now in sight on the prairie's edge, when, in the middle of a +remark upon the propriety of "_disposing of a part of his extensive +farm_," the rifle of my companion was suddenly brought to his eye; a +sharp crack, and a beautiful doe, which the moment before was +bounding over the nodding wild-weeds like the summer wind, lay gasping +at our feet. + +So agreeable did I find my youthful hunter, that I was wellnigh +complying with his request to "tarry with him yet a few days," and try +my own hand and eye, all unskilled though they be, in _gentle +venerie_; or, at the least, to taste a steak from the fine fat doe. +_Sed fugit, interea fugit, irreparabile tempus_; and when the shades +of evening were beginning to gather over the landscape, I had passed +over a prairie some eight miles in breadth; and, chilled and +uncomfortable from the drenching of a heavy shower, was entering the +village of Shelbyville through the trees.[205] + +This is a pleasant little town enough, situated on the west bank of +the Kaskaskia River, in a high and heavily-timbered tract. It is the +seat of justice for the county from which it takes its name, which +circumstance is fearfully portended by a ragged, bleak-looking +structure called a courthouse. Its shattered windows, and flapping +doors, and weather-stained bricks, when associated with the object to +which it is appropriated, perched up as it is in the {106} centre of +the village, reminds one of a cornfield scarecrow, performing its duty +by looking as hideous as possible. _In terrorem_, in sooth. Dame +Justice seems indeed to have met with most shameful treatment all over +the West, through her legitimate representative the courthouse. The +most interesting object in the vicinity of Shelbyville is a huge +sulphur-spring, which I did not tarry long enough to visit. + +"Will you be pleased, sir, to register your name?" was the modest +request of mine host, as, having _settled the bill_, with foot in +stirrup, I was about mounting my steed at the door of the little +hostlerie of Shelbyville the morning after my arrival. Tortured by +the pangs of a curiosity which it was quite evident must now or never +be gratified, he had pursued his guest _beyond the threshold_ with +this _dernier resort_ to elicit _a_ name and residence. "Register my +name, sir!" was the reply. "And pray, let me ask, where do you intend +that desirable operation to be performed?" The discomfited publican, +with an expression of ludicrous dismay, hastily retreating to the +bar-room, soon reappeared gallanting a mysterious-looking little +blue-book, with "Register" in ominous characters portrayed upon the +back thereof. _A_ name was accordingly soon despatched with a pencil, +beneath about a dozen others, which the honest man had probably +managed to _save_ in as many years; and, applying the spur, the last +glance of the traveller caught the eager features of his host poring +over this new accession to his treasure. + +{107} The early air of morning was intensely chilling as I left the +village and pursued my solitary way through the old woods; but, as the +sun went up the heavens, and the path emerged upon the open prairie, +the transition was astonishing. The effect of emerging from the dusky +shades of a thick wood upon a prairie on a summer day is delightful +and peculiar. I have often remarked it. It impresses one like passing +from the damp, gloomy closeness of a cavern into the genial sunshine +of a flower-garden. For the first time during my tour in Illinois was +my horse now severely troubled by that terrible insect, so notorious +all over the West, the large green-bottle prairie-fly, called the +"green-head." My attention was first attracted to it by observing +several gouts of fresh blood upon the rein; and, glancing at my +horse's neck, my surprise was great at beholding an orifice quite as +large as that produced by the _fleam_ from which the dark fluid was +freely streaming. The instant one of these fearful insects plants +itself upon a horse's body, the rider is made aware of the +circumstance by a peculiar restlessness of the animal in every limb, +which soon becomes a perfect agony, while the sweat flows forth at +every pore. The last year[206] was a remarkable one for countless +swarms of these flies; many animals were _killed_ by them; and at one +season it was even dangerous to venture across the broader prairies +except before sunrise or after nightfall. In the early settlement of +the county, these insects were so troublesome as in {108} a great +measure to retard the cultivation of the prairies; but, within a few +years, a yellow insect larger than the "green-head" has made its +appearance wherever the latter was found, and, from its sweeping +destruction of the annoying fly, has been called the "horse-guard." +These form burrows by penetrating the earth to some depth, and there +depositing the slaughtered "green-heads." It is stated that animals +become so well aware of the relief afforded by these insects and of +their presence, that the traveller recognises their arrival at once by +the quiet tranquillity which succeeds the former agitation. Ploughing +upon the prairies was formerly much delayed by these insects, and +heavy netting was requisite for the protection of the oxen. + +At an inconsiderable settlement called _Cold Spring_, after a ride of +a dozen miles, I drew up my horse for refreshment.[207] My host, a +venerable old gentleman, with brows silvered over by the frosts of +sixty winters, from some circumstance unaccountable, presumed his +guest a political circuit-rider, and arranged his remarks accordingly. +The old man's politics were, however, not a little musty. Henry Clay +was spoken of rather as a young aspirant for distinction, just +stepping upon the arena of public life, than as the aged statesman +about resigning "the seals of office," and, hoary with honour, +withdrawing from the world. Nathless, much pleased was I with my host. +He was a native of Connecticut, and twenty years had seen him a +resident in "the Valley." + +Resuming my route, the path conducted through {109} a high wood, and +for the first time since my departure from New-England was my ear +charmed by the sweet, melancholy note of the robin, beautiful songster +of my own native North. A wanderer can hardly describe his emotions on +an occurrence like this. The ornithology of the West, so far as a +limited acquaintance will warrant assertion, embraces many of the most +magnificent of the feathered creation. Here is found the jay, in gold +and azure, most splendid bird of the forest; here the woodpecker, with +flaming crest and snowy capote; the redbird; the cardinal grosbeak, +with his mellow whistle, gorgeous in crimson dies; the bluebird, +delicate as an iris; the mockbird, unrivalled chorister of our land; +the thrush; the wishton-wish; the plaintive whippoorwill; and last, +yet not the least, the turtle-dove, with her flutelike moaning. How +often, on my solitary path, when all was still through the grove, and +heaven's own breathings for a season seemed hushed, have I reined up +my horse, and, with feelings not to be described, listened to the +redundant pathos of that beautiful woodnote swelling on the air! Paley +has somewhere[208] told us, that by nothing has he been so touchingly +reminded of the benevolence of Deity as by the quiet happiness of the +infant on its mother's breast. To myself there is naught in all +Nature's beautiful circle which speaks a richer eloquence of praise +to the goodness of our God than the gushing joyousness of the +forest-bird! + +All day I continued my journey over hill and {110} dale, creek and +ravine, woodland and prairie, until, near sunset, I reined up my weary +animal to rest a while beneath the shade of a broad-boughed oak by the +wayside, of whose refreshing hospitality an emigrant, with wagon and +family, had already availed himself. The leader of the caravan, rather +a young man, was reclining upon the bank, and, according to his own +account, none the better for an extra dram. From a few remarks which +were elicited from him, I soon discovered--what I had suspected, but +which he at first had seemed doggedly intent upon concealing--that he +belonged to that singular sect to which I have before alluded, styling +themselves Mormonites, and that he was even then on his way to Mount +Zion, Jackson county, Mo.! By contriving to throw into my observations +a few of those tenets of the sect which, during my wanderings, I had +gathered up, the worthy Mormonite was soon persuaded--pardon my +insincerity, reader--that he had stumbled upon a veritable brother; +and, without reserve or mental reservation, laid open to my +cognizance, as we journeyed along, "the reasons of the faith that was +in him," and the ultimate, proximate, and intermediate designs of the +_party_. And such a chaotic fanfaronade of nonsense, absurdity, nay, +madness, was an idle curiosity never before punished with. The most +which could be gathered of any possible "_account_" from this +confused, disconnected mass of rubbish, was the following: That Joe +Smith, or Joe Smith's father, or the devil, or some other great +personage, had somewhere dug up the golden {111} plates upon which +were graven the "Book of Mormon:" that this all-mysterious and +much-to-be-admired book embraced the chronicles of the lost kings of +Israel: that it derived its cognomen from one Mormon, its principal +hero, son of Lot's daughter, king of the Moabites: that Christ was +crucified on the spot where Adam was interred: that the descendants of +Cain were all now under the curse, and no one could possibly designate +who they were: that the Saviour was about to descend in Jackson +county, Missouri; the millennium was dawning, and that all who were +not baptized by Joe Smith or his compeers, and forthwith repaired to +Mount Zion, Missouri, aforesaid, would assuredly be cut off, and that +without remedy. These may, perhaps, serve as a specimen of a host of +wild absurdities which fell from the lips of my Mormonite; but, the +instant argument upon any point was pressed, away was he a thousand +miles into the fields of mysticism; or he laid an immediate embargo on +farther proceedings by a barefaced _petitio principii_ on the faith of +the golden plates; or by asserting that the stranger knew more upon +the matter than he! At length the stranger, coming to the conclusion +that he could at least boast as _much_ of Mormonism, he spurred up, +and left the man still jogging onward, to Mount Zion. And yet, reader, +with all his nonsense, my Mormonite was by no means an ignorant +fanatic. He was a native of Virginia, and for fifteen years had been a +pedagogue west of the Blue Ridge, from which edifying profession he +had at length been {112} enticed by the eloquence of sundry preachers +who had held forth in his schoolhouse. Thereupon taking to himself a +brace of wives and two or three braces of children by way of stock in +trade for the community at Mount Zion, and having likewise taken to +himself a one-horse wagon, into which were bestowed the moveables, not +forgetting a certain big-bellied stone bottle which hung ominously +dangling in the rear; I say, having done this, and having, moreover, +pressed into service a certain raw-boned, unhappy-looking horse, and a +certain fat, happy-looking cow, which was driven along beside the +wagon, away started he all agog for the promised land. + +The grand tabernacle of these fanatics is said to be at a place they +call _Kirtland_, upon the shores of Lake Erie, some twenty miles from +Cleveland, and numbers no less than four thousand persons. Their +leader is Joe Smith, and associated with him is a certain shrewd +genius named Sydney Rigdom, a quondam preacher of the doctrine of +Campbell.[209] Under the control of these worthies as president and +cashier, a banking-house was established, which issued about $150,000, +and then deceased. The private residences are small, but the temple +is said to be an elegant structure of stone, three stories in height, +and nearly square in form. Each of its principal apartments is +calculated to contain twelve hundred persons, and has six pulpits +arranged gradatim, three at each extremity of the "Aaronic +priesthood," and in the same manner with the "priesthood of +Melchisedek." The {113} slips are so constructed as to permit the +audience to face either pulpit at pleasure. In the highest seat of the +"Aaronic priesthood" sits the venerable sire of the prophet, and below +sit his hopeful Joe and Joe's prime minister, Sydney Rigdom. The attic +of the temple is occupied for schoolrooms, five in number, where a +large number of students are taught the various branches of the +English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. The estimated cost of +this building is $60,000.[210] Smith is represented as a quiet, +placid-seeming knave, with passionless features, perfectly composed in +the midst of his heterogeneous multitude of dupes. Rigdom, on the +contrary, has a face full of fire, a fine tenour voice, and a mild and +persuasive eloquence of speech. Many of their followers are said to be +excellent men. The circumstances of the origin, rise, and progress of +this singular sect have been given to the public by the pen of an +eccentric but polished writer, and there is nothing material to add. + +The close of the day found me once more upon the banks of the +Kaskaskia; and early on the succeeding morning, fording the stream, I +pursued my route along the great national road towards Terre Haute. +This road is projected eighty feet in breadth, with a central +carriage-path of thirty feet, elevated above all standing water, and +in no instance to exceed three degrees from a perfect level. The work +has been commenced along the whole {114} line, and is under various +stages of advancement; for most of the way it is perfectly _direct_. +The bridges are to be of limestone, and of massive structure, the base +of the abutments being equal in depth to one third their altitude. The +work was for a while suspended, for the purpose of investigating +former operations, and subsequently through failure of an +appropriation from Congress; but a grant has since been voted +sufficient to complete the undertaking so far as it is now +projected.[211] West of Vandalia the route is not yet located, though +repeated surveys with reference to this object have been made. St. +Louis, Alton, Beardstown, and divers other places upon the Mississippi +and its branches present claims to become the favoured point of its +destination. Upon this road I journeyed some miles; and, even in its +present unfinished condition, it gives evidence of its enormous +character. Compare this grand national work with the crumbling relics +of the mound-builders scattered over the land, and remark the +contrast: yet how, think you, reader, would an hundred thousand men +regard an undertaking like this? + +My route at length, to my regret, struck off at right angles from the +road, and for many a mile wound away among woods and creeks. As I rode +along through the country I was somewhat surprised at meeting people +from various quarters, who seemed to be gathering to some rendezvous, +all armed with rifles, and with the paraphernalia of hunting suspended +from their shoulders. At length, near noon, I passed a log-cabin, +around which {115} were assembled about a hundred men: and, upon +inquiry, learned that they had come together for the purpose of +"shooting a beeve,"[212] as the marksmen have it. The regulations I +found to be chiefly these: A bull's-eye, with a centre nail, stands +at a distance variously of from forty to seventy yards; and those five +who, at the close of the contest, have most frequently _driven the +nail_, are entitled to a fat ox divided into five portions. Many of +the marksmen in the vicinity, I was informed, could drive the nail +twice out of every three trials. Reluctantly I was forced to decline a +civil invitation to join the party, and to leave before the sport +commenced; but, jogging leisurely along through a beautiful region of +prairie and woodland interspersed, I reached near nightfall the +village of Salem.[213] This place, with its dark, weather-beaten +edifices, forcibly recalled to my mind one of those gloomy little +seaports sprinkled along the iron-bound coast of New-England, over +some of which the ocean-storm has roared and the ocean-eagle shrieked +for more than two centuries. The town is situated on the eastern +border of the Grand Prairie, upon the stage-route from St. Louis to +Vincennes; and, as approached from one quarter, is completely +concealed by a bold promontory of timber springing into the plain. It +is a quiet, innocent, gossiping little place as ever was, no doubt; +never did any harm in all its life, and probably never will do any. +This sage conclusion is predicated upon certain items gathered at the +village singing-school; at which, ever-notable place, the traveller, +agreeable to invitation {116} attended, and carolled away most +vehemently with about a dozen others of either sex, under the +cognizance of a certain worthy personage styled _the Major_, whose +vocation seemed to be to wander over these parts for the purpose of +"_building up_" the good people in psalmody. To say that I was not +more surprised than delighted with the fruits of the honest songster's +efforts in Salem, and that I was, moreover, marvellously edified by +the brisk airs of the "Missouri Harmony," from whose cheerful pages +operations were performed, surely need not be done; therefore, prithee +reader, question me not. + +_Mt. Vernon, Ill._ + + + + +XXXII + + "After we are exhausted by a long course of application to + business, how delightful are the first moments of indolence + and repose! _O che bella coza di far niente!_"--STEWART. + + "Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn!" + _Falstaff._ + + +That distinguished metaphysician Dugald Stewart, in his treatise upon +the "Active and Moral Powers," has, in the language of my motto, +somewhere[214] observed, that leisure after continued exertion is a +source of happiness perfect in its kind; and {117} surely, at the +moment I am now writing, my own feelings abundantly testify to the +force of the remark. For more than one month past have I been urging +myself onward from village to village and from hamlet to hamlet, +through woodland, and over prairie, river, and rivulet, with almost +the celerity of an _avant courier_, and hardly with closer regard to +passing scenes and events. My purpose, reader, for I may as well tell +you, has been to accomplish, within a portion of time to some degree +limited, a "tour over the prairies" previously laid out. This, within +the prescribed period, I am now quite certain of fulfilling; and here +am I, at length "taking mine ease in mine inn" at the ancient and +venerable French village Kaskaskia. + +It is evening now. The long summer sunset is dying away in beauty from +the heavens; and alone in my chamber am I gathering up the fragments +of events scattered along the pathway of the week that is gone. Last +evening at this hour I was entering the town of Pinkneyville, and my +last number left me soberly regaling myself upon the harmonious +_vocalities_ of the sombre little village of Salem. Here, then, may I +well enough resume "the thread of my discourse." + +During my wanderings in Illinois I have more than once referred to the +frequency and violence of the thunder-gusts by which it is visited. I +had travelled not many miles the morning after leaving Salem when I +was assailed by one of the most terrific storms I remember to have yet +encountered. All the morning the atmosphere had been most oppressive, +{118} the sultriness completely prostrating, and the livid exhalations +quivered along the parched-up soil of the prairies, as if over the +mouth of an enormous furnace. A gauzy mist of silvery whiteness at +length diffused itself over the landscape; an inky cloud came heaving +up in the northern horizon, and soon the thunder-peal began to bellow +and reverberate along the darkened prairie, and the great raindrops +came tumbling to the ground. Fortunately, a shelter was at hand; but +hardly had the traveller availed himself of its liberal hospitality, +when the heavens were again lighted up by the sunbeams; the sable +cloud rolled off to the east, and all was beautiful and calm, as if +the angel of desolation in his hurried flight had but for a moment +stooped the shade of his dusky wing, and had then swept onward to +accomplish elsewhere his terrible bidding. With a reflection like this +I was about remounting to pursue my way, when a prolonged, deafening, +terrible crash--as if the wild idea of heathen mythology was indeed +about to be realized, and the thunder-car of Olympian Jove was dashing +through the concave above--caused me to falter with foot in stirrup, +and almost involuntarily to turn my eye in the direction from which +the bolt seemed to have burst. A few hundred yards from the spot on +which I stood a huge elm had been blasted by the lightning; and its +enormous shaft towering aloft, torn, mangled, shattered from the very +summit to its base, was streaming its long ghastly fragments on the +blast. The scene was one startlingly impressive; one of those few +scenes in a man's life the remembrance {119} of which years cannot +wholly efface; which he never _forgets_. As I gazed upon this giant +forest-son, which the lapse of centuries had perhaps hardly sufficed +to rear to perfection, now, even though a ruin, noble, that celebrated +passage of the poet Gray, when describing his _bard_, recurred with +some force to my mind: in this description Gray is supposed to have +had the painting of Raphael at Florence, representing Deity in the +vision of Ezekiel, before him: + + "Loose his beard and hoary hair + Stream'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air," &c. + +A ride of a few hours, after the storm had died away, brought me to +the pleasant little town of Mt. Vernon.[215] This place is the seat of +justice for Jefferson county, and has a courthouse of brick, decent +enough to the eye, to be sure, but said to have been so miserably +constructed that it is a perilous feat for his honour here to poise +the scales. The town itself is an inconsiderable place, but pleasantly +situated, in the edge of a prairie, if I forget not, and in every +other respect is exactly what every traveller has seen a dozen times +elsewhere in Illinois. Like Shelbyville, it is chiefly noted for a +remarkable spring in its vicinity, said to be highly medicinal. How +this latter item may stand I know not, but I am quite sure that all of +the _pure element_ it was my own disagreeable necessity to partake of +during my brief tarry savoured mightily of medicine or of something +akin. Epsom salts and alum seemed the chief substances in solution; +and with these minerals all the water in the region appeared heavily +charged. + +{120} It was a misty, miserable morning when I left Mt. Vernon; and as +my route lay chiefly through a dense timbered tract, the dank, heavy +atmosphere exhaling from the soil, from the luxuriant vegetation, and +from the dense foliage of the over-hanging boughs, was anything but +agreeable. To endure the pitiless drenching of a summer-shower with +equanimity demands but a brief exercise of stoicism: but it is not in +the nature of man amiably to withstand the equally pitiless +_drenching_ of a drizzling, penetrating, everlasting fog, be it of sea +origin or of land. At length a thunder-gust--the usual remedy for +these desperate cases in Illinois--dissipated the vapour, and the +glorious sunlight streamed far and wide athwart a broad prairie, in +the edge of which I stood. The route was, in the language of my +director, indeed a _blind_ one; but, having received special +instructions thereupon, I hesitated not to press onward over the +swelling, pathless plain towards the _east_. After a few miles, having +crossed an arm of the prairie, directions were again sought and +received, by which the route became due _south_, pathless as before, +and through a tract of woodland rearing itself from a bog perfectly +Serbonian. "Muddy Prairie" indeed. On every side rose the enormous +shafts of the cypress, the water-oak, and the maple, flinging from +their giant branches that gray, pensile, parasitical moss, which, +weaving its long funereal fibres into a dusky mantle, almost entangles +in the meshes the thin threads of sunlight struggling down from above. +It was here for the first time that I met in any considerable numbers +{121} with that long-necked, long-legged, long-toed, long-tailed +gentry called wild-turkeys: and, verily, here was a host ample to +atone for all former deficiency, parading in ungainly magnificence +through the forest upon every side, or peeping curiously down, with +outstretched necks and querulous piping, from their lofty perches on +the traveller below. It is by a skilful imitation of this same piping, +to say nothing of the melodious gobble that always succeeds it, that +the sportsman decoys these sentimental bipeds within his reach. The +same method is sometimes employed in hunting the deer--an imitated +bleating of the fawn when in distress--thus taking away the gentle +mother's life through the medium of her most generous impulses; a most +diabolical _modus operandi_, reader, permit me to say. + +Emerging at length, by a circuitous path, once more upon the prairie, +instructions were again sought for the _direct_ route to Pinkneyville, +and a course nearly _north_ was now pointed out. Think of that; +_east_, _south_, _north_, in regular succession too, over a tract of +country perfectly uniform, in order to run a _right_ line between two +given points! This was past all endurance. To a moral certainty with +me, the place of my destination lay away just southwest from the spot +on which I was then standing. Producing, therefore, my pocket-map and +pocket-compass, by means of a little calculation I had soon laid down +the prescribed course, determined to pursue none other, the +remonstrances, and protestations, and objurgations of men, women, and +children to the contrary notwithstanding. Pushing {122} boldly forth +into the prairie, I had not travelled many miles when I struck a path +leading off in the direction I had chosen, and which _proved_ the +direct route to Pinkneyville! Thus had I been forced to cross, +recross, and cross again, a prairie miles in breadth, and to flounder +through a swamp other miles in extent, to say nothing of the _depth_, +and all because of the utter ignorance of the worthy souls who took +upon them _to direct_. I have given this instance in detail for the +special edification and benefit of all future wayfarers in Illinois. +The only unerring guide on the prairies is the map and the compass. +Half famished, and somewhat more than half vexed at the adventures of +the morning, I found myself, near noon, at the cabin-door of an honest +old Virginian, and was ere long placed in a fair way to relieve my +craving appetite. With the little compass which hung at the +safety-riband of my watch, and which had done me such rare service +during my wanderings, the worthy old gentleman seemed heart-stricken +at first sight, and warmly protested that he and the "_stranger_" must +have "_a small bit of a tug_" for that _fixen_, a proposition which +said stranger by no means as warmly relished. Laying, therefore, +before the old farmer a slight outline of my morning's ramble, he +readily perceived that with me the "_pretty leetle fixen_" was +anything but a superlative. My evening ride was a delightful one along +the edge of an extended prairie; but, though repeatedly assured by the +worthy settlers upon the route that I could "_catch no diffick_ulty on +my way no how," my compass was {123} my only safe guide. At length, +crossing "Mud River" upon a lofty bridge of logs, the town of +Pinkneyville was before me just at sunset.[216] + +Pinkneyville has but little to commend it to the passing traveller, +whether we regard beauty of location, regularity of structure, +elegance, size, or proportion of edifices, or the cultivation of the +farms in its vicinage. It would, perhaps, be a pleasant town enough +were its site more elevated, its buildings larger, and disposed with a +little more of mathematical exactness, or its streets less lanelike +and less filthy. As it is, it will require some years to give it a +standing among its fellows. It is laid out on the roll of a small +prairie of moderate fertility, but has quite an extensive settlement +of enterprising farmers, a circumstance which will conduce far more to +the ultimate prosperity of the place. The most prominent structure is +a blood-red jail of brick, standing near the centre of the village; +rather a savage-looking concern, and, doubtless, so designed by its +sagacious architect for the purpose of frightening evil doers. + +Having taken these _observations_ from the tavern door during +twilight, the traveller retired to his chamber, nothing loath, after a +ride of nearly fifty miles, to bestow his tired frame to rest. But, +alas! that verity compels him to declare it-- + + "'Tis true, and pity 'tis 'tis true," + +the "_Traveller's Inn_" was anything, nay, _every_thing but the +comfort-giving spot the hospitable cognomen swinging from its signpost +seemed to imply. Ah! the fond visions of quietude and repose, {124} of +plentiful feeding and hearty sleeping, which those magic words, +"_Traveller's Inn_," had conjured up in the weary traveller's fancy +when they first delightfully swung before his eye. + + "But human pleasure, what art thou, in sooth! + The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below!!" + +Well--exhausted, worn down, tired out, the traveller yet found it as +utterly impossible quietly to rest, as does, doubtless, "a +half-assoilzed soul in purgatory;" and, hours before the day had begun +to break, he arose and ordered out his horse. Kind reader, hast ever, +in the varyings of thy pilgrimage through this troublous world of +ours, when faint, and languid, and weary with exertion, by any +untoward circumstance, been forced to resist the gentle promptings of +"quiet nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," and to count away the +tedious hours of the livelong night till thy very existence became a +burden to thee; till thy brain whirled and thy nerves twanged like the +tense harp-string? And didst thou not, then--didst thou not, from the +very depths of thy soul, assever this ill, of all ills mortality is +heir to, that one most utterly and unutterably intolerable patiently +to endure? 'Tis no very pitiful thing, sure, to consume the midnight +taper, "sickly" though it be: we commiserate the sacrifice, but we +fail not to appreciate the reward. Around the couch of suffering +humanity, who could not outwatch the stars? the recompense is not of +_this_ world. + + "When youth and pleasure meet, + To chase the glowing hours with flying feet," + +_who_ asks for "sleep till morn!" But when in weariness {125} of the +flesh and in languidness of spirit, the overspent wayfarer has laid +down his wearied frame to rest for the toils of the morrow, it is +indeed a _bitter_ thing rudely to have that rest broken up! "The sleep +of the _wayfaring_ man is sweet," and to have that slumber obtruded +upon by causes too contemptible for a thought, is not in nature with +equanimity to bear! Besides, the luckless sufferer meets with no +_commiseration_: it is a matter all too ludicrous for pity; and as for +fortitude, and firmness, and the like, what warrior ever achieved a +laurel in such a war? what glory is to be gained over a host of +starving--but I forbear. You are pretty well aware, kind reader, or +ought to be, that the situation of your traveller just then was +anything but an enviable one. Not so, however, deemed the worthy +landlord on this interesting occasion. His blank bewilderment of +visage may be better imagined than described, as, aroused from sleep, +his eye met the vision of his stranger guest; while the comic +amalgamation of distress and pique in the marvellously elongated +features of the fair hostess was so truly laughable, that a smile +flitted along the traveller's rebellious muscles, serving completely +to disturb the serenity of her breast! The good lady was evidently not +a little nettled at the _apparent_ mirthfulness of her guest under his +manifold miseries--I do assure thee, reader, the mirthfulness was only +_apparent_--and did not neglect occasion thereupon to let slip a sly +remark impugning his "gentle breeding," because, forsooth, dame +Nature, in throwing together her "cunning workmanship," had gifted it +with a {126} nervous system not quite of steel. Meanwhile, the honest +publican, agreeable to orders, having brought forth the horse, with +folded hands all meekly listened to the eloquence of his spouse; but +the good man was meditating the while a retaliation in shape of a most +unconscionable bill of cost, which was soon presented and was as soon +discharged. Then, leaving the interesting pair to their own +cogitations, with the very _top_ of the morning the traveller flung +himself upon his horse and was soon out of sight. + +_Kaskaskia, Ill._ + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] George D. Prentice (1802-70), founder of the Louisville _Journal_, +was graduated from Brown University in 1823. Two years later he became +editor of the Connecticut _Mirror_ and in 1828-30 had charge of the +_New England Weekly Review_. In the spring of 1830, at the earnest +solicitation of several influential Connecticut Whigs, he went West to +gather data for a life of Henry Clay. Once in Kentucky he threw all +the force of his political genius in support of Clay's policy. On +November 24, 1830, he issued the first number of the Louisville +_Journal_, which through his able management was soon recognized as +the chief Whig organ in the West. Wholly devoted to Clay's cause, +its own reputation rose and declined with that of its champion. +The _Journal_ maintained an existence till 1868, when Henry +Watterson consolidated it with the Courier, under the title of +_Courier-Journal_. Prentice is reputed to have been the originator of +the short, pointed paragraph in journalism. His _Life of Henry Clay_ +(Hartford, 1831) is well known. In 1859 he published a collection +of poems under the name _Prenticeana_ (New York). It was reprinted +in 1870 with a biography of the author by G. W. Griffin +(Philadelphia).--ED. + +[2] John M. Peck, a Baptist minister, went as a missionary to St. +Louis in 1817. After nine years of preaching in Missouri and Illinois, +he founded (1826) the Rocky Spring Seminary for training teachers and +ministers. It is said that he travelled more than six thousand miles +collecting money for endowing this school. In 1828 Peck began +publishing the _Western Pioneer_, the first official organ of the +Baptist church in the West, and served as the corresponding secretary +and financial agent of the American Baptist Publication Society from +1843 to 1845. He died at Rocky Springs, Illinois, in 1858. Peck made +important contributions to the publications of the early historical +societies in the Northwest. His chief independent works are: _A Guide +for Emigrants_ (Boston, 1831), republished as _A New Guide for +Emigrants_ (Boston, 1836); _Gazetteer of Illinois_ (Jacksonville, 1834 +and 1837); _Father Clark or the Pioneer Preacher_ (New York, 1855); +and "Life of Daniel Boone," in Jared Sparks, _American Biography_. + +Judge James Hall was born in Philadelphia (1793), and died near +Cincinnati in 1868. He was a member of the Washington Guards during +the War of 1812-15, was promoted to the 2nd United States artillery, +and accompanied Decatur on his expedition to Algiers (1815). Resigning +in 1818, he practiced law at Shawneetown, Illinois (1820-27), and +filled the office of public prosecutor and judge of the circuit court. +He moved to Vandalia (1827) and began editing the _Illinois +Intelligencer_ and the _Illinois Monthly Magazine_. From 1836 to 1853 +he was president of the commercial bank at Cincinnati, and acted as +state treasurer. He published: _Letters from the West_ (London, 1828); +_Legends of the West_ (1832); _Memoirs of the Public Services of +General William Henry Harrison_ (Philadelphia, 1836); _Sketches of +History, Life and Manners of the West_ (Philadelphia, 1835); +_Statistics of the West at the Close of 1836_ (Cincinnati, 1836); +_Notes on the Western States_ (Philadelphia, 1838); _History and +Biography of the Indians of North America_ (3 volumes, 1838-44); _The +West, its Soil, Surface, etc._ (Cincinnati, 1848); _The West, its +Commerce and Navigation_ (Cincinnati, 1848); besides a few historical +novels. For a contemporary estimate of the value of Hall's writings +see _American Monthly Magazine_ (New York, 1835), v, pp. 9-15. + +For Timothy Flint, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p. +25, note 1. + +Major Alphonso Wetmore (1793-1849) was of much less importance as a +writer on Western history than those above mentioned. He entered the +23rd infantry in 1812, and subsequently was transferred to the 6th. He +served as paymaster for his regiment from 1815 to 1821, and was +promoted to a captaincy (1819). In 1816 he moved with his family to +Franklinton, Missouri, and later practiced law in St. Louis. His chief +contribution to Western travel is a _Gazetteer of Missouri_ (St. +Louis, 1837).--ED. + +[3] The reference is to Shakespeare's _King John_, III, iv.--ED. + +[4] For a brief sketch of the history of Louisville, see Croghan's +_Journals_, in our volume i, p.136, note 106.--ED. + +[5] The seven stations formed on Beargrass Creek in the fall of 1779 +and spring of 1780 were: Falls of the Ohio, Linnis, Sullivan's Old, +Hoagland's, Floyd's, Spring, and Middle stations. Beargrass Creek, a +small stream less than ten miles in length, flows in a northwestern +trend and uniting with two smaller creeks, South and Muddy forks, +enters the Ohio (not the Mississippi) immediately above the Falls of +the Ohio (Louisville).--ED. + +[6] It is only at high stages of the river that boats even of a +smaller class can pass over the Falls. At other times they go through +the "Louisville and Portland Canal." In 1804 the Legislature of +Kentucky incorporated a company to cut a canal around the falls. +Nothing effectual, however, beyond surveys, was done until 1825, when +on the 12th of January of that year the Louisville and Portland Canal +Company was incorporated by an act of the legislature, with a capital +of $600,000, in shares of $100 each, with perpetual succession. 3665 +of the shares of the company are in the hands of individuals, about +seventy in number, residing in the following states: New-Hampshire, +Massachusetts, New-York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, and +Missouri, and 2335 shares belong to the government of the United +States. + +In December, 1825, contracts were entered into to complete the work of +this canal within two years, for about $375,000, and under these +contracts the work was commenced in March, 1826. Many unforeseen +difficulties retarded the work until the close of the year 1828. At +this time the contractors failed; new contracts were made at advanced +prices, and the canal was finally opened for navigation December 5th, +1830. When completed it cost about $750,000. Owing to the advanced +season at which it was opened, the deposites of alluvial earth at the +lower extremity of the canal, or debouchure, could not be removed; and +also from the action of the floods during the succeeding severe winter +on the stones that had been temporarily deposited on the sides of the +canal, causing them to be precipitated into the canal, it was not used +to the extent that it otherwise would have been. During the year 1831, +406 steamboats, 46 keelboats, and 357 flatboats, measuring 76,323 +tons, passed through the locks, which are about one fourth the number +that would have passed if all the obstructions had been removed. + +The Louisville and Portland Canal is about two miles in length; is +intended for steamboats of the largest class, and to overcome a fall +of 24 feet, occasioned by an irregular ledge of limerock, through +which the entire bed of the canal is excavated, a part of it, to the +depth of 12 feet, is overlaid with earth. There is one guard and three +lift locks combined, all of which have their foundation on the rock. +One bridge of stone 240 feet long, with an elevation of 68 feet to top +of the parapet wall, and three arches, the centre one of which is +semi-elliptical, with a transverse diameter of 66, and a +semi-conjugate diameter of 22 feet. The two side arches are segments +of 40 feet span. The guard lock is 190 feet long in the clear, with +semicircular heads of 26 feet in diameter, 50 feet wide, and 42 feet +high, and contains 21,775 perches of mason-work. The solid contents of +this lock are equal to 15 common locks, such as are built on the Ohio +and New-York canals. The lift locks are of the same width with the +guard lock, 20 feet high, and 183 feet long in the clear, and contain +12,300 perches of mason-work. The entire length of the walls, from the +head of the guard lock to the end of the outlet lock, is 921 feet. In +addition to the amount of mason-work above, there are three culverts +to drain off the water from the adjacent lands, the mason-work of +which, when added to the locks and bridge, give the whole amount of +mason-work 41,989 perches, equal to about 30 common canal locks. The +cross section of the canal is 200 feet at top of banks, 50 feet at +bottom, and 42 feet high, having a capacity equal to that of 25 common +canals; and if we keep in view the unequal quantity of mason-work +compared to the length of the canal, the great difficulties of +excavating earth and rock from so great a depth and width, together +with the contingencies attending its construction from the +fluctuations of the Ohio River, it may not be considered as +extravagant in drawing the comparison between the work in this and in +that of 70 or 75 miles of common canalling. + +In the upper sections of the canal, the alluvial earth to the average +depth of twenty feet being removed, trunks of trees were found more or +less decayed, and so imbedded as to indicate a powerful current +towards the present shore, some of which were cedar, which is not now +found in this region. Several _fireplaces_ of a rude construction, +with partially burnt wood, were discovered near the rock, as well as +the bones of a variety of small animals and several human skeletons; +rude implements formed of bone and stone were frequently seen, as also +several well-wrought specimens of hematite of iron, in the shape of +plummets or sinkers, displaying a knowledge in the arts far in advance +of the present race of Indians. + +The first stratum of rock was a light, friable slate, in close contact +with the limestone, and difficult to disengage from it; this slate did +not, however, extend over the whole surface of the rock, and was of +various thicknesses, from three inches to four feet. + +The stratum next to the slate was a close, compact limestone, in which +petrified seashells and an infinite variety of coralline formations +were imbedded, and frequent cavities of crystalline incrustations were +seen, many of which still contained petroleum of a highly fetid smell, +which gives the name to this description of limestone. This +description of rock is on an average of five feet, covering a +substratum of a species of cias limestone of a bluish colour, +imbedding nodules of hornstone and organic remains. The fracture of +this stone has in all instances been found to be irregularly +conchoidal, and on exposure to the atmosphere and subjection to fire, +it crumbles to pieces. When burnt and ground, and mixed with a due +proportion of silicious sand, it has been found to make a most +superior kind of hydraulic cement or water-lime. + +The discovery of this valuable limestone has enabled the canal company +to construct their masonry more solidly than any other known in the +United States. + +A manufactory of this hydraulic cement or water-lime is now +established on the bank of the canal, on a scale capable of supplying +the United States with this much-valued material for all works in +contact with water or exposed to moisture; the nature of this cement +being to harden in the water; the grout used on the locks of the canal +is already _harder_ than the _stone_ used in their construction. + +After passing through the stratum which was commonly called the +water-lime, about ten feet in thickness, the workmen came to a more +compact mass of primitive gray limestone, which, however, was not +penetrated to any great depth. In many parts of the excavation masses +of a bluish white flint and hornstone were found enclosed in or +incrusting the fetid limestone. And from the large quantities of +arrow-heads and other rude formations of this flint stone, it is +evident that it was made much use of by the Indians in forming their +weapons for war and hunting; in one place a magazine of arrow-heads +was discovered, containing many hundreds of these rude implements, +carefully packed together and buried below the surface of the ground. + +The existence of iron ore in considerable quantities was exhibited in +the progress of the excavation of the canal, by numerous +highly-charged chalybeate springs that gushed out, and continued to +flow during the time that the rock was exposed, chiefly in the upper +strata of limestone.--_Louisville Directory for 1835._--FLAGG. + +[7] A circumstance, too, which adds not a little of interest to the +spot, is the old Indian tradition that here was fought the last battle +between their race and the former dwellers in Kentucky--the _white +mound-builders_--in which the latter were exterminated to a man. True +or false, vast quantities of human remains have, at low stages of +the Ohio, been found upon the shores of Sandy Island, one mile +below, and an extensive graveyard once existed in the vicinity of +Shipping-port.--FLAGG. + +[8] _Kentucke_ is said to have a similar meaning.--FLAGG. + +[9] Ohio is thought by some philologists to be a corruption of the +Iroquois word, "Ohionhiio," meaning "beautiful river," which the +French rendered as La Belle Rivière; see also Cuming's _Tour_, in our +volume iv, p. 92, note 49.--ED. + +[10] At the age of twenty-five, Henry M. Shreve (1785-1854) was +captain of a freight boat operating on the Ohio. In 1814 he ran the +gauntlet of the British batteries at New Orleans, and carried supplies +to Fort St. Phillip. The following year, in charge of the "Enterprise" +he made the first successful steamboat trip from New Orleans to +Louisville. Later he constructed the "Washington," making many +improvements on the Fulton model. Fulton and Livingstone brought suit +against him but lost in the action. May 24, 1824, at the instigation +of J. C. Calhoun, then secretary of war, Congress appropriated +seventy-five thousand dollars (not $105,000, as Flagg says) for the +purpose of removing obstructions from the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. +As early as 1821, Shreve had invented a device for removing snags and +sawyers from river beds. But it was not until after two years' +fruitless trials with a scheme devised by John Bruce of Kentucky, that +Barbour, at Calhoun's suggestion, appointed Shreve superintendent of +improvements on Western rivers (December 10, 1826). This position he +held until September 11, 1841, when he was dismissed for political +reasons. In the face of discouraging opposition Shreve constructed +(1829) with government aid the snagboat "Heleopolis" with which he +later wrought a marvellous improvement in navigation on the Ohio and +Mississippi. From 1833 to 1838 he was engaged in removing the Red +River "raft" for a distance of a hundred and sixty miles, thus opening +that important river for navigation. For a good biography of Shreve, +see the _Democratic Review_, xxii (New York, 1848), pp. 159-171, +241-251. A fair estimate of the importance of his work can be gained +from the following statistics; from 1822-27 the loss from snags alone, +of property on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, including steam and +flat-boats and their cargoes, amounted to $1,362,500; the like loss +from 1827-32 was reduced to $381,000, although the volume of business +had greatly increased.--ED. + +[11] The "Baltimore" (73 tons) was built at Pittsburg in 1828; the +"Roanoke" (100 tons), at Wheeling in 1835. It is reported that from +1831 to 1833, of the sixty-six steamboats which went out of service, +twenty-four were snagged, fifteen burned, and five destroyed by +collision with other boats. See James Hall, _Notes on the Western +States_ (Philadelphia, 1838), p. 239.--ED. + +[12] The keel-boat Hindoo, with merchandise to the amount of $50,000, +is a late instance.--FLAGG. + +[13] Brown's Island, two miles and a half long by half a mile at its +greatest width, is located six or seven miles above Steubenville, +Ohio, following the course of the river.--ED. + +[14] The keel-boat was usually from sixty to seventy feet long, and +fifteen to eighteen broad at beam, with a keel extending from bow to +stern, and had a draft of twenty to thirty inches. When descending the +stream, the force of the current, with occasional aid from the pole, +was the usual mode of locomotion. In ascending the stream, however, +sails, poles, and almost every known device were used; not +infrequently the vessel was towed by from twenty to forty men, with a +rope several hundred feet in length attached to the mast. These boats +were built in Pittsburg at a cost of two to three thousand dollars +each. + +The barge was constructed for narrow, shallow water. As a rule it was +larger than the keel-boat; but of less draft, and afforded greater +accommodations for passengers. + +Broad-horn was a term generally applied to the Mississippi and Ohio +flat-boat, which made its advent on the Western waters later than the +barge or the keel-boat. It was a large, unwieldy structure, with a +perfectly flat bottom, perpendicular sides, and usually covered its +entire length. It was used only for descending the stream. + +"The earliest improvement upon the canoe was the pirogue, an invention +of the whites. Like the canoe, this is hewed out of the solid log; the +difference is, that the pirogue has greater width and capacity, and is +composed of several pieces of timbers--as if the canoe was sawed +lengthwise into two equal sections, and a broad flat piece of timber +inserted in the middle, so as to give greater breadth of beam to the +vessel." Hall, _Notes on the Western States_, p. 218.--ED. + +[15] Flint.--FLAGG. + +[16] For an account of the first steamboat on the Ohio, see Flint's +_Letters_, in our volume ix, p. 154, note 76.--ED. + +[17] Latrobe.--FLAGG. + +_Comment by Ed._ Charles J. Latrobe (1801-75) visited the United +States in 1832-33. His _Rambles in North America in 1832-3_ (New York, +1835) and _Rambles in Mexico_ (New York and London, 1836) have much +value in the history of Western travel. + +[18] The first steamer upon the waters of the Red River was of a +peculiar construction: her steam scape-pipe, instead of ascending +perpendicularly from the hurricane deck, projected from the bow, and +terminated in the form of a serpent's head. As this monster ascended +the wilds of the stream, with her furnaces blazing, pouring forth +steam with a roar, the wondering Choctaws upon the banks gave her the +poetic and appropriate name of _Pinelore_, "the Fire-Canoe."--FLAGG. + +[19] This quotation is from _Botanic Gardens_, book i, chapter i, by +Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802).--ED. + +[20] For Rome, see Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume xxii, p. 160, +note 77.--ED. + +[21] Green River, rising in central Kentucky, flows west through the +coal fields to its junction with the Big Barren; thence it turns +north, and empties into the Ohio nine miles above Evansville, Indiana. +Beginning with 1808 the state legislature expended large sums of money +for improving navigation on Green River. As a consequence small +steamboats may ascend it to a distance of more than a hundred and +fifty miles. The length of the stream is estimated at three hundred +and fifty miles.--ED. + +[22] Diamond Island, densely wooded, is located thirty-six miles below +the mouth of Green River, and seven miles above Mount Vernon. Its name +is perhaps derived from its shape, being five miles long and one and a +half wide.--ED. + +[23] For note on Hendersonville, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume +iv, p. 267, note 175.--ED. + +[24] John J. Audubon, born in Louisiana (1780), was a son of a wealthy +French naval officer; his mother was a Spanish Creole. Educated in +France, he returned to America (1798) and settled near Philadelphia, +devoting his time to the study of birds. In 1808 he went west and +until 1824 made fruitless attempts to establish himself in business in +Kentucky and Louisiana. He issued in London (1827-38) his noted +publication on the _Birds of America_, which was completed in +eighty-seven parts. During 1832-39 he published five volumes entitled +_Ornithological Biographies_. Audubon died in 1851. See M. R. Audubon, +_Audubon and his Journals_ (New York, 1897).--ED. + +[25] For the historical importance of the Wabash River, see Croghan's +_Journals_, in our volume i, p. 137, note 107.--ED. + +[26] The Wabash and Erie Canal, which connects the waters of Lake Erie +with the Ohio River by way of the Maumee and Wabash rivers, has played +an active rôle in the development of Indiana, her most important +cities being located upon its route. The Ohio section was constructed +during the years 1837-43, and the Indiana section as far as Lafayette +in 1832-40; the canal being later continued to Terre Haute and the +Ohio River near Evansville. Although the federal government granted +Indiana 1,505,114 acres for constructing the canal, the state was by +this work plunged heavily in debt. After the War of Secession the +canal lost much of its relative importance for commerce. June 14, +1880, Congress authorized the secretary of war to order a survey and +estimate of cost and practicability of making a ship canal out of the +old Wabash and Erie Canal. The survey and estimate were made, but the +matter was allowed to drop. See _Senate Docs._, 46 Cong., 3 sess., +iii, 55.--ED. + +[27] For an account of New Harmony and its founder, George Rapp, see +Hulme's _Journal_, in our volume x, p. 50, note 22, and p. 54, note +25.--ED. + +[28] Flagg is evidently referring to Robert Owen, the active promoter +of the scheme. A brief history of his activities is given in Hulme's +_Journal_, in our volume x, p. 50, note 22. + +For Robert Dale Owen see Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume xxiv, +p. 133, note 128.--ED. + +[29] "Declaration of Mental Independence" delivered by Robert Owen +(not Robert Dale Owen) on July 4, 1826, was printed in the New Harmony +_Gazette_ for July 12, 1826. An extended quotation is given in George +B. Lockwood, _The New Harmony Communities_ (Marion, Indiana, 1902), p. +163.--ED. + +[30] For an account of William Maclure, see Maximilian's _Travels_, in +our volume xxii, p. 163, note 81. + +In reference to the Duke of Saxe Weimar, see Wyeth's _Oregon_, in our +volume xxi, p. 71, note 47.--ED. + +[31] On Shawneetown and the Shawnee Indians see our volume i, p. 23, +note 13, and p. 138, note 108.--ED. + +[32] For a brief statement on the salines, see James's _Long's +Expedition_, in our volume xiv, p. 58, note 11.--ED. + +[33] An excellent account of the Mound Builders is given by Lucien +Carr in Smithsonian Institution _Report_, 1891 (Washington, 1893), pp. +503-599; see also Cyrus Thomas, "Report on Mound Explorations" in +United States Bureau of Ethnology _Report_ (1890-91).--ED. + +[34] Hanging Rock is the name given to a high sandstone escarpment on +the right bank of the river, three miles below Ironton, Ohio.--ED. + +[35] Blennerhasset's Island is two miles below Parkersburg, West +Virginia. For its history, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, p. +129, note 89.--ED. + +[36] A brief description of Rock Inn Cave (or Cave-in-Rock) may be +found in Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, p. 273, note 180.--ED. + +[37] For Schoolcraft, see Gregg's _Commerce of the Prairies_, in our +volume xx, p. 286, note 178.--ED. + +[38] It is a remarkable circumstance, that this term is employed to +signify the _same_ thing by all the tribes from the Arkansas to the +sources of the Mississippi; and, according to Mackenzie, throughout +the Arctic Regions.--FLAGG. + +[39] See Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, p. 268.--ED. + +[40] Ford's Ferry is today a small hamlet in Crittenden County, +Kentucky, twenty-five miles below Shawneetown. Flagg is referring +probably to the Wilson family. Consult Lewis Collins, _History of +Kentucky_ (Covington, 1874), i. p. 147.--ED. + +[41] Since the remarks relative to "the remarkable cavern in the +vicinity of _Tower Rock_, and not far from Hurricane Island," were in +type, the subjoined notice of a similar cave, probably the same +referred to, has casually fallen under my observation. The reader will +recognise in this description the outlines of _Rock-Inn-Cave_, +previously noticed. It is not a little singular that none of our +party, which was a numerous one, observed the "hieroglyphics" here +alluded to. The passage is from Priest's "American Antiquities." + +"_A Cavern of the West, in which are found many interesting +Hieroglyphics, supposed to have been made by the Ancient Inhabitants._ + +"On the Ohio, twenty miles below the mouth of the Wabash, is a cavern +in which are found many hieroglyphics and representations of such +delineations as would induce the belief that their authors were indeed +comparatively refined and civilized. It is a cave in a rock, or ledge +of the mountain, which presents itself to view a little above the +water of the river when in flood, and is situated close to the bank. +In the early settlement of Ohio this cave became possessed by a party +of Kentuckians called 'Wilson's Gang.' Wilson, in the first place, +brought his family to this cave, and fitted it up as a spacious +dwelling; erected a _signpost_ on the water side, on which were these +words: 'Wilson's Liquor Vault and House of Entertainment.' The novelty +of such a tavern induced almost all the boats descending the river to +call for refreshments and amusement. Attracted by these circumstances, +several idle characters took up their abode at the cave, after which +it continually resounded with the shouts of the licentious, the +clamour of the riotous, and the blasphemy of gamblers. Out of such +customers Wilson found no difficulty in forming a band of robbers, +with whom he formed the plan of murdering the crews of every boat that +stopped at his tavern, and of sending the boats, manned by some of his +party, to New-Orleans, and there sell their loading for cash, which +was to be conveyed to the cave by land through the States of Tennessee +and Kentucky; the party returning with it being instructed to murder +and rob on all good occasions on the road. + +"After a lapse of time the merchants of the upper country began to be +alarmed on finding their property make no returns, and their people +never coming back. Several families and respectable men who had gone +down the river were never heard of, and the losses became so frequent +that it raised, at length, a cry of individual distress and general +dismay. This naturally led to an inquiry, and large rewards were +offered for the discovery of the perpetrators of such unparalleled +crimes. It soon came out that Wilson, with an organized party of +forty-five men, was the cause of such waste of blood and treasure; +that he had a station at Hurricane Island to arrest every boat that +passed by the mouth of the cavern, and that he had agents at Natchez +and New-Orleans, of presumed respectability, who converted his +assignments into cash, though they knew the goods to be stolen or +obtained by the commission of murder. + +"The publicity of Wilson's transactions soon broke up his party; some +dispersed, others were taken prisoners, and he himself was killed by +one of his associates, who was tempted by the reward offered for the +head of the captain of the gang. + +"This cavern measures about twelve rods in length and five in width; +its entrance presents a width of eighty feet at its base and +twenty-five feet high. The interior walls are smooth rock. The floor +is very remarkable, being level through the whole length of its +centre, the sides rising in stony grades, in the manner of seats in +the pit of a theatre. On a diligent scrutiny of the walls, it is +plainly discerned that the ancient inhabitants at a very remote period +had made use of the cave as a house of deliberation and council. The +walls bear many hieroglyphics well executed, and some of them +represent animals which have no resemblance to any now known to +natural history. + +"This cavern is a great natural curiosity, as it is connected with +another still more gloomy, which is situated exactly above, united by +an aperture of about fourteen feet, which, to ascend, is like passing +up a chimney, while the mountain is yet far above. Not long after the +dispersion and arrest of the robbers who had infested it, in the upper +vault were found the skeletons of about sixty persons, who had been +murdered by the gang of Wilson, as was supposed. + +"But the tokens of antiquity are still more curious and important than +a description of the mere cave, which are found engraved on the sides +within, an account of which we proceed to give: + +"The sun in different stages of rise and declension; the moon under +various phases; a snake biting its tail, and representing an orb or +circle; a viper; a vulture; buzzards tearing out the heart of a +prostrate man; a panther held by the ears by a child; a crocodile; +several trees and shrubs; a fox; a curious kind of hydra serpent; two +doves; several bears; two scorpions; an eagle; an owl; some quails; +_eight_ representations of animals which are now unknown. Three out of +the eight are like the elephant in all respects except the tusk and +the tail. Two more resemble the tiger; one a wild boar; another a +sloth; and the last appears a creature of fancy, being a quadruman +instead of a quadruped; the claws being alike before and behind, and +in the act of conveying something to the mouth, which lay in the +centre of the monster. Besides these were several fine representations +of men and women, _not naked_, but clothed; not as the Indians, but +much in the costume of Greece and Rome."--FLAGG. + +_Comment by Ed._ This same account is given by Collins (_op. cit._, in +note 40), and is probably true. + +[42] Hurricane Island, four miles below Cave-in-Rock, is more than +five miles in length. The "Wilson gang" for some time used this island +for a seat of operation.--ED. + +[43] Golconda is the seat of Pope County, Illinois. See Woods's +_English Prairie_, in our volume x, p. 327, note 77. + +On or just before Christmas, 1806, Aaron Burr came down the Cumberland +River from Nashville and joined Blennerhasset, Davis Floyd, and others +who were waiting for him at the mouth of the river, and together they +started on Burr's ill-fated expedition (December 28, 1806). Their +united forces numbered only nine batteaux and sixty men. See W. F. +McCaleb, _Aaron Burr's Conspiracy_ (New York, 1903), p. 254 ff. + +For a short account of Paducah, see Maximilian's _Travels_, in our +volume xxii, p. 203, note 110.--ED. + +[44] It has since been nearly destroyed by fire.--FLAGG. + +[45] On Fort Massac, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, in our volume iii, p. +73, note 139.--ED. + +[46] Wilkinsonville, named for General James Wilkinson, was a small +hamlet located on the site of the Fort Wilkinson of 1812, twenty-two +miles above Cairo. Two or three farm houses are today the sole relics +of this place; see Thwaites, _On the Storied Ohio_, p. 291. + +Caledonia is still a small village in Pulaski County, Illinois. Its +post-office is Olmstead.--ED. + +[47] For account of the attempt at settlements at the confluence of +the Ohio and Mississippi, see Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume +xxii, p. 204, note 111.--ED. + +[48] For America see Ogden's _Letters_, our volume xix, p. 44, note +30, and Woods's _English Prairie_, our volume x, p. 327, note 77. + +The scheme known as the "Internal Improvement Policy" was authorized +over the governor's veto by the Illinois general assembly on February +27, 1837, in response to the popular clamor for its adoption. The +object was to open the country for immigration and hasten its natural +development by constructing railroads and canals as yet not needed +commercially. Ten million two hundred thousand dollars were +appropriated by the act, including two hundred thousand dollars to be +given directly to the counties not favored. Surveys were made, and +speculation was rife. Then followed a collapse, and six million five +hundred thousand dollars were added to the state debt. The scheme was +later referred to as the General Insanity Bill.--ED. + +[49] The English Island of 1836 is probably the Power's Island of +today. It is three miles long, and forms a part of Scott County, +Missouri, more than twenty miles above Cairo.--ED. + +[50] Herbert.--FLAGG. + +[51] For a sketch of Cape Girardeau, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, in +our volume iii, p. 80, note 154.--ED. + +[52] A superior quality of kaolin, or china clay, is mined in large +quantities in Cape Girardeau County. Marble ninety-nine per cent pure, +is procured in abundance.--ED. + +[53] "Muddy River," usually called "Big Muddy," is the English +translation of the French _Rivière au Vase_, or _Vaseux_. Formed by +the union of two branches rising in Jefferson County, Illinois, it +flows in a southwesterly direction and empties into the Mississippi +about twenty-five miles above Cape Girardeau. It is one hundred and +forty miles long.--ED. + +[54] Fountain Bluff is six miles above the mouth of the Big Muddy. +Flagg's descriptions are in the main accurate.--ED. + +[55] Grand Tower, seventy-five feet high, and frequently mentioned by +early writers, is a mile above the island of the same name, at the +mouth of the Big Muddy, and stands out some distance from the Missouri +side. Grand Tower Island was an object of much dread to boatmen during +the days of early navigation on the Mississippi. A powerful current +sweeping around Devil's Oven, frequently seized frail or unwieldy +craft to dash it against this rock. Usually the boatmen landed, and by +means of long ropes towed their vessels along the Illinois side, past +this perilous rock.--ED. + +[56] The Mississippi between the mouth of the Kaskaskia River and Cape +Girardeau offered many obstructions to early navigation. As at Grand +Tower, the boatmen frequently found it necessary to land and tow their +boats past the dangerous points, and here the Indians would lie in +ambush to fall upon the unfortunate whites. The peril of these places +doubtless lent color to their nomenclature. Flagg's descriptions are +fairly accurate except in the matter of dimensions, wherein he tends +to exaggeration.--ED. + +[57] $105,000.--FLAGG. + +[58] For Red River raft, see James's Long's _Expedition_, in our +volume xvii, p. 70, note 64.--ED. + +[59] In reference to the American Bottom, see Ogden's _Letters_, in +our volume xix, p. 62, note 48.--ED. + +[60] For an account of Ste. Genevieve, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our +volume iv, p. 266, note 174. + +According to Austin, cited below, La Motte (or La Mothe) Cadillac, +governor of Louisiana, went on an expedition (1715) to the Illinois in +search of silver, and found lead ore in a mine which had been shown +him fifteen miles west of the Mississippi. It is believed by some +authorities that this was the famous "Mine la Mothe," at the head of +the St. Francis River. Schoolcraft, however, says that Philip Francis +Renault, having received mining grants from the French government, +left France in 1719, ascended the Mississippi, established himself the +following year near Kaskaskia, and sent out small companies in search +of precious metals; and that La Mothe, who had charge of one of these +companies, soon discovered the mine that still bears his name. It was +operated only at intervals, until after the American occupation, when +its resources were developed. Under the Spanish domination +(1762-1800), little was done to develop the mine. In 1763, however, +Francis Burton discovered the "Mine à Burton," on a branch of Mineral +Fork. Like the "Mine la Mothe," it was known to the Indians before the +discovery by the whites, and both are still operated. Burton was said +to have been alive in 1818, at the age of a hundred and six; see +Colonel Thomas Benton's account of him in St. Louis _Enquirer_, +October 16, 1818. + +For an account of primitive mining operations, see Thwaites, +_Wisconsin Historical Collections_, xiii, pp. 271-292; Moses Austin, +"Lead Mines of Ste. Geneviève and St. Louis Counties," _American State +Papers_ (_Public Lands_), iii, pp. 609-613; and H. R. Schoolcraft, +_Lead Mines of Missouri_ (New York, 1819).--ED. + +[61] From 1738 to 1744, the mines were considered as public property: +but in the year last mentioned François Vallé received from the French +government a grant of two thousand arpents of land (1,666 acres) +including "Mine la Mothe," and eighteen years later twenty-eight +thousand arpents (23,333 acres) additional. At Vallé's death the land +passed to his sons, François and John, and Joseph Pratt, a transfer +confirmed by Congress in 1827. The next year it was sold to C. C. +Vallé, L. E. Linn, and Everett Pratt. In 1830 it was sold in part and +the remainder leased. In 1868 the estate passed from the hands of the +Vallés.--ED. + +[62] Pilot Knob is a conical-shaped hill, a mile in diameter, in Iron +County, Missouri, seventy-five miles southwest of St. Louis, and is +rich in iron ore. In the War of Secession it was the scene of a battle +between General Sterling Price and General Hugh B. Ewing (September +26, 27, 1864). + +Iron Mountain is an isolated knob of the St. François Mountains in St. +François County, eighty miles south of St. Louis. One of the richest +and purest iron mines in the United States is found there.--ED. + +[63] The Peoria were one of the five principal tribes of the Illinois +Confederation. They resided around the lake in the central portion of +Illinois, which bears their name. In 1832 they were removed to Kansas, +and in 1854 to Indian Territory, where, united with other tribes, they +still reside.--ED. + +[64] For a short account of Fort Chartres, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, +in our volume iii, p. 71, note 136.--ED. + +[65] For Prairie du Rocher see A. Michaux's _Travels_, in our volume +iii, p. 70, note 133. The legend referred to is, "Michel de Couce" by +James Hall, in his _Legends of the West_. + +Contrary to Flagg's statement that there exists no description of Fort +Chartres worthy of its history, Philip Pittman, who visited the place +in 1766, gives a good detailed description of the fort in his _Present +State of the European Settlements on the Missisippi_ (London, 1770), +pp. 45, 46.--ED. + +[66] For location and date of settlement of Herculaneum, see +Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume xxii, p. 212, note 122. + +On a perpendicular bluff, more than a hundred feet in height, in the +vicinity of Herculaneum, J. Macklot erected (1809) what was probably +the first shot-tower this side of the Atlantic. The next year one +Austin built another tower at the same point. According to H. R. +Schoolcraft in his _View of the Lead Mines of Missouri_ (New York, +1819), pp. 138, 139, there were in 1817 three shot-towers near +Herculaneum, producing in the eighteen months ending June 1 of that +year, 668,350 pounds of shot. From the top of small wooden towers +erected on the edge of the bluff, the melted lead was poured through +holes in copper pans or sieves.--ED. + +[67] For the location of the Platine (usually spelled Plattin), see +Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume xxii, p. 212, note 123. Lead +mining has been carried on in this district, intermittently, since +1824.--ED. + +[68] See Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume xxii, p. 212, note +123.--ED. + +[69] The following extract from the Journal of Charlevoix, one of the +earliest historians of the West, with reference to the Mines upon the +Merrimac, may prove not uninteresting. The work is a rare one. + +"On the 17th (Oct., 1721), after sailing five leagues farther, I left, +on my right, the river Marameg, where they are at present employed in +searching for a silver mine. Perhaps your grace may not be displeased +if I inform you what success may be expected from this undertaking. +Here follows what I have been able to collect about this affair, from +a person who is well acquainted with it, and who has resided for +several years on the spot. + +"In the year 1719, the Sieur de Lochon, being sent by the West India +Company, in quality of founder, and having dug in a place which had +been marked out to him, drew up a pretty large quantity of ore, a +pound whereof, which took up four days in smelting, produced, as they +say, two drachms of silver; but some have suspected him of putting in +this quantity himself. A few months afterward he returned thither, +and, without thinking any more of the silver, he extracted from two or +three thousand weight of ore fourteen pounds of very bad lead, which +stood him in fourteen hundred francs. Disgusted with a labour which +was so unprofitable, he returned to France. + +"The company, persuaded of the truth of the indications which had been +given them, and that the incapacity of the founder had been the sole +cause of their bad success, sent, in his room, a Spaniard called +Antonio, who had been taken at the siege of Pensacola; had afterward +been a galley-slave, and boasted much of his having wrought in a mine +at Mexico. They gave him very considerable appointments, but he +succeeded no better than had done the Sieur de Lochon. He was not +discouraged himself, and others inclined to believe that he had failed +from his not being versed in the construction of furnaces. He gave +over the search after lead, and undertook to make silver; he dug down +to the rock, which was found to be eight or ten feet in thickness; +several pieces of it were blown up and put into a crucible, from +whence it was given out that he extracted three or four drachms of +silver; but many are still doubtful of the truth of this fact. + +"About this time arrived a company of the King's miners, under the +direction of one _La Renaudiere_, who, resolving to begin with the +lead mines, was able to do nothing; because neither he himself nor any +of his company were in the least acquainted with the construction of +furnaces. Nothing can be more surprising than the facility with which +the company at that time exposed themselves to great expenses, and the +little precaution they took to be satisfied of the capacity of those +they employed. La Renaudiere and his miners not being able to procure +any lead, a private company undertook the mines of the Marameg, and +Sieur Renault, one of the directors, superintended them with care. In +the month of June last he found a bed of lead ore two feet in +thickness, running to a great length over a chain of mountains, where +he has now set his people to work. He flatters himself that there is +silver below the lead. Everybody is not of his opinion, but will +discover the truth."--FLAGG. + +[70] Flagg's account agrees with a much longer treatment by Lewis C. +Beck, in his _Gazetteer of the States of Illinois and Missouri_ +(Albany, 1823), with the exception that the latter says there were no +inscriptions to be found on the gravestones. Beck himself makes +extended quotations from the _Missouri Gazette_, November 6, 1818, and +subsequent numbers. Though no doubt exaggerated, these accounts were +probably based on facts, for a large number of prehistoric remains +have been found in St. Louis County and preserved in the Peabody +Museum at New Haven, Connecticut, and elsewhere.--ED. + +[71] For an account of Jefferson Barracks, see Townsend's _Narrative_, +in our volume xxi, p. 122, note 2.--ED. + +[72] For the history of Carondelet, see Maximilian's _Travels_, in our +volume xxii, p. 215, note 124. + +For reference to Cahokia, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, in our volume +iii, p. 70, note 135. + +On May 20, 1826, Congress made an appropriation of fifteen thousand +dollars to the secretary of war, for the purpose of purchasing the +site for the erection of an arsenal in the vicinity of St. Louis. +Lands now far within the southeastern limits of the city were +purchased, and the buildings erected which were used for arsenals +until January 16, 1871, when they were occupied as a depot for the +general mounted recruiting service.--ED. + +[73] A name of Algonquin origin--_Missi_ signifying great, and _sepe_ +a river.--FLAGG. + +[74] Indian name for the "Falls of St. Anthony."--FLAGG. + +[75] That the Mississippi, the Missouri, and, indeed, most of the +great rivers of the West, are annually enlarging, as progress is made +in clearing and cultivating the regions drained by them, scarcely +admits a doubt. Within the past thirty years, the width of the +Mississippi has sensibly increased; its overflows are more frequent, +while, by the diminution of obstructions, it would seem not to have +become proportionally shallow. In 1750, the French settlements began +upon the river above New-Orleans, and for twenty years the banks were +cultivated without a _levee_. Inundation was then a rare occurrence: +ever since, from year to year, the river has continued to rise, and +require higher and stronger embankments. A century hence, if this +phenomenon continues, what a magnificent spectacle will not this river +present! How terrific its freshets! The immense forest of timber which +lies concealed beneath its depths, as evinced by the great earthquakes +of 1811, demonstrates that, for centuries, the Mississippi has +occupied its present bed.--FLAGG. + +[76] In 1764 Auguste Chouteau made tentative plans for the +fortification of St. Louis. In obedience to an order by Don Francisco +Cruzat, the lieutenant-governor, he made a survey in 1781 for the +purpose of perfecting these earlier plans. In the same year the +stockade was begun immediately south of the present site of the +courthouse. In 1797 the round stone tower which Flagg mentions was +constructed and preparations made for building four additional towers; +the latter were never completed. From 1804 to 1806 these +fortifications were used by the United States troops, and then +abandoned for military purposes. The commandant's house served as a +courthouse from 1806 to 1816; and the tower as a jail until 1819. For +a detailed description of the plans, see J. F. Scharf, _St. Louis City +and County_ (Philadelphia, 1883), p. 136 ff.--ED. + +[77] For a brief sketch of William H. Ashley see Maximilian's +_Travels_, in our volume xxii, p. 250, note 198. He purchased (1826 or +1827) eight acres on the present site of Broadway, between Biddle and +Bates streets, St. Louis, where he built a handsome residence. + +Bloody Island, now the Third Ward of East St. Louis, was formed about +1800 by the current cutting its way through the neck in a bend of the +river. For a long time it was not determined to what state it +belonged, and being considered neutral ground many duels were fought +there, notably those between Thomas H. Benton and Charles Lucas +(1817), United States District Attorney Thomas Rector and Joshua +Barton (1823), and Thomas Biddle and Spencer Pettis (1830). The name +was derived from these bloody associations.--ED. + +[78] For a sketch of Charlevoix, see Nuttall's _Journal_, in our +volume xiii, p. 116, note 81.--ED. + +[79] D'Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, sent a +detachment of soldiers to St. Louis in 1767. Later, these troops were +transferred to the south bank of the Missouri, a few miles above its +mouth, where "Old Fort St. Charles the Prince" was erected. General +Wilkinson built Fort Bellefontaine on this site in 1805. From 1809 to +1815 this was the headquarters of the military department of Louisiana +(including Forts Madison, Massac, Osage, and Vincennes). It was the +starting point of the Pike, Long, and Atkinson expeditions. On July +10, 1826, it was abandoned for Jefferson Barracks, but a small arsenal +of deposits was maintained here until 1834. The land was eventually +sold by the government (1836). See Walter B. Douglas's note in +Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_ (New +York, 1905), v, pp. 392, 393.--ED. + +[80] North of Missouri River, twenty miles above its confluence with +the Mississippi, where the bluffs of the two streams unite, two +smooth, treeless, grass-covered mounds stand out from the main bluffs. +These mounds, a hundred and fifty feet in height, were called by the +early French "mamelles" from their fancied resemblance to the human +breast.--ED. + +[81] Alton, twenty-five miles above St. Louis, is the principal city +of Madison County, Illinois. In 1807 the French erected here a small +trading post. Rufus Easton laid out the town (1818), and named it for +his son. The state penitentiary was first built at Alton (1827), but +the last prisoner was transferred (1860) to the new penitentiary at +Joliet, begun in 1857. Alton was the scene of the famous +anti-Abolitionist riot of November 7, 1837, when Elijah P. Lovejoy was +killed.--ED. + +[82] Captain Benjamin Godfrey donated fifteen acres of land and +thirty-five thousand dollars for the erection of a female seminary at +Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois. The school was opened April 11, +1838, under the title of the Monticello Female Seminary, with Rev. +Theron Baldwin for its first principal.--ED. + +[83] The plans mentioned here were probably being agitated when Flagg +visited Alton in 1836. The act incorporating the first railroad in +Illinois was approved January 17, 1835; it provided for the +construction of a road from Chicago to a point opposite Vincennes. By +the internal improvement act of February 27, 1837, a road was +authorized to be constructed from Alton to Terre Haute, by way of +Shelbyville, and another from Alton to Mount Carmel, by way of Salem, +Marion County; but the act was repealed before the roads were +completed. The Cumberland road was constructed only to Vandalia, +Fayette County, though the internal improvement act contemplated its +extension to St. Louis.--ED. + +[84] The French village is no doubt Portage des Sioux. In 1799 Francis +Leseuer, a resident of St. Charles, visited the place, which was then +an Indian settlement. Pleased with the location he returned to St. +Charles, and secured a grant of the land from Don Carlos Dehault +Delassus, lieutenant-governor of Upper Louisiana, organized a colony +from among the French inhabitants of St. Charles and St. Louis, and +occupied the place the same autumn.--ED. + +[85] Grafton, Jersey County, Illinois, was settled in 1832 by James +Mason, and named by him in honor of his native place. It was laid out +(1836) by Paris and Sarah Mason.--ED. + +[86] The Illinois Indians (from "Illini," meaning "men") were of +Algonquian stock, and formerly occupied the state to which they gave +the name. They were loyal to the French during their early wars, later +aided the English, and were with great difficulty subdued by the +United States government. Separate tribes of the Illinois Indians were +the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigami, Moingewena, Peoria, and Tamaroa. + +On a high bluff just above Alton there was formerly to be seen a huge +painted image known among the Indians as the Piasa Bird. To the +natives it was an object of much veneration, and in time many +superstitions became connected therewith. First described in the +_Journal_ of Father Jacques Marquette (1673) its origin was long a +subject of speculation among early writers. Traces of this strange +painting could be seen until 1840 or 1845, when they were entirely +obliterated through quarrying. See P. A. Armstrong, _The Piasa or the +Devil among the Indians_ (Morris, Illinois, 1887). + +The version of the tradition given by Flagg was probably from the pen +of John Russell, who in 1837 began editing at Grafton, Illinois, the +_Backwoodsman_, a local newspaper. Russell had in 1819 or 1820 +published in the _Missourian_ an article entitled "Venomous Worm," +which won for him considerable reputation. Russell admitted that the +version was largely imaginative; nevertheless it had a wide +circulation.--ED. + +[87] For a sketch of Tonty, see Nuttall's _Journal_, in our volume +xiii, p. 117, note 85.--ED. + +[88] Beardstone, Cass County, Illinois, was laid out by Thomas Beard +and Enoch Marsh (1827). During the Black Hawk War (1832), it was the +principal supply base for the Illinois volunteers.--ED. + +[89] For an account of the Illinois Canal, see Flint's _Letters_, in +our volume ix, p. 186, note 93.--ED. + +[90] By act of Congress approved May 6, 1812, three tracts of land, +not exceeding on the whole six million acres, were authorized to be +surveyed and used as a bounty for the soldiers engaged in the war +begun with Great Britain in that year. The tract surveyed in Illinois +Territory comprehended the land lying between the Mississippi and +Illinois rivers, extending seven miles north of Quincy, on the former +stream, and to the present village of De Pue, in southeastern Bureau +County, on the latter; it embraced the present counties of Calhoun, +Pike, Adams, Brown, Schuyler, Hancock, McDonough, Fulton, Peoria, +Stark, Knox, Warren, Henderson, and Mercer, and parts of Henry, +Bureau, Putnam, and Marshall.--ED. + +[91] Cap au Gris was a point of land on the Mississippi, in Calhoun +County, Illinois, just above the mouth of the Illinois. J. M. Peck, in +his _Gazetteer of Illinois_ (1837), from which Flagg derives his +account of this place, says that a settlement had been formed there +about forty years earlier. The town of this name is now in Lincoln +County, Missouri. There is no foundation for the belief that La Salle +had erected a fort here.--ED. + +[92] Montgomery, on the right bank of Illinois River, in Pike County, +was laid out by an Alton Company, for a new landing. Naples is a small +village in Scott County. Havana, founded in 1827, is the seat of +justice for Mason County. Pekin is in Tazewell County.--ED. + +[93] Peoria, now the second largest city in Illinois, is situated a +hundred and sixty miles southwest of Chicago, on the west bank and +near the outlet of Lake Peoria, an expansion of the Illinois River. +Its site was visited in 1680 by La Salle. Early in the eighteenth +century a French settlement was made a mile and a half farther up, and +named Peoria for the local Indian tribe. French missionaries were in +this neighborhood as early as 1673-74. In 1788 or 1789 the first house +was built on the present site of Peoria and by the close of the +century the inhabitants of the old town, because of its more healthful +location, moved to the new village of Peoria, which at first was +called La Ville de Maillet, in honor of a French Canadian who +commanded a company of volunteers in the War of the Revolution. Later +the name was changed to its present form. At the opening of the War of +1812-15, the French inhabitants were charged with having aroused the +Indians against the Americans in Illinois. Governor Ninian Edwards +ordered Thomas E. Craig, captain of a company of Illinois militia, to +proceed up the Illinois River and build a fort at Peoria. Under the +pretense that his men had been fired upon by the inhabitants, when the +former were peaceably passing in their boats, Craig burned half the +town of Peoria in November, 1812, and transferred the majority of the +population to below Alton. In the following year, Fort Clark--named in +honor of General George Rogers Clark--was erected by General Benjamin +Howard on this site; but after the close of the war the fort was +burned by the Indians. After the affair of 1812, Peoria was not +occupied, save occasionally, until 1819, when it was rebuilt by the +Americans. The American Fur Company established a post there in 1824. +See C. Ballance, _History of Peoria_ (Peoria, 1870).--ED. + +[94] Benjamin Howard (1760-1814) was elected to the state legislature +of Kentucky (1800), to Congress (1807-10); appointed governor of Upper +Louisiana Territory (1810), and in March, 1813, brigadier-general of +the United States army in command of the 8th military department. He +died at St. Louis, September, 1814.--ED. + +[95] Kickapoo Creek rises in Peoria County, flows southeasterly and +enters Illinois River two miles below Peoria.--ED. + +[96] Robert Walter Weir (1803-89), after studying and painting in New +York, Florence (1824-25), and Rome (1825-27), opened a studio in New +York, and became an associate and later academician of the National +Academy of Design. He was professor of drawing in the United States +Military Academy at West Point from 1832 to 1874. Weir is best known +for his historical paintings, prominent among which are "The Bourbons' +Last March," "Landing of Hendric Hudson," "Indian Captives," and +"Embarkation of the Pilgrims." He built and beautified the Church of +Holy Innocents at Highland Falls, West Point. His two sons, John +Ferguson and Julian Alden, became noted artists.--ED. + +[97] By order of the war department (May 19, 1834), Lieutenant-Colonel +S. W. Kearny was sent with companies B, H, and I of the 1st United +States dragoons to establish a fort near the mouth of Des Moines +River. The present site of Montrose, Lee County, Iowa, at the head of +the lower rapids of the Mississippi, was chosen. The barracks being +completed by November, 1834, they were occupied until the spring of +1837, when the troops were transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. + +As early as 1721 a French fort (La Baye) had been erected at Green +Bay, on the left bank of Fox River, a half league from its mouth. +After suffering many vicissitudes during the Fox wars it was later +strengthened, and when occupied by English troops in 1761, was +re-named Fort Edward Augustus. After the close of the War of 1812-15, +the United States government determined to exercise a real authority +over the forts on the upper Great Lakes, where, in spite of the +provision of Jay's Treaty (1794), its power had been merely nominal. +In 1815 John Bowyer, the first United States Indian agent for the +Green Bay district, established a government trading post at Green +Bay, and made an ineffectual attempt to control the fur trade of the +region. The following year, Fort Howard, named in honor of General +Benjamin Howard, was built on the site of the old French fort. With +the exception of 1820-22, when the troops were transferred to Camp +Smith, on the east shore, Fort Howard was continuously occupied until +1841, when its garrison was ordered to Florida and Mexico. Later, from +1849 to 1851, it was occupied by Colonel Francis Lee and +Lieutenant-Colonel B. L. E. Bonneville, and then permanently abandoned +as a garrison, although a volunteer company was stationed there for a +short time during the War of Secession. Almost every trace of the old +fort has been obliterated. Consult _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, +xvi, xvii; also William L. Evans, "Military History of Green Bay," in +Wisconsin Historical Society _Proceedings_, 1899, pp. 128-146.--ED. + +[98] Hennepin, on the east bank of the Illinois River, was laid out in +1831 and made the seat of justice for Putnam County. + +Ottawa, the county seat of La Salle, was laid off by the canal +commissioners (1830) at the junction of the Fox and Illinois +rivers.--ED. + +[99] Flagg's description of this noted bluff is accurate. After +careful investigations, Francis Parkman, the historian, was convinced +that _Le Rocher_ or Starved Rock is the site of Fort St. Louis, +erected by La Salle in December, 1682. On his departure in the autumn +of 1683, La Salle left the post in command of his lieutenant, Henri de +Tonty, who was soon succeeded by De Baugis. In 1690 Tonty and La +Forest were granted the proprietorship of the stronghold, but in 1702 +it was abandoned by royal order. By 1718 it was again occupied by the +French, although when Father Charlevoix passed three years later, it +was once more deserted. The tradition which gave rise to the name +Starved Rock was well known; see _Tales of the Border_ (Philadelphia, +1834); Osman Eaton, _Starved Rock, a Historical Sketch_ (Ottawa, +Illinois, 1895); and Francis Parkman, _La Salle and the Discovery of +the Great West_ (Boston, 1869). + +Pontiac was assassinated in 1769 instead of 1767. For accounts of the +Ottawa and Potawotami, see Croghan's _Journals_, in our volume i, p. +76, note 37, and p. 115, note 84, respectively.--ED. + +[100] For a biographical sketch of Pierre and Auguste Chouteau, the +elders, see James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xvi, p. 275, +note 127.--ED. + +[101] The imprint of a human foot is yet to be seen in the limestone +of the shore not far from the landing at St. Louis. + +With reference to the _human footprints in the rock at St. Louis_, I +have given the local tradition. Schoolcraft's detailed description, +which I subjoin, varies from this somewhat. The print of a human foot +is said to have been discovered also in the limestone at Herculaneum. +Morse, in his _Universal Geography_, tells us of the tracks of an army +of men and horses on a certain mountain in the State of Tennessee, +fitly named the Enchanted Mountain. + +"Before leaving Harmony, our attention was particularly directed to a +tabular mass of limestone, containing two apparent prints or +impressions of the naked human foot. This stone was carefully +preserved in an open area, upon the premises of Mr. Rappe, by whom it +had previously been conveyed from the banks of the Mississippi, at St. +Louis. The impressions are, to all appearance, those of a man standing +in an erect posture, with the left foot a little advanced and the +heels drawn in. The distance between the heels, by accurate +measurement, is six and a quarter inches, and between the extremities +of the toes thirteen and a half. But, by a close inspection, it will +be perceived that these are not the impressions of feet accustomed to +the European shoe; the toes being much spread, and the foot flattened +in the manner that is observed in persons unaccustomed to the close +shoe. The probability, therefore, of their having been imparted by +some individual of a race of men who were strangers to the art of +tanning skins, and at a period much anterior to that to which any +traditions of the present race of Indians reaches, derives additional +weight from this peculiar shape of the feet. + +"In other respects, the impressions are strikingly natural, exhibiting +the muscular marks of the foot with great precision and faithfulness +to nature. This circumstance weakens very much the supposition that +they may, _possibly_, be specimens of antique sculpture, executed by +any former race of men inhabiting this continent. Neither history nor +tradition has preserved the slightest traces of such a people. For it +must be recollected that, as yet, we have no evidence that the people +who erected our stupendous Western tumuli possessed any knowledge of +masonry, far less of sculpture, or that they had even invented a +chisel, a knife, or an axe, other than those of porphyry, hornstone, +or obsidian. + +"The average length of the human foot in the male subject may, +perhaps, be assumed at ten inches. The length of each foot, in our +subject, is ten and a quarter inches: the breadth, taken across the +toes, at right angles to the former line, four inches; but the +greatest spread of the toes is four and a half inches, which +diminishes to two and a half at the heel. Directly before the prints, +and approaching within a few inches of the left foot, is a +well-impressed and deep mark, having some resemblance to a scroll, +whose greatest length is two feet seven inches, and greatest breadth +twelve and a half inches. + +"The rock containing these interesting impressions is a compact +limestone of a grayish-blue colour. It was originally quarried on the +left bank of the Mississippi at St. Louis, and is a part of the +extensive range of calcareous rocks upon which that town is built. It +contains very perfect remains of the encrinite, echinite, and some +other fossil species. The rock is firm and well consolidated, as much +so as any part of the stratum. A specimen of this rock, now before us, +has a decidedly sparry texture, and embraces a mass of black blende. +This rock is extensively used as a building material at St. Louis. On +parting with its carbonic acid and water, it becomes beautifully +white, yielding an excellent quick-lime. Foundations of private +dwellings at St. Louis, and the military works erected by the French +and Spaniards from this material sixty years ago, are still as solid +and unbroken as when first laid. We cite these facts as evincing the +compactness and durability of the stone--points which must essentially +affect any conclusions, to be drawn from the prints we have mentioned, +and upon which, therefore, we are solicitous to express our decided +opinion."--FLAGG. + +[102] For the history of Fort Chartres, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, in +our volume iii, p. 71, note 136. + +For a biographical sketch of St. Ange, see Croghan's _Journals_, in +our volume i, p. 138, note 109.--ED. + +[103] At the close of 1767 Captain Francisco Rios arrived at St. Louis +in pursuance of an order of D'Ulloa, governor of Louisiana. The +following year he built Fort Prince Charles, and although at first +coldly received, won the respect of the inhabitants by his tact and +good judgment. After the expulsion of D'Ulloa in the revolution of +1768, Rios returned with his soldiers to New Orleans.--ED. + +[104] Spain retroceded Louisiana to France by the treaty of San +Ildefonso (October 1, 1800). The latter transferred the territory to +the United States by the treaty signed at Paris, April 30, 1803. + +The attack on St. Louis mentioned by Flagg, occurred May 26, 1780. The +expedition, composed of Chippewa, Winnebago, Sioux, and other Indian +tribes, with a Canadian contingent numbering about seven hundred and +fifty, started from Mackinac. See R. G. Thwaites, _France in America_ +(New York and London, 1905), p. 290; and "Papers from Canadian +Archives," _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, xi, pp. 152-157.--ED. + +[105] Dangerous passes on the Mississippi were rendered doubly +perilous to early navigators by the presence of bands of robbers. An +incident occurred early in 1787, which led to a virtual extermination +of these marauders. While ascending the river, Beausoliel, a wealthy +merchant of New Orleans, was attacked near Cotton Wood Creek by the +Culbert and Magilhay freebooters. After being captured, the merchants +made good their escape through the strategy of a negro, killed many of +their captors, and returned to New Orleans to report the state of +affairs. The following year (1788) the governor issued a proclamation +forbidding boats to proceed singly to St. Louis. Accordingly a fleet +of ten boats ascended and destroyed the lair at Cotton Wood Creek, the +remaining robbers having fled at their approach. This bloodless +victory marks the close of the freebooting period. The year was +afterwards known in local annals as _L'Annee des dix Bateaux_. See L. +U. Reaves, _Saint Louis_ (St. Louis, 1875), pp. 21, 22; and Scharf, +_St. Louis_, ii, p. 1092.--ED. + +[106] In 1805.--FLAGG. + +_Comment by Ed._ Every house save one was destroyed by fire on June +11, 1805. The memory of the disaster is preserved in the motto of the +present seal of the city: _Resurget Cineribus_ (she arises from the +ashes). + +[107] Lieutenant-Colonel Francisco Cruzat, who succeeded (May, 1775) +Captain Don Pedro Piernas, the first lieutenant-governor of Upper +Louisiana, followed the liberal policy of his predecessor and was +highly esteemed by his people. He was followed in 1778 by Captain +Fernando de Leyba, who was sadly lacking in tact and political +ability; he was displaced for incompetency after the Indian attack of +May 26, 1780. Cruzat was reappointed in September and served until +November, 1787. One of the first acts of his second administration was +to direct Auguste Chouteau to make plans for the fortification of St. +Louis; see note 76, _ante_.--ED. + +[108] One, which occurred during the summer of the present year, was +extensively felt. In the vicinity of this fortification, to the south, +was an extensive burial-ground; and many of its slumbering tenants, in +the grading of streets and excavating of cellars, have been thrown up +to the light after a century's sleep.--FLAGG. + +[109] Colonel John O'Fallon (1791-1865), a nephew of George Rogers +Clark, born near Louisville, served his military apprenticeship under +General William Henry Harrison during the War of 1812-15. Resigning +his position in the army (1818), he removed to St. Louis where he +turned his attention to trade and accumulated a large fortune. He +endowed the O'Fallon Polytechnic Institution, which was later made the +scientific department of St. Louis University, contributed liberally +to Washington University, and built a dispensary and medical college. +It is estimated that he gave a million dollars for benevolent +purposes.--ED. + +[110] This quotation is from the pen of an exceedingly accurate writer +upon the West, and a worthy man; so far its sentiment is deserving of +regard. I have canvassed the topic personally with this gentleman, and +upon other subjects have frequently availed myself of a superior +information, which more than twenty years of residence in the Far West +has enabled him to obtain. I refer to the Rev. J. M. Peck, author of +"Guide for Emigrants," &c.--FLAGG. + +[111] For recent scientific conclusions respecting the mounds and +their builders, see citations in note 33, _ante_, p. 69. + +Mount Joliet, on the west bank of the Des Plaines River, in the +southwestern portion of Cook County, Illinois; Mount St. Charles, in +Jo Daviess County, Illinois; Sinsinawa, in Grant County, Wisconsin, +and Blue Mounds, in Dane County, Wisconsin, are unquestionably of +natural formation. For descriptions of the artificial mounds of +Wisconsin, see I. A. Lapham, "Antiquities of Wisconsin," Smithsonian +Institution _Contributions_, volume vii; Alfred Brunson, "Antiquities +of Crawford County," and Stephen D. Peet, "Emblematic Mounds in +Wisconsin," in _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, iii and ix, +respectively.--ED. + +[112] About 1817, when the first steamboat arrived at St. Louis a +sand-bar began forming at the lower end of the city; by 1837, this had +extended as far north as Market street, forming an island more than +two hundred acres in extent. Another sand-bar was formed at the upper +end of the city, west of Blood Island. In 1833 the city authorities +undertook the work of removal, and John Goodfellow was employed to +plow up the bars with ox teams, in order that high waters might carry +away the sand. After three thousand dollars had been expended without +avail, the board of aldermen petitioned Congress (1835) for relief. +Through the efforts of Congressman William H. Ashley, the federal +government appropriated (July 4, 1836) fifteen thousand dollars--later +(March 3, 1837) increased to fifty thousand dollars--for the purpose +of erecting a pier to deflect the current of the river. The work was +supervised by Lieutenant Robert E. Lee and his assistant, Henry +Kayser. Begun in 1837, it was continued for two years, the result +being that the current was turned back to the Missouri side and the +sand washed out; but dikes were necessary to preserve the work that +had been accomplished.--ED. + +[113] The dry floating dock was patented by J. Thomas, of St. Louis, +March 26, 1834.--ED. + +[114] Three miles from the Mississippi, near the end of Laclede +Avenue, St. Louis, is a powerful spring marking the source of Mill +Creek (French, _La Petite Rivière_). Joseph Miguel Taillon went to St. +Louis (1765), constructed a dam across this creek, and erected a mill +near the intersection of Ninth and Poplar streets. Pierre Laclede +Liguest bought the property in 1767, but at his death (1778), Auguste +Chouteau purchased it at public auction and retained the estate until +his own death in 1829. The latter built a large stone mill to take the +place of Taillon's wooden structure, and later replaced it by a still +larger stone mill. The mill to which Flagg probably refers was not +demolished until 1863. Chouteau enlarged the pond formed by Taillon's +dam and beautified it. This artificial lake, a half mile in length and +three hundred yards in width, was long known as Chouteau's Pond, and a +noted pleasure-resort. In 1853 it was sold to the Missouri Pacific +Railroad, drained, and made the site of the union railway station and +several manufacturing establishments.--ED. + +[115] N. M. Ludlow, assisted by Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark and +Colonel Charles Keemle, in 1835 secured subscriptions to the amount of +thirty thousand dollars, later increased to sixty-five thousand, for +the purpose of erecting a theatre on the southeast corner of Third and +Olin streets. The first play was presented on July 3, 1837. Designed +by George I. Barnett, the building was of Ionic architecture +externally and internally Corinthian. It was used until July 10, 1851, +when it was closed, the property having been purchased by the federal +government as the site for a custom house; see Scharf, _St. Louis_, i, +p. 970. + +The Planter's Hotel was probably the one Flagg referred to, instead of +the St. Louis House. It was located between Chestnut and Vine streets, +fronting Fourth street. The company was organized in 1836, the ground +broken for construction in March, 1837, and the hotel opened for +guests in 1841. + +Joseph Rosati (1789-1843) went to St. Louis in 1817 and was appointed +bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of St. Louis, created two years +earlier. Active in benevolent work, he founded two colleges for men +and three academies for young women, aided in establishing the order +of Ladies of the Sacred Heart, and was the chief promoter in the +organization of the Sisters' Hospital and the first orphan asylum. He +was called to Rome in 1840, and at the Feast of St. Andrew, 1841, +appointed Peter R. Kenrick as his coadjutor. Bishop Rosati died at +Rome, in 1843.--ED. + +[116] John B. Sarpy and his two younger brothers, Gregoire B. and +Silvestre D. came to America from France about the middle of the +eighteenth century. After engaging in the mercantile business in New +Orleans, John B. went to St. Louis (1766) and was one of its earliest +merchants. After twenty years' residence there, he returned to New +Orleans. His nephew of the same name, at the age of nineteen (1817) +was a partner with Auguste Chouteau and was later a member of the firm +of P. Chouteau Jr. and Company, one of the largest fur companies then +in America. + +Pierre Menard (1766-1844) was in Vincennes as early as 1788. He later +made his home at Kaskaskia, and held many positions of public trust in +Illinois Territory. He was made major of the first regiment of the +Randolph County militia (1795), was appointed judge of common pleas in +the same county (1801), and United States sub-agent of Indian affairs +(1813). He was also a member of several important commissions, notably +of that appointed to make treaties with the Indians of the Northwest. +His brothers, Hippolyte and Jean François, settled at Kaskaskia. The +former was his brother's partner; the latter a well-known navigator on +the Mississippi River. Michel Menard, nephew of Pierre, had much +influence among the Indians and was chosen chief of the Shawnee. He +founded the city of Galveston, Texas. Pierre Menard left ten children. + +Henry Gustavus Soulard, the second son of Antoine Pierre Soulard, was +born in St. Louis (1801). Frederic Louis Billon, in his _Annals of St. +Louis_ (1889), mentions him as the last survivor of all those who were +born in St. Louis prior to the transfer of Louisiana to the United +States (1803). + +For short sketches of the Chouteaus, see James's _Long's Expedition_, +in our volume xvi, p. 275, note 127, and Maximilian's _Travels_, +in our volume xxii, p. 235, note 168; for Pratte and Cabanné, see +our volume xxii, p. 282, note 239, and p. 271, note 226, +respectively.--ED. + +[117] Within six years after the founding of St. Louis, the first +Catholic church was built. This log structure falling into ruins, was +replaced in 1818 by a brick building. The corner-stone of the St. +Louis cathedral (incorrectly written in Flagg as cathedral of St. +Luke) was laid August 1, 1831, and consecrated October 26, 1834.--ED. + +[118] The painting of St. Louis was presented by Louis XVIII to Bishop +Louis Guillaume Valentin Du Bourg, while the latter was in Europe +(1815-17).--ED. + +[119] For the early appreciation of fine arts in St. Louis, see the +chapter entitled "Art and Artists," written by H. H. Morgan and W. M. +Bryant in Scharf, _St. Louis_, ii, pp. 1617-1627. Scharf, in speaking +of the paintings in the St. Louis cathedral says, "of course the +paintings of the old masters are copies, not originals."--ED. + +[120] In this outline of the Cathedral the author is indebted largely +to a minute description by the Rev. Mr. Lutz, the officiating priest, +published in the Missouri Gazetteer.--FLAGG. + +[121] In 1823, at the solicitation of the federal government, a band +of Jesuit missionaries left Maryland and built a log school-house at +Florissant, Missouri (1824) for educating the Indians. See sketch of +Father de Smet in preface to this volume. The building was abandoned +in 1828 and the white students transferred to the Jesuit college +recently constructed at St. Louis. On December 28, 1832, the state +legislature passed "an act to incorporate the St. Louis University." +The faculty was organized on April 4, 1833.--ED. + +[122] We are informed by Rev. J. C. Burke, S.J., librarian of the St. +Louis University, that the work referred to by Flagg is, _Atlas Major, +sive, Cosmographia Blaviana, qua Solum, Salum, Coelum accuratissime +describuntur_ (Amsterdami, Labore et Sumpibus Joannis Blaeu MDCLXXII), +in 11 folio volumes. + +The _Acta Sanctorum_ (Lives of the Saints) were begun at the opening +of the seventeenth century by P. Heribert Rosweyde, professor in the +Jesuit college of Douai. The work was continued by P. Jean Bolland by +instruction from his order, and later by a Jesuit commission known as +Bollandists. Work was suspended at the time of the French invasion of +Holland (1796) but resumed in 1836 under the auspices of Leopold I of +Belgium. Volume lxvi was issued in 1902.--ED. + +[123] For accounts of General Henry Atkinson and of Council Bluffs, +see Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume xxii, p. 229, note 152, and +p. 275, note 231, respectively.--ED. + +[124] The cave described here is Cliff or Indian Cave, more than two +miles below Jefferson Barracks on the Missouri side.--ED. + +[125] River des Pères is a small stream rising in the central +portion of St. Louis County, flowing southeast, and entering the +Mississippi at the southern extremity of South St. Louis, formerly +Carondelet.--ED. + +[126] This is an historical error. La Salle did not build a fort at +this place, nor did he here take possession of Louisiana.--ED. + +[127] Pittsburg, laid out in 1836, is a hamlet in Cahokia Precinct, +St. Clair County. A railroad six miles in length was constructed +(1837) between Pittsburg and a point opposite St. Louis.--ED. + +[128] This group of Indian mounds, probably the most remarkable in +America, is on the American Bottom, along the course of Canteen Creek, +which rises in the southern portion of Madison County, Illinois, flows +west, and enters Cahokia Creek. Monk, or Cahokia, Mound, about eight +miles from St. Louis, is the most important of the group. William +McAdams, who made a careful survey of this mound, wrote a good +description of it in his _Records of Ancient Races in the Mississippi +Valley_ (St. Louis, 1887); also E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis, "Ancient +Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, comprising the Result of +extensive original Surveys and Explorations," in Smithsonian +_Contributions_, i.--ED. + +[129] The monastery of La Trappe was founded in 1122 (sometimes +incorrectly given as 1140). Originally affiliated with the order of +Fontrevault, it was made a branch of the Cistercian order (1148). +Contrary to Flagg's account, La Trappe did not have a separate +existence until the time of Rançe, who was made abbot in 1664. The +account of Rançe's conversion given here by Flagg, is recognized by +historians as merely popular tradition. See Gaillardin, _Les +Trappistes_ (Paris, 1844), and Pfaunenschmidt, _Geschichte der +Trappisten_ (Paderborn, 1873).--ED. + +[130] The Trappists went to Gethsemane, Nelson County, Kentucky, in +1805. Three or four years later they moved to Missouri, but almost +immediately recrossed the Mississippi and built the temporary +monastery of Notre Dame de Bon Secours on Cahokia Mound, given to them +by Major Nicholas Jarrot. For a description of this establishment by +an eye witness, see H. M. Brackenridge, _Views of Louisiana_ +(Pittsburg, 1814), appendix 5. New Melleray, a Trappist monastery +twelve miles southwest of Dubuque, Iowa, was commenced in 1849 and +completed in 1875. For its history, together with a short account of +the Trappists' activity, see William Rufus Perkins, _History of the +Trappist Abbey of New Melleray_ (Iowa City, 1892).--ED. + +[131] Father Urbain Guillet is recorded as having officiated several +times in the Catholic church at St. Louis.--ED. + +[132] Thomas Kirkpatrick, of South Carolina, made the first settlement +on the site of Edwardsville (1805). During the Indian troubles +preceding the War of 1812-15, he built a block-house, known as Thomas +Kirkpatrick's Fort. When Madison County was organized (1812), +Kirkpatrick's farm was chosen as its seat. He made the survey for the +town plat in 1816, and named the place in honor of Ninian Edwards. See +W. R. Brink and Company, _History of Madison County, Illinois_ +(Edwardsville, 1882).--ED. + +[133] In May, 1838, it was entirely consumed by fire.--FLAGG. + +[134] John Adams later retired from business, and was elected sheriff +on the Whig ticket. Flagg's account seems to be considerably +overdrawn.--ED. + +[135] Collinsville was platted May 12, 1837. Augustus, Anson, and +Michael Collins, three brothers from Litchfield, Connecticut, had +settled here a few years earlier and built an ox-mill for grinding and +sawing, a distillery, tanning yards, and cooper and blacksmith shops. +The town was first named Unionville, and John A. Cook made the first +settlement about 1816.--ED. + +[136] Upper Alton, two and a half miles from Alton, was laid out in +1817 by Joseph Meacham, of Vermont, who came to Illinois in 1811; see +_History of Madison County_, p. 396. + +The origin of Shurtleff College was the "Theological and High School" +commonly known as the Rock Spring Seminary, established (1827) by John +M. Peck, D. D. The latter was closed in 1831, and opened again the +following year at Alton, under the name of Alton Seminary. In March, +1832, the state legislature incorporated the institution as "Alton +College of Illinois." For religious reasons the charter was not +accepted until 1835, when the terms of incorporation had been made +more favorable. In January, 1836, the charter was amended, changing +its title to Shurtleff College, in honor of Benjamin Shurtleff, M. D., +who had donated ten thousand dollars to the institution. Although from +the first emphasizing religious instruction, a theological department +was not organized until 1863. The school is still under Baptist +influence.--ED. + +[137] Hillsboro, the seat of Montgomery County, twenty-eight miles +from Vandalia, was platted in 1823.--ED. + +[138] In his description of the barrens, Flagg follows quite closely +J. M. Peck, _Gazetteer of Illinois_ (Jacksonville, 1837), pp. 11, 12. +The term barrens, according to the _Century Dictionary_, is "a tract +or region of more or less unproductive land partly or entirely +treeless. The term is best known in the United States as the name of a +district in Kentucky, 'The Barrens,' underlaid by the subcarboniferous +limestone, but possessing a fertile soil, which was nearly or quite +treeless when that state began to be settled by the whites, but which +at present where not cultivated, is partly covered with trees." See a +good description in our volume iii, pp. 217-224.--ED. + +[139] According to the War Department's _List of Military Forts, etc., +established in the United States from its Earliest settlement to the +present time_ (Washington, 1902), a Fort Gaines was at one time +located at Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida. The town is now the +seat of East Florida Seminary, a military school. Among the numerous +lakes in the vicinity, Alachua, the largest, occupies what was +formerly Payne's Prairie. Through this prairie a stream issuing from +Newman's Lake flowed to a point near the middle of the district, where +it suddenly fell into an unfathomed abyss named by the Indians Alachua +(the bottomless pit). The whites gave this name to the county, and +called the abyss "Big Sink." This place became a favorite pleasure +resort until 1875, when the sink refused longer to receive the water, +and Payne's Prairie, formerly a rich grazing land, was turned into a +lake. Numerous tales connected with Big Sink were circulated, and it +seems probable that Flagg is referring to this locality.--ED. + +[140] For a sketch of Daniel Boone, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our +volume v, p. 43, note 16; and for a more complete account consult +Thwaites, _Daniel Boone_ (New York, 1902). + +Simon Kenton (1755-1836) having, as he supposed, killed a neighbor in +a fight, fled from his home in Virginia to the headwaters of the Ohio +River. He served as a scout in Dunmore's War (1774) and in 1775 with +Boone, explored the interior of Kentucky. Captured by the Indians +(1778), he was condemned to death and taken to the native village at +Lower Sandusky, whence he made his escape. Later he served with +distinction in campaigns under George Rogers Clark, and was second +only to Daniel Boone as a frontier hero. In 1784, Kenton founded a +settlement near Limestone (Maysville), Kentucky. He took part in +Wayne's Campaign (1793-94), and was present at the Battle of the +Thames (1813). In 1820 he moved to Logan County, Ohio, and sixteen +years later died there in poverty, although before going to Ohio in +1802 he was reputed as one of the wealthiest men in Kentucky. See R. +W. McFarland, "Simon Kenton," in Ohio State Archæological and +Historical Society _Publications_ (1904), xiii, pp. 1-39; also Edward +S. Ellis, _Life and Times of Col. Daniel Boone ... with sketches of +Simon Kenton, Lewis Wetzel, and other Leaders in the Settlement of the +West_ (Philadelphia, 1884). + +Colonel William Whitley (1749-1813), born in Virginia, set out for +Kentucky about 1775, and built in 1786 or 1787 one of the first brick +houses in the state, near Crab Orchard, in Lincoln County. A noted +Indian fighter, he participated in the siege of Logan's fort (1777), +and Clark's campaigns of 1782, and 1786. He also led several parties +to recover white captives--his best known feat of this character being +the rescue of Mrs. Samuel McClure (1784). In 1794 he was the active +leader of the successful Nickajack expedition, directed against the +Indians south of Tennessee River. He fell at the Battle of the Thames +(1813), whereat it was maintained by some of his admirers, he killed +the Indian chief Tecumseh. See Collins, _Kentucky_, ii, pp. 403-410; +but this doubtful honor was also claimed by others.--ED. + +[141] Alexander Spotswood (1676-1740) was appointed governor of +Virginia (1710). Taking a lively interest in the welfare of the +colonists, he attained among them high popularity. Quite early, he +conceived the idea of extending the Virginia settlement beyond the +mountains, to intercept the French communications between Canada and +the Gulf of Mexico; but he failed to secure the aid either of his +province or of the mother country. In the summer of 1716 he organized +and led an expedition for exploring the Appalachian Mountains, named +two peaks George and Spotswood, and took possession of the Valley of +Virginia in the name of George I. On his return, he established the +order of "Tramontane," for carrying on further explorations, whose +members were called "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," for the reason +which Flagg gives. For a contemporary account of this expedition, see +"Journal of John Fontaine" in Anna Maury, _Memoirs of a Huguenot +Family_ (New York, 1853). Spotswood was displaced as governor in 1722, +but was later (1730) appointed deputy postmaster of the colonies.--ED. + +[142] Macoupin Creek flows southwesterly through the county of the +same name, westerly through Greene County, and empties into Illinois +River at the southwestern extremity of the latter county. It is now +believed that Macoupin is derived from the Indian word for white +potatoes, which were said to have been found growing in abundance +along the course of this stream. + +Carlinville, named for Thomas Carlin, governor of the state in +1834-42, was settled about 1833. + +Gideon Blackburn, a Presbyterian minister, laid a plan in 1835 for +founding a college to educate young men for the ministry. He entered +land from the government at the price of one dollar and twenty-five +cents an acre, and disposed of it to the friends of his cause at two +dollars, reserving twenty-five cents for his expenses and turning over +the remaining fifty cents to the proposed college. By May, 1837, he +had entered over 16,656 acres. The people of Carlinville purchased +eighty acres from him for the site of the school. The enterprise lay +dormant until 1857, when the state chartered the school under the +title of Blackburn University, which was opened in 1859.--ED. + +[143] Others say the peninsula was discovered on Easter-day; _Pasqua +florida_, feast of flowers; whence the name.--FLAGG. + +[144] "In the year 1538, _Ferdinand de Soto_, with a commission from +the Emperor _Charles V._, sailed with a considerable fleet for +America. He was a Portuguese gentleman, and had been with _Pizarro_ in +the conquest (as it is called) of Peru. His commission constituted him +governor of Cuba and general of Florida. Although he sailed from St. +Lucar in 1538, he did not land in Florida[A] until May 1539. With +about 1000 men, 213 of whom were provided with horses, he undertook +the conquest of Florida and countries adjacent. After cutting their +way in various directions through numerous tribes of Indians, +traversing nearly 1000 miles of country, losing a great part of their +army, their general died upon the banks of the Mississippi, and the +survivors were obliged to build vessels in which to descend the river; +which, when they had done, they sailed for Mexico. This expedition was +five years in coming to nothing, and bringing ruin upon its +performers. A populous Indian town at this time stood at or near the +mouth of the Mobile, of which _Soto's_ army had possessed themselves. +Their intercourse with the Indians was at first friendly, but at +length a chief was insulted, which brought on hostilities. A battle +was fought, in which, it is said, 2000 Indians were killed and 83 +Spaniards."--_Drake's Book of the Indians_, b. iv., c. 3.--FLAGG. + +_Comment by Ed._ Consult Edward G. Bourne (Ed.), _Career of Hernando +de Soto_ (New York, 1904). + + [A] "So called because it was first discovered by the Spaniards on + Palm Sunday, or, as the most interpret, Easter-day, which they + called _Pasqua-Florida_, and not, as Thenet writeth, for the + flourishing verdure thereof."--_Purchas_, p. 769. + +[145] "After a long and fatiguing journey through a mountainous +wilderness, in a westward direction, I at last, from the top of an +eminence, saw with pleasure the beautiful land of Kentucky. * * * It +was in June; and at the close of day the gentle gales retired, and +left the place to the disposal of a profound calm. Not a breeze shook +the most tremulous leaf. I had gained the summit of a commanding +ridge, and, looking round with astonishing delight, beheld the ample +plains, the beauteous tracts below. * * * Nature was here a series of +wonders and a fund of delight. Here she displayed her ingenuity and +industry in a variety of flowers and fruits, beautifully coloured, +elegantly shaped, and charmingly flavoured; and I was diverted with +innumerable animals presenting themselves continually before my view. +* * * The buffaloes were more frequent than I have seen cattle in the +settlements, browsing on the leaves of the cane, or cropping the +herbage on these extensive plains, fearless because ignorant of +man."--[Narrative of Colonel Daniel Boone, from his first arrival in +Kentucky in 1769, to the year 1782.]--FLAGG. + +_Comment by Ed._ Boone's Narrative was actually written by John +Filson, from interviews with the pioneer. The stilted style is of +course far from being Boone's product. + +[146] George Herbert.--FLAGG. + +[147] Mungo Park, born in Scotland (1771), was engaged by the African +Society (1795) to explore the course of the Niger, which he reached +July 20, the following year. While on a subsequent tour he was drowned +in that river (1805). See his _Travels in the interior district of +Africa_ (London, 1816).--ED. + +[148] July 4.--FLAGG. + +[149] The Prairie.--FLAGG. + +[150] For an account of Vandalia, see Woods's _English Prairie_, in +our volume x, p. 326, note 75.--ED. + +[151] The first number of the _Illinois Monthly Magazine_ was issued +in October, 1830. Late in 1832 Hall removed to Cincinnati, when he +soon began issuing the _Western Monthly Magazine_, or continuation of +the former publication, whose subject matter was largely historical, +dealing with the early settlement of the West. For an account of Judge +James Hall see _ante_, p. 31, note 2.--ED. + +[152] Hall.--FLAGG. + +[153] Hurricane Creek rises near the line of Montgomery and Shelby +counties, flows southerly through the western portion of Fayette +County, and enters Kaskaskia River twelve miles below Vandalia. The +banks of this creek were formerly heavily timbered, and the low +bottoms were occasionally inundated. Flagg considerably exaggerated +the actual condition of this region.--ED. + +[154] Carlyle, the seat of Clinton County, forty-eight miles east of +St. Louis, was laid out in 1818. + +The Vincennes and St. Louis stage route passed through Lebanon, +Carlyle, and Salem. At the last place, the road divided, one branch +running south to Fairfield, the other passing through Maysville and +both again uniting at Lawrenceville. Augustus Mitchell, in his +_Illinois in 1837_ (Philadelphia, 1837), p. 66, says: "From +Louisville, by the way of Vincennes to St. Louis, by stage, every +alternate day, 273 miles through in three days and a half. Fare, +seventeen dollars."--ED. + +[155] Lebanon was laid out by Governor William Kinney and Thomas Ray +in July, 1825. + +Little Silver Creek rises in the northeastern portion of St. Clair +County and flowing southwesterly joins Silver Creek two miles below +Lebanon. The latter stream is about fifty miles in length, rises in +the northern part of Madison County, runs south into St. Clair County, +and enters Kaskaskia River.--ED. + +[156] _Tradition_ telleth of vast treasures here exhumed; and, on +strength of this, ten years ago a company of fortune-seekers dug away +for several months with an enthusiasm worthy of better success than +awaited them.--FLAGG. + +_Comment by Ed._ Rock Spring was a mere settlement in St. Clair +County, eighteen miles from St. Louis, on the Vincennes stage road, +and about three miles southwest of Lebanon. Its name was derived from +a series of springs issuing from a rocky ledge in the vicinity. John +M. Peck selected this site (1820) for his permanent residence, and +established the Rock Spring Theological Seminary and High School +(1827), which four years later was transferred to Alton and made the +foundation of Shurtleff College. In 1834 Rock Spring consisted of +fourteen families. + +[157] Peter Cartwright is said to have suggested the idea of founding +a Methodist college at Lebanon. After the citizens of the town had +contributed $1,385, buildings were erected and instruction commenced +in 1828. The college was named in honor of Bishop William McKendree, +who made a liberal donation to the school (1830).--ED. + +[158] In March, 1814, a commission appointed by the state legislature +the preceding year, selected the site of Belleville for the seat of +St. Clair County. George Blair, whose farm was chosen as the site, +platted and named the county seat. The town was incorporated in 1819. +See _History of St. Clair County, Illinois_ (1881), pp. 183, 185.--ED. + +[159] For a brief history of the inception of St. Louis University, +see _ante_, p. 169, note 121. At a meeting of the trustees on May 3, +1836, a commission was appointed to select a new site for the +university. A farm of three hundred acres recently purchased, on the +Bellefontaine road, three and a half miles from St. Louis, was chosen; +plans were formulated, contracts made, and the foundations dug. On the +death of the contractors, the enterprise was abandoned; but the land, +sold a few years later, proved a valuable investment. See Scharf, _St. +Louis_, i, pp. 860, 861.--ED. + +[160] For a note on Florissant, see Townsend's _Narrative_, in our +volume xxi, p. 125, note 4.--ED. + +[161] This valley appears to have been the bed of an ancient +lake.--FLAGG. + +[162] Bridgeton, still a village, about fifteen miles northwest of the +St. Louis courthouse, was incorporated February 27, 1843. It was +settled by French and Spanish families, about the time that St. Louis +was established. A fort was built as a protection against the Indians, +and William Owens was placed in command. In consequence the place was +until the time of its incorporation generally known to the Americans +as Owen's Station.--ED. + +[163] Until after the middle of the nineteenth century, St. Louis +County ranked among the coal-producing districts of Missouri. Today no +coal is mined there save for the fire-clay industry or other immediate +local use. Dr. B. F. Shumard in his "Description of a Geological +Section on the Mississippi River from St. Louis to Commerce," in +Geological Survey of Missouri, _First and Second Annual Reports_ +(Jefferson City, 1855), p. 176, describes _La Charbonnière_ mine; +which appears to have been operated at that time. He reports the coal +vein as being only about eighteen inches in thickness. On page 184 of +the above report, an interesting map is given, showing the location of +coal mines in St. Louis County.--ED. + +[164] For an account of St. Charles, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our +volume v, p. 39, note 9. + +For the Mandan villages, see Maximilian's _Travels_, in our volume +xxii, p. 344, and note 316, and volume xxiii, p. 234, note 192.--ED. + +[165] The following extract from a letter dated September, 1819, +addressed by Mr. Austin to Mr. Schoolcraft, respecting the navigation +of the Missouri, well portrays the impetuous character of that river. +It shows, too, the great improvements in the steam-engine during the +past twenty years. + +"I regret to state that the expedition up the Missouri to the Yellow +Stone has in part failed. The steamboats destined for the Upper +Missouri, after labouring against the current for a number of weeks, +were obliged to give up the enterprise. Every exertion has been made +to overcome the difficulty of navigating the Missouri with the power +of steam; but all will not do. The current of that river, from the +immense quantity of sand moving down with the water, is too powerful +for any boat yet constructed. The loss either to the government or to +the contractor will be very great. Small steamboats of fifty tons +burden, with proper engines, would, I think, have done much better. +Boats like those employed, of twenty to thirty feet beam, and six to +eight feet draught of water, must have _uncommon_ power to be +propelled up a river, every pint of whose water is equal in weight to +a quart of Ohio water, and moves with a velocity hardly credible. The +barges fixed to move with wheels, worked by men, have answered every +expectation; but they will only do when troops are on board, and the +men can be changed every hour."--FLAGG. + +[166] For a sketch of Franklin, Missouri, see Gregg's _Commerce of the +Prairies_ in our volume xix, p. 188, note 33.--ED. + +[167] The first settlement was made at St. Charles in 1769. La +Chasseur Blanchette located the site, and established here a military +post. The first mill in St. Charles County is said to have been built +by Jonathan Bryan on a small branch emptying into Femme Osage Creek +(1801). Francis Duquette (1774-1816), a French Canadian who came to +St. Charles just before the close of the century, erected a mill on +the site of the old round fort.--ED. + +[168] One year after the above was written, the author, on a visit to +St. Charles, walked out to this spot. The willow was blasted; the +relics of the paling were gone; the grave was levelled with the soil, +but the old ruin was there still.--FLAGG. + +[169] For a description of Bloody Island, see _ante_, p. 115, note 77. + +The duel mentioned by Flagg is probably the one that occurred between +Joshua Barton, United States district attorney, and Thomas Rector, on +June 30, 1823. Barton had published in the _Missouri Republican_ a +letter charging William Rector, surveyor general of Missouri, +Illinois, and Arkansas, with corruption in office. The latter being +absent, his brother Thomas issued the challenge. Barton's body was +buried at St. Charles near the old round tower ruins. + +In the summer of 1817, Charles Lucas challenged Thomas H. Benton's +vote at the polls. On the latter calling him an insolent puppy, Lucas +challenged him to a duel. The affair took place August 12, 1817, and +both parties were wounded. On September 27 of the same year, a second +duel was fought, in which Lucas was mortally wounded. Joshua Barton +was the latter's second. In the _Missouri Republican_ (St. Louis, +March 15, 1882) there was printed an address by Thomas T. Gantt, +delivered in Memorial Hall at St. Louis, on the celebration of the +centennial birthday of Thomas H. Benton, in which the details of this +deed were carefully reviewed. + +During the political canvass of 1830, a heated discussion was carried +on in the newspaper press between Thomas Biddle and Spencer Pettis. +Pettis challenged Biddle to a duel. Both fell mortally wounded, August +29, 1830.--ED. + +[170] Marais Croche (Crooked swamp) is located a few miles northeast +of St. Charles, and Marais Temps-Clair (Clear-weather swamp), just +southwest of Portage des Sioux. The former is often mentioned for its +beauty.--ED. + +[171] "I cultivated a small farm on that beautiful prairie below St. +Charles called 'The Mamelle,' or 'Point prairie.' In my enclosure, and +directly back of my house, were two conical mounds of considerable +elevation. A hundred paces in front of them was a high bench, making +the shore of the 'Marais Croche,' an extensive marsh, and evidently +the former bed of the Missouri. In digging a ditch on the margin of +this bench, at the depth of four feet, we discovered great quantities +of broken pottery, belonging to vessels of all sizes and characters. +Some must have been of a size to contain four gallons. This must have +been a very populous place. The soil is admirable, the prospect +boundless; but, from the scanty number of inhabitants in view, +rather lonely. It will one day contain an immense population +again."--_Flint's Recollections_, p. 166.--FLAGG. + +[172] At the time Flagg wrote, St. Charles, like many other Western +towns, entertained the hope that the Cumberland Road would eventually +be extended thereto, thus placing them upon the great artery of +Western travel. See Woods's _English Prairie_, in our volume x, p. +327, note 76. Also consult T. B. Searight, _The Old Pike_ (Uniontown, +1894), and A. B. Hulbert "Cumberland Road," in _Historic Highways of +America_ (Cleveland, 1904). + +Boone's Lick Road, commencing at St. Charles, runs westward across +Dardenne Creek to Cottleville, thence to Dalhoff post-office and +Pauldingville, on the western boundary of the county. Its total length +is twenty-six miles.--ED. + +[173] St. Charles College, founded by Mrs. Catherine Collier and her +son George, was opened in 1836 under the presidency of Reverend John +H. Fielding. The Methodist Episcopal church has directed the +institution. + +Madame Duchesne, a companion of Mother Madeline Barral, founder of the +Society of the Sacred Heart, started a mission at St. Charles in 1819; +but the colony was soon removed to St. Louis. In 1828, however, she +succeeded in establishing permanently at St. Charles the Academy of +the Sacred Heart, with Madame Lucile as superior.--ED. + +[174] For sketches of the Potawotami, Miami, and Kickapoo, see +Croghan's _Journals_, in our volume i, pp. 115, 122, 139, notes 84, +87, 111; for the Sauk and Fox, see J. Long's _Voyages_, in our volume +ii, p. 185, note 85; for the Iowa, Brackenridge's _Journal_, in our +volume vi, p. 51, note 13.--ED. + +[175] Flagg makes an error in speaking of Boone's Lick County, since +there was none known by that name. He evidently had in mind Warren +County, organized in 1833 from the western part of St. Charles County. +Boone County created in November, 1820, with its present limits, named +in honor of Daniel Boone, is in the fifth tier of counties west from +Missouri River.--ED. + +[176] For an account of Daniel Boone and Boone's Lick, see Bradbury's +_Travels_, in our volume v, pp. 43, 52, notes 16, 24, respectively. +Daniel Boone arrived at the Femme Osage district in western St. +Charles County, in 1798. He died September 26, 1820 (not 1818).--ED. + +[177] There seems to be little or no foundation for this statement. +Consult J. B. Patterson, _Life of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak or Black +Hawk_ (Boston, 1834), and R. G. Thwaites, "The Story of the Black Hawk +War," in _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, xii, pp. 217-265.--ED. + +[178] For biographical sketch of General William Clark, see Bradbury's +_Travels_, in our volume v, p. 254, note 143.--ED. + +[179] Obed Battius, M.D., is a character in James Fenimore Cooper's +novel, _The Prairie_ (1826).--ED. + +[180] An Illinois legislative act approved January 16, 1836, granted +to Paris Mason, Alfred Caverly, John Wyatt, and William Craig a +charter to construct a railroad from Grafton, in Greene County, to +Springfield, by way of Carrollton, Point Pleasant, and Millville, +under the title of Mississippi and Springfield Railroad Company. The +road was, however, not built.--ED. + +[181] For a description of Macoupin Creek, see _ante_, p. 226, note +142. Flagg draws his information concerning Macoupin Settlement from +Peck, _Gazetteer of Illinois_. According to the latter the settlement +was started by Daniel Allen, and John and Paul Harriford, in December, +1816. As regards Peck's statement that Macoupin Settlement was at the +time of its inception the most northern white community in the +Territory of Illinois, there is much doubt. Fort Dearborn (Chicago), +built in 1804, and evacuated on August 15,1812, was rebuilt by Captain +Hezekiah Bradley, who arrived with two companies on July 4, 1816, and +a settlement sprang up here at once.--ED. + +[182] The first settler in Carrollton was Thomas Carlin, who arrived +in the spring of 1819. In 1821 the place was chosen as the seat of +Greene County, and surveyed the same year, although the records were +not filed until July 30, 1825. See _History of Greene and Jersey +Counties, Illinois_ (Springfield, 1885).--ED. + +[183] Apple Creek, a tributary of Illinois River, flows in a western +trend through Greene County.--ED. + +[184] Whitehall, in Greene County, forty-five miles north of Alton, +was laid out by David Barrow in 1832. Pottery was first made there in +1835, and has since become an important industry, contributing largely +to the rapid progress of which Flagg speaks.--ED. + +[185] Manchester is in Scott County, midway between Carrollton and +Jacksonville, being about fifteen miles from each. It was settled as +early as 1828.--ED. + +[186] Diamond Grove Prairie, five miles in extent, is a fertile +district in Morgan County, just south of Jacksonville. Diamond Grove +was formerly a beautifully timbered tract situated in the middle of +this prairie, two miles south of Jacksonville. It was some 700 or 800 +acres in extent.--ED. + +[187] Illinois College was founded in 1829 through the effort of a +group of Jacksonville citizens directed by the Reverend John M. Ellis +and the Yale Band--the latter composed of seven men from that college +who had pledged themselves to the cause of Christian education in the +home missions of the West. The latter secured from the friends of the +enterprise in the East a fund of $10,000. Late in 1829 the +organization was completed and in December, 1830, Reverend Edward +Beecher, elder brother of Henry Ward Beecher, was persuaded to leave +his large church in Boston and accept the presidency of this +institution. In 1903 the Jacksonville Female Academy, started in 1830, +was merged with the Illinois College, which had from the first been +dominated by the Presbyterian Church.--ED. + +[188] Jacksonville, the seat of Morgan County, was laid out in 1825 on +land given to the county for that purpose by Thomas Armitt and James +Dial. The town was largely settled by people from New England, who +gave a characteristic tone to its society. Jacksonville is today the +seat of several important state institutions.--ED. + +[189] In June, 1835, Ithamar Pillsbury, with two associates, sent out +under the auspices of the New York Association, entered a large tract +of land and selected a site for a town to be styled Andover, which was +eventually platted in 1841, in the western portion of Henry County, +fifty miles north and northwest of Peoria. The first settlers were +principally from Connecticut, but soon several Swedish families +migrated thither, and in time the settlement was composed primarily of +that nationality. On returning East in the autumn of 1835, after +planting the Andover colony, Pillsbury had an interview with Dr. Caleb +J. Tenny, of Wethersfield, Connecticut. At the latter's instigation a +meeting of Congregationalists was held, and a group of influential New +Englanders organized themselves into the Connecticut Association. +Shares were sold at $250 each, which entitled the holder to one +hundred and sixty acres of prairie land, twenty acres of timber land, +and a town lot in a proposed colony to be founded in Illinois. On May +7, 1836, the first entry was made by the committee of purchase. After +the latter's return a new committee was sent out and the town of +Wethersfield, in the southeastern corner of Henry County, was laid out +in the spring of 1837. For an account of the founding of Andover and +Wethersfield, and the names of persons serving on the various +prospecting committees, see _History of Henry County, Illinois_ +(Chicago, 1877), pp. 137-141, 524-526.--ED. + +[190] Since the above was written, the emigrants have removed.--FLAGG. + +[191] Joseph Duncan, born in Kentucky, was presented with a sword by +Congress for his gallant defense of Fort Stephenson in the War of +1812-15. In 1818 he moved to Kaskaskia, was appointed major-general of +the Illinois militia (1823), and elected state senator (1824). In 1827 +he was sent to Congress by the Jacksonian Democrats. He resigned in +1834 to accept the governorship of Illinois, which he occupied until +1838. He is said to have erected the first frame building in +Jacksonville. He moved to this place in 1829, dying there January 15, +1844.--ED. + +[192] Porter Clay (1779-1850), a brother of Henry Clay, was for many +years a Baptist minister at Jacksonville.--ED. + +[193] Flagg is probably referring to William Weatherford, who served +in the state senate (1834-38) from Morgan County.--ED. + +[194] The first settlement on the present site of Springfield was made +by John Kelly (1819). In 1822 the lots were laid off, but not recorded +until the following year, when the town was named. Soon after its +incorporation in 1832, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and Edward +Baker began agitating the question of moving the state capital to +Springfield from Vandalia. After a severe struggle, complicated with +the internal improvement policy, their efforts succeeded in 1837. The +legislative act of that year went into effect July 4, 1839, and the +general assembly commenced its first session at Springfield in the +following December.--ED. + +[195] Sangamon River is formed by the union, six miles east of +Springfield, of its north and south forks. The former, rising in +Champaign County, flows through Macon and a part of Sangamon counties; +the latter intersects Christian County. The main stream runs in an +easterly direction, forms the boundary of Cass County, and joins the +Illinois River nine miles above Beardstown. The river is nearly two +hundred and forty miles in length, including the north fork, and was +named in honor of a local Indian chief.--ED. + +[196] Mechanicsburg, fifteen miles east of Springfield, was laid out +and platted in November, 1832, by William S. Pickrell.--ED. + +[197] "I will never, if possible, pass a night in any place where the +graveyard is neglected." Franklin has no monument!--FLAGG. + +[198] Turgot.--FLAGG. + +[199] Decatur, surveyed in 1829, is the seat of Macon County, +thirty-nine miles from Springfield. It was named for Commodore Stephen +Decatur.--ED. + +[200] For a later description of the Mormon settlement in Missouri, +and an account of their stay at Nauvoo, Illinois, see Gregg's +_Commerce of the Prairies_, in our volume xx, pp. 94-99 and +accompanying notes. For a psychological treatment of Joseph Smith and +bibliography of Mormonism, see Isaac W. Riley, _Founder of Mormonism_ +(New York, 1902).--ED. + +[201] Missourians.--FLAGG. + +[202] For a year after the above was written, the cause of Mormonism +seemed to have received a salutary check. It has since revived, and +thousands during the past summer have been flocking to their Mount +Zion on the outskirts of Missouri. The late Mormon difficulties in +Missouri have been made too notorious by the public prints of the day +to require notice.--FLAGG. + +[203] Grand Prairie, as described by Peck in his _Gazetteer of +Illinois_, was a general term applied to the prairie country between +the rivers which flow into the Mississippi and those which empty into +the Wabash. "It is made up of continuous tracts, with long arms of +prairie extending between the creeks and smaller streams. The southern +points of the Grand prairie are formed in the northeastern parts of +Jackson county and extend in a northeastern course between the streams +of various widths, from one to ten or twelve miles, through Perry, +Washington, Jefferson, Marion, the eastern part of Fayette, Effingham, +through the western portion of Coles, into Champaign and Iroquois +counties, where it becomes connected with the prairies that project +eastward from the Illinois River and its tributaries. Much of the +longest part of the Grand prairie is gently undulatory, but of the +southern portion considerable tracts are flat and of rather inferior +soil."--ED. + +[204] Illinoisians.--FLAGG. + +[205] Shelbyville, selected as the seat of Shelby County (1827), was +named in honor of Isaac Shelby, early governor of Kentucky. It is +located about thirty-two miles southeast of Decatur, and was +incorporated in May, 1839.--ED. + +[206] 1835.--FLAGG. + +[207] Eight families from St. Clair County settled (1818) in the +vicinity of certain noted perennial springs in the southwestern corner +of what was later organized into Shelby County. For some time the +colony was known as Wakefield's Settlement, for Charles Wakefield, who +had made the first land entry in the county in 1821. John O. Prentis +erected the first store there in 1828, and shortly afterwards secured +a post-office under the name of Cold Springs.--ED. + +[208] Philosophy, vol. i.--FLAGG. + +[209] Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), after having been a Baptist pastor at +Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and later associated with the Disciples in +Ohio, established a branch of the Mormon church with one hundred +members at Kirtland, Ohio. Joseph Smith, who had founded the +last-named church at Fayette, New York (April 6, 1830), went to +Kirtland in February of the following year. Aided by Rigdon, Smith +attempted to establish a mixed communistic and hierarchical organized +community. Mormon tanneries, stores, and other enterprises were built, +and the corner-stone of a $40,000 temple laid July 23, 1833. Through +improvident financial management, the leaders soon plunged the +community deeply in debt. The Kirtland Society Bank, reorganized as +the Kirtland Anti-Bankers Company, after issuing notes to the amount +of $200,000, failed, and Smith and Rigdon further embarrassed by an +accumulation of troubles fled to Jackson County, Missouri, where +Oliver Cowdery by the former's order had established the Far West +settlement. Joseph Smith was assassinated by a mob (June 27, 1844) at +Carthage, Illinois, and Brigham Young succeeded him. Sidney Rigdon, +long one of Smith's chief advisers, and one of the three presidents of +the Mormon church at Nauvoo, combated the doctrine of plurality of +wives. He refused to recognize the authority of Young as Smith's +successor, and returned to Pennsylvania, but held to the Mormon faith +until his death in 1876. In 1848 the charter granted to the city of +Nauvoo by the Illinois state legislature, was repealed. The Mormons +thereupon selected Utah as the field of their future activity, save +that a few members were left in Missouri for proselyting purposes. + +Alexander Campbell (1788-1866), educated at the University of Glasgow, +came to the United States (1809) and joined the Presbyterian church. +Refusing to recognize any teachings save those of the Bible, as he +understood them, he and his father, Thomas Campbell, were dismissed +(1812) and with a few followers formed a temporary union with the +Baptist church. Disfellowshiped in 1827, they organized the Disciples +of Christ, popularly known as the Campbellites. The son published the +_Christian Baptist_, a monthly magazine, its name being changed (1830) +to the _Millennial Harbinger_. He held several public offices in the +state of Virginia, and in 1840 founded Bethany (Virginia) +College.--ED. + +[210] Kirtland is now deserted, and the church is occupied for a +school.--FLAGG. + +[211] See Woods's _English Prairie_, in our volume x, p. 327, note +76.--ED. + +[212] Or "_beef_."--FLAGG. + +[213] Salem, the seat of Marion County, was settled about 1823, when +the county was organized.--ED. + +[214] Philosophy, b. i., chap. 1.--FLAGG. + +[215] Mount Vernon, a village seventy-seven miles southeast of St. +Louis, was chosen as the seat of justice for Jefferson County, when +the latter was organized in 1818.--ED. + +[216] Mud Creek rises in the northwestern part of Perry County, flows +through the southwestern part of Washington and the southeastern part +of St. Clair counties, and enters the Kaskaskia two miles below +Fayetteville. + +In January, 1827, the state legislature in organizing Perry County +appointed a commission to select a seat of justice to be known as +Pinckneyville (Pinkneyville), its town site being located and platted +in January, 1828.--ED. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Early Western Travels, 1748-1846 +(Volume XXVI), by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42322 *** |