The lance, cross and canoe; the flatboat, rifle and plough in the valley of the Mississippi

Front matter

r

•', iV Im

S'r iTA

Preface

IN this book I have tried to tell the story of the explorers of the Mississippi Valley — De Soto, Marquette and Joliet, La Salle and Tonti, Bienville, Lewis and Clarke, and Fremont; of the pioneers — Boone, Kenton, George Rogers Clarke, and their associates ; of the old preachers — Moravian, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist; and of the people, their warfare with the red-men, their homes and ways, their struggles for life and for social and civil order, and their triumphs. I have sketched the career of some of the leaders in thought and action — Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Jo Hamilton Daviess, Humphrey Marshall, Sam. Houston, Thomas Hart Benton, Lewis Cass, George D. Prentice; and of two of the most remarkable orators that have appeared in the great valley, or anywhere else — Tom Corwin and Seargent Smith Prentiss. The Lance is used as a symbol for De Soto, the Cross for the saintly Marquette, the Canoe for La Salle, Bienville, and the other French voyageurs; while the Flat-boat, Rifle, and Plough, represent the American backwoodsmen.

The book has not been written for historical scholars and critics, but for the people and their children ; and, therefore, while striving to be accurate and faithful in all statements of fact, I have sought to bring out, in popular form, the picturesque and romantic persons and events from the campaign of DeSoto to our own time, and to make it racy of the soil. I have laid everybody under contribution — Bancroft, Parkman, Shea, Winsor, and all other writers of celebrity that have treated of my theme, and many others not so widely known. Much of my material, however, has been drawn at first-hand from the early settlers of the country. Within the last fifty years I have journeyed over the vast region many times, from the British lines to the Rio Grande, from the headwaters of the Mississippi, Missouri, the Arkansas, the Ohio; the Holston, the French Broad, and other springs of the Tennessee; and nearly every other affluent, large or small, of the great river through whose mouth they find their way to the Gulf of Mexico. There is scarcely a town or city in the wide district I have not visited. I have known Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Omaha, Denver, since they were villages ; and Pittsburg, Cincinnati,

vii

Vlll PREFACE.

Cleveland, Louisville, St. Louis, and Memphis, when thej were scarcely more. My wayfarings have brought me in contact with nearly every man of note that has appeared upon the stage of the AYest within the past half century, and the enthusiasm of my love for the country in which, and for the people among whom, more than half my life has been spent, has grown with my years.

It is a great pleasure to return my thanks for the substantial help generously rendered me by Col. Eeuben T. Durrett, of Louisville, without whose aid and the resources of his matchless collection, no man can write a history of the West. I am under no small obligation to A. C. Quissenberry, Esq., of the bar department, for the valuable assistance he has given me in preparing my sketch of Humphrey Marshall. I also cordially thank my old friends, Messrs. Harper and Brothers, for leave to use such matter as I have wanted and found in their publications.

I also wish to heartily acknowledge the co-operation of Mr. Charles Burr Todd in the production of this book, and to pay deserved tribute to his .literary ability and untiring industry. In the compilation of facts — the investigation of authorities, and verification of dates — as well as in more direct literary effort in many of the sketches, his services have been material and valuable.

I cannot forbear the expression of my hope that this volume may find its way to the homes of my friends throughout the whole country, and to the firesides of many others in this and distant lands, and that its reading may give pleasure and profit to old and young. ^ jj MILBURN.

Washington, I). C.

Introduction

THE VALLEY.

Page.

The Valley Defined.— The Great River, its Beauty and Majesty Its Lordly Tributaries.— The

Delta.— Characteristics of the Valley.— The Great Lakes 33

Chapter I. The Lance

SHALL SPAIN HAVE THE VALLEY?

The Spaniard of the Year 1500. — His Roseate Dreams. — Juan Ponce De Leon. — Fountains of Youth and Mountains of Gold. — A Step from the Quixotic to the Satanic. — De Ayllon. — Pamphilo De Narvaez. — De Soto in Florida. — Alvar Nunez Cabacca De Vaca. — Don Vasco Forcallo De Figueroa. — Baltazar Gallegos. — Juan Ortiz. — Indian Massacres and Reprisals. — Lost in a Wonderland. — Storming a Walled City. — Hail of Arrows. — Sword and Shield Triumphant. — Toward the Mountain of Gold. — A Weary Way. — The Mississippi Discovered. — Circuit of the Arkansas and Red. — Death of the Great Leader 37

Chapter II. The Cross

FATHER MARQUETTE AND HIS DISCOVERY.

The French in the Great Valley. — Daring of the Cross. — Martyrs for Christ. — Youges. — Breboeuf. — L'AUemand. — Rambout. — Joliet. — Marquette, the Apostle. — His Birth and Lineage. — His Missionary Labors. — Discovers the Mississippi. — His Sad Death 67

Chapter III. The Canoe

ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE,

An Adventurer of Mettle. — Birth and Early Achievements. — Explores the Mississippi to Its Mouth. — Takes Possession in the Name of France. — Fights his Way Back. — Returns to France. — Sails with a Fleet to the Mouth of the Mississippi. — Fails to Find it.— Deserted by his Captains. — Murdered in the Wilderness ■ 84

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter IV

AN IDYL OF THE WILDERNESS. PAGE.

The French at Kaskaskia. — A Western Arcadia. — Manners and Customs of the Villagers. — Simple Faith. — Neither Lawyers nor Courts. — A Paternal Government. — "Where Ignorance is Bliss." — Bean-Balls. — Kings and Queens of a Night. — Spaniards March Against them. — A Second Armada Defeat. — Kaskaskia Fortified. — Description of Fort Chartres 109

Chapter V. War Of The Lilies And The Lion

England Appears in the Valley. — Her Magnificent Claim from the Atlantic to the Pacific. — The Claim Examined. — Virginia Gains a Foothold. — George Washington, the Pioneer. — A Volley Heard Around the World. — Braddock's Ill-starred Expedition. — William Pitt at the Helm. — Victory. — Canada and the Great West Made Anglo-Saxon 120

Chapter VI. The Red Man And The War Of Pontiac

Language, Disposition, Manners and Customs of the Indians of the West. — Prowess and Wood-craft. — The Three Great Families. — Totems. — Pontiac's Birth, Genius, Character. — The Great Conspiracy. — Siege of Fort Detroit. — Universal Rapine and Massacre. — Failure of the Siege of the Conspiracy. — Pontiac Projects New Plots. — Col. Bouquefs Expedition. — Redeems American Prisoners. — Murder of Pontiac 127

Chapter VII. Cabin Homes Of The Wilderness

Treaty Between the British and the Iroquois. — Washington's Instinct for Good Land. — Regulators. — Battle of the Alamance. — Pioneer Crossing of the Blue Ridge. — General Phineas Lyman. — The Connecticut Colony in Mi.^^sissippi. — An Adventurous Journey. — Among the Creeks. — Daniel Boone. — James Harrod. — Simon Kenton. — Lord Chatham's Appeal 160

Chapter VIII. George Rogers Clarke And His Compeers

Au Indian Ahduction. — A Gallant Defense. — Birth and Character of Clarke. — Delegate to the Virginia Legislature. — Leads a Force Against Kaskaskia. — Captures Kaskaskia. — His Statesmanship. — His Treaties with the Indians. — Expedition Against Vincennes. — Captures the Town. — His Death . . 179

Chapter IX. The Battle Of King's Mountain

A Mountain Duel. — Settling the Preliminaries. — Advance and Retreat. — The Fight on the Mountain Top.— Gallantry of the Mountaineers. — Death of Colonel Ferguson. — A Decisive Victory 194

TABLE or CONTENTS. XI

Chapter X

SHALL KENTUCKY'S BE THE FIFTEENTH STAR IN THE FLAG? PAGE.

Kentucky After the War.— The Mississippi Must be Free.— Creating a State.— Yoder's Pioneer Voyage. — Arrival of General Wilkinson.— Spanish Plots and Conspiracies.— J ay's Treaty in Kentucky. — A Western Empire Proposed. — French Intrigues. — Aaron Burr and his Plans. — Kentucky Becomes a State. — Character of the Early Kentuckians 205

CHAPTER XL

THE OLD NORTHWEST.

Its Grand Proportions. — An Apple of Discord.— Conflicting Charters. — A Nation's Fate Hangs Upon it. — The Compromise. — The Northwest Land Ordinance. — Forever Free. — Settlement. — Five Great States Carved Out of it. — A National Almoner 230

Chapter XII. French Chivalry In The Southwest

Discoveries and Settlements. — How Mobile was Settled. — Crozat's Charter and Romantic Dreams. —John Law's Mississippi Company. — Exploits of Bienville. — Founds New Orleans. — Intrepid Gaul and Polite Castilian.— Village of the White Apple Chief, and What Took Place There.— Death of Chopart. — War Against the Chickasaws. — Arrival of the Acadians. — The Gaul Releases his Grasp on the Great Valley. — The Spaniard Seizes Louisiana.— The Anglo-Saxon's Advance from the East. — France Comes Again to Her Own, but Relinquishes it to the New Republic. — Traditions of the French Occupation. — A Princess in Disguise. — Beaudrot, the Hunter. — Bossu's Adventures. — The Clan M'Gillivray. — The Napoleonist Refugees 245

Chapter XIII. Through The Gates Of The Rockies

An Unlaureled Hero. — A Statesman's Project. — The Men Who Carried it Out. — Sketches of Captains Lewis and Clarke. — Ascent of the Missouri. — The Winter Camp. — Path-Finding. — Great Falls of the Missouri. — Source of the Missouri. — A Hunting Adventure. — The Mountain Pass. — Fountains of the Columbia. — Descent of the River. — Hardships by the Way. — The Second Winter. — The Return. — Well-earned Plaudits 296

Chapter XIV. John Charles Fremont, The Path-finder

Birth and Character. — His First Essay as an Explorer. — Explores and Describes the South Pass, and the Counti-y Between. — His Second Expedition. — The Western Slope of the Rockies. — His Daring Adventures. — Discovers Great Salt Lake, the Sierra Nevada Range, the Sacramento and San Joaquin. — Third Expedition. — Saves California to the Union. — A Midnight Alarm and Massacre. — His Fourth Expedition. — Maps Out a Route for a Railroad to the Pacific. — Senator from California. —His Death 319

XU TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART 11.

Chapter XV

THE OLD WILDERNESS ROAD. PAGE.

Early Settlers in Kentucky. — Daniel Boone to the Rescue. — Itinerary of William Calk. — The Ride of Captain Van Cleve. — The Route by the Ohio River. — Its Perils and Hardships. — Captain HubbelPs Desperate Encounter with Indians 331

Chapter XVI. The Old Preachers And Their Preaching

Christian Frederick Post. — Fate of the Moravian Indians. — Pioneer Churches. — Camp Meetings. — Strange Manifestations There. — The Jerks. — Character, Genius, and Methods of the Early Preachers. — The Annual Conferences. — Bishop Asbury. — Anecdotes. — Salary of the Bishops. — How Brother Axley Sung Himself into the Widow's Good Graces. — William Burke's Pay for Preaching the Gospel. — Elisha W. Bowman's Missionary Labors. — Mr. Axley and Judge White. — Revs. William Raper and Russell Bigelow. — Dr. Durbin's Eloquence. — Henry B. Bascora, the Apollo of the West 338

Chapter XVII. Three Typical Backwoods Preachers

PETER CARTWRIOHT. — His Character, "Voice, Manner, Appearance. — Power of His Eloquence. — Anecdotes of. — '-Bring Me a Hatchet." — Cartwright and General Jackson. — Addicted to Wearing Galluses. — Forces the Ferryman to Pray. — Early Life — Licensed as an Exhorter. — Achievements. — A Muscular Christian, — At the Dance.

PETER AKERS. — Personal Appearance. — Early Education. — A Free-thinker, — Conversion. — Settles at Lexington, Kentucky. — Removes to Illinois. — President of M'Kendree College. — Presiding Elder. — His Modesty. — Peculiarities. — A Remarkable Prayer. — Removes to Minnesota.

CHAUNCEY HOB A.RT.— Personal Appearance.— "Stranger, You Must be President of the Track Society.'' — Early Life. — Pioneer Experiences, — Joins Illinois Conference, — His First Circuit. — A Watch-night Meeting. — Traveling Experiences. — A Frontier Journey 392

Chapter XVIII. The People

Their Nationality. — Characteristics. — Daily Life, Manners and Customs, — Dress, — Muscular Development, — Diet. — Furniture. — Harvest Bees. — Dinner. — A Dance. — The "Infare."^ — The Raising Bee. — An Indian Raid, — Scouting Adventures. — A Western Heroine — Madame Lecompte,— ^

TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiii

Page.

William Whiteside.— Wayne's Scouts, and their Dare-devil Deeds.— Filson's Bloody Voyage, as Narrated by Himself.— The Log School-house Described.— Early Pedagogues.— Anecdotes of.— An Arkansas "Noatis."— A Frontier Actor.— An Election Fight.— Early Educational Endowments.— Transylvania Seminary Founded.— The First Schoolmaster in Kentucky.— First Printing-press and Newspaper.— Advertisements.— Card Playing.— Lexington.— Louisville.— Result of an Earthquake Scare.— Pittsburg in its Infancy.— How Cincinnati was Founded.— Emerson on the March of Progress 427

Chapter XIX. The Western Mind

ITS MANIFESTATIONS, ELOQUENCE AND HUMOR.

The Problem that First Confronted it.— From Material to Intellectual Development. — Skill as Constitution Framers.— Pioneer Laws.— Militia Musters. — The Stump-speech.— Specimen Speeches.

Power of the Stump-orator Analyzed. — Its Language Corresponds to its Thought. — Wit and Humor. — Examples of an Indian Joke. — Westernisms. — A Bishop's Visit. — "The Way to Springfield." — "No Time for Swappiii' Hosses."— Eastern and Western Eloquence Contrasted. — An Emersonian Story. — Anecdotes. — The Politicians 462

Chapter XX. Great Leaders

Henry Clay. — Andrew Jackson. — William Henry Harrison. — Joseph Hamilton Daviess. — Humphrey Marshall. — Sam. Houston. — Thomas Hart Benton. — Lewis Cass. — Thomas Corwin. — George D. Prentice 4S3

Chapter XXI. The Bench And The Bar

Early Courts of Justice.— A Sentence of Death Which was Not Executed. — Judge Pickens. — Upholding the Dignity of the Court. — Elder Hardscrabble. — Burwell Shines. — The Major. — An Extraordinary Court Scene. — The Sheriff and the Peddler 565

Chapter XXII

SEAKGENT S. PRENTISS AND THE FLUSH TIMES OF MISSISSIPPI.

Speculating Mania. — Gamblers. — Black-legs.— Robbery. — Negro Stealing. — The Credit System. — Peculiar Banking Methods. — Barrels Crammed with Newly Signed Bills. — Land Litigation. — Parentage and Birth of Prentiss. — Early Education. — Revenge for a Whipping. — A Junior at Fifteen. — Studies Law in Cincinnati. — A School-teacher at Natchez, Mississippi. — Admitted to the Bar. — Duels with Gov. Foote. — Perfect Courage. — Personal Magnetism. — Power Over the Hearts of Men. — His Victories in Courts of Law. — His Power as a Public Speaker. — Personal Characteristics 579

XIV TABLE or CONTENTS.

Chapter XXIII

ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. PAGE

The Guild of Stage-drivers. — The National Road. — Stage-lines. — Tavern-keepers. — "You Must be Powerful Dirty." — The Keel-boatmen. — Their Evolution, Character, Marksmanship, Code of Honor. — The First Steamboat. — Steamboat Voyaging on the Mississippi. — Racing. — Wooding. — Steamboat Passengers. — Some Pen-pictures. — Johnny Appleseed. — A Strange Figure in the Wilderness. — Life in Kentucky Fifty Years Ago - . . . . 624

Chapter XXIV. A Look Backward And A Glance Forward

Removal from Philadelphia to Illinois.— First Vision and Impression of the Prairies. — Jacksonville, Illinois, Described. — Character of its Early Settlers. — Words of "Current Coin." — The Forum.— Anecdotes of Lincoln, Douglas, Butterfield, Palmer. — The Campaign of 1840. — Chicago in 1846. — Its Ambition, Energy, Faith in its Great Future. — Its Rapid Growth. — Notable Events in its History. — The Great Valley of To-day. — Its Boundless Resources. — Educational Advantages. — Bright Future 660

PAGE.

Louis XIV 38

Ponce De Leon 39

Cortez 41

Columbus 43

Hernando De Soto 44

Gloom of the Cypress 45

Map Showing Supposed Route of Dk"!

Soto and Moscoso in Arkansas and I

Louisiana J 47

De Soto's Discovery of the Mississippi 50

An Incident in De Soto's First Battle 55

De Soto Pierced with an Arrow . . 57

Burial of De Soto 62

View on the Upper Mississippi ... 63

America Discovered 65

Marquette's Map of the Mississippi . 66 YoNGES Compelled to Run the Gaunt- \

LET by the Iroquois J 68

Marquette Descending the Mississippi \

River j 69

Scene on Red River 71

Map of Louisiana 74

Marquette, Joliet and Guide Cross- "1

iNG THE Wisconsin River . . . . / 78 "In Vernal Pasture Lands They Beheld THE Moose, the Elk and the

Deer" J 80

"And Vast Herds of Buffalo Grazed)

IN THE Meadows" / 81

De La Salle 85

Seneca Indian 87

Squaw and Child 88

Creek Indians 90

Indian Squaw 92

Indian Wigwam 93

Buffalo Cow and Calf 94

La Salle Displays the Arms of France 97

PAGE.

La Salle's Landing in Texas .... 102

La Salle's Map of Texas 105

Night Encampment Ill

City of St. Louis, as Laid Out by Col.]

Augusts Chouteau, at the Found- y

iNG of the City in 1764 J 112

St. Louis in 1780 114

Old Residence of Gov. A. McNair, St. \

Louis / 115

Sighting the Buffaloes 117

The State of Lakes — Minnesota . . . 121

Falls of the Missouri 122

Incident in the Universal Rapine and)

Massacre j 130

Indians Attack Fort Detroit . . . . 13G The Ojibwas Surprise and Capture)

Fort Michilmackinac j 139

A Deadly Leap 143

Indians Returning a Prisoner .... 145

Settlers in Camp on the Muskingum . 147

Birds op the Mississippi Valley . . . 158

Daniel Boone 162

Daniel Boone Alone in the Wilder-)

NESS OF Kentucky J 163

House in Montgomery County, Mis- )

souRi, IN WHICH Boone Died . . . j 165

The Old Fort at Boonesborough . . 166

The Grave of Daniel Boone, Frank- )

FORT, Kentucky / 168

Simon Kenton 172

Simon Kenton, from his Cabin Home)

IN THE Mountains, Visits the Capital j 174

General George Rogers Clarke ... 180

Indians Surprise Logan's Station . . 182

Early Home of George Rogers Clarke 184 Clarke and his Soldiers Crossing)

THE Wabash J 190

XV

XVI

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE.

Death of Colonel Ferguson at King's \

Mountain i 202

John Filson 209

General James Wilkinson 211

John Filson's Map ok Kentucky ... 214 A Second Map ok Kentucky, Drawn 1

BY John Filson, a. d. 1784 . . . . j 222

Aaron Burr 223

findley, the discoverer of kentucky 227

A Prairik Scene 232

The Banks op the Mississippi in the"!

Steamboat Period J 238

Falls of Minnehaha 242

Falls of St. Anthony 243

Bienville 247

Bienville Building Fort Rosalie . . 248

Laying Out New Orleans 249

A Negro Insurrection 251

The Ursuline Convent Establisiikd "l

BY THE French in New Orleans j 255

New Orleans in 1719 256

A Leap for Life 2G4

The Keel-Boat 267

Charlevoix's Descent of the Missis- 1

sippi River J 269

A Negro Village in Louisiana ... 273

The Sale of Louisiana 275

Map of the Louisiana Purchase ... 277

In the Canebrake 293

View in Grand Canon 297

Captain Meriwether Lewis 299

Wild Animals of the West 302

Buffalo Dance in the Rocky Mountains 304

The Crow Village 307

Indian Dog Dance 309

Buffalo Hunting 311

Indian Burial Ground 314

John C. Fremont 320

The Frontier of Missouri at the Pe- ")

RiOD OF Fremont's Expedition . . / 321

Fort on the Western Border .... 326

Indian Attack on Fremont's Party . . 327

Crossing the Plains in Wagons . . . 328

The Successor to the Wagon Train . 329 Burial Ground of the Delawakes on "i

the Ohio J 335

Rev. Christian Frederick Post . . . 339 Attacked by Indians While Holding!

Religious Service / 342

The Circuit-Rider on Duty 343

A Night in the Great Religious Re- ")

viVAL IN Kentucky in 1800 . . . . j 346

Going to Church 348 page.

Primitive Methods — Preaching in a"»

Tobacco Barn j 353

Rev. James Axley 356

Rev. Elisha W. Bowman 358

Peter Cartwright 399

Rev. Peter Akers 404

Rev. Ciiauncey Hobart 412

An Implement of Home Industry in \

Pioneer Days j 430

A Pioneer School-Teacher— "Board- \

iNG Among the Scholars" . . . . j 432 The School Ma'am on Duty — Early \

Days in Mississippi j 433

A Family Singing Psalms 437

The Frontier Teacher and his School 449

The Mountain School ....... 451

The Young Man With the Greasy "i

Pack of Cards j 464

Carrying the Mail 466

The Boy of the Frontier Period . . 467 The Colored Overseer — One of his \

Subjects ' j 470

The Typical Rural Combination- Church, School-House, and Cemetery J 472

Henry Clay 484

Lucretia Hart Clay 485

Henry Clay Addressing the U. S. Senate 488

Ashland— Henry Clay's Residence . . 490

Andrew Jackson (Portrait) .... 491

Andrew Jackson's Birth-Place . . . 492

W^EATHERSFORD AND GENERAL JaCKSON . 496

Andrew Jackson 498

Hermitage — Andrew Jackson's Home . 499

William Henry Harrison 500

Fort Wayne in 1812 502

Tecumseh 504

Tippecanoe Battle-Ground 506

Maguaga Battle-Ground 507

Home of Joseph Hamilton Daviess . . 510

Humphrey Marshall 513

Office of the "Kentucky Gazette,'" 17S7 — THE First Printing-House in

Kentucky J 517

Frankfort, Kentucky' 519

Sam. Houston— From a Photograph \

Sam. Houston— From a Painting . . . 523

Discussing the Plan of the San An- "t

TONio Campaign j 526

Fall of the Alamo 529

Remnant of the Old Fort of the Alamo 530

David Crockett 531

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

XVU

PAGE.

Monument Erected to the Heroes )

OF the Alamo i 532

Mexicans at a Period of Peace . . . 533

A Mexican Home 534

Plan of Battle-Ground of San Jacinto 535

Thomas H. Benton 539

Li<:wis Cass 543

Lewis Cass's Boyhood Home in NewI

Hampshiue / 545

Pioneer Home in North Michigan . . 547

Thomas Corwin 550

George D. Prentice 5G0

Birth-Place of George D. Prentice, 1

AS it Stood in 183S / 563

S. S. Prentiss 580

View of the Mississippi at Natchez, \

Early Home of S. S. Prentiss — Port- )

LAND, Maine i 585

ViCKSiiURG, Mississippi 588

A Bayou on the Mississippi 591

A Mississippi Kiver Boat 593

PAGE.

Cotton-Picking in Mississippi in the"!

Early Days / 600

Over the National Road— the Forerunner OF the Stage-Coach and Railway Train J 625

Scene on the Wilderness Road of a 1 Recent Period / 626

The Tavern 628

The Keel-Boat and Boatmen .... 631

The Shooting-Match 633

View of a Settlement in the Pineries 637

Silently and in the Night They Stole \ Away / 639

Street in New Orleans 641

A House in the Swamp Districts of) Louisiana J 642

"Johnny Appleseed" 646

'■The Tribes of the Heathen are"!

Bound About Your Doohs, and a I Devouring Flame Followeth Af- | TER Them" J 647

"Hebe's Your Primitive Christian" . 648

INTRODUCTION.

THE VALLEY.

THE VALLEY DEFINED. THE GREAT RIVER, ITS BEAUTY AND MAJESTY. ITS LORDLY TRIBUTA- RIES.-: THE DELTA. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VALLEY. THE GREAT LAKES.

bET US first look at the theatre of the events we are to here chronicle. Nature has defined it by stupendous boundary walls — the Appalachian Chain on the east, the Great Lakes on the north, the Eocky Mountains on the west— between these lies an infinite variety of landscape — grim sage-desert, fruitful oasis, illimitable prairies. Here opulent cities sparkling on its bosom, there majestic rivers flowing through wide valleys ; here, again, inland seas bearing a commerce greater than that of all the maritime ancients combined. A valley larger than all Europe, save Sweden and Norway — twenty-three degrees of latitude, thirty of longitude, two million, four hundred and fifty-five thousand square miles of territory — the Great West.

Not quite in the centre of this vast area — nearer the eastern than the western wall — a river, the most striking topographical feature of the globe, rolls its majestic tide. Away up in the Minnesota highlands, seventeen hundred feet above sea level, fed by clear springs and curtained by wild rice, lies a beautiful lake — Itasca. The rivulet that flows from it enters soon upon wide swelling prairies, a feast to the eyes. Fields of wheat and barley nod upon its banks, and sweep away far as eye can reach.

On it flows, playing "among the flowers of a meadow, watering a garden, or turning a mill." It passes through many lakes, and exacts tribute from all. Hundreds of tributary streauLs flow in from north, east and west. It is already a lordly river when it reaches Minneapolis, three hundred miles below. There it shoots headlong into the great chasm of St. Anthonj', turning the wheels and spindles of a city of one hundred and sixty-five thousand inhabitants. Emerging, it flows with more dignity, and does not again indulge in such mad antics. Henceforth to the Gulf navies

34 INTRODUCTION.

may ride upon it — it separates sovereign States — it is in truth the Mississippi — "Father of Waters." Through the mouths of its great affluents the waters of many hundreds of smaller streams, not a few of which are navigable, are poured into it.

The traveler is in sight of the spires of St. Louis when a sound salutes his ears; it scarcely seems the din of tratfic, and is not, for soon he perceives the rush of the Pekitanoni, or Missouri (muddy water), which leaps upon the quiet Mississippi as if it would efface it, and throws its turbid,boiling current, laden with uprooted trees and other debris, quite to the opposite shore. The parent river shrinks away from it; even at St. Louis, sixteen miles below, the currents of the two rivers are still distinct, the steel-blue waters of the Mississippi sweeping the eastern shore, and the boiling current of the Missouri the western — two rivers flowing side by side. Let us study briefly this muddy torrent — the Missouri.

If we follow its tortuous course northwest two thousand, nine hundred and eight miles, we shall find its head-waters amid the solemn peaks of the Rocky Mountains, on the western edge of Montana. Its principal northern tributary draws its supplies almost wholly from British territory. Its three main southern affluents rise among the massive ranges that wall in the South Pass in western Wyoming. In its valley are five hundred and eighteen thousand square miles of fertile land. It is three thousand feet wide at its mouth, and discharges into the Mississippi one hundred and twenty thousand cubic feet of water every second.

A hundred or more miles below St. Louis, at Cairo, another tremendous bodj^ of water pours into the now turbid river — the Ohio — the h'Oyo, or La Belle Riviere of the early voyagers. From the summits of the Blue Ridge, overlooking the Atlantic slope, from the coal and oil measures of Pennsylvania, and the water-shed of the Great Lakes, these waters have been gathered over an area of two hundred and fourteen thousand square miles, rich in mineral and agricultural products, one-half as yet undeveloped. Included in its basin are six great tributary river valleys — the Tennessee, Cumberland, Wabash, Great Kanawha, Alleghany and Monongahela. From this point, and indeed from St. Louis, the river is known as the Lower Mississippi, and its physical characteristics differ widely from those exhibited above. Its valley is from twenty to fifty miles wide, and composed of loose, alluvial soil, through which the great river winds and twists like an immense serpent, its folds at times almost overlapping. Interminable swamps, nourishing a luxuriant semitropical vegetation, cover the face of the country. Groves of cottonwood and cypress fringe its banks, their branches clothed with Spanish moss which floats in pen-

INTRODUCTION. 35

dulous, silvery veils along the green walls, and significantly styled the "Curtains of Death." Here and there a ragged, water-eroded bluff rises, crowned perhaps by a town, or some well-ordered plantation, whose fine mansion with its lawn and gardens is flanked by rows of whitewashed cottages, called "The People's Quarters; "but these are incidents — the general landscape, as in the diiy of the first discoverers, is that of wilderness and morass.

Countless tributaries join this river, without to appearance increasing its volume. The Arkansas, the first of importance below the Ohio, is one thousand five hundred and fourteen miles long, and draws its waters from the eternal snows of Pike's Peak and its congeners in Colorado, ten thousand feet above sea level. This tributary is fifteen hundred feet wide at its mouth, and drains an area of one hundred and eightynine thousand miles. Next below, on the west, conies in the Red River, twelve hundred miles long, rising among the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains in Texas, only two thousand four hundred and fifty feet above the tide. This stream has an area of ninety seven thousand square miles. The Yazoo, which enters from the east, is a sluggish stream; in its course of five hundred miles, having a fall of but two hundred and ten feet.

In time of flood, the Father of Waters is in places thirty miles wide. Nearing the Gulf it meets, fifty miles inland, a series of swamps, lakes and bayous, through which, imperceptibly, the mass of its waters is drained into the sea ; but it has beside several distinct mouths forming a delta of nineteen thousand four hundred and fifty square miles. Its principal mouth is two thousand four hundred and seventy feet wide, and pours into the Gulf six hundred and seventy-five thousand cubic feet of water every second. The navigable waters of this river form a highway nine thousand miles in extent — more than one-third the circumference of the globe.

"The Sources of the Upper Mississippi," says Foster, "are among the great forests of conifers, white birches and aspens — subarctic types — which continue north, but dwarfed in stature, until the limits of arborescent vegetation are reached ; and its mouth is in the region of the orange, the magnolia, and even the palm — thus approaching the verge of tropical forms."

Near the head of the valley on its eastern side is the group of gigantic lakes whose only outlet is the majestic St. Lawrence, which carries their waters into the Atlantic. They occupy nearly a hundred thousand square miles, and contain more than one-half of all the fresh water on the globe. The level of Lake Superior, the grandest of the group, is six hundred and three feet above that of the sea; Michigan and