This little book assumes to be nothing more than a note book of all that
passed before the observation of the author, during a summer tour of
four thousand miles, through the great lakes; the prairies of Illinois;
the rivers Illinois, Mississippi, and Ohio; and over the Alleghany
mountains to New York. Since she has been ‘urged by friends to print,’
the author has added to her notes and letters, some little information
regarding the western States, in hopes her book may be of use to future
tourists and emigrants, who will here find an account of the distances,
prices, and conveyances, throughout the author’s route. Anxious to guard
against errors, information acquired upon the road, has been compared
with the best Gazeteers. Accuracy, in a newly settled country, is
difficult, and accounts differ much; still the author trusts the
traveller who may honor her by taking her book for his guide, will not
be far mis-led.
_New York, May, 1841._