Excursion to St. Louis.--Face of the Country.--Sketch of the State of
Missouri.--Return to Trinity.
The steam-boat, the Pioneer, having come up to Trinity the following
day, on its way to St. Louis, Mr. B. and I resolved to take a trip to
the latter place, as the best chance that offered to get away as soon as
possible. We started at ten o'clock in the morning, turned round the
fork, and ascended the muddy Mississippi. The first town we saw was
Hamburgh, on the Illinois side, consisting of nineteen frame dwellings
and cabins, and four stores. On the left, in the state of Missouri, is
Cape Girardeau. The settlement mostly consists of Frenchmen, and German
Redemptioners. The town has not a very inviting appearance. One hundred
and six miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, we landed
at St. Genevieve to take in wood. This town is the principal mart for
the Burton mines; it has a Catholic chapel, twenty stores, a printing
office, 250 houses, and 1600 inhabitants. Twenty-four miles farther up
the same side, is Herculaneum, with 300 inhabitants, a court-house,
and a printing office. The town had been laid out and peopled by
Kentuckians. There are several villages on the right and left bank, and
some good-looking farms. On the third day, at twelve o'clock, we reached
the town of St. Louis, 170 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and
thirteen miles below the junction of the Mississippi, and the Missouri.
This town extends, in a truly picturesque situation, in 38° 33' north
latitude, and 12° 58' west longitude, for the length of two miles along
the river, in three parallel streets, rising one above the other in the
form of terraces, on a stratum of limestone. The houses are for the most
part built of this material, and surrounded with gardens. The number of
buildings amounts to 620, that of the inhabitants to 5000. Its principal
buildings are, a Catholic, and two Protestant churches, a branch bank
of the United States, and the bank of St. Louis, the courthouse, the
government-house, an academy, and a theatre; besides these, there are a
number of wholesale and retail stores, two printing offices, and an
abundance of coffee-shops, billiard-tables, and dancing-rooms. The trade
of St. Louis is not so extensive as that of Louisville, and less liable
to interruption, as the navigation is not impeded at any season of the
year, the Mississippi, being at all times navigable for the largest
vessels. An exception, indeed, occurred in 1802, when the Ohio and other
rivers were almost dried up. The inhabitants of St. Louis and of
Missouri, have therefore a never-failing channel for carrying their
produce to market. This they generally do, when the rivers which empty
themselves into the Mississippi, are so low that they have no
apprehension of finding any competition in New Orleans. Last year, the
market of New Orleans was almost exclusively supplied with produce from
St. Louis and Missouri. Eighty dollars was the general price for a
bullock, which at a later period would not have obtained twenty-five
dollars; flour was at eight dollars, whereas, two months afterwards,
abundance could be had for two and a half dollars. In the same
proportion they sold every other article. It is this circumstance which
contributes to the wealth of St. Louis, and of Missouri in general, to
the detriment, on the other hand, of the Ohio States, Kentucky, Indiana,
and Ohio. At the time of our arrival at St. Louis, there were in its
port, five steam vessels, and thirty-five other boats. St. Louis is a
sort of New Orleans on a smaller scale; in both places are to be found a
number of coffee-houses and dancing rooms. The French are seen engaged
in the same amusements and passions that formerly characterised the
creoles of Louisiana, with the exception, that the trade with the
Indians has given to the French backwoods-men of St. Louis, a rather
malicious and dishonest turn--a fault from which the creoles of
Louisiana are free, owing to the greater respectability of their
visitors and settlers, from Europe, and from the north of the Union. The
majority of the inhabitants of this town, as well as of the state,
consists of people descended from the French, of Kentuckians, and
foreigners of every description--Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Irish,
&c. Kentucky manners are fashionable. Not long before my arrival, there
occurred a specimen of this, in an open assault and duel between two
individuals in the public street. For the last five years, men of
property and respectability, attracted by the superior advantages of the
situation, have settled at St. Louis, and their example and influence
have been conducive of some good to public morals. The enterprising
spirit of the Americans is remarkable, even in this place and state.
Within the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the cession of
this country (part of the former Louisiana) to the Union, much more has
been achieved in every point of view, than during the sixty years
preceding, when it was in possession of France and Spain. Streets,
villages, settlements, towns, and farms, have sprung up in every
direction; the population has augmented from 20,000 to 84,000
inhabitants; and if they are not superior in wealth to their neighbours,
it is certainly to be attributed to their want of industry, and to
their passing the greater part of their time in grog-shops, or in
dancing-companies, according to the prevailing custom. Slavery, which is
introduced here, though so ill adapted to a northern state, contributes
not a little to the aristocratic notions of the people, the least of
whom, if he can call himself the master of one slave, would be ashamed
to put his hand to any work. Still there is more ready money among the
inhabitants, than in any of the western states, and prices are demanded
accordingly. Cattle that fetch in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, ten
dollars per head, are sold in Missouri for twenty-five dollars, and so
in proportion. The country about St. Louis to the north, south, and
west, consists of prairies, extending fifteen miles in every direction,
with some very handsome farm houses, and numerous herds of cattle.
Though in the same degree of northern latitude as the city of
Washington, the climate is more severe, owing to the two rivers Missouri
and Mississippi, whose waters coming from northern countries greatly
contribute to cool the air. The cultivation of tobacco has not
succeeded, and the produce chiefly consists of wheat, corn and
cattle;--equally important is the profit from the lead mines, and
the fur trade. The most improved settlements are those along the
Mississippi, and on the Missouri they are beginning to be formed.
Missouri was received into the Union in 1821, and is, with the exception
of Virginia, the largest state of the Union, its area exceeding 60,000
square miles. To the north and west it borders on the Missouri
territory; towards the east the Mississippi is the boundary between this
state, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; the Arkansas territory lies to
the south. It extends from 36° to 40° 25' north latitude, and from 12°
50' to 18° 10' west longitude. The country forms an elevated plain,
sloping considerably to the south, where it is crossed by the Ozark
mountains. Marshes and mountains prevail more in the southern parts,
high plains in the northern. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, the
bottom lands are generally extremely fertile. The soils, however, cannot
be altogether compared with that of Illinois. The possession of slaves
is allowed by the constitution of this state, and their number amounts
to 10,000; that of the rest of the inhabitants to 70,000. The form of
government approaches very nearly that of Kentucky. We remained one day
at St. Louis, and returned in the steam-boat, General Brown, to Trinity,
where we took on board the ladies and some new passengers, returning
from thence to the Mississippi. We passed several small islands, and a
large one (Wolf's Island), and landed at New Madrid at midnight, for the
purpose of taking in wood. This place is the seat of justice for the
county of the same name; it has, however, no court-house, and is a
rather wretched looking place, containing about thirty log and shattered
farm houses, with 180 inhabitants, Spaniards, French, and Italians. The
two stores being open, we visited them. They were but poorly provided,
having about a dozen cotton handkerchiefs, one barrel of whiskey, and a
heap of furs. Two Indians were stretched on the ground before the door,
and in a sound sleep, with their guns by their side. The Mississippi is
continually encroaching upon the town, and has already swept away many
intended streets, as the inhabitants say, obliging them to move back to
their no small disappointment. The surrounding country is highly
fertile, and in the rear of the town there are several well cultivated
cotton and rice plantations. A rich plain stretches along to the west,
behind New Madrid, as far as the waters of Sherrimack.