_Captains of American Expansion always to be found in the
National Legislature.--Great National Advance in the Second and
Third Decades of the Nineteenth Century.--Definition of "The
American System."--The Doctrine that Public Surplus should be
used for Internal Improvements held for only a Short Time.--Party
Struggles regarding Cumberland Road Legislation.--Inconsistent
Resolutions of Congress on this Matter.--The Drift of Public
Sentiment toward putting Works of Improvement under the Care of
the Government.--Numerous Competitors for National Aid toward
Local Improvements.--Mutual Jealousy of Various Localities with
Regard to the Distribution of Government Aid.--Disputes as to
the Comparative Usefulness of Canals and Railroads.--Polk's
Sarcasm on the Abuse of the Word "National" as applied to the
Route of a Proposed Road from the Lakes to the Gulf.--Several
Beneficial Measures passed by Congress in Spite of Strong
Opposition.--Sums granted for Education, Road-building, and
Canal-building.--Beneficial Influence of the Government's Liberal
Gifts as Encouragement to States and to Private Investors._
PILOTS OF "THE AMERICAN SYSTEM"
[Illustration]
AS we have reviewed from a more or less personal standpoint some of
the exploits which definitely made for the growth and expansion of the
young American Republic, it may have occurred to the reader that here
was another great power at work helping, encouraging, and guiding the
movement,--Pilots of the Republic in the halls of national legislation
at Washington.
Not that we refer specifically to any one man; some men, like Henry
Clay and Daniel Webster, can be pointed to at certain periods as
men who occupied this position, who in a sense fathered, against
all opposition, great measures that we see now were of tremendous
advantage; if the position was abdicated by one man it was filled by
another; and so down through the century and a quarter of our national
existence there has been a power at work in our councils that has
been optimistic, and at the same time true to the genius of America's
geographical position and her high calling among the nations of the
earth. It is not because this has been marvellously illustrated since
the outbreak of the Spanish-American War that reference is made to it
here, though the illustration is apposite and fair; but if we look back
down the decades from the day that Congress signed that contract with
Rufus Putnam and his Revolutionary patriots, or the day when Jefferson
dared to effect the Louisiana Purchase, we shall continually find men
sitting in the Congressional seats at the capital who had the courage
to try new paths, to assume common-sense views of the Constitution,
and who believed in their country and wished to see it shirk no great
responsibility. Such men as these were as truly captains of our
expansion as was Putnam or Henderson or Astor.
The age in our history to which our attention is turned on this subject
is more particularly that lying between the beginning of the second and
the ending of the third decade of last century. Much that was proposed
before the opening of the nineteenth century, in the way of material
national advance, was forgotten in the taxing days of 1811-1815. Chief
among these was the Erie Canal proposition, and it is perhaps not too
much to say that had the war with England not come as it did, possibly
the Government would, by means of the money accruing from the sale of
Michigan lands, have invested in the Erie Canal project; the Cumberland
Road was one of the great works that went on despite the war. The moral
effect of the victories of Perry and Jackson, one to the north and the
other to the south, was very great; with the triumphant ending of the
war the little victorious nation sprang into a strength and a passion
for power that well-nigh frightened those acquainted with the policy
and conservatism of the ante-bellum days.
We have touched slightly on one of the great questions of this most
wonderful period of American history, that of the constitutionality
of the appropriations for the Cumberland Road, and Henry Clay's
championship of the measure. But this was only one of a score of
propositions in a campaign of internal improvements, and Clay was but
one of a hundred champions who assisted a weak nation to take on the
elements of strength by encouraging agriculture and manufactures, and
binding a far-flung land by means of communication and intercourse.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT JAMES K. POLK]
At the beginning of the second generation in the century the problem
of internal improvements came to the fore as on no previous occasion,
backed by the strongest men then in the public eye,--Clay, Calhoun,
Adams, and Webster. The Cumberland Road had been making its way
westward, but had not yet thrown its tawny length over the Ohio River
and into the States beyond. But the argument for this great national
work was not to be gainsaid, for the original compact with Ohio had
been reiterated on the admission of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri,
respectively, and a part of the sales of the public lands in those
States was already pledged to this object. As one of the fruits of
the much discussed "American System," championed by Henry Clay, the
Cumberland Road was a popular success, though there was never a time
when any measure concerning it could not secure a strong following in
the House and the Senate.
The American System stood for a use of the public surplus for works
of internal improvement; it was not a popular policy for a long time,
but while in vogue it was of immeasurable benefit to the expanding
country, its champions being veritable captains of the country's
advance. The most interesting features of the history of this doctrine
are the vehemence with which it was advocated for a few critical years
when nothing else would have equally aided the national advance, the
questionable basis on which the doctrine rested, and the readiness with
which it was abandoned when its providential mission was effected. Even
before the real internal improvement era came it was foreshadowed by
the historic position of the two parties toward the object, as shown
in Cumberland Road legislation. The bitterness of the struggle could
not be shown better than by the repudiations of Congress in 1817 in
its votes on this subject. In that year Congress passed the following
inconsistent resolutions: (1) Congress has the power to build public
roads and military roads, and to improve waterways; (2) Congress has
_not_ power to construct post roads or military roads; (3) Congress has
_not_ power to construct roads or canals to carry commerce between the
States; (4) Congress has _not_ power to construct military roads. "Thus
we see," said a triumphant enemy of the so-called American System, "by
the solemn decision of this House in 1817, all power over this subject
was repudiated in every form and shape." Despite these inconsistencies
the movement was ever a forward movement, until at last, in 1824, it
assumed gigantic proportions, alarming to some degree the very men who
had urged it forward.
The revenue of the Government at this time was about twenty-five
millions, and the running expenses--including interest on the slight
remaining debt--about half that sum. To what better use could the ten
or twelve surplus million dollars be devoted than to the internal
improvement of the land, as Gallatin and Jefferson had advocated twenty
years before? Here the contest shifted to the tariff, a reduction of
which would do away with the necessity of finding a way to employ
a surplus. The drift of public sentiment, however, was largely in
favor of turning the fostering care of the Government to works of
improvement, either by direct appropriation, or by taking stock in
local companies, or by devoting to their use the proceeds of the sale
of public lands; in any way the result would be the same, and the
nation as a whole would feel the benefit.
The policy swept a large part of the country like wildfire, and
ten thousand dreams, many of them chimerical to the last degree,
were conceived. As a rule the result was, without question, bitter
disappointment; but amid all the dangers that were in the way, and all
the possibilities of untold harm, an influence was put to work that did
more for the awakening of the young land than anything that had ever
preceded it. Over a hundred and twenty-five claimants for national aid
were considered by squads of engineers sent out by the Government. In
the sarcastic words of one of the opposers of the system (and on this
subject there was a chance for sarcasm that seldom came to Congressmen)
every creek and mill-race in the United States was being surveyed by
engineers sent out by the chief executive. It was asserted, and not
without some plausibility, that such surveying expeditions were used
very craftily to influence votes, being sent to view rivers and roads
in disputed regions where the information was circulated that, unless
the champions of internal improvement were put in power, great local
blessings would be lost to these districts.
But this was not by any means the chief danger in the campaign. As
was most forcefully argued by the opposition, the influence of this
paternal policy on the part of the Government would be to awaken
hostility and set one part of the nation against the other, for in
no way could the division of the surplus be made equal. It could not
be made on the basis of population even if this were admitted to be
constitutional, for some parts of the country needed help far more
than others; a naturally impregnable harbor did not need a fourth
of the money expended on it that a comparatively defenceless harbor
did. Again, the division could not, for the same reason, be made on
the basis of receipts; the States of the seaboard, in which the great
part of the Government's revenue was raised, would then be almost the
only beneficiaries; the West would receive nothing. The accusation
of favoritism came with piercing force. Suppose, for instance, New
York and Mississippi should come at the same time to Congress, the
one asking for the improvement of the Erie Canal, and the other for
the improvement of the Mississippi River. Which party would Congress
listen to if the public treasury was not in a position to satisfy
both applicants? It was urged that this procedure destroyed the whole
principle of representative responsibility. Take the case of New York
and her great canal,--the most important material improvement in the
fifty years of the nation's life; New York came to the Government when
the project was first broached, asking for aid. The cause was a good
one; in peace it would be a benefit to at least six States, and in
war it would be a national advantage of untold moment; in fact, as we
have seen, the possibility of another war with England along the Lakes
was the very argument that turned the scale and caused the canal to
be built. The project was discouraged at Washington, and not a cent
of Government treasure went into the undertaking. Why now, a score
of years later, should New York representatives vote money from the
national treasury for objects no less national or needful than the Erie
Canal? Several neighboring States (Ohio, for instance) had declined
to invest funds in the Erie Canal venture when it was first promoted;
why now should New York representatives vote national funds (such a
large part of which came from New York ports) for improvements in these
States, whose delegates in Congress refused aid to the Erie Canal in
its dark hours? On the other hand it was urged that even the Erie
Canal, the most famous work of internal improvement promoted by any of
the States, had done "nothing toward the extinguishment of its debt,"
up to 1830; if this great work did not reimburse the treasury which
built it, though operated by a purely local authority well acquainted
with all conditions and able to take advantage of all circumstances,
how would it be with works promoted by the national Government, in
distant parts of the country, with little or no knowledge of local
circumstances or conditions? Another argument, more powerful than was
realized at the time, was that which prophesied the swift advance of
the locomotive and the railroad, and the consequent decay and disuse
of the common road and the canal. Said a member of Congress in debate
on the floor of the House, "The honorable gentleman from Virginia [Mr.
Mercer, the father of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal], Sir, must hear
the appalling, the heartrending fact, that this mighty monument [the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal] which, for years, he has been laboring with
zeal and exertion to erect to his memory, and which, no doubt, he had
fondly hoped would transmit his name down to the latest posterity, must
fall, and must give place to the superior improvement of railroads."
On the proposed national road from Buffalo to New Orleans by way
of Washington the opposition poured out its vials of sarcasm and
ridicule. To the arguments of the friends of the measure, that the
road was needed as a commercial and military avenue and for the use
of the Post-office department, the reply was a denial so sweeping,
from such reliable and informed parties, that there was no hope for
the measure. Perhaps the strongest argument for the negative was
advanced by James K. Polk, who was little less than withering in his
fire, piling up ridicule on top of sarcasm to a degree seldom seen in
Congress. Polk found that twenty-one routes between Washington and
Buffalo had been outlined by engineers for this road "in the rage for
engineering, surveying, reconnoitring, and electioneering." He alleged
that the entire population in a space of territory one hundred miles
in width between the two cities had been made to expect the road, and
the surveys had been conducted in the heat of a political campaign.
"The certain effect of this system, as exemplified by this road, is,
first, to excite hopes; second, to produce conflicts of section arrayed
against section; and lastly, dissatisfaction and heart-burnings amongst
all who are not accommodated." The speaker exhausted his keen-edged
sarcasm on the word "national" and the uses to which the word was put
by the defenders of the improvement bills. He affirmed that he was sure
a number of men who proposed to support the Buffalo-New Orleans Road
Bill would not consider it sufficiently "national" if it were known
that it was not to pass through their districts; he affirmed that every
catfish in the Ohio River was a "national" catfish as truly as the
Cumberland Road was a national road; he challenged the friends of the
bill to decide definitely upon a route for the proposed road from the
Lakes to the Gulf, and then hold true to the measure representatives
from districts through which the road was not to pass. Polk affirmed
that the many various surveys were made merely to ally with the
friends of the measure the representatives of all districts touched by
these alternative courses. "This same national road was mounted as a
political hobby in my district," said the Tennessean; "for a time the
people seemed to be carried away with the prospect of having millions
of public money expended among them. We were to have a main route and
cross routes intersecting the district in every direction. It was to
run down every creek, and pass through almost every neighborhood in the
district. As soon as there was time for reason to assume her seat the
delusion passed off."
These points of opposition to the improvement campaign have been
outlined at some length to show the strength of the opposition and
the ground it took. No measure went through Congress for any kind of
Government aid without the strongest kind of opposition; in fact, the
Virginia delegates worked and voted against the Dismal Swamp Canal in
their own State in order to be consistent with their oft-expressed
views on such questions. Yet, one by one, a considerable number of
important measures of internal improvement went through Congress and
received the signatures of the different Presidents; the effect of
these measures was inestimably beneficial, giving a marked impetus to
national development, and awakening in men's minds a dim conception of
the growth that was to be the one great wonder of the century.
From the adoption of the Constitution to the year 1828 the following
sums were granted by the general Government for purposes either of
education or road-building or canal-building: Maine, $9,500; New York,
$4,156; Tennessee, $254,000; Arkansas, $45,000; Michigan, $45,000;
Florida, $83,417; Ohio, $2,527,404; Illinois, $1,725,959; Indiana,
$1,513,161; Missouri, $1,462,471; Mississippi, $600,667; Alabama,
$1,534,727; Louisiana, $1,166,361. In addition to this the Government
built, or assisted in building, five great works of improvement from
among the scores that were proposed. For the Delaware and Chesapeake
Canal $300,000 was advanced; for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal,
$10,000; for the Dismal Swamp Canal, $150,000; for the Louisville
and Portland Canal, $90,000; for the Cumberland Road, $2,230,903;
for western and southwestern State roads, $76,595, making a total
appropriation of $13,838,886.
The danger of the system was in making the national purse an object of
plunder for Congressmen, and the consequent danger of unholy alliances
and combinations for looting the public treasury. It is interesting
that for so long a period as it was in vogue there were so slight
symptoms of this sort of thing; and men little knew that, by acting on
liberal lines at the time, despite the dangers and risks, they were
exerting a power to shape the new nation, to incite private investment,
to encourage State and private works of promotion, and to aid the
commercial awakening of a people to an activity and an enterprise whose
possibilities cannot at the present day be estimated. Take the Portland
Canal around the historic "falls of the Ohio" at Louisville; this was
a work for no one State in particular to perform, not even Kentucky;
it was a detriment to Louisville itself, for it destroyed the old
portage business, as the Erie Canal ruined the overland carrying trade
between Schenectady and Albany. All the States bordering on the Ohio
were benefited by this improvement, as was equally true respecting the
Government's improvement of the Ohio River itself, which began in 1825.
The Portland Canal was one of the important investments which tended to
prove the financial benefit of such investments. The Government's total
subscription of stock was $233,500; when the affairs of the Company
were closed in 1874 by the purchase of the canal by the Government,
it was found that the national profit (in mere interest) had been
$257,778. This was due to exorbitant tolls charged by the Company,
which resulted, finally, in the purchase of the canal and throwing it
open toll-free.
The men who labored for this era of improvement are practically
unknown, with the exception of two or three who became prominent
because of special ability or renown gained in other lines of activity,
like Clay and Calhoun. It is not important here to attempt to catalogue
them; the work they did by voting for the so-called American System
was of critical importance; but, still greater, in so doing they were
showing a braver, more optimistic, more American spirit and a high
faith in the fundamental good judgment of the people. It was, without
doubt, a dangerous extreme to approach, possible of wanton violation in
unprincipled hands, and a precedent of very questionable tendencies.
But it was of immeasurable importance that such moral support as just
such acts as these afforded should have come at just this time; and,
could we read the result aright, it would be seen, possibly, that much
of our commercial success found its origin at this very moment, and
came into being because a number of men at this crucial time gave an
impetus to private adventure and private investment that was almost
providential in its ultimate effect on our national life. Losing their
individual identity in the common promotion of temporary measures of
infinite national advantage, they will be remembered only in a vague,
impersonal way as men who honored their country by trusting in its
destiny and believing in the genius of its growth.
INDEX
"ADAMS," 295
Adams, Herbert B., 78
Adams, John Quincy, 244, 344
"Adventure Galley," 119
Alleghany Portage Railway, 251-255
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 304, 317,
318, 329
American Fur Company, 310, 311
_American Historical Review_, 320
"American System," 345-358
Ashburton Treaty, 330
Ashley, --, 311
Astor, John Jacob, 282-297, 343
Astoria, 282, 289-296
BACON, James H., 201
Baltimore, 36, 241-244, 248, 255
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 36, 77, 243-245, 248
Bartleson, Colonel, 331
Bartlett, --, 189
"Beautiful Spring" (Schönbrunn), 141
"Beaver," 294, 295
Bensons, The, in Oregon, 333
Bethlehem, Pa., 133, 134
Bliss, --, 189
Block, Captain, 296
Bonneville, --, 311
Boone, Daniel, 29, 30, 89-101
Boonesborough, Ky., 96, 101, 116
Bouquet, --, 284
Bourne, Prof. E. G., 320
Bradford County, Pa., 138
Bridger, James, 311, 335
Brown, George, 242
Buffalo-New Orleans Road, 352-354
Bullock, Leonard Henley, 90
Bunch of Grapes Tavern, Boston, 112
Burnett, Peter H., 331
Bushnell, --, 206
Butterfield, --, 336
CALHOUN, John C., 322, 344, 358
Calk, William, 96
Canals, 35, 36, 209-232, 239-245, 247, 249-254
Carroll, Charles, 77, 244
Carter's Valley, 99
Cass, --, 189
Catholic missionaries in Oregon, 314, 319, 326, 333
Catlin, George, 304
Chastellux, Chevalier de, 62
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 76, 215, 240, 243-245, 247-249, 352, 356
Clark, George Rogers, 100, 151-178, 261, 329
Clark, Jonathan, 153-157
Clark, William, 156, 157, 262-272, 281, 283, 287, 290, 303
Clarksville, 176
Clay, Henry, 184, 192, 205, 342, 344-346, 358
Claysville, Pa., 184
Cleaveland, Moses, 124
Cleveland, Ohio, 124
Clinton, Gov. De Witt, 35, 135-137, 218, 229, 230
"Clinton's Ditch," 218, 221
Coal, 54, 56
Colquit, --, 189
Colter, --, 270
_Commonwealth, The_ (Pittsburg), 216
Congregational missions to Indians, 304
Congress, Powers of, 346
Connellsville, Pa., 163
Coshocton, Ohio, 141
Crab Orchard, Ky., 97
Crawford, William, 45-47, 49-52, 55, 334
Cressap, Captain, 170
Cumberland Gap, 98
Cumberland Road, 35, 74, 77, 181-206, 228, 235, 343-345, 356
Cushing, Caleb, 321
Cutler, Rev. Manasseh, 111-115, 117;
his son, 120
"DEFIANCE" stage line, 200, 201
Delafield, --, 189
Delaware and Chesapeake Canal, 356
Devol, --, 120
DeWitt, Simeon, 211, 212, 218
Dickson, --, 270
Dismal Swamp Canal, 355, 356
Dunmore, Governor, 87
Dunmore's War, 91, 170
EAST India Company, 288
Eddy, Thomas, 218
Eells, Dr. Cushing, quoted, 319
English, William H., quoted, 171, 176
"Enterprise," 295
Erie Canal, 35, 74, 76, 209-232, 239, 249, 343, 350, 351, 357
Everett, Edward, 147, 196, 197
"FALLS of the Ohio" (Louisville), 97, 175, 176
Farnham, --, 333
"Father of Ohio," 124
Fearing, --, 120
Fife, William H., 201
Forbes's Road, 118
Forman, Joshua, 216
Fort Boone, 96, 99, 101
Fort Detroit, 139, 143
Fort Duquesne, 164, 315, 316
Fort Edward, N. Y., 210, 211
Fort Harmar, 116, 121
Fort Necessity, 163
Fort Pitt, 115, 139, 143, 164
Fort William, N. Y., 136
"Founders of Ohio," 118
Freeman, Thomas, 52
Fremont, John C., 311, 321, 332, 335
Fulton, Robert, 218
Fur trade, 281, 282, 284-296, 314, 315
GALLATIN, Albert, 184, 189, 284, 347
Gant, John, 331
Geddes, James, 211, 212
_Genesee Messenger, The_, 216
Gilmans, The, 120
Gnadenhütten, Ohio, 141, 146, 336
"Good Intent" stage line, 200
Goodale, --, 120
Government ownership, 191, 198
Gratiot, --, 189
Gray, Captain, 268, 287
Gray, William H., 310
Great Meadows, 47, 163
Greene, --, 120
Greene, --, of American Board of Foreign Missions, 326, 329, 331, 337
Greenhow's "Memoir," 330
Grist-mill, First west of Alleghanies, 55
HANCOCK, --, 270
Hanks, Abraham, 96
Harrison, William Henry, 261
Harrodsburg, Ky., 97
Harrodstown, Ky., 173
Hart, David, 90, 93
Hartzell, --, 189
Hawley, Jesse, 215, 216
Hawley, M. S., 219
Heath, General, 108
Heckewelder, John, 31, 142
Henderson, Ky., 99
Henderson, Richard, 29, 30, 83-101, 172-174, 182, 260, 343
"Hercules" (Jesse Hawley), 215
Higgins, --, 167, 168
"Hit or Miss," 252, 253
Hoar, Senator, quoted, 107-110, 119, 120
Hogg, James, 90
Howard, Captain, 334
Hudson Bay Company, 287, 288, 312, 314
Hunt, Wilson Price, 291-295
ILLINOIS, 100, 105, 174, 175, 177
Independence Township, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 145
Indiana, 100, 105
Indians, 31, 87, 121, 131-146, 164-166, 302, 303, 309
Irving, Washington, quoted, 286
JEFFERSON, Thomas, 79, 153, 215, 259, 262, 342, 347
Jeffersonville, Ky., 176
Johnson, Thomas, 59
Johnson, Sir William, 137
Johnston, Joseph E., 189
Johnstone, William, 90
Jones, Rev. David, 165-168
Jones, John Gabriel, 173
"June Bug" stage line, 200
KANSAS City (Westport), 322
Kent, Chancellor, 218-220
Ken-ta-kee, Kentucky, 117-175
Kentucky, 29, 30, 79, 91-100, 171-176, 183
LAMB, Mrs. Martha J., quoted, 307
Lancaster Turnpike, 187, 188
"Landlords" stage line, 200
Lands, Western, 28, 39-58, 66, 163
"Lark," 294
Lawrence County, Pa., 140
Lawyer's examination, 83-86
Lee, Capt. Hancock, 171
Lee, Rev. Jason, 304
Leestown, on Kentucky River, 171
"Legend of Whitman's Ride, The," 320
"Letter of John Zachrey," 323
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 79, 157, 262-272, 281, 283, 287, 290, 301
Lewis, Gen. Andrew, 87
Lewis, Meriwether, 262-272, 281, 283, 287, 290
Lewis, Gov. Morgan, 210, 211
Lichtenau, Ohio, 141
Linn, Lewis F., 321, 330
Livingston, Robert R., 218
Locomotives, 246
"Long Hunters," 87, 88
Louisiana Territory, 259-277, 281, 290
Louisville, Ky., 97, 175, 176
Louisville and Portland Canal, 356-358
Luttrell, John, 90, 93
MACKENZIE, Sir Alexander, 287
Macomb County, Mich., 145
Madison, James, 158
Mansfield, --, 189
Manufactures in Oregon, 333
Manypenny, Geo. W., 201
"Marcus Whitman," 337
Marietta, O., 116, 121-125
Marietta College, 125
Martin, Captain Joseph, 93, 97
Maryland, 239-248
Massie, --, 124
Mauch Chunk, Pa., 242
Maysville Road Bill, 74
McDougal, Duncan, 291, 296
McKee, --, 189
McKenzie, Donald, 291
"Meadow of Light" (Lichtenau), 31, 141, 313
Meigs, --, 119
"Memoir" (Greenhow), 330
Mercer, Colonel, 49
Mercer, --, of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 352
Methodist missions to Indians, 304
Michigan, 105
Milan, Erie Co., Ohio, 145
Millstones from Alleghanies, 55
Missionaries to Indians, 304, 309-319, 326-328, 332, 333
Mohawk Valley route, 62, 76, 78, 214
Monroe, President, 191-193
Moravian Brethren, 31, 115, 131-146, 304, 305
Morris, Gouverneur, 35, 210-212, 218
Mounds in Ohio Valley, 170
Moundsville, W. Va., 170
Mowry, William A., 337
NATIONAL Road Stage Company, 199
Neville, Presley, 57
New Albany, Ky., 176
New Philadelphia, Ohio, 131
New York City, 241
North Carolina, 30, 87, 98-100
Northwest Company of Montreal, 282, 287, 288, 290, 294, 296
OCONOSTOTA, Cherokee chief, 90
Ohio, 30, 31, 76, 100, 105, 113-147, 243
Ohio Company, 48, 49, 92, 113-125
Ohio National Stage Company, 199
"Old Two-Horn," 125
Ordinance of 1787, 41, 79, 92, 112-115, 117, 123
"Oregon Emigrating Society," 331
Oregon Territory, 301-338
"Origin of the Erie Canal, The," 219
Owens, David, 166-168
PACIFIC Fur Company, 291, 292
Parker, Rev. Samuel, 308, 309
Parkersburg, W. Va., 167
Parsons, --, 120
Pennsylvania Canal, 249-254
Pennsylvania Railway, 249, 250, 254
Pennsylvania Road, 118
Perryopolis, Fayette Co., Pa., 55
Philadelphia, 241
Philadelphia and Columbia Railway, 253
Pickell, --, 189
Pike, Zebulon M., 272-277, 281
"Pilot" stage line, 200
"Pioneer" stage line, 200
Pittsburg, 115, 163, 168
Platt, Judge, 218, 219
Polk, James K., 353, 354
Porter, Hon. James M., 324, 325
Post, Frederick Christian, 134-137
Potomac Company, 74-76, 236-240, 245
Potomac River Improvements, 58-61, 65-68, 72, 75, 79, 213, 236-240, 297
Potter County, Pa., 140
Prentiss, Miss (Mrs. Whitman), 307, 310
Presbyterian missions to Indians, 304
Putnam, Gen. Rufus, 106-114, 118-127, 182, 260, 342, 343
"RACCOON," 296
Railroads, 242-246, 248-255
Read, Thomas B., author "Sheridan's Ride," 336
Rianhard, William, 201
Richardson, Judge, 224
Rickman, --, 331
River improvement, 237
Road-building, 35, 77, 181-206, 352-356
Robertson, Donald, 158
Robinson, Moncure, 252
Rome, N. Y., 136, 223
Roosevelt, Theodore, quoted, 264, 275
SANDUSKY, Ohio, 143
Sargent, Winthrop, 112, 115
Schönbrunn, Ohio, 141
Schuyler, Gen. Philip, 218
Schuylkill and Susquehanna Canal, 215
Scioto Company, 114
Sheridan, Philip, 336
"Sheridan's Ride," 336
Slavery, 123
Soldiers' lands, 48-52, 111, 112, 122
South Pass, 308, 322
Spaulding, Rev. Henry H., and wife, 310-313
Sproat, Col. Ebenezer, 118, 120
Stagecoach lines, 199-202
St. Clair, Gov. Arthur, 120, 122, 125, 126, 284
Steamboats, 72, 218
Steubenville, Ohio, 166
Stewart's Crossing (Connellsville, Pa.), 163, 171
St. Louis, 263, 270
Surplus for internal improvements, 347
Surveyors, 158-160
Swann, Thomas, 248
TAYLOR, Lieut.-Gov. John, 219
"Tents of Grace" (Gnadenhütten), 141
Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, 113
Thomas, Nathaniel, 90
Thomas, Philip Evan, 35, 241-243, 255
Thompson, Chief Justice, 219
Thorn, Captain, 292
Thornton, Col., 331
Todd, Col. John, 177
Toledo, Ohio, 261
"Tom Thumb," Peter Cooper's locomotive, 246
Tompkins, Governor, 219, 220
"Tonquin," 292-294
Transylvania Company, 88-91, 98-100, 116, 172, 173
Treaty of Fort Mclntosh, 121
Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 59, 87-89
Treaty of Fort Watauga, 90
Tupper, --, 120
UNIONTOWN, Pa., 199
VANCE, --, 189
Varnum, --, 119
Virginia, 30, 59, 79, 87-89, 98-100, 173, 176, 177, 239, 240
WALKER, Felix, 91
Walpole Grant, 49, 51
"Washington and the West" (Hulbert), 65, 80
Washington Coal and Coke Company, 56
Washington, George, 27-30, 39-80, 106-108, 126, 159, 160, 163, 182,
236, 238, 252, 253, 297, 334
Washington State, Settlement of, 312, 316
Washington's Bottoms, 47
Washington's Letter to Benjamin Harrison, 1784, 68-74, 236, 253
Washington's Run mill, 55
Watauga Settlement, 89-92
Watson, Elkanah, 211
Wayne, Anthony, 126, 261
Weaver, Jno. W. & Co., 201
Webster, Daniel, 123, 330, 342, 344
Welch, Sylvester, 252, 255
West Newton, Pa., 118
Westport (Kansas City), 322
Wheeling, W. Va., 166
Whipple, --, 119
White, Major Hatfield, 117
Whitman, Marcus, 305-338
Whitman, Mrs., 307, 310-312
Wilkes, Lieutenant, 330, 331
Wilkinson, General, 273
Williams, --, 189
Williams, Judge John, 90
"Winning of the West, The," 275
Winsor, Justin, quoted, 321
Wisconsin, 105
Women in the Northwest, 311, 312
Wright, F. M., 201
YATES, Judge, 218, 219
Yontz, Jno., 201
Young, Samuel, 224
ZEISBERGER, David, 31, 115, 131-147, 182, 284, 305, 336
_Uniform with "Pilots of the Republic"_
THE GLORY SEEKERS
THE ROMANCE OF WOULD-BE FOUNDERS OF EMPIRE IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE
SOUTHWEST
BY
WILLIAM HORACE BROWN
_Illustrated with portraits, and with original drawings by W. J.
Enright. Price $1.50 net._
"Here is a history that reads like sheer romance. Mr. Brown tells in a
delightful way the story of those who dreamed dreams of empire in the
far West.... The book, typographically, is a fine sample of McClurg
work. It is profusely illustrated."--_Toledo Times Bee._
"It is a pleasure to assure the reader that one may have as much fun
reading 'The Glory Seekers' as William Horace Brown had writing it.
Few historical books are written in such sprightly vein, and few
informative books of any sort are so leavened with humor."--_St. Louis
Post Dispatch._
"When romance and history, adventure and fact, are combined in readable
style, and the history happens to be a field with which we are not
all familiar, but in which we are much interested, a book is produced
that will be irresistible to many.... Thrilling adventure is plentiful
in these pages, and it has the added interest of its political
significance. Written in a pleasant, familiar style, not without sharp
and illuminating comment, 'The Glory Seekers' is a book to be read with
keen delight by the student of history and the lover of romance."--_Des
Moines Mail and Times._
"A volume which will find an honorable place among Americana.... Mr.
Brown's style is detailed and explicit. He indulges in keen character
delineation. He makes these hardy adventurers offer their specious
apologies. They cease to be the dim and menacing figures of our
national history and become comprehensible, if fatal, figures. The book
is one which fills a vacancy in history."--_Chicago Tribune._
"His effort has been rather to scrape off the successive coats of
whitewash which local historians have liberally applied to the darker
side of their deeds, and, while giving the would-be empire builders
full credit for their personal bravery and physical prowess, to show
forth their ambitions and exploits in their true colors."--_New York
Tribune._
"A book that reads like a novel.... It is not a story to make 'every
American's cheek flush with pride,' but, 'The Glory Seekers' is a
strong and vivid depiction of the true history of the Southwest,
colored with incident and anecdote, and suffused with the enthusiastic
Americanism which the most cynical attitude cannot hide."--_Butte Inter
Mountain._
"A unique, interesting, and valuable story of the early days of the
Southwest, when adventurous spirits tried at various times to establish
an empire there. Mr. Brown has made an exhaustive study of his subject,
and has the facts, which are presented with a cleverness of narration
that makes them most delightful reading."--_Pittsburg Dispatch._
"Very unconventional in its style, lively and highly
entertaining."--_The Churchman._
"The author of this excellent and exceedingly interesting work has made
a thorough study of the various efforts to found local governments
in Texas, independent of Mexico, at an early day.... He is to be
congratulated for his excellent work in this historical summary of
events in that great region."--_Salt Lake Tribune._
"The work is well done. The narratives are lively and well told, and
while not highly important episodes, they are all worth preserving as
correctives to the too partial story of the colonial patriots as served
up in the usual United States histories, if for nothing else."--_New
York American._
"The romantic story of conquest is brilliantly told."--_Portland
Oregonian._
A. C. McCLURG & CO., _Publishers_
Volumes of Pioneer History
By REUBEN GOLD THWAITES
HOW GEORGE ROGERS CLARK WON THE NORTHWEST
AND OTHER ESSAYS IN WESTERN HISTORY
_With maps and illustrations_
The majority of the eight essays contained in the volume were first
delivered as lectures, and were later accorded magazine publication.
For the present publication they have been radically revised and
brought down to date, and comprise an exceptionally interesting
collection of papers covering a wide range of topics under the one
general head. The titles of the essays are as follows: "How George
Rogers Clark Won the Northwest," "The Division of the Northwest into
States," "The Black Hawk War," "The Story of the Mackinac," "The Story
of La Pointe," "A Day on Braddock's Road," "Early Lead Mining on the
Upper Mississippi," "The Draper Manuscripts."
ON THE STORIED OHIO
_An Historical Pilgrimage of a Thousand Miles in a Skiff, from
Redstone to Cairo. With new Preface and full-page illustrations
from photographs._
This trip was undertaken by Mr. Thwaites some years ago, with the idea
of gathering local color for his studies of Western history. The Ohio
River was an important factor in the development of the West. The
voyage is described with much charm and humor, and with a constant
realization of the historical traditions on every side. For the better
understanding of these references, the author has added a brief sketch
of the settlement of the Ohio Valley. A selected list of journals of
previous travellers has also been included.
DOWN HISTORIC WATERWAYS
_Six Hundred Miles of Canoeing upon Illinois and Wisconsin Rivers.
Second Edition, revised, with new Preface, and eight full-page
illustrations from photographs._
Mr. Thwaites' book is not only a charming account of a summer canoe
trip, but an excellent guide for any one who is contemplating a similar
"inland voyage." The course followed by the canoeist is described
with a practical accuracy that makes it of great assistance, but in
an engaging style that will appeal strongly to every lover of outdoor
life. "It is a book to be read to get the spirit of the woods and
rivers and streams and lakes."--_Worcester Spy._
_Uniform Binding. Each 12mo, $1.20 net._
A. C. McCLURG & CO., _Publishers_
MRS. DYE'S FAMOUS BOOKS ON THE NORTHWEST
McDONALD OF OREGON
By EVA EMERY DYE. A Tale of Two Shores. Illustrations by Walter J.
Enright. 12mo, $1.50.
The chance casting away of a party of Japanese on the Oregon coast
many years ago inspired McDonald, a fully historical personage, to
enact a similar drama in his own proper self with the characters
and continents reversed. Landing on the shores of Japan he was
passed from governor to governor until he reached the capital.
There he was permitted to establish a school, and it was actually
his pupils who acted as interpreters during the negotiations with
Commodore Perry, generally supposed to be the first of Americans
to enter Japan. Mrs. Dye has long been aware of the facts in
McDonald's unusual career, having obtained them largely from his
own lips; but she deferred publication until his papers finally
reposed in her hands. It will be remembered that the hero of this
new book entered largely into her story of "McLoughlin and Old
Oregon," to which this later volume is in a sense a sequel.
THE CONQUEST
By EVA EMERY DYE. Being the True Story of Lewis and Clark. _Third
Edition_, with frontispiece in full color by Charlotte Weber. 12mo,
$1.50.
No book published in recent years has more of tremendous import
between its covers, and certainly no recent novel has in it more
of the elements of a permanent success. A historical romance which
tells with accuracy and inspiring style of the bravery of the
pioneers in winning the western continent should have a lasting
place in the esteem of every American.
"No one who wishes to know the true story of the conquest of the
greater part of this great nation can afford to pass by this
book."--_Cleveland Leader._
"A vivid picture of the Indian wars preceding the Louisiana
purchase, of the expedition of Lewis and Clark, and of events
following the occupation of Oregon."--_The Congregationalist._
"It may not be the great American novel we have been waiting for
so long, but it certainly looks as though it would be very near
it."--_Rochester Times._
"The characters that are assembled in 'The Conquest' belong to
the history of the United States; their story is a national
epic."--_Detroit Free Press._
McLOUGHLIN AND OLD OREGON
By EVA EMERY DYE. A Chronicle. _Fifth Edition._ 12mo, $1.50.
This is a most graphic and interesting chronicle of the movement
which added to the United States that vast territory, previously
a British possession, of which Oregon formed a part, and how Dr.
John McLoughlin, then chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company
for the Northwest, by his fatherly interest in the settlers,
displeased the Hudson's Bay Company and aided in bringing this
about. The author has gathered her facts at first hand, and as a
result the work is vivid and picturesque and reads like a romance.
"A spirited narrative of what life in the wilderness meant
in the early days, a record of heroism, self-sacrifice, and
dogged persistence; a graphic page of the story of the American
pioneer."--_New York Mail and Express._
A. C. McCLURG & CO., _Publishers_
+----------------------------------------------------------------- +
| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. |
| |
| Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant |
| form was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. |
| |
| Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. |
| |
| Mid-paragraph illustrations have been moved between paragraphs |
| and some illustrations have been moved closer to the text that |
| references them. The List of Illustrations paginations were |
| changed accordingly. |
| |
| Italicized words are surrounded by underline characters, |
| _like this_. |
| |
| Superscripts are enclosed in brackets like this 2{nd}. |
| |
| Duplicated section headings have been omitted. |
| |
|Footnotes were moved to the end of chapters and numbered in one |
|continuous sequence. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
End of Project Gutenberg's Pilots of the Republic, by Archer Butler Hulbert