two distances are destroyed. The footing requires 60
M. for the two.--C. S. S.
[77] Michaux remained in Philadelphia until February 9, 1794,
chiefly occupied with his botanical pursuits, and in
getting his accounts audited. Proceeding south on
horseback, he arrived at Charleston March 14, 1794,
where he consulted with the French consul, Mangourit,
concerning the Florida portion of the expedition
against French territory. See American Historical
Association _Report_, 1897, pp. 569-679. Upon the
collapse of this project, Michaux undertook a
botanizing tour to the mountains of North Carolina,
from July 14, to October 2, 1794. Upon his return, he
had an attack of fever for “more than six weeks,” and
passed the remainder of the winter in arranging his
garden and classifying his plants.--ED.
[78] _Planera aquatica_, Gmel. (_P. Gmelini_, Michx.).--C. S. S.
[79] A word here is illegible in the manuscript.--C. S. S.
[80] Probably this was Thomas Lee, son of a Revolutionary
patriot, and usually a dweller in Charleston. In
1792, however, he married and afterwards lived for
some time on his estate in the up-country. Born in
Charleston in 1769, he was admitted to the bar in
1790, and later was assistant judge (1804-16), and
United States district judge (1823-39). He was one of
the most prominent South Carolinians of his day.--ED.
[81] These were the most important iron-works in the state;
their owner had invented an improved water-blast, and
had a forge, furnace, rolling mill, and nail
factory.--ED.
[82] Col. Martin Armstrong was a Revolutionary soldier in
command of the local militia, and much engaged in the
war against the Tories. After the battle of King’s
Mountain, he took over the command from Benjamin
Cleveland.--ED.
[83] Lincolnton is the seat of Lincoln County, which was
originally part of Tyron. The name was changed in
1779 in honor of the patriot leader, Gen. Benjamin
Lincoln. This entire region was a centre of agitation
for independence; and in 1780 a fierce battle between
Whigs and Tories was fought at Ramsour’s Mills, near
Lincolnton.--ED.
[84] Probably this was Capt. Zaccheus Wilson, a Scotch-Irish
resident of this region who migrated thither from
Pennsylvania between 1740 and 1750. Wilson was an
ardent patriot, a member of the Mechlenburg
convention in 1775, of the provincial congress of the
state the following year, and a captain at King’s
Mountain in 1780. In 1796 he followed his brother
David to Tennessee, where he lived until his death in
1823 or 1824.--ED.
[85] Morganton is the oldest town in the mountainous district
of North Carolina, having been founded during the
Revolution, and named in honor of Gen. Daniel Morgan.
The settlers of this region were largely
Scotch-Irish, who had emigrated from Pennsylvania by
way of the Valley of Virginia.--ED.
[86] Col. Waightstill Avery was of New England origin, born
in Connecticut in 1743. At the age of twenty-three he
was graduated at Princeton, and after studying law in
Maryland removed to North Carolina in 1769. He was
very influential in the upper country, a member of
the Mechlenburg convention of 1775, and of the state
provincial congress the following year. After a
campaign against the Cherokees, he was commissioned
to negotiate a treaty with this tribe in 1777. During
the war Colonel Avery was in active service as a
militia officer; at its close he settled four miles
from Morganton, calling his plantation “Swan Ponds.”
Five times Burke County sent him to the state
legislature, and in 1796 to the senate. Andrew
Jackson challenged Avery to a duel in 1788, but later
became his firm friend. He died about 1821.--ED.
[87] Michaux followed the well-known Bright’s trace, by
which communication was maintained between the
settlements of East Tennessee and those of Western
North Carolina. Over this road came the men who won
the victory at King’s Mountain in 1780. Bright’s
place is now in the possession of the Avery family.
Martin Davenport resided at a noted spring not far
from Toe River, in Mitchell County, North Carolina.
He was a well-known Whig; his son William became a
man of prominence, several times representing his
county in the state legislature.--ED.
[88] _Rhododendron arborescens_, Torrey.--C. S. S.
[89] Col. John Tipton was one of the noted pioneers of
Tennessee. Born in Virginia, he early removed to
Eastern Tennessee, and was engaged in the defense of
the frontier. Upon the inauguration of the state of
Franklin, Tipton joined the North Carolina party, and
a fierce factional struggle ensued, which culminated
in the arrest of Colonel Sevier by Tipton’s agency.
Tipton lived east of Jonesborough, on Sinking
Creek.--ED.
[90] Jonesborough is the oldest town in Tennessee, having
been founded in 1779 and named in honor of Willie
Jones, Esq., an active patriot of Halifax, North
Carolina, and a warm friend of the Western counties.
Jonesborough was the first capital of Washington
District, and is still the seat of Washington
county.--ED.
[91] Greene Court House is now Greeneville, seat of Greene
County. From here two roads branch off, that to the
right toward Cumberland Gap and Kentucky; that to the
left through Newport and Sevierville, along the
French Broad Valley. Michaux took, as he says, the
right hand road, leaving it, however, beyond
Russelville, and continuing by this upper and less
frequented road to Knoxville.--ED.
[92] Bull’s Gap is a pass in Bay’s Mountain, between Jefferson
and Greene counties, named probably for Captain Bull,
an early pioneer.--ED.
[93] This was one of the earliest forges in Tennessee; it was
in Jefferson County, not far from Mossy Creek.--ED.
[94] McBee’s Ferry, crossing the Holston in the northwestern
corner of Knox County, was a well-known landmark of
this region.--ED.
[95] Knoxville was settled by James White in 1787, and at
first called White’s Station. In 1791 a town was laid
out, named in honor of General Knox, which after the
establishment of territorial government became the
capital. The first governor of the territory was
William Blount, who was born in North Carolina in
1749, and was active both in the War of the
Regulators (1771), and in the Revolution. Blount was
a member of the North Carolina legislature and later
of the national constitutional convention. Washington
appointed him governor of Southwest Territory, and on
the admission of Tennessee as a state he was chosen
first state senator. For intriguing with foreign
emissaries he was impeached, and expelled from the
Senate. The people, however, showed their confidence
by choosing him to the state senate (1797). He died
in Knox County in 1800.--ED.
[96] Fort Southwest Point, as it was usually called, was
erected in 1792 at the junction of Clinch and Holston
rivers, near the present town of Kingston, as an
outpost on the road to Western Tennessee, and a
protection against the Cherokee Indians. As late as
1803 travellers found it safer to go in company
through this wilderness. See journal of F. A.
Michaux, _post._--ED.
[97] Probably _M. macrophylla_, Michx. In the _Flora_, it
is described as only growing “_in regionibus
occidentalibus fluvio Tennassee trajectis_.”--C. S.
S.
[98] Isaac Bledsoe was one of a party of hunters who
discovered this lick (near Gallatin, in Sumner
County) as early as 1771. He removed hither in 1779
and founded a station; he was also one of the framers
of the Cumberland Association, and a faithful
adherent of Robertson. His brother, Col. Anthony
Bledsoe, who had a reputation as a leader in the
Holtson settlement, later removed to Cumberland, and
was an able second in command on Indian expeditions,
especially that against the Chickamaugas in 1787. He
was killed by Indians at Bledsoe’s Station in 1788.
The spring at this place is now called “Castilian
Springs.”--ED.
[99] Gen. James Winchester, born in Maryland in 1752, served
in the Revolution, after which he removed to
Tennessee, and settled not far from Gallatin, in
Sumner County. He served in the territorial and state
militia, and in 1812 was appointed brigadier-general
in the regular army, superseding Harrison in command
of the Western division. Captured at the River
Raisin, he was exchanged in 1814, resigned the
following year, and died at his home in Tennessee in
1826.--ED.
[100] Michaux’s remark indicates the obscurity of Andrew
Jackson at this early period of his history. He then
lived upon a plantation called Hunter’s Hill,
thirteen miles from Nashville, not having removed to
the “Hermitage” (two miles beyond) until 1804.--ED.
[101] _Quercus macrocarpa_, Michx.--here first mentioned.--C. S. S.
[102] _Q. bicolor_, Willd.--C. S. S.
[103] Nashville was founded by James Robertson, who in 1779
came overland from the settlements of Eastern
Tennessee. Donelson’s party, which went via the
rivers, did not arrive until April of the following
year. Being beyond the jurisdiction of any state, the
settlers drew up a compact under which they lived
until the organization (1783) of Davidson County as a
part of North Carolina. The town, named for the
patriot General Nash, was until 1784 called
Nashborough. Nashville was incorporated in 1806. The
legislature met at this city in 1812-16 and after
1826, but the city was not made the permanent capital
until 1843.--ED.
[104] See description of visit to Daniel Smith, brother-in-law
of Andrew Jackson, in _Journal_ of F. A. Michaux,
_post._--ED.
[105] Gen. James Robertson, the founder of West Tennessee,
was born in Virginia in 1742, but removed to North
Carolina at an early age, and was one of the first
settlers of Watauga. In 1774 he took part in
Dunmore’s War, defended the Watauga fort in a siege
in 1776, and three years later removed with a party
to the Cumberland. This settlement was maintained
only by heroic exertions, and the courage and wisdom
of Robertson in his dealing with the Indians. In
1790, Washington appointed him brigadier-general and
Indian commissioner. He died in the Chickasaw country
in 1814.--ED.
[106] These were all prominent early settlers of Cumberland.
Captain Gordon was commander in several Indian
affrays, notably the Nickajack expedition, and served
under Jackson in 1813. Thomas Craighead was the first
clergyman in Nashville, where he arrived in 1785 and
built a school-house at Spring Hill. He was an
especial friend of Andrew Jackson, whose wife was a
member of his church (Presbyterian).--ED.
[107] _Q. lyrata_, Nutt.--C. S. S.
[108] _Ulmus fulva_, Michx.--C. S. S.
[109] _Rhamnus Caroliniana_, Gray.--C. S. S.
[110] _A. tomentosa_, Sims.--C. S. S.
[111] _Oxybaphus nyctagineus_, Sweet. (_Allionia nyctaginea_,
Michx.).--C. S. S.
[112] Probably _Hypericum aureum_, Bartram.--C. S. S.
[113] Mansco Lick was in the northeastern part of Davidson
County, named for its discoverer, Kasper Mansco
(Mansker), who was one of the party of Long Hunters
in 1769. On his adventures, see Roosevelt, _Winning
of the West_, i, pp. 147 ff.--ED.
[114] Major Sharp had formerly lived in Washington County,
Virginia, whence he had gone out to serve at the
battle of King’s Mountain. He removed to Kentucky
soon after the Revolution, and later settled in the
Barrens. His son, Solomon P. Sharp, born in 1780,
became one of the most noted Kentucky lawyers and
political leaders, serving in the thirteenth and
fourteenth Congresses, a friend and adherent of
Calhoun. He was assassinated in the midst of a
brilliant career.--ED.
[115] This was Andrew McFadden, who settled a station and
ferry at this point in 1785, and was a well-known
character of that region.--ED.
[116] A part of one leaf of the Journal is here left
blank.--C. S. S.
[117] Mann’s Lick was a salt station before 1786; it was on
the road from Shepherdsville to Louisville, on the
southern border of Jefferson County.--ED.
[118] Probably some form of _Quercus alba_, Michx.--C. S. S.
[119] _Hibiscus militaris_, Cav. (_H. hastatus_, Michx.).--C. S. S.
[120] Here follow to the end of this part of the Journal
separate memoranda on loose sheets.--C. S. S. We omit
these.--ED.
[121] Michael Lacassagne was one of the richest and most
prominent merchants of Louisville; he enjoyed the
confidence of the community, and was a member of the
Kentucky convention of 1787.--ED.
[122] It is not clear what species are here referred to. _Q.
praemorsa_ is probably _Q. macrocarpa_, and _Q.
cerroides_ some form of _Q. alba_, although later in
the journal it is spoken of as an overcup oak.--C. S. S.
[123] Clarksville, named in honor of Gen. George Rogers
Clark, was intended as the metropolis of the Illinois
grant of 150,000 acres, which was made by the
Virginia legislature in 1783 to the officers and
soldiers of the Illinois regiment which had served
with Clark. A board of trustees was established for
the town, and a few of the former officers settled
here; but the place did not thrive, and is now but a
suburb of New Albany.--ED.
[124] For the early history of Vincennes, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
vol. i of this series, note 113.--ED.
[125] _V. urticifolia_, L.--C. S. S.
[126] _V. hastata_, L.?--C. S. S.
[127] _V. stricta_, Vent. (_V. ringens_, Michx.).--C. S. S.
[128] _V. bracteosa_, Michx.--C. S. S.
[129] _Spigelia?_--C. S. S.
[130] The Piankeshaw tribe of Indians, a branch of the Miami
nation that dwelt around Vincennes.--ED.
[131] _G. auriculala_, Michx.--C. S. S.
[132] The French villages in Illinois resulted from the plans
of La Salle; the earliest grew up about Fort St.
Louis, on the Illinois River. In 1700, the Kaskaskia
tribe of Indians removed to the river bearing their
name, the Jesuit missionaries and traders followed,
and the village at this place began. The inhabitants
were chiefly descendants of the _coureurs des bois_,
intermixed with Indian blood. The Jesuit plantation
at Kaskaskia consisted of two hundred and forty
arpents of land, well-cultivated and stocked with
cattle, containing also a brewery. When the Jesuits
were suppressed, the buyer, Beauvais, raised
eighty-six thousand weight of flour from a single
harvest. The French dominion came to an end in 1765
(see Croghan’s _Journals_, vol. i of this series).
Kaskaskia was captured from the English in 1778 by
George Rogers Clark, and the American régime was
instituted by John Todd, under appointment from
Virginia. See Mason, _Chapters from Illinois History_
(Chicago, 1901), pp. 250-279.--ED.
[133] Prairie du Rocher was a small French village situated
upon a grant made to Boisbriant (about 1725) by the
Mississippi Company, and by him transferred to his
nephew Langlois, who maintained seignioral rights
therein until the establishment of American
government.--ED.
[134] St. Philippe was founded upon Regnault’s grant. Pittman
(_Present State of European Settlements on the
Mississippi_, London, 1770), says that when he visited
it (1766) there were sixteen houses, a small church,
and one inhabitant, dubbed “captain of the militia,”
who had twenty slaves, many cattle, and a mill.--ED.
[135] Cahokia was probably the oldest settlement in the
Illinois, although Kaskaskia disputes its priority. A
mission of the Séminaire des Missions Etrangères was
founded among the Tamaroa and Cahokia Indians about
1698, and a French village sprang up around the
place. In 1714 there was a large accession of
renegade _coureurs des bois_. See _Wisconsin
Historical Collections_ (Madison, 1902), xvi, pp.
331, 332. After the English acquired the Illinois,
many inhabitants migrated from Cahokia to St.
Louis.--ED.
[136] Fort Chartres was the most considerable fortification
built by the French in the western part of America.
The original fort was constructed in 1720 by
Boisbriant, commandant in Illinois for the Company of
the Indies. In 1756, the stronghold was rebuilt in
stone, being described as an irregular quadrangle
with port-holes for cannon, houses, barracks,
magazines, etc. For a contemporary description, see
Pittman, _Settlements on the Mississippi_, pp. 45,
46. After 1765, Fort Chartres was garrisoned by the
English; but in 1772 the erosion by the river caused
a portion to collapse, and the fort was abandoned.
For its present condition, see Mason, _Chapters from
Illinois History_, pp. 241-249.--ED.
[137] The earliest American settlements in Illinois were
made by soldiers of Clark’s army. Bellefontaine, in
the present Monroe County, was the centre for
American life. More American families were reported a
few years previous to this. Probably the Indian wars
and the allurements of the Indian trade had caused
some dispersal.--ED.
[138] St. Louis was founded by Pierre Laclède in April 1764.
He had secured a license from the French governor of
Louisiana to trade upon the upper Mississippi and the
Missouri. Upon arriving in the Illinois country, the
previous November, he chose the site for his new
settlement, and spent the winter at Cahokia making
arrangements. Meanwhile the news of the transfer of
Canada and the Illinois to the British had arrived.
Under the impression that France had retained the
left bank of the Mississippi, many Illinois settlers
removed thither with Laclède. St. Louis flourished
under Spanish dominion, but was known by its
neighbors as “Pain Court” (Scant-bread) because its
inhabitants devoted more time to fur-trading than to
agriculture. It was not until transferred to the
United States (March, 1804) that the career of St.
Louis as a city began.--ED.
[139] For definition of _Toise_, see _post_, note 163.
Fort Massac had been erected by the order of General
Wayne in 1794, in order to check the expedition which
Michaux went to Kentucky to promote. It was on the
site of an old French post, which had been erected in
1757 by Aubry, governor of Illinois. He first named
it Fort Ascension, and proceeded thence to reinforce
Fort Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio. After the
evacuation of that fortress (1758), the Illinois
troops dropped down to this place, and renamed it
Fort Massac, in honor of the Marquis de Massiac,
minister of marine. When the French surrendered the
Illinois, the British neglected to fortify this
place, although recommended to do so by their
engineers. Accordingly Clark marched hither overland
to his capture of Illinois.--ED.
[140] _Q. imbricaria_, Michx.--C. S. S.
[141] _Forestiera acuminata_, Poir. (_Adelia acuminata_,
Michx.).--C. S. S.
[142] _Vitis riparia_, Michx., or more probably, in part,
at least, _V. palmata_, Vahl. (_V. rubra_, Michx. in
herb), a species which is often monospermous, and
which was discovered by Michaux in this region and
merged by him with his _V. riparia_.--C. S. S.
[143] The Cumberland River was usually known as the Shawnese
River on early maps. Doubtless this Indian tribe had
dwelt thereon when first met by white explorers.--ED.
[144] So called because it took its rise in the Cherokee
territory. See Weiser’s _Journal_, vol. i of this
series, note 33.--ED.
[145] _Forestiera ligustrina_, Poir. (_Adelia ligustrina._,
Michx.).--C. S. S.
[146] _Betula nigra_, L. (_B. lanulosa_, Michx.).--C. S. S.
[147] _Planera aquatica_, Gmel.--C. S. S.
[148] The interpolation of these names in the journal at
this point, would appear to indicate that the news of
the appointments consequent upon the arrival of the
new French minister, Adet (June 1, 1795), had just
reached Michaux; also that his interest in political
affairs was still active, and that other motives may
have led him to this country under feint of
herborizing.--ED.
[149] A blank of five days in the Journal occurs here.--C. S. S.
[150] A habitant named Pierre Richard is listed as a head
of family at Kaskaskia in 1783, and again in
1790.--ED.
[151] This, doubtless, is _C. speciosa_, Warder, the only
indigenous species in this region.--C. S. S.
[152] The principal fur-trading company at St. Louis had been
formed in 1794 by a union of all the traders at the
suggestion of the governor, Trudeau; at its head as
manager was placed Jacques Clanmorgan (Ch. Morgan is
a misprint for Clanmorgan), who had for some time
been in business in St. Louis, but did not sustain an
honorable reputation. He, however, succeeded in
interesting in his enterprises, a rich merchant of
Canada, named Todd, and probably the Scotchman and
Welshman were his factors. See Billon, _Annals of St.
Louis_ (St. Louis, 1886), pp. 283 ff.--ED.
[153] Cape St. Cosme has been corrupted into Cape Cinque Hommes,
in Perry County, Missouri. It was originally named
for Jean François de St. Cosme, a Canadian Seminary
priest who made a voyage down the Mississippi in
1700, and was a missionary to the Illinois and
Natchez. A few years later, he was assassinated on
the lower Mississippi by a band of savages, upon whom
Bienville later avenged his death. The term “Cap St.
Cosme” is found on a map of 1758.--ED.
[154] Cape Girardeau was settled in 1794, the first house
having been built by a Frenchman. The later
settlement, however, was almost exclusively American;
by 1803 there was a population of twelve
hundred.--ED.
[155] Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos was educated in England
and married an American. During his governorship at
Natchez he was employed by Carondelet in intrigues
with the inhabitants of Kentucky; he had come north
at this time for a conference with Sebastian, and to
communicate with Wilkinson. In 1797 he was made
governor-general of Louisiana, and died two years
later, after a dinner given at New Orleans in honor
of Wilkinson.--ED.
[156] The town of Eddyville, Lyon County, Kentucky, was
founded at this eddy in 1799.--ED.
[157] _B. nigra_, L.--C. S. S.
[158] Clarksville was one of the oldest settlements of
Cumberland, having first been occupied (1780) by the
Renfroe and Turpin families. As an advanced outpost
it was attacked many times by Indians, the latest
onslaught having occurred in 1794. The other
settlements which Michaux mentions were, as he says,
of quite recent origin--incident upon the close of
the Indian war (1795), and the inrush of settlers
over the new wagon road made this same year to the
Cumberland.--ED.
[159] The entry for the 14th is omitted in the original
publication.--ED.
[160] Capt. John Edmeston was a well-known Indian fighter
and leader of the militia. An expedition against the
Chickasaws, organized by him in 1792, was forbidden
by Robertson, because of negotiations pending with
this warlike tribe.--ED.
[161] “Old man” Frederick Stumps was a German, who early
made improvements on White Creek, north of Eaton’s
Station. His flight of three miles to the latter
station, with Indian pursuers close at his heels, was
one of the traditions of the settlement.--ED.
[162] This was George Madison, brother of Bishop Madison of
Virginia. Born about 1763, he served in the
Revolution while yet a boy, and enlisting in the
regular army was wounded at St. Clair’s defeat
(1791), and again the following year. Shortly after
this visit of Michaux, Madison was appointed state
auditor, and removed to Frankfort, where he held the
office for twenty ensuing years. In 1812 he served as
major in the army, was captured at Raisin River, and
sent as prisoner to Quebec. Upon his exchange, he was
received in Kentucky with great rejoicing, and
elected governor (1816), but died during the first
year of his term.--ED.
[163] A toise is a French linear measure equivalent to 6.395
English feet.--ED.
[164] This mill was at the site of the present town of
Hodgenville, seat of Larue County. Abraham Lincoln
was born about two miles south of this place, when
Larue was still part of Hardin County--ED.
[165] Shepherdsville, the seat of Bullitt County, was
incorporated as a town in 1793. Its site was at the
falls of Salt River, and it was an important station
in early Kentucky history.--ED.
[166] Gayoso mentions one Sarpy, a rich merchant of New
Orleans, as concerned in the plot against Louisiana
(1793). Another merchant, Beauvais, was similarly
involved. Consult American Historical Association
_Report_, 1896, p. 1049.--ED.