_Narrative of an Expedition from Pittsburg into the Illinois territory.
From Notes on a Journey in America, by MORRIS BIRKBECK._
Leaving Mr. Fearon at Pittsburgh, we will thence accompany Mr. Birkbeck
on his tour into the western settlements of the United States. About the
end of May, 1817, this gentleman and his family, consisting of nine
persons, five male and four female, arrived at _Pittsburgh_; and, on the
5th of June, well mounted, and well furnished with saddle-bags and
blankets, they set out on their journey westward, in search of a place
where they might form an advantageous settlement. Each person had a
blanket under his saddle, another upon it, and a pair of saddle-bags,
with a great coat and an umbrella strapped behind.
In this manner, says Mr. Birkbeck, even women, and those of advanced
age, often take long journeys without inconvenience. The day before he
left Pittsburgh, he was told of a lady who was coming from Tenessee to
Pittsburgh, twelve hundred miles; and, although she had with her an
infant, she preferred travelling on horseback to boating up the river.
Seventeen miles of the ride from Pittsburgh on to _Cannonsburg_, was
chiefly over clayey hills, well adapted for grass; but, in the present
circumstances of the country, too stiff for profitable cultivation under
the plough. From Cannonsburg to _Washington_, in Pennsylvania, eight
miles, is a very desirable tract, containing much excellent land, with
fine meadows.
Washington is a pretty, thriving town, which contains about two thousand
five hundred inhabitants. It has a college, with about a hundred
students; but, from the dirty condition of the schools, and the
loitering habits of the young men, Mr. Birkbeck suspected it to be an
ill-regulated institution.
From Washington, Mr. Birkbeck and his family proceeded still westward,
and, on entering the _State of Ohio_, they found themselves in a country
beautiful and fertile, and affording, to a plain, industrious, and
thriving population, all that nature has decreed for the comfort of man.
It contains rich land, good water, wholesome air; limestone, coal,
mills, and navigation. It is also fully appropriated, and thickly
settled; and land is worth from twenty to thirty dollars per acre: an
advance of a thousand per cent. in about ten years!
A heavy fall of wet had rendered the roads muddy and unpleasant. On the
10th of June, the party arrived at _Wheeling_, a considerable but
mean-looking town, of inns and stores, on the banks of the Ohio. Here
they baited their horses, and took a repast of bread and milk. At this
place the Ohio is divided into two channels, of five hundred yards each,
by an island of three hundred acres.
Between Wheeling and St. Clairsville, they had sundry foaming creeks to
ford; and sundry log-bridges to pass, which are a sort of commutation of
danger. They had also a very muddy road, over hills of clay; and thunder
and rain during nearly the whole of this their first stage: such
thunder, and such rain, as they had heard of, but had seldom witnessed
in England.
They were detained some days at _St. Clairsville_. This place consists
of about one hundred and fifty houses; stores, taverns, doctors'-shops,
and lawyers' offices, with the dwellings of sundry artisans; such as
tailors, shoemakers, hatters, and smiths. Its chief street runs over one
of the beautiful, round, and fertile hills which form this country. The
court-house, a handsome brick edifice, on the summit, has a cheerful and
a rather striking appearance. If the streets were paved, St. Clairsville
would be a pleasant town, but, from the continued rains, they were, at
this time, deep in mud.
The rich clay of this country is very favourable to grass, and the
pastures are extremely fine. When the timber is destroyed, a beautiful
turf takes immediate possession of the surface.
As they proceeded westward, towards Zanesville, the soil did not
improve. It is here a yellow clay, well adapted for grass; but, when
exhausted by repeated cropping, it will be unprofitable for tillage. In
some places, the clay is over limestone, and exhibits marks of great and
durable fertility.
During their journey, on the 13th of June, they met a group of nymphs,
with their attendant swains, ten in number, on horseback: for no
American walks who can obtain a horse; and there are few indeed who
cannot. The young men were carrying umbrellas over the heads of their
partners; and the appearance of the whole was very decent and
respectable.
At the distance of eighteen miles east of Zanesville, whilst taking
shelter from a thunder-storm, they were joined by four industrious
pedestrians, who were returning eastward from a tour of observation
through this state. These all agreed in one sentiment, that there is no
part of the Union, either in the new settlements or in the old, where an
industrious man need be at a loss for the comforts of a good
livelihood.
The land continued of the same character as before, a weak yellow clay,
under a thin covering of vegetable mould, profitable for cultivation
merely because it is new. The timber is chiefly oak. Little farms, of
from eight to one hundred and sixty acres, with simple erections, a
cabin and a stable, may be purchased, at the rate of from five to twenty
dollars per acre. This is a hilly and romantic country; and affords many
pleasant situations. Sand-stone is common; limestone more rare; but
clay-slate appears to be the common basis.
The inhabitants are friendly and homely, not to say coarse; but they are
well informed. This day the travellers passed various groups of
emigrants, proceeding westward: one waggon, in particular, was the
moving habitation of twenty souls.
_Zanesville_ is a thriving town, on the beautiful _river Muskingum_,
which is, at all times, navigable downward. The country around it is
hilly and pleasant; not rich, but dry, and tolerably fertile. It abounds
in coal and lime, and may, at some future period, become a grand station
for manufactures.
At _Rushville_ Mr. Birkbeck, another gentleman, and three children, sat
down to a breakfast, consisting of the following articles: coffee,
rolls, biscuits, dry toast, waffles, (a kind of soft hot cake, of German
extraction, covered with butter,) salted pickerell, (a fish from Lake
Huron,) veal-cutlets, broiled ham, gooseberry-pie, stewed currants,
preserved cranberries, butter, and cheese: and Mr. Birkbeck, for himself
and three children, and four gallons of oats, and a sufficient quantity
of hay for four horses, was charged only six shillings and ninepence
sterling.
South-west of Zanesville, instead of steep hills of yellow clay, the
country assumes a more gently undulating surface; but it is sufficiently
varied both for health and ornament, and has an absorbent, gravelly, or
sandy soil, of moderate fertility.
_Lancaster_ is on the edge of a marsh, or fen, which, at present,
should seem to be a source of disease; though its bad effects, on the
inhabitants of that town, are not by any means obvious.
The three towns, Zanesville, Lancaster, and _Chillicothe_, were founded
by a sagacious man of the name of Zane, one of the earliest of the
settlers. They are admirably placed, geographically, but with little
regard to the health of their future inhabitants. The local advantages
of Zanesville might have been equally secured, had the site of the town
been on the higher, rather than the lower bank of the Muskingum: and the
Sciota might have afforded equal facilities to the commerce of the
inhabitants of Chillicothe, had they viewed it flowing beneath them,
from those lovely eminences which adorn its opposite banks. Chillicothe
is surrounded by the most charming elevations, but is itself in a
bottom; and Lancaster is on the brink of an extensive marsh.
Seven miles north-west of Chillicothe the traveller enters on a tract of
river bottom, the first rich land, for which this state, and indeed the
whole western country, is so justly famous. It is agreeably varied in
surface, occasionally rises into hills, and is never flat.
At Chillicothe there is an office for the several transactions regarding
the disposal of the public lands of this district; and, on Mr.
Birkbeck's arrival, he repaired to this office, for the purpose of
inspecting a map of the district; and he found a great quantity of
unentered lands, comprehending many entire townships, of eight miles
square, lying about twenty miles south of Chillicothe; and, in several
parts, abutting on the Sciota. Though it appeared certain that
substantial objections had deterred purchasers from this extensive
tract, in a country so much settled, yet Mr. Birkbeck, accompanied by
his son, determined to visit it. They rode over twenty miles of fertile
country, on the bank of the Sciota, and crossed that river to _Pike
Town_; not far from which place was the land they were seeking.
Near Pike Town was a small cultivated prairie, the first Mr. Birkbeck
had seen. It contained about two hundred acres of rich land, and was
divided by a road, which ran through the middle; and nearly the whole of
it was covered by fine Indian corn, neatly cultivated. The surrounding
hills were crowned with woods. Nothing that Mr. Birkbeck had before seen
in America at all resembled this delightful spot; but, from its low
situation near the Sciota, it was unhealthy.
Pike Town was laid out, and received its name, about the year 1815. When
Mr. Birkbeck was here, it contained a tavern, a store, and about twenty
other dwellings.
The land of which Mr. Birkbeck came in quest was, as he supposed, of
inferior quality. But though he found it unfit for his purpose, he had
been repaid his trouble by the pleasure of his ride, through a fine
portion of country. In leaving Chillicothe, to proceed towards
Cincinnati, he and his party travelled through about seven miles of rich
alluvial land, and over fertile uplands. But, as they proceeded, the
country became level, with a cold heavy soil, better adapted to grass
than tillage. Much of this tract remained in an unimproved state. They
had passed some hills which were covered with the grandest white
oak-timber imaginable. Within view from the road there were thousands of
these magnificent trees, each of which measured fourteen or fifteen feet
in circumference: their straight stems rising, without a branch, to the
height of seventy or eighty feet, not tapering and slender, but
surmounted by full, luxuriant heads.
For the space of a mile in breadth, a hurricane, which had traversed the
entire western country in a north-east direction, about seven years
before Mr. Birkbeck was here, had opened itself a passage through the
forests, and had left a scene of extraordinary desolation. The trees lay
tumbled over each other, like scattered stubble; some torn up by the
roots, others broken off at different heights, or splintered only, and
their tops bent over, and touching the ground. These hurricane tracts
afford strong holes for game, and for all animals of savage kind.
As Mr. Birkbeck approached the _Little Miami River_, the country became
more broken, much more fertile, and better settled than before. After
crossing this rapid and clear stream, he had a pleasant ride to Lebanon,
which is not a mountain of cedars, but a valley, so beautiful and
fertile that, at its first opening on the view, it seemed rather a
region of fancy than a real back-settlement scene.
_Lebanon_ is itself one of those wonders which are the natural growth of
these back woods. In fourteen years, from two or three cabins of
half-savage hunters, it has grown to be the residence of a thousand
persons, with habits and looks in no respect differing from their
brethren of the east. Before Mr. Birkbeck and his party entered the
town, they heard the supper-bells of the taverns; and they arrived just
in time to take their seats at one of the tables, together with
travellers like themselves, and several store-keepers, lawyers, and
doctors; men who regularly board at taverns, and make up a standing
company for the daily public table.
Mr. Birkbeck and his family next passed through _Cincinnati_, [a town
which presents a scene of great life and activity. The market-house is
an excellent building; and the market is under judicious regulations.
Provisions are here plentiful and cheap; but articles of clothing,
house-rent, and journeymen's wages are all very high.
This interesting town is situated on the banks of the _Ohio_, and
contains from eight to ten thousand inhabitants, including blacks, who
are numerous. It is built on the same plan as Philadelphia. There is a
school, in which children are educated on the Lancasterian plan; and
which, in 1817, contained one hundred and fifty children. Owing,
however, to the "untamable insubordination of the scholars, it was found
impossible to put in practice most of the punishments that are directed
by the founder of the system. Two weekly newspapers are published at
Cincinnati; one called "The Western Spy," and the other, "Liberty
Hall."
There are, at this place, a woollen manufactory, a steam corn-mill, and
a glass-house, on a tolerably large scale; and, in the main street,
English goods abound in as great profusion as in Cheapside. The
tradesmen import some of their goods direct from England, but they
usually purchase them at Philadelphia; the journey to and from which
place occupies three months; and goods are generally about fifty days in
arriving.
There are, in Cincinnati, three banks; and paper-money is here so
abundant, that specie, even of the smallest amount, is rarely to be
seen. The little that does exist, consists chiefly of _cut_ Spanish
dollars. Notes of two shillings and two-pence, thirteen pence, sixpence
halfpenny, and even of three-pence farthing, are very common: indeed,
they constitute the chief part of the circulating medium.
Cincinnati is a very handsome town; a town, in fact, which must astonish
every traveller, when he considers how recently it has been formed. Some
of the houses are on a large scale; and the number of moderate-sized and
well-built brick buildings is considerable. The churches are neat; and
the post-office, in arrangement and management, would bear comparison
with that of London.]
After having passed through Cincinnati, Mr. Birkbeck and his family
entered the _state of Indiana_, and proceeded towards Vincennes. Indiana
was, evidently, newer than the state of Ohio; and the character of the
settlers appeared superior to that of the settlers in Ohio, who, in
general, were a very indigent people. Those who fix themselves in
Indiana, bring with them habits of comfort and the means of procuring
the conveniences of life. These are observable in the construction of
their cabins, and the neatness surrounding them; and, especially, in
their well-stocked gardens, so frequent here, and so rare in the state
of Ohio.
The country, from the town of Madison to the _Camp Tavern_, is not
interesting, and a great part of the land is but of medium quality. At
the latter place commences a broken country, approaching to mountainous,
which, if well watered, would form a fine grazing district. In their
progress, Mr. Birkbeck, one of the ladies, and a servant boy, were
benighted at the foot of one of these rugged hills; and, without being
well provided, they were compelled to make their first experiment of
"camping out," as it is called.
A traveller, in the woods, says this gentleman, should always carry with
him a flint, steel, tinder, and matches; a few biscuits, a half-pint
vial of spirits, a tin cup, and a large knife or tomahawk; then, with
his two blankets, and his great coat and umbrella, he need not be
uneasy, should any unforeseen delay require his sleeping under a tree.
In the present instance, the important articles of tinder and matches
were in the baggage of the division that had proceeded; and, as the
night was rainy and excessively dark, the benighted party were, for some
time, under considerable apprehension, lest they should be deprived of
the comfort and security of a fire. Fortunately, Mr. Birkbeck's
powder-flask was in his saddle-bags, and he succeeded in supplying the
place of tinder, by moistening a piece of paper, and rubbing it with
gunpowder. He then placed the touchpaper on an old cambric handkerchief.
On this he scattered gunpowder pretty copiously, and with a flint and
steel he soon succeeded in raising a flame: then, collecting together a
quantity of dry wood, he made a noble fire. There was a mattress for the
lady, a bear-skin for Mr. Birkbeck, and the load of the pack-horse
served as a pallet for the boy. Thus, by means of great coats and
blankets, and their umbrellas spread over their heads, they made their
quarters tolerably comfortable; and, placing themselves to the leeward
of the fire, with their feet towards it, they lay more at ease than they
could have done in the generality of taverns. They had a few biscuits,
a small bottle of spirits, and a phial of oil. By twisting some cord
very hard, and dipping it in the oil, they contrived to make torches;
and, after several fruitless attempts, they succeeded in finding water.
"Camping out," when the tents are pitched by day-light, and the party
are furnished with the articles, which Mr. Birkbeck was obliged to
supply by expedients, is pleasant in fine weather. The lady was
exceedingly ill, which had in fact occasioned their being benighted; and
never was the night's charge of a sick friend undertaken with more
dismal forebodings. The rain, however, having ceased, the invalid passed
the night in safety; so that the morning found them more comfortable
than they could have anticipated.
The town of _Vincennes_ is scattered over a plain, lying some feet lower
than the banks of the _Wabash_: a situation seemingly unfavourable to
health; and, in fact, agues and bilious fevers are frequent here during
the autumn.
The road from Sholt's Tavern to this place, thirty-six miles distant,
lies partly across "barrens," that is, land of middling quality, thinly
set with timber, or covered with long grass and shrubby underwood;
generally level and dry, and gaudy with marigolds, sunflowers, martagon
lilies, and many other beautiful flowers. On the whole, the country is
tame, poorly watered, and not desirable as a place of settlement; but,
from its varied character, it is pleasant to travel over. Vincennes
exhibits a motley assemblage of inhabitants as well as visitors. The
inhabitants are Americans, French Canadians, and Negroes. The visitors
are chiefly Americans from various states; and Indians from various
nations: Shawnees, Delawares, and Miamies, who live about a hundred
miles northward, and who come here to trade for skins. The Indians were
encamped, in considerable numbers, round the town, and were continually
riding into the place, to the stores and the whiskey-shops. Their horses
and accoutrements were generally mean, and their persons disagreeable.
Their faces were painted in various ways, which gave an appearance of
ferocity to their countenances.
One of them, a Shawnee, had his eyes, or rather his eyelids and the
surrounding parts, daubed with vermilion. He thus looked hideous enough
at a distance; but, on a nearer view, he had good features, and was a
fine, stout, and fierce-looking man. Some of the Indians were well
dressed. One young man, in particular, of the Miami nation, wore a
clear, light blue cotton vest, with sleeves; and had his head ornamented
with black feathers.
They all wear pantaloons, or rather long moccasins of buck-skin,
covering the foot and leg, and reaching half way up the thigh, which is
bare: a covering of cloth, a foot square, passes between the thighs, and
hangs behind like an apron. Their complexion was various: some were
dark, and others were not so swarthy as even Mr. Birkbeck; but he saw
none of the copper-colour, which he had imagined to be their
distinguishing characteristic. These Indians are addicted to drinking
spirits, and are often intoxicated. They use much action in their
discourse, and laugh immoderately. Their hair is straight and black, and
their eyes are dark. Many of the women are decently dressed and
good-looking.
Mr. Birkbeck remarks that, in Great Britain, the people are so
circumscribed in their movements, that, with them, miles seem equal to
tens of miles in America. He says that, in America, travellers will
start on an expedition of three thousand miles, by boats, on horseback,
or on foot, with as little deliberation or anxiety, as an Englishman
would set out on a journey of three hundred.
At Vincennes, the foundation had just been laid of a large establishment
of mills to be worked by steam. Water-mills of great power were building
on the Wabash, near Harmony; and undertakings of similar kind will, no
doubt, be called for and executed, along the banks of this river, and
of its various tributary streams.
On entering Vincennes there is nothing which tends to make a favourable
impression on a stranger; but it improves on acquaintance, for it
contains agreeable people: and there is a spirit of cleanliness, and
even of neatness, in the houses and manner of living. There is also a
strain of politeness in the inhabitants, which marks the origin of this
settlement to be French.
At _Princeton_, a place scarcely three years old, Mr. Birkbeck and his
family went to a log-tavern, where neatness was as well observed as at
many taverns in the cities of England. The people of this town belong to
America in dress and manners; but they would not disgrace old England in
the general decorum of their deportment.
Mr. Birkbeck lamented here, as in other parts of America, the small
account that is had of time. Subsistence is easily secured, and liberal
pursuits are yet too rare to operate as a general stimulus to exertion:
the consequence is, that life is whiled away in a painful state of
yawning lassitude.
Twenty or thirty miles west of this place, in the Illinois territory, is
a large country where settlements were beginning; and where, Mr.
Birkbeck says, there was an abundant choice of unentered lands, of a
description, which, if the statements of travellers and surveyors, even
after great abatements, can be relied on, he imagined would satisfy his
wishes.
Princeton affords a very encouraging situation for a temporary abode. It
stands on an elevated spot, in an uneven country, ten miles from the
river Wabash, and two from the navigable stream of the Patok; but the
country is rich, and the timber is vast in bulk and height.
The small-pox is likely soon to be excluded from this state; for
vaccination is very generally adopted, and inoculation for the small-pox
is prohibited altogether; not by law, but by common consent. If it
should be known that an individual had undergone this operation, the
inhabitants would compel him to withdraw from society. If he lived in a
town, he must absent himself, or he would be driven away.
On the 25th of July, Mr. Birkbeck explored the country as far as
_Harmony_ and the banks of the Ohio. He lodged in a cabin, at a very new
town, on the banks of the Ohio, called _Mount Vernon_. Here he found the
people of a character which confirmed the aversion he had previously
entertained to a settlement in the immediate vicinity of a large
navigable river. Every hamlet was demoralized, and every plantation was
liable to outrage, within a short distance of such a thoroughfare.
Yet, to persons who had been long buried in deep forests, the view of
that noble expanse was like the opening of a bright day upon the gloom
of night. To travel, day after day, among trees a hundred feet high,
without a glimpse of the surrounding country, is oppressive to a degree
which those cannot conceive who have not experienced it.
Mr. Birkbeck left Harmony after breakfast, on the ensuing day, and,
crossing the Wabash, at a ferry, he proceeded to the _Big Prairie_,
where, to his astonishment, he beheld a fertile plain of grass and
arable; and some thousand acres of land covered with corn, more
luxuriant than any he had before seen. The scene reminded him of some
open well-cultivated vale in Europe, surrounded by wooded uplands. But
the illusion vanished on his arrival at the habitation of Mr. Williams,
the owner of an estate, on which, at this time, there were nearly three
hundred acres of beautiful corn in one field; for this man lived in a
way apparently as remote from comfort, as the settler of one year, who
thinks only of the means of supporting existence.
The inhabitants of the Prairie are healthy, and the females and children
are better complexioned than their neighbours of the timber country. It
is evident that they breathe better air: but they are in a low state of
civilization, being about half Indian in their mode of life. They are
hunters by profession, and would have the whole range of the forests for
themselves and their cattle. Strangers appear, to them, invaders of
their privileges; as they have intruded on the better founded and
exclusive privileges of their Indian predecessors.
After viewing several Prairies, which, with their surrounding woods,
were so beautiful as to seem like the creation of fancy; (gardens of
delight in a dreary wilderness;) and after losing their horses, and
spending two days in recovering them, Mr. Birkbeck and his party took a
hunter, as their guide, and proceeded across the little Wabash, to
explore the country between that river and the Skillet Fork.
The lonely settlers, in the districts north of Big Prairie, are in a
miserable state: their bread-corn must be ground thirty miles off; and
it occupied three days to carry to the mill, and bring back, the small
horse-load of three bushels. To struggle with privations has now become
the habit of their lives, most of them having made several successive
plunges into the wilderness.
Mr. Birkbeck's journey across the little Wabash was a complete departure
from all mark of civilization. Wandering without track, where even the
sagacity of the hunter-guide had nearly failed, they at length arrived
at the cabin of another hunter, in which they lodged. This man, his
wife, his eldest son, a tall, half-naked youth, just initiated in the
hunter's arts; his three daughters, growing up into great rude girls,
and a squalling tribe of dirty brats, of both sexes, were of one pale
yellow colour, without the slightest tint of healthful bloom. They were
remarkable instances of the effect, on the complexion, produced by
living perpetually in the midst of woods.
Their cabin, which may serve as a specimen of these rudiments of houses,
was formed of round logs, with apertures of three or four inches: there
was no chimney, but large intervals were left between the "clapboards,"
for the escape of the smoke. The roof, however, was a more effectual
covering, than Mr. Birkbeck had generally experienced, as it protected
him and his party very tolerably from a drenching night. Two bedsteads,
formed of unhewn logs, and cleft boards laid across; two chairs, (one of
them without a bottom,) and a low stool, were all the furniture
possessed by this numerous family. A string of buffalo-hide, stretched
across the hovel, was a wardrobe for their rags; and their utensils,
consisting of a large iron-pot, some baskets, one good rifle, and two
that were useless, stood about in corners; and a fiddle, which was
seldom silent, except when the inhabitants were asleep, hung by them.
These hunters, in the back-settlements of America, are as persevering as
savages, and as indolent. They cultivate indolence as a privilege: "You
English (they say) are industrious, but we have freedom." And thus they
exist, in yawning indifference, surrounded by nuisances and petty wants;
the former of which might be removed, and the latter supplied, by the
application of one tenth part of the time that is loitered away in their
innumerable idle days.
The _Little Wabash_, which Mr. Birkbeck crossed in search of some
Prairies, that had been described to him in glowing colours, was, at
this season, a sluggish and scanty stream; but, for three months of the
latter part of winter and the beginning of spring, it covers a great
space of ground, by the overflow of waters collected in its long course.
The _Skillet Fork_ is a river of similar character; and the country that
lies between them must labour under the inconvenience of absolute
seclusion, for many months every year, until bridges and ferries are
established. Having made his way through this wildest of wildernesses to
the Skillet Fork, Mr. Birkbeck crossed that river at a shoal. The
country, on each side of it, is flat and swampy; so that the water, in
many places, even at this season, rendered travelling disagreeable; yet
here and there, at ten miles' distance, perhaps, the very solitude
tempts persons to pitch their tents for a season.
At one of these lone dwellings Mr. Birkbeck found a neat, respectable
looking female, spinning under the little piazza at one side of the
cabin, which shaded her from the sun. Her husband was absent on
business, which would detain him some weeks: she had no family, and no
companion except her husband's dog, which usually attended him during
his bear-hunting, in the winter. She said she was quite overcome with
"lone," and hoped the party would tie their horses in the wood, and sit
awhile with her, during the heat of the day. They did so, and she
rewarded them with a basin of coffee. She said her husband was kind and
good, and never left her without necessity. He was a true lover of
bear-hunting; and, in the preceding winter, had killed a great number of
bears.
On the second of August the party lodged at another cabin, where similar
neatness prevailed, both within and without. The woman was neat, and the
children were clean in skin, and whole in their clothes. The man
possessed good sense and sound notions, and was ingenious and
industrious. He lived on the edge of the Seven Miles' Prairie, a spot
charming to the eye, but deficient in water.
Mr. Birkbeck considers _Shawnee Town_ as a phaenomenon, evincing the
pertinacious adherence of man to the spot where he has once established
himself. Once a year, for many successive springs, the Ohio, in its
annual overflowings, has carried away the fences from the cleared lands
of the inhabitants, till at length they have given them up, and ceased
to cultivate them. Once a year the inhabitants of Shawnee Town either
make their escape to higher lands, or take refuge in the upper stories
of their houses, until the waters subside, when they recover their
position on this desolate sand-bank.
At Shawnee Town there is an office for the south-east district of
Illinois. Here Mr. Birkbeck constituted himself a land-owner, by paying
seven hundred and twenty dollars, as one-fourth part of the
purchase-money of fourteen hundred and forty acres. This land, with a
similar purchase made by a Mr. Flower, constituted part of a beautiful
and rich Prairie, about six miles distant from the Big Wabash, and the
same distance from the Little Wabash.
The land was rich, natural meadow, bounded by timbered ground: it was
within reach of two navigable rivers; and, at a small expence, was
capable of being rendered immediately productive.
The geographical position of this portion of territory appeared to be
extremely favourable. The Big Wabash, a noble stream, which forms its
eastern boundary, runs four hundred miles, through one of the most
fertile portions of this most fertile region. By means of a portage of
eight miles to the Miami of the lakes, it has a communication, well
known to the Indian traders, with Lake Huron, and with all the
navigation of the north.
Mr. Birkbeck left Shawnee town on the third of August. He had found here
something of river-barbarism, the genuine Ohio character; but he had met
with a greater number, than he had expected, of agreeable individuals:
and the kind and hospitable treatment he experienced at the tavern,
formed a good contrast to the rude society and wretched fare he had left
at the Skillet Fork.
On his return to _Harmony_, the day being Sunday, he had an opportunity
of seeing, grouped and in their best attire, a large part of the members
of this wonderful community. It was evening when he arrived, and he
observed no human creature about the streets: soon the entire body of
the people, about seven hundred in number, poured out of the church, and
exhibited the appearance of health, neatness, and peace.
This colony is useful to the neighbourhood. It furnishes, from its
store, many articles of great value, not so well supplied elsewhere; and
it is a market for all spare produce. Many kinds of culinary plants, and
many fruit-trees are cultivated here; and the Harmonites set a good
example of neatness and industry. When we contrast their neatness and
order, with the slovenly habits of their neighbours, we see (says Mr.
Birkbeck) the good that arises from association, which advances these
poor people a century, at least, on the social scale, beyond the
solitary beings who build their huts in the wilderness.
At Harmony Mr. Birkbeck and his family lived at the tavern, and their
board there cost two dollars per week, each person: for these they
received twenty-one meals. Excellent coffee and tea, with broiled
chickens, bacon, &c. for breakfast and supper, and a variety of good,
but simple fare at dinner. Except coffee, tea, or milk, no liquor but
water is thought of at meals in this country.
Mr. Birkbeck observes that, when the back country of America is
mentioned in England, musquitoes by night, and rattlesnakes by day,
never fail to alarm the imagination: to say nothing of wolves and bears,
and panthers, and Indians still more ferocious than these. His course of
travelling, from the mouth of James River, and over the mountains, up to
Pittsburg, about five hundred miles; then three hundred miles through
the woods of the state of Ohio, down to Cincinnati; next, across the
entire wilderness of Indiana, and to the extreme south of the
Illinois:--this long and deliberate journey, (he says,) one would
suppose, might have introduced his party to an intimate acquaintance
with some of these pests of America. It is true that they killed several
of the serpent tribe; black snakes, garter-snakes, &c. and that they saw
one rattlesnake of extraordinary size. They experienced inconvenience
from musquitoes in a few damp spots, just as they would have done from
gnats in England. In their late expeditions in the Illinois, where they
led the lives of thorough backwoods-men, if they were so unfortunate as
to pitch their tent on the edge of a creek, or near a swamp, and
mismanaged their fire, they were teased with musquitoes, as they would
have been in the fens of Cambridgeshire: but this was the sum total
of their experience of these reported plagues.
Wolves and bears are extremely numerous, and commit much injury in the
newly-settled districts. Hogs, which are a main dependance for food as
well as profit, are the constant prey of the bears; and the holds of
these animals are so strong, that the hunters are unable to keep down
their numbers.
* * * * *
[In the autumn of the year 1817, Mr. Birkbeck removed, with his family,
to the property he had purchased, between the Great and Little Wabash,
and to which he has given the name of "_English Prairie_." In his "Notes
on America," and in his "Letters from the Illinois," he has described,
in an interesting manner, the face of the country, its soil,
productions, mode of culture, and capacities of improvement; and has
pointed out the great advantages which it offers to settlers, especially
to labourers and to farmers with small capital. The confidence that is
reposed in his judgment and agricultural skill, has already induced
several persons to emigrate into the same neighbourhood, both from
England and the United States; but the singularity of his religious
opinions, and his objection to the admission of religious instructors of
any description into his settlement, had prevented many conscientious
persons from joining him, who might have proved useful members of his
little community.]
* * * * *
From this place we must return to _Philadelphia_, for the purpose of
accompanying Mr. Weld on a journey to Washington, the federal city or
metropolis of the United States.
Seventh Day's Instruction.