its mouth, and is the seat of justice for White County.--ED.
About a week afterwards I made a purchase of 162 acres, of Mr. Samuel
Anderson, for 480 dollars, 108_l._ sterling. This {152} land was also
at Birks' prairie, one mile north from the other; it was all prairie,
except 40 or 50 acres of wood-land. It lies well to cultivate, and
by some is called as good a quarter section as any on the prairie;
but I prefer my first purchase, and think it was much cheaper. On the
13th I settled at the land-office at Shawneetown, but not having the
transfer signed by the county clerk of Edwards county, I could not
send the certificate on to Washington for the President's signature. A
certificate, with the land-office receipt, being sent to Washington, a
patent is made out, and signed by the President of the United States,
which is a complete title. I sent the transfer from Mr. Anderson to me
to Palmyra,[141] the county town of Edwards county, and got the county
clerk's signature; for this I paid 75 cents, 3_s._ 4½_d._ And on
the 30th I again visited Shawneetown, and lodged my two certificates
at the land-office, to be sent on to Washington for the President's
signature. On my return {153} I had a most disagreeable journey, owing
to the fires in the woods, that filled the air so full of smoke, that
the sun could scarcely be seen through it. In the autumn, (here called
the fall,) the hunters always set fire to the grass and weeds, for
the benefit of hunting. These fires do much damage to the woods, and
sometimes to the plantations; but clear the country of weeds, and
destroy much of the harbour for wild beasts.
[141] This town, on the Wabash River twenty miles southwest of
Vincennes, proved so unhealthful (see _post_, p. 328) that in 1821 the
county seat was transferred to Albion.--ED.
Thus having purchased all the land I intend to buy at present, and
having taken the cabin we lodged in on our arrival at Wanborough, I
purpose to remain here at least for some time, and to take in a few
boarders, as such a house is much wanted. But part of my family have
removed to Birks' prairie.
I shall now take a short survey of the state of Illinois, and the
country round the prairies; with some account of its animal and
vegetable productions, agriculture, &c. &c.
The state of Illinois, where I have {154} pitched my tent, is one of
the youngest of the states, as it has been a state only about two
years. But some parts of it have been settled upwards of 100 years;
near Vincennes, the town of Kaskaskia, and a few other places near the
Mississippi river. These settlements were formed by the French, from
Upper Canada.[142]
[142] For an account of the French settlements in Illinois, see A.
Michaux's _Travels_, volume iii of our series, notes 132-135.--ED.
In 1783 it was settled this part of the country belonged to the United
States; from that time till within a very few years, the Americans made
but few settlements in Illinois, but of late many have been formed.
And the inhabitants amounting to more than 60,000, it was raised into
a state; and admitted into the union, as the 21st state. Three others
have since been admitted, viz. Missouri, Alabama, and Main, so that
the union now consists of 24 states, whereof 13 were the original
ones, and two formed from them, Vermont and Main; and nine new ones,
namely, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, {155}
Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; also a large tract of country
equal in extent to all the 24 states, under the names of Michigan,
North Western, Mississippi, and Missouri territories. These immense
territories extend from the gulf of Mexico towards the Spanish
territories; and north and westward to the rocky mountains and the
Pacific Ocean; north eastward towards Canada and the Lakes.
The state of Illinois had its boundaries established by an act of
congress. The Ohio river washes its southern border for 160 miles, from
the mouth of the Wabash to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers, and separates it from the state of Kentucky. The Mississippi
river bounds its western side to the rocky hills, in latitude 41 deg.
50 min. north, a distance, by the river, of 600 miles; and separates
it from the state of Missouri. The Wabash washes its eastern border,
from its mouth to near Fort Harrison,[143] where the division line
leaves the river, and runs due north till {156} it reaches 41 deg. 50
min. north, and separates it from Indiana. An imaginary line, from
east to west, in latitude 41 deg. 50 min. north, divides it from the
north western territory. The length of the Illinois state, from north
to south, is more than 300 miles; and its mean breadth upwards of 200
miles. Its southern point, the mouth of the Ohio river, is in latitude
36 deg. 57 min. north. It is calculated to contain 52,000 square miles,
or 33,280,000 acres, which is nearly as large as England and Wales. Its
present population is estimated at 70,000, but it is fast increasing.
It is well situated as to navigation, the Wabash running on its eastern
side 240 miles. The Ohio, on its southern, 160; and the Mississippi, on
its western side, upwards of 600 miles. The noble river, the Illinois,
runs through the state upwards of 300 miles, and the Kaskaskia 150;
besides many other considerable streams, as the Mine, Sagamond, Demi
Quain, Seseme Quain, Fox River, Plein, and Theakiki; these two last
{157} form the Illinois river.[144] The rest of these rivers, with some
others, fall into the Illinois, which river runs into the Mississippi
200 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and 20 above the Missouri
river. Au Vase, or muddy river, and Wood river, also fall into the
Mississippi; as does Rocky river, 300 yards wide: this is the largest
river on the western side of Illinois, except the Illinois river, which
is more than 400 yards wide. The rivers emptying into the Ohio are but
few and small, but the Saline is much noted for its salt-works; it
enters the Ohio about 15 miles below Shawneetown. On the eastern side
of the state are several rivers that run into the Big Wabash, and are
of considerable note; such as Rejoicing, Duchat, Mascoutin, Embarres,
Little Wabash, and some others.[145] The Big Wabash is 300 yards wide
at its entrance into the Ohio, in latitude 37 deg. 20 min. north. There
are some small lakes towards the north part of the state; and the
northern boundary-line is supposed to touch the {158} south end of Lake
Michigan; but this line has not yet been run, so that it is not certain.
[143] Setting out upon his Tippecanoe campaign (September, 1811),
General Harrison advanced up the Wabash to the Wea village, now the
site of Terre Haute, and there built Fort Harrison, marching thence
against the Indians at the end of October. A year later, Captain
Zachary Taylor, then in charge of the fort, successfully defended it
against a fierce Indian attack. It was a strongly built stockade, about
one hundred and fifty feet square, and was occupied as a military post
until about 1822, when it was dismantled.--ED.
[144] Woods appears to have obtained his information from Cumings's
_Western Pilot_, which, in turn, was taken from Patrick Kennedy's
_Journal_, written in 1773 (see Flint's _Letters_, volume ix of our
series, note 101). All these rivers are branches of the Illinois. Migne
is Crooked Creek, which empties into it from the northwest; about
fifteen miles farther up, Sangamon River discharges into it from the
southeast; Demi Quain is Spoon River, a considerable stream one hundred
and fifty miles in length, flowing southward into the Illinois, about
thirty miles above the mouth of the Sangamon; Seseme Quain is probably
Copperas Creek, a few miles farther up; Plein and Theakiki are the Des
Plaines and Kankakee branches respectively.--ED.
[145] The Rejoicing (Rajounisance, of Arrowsmith's map, London, 1796)
is apparently the Big Vermilion. The Duchatt is a small stream emptying
into the Wabash a few miles below the Little Vermilion. Mascoutins is
probably the present Macon Creek, which joins the Wabash midway between
Vincennes and Terre Haute. The Embarras River rises near the source of
the Kaskaskia, and flowing southeastward empties into the Wabash, about
six miles south of Vincennes. The Editor is indebted to W. E. Henry,
librarian of the Indiana State Library, for the substance of this
note.--ED.
This state contains more prairie land (prairie means meadow-land) than
any, if not as much as all the other states east of the Mississippi,
but very little, if compared with the west side of that river. The
land on the Missouri being mostly prairie for many hundred miles. The
prairies of Illinois vary in size from a few acres, to one called the
Grand Prairie, which is upwards of 200 miles in length, and from 20
to 30 in breadth. I have been informed, by a person who lives in the
Long Prairie, an arm of the grand one, that he has been 25 miles along
his own prairie, but had never seen the Grand Prairie; but understood
he was near it. The arm comes within 10 miles of the English prairie,
but on the other side of the Little Wabash, to the north-west of the
English prairie. The English prairie was first called Boltinghouse
prairie, from a young man of that name, who was killed by the Indians
a few {159} years ago. It is situated towards the east side of the
state, about 45 miles, almost due north, from the mouth of the Big
Wabash; so that it lies about 38 deg. 26 min. north latitude; and about
five miles east of the Little Wabash, and about 10 miles north-west,
from the nearest point of the Big Wabash, which is at the mouth of
the Bonpas. It may, I suppose, be five miles by four, but of a very
irregular figure, and may contain 16 square miles, that is, about
10,000 acres. It is one of the largest prairies near which the English
are settled, but there are some in many others, namely, Village, Long,
Bonpas, Burnt, Bushy, French Creek, and some others, and Birks: this
last is long and narrow, with several arms to it, and, I suppose, it
may contain nearly 4000 acres. The irregular form of the prairies makes
it difficult to ascertain accurately their size; but the prairies
enumerated above, take one with another, are, I suppose, as large
as Birks. Long Prairie, here mentioned, is not the arm of {160} the
Grand Prairie noticed before. All these prairies are situated between
the Bonpas to the east, and the Little Wabash to the west, and are
separated from each other by woods; but in many places are nearly
contiguous, and some of them, I believe, do join. They are destitute of
timber, except a few strips on the water-courses, and a few groves in
them. They produce a coarse grass, which although full of weeds, and
the stalks of many large flowers, the cattle seem fond of it: it is
made into hay, and eaten by them during the winter.
Mr. Birkbeck's settlement, called Wanborough, is situated at the
north-west corner of the English Prairie, and contains 25 cabins,
a tavern, a store or two, and several lodging houses; and several
carpenters, bricklayers, brick-makers, smiths, wheelwrights, and
sawyers; also a taylor and butcher.
A horse or ox mill is building, a malt-house planned out, and a new
brick building for a tavern, and several new houses {161} began. As
water is scarce, there are some more wells digging. Mr. Birkbeck, in
July, found a tolerable good spring, by digging only six feet, about
300 yards from his house; but several of the wells lately dug have but
little water in them.
Mr. Birkbeck's house is situated south of the village, a frame and log
building of good size; it stands pleasantly, and commands a fine view
of the prairie.
The building lots, at Wanborough, are some of five, and others of two
and a half acres, laid out, like most of the American towns, in streets
that cross each other at right angles, running north and south; the
cross ones east and west. The lots are in the woods, but a considerable
quantity of the wood is now cleared.
Albion, Mr. Flower's settlement, lies two miles east of Wanborough; it
is also situated in the woods, a little north of the English Prairie.
It has about 20 cabins, a place of worship, a market-house, two
taverns, two stores, a surgeon, several carpenters, brick-makers, {162}
bricklayers, wheelwrights, smiths, sawyers, and a shoemaker. Several
wells have lately been dug in and near it, but water is still scarce.
Mr. Flower's house is to the south-east of Albion, a large
log-building, well placed to enjoy the prospect of the prairie.
Many cabins are built round the prairies, but mostly just in the woods.
The English that do not reside in the two villages, are scattered round
the different prairies, mostly in single cabins.
About four miles to the east of Albion, at Bonpas-bridge, there is a
saw-mill lately built, but it is not yet got to work, having had the
mill-dam carried away by a flood in February. I believe it is a place
very short of water; it is the property of Messrs. Le Serre and Grutt,
late of Jersey or Guernsey, I do not know which: it has a tavern and
store also.
The country round us is not well watered but very healthy. The creeks
in the woods and prairies dry up in a dry season, {163} except a few
deep holes that are shaded by trees; nor are there many of the wells
that possess good springs. As the weather has been very dry ever
since the first of April, water is now (August the sixth) extremely
low in most of the wells and creeks; but there are some wells that
still afford a good supply; and some of the large holes in the creeks
have plenty of water in them. The soil found in digging wells, is,
first, a vegetable mould, next loamy clay, then sand-stone, and lastly
clay-slate, through which no one has yet penetrated, though some have
dug 50 or 60 feet without finding water. Many are of an opinion, that,
if the clay-slate was once dug through, water would be found in great
abundance underneath; others, that pit-coal lies below the clay-slate.
I am rather of the latter opinion, and my reason for so thinking
is, that very thin veins of coal have frequently been found in the
clay-slate; and on the bank of the Little Wabash, where the country
is considerably lower, there are {164} large mines of coal. The water
that is found in the wells, mostly rises between the sand-stone rocks,
but often in too small quantities to be of much service for domestic
uses. I have dug two; one at Wanborough, the other at Birks' Prairie;
the first is 11 feet deep, it has but little water: the latter is quite
without, though 23 feet down to the slate-rock. As most of the wells
dug out in Birks' Prairie have produced water, I have begun another, at
some distance from the cabin, that promises to afford a good supply:
the two I have finished cost me about 15 pounds. I have stopped a creek
at Wanborough that has supplied us with water for many uses. Our well,
though very short of water, has been very convenient; we let meat down
in the bucket, it prevents the flies getting at it, and keeps it much
better than any safe in this hot climate.
The clay-slate lies from 5 to 30 feet below the surface of the earth.
No lime-stone near us; a little free and soap {165} stone; but
sand-stone is the prevailing stone for many miles round us. A well at
Birks' Prairie is strongly tinctured with glauber salts, and another
with sulphur. And there are several salt-licks: a salt-lick is a place
where the earth is strongly impregnated with salt; horses, cattle, and
pigs often frequent them, and the earth is worn away in a great degree
by their licking it. It is supposed by some, that salt-water might be
obtained by digging at these places, from which salt might be made,
but no one has yet attempted it. These places were first used by the
buffaloes, that some years ago used to frequent the prairies: a man,
who resides at Birks' Prairie, informed me, that eight or nine years
since, he often visited the Prairies, as he was then employed, with
many others, during a war with the Indians, to be on the look-out for
them, and then he often saw both elks and buffaloes, but they were not
numerous. As the country became settled, they moved off to the large
prairies, to the {166} north and west. Deer at that time were in vast
quantities, and in these expeditions they lived mostly on venison;
sometimes for a fortnight or three weeks at a time without any bread.
And I have been told, by the first English settlers, that deer were
much more numerous in 1818, than they now are 1820.
[Illustration]
The buildings round us being chiefly of logs, I will give the best
description in my power of a log-cabin; as I could form no idea of it
till I saw one, that was at all like it. They are of various widths,
lengths, and heights, but generally only one story high. The usual
shape a long square, some are made of round, and others of hewn logs.
In building a cabin, suppose 30 feet long and 20 wide; first, two logs,
30 feet long, are placed on the ground on a level, and about 18 feet
from each other, these two logs are then notched in, near their ends,
for a few inches; and then two more logs of 20 feet long, having their
undersides also notched, are laid on the two first, forming {167} a
long square of the following figure, about 26 feet long, and 16 feet
wide on the inside. One square being thus formed, they next proceed
to place on two more of the longest logs on the sides, notched as
before, and then two of the shortest, as before; this they continue
till the building is nine or ten logs high on each side, when the two
last cross-logs are laid on three or four feet longer than the other
cross ones; this is to form a sort of eaves to drip the logs; two more
of the longest logs are then laid on, and this completes the upright
of the building. Two cross-logs, cut slanting at the ends, are next
placed on, just the length of the width of the building, and then
two more of the side-logs on the cross-logs, but not to the end of
them by some distance; then two more, cut slanting at the ends, are
placed just to reach to the last side-logs; thus drawing in the sides,
till the side-logs meet in a point at the top of the building. {168}
A cleft piece of a tree is next placed on the outer end of the long
cross-logs, and pegged on to prevent the cleft boards from sliding off,
this is done on each side of the building. The whole is then covered
with cleft-boards, (here called clap-boards;) they are about four feet
long and six inches wide, laid on nearly double, so as to cover the
joints; the boards at the top of the cabin on one side come a little
over those on the other. When the roof is thus covered, some poles are
laid along the building to keep the boards on; these poles are kept
at about three feet distance from each other, by some short pieces of
wood placed on the boards, to keep up the weight-poles as they are
called. When they have done thus far, they call the cabin "raised."
But no door-place, window, fire-place, floor, or ceiling is yet made,
nor is the house very close on the sides, but looks something like a
bird-cage. Next a door-place, of the usual size, is cut through the
logs, and two pieces of wood are nailed or pegged up to the ends of
the sawed logs, to keep them in {169} their places, and to serve for
door-posts; frequently two doors are made opposite to each other. The
windows are made in the same manner as the door-places. The chimney is
generally placed at the end of the building, and is made as follows:
first, four or five logs are cut out the same as for a door-place, of
what width people chuse, and then some logs are cleft and placed in
the following form on the outside, [Illustration] so that the ends of
them are let in between the ends of the end-logs of the cabin that
were sawed. The cleft-logs are thus continued, till they rise as high
as the logs that were sawed out. The chimney is then carried up thus,
[Illustration] exactly in the form of the cabin, but of much smaller
logs, till it rises above the roof of the building; it is drawn in and
made smaller from the bottom to the top. It is then chunked, that is,
cleft pieces of wood are driven in between the logs, to fill up the
open places. The next thing to be done, is to mud the cabin on the
outside {170} between the logs; that is, it is plastered with loam or
clay: this is sometimes done on the inside also, but more frequently
cleft boards are pegged on to cover the joints on the inside. A few
pieces of timber are next laid to lay the floor on, which is most
commonly made of cleft-logs, hewn smooth on one side, and notched a
little on the under side to lie level on the sleepers or joists. A
ceiling is then made; some small saplings are cut and put in between
the side-logs of the building, just under the roof, about three feet
apart; and these ceiling joists are then covered with cleft boards,
beginning at one end of the cabin, and laying a line across the end
on the two joists, and then another row with their ends just resting
on the first; and this is continued till the whole is covered. Most
times the chimney is walled up several feet on the inside, the stones
are laid in loam or clay instead of mortar; and above the wall it is
plastered on the inside, and sometimes on the outside to the top of
the chimney. The hearth is {171} made of stone or clay. The doors are
generally made of cleft boards, nailed or pegged on some ledges, with
wooden hinges, made in the following manner. A piece in the back part
of the door is left longer than the door, and enters a hole in the
sill; and at the top of the door a piece is also left to rest against
the top of the door-place, which is covered with a piece of wood,
either nailed or pegged over it. The windows are always sash ones;
the usual size of the glass is eight inches by ten; the windows are
sometimes made to open with hinges, and others to slide backwards and
forwards, while others take out and in. When the doors are made of
sawed boards they have eight or ten panes of glass in them, and then
it is seldom there is any other window in the cabin. A porch is often
made before the cabin, the whole length of it, and covered with cleft
boards; which cost seventy-five cents a hundred, cutting the trees and
cleaving out; they are always made from large trees, mostly the black
{172} oak. Cabins are frequently made double; that is, two are built
from 10 to 20 feet a-part, with a roof laid over the space between
them. A shelter like this is very convenient, and, in the summer, it is
more comfortable than a close room in so warm a country.
Many cabins, belonging to the Americans, have no ceiling nor windows,
and some of them have no floor, nothing but the bare earth; and some
are not mudded, but open on all sides. Locks to doors are nearly
unknown, but wooden bolts are common with the English: many of the
American houses have only a latch, and some have not even that.
A double cabin, with a 20-feet porch between, with floor and ceiling,
finished as above described, may be built for the sum of 150 dollars,
33_l._ 15_s._, or something less. But with ceiling, floor, and doors,
made of sawed boards, will come, I suppose, to near 50_l._ Sawing comes
very high, being 9_s._ per hundred feet; but the sawyers cut {173} down
the trees and go with the horses that draw them to the pit.
The cabin I inhabit first consisted of a double one, with a porch 20
feet wide between them: this I have since converted into two rooms;
the end rooms are of logs, the centre ones of frame and board, with
a brick chimney. At the back of the cabin I have added a cellar, &c.
Smoke-houses are very common, and built much as dwelling-houses, only
slighter, and not often mudded. Some cross-pieces are put on the joists
to hang the bacon on. I have built one; it cost 23 dollars; it is about
eighteen feet square and nine feet high. We are obliged to cut our
flitches asunder, as we have not sufficient height above the fire. Old
wood, nearly rotten, is best for drying bacon, as it makes much smoke
and but little strong fire. The fires are kept burning a considerable
length of time, as bacon, in this warm climate, requires to be well
dried, to keep. The Americans, do not, in general, I think, allow
sufficient {174} salt. The average price of salt near three pence per
pound; bacon from eight to twelve and a half cents per pound; in summer
it is sometimes rather higher; now (August) from ten to twelve and a
half cents.