At the hour of two A.M. we reached the city of Columbus, on the
Chattahoochee, the river dividing Alabama from Georgia.
Here we halted for a day and a night; and this time I employed, in
company with my two New York fellow-travellers, in paying a visit to the
Choctaw tribe of Indians, who possess a reserve lying west of the river.
We procured three stout nags, and early in the morning crossed the very
fine bridge which spans this rapid stream close to the falls. On the
Alabama side we found ourselves within a wild-looking village, scattered
through the edge of the forest, bearing the unattractive name of Sodom;
few of its denizens were yet stirring; they are composed chiefly of
"minions o' the moon," outlaws from the neighbouring States. Gamblers,
and other desperate men, here find security from their numbers, and from
the vicinity of a thinly inhabited Indian country, whose people hold
them in terror, yet dare not refuse them a hiding-place. These bold
outlaws, I was informed, occasionally assemble to enjoy an evening's
frolic in Columbus, on which occasions they cross the dividing bridge in
force, all armed to the teeth: the warrants in the hands of the U. S.
Marshal are at such times necessarily suspended, since to execute a
caption would require a muster greater than any within his command. If
unmolested, the party usually proceed to the nearest hotel, drink
deeply, make what purchases they require for the ladies of their colony,
pay promptly, and, gathering the stragglers together, retire peaceably
into the territory, wherein their present rule is by report absolute.
The condition of this near community, and the crimes perpetrated by its
members, were alluded to within the town with a mingled sentiment of
detestation and fear.
A short way within the forest we overtook a man riding a rough pony, of
whom I inquired the best route to be pursued for falling in with the
Indian settlements; the man immediately volunteered to ride with us for
a few hours; adding, that he saw we were strangers from the North; that
he was "a Vermont man himself, and had nothing particular to do just
then."
This was a lucky rencontre: the volunteer guide we thus secured appeared
perfectly familiar with every turn of the numberless narrow footpaths
leading from one location to another; and, under his guidance, we
visited several.
The condition of the majority of these poor people seemed wretched in
the extreme: most of the families were living in wigwams, built of bark
or green boughs, of the frailest and least comfortable construction; not
an article of furniture, except a kettle, was in the possession of this
class. A few, however, were here who had erected log-houses, cleared a
little land, and were also in the possession of a stove or two; we
halted at a group of four of these little dwellings, where, under a
shed, a fine negro wench was occupied frying bacon and making cakes of
wheaten flour for her master's supper, who, she informed us, was absent
on a hunting expedition. Within the log-huts sat the squaws of the
party, all busily employed sewing beads on moccasins, or ornamenting
deer-skin pouches, after the fashion of the dames of old in the absence
of their true knights; our guide addressed these ladies roughly enough;
but without eliciting any reply more encouraging than a sort of "Ugh!
ugh!" unaccompanied by a single look. The negro girl, however, had not
adopted the taciturnity of the tribe, but readily chatted with us,
explaining, amongst other matters, the nature of the contents of the
boiler, whose savoury smell greatly attracted our attention. She said it
was composed of Indian corn, boiled a great deal and slowly, with only a
little salt for seasoning; affirming, that the Indians preferred this
simple dish to all other dainties. For myself, I gave a decided vote in
favour of the fried rashers, and the nice little cakes baked in the
ashes: of these we partook freely, at the solicitation of the
good-humoured cook, who, with right Indian hospitality, assured us there
was plenty more.
Returning, we encountered several members of this tribe who had been
passing the day in Columbus; some were on foot, others riding, but all
more or less elevated; a few of the women were good-looking, and, to
their credit, all of them sober.
As we repassed Sodom, the sound of revelry proclaimed the orgies
resumed. The rain, which had hitherto held up, once more began to
descend with a determination of purpose that boded us no good: we
spurred over the covered bridge, and were soon after housed again in
Georgia.
At our hotel I encountered a gentleman who, a few weeks before, had been
a fellow-passenger with me from New York to Charleston; but his advance
had been less prosperous than mine: indeed, a brief relation of what he
had endured sufficed to reconcile me to any little fatigue that fell to
my lot. It appeared that, three weeks previous to this meeting of ours,
he had quitted Columbus in a steamer going down to Appalachicola: they
had proceeded some three hundred miles on their way, when, in the night,
the passengers were roused from sleep by the alarm of "fire!" The boat
was, in fact, a mass of flame by the time the first persons reached the
deck. My informant, with many others, immediately jumped overboard: the
steamer was run on the bank; and, with the exception of two persons
drowned, the rest of her passengers and crew were landed in the forest;
most of them with nothing in the shape of covering excepting their
night-clothes. Luckily, there were only two ladies of the party; and
their condition may be imagined, living for four days in the forest
swamp without other than temporary huts for shelter, and in all other
respects most scantily provided for, as the suddenness of the fire
prevented any saving of stores or provisions.
At the end of four days the up-river steamer was hailed on its passing,
and, getting on board of this, they were in a few days after landed
where I found my informant waiting for the next boat. It appeared that
the fire was attributed to a slave who had been the day before flogged
for mutiny, and who, according to the evidence of his fellows, had
threatened some such revenge.
During the afternoon I walked about this thriving frontier town, despite
a smart shower: the stores were well supplied, the warehouses filled
with cotton, and in all quarters were groups of the neighbouring
planters busied in looking after the sale of their produce, and making
such purchases as their families required.
Numerous parties of Indians,--Creeks and Choctaws,--roamed about from
place to place, mostly drunk, or seeking to become so as quickly as
possible: with each party of the natives I observed a negro-man, the
slave of some one present, but commonly well dressed in the European
manner, having an air of superior intelligence to his masters, and
evidently exercising over them the power and influence derived from
superior knowledge: the negroes, in fact, appeared the masters, and the
red-men the slaves.
Along the river-front of the town, a situation wildly beautiful, I
observed several dwellings of mansion-like proportions, and others of a
similar character in progress. I should say, that nowhere in this South
country have I yet seen a place which promises more of the prosperity
increasing wealth can bestow than this; or one that, from all I learned,
is more wanting in all that men usually consider most worth
possessing,--personal security, reasonable comfort, and well-executed
law. In place of these, affrays ending in blood are said to be frequent,
apprehensions few, acquittal next to certain even in the event of trial,
and the execution of a white man a thing unknown.
In the midst of all this, be it understood, I do not consider that a
traveller runs the least risk; robbery, or murder for the sake of mere
plunder, never occurs; and to a stranger the rudest of these frontier
spirits are usually exceedingly civil; but idleness, hot blood, and
frequent stimulants make gambling or politics ready subjects for
quarrels, and, as the parties always go armed, an affray is commonly
fatal to some of those concerned.
As the population steadily advances, these wild spirits melt away before
it, some becoming good citizens, others clearing out before the onward
march of civilization: their sway is therefore yearly decreasing in
force within the States, their sphere becoming limited in proportion as
persons interested in the support of law increase; already, each season,
numbers seek freedom from restraint within the Mexican territory, where
an infusion of such blood will be productive of strange events in Texas;
and if this fine territory be not, within a very short period, rendered
over-hot a berth for its Mexican proprietors, "coming events cast their
shadows before" to very little purpose.