Miami, near its junction with the Ohio. This town is pleasantly
situated, and presents the appearance of much business. It is a very
flourishing place. There are several manufactories here, one of which is
situated at the foot of the bank, and is eight or ten stories high.
In Cincinnati is situated Fort Washington. This is the first of that
chain of forts which extends west. On the eastern branch of the Great
Miami is Fort St. Clair; and on the western branches Forts Jefferson and
Greenville. On the river Calumet, which enters the Wabash, stands fort
Recovery; and just above this fort is the place of St. Clair’s
defeat.[154]
The Great Miami is the boundary of the state of Ohio on the river of
this name. The Great Miami is about three hundred yards wide at its
mouth, and interlocks with the Scioto, above Chilicothe. One of its
branches runs within four miles of the Miami of the Lake, and within
seven miles of the Sandusky. The bed of the Great Miami is stony, and
its current rapid. Just above its mouth is fort Hamilton.
There are many small creeks and towns near the Ohio, which in my course
I saw and visited; but which furnish no interesting materials for
remark. Besides, I am not writing a Gazetteer; and with geography, my
fellow-citizens are well acquainted.
I may here speak, as I promised, upon the probable course of the seasons
in the west. I am much inclined to believe, that the cold seasons, which
the people of New-England have for many years experienced, and which
have so much injured the interests of agriculture among us, are passing
off to the west; and that the people of the west will, for several
years, experience seasons less favourable than usual. My opinion is
founded upon the facts, that for the two last years we have experienced
more favourable {162} seasons, and the people of the west less
favourable ones, in the same comparative proportions. This is a good
criterion by which to form an opinion upon the subject. The change of
seasons in both sections of the country prove and corroborate each
other.
The spring and summer of 1817 were, with us, less unfavourable than
usual. The hopes of our farmers, and of those who depend for a
sufficiency of provisions upon an abundant market, were considerably
revived; and this year we have experienced something like a good
old-fashioned season. The golden ears of corn, more beautiful than the
productions of the richest mines, have again brightened our fields,
and cheered our hearts. Had ungenial seasons continued much longer,
this part of the country would have become impoverished and
depopulated:—people were going down into Egypt for bread.
Last year the seed time and harvest of the west were unfavourable; and
the spring of 1818 was in the highest degree unpromising. In the western
parts of Virginia, where the climate is, usually, warmer than on the
east of the mountains; and in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, &c. planting
time this year was very backward. When, according to the usual course of
the seasons, it was time for corn to appear above the surface of the
ground, ploughing had not commenced. Some of the farmers asserted, that
the season was even later than the spring before by five or six weeks.
During the month of May, the weather in the west was cold and windy. On
the 3d of this month the birds were assembling for a more southern
climate. They were so chilled that I caught many of them without
difficulty; and others of them perished in the night. The season for the
commencement of {163} vegetation here is probably four weeks earlier
than in New-Hampshire.
Until my arrival at New-Orleans the weather, generally, was cold and
dry; and even here the wind was frequently cool. About the middle of May
I experienced frost in Kentucky; and near the Mississippi the cotton,
much later than this, was in a wretched state. In Tennessee, heretofore
remarkable for the excellence of its cotton, this article, for two years
past, has been rapidly degenerating. The severity of the last winter
even in New-Orleans, was unparalleled. The streets there were covered
with ice sufficiently hard to bear loaded waggons.
Should Heaven favour the New-England states with good seasons, no
country in the world would be preferable to it. Our unfavourable seasons
have taught us our dependence upon that Being, “who prepareth rain for
the earth, and maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.”
I am of opinion, that for some years to come, our seasons will be
remarkably fruitful. The earth here has, for a considerable time, been
acquiring strength, which has not been called forth; and having been
accustomed to cool seasons, warm ones, operating upon this new
acquisition of vegetative power, will cause an extraordinary impetus in
the soil.
I have spoken of our bright Indian harvest. The corn of the west is much
inferior to ours. Growing upon a rank soil, its production is rapid, and
the kernel is large and unsubstantial. Indian meal is seldom used in the
west, excepting for cattle; and very few persons there are acquainted
with the Yankee mode of making Indian cakes. Being fond of this coarse
bread, I frequently, during my tour, instructed the gentle dames of the
west in this New-England custom. But in many cases, after waiting {164}
an hour for my repast, I was deprived of most of it by the fondness of
the children of the house for this new dish; and in one instance the
_kind_ mother could get rid of them only by knocking them under the
table as fast as they would come up.
The variety of birds which I saw in the western woods excited much
interest. Many species entirely new to me made their appearance. Some of
them were very beautiful. Many of these birds being common in the South
of Europe, proves that the climate of the west is mild; and the
spontaneous growth of hops and grapes here speak favourably of its soil.
Fruit trees, particularly peach and apple, flourish well in Ohio; but a
more northern climate is more peculiarly calculated for the latter.
The western country is exceedingly well adapted to the growth of hemp;
both as it respects its climate, and its extensive levels of deep and
rich mould. This advantage, and the abundance of excellent ship timber,
and iron, which its forests and hills produce, would enable it to
furnish for the market the finest ships. The black walnut here is said
to be as durable as the live oak; and the frames of vessels built upon
the western waters, are frequently made of this wood. There is here too,
an abundance of excellent yellow pine, suitable for masts and spars.
These, with many other kinds of lumber, are rafted and floated down the
rivers to New-Orleans, and there sell at a high price. Upon these rafts
large quantities of produce are often transported to the same place.
The produce carried down to this vast market consists, principally, of
flour, corn, pork, beef, bacon, venison, flax, whiskey, lumber, and live
stock, particularly horses. The foreign goods received into the western
states, lying on the Mississippi and {165} Ohio, and their principal
sources, come, as has been observed, from Philadelphia and Baltimore, by
the way of Pittsburg. This place is the great depot for the supply of
all places below it. Foreign goods to a large amount are also brought
from New-Orleans; and some from Virginia, by the way of Richmond.
In speaking of large vessels on the Ohio, I may add, that ships of large
tonnage have been built on this river, laden for the West-Indies, and
there sold, both vessel and cargo. A person in Europe, unacquainted with
the geography of our western waters, would be astonished to see, in the
Atlantic ocean, a large vessel, freighted with country produce, which
was built and laden at Pittsburgh, between two and three thousand miles
from the Gulf of Mexico.
How wonderfully impressive is the prospect, which this country presents
to the politician, during his cogitations upon our remote destinies!
Every thing is conspiring to render the United States far more populous
than Europe. In the course of a few hundred years all that is great, and
splendid will characterize us.—The arts of Greece, the arms of Rome, the
pride of England will be ours. May God avert the rest!
Whilst on the Ohio, I was pleased with the appearance of the floating
grist-mill used on this river. This kind of mill is supported by two
boats, and the wheel moves between them. The boats move both up and down
the river, and when employment can be obtained, they are placed in the
strongest current near the shore, and the mill is set in motion. Here
there is no tax for ground rent, mill-dam, or race.
In speaking of mills, I may advert to one which I saw in Indiana, and
which excited some interest. As I was one day passing through a wood,
near a {166} small log building, I heard a singular noise in the latter,
and had the curiosity to look in. There was here a grist-mill moved by a
horse, and attended by a little boy about nine years of age. The horse
draws upon a stable fixed in a post; but making no progress, he pushes
back with his feet the platform upon which he stands, and which is of a
circular form. Through the centre of this platform there is a post fixed
in the ground. The walking of the horse sets the machinery in motion.
The cogs, the wallower, the trunnel-head, and the stones operated pretty
much in the usual way. The Lilliputian miller displayed all the airs and
importance so common to the managers of such noisy establishments.
In the state of Ohio, and in other places in the west, are some natural
curiosities, with respect to which I must not be silent; but as I can
probably throw no light upon the mystery in which they are involved, my
remarks upon them will be brief.
As to the bones of animals which have been found at the Licks,
particularly at that called the Big Bone,[155] I think there can be no
doubt, that they are those of animals which, from a variety of causes,
have perished there. Animals in the west were once very numerous, and,
no doubt, vast herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and even the mammoth
resorted thither. Probably many of them fell into these licks, either by
accident, by contention, or by their eagerness to get to the salt, and
were thus destroyed. Some too probably killed themselves by the quantity
of salt water which they drank; and where such vast numbers were
constantly assembling, many must have died in consequence of disease and
old age.
Much less plausible suppositions can be suggested relative to the vast
mounds and walls of earth in the west; the former of which, it is said,
contain human bones.
{167} It may be presumed that these walls were erected for the purpose
of defence. It is well known that savage tribes wage with each other the
most destructive wars. Some of the tribes of North America have
distinguished themselves by their blood-thirsty and exterminating
disposition. The Iroquois were once the terror of all the neighbouring
tribes. By their hostile and ferocious spirit many of these tribes
became nearly extinct. Of the Nadonaicks only four cabins or families
remained. The Puans too, were not less formidable and fierce than the
Iroquois. They violated every humane principle. The very name of
stranger embittered them. They supposed themselves invincible, and
persecuted and destroyed every tribe whom they could discover. There
were other tribes similarly disposed.
Now it may be supposed, that the tribes in the neighbourhood of those
whose object it was to exterminate all other tribes, would assemble for
mutual defence. Coalitions of this kind are not unfrequent among
savages. Further: nothing would be more natural than for savages, thus
situated, to erect fortifications of trees and earth, for the purpose of
securing themselves against the common enemy. Such a principle of self
defence would be natural, and, of course, universal.
As to the mounds of earth, supposed to contain human bones, it may be
observed, that several tribes of Indians may have combined and fortified
themselves against their enemies; and in this situation they may have
been conquered and destroyed. It is well known, that in Indian battles
there is no quarter given. The dead bodies of several thousand persons
thrown together and covered with earth, would make a vast heap. But even
supposing that the enemy had not prevailed, famine, contagious {168}
diseases, or even ordinary causes of death, would, among a great
assemblage of people, produce, in a short time, a sufficient number of
bodies to make on the surface of the earth a vast mound. Covering the
dead with mounds of earth instead of digging graves for them, might not
only be found convenient, under certain circumstances, but is a custom
peculiar to the aborigines of America.
The finding of one or two pieces of ancient coin in the west has
occasioned much speculation. A copper coin, bearing Persian characters,
has, it is said, been found on the banks of the Little Miami river.
It is well known, that mankind are naturally itinerant; and that they
carry with them their goods, especially those which are portable, and
which they highly value. A piece of coin possesses both of these
qualities; and it would not be more strange to find an Asiatic medal in
North America, than to find here an Indian of Asiatic origin.
Our first parents were created in Asia; and the rest of mankind
descended from them. By emigrations various distant portions of the
world have been settled. Emigration was an act of necessity. One quarter
of the world could not have contained all mankind; and the population of
Asia became, in time, too great. Asia is at this time supposed to
contain five hundred millions of people; and in China, such is the
excess of population, that children are destroyed by their parents, with
as little ceremony as though they were the offspring of the most
worthless domestic animals.
It is to be presumed that the Continent of North America was peopled
from the north-east of Asia. In no other way could the Western Continent
have, so early, become known. The north is not, even now, known beyond
the latitude of eighty-two; and {169} with respect to it thus far there
is much doubt. The eastern and western continents may be connected near
this latitude; and in this direction the aborigines of North America may
have travelled from the former to the latter. Certain it is that the
water between the north-east of Asia, and the north-west of America is
comparatively shallow. In Bering’s Straits, situated in the latitude of
sixty-six, there are many islands; the width of the straits is only
about fifty miles, and, in winter, the passage across is frozen.
Even here the eastern and western continents, were perhaps, once
connected. Such an idea is not inconsistent either with the nature of
things, or with analogy. The earth has experienced, from time to time,
great revolutions; and Strabo, an ancient and celebrated geographer,
speaks of the time when the Mediterranean Sea did not exist. Why may not
the two great continents have been or still be united as well as those
of Europe and Africa? There is in the north-east of Asia much more
evidence of its former connection with the north-west of America, than
there is of a similar connection between Europe and Africa, inasmuch as
the water between the former is unquestionably shallow; and between the
latter it is very deep.
Besides, what adds great weight to the general supposition that the
original settlers of the western continent emigrated from the north-east
of Asia is, that in many particulars they resemble the inhabitants of
the latter. Many of the islands of Bering’s straits, and also both of
its coasts, are peopled; and their occupants are much in the habit of
emigrating.
The original inhabitants of South America were probably, the descendants
of the aborigines of North America; and emigrated from the latter to the
{170} former across the Isthmus of Darien. Nothing is more natural than
for people to emigrate from a northern to a southern latitude; and this
course was, no doubt, taken, in a greater or less degree, by all the
original inhabitants of North America. All the North American Indians,
with whom we are acquainted, excepting the Esquimeaux, now reside south
of their supposed track from the eastern to the western continent.
In South America, as in other warm countries, the modes of living become
more refined than in climates further north; and in the history of the
former we see the same diversity of character as existed in North
America. Many of the tribes of the north might have been compared with
the Peruvians of the south, a mild and inoffensive people; and the
Iroquois and Puans of the former, with the Chilians and Caribs of the
latter.
As to Persian coin being found in North America, it is not more
surprising than the finding of Roman coin in Great-Britain. The same
effect may arise from different causes. It was probably, not more easy
for Julius Cæsar to invade Britain, than for the Asiatics to emigrate to
North America.
In dismissing this subject I may observe, that all the accounts from the
west are not to be immediately credited. Many, to please their fancies,
and more, to fill their purses, speak hyperbolically respecting it. A
great man who prided himself upon his penetration, once being questioned
as to the causes of some supposed appearance in nature, assumed a wise
phiz, and deeply reasoned upon the subject. Stop, my friend, said the
quizzer, had you not better first inquire as to the matter of fact?
After passing Great Sandy River, which is a boundary line between
Virginia and Kentucky, I entered this state. The general aspect of the
country {171} here is nearly level. Near the Ohio, however, for fifteen
or twenty miles, the country is broken, hilly, and even mountainous. In
clambering some of these mountains I experienced considerable fatigue.
They are so steep, that one can ascend them only by taking hold of the
bushes on their sides.
There are in Kentucky scarcely any swamps or very low lands. The soil of
the levels is rather thin; but on the swells and ridges the soil is
exceedingly fertile. A bed of limestone exists, five or six feet below
the surface, throughout the principal part of the state. In consequence
of this circumstance its springs, in a dry season, soon become
exhausted. This state is inferior to all others, with respect to mill
privileges, inasmuch as very few of its streams stand the usual drought
of autumn.
This state furnishes, in the greatest abundance, all the articles which
the State of Ohio produces. It raises, besides the ordinary objects of
agriculture, vast quantities of hemp, and considerable tobacco. Several
millions of pounds of maple sugar are made here annually; and the woods
of this state feed immense droves of swine. The rivers abound with fish,
and the cane brakes support herds of deer.
In travelling through some of those thickets, I was impressed with a
high idea of the luxuriance of the soil. Indeed, the general aspect of
the country here evinces great fertility of soil, and mildness of
climate. In this state grow the coffee, papaw, hackberry, and cucumber
tree; also the honey locust, mulberry, and buck eye. Many accounts
respecting the fruitfulness of Kentucky are, no doubt, exaggerated; but
it is, in fact, an abundant and delightful country. For my own part,
however, I prefer, to its rich levels, the echoing hills of
New-Hampshire.
{172} As this part of the country abounds with interesting vegetation, I
may here make a reflection or two upon botany. How infinite is the
vegetable kingdom! and how far beyond expression is the variety and
beauty of her hues! these tints are heavenly; and the pencil of nature
has displayed them to render man heavenly-minded. How wonderful too, are
the affections and sympathies of plants! Here the poet finds an
exhaustless source of imagery, and here every vicissitude of life may
select its appropriate emblem.
The whole of the north-westerly parts of Kentucky is bound by the river
Ohio. A small part of it lies on the Mississippi; and this river, so
far, is its western boundary. Tennessee lies south of it. The principal
rivers in Kentucky which enter the Ohio are Sandy, Kentucky, Cumberland,
and Tennessee. The sources of these rivers are very numerous, and in
proceeding to the Ohio fertilize a vast tract of rich country. The
Tennessee passes through a small part of Kentucky. The Cumberland runs
into Tennessee, and then extends through a considerable part of Kentucky
in an east and west direction. Its principal sources are in the
Cumberland mountains. This river furnishes every material for ship
building; and during the rainy season can float vessels of the largest
size. Nashville,[156] in Tennessee, lies up this river; and much
business is transacted between this place, Pittsburg, and New-Orleans.
The river is navigable without any obstruction, for five hundred miles,
and is, at its mouth, about three hundred yards wide.
On the banks of Kentucky river are many precipices, some of which are
three or four hundred feet high. In these precipices may be seen much
limestone, and some fine white marble. This river is about two hundred
miles in length, and in width {173} two hundred and fifty yards. In this
state are many celebrated salt springs. Its iron ore is of a very
inferior quality; and its caves and other natural curiosities are highly
interesting. Lexington, the capital of Kentucky, is an elegant and
polished place.[157]
Many of the inhabitants of this state emigrated from every part of the
United States, and from most of the countries of Europe. A great many of
them came from Virginia; and, unfortunately for our common country, they
brought with them their slaves. What a source of regret is it, that
Kentucky did not prohibit, within her jurisdiction, the bondage of these
friendless beings! A sense of propriety, and a regard for the
reputation, and true interests of the United States, should have taught
the guardians of her public weal to wash their hands from this foul
stain. The first settlers of this state found themselves in a land where
all was nature, and all was liberty. The rivers poured their
unrestrained tribute, the winds blew where they listed, the earth
teamed, the birds flew, the fish leaped, the deer bounded over the
hills, and the savage knew no master. Enviable situation! But the scene
is marred. There, _human beings_ toil and sweat under the lash of a
task-master. It is said that slaves are treated well! They are,—and
_ill_! A slave _is_ a slave, in spite of all the logic of avarice,
indolence, and purse-proud humanity. Power creates tyranny; and in the
hands of a tyrant no man is safe. The sufferings of the slave, even in
the United States, are sufficient to sink any country into perdition. A
record of them would make us run mad with shame. Ask the mother how she
fared, both before and after her deliverance. Ask these children of toil
what it is to die for want of repose?—What it is to perish under the
lash?
{174} Some of the United States have, in their constitutions, set their
faces against this unbecoming,—this odious practice. Had the western
states followed the example, the evil would have been, principally,
confined to the southern states; and these states, finding that upon
their shoulders alone rested the terrible responsibility involved in the
subject, would have applied a remedy. The evil is now spreading. In
Kentucky,—a garden planted in the wilderness,—a land, where liberty
dwelt for six thousand years, there are _herds_ of _slaves_. May the
states, which shall hereafter impress their stars upon the banner of our
union and our glory, guard against this wretched state of things; and
may the slave-holding states, ere long, make a noble, generous
patriotic, and humane effort, to remove from human nature this yoke of
bondage, and from their country this humiliating stigma!
The great, but inconsistent Burk, in speaking of the southern states
says, that the planters there, seeing the great difference between
themselves and their slaves, acquire, thereby, the spirit of liberty.
For my own part, however, I should think this circumstance would create
the fire of aristocracy, which prides itself in power, and in
subjugation.