Popular common school education--Iroquois name for Mackinack--Its
scenic beauties poetically considered--Phenomenon of two currents
of adverse wind meeting--Audubon's proposed work on American
quadrupeds--Adario--Geographical range of the mocking-bird--Removal from
the West to the city of New York--An era accomplished--Visit to Europe.
SKETCHES
OF THE
LIFE OF HENRY A. SCHOOLCRAFT.
* * * * *
The early period at which Mr. Schoolcraft entered the field of
observation in the United States as a naturalist; the enterprise he has
from the outset manifested in exploring the geography and geology of the
Great West; and his subsequent researches as an ethnologist, in
investigating the Indian languages and history, are well known to the
public, and may be appropriately referred to as the grounds of the
present design, in furnishing some brief and connected sketches of his
life, family, studies, and literary labors. He is an example of what
early and continued zeal, talent, and diligence, united with energy of
character and consistent moral habits, may accomplish in the cause of
letters and science, by the force of solitary application, without the
advantage of hereditary wealth, the impulse of patronage, or the
_prestige_ of early academic honors. Ardent in the pursuit of whatever
engaged his attention, quick in the observation of natural phenomena,
and assiduous in the accumulation of facts; with an ever present sense
of their practical and useful bearing--few men, in our modern history,
have accomplished so much, in the lines of research he has chosen, to
render science popular and letters honorable. To him we are indebted for
our first accounts of the geological constitution, and the mineral
wealth and resources of the great valley beyond the Alleghanies, and he
is the discoverer of the actual source of the Mississippi River in
Itasca Lake. For many years, beginning with 1817, he stirred up a zeal
for natural history from one end of the land to the other, and, after
his settlement in the West, he was a point of approach for
correspondents, as his personal memoirs denote, not only on these
topics, but for all that relates to the Indian tribes, in consequence of
which he has been emphatically pronounced "The Red Man's FRIEND."
Mr. Schoolcraft is a native of New York, and is the descendant in the
third generation, by the paternal line, of an Englishman. James Calcraft
had served with reputation in the armies of the Duke of Marlborough
during the reign of Queen Anne, and was present in that general's
celebrated triumphs on the continent, in one of which he lost an eye,
from the premature explosion of the priming of a cannon. Owing to these
military services he enjoyed and cherished a high reputation for bravery
and loyalty.
He was a descendant of a family of that name, who came to England with
William the Conqueror--and settled under grants from the crown in
Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire--three separate branches of the family
having received the honor of knighthood for their military services.
In the reign of George the Second, consequently after 1727, he embarked
at Liverpool in a detachment of veteran troops, intended to act against
Canada. He was present in the operations connected with the building of
Forts Anne and Edwards, on the North River, and Fort William Henry on
Lake George.
At the conclusion of these campaigns he settled in Albany county, N.Y.,
which has continued to be the residence of the family for more than a
century. Being a man of education, he at first devoted himself to the
business of a land surveyor, in which capacity he was employed by Col.
Vroman, to survey the boundaries of his tract of land in the then
frontier settlement of Schoharie. At the latter place he married the
only daughter and child of Christian Camerer, one of the Palatines--a
body of determined Saxons who had emigrated from the Upper Rhine in
1712, under the assurance or expectation of a patent from Queen Anne.[1]
this marriage he had eight children--namely, James, Christian, John,
Margaret, Elizabeth, Lawrence, William, and Helen.
[Footnote 1: Simms' Schoharie.]
For many years during his old age, he conducted a large school in this
settlement, being the first English school that was taught in that then
frontier part of the country. This appears to be the only tenable
reason that has been assigned for the change of the family name from
Calcraft to Schoolcraft.
When far advanced in life, he went to live with his son William, on the
New York grants on Otter Creek, in the rich agricultural region south of
Lake Champlain--which is now included in Vermont. Here he died at the
great age of one hundred and two, having been universally esteemed for
his loyalty to his king, his personal courage and energy, and the
uprightness of his character.
After the death of his father, when the revolutionary troubles
commenced, William, his youngest son, removed into Lower Canada. The
other children all remained in Albany County, except Christian, who,
when the jangling land disputes and conflicts of titles arose in
Schoharie, followed Conrad Wiser, Esq. (a near relative), to the banks
of the Susquehanna. He appears eventually to have pushed his way to
Buchanan River, one of the sources of the Monongahela, in Lewis County,
Virginia, where some of his descendants must still reside. It appears
that they became deeply involved in the Indian wars which the Shawnees
kept up on the frontiers of Virginia. In this struggle they took an
active part, and were visited with the severest retribution by the
marauding Indians. It is stated by Withers that, between 1770 and 1779,
not less than fifteen of this family, men, women, and children, were
killed or taken prisoners, and carried into captivity.[2]
[Footnote 2: _Chronicles of the Border Warfare in North-western
Virginia_. By Alex Withers, Clarksbury, Virginia, 1831. 1 vol. 12mo.
page 319.]
Of the other children of the original progenitor, James, the eldest son,
died a bachelor. Lawrence was the ancestor of the persons of this name
in Schoharie County. Elizabeth and Helen married, in that county, in the
families of Rose and Haines, and, Margaret, the eldest daughter, married
Col. Green Brush, of the British army, at the house of Gen. Bradstreet,
Albany. Her daughter, Miss Francis Brush, married the celebrated Col.
Ethan Allen, after his return from the Tower of London.
JOHN, the third son, settled in Watervleit, in the valley of the
Norman's Kill--or, as the Indians called it, Towasentha--Albany County.
He served in a winter's campaign against Oswego, in 1757, and took part
also in the successful siege and storming of Fort Niagara, under Gen.
Prideaux [3] and Sir William Johnson, in the summer of 1759. He married
a Miss Anna Barbara Boss, by whom he had three children, namely, Anne,
Lawrence, and John. He had the local reputation of great intrepidity,
strong muscular power, and unyielding decision of character. He died at
the age of 64. LAWRENCE, his eldest son, had entered his seventeenth
year when the American Revolution broke out. He embraced the patriotic
sentiments of that era with great ardor, and was in the first
revolutionary procession that marched through and canvassed the
settlement with martial music, and the Committee of Safety at its head,
to determine who was Whig or Tory.
[Footnote 3: This officer was shot in the trenches, which devolved the
command on Sir William.]
The military element had always commanded great respect in the family,
and he did not wait to be older, but enrolled himself among the
defenders of his country.
He was present, in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was read
to the troops drawn up in hollow square at Ticonderoga. He marched under
Gen. Schuyler to the relief of Montgomery, at Quebec, and continued to
be an indomitable actor in various positions, civil and military, in the
great drama of the Revolution during its entire continuance.
In 1777, the darkest and most hopeless period of our revolutionary
contest, he led a reinforcement from Albany to Fort Stanwix, up the
Mohawk Valley, then alive with hostile Indians and Tories, and escaped
them all, and he was in this fort, under Col. Ganzevoort, during its
long and close siege by Col. St. Leger and his infuriated Indian allies.
The whole embodied militia of the Mohawk Valley marched to its relief,
under the bold and patriotic Gen. Herkimer. They were met by the
Mohawks, Onondagas, and Senecas, and British loyalists, lying in ambush
on the banks of the Oriskany, eight miles from the fort. A dreadful
battle ensued. Gen. Herkimer was soon wounded in the thigh, his leg
broken, and his horse shot under him. With the coolness of a Blucher, he
then directed his saddle to be placed on a small knoll, and, drawing out
his tobacco-box, lit his pipe and calmly smoked while his brave and
unconquerable men fought around him.
This was one of the most stoutly contested battles of the Revolution.
Campbell says: "This battle made orphans of half the inhabitants of the
Mohawk Valley." [4] It was a desperate struggle between neighbors, who
were ranged on opposite sides as Whig and Tory, and it was a triumph,
Herkimer remaining master of the field. During the hottest of the
battle, Col. Willett stepped on to the esplanade of the fort, where the
troops were paraded, and requested all who were willing to fight for
liberty and join a party for the relief of Herkimer, to step forward one
pace. Schoolcraft was the first to advance. Two hundred and fifty men
followed him. An immediate sally was made. They carried the camp of Sir
John Johnson; took all his baggage, military-chest, and papers; drove
him through the Mohawk River; and then turned upon the howling Mohawks
and swept and fired their camp. The results of this battle were
brilliant. The plunder was immense. The lines of the besiegers, which
had been thinned by the forces sent to Oriskany, were carried, and the
noise of firing and rumors of a reinforcement, animated the hearts of
the indomitable men of that day.
[Footnote 4: Annals of Teyon County.]
After the victory, Herkimer was carried by his men, in a litter, thirty
or forty miles to his own house, below the present town of Herkimer,
where he died, from an unskillful amputation, having just concluded
reading to his family the 38th Psalm.
But the most dangerous enemy to the cause of freedom was not to be found
in the field, but among neighbors who were lurking at midnight around
the scenes of home. The districts of Albany and Schoharie was infested
by Tories, and young Schoolcraft was ever on the _qui vive_ to ferret
out this most insidious and cruel of the enemy's power. On one occasion
he detected a Tory, who had returned from Canada with a lieutenant's
commission in his pocket. He immediately clapped spurs to his horse, and
reported him to Gov. George Clinton, the Chairman of the Committee of
Safety at Albany. Within three days the lieutenant was seized, tried,
condemned and hanged. Indeed, a volume of anecdotes might be written of
Lawrence Schoolcraft's revolutionary life; suffice it to say, that he
was a devoted, enthusiastic, enterprizing soldier and patriot, and came
out of the contest with an adjutant's commission and a high reputation
for bravery.
About the close of the Revolutionary war, he married Miss Margaret Anne
Barbara Rowe, a native of Fishkill, Duchess County, New York, by whom he
had thirteen children.
His disciplinary knowledge and tact in the government of men, united to
amenity of manners, led to his selection in 1802, by the Hon. Jeremiah
Van Rensselaer, as director of his extensive glass works at Hamilton,
near Albany, which he conducted with high reputation so many years,
during which time he bore several important civil and military trusts in
the county. The importance of this manufacture to the new settlements at
that early day, was deeply felt, and his ability and skill in the
management of these extensive works were widely known and appreciated.
When the war of 1812 appeared inevitable, Gen. Ganzevoort, his old
commanding officer at Fort Stanwix, who was now at the head of the U.S.
army, placed him in command of the first regiment of uniformed
volunteers, who were mustered into service for that conflict. His
celebrity in the manufacture of glass, led capitalists in Western New
York to offer him large inducements to remove there, where he first
introduced this manufacture during the settlement of that new and
attractive part of the State, in which a mania for manufactories was
then rife. In this new field the sphere of his activity and skill were
greatly enlarged, and he enjoyed the consideration and respect of his
townsmen for many years. He died at Vernon, Oneida County, in 1840, at
the age of eighty-four, having lived long to enjoy the success of that
independence for which he had ardently thirsted and fought. A handsome
monument on the banks of the Skenando bears the inscription
"A patriot, a Christian, and an honest man."
A man who was never governed by expediency but by right, and in all his
expressions of opinion, original and fearless of consequences. These
details of the life and character of Col. Lawrence Schoolcraft, appeared
proper in proceeding to speak of one of his sons, who has for so
considerable a period occupied the public attention as an actor in other
fields, requiring not less energy, decision, enterprise and perseverance
of character.
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was born in Albany County, on the 28th of March,
1793, during the second presidential term of Washington. His childhood
and youth were spent in the village of Hamilton, a place once renowned
for its prosperous manufactories, but which has long since verified the
predictions of the bard--
"That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay,
As ocean sweeps the labored mole away."
Its location is on one of the beautiful and sparkling affluents of the
Towasentha or Norman's Kill, popularly called the Hongerkill, which he
has in one of his occasional publications called the Iósco, from an
aboriginal term. That picturesque and lofty arm of the Catskills, which
is called the Helderberg, bounds the landscape on the west and south,
while the Pine Plains occupy the form of a crescent, between the Mohawk
and the Hudson, bearing the cities of Albany and Schenectady
respectively on its opposite edges. Across this crescent-like Plain of
Pines, by a line of sixteen miles, was the ancient Iroquois war and
trading path. The Towasentha lies on the south borders of this plain,
and was, on the first settlement of the country, the seat of an Indian
population. Here, during the official term of Gen. Hamilton, whose name
the village bears, the capitalists of Albany planted a manufacturing
village. The position is one where the arable forest and farming lands
are bounded by the half arabic waste of the pine plains of the
Honicroisa, whose deep gorges are still infested by the wolf and smaller
animals. The whole valley of the Norman's Kill abounds in lovely and
rural scenes, and quiet retreats and waterfalls, which are suited to
nourish poetic tastes. In these he indulged from his thirteenth year,
periodically writing, and as judgment ripened, destroying volumes of
manuscripts, while at the same time he evinced uncommon diligence at his
books and studies. The poetic talent was, indeed, strongly developed.
His power of versification was early and well formed, and the pieces
which were published anonymously at a maturer period, as "Geehale," and
"The Iroquois," &c., have long been embodied without a name in our
poetic literature. But this faculty, of which we have been permitted to
see the manuscript of some elaborate and vigorous trains of thought, did
not impede a decided intellectual progress in sterner studies in the
sciences and arts. His mind was early imbued with a thirst of knowledge,
and he made such proficiency as to attract the notice of persons of
education and taste. There was developed, too, in him, an early bias
for the philosophy of language. Mr. Van Kleeck, a townsman, in a recent
letter to Dr. R.W. Griswold, says:--
"I revert with great pleasure to the scenes of my residence, in the part
of Albany County which was also the residence of Henry R. Schoolcraft. I
went to reside at the village of Hamilton, in the town of Guilderland,
in 1803. Col. Lawrence Schoolcraft, the father of Henry, had then the
direction of the large manufactories of glass, for which that place was
long noted. The standing of young Henry, I remember, at his school, for
scholarship, was then very noted, and his reputation in the village most
prominent. He was spoken of as a lad of great promise, and a very
learned boy at twelve. Mr. Robert Buchanan, a Scotchman, and a man of
learning, took much pride in his advances, and finally came to his
father and told him that he had taught him all he knew. In Latin, I
think he was taught by Cleanthus Felt. He was at this age very arduous
and assiduous in the pursuit of knowledge. He discovered great
mechanical ingenuity. He drew and painted in water colors, and attracted
the notice of the Hon. Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Lt. Governor of the
State, who became so much interested in his advancement, that he took
the initial steps to have him placed with a master. At an early age he
manifested a taste for mineralogy and natural science, which was then (I
speak of about 1808) almost unknown in the country. He was generally to
be found at home, at his studies, when other boys of his age were
attending horseraces, cock-fights, and other vicious amusements for
which the village was famous.
"At this time he organized with persevering effort, a literary society,
in which discussions took place by the intelligent inhabitants on
subjects of popular and learned interests. At an early age, I think
sixteen, he went to the west, and the first that was afterwards heard of
him was his bringing to New York a splendid collection of the mineralogy
and natural history of the west." [5]
[Footnote 5: Letter of L.L. Van Kleeck, Esq., to Dr. R.W. Griswold, June
4th, 1851.]
In a part of the country where books were scarce, it was not easy to
supply this want. He purchased several editions of English classics at
the sale of the valuable library of Dirck Ten Broeck, Esq., of Albany,
and his room in a short time showed the elements of a library and a
cabinet of minerals, and drawings, which were arranged with the greatest
care and neatness. Having finished his primary studies, with high
reputation, he prepared, under an improved instructor, to enter Union
College. It was at the age of fifteen that he set on foot, as Mr. Van
Kleeck mentions, an association for mental improvement. These meetings
drew together persons of literary tastes and acquirements in the
vicinity. The late John V. Veeder, Wm. McKown, and L.L. Van Kleeck,
Esqs., Mr. Robert Alsop, the late John Schoolcraft, Esq., G. Batterman,
John Sloan, and other well-known gentlemen of the town, all of whom were
his seniors in age, attended these meetings.
Mineralogy was at that time an almost unknown science in the United
States. At first the heavy drift stratum of Albany County, as seen in
the bed of Norman's Kill; and its deep cuttings in the slate and other
rocks, were his field of mineralogical inquiries. Afterwards, while
living at Lake Dunmore, in Addison County, Vermont, he revised and
systematized the study under the teaching of Professor Hall, of
Middlebury College, to which he added chemistry, natural philosophy and
medicine. Having now the means, he erected a chemical furnace, and
ordered books, apparatus, and tests from the city of New York. By these
means he perfected the arts which were under his direction in the large
way; and he made investigations of the phenomena of the fusion of
various bodies, which he prepared for the press under the name of
Vitriology, an elaborate work of research. Amongst the facts brought to
light, it is apprehended, were revealed the essential principles of an
art which is said to have been discovered and lost in the days of
Tiberius Caesar.
He taught himself the Hebrew and German, with the aid only of grammars
and lexicons; and, with the assistance of instructors, the reading of
French. His assiduity, his love of method, the great value he attached
to time, and his perseverance in whatever study or research he
undertook, were indeed indomitable, and serve to prove how far they will
carry the mind, and how much surer tests they are of ultimate usefulness
and attainment, than the most dazzling genius without these moral props.
Self-dependent, self-acting, and self-taught, it is apprehended that few
men, with so little means and few advantages, have been in so peculiar a
sense the architect of their own fortunes.
He commenced writing for the newspapers and periodicals in 1808, in
which year he also published a poetic tribute to a friend, which excited
local notice, and was attributed to a person of literary celebrity. For,
notwithstanding the gravity of his studies and researches, he had
indulged an early poetic taste for a series of years, by compositions of
an imaginative character, and might, it should seem, have attained
distinction in that way. His remarks in the "_Literary and Philosophical
Repertory_," on the evolvement of hydrogen gas from the strata of
Western New York, under the name of Burning Springs, evinced an early
aptitude for philosophical discussion. In a notice of some
archaeological discoveries made in Hamburgh, Erie County, which were
published at Utica in 1817, he first denoted the necessity of
discriminating between the antique French and European, and the
aboriginal period in our antiquities; for the want of which
discrimination, casual observers and discoverers of articles in our
tumuli are perpetually over-estimating the state of ancient art.
About 1816 he issued proposals, and made arrangements to publish his
elaborated work on vitreology, which, so far as published, was
favorably received.
In 1817 he was attracted to go to the Valley of the Mississippi. A new
world appeared to be opening for American enterprise there. Its extent
and resources seemed to point it out as the future residence of
millions; and he determined to share in the exploration of its
geography, geology, mineralogy and general ethnology, for in this latter
respect also it offered, by its curious mounds and antiquities and
existing Indian tribes, a field of peculiar and undeveloped interest.
He approached this field of observation by descending the Alleghany
River from Western New York to the Ohio. He made Pittsburgh, Cincinnati,
and Louisville centres of observation. At the latter place he published
in the papers an account of the discovery of a body of the black oxide
of manganese, on the banks of the Great Sandy River of Kentucky, and
watched the return papers from the old Atlantic States, to see whether
notices of this kind would be copied and approved. Finding this test
favorable, he felt encouraged in his mineralogical researches. Having
descended the Ohio to its mouth one thousand miles, by its involutions
below Pittsburgh, and entered the _Mississippi_, he urged his way up
the strong and turbid channel of the latter, in barges, by slow stages
of five or six miles a day, to St. Louis. This slowness of travel gave
him an opportunity of exploring on foot the whole of the Missouri shore,
so noted, from early Spanish and French days, for its mines. After
visiting the mounds of Illinois, he recrossed the Mississippi into the
mineral district of Missouri. Making Potosi the centre of his survey and
the deposit of his collections, he executed a thorough examination of
that district, where he found some seventy mines scattered over a large
surface of the public domain, which yielded, at the utmost, by a very
desultory process, about three millions of pounds of lead annually.
Having explored this region very minutely, he wished to ascertain its
geological connection with the Ozark and other highland ranges, which
spread at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and he planned an exploratory
expedition into that region. This bold and hazardous journey he
organized and commenced at Potosi early in the month of November, 1818,
and prosecuted it under many disadvantages during that fall and the
succeeding winter. Several expert and practiced woodsmen were to have
been of this party, but when the time for setting out came all but two
failed, under various excuses. One of these was finally obliged to turn
back from _Mine au Breton_ with a continued attack of fever and ague.
Ardent in the plan, and with a strong desire to extend the dominions of
science, he determined to push on with a single companion, and a single
pack-horse, which bore the necessary camp conveniences, and was led
alternately by each from day to day. A pocket compass guided their march
by day, and they often slept in vast caverns in limestone cliffs at
night. Gigantic springs of the purest crystaline water frequently gushed
up from the soil or rocks. This track laid across highlands, which
divide the confluent waters of the Missouri from those of the
Mississippi. Indians, wild beasts, starvation, thirst, were the dangers
of the way. This journey, which led into the vast and desolate parts of
Arkansas, was replete with incidents and adventures of the
highest interest.
While in Missouri, and after his return from this adventurous journey,
he drew up a description of the mines, geology, and mineralogy of the
country. Conceiving a plan for the better management of the lead mines
as a part of the public domain, he determined to visit Washington, to
submit it to the government. Packing up his collections of mineralogy
and geology, he ordered them to the nearest point of embarkation on the
Mississippi, and, getting on board a steamer at St. Genevieve, proceeded
to New Orleans. Thence he took shipping for New York, passing through
the Straits of Florida, and reached his destination during the
prevalence of the yellow fever in that city. He improved the time of his
quarantine at Staten Island by exploring its mineralogy and geology,
where he experienced a kind and appreciating reception from the health
officer, Dr. De Witt.
His reception also from scientific men at New York was most favorable,
and produced a strong sensation. Being the first person who had brought
a collection of its scientific resources from the Mississippi Valley,
its exhibition and diffusion in private cabinets gave an impulse to
these studies in the country.
Men of science and gentlemen of enlarged minds welcomed him. Drs.
Mitchell and Hosack, who were then at the summit of their influence, and
many other leading and professional characters extended a hand of
cordial encouragement and appreciation. Gov. De Witt Clinton was one of
his earliest and most constant friends. The Lyceum of Natural History
and the New York Historical Society admitted him to membership.
Late in the autumn of 1819, he published his work on the mines and
mineral resources of Missouri, and with this publication as an exponent
of his views, he proceeded to Washington, where he was favorably
received by President Monroe, and by Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Crawford,
members of his cabinet. At the request of the latter he drew up a memoir
on the reorganization of the western mines, which was well received.
Some legislation appeared necessary. Meantime Mr. Calhoun, who was
struck by the earnestness of his views and scientific enterprise,
offered him the situation of geologist and mineralogist to an exploring
expedition, which the war department was about dispatching from Detroit
to the sources of the Mississippi under the orders of Gen. Cass.
This he immediately accepted, and, after spending a few weeks at the
capital, returned in Feb., 1820, to New York, to await the opening of
the interior navigation. As soon as the lakes opened he proceeded to
Detroit, and in the course of two or three weeks embarked on this
celebrated tour of exploration. The great lake basins were visited and
explored, the reported copper mines on Lake Superior examined, and the
Upper Mississippi entered at Sandy Lake, and, after tracing it in its
remote mazes to the highest practical point, he descended its channel by
St. Anthony's Falls to Prairie du Chien and the Du Buque lead mines. The
original outward track north-westward was then regained, through the
valleys of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the extended shores of Lake
Michigan and Huron elaborately traced. In this he was accompanied by the
late Professor David B. Douglass, who collected the materials for a
correct map of the great lakes and the sources of the Mississippi.
It was late in the autumn when Mr. Schoolcraft returned to his residence
at New York, when he was solicited to publish his "narrative journal."
This he completed early in the spring of 1821. This work, which evinces
accurate and original powers of observation, established his reputation
as a scientific and judicious traveler. Copies of it found their way to
England, where it was praised by Sir Humphrey Davy and the veteran
geographer, Major Rennel. His report to the Secretary of War on the
copper mines of Lake Superior, was published in advance by the American
Journal of Science, and by order of the Senate of the United States, and
gives the earliest scientific account of the mineral affluence of the
basin of that lake. His geological report to the same department made
subsequently, traces the formations of that part of the continent, which
gives origin to the Mississippi River, and denotes the latitudes where
it is crossed by the primitive and volcanic rocks. The ardor and
enthusiasm which he evinced in the cause of science, and his personal
enterprise in traversing vast regions, awakened a corresponding spirit;
and the publication of his narratives had the effect to popularize the
subject of mineralogy and geology throughout the country.
In 1821, he executed a very extensive journey through the Miami of the
Lakes and the River Wabash, tracing those streams minutely to the
entrance of the latter into the Ohio River. He then proceeded to explore
the Oshawanoe Mountains, near Cave-in-Rock, with their deposits of the
fluate of lime, galena, and other mineral treasures. From this range he
crossed over the grand prairies of the Illinois to St. Louis, revisited
the mineral district of Potosi, and ascended the Illinois River and its
north-west fork, the _Des Plaines_, to Chicago, where a large body of
Indians were congregated to confer on the cession of their lands. At
these important conferences, he occupied the position of secretary. He
published an account of the incidents of this exploratory journey, under
the title of _Travels in the Central Portions of the Mississippi
Valley_. He found, in passing up the river _Des Plaines_, a remarkably
well characterized specimen of a fossil tree, completely converted to
stone, of which he prepared a descriptive memoir, which had the effect
further to direct the public mind to geological phenomena.
We are not prepared to pursue minutely these first steps of his
energetic course in the early investigation of our natural history and
geography. In 1822, while the lead-mine problem was under advisement at
Washington, he was appointed by Mr. Monroe to the semi-diplomatic
position of Agent for Indian Affairs on the North-west Frontiers. This
opened a new field of inquiry, and, while it opposed no bar to the
pursuits of natural science, it presented a broad area of historical and
ethnological research. On this he entered with great ardor, and an event
of generally controlling influence on human pursuits occurred to enlarge
these studies, in his marriage to Miss Jane Johnston, a highly
cultivated young lady, who was equally well versed in the English and
Algonquin languages, being a descendant, by the mother's side, of
Wabojeeg, a celebrated war sachem, and ruling cacique of his nation. Her
father, Mr. John Johnston, was a gentleman of the highest connections,
fortune, and standing, from the north of Ireland, who had emigrated to
America during the presidency of Washington. He possessed great
enthusiasm and romance of character, united with poetic tastes, and
became deeply enamored of the beautiful daughter of Wabojeeg, married
her, and had eight children. His eldest daughter, Jane, was sent, at
nine years of age, to Europe to be thoroughly educated under the care of
his relatives there, and, when she returned to America, was placed at
the head of her father's household, where her refined dignified manners
and accomplishments attracted the notice and admiration of numerous
visitors to that seat of noble hospitality. Mr. Schoolcraft was among
the first suitors for her hand, and married her in October, 1823.
Mr. Johnston was a fine _belles lettres_ scholar, and entered readily
into the discussions arising from the principles of the Indian
languages, and plans for their improvement.
Mr. Schoolcraft's marriage into an aboriginal family gave no small
stimulus to these inquiries, which were pursued under such singularly
excellent advantages, and with untiring ardor in the seclusion of
Elmwood and Michilimackinack, for a period of nearly twenty years, and,
until his wife's lamented death, which happened during a visit to her
sister, at Dundas, Canada West, in the year 1842, and while he himself
was absent on a visit to England. Mr. Schoolcraft has not, at any period
of his life, sought advancement in political life, but executed with
energy and interest various civic offices, which were freely offered to
him. From 1828 to 1832, he was an efficient member of the Territorial
Legislature, where he introduced a system of township and county names,
formed on the basis of the aboriginal vocabulary, and also procured the
incorporation of a historical society, and, besides managing the
finances, as chairman of an appropriate committee, he introduced and
secured the passage of several laws respecting the treatment of the
native tribes.
In 1828, the Navy Department offered him a prominent situation in the
scientific corps of the United States Exploring Expedition to the South
Seas. This was urged in several letters written to him at St. Mary's, by
Mr. Reynolds, with the approbation of Mr. Southard, then Secretary of
the Navy. However flattering such an offer was to his ambition, his
domestic relations did not permit his acceptance of the place. He
appeared to occupy his advanced position on the frontier solely to
further the interests of natural history, American geography, and
growing questions of philosophic moment.
These particulars will enable the reader to appreciate the advantages
with which he commenced and pursued the study of the Indian languages,
and American ethnology. He made a complete lexicon of the Algonquin
language, and reduced its grammar to a philosophical system. "It is
really surprising," says Gen. Cass, in a letter, in 1824, in view of
these researches, "that so little valuable information has been given to
the world on these subjects."
Mr. Duponceau, President of the American Philosophical Society,
translated two of Mr. Schoolcraft's lectures before the Algic Society,
on the grammatical structure of the Indian language, into French, for
the National Institute of France, where the prize for the best essay on
Algonquin language was awarded to him. He writes to Dr. James, in 1834,
in reference to these lectures: "His description of the composition of
words in the Chippewa language, is the most elegant I have yet seen. He
is an able and most perspicuous writer, and treats his subject
philosophically."
Approbation from these high sources had only the effect to lead him to
renewed diligence and deeper exertions to further the interests of
natural science, geography, and ethnology; and, while engaged in the
active duties of an important government office, he maintained an
extensive correspondence with men of science, learning, and enterprise
throughout the Union.
The American Philosophical, Geological, and Antiquarian Societies, with
numerous state and local institutions, admitted him to membership. The
Royal Geographical Society of London, the Royal Society of Northern
Antiquaries at Copenhagen, and the Ethnological Society of Paris,
inscribed his name among their foreign members. In 1846, the College of
Geneva conferred on him the degree of LL.D.
While the interests of learning and science thus occupied his private
hours, the state of Indian affairs on the western frontiers called for
continued exertions, and journeys, and expeditions through remote
regions. The introduction of a fast accumulating population into the
Mississippi Valley, and the great lake basins, continually subjected the
Indian tribes to causes of uneasiness, and to a species of reflection,
of which they had had no examples in the long centuries of their
hunter state.
In 1825, 1826, and 1827, he attended convocations of the tribes at very
remote points, which imposed the necessity of passing through forests,
wildernesses, and wild portages, where none but the healthy, the robust,
the fearless, and the enterprising can go.
In 1831, circumstances inclined the tribes on the Upper Mississippi to
hostilities and extensive combinations. He was directed by the
Government to conduct an expedition through the country lying south and
west of Lake Superior, reaching from its banks, which have from the
earliest dates been the fastnesses of numerous warlike tribes. This he
accomplished satisfactorily, visiting the leading chiefs, and counseling
them to the policy of peace.
In 1832, the Sauks and Foxes resolved to re-occupy lands which they had
previously relinquished in the Rock River Valley. This brought them into
collision with the citizens and militia of Illinois. The result was a
general conflict, which, from its prominent Indian leader, has been
called the Black Hawk war. From accounts of the previous year, its
combinations embraced _nine_ of the leading tribes. It was uncertain how
far they extended. Mr. Schoolcraft was selected by the Indian and War
Department, to conduct a second expedition into the region embracing the
entire Upper Mississippi, north and west of St. Anthony's Falls. He
pursued this stream to the points to which it had been explored in 1806,
by Lieut. Pike, and in 1820, by Gen. Cass; and finding the state of the
water favorable for ascending, traced the river up to its ultimate
forks, and to its actual source in Itasca Lake. This point he reached on
the 23d July, 1832; but a fraction under 300 years after the discovery
of its lower portions by De Soto. This was Mr. Schoolcraft's crowning
geographical discovery, of which he published an account, with maps, in
1833. He is believed to be the only man in America who has seen the
Mississippi from its source in Itasca Lake to its mouth in the Gulf
of Mexico.
In 1839, he published his collection of oral legends from the Indian
wigwams, under the general cognomen of _Algic Researches_. In these
volumes is revealed an amount of the Indian idiosyncrasies, of what may
be called their philosophy and mode of reasoning on life, death, and
immortality, and their singular modes of reasoning and action, which
makes this work one of the most unique and original contributions to
American literature. His love of investigation has always been a
characteristic trait.
The writer of this sketch, who is thoroughly acquainted with Mr.
Schoolcraft's character, habits, and feelings, has long regarded him the
complete embodiment of industry and temperance in all things. He rises
early and retires early, eats moderately of simple food, never uses a
drop of stimulant, and does not even smoke a cigar. In temperament he is
among the happiest of human beings, always looks at the bright side of
circumstances--loves to hear of the prosperity of his neighbors, and
hopes for favorable turns of character, even in the most depraved. The
exaltation of his intellectual pursuits, and his sincere piety, have
enabled him to rise above all the petty disquietudes of everyday life,
and he seems utterly incapable of envy or detraction, or the indulgence
of any ignoble or unmanly passions. Indeed, one of his most intimate
friends remarked "that he was the _beau-ideal_ of dignified manliness
and truthfulness of character." His manners possess all that
unostentatious frankness, and self-possessed urbanity and quietude, that
is indicative of refined feelings. That such a shining mark has not
escaped envy, detraction, and persecution, will surprise no one who is
well acquainted with the materials of which human nature is composed.
"Envy is the toll that is always paid to greatness."
Mr. Schoolcraft has had enemies, bitter unrelenting enemies, from the
wiles of whom he has lost several fortunes, but they have not succeeded,
in spite of all their efforts, in depriving him of an honored name, that
will live as the friend of the red man and an aboriginal historian, for
countless ages.
Some twenty years ago he became a professor of religion, and the
ennobling influences of Bible truth have mellowed, and devoted to the
most unselfish and exalted aims his natural determination and enthusiasm
of character. God has promised to his people "that their righteousness
shall shine as the light, and their just dealing as the noonday."
Protected in such an impregnable tower of defence from the strife of
tongues, Mr. Schoolcraft has been enabled freely to forgive, and even
befriend, those narrow-minded calumniators who have aimed so many
poisoned arrows at his fame, his character, and his success in life.
These are they who hate all excellence that they themselves can never
hope to reach.
Mr. Schoolcraft's persevering industry is so indomitable, that he has
been known to write from sun to sun almost every day for many
consecutive years, taking no recreation, and yet these sedentary habits
of untiring application being regulated by system, have not impaired the
digestive functions of his usually robust health. One of his family
remarks, "that she believed that if his meals were weighed every day in
the year they would average the same amount every twenty-four hours." He
has, however, been partly lame for the last two years, from the effects,
it is thought, of early exposure in his explorations in the west, where
he used frequently to lie down in the swamps to sleep, with no pillow
save clumps of bog, and no covering but a traveling Indian blanket,
which sometimes when he awoke was cased in snow. This local impediment,
however, being entirely without neuralgic or rheumatic symptoms, has had
no effect whatever upon his mental activity, as every moment of his time
is still consecrated to literary pursuits.
In 1841 he removed his residence from Michilimackinack to the city of
New York, where he was instrumental, with Mr. John R. Bartlett, Mr. H.
C. Murphy, Mr. Folsom and other ethnologists, in forming the American
Ethnological Society--which, under the auspices of the late Mr. Albert
Gallatin, has produced efficient labors. In 1842 he visited England and
the Continent. He attended the twelfth meeting of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science at Manchester. He then
visited France, Germany, Prussia, Belgium, and Holland. On returning to
New York he took an active interest in the deliberations of the New York
Historical Society, made an antiquarian tour to Western Virginia, Ohio,
and the Canadas, and published in numbers the first volume of an Indian
miscellany under the title of "Oneota, or the Indian in his Wigwam."
In 1845 the Legislature of New York authorized him to take a census, and
collect the statistics of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, which were
published, together with materials illustrating their history and
character, in a volume entitled, NOTES ON THE IROQUOIS.
This work was highly approved by the Legislature, and copies eagerly
sought by persons taking an interest in the fortunes of this celebrated
tribe. Contrary to expectation, their numbers were found to be
considerable, and their advance in agriculture and civilization of a
highly encouraging character; and the State has since made liberal
appropriations for their education.
In 1846 he brought the subject of the American aborigines to the notice
of the members of Congress, expressing the opinion, and enforcing it by
facts drawn from many years' experience and residence on the frontiers,
that it was misunderstood, that the authentic published materials from
which the Indians were to be judged were fragmentary and scanty, and
that the public policy respecting them, and the mode of applying their
funds, and dealing with them, was in many things false and unjust. These
new views produced conviction in enlightened minds, and, during the
following session, in the winter of 1847, an appropriation was made,
authorizing the Secretary of War to collect the statistics of all the
tribes within the Union; together with materials to illustrate their
history, condition, and prospects. Mr. Schoolcraft was selected by the
government to conduct the inquiry, in connection with the Indian Bureau.
And he immediately prepared and issued blank forms, calling on the
officers of the department for the necessary statistical facts. At the
same time a comprehensive system of interrogatories was distributed,
intended to bring out the true state and condition of the Indian tribes
from gentlemen of experience, in all parts of the Union.
These interrogatories are founded on a series of some thirty years'
personal observations on Indian society and manners, which were made
while living in their midst on the frontiers, and on the data preserved
in his well-filled portfolios and journals; and the comprehensive
character of the queries, consequently, evince a complete mastery of his
subject, such as no one could have been at all prepared to furnish, who
had had less full and favorable advantages. In these queries he views
the Indian race, not only as tribes having every claim on our sympathy
and humanity, but as one of the races of the human family, scattered by
an inscrutable Providence, whose origin and destiny is one of the most
interesting problems of American history, philosophy, and Christianity.
The first part of this work, in an elaborate quarto volume, was
published in the autumn of 1850, with illustrations from the pencil of
Capt. Eastman, a gentleman of the army of the United States, and has
been received by Congress and the diurnal and periodical press with
decided approbation. It is a work which is national in its conception
and manner of execution; and, if carried out according to the plan
exhibited, will do ample justice, at once to the Indian tribes, their
history, condition, and destiny, and to the character of the government
as connected with them. We have been reproached by foreign pens for our
treatment of these tribes, and our policy, motives, and justice
impugned. If we are not mistaken, the materials here collected will show
how gratuitous such imputations have been. It is believed that no stock
of the aborigines found by civilized nations on the globe, have received
the same amount of considerate and benevolent and humane treatment, as
denoted by its laws, its treaties, and general administration of Indian
affairs, from the establishment of the Constitution, and this too, in
the face of the most hostile, wrongheaded, and capricious conduct on
their part, that ever signalized the history of a barbarous people.
In January, 1847, he married Miss Mary Howard, of Beaufort District,
South Carolina, a lady of majestic stature, high toned moral sentiment,
dignified polished manners, gifted conversational powers and literary
tastes. This marriage has proved a peculiarly fortunate and happy one,
as they both highly appreciate and respect each other, and she warmly
sympathizes in his literary plans. She also relieves him of all domestic
care by her judicious management of his household affairs. Most of her
time, however, is spent with him in his study, where she revises and
copies his writings for the press. She is the descendant of a family who
emigrated to South Carolina from England, in the reign of George the
Second, from whom they received a large grant of land, situated near the
Broad River. Upon this original grant the family have from generation to
generation continued to reside. It is now a flourishing cotton and rice
growing plantation, and is at present owned by her brother, Gen. John
Howard. Her sister married a grandnephew of Gen. William Moultrie, who
was so distinguished in the revolutionary war, and her brother a
granddaughter of Judge Thomas Heyward, who was a ripe scholar and one of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Although one of her
brothers was in the battle of San Jacinto, she is herself the first
permanent emigrant of her family from South Carolina to the North,
having accompanied her husband to Washington, D.C., where he has ever
since been engaged in conducting the national work on the history of the
Indians. To this work, of which the second part is now in the press,
every power of his extensive observation and ripe experience is devoted,
and with results which justify the highest anticipations which have been
formed of it. Meantime it is understood that the present memoirs is the
first volume of a revised series of his complete works, including his
travels, reviews, papers on natural history, Indian tales, and
miscellanies.
To this rapid sketch of a man rising to distinction without the
adventitious aids of hereditary patrimony, wealth, or early friends, it
requires little to be added to show the value of self-dependence. Such
examples must encourage all whose ambitions are sustained by assiduity,
temperance, self-reliance, and a consistent perseverance in well
weighed ends.
PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
CHAPTER I.
Brief reminiscences of scenes from 1809 to 1817--Events preliminary to a
knowledge of western life--Embarkation on the source of the Alleghany
River--Descent to Pittsburgh--Valley of the Monongahela; its coal and
iron--Descent of the Ohio in an ark--Scenes and incidents by the way--
Cincinnati--Some personal incidents which happened there.
Late in the autumn of 1809, being then in my seventeenth year, I quitted
the village of Hamilton, Albany County (a county in which my family had
lived from an early part of the reign of George II.), and, after a
pleasant drive of half a day through the PINE PLAINS, accompanied by
some friends, reached the city of Schenectady, and from thence took the
western stage line, up the Valley of the Mohawk, to the village of
Utica, where we arrived, I think, on the third day, the roads being
heavy. The next day I proceeded to Vernon, the site of a busy and
thriving village, where my father had recently engaged in the
superintendency of extensive manufacturing operations. I was here within
a few miles of Oneida Castle, then the residence of the ancient Oneida
tribe of Iroquois. There was, also, in this town, a remnant of the old
Mohigans, who, under the name of Stockbridges, had, soon after the
Revolutionary War, removed from the Valley of the Housatonic, in
Massachusetts, to Oneida. Throngs of both tribes were daily in the
village, and I was thus first brought to notice their manners and
customs; not dreaming, however, that it was to be my lot to pass so many
of the subsequent years of my life as an observer of the Indian race.
Early in the spring of 1810, I accompanied Mr. Alexander Bryan Johnson,
of Utica, a gentleman of wealth, intelligence, and enterprise, to the
area of the Genesee country, for the purpose of superintending a
manufactory for a company incorporated by the State Legislature. After
visiting Sodus Bay, on Lake Ontario, it was finally resolved to locate
this company's works near Geneva, on the banks of Seneca Lake.
During my residence here, the War of 1812 broke out; the events of which
fell with severity on this frontier, particularly on the lines included
between the Niagara and Lake Champlain, where contending armies and
navies operated. While these scenes of alarm and turmoil were enacting,
and our trade with Great Britain was cut off, an intense interest arose
for manufactures of first necessity, needed by the country, particularly
for that indispensable article of new settlements, window glass. In
directing the foreign artisans employed in the making of this product of
skill, my father, Col. Lawrence Schoolcraft, had, from an early period
after the American Revolution, acquired celebrity, by the general
superintendency of the noted works of this kind near Albany, and
afterwards in Oneida County.
Under his auspices, I directed the erection of similar works in Western
New York and in the States of Vermont and New Hampshire.
While in Vermont, I received a salary of eighteen hundred dollars per
annum, which enabled me to pursue my studies, _ex academia_, at
Middlebury College. In conversation with President Davis, I learned that
this was the highest salary paid in the State, he himself receiving
eleven hundred, and the Governor of the State but eight hundred.
The extensive and interesting journeys connected with the manufacturing
impulse of these engagements, reaching over a varied surface of several
hundred miles, opened up scenes of life and adventure which gave me a
foretaste of, and preparedness for, the deeper experiences of the
western wilderness; and the war with England was no sooner closed than I
made ready to share in the exploration of the FAR WEST. The wonderful
accounts brought from the Mississippi valley--its fertility, extent, and
resources--inspired a wish to see it for myself, and to this end I made
some preliminary explorations in Western New York, in 1816 and 1817. I
reached Olean, on the source of the Alleghany River, early in 1818,
while the snow was yet upon the ground, and had to wait several weeks
for the opening of that stream. I was surprised to see the crowd of
persons, from various quarters, who had pressed to this point, waiting
the opening of the navigation.
It was a period of general migration from the East to the West. Commerce
had been checked for several years by the war with Great Britain.
Agriculture had been hindered by the raising of armies, and a harassing
warfare both on the seaboard and the frontiers; and manufactures had
been stimulated to an unnatural growth, only to be crushed by the peace.
Speculation had also been rife in some places, and hurried many
gentlemen of property into ruin. Banks exploded, and paper money flooded
the country.
The fiscal crisis was indeed very striking. The very elements seemed
leagued against the interests of agriculture in the Atlantic States,
where a series of early and late frosts, in 1816 and 1817, had created
quite a panic, which helped to settle the West.
I mingled in this crowd, and, while listening to the anticipations
indulged in, it seemed to me that the war had not, in reality, been
fought for "free trade and sailors' rights" where it commenced, but to
gain a knowledge of the world beyond the Alleghanies.
Many came with their household stuff, which was to be embarked in arks
and flat boats. The children of Israel could scarcely have presented a
more motley array of men and women, with their "kneading troughs" on
their backs, and their "little ones," than were there assembled, on
their way to the new land of promise.
To judge by the tone of general conversation, they meant, in their
generation, to plough the Mississippi Valley from its head to its foot.
There was not an idea short of it. What a world of golden dreams
was there!
I took passage in the first ark that attempted the descent for the
season. This ark was built of stout planks, with the lower seams
caulked, forming a perfectly flat basis on the water. It was about
thirty feet wide and sixty long, with gunwales of some eighteen inches.
Upon this was raised a structure of posts and boards about eight feet
high, divided into rooms for cooking and sleeping, leaving a few feet
space in front and rear, to row and steer. The whole was covered by a
flat roof, which formed a promenade, and near the front part of this
deck were two long "sweeps," a species of gigantic oars, which were
occasionally resorted to in order to keep the unwieldy vessel from
running against islands or dangerous shores.
We went on swimmingly, passing through the Seneca reservation, where the
picturesque costume of the Indians seen on shore served to give
additional interest to scenes of the deepest and wildest character.
Every night we tied our ark to a tree, and built a fire on shore.
Sometimes we narrowly escaped going over falls, and once encountered a
world of labor and trouble by getting into a wrong channel. I made
myself as useful and agreeable as possible to all. I had learned to row
a skiff with dexterity during my residence on Lake Dunmore, and turned
this art to account by taking the ladies ashore, as we floated on with
our ark, and picked up specimens while they culled shrubs and flowers.
In this way, and by lending a ready hand at the "sweeps" and at the oars
whenever there was a pinch, I made myself agreeable. The worst thing we
encountered was rain, against which our rude carpentry was but a poor
defence. We landed at everything like a town, and bought milk, and eggs,
and butter. Sometimes the Seneca Indians were passed, coming up stream
in their immensely long pine canoes. There was perpetual novelty and
freshness in this mode of wayfaring. The scenery was most enchanting.
The river ran high, with a strong spring current, and the hills
frequently rose in most picturesque cliffs.
1818. I do not recollect the time consumed in this descent. We had gone
about three hundred miles, when we reached Pittsburgh. It was the 28th
of March when we landed at this place, which I remember because it was
my birthday. And I here bid adieu to the kind and excellent proprietor
of the ark, L. Pettiborne, Esq., who refused to receive any compensation
for my passage, saying, prettily, that he did not know how they could
have got along without me.
I stopped at one of the best hotels, kept by a Mrs. McCullough, and,
after visiting the manufactories and coal mines, hired a horse, and went
up the Monongahela Valley, to explore its geology as high as
Williamsport. The rich coal and iron beds of this part of the country
interested me greatly; I was impressed with their extent, and value, and
the importance which they must eventually give to Pittsburgh. After
returning from this trip, I completed my visits to the various
workshops and foundries, and to the large glassworks of Bakewell and
of O'Hara.
I was now at the head of the Ohio River, which is formed by the junction
of the Alleghany and Monongahela. My next step was to descend this
stream; and, while in search of an ark on the borders of the
Monongahela, I fell in with a Mr. Brigham, a worthy person from
Massachusetts, who had sallied out with the same view. We took passage
together on one of these floating houses, with the arrangements of which
I had now become familiar. I was charmed with the Ohio; with its
scenery, which was every moment shifting to the eye; and with the
incidents of such a novel voyage. Off Wheeling we made fast to another
ark, from the Monongahela, in charge of Capt. Hutchinson, an intelligent
man. There were a number of passengers, who, together with this
commander, added to our social circle, and made it more agreeable: among
these, the chief person was Dr. Selman, of Cincinnati, who had been a
surgeon in Wayne's army, and who had a fund of information of this era.
My acquaintance with subjects of chemistry and mineralogy enabled me to
make my conversation agreeable, which was afterwards of some
advantage to me.
We came to at Grave Creek Fleets, and all went up to see the Great
Mound, the apex of which had a depression, with a large tree growing in
it having the names and dates of visit of several persons carved on its
trunk. One of the dates was, I think, as early as 1730. We also stopped
at Gallipolis--the site of a French colony of some notoriety. The river
was constantly enlarging; the spring was rapidly advancing, and making
its borders more beautiful; and the scenery could scarcely have been
more interesting. There was often, it is true, a state of newness and
rudeness in the towns, and villages, and farms, but it was ever
accompanied with the most pleasing anticipations of improvement and
progress. We had seldom to look at old things, save the Indian
antiquities. The most striking works of this kind were at Marietta, at
the junction of the Muskingum. This was, I believe, the earliest point
of settlement of the State of Ohio. But to us, it had a far more
interesting point of attraction in the very striking antique works
named, for which it is known. We visited the elevated square and the
mound. We gazed and wondered as others have done, and without fancying
that we were wiser than our predecessors had been.
At Marietta, a third ark from the waters of the Muskingum was added to
our number, and making quite a flotilla. This turned out to be the
property of Hon. J.B. Thomas, of Illinois, a Senator in Congress, a
gentleman of great urbanity of manners and intelligence. By this
addition of deck, our promenade was now ample. And it would be difficult
to imagine a journey embracing a greater number of pleasing incidents
and prospects.
When a little below Parkersburgh, we passed Blennerhasset's Island,
which recalled for a moment the name of Aaron Burr, and the eloquent
language of Mr. Wirt on the treasonable schemes of that bold, talented,
but unchastened politician. All was now ruin and devastation on the site
of forsaken gardens, into the shaded recesses of which a basilisk had
once entered. Some stacks of chimneys were all that was left to tell the
tale. It seemed remarkable that twelve short years should have worked so
complete a desolation. It would appear as if half a century had
intervened, so thorough had been the physical revolution of the island.
One night we had lain with our flotilla on the Virginia coast. It was
perceived, at early daylight, that the inner ark, which was Mr.
Thomas's, and which was loaded with valuable machinery, was partly sunk,
being pressed against the bank by the other arks, and the water was
found to be flowing in above the caulked seams. A short time must have
carried the whole down. After a good deal of exertion to save the boat,
it was cut loose and abandoned. It occurred to me that two men, rapidly
bailing, would be able to throw out a larger quantity of water than
flowed through the seams. Willing to make myself useful, I told my
friend Brigham that I thought we could save the boat, if he would join
in the attempt. My theory proved correct. We succeeded, by a relief of
hands, in the effort, and saved the whole machinery unwetted. This
little affair proved gratifying to me from the share I had in it. Mr.
Thomas was so pleased that he ordered a sumptuous breakfast at a
neighboring house for all. We had an abundance of hot coffee, chickens,
and toast, which to voyagers in an ark was quite a treat; but it was
still less gratifying than the opportunity we had felt of doing a good
act. This little incident had a pleasing effect on the rest of the
voyage, and made Thomas my friend.
But the voyage itself was now drawing to a close. When we reached
Cincinnati, the flotilla broke up. We were now five hundred miles below
Pittsburgh, and the Valley of the Ohio was, if possible, every day
becoming an object of more striking physical interest. By the advice of
Dr. Sellman, who invited me to dine with a large company of gentlemen, I
got a good boarding-house, and I spent several weeks very pleasantly in
this city and its immediate environs. Among the boarders were Dr.
Moorhead (Dr. S.'s partner), and John C.S. Harrison (the eldest son of
Gen. Harrison), with several other young gentlemen, whose names are
pleasingly associated in my memory. It was customary, after dinner, to
sit on a wooden settle, or long bench, in front of the house, facing the
open esplanade on the high banks of the river, at the foot of which
boats and arks were momentarily arriving. One afternoon, while engaged
in earnest conversation with Harrison, I observed a tall, gawky youth,
with white hair, and a few stray patches just appearing on his chin, as
precursors of a beard, approach furtively, and assume a listening
attitude. He had evidently just landed, and had put on his best clothes,
to go up and see the town. The moment he stopped to listen, I assumed a
tone of earnest badinage. Harrison, instantly seeing our intrusive and
raw guest, and humoring the joke, responded in a like style. In effect
we had a high controversy, which could only be settled by a duel, in
which our raw friend must act as second. He was strongly appealed to,
and told that his position as a gentleman required it. So far all was
well. We adjourned to an upper room; the pistols were charged with
powder, and shots were exchanged between Harrison and myself, while the
eyeballs of young Jonathan seemed ready to start from their sockets. But
no sooner were the shots fired than an undue advantage was instantly
alleged, which involved the responsibility of my antagonist's friend;
and thus the poor fellow, who had himself been inveigled in a scrape,
was peppered with powder, in a second exchange of shots, while all but
himself were ready to die with smothered laughter; and he was at last
glad to escape from the house with his life, and made the best of his
way back to his ark.
This settle, in front of the door, was a capital point to perpetrate
tricks on the constantly arriving throngs from the East, who, with
characteristic enterprise, often stopped to inquire for employment. A
few days after the sham duel, Harrison determined to play a trick on
another emigrant, a shrewd, tolerably well-informed young man, who had
evinced a great deal of self-complacency and immodest pertinacity. He
told the pertinacious emigrant, who inquired for a place, that he had
not, himself, anything that could engage his attention, but that he had
a friend (alluding to me) who was now in town, who was extensively
engaged in milling and merchandizing on the Little Miami, and was in
want of a competent, responsible clerk. He added that, if he would call
in the evening, his friend would be in, and he would introduce him.
Meantime, I was informed of the character I was to play in rebuking
assumption. The man came, punctual to his appointment, in the evening,
and was formally introduced. I stated the duties and the peculiar
requisites and responsibilities of the trust. These he found but little
difficulty in meeting. Other difficulties were stated. These, with a
little thought, he also met. He had evidently scarcely any other quality
than presumption. I told him at last that, from the inhabitants in the
vicinity, it was necessary that he should speak _Dutch_. This seemed a
poser, but, after some hesitancy and hemming, and the re-mustering of
his cardinal presumption, he thought he could shortly render himself
qualified to speak. I admired the very presumption of the theory, and
finally told him to call the next day on my agent, Mr. Schenck, at such
a number (Martin Baum's) in Maine Street, to whom, in the mean time, I
transferred the hoax, and duly informing Schenck of the affair; and I do
not recollect, at this time, how he shuffled him off.
CHAPTER II.
Descent of the Ohio River from Cincinnati to its mouth--Ascent of the
Mississippi, from the junction to Herculaneum--Its rapid and turbid
character, and the difficulties of stemming its current by barges--Some
incidents by the way.
1818. At Cincinnati, I visited a sort of gigantic chimney or trunk,
constructed of wood, which had been continued from the plain, and
carried up against the side of one of the Walnut Hills, in order to
demonstrate the practicability of obtaining a mechanical power from
rarefied atmospheric air. I was certain that this would prove a failure,
although Captain Bliss, who had conducted the work under the auspices of
General Lytle, felt confident of success.
When I was ready to proceed down the Ohio, I went to the shore, where I
met a Mr. Willers, who had come there on the same errand as myself. Our
object was to go to Louisville, at the falls of the Ohio. We were
pleased with a well-constructed skiff, which would conveniently hold our
baggage, and, after examination, purchased it, for the purpose of making
this part of the descent. I was expert with a light oar, and we agreed
in thinking that this would be a very picturesque, healthful, and
economical mode of travel. It was warm weather, the beginning of May, I
think, and the plan was to sleep ashore every night. We found this plan
to answer expectation. The trip was, in every respect, delightful. Mr.
Willers lent a ready hand at the oars and tiller by turns. He possessed
a good share of urbanity, had seen much of the world, and was of an age
and temper to vent no violent opinions. He gave me information on some
topics. We got along pleasantly. One day, a sleeping sawyer, as it is
called, rose up in the river behind us in a part of the course we had
just passed, which, if it had risen two minutes earlier, would have
pitched us in the air, and knocked our skiff in shivers. We stopped at
Vevay, to taste the wine of the vintage of that place, which was then
much talked of, and did not think it excellent. We were several days--I
do not recollect how many--in reaching Louisville, in Kentucky. I found
my fellow-voyager was a teacher of military science, late from
Baltimore, Maryland; he soon had a class of militia officers, to whom he
gave instructions, and exhibited diagrams of military evolutions.
Louisville had all the elements of city life. I was much interested in
the place and its environs, and passed several weeks at that place. I
found organic remains of several species in the limestone rocks of the
falls, and published, anonymously, in the paper some notices of its
mineralogy.
When prepared to continue my descent of the river, I went to the
beautiful natural mall, which exists between the mouth of the Beargrass
Creek and the Ohio, where boats usually land, and took passage in a fine
ark, which had just come down from the waters of the Monongahela. It was
owned and freighted by two adventurers from Maryland, of the names of
Kemp and Keen. A fine road existed to the foot of the falls at
Shippensport, a distance of two miles, which my new acquaintances
pursued; but, when I understood that there was a pilot present, I
preferred remaining on board, that I might witness the descent of the
falls: we descended on the Indiana side. The danger was imminent at one
part, where the entire current had a violent side action, but we went
safely and triumphantly down; and, after taking our owners on board, who
were unwilling to risk their lives with their property, we pursued our
voyage. It was about this point, or a little above, that we first
noticed the gay and noisy parroquet, flocks of which inhabited the
forests. The mode of attaching vessels of this kind into flotillas was
practiced on that part of the route, which brought us into acquaintance
with many persons.
At Shawneetown, where we lay a short time, I went out hunting about the
mouth of the Wabash with one Hanlon, a native of Kentucky, who was so
expert in the use of the rifle that he brought down single pigeons and
squirrels, aiming only at their heads or necks.
After passing below the Wabash, the Ohio assumed a truly majestic flow.
Its ample volume, great expanse, and noble shores, could not fail to be
admired. As we neared the picturesque Cavein-Rock shore, I took the
small boat, and, with some others, landed to view this traveler's
wonder. It recalled to me the dark robber era of the Ohio River, and the
tales of blood and strife which I had read of.
The cave itself is a striking object for its large and yawning mouth,
but, to the geologist, presents nothing novel. Its ample area appears to
have been frequently encamped in by the buccaneers of the Mississippi.
We were told of narrow and secret passages leading above into the rock,
but did not find anything of much interest. The mouth of the cave was
formerly concealed by trees, which favored the boat robbers; but these
had been mostly felled. As the scene of a tale of imaginative
robber-life, it appeared to me to possess great attractions.
Our conductor steered for Smithfield, I think it was called, at the
mouth of the Cumberland River, Tennessee, which was thought a favorable
place for transferring the cargo from an ark to a keel-boat, to prepare
it for the ascent of the Mississippi River; for we were now drawing
closely towards the mouth of the Ohio. Here ensued a delay of many days.
During this time, I made several excursions in this part of Tennessee,
and always with the rifle in hand, in the use of which I had now become
expert enough to kill small game without destroying it. While here, some
of General Jackson's volunteers from his wars against the Creeks and
Seminoles returned, and related some of the incidents of their perilous
campaign. At length a keel-boat, or barge, arrived, under the command of
Captain Ensminger, of Saline, which discharged its cargo at this point,
and took on board the freight of Kemp and Keen, bound to St. Louis,
in Missouri.
We pursued our way, under the force of oars, which soon brought us to
the mouth of the Ohio, where the captain paused to prepare for stemming
the Mississippi. It was now the first day of July, warm and balmy during
the mornings and evenings, but of a torrid heat at noon. We were now one
thousand miles below Pittsburgh--a distance which it is impossible for
any man to realize from the mere reading of books. This splendid valley
is one of the prominent creations of the universe. Its fertility and
beauty are unequaled; and its capacities of sustaining a dense
population cannot be overrated. Seven States border on its waters, and
they are seven States which are destined to contribute no little part
to the commerce, wealth, and power of the Union. It is idle to talk of
the well-cultivated and garden-like little rivers of Europe, of some two
or three hundred miles in length, compared to the Ohio. There is nothing
like it in all Europe for its great length, uninterrupted fertility, and
varied resources, and consequent power to support an immense population.
Yet its banks consist not of a dead level, like the lower Nile and
Volga, but of undulating plains and hills, which afford a lively flow to
its waters, and supply an amount of hydraulic power which is amazing.
The river itself is composed of some of the prime streams of the
country. The Alleghany, the Monongahela, the Muskingum, the Miami, the
Wabash, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee, are rivers of the most noble
proportions, and the congregated mass of water rolls forward, increasing
in volume and magnificence, until the scene delights the eye by its
displays of quiet, lovely, rural magnitude and physical grandeur.
Yet all this is but an element in the vast system of western waters. It
reaches the Mississippi, but to be swallowed up and engulfed by that
turbid and rapid stream, which, like some gaping, gigantic monster,
running wild from the Rocky Mountains and the Itasca summit, stands
ready to gulp it down. The scene is truly magnificent, and the struggle
not slight. For more than twenty miles, the transparent blue waters of
the Ohio are crowded along the Tennessee coast; but the Mississippi,
swollen by its summer flood, as if disdainful of its rural and
peace-like properties, gains the mastery before reaching Memphis, and
carries its characteristic of turbid geologic power for a thousand miles
more, until its final exit into the Mexican Gulf.
I had never seen such a sight. I had lost all my standards of
comparison. Compared to it, my little home streams would not fill a pint
cup; and, like a man suddenly ushered into a new world, I was amazed at
the scene before me. Mere _amplitude_ of the most ordinary elements of
water and alluvial land has done this. The onward rush of eternal waters
was an idea vaguely floating in my mind. The Indians appeared to have
embodied this idea in the word Mississippi.
Ensminger was a stout manly fellow, of the characteristic traits of
Anglo-Saxon daring; but he thought it prudent not to plunge too hastily
into this mad current, and we slept at the precise point of embouchure,
where, I think, Cairo is now located. Early the next morning the oarsmen
were paraded, like so many militia, on the slatted gunwales of the
barge, each armed with a long and stout setting pole, shod with iron.
Ensminger himself took the helm, and the toil and struggle of pushing
the barge up stream began. We were obliged to keep close to the shore,
in order to find bottom for the poles, and whenever that gave out, the
men instantly resorted to oars to gain some point on the opposite side,
where bottom could be reached. It was a struggle requiring the utmost
activity. The water was so turbid that we could not perceive objects an
inch below the surface. The current rushed with a velocity that
threatened to carry everything before it. The worst effect was its
perpetual tendency to undermine its banks. Often heavy portions of the
banks plunged into the river, endangering boats and men. The banks
consisted of dark alluvion ten to fifteen feet above the water, bearing
a dense growth of trees and shrubbery. The plunging of these banks into
the stream often sounded like thunder. With every exertion, we advanced
but five miles the first day, and it was a long July day. As evening
came on, the mosquitos were in hordes. It was impossible to perform the
offices of eating or drinking, without suffering the keenest torture
from their stings.
The second day we ascended six miles, the third day seven miles, the
fourth day six miles, and the fifth eight miles, which brought us to the
first settlement on the Missouri shore, called Tyawapaty Bottom. The
banks in this distance became more elevated, and we appeared to be
quitting the more nascent region. We noticed the wild turkey and gray
squirrel ashore. The following day we went but three miles, when the
severe labor caused some of the hands to give out. Ensminger was a man
not easily discouraged. He lay by during the day, and the next morning
found means to move ahead. At an early hour we reached the head of the
settlement, and came to at a spot called the Little Chain of Rocks. The
fast lands of the Missouri shore here jut into the river, and I
examined, at this point, a remarkable bed of white clay, which is
extensively employed by the local mechanics for chalk, but which is
wholly destitute of carbonic acid. We ascended, this day, ten miles; and
the next day five miles, which carried us to Cape Girardeau--a town
estimated to be fifty miles above the mouth of the Ohio. Here were about
fifty houses, situated on a commanding eminence. We had been landed but
a short time, when one of the principal merchants of the place sent me
word that he had just received some drugs and medicines which he wished
me to examine. I went up directly to his store, when it turned out that
he was no druggist at all, nor wished my skill in this way, but, having
heard there was a doctor aboard, he had taken this facetious mode of
inviting me to partake of some refreshments. I regret that I have
forgotten his name.
The next day we ascended seven miles, and next the same distance, and
stopped at the Moccason Spring, a basin of limpid water occupying a
crevice in the limestone rock. The day following we ascended but five
miles, and the next day seven miles, in which distance we passed the
Grand Tower, a geological monument rising from the bed of the river,
which stands to tell of some great revolution in the ancient face of the
country. The Mississippi River probably broke through one of its ancient
barriers at this place. We made three unsuccessful attempts to pass
Garlic Point, where we encountered a very strong current, and finally
dropped down and came to, for the night, below it, the men being much
exhausted with these attempts. We renewed the effort with a _cordelle_
the next morning, with success, but not without exhausting the men so
much that two of them refused to proceed, who were immediately paid off,
and furnished provisions to return. We succeeded in going to the mouth
of the Obrazo, about half a mile higher, when we lay by all day. This
delay enabled Ensminger to recruit his crew, and during the three
following days we ascended respectively six, seven, and ten miles, which
brought us to the commencement of Bois-brule bottom. This is a fertile,
and was then a comparatively populous, settlement. We ascended along it
about seven miles, the next day seven more, and the next eleven, which
completed the ascent to the antique town of St. Genevieve. About three
hundred houses were here clustered together, which, with their
inhabitants, had the looks which we may fancy to belong to the times of
Louis XIV. of France. It was the chief mart of the lead mines, situated
in the interior. I observed heavy stacks of pig lead piled up about the
warehouses. We remained here the next day, which was the 20th of July,
and then went forward twelve miles, the next day thirteen, and the next
five, which brought us, at noon, to the town of Herculaneum, containing
some thirty or forty buildings, excluding three picturesque-looking shot
towers on the top of the rocky cliffs of the river. This was another
mart of the lead mines.
I determined to land definitively at this point, purposing to visit the
mines, after completing my ascent by land to St. Louis. It was now the
23d of July, the whole of which, from the 1st, we had spent in a
diligent ascent of the river, by setting pole and cordelle, from the
junction of the Ohio--a distance of one hundred and seventy miles. We
were still thirty miles above St. Louis.
I have detailed some of the incidents of the journey, in order to denote
the difficulties of the ascent with barges prior to the introduction of
steam, and also the means which this slowness of motion gave me of
becoming acquainted with the physical character of this river and its
shores. A large part of the west banks I had traveled on foot, and
gleaned several facts in its mineralogy and geology which made it an
initial point in my future observations. The metalliferous formation is
first noticed at the little chain of rocks. From the Grand Tower, the
western shores become precipitous, showing sections and piled-up
pinnacles of the series of horizontal sandstones and limestones which
characterize the imposing coast. Had I passed it in a steamer, downward
bound, as at this day, in forty-eight hours, I should have had none but
the vaguest and most general conceptions of its character. But I went to
glean facts in its natural history, and I knew these required careful
personal inspection of minute as well as general features. There may be
a sort of horseback theory of geology; but mineralogy, and the natural
sciences generally, must be investigated on foot, hammer or
goniometer in hand.
CHAPTER III.
Reception at Herculaneum, and introduction to the founder of the first
American colony in Texas, Mr. Austin--His character--Continuation of the
journey on foot to St. Louis--Incidents by the way--Trip to the
mines--Survey of the mine country--Expedition from Potosi into the Ozark
Mountains, and return, after a winter's absence, to Potosi.
1818. The familiar conversation on shore of my friendly associates,
speaking of a doctor on board who was inquiring into the natural history
and value of the country at every point, procured me quite unexpectedly
a favorable reception at Herculaneum, as it had done at Cape Girardeau.
I was introduced to Mr. Austin, the elder, who, on learning my intention
of visiting the mines, offered every facility in his power to favor my
views. Mr. Austin was a gentleman of general information, easy and
polite manners, and enthusiastic character. He had, with his
connections, the Bates, I believe, been the founder of Herculaneum, and
was solicitous to secure it a share of the lead trade, which had been so
long and exclusively enjoyed by St. Genevieve. He was a man of very
decided enterprise, inclined to the manners of the old school gentlemen,
which had, I believe, narrowed his popularity, and exposed him to some
strong feuds in the interior, where his estates lay. He was a diligent
reader of the current things of the day, and watched closely the signs
of the times. He had lived in the capital of Virginia, where he married.
He had been engaged extensively as a merchant and miner in Wyeth county,
in the western part of that State. He had crossed the wilderness west of
the Ohio River, at an early day, to St. Louis, then a Spanish interior
capital. He had been received by the Spanish authorities with
attentions, and awarded a large grant of the mining lands. He had
remained under the French period of supremacy, and had been for about
sixteen years a resident of the region when it was transferred by
purchase to the United States. The family had been from an early day,
the first in point of civilization in the country. And as his position
seemed to wane, and clouds to hover over his estates, he seemed
restless, and desirous to transfer his influence to another theatre of
action. From my earliest conversations with him, he had fixed his mind
on Texas, and spoke with enthusiasm about it.
I left my baggage, consisting of two well-filled trunks, in charge of
Mr. Ellis, a worthy innkeeper of the town, and when I was ready to
continue my way on foot for St. Louis, I was joined in this journey by
Messrs. Kemp and Keen, my fellow-voyagers on the water from Louisville.
We set out on the 26th of the month. The weather was hot and the
atmosphere seemed to be lifeless and heavy. Our road lay over gentle
hills, in a state of nature. The grass had but in few places been
disturbed by the plough, or the trees by the axe. The red clay soil
seemed fitter for the miner than the farmer.
At the distance of seven miles, we came to a remarkable locality of
springs strongly impregnated with sulphur, which bubbled up from the
ground. They were remarkably clear and cold, and deposited a light
sediment of sulphur, along the little rills by which they found an
outlet into a rapid stream, which was tributary to the Mississippi.
Five miles beyond these springs, we reached the valley of the Merrimack,
just at nightfall; and notwithstanding the threatening atmosphere, and
the commencement of rain, before we descended to the stream, we
prevailed with the ferryman to go down and set us over, which we urged
with the view of reaching a house within less than a mile of the other
bank. He landed us at the right spot; but the darkness had now become so
intense that we could not keep the road, and groped our way along an old
wheel-track into the forest. It also came on to rain hard. We at last
stood still. We were lost in utter darkness, and exposed to a pelting
storm. After a while we heard a faint stroke of a cow bell. We listened
attentively; it was repeated at long intervals, but faintly, as if the
animal was housed. It gave us the direction, which was quite different
from the course we had followed. No obstacle, though there were many,
prevented us from reaching the house, where we arrived wet and hungry,
and half dead with fatigue.
The Merrimack, in whose valley we were thus entangled, is the prime
outlet of the various streams of the mine country, where Renault, and
Arnault, and other French explorers, expended their researches during
the exciting era of the celebrated illusory Mississippi scheme.
The next day we crossed an elevated arid tract for twelve miles to the
village of Carondalet, without encountering a house, or an acre of land
in cultivation. On this tract, which formed a sort of oak orchard, with
high grass, and was a range for wild deer, Jefferson Barracks have since
been located. Six miles further brought us to the town of St. Louis,
over an elevated brushy plain, in which the soil assumed a decidedly
fertile aspect. We arrived about four o'clock in the afternoon, and had
a pleasant evening to view its fine site, based as it is on solid
limestone rock, where no encroachment of the headlong Mississippi can
ever endanger its safety. I was delighted with the site, and its
capacity for expansion, and cannot conceive of one in America, situated
in the interior, which appears destined to rival it in population,
wealth, power, and resources. It is idle to talk of any city of Europe
or Asia, situated as this is, twelve hundred miles from the sea, which
can be named as its future equal.
It was now the 27th of July, and the river, which had been swollen by
the Missouri flood, was rapidly falling, and almost diminished to its
summer minimum. It left a heavy deposit of mud on its immediate shores,
which, as it dried in the sun, cracked into fragments, which were often
a foot thick. These cakes of dried sediment consisted chiefly of sand
and sufficient aluminous matter to render the whole body of the
deposit adhesive.
I was kindly received by R. Pettibone, Esq., a townsman from New York,
from whom I had parted at Pittsburgh. This gentleman had established
himself in business with Col. Eastman, and as soon as he heard of my
arrival, invited me to his house, where I remained until I was ready to
proceed to the mines. I examined whatever seemed worth notice in the
town and its environs. I then descended the Mississippi in a skiff about
thirty miles to Herculaneum, and the next day set out, on foot, at an
early hour, for the mines. I had an idea that every effective labor
should be commenced right, and, as I purposed examining the mineralogy
and geology of the mine tract, I did not think that could be more
thoroughly accomplished than on foot. I ordered my baggage to follow me
by the earliest returning lead teams. True it was sultry, and much of
the first part of the way, I was informed, was very thinly settled. I
went the first day, sixteen miles, and reached the head of Joachim
Creek. In this distance, I did not, after quitting the environs of the
town, pass a house. The country lay in its primitive state. For the
purpose of obtaining a good road, an elevated arid ridge had been
pursued much of the way. In crossing this, I suffered severely from heat
and thirst, and the only place where I saw water was in a rut, which I
frightened a wild turkey from partaking of, in order to stoop down to it
myself. As soon as I reached the farm house, where I stopped at an early
hour, I went down to the creek, and bathed in its refreshing current.
This, with a night's repose, perfectly restored me. The next day I
crossed Grand River, and went to the vicinity of Old mines, when a
sudden storm compelled me to take shelter at the first house, where I
passed my second night. In this distance I visited the mining station of
John Smith T. at his place of Shibboleth. Smith was a bold and
indomitable man, originally from Tennessee, who possessed a marked
individuality of character, and being a great shot with pistol and
rifle, had put the country in dread of him.
After crossing Big or Grand River, I was fairly within the mine country,
and new objects began to attract my attention on every hand. The third
day, at an early hour, I reached Potosi, and took up my residence at Mr.
W. Ficklin's, a most worthy and estimable Kentuckian, who had a fund of
adventurous lore of forest life to tell, having, in early life, been a
spy and a hunter "on the dark and bloody ground." With him I was soon at
home, and to him I owe much of my early knowledge of wood-craft. The day
after my arrival was the general election of the (then) Territory of
Missouri, and the district elected Mr. Stephen F. Austin to the local
legislature. I was introduced to him, and also to the leading gentlemen
of the county, on the day of the election, which brought them together.
Mr. Austin, the elder, also arrived. This gathering was a propitious
circumstance for my explorations; no mineralogist had ever visited the
country. Coming from the quarter I did, and with the object I had, there
was a general interest excited on the subject, and each one appeared to
feel a desire to show me attentions.
Mr. Stephen F. Austin invited me to take rooms at the old Austin
mansion; he requested me to make one of them a depot for my
mineralogical collections, and he rode out with me to examine
several mines.
He was a gentleman of an acute and cultivated mind, and great suavity of
manners. He appreciated the object of my visit, and saw at once the
advantages that might result from the publication of a work on the
subject. For Missouri, like the other portions of the Mississippi
Valley, had come out of the Late War with exhaustion. The effects of a
peace were to lower her staples, lead, and furs, and she also severely
felt the reaction of the paper money system, which had created extensive
derangement and depression. He possessed a cautious, penetrating mind,
and was a man of elevated views. He had looked deeply into the problem
of western settlement, and the progress of American arts, education, and
modes of thinking and action over the whole western world, and was then
meditating a movement on the Red River of Arkansas, and eventually
Texas. He foresaw the extension in the Mississippi Valley of the
American system of civilization, to the modification and exclusion of
the old Spanish and French elements.
Mr. Austin accompanied me in several of my explorations. On one of these
excursions, while stopping at a planter's who owned a mill, I saw
several large masses of sienite, lying on the ground; and on inquiry
where this material could come from, in the midst of a limestone
country, was informed that it was brought from the waters of the St.
Francis, to serve the purpose of millstones. This furnished the hint for
a visit to that stream, which resulted in the discovery of the primitive
tract, embracing the sources of the St. Francis and Big Rivers.
I found rising of forty principal mines scattered over a district of
some twenty miles, running parallel to, and about thirty miles west of,
the banks of the Mississippi. I spent about three months in these
examinations, and as auxiliary means thereto, built a chemical furnace,
for assays, in Mr. Austin's old smelting-house, and collected specimens
of the various minerals of the country. Some of my excursions were made
on foot, some on horseback, and some in a single wagon. I unwittingly
killed a horse in these trips, in swimming a river, when the animal was
over-heated; at least he was found dead next morning in the stable.
In the month of October I resolved to push my examinations west beyond
the line of settlement, and to extend them into the Ozark Mountains. By
this term is meant a wide range of hill country running from the head of
the Merrimack southerly through Missouri and Arkansas. In this
enterprise several persons agreed to unite. I went to St. Louis, and
interested a brother of my friend Pettibone in the plan. I found my old
fellow-voyager, Brigham, on the American bottom in Illinois, where he
had cultivated some large fields of corn, and where he had contracted
fever and ague. He agreed, however, to go, and reached the point of
rendezvous, at Potosi; but he had been so enfeebled as to be obliged to
return from that point. The brother of Pettibone arrived. He had no
tastes for natural history, but it was a season of leisure, and he was
prone for the adventure. But the experienced woodsmen who had agreed to
go, and who had talked largely of encountering bears and Osage Indians,
and slaughtering buffalo, one by one gave out. I was resolved myself to
proceed, whoever might flinch. I had purchased a horse, constructed a
pack saddle with my own hands, and made every preparation that was
deemed necessary. On the 6th of November I set out. Mr. Ficklin, my good
host, accompanied me to the outskirts of the settlement. He was an old
woodsman, and gave me proper directions about hobbling my horse at
night, and imparted other precautions necessary to secure a man's life
against wild animals and savages. My St. Louis auxiliary stood stoutly
by me. If he had not much poetry in his composition, he was a reliable
man in all weathers, and might be counted upon to do his part willingly.
This journey had, on reflection, much daring and adventure. It
constitutes my initial point of travels; but, as I have described it
from my journal, in a separate form, it will not be necessary here to do
more than say that it was successfully accomplished. After spending the
fall of 1818, and the winter of 1819, in a series of adventures in
barren, wild, and mountainous scenes, we came out on the tributary
waters of the Arkansas, down which we descended in a log canoe. On the
Strawberry River, my ankle, which I had injured by leaping from a wall
of rock while hunting in the Green Mountains four years before,
inflamed, and caused me to lie by a few days; which was the only injury
I received in the route.
I returned to Potosi in February. The first man I met (Major Hawking),
on reaching the outer settlements, expressed surprise at seeing me, as
he had heard from the hunters, who had been on my trail about eighty
miles to the Saltpetre caves on the Currents River, that I had been
killed by the Indians. Every one was pleased to see me, and no one more
so than my kind Kentucky host, who had been the last to bid me adieu on
the verge of the wilderness.
CHAPTER IV.
Sit down to write an account of the mines--Medical properties of the
Mississippi water--Expedition to the Yellow Stone--Resolve to visit
Washington with a plan of managing the mines--Descend the river from St.
Genevieve to New Orleans--Incidents of the trip--Take passage in a ship
for New York--Reception with my collection there--Publish my memoir on
the mines, and proceed with it to Washington--Result of my plan--
Appointed geologist and mineralogist on an expedition to the sources of
the Mississippi.
1819. I now sat down to draw up a description of the mine country and
its various mineral resources. Having finished my expedition to the
south, I felt a strong desire to extend my observations up the
Mississippi to St. Anthony's Falls, and into the copper-bearing regions
of that latitude. Immediately I wrote to the Hon. J.B. Thomas, of
Illinois, the only gentleman I knew at Washington, on the subject,
giving him a brief description of my expedition into the Ozarks. I did
not know that another movement, in a far distant region, was then on
foot for exploring the same latitudes, with which it was my fortune
eventually to be connected. I allude to the expedition from Detroit in
1820, under General Cass.
I had, at this time, personally visited every mine or digging of
consequence in the Missouri country, and had traced its geological
relations into Arkansas. I was engaged on this paper assiduously. When
it was finished, I read it to persons well acquainted with the region,
and sought opportunities of personal criticism upon it.
The months of February and March had now glided away. Too close a
confinement to my room, however, affected my health. The great change of
life from camping out, and the rough scenes of the forest, could not
fail to disturb the functional secretions. An obstruction of the liver
developed itself in a decided case of jaundice. After the usual
remedies, I made a journey from Potosi to the Mississippi River, for
the purpose of ascending that stream on a barge, in order that I might
be compelled to drink its turbid, but healthy waters, and partake again
of something like field fare. The experiment succeeded.
The trip had the desired effect, and I returned in a short time from St.
Louis to Mine au Breton in completely restored health.
At Herculaneum, I was introduced to Major Stephen H. Long, of the United
States Topographical Engineers, who was now on his way, in the small
steamer Western Pioneer, up the Missouri to the Yellow Stone. I went on
board the boat and was also introduced to Mr. Say, the entomologist and
conchologist, Mr. Jessup the geologist, and other gentlemen composing
the scientific corps.
This expedition was the first evidence to my mind of the United States
Government turning attention, in connection with practical objects, to
matters of science, and the effort was due, I understand, to the
enlightened mind of Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of War.
It occurred tome, after my return to Potosi, that the subject of the
mines which I had been inquiring about, so far as relates to their
management as a part of the public domain, was one that belonged
properly to the United States Government; Missouri was but a territory
having only inchoate rights. The whole mineral domain was held, in fee,
by the General Government, and whatever irregularity had been seen about
the collections of rents, &c., constituted a question which Congress
could only solve. I determined to visit Washington, and lay the subject
before the President. As soon as I had made this determination,
everything bowed to this idea. I made a rapid visit, on horseback, to
St. Louis, with my manuscript, to consult a friend, who entirely
concurred in this view. If the mines were ever to be put on a proper
basis, and the public to derive a benefit from them, the government
must do it.
As soon as I returned to Potosi, I packed my collection of mineralogy,
&c. I ordered the boxes by the lead teams to St. Genevieve. I went to
the same point myself, and, taking passage in the new steamer "St.
Louis," descended the Mississippi to New Orleans. The trip occupied some
days. I repassed the junction of the Ohio with deep interest. It is not
only the importance of geographical events that impresses us. The nature
of the phenomena is often of the highest moral moment.
An interesting incident occurred as soon as I got on board the steamer.
The captain handed me a letter. I opened it, and found it to contain
money from the secretary of a secret society. I was surprised at such an
occurrence, but I confess not displeased. I had kept my pecuniary
affairs to myself. My wardrobe and baggage were such as everywhere to
make a respectable appearance. If I economized in travel and outlay, I
possessed the dignity of keeping my own secret. One night, as I lay
sleepless in a dark but double-bedded room, an old gentleman--a
disbanded officer, I think, whose health disturbed his repose--began a
conversation of a peculiar kind, and asked me whether I was not a
Freemason. Darkness, and the distance I was from him, induced a
studiedly cautious reply. But a denouement the next day followed. This
incident was the only explanation the unwonted and wholly unexpected
remittance admitted. A stranger, traveling to a southern and sickly city
to embark for a distant State, perhaps never to return--the act appeared
to me one of pure benevolence, and it reveals a trait which should wipe
away many an error of judgment or feeling.
The voyage down this stream was an exciting one, and replete with novel
scenes and incidents. The portion of the river above the mouth of the
Ohio, which it had taken me twenty days to ascend in a barge, we were
not forty-eight hours in descending. Trees, points of land, islands,
every physical object on shore, we rushed by with a velocity that left
but vague and indistinct impressions. We seemed floating, as it were, on
the waters of chaos, where mud, trees, boats, were carried along swiftly
by the current, without any additional impulse of a steam-engine,
puffing itself off at every stroke of the piston. The whole voyage to
New Orleans had some analogy to the recollection of a gay dream, in
which objects were recollected as a long line of loosely-connected
panoramic fragments.
At New Orleans, where I remained several days, I took passage in the
brig Arethusa, Captain H. Leslie, for New York.
While at anchor at the Balize, we were one night under apprehensions
from pirates, but the night passed away without any attack. The mud and
alluvial drift of the Mississippi extend many leagues into the gulf. It
was evident that the whole delta had been formed by the deposits made in
the course of ages. Buried trees, and other forms of organic life, which
have been disinterred from the banks of the river, as high, not only as
New Orleans and Natchez, but to the mouth of the Ohio, show this. It
must be evident to every one who takes the trouble to examine the
phenomena, that an arm of the gulf anciently extended to this point; and
that the Ohio, the Arkansas, Red River, and other tributaries of the
present day, as well as the main Mississippi, had at that epoch entered
this ancient arm of the gulf. I landed at the light-house at the Balize.
We had to walk on planks supported by stakes in the water. A sea of
waving grass rose above the liquid plain, and extended as far as the eye
could reach. About twelve or fourteen inches depth of water spread over
the land. A light-house of brick or stone, formerly built on this mud
plain, east of the main pass, had partially sunk, and hung in a diagonal
line to the horizon, reminding the spectator of the insecurity of all
solid structures on such a nascent basis. The present light-house was of
wood. It was evident, however, that here were deposited millions of
acres of the richest alluvion on the globe, and in future times another
Holland may be expected to be rescued from the dominions of the ocean.
As we passed out into the gulf, another evidence of the danger of the
channel met our view, in the wreck of a stranded vessel. The vast stain
of mud and alluvial filth extended for leagues into the gulf. As the
vessel began to take the rise and swell of the sea, I traversed the deck
diligently, and, by dint of perseverance in keeping the deck, escaped
sea-sickness. I had never been at sea before. When the land had vanished
at all points, and there was nothing in sight but deep blue water around
us and a sky above, the scene was truly sublime; there was a mental
reaction, impressing a lesson of the insignificance of man, which I had
never before felt.
We passed the Gulf of Florida, heaving in sight on one side, as we
passed, of the Tortugas, and, on the other, of the Mora Castle of
Havana, after which there was little to be noticed, but changes in the
Gulf Stream, fishes, sea-birds, ships, and the constant mutations from
tempests to the deep blue waters of a calm, till we hove in sight of the
Neversinks, and entered the noble bay of New York.
It was the third of August when I reached the city, having stayed out my
quarantine faithfully on Staten Island, the mineralogy and geological
structure of which I completely explored during that period of municipal
regimen--for it was the season of yellow fever, and there was a rigid
quarantine. Dr. Dewitt, the health officer, who had known my father,
received me very kindly, and my time wore off imperceptibly, while I
footed its serpentine vales and magnesian plains.
On reaching the city, I fixed my lodgings at a point on the banks of the
Hudson, or rather at its point of confluence with the noble bay (71
Courtland), where I could overlook its islands and busy water craft,
ever in motion.
I had now completed, by land and water, a circuit of the Union, having
traveled some 6000 miles. My arrival was opportune. No traveler of
modern times had thrown himself upon the success of his scientific
observations, and I was hailed, by the scientific public, as the first
one who had ever brought a collection of the mineral productions of the
Mississippi Valley. My collection, which was large and splendid, was the
means of introducing me to men of science at New York and elsewhere. Dr.
Samuel L. Mitchell and Dr. D. Hosack, who were then in the zenith of
their fame, cordially received me. The natural sciences were then
chiefly in the hands of physicians, and there was scarcely a man of note
in these departments of inquiry who was not soon numbered among my
acquaintances. Dr. John Torrey was then a young man, who had just
published his first botanical work. Dr. A.W. Ives warmly interested
himself in my behalf, and I had literary friends on every side. Among
these Gov. De Witt Clinton was prominent.
I had fixed my lodgings where the Hudson River, and the noble bay of New
York and its islands, were in full view from my window. Here I opened my
collection, and invited men of science to view it, I put to press my
observations on the mines and physical geography of the West. I also
wrote a letter on its resources, which was published by the
Corresponding Association of Internal Improvements, The Lyceum of
Natural History, and the Historical Society, each admitted me to
membership. My work was published about the 25th of November. As soon as
it was announced, I took copies of it, and proceeded to Washington,
where I was favorably received. I lost no time in calling on Mr. Monroe,
and the Secretaries of War and of the Treasury. Mr. Monroe took up his
commonplace-book, and made memorandums of my statements respecting the
mines. Mr. Calhoun received me cordially, and said that the
jurisdiction of the mines was not in his department. But he had
received a memoir from General Cass, Governor of Michigan, proposing to
explore the sources of the Mississippi, through the Lakes, and
suggesting that a naturalist, conversant with mineralogy, should
accompany him, to inquire into the supposed value of the Lake Superior
copper mines. He tendered me the place, and stated the compensation. The
latter was small, but the situation appeared to me to be one which was
not to be overlooked. I accepted it. It seemed to be the bottom step in
a ladder which I ought to climb. Small events, it has been said, lead a
man, and decide his course in life; and whether this step was important
in mine, may be better judged of, perhaps, when these notes shall have
been read.
In the mean time, while I accepted this place, the subject of the
management and superintendence of the western mines appeared to be fully
appreciated by Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Crawford, the latter of whom
requested a written statement on the subject; and it was held for
further consideration.[6] I found during this, my first visit to the
capital, that the intelligence of my favorable reception at New York,
and of my tour in the West, had preceded me. Friends appeared, of whom,
at this distance of time, I may name the Vice-President, D.D. Tompkins,
Judge Smith Thompson, of the Supreme Court, Colonel Benton, Senator
elect from Missouri, Hon. John Scott, the delegate, Hon. Jesse B.
Thomas, Senator from Illinois, John D. Dickinson, Esq., Representative
from Troy, N.Y., Hon. Josiah Meigs, Commissioner of the General Land
Office, Gen. Sol. Van Rensselaer, and Dr. Darlington, Rep. from
Pennsylvania. To each of these, I have ever supposed myself to be under
obligations for aiding me in my object of exploration, and I certainly
was for civilities and attentions.
[Footnote 6: This effort became the cause of the government finally
taking definite action on the subject. Mr. Monroe presented it to the
consideration of Congress in the fall, and a superintendent was
subsequently appointed.]
Mr. Calhoun addressed a letter to Governor Cass, of Michigan, and I
proceeded immediately to the North, to be ready to avail myself of the
first opportunity of ascending the lakes to the place of departure.
CHAPTER V.
Set out on the expedition to the north-west--Remain a few weeks
at New York--Visit Niagara Falls, and reach Detroit in the first
steamer--Preparations for a new style of traveling--Correspondents--General
sketch of the route pursued by the expedition, and its results--Return
to Albany, and publish my narrative--Journal of it--Preparation for a
scientific account of the observations.
1820. I left Washington on the 5th of February, exactly one year from my
return to Potosi from the Ozarks; proceeded to New York, where I
remained till early in March; traveled by sleigh over the Highlands, was
at Niagara Falls on the 1st of May, and reached Detroit in the steamer
"Walk-in-the-water" on the 8th of May. Captain D.B. Douglass, of West
Point Academy, was appointed topographer, and joined me at Buffalo. We
proceeded up Lake Erie in company, and were received in a most cordial
manner by General Cass and the citizens generally of that yet remote and
gay military post.
Arrangements were not completed for immediate embarkation. We were to
travel in the novel Indian bark canoe. Many little adaptations were
necessary, and while these things were being done we spent a couple of
weeks very agreeably, in partaking of the hospitalities of the place. My
correspondence now began to accumulate, and I took this occasion of a
little pause to attend to it. The publication of my work on the mines
had had the effect to awaken attention to the varied resources of the
Mississippi Valley, and the subject of geographical and geological
explorations. It also brought me a class of correspondents who are
simply anxious for practical information, and always set about getting
it in the most direct way, whether they are personal or introduced
acquaintances or not. I determined at once to reply to these, wherever
they appeared to be honest inquiries for geographical facts, which I
only, and not books, could communicate.
Mr. Robert Bright, of Charleston, S.C., an English emigrant, having got
a copy of my work, wrote (Jan. 11) as to the business prospects of St.
Louis, intending apparently to go thither. Not knowing my correspondent,
but, on a moment's reflection, believing the communication of such
information would not make me poorer and might be important to him, by
helping him on in his fortunes in the world, I wrote to him, giving the
desired information, assigning to that spot, in my estimation, a highly
important central influence on the business and affairs of the
Mississippi Valley.
The Hon. John Scott, delegate in Congress, from Missouri, speaking of
the work on the mineralogy, &c., of that territory, says, "Those sources
of individual and national wealth, which I have no doubt you have well
developed, have been too long neglected, and I trust that your
well-directed efforts to bring them to notice will be amply rewarded,
not only in the emoluments derived from the work, but what is still more
gratifying to the author, and the enlightened and patriotic statesman,
in seeing this portion of our resources brought into full operation."
Mr. Robert C. Bruffey, of Missouri, writes (March 14th), giving a sketch
of a recent tour into the southern part of Arkansas:--
"_Health of Southern Climates_.--When I returned from the Arkansas,
which was not till the 6th of October, with some few others, I brought a
particular 'specimen' of the country, namely, the ague and fever, which
I endured for two months, and until the commencement of cold weather.
"I continued but three weeks at the Springs (Hot Springs of Wachita);
could I have spent the whole summer in the use of the water, no doubt I
should have been much benefited, if not entirely relieved from my
irksome complaint. I saw your friend Stephen P. Austin, at the Springs,
just recovered from a dangerous sickness, namely, fever and vomiting
blood. He inquired after you particularly.
"_A New Field for Exploration_.--When I was in the lower country, I was
sorry you had not time to visit that interesting section of country
previous to the publication of your work (which, I understand, has been
received and appreciated with avidity); for I assure you, as relates to
scientific researches, you would have collected materials that would
have come within its purview, and repaid you liberally for your labor,
and the specimens added richly to your collection.
"I will now give you a description, so far as my feeble abilities will
admit, of the things which I think worthy the attention of a devotee of
science. In the first place, the springs are worthy of notice, in a
natural as well as medical point of view. They contain in their
different issues all the different temperatures, from boiling, down to a
pleasure bath. They contain a combining principle, or the quality of
petrifying and uniting various substances that may come in contact with
them, such as flint, earth, stone, iron, &c. The bluff from which they
flow out is principally of an apparent calcareous substance, formed by
the water. In some of the springs a red, in others a green and yellow,
sediment is produced. The waters will remove rheumatism, purge out
mercury, and produce salivation, in those who have it in their system
previously; cure old sores and _consumptions_, in their early stages;
cure dropsies, palsies, &c., if taken in time.
"The next curiosity is the loadstone, a specimen of which I have with
me; you can examine it when you visit this country. The next rock
crystal, of which I have two specimens.[7] The fourth is alum, of which
I procured a small quantity, as I did not visit the cave where it is to
be obtained. The fifth is oil and whetstone, of which there is a great
abundance in that quarter. The sixth is asbestus. In a word, the
subjects are worthy the attention of those who wish to be instrumental
in enlarging or developing that branch of science."
[Footnote 7: Now in my cabinet.]
Mr. William Ficklin, one of the pioneers of Kentucky, but now a resident
of Missouri, writes: "I am pleased to hear of your appointment, and wish
I could be with you on the route, as you will visit a section of the
country but little known to our government. I must advise you to be on
your guard against the Indians, the best of whom will murder a man for a
trifle, if they can meet him alone, or off his guard.
"A Mr. Nabb, a few months ago, brought me some white metal, which, he
says, he smelted in a common forge--it was as bright as silver, but too
hard to bear the hammer. I think it must be zinc."
_March 18th_.--Mr. Amos Eaton writes from Troy: "A second edition of my
_Index to Geology_ is in the press--about thirty-six pages struck off. I
have written the whole over anew, and extended it to about two hundred
and fifty pages 12mo. I have taken great pains to collect facts, in this
district, during the two years since my first edition was published. But
I am rather deficient in my knowledge of secondary and alluvial
formations; I wish to trouble you with a few inquiries upon
that subject.
"From what knowledge I have been able to obtain in that department, I am
inclined to arrange the secondary class thus:--
"Breccia: compact, or shell limestone; gypsum, secondary sandstone.
"I leave much, also, for peculiar local formations.
"A gentleman presented specimens to the Troy Lyceum, from Illinois, of
gypsum and secondary sandstone, and informed me that the latter overlaid
the former in regular structure. Myron Holly, and others, have given me
similar specimens, which they represent as being similarly situated,
from several localities in the western part of this State. This
secondary sandstone is sometimes more or less calcareous. I believe it
is used for a cement by the Canal Company, which hardens under water.
Will you do me the favor to settle this question?
"On your way to Detroit, you may perhaps, without material
inconvenience, collect facts of importance to me, in relation to
secondary and alluvial formations. Anything transmitted to me by the
middle of April on these subjects will be in season, because I shall not
have printed all the transition part before that time.
"Have you any knowledge of the strata constituting Rocky Mountains? Is
it primitive, or is it graywacke like Catskill Mountains? I have said,
in a note, that, after you and Dr. E. James set foot upon it, we shall
no longer be ignorant of it.
"I intend to kindle a blaze of geological zeal before you return. I have
adapted the style of my index to the capacities of ladies,
plough-joggers, and mechanics."
_March 28th_.--While here, I received a notice of my election as a
member of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia.
_April 28th_.--James T. Johnston, Esq., of N.Y., writes on the
interesting character of the mineralogy of the interior of Georgia.
The spirit of inquiry denoted by these letters gives but a faint idea
of the interest which was now awakened in the public mind, on the
exploration of the west, and it would require a reference to the public
prints of the day to denote this. If the delay had served no other
purpose, it had brought us into a familiar acquaintance with our
commander, who was frank and straightforward in his manners, and fully
disposed, not only to say, but to do everything to facilitate the
object. He put no veto on any request of this kind, holding the smiths
and mechanics of the government amenable to comply with any order. He
was not a man, indeed, who dealt in hems and haws--did not require to
sleep upon a simple question--and is not a person whose course is to be
stopped, as many little big men are, by two straws crossed.
At length the canoes, which were our principal cause of delay, arrived
from Lake Huron, where they were constructed, and all things were ready
for our embarkation. It was the 24th of May when we set out. A small
detachment of infantry had been ordered to form a part of the
expedition, under Lieutenant Aeneas Mackay. Eight or ten Chippewa and
Ottowa Indians were taken in a separate canoe, as hunters, and gave
picturesqueness to the brigade by their costume. There were ten Canadian
voyagers of the north-west stamp. Professor Douglass and myself were the
only persons to whom separate classes of scientific duties were
assigned. A secretary and some assistants made the governor's mess
consist of nine persons. Altogether, we numbered, including guides and
interpreters, about forty persons; a truly formidable number of mouths
to feed in the "waste howling wilderness."
Having kept and published a journal of the daily incidents of the
expedition, I refer to it for details.[8] To plunge into the wilderness
is truly to take one's life in his hand. But nobody thought of this. The
enterprise was of a kind to produce exhilaration. The route lay up the
Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, and around the southern shores of Lakes
Huron and Superior to Fond du Lac. Thence up the St. Louis River in its
rugged passage through the Cabotian Mountains to the Savannah summit
which divides the great lakes from the Mississippi Valley. The latter
was entered through the _Comtaguma_ or Sandy Lake River. From this
point the source of the Mississippi was sought up rapids and falls, and
through lakes and savannahs, in which the channel winds. We passed the
inlet of the Leech Lake, which was fixed upon by Lieutenant Pike as its
probable source, and traced it through Little Lake Winnipeg to the inlet
of Turtle Lake in upper Red Cedar, or Cass Lake, in north lat. 47°. On
reaching this point, the waters were found unfavorable to proceeding
higher. The river was then descended to the falls of St. Anthony, St.
Peters, and Prairie du Chien. From the latter point we ascended the
Wisconsin to the portage into Fox River, and descended the latter to
Green Bay. At this point, the expedition was divided, a part going
north, in order to trace the shores to Michilimackinack, and part
steering south, by the shores of Lake Michigan to Chicago. At the latter
place, another division was made, Governor Cass and suite proceeding on
horseback, across the peninsula of Michigan, and Captain Douglass and
myself completing the survey of the eastern coast of Michigan, and
rejoining the party detached to strike Michilimackinack. The Huron
shores were coasted to the head of the River St. Clair and Detroit.
[Footnote 8: A Narrative Journal of Travels through the American Lakes
to the Sources of the Mississippi River. 1 vol. 8vo. pp. 419:
Albany, 1821.]
About four thousand miles were traversed. Of this distance the
topography was accurately traced by Captain Douglass and his assistant,
Mr. Trowbridge. This officer also took observations for the latitude at
every practical point, and collected with much labor the materials for a
new and enlarged map. Its geology and mineralogy were the subjects of a
detailed report made by me to the War Department in 1822. Of the copper
deposits on Lake Superior, a detailed report was made to the same
department in November 1820. The Indian tribes were the subject of
observation made by General Cass. Its botany, its fresh water
conchology, and its zoology and ichthyology, received the attention that
a rapid transit permitted. Its soil, productions, and climate were the
topics of daily observation. In short, no exploration had before been
made which so completely revealed the features and physical geography of
so large a portion of the public domain. And the literary and scientific
public waited with an intense desire for the result of these
observations in every department.
The first letter I received on my return route from that eventful tour,
was at the post of Green Bay, where a letter from J.T. Johnston, Esq.,
of New York, awaited me: "Since you departed," he observes, "nothing of
importance has occurred, either in the moral or political world. The
disturbances which disgrace the kingdom of Great Britain are, and still
continue to be, favored by a few factionists. Thistlewood, and the
members of the Cato Street conspiracy, have been tried for high treason,
and condemned, and I presume the next arrivals must bring us an account
of their execution. The Cortes has been established in Spain, and there
floats a rumor that the _Saint_, the adored Ferdinand, has fled to
France. The public debates in France seem to me to thunder forth, as the
precursor of some event which will yet violently agitate the country.
(Napoleon was now in St. Helena.) The stormy wave of discord has not
subsided. The temple of ambition is not overthrown, and party spirit
will rush to inhabit it. The convulsive struggle for independence in the
South (America) still continues, but civil war appears about to
interrupt its progress. At home all is quiet. A virtuous chief
magistrate and a wise administration must benefit a people so PRONE TO
DOMESTIC FACTION."