XI. 
 
 i893. 
 
 #ltj ^otiti) ^Leaflets. 
 
 The Opening of the West. 
 
 Old South Meeting Iouse, Boston, 
 1893. 
 
Glass 
 
 Book — 
 
 a&t- 
 
THE 
 
 OLD SOUTH LEAFLETS 
 
 ELEVENTH SERIES, 
 1893. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE, 
 1893. 
 

 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The Old South Leaflets are prepared primarily for circulation 
 among the attendants upon the Old South Lectures for Young People. The 
 subjects of the Leaflets are immediately related to the sul)jects of the lectures, 
 and they are intended to supplement the lectures and stimulate historical 
 interest and inquiry among the young people. They are made up, for the 
 most part, from original papers of the periods treated in the lectures, in the 
 hope to make the men and the public life of the periods more clear and real. 
 
 The Old South Lectures for Young People were instituted in the sum- 
 mer of 1883, as a means of promoting a more serious and intelligent atten- 
 tion to historical studies, especially studies in American history among the 
 young people of Boston. The success of the lectures has been so great as 
 to warrant the hope that such courses may be sustained in many other cities 
 of the country. 
 
 The Old South Lectures for 1883, intended to be strictly upon subjects 
 in early Massachusetts History, but by certain necessities somewhat mod- 
 ified, were as follows: "Governor Bradford and Governor Winthrop," 
 by Edwin D. Mead. "Plymouth," by Mrs. A. M. Diaz. "Concord," 
 by Frank B. Sanborn. "The Town-Meeting," by Prof. James K. 
 HosMER. "Franklin, the Boston Boy," by George M. Towle. "How 
 to Study American History," by Prof. G." Stanley Hall. "The Year 
 1777," by John Fiske. "History in the Boston Streets," by Edward 
 Everett Hale. The Leaflets prepared in connection with these lectures 
 consisted of (i) Cotton Mather's account of Governor Bradford, from the 
 " Magnalia ; " (2) the account of the arrival of the Pilgrims at Cape Cod, 
 from Bradford's Journal; (3) an extract from Emerson's Concord Address 
 in 1835; (4) extracts from Emerson, Samuel Adams, De Tocqueville and 
 others, upon the Town-Meeting ; (5) a portion of Franklin's Autobiography; 
 (6) Carlyle on the Study of History ; (7) an extract from Charles Sumner's 
 oration upon Lafayette, etc. ; (8) Emerson's poem, "Boston." 
 
 The lectures for 1884 were devoted to men representative of certain 
 epochs or ideas in the history of Boston, as follows : " Sir Harry Vane, in 
 New England and in Old England," by Edward Everett Hale, Jr. 
 "John Harvard, and the Founding of Harvard College," by Edward 
 Channing, Ph.D. "The Mather Family, and the Old Boston Ministers," 
 by Rev. Samuel J. Barrows. " Simon Bradstreet, and the Struggle for 
 the Charter," by Prof. Marshall S. Snow. "Samuel Adams, and the 
 Beginning of the Revolution," by Prof. James K. Hosmer. " Josiah 
 Quincy, the Great Mayor," by Charles W. Slack. " Daniel Webster, 
 the Defender of the Constitution," by Charles C. Coffin. "John A. 
 Andrew, the Great War Governor," by Col. T. W. Higginson. The 
 Leaflets prepared in connection with the second course were as follows : 
 (i) Selections from Forster's essay on Vane, etc. ; (2) an extract from 
 Cotton Mather's "Sal Gentium;" (3) Increase Mather's "Narrative of 
 the Miseries of New England; " (4) an original account of "The Revolution 
 
in New England " in 1689 ; (5) a letter from Samuel Adams to John Adams, 
 on Republican Government; (6) extracts from Josiah Quincy's Boston 
 Address of 1830 ; (7) Words of Webster ; (8) a portion of Governor Andrew's 
 Address to the Massachusetts Legislature in January, 1861. 
 
 The lectures for 1885 were upon " The War for the Union," as follows : 
 "Slavery," by William Lloyd Garrison, Jr. "The Fall of Sumter," 
 by Col. T. ' W. Higginson. "The Monitor and the Merrimac," by 
 Charles C. Coffin. "The Battle of Gettysburg," by Col. Theodore 
 A. Dodge. *' Sherman's March to the Sea," by Gen. William Cogswell. 
 " The Sanitary Commission," by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. " Abraham 
 Lincoln," by Hon. John D. Long. " General Grant," by Charles C. 
 Coffin. The Leaflets accompanying these lectures were as follows: (i) 
 Lowell's "Present Crisis," and Garrison's Salutatory in the Liberator of 
 January i, 1831 ; (2) extract from Henry Ward Beecher's oration at Fort 
 Sumter in 1865 '■> (3) contemporary newspaper accounts of the engagement 
 between the Monitor and the Merrimac ; (4) extract from Edward Everett's 
 address at the consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, with 
 President Lincoln's address ; (5) extract from General Sherman's account 
 of the March to the Sea, in his Memoirs; (6) Lowell's " Commemoration 
 Ode;" (7) extract from Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, the Emanci- 
 pation Proclamation, and the Second Inaugural Address; (8) account of 
 the service in memory of General Grant, in Westminster Abbey, with Arch- 
 deacon Farrar's address. 
 
 The lectures for 1886 were upon "The War for Independence," as 
 follows: "Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry," by Edwin D. Mead. 
 " Bunker Hill, and the News in England," by John Fiske. " The Declar- 
 ation of Independence," by James MacAllister. "The Times that Tried 
 Men's Souls," by Albert B. Hart, Ph.D. "Lafayette, and Help from 
 France," by Prof. Marshall S. Snow. " The Women of the Revolu- 
 tion," by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. "Washington and his Generals," 
 by George M. Towle. " The Lessons of the Revolution for these 
 Times," by Rev. Brooke Herford. The Leaflets were as follows: (i) 
 Words of Patrick Henry; (2) Lord Chatham's Speech, urging the removal 
 of the British troops from Boston ; (3) extract from Webster's oration on 
 Adams and Jefferson; (4) Thomas Paine's "Crisis," No. i; (5) extract 
 from Edward Everett's eulogy on Lafayette ; (6) selections from the Letters 
 of Abigail Adams; (7) Lowell's "Under the Old Elm;" (8) extract from 
 Whipple's essay on " Washington and the Principles of the Revolution." 
 
 The course for the summer of 1887 was upon " The Birth of the 
 Nation," as follows : " How the Men of the English Commonwealth Planned 
 Constitutions," by Prof. James K. Hosmer. "How the American Colo- 
 nies grew together," by John F'iske. " The Confusion after the Revolu- 
 tion," by Davis R. Dewey, Ph.D. "The Convention and the Constitu- 
 tion," by Hon. John D. Long. "James Madison and his Journal," by 
 Prof. E. B. Andrews. "How Patrick Henry Opposed the Constitution," 
 by Henry L. Southwick. " Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist.'''' 
 " Washington's Part and the Nation's First Years," by Edward Everett 
 Hale. The Leaflets prepared for these lectures were as follows : (i) 
 Extract from Edward Everett Hale's lecture on " Puritan Politics in 
 England and New England;" (2) "The English Colonies in America," 
 extract from De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America;" (3) Wash- 
 ington's Circular Letter to the Governors of the States, on Disbanding 
 the Army; (4) The Constitution of the United States; (5) "The Last Day 
 of the Constitutional Convention," from Madison's Journal; (6) Patrick 
 Henry's First Speech against the Constitution, in the Virginia Convention; 
 (7) The Federalist, No. IX ; (8) Washington's First Inaugural Address. 
 
The course for the summer of 1888 had the geueral title of " The Story 
 of the Centuries," the several lectures being as follows : " The Great Schools 
 after the Dark Ages," by Ephraim Emerton, Professor of History in 
 Harvard University. " Richard the Lion -Hearted and the Crusades," by 
 Miss Nina Moore, author of "Pilgrims and Puritans." "The World 
 which Dante knew," by Shattuck O, Hartwell, Old South first-prize 
 essayist, 1883. "The Morning Star of the Reformation," by Rev. Philip 
 S. MoxoM. " Copernicus and Columbus, or the New Heaven and the 
 New Earth," by Prof. Edward S. Morse. "The People for whom 
 Shakespeare wrote," by Charles Dudley Warner. "The J'uritans and 
 the English Revolution," by Charles H. Levermore, Professor of History 
 in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. " Lafayette and the Two 
 Revolutions which- he saw," by George Makepeace Towle. 
 
 The Old South Lectures are devoted primarily to American history. 
 But it is a constant aim to impress upon the young people the relations of our 
 own history to English and general European history. It was hoped that 
 the glance at some striking chapters in the history of the last eight centuries 
 afforded by these lectures would be a good preparation for the great anniver- 
 saries of 1889 and give the young people a truer feeling of the continuity of his- 
 tory. In connection with the lectures, the young people were requested to fix 
 in mind the following dates, observing that in most instances the date comes 
 about a decade before the close of the century. An effort was made in 
 the Leaflets for the year to make dates, which are so often dull and useless 
 to young people, interesting, significant, and useful. — nth Century: Lan- 
 franc, the great mediseval scholar, who studied law at Bologna, was prior 
 of the monastery of Bee, the most famous school in France in the nth 
 century, and archbishop of Canterbury under William the Conqueror, died, 
 io8g. I2th Cent.: Richard I crowned, 1189. 13th Cent.: Dante at the 
 battle of Campaldino, the final overthrow of the Ghibellines in Italy, 1289. 
 14th Cent.: Wyclif died, 1384. 15th Cent.: America discovered, 1492. 
 i6th Cent. : Spanish Armada, 1588. 17th Cent. : William of Orange lands 
 in England, 1688. i8th Cent. : Washington inaugurated, and the Bastile 
 fell, 1789. The Old South Leaflets for 1888, corresponding with the several 
 lectures, were as follows : (i) " The Early History of Oxford," from Green's 
 History of the English People ; (2) " Richard Coeur de Lion and the Third 
 Crusade," from the Chronicle of Geoffrey de Vinsauf; (3) "The Univer- 
 sal Empire," passages from Dante's De Monarchia ; (4) "The Sermon on 
 the Mount," Wyclif's translation; (5) "Copernicus and the Ancient 
 Astronomers," from Humboldt's Cosmos ; (6) "The Defeat of the Span- 
 ish Armada," from Camden's y^«;/(^7/j; (7) " The Bill of Rights," 16S9 ; 
 (8) "The Eve of the French Revolution," from Carlyle. The selections 
 are accompanied by very full historical and bibliographical notes, and it is 
 hoped that the series will prove of much service to students and teachers 
 engaged in the general survey of modern history. 
 
 The year 1889 being the centennial both of the beginning of our own 
 Federal Government and of the French Revolution, the lectures for the 
 year, under the general title of "America and France," were devoted en- 
 tirely to subjects in which the history of America is related to that of 
 France, as follows: " Champlain, the Founder of Quebec," by Charles 
 C. Coffin. "La Salle and the French in the Great West," by Rev. 
 W. E. Griffis. " The Jesuit Missionaries in America." by Prof. James 
 K. HoSMER. " Wolfe and Montcalm : the Struggle of England and 
 France for the Continent," by John Fiske. "Vranklin in France," 
 by George M. Towle. "The Friendship of Washington and Lafavette," 
 by Mrs. Abba Goold Woolson. " Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana 
 Purchase," by Robert Morss Lovett, Old South prize essavist, 1888. 
 
" The Year 1789," by Rev. Edward Everett Hale. The Leaflets for 
 the year were as follows: (i) Verrazzano's account of his Voyage to Amer- 
 ica; (2) Marquette's Account of his Discovery of the Mississippi; (3) Mr. 
 Parknian's Histories; (4) The Capture of Quebec, from Parkman's " Con- 
 s])iracy of Pontiac ; " (5) Selections from Franklin's Letters from France; 
 (6) Letters of Washington and Lafayette; (7) The Declaration of Lide- 
 pendence ; (8) The French Declaration of the Rights of Man, 1789. 
 
 The lectures for the summer of 1890 were on " The American Indians," 
 as follows: " 7'he Mound Builders," by Prof. George H. Perkins; "The 
 Indians whom our Fathers Found," by Gen. H. B. Carrington ; "John 
 Eliot and his Indian Bible," by Rev. Edward G. Porter; "King Philip's 
 War," by Miss Caroline C. Stecker, Old South prize essayist, 1S89; 
 "The Conspiracy of Pontiac," by Charles A. Eastman, M.D., of the 
 Sioux nation; " A Century of Dishonor," l:)y Herbert Welsh; "Among 
 the Zunis," by J. Walter Fewkes, Ph.D.; "The Indian at School," by 
 Gen. S. C. Armstrong. The Leaflets were as follows: (i) Extract from 
 address by William Henry Harrison on the Mound Builders of the Ohio 
 Valley; (2) Extract from Morton's " New English Canaan " on the Manners 
 and Customs of the Indians ; (3) John Eliot's " Brief Narrative of the Prog- 
 ress of the Gospel among the Indians of New England," 1670; (4) Extract 
 from Hubbard's "Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians" (1677) *^" 
 the Beginning of King Phillip's War; (5) The Speech of Pontiac at the 
 Council at the River Ecorce^, from Parkman's "Conspiracy of Pontiac; " 
 (6) Extract from Black Hawk's autobiography, on the Cause of the Black 
 flawk War; (7) Coronado's Letter to Mendoza (1540) on his iLxplorations 
 in New Mexico; (8) Eleazar Wheelock's Narrative (1762) of the Rise and 
 Progress of the Indian School at Lebanon, Conn. 
 
 The lectures for 1891, under the general title of "The New Birth of the 
 World," were devoted to the important movements in the age preceding 
 the discovery of America, the several lectures being as follows : " The 
 Results of the Crusades," by F. E. E. Hamilton, Old South prize essay- 
 ist, 1883; "The Revival of Learning," by Prof. Albert B. Hart; "The 
 Builders of the Cathedrals," by Prof. Marshall S. Snow; "The Changes 
 which Gunpowder made," by Frank A. Hill ; " The Decline of the Barons," 
 by William EIverett; " The Invention of Printing," by Rev. Edward G. 
 Porter; "When Michael Angelo was a Boy,""by Hamlin Garland; 
 " The Discovery of America," by Rev. E. E. Hale. The Leaflets were as 
 follows: (i) "The Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders," from the 
 Chronicle of William of Malmesbury ; (2) Extract from More's "Utopia; " 
 (3) "The Founding of Westminster Abbey," from Dean Stanley's " Historical 
 Memorials of Westminster Abbey;" (4) "The Siege of Constantinople," 
 from Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire;" (5) " Simon 
 de Montfort," selections from Chronicles of the time; (6) " Caxton at 
 Westminster," extract from Blade's Life of William Caxton ; (7) "The 
 Youth of Michael Angelo," from Vasari's "Lives of the Italian Painters; " 
 (8) "The Discovery of America," from Ferdinand Columbus's life of his 
 father. 
 
 The lectures for 1892 were upon " The Discovery of America," as fol- 
 lows: "What Men Knew of the World before Columbus," by Prof. 
 Edward S. Morse; " Leif Erikson and the Northmen," by Rev. Edward 
 A. HoRTON; " Marco Polo and his Book," by Mr. O. W. Dimmick ; " The 
 Story of Columbus,'' by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore ; " Americus Vespucius 
 and the Early Books ai)out America," by Rev. E. G. Porter ; "Cortes and 
 Pizarro," by Prof. Chas. H. Levermore; " De Soto and Ponce de Leon," 
 by Miss Ruth Ballou Whittemore, Old South Prize Essayist, 1891 ; 
 " Spain, France, and England in America," l)y Mr. John Fiske. The 
 
Leaflets were as follows: (i) Strabo's Introduction to Geography ; (2) The 
 Voyages to Vinland, from the Saga of Eric the Red ; (3) Marco I'olo's 
 Account of Japan and Java ; (4) Columbus's Letter to Gabriel Sanchez, 
 describing his First Voyage; (5) Amerigo Vespucci's Account of his First 
 Voyage; (6) Cortes's Account of the City of Mexico; {7) The Death of 
 De'Soto, from the " Narrative of a Gentleman of Elvas; " (8) Early Notices 
 of the Voyages of the Cabots. 
 
 The lectVes for 1893 ^^'^''^ "P°" " 'The Opening of the Great West," as 
 follows : " Spam and France in the Great West," by Rev. William Elliot 
 Griffis; "The Northwest Territory and the Ordinance of 1787," by John 
 M. Merriam; "Washington's Work in Opening the West," by Edwin D. 
 Mead; " Marietta and the Western Reserve," by Miss Lucy W. Warren, 
 Old South prize essayist, 1892; " Efow the Great West was settled," 
 Charles C. Coffin ; "Lewis and Clarke and the Explorers of the Rocky 
 Mountains," by Rev. Thomas Van Ness ; " California and Oregon," by Prof. 
 JosiAH Royce; " The Story of Chicago," by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. 
 The Leaflets were as follows : (i) De Vaca's Account of his Journey to 
 New Mexico, 1535; (2) Manasseh Cutler's Descripti. n of Ohio, 1787; (3) 
 Washington's Journal of his Tour to the Ohio, 1770; (4) Garfield's Address 
 on the Northwest Territory and the Western Reserve; (5) George Rogers 
 Clark's Account of the Capture of Vincennes, 1779; (6) Jefferson's Life of 
 Captain Meriwether Lewis; (7) Fremont's Account of his Ascent of Fre- 
 mont's Peak; (8) Father Marquette at Chicago, 1673. 
 
 The Leaflets for 1883 are now mostly out of print. Those for 1884 and 
 subsecjuent years, bound in flexible cloth or paper covers, mav be procured 
 
 The Old South Leaflets, which have been published, during the last eleven 
 years, in connection with these annual courses of historical lectures at the 
 Old South Meeting Hou>e, have attracted so much attention and proved of 
 so much service, that the l)iiectors have entered upon the publication of a 
 general series oi Leaflets, with the needs of schools, colleges, private clubs 
 and classes especially in mind. The Leaflets are prepared by Mr. Edwin D. 
 Mead. They are largely reproductions of important original papers, accom- 
 panied by useful historical and bibliographical notes. They consist, on an 
 average, of sixteen pages, and are sold at the low price of five cents a 
 copy or three dollars per hundred. The aim is to bring them within easy 
 reach of everybody. Schools and the trade will be supplied by Messrs. 
 J). C. Heath & Co.' The Old South work is a work for the education of 
 the people, and especially the education of our young people, in American 
 history and politics, and its promoters believe that few things can contribute 
 better to this end than the wide circulation of such leaflets as those now 
 undertaken. It is hoped that professors in our colleges and teachers every- 
 where will welcome them for use in their classes, and that they may meet 
 the needs of the societies of young men and women now happily being 
 organized in so many places for historical and ])olitical studies. Some idea 
 of the charac er of this general series of Old South Leaflets may be gained 
 from the following list of the subjects of the first forty-six numbers which 
 are now ready. It will be noticed that several of the later numbers are 
 the same as certain numbers in some of the annual series. 
 
 No. 1. The Constitution of the United States. 2. The Articles of 
 Confederation. 3. The Declaration of Independence. 4. Washington's 
 Farewell Address. 5. Magna Charta. 6. Vane's " Healing Question." 
 7. Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629. 8. Fundaniental Orders of Con- 
 necticut, 1638. 9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754. 10. Washington's 
 
Inaugurals. 11. Lincoln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation. 
 12. The Federalist, Nos. i and 2. 13. The Ordinance of 1787. 14. The 
 Constitution of Ohio.* 15. Washington's Circular Letter to the Govern- 
 ors of the States, 1783. 16. Washington's Letter to Benjamin Harrison, 
 1784. 17. Verrazzano's Voyage, 1524. 18. The Constitution of Swit- 
 zerland.* 19. The Bill of Rights, 1689. 20. Coronado's Letter to Men- 
 doza, 1540. 21 Eliot's Brief Narrative of the Progress of the Gospel 
 among the Indians, 1670. 22. Wheelock's Narrative of the Rise of the 
 Indian School at Lebanon, Conn., 1762. 23. The Petition of Rights, 1628. 
 24. The grand Remonstrance. 25. The Scottish National Covenants. 
 26. The Agreement of the People. 27. The Instrument of Government. 
 28. Cromwell's First Speech to his Parliament. 29. The Discovery of 
 America, from the Life of Columbus by his Son, Ferdinand Columbus. 
 30. Strabo's Introduction to Geography. 31. The Voyages to Vinland, 
 from the Saga of Eric the Red. 32. Marco Polo's account of Japan and 
 Java. 33 Columbus's Letter to Gabriel Sanchez, describing the First 
 Voyage and Discovery. 34. Amerigo Vespucci's Account of his First 
 Voyage. 35. Cortes's Account of the City of Mexico. 36. The Death 
 of De Soto, from the "Narrative of a Gentleman of Elvas." 37. Early 
 Notices of the Voyages of the Cabots. 38. Henry Lee's Funeral Oration 
 on Washington. 39. De Vaca's Account of his Journey to New Mexico, 
 1535. 40. Manasseh Cutler's Description of Ohio. 17S7. 41. Washing- 
 ton's Journal of his Tour to the Ohio, 1770. 42. Garfield's Address on 
 the Northwest Territory and the Western Reserve. 43. George Rogers 
 Clark's Account of the Capture of Vincennes, 1779. 44. Jefferson's Life 
 of Captain Meriwether Lewis. 45. Fremont's Account of his Ascent of 
 Fremont's Peak. 46. Father Marquette at Chicago, 1673. 
 
 The Directors of the Old South Studies in History and Politics have 
 also published a manual of the Constitution of the tjnited States, with 
 bibliographical and historical notes and outlines for study, by Edwin D. 
 Mead. This manual is published for the use of schools and of such clubs, 
 classes and individual students as may wish to make a careful study of the 
 Constitution and its history. Our societies of young men and women enter- 
 ing upon historical and political studies can do nothing better to begin with 
 than to make themselves thoroughly familiar with the Constitution. It is 
 especially with such societies in view that the table of topics for study, which 
 follows the very full bibliographical notes in this manual, has been prepared. 
 A copy of the manual will be sent to any address on receipt of twenty-five 
 cents; one hundred copies, fifteen dollars. Address Directors of Old South 
 Studies, Old South Meeting House. 
 
 * Double number, price ten cents. 
 
 Old South Meeting House, 
 Boston, i8gj. 
 
ELEVENTH SERIES, 1S93. No. i. 
 
 De Vaca's 
 
 Journey 
 
 to New Mexico 
 
 1535-36. 
 
 From Cabeza De Vaca's Relation. 
 
 We told these people that we desired to go where the sun 
 sets ; and they said inhabitants in that direction were remote. 
 We commanded them to send and make known our coming ; 
 but they strove to excuse themselves the best they could, the 
 people being their enemies, and they did not wish to go to 
 them. Not daring to disobey, however, they sent two women, 
 one of their own, the other a captive from that people ; for the 
 women can negotiate even though there be war. We followed 
 them, and stopped at a place where we agreed to wait. They 
 tarried five days ; and the Indians said they could not have 
 found anybody. 
 
 We told them to conduct us towards the north ; and they 
 answered, as before, that except afar off there were no people 
 in that direction, and nothing to eat, nor could water be found. 
 Notwithstanding all this, we persisted, and said we desired to 
 go in that course. They still tried to excuse themselves in the 
 best manner possible. At this we became offended, and one 
 night 1 went out to sleep in the woods apart from them ; but 
 directly they came to where I was, and remained all night 
 without sleep, talking to me in great fear, telling me how ter- 
 rified they were, beseeching us to be no longer angry, and said 
 that they would lead us in the direction it was our wish to go, 
 though they knew they should die on the way. 
 
 Whilst we still feigned to be displeased lest their fright 
 should leave them, a remarkable circumstance happened, which 
 was that on the same day many of the Indians became ill, 
 and the next day eight men died. Abroad in the country, 
 wheresoever this became known, there was such dread that 
 
it seemed as if tlie inhabitants would die of fear at sight of us. 
 They besought us not to remain angered, nor require that 
 more of them should die. They believed we caused their 
 death by only willing it, when in truth it gave us so much pain 
 that it could not be greater ; for, beyond their loss, we feared 
 they might all die, or abandon us of fright, and that other 
 people thenceforward would do the same, seeing what had 
 come to these. We prayed to God, our Lord, to relieve them ; 
 and from that time the sick began to get better. 
 
 We witnessed one thing with great admiration, that the 
 parents, brothers, and wives of those who died had great sym- 
 pathy for them in their suffering; but, when dead, they showed 
 no feeling, neither did they weep nor speak among themselves, 
 make any signs, nor dare approach the bodies until we com- 
 manded these to be taken to burial. 
 
 While w^e were among these people, which was more than 
 fifteen days, we saw no one speak to another, nor did we see 
 an infant smile: the only one that cried they took oft' to a 
 distance, and with the sharp teeth of a rat they scratched it 
 from the shoulders down nearly to the end of the legs. Seeing 
 this cruelty, and offended at it, I asked why they did so : they 
 said for chastisement, because the child had wept in my pres- 
 ence. These terrors they imparted to all those who had lately 
 come to know us, that they might give us whatever they had ; 
 for they knew we kept nothing, and would relinquish all to 
 them. This people were the most obedient we had found in 
 all the land, the best conditioned, and, in general, comely. 
 
 The sick having recovered, and three days having passed 
 since we came to the place, the women whom we sent away 
 returned, and said they had found very few people ; nearly all 
 had gone for cattle, being then in the season. W^e ordered 
 the convalescent to remain and the well to go with us, and 
 that at the end of two days' journey those women should go 
 with two of our number to fetch up the people, and bring them 
 on the road to receive us. Consequently, the next morning 
 the most robust started with us. 
 
 At the end of three days' travel we stopped, and the next 
 day Alonzo del Castillo set out with Estevanico the negro, tak- 
 ing the two women as guides. She that was the captive led 
 them to the river which ran between some ridges, where was a 
 town at which her father lived ; and these habitations were the 
 first seen, having the appearance and structure of houses. 
 
 Here Castillo and Estevanico arrived, and, after talking with 
 the Indians, Castillo returned at the end of three days to the 
 
spot where he had left us, and brought live or six of the people. 
 He told us he had found fixed dwelUngs of civilization, that the 
 inhabitants lived on beans and pumpkins, and that he had seen 
 maize. This news the most of anything delighted us, and for 
 it we gave infinite thanks to our Lord. Castillo told us the 
 negro was coming with all the population to wait for us in the 
 road not far off. Accordingly we left, and, having travelled a 
 league and a half, we met the negro and the people coming to 
 receive us. They gave us beans, many pumpkins, calabashes, 
 blankets of cowhide and other things. As this people and 
 those who came with us were enemies, and spoke not each 
 other's language, we discharged the latter, giving them what we^ 
 received, and we departed with the others. Six leagues from 
 there, as the night set in we arrived at the houses, where great 
 festivities were made over us. We remained one day, and the 
 next set out with these Indians. They took us to the settled 
 habitations of others, who lived upon the same food. 
 
 From that place onward was another usage. Those who 
 knew of our approach did not come out to receive us on the 
 road as the others had done, but we found them in their houses, 
 and they had made others for our reception. They were all 
 seated with their faces turned to the wall, their heads down, the 
 hair brought before their eyes, and their property placed in a 
 heap in the middle of the house. From this place they began 
 to give us many blankets of skin ; and they had nothing they 
 did not bestow. They have the finest persons of any people 
 we saw, of the greatest activity and strength, who best under- 
 stood us and intelligently answered our inquiries. We called 
 tiiem the Cow nation, because most of the cattle killed are 
 slaughtered in their neighborhood, and along up that river for 
 over tifty leagues they destroy great numbers. 
 
 They go entirely naked after the manner of the first we saw. 
 The women are dressed with deer skin, and some few men, 
 mostly the aged, who are incapable of lighting. The country 
 is very populous. We asked how it was they did not plant 
 maize. They answered it was that they might not lose what 
 they should put in the ground ; that the rains had failed for two 
 years in succession, and the seasons were so dry the seed had 
 everywhere been taken by the moles, and they could not vent- 
 ure to plant again until after water had fallen copiously. They 
 begged us to tell the sky to rain, and to pray for it, and we said 
 we would do so. We also desired to know whence they got the 
 maize, and they told us from where the sun goes down ; there it 
 grew throughout the region, and the nearest was by that path. 
 
Since they did not wish to go thither, we asked by what direc- 
 tion we might best proceed, and bade them inform us concerning 
 the way ; they said the path was along up by that river towards 
 the north, for otherwise in a journey of seventeen days we 
 should find nothing to eat, except a fruit they call chacan, that 
 is ground between stones, and even then it could with difficulty 
 be eaten for its dryness and pungency, — which was true. They 
 showed it to us there, and we could not eat it. They informed 
 us also that, whilst we travelled by the river upward, we should 
 all the way pass through a people that were their enemies, who 
 spoke their tongue, and, though they had nothing to give us to 
 eat, they would receive us with the best good will, and present 
 us with mantles of cotton, hides, and other articles of their 
 wealth. Still it appeared to them we ought by no means to 
 take that course. 
 
 Doubting what it would be best to do, and which way we 
 should choose for suitableness and support, we remained two 
 days with these Indians, who gave us beans and pumpkins for 
 our subsistence. Their method of cooking is so new that for 
 its strangeness I desire to speak of it ; thus it may be seen and 
 remarked how curious and diversified are the contrivances and 
 ingenuity of the human family. Not having discovered the use 
 of pipkins, to boil what they would eat, they fill the half of a 
 large calabash with water, and throw on the fire many stones 
 of such as are most convenient and readily take the heat. 
 When hot, they are taken up with tongs of sticks and dropped 
 into the calabash until the water in it boils from the fervor of 
 the stones. Then whatever is to be cooked is put in, and until 
 it is done they continue taking out cooled stones and throwing 
 in hot ones. Thus they boil their food. 
 
 OF OUR TAKING THE WAY TO THE MAIZE. 
 
 Two days being spent while we tarried, we resolved to go in 
 search of the maize. We did not wish to follow the path lead- 
 ing to where the cattle are, because it is towards the north, and 
 for us very circuitous, since we ever held it certain that going 
 towards the sunset we must find what we desired. 
 
 Thus we took our way, and traversed all the country until 
 coming out at the South sea. Nor was the dread we had of 
 the sharp hunger through which we should have to pass (as in 
 verity we did, throughout the seventeen days' journey of which 
 the natives spoke) sufficient to hinder us. During all that time^ 
 in ascending by the river, they gave us many coverings of cow- 
 
5 
 
 hide ; but we did not eat of the fruit. Our sustenance each 
 day was about a handful of deer-suet, which we had a long 
 time been used to saving for such trials. Thus we passed the 
 entire journey of seventeen days, and at the close we crossed 
 the river and travelled other seventeen days. 
 
 As the sun went down, upon some plains that lie between 
 chains of very great mountains, we found a people who for the 
 third part of the year eat nothing but the powder of straw, and, 
 that being the season when we passed, we also had to eat of it, 
 until reaching permanent habitations, where was abundance of 
 maize brought together. They gave us a large quantity in grain 
 and flour, pumpkins, beans, and shawls of cotton. With all 
 these we loaded our guides, who went back the happiest creat- 
 ures on earth. We gave thanks to God, our Lord, for having 
 brought us where we had found so much food. 
 
 Some houses are of earth, the rest all of cane mats. From 
 this point we marched through more than a hundred leagues of 
 country, and continually found settled domicils, with plenty of 
 maize and beans. The people gave us many deer and cotton 
 shawls better than those of New Spain, many beads and certain 
 corals found on the South sea, and fine turquoises that come 
 from the North. Indeed they gave us every thing they had. 
 To me they gave five emeralds made into arrow-heads, which 
 they use at their singing and dancing. They appeared to be 
 very precious. I asked whence they got these ; and they said 
 the stones were brought from some lofty mountains that stand 
 towards the north, where were populous towns and very large 
 houses, and that they were purchased with plumes and the 
 feathers of parrots. 
 
 Among this people the women are treated with more decorum 
 than in any part of the Indias we had visited. They wear a 
 shirt of cotton that falls as low as the knee, and over it half 
 sleeves with skirts reaching to the ground, made of dressed 
 deer skin. It opens in front and is brought close with straps 
 of leather. They soap this with a certain root that cleanses 
 well, by which they are enabled to keep it becomingly. Shoes 
 are worn. The people all came to us that we should touch and 
 bless them, they being very urgent, which we could accomplish 
 only with great labor, for sick and well all wished to go with a 
 benediction. 
 
 These Indians ever accompanied us until they delivered us 
 to others ; and all held full faith in our coming from heaven. 
 While travelling, we went without food all day until night, and 
 we ate so little as to astonish them. We never felt exhaustion, 
 
neither were we in fact at all weary, so inured were we to hard- 
 ship. We possessed great influence and authority : to preserve 
 both, we seldom talked' with them. The negro was in constant 
 conversation ; he informed himself about the ways we v.-ished 
 to take, of the to^vns there \vere, and the matters w^e desired to 
 know. 
 
 We passed through many and dissimilar tongues. Our Lord 
 granted us favor with the people who spoke them, for they al- 
 ways understood us, and we them. We questioned them, and 
 received their answers by signs, just as if they spoke our lan- 
 guage and we theirs ; for, although we knew six languages, we 
 could not everywhere avail ourselves of them, there being a 
 thousand differences. 
 
 Throughout all these countries the people who w^ere at war 
 immediately made friends, that they might come to meet us, 
 and bring what they possessed. In this way w^e left all the land 
 at peace, and w^e taught all the inhabitants by signs, which they 
 understood, that in heaven was a Man we called God, who had 
 created the sky and the earth ; him we worshipped and had for 
 our master ; that'we did what he commanded and from his 
 hand, came all good ; and would they do as we did, all would be 
 well wdth them. So ready of apprehension we found them 
 that, could we have had the use of language by which to make 
 ourselves perfectly understood, we should have left them all 
 Christians. Thus much we gave them to understand the best 
 we could. And afterward, when the sun rose, they opened their 
 hands together with loud shouting towards the heavens, and 
 then drew^ them down all over their bodies. They did the same 
 again when the sun went down. They are a people of good 
 condition and substance, capable in any pursuit. 
 
 THE INDIANS GIVE US THE HEARTS OF DEER. 
 
 In the town where the emeralds were presented to us the 
 people gave Dorantes over six hundred open hearts of deer. 
 They ever keep a good supply of them for food, and we called 
 the place Pueblo de los Corazones. It is the entrance into 
 many provinces on the South sea. They who go to look for 
 them, and do not enter there, will be lost. On the coast is no 
 maize : the inhabitants eat the powder of rush and of straw, 
 and fish that is caught in the sea from rafts, not having canoes. 
 With grass and straw the women cover their nudity. They are 
 a timid and dejected people. 
 
 We think that near the coast by way of those towns through 
 
which we came are more than a thousand leagues of inhabited 
 country, plentiful of subsistence. Three times the year it is 
 planted with maize and beans. Deer are of three kinds : one 
 the size of the young steer of Spain. There are innumerable 
 houses, such as are called bahios. They have poison from a 
 certain tree the size of the apple. For effect no more is neces- 
 sary than to pluck the fruit and moisten the arrow with it, or, if 
 there be no fruit, to break a twig and with the milk do the like. 
 The tree is abundant and so deadly that, if the leaves be bruised 
 and steeped in some neighboring water, the deer and other ani- 
 mals drinking it soon burst. 
 
 We were in this town three days. A day's journey farther 
 was another town, at which the rain fell heavily while we were 
 there, and the river became so swollen we could not cross it, 
 which detained us fifteen days. In this time Castillo saw the 
 buckle of a sword-belt on the neck of an Indian and stitched 
 to it the nail of a horseshoe. He took them, and we asked the 
 native what they were : he answered that they came from 
 heaven. We questioned him further, as to who had brought 
 them thence : they all responded that certain men who wore 
 beards like us had come from heaven and arrived at that river, 
 bringing horses, lances, and swords, and that they had lanced 
 two Indians. In a manner of the utmost indifference we could 
 feign, we asked them what had become of those men. They 
 answered us that they liad gone to sea, putting their lance's 
 beneath the water, and going themselves also under the water ; 
 afterwards that they were seen on the surface going towards the 
 sunset. For this we gave many thanks to God our Lord. We 
 had before despaired of ever hearing more of Christians. Even 
 yet we were left in great doubt and anxiety, thinking those peo- 
 ple were merely persons who had come by sea on discoveries. 
 However, as we had now such exact information, we made 
 greater speed, and, as we advanced on our way, the news, of the 
 Christians continually grew. We told the natives that we were 
 going in search of that people, to order them not to kill nor 
 make slaves of them, nor take them from their lands, nor do 
 other injustice. Of this the Indians were very glad. 
 
 We passed through many territories and found them all va- 
 cant : their inhabitants wandered fleeing among the mountains, 
 without daring to have houses or till the earth for fear of Chris- 
 tians. The sight was one of infinite pain to us, a land very 
 fertile and beautiful, abounding in springs and streams, the 
 hamlets deserted and burned, the people thin and weak, all flee- 
 ing or in concealment. As they did not plant, they appeased 
 
their keen hunger by eating roots and the bark of trees. We 
 bore a share in the famine along the whole way ; for poorly 
 could these unfortunates provide for us, themselves being so 
 reduced they looked as though they would willingly die. They 
 brought shawls of those they had concealed because of the 
 Christians, presenting them to us ; and they related how the 
 Christians at other times had come through the land, destroying 
 and burning the towns, carrying away half the men, and all the 
 women and the boys, while those who had been able to escape 
 were wandering about fugitives. We found them so alarmed 
 they dared not remain anywhere. They would not nor could 
 they till the earth, but preferred to die rather than live in dread 
 of such cruel usage as they received. Although these showed 
 themselves greatly delighted with us, we feared that on our ar- 
 rival among those who held the frontier, and fought against the 
 Christians, they would treat us badly, and revenge upon us the 
 conduct of their enemies ; but, when God our Lord was pleased 
 to bring us there, they began to dread and respect us as the 
 others had done, and even somewhat more, at which we no little 
 wondered. Thence it may at once be seen that, to bring all 
 these people to be Christians and to the obedience of the Im- 
 perial Majest}^, they must be won by kindness, which is a way 
 certain, and no other is. 
 
 They took us to a town on the edge of a range of mountains, 
 to which the ascent is over difficult crags. We found many 
 people there collected out of fear of the Christians. They re- 
 ceived us well, and presented us all they had. They gave us 
 more than two thousand back-loads of maize, which we gave to 
 the distressed and hungered beings who guided us to that place. 
 The next day we despatched four messengers through the coun- 
 tr}^, as we were accustomed to do, that they should call together 
 all the rest of the Indians at a town distant three days' march. 
 We set out the day after with all the people. The tracks of the 
 Christians and marks where they slept were continually seen. 
 At mid-day we met our messengers, who told us they had found 
 no Indians, that they were roving and hiding in the forests, 
 fleeing that the Christians might not kill nor make them slaves; 
 the night before they had observed the Christians from behind 
 trees, and discovered what they were about, carrying away many 
 people in chains. 
 
 Those who came with us were alarmed at this intelligence ; 
 some returned to spread the news over the land that the Chris- 
 tians were coming ; and many more would have followed, had 
 we not forbidden it and told them to cast aside their fear, when 
 
9 
 
 they reassured themselves and were well content. At the time 
 we had Indians with us belonging a hundred leagues behind, 
 and w^e were in no condition to discharge them, that they might 
 return to their homes. To encourage them, we stayed there that 
 night ; the day after w^e marched and slept on the road. The 
 following day those whom we had sent forward as messengers 
 guided us to the place where they had seen Christians. We 
 arrived in the afternoon, and saw at once that they told the 
 truth. We perceived that the persons were mounted, by the 
 stakes to w^hich the horses had been tied. 
 
 From this spot, called the river Petutan, to the river to w^hich 
 Diego de Guzman came, where we heard of Christians, may be 
 as many as eighty leagues ; thence to the town where the rains 
 overtook us, twelve leagues, and that is twelve leagues from the 
 South sea. Throughout this region, w'heresoever the mountains 
 extend, we saw clear traces of gold and lead, iron, copper, and 
 other metals. Where the settled habitations are, the climate 
 is hot ; even in January the weather is very warm. Thence 
 toward the meridian, the country unoccupied to the North sea 
 is unhappy and sterile. There we underwent great and incred- 
 ible hunger. Those W'ho inhabit and wander over it are a race 
 of evil inclination and most cruel customs. The people of the 
 fixed residences and those beyond regard silver and gold with 
 indifference, nor can thev conceive of any use for them. 
 
 WE SEE TRACES OF CHRISTIANS. 
 
 When we saw sure signs of Christians, and heard how near 
 we w'ere to them, we gave thanks to God our Lord for having 
 chosen to bring us out of a captivity so melancholy and 
 wretched. The delight we felt let each one conjecture, when 
 he shall remember the length of time we w^ere in that country, 
 the suffering and perils we underwent. That night I entreated 
 my companions that one of them should go back three days' 
 journey after the Christians who were moving about over the 
 country, w^here we had given assurance of protection. Neither 
 of them received this proposal w^ell, excusing themselves be- 
 cause of weariness and exhaustion ; and although either might 
 have done better than I, being more 3^outhful and athletic, yet 
 seeing their unwillingness, the next morning I took the negro 
 with eleven Indians, and, following the Christians by their trail, 
 I travelled ten leagues, passing three villages, at which they had 
 slept. 
 
 The dav after I overtook four of them on horseback, who 
 
lO 
 
 were astonished at the sight of me. so strangely habited as I 
 was, and in company with Indians. They stood staring at me 
 a length of time, so confounded that they neither hailed me nor 
 drew near to make an inquiry. I bade them take me to their 
 chief : accordingly we went together half a league to the place 
 where was Diego de Alcaraz, their captain. 
 
 After we had conversed, he stated to me that he was com- 
 pletely undone ; he had not been able in a long time to take 
 any Indians ; he knew not which way to turn, and his men had 
 well begun to experience hunger and fatigue. I told him of 
 Castillo and Dorantes, who were behind, ten leagues off, with a 
 multitude that conducted us. He thereupon sent three cavalry 
 to them, with fifty of the Indians who accompanied him. The 
 negro returned to guide them, while I remained. I asked the 
 Christians to give me a certificate of the year, month, and day 
 I arrived there, and of the manner of my coming, which they 
 accordingly did. From this river to the town of the Christians, 
 named San Miguel, within the government of the province 
 called New Galicia, are thirty leagues. 
 
 OF SENDING FOR THE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Five days having elapsed, Andre's Dorantes and Alonzo del 
 Castillo arrived with those who had been sent after them. 
 They brought more than six hundred persons of that commu- 
 nity,' whom the Christians had driven into the forests, and who 
 had wandered in concealment over the land. Those who ac- 
 companied us so far had drawn them out, and given them to 
 the Christians, who thereupon dismissed all the others they had 
 brought with them. Upon their coming to where I was, Alcaraz 
 begged that we would summon the people of the towns on the 
 margin of the river, who straggled about under cover of the 
 woods, and order them to fetch us something to eat. This last 
 was unnecessary, the Indians being ever diligent to bring us all 
 they could. Directly we sent our messengers to call them, w^hen 
 there came six hundred souls, bringing us all the maize in their 
 possession. They fetched it in certain pots, closed with clay, 
 which they had concealed in the earth. They brought us what- 
 ever else they had ; but we, wishing only to have the provision, 
 gave the rest to the Christians, that they might divide among 
 themselves. After this we had many high words with them ; 
 for they wished to make slaves of the Indians we brought. 
 
 In consequence of the dispute, we left at our departure many 
 bows of Turkish shape we had along with us and many pouches. 
 
The five arrows with the points of emerald were forgotten 
 among others, and we lost them. We gave the Christians a 
 store of robes of cowhide and other things we brought. We 
 found it difficult to induce the Indians to return to their dwell- 
 ings, to feel no apprehension and plant maize. They were will- 
 ing to do nothing until they had gone with us and delivered us 
 into the hands of other Indians, as had been the custom ; for, 
 if they returned without doing so, they were afraid they should 
 die, and, going with us, they feared neither Christians nor lances. 
 Our countrymen became jealous at this, and caused their inter- 
 preter to tell the Indians that we were of them, and for a long 
 time we had been lost ; that they were the lords of the land 
 who must be obeyed and served, while we were persons of mean 
 condition and small force. The Indians cared little or nothing 
 for what was told them :' and conversing among themselves said 
 the Christians lied :. that we had come whence the sun rises, 
 and thev whence it goes down ; we healed the sick, they killed 
 the sound ; that we had come naked and barefooted, while they 
 had arrived in clothing and on horses with lances ; that we were 
 not covetous of anything, but all that was given to us w^e di- 
 rectly turned to give, remaining wdth nothing ; that the others 
 had the only purpose to rob whomsoever they found, bestowing 
 nothing on any one. 
 
 In this way they spoke of all matters respecting us, which 
 they enhanced by contrast with matters concerning the others, 
 delivering their response through the interpreter of the Span- 
 iards. To other Indians they made this known by means of 
 one among them through whom they understood us. Those 
 w^ho speak that tongue we discriminately call Primahaitu, which 
 is like saying A^asconyados. We found it in use over more than 
 four hundred leagues of our travel, without another over that 
 w^hole extent. Even to the last, I could not convince the Ind- 
 ians that we were of the Christians ; and only with great effort 
 and solicitation we got them to go back to their residences. 
 We ordered them to put away apprehension, establish their 
 towns, plant and cultivate the soil. 
 
 From abandonment the country had already grown up thickly 
 in trees. It is, no doubt, the best in all these Indias, the most 
 prolific and plenteous in provisions. Three times in the year it 
 is planted. It produces great variety of fruit, has beautiful 
 rivers, wdth many other good waters. There are ores with clear 
 traces of gold and silver. The people are well disposed : they 
 serve such Christians as are their friends, with great good will. 
 They are comely, much more so than the Mexicans. Indeed, 
 the land needs no circumstance to make it blessed. 
 
12 
 
 The Indians, at taking their leave, told us they would do what 
 we commanded, and would build their towns, if the Christians 
 would suffer them ; and this I say and affirm most positively, 
 that, if they have not done so, it is the fault of the Christians. 
 
 After we had dismissed the Indians in peace, and thanked 
 them for the toil they had supported with us, the Christians 
 with subtlet}^ sent us on our way under charge of Zeburos, an 
 Alcalde, attended by two men. They took us through forests 
 and solitudes, to hinder us from intercourse with the natives, 
 that we might neither witness nor have knowledge of the act 
 they would commit. It is but an instance of how frequently 
 men are mistaken in their aims; we set about to preserve the 
 liberty of the Indians and thought we had secured it, but the 
 contrary appeared ; for the Christians had arranged to go and 
 spring upon those we had sent away in peace and confidence. 
 They executed their plan as they had designed, taking us through 
 the woods, wherein for two days we were lost, without water 
 and Mdthout way. Seven of our men died of thirst, and we all 
 thought to have perished. Many friendly to the Christians in 
 their company were unable to reach the place where we got 
 water the second night, until the noon of next day. We trav- 
 elled twenty-five leagues, little more or less, and reached a town 
 of friendly Indians. The Alcalde left us there, and went on 
 three leagues farther to a town called Culia^an where was Mel- 
 chior Diaz, principal Alcalde and Captain of the Province. 
 
 THE CHIEF ALCALDE RECEIVES US KINDLY THE NIGHT 
 WE ARRIVE. 
 
 The Alcalde Mayor knew of the expedition, and, hearing of 
 our return, he immediately left that night and came to where 
 we were. He wept with us, giving praises to God our Lord for 
 having extended over us so great care. He comforted and 
 entertained us hospitably. In behalf of the Governor, Nuiio 
 de Guzman and himself, he tendered all that he had, and the 
 service in his power. He showed much regret for the seizure, 
 and the injustice we had received from Alcaraz and others. 
 We were sure, had he been present, what was done to the Ind-- 
 ians and to us would never have occurred. 
 
 The night being passed, we set out the next day for Anhacan. 
 The chief Alcalde besought us to tarry there, since by so doing 
 we could be of eminent service to God and your Majesty ; the 
 deserted land was without tillage and everywhere badly wasted, 
 the Indians were fleeing and concealing themselves in the 
 
13 
 
 thickets, unwilling to occupy their towns ; we were to send and 
 call them, commanding them in behalf of God and the King, 
 to return to live in the vales and cultivate the soil. 
 
 To us this appeared difficult to effect. We had brought no 
 native of our own, nor of those w^io accompanied us according 
 to custom, intelligent in these aft'airs. At last we made the 
 attempt with two captives, brought from that country, who were 
 wdth the Christians we first overtook. They had seen the peo- 
 ple who conducted us, and learned from, them the great author- 
 ity and command we carried and exercised throughout those 
 parts, the wonders we had worked, the sick w^e had cured, and 
 the many things besides we had done. We ordered that they, 
 wdth others of the town, should go together to summon the 
 hostile natives among the mountains and of the river Petachan, 
 where w^e had found the Christians, and say to them they must 
 come to us, that we wished to speak with them. For the pro- 
 tection of the messengers, and as a token to the others of our 
 will we gave them a gourd of those we were accustomed to 
 bear in our hands, which had been our principal insignia and 
 evidence of rank, and with this they went away. 
 
 The Indians were gone seven days, and returned with three 
 chiefs of those revolted among the ridges, who brought with 
 them fifteen men, and presented us beads, turquoises, and 
 feathers. The messengers said they had not found the people 
 of the river where we appeared, the Christians having again 
 made them run away into the mountains, Melchior Diaz told 
 the interpreter to speak to the natives for us ; to say to them 
 we came in the name of God, w^ho is in heaven ; that we had 
 travelled about the world many years, telling all the people w^e 
 found that they should believe in God and serve him ; for he 
 was the master of all things on the earth, benefiting and re- 
 warding the virtuous, and to the bad giving perpetual punish- 
 ment of fire ; that, when the good die, he takes them to heaven, 
 where none ever die, nor feel cold, nor hunger, nor thirst, nor 
 any inconvenience whatsoever, but the greatest enjoyment pos- 
 sible to conceive ; that those who will not believe in him, nor 
 obey his commands, he casts beneath the earth into the com- 
 pany of demons, and into a great fire which is never to go out, 
 but always torment ; that, over this, if they desired to be Chris- 
 tians and serve God in the way we required, the Christians 
 would cherish them as brothers and behave towards them very 
 kindly; that we would command they give no offence nor take 
 them from their territories, but be their great friends. If the 
 Indians did not do this, the Christians would treat them very 
 hardly, carrying them away as slaves into other lands. 
 
14 
 
 They answered through the interpreter that they would be 
 true Christians and serve God. Being asked to whom they 
 sacrifice and offer worship, from whom they ask rain for their 
 corn-fields and health for themselves, they answered of a man 
 that is in heaven. We inquired of them his name, and they 
 told us Aguar ; and they believed he created the whole world, 
 and the things in it. We returned to question them as to how 
 they knew this ; they answered their fathers and grandfathers 
 had told them, that from distant time had come their knowledge, 
 and they knew the rain and all good things were sent to them 
 by him. We told them that the name of him of whom they 
 spoke we called Dios ; and if they would call him so, and 
 would worship him as we directed, they would find their wel- 
 fare. - They responded that they well understood, and would 
 do as we said. We ordered them to come down from the 
 mountains in confidence and peace, inhabit the w^hole country 
 and construct their houses : among these they should build one 
 for God, at its entrance place a cross like that which we had 
 there present ; and, when Christians came among them, they 
 should go out to receive them with crosses in their hands, 
 without bows or any arms, and take them to their dwellings, 
 giving of what they have to eat, and the Christians would do 
 them no injury, but be their friends ; and the Indians told us 
 they would do as we had commanded. 
 
 The Captain having given them shawls and entertained them, 
 they returned, taking the two captives who had been used as 
 emissaries. This occurrence took place before the Notary, in 
 the presence of many witnesses. 
 
 OF BUILDING CHURCHES IN THAT LAND. 
 
 iVs soon as these Tndians went back, all those of that prov- 
 ince w^ho were friendly to the Christians, and had heard of us, 
 came to visit us, bringing beads and feathers. We commanded 
 them to build churches and put crosses in them : to that time 
 none had been raised ; and we made them bring their principal 
 men to be baptized. 
 
 Then the Captain made a covenant with God, not to invade 
 nor consent to invasion, nor to enslave any of that country and 
 people, to whom we had guaranteed safety ; that this he would 
 enforce and defend until your Majesty and the Governor Nuno 
 de Guzman, or the Viceroy in your name, should direct what 
 would be most for the service of God and your Highness. 
 
 When the children had been baptized, we departed for the 
 
15 
 
 town of San Miguel. So soon as we arrived, April i, 1536, 
 came Indians, who told us many people had come down from 
 the mountains and were living in the vales ; that they had made 
 churches and crosses, doing all w^e had required. Each day 
 we heard how these things were advancing to a full improve- 
 ment. 
 
 Fifteen days of our residence having passed, Alcaraz got 
 back wdth the Christians from the incursion, and they related 
 to the Captain the manner in which the Indians had come down 
 and peopled the plain ; that the towns were inhabited which 
 had been tenantless and deserted, the residents, coming out to 
 receive them with crosses in their hands, had taken them to 
 their houses, giving of what they had, and the Christians had 
 slept among them over night. They were surprised at a thing 
 so novel ; but, as the natives said they had been assured of 
 safety, it was ordered that they should not be harmed, and the 
 Christians took friendly leave of them. 
 
 Among all the thrilling adventures of the early Spanish explorers of 
 America, none was more remarkable than the journey of Cabeza de Vaca, 
 in 1535-36, from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, through the present 
 states of Texas and New Mexico, to the province of Culiacan in Mexico. 
 
 The success of Cortes in Mexico fired the mmds of many Spanish advent- 
 urers ; and among those affected by visions of empires farther north was 
 Panfilo de Narvaez, who had been defeated by Cortes, whom he was sent 
 to supersede. Charles V. gave him a patent covering the country on the 
 Gulf of Mexico from Rio de Palmas to Florida. Sailing from Spain in 
 1527, he reached the Florida coast, at the present Apalache Bay, after 
 severe losses, with four vessels and four hundred men, in April, 1528. With 
 three hundred men, Narvaez struck inland, ordering the vessels to follow 
 the coast westward. After great sufferings during three months, Narvaez 
 and his men returned to the coast, but found no signs of the vessels. Two 
 months were spent in building five boats, in which the survivors embarked 
 and coasted along westward, landing occasionally for food and water, but 
 finding the natives fierce. On the 31st of October they came to "abroad 
 river, pouring into the Gulf such a volume of water that it freshened the 
 brine so that they were able to drink it." But the current was too much for 
 their small boats. Narvaez and many others were lost. Three boats were 
 thrown on the coast of western Louisiana or eastern Texas. Many of the 
 men fell victims to the savages or to disease and starvation. Some were 
 enslav-ed by the Indians. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, the treasurer of 
 the expedition, was held six years among the Mariames, finally escaping 
 with two companions, Castillo and Dorantes, and a negro slave, Estevan. 
 After spending eight months with a tribe further inland, they pushed on, 
 northward and westward, surmounting incredible hardships, finally coming 
 upon some Spanish explorers on the river Petatlan, and on the ist of April, 
 1536, reaching the town of San Miguel in Sinaloa, in the north-western part 
 of Mexico. 
 
i6 
 
 Returning to Spain, De Vaca published a Relacion of his travels and 
 adventures, at Zamora, in i 542 ; and this was several times reprinted in Spain. 
 An Italian translation was included by Ramusio in his Collection in 1559. 
 There was an early English paraphrase by Purchas ; but the first critical 
 and complete English rendering was that by Mr. Buckingham Smith in 
 1851. A revised edition, with valuable notes, was published in 1871 ; and 
 from this the present leaflet is made up, taken from chapters xxx.-xxxvi. of 
 the Relation. 
 
 De Vaca and his companions were the first Europeans to tread the soil 
 of New Mexico. Their accounts of having fallen in with civilized peoples 
 and " populous towns with very large houses," confirming, as they seemed 
 to, the information brought to Guzman six years before by the Indian from 
 the north, were largely the incentives to the expeditions of Coronado and 
 the other Spaniards, who scoured Arizona and New Mexico in search of the 
 Seven Cities of Cibola. Estevan, the Barbary negro, who had come with 
 De Vaca on his long wanderings, accompanied the first expedition set 
 on foot by Mendoza in 1539, under Fray Marcos. See Coronado's Letter 
 to Mendoza and the accompanying notes, Old South Leaflet, No. 20. See 
 the chapter on Ancient Florida, by John G. Shea, and the bibliographical 
 notes to the same, in the Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. ii., 
 and the chapter on the Early Explorations of New Mexico, by Henry W. 
 Haynes, in the same volume. "Notwithstanding the vivid interest that 
 will always attach to De Vaca's thrilling story of adventure and suffering," 
 says Mr. Haynes, " the indications given in it of the routes by which he 
 journeyed, and of the places and peoples he visited, are practically of far 
 too vague a character to enable them to be satisfactorily identified, even 
 if we feel warranted in placing implicit confidence in the author's veracity." 
 H. H. Bancroft, in his volume on the North Mexican States, — vol. x. of 
 his History of the Pacific States, — gives a map (p. 67) of De Vaca's route 
 as he conceives it. There is much in this volume, as well as in vol. xii. of 
 the same work, on Arizona and New Mexico, which should be referred to 
 by the student of the Spanish occupation of the South-west. In Prince's 
 valuable Historical SkctcJies of N'ew Mexico there is a chapter on De Vaca, 
 with (p. 89) a careful attempt to trace his route. Davis's Conquest of N'ew 
 Mexico tells the story of all the early explorers, including De Vaca, based 
 on the original documents, of which he gives a useful list in his preface. 
 Frank W. Blackmar's Spanish Institutions of the Sonth-west is one of the 
 valuable Johns Hopkins publications. Chapter x., on the Spanish Occupa- 
 tion of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, is especially worthy of attention 
 in this connection. Bandelier, in this latest time, has given most critical 
 attention to the Spanish writings upon the exploration of the South-west ; 
 and his various contributions to the Papers of the Archaeological Institute 
 of America, as well as to \.\\^ foiirnal of American Ethnology and Arc Jut- 
 ology, will be consulted by the careful student. There is a Story of N'ezo 
 Mexico for young people, by H. O. Ladd, in the " Story of the States " 
 series; and Henry Kingsley devotes a chapter to De Vaca in his Tales of 
 Old Travel. 
 
ELEVENTH SERIES, 1893. No. 2. 
 
 Description 
 of Ohio. 
 
 Ey Manasseh Cutler. 
 
 An Explanation of the Map which Delineates that Part of the 
 Federal Lands Comprehended between Pennsylvania West 
 Line, THE Rivers Ohio and Scioto, and Lake Erie; Confirmed 
 TO the United States by Sundry Tribes of Indians, in the 
 Treaties of 1784 and 1786, and Now Ready for Settlement. 
 Salem : Printed by Dabney and Cushing, MDCCLXXXVIL 
 
 New York, October 28, 1787. 
 
 Having attentively perused the foUoiuing pa7nphlet, describing 
 part of the western territory of the United States, I do certify, 
 that the facts therein related, respecting the fertility of the soil, pro- 
 ductions, and general advantages of settlement, etc., are judicious, 
 j'lcst, and true, and correspond with observations inade by me dur- 
 ing niy residence of upivard of ten years in that country. 
 
 Thomas Hutchins, 
 
 Geographer of the United States. 
 AN EXPLANATION, ETC. 
 
 The great river Ohio is formed by the confluence of INIonon- 
 gahela and the Alleghany, in the State of Pennsylvania, about 
 290 miles west of the city of Philadelphia, and about 20 miles 
 east of the western line of that State. In the common travel- 
 ing road, the former distance is computed at 320 miles; and, 
 by the windings and oblique direction of the Ohio, the latter 
 is reckoned about 42. These two sources of the Ohio are 
 large, navigable streams ; the former, flowing from the south- 
 east, leaves but 30 miles portage from the navigable waters of 
 the Potomac, in Virginia ; the latter opens a passage from the 
 north-east, and rises not far from the head-waters of the Sus- 
 
quehanna. The State of Pennsylvania has ah'eady adopted 
 the plan of opening a navigation»from the Alleghany River to 
 the city of Philadelphia, through the Susquehanna and the 
 Delaware. In this route there will be a portage of only 24 
 miles. 
 
 On the junction of these rivers, or at the head of the Ohio, 
 stands Fort Pitt, which gives name to the town of Pittsburgh, 
 a flourishing settlement in the vicinity of the fortress. From 
 this place, the Ohio takes a south-western course of" 1,188 
 miles, including its various windings, and discharges itself 
 into the Mississippi, having passed a prodigious length of de- 
 lightful and fertile country, and received the tribute of a large 
 number of navigable streams. The Muskingum, the Hock- 
 hocking, the Scioto, the Miami, and the Wabash from the 
 north-west, the Kenhawa, the Kentucky, the Buffaloe, the 
 Shawanee, and the Cherokee from the south-east, all navigable 
 from 100 to 900 miles, discharge themselves into the Ohio; 
 and yet the Ohio itself forms but an inconsiderable part of 
 that vast variety of congregated streams which visit the ocean 
 through the channel of the Mississippi. 
 
 The Ohio, from Pennsylvania to the Mississippi, divides the 
 State of Virginia from the Federal lands, or the lands which 
 do not fall within the limits of any particular State. These 
 extend westward to the Mississippi and northward to the 
 boundary of the United States, excepting only the Connecticut 
 reserve, Vhich is a narrow strip of land, bordering on the 
 south of Lake Erie, and stretching 120 miles west of the 
 western limit of Pennsylvania. But a small proportion of 
 these lands is as yet purchased of the natives, and to be dis- 
 posed of by Congress. Beginning on the meridian line, which 
 forms the western boundary of Pennsylvania, they have sur- 
 veyed and laid off seven ranges of townships. As a north 
 and south line strikes the Ohio in a very oblique direction, 
 the termination of the seventh range falls upon that river 9 
 miles above the Muskingum, which is the first large river 
 that falls into the Ohio. It forms this junction at 172 miles 
 below Fort Pitt, including the windings of the Ohio, though 
 in a direct line it is but 90 miles. The lands in which the 
 Indian title is extinguished, and which are now purchasing 
 under the United States, are bounded as before described on 
 the east, by the Great Miami on the west, by the Ohio on the 
 south, and extend near to the head-waters of the Muskingum 
 and Scioto on the north. The Muskingum is a gentle river, 
 confined by banks so high as to prevent its overflowing. It is 
 
250 yards wide at its confluence with the Ohio, and navigable 
 by large batteaux and barges to the Three Legs ; and, by 
 small ones, to the lake at its head. From thence, by a port- 
 age of about one mile, a communication is opened to Lake 
 Erie, through the Cayahoga, which is a stream of great utility, 
 navigable the whole length, without any obstruction from falls. 
 From Lake Erie, the avenue is well known to the Hudson, in 
 the State of New York. The most considerable portage in 
 this route is at the fall of Niagara, which interrupts the com- 
 munication between the Lakes Erie and Ontario. From the 
 latter, you pass through the river Oswego, the Oneyda Lake, 
 Wood's Creek, and find a short portage into the Mohawk, and 
 another, occasioned by a fall near the confluence of the Mo- 
 hawk and the Hudson, at Albany. 
 
 The Hockhocking resembles the Muskingum, though some- 
 what inferior in size. It is navigable for large boats about 70 
 miles, and for small ones much farther. On the banks of this 
 very useful stream are found inexhaustible quarries of free- 
 stone, large beds of iron ore, and some rich mines of lead. 
 Coal mines and salt springs are frequent in the neighborhood 
 of this stream, as they are in every part of the western terri- 
 tory. The salt that may be obtained from these springs will 
 afford an inexhaustible store of that necessary article. Beds 
 of white and blue clay, of an excellent quality, are likewise 
 found here, suitable for the manufacture of glass, crockery, 
 and other earthenwares. Red bole and many other useful 
 fossils have been observed on the branches of this river. 
 
 The Scioto is a larger river than either of the preceding, 
 and opens a more extensive navigation. It is passable for 
 large barges for 200 miles, with a portage of only 4 miles to 
 the Sandusky, a good, navigable stream, that falls into the Lake 
 Erie. Through the Sandusky and Scioto lies the most com- 
 mon pass from Canada to the Ohio and Mississippi, one of the 
 most extensive and useful communications that are to be 
 found in any country. 
 
 Prodigious extensions of territory are here connected ; and, 
 from the rapidity with which the western parts of Canada, 
 Lake Erie, and the Kentucky countries are settling, we may 
 anticipate an immense intercourse between them. The lands 
 on the borders of these middle streams, from this circumstance 
 alone, aside from their natural fertility, must be rendered 
 vastly valuable. There is no doubt but flour, corn, flax, hemp, 
 etc., raised for exportation in that great country between the 
 Lakes Huron and Ontario, will find an easier outlet through 
 
Lake Erie and these rivers than in any other direction. The 
 Ohio merchant can give a higher price than those of Quebec 
 for these commodities, as they may be transported from the 
 former to Florida and the West India Islands with "less ex- 
 pense, risk, and insurance than the latter ; while the expense 
 from the place of growth to the Ohio will not be one-fourth 
 of what it would be to Quebec, and much less than even to 
 the Oneyda Lake. The stream of Scioto is gentle, nowhere 
 broken by falls. At some places, in the spring of the year, it 
 overflows its banks, providing for large natural rice planta- 
 tions. Salt springs, coal mines, white and blue clay and free- 
 stone, abound in the country adjoining this river. The undis- 
 tinguishing terms of admiration, that are commonly used in 
 speaking of the natural fertility of the country on the western 
 waters of the United States, would render it difficult, without 
 accurate attention in the surveys, to ascribe a preference to 
 any particular part, or to give a just description of the terri- 
 tory under consideration, without the hazard of being sus- 
 pected of exaggeration. But in this we have the united opin- 
 ion of the Geographer, the Surveyors, and every traveler that 
 has been intimately acquainted with the country, and marked 
 every natural object with the most scrupulous exactness, — that 
 no part of the federal territory unites so many advantages, in 
 point of health, fertility, variety of production, and foreign 
 intercourse, as that tract which stretches from the Muskingum 
 to the Scioto and the Great Miami Rivers. 
 
 Colonel Gordon, in his journal, speaking of a much larger 
 range of country, in which this is included and makes unques- 
 tionably the finest part, has the following observation : " The 
 country on the Ohio is everywhere pleasant, with large level 
 spots of rich land, and remarkably healthy. One general 
 remark of this nature will serve for the whole tract of the 
 globe comprehended between the western skirts of the Alle- 
 ghany mountains ; thence running south-westerly to the dis- 
 tance of 500 miles to the Ohio falls; then crossing them north- 
 erly to the heads of the rivers that empty themselves into the 
 Ohio ; then east along the ridge that separates the lakes and 
 Ohio's streams to French creek. This country may, from a 
 proper knowledge, be affirmed to be the most healthy, the most 
 pleasant, the most commodious and most fertile spot on earth, 
 known to the European people." 
 
 The lands that feed the various streams above mentioned, 
 which fall into the Ohio, are now more accurately known, and 
 may be described with confidence and precision. They are 
 
5 
 
 interspersed with all the variety of soil which conduces to 
 pleasantness of situation, and lays the foundation for the wealth 
 of an agricultural and manufacturing people. Large level 
 bottoms, or natural meadows, from 20 to 50 miles in circuit, 
 are every-where found bordering the rivers and variegating the 
 country in the interior parts. These afford as rich a soil as 
 can be imagined, and may be reduced to proper cultivation 
 with very little labor. It is said that in many of these bottoms 
 a man may clear an acre a day, fit for planting with Indian 
 corn ; there being no under-wood, and the trees growing high 
 and large, but not thick together, need nothing but girdling. 
 The prevailing growth of timber and the more useful trees are 
 maple or sugar-tree, sycamore, black and white mulberry, black 
 and white walnut, butternut, chestnut, white, black, Spanish, 
 and chestnut oaks, hickory, cherry, buckwood, honey locust, 
 elm, horse chestnut, cucumber tree, lynn tree, gum tree, iron 
 wood, ash, aspin, sassafras, crab-apple tree, pawpaw or custard 
 apple, a variety of plum trees, wine-bark spice, and leather- 
 wood bushes. General Parsons measured a black-walnut tree, 
 near the Muskingum, whose circumference, at 5 feet from the 
 ground, was 22 feet. A sycamore, near the same place, meas- 
 ured 44 feet in circumference, at some distance from the ground. 
 White and black oak, and chestnut, with most of the above- 
 mentioned timbers, grow large and plenty upon the high 
 grounds. Both the high and low lands produce vast quantities 
 of natural grapes of various kinds, of which the settlers uni- 
 versally may make a sufficiency for their own consumption of 
 rich red wine. It is asserted in the old settlement of St. 
 Vincent's, where they have had opportunity to try it, that age 
 will render this wine preferable to most of the European wines. 
 Cotton is the natural production of this country, and grows in 
 great perfection. 
 
 The sugar maple is a most valuable tree for an inland coun- 
 try. Any number of inhabitants may be forever supplied with 
 a sufficiency of sugar by preserving a few trees for the use 
 of each family. A tree will yield about ten pounds of sugar 
 a year, and the labor is very trifling. The sap is extracted in 
 the months of February and March, and granulated, by the 
 simple operation of boiling, to a sugar equal in flavor and 
 whiteness to the best Muscovado. 
 
 Springs of excellent water abound in every part of this terri- 
 tory ; and small and large streams, for mills and other purposes, 
 are actually interspersed, as if by art, that there be no defi- 
 ciency in any of the conveniences of life. 
 
Very little waste land is to be found in any part of the tract 
 of country comprehended in the map which accompanies this. 
 There are no swamps, and, though the hills are frequent, they 
 are gentle and swelling, nowhere high nor incapable of tillage. 
 They are of a deep, rich soil, covered with a heavy growth of 
 timber, and well adapted to the production of wheat, rye, in- 
 digo, tobacco, etc. 
 
 The communications between this country and the sea will 
 be principally in the four following directions : 
 
 1. The route through the Scioto and Muskingum to Lake 
 Erie, and so to the river Hudson, which has been already de- 
 scribed. 
 
 2. The passage up the Ohio and Monongahela to the port- 
 age above mentioned, which leads to the navigable waters of 
 the Potomac. This portage is 30 miles, and will probably be 
 rendered much less by the execution of the plans now on foot 
 for opening the navigation of those waters. 
 
 3. The great Kenhawa, which falls into the Ohio from the 
 Virginia shore between the Hockhocking and the Scioto, opens 
 an extensive navigation from the south-east, and leaves but 18 
 miles portage from the navigable waters of James River, in 
 Virginia. This communication, for the country between Mus- 
 kingum and Scioto, will probably be more used than any other 
 for the exportation of manufactures and other light, valuable 
 articles, and especially for the importation of foreign commodi- 
 ties, which may be brought from the Chesapeake to the Ohio 
 much cheaper than they are now carried from Philadelphia to 
 Carlisle and the other thick-settled back counties of Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 4. But the current down the Ohio and the Mississippi, for 
 heavy articles that suit the Florida and West India markets, 
 such as corn, flour, beef, lumber, etc., will be more frequently 
 loaded than any streams on earth. The distance from the 
 Scioto to the Mississippi is 800 miles ; from thence to the sea 
 it is 900. This whole course is easily run in 15 days, and the 
 passage up those rivers is not so difficult as has usually been 
 represented. It is found by late experiments that sails are 
 used to great advantage against the current of the Ohio, and 
 it is worthy of observation that, in all probability, steamboats 
 will be found to do infinite service in all our extensive river 
 navigation. 
 
 Such is the state of facts relative to the natural advantages 
 of the territory described in the annexed map. As far as ob- 
 servations in passing the rivers and the transitory remarks of 
 
travelers will justify an opinion, the lands further clown, and 
 in other parts of the unappropriated country, are not equal, in 
 point of soil and other local advantages, to the tract which is 
 here described. This, however, can not be accurately deter- 
 mined, as the present situation of these countries will not admit 
 of that minute inspection which has been bestowed on the one 
 under consideration. 
 
 It is a happy circumstance that the Ohio Company are about 
 to commence the settlement of this country in so regular and 
 judicious a manner. It will serve as a wise model for the fut- 
 ure settlement of all the federal lands ; at the same time that, 
 by beginning so near the western limit of Pennsylvania, it will 
 be a continuation of the old settlements, leaving no vacant 
 lands exposed to be seized by such lawless banditti as usually 
 infest the frontiers of countries distant from the seat of govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The design of Congress and of the settlers is that the settle- 
 ments shall proceed regularly down the Ohio and northward 
 to Lake Erie. And it is probable that not many years will 
 elapse before the whole country above Miami will be brought 
 to that degree of cultivation which will exhibit all its latent 
 beauties, and justify those descriptions of travelers which have 
 so often made it the garden of the world, the seat of wealth, 
 and the center of a great empire. 
 
 To the philosopher and the politician, on viewing this de- 
 lightful part of the federal territory, under the prospect of an 
 immediate and systematic settlement, the following observa- 
 tions will naturally occur. 
 
 First. The toils of agriculture will here be rewarded with a 
 greater variety of valuable productions than in any part of 
 America. The advantages of almost every climate are here 
 blended together ; every considerable commodity, that is cul- 
 tivated in any part of the United States, is here produced in 
 the greatest plenty and perfection. The high dry lands are 
 of a deep, rich soil, producing in abundance wheat, rye, Ind- 
 ian corn, buckwheat, oats, barley, flax, hemp, tobacco, indigo, 
 silk, wine, and cotton. The tobacco is of a quality superior 
 to that of Virginia ; and the crops of wheat are larger than in 
 any other part of America. The common growth of Indian 
 corn is from 60 to 80 bushels to the acre. The low lands are 
 well suited to the production of nearly all the above articles, 
 except wheat. 
 
 Where the large bottoms are interspersed with small streams, 
 they are well adapted to the growth of rice, which may be pro- 
 
8 
 
 duced in any quantities. The borders of the large streams 
 do not generally admit of this crop, as very few of them over- 
 flow their banks. But the scarcity of natural rice swamps is 
 amply compensated by the remarkable healthfulness of the 
 whole country, it being entirely free from stagnant waters. It 
 is found, in this country, that stagnant waters are by no means 
 necessary to the growth of the rice ; the common rich bottoms 
 produce this crop in as great perfection as the best rice swamps 
 of the Southern States, Hops are the natural production of 
 this country, as are peaches, plums, pears, apples, melons, and 
 almost every fruit of the temperate zone. 
 
 No country is better stocked with wild game of every kind. 
 Innumerable herds of deer, elk, buffaloe, and bear, are shel- 
 tered in the groves, and fed in the extensive bottoms that 
 every-where abound — an unquestionable proof of the great 
 fertility of the soil. Turkeys, geese, ducks, swans, teal, pheas- 
 ants, partridges, etc., are, from observation, believed to be in 
 greater plenty here than the tame poultry are in any part of 
 the old settlements of America. 
 
 The rivers are well stored with fish of various kinds, and 
 many of them of an excellent quality. They are generally 
 large, though of different sizes. The cat-fish, which is the 
 largest, and of a delicious flavor, weighs from 30 to 80 pounds. 
 Provisions wdll, for many years, find a ready market on any 
 of these rivers ; as settlers are constantly coming in from all 
 parts of the world, and must be supplied by purchase, for one 
 year at least, with many articles. 
 
 Second. From its situation and productions, no country is so 
 well calculated for the establishment of manufactures of various 
 kinds. Provisions will be forever plenty and cheap. The raw 
 materials for fabricating most of the articles of clothing and 
 dress are and will be the luxuriant production of this country. 
 Though silk, cotton, and flax are valuable in themselves, yet, 
 by being wrought into the various articles of use and ornament, 
 the expense of transportation is proportionably lessened. The 
 United States, and perhaps other countries, will be supplied 
 from these interior parts of America. 
 
 Ship-building will be a capital branch of business on the 
 Ohio and its confluent streams. The Ohio, when at the lowest, 
 admits of four fathom of w^ater, from the mouth of the Mus- 
 kingum to its confluence with the Mississippi, except at the 
 rapids, which, at such times, interrupt the navigation for about 
 one mile. The descent in that distance is only 15 feet; and 
 the channel, which is 250 yards wide, has at no time less than 
 
5 feet of water. In freshes the water rises 30 feet ; and boats 
 are not only rowed against the stream, but ascend the rapids 
 by means of their sails only. It is the opinion of the Geog- 
 rapher, and others who have viewed the spot, that, by cutting 
 a canal a little more than half a mile on the south side of the 
 river, which is low meadow ground, the rapids may be avoided, 
 and the navigation made free at all seasons of the year. 
 Hemp, timber, and iron will be plenty and good ; and the high 
 freshes, from February to April, and frequently in October 
 and November, will bear a vessel of any burden over the 
 rapids, in their present state, and out to sea. 
 
 The following observations, by an English engineer who had ex- 
 plored the western country, were addressed to the Earl of Hills- 
 borough in the year 1770, when Secretary of State for the North 
 American department — at a time when we were British colonies, and 
 our country considered only as the handmaid to Great Britain, in 
 furnishing raw materials for their manufactures. 
 
 " No part of North America will require less encouragement for 
 the production of naval stores and raw materials for manufactories 
 in Europe, and for supplying the West India islands with lumber, 
 provisions, etc., than the country of the Ohio, and for the following 
 reasons : 
 
 " I. The lands are excellent, the climate temperate ; the native 
 grapes, silk-worms, and mulberry trees, abound everywhere; hemp, 
 hops, and rye grow spontaneously in the valleys and low lands ; lead 
 andiron ore are plenty in the hills; salt springs are innumerable; 
 and no soil is better adapted to the culture of tobacco, flax, and 
 cotton than that of the Ohio. 
 
 "2. The country is well watered by several navigable riv^ers, com- 
 municating with each other, by which, and a short land carriage, the 
 produce of the lands of the Ohio can, even now, be sent cheaper to 
 the sea-port town of Alexandria, on the River Potowmac — where 
 General Braddock's transports landed his troops — than any kind of 
 merchandise is sent from Northampton to London. 
 
 "3. The river Ohio is, at all seasons of the year, navigable with 
 large boats ; and from the month of February to April large ships 
 may be built on the Ohio and sent to sea, laden with hemp, iron, flax, 
 silk, tobacco, cotton, potash, etc. 
 
 "4. Flour, corn, beef, ship-plank, and other useful articles can be 
 sent down the stream of Ohio to West Florida, and from thence to 
 the West India Islands, much cheaper, and in better order, than 
 from New York or Philadelphia to those islands. 
 
 " 5. Hemp, tobacco, iron, and such bulky articles may be sent 
 down the stream of Ohio to the sea, at least ^o per cent, cheaper 
 than these articles were ever carried by a land carriage of only 60 
 miles in Pennsylvania, where wagonage is cheaper than in any other 
 part of North America. 
 
 " 6. The expense of transporting European manufactures from the 
 sea to the Ohio will not be so much as is now paid, and ever must 
 
10 
 
 be paid, to a great part of the counties of Pennsylvania, Virginia, 
 and Maryland. Whenever the farmers or merchants of Ohio shall 
 properly understand the business of transportation, they will build 
 schooners, sloops, etc., on the Ohio, suitable for the West India or 
 European markets ; or, by having black walnut, cherry tree, oak, 
 etc., properly sawed for foreign markets, and formed into rafts, in the 
 manner that is now done in Pennsylvania, and thereon stow their 
 hemp, iron, tobacco, etc., and proceed with them to New Orleans. 
 
 " It may not, perhaps, be amiss to observe, that large quantities of 
 flour are made in the western counties of Pennsylvania, and sent, 
 by an expensive land carriage, to the city of Philadelphia; and from 
 thence shipped to South Carolina and East and West Florida, there 
 being little or no wheat raised in these provinces. The River Ohio 
 seems kindly designed, by nature, as the channel through which the 
 two Floridas may be supplied with flour, not only for their own 
 consumption, but also for carrying on an extensive commerce with 
 Jamaica and the Spanish settlements in the Bay of Mexico. Mill- 
 stones, in abundance, are to be obtained in the hills near the Ohio; 
 and the country is every-where well watered with large and constant 
 springs and streams for grist and other mills. The passage from 
 Philadelphia to Pensacola is seldom made in less than a month ; and 
 60 shillings sterling per ton freight (consisting of 16 barrels) is usually 
 paid for flour, etc.,^ thither. Boats, carrying 500 or 1,000 barrels of 
 flour, may go in about the same time from Pittsburgh as from Phila- 
 delphia to Pensacola, and for half the above freight. The Ohio mer- 
 chants could deliver flour, etc., there in much better order than from 
 Philadelphia, and without incurring the damage and delay of the sea, 
 and charges of insurance, etc., as from thence to Pensacola. This 
 is not mere speculation ; for it is a fact that about the year 1746 there 
 was a scarcity of provisions at New Orleans, and the French settle- 
 ments at the Illinois, small as they then were, sent thither, in one 
 winter, upward of eight hundred thousand weight of flour." 
 
 If, instead of furnishing other nations with raw materials, com- 
 panies of manufacturers from Europe could be introduced and estab- 
 lished in this inviting situation, under the superintendence of men of 
 property, it would occasion an immense addition of men and wealth 
 to these new settlements, and serve as a beneficial example of econ- 
 omy to many parts of the United States. 
 
 Third. In the late ordinance of Congress for disposing of the 
 western lands, as far down as the River Scioto, the provision that 
 is made for schools and the endowment of an university looks with 
 a most favorable aspect upon the settlement, and furnishes the pre- 
 sentiment that, by a proper attention to the subject of education, 
 under these advantages, the field of science may be greatly enlarged, 
 and the acquisition of useful knowledge placed upon a more respect- 
 able footing here than in any other part of the world. Besides the 
 opportunity of opening a new and unexplored region for the range 
 of natural history, botany, and the medical science, there will be one 
 advantage which no other part of the earth can boast, and which 
 probably will never again occur — that, in order to begin rights there 
 
1 1 
 
 will be no wrong habits to combat, and no inveterate systems to 
 overturn — there is no rubbish to remove, before you can lay the 
 foundation. The first settlement will embosom many men of the 
 most liberal minds — well versed in the world, in busine'ss, and every 
 useful science. Could the necessary apparatus be procured, and 
 funds immediately established, for founding a university on a liberal 
 plan, that professors might be active in their various researches and 
 employments — even now, in the infancy of the settlement, a proper 
 use might be made of an advantage which will never be repeated. 
 
 Many political benefits would immediately result to the United 
 States from such an early institution in that part of the country. 
 The people in the Kentucky and Illinois countries are rapidly in- 
 creasing. Their distance from the old States will prevent their send- 
 ing their children thither for instruction ; from the want of which 
 they are in danger of losing all their habits of government, and 
 allegiance to the United States. But, on seeing examples of govern- 
 ment, science, and regular industry follow them into the neighbor- 
 hood of their own country, they would favor their children with these 
 advantages, and revive the ideas of order, citizenship, and the useful 
 sciences. This attention, from these neighboring people, would 
 increase the wealth and population of the new proposed settlement. 
 
 Fourth. In the ordinance of Congress, for the government of the 
 territory north-west of the Ohio, it is provided that, after the said 
 territory acquires a certain degree of population, it shall be divided 
 into States. The Eastern State that is thus provided to be made is 
 bounded on the Great Miami on the west and by the Pennsylvania 
 line on the east. The centre of this State will fall betwe'en the 
 Scioto and the Hockhocking. At the mouth of one of these rivers 
 will probably be the seat of government for the State. And, if we 
 may indulge the sublime contemplation of beholding the whole terri- 
 tory of the United States settled by an enlightened people, and con- 
 tinued under one extended government, on the river Ohio, and not 
 far from this spot, will be the seat of empire for the whole dominion. 
 This is central to the whole; it will best accommodate every part; it 
 is the most pleasant, and probably the most healthful. Altho' it is 
 an object of importance that Congress should soon fix on a seat of 
 government, yet, in the present state of the country, it is presumed, 
 it will not be thought best that such a seat be considered as immov- 
 ably fixed. To take the range of the Alleghany Mountains from 
 north to south, it is probable twenty years will not elapse before 
 there will be more people on the western than on the eastern waters 
 of the United States. The settlers ought even now to have it in 
 view, that government will forever accommodate them as much as 
 their brethren on the east. This may be necessary to prevent their 
 forming schemes of independence, seeking other connections, and 
 providing for their separate convenience. As it is the most exalted 
 and benevolent object of legislation that ever was aimed at, to unite 
 such an amazingly extensive people, and make them happy, under 
 one jurisdiction, every act of Congress under the new Constitution, 
 by looking forward to this object, will, we trust, inculcate and famil- 
 
12 
 
 iarize the idea. They will, no doubt, at an early period, make a 
 reservation or purchase of a suitable tract of land for a federal town 
 that will be central to the whole, and give some public intimation of 
 such intention to transfer the seat of government, on the occurrence 
 of certain events, such as comparative population, etc. This would 
 render such transfer easily practicable, by preventing the occasion of 
 uneasiness in the old states, while it would not appear to be the 
 result of danger, or the prospect of revolt, in the new. 
 
 "We are accustomed to praise the lawgivers of antiquity; we help to 
 perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus ; but I doubt whether one 
 single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more 
 distinct, marked, and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787." So 
 said Daniel Webster ; and Senator Hoar said in his centennial address at 
 Marietta: "The Ordinance of 17S7 belongs with the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence and the Constitution. It is one of the three title-deeds of American 
 constitutional liberty." The Ordinance of 1787 is printed in the Old South 
 Leaflets, No. 13; and the notes which are there appended give a careful his- 
 tory and analysis of this great law, which forever prohibited slavery from the 
 North-west. Every student is advised to procure and carefully study that 
 leaflet. The part taken by Massachusetts men — Rufus King, Nathan Dane, 
 Rufus Putnam, and others — in securing the passage of the Ordinance was 
 very conspicuous. No man did more to secure its passage in proper form, 
 or to secure the settlement of Ohio and the West by the best men, with 
 the best institutions, than Rev. Manasseh Cutler, the famous minister of 
 Ipswich, Mass. Mr. Cutler had been a chaplain in the army during the 
 war. He was one of the ablest scientific men of his time, second only to 
 Franklin in America. From iSoi till 1S05 he was a member of Congress 
 from Massachusetts. It was he who drafted the Ordinance of 17S7 for 
 Nathan Dane in its amended form, inserting the great clauses relating to 
 religion, education, and slavery ; and it is right to say that his influence was 
 greater than that of any other in effecting its adoption — making its adop- 
 tion a condition of the purchase of federal lands by the Ohio Company in 
 Massachusetts, which was proposing settlements in the West. Upon its 
 adoption he published at Salem the description of the Western country 
 reprinted in the present leaflet, commending that country to the people of 
 New England. This tract is notable as one of the first important papers 
 urging emigration from New England to the West, which, then beginning, 
 has gone on so steadily for a century, affecting the character of the whole 
 country. The closing portions of the tract, touching the social and political 
 aspects of the new West, are especially commended to the attention of the 
 student. Dr. Cutler himself visited Marietta in 178S. 
 
 See the Life, Journals, and Corresponde)ice of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, espe- 
 cially Chap. VIII. of Vol. I., on the Influence of Dr. Cutler in the Formation 
 of the Ordinance of 17S7, and the history of the Ordinance, Vol. II., Appen- 
 dix D. This life of Dr. Cutler altogether is an invaluable picture of the 
 times, as Dr. Cutler was the friend and correspondent of the most important 
 and interesting men in America and in close touch with all significant polit- 
 ical and scientific movements. 
 
 See, also, in addition to the books mentioned in the Leaflet on the Ordi- 
 nance of 1787, the new histories of Ohio and Indiana in the "American 
 Commonwealths" series, especially the chapters relating to the Ordinance 
 of 1787. 
 
ELEVENTH SERIES, 1893. No. 3. 
 
 Washington's 
 
 Tour 
 to the Ohio. 
 
 From his Journal of a Tour to the Ohio River in 1770. 
 
 October ip/i. — Dr. Craik and myself, with Captain Crawford 
 and others, arrived at Fort Pitt, distant from the Crossing forty- 
 three and a half measured miles. In riding this distance we 
 passed over a great deal of exceedingly fine land, (chiefly white- 
 oak,) especially from Seveigley's Creek to Turtle Creek, but 
 the whole broken ; resembling, (as I think all the lands in this 
 country do,) the Loudoun lands for hills. We lodged in what 
 is called the town, distant about three hundred yards from the 
 fort, at one Mr. Semple's who keeps a very good house of 
 public entertainment. These houses, which are built of logs, 
 and ranged into streets, are on the Monongahela, and I sup- 
 pose may be about twenty in number, and inhabited by Indian 
 traders, &c. The fort is built on the point between the rivers 
 Allegany and Monongahela, but not so near the pitch of it as 
 Fort Duquesne stood. It is five-sided and regular, two of 
 which next the land are of brick ; the others stockade. A 
 moat encompasses it. The garrison consists of two companies 
 of Royal Irish, commanded by Captain Edmonson. 
 
 18///. — Dined in the Fort with Colonel Croghan and the 
 officers of the garrison ; supped there also, meeting with great 
 civility from the gentlemen, and engaged to dine with Colonel 
 Croghan the next day at his seat, about four miles up the Alle- 
 gany. 
 
 19M. — Received a message from Colonel Croghan, that the 
 White Mingo and other chiefs of the Six Nations had something 
 to say to me, and desiring that I should be at his house about 
 eleven (where they were to meet), I went up and received a 
 
speech, with a string of wampum from the White Mingo, to the 
 following effect. 
 
 " That I was a person whom some of them remember to have 
 seen, when I was sent on an embassy to the French, and most 
 of them had heard of, they were come to bid me welcome to 
 this country, and to desire that the people of Virginia would 
 consider them as friends and brothers, linked together in one 
 chain ; that I would inform the governor, that it was their wish 
 to live in peace and harmony with the white people, and that 
 though there had been some unhappy differences between them 
 and the people upon our frontiers, they were all made up, and 
 they hoped forgotten ; and concluded with saying, that their 
 brothers of Virginia did not come among them and trade as the 
 inhabitants of the other provinces did, from whence they were 
 afraid that we did not look upon them with so friendly an eye 
 as they could wish." 
 
 To this I answered, (after thanking them for their friendly 
 welcome,) that all the injuries and affronts, that had passed on 
 either side, were now totally forgotten, and that I was sure 
 nothing was more wished and desired by the people of Virginia, 
 than to live in the strictest friendship with them ; that the Vir- 
 ginians were a people not so much engaged in trade as the 
 Pennsylvanians, »^ca,, which w^as the reason of their not being 
 so frequently among them ; but that it was possible they might 
 for the time to come have stricter connexions with them, and 
 that I would acquaint the governor with their desires. 
 
 After dinner at Colonel Croghan's we returned to Pittsburg, 
 Colonel Croghan with us, who intended to accompany us part 
 of the way down the river, having engaged an Indian called the 
 Pheasant, and one Joseph Nicholson an interpreter, to attend 
 us the whole voyage ; also a young Indian warrior. 
 
 2oth. — We embarked in a large canoe, with sufficient store 
 of provisions and necessaries, and the following persons, (be- 
 sides Dr. Craik and myself,) to wit: — Captain Crawford, 
 Joseph Nicholson, Robert Bell, William Harrison, Charles 
 Morgan, and Daniel Rendon, a boy of Captain Crawford's, and 
 the Indians, who were in a canoe by themselves. From Fort 
 Pitt we sent our horses and boys back to Captain Crawford's, 
 with orders to meet us there again the 14th day of November. 
 Colonel Croghan, Lieutenant Hamilton, and Mr. Magee, set 
 out with us. At two we dined at Mr. Magee's, and encamped 
 ten miles below, and four above the Logstown. We passed 
 several large islands, which appeared to [be] very good, as the 
 bottoms also did on each side of the river alternately ; the hills 
 
on one side being opposite to the bottoms on the other, which 
 seem generally to be about three or four hundred yards wide, 
 and so vice versa. 
 
 2\st. — Left our encampment about six o'clock, and break- 
 fasted at the Logstown, where we parted with Colonel Croghan 
 and company about nine o'clock. At eleven we came to the 
 mouth of the Big Beaver Creek, opposite to w^hich is a good 
 situation for a house, and above it, on the same side, (that is 
 the west,) there appears to be a body of fine land. About five 
 miles lower down, on the east side, comes in Raccoon Creek, 
 at the mouth of which and up it appears to be a body of good 
 land also. All the land between this creek and the Mononga- 
 hela, and for fifteen miles back, is claimed by Colonel Croghan 
 under a purchase from the Indians, (and which sale he says is 
 confirmed by his Majesty.) On this creek, where the branches 
 thereof interlock with the waters of Shirtees Creek, there is, 
 according to Colonel Croghan's account, a body of fine, rich, 
 level land. This tract he wants to sell, and offers it at five 
 pounds sterling per hundred acres, with an exemption of quit- 
 rents for twenty years ; after which, to be subject to the pay- 
 ment of four shillings and two pence sterling per hundred ; 
 provided he can sell it in ten-thousand-acre lots. Note : the 
 unsettled state of this country renders any purchase dangerous. 
 From Raccoon Creek to Little Beaver Creek appears to me to 
 be little short of ten miles, and about three miles below this we 
 encamped ; after hiding a barrel of biscuit in an island (in 
 sight) to lighten our canoe. 
 
 i2d. — As it began to snow about midnight, and continued 
 pretty steadily at it, it was about half after seven before we 
 left our encampment. At the distance of about eight miles we 
 came to the mouth of Yellow Creek, (to the west) opposite to, 
 or rather below which, appears to be a long bottom of very 
 good land, and the ascent to the hills apparently gradual. 
 There is another pretty large bottom of very good land about 
 two or three miles above this. About eleven or twelve miles 
 from this, and just above what is called the Long Island (which 
 though so distinguished is not very remarkable for length, 
 breadth, or goodness), comes in on the east side the river a 
 small creek, or run, the name of which I could not learn ; and 
 a mile or two below the island, on the west side, comes in Big 
 Stony Creek (not larger in appearance than the other), on 
 neither of which does there seem to be any large bottoms or 
 bodies of good land. About seven miles from the last men- 
 tioned creek, twenty-eight from our last encampment, and about 
 
seventy-fiv^e from Pittsburg, we came to the Mingo Town, sit- 
 uate on the west side the river, a little above the Cross Creeks. 
 This place contains about twenty cabins, and seventy inhab- 
 itants of the Six Nations. Had we set off early, and kept con- 
 stantly at it, we might have reached lower than this place to-day ; 
 as the water in many places run pretty swift, in general more so 
 than yesterday. The river from Fort Pitt to the Logstown has 
 some ugly rifts and shoals, which we found somewhat difftcult 
 to pass, whether from our inexperience of the channel, or not, 
 I cannot undertake to say. From the Logstown to the mouth 
 of Little Beaver Creek is much the same kind of water; that 
 is, rapid in some places, gliding gently along in others, and 
 quite still in many. The water from Little Beaver Creek to the 
 Mingo Town, in general, is swifter than we found it the preced- 
 ing day, and without any shallows ; there being some one part 
 or another always deep, which is a natural consequence, as the 
 river in all the distance from Fort Pitt to this town has not 
 widened at all, nor doth the bottoms appear to be any larger. 
 The hills which come close to the river opposite to each bottom 
 are steep ; and on the side in view, in many places, rocky and 
 cragged ; but said to abound in good land on the tops. These 
 are not a range of hills, but broken and cut in two, as if there 
 were frequent watercourses running through, (which however 
 we did not perceive to be the case, consequently they must be 
 small if any.) The river along down abounds in wild geese, 
 and several kinds of ducks, but in no great quantity. We 
 killed five wild turkeys to day. Upon our arrival at the Mingo 
 Town, we received the disagreeable news of two traders being 
 killed at a town called the Grape-Vine Town, thirty-eight miles 
 below this ; which caused us to hesitate whether we should 
 proceed, or wait for further intelligence. 
 
 23^. — Several imperfect accounts coming in, agreeing that 
 only one person was killed, and the Indians not supposing it to 
 be done by their people, we resolved to pursue our passage, 
 till we could get some more distinct account of this transaction. 
 Accordingly about two o'clock we set out with the two Indians, 
 who were to accompany us, in our canoe, and in about four 
 miles came to the mouth of a creek called Sculp Creek on the 
 east side, at the mouth of which is a bottom of very good land, 
 as I am told there likewise is up it. The Cross Creeks, (as 
 they are called,) are not large ; that on the west side is biggest. 
 At the Mingo Town we found and left sixty & odd warriors of 
 the Six Nations, going to the Cherokee country to proceed to 
 war aofainst the Catawbas. About ten miles below the town, 
 
5 
 
 we came to two other cross creeks; that on the west side 
 largest, but not big, and called by Nicholson, French Creek. 
 About three miles, or a little better below this, at the lower point 
 of some islands, which stand contiguous to each other, we were 
 told by the Indians with us that three men from Virginia (by 
 Virginians they mean all the people settled upon Redstone, 
 &c.) had marked the land from hence all the way to Red- 
 stone ; that there was a body of exceeding fine land lying about 
 this place, and up opposite to the Mingo Town, as also down 
 to the mouth of Fishing Creek. At this place we encamped. 
 
 2\ih. — We left our encampment before sunrise, and about 
 six miles below it we came to the mouth of a pretty smart 
 creek, coming in to the eastward, called by the Indians Split 
 Island Creek, from its running in against an island. On this 
 creek there is the appearance of good land a distance up it. 
 Six miles below this again we came to another creek on the 
 west side, called by Nicholson, Wheeling; and about a mile 
 lower down appears to be another small water coming in on the 
 east side, which I remark, because of the scarcity of them, and 
 to show how badly furnished this country is with mill-seats. 
 Two or three miles below this again is another run on the west 
 side, up which is a near way by land to the Mingo Town ; and 
 about four miles lower, comes in another on the east, at which 
 place is a path leading to the settlement at Red-stone. About 
 a mile and a half below this again, comes in the Pipe Creek, so 
 called by the Indians from a stone, which is found here, out of 
 which they make pipes. Opposite to this, that is, on the east 
 side, is a bottom of exceeding rich land ; but as it seems to 
 lie low, I am apprehensive that it is subject to be overflowed. 
 This bottom ends where the effects of a hurricane appear, by 
 the destruction and havoc among the trees. Two or three 
 miles below the Pipe Creek is a pretty large creek on the west 
 side, called by Nicholson Fox-Grape-Vine, by others Captema 
 Creek, on which, eight miles up, is the town called the Grape- 
 vine Town ; and at the mouth of it is the place where it was 
 said the traders lived, and the one was killed. To this place 
 we came about three o'clock in the afternoon, and finding 
 nobody there, we agreed to camp ; that Nicholson and one of 
 the Indians might go up to the town, and inquire into the truth 
 of the report concerning the murder. 
 
 25M. — About seven o'clock, Nicholson and the Indian re- 
 turned ; they found nobody at the town but two old Indian 
 women (the men being a hunting) ; from these they learnt that 
 the trader was not killed, but drowned in attempting to ford the 
 
Ohio ; and that only one boy, belonging to the traders, was in 
 these parts ; the trader, (father to him) being gone for horses 
 to take home their skins. About half an hour after seven we 
 set out from our encampment; around which and up the creek 
 is a body of fine land. In our passage down to this we see 
 innumerable quantities of turkeys, and many deer watering and 
 browsing on the shore-side, some of which we killed. Neither 
 yesterday nor the day before did we pass any rifts, or very 
 rapid water, the river gliding gently along; nor did we perceive 
 any alteration in the general face of the country, except that 
 the bottoms seemed to be getting a little longer and wider, as 
 the bends of the river grew larger. 
 
 About five miles from the Vine Creek comes in a very large 
 creek to the eastward, called by the Indians Cut Creek, from a 
 town or tribe of Indians, which they say was cut off entirely 
 in a very bloody battle between them and the Six Nations. 
 This creek empties just at the lower end of an island, and is 
 seventy or eighty yards wide ; and I fancy it is the creek com- 
 monly called by the people of Red-stone &c Wheeling. It 
 extends, according to the Indians' account, a great way, and 
 interlocks with the branches of Split-Island Creek ; abounding 
 in very fine bottoms, and exceeding good land. Just below 
 this, on the west side, comes in a small run ; and about five 
 miles below it, on the west side also, another middling large 
 creek empties, called by the Indians Broken-Timber Creek; 
 so named from the timber that is destroyed on it by a hurri- 
 cane ; on the head of this was a town of the Delawares, which 
 is now left. Two miles lower down, on the same side, is 
 another creek smaller than the last, and bearing, (according to 
 the Indians,) the same name. Opposite to these two creeks, 
 (on the east side,) appears to be a large bottom of good land. 
 About two miles below the last mentioned creek, on the east 
 side, and at the end of the bottom aforementioned, comes in 
 a small creek or large run. Seven miles from this comes in 
 Muddy Creek, on the east side of the river, a pretty large creek, 
 and heads up against and with some of the waters of Mononga- 
 hela, (according to the Indians' account,) and contains some 
 bottoms of very good land ; but in general the hills are steep, 
 and country broken about it. At the mouth of this creek is the 
 largest flat I have seen upon the river ; the bottom extending 
 two or three miles up the river above it, and a mile below ; 
 tho it does not seem to be of the richest kind and yet is ex- 
 ceeding good upon the whole, if it be not too low and subject 
 to freshets. About half way in the long reach we encamped, 
 
opposite to the beginning of a bottom on the east side of the 
 river. At this place we threw out some lines at night and 
 found a catfish, of the size of our largest river cats, hooked to 
 it in the morning, though it was of the smallest kind here. We 
 found no rifts in this day's passage, but pretty swift water in 
 some places, and still in others. We found the bottoms in- 
 creased in size, both as to length and breadth, and the river 
 more choked up with fallen trees, and the bottom of the river 
 next the shores rather more muddy, but in general stony, as it 
 has been all the way down. 
 
 26///. — Left our encampment at half an hour after six o'clock, 
 and passed a small run on the west side about four miles lower. 
 At the lower end of the long reach, and for some distance up it, 
 on the east side, is a large bottom, but low, and covered with 
 beech near the river-shore, which is no indication of good land. 
 The long reach is a straight course of the river for about 
 eighteen or twenty miles, which appears the more extraordinary 
 as the Ohio in general is remarkably crooked. There are sev- 
 eral islands in this reach, some containing an hundred or more 
 acres of land ; but all I apprehend liable to be overflowed. 
 
 At the end of this reach we found one Martin and Lindsay, 
 two traders, and from them learnt, that the person drowned 
 was one Philips, attempting, in company with Rogers, another 
 Indian trader, to swim the river with their horses at an im- 
 proper place ; Rogers himself narrowly escaping. Five miles 
 lower down comes in a large creek from the east, right against 
 an island of good land, at least a mile or two in length. At 
 the mouth of this creek (the name of which I could not learn, 
 except that it was called by some Bull's Creek, from one Bull 
 that hunted on it) is a bottom of good land, though rather too 
 much mixed with beech. Opposite to this island the Indians 
 showed us a buffalo's path, the tracks of which we see. Five 
 or six miles below the last mentioned creek we came to the 
 Three Islands before which we observed a small run on each 
 side coming in. Below these islands is a large body of flat 
 land, with a watercourse running through it on the east side, 
 and the hills back neither so high nor steep in appearance, as 
 they are up the river. On the other hand, the bottoms do not 
 appear so rich, though much longer and wider. The bottom 
 last mentioned is upon a straight reach of the river, I suppose 
 six or eight miles in length, at the lower end of which on the 
 east side comes in a pretty large run from the size of the mouth. 
 About this, above, below and back, there seems to be a very 
 large body of flat land with some little risings in it. 
 
8 
 
 About twelve miles below the Three Islands we encamped, 
 just above the mouth of a creek, which appears pretty large at 
 the mouth, and just above an island. All the lands from a 
 little below the creek, which I have distinguished by the name 
 of Bull Creek, appear to be level, with some small hillocks 
 intermixed, as far as we could see into the country. We met 
 with no rifts to-day, but some pretty strong water; upon the 
 whole tolerable gentle. The sides of the river were a good 
 deal incommoded with old trees, which impeded our passage 
 a little. This day proved clear and pleasant ; the only day 
 since the i8th that it did not rain or snow, or threaten the one 
 or other. 
 
 27///. — Left our encampment a quarter before seven; and 
 after passing the creek near which we lay, and another much 
 the same size and on the same side, (west) also an island about 
 two miles in length, (but not wide,) we came to the mouth of 
 Muskingum, distant from our encampment about four miles. 
 This river is about one hundred and fifty yards wide at the 
 mouth ; it runs out in a gentle current and clear stream, and 
 is navigable a great way into the country for canoes. From 
 Muskingum to the Little Kanhawa is about thirteen miles. 
 This is about as wide at the mouth as the Muskingum, but the 
 water much deeper. It runs up towards the inhabitants of 
 Monongahela, and, according to the Indians' account, forks 
 about forty or fifty miles up it, and the ridge between the two 
 prongs leads directly to the settlement. To this fork, and 
 above, the water is navigable for canoes. On the upper side 
 of this river there appears to be a bottom of exceeding rich 
 land, and the country from hence quite up to the Three Islands 
 level and in appearance fine. The Ohio running round it in 
 the nature of a horse-shoe forms a neck of flat land, which, 
 added to that running up the second long reach (aforemen- 
 tioned,) cannot contain less than fifty thousand acres in view. 
 
 About six or seven miles below the mouth of the Little Ken- 
 hawa, we came to a small creek on the west side, which the 
 Indians called Little Hockhocking ; but before we did this, we 
 passed another small creek on the same side near the mouth of 
 that river, and a cluster of islands afterwards. The lands for 
 two or three miles below the mouth of the Kenhawa on both 
 sides of the Ohio appear broken and indifferent ; but opposite 
 to the Little Hockhocking there is a bottom of exceeding good 
 land, through which there runs a small watercourse. I suppose 
 there may be, of this bottom and flat land together, two or three 
 thousand acres. The lower end of this bottom is opposite to 
 
9 
 
 a small island, which I dare say little of it is to be seen when 
 the river is high. About eight miles below Little Hockhocking 
 we encamped opposite to the mouth of the Great Hockhocking, 
 which, though so called, is not a large water; though the Ind- 
 ians say canoes can go up it forty or fifty miles. Since we left 
 the Little Kenhawa the lands appear neither so level nor so 
 good. The bends of the river and bottoms are longer, indeed, 
 but not so rich as in the upper part of the river. 
 
 2Zth. — Left our encampment about seven o'clock. Two 
 miles below, a small run comes in, on the east side, through 
 a piece of land that has a very good appearance, the bottom 
 beginning above our encampment, and continuing in appear- 
 ance wide for four miles down, to a place where there comes 
 in a small run, and to the hills, where we found Kiashuta and 
 his hunting party encamped. Here we were under a necessity 
 of paying our compliments, as this person was one of the Six 
 Nation chiefs, and the head of them upon this river. In the 
 person of Kiashuta I found an old acquaintance, he being one 
 of the Indians that went to the French in 1753. He expressed 
 a satisfaction at seeing me, and treated us with great kindness, 
 giving us a quarter of very fine buffalo. He insisted upon our 
 spending that night with him, and, in order to retard us as little 
 as possible, moves his camp down the river about 6 miles just 
 below the mouth of the creek, the name of which I could not 
 learn, it not being large. At this place we all encamped. 
 After much counselling the over night, they all came to my 
 fire the next morning with great formality ; when Kiashuta, 
 rehearsing what had passed between me and the Sachems at 
 Colonel Croghan's, thanked me for saying, that peace and 
 friendship were the wish of the people of Virginia, (with them) 
 and for recommending it to the traders to deal with them upon 
 a fair and equitable footing; and then again expressed their 
 desire of having a trade opened with Virginia, and that the 
 governor thereof might not only be made acquainted therewith, 
 but of their friendly disposition towards the white people. 
 This I promised to do. 
 
 29M. — The tedious ceremony, which the Indians observe in 
 their counsellings and speeches, detained us till nine o'clock. 
 Opposite to the creek, just below which we encamped, is a 
 pretty long bottom, and I believe tolerably wide ; but about 
 eight or nine miles below the aforementioned creek, and just 
 below a pavement of rocks on the west side, comes in a creek, 
 with fallen timber at the mouth, on which the Indians say there 
 are wide bottoms and good land. The river bottoms above, 
 
for some distance, are very good, and continue for near half 
 a mile below the creek. The pavement of rocks is only to be 
 seen at low water. About a mile or a little better below the 
 mouth of the creek there is another pavement of rocks on the 
 east side, in a kind of sedgy ground. On this creek many 
 buffaloes are according to the Indians' account. Six miles 
 below this comes in a small creek on the west side, at the end 
 of a small, naked island, and just above another pavement of 
 rocks. This creek comes thro a bottom of fine land, and oppo- 
 site to it, (on the east side of the river,) appears to be a large 
 bottom of very fine land also. At this place begins what they 
 call the Great Bend. Five miles below, this, again on the east 
 side, comes in (about 200 yards above a little stream or gut) 
 another creek, which is just below an island, on the upper point 
 of which are some dead standing trees, and a parcel of white- 
 bodied sycamores ; in the mouth of this creek lies a sycamore 
 blown down by the wind. From hence an east line may be run 
 three or four miles ; thence a north line till it strikes the river, 
 which I apprehend would include about three or four thousand 
 acres of exceeding valuable land. At the mouth of this creek 
 which is three or four miles above two islands (at the lower end 
 of the last is a rapid, and the point of the bend) is the warrior's 
 path to the Cherokee country. For two miles and a half below 
 this the Ohio runs a north-east course, and finishes what they 
 call the Great Bend. Two miles and a half below this we 
 encamped. . . . 
 
 November 1st. — A little before eight o'clock we set off with 
 our canoe up the river, to discover what kinds of lands lay 
 upon the Kenhawa. The land on both sides this river just 
 at the mouth is very fine ; but on the east side, when you get 
 towards the hills, (which I judge to be about six or seven hun- 
 dred yards from the river,) it appears to be wet, and better 
 adapted for meadow than tillage. This bottom continues up 
 the east side for about two miles ; and by going up the Ohio 
 a good tract might be got of bottom land, including the old 
 Shawnee Town, which is about three miles up the Ohio, just 
 above the mouth of a creek, where the aforementioned bottom 
 ends on the east side the Kenhawa, which extends up it at 
 least fifty miles by the Indians' account and of great width (to 
 be ascertained as we come down) ; in many places very rich, 
 in others somewhat wet and pondy ; fit for meadow, but upon 
 the whole exceeding valuable, as the land after you get out of 
 the rich bottom is very good for grain, tho' not rich. We 
 judged we went up this river about ten miles to-day. On the 
 
II 
 
 east side appear to be the same good bottoms, but small, 
 neither long nor wide, and the hills back of them rather steep 
 and poor. 
 
 2d. — We proceeded up the river with the canoe about four 
 miles farther, and then encamped, and went a hunting ; killed 
 five buffaloes and wounded some others, three deer, &c. This 
 country abounds in buffaloes and wild game of all kinds ; as 
 also in all kinds of wild fowl, there being in the bottoms a great 
 many small, grassy ponds, or lakes, which are full of swans, 
 geese, and ducks of different kinds. Some of our people went 
 up the river four or five miles higher, and found the same kind 
 of bottom on the west side ; and we were told by the Indians, 
 that it continued to the falls, which they judged to be fifty or 
 sixty miles higher up. . . . 
 
 \lth. — There is very little difference in the general width of 
 the river from Fort Pitt to the Kenhawa ; but in the depth 
 I believe the odds are considerably in favor of the lower parts, 
 as we found no shallows below the Mingo Town, except in one 
 or two places where the river was broad, and there, I do not 
 know but there might have been a deep channel in some part 
 of it. Every here and there are islands, some larger and some 
 smaller, which, operating in the nature of locks, or steps, occa- 
 sion pretty still water above, but for the most part strong and 
 rapid water alongside of them. However there is none of these 
 so swift but that a vessel may be rowed or set up with poles. 
 When the river is in its natural state, large canoes, that will 
 carry five or six thousand weight or more, may be worked 
 against stream by four hands, twenty or twenty-five miles a 
 day ; and down, a good deal more. The Indians, who are very 
 dexterous (even their women) in the management of canoes, 
 have their hunting-camps and cabins all along the river, for 
 the convenience of transporting their skins by water to market. 
 In the fall, so soon as the hunting-season comes on, they set 
 out with their families for this purpose ; and in hunting will 
 move their camps from place to place, till by the spring they 
 get two or three hundred or more miles from their towns \ 
 then beaver catch it in their way up, which frequently brings 
 them into the month of May, when the women are employed in 
 planting, the men at market, and in idleness, till the Fall again, 
 when they pursue the same course. During the summer 
 months they live a poor and perishing life. 
 
 The Indians who reside upon the Ohio, (the upper parts of 
 it at least,) are composed of Shawnees, Delawares, and some 
 •of the Mingoes, who, getting but little part of the consideration 
 
12 
 
 that was given for the lands eastward of the Ohio, view the 
 settlement of the people upon this river with an uneasy and 
 jealous eye, and do not scruple to say, that they must be com- 
 pensated for their right if the people settle thereon, notwith- 
 standing the cession of the Six Nations thereto. On the other 
 hand, the people from Virginia and elsewhere are exploring and 
 marking all the lands that are valuable, not only on Redstone 
 and other waters of the Monongahela, but along down the Ohio 
 as low as the Little Kenhawa ; and by next summer I suppose 
 will get to the Great Kenhawa at least. How difficult it may 
 be to contend with these people afterwards is easy to be judged, 
 from every day's experience of lands actually settled, supposing 
 these to be made ; than which nothing is more probable, if the 
 Indians permit them, from the disposition of the people at 
 present. 
 
 Washington's interest in the West began when he was hardly out of 
 boyhood, and was employed to survey lands for Lord Fairfax among the 
 Alieghanies. In 1749 his brothers, Lawrence and Augustine Washington, 
 became members and Lawrence the chief manager of the Ohio Company, 
 formed in Virginia that year for the colonization of the Ohio country, — the 
 first scheme for the settlement of the West by Englishmen. His Journal of 
 a Tour to the Ohio in 1753, published after his visit to the French posts on 
 the Alleghany, and his letters at the time, show how deeply he realized the 
 importance oi the struggle between France and England for the possession 
 of the great West. No other Virginian took so important a part in that 
 struggle. At the close of the French war he received 5,000 acres on the 
 Ohio,Jiis claim as an officer for services in the war; and he possessed him- 
 self of other claims to so large an extent that at one time he controlled over 
 60,000 acres on the Ohio, at the outbreak of the Revolution being probably 
 the largest owner of western lands in America. See the WasJihigton-Cr aw/or d Letters Con- 
 cerning Wester)i Lands, edited by C. W. Butterfield. Crawford was the surveyor employed 
 by Washington on the Ohio. W^ashington's Journal of his own tour to the Ohio in 1770, to 
 inspect these lands, — about half of which is published in the present leaflet, — is remarkable 
 for its careful studies of the condition and prospects of this part of the western country. 
 This journey down the Ohio look him past the mouth of the Muskmgum and the place where 
 Rufus Putnam and the men from New England, less than twenty years later, ^vere to found 
 Marietta. Earlier in this same year, 1770, Washington had corresponded with Jefferson 
 about the opening up of the Potomac and a connection with the Ohio, as "the channel of 
 conveyance of the extensive and valuable trade of a rising empire"; and this was the first 
 subject of his thought upon the close of the Revolution. He explored the Mohawk route to 
 the West. He explored the head waters of the Potomac and the Ohio, travelling nearly 700 
 miles on horseback, making careful maps. He wrote a remarkable letter to Benjamin Har- 
 rison, the governor of Virginia, urging the opening of lines of communication with the West. 
 See this letter and the historical notes in Old South Leaflet, No. 16 He became the pres- 
 ident of the Potomac Company, organized in 1785 for establishing connections with the 
 West. See Pickell's A Neiv Chapter in the Early Life of Washington for a full account 
 of this, and Washington's letters to Jefferson, Lee, and others on the importance of open- 
 ing up the W^est and binding the sections of the country firmly together, which latter point 
 he strongly emphasized in his Farewell Address. For his interest in the Ordinance of 1787 
 and his services in behalf of Gen. Rufus Putnam and the Ohio Company in the settlement 
 of Marietta and the organization of the North-west territory, see the hife, Jottrnals, and 
 Correspondence of Rev. Mafiasich Cutter and the St. Clair Papers. The whole history of 
 Washington's interest in the opening of the West forms one of the most important chapters 
 of his life. 
 
O^lti J^outlj leaflet^. 
 
 ELEVENTH SERIES, 1893. No. 4. 
 
 The North-west 
 Territory and 
 Western Reserve 
 
 By James A. Garfield. 
 
 Address before the Historical Society of Geauga Cotinty, Ohio, 
 September 16, 1S73. 
 
 From the historian's standpoint, our country is peculiarly 
 and exceptionally fortunate. The origin of nearly all great 
 nations, ancient and modern, is shrouded in fable or tradition- 
 ary legend. The story of the founding of Rome by the wolf- 
 nursed brothers, Romulus and Remus, has long been classed 
 among the myths of history ; and the more modern story of 
 Hengist and Horsa leading the Saxons to England is almost 
 equally legendary. The origin of Paris can never be known. 
 Its foundation was laid long before Gaul had written records. 
 But the settlement, civilization, and political institutions of our 
 country can be traced from their first hour by the clear light 
 of history. It is true that over this continent hangs an impene- 
 trable veil of tradition, mystery, and silence. But it is the tradi- 
 tion of races fast passing away ; the mystery of a still earlier 
 race, which flourished and perished long before its discovery 
 by the Europeans. The story of the Mound-builders can never 
 be told. The fate of the Indian tribes will soon be a half- 
 forgotten tale. But the history of European civilization and 
 institutions on this continent can be traced with precision and 
 fullness, unless we become forgetful of the past, and neglect to 
 save and perpetuate its precious memorials. 
 
 In discussing the scope of historical study in reference to 
 our country, I will call attention to a few general facts concern- 
 ing its discovery and settlement. 
 
 First. — The Romantic Period of Discovery on this Con- 
 tinent. 
 
 There can scarcely be found in the realms of romance any- 
 thing more fascinating than the records of discovery and ad- 
 
venture during the two centuries that followed the landing of 
 Columbus on the soil of the New World. The greed for gold ; 
 the passion for adventure ; the spirit of chivalry ; the enthusi- 
 asm and fanaticism of religion, — all conspired to throw into 
 America the hardiest and most daring spirits of Europe, and 
 made the vast wilderness of the New World the theatre of the 
 most stirring achievements that history has recorded. 
 
 Early in the sixteenth century, Spain, turning from the con- 
 quest of Granada and her triumph over the Moors, followed 
 her golden dreams of the New World with the same spirit that 
 in an earlier day animated her Crusaders. In 1528 Ponce de 
 Leon began his search for the fountain of perpetual youth, the 
 tradition of which he had learned among the natives of the 
 West Indies. He discovered the low-lying coasts of Florida, 
 and explored its interior. Instead of the fountain of youth, he 
 found his grave among its everglades. 
 
 A few years later De" Soto, who had accompanied Pizarro in 
 the conquest of Peru, landed in Florida with a gallant array of 
 knights and nobles, and commenced his explorations through 
 the western wilderness. In 1541 he reached the banks of the 
 Mississippi River, and, crossing it, pushed his discoveries west- 
 M^ard over the great plains ; but, finding neither the gold nor 
 the South Sea of his dreams, he returned to be buried in the 
 waters of the great river he had discovered. 
 
 While England was more leisurely exploring the bays and 
 rivers of the Atlantic coast, and searching for gold and peltry, 
 the chevaliers and priests of France were chasing their dreams 
 in the North, searching for a passage to China, and the realms of 
 Far Cathay, and telling the mystery of the Cross to the Indian 
 tribes of the far West. Coasting northward, her bold naviga- 
 tors discovered the mouth of the St. Lawrence; and in 1525 
 Cartier sailed up its broad current to the rocky heights of 
 Quebec, and to the rapids above Montreal, which were after- 
 wards named La Chine, in derision of the belief that the ad- 
 venturers were about to find China. 
 
 In 1609 Champlain pushed above the rapids, and discovered 
 the beautiful lake that bears his name. In 16 15 Priest La 
 Caron pushed northward and westward through the wilderness, 
 and discovered Lake Huron. 
 
 In 1635 the Jesuit missionaries founded the Mission St. 
 Mary. In 1654 another priest had entered the wilderness of 
 Northern New York, and found the salt springs of Onondaga. 
 In 1 659-1 660 French traders and priests passed the winter on 
 Lake Superior, and established missions along its shores. 
 
Among the earlier discoverers, no name shines out with more 
 brilliancy than that of the Chevalier La Salle. The story of 
 his explorations can scarcely be equalled in romantic interest 
 by any of the stirring tales of the Crusaders. Born of a proud 
 and wealthy family in the north of France, he was destined for 
 the service of the Church and of the Jesuit Order. But his rest- 
 less spirit, fired with the love of adventure, broke away from 
 the ecclesiastical restraints to confront the dangers of the New 
 World, and to extend the empire of Louis XIV. From the best 
 evidence accessible, it appears that he was the first white man 
 that saw the Ohio River. At twenty-six years of age, we find 
 him with a small party, near the western extremity of Lake 
 Ontario, boldly entering the domain of the dreaded Iroquois, 
 travelling southward and westward through the wintry wilder- 
 ness until he reached a branch of the Ohio, probably the 
 Alleghany. He followed it to the main stream, and descended 
 that, until in the winter of 1669 and 1670 he reached the Falls 
 of the Ohio, near the present site of Louisville. His com- 
 panions refusing to go further, he returned to Quebec, and pre- 
 pared for still greater undertakings. 
 
 In the mean time the Jesuit missionaries had been pushing 
 their discoveries on -the Northern Lake. In 1673 Joliet and 
 Marquette started from Green Bay, dragging their canoes up 
 the rapids of Fox River ; crossed Lake Winnebago ; found 
 Indian guides to conduct them to the waters of the Wisconsin ; 
 descended that stream to the westward, and on the i6th 
 of June reached the Mississippi near the spot where now 
 stands the city of Prairie du Chien. To-morrow will be the 
 two hundredth anniversary of that discovery. One hundred 
 and thirty-two years before that time De Soto had seen the 
 same river more than a thousand miles below ; but during that 
 interval it is not known that any white man had looked upon its 
 waters. 
 
 Turning southward, these brave priests descended the great 
 river, amid the awful solitudes. The stories of demons and 
 monsters of the wilderness which abounded among the Indian 
 tribes did not deter them from pushing their discoveries. 
 They continued their journey southward to the mouth of the 
 Arkansas River, telling as best they could the story of the 
 Cross to the wild tribes along the shores. Returning from 
 the Kaskaskias and travelling thence to Lake Michigan, they 
 reached Green Bay at the end of September, 1673, having on 
 their journey paddled their canoes more than twenty-five hun- 
 dred miles. Marquette remained to establish missions among 
 
the Indians, and to die, three years later, on the western shore 
 of Lake Michigan, while Joliet returned to Quebec to report his 
 discoveries. 
 
 In the mean time Count Frontenac, a noble of France, had 
 been made Governor of Canada, and found in La Salle a fit 
 counsellor and assistant in his vast schemes of discovery. La 
 Salle was sent to France, to enlist the Court and the Ministers 
 of Louis; and in 1677-1678 returned to Canada, with full 
 power under Frontenac to carry forward his grand enterprises. 
 He had developed three great purposes : first, to realize the 
 old plan of Champlain, the finding of a pathway to China 
 across the American Continent ; second, to occupy and de- 
 velop the regions of the Northern Lakes ; and, third, to' de- 
 scend the Mississippi and establish a fortified post at its 
 mouth, thus securing an outlet for the trade of the interior and 
 checking the progress of Spain on the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 In pursuance of this plan, we find La Salle and his compan- 
 ions, in January, 1679, dragging their cannon and materials for 
 ship-building around the Falls of Niagara, and laying the keel 
 of a vessel two leagues above the cataract, at the mouth of 
 Cayuga Creek. She was a schooner of forty-five tons' burden, 
 and was named "The Griffin." On the 7th of August, 1679, 
 with an armament of five cannon, and a crew and company of 
 thirty-four men, she started on her voyage up Lake Erie, the 
 first sail ever spread over the waters of our lake. On the 
 fourth day she entered Detroit River ; and, after encountering 
 a terrible storm on Lake Huron, passed the straits and reached 
 Green Bay early in September. A few weeks later she started 
 back for Niagara, laden with furs, and was never heard from. 
 
 While awaiting the supplies which " The Griffin " was ex- 
 pected to bring. La Salle explored Lake Michigan to its south- 
 ern extremity, ascended the St. Joseph, crossed the portage to 
 the Kankakee, descended the Illinois, and, landing at an Ind- 
 ian village on the site of the present village of Utica, 111., cele- 
 brated mass on New Year's Day, 1680. Before the winter was 
 ended he became certain that " The Griffin " was lost. But, 
 undaunted by his disasters, on the 3d of March, with five com- 
 panions, he began the incredible feat of making the journey to 
 Quebec on foot, in the dead of winter. This he accomplished. 
 He reorganized his expedition, conquered every difficulty, and 
 on the 2 1 St of December, 1681, with a party of fifty-four French- 
 men and friendly Indians, set out for the present site of Chi- 
 c'ago, and by way of the Illinois River reached the Mississippi 
 Feb. 6, 1682. He descended its stream, and on the 9th of 
 
5 
 
 April, 1682, standing on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, 
 solemnly proclaimed to his companions and to the wilderness 
 that, in the name of Louis the Great, he took possession of the 
 Great Valley watered by the Mississippi River. He set up a 
 column, and inscribed upon it the arms of France, and named 
 the country Louisiana. Upon this act rested the claim of 
 France to the vast region stretching from the Alleghany to the 
 Rocky Mountains, from the Rio Grande and the Gulf to the 
 farthest springs of the Missouri. 
 
 I will not follow further the career of the great explorers. 
 Enough has been said to exhibit the spirit and character of 
 their work. I would I were able to inspire the young men of 
 this country with a desire to read the history of these stirring 
 days of discovery that opened up to Europe the mysteries of 
 this New World. 
 
 As Irving has well said of their work : " It was poetry put into 
 action ; it was the knight-errantry of the Old World carried into 
 the depths of the American wilderness. The personal advent- 
 ures ; the feats of individual prowess ; the picturesque descrip- 
 tions of steel-clad cavaliers, with lance and helm and prancing 
 steed, glittering through the wilderness of Florida, Georgia, 
 Alabama, and the prairies of the Far West, — would seem to us 
 mere fictions of romance, did they not come to us in the matter- 
 of-fact narratives of those who were eye-witnesses, and who re- 
 corded minute memoranda of every incident." 
 
 Second. — The Struggle for National Dominion. 
 
 I next invite your attention to the less stirring but not less 
 important struggle for the possession of the New World, which 
 succeeded the period of discovery. 
 
 At the beginning of the eighteenth century North America 
 was claimed mainly by three great powers. Spain held posses- 
 sion of Mexico, and a belt reaching eastward to the Atlantic, 
 and northward to the southern line of Georgia, except a portion 
 near the mouth of the Mississippi held by the French. Eng- 
 land held from the Spanish line on the south to the North- 
 ern Lakes and the St. Lawrence, and westward to the Alle- 
 ghanies. France held all north of the lakes and west of the 
 Alleghanies, and southward to the possessions of Spain. Some 
 of the boundary lines were but vaguely defined, others were 
 disputed ; but the general outlines were as stated. 
 
 Besides the struggle for national possession, the religious ele- 
 ment entered largely into the contest. It was a struggle be- 
 tween the Catholic and Protestant faiths. The Protestant col- 
 onies of England were enveloped on three sides by the vigor- 
 
ous and perfectly organized Catholic powers of France and 
 Spain. 
 
 Indeed, at an early date, by the Bull of Pope Alexander VI. 
 all America had been given to the Spaniards. But France, 
 with a zeal equal to that of Spain, had entered the list to con- 
 test for the prize. So far as the religious struggle was con- 
 cerned, the efforts of France and Spain were resisted only by 
 the Protestants of the Atlantic coast. 
 
 The main chain of the Alleghanies was supposed to be im- 
 passable until 17 14, when Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, 
 led an expedition to discover a pass to the great valley beyond. 
 He found one somewhere near the western boundary of Vir- 
 ginia and by it descended to the Ohio. On his return he 
 established the "Transmontane Order," or "Knights of the 
 Golden Horse-shoe." On the sandy plains of Eastern Vir- 
 ginia horse-shoes were rarely used, but, in climbing the moun- 
 tains, he had found them necessary, and, on creating his com- 
 panions knights of this new Order, he gave to each a golden 
 horse-shoe, inscribed with the motto, — 
 
 " Sic jurat transcendere montesj^ 
 
 He represented to the British Ministry the great importance 
 of planting settlements in the western valley; and, with the 
 foresight of a statesman, pointed out the danger of allowing 
 the French the undisputed possession of that rich region. 
 
 The progress of England had been slower, but more certain 
 than that of her great rival. While the French were estab- 
 lishing trading-posts at points widely remote from each other, 
 along the lakes and the Mississippi, and in the wilderness of 
 Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, the English were slowly but firmly 
 planting their settlements on the Atlantic slope, and preparing 
 to contest for the rich prize of the Great West. They pos- 
 sessed one great advantage over their French rivals. They had 
 cultivated the friendship of the Iroquois Confederacy, the most 
 powerful combination of Indian tribes known to the New 
 World. That Confederacy held possession of the southern 
 shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie ; and their hostility to the 
 French had confined the settlements of that people mainly to 
 the northern shores. 
 
 During the first half of the eighteenth century many treaties 
 were made by the English with these confederated tribes, and 
 some valuable grants of land were obtained on the eastern 
 slope of the Mississippi Valley. 
 
About the middle of that century the British Government 
 began to recognize the wisdom of Governor Spottswood, and 
 perceived that an empire was soon to be saved or lost. 
 
 In 1748 a company was organized by Thomas Lee and 
 Lawrence and Augustine Washington, under the name of 
 "The Ohio Company," and received a royal grant of one-half 
 million acres of land in the valley of the Ohio. In 175 1 a 
 British trading-post was established on the Big Miami; but 
 in the following year it was destroyed by the French. Many 
 similar efforts of the English colonists were resisted by the 
 French; and during the years 1751-2-3 it became manifest 
 that a great struggle was imminent between the French and the 
 English for the possession of the West. The British Ministers 
 were too much absorbed in intrigues at home to appreciate the 
 importance of this contest ; and they did but little more than 
 to permit the colonies to protect their rights in the Valley of 
 the Ohio. 
 
 In 1753 the Ohio Company had opened a road, by " Will's 
 Creek," into the western valley, and were preparing to locate 
 their colony. At the same time the French haid sent a force to 
 occupy and hold the line of the Ohio. As the Ohio Company 
 w^as under the especial protection of Virginia, the Governor 
 of that colony determined to send a messenger to the com- 
 mander of the French forces, and demand the reason for in- 
 vading the British dominions. For this purpose he selected 
 George Washington, then twenty-one years of age, who, with six 
 assistants, set out from Williamsburg, Va., in the middle of 
 November, for the waters of the Ohio and the lakes. After 
 a journey of nine days through sleet and snow, he reached the 
 Ohio at the junction of the Alleghany and the Monongahela; 
 and his quick eye seemed to foresee the destiny of the place. 
 " I spent some time," said he, " in viewing the rivers. The 
 land in the fork has the absolute command of both." On this 
 spot Fort Pitt was afterwards built, and still later the city of 
 Pittsburg. 
 
 As Bancroft has said, "After creating in imagination a for- 
 tress and city, his party swam across the Alleghany, wrapped 
 their blankets around them for the night on the north-west 
 bank." Proceeding down the Ohio to Logstown, he held a 
 council with the Shawnees and the Delawares, who promised 
 to secure the aid of the Six Nations in resisting the French. 
 He then proceeded to the French posts at Venango and Fort 
 Le Boeuf (the latter fifteen miles from Lake Erie), and warned 
 the commanders that the rights of Virginia must not be in- 
 
vadecl. He received for his answer that the French would 
 seize every Englishman in the Ohio Valley. 
 
 Returning to Virginia in January, 1754, he reported to the 
 Governor, and immediate preparations were made by the col- 
 onists to maintain their rights in the West, and resist the incur- 
 sions of the French. In this movement originated the first 
 military union among the English colonists. 
 
 Although peace existed between France and England, for- 
 midable preparations were made by the latter to repel encroach- 
 ments on the frontier, from Ohio to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
 Braddock was sent to America, and in 1755, at Alexandria, Va., 
 he planned four expeditions against the French. 
 
 It is not necessary to speak in detail of the war that followed. 
 After Braddock's defeat near the forks of the Ohio, which 
 occurred on the 9th of July, 1755, England herself took ac- 
 tive measures for prosecuting the war. 
 
 On the 25th of November, 1758, Forbes captured Fort 
 DuQuesne, which thus passed into the possession of the Eng- 
 lish, and was named Fort Pitt, in honor of the great Minister. 
 
 In 1759 Quebec was captured by General Wolfe; and the 
 same year Niagara fell into the hands of the English, 
 
 In 1760 an English force, under Major Rogers, moved west- 
 ward from Niagara, to occupy the French posts on the Upper 
 Lakes. They coasted along the south shore of Erie, the first 
 English-speaking people that sailed its waters. Near the mouth 
 of the Grand River they met in council the chiefs of the great 
 warrior Pontiac. A few weeks later they took possession of 
 Detroit. " Thus," says Mr. Bancroft, " was Michigan won by 
 Great Britain, though not for itself. There were those who 
 foresaw that the acquisition of Canada was the prelude of 
 American Independence." 
 
 Late in December Rogers returned to the Maumee ; and, 
 setting out from the point where Sandusky City now stands, 
 crossed the Huron River to the northern branch of White 
 Woman's River, and passing thence by the English village of 
 Beaverstown, and up the Ohio, reached Fort Pitt on the 23d 
 of January, 1761, just a month after he left Detroit. 
 
 Under the leadership of Pitt, England was finally trium- 
 phant in this great struggle ; and by the Treaty of Paris, of 
 Feb. 10, 1763, she acquired Canada and all the territory east 
 of the Mississippi River, and southward to the Spanish Ter- 
 ritory, excepting New Orleans and the island on which it is 
 situated. 
 
 During the twelve years which followed the Treaty of Paris 
 
the English colonists were pushing their settlements into the 
 newly acquired territory; but they encountered the opposition 
 of the Six Nations and their allies, who made fruitless efforts 
 to capture the British posts, — Detroit, Niagara, and Fort Pitt. 
 
 At length, in 1768, Sir William Johnson concluded a treaty 
 at Fort Stanwix with these tribes, by which all the lands south 
 of the Ohio and the Alleghany were sold to the British, the Ind- 
 ians to remain in undisturbed possession of the territory north 
 and west of those rivers. New companies were organized to 
 occupy the territory thus obtained. 
 
 "Among the foremost speculators in Western lands at that 
 time," says the author of "Annals of the West," "was George 
 Washington." In 1769 he was one of the signers of a peti- 
 tion to the king for a grant of two and a half millions acres in 
 the West. In 1770 he crossed the mountains and descended 
 the Ohio to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, to locate the ten 
 thousand acres to which he was entitled for services in the 
 French War. 
 
 Virginians planted settlements in Kentucky; and pioneers 
 from all the colonies began to occupy the frontiers, from the 
 Alleghany to the Tennessee. 
 
 Third. — The War of the Revolution, and its Relations to the 
 West. 
 
 How came the Thirteen Colonies to possess the Valley of 
 the Mississippi ? The object of their struggle was indepen- 
 dence, and yet by the Treaty of Peace in 1783 not only was 
 the independence of the Thirteen Colonies conceded, but 
 there was granted to the new Republic a western territory, 
 bounded by the Northern Lakes, the Mississippi, and the 
 French and Spanish possessions. 
 
 How did these hills and valleys become a part of the United 
 States ? It is true that by virtue of royal charters several of 
 the colonies set up claims extending to the " South Sea." The 
 knowledge which the English possessed of the geography of this 
 country, at that time, is illustrated by the fact that Captain 
 John Smith was commissioned to sail up the Chickahominy, 
 and find a passage to China ! But the claims of the colonies 
 were too vague to be of any consequence in determining the 
 boundaries of the two governments. Virginia had indeed ex- 
 tended her settlements into the region south of the Ohio River, 
 and during the Revolution had annexed that country to the Old 
 Dominion, calling it the County of Kentucky. But previous to 
 the Revolution the colonies had taken no such action in refer- 
 ence to the territory north-west of the Ohio. 
 
10 
 
 The cession of that great Territory, under the treaty of 1783, 
 was due mainly to the foresight, the courage, and the endurance 
 of one man, who never received from his country any adequate 
 recognition for his great service. That man was George 
 Rogers Clark ; and it is worth your while to consider the work 
 he accomplished. Born in Virginia, he was in early life a sur- 
 veyor, and afterward served in Lord Dunmore's War. In 1776 
 he settled in Kentucky, and was, in fact, the founder of that 
 commonwealth. As the war of the Revolution progressed, he 
 saw that the pioneers west of the Alleghanies were threatened 
 by two formidable dangers : first, by the Indiaris, many of whom 
 had joined the standard of Great Britain; and, second, by the 
 success of the war itself. For, should the colonies obtain their 
 independence while the British held possession of the Missis- 
 sippi Valley, the Alleghanies would be the western boundary of 
 the new Republic, and the pioneers of the West would remain 
 subject to Great Britain. 
 
 Inspired by these views, he made two journeys to Virginia to 
 represent the case to the authorities of that colony. Failing 
 to impress the House of Burgesses with the importance of 
 warding off these dangers, he appealed to the Governor, Patrick 
 Henry, and received from him authority to enlist seven compa- 
 nies to go to Kentucky subject to his orders, and serve for 
 three months after their arrival in the West. This was a public 
 commission. 
 
 Another document, bearing date Williamsburg, Jan. 2, 1778, 
 was a secret commission, which authorized him, in the name 
 of Virginia, to capture the military posts held by the British 
 in the North-west. Armed with this authority, he proceeded 
 to Pittsburg, where he obtained ammunition, and floated it 
 down the river to Kentucky, succeeded in enlisting seven 
 companies of pioneers, and in the month of June, 1778, com- 
 menced his march through the untrodden wilderness to the 
 region of the Illinois. With a daring that is scarcely equalled 
 in the annals of war, he captured the garrisons of Kaskaskia, 
 St. Vincent, and Cahokia, and sent his prisoners to the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, and by his energy and skill won over the 
 French inhabitants of that region to the American cause. 
 
 In October, 1778, the House of Burgesses passed an act 
 declaring that "all the citizens of the Commonwealth of Vir- 
 ginia, who are already settled there, or shall hereafter be 
 settled on the west side of the Ohio, shall be included in the 
 District of Kentucky, which shall be called Illinois County." 
 In other words, George Rogers Clark conquered the Territory 
 
II 
 
 of the North-west in the name of Virginia, and the flag of the 
 Republic covered it at the close of the war. 
 
 In negotiating the Treaty of Peace at Paris, in 1783, the 
 British commissioners insisted on the Ohio River as the north- 
 western boundary of the United States ; and it was found that 
 the only tenable ground on which the American commissioners 
 relied, to sustain our claim to the Lakes and the Mississippi as 
 the boundary, was the fact that George Rogers Clark had con- 
 quered the country, and Virginia was in undisputed possession 
 of it at the cessation of hostilities. 
 
 In his " Notes on the Early Settlement of the North-west 
 Territory," Judge Burnet says, "That fact [the capture of the 
 British posts] was confirmed and admitted^ and was the chief 
 ground on which the British commissioners reluctantly aban- 
 doned their claim." 
 
 It is a stain upon the honor of our country that such a man 
 — the leader of pioneers who made the first lodgment on the 
 site now occupied by Louisville, who was in fact the founder 
 of the State of Kentucky, and who by his personal foresight 
 and energy gave nine great States to the Republic — was 
 allowed to sink under a load of debt incurred for the honor 
 and glory of his countr3\ 
 
 In 1799 Judge Burnet rode some ten or twelve miles from 
 Louisville into the country to visit this veteran hero. He says 
 he was induced to make this visit by the veneration he enter- 
 tained for Clark's military talents and services. 
 
 "He had," says Burnet, "the appearance of a man born to 
 command, and fitted by nature for his destiny. There was a 
 gravity and solemnity in his demeanor resembling that which 
 so eminently distinguished the venerated Father of his Country. 
 A person familiar with the lives and character of the military 
 veterans of Rome, in the days of her greatest power, might 
 readily have selected this remarkable man as a specimen of the 
 model he had formed of them in his own mind ; but he was 
 rapidly falling a victim to his extreme sensibility, and to the 
 ingratitude of his native State, under whose banner he had 
 fought bravely and with great success. 
 
 " The time will certainly come when the enlightened and 
 magnanimous citizens of Louisville will remember the debt of 
 gratitude they owe the memory of that distinguished man. He 
 was the leader of the pioneers who made the first lodgment on 
 the site now covered by their rich and splendid city. He was 
 its protector during the years of its infancy, and in the period 
 of its greatest danger. Yet the traveller, who had read of his 
 
12 
 
 achievements, admired his character, and visited the theatre of 
 his brilHant deeds, discovers nothing indicating the place where 
 his remains are deposited, and where he can go and pay a trib- 
 ute of respect to the memory of the departed and gallant hero." 
 
 This eulogy of Judge Burnet is fully w^arranted by the facts 
 of history. There is preserved in the War Department at 
 Washington a portrait of Clark, which gives unmistakable evi- 
 dence of a character of rare grasp and power. No one can 
 look upon that remarkable face without knowing that the origi- 
 nal was a man of unusual force. 
 
 Fourth. — Organization and Settlement of the North-west 
 Territory. 
 
 Soon after the close of the Revolution our Western country 
 was divided into three territories, — the Territory of the Mis- 
 sissippi, the Territory south of the Ohio, and the Territory 
 north-west of the Ohio. For the purposes of this address I 
 shall consider only the organization and settlement of the 
 latter. 
 
 It would be difficult to find any country so covered with con- 
 flicting claims of title as the territory of the North-west. Sev- 
 eral States, still asserting the validity of their royal charters, set 
 up claims more or less definite to portions of this Territory. 
 First, — by royal charter of 1662, confirming a council charter 
 of 1630, Connecticut claimed a strip of land bounded on the 
 east by the Narragansett River, north by Massachusetts, south 
 by Long Island Sound, and extending westward between the 
 parallels of 41 degrees and 42 degrees 2 minutes north latitude, 
 to the mythical "South Sea." Second, — New York, by her 
 charter of 161 4, claimed a territory marked by definite bound- 
 aries, lying across the boundaries of the Connecticut charter. 
 Third, — by the grant to William Penn, in 1664, Pennsylvania 
 claimed a territory overlapping part of the territory of both 
 these colonies. Fourth, — the charter of Massachusetts also con- 
 flicted with some of the claims above mentioned. Fifth, — Vir- 
 ginia claimed the whole of the North-west Territory by right of 
 conquest, and in 1779, by an act of her Legislature, annexed 
 it as a county. Sixth, — several grants had been made of spe- 
 cial tracts to incorporated companies by the dift'erent States. 
 And, finally, the w^hole Territory of the North-west was claimed 
 by the Indians as their own. 
 
 The claims of New York, Massachusetts, and part of the 
 claim of Pennsylvania had been settled before the war by royal 
 commissioners : the others were still unadjusted. It became 
 evident that no satisfactory settlement could be made except 
 
13 
 
 by Congress. That body urged the several States to make 
 a cession of the lands they claimed, and thus enable the Gen- 
 eral Government to open the North-west for. settlement. 
 
 On the ist of March, 1784, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, 
 Arthur Lee, and James Monroe, delegates in Congress, executed 
 a deed of cession in the name of Virginia, by which they trans- 
 ferred to the United States the title of Virginia to the North- 
 west Territory, but reserving to that State one hundred and 
 fifty thousand acres of land which Virginia had promised to 
 George Rogers Clark, and to the officers and soldiers who with 
 him captured the British posts in the West. Also, another 
 tract of land between the Scioto and Little Miami, to enable 
 Virginia to pay her promised bounties to her officers and 
 soldiers of the Revolutionary army. 
 
 On the 27th of October, 1784, a treaty was made at 
 Fort Stanwix (now Rome, N.Y.) with the Six Nations, by 
 which these tribes ceded to the United States their vague 
 claims to the lands north and west of the Ohio. On the 31st of 
 January, 1785, a treaty was made at Fort Mcintosh (now the 
 town of Beaver, Pa.) with the four Western tribes, the Wyan- 
 dottes, the Delawares, the Chippewas, and the Tawas, by which 
 all their lands in the North-west Territory were ceded to the 
 United States, except that portion bounded by a line from the 
 mouth of the Cuyahoga up that river to the portage between 
 the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas, thence down that branch 
 to the mouth of Sandy, thence westwardly to the portage of 
 the Big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, thence along the 
 portage to the Great Miami or Maumee, and down the south- 
 east side of the river to its mouth, thence along the shore of 
 Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga. The territory thus 
 described was to be forever the exclusive possession of these 
 Indians. 
 
 In 1788 a settlement was made at Marietta, and soon after 
 other settlements were begun. But the Indians were dissatis- 
 fied, and, by the intrigues of their late allies, the British, a sav- 
 age and bloody war ensued, which delayed for several years the 
 settlement of the State. The campaign of General Harmar in 
 1790 was only a partial success. In the following year a more 
 formidable force was placed under the command of General 
 St. Clair, who suffered a disastrous and overwhelming defeat on 
 the 4th of November of that year, near the head-waters of the 
 Wabash. 
 
 It was evident that nothing but a war so decisive as to break 
 the power of the Western tribes could make the settlement of 
 
14 
 
 Ohio possible. There are but few things in the career of 
 George Washington that so strikingly illustrate his sagacity 
 and prudence as the policy he pursued in reference to this sub- 
 ject. He made preparations for organizing an army of five 
 thousand men, appointed General Wayne to the command of 
 a special force, and early in 1792 drafted detailed instructions 
 for giving it special discipline to fit it for Indian warfare. 
 During that and the following year he exhausted every means 
 to secure the peace of the West by treaties with the tribes. 
 
 But agents of England and Spain were busy in intrigues with 
 the Indians in hopes of recovering a portion of the great empire 
 they had lost by the treaty of 1783. So far were the efforts of 
 England carried that a British force was sent to the rapids of 
 the Maumee, where they built a fort, and inspired the Indians 
 with the hope that the British would join them in fighting the 
 forces of the United States. 
 
 All efforts to make a peaceable settlement on any other 
 basis than the abandonment on the part of the United States 
 of all territory north of the Ohio having failed, General Wayne 
 proceeded with that wonderful vigor which had made him 
 famous on so many fields of the Revolution, and on the 20th 
 of August, 1794, defeated the Indians and their allies on the 
 banks of the Maumee, and completely broke the power of their 
 confederation. 
 
 On the 3d of August, 1795, General Wayne concluded at 
 Greenville a treaty of lasting peace with these tribes and thus 
 opened the State to settlement. In this treaty there was re- 
 served to the Indians the same territory west of the Cuyahoga 
 as described in the treaty of Fort Mcintosh of 1785. 
 
 Fifth. — Settlement of the Western Reserve. 
 
 I have now noticed briefly the adjustment of the several 
 claims to the North-western Territory, excepting that of Con- 
 necticut. It has already been seen that Connecticut claimed 
 a strip westward from the Narragansett River to the Mis- 
 sissippi, between the parallels of 41 degrees and 42 degrees 
 2 minutes ; but that portion of her claim which crossed the 
 territory of New York and Pennsylvania had been extinguished 
 by adjustment. Her claim to the territory west of Pennsyl- 
 vania was unsettled until Sept. 14, 1786, when she ceded it all 
 to the United States, except that portion lying between the 
 parallels above named and a line one hundred and twenty miles 
 west of the western line of Pennsylvania and parallel with it. 
 This tract of country was about the size of the present State, 
 and was called "New Connecticut." 
 
15 
 
 In May, 1792, the Legislature of Connecticut granted to 
 those of her citizens whose property had been burned or other- 
 wise spoliated by the British during the war of the Revolution 
 half a million of acres from the west end of the reserve. These 
 were called "The Fire Lands." 
 
 On the 5th of September, 1795, Connecticut executed a deed 
 to John Caldwell, Jonathan Brace, and John Morgan, trustees 
 for the Connecticut Land Company, for three million acres of 
 the reserve lying west of Pennsylvania for $1,200,000, or at the 
 rate of 40 cents per acre. The State gave only a quit-claim 
 deed, transferring only such title as she possessed, and leaving 
 all the remaining Indian titles to the reserve, to be extinguished 
 by the purchasers themselves. With the exception of a few 
 hundred acres previously sold in the neighborhood of the Salt 
 Spring tract on the Mahoning, all titles to lands on the reserve 
 east of "The Fire Lands" rest on this quit-claim deed of Con- 
 necticut to the three trustees, who were all living as late as 
 1836, and joined in making deeds to the lands on the reserve. 
 
 On the same day that the trust deed was made articles of 
 association were signed by the proprietors, providing for the 
 government of the company. The management of its affairs 
 was intrusted to seven directors. They determined to extin- 
 guish the Indian title, and survey their land into townships 
 five miles square. Moses Cleaveland, one of the directors, was 
 made General Agent ; Augustus Porter, Principal Surveyor ; 
 and Seth Pease, Astronomer and Surveyor. To these were 
 added four assistant surveyors, a commissary, a physician and 
 thirty-seven other employees. This party assembled at Schen- 
 ectady, N.Y., in the spring of 1796, and prepared for their 
 expedition. 
 
 It is interesting to follow them on their way to the Re- 
 serve. They ascended the Mohawk River in bateaux, passing 
 through Little Falls, and from the present city of Rome 
 took their boats and stores across into Wood Creek. Passing 
 down the stream, they crossed the Oneida Lake, thence down 
 the Oswego to Lake Ontario, coasting along the lake to Niag- 
 ara.. After encountering innumerable hardships, the party 
 reached Buffalo on the 17th of June, where they met "Red 
 Jacket," and the principal chiefs of the Six Nations, and on 
 the 23d of that month completed a contract with those chiefs, 
 by which they purchased all the rights of those Indians to the 
 lands on the Reserve, for five hundred pounds, New York cur- 
 rency, to be paid in goods to the Western Indians, and two 
 beef cattle and one hundred gallons of whiskey to the Eastern 
 Indians, besides gifts and provisions to all of them. 
 
i6 
 
 Setting out from Buffalo on the 27th of June, they coasted 
 along the shore of the lake, some of the party in boats and 
 others marching along the banks. 
 
 In the journal of Seth Pease, published in Whittlesey's 
 History of Cleveland, I find the following : — 
 
 " Monday, July 4, 1796. — We that came by land arrived at 
 the confines of New Connecticut, and gave three cheers pre- 
 cisely at 5 o'clock P.M. We then proceeded to Conneaut, at 
 five hours thirty minutes, our boats got on an hour after ; we 
 pitched our tents on the east side." 
 
 In the journal of General Cleaveland is the following entry : 
 
 " On this Creek (' Conneaugh '), in New Connecticut Land, 
 July 4, 1796, under General Moses Cleaveland, the surveyors 
 and men sent by the Connecticut Land Company to survey and 
 settle the Connecticut Reserve, were the first English people 
 who took possession of it. 
 
 . . . "We gave three cheers and christened the place Fort 
 Independence ; and, after many difficulties, perplexities and 
 hardships were surmounted, and we were on the good and prom- 
 ised land, felt that a just tribute of respect to the day ought to 
 be paid. There were in all, including women and children, fifty 
 in number. The men, under Captain Tinker, ranged them- 
 selves on the beach and fired a Federal salute of fifteen rounds, 
 and then the sixteenth in honor of New Connecticut. Drank 
 several toasts. . . . Closed with three cheers. Drank several 
 pails of grog. Supped and retired in good order." 
 
 Three days afterward General Cleaveland held a council with 
 Paqua, Chief of the Massasagas, whose village was at Conneaut 
 Creek. The friendship of these Indians was purchased by a 
 few trinkets and twenty-five dollars' worth of whiskey. 
 
 A cabin was erected on the bank of Conneaut Creek ; and, 
 in honor of the commissary of the expedition, was called " Stow 
 Castle." At this time the white inhabitants west of the Genesee 
 River and along the coasts of the lakes were as follows : the 
 garrison at Niagara, two families at Lewistown, one at Buffalo, 
 one at Cleveland, and one at Sandusky. There were no other 
 families east of Detroit; and, with the exception of a few ad- 
 venturers at the Salt Springs of the Mahoning, the interior of 
 New Connecticut was an unbroken wilderness. 
 
 The work of surveying was commenced at once. One party 
 went southward on the Pennsylvania line to find the 41st par- 
 allel, and began the survey; another, under General Cleave- 
 land, coasted along the lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, 
 which they reached on the 2 2d of July, and there laid the 
 
foundation of the chief city of the Reserve. A large portion of 
 the survey was made during that season, and the work was 
 completed in the following year. 
 
 By the close of the year 1800 there were thirty-two settle- 
 ments on the Reserve, though as yet no organization of govern- 
 ment had been established. But the pioneers were a people 
 w^ho had been trained in the principles and practices of civil 
 order ; and these were transplanted to their new home. In 
 New Connecticut there was but little of that lawlessness which 
 so often characterizes the people of a new country. In many 
 instances, a township organization was completed and their 
 minister chosen before the pioneers left home. Thus they 
 planted the institutions and opinions of Old Connecticut in their 
 new wilderness homes. 
 
 There are townships on this Western Reserve which are more 
 thoroughly New England in character and spirit than most of 
 the towns of the New England of to-day. Cut off as they 
 were from the metropolitan life that had gradually been mould- 
 ing and changing the spirit of New England, they preserved 
 here in the wilderness the characteristics of New England, as 
 it was when they left it at the beginning of the century. This 
 has given to the people of the Western Reserve those strongly 
 marked qualities which have always distinguished them. 
 
 For a long time it was difficult to ascertain the political and 
 legal status of the settlers on the Reserve. The State of Con- 
 necticut did not assume jurisdiction over its people, because 
 that State had parted with her claim to the soil. 
 
 By a proclamation of Governor St. Clair, in 1788, Washing- 
 ton County had been organized, having its limits extended 
 westward to the Scioto and northward to the mouth of the 
 Cuyahoga, with Marietta as the county seat. These limits in- 
 cluded a portion of the Western Reserve. But the Connecti- 
 cut settlers did not consider this a practical government, and 
 most of them doubted its legality. 
 
 By the end of the century seven counties, Washington, 
 Hamilton, Ross, Wayne, Adams, Jefferson, and Knox, had 
 been created, but none of them were of any practical service 
 to the settlers on the Reserve. No magistrate had been ap- 
 pointed for that portion of the country, no civil process was 
 established, and no mode existed of making legal conveyances. 
 
 But in the year 1800 the State of Connecticut, by act of 
 her Legislature, transferred to the National Government all 
 her claim to civil jurisdiction. Congress assumed the politi- 
 cal control, and the President conveyed by patent the fee of 
 
the soil to the Government of the State for the use of the 
 grantees and the parties claiming under them. Whereupon, 
 in pursuance of this authority, on the 22d of September, iSoo, 
 Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation establishing the 
 county of Trumbull, to include within its boundaries the " Fire 
 Lands" and adjacent islands, and ordered an election to be 
 held at Warren, its county seat, on the second Tuesday of 
 October. At that election forty-two votes were cast, of which 
 General Edward Paine received thirty-eight, and was thus 
 elected a member of the Territorial Legislature. All the early 
 deeds on the Reserve are preserved in the records of Trumbull 
 County. 
 
 A treaty was held at Fort Industry on the 4th of July, 1805, 
 between the Commissioners of the Connecticut Land Company 
 and the Indians, by which all the lands in the Reserve west of 
 the Cuyahoga, belonging to the Indians, were ceded to the Con- 
 necticut Company. 
 
 Geauga was the second county of the Reserve. It was cre- 
 ated by an act of the Legislature, Dec. 31, 1805 ; and by a 
 subsequent act its boundaries were made to include the pres- 
 ent territory of Cuyahoga County as far west as the Fourteenth 
 Range. 
 
 Portage County was established on the 10th of February, 
 1807 ; and on the 16th of June, 1810, the act establishing Cuy- 
 ahoga County went into operation. By that act all of Geauga 
 west of the Ninth Range was made a part of Cuyahoga County. 
 
 Ashtabula County was established on the 2 2d of January, 
 1811. 
 
 A'considerable number of Indians remained on the Western 
 Reserve until the breaking out of the War of 1812.' Most of 
 the Canadian tribes took up arms against the United States 
 in that struggle, and a portion of the Indians of the Western 
 Reserve joined their Canadian brethren. At the close of that 
 war occasional bands of these Indians returned to their old 
 haunts on the Cuyahoga and the Mahoning ; but the inhabi- 
 tants of the Reserve soon made them understand that they 
 were unwelcome visitors after the part they had taken against 
 us. Thus the War of 18 12 substantially cleared the Reserve of 
 its Indian inhabitants. 
 
 In this brief survey I have attempted to indicate the gen- 
 eral character of the leading events connected with the dis- 
 covery and settlement of our country. I cannot, on this 
 occasion, further pursue the history of the settlement and build- 
 ing up of the counties and townships of the Western Reserve. 
 
19 
 
 I have already noticed the peculiar character of the people who 
 converted this wilderness into the land of happy homes which 
 we now behold on ever}^ hand. But I desire to call the atten- 
 tion of the young men and women who hear me to the duty 
 they owe to themselves and their ancestors to study carefully 
 and reverently the history of the great work which has been 
 accomplished in this New Connecticut. 
 
 The pioneers who first broke ground here accomplished a 
 work unlike that which will fall to the lot of any succeeding 
 generation. The hardships they endured, the obstacles they 
 encountered, the life they led, the peculiar qualities they 
 needed in their undertakings, and the traits of character devel- 
 oped by their works stand alone in our history. The genera- 
 tion that knew these first pioneers is fast passing away. But 
 there are sitting in this audience to-day a few men and women 
 whose memories date back to the early settlement. Here sits 
 a gentleman near me who is older than the Western Reserve. 
 He remembers a time when the axe of the Connecticut pioneer 
 had never awakened the echoes of the wilderness here. How 
 strange and wonderful a transformation has taken place since 
 he was a child ! It is our sacred duty to rescue from oblivion 
 the stirring recollections of such men, and preserve them as 
 memorials of the past, as lessons for our own inspiration and 
 the instruction of those who shall come after us. 
 
 The materials for a history of this Reserve are rich and abun- 
 dant. Its pioneers were not ignorant and thoughtless advent- 
 urers, but men of established character, whose opinions on civil 
 and religious liberty had grown with their growth and become 
 the settled convictions of their maturer years. Both here and 
 in Connecticut the family records, journals, and letters, which 
 are preserved in hundreds of families, if brought out and ar- 
 ranged in order, would throw a flood of light on every page of 
 our history. Even the brief notice which informed the citizens 
 of this county that a meeting was to be held here to-day to 
 organize a Pioneer Society has called this great audience to- 
 gether, and they have brought with them many rich historical 
 memorials. They have brought old colonial commissions 
 given to early Connecticut soldiers of the Revolution, who be- 
 came pioneers of the Reserve and whose children are here 
 to-day. They have brought church and other records which 
 date back to the beginning of these settlements. They have 
 shown us implements of industry which the pioneers brought in 
 with them, many of which have been superseded by the superior 
 mechanical contrivances of our time. Some of these imple- 
 
20 
 
 ments are symbols of the spirit and character of the pioneers of 
 the Reserve. Here is a broad-axe brought from Connecticut 
 by John Ford, father of the late governor of Ohio ; and we are 
 told that the first work done with this axe by that sturdy old 
 pioneer, after he had finished a few cabins for the families that 
 came with him, was to hew out the timbers for an academy, the 
 Burton Academy, to which so many of our older men owe the 
 foundation of their education, and from which sprang the West- 
 ern Reserve College. 
 
 These pioneers knew well that the three great forces which 
 constitute the strength and glory of a free government are the 
 family, the school, and the church. These three they planted 
 here, and they nourished and cherished them with an energy 
 and devotion scarcely equalled in any other quarter of the 
 world. On this height were planted in the wilderness the sym- 
 bols of this trinity of powers ; and here, let us hope, may be 
 maintained forever the ancient faith of our fathers in the sanc- 
 tity of the home, the intelligence of the school, and the faithful- 
 ness of the church. Where these three combine in prosperous 
 union, the safety and prosperity of the nation are assured. The 
 glory of our country can never be dimmed while these three 
 lights are kept shining with an undimmed lustre. 
 
 The best single work on the North-west Territory is Hinsdale's The Old 
 North-zuest. See the histories of Ohio and Indiana in the "American Com- 
 monwealths " Series, and Hildreth's Pioneer History. The chapter on 
 Territorial Acquisitions and Divisions, by Justin Winsor and Edward 
 Channing, in the appendix to Vol. VII. of Xho^ N'arrative and Critical His- 
 tory of America^ contains very much that is valuable upon this subject. 
 There is a History of the Western Reserve, by W. S. Kennedy ; and Harvey 
 Rice's Sketches of IVeitern Reserve Life should be read in connection. 
 Whittlesey's Early History of Cleveland is a scholarly and thorough work, 
 covering in great part the general early history of the Reserve. The West- 
 ern Reserve Historical Society at Cleveland has published many valuable 
 tracts relating to the history of the Reserve. General Garfield's address, 
 given in the present leaflet, was originally published in this series. See the 
 lives of Garfield, Benjamin F. Wade, and Joshua R. Giddings for the noble 
 part taken by the Western Reserve in the anti-slavery conflict. 
 
0\h .^Dutf) itcaflet^ 
 
 ELEVENTH SERIES, 1893. No. 5. 
 
 The Capture of 
 
 Vincennes. 
 
 1779. 
 
 BY GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 
 
 From General Clark's Memoirs. 
 
 " Everything being ready, on the 5th of February, after 
 receiving a lecture and absolution from the priest, we crossed 
 the Kaskaskia River with one hundred and seventy men, 
 marched about three miles and encamped, where we lay until 
 the [7th], and set out. The weather wet (but fortunately not 
 cold for the season) and a great part of the plains under 
 water several inches deep. It was difficult and very fatiguing 
 marching. My object was now to keep the men in spirits. I 
 suffered them to shoot game on all occasions, and feast on it 
 like Indian war-dancers, each company by turns inviting the 
 others to their feasts, which was the case every night, as the 
 company that was to give the feast was always supplied with 
 horses to lay up a sufficient store of wild meat in the course 
 of the day, myself and principal officers putting on the woods- 
 men, shouting now and then, and running as much through 
 the mud and water as any of them. Thus, insensibly, without 
 a murmur, were those men led on to the banks of the Little 
 Wabash, which we reached on the 13th, through incredible 
 difficulties, far surpassing anything that any of us had ever 
 experienced. Frequently the diversions of the night wore off 
 the thoughts of the preceding day. We formed a camp on a 
 height which we found on the bank of the river, and suffered 
 our troops to amuse themselves. I viewed this sheet of water 
 for some time with distrust ; but, accusing myself of doubting, 
 I immediately set to work, without holding any consultation 
 about it, or suffering anybody else to do so in my presence ; 
 ordered a pirogue to be built immediately, and acted as though 
 crossing the water would be only a piece of diversion. As but 
 few could work at the pirogue at a time, pains were taken to 
 find diversion for the rest to keep them in high spirits. . . . 
 
In the evening of the 14th, our vessel was finished, manned, 
 and sent to explore the drowned lands on the opposite side of 
 the Little Wabash, with private instructions what report to 
 make, and, if possible, to find some spot of dry land. They 
 found about half an acre, and marked the trees from thence 
 back to the camp, and made a very favorable report. 
 
 "Fortunately, the 15th happened to be a warm, moist day 
 for the season. The channel of the river where we lay was 
 about thirty yards wide. A scaffold was built on the opposite 
 shore (which was about three feet under w^ater), and our bag- 
 gage ferried across, and put on it. Our horses swam across, 
 and received their loads at the scaffold, by which time the 
 troops were also brought across, and we began our march 
 through the water. ... 
 
 " By evening we found ourselves encamped on a pretty height, 
 in high spirits, each party laughing at the other, in consequence 
 of something that had happened in the course of this ferrying 
 business, as they called it. A little antic drummer afforded 
 them great diversion by floating on his drum, etc. All this 
 was greatly encouraged ; and they really began to think them- 
 selves superior to other men, and that neither the rivers nor 
 the seasons could stop their progress. Their whole conversation 
 now was concerning what they would do when they got about 
 the enemy. They now began to view the main Wabash as a 
 creek, and made no doubt but such men as they were could 
 find a way to cross it. They wound themselves up to such a 
 pitch that they soon took Post Vincennes, divided the spoil, 
 and before bedtime were far advanced on their route to De- 
 troit. All this was, no doubt, pleasing to those of us who had 
 more serious thoughts. . . . W^e were now convinced that the 
 whole of the low country on the Wabash was drowned, and 
 that the enemy could easily get to us, if they discovered us, 
 and wished to risk an action ; if they did not, we made no 
 doubt of crossing the river by some means or other. Even if 
 Captain Rogers, with our galley, did not get to his station 
 agreeable to his appointment, we flattered ourselves that all 
 would be well, and marched on in high spirits. . . . 
 
 " The last day's march through the water was far superior to 
 anything the Frenchmen had an idea of. They were backward 
 in speaking ; said that the nearest land to us was a small 
 league called the Sugar Camp, on the bank of the [river ?] A 
 canoe was sent off, and returned without finding that we could 
 pass. I went in her myself, and sounded the water ; found it 
 deep as to my neck. I returned with a design to have the men 
 
transported on board the canoes to the Sugar Camp, which I 
 knew would spend the whole day and ensuing night, as the 
 vessels avouM pass slowly through the bushes. The loss of so 
 much time, to men half-starved, w^as a matter of consequence. 
 I would have given now a great deal for a day's provision or 
 for one of our horses. I returned but slowly to the troops, 
 giving myself time to think. On our arrival, all ran to hear 
 what was the report. Every eye was fixed on me. I unfortu- 
 nately spoke in a serious manner to one of the officers. The 
 whole were alarmed without knowing what I said. I viewed 
 their confusion for about one minute, whispered to those near 
 me to do as I did : immediately put some water in my hand, 
 poured on powder, blackened my face, gave the war-whoop, and 
 marched into the water without saying a word. The party 
 gazed, and fell in, one after another, without saying a word, 
 like a flock of sheep. I ordered those near me to begin a 
 favorite song of theirs. It soon passed through the line, and 
 the whole went on cheerfully. I now^ intended to have them 
 transported across the deepest part of the water ; but, when 
 about waist deep, one of the men informed me that he thought 
 he felt a path. We examined, and found it so, and concluded 
 that it kept on the highest ground, which it did ; and, by 
 taking pains to follow^ it, we got to the Sugar Camp without 
 the least difficulty, \vhere there was about half an acre of dry 
 ground, at least not under w^ater, w^here we took up our lodg- 
 ing. The Frenchmen that we had taken on the river appeared 
 to be uneasy at our situation. They begged that they might 
 be permitted to go in the two canoes to town in the night. 
 They said that they Avould bring from their own houses pro- 
 visions, without a possibility of any persons knowing it ; that 
 some of our men should go with them as a surety of their 
 good conduct ; that it was impossible we .could march from 
 that place till the water fell, for the plain was too deep to 
 march. Some of the [officers ?] believed that it might be done. 
 I would not suffer it. I never could well account for this piece 
 of obstinacy, and give satisfactory reasons to myself or any- 
 body else why I denied a proposition apparently so easy to 
 execute and of so much advantage ; but something seemed to 
 tell me that it should not be done, and it was not done. 
 
 " The most of the weather that w^e had on this march was 
 moist and warm for the season. This w^as the coldest night 
 we had. The ice, in the morning, was from one-half to three- 
 quarters of an inch thick near the shores and in still w^ater. 
 The morning was the finest we had on our march. A little 
 
after sunrise I lectured the whole. What I said to them I 
 forget, but it may be easily imagined by a person that could 
 possess my aiTections for them at that time. I concluded by 
 informing them that passing the plain that was then in full 
 view and reaching the opposite woods would put an end to 
 their fatigue, that in a few hours they would have a sight of 
 their long-wished-for object, and immediately stepped into the 
 water without waiting for any reply. A huzza took place. As 
 we generally marched through the water in a line, before the 
 third entered I halted, and called to Major Bowman, ordering 
 him to fall in the rear with twenty-five men, and put to death 
 any man who refused to march, as we wished to have no such 
 person among us. The whole gave a cry of approbation, and 
 on we went. This was the most trying of all the difficulties 
 we had experienced. I generally kept fifteen or twenty of the 
 strongest men next myself, and judged from my own feelings 
 what must be that of others. Getting about the middle of the 
 plain, the water about mid-deep, I found m3^self sensibly fail- 
 ing ; and, as there were no trees nor bushes for the men to sup- 
 port themselves by, I feared that many of the most weak would 
 be drowned. I ordered the canoes to make the land, discharge 
 their loading, and play backward and forward with all dili- 
 gence, and pick up the men ; and, to encourage the party, sent 
 some of the strongest men forward, with orders, when they got 
 to a certain distance, to pass the word back that the water was 
 getting shallow, and when getting near the woods to cry out, 
 ' Land ! ' This stratagem had its desired effect. The men, en- 
 couraged by it, exerted themselves almost beyond their abili- 
 ties ; the weak holding by the stronger. . . . The water never 
 got shallower, but continued deepening. Getting to the woods, 
 where the men expected land, the water was up to my shoul- 
 ders ; but gaining the woods was of great consequence. All the 
 low men and the weakly hung to the trees, and floated on the 
 old logs until they were taken off by the canoes. The strong 
 and tall got ashore and built fires. Many would reach the 
 shore, and fall with their bodies half in the water, not being 
 able to support themselves without it. 
 
 " This was a delightful dry spot of ground of about ten 
 acres. We soon found that the fires answered no purpose, 
 but that two strong men taking a weaker one by the arms was 
 the only way to recover him : and, being a delightful day, it 
 soon did. But, fortunately, as if designed by Providence, a 
 canoe of Indian squaws and children was coming up to town, 
 and took through part of this plain as a nigh way. It was 
 
5 
 
 discovered by our canoes as they were out after the men. 
 They gave chase, and took the Indian canoe, on board of which 
 was near half a quarter of a buffalo, some corn, tallow, kettles, 
 etc. This was a grand prize, and was invaluable. Broth was 
 immediately made, and served out to the most weakly with 
 great care. ^ Most of the whole got a little ; but a great many 
 gave their part to the weakly, jocosely saying something cheer- 
 ing to their comrades. This little refreshment and fine 
 weather by the afternoon gave new life to the whole. Crossing 
 a narrow deep lake in the canoes, and marching some distance, 
 we came to a copse of timber called the Warrior's Island. 
 We were now in full view of the fort and town, not a shrub 
 between us, at about two miles' distance. Every man now 
 feasted his eyes, and forgot that he had suffered anything, say- 
 ing that all that had passed was owing to good policy and 
 nothing but what a man could bear ; and that a soldier had no 
 right to think, etc., — passing from one extreme to another, 
 which is common in such cases. It was now we had to display 
 our abilities. The plain between us and the town was not a 
 perfect level. The sunken grounds were covered with water 
 full of ducks. We observed several men out on horseback, 
 shooting them, within a half mile of us, and sent out as many 
 of our active young Frenchmen to decoy and take one of these 
 men prisoner in such a manner as not to alarm the others, 
 which they did. The information we got from this person was 
 similar to that which we got from those we took on the river, 
 except that of the British having that evening completed the 
 wall of the fort, and that there were a good many Indians in 
 town. 
 
 "Our situation was now truly critical, — no possibility of 
 retreating in case of defeat, and in full view of a town that 
 had, at this time, upward of six hundred men in it, — troops, 
 inhabitants, and Indians. The crew of the galley, though not 
 fifty men, would have been now a re-enforcement of immense 
 magnitude to our little army (if I may so call it), but we 
 would not think of them. We were now in the situation that 
 I had labored to get ourselves in. The idea of being made 
 prisoner was foreign to almost every man, as they expected 
 nothing but torture from the savages, if they fell into their 
 hands. Our fate was now to be determined, probably in a few 
 hours. We knew that nothing but the most daring conduct 
 would insure success. I knew that a number of the inhabi- 
 tants wished us well, that many were lukewarm to the interest 
 of either, and I also learned that the grand chief, the Tobacco's 
 
son, had but a few days before openly declared, in council with 
 the British, that he was a brother and friend to the Big Knives. 
 These were favorable circumstances ; and, as there was but 
 little probability of our remaining until dark undiscovered, I 
 determined to begin the career immediately, and wrote the 
 following placard to the inhabitants : — 
 
 "'To THE Inhabitants of Post Vincennes : 
 
 '' ' Gentknien, — Being now within two miles of your village, 
 with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and 
 not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request 
 such of you as are true citizens and willing to enjoy the liberty 
 I bring you to remain still in 3^our houses ; and those, if any 
 there be, that are friends to the king will instantly repair to 
 the fort, and join the hair-buyer general, and fight like men. 
 And, if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered 
 afterward, they may depend on severe punishment. On the 
 contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on 
 being well treated ; and I once more request them to keep out 
 of the streets. For every one I find in arms on my arrival I 
 shall treat him as an enemy. 
 
 '•'(Signed) G. R. CLARK.' 
 
 '' I had various ideas on the supposed results of this letter. 
 I knew that it could do us no damage, but that it would cause 
 the lukewarm to be decided, encourage our friends, and aston- 
 ish our enemies. . . . We anxiously viewed this messenger 
 until he entered the town, and in a few minutes could discover 
 by our glasses some stir in every street that we could penetrate 
 into, and great numbers running or riding out into the com- 
 mons, we supposed, to view us, which was the case. But what 
 surprised us was that nothing had yet happened that had the 
 appearance of the garrison being alarmed, — no drum nor gun. 
 We began to suppose that the information we got from our 
 prisoners was false, and that the enemy already knew of us, 
 and were prepared. ... A little before sunset we moved, and 
 displayed ourselves in full view of the town, crowds gazing 
 at us. We were plunging ourselves into certain destruction 
 or success. There was no midway thought of. We had but 
 little to say to our men, except inculcating an idea of the 
 necessity of obedience, etc. We knew they did not want en- 
 couraging, and that anything might be attempted with them 
 that was possible for such a number, — perfectly cool, under 
 
proper subordination, pleased with the prospect before them, 
 and much attached to their officers. They all declared that 
 they were convinced that an implicit obedience to orders was 
 the only thing that would insure success, and hoped that no 
 mercy would be shown the person that should violate them. 
 Such language as this from soldiers to persons in our station 
 must have been exceedingly agreeable. We moved on slowly 
 in full view of the town ; but, as it was a point of some con- 
 sequence to us to make ourselves appear as formidable, we, 
 in leaving the covert that we were in, marched and counter- 
 marched in such a manner that we appeared numerous. In 
 raising volunteers in the Illinois, every person that set about 
 the business had a set of colors given him, which they brought 
 with them to the amount of ten or twelve pairs. These were 
 displayed to the best advantage : and, as the low plain we 
 marched through was not a perfect level, but had frequent 
 risings in it seven or eight feet higher than the common 
 level (which was covered with water), and as these risings 
 generally run in an oblique direction to the town, we took the 
 advantage of one of them, marching through the water under 
 it, which completely prevented our being numbered. But our 
 colors showed considerably above the heights, as they were 
 fixed on long poles procured for the purpose, and at a distance 
 made no despicable appearance ; and, as our young Frenchmen 
 had, while we lay on the Warrior's Island, decoyed and taken 
 several fowlers with their horses, officers were mounted on 
 these horses, and rode about, more completely to deceive the 
 enemy. In this manner we moved, and directed our march in 
 such a way as to suffer it to be dark before we had advanced 
 more than half-way to the town. We then suddenly altered 
 our direction, and crossed ponds where they could not have 
 suspected us, and about eight o'clock gained the heights back 
 of the town, x-ls there was yet no hostile appearance, we were 
 impatient to have the cause unriddled. Lieutenant Bayley was 
 ordered, with fourteen men. to march and fire on the fort. 
 The main body moved in a different direction, and took pos- 
 session of the strongest part of the town. 
 
 "The firing now commenced on the fort, but they did not 
 believe it was an enemy until one of their men was shot down 
 through a port, as drunken Indians frequently saluted the fort 
 after night. The drums now sounded, and the business fairly 
 commenced on both sides. Re-enforcements were sent to the 
 attack of the garrison, while other arrangements were making 
 in .town. . . . We now found that the garrison had known 
 
nothing of us ; that, having finished the fort that evening, they 
 had amused themselves at different games, and had just re- 
 tired before my letter arrived, as it was near roll-call. The 
 placard being made public, many of the inhabitants were afraid 
 to show themselves out of the houses for fear of giving offence, 
 and not one dare give information. Our friends flew to the 
 commons and other convenient places to view the pleasing 
 sight. This was observed from the garrison, and the reason 
 asked, but a satisfactory excuse was given ; and, as a part of 
 the town lay between our line of march and the garrison, we 
 could not be seen by the sentinels on the walls. Captain W. 
 Shannon and another being some time before taken prisoners 
 by one of their [scouting parties], and that evening brought in, 
 the party had discovered at the Sugar Camp some signs of us. 
 They supposed it to be a party of observation that intended 
 to land on the height some distance below the town. Captain 
 Lamotte was sent to intercept them. It was at him the people 
 said they were looking, when they were asked the reason of 
 their unusual stir. Several suspected persons had been taken 
 to the garrison; among them was Mr. Moses Henry. Mrs. 
 Henry went, under the pretense of carrying him provisions, 
 and whispered him the news and what she had seen. Mr. 
 Henry conveyed it to the rest of his fellow-prisoners, which 
 gave them much pleasure, particularly Captain Helm, who 
 amused himself very much during the siege, and, I believe, did 
 much damage. 
 
 "Ammunition was scarce with us, as the most of our stores 
 had been put on board of the galley. Though her crew was 
 but few, such a re-enforcement to us at this time w^ould have 
 been invaluable in many instances. But, fortunately, at the 
 time of its being reported that the whole of the goods in the 
 town were to be taken for the king's use (for which the owners 
 were to receive bills), Colonel Legras, Major Bosseron, and 
 others had buried the greatest part of their powder and ball. 
 This was immediately produced, and we found ourselves well 
 supplied by those gentlemen. 
 
 "The Tobacco's son, being in town with a number of war- 
 riors, immediately mustered them, and let us know that he 
 wished to join us, saying that by the morning he would have 
 a hundred men. He received for answer that we thanked him 
 for his friendly disposition ; and, as we were sufficiently strong 
 ourselves, we wished him to desist, and that we would counsel 
 on the subject in the morning ; and, as we knew that there 
 were a number of Indians in and near the town that were our 
 
enemies, some confusion might happen if our men should mix 
 in the dark, but hoped that we might be favored with his 
 counsel and company during the night, which was agreeable 
 to him. 
 
 " The garrison was soon completely surrounded, and the 
 firing continued without intermission (except about fifteen 
 minutes a little before day) until about nine o'clock the fol- 
 lowing morning. It was kept up by the whole of the troops, 
 joined by a few of the young men of the town, who got per- 
 mission, except fifty men kept as a reserve. ... I had made 
 myself fully acquainted with the situation of the fort and 
 town and the parts relative to each. The cannon of the gar- 
 rison was on the upper floors of strong blockhouses at each 
 angle of the fort, eleven feet above the surface, and the ports 
 so badly cut that many of our troops lay under the fire of 
 them within twenty or thirty yards of the walls. They did no 
 damage, except to the buildings of the town, some of which 
 they much shattered ; and their musketry, in the dark, em- 
 ployed against woodsmen covered by houses, palings, ditches, 
 the banks of the river, etc., was but of little avail, and did no 
 injury to us except wounding a man or two. As we could not 
 afford to lose men, great care was taken to preserve them suf- 
 ficiently covered, and to keep up a hot fire in order to intimi- 
 date the enemy as well as to destroy them. The embrasures 
 of their cannon were frequently shut, for our riflemen, finding 
 the true direction of them, would pour in such volleys when 
 they were opened that the men could not stand to the guns. 
 Seven or eight of them in a short time got cut down. Our 
 troops would frequently abuse the enemy, in order to aggra- 
 vate them to open their ports and fire their cannon, that they 
 might have the pleasure of cutting them down with their 
 rifles, fifty of which, perhaps, w^ould be levelled the moment 
 the port flew open ; and I believe that, if they had stood at 
 their artillery, the greater part of them would have been de- 
 stroyed in the course of the night, as the greater part of our 
 men lay within thirty yards of the walls, and in a few hours 
 were covered equally to those within the walls, and much more 
 experienced in that mode of fighting. . . . Sometimes an 
 irregular fire, as hot as possible, was kept up from different 
 directions for a few minutes, and then only a continual scatter- 
 ing fire at the ports as usual ; and a great noise and laughter 
 immediately commenced in dift'erent parts of the town, by the 
 reserved parties, as if they had only fired on the fort a few 
 minutes for amusement, and as if those continually firing at the 
 
lO 
 
 fort were only regularly relieved. Conduct similar to this kept 
 the garrison constantly alarmed. They did not know what 
 moment they might be stormed or [blown up ?], as they could 
 plainly discover that we had flung up some entrenchments 
 across the streets, and appeared to be frequently very busy 
 under the bank of the river, w^hich was within thirty feet 
 of the walls. The situation of the magazine we knew well. 
 Captain Bowman began some works in order to blow it up, in 
 case our artillery should arrive ; but, as we knew that we were 
 daily liable to be overpowered by the numerous bands of Ind- 
 ians on the river, in case they had again joined the enemy (the 
 certainty of which we were unacquainted with), we resolved 
 to lose no time, but to get the fort in our possession as soon 
 as possible. If the vessel did not arrive before the ensuing 
 night, we resolved to undermine the fort, and fixed on the 
 spot and plan of executing this work, which we intended to 
 commence the next day. 
 
 " The Indians of different tribes that were inimical had left 
 the town and neighborhood. Captain Lamotte continued to 
 hover about it, in order, if possible, to make his way good into 
 the fort. Parties attempted in vain to surprise him. A few 
 of his party were taken, one of which was Maisonville, a 
 famous Indian partisan. Two lads that captured him tied 
 him to a post in the street, and fought from behind him as a 
 breastwork, supposing that the enemy would not fire at them 
 for fear of killing him, as he w^ould alarm them by his voice. 
 The lads were ordered, by an ofBcer who discovered them at 
 their amusement, to untie their prisoner, and take him off to 
 the guard, which they did, but were so inhuman as to take part 
 of his scalp on the way. There happened to him no other 
 damage. As almost the whole of the persons who were most 
 active in the department of Detroit were either in the fort or 
 wath Captain Lamotte, I got extremely uneasy for fear that 
 he would not fall into our power, knowing that he would go 
 off, if he could not get into the fort in the course of the night. 
 Finding that, without some unforeseen accident, the fort must 
 inevitably be ours, and that a re-enforcement of twenty men, 
 although considerable to them, would not be of great moment 
 to us in the present situation of affairs, and knowing that we 
 had weakened them by killing or wounding many of their 
 gunners, after some deliberation, we concluded to risk the re-en- 
 forcement in preference of his going again among the Indians. 
 The garrison had at least a month's provisions ; and, if they 
 could hold out, in the course of that time he midit do us 
 
II 
 
 much damage. A little before da}^ the troops were withdrawn 
 from their positions about the fort, except a few parties of 
 observation, and the firing totally ceased. Orders were given, 
 in case of Lamotte's approach, not to alarm or fire on him 
 without a certainty of killing or taking the whole. In less 
 than a quarter of an hour, he passed within ten feet of an 
 officer and a party that lay concealed. Ladders were flung 
 over to them ; and, as they mounted them, our party shouted. 
 Many of them fell from the top of the walls, — some within, 
 and others back ; but, as they were not fired on, they all got 
 over, much to the joy of their friends. But, on considering 
 the matter, they must have been convinced that it was a 
 scheme of ours to let them in, and that we were so strong as 
 to care but little about them or the manner of their getting 
 into the garrison. . . . The firing immediately commenced 
 on both sides with double vigor ; and I believe that more noise 
 could not have been made by the same number of men. Their 
 shouts could not be heard for the firearms ; but a continual 
 blaze was kept around the garrison, without much being done, 
 until about daybreak, when our troops were drawn off to posts 
 prepared for them, about sixty or seventy yards from the fort. 
 A loophole then could scarcely be darkened but a rifle-ball 
 would pass through it. To have stood to their cannon would 
 have destroyed their men, without a probability of doing much 
 service. Our situation was nearly similar. It would have been 
 imprudent in either party to have wasted their men, without 
 some decisive stroke required it. 
 
 " Thus the attack continued until about nine o'clock on the 
 morning of the 2z|th. Learning that the two prisoners they 
 had brought in the day before had a considerable number of 
 letters with them, I supposed it an express that we expected 
 about this time, which I knew to be of the greatest moment 
 to us, as we had not received one since our arrival in the 
 country ; and, not being fully acquainted with the character 
 of our enemy, we were doubtful that those papers might be 
 destroyed, to prevent which I sent a flag [with a letter] de- 
 manding the garrison." 
 
 The following is a copy of the letter which was addressed 
 by Colonel Clark to Lieutenant-governor Hamilton on this 
 occasion : — 
 
 " Sir, — In order to save yourself from the impending storm 
 that now threatens you, I order you immediately to surrender 
 
12 
 
 yourself, with all your garrison, stores, etc. For, if I am 
 obliged to storm, you may depend on such treatment as is 
 justly due to a murderer. Beware of destroying stores of any 
 kind or any papers or letters that are in your possession, or 
 hurting one house in town ; for, by heavens ! if you do, there 
 shall be no mercy shown you. 
 
 "(Signed) G. R. CLARK." 
 
 The British commandant immediately returned the following 
 answer : — 
 
 " Lieutenant-governor Hamilton begs leave to acquaint 
 Colonel Clark that he and his garrison are not disposed to 
 be awed into any action unworthy British subjects." 
 
 "The firing then," says Clark, "commenced warmly for a 
 considerable time ; and we were obliged to be careful in pre- 
 venting our men from exposing themselves too much, as they 
 were now much animated, having been refreshed during the 
 flag. They frequently mentioned their wishes to storm the 
 place, and put an end to the business at once. . . . The firing 
 was heavy through every crack that could be discovered in 
 any part of the fort. Several of the garrison got wounded, 
 and no possibility of standing near the embrasures. Toward 
 the evening a flag appeared with the following proposals : — 
 
 " ' Lieutenant-governor Hamilton proposes to Colonel Clark 
 a truce for three days, during which time he promises there 
 shall be no defensive works carried on in the garrison, on con- 
 dition that Colonel Clark shall observe, on his part, a like 
 cessation of any defensive work, — that is, he wishes to confer 
 with Colonel Clark as soon as can be, and promises that what- 
 ever may pass between them two and another person mutuall}^ 
 agreed upon to be present shall remain secret till matters be 
 finished, as he wishes that, whatever the result of the confer- 
 ence may be, it may tend to the honor and credit of each party. 
 If Colonel Clark makes a difliculty of coming into the fort, 
 Lieutenant-governor Hamilton will speak to him by the gate. 
 
 "'(Signed) HENRY HAMILTON. 
 
 "'24TH February, 1779.' 
 
 " I was at a great loss to conceive what reason Lieutenant- 
 governor Hamilton could have for wishing a truce of three 
 days on such terms as he proposed. Numbers said it was a 
 
13 
 
 scheme to get me into their possession. I had a different 
 opinion and no idea of his possessing such sentiments, as an 
 act of that kind would infaUibly ruin him. Although we had 
 the greatest reason to expect a re-enforcement in less than three 
 days, that would at once put an end to the siege, I yet did not 
 think it prudent to agree to the proposals, and sent the follow- 
 ing answer : — 
 
 '' ' Colonel Clark's compliments to Lieutenant-governor Ham- 
 ilton, and begs leave to inform him that he will not agree to 
 any terms other than Mr. Hamilton's surrendering himself and 
 garrison prisoners at discretion. If Mr. Hamilton is desirous 
 of a conference with Colonel Clark, he will meet him at the 
 church with Captain Helm. 
 
 '"(Signed) G. R. C. 
 
 "'February 24TH, 1779.' 
 
 "We met at the church, about eighty yards from the fort. 
 Lieutenant-governor Hamilton, ]\Iajor Hay, superintendent 
 of Indian affairs. Captain Helm, their prisoner. Major Bowm.an, 
 and myself. The conference began. Hamilton produced terms 
 of capitulation, signed, that contained various articles, one of 
 which was that the garrison should be surrendered on their 
 being permitted to go to Pensacola on parole. After deliber- 
 ating on every article, I rejected the whole. He then wished 
 that I would make some proposition. I told him that I had 
 no other to make than what I had already made, — that of his 
 surrendering as prisoners at discretion. I said that his troops 
 had behaved with spirit ; that they could not suppose that they 
 would be worse treated in consequence of it ; that, if he chose 
 to comply with the demand, though hard, perhaps the sooner 
 the better ; that it was in vain to make any proposition to me ; 
 that he, by this time, must be sensible that the garrison 
 would fall ; that both of us must [view ?] all blood spilt for 
 the future by the garrison as murder ; that my troops were 
 already impatient, and called aloud for permission to tear down 
 and storm the fort. If such a step was taken, many, of course, 
 would be cut down ; and the result of an enraged body of 
 woodsmen breaking in must be obvious to him. It would be 
 out of the power of an American officer to save a single man. 
 Various altercation took place for a considerable time. Cap- 
 tain Helm attempted to moderate our fixed determination. 
 I told him he was a British prisoner ; and it was doubtful 
 
14 
 
 whether or not he could, with propriety, speak on the subject. 
 Hamilton then said that Captain Helm was from that moment 
 liberated, and might use his pleasure. I informed the Captain 
 that I would not receive him on such terms ; that he must 
 return to the garrison, and await his fate. I then told Lieu- 
 tenant-governor Hamilton that hostilities should not commence 
 until five minutes after the drums gave the alarm. We took 
 our leave, and parted but a few steps, when Hamilton stopped, 
 and politely asked me if I would be so kind as to give him my 
 reasons for refusing the garrison any other terms than those 
 I had offered. I told him I had no objections in giving him 
 my real reasons, which were simply these : that I knew the 
 greater part of the principal Indian partisans of Detroit were 
 with him ; that I wanted an excuse to put them to death or 
 otherwise treat them as I thought proper ; that the cries of 
 the widows and the fatherless on the frontiers, which they had 
 occasioned, now required their blood from my hand ; and that 
 I did not choose to be so timorous as to disobey the absolute 
 commands of their authority, which I looked upon to be next 
 to divine; that I would rather lose fifty men than not to em- 
 power myself to execute this piece of business with propriety ; 
 that, if he chose to risk the massacre of his garrison for their 
 sakes, it was his own pleasure ; and that I might, perhaps, take 
 it into my head to send for some of those widows to see it 
 executed. Major Hay paying great attention, I had observed 
 a kind of distrust in his countenance, which in a great measure 
 influenced my conversation during this time. On my conclud- 
 ing, 'Pray, sir,' said he, 'who is it that you call Indian parti- 
 sans ? ' ' Sir,' I replied, ' I take Major Hay to be one of the 
 principal.' I never saw a man in the moment of execution so 
 struck as he appeared to be, — pale and trembling, scarcely able 
 to stand. Hamilton blushed, and, I observed, was much 
 affected at his behavior. Major Bowman's countenance suffi- 
 ciently explained his disdain for the one and his sorrow for the 
 other. . . . Some moments elapsed without a word pass- 
 ing on either side. From that moment my resolutions changed 
 respecting Hamilton's situation. I told him that we would 
 return to our respective posts ; that I would reconsider the 
 matter, and let him know the result. No offensive measures 
 should be taken in the meantime. Agreed to ; and we parted. 
 What had passed being made known to our officers, it was 
 agreed that we should moderate our resolutions." 
 
 In the course of the afternoon of the 24th the following 
 articles were signed, and the garrison capitulated : — 
 
15 
 
 " I. Lieutenant-governor Hamilton engages to deliver up 
 to Colonel Clark Fort Sackville, as it is at present, with all 
 the stores, etc. 
 
 "II. The garrison are to deliver themselves as prisoners of 
 war, and march out wdth their arms and accouterments, etc. 
 
 "III. The garrison to be delivered up at ten o'clock 
 to-morrow. 
 
 " IV. Three days time to be allowed the garrison to settle 
 their accounts with the inhabitants and traders of this place. 
 
 "V. The officers of the garrison to be allowed their neces- 
 sary baggage, etc. 
 
 "Signed at Post St. Vincent [Vincennes] 24th of February, 
 
 1779. 
 
 " Agreed for the following reasons : the remoteness from 
 succor ; the state and quantity of provisions, etc. ; unanimity 
 of officers and men in its expediency; the honorable terms 
 allowed ; and, lastly, the confidence in a generous enemy. 
 
 "(Signed) HENRY HAMILTON, 
 
 *' Lieut-gov. and Superintendent.'''' 
 
 "The business being now nearly at an end, troops were 
 posted in several strong houses around the garrison and 
 patroled during the night to prevent any deception that might 
 be attempted. The remainder on duty lay on their arms, and 
 for the first time for many days past got some rest. . . . Dur- 
 ing the siege, I got only one man wounded. Not being able 
 to lose many, I made them secure themselves well. Seven 
 were badly wounded in the fort through ports. . . . Almost 
 every man had conceived a favorable opinion of Lieutenant- 
 governor Hamilton, — I believe what affected myself made 
 some impression on the whole ; and I was happy to find that 
 he never deviated, while he stayed with us, from that dignity 
 of conduct that became an officer in his situation. The morn- 
 ing of the 25th approaching, arrangements were made for 
 receiving the garrison [which consisted of seventy-nine men], 
 and about ten o'clock it was delivered in form ; and every- 
 thing was immediately arranged to the best advantage." 
 
 The conquest of the country north of the Ohio River by George Rogers 
 Clark in 1778-9 was one of the most heroic episodes of the period of the 
 Revolution, and one of the most important in its consequences. It was 
 because, owing to this conquest, the country between the Ohio and the 
 
i6 
 
 Mississippi was actually held by us, under military and civil rule, at the 
 close of the war, that it was possible for us to secure, in the Treaty of Paris, 
 the concession of the Mississippi instead of the Ohio as our western 
 boundary. It has been properly said that, " with respect to the magnitude 
 of its design, the valor and perseverance with which it was carried, and 
 the momentous results which were produced by it, Clark's expedition stands 
 without a parallel in the early annals of the valley of the Mississippi." 
 
 Clark was a young Virginian who had settled in Kentucky in 1775, had 
 secured the organization of Kentucky as a county of Virginia, and been the 
 leader in the defence of the frontier. The Kentucky and Illinois country 
 suffered greatly during the early years of the war from Indian depredations. 
 Clark saw clearly that the sources of these depredations were the British 
 posts of Detroit, Vincennes on the Wabash, and Kaskaskia on the Missis- 
 sippi ; and he went to Virginia and laid before Patrick Henry, then Gover- 
 nor of Virginia, a scheme for the conquest of the North-west, the boldness 
 of which at once enlisted the interest and co-operation of Henry, Jefferson, 
 and other influential men. With his little army of one hundred and fifty 
 men, he surprised and captured Kaskaskia on the night of July 4, 177S, did 
 much by wise diplomacy to attach the French and Indians to the American 
 cause, and in February, 1779, marched upon Vincennes. The hardships of 
 that march of one hundred and sixt3--six miles were almost incredible. In 
 that great era of brave deeds there was no braver deed than this. A por- 
 tion of Clark's own account of the march and the capture of Vincennes, 
 taken from his Memoirs, composed at the special request of Jefferson and 
 Madison, is given in the present leaflet. The weakness of his force alone 
 prevented Clark from moving on Detroit. The county of Illinois was 
 established by the General Assembly of Virginia, covering all the territory ; 
 and this remained under the actual control of Virginia at the close of the 
 war and when the Treaty of Paris was under consideration. " The arms of 
 Clark had settled the question of possession and civil as well as military 
 rule of this great territory, which now holds so many millions of people. 
 These prominent facts were before the British minister and before the 
 world. He could not say that this part of the land was in the power of 
 England any more than Virginia herself was after the battle of Vorktown, 
 and he was too accurate a jurist to yield to any claim of Spain or to hear 
 the objections of France." 
 
 The last years of this great man's life were spent in solitude and poverty 
 near Louisville. He felt keenly the ingratitude of the republic ; and, when 
 late in his life the vState of Virginia sent him a sword, he exclaimed to the 
 committee : " When Virginia needed a sword, I gave her one. She sends 
 me now a toy. I want bread!" — thrust the sword into the ground, and 
 broke it with his crutch. 
 
 John Reynolds called George Rogers Clark *' the Washington of the 
 West," and John Randolph styled him " the Hannibal of the West." See 
 chapter entitled "The Hannibal of the West," in Dunn's Indiana^ in the 
 " American Commonwealths " series, for the best brief account of Clark's 
 exploits. W. F. Poole's chapter on "The West," in the sixth volume of the 
 Narrative and Critical History of America, contains an invaluable mass 
 of material concerning Clark and his work. A good biography of Clark 
 is a desideratum. The memoirs, from which the present leaflet is taken, 
 are printed in Dillon's History of Indiana. A letter from Clark to George 
 Mason, covering his Vincennes campaign, has been published under the title 
 of Clark's Campaign in the Illinois (Cincinnati, 1S69). 
 
ELEVENTH SERIES, 1893. No. 6. 
 
 Captain 
 
 Meriwether 
 
 Lewis. 
 
 By Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 
 MONTICELLO, Aug. 1 8, 1813. 
 
 6"/^, — In compliance with the request conve3-ed in your letter 
 of May 25, I have endeavoured to obtain, from the relations 
 and friends of the late Governor Lewis, information of such 
 incidents of his life as might be not unacceptable to those 
 who may read the narrative of his western discoveries. • The 
 ordinary occurrences of a private life, and those, also, while 
 acting in a subordinate sphere in the army in a time of peace, 
 are not deemed sufficiently interesting to occupy the public 
 attention ; but a general account of his parentage, with such 
 smaller incidents as marked his early character, are briefly 
 noted, and to these are added, as being peculiarly within my 
 own knowledge, whatever related to the public mission, of 
 which an account is now to be published. The result of my 
 inquiries and recollections shall now be offered, to be enlarged 
 or abridged as you may think best, or otherwise to be used 
 with the materials you may have collected from other sources. 
 
 Meriwether Lewis, late governor of Louisiana, was born 
 on the eighteenth of August, 1774, near the town of Char- 
 lottesville, in the county of Albemarle, in Virginia, of one of 
 the distinguished families of that state. John Lewis, one 
 of his father's uncles, was a member of the king's council 
 before the revolution. Another of them. Fielding Lewis, 
 married a sister of General Washington. His father, William 
 Lewis, was the youngest of five sons of Colonel Robert Lewis, 
 of Albemarle, the fourth of whom. Charles, was one of the 
 early patriots who stepped forward in the commencement of 
 
the revolution, and commanded one of the regiments first 
 raised in Virginia, and placed on continental establishment. 
 Happily situated at home, with a wife and young family, and 
 a fortune placing him at ease, he left all to aid in the libera- 
 tion of his country from foreign usurpations, then first unmask- 
 ing their ultimate end and aim. His good sense, integrit3% 
 bravery, enterprise, and remarkable bodily powers marked 
 him as an officer of great promise ; but he unfortunately died 
 early in the revolution. Nicholas Lewis, the second of his 
 father's brothers, commanded a regiment of militia in the suc- 
 cessful expedition of 1776 against the Cherokee Indians, who, 
 seduced by the agents of the British government to take up 
 the hatchet against us, had committed great havoc on our 
 southern frontier by murdering and scalping helpless women 
 and children, according to their cruel and cowardly principles 
 of warfare. The chastisement they then received closed the 
 history of their wars, and prepared them for receiving the ele- 
 ments of civilization, which, zealously inculcated by the pres- 
 ent government of the United States, have rendered them an 
 industrious, peaceable, and happy people. This member of 
 the family of Lewises, whose bravery was so usefully proved 
 on this occasion, was endeared to all who knew him by his 
 inflexible probity, courteous disposition, benevolent heart, and 
 engaging modesty aad manners. He was the umpire of all 
 the private differences of his county, — selected always by 
 both parties. He was also the guardian of Meriwether Lewis, 
 of whom we are now to speak, and who had lost his father at 
 an early age. He continued some years under the fostering 
 care of a tender mother of the respectable family of Meri- 
 wethers of the same county, and was remarkable even in 
 infancy for enterprise, boldness, and discretion. When only 
 eight years of age, he habitually went out, in the dead of night, 
 alone with his dogs, into the forest, to hunt the raccoon and 
 opossum, which, seeking their food in the night, can then only 
 be taken. In this exercise, no season or circumstance could 
 obstruct his purpose, — plunging through the winter's snows 
 and frozen streams in pursuit of his object. At thirteen he 
 was put to the Latin school, and continued at that until eigh- 
 teen, when he returned to his mother, and entered on the cares 
 of his farm, having, as well as a younger brother, been left by 
 his father with a competency for all the correct and comforta- 
 ble purposes of temperate life. His talent for observation, 
 which had led him to an accurate knowledge of the plants 
 and animals of his own country, would have distinguished him 
 
as a farmer ; but, at the age of twenty, yielding to the ardour 
 of youth and a passion for more dazzling pursuits, he engaged 
 as a volunteer in the body of militia which were called out by 
 General Washington on occasion of the discontents produced 
 by the excise taxes in the western parts of the United States, 
 and from that situation he was removed to the regular service 
 as a lieutenant in the line. At twenty-three he was promoted 
 to a captaincy ; and, always attracting the first attention where 
 punctuality and fidelity were requisite, he was appointed pay- 
 master to his regiment. About this time a circumstance 
 occurred which, leading to the transaction which is the subject 
 of this book, will justify a recurrence to its original idea. 
 While I resided in Paris, John Ledyard, of Connecticut, ar- 
 rived there, well known in the United States for energy of 
 body and mind. He had accompanied Captain Cook on his 
 voyage to the Pacific ocean, and distinguished himself on that 
 voyage by his intrepidity. Being of a roaming disposition, 
 he was now panting for some new enterprise. His immediate 
 object at Paris was to engage a mercantile company in the 
 fur-trade of the western coast of America, in which, however, 
 he failed. I then proposed to him to go by land to Kam- 
 schatka, cross in some of the Russian vessels to Nootka Sound, 
 fall down into the latitude of the Missouri, and penetrate to, 
 and through, that to the United States. He eagerly seized 
 the idea, and only asked to be assured of the permission of the 
 Russian government. I interested in obtaining that M. de 
 Simoulin, minister plenipotentiary of the empress at Paris, but 
 more especially the Baron de Grimm, minister plenipotentiary 
 of Saxe-Gotha, her more special agent and correspondent 
 there in matters not immediately diplomatic. Her permission 
 was obtained, and an assurance of protection while the course 
 of the voyage should be through her territories. Ledyard set 
 out from Paris, and arrived at St. Petersburgh after the em- 
 press had left that place to pass the winter, I think, at Moscow. 
 His finances not permitting him to make unnecessary stay at 
 St. Petersburgh, he left it with a passport from one of the 
 ministers, and at two hundred miles from Kamschatka was 
 obliged to take up his winter quarters. He was preparing, in 
 the spring, to resume his journey, when he was arrested by an 
 officer of the empress, who by this time had changed her mind, 
 and forbidden his proceeding. He was put into a close car- 
 riage, and conveyed day and night, without ever stopping, till 
 they reached Poland, where he was set down and left to him- 
 self. The fatigue of this journey broke down his constitution ; 
 
and, when he returned to Paris, his bodily strength was much 
 impaired. His mind, however, remained firm : and he after 
 this undertook the journey to Eg3'pt. I received a letter from 
 him, full of sanguine hopes, dated at Cairo, the fifteenth of 
 November, 1788, the day before he was to set out for the 
 head of the Nile, on which day, however, he ended his career 
 and life ; and thus failed the first attempt to explore the west- 
 ern part of our northern continent. 
 
 In 1792 I proposed to the American Philosophical Society 
 that we should set on foot a subscription to engage some com- 
 petent person to explore that region in the opposite direction ; 
 that is, by ascending the Missouri, crossing the Stony moun- 
 tains, and descending the nearest river to the Pacific. Captain 
 Lewis, being then stationed at Charlottesville, on the recruiting 
 service, warmly solicited me to obtain for him the execution 
 of that object. I told him it was proposed that the person 
 engaged should be attended by a single companion only, to 
 avoid exciting alarm among the Indians. This did not deter 
 him; but Mr. Andre Michaux, a professed botanist, author of 
 the Flora Boreali-Americana, and of the Histoire des Chesnes 
 d'Amerique, offering his services, they were accepted. He 
 received his instructions ; and, when he had reached Ken- 
 tucky in the prosecution of his journey, he was overtaken by 
 an order from the minister of France, then at Philadelphia, 
 to relinquish the expedition, and to pursue elsewhere the 
 botanical inquiries on which he was employed by that govern- 
 ment; and thus failed the second attempt for exploring that 
 region. 
 
 In 1803 the act for establishing trading houses with the 
 Indian tribes being about to expire, some modifications of it 
 were recommended to congress by a confidential message of 
 January i8th, and an extension of its views to the Indians 
 on the Missouri. In order to prepare the way, the message 
 proposed the sending an exploring party to trace the Missouri 
 to its source, to cross the Highlands, and follow the best 
 w^ater-communication which offered itself from thence to the 
 Pacific ocean. Congress approved the proposition, and voted 
 a sum of money for carrying it into execution. Captain Lewis, 
 w^ho had then been near two years with me as private secre- 
 tary, immediately renewed his solicitations to have the direc- 
 tion of the party. I had now had opportunities of knowing 
 him intimately. Of courage undaunted ; possessing a firmness 
 and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities 
 could divert from its direction : careful as a father of those 
 
5 
 
 committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of 
 order and discipline ; intimate with the Indian character, cus- 
 toms, and principles ; habituated to the hunting life ; guarded, 
 by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own 
 country, against losing time in the description of objects 
 already possessed ; honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound un- 
 derstanding, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that what- 
 ever he should report would be as certain as if seen by our- 
 selves, — with all these qualifications, as if selected and im- 
 planted by nature in one body for this express purpose, I 
 could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him. 
 To fill up the measure desired, he wanted nothing but a greater 
 familiarity with the technical language of the natural sciences 
 and readiness in the astronomical observations necessary for 
 the geography of his route. To acquire these he repaired 
 immediately to Philadelphia, and placed himself under the 
 tutorage of the distinguished professors of that place, who, 
 with a zeal and emulation enkindled by an ardent devotion to 
 science, communicated to him freely the information requisite 
 for the purposes of the journey. While attending, too, at 
 Lancaster, the fabrication of the arms with which he chose 
 that his men should be provided, he had the benefit of daily 
 communication with Mr. Andrew Ellicot, whose experience in 
 astronomical observation, and practice of it in the woods, 
 enabled him to apprise captain Lewis of the wants and diffi- 
 culties he would encounter, and of the substitutes and re- 
 sources offered by a woodland and uninhabited country. 
 
 Deeming it necessary he should have some person with him 
 of known competence to the direction of the enterprise, in the 
 event of accident to himself, he proposed William Clarke, 
 brother of general George Rogers Clarke, who was approved, 
 and, with that view, received a commission of captain. 
 
 In April, 1803, a draught of his instructions was sent to 
 captain Lewis, and on the twentieth of June they were signed 
 in the following form : 
 
 " To Meriwether Lewis, esquire, captain of the tirst regiment 
 of infantry of the L'nited States of America : 
 
 " A'our situation as secretary of the president of the United 
 States has made you acquainted with the objects of my con- 
 fidential message of January 18, 1803, to the legislature; you 
 have seen the act they passed, which, though expressed in gen- 
 eral terms, was meant to sanction those objects, and you are 
 appointed to carry them into execution. 
 
" Instruments for ascertaining, by celestial observations, the 
 geography of the country through which you will pass have 
 been already provided. Light articles for barter and presents 
 among the Indians, arms for your attendants, say for from ten 
 to twelve men, boats, tents, and other travelling apparatus, 
 with ammunition, medicine, surgical instruments, and provi- 
 sions, you will have prepared, with such aids as the secretary 
 at war can yield in his department ; and from him also you 
 wdll receive authority to engage among our troops, by volun- 
 tary agreement, the number of attendants abovementioned, 
 over whom you, as their commanding officer, are invested with 
 all the powers the laws give in such a case. 
 
 " As your movements while within the limits of the United 
 States will be better directed by occasional communications, 
 adapted to circumstances as they arise, they will not be noticed 
 here. What follows will respect your proceedings after your 
 departure from the United States. 
 
 "Your mission has been communicated to the ministers 
 here from France, Spain, and Great Britain, and through them 
 to their governments, and such assurances given them as to 
 its objects as we trust will satisfy them. The country of Lou- 
 isiana having been ceded by Spain to France, the passport you 
 have from the minister of France, the representative of the 
 present sovereign of the country, will be a protection with all 
 its subjects ; and that from the minister of England will entitle 
 you to the friendly aid of any traders of that allegiance with 
 whom you may happen to meet. 
 
 '' The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri 
 river, and such principal streams of it as, by its course and 
 communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether 
 the Columbia, Oregan, Colorado, or any other river, may offer 
 the most direct and practicable water-communication across 
 the continent for the purposes of commerce. 
 
 " Beginning at the mouth of the ^Missouri, you will take 
 observations of latitude and longitude at all remarkable points 
 on the river, and especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, 
 at islands, and other places and objects distinguished by such 
 natural marks and characters, of a durable kind, as that they 
 may with certainty be recognized hereafter. The courses of 
 the river between these points of observation may be supplied 
 by the compass, the log-line, and by time, corrected by the 
 observations themselves. The variations of the needle, too, in 
 different places should be noticed. 
 
 " The interesting points of the portage between the heads 
 
of the Missouri, and of the water offering the best communica- 
 tion with the Pacific ocean, should also be fixed by observa- 
 tion, and the course of that water to the ocean in the same 
 manner as that of the Missouri. 
 
 " Your observations are to be taken with great pains and 
 accuracy; to be entered distinctly and intelligibly for others 
 as well as yourself ; to comprehend all the elements necessary, 
 with the aid of the usual tables, to fix the latitude and longi- 
 tude of the places at which they were taken ; and are to be 
 rendered to the war-office, for the purpose of having the cal- 
 culations made concurrently by proper persons within the 
 United States. Several copies of these, as well as of your 
 other notes, should be made at leisure times, and put into the 
 care of the most trustworthy of your attendants to guard, by 
 multiplying them, against the accidental losses to which they 
 will be exposed. A further guard would be that one of these 
 copies be on the cuticular membranes of the paper-birch, as 
 less liable to injury from damp than common paper. 
 
 " The commerce which may be carried on with the people 
 inhabiting the line you will pursue renders a knowledge of 
 those people important. You will therefore endeavour to make 
 yourself acquainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey 
 shall admit, with the names of the nations and their numbers ; 
 
 " The extent and limits of their possessions ; 
 
 " Their relations with other tribes or nations ; 
 
 " Their language, traditions, monuments ; 
 
 " Their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, hunting, 
 war, arts, and the implements for these ; 
 
 " Their food, clothing, and domestic accommodations ; 
 
 " The diseases prevalent among them, and the remedies they 
 use; 
 
 " Moral and physical circumstances which distinguish them 
 from the tribes we know ; 
 
 " Peculiarities in their laws, customs, and dispositions : 
 
 " And articles of commerce they may need or furnish, and 
 to what extent. 
 
 "And, considering the interest which every nation has in 
 extending and strengthening the authority of reason and justice 
 among the people around them, it will be useful to acquire 
 what knowledge you can of the state of morality, religion, and 
 information among them, as it may better enable those who 
 may endeavour to civilize and instruct them to adapt their 
 measures to the existing notions and practices of those on 
 whom they are to operate. 
 
''Other objects worthy of notice will be — 
 
 '' The soil and face of the country, its growth and vegetable 
 productions, especially those not of the United States ; 
 
 " The animals of the country generally, and epecially those 
 not known in the United States ; 
 
 '' The remains and accounts of any which may be deemed 
 rare or extinct ; 
 
 '' The mineral productions of every kind, but more particu- 
 larly metals, lime-stone, pit-coal, and saltpetre, salines and 
 mineral waters, noting the temperature of the last, and such 
 circumstances as may indicate their character ; 
 
 " Volcanic appearances ; 
 
 " Climate as characterized by the thermometer, by the pro- 
 portion of rainy, cloudy, and clear days ; by lightning, hail, 
 snow, ice ; by the access and recess of frost ; by the winds 
 prevailing at different seasons ; the dates at which particular 
 plants put forth or lose their flower or leaf; times of appear- 
 ance of particular birds, reptiles, or insects. 
 
 "Although your route will be along the channel of the Mis- 
 souri, yet you will endeavour to inform yourself, by inquiry, 
 of the character and extent of the country watered by its 
 branches, and esj^ecially on its southern side. The North 
 river, or Rio Bravo, which runs into the gulf of Mexico, and 
 the North river, or Rio Colorado, which runs into the gulf of 
 California, are understood to be the principal streams heading 
 opposite to the waters of the Missouri, and running south- 
 wardly. Whether the dividing grounds between the Missouri 
 and them are mountains or flat lands, what are their distance 
 from the Missouri, the character of the intermediate country, 
 and the people inhabiting it, are worthy of particular inquiry. 
 The northern waters of the Missouri are less to be inquired 
 after, because they have been ascertained to a considerable 
 degree, and are still in a course of ascertainment by English 
 traders and travellers ; but, if you can learn any thing certain 
 of the most northern source of the Mississippi, and of its 
 position relatively to the Lake of the Woods, it will be inter- 
 esting to us. Some account, too, of the path of the Canadian 
 traders from the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Ouisconsing 
 to where it strikes the Missouri, and of the soil and rivers in 
 its course, is desirable. 
 
 " In all your intercourse with the natives, treat them in the 
 most friendly and conciliatory manner which their own conduct 
 will admit ; allay all jealousies as to the object of your jour- 
 ney ; satisfy them of its innocence ; make them acquainted 
 
9 
 
 with the position, extent, character, peaceable and commer- 
 cial dispositions of the United States, of our wish to be 
 neighborly, friendly, and useful to them, and of our disposi- 
 tions to a commercial intercourse with them ; confer with them 
 on the points most convenient as mutual emporiums and the 
 articles of most desirable interchange for them and us. If a 
 few of their influential chiefs, within practicable distance, wish 
 to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them 
 with authority to call on our officers on their entering the 
 United States, to have them conveyed to this place at the 
 public expense. If any of them should wish to have some of 
 their young people brought up with us, and taught such arts 
 as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct, and take 
 care of them. Such a mission, whether of influential chiefs 
 or of young people, would give some security to your own 
 party. Carry with you some matter of the kine-pox, inform 
 those of them with whom you may be of its efficacy as a pre- 
 servative from the small-pox, and instruct and encourage them 
 in the use of it. This may be especially done wherever 3-ou 
 winter. 
 
 ''As it is impossible for us to foresee in what manner you 
 will be received by those people, whether with hospitality or 
 hostility, so is it impossible to prescribe the exact degree of 
 perseverance with which you are to pursue your journey. We 
 value too much the lives of citizens to oft'er them to probable 
 destruction. Your numbers will be sufficient to secure you 
 against the unauthorized opposition of individuals or of small 
 parties ; but, if a superior force, authorized or not authorized 
 by a nation, should be arrayed against your further passage, 
 and inflexibly determined to arrest it, you must decline its 
 further pursuit and return. In the loss of yourselves we 
 should lose also the information you will have acquired. By 
 returning safely with that, you may enable us to renew the essay 
 with better calculated means. To your own discretion, there- 
 fore, must be left the degree of danger you may risk and the 
 point at which you should decline, only saying, we wish you to 
 err on the side of your safety, and to bring back your party 
 safe, even if it be with less information. 
 
 "■ As far up the Missouri as the white settlements extend, 
 an intercourse will probably be found to exist between them 
 and the Spanish posts of St. Louis opposite Cahokia, or St. 
 Genevieve opposite Kaskaskia. From still further up the 
 river the traders may furnish a conveyance for letters. Beyond 
 that you may perhaps be able to engage Indians to bring let- 
 
10 
 
 ters for the government to Cahokia or Kaskaskia, on promis- 
 ing that they shall there receive such special compensation as 
 you shall have stipulated with them. Avail yourself of these 
 means to communicate to us, at seasonable intervals, a copy of 
 your journal, notes, and observations of every kind, putting 
 into cypher whatever might do injury if betrayed. 
 
 " Should you reach the Pacific ocean, inform yourself of the 
 circumstances which may decide whether the furs of those 
 parts may not be collected as advantageously at the head of the 
 Missouri (convenient as is supposed to the waters of the Col- 
 orado and Oregan or Columbia) as at Nootka Sound, or any 
 other point of that coast ; and that trade be consequently con- 
 ducted through the Missouri and United States more benefi- 
 cially than by the circumnavigation now practised. 
 
 " On your arrival on that coast, endeavour to learn if there 
 be any port within your reach frequented by the sea vessels of 
 any nation, and to send two of your trusty people back by sea, 
 in such way as shall appear practicable, with a copy of your 
 notes ; and should you be of opinion that the return of your 
 party by the way they went will be imminently dangerous, then 
 ship the whole, and return by sea, by the way either of Cape 
 Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, as you shall be able. As 
 you will be without money, clothes, or provisions, you must 
 endeavour to use the credit of the United States to obtain 
 them, for which purpose open letters of credit shall be fur- 
 nished you, authorizing you to draw on the executive of the 
 United States, or any of its officers, in any part of the world, 
 on which draughts can be disposed of, and to apply with our 
 recommendations to the consuls, agents, merchants, or citizens 
 of any nation with which we have intercourse, assuring them, 
 in our name, that any aids they may furnish you shall be hon- 
 orably repaid, and on demand. Our consuls, Thomas Hewes, 
 at Batavia, in Java, William Buchanan, in the Isles of France 
 and Bourbon, and John Elmslie, at the Cape of Good Hope, 
 will be able to supply your necessities by draughts on us. 
 
 '' Should you find it safe to return by the way you go, after 
 sending two of your party round by sea, or with your whole 
 party, if no conveyance by sea can be found, do so, making 
 such observations on your return as may serve to supply, cor- 
 rect, or confirm those made on your outward journey.* 
 
 " On re-entering the United States and reaching a place of 
 safety, discharge any of your attendants who may desire and 
 deserve it, procuring for them immediate payment of all ar- 
 rears of pay and clothing which may have incurred since their 
 
II 
 
 departure, and assure them that they shall be recommended 
 to the liberality of the legislature for the grant of a soldier's 
 portion of land each, as proposed in my message to congress, 
 and repair yourself, with your papers, to the seat of govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " To provide, on the accident of 3-our death, against anarchy, 
 dispersion, and the consequent danger to your party, and total 
 failure of the enterprise, you are hereby authorized, by any 
 instrument signed and written in your own hand, to name the 
 person among them who shall succeed to the command on 
 your decease, and by like instruments to change the nomina- 
 tion, from time to time, as further experience of the characters 
 accompanying you shall point out superior fitness ; and all the 
 powers and authorities given to yourself are, in the event of 
 your death, transferred to, and vested in the successor so 
 named, with further power to him and his successors, in like 
 manner to name each his successor, who, on the death of his 
 predecessor, shall be invested with all the powers and author- 
 ities given to yourself. Given under my hand at the city of 
 Washington, this twentieth day of June, 1803. 
 
 '* Thomas Jefferson, 
 
 " President of the United States of America^ 
 
 While these things were going on here, the country of Lou- 
 isiana, lately ceded by Spain to France, had been the subject 
 of negociation at Paris between us and this last power, and had 
 actually been transferred to us by treaties executed at Paris on 
 the thirtieth of April. This information, received about the 
 first day of July, increased infinitely the interest we felt in 
 the expedition, and lessened the apprehensions of interruption 
 from other powers. Every thing in this quarter being now pre- 
 pared, Captain Lewis left Washington on the fifth of July, 1803, 
 and proceeded to Pittsburg, where other articles had been 
 ordered to be provided for him. The men, too, were to be 
 selected from the military stations on the Ohio. Delays of 
 preparation, difficulties of navigation down the Ohio, and 
 other untoward obstructions, retarded his arrival at Cahokia 
 until the season was so far advanced as to render it prudent 
 to suspend his entering the Missouri before the ice should 
 break up in the succeeding spring. 
 
 From this time his journal, now published, will give the 
 history of his journey to and from the Pacific ocean, until his 
 return to St. Louis on the twenty-third of September, 1806. 
 
12 
 
 Never did a similar event excite more joy through the United 
 States. The humblest of its citizens had taken a lively inter- 
 est in the issue of this journey, and looked forward with im- 
 patience for the information it w^ould furnish. Their anxieties, 
 too, for the safety of the corps had been kept in a state of 
 excitement by lugubrious rumours, circulated from time to time 
 on uncertain authorities, and uncontradicted by letters or other 
 direct information, from the time they had left the Mandan 
 towns, on their ascent up the river in April of the preceding 
 year, 1805, until their actual return to St. Louis. 
 
 It was the middle of February, 1807, before Captain Lewis, 
 with his companion Captain Clarke, reached the city of Wash- 
 ington, where congress was then in session. That body 
 granted to the two chiefs and their followers the donation of 
 lands which they had been encouraged to expect in reward 
 of their toil and dangers. Captain Lewis was soon after 
 appointed governor of Louisiana, and Captain Clarke a gen- 
 eral of its militia, and agent of the United States for Lidian 
 affairs in that department. 
 
 A considerable time intervened before the governor's arrival 
 at St. Louis. He found the territory distracted by feuds and 
 contentions among the officers of the government, and the 
 people themselves divided by these into factions and parties. 
 He determined at once to take no side with either, but to use 
 every endeavour to conciliate and harmonize them. The even- 
 handed justice he administered to all soon established a re- 
 spect for his person and authority ; and perseverance and time 
 wore down animosities, and reunited the citizens again into one 
 family. 
 
 Governor Lewis had, from early life, been subject to hypo- 
 chondriac affections. It was a constitutional disposition in all 
 the nearer branches of the family of his name, and was more 
 immediately inherited by him from his father. They had not, 
 however, been so strong as to give uneasiness to his family. 
 While he lived with me in Washington, I observed at times 
 sensible depressions of mind ; but, knowing their constitu- 
 tional source, I estimated their course by what I had seen in 
 the family. During his w^estern expedition the constant exer- 
 tion which that required of all the faculties of body and mind 
 suspended these distressing affections ; but, after his establish- 
 ment at St. Louis in sedentary occupations, they returned 
 upon him with redoubled vigour, and began seriously to alarm 
 his friends. He was in a paroxysm of one of these when his 
 affairs rendered it necessary for him to go to Washington. 
 
13 
 
 He proceeded to the Chickasaw Bluffs, where he arrived on 
 the sixteenth of September, 1809, with a view of continuing 
 his journey thence by water. Mr. Xeely, agent of the United 
 States with the Chickasaw Indians, arriving there two davs 
 after, found him extremely indisposed, and betraying at times 
 some symptoms of a derangement of mind. The rumours of a 
 war with England, and apprehensions that he might lose the 
 papers he was bringing on, among which were the vouchers of 
 his public accounts, and the journals and papers of his western 
 expedition, induced him here to change his mind, and to take 
 his course by land through the Chickasaw country. Although 
 he appeared somewhat relieved, Mr. Neely kindly determined 
 to accompany and watch over him. Unfortunately, at their 
 encampment, after having passed the Tennessee one day's 
 journey, they lost two horses, which obliging Mr. Neely to 
 halt for their recovery, the governor proceeded, under a prom- 
 ise to wait for him at the house of the first white inhabitant 
 on his road. He stopped at the house of a Mr. Grinder, who 
 not being at home, his wife, alarmed at the symptoms of * 
 derangement she discovered, gave him up the house, and re- 
 tired to rest herself in an out-house, the governor's and Neely's 
 servants lodging in another. About three o'clock in the night 
 he did the deed which plunged his friends into affliction, and 
 deprived his country of one of her most valued citizens, whose 
 valour and intelligence would have been now employed in 
 avenging the wrongs of his country, and in emulating by land 
 the splendid deeds which have honoured her arms on the 
 ocean. It lost, too, to the nation the benefit of receiving from 
 his own hand the narrative now offered them of his sufferings 
 and successes, in endeavouring to extend for them the boun- 
 daries of science, and to present to their knowledge that vast 
 and fertile country which their sons are destined to fill with 
 arts, with science, with freedom and happiness. 
 
 To this melancholy close of the life of one whom posterity 
 will declare not to have lived in vain, I have only to add that 
 all the facts I have stated are either known to myself or com- 
 municated by his family or others, for whose truth I have no 
 hesitation to make myself responsible ; and I conclude with 
 tendering you the assurances of my respect and consideration. 
 
 TH. JEFFERSON. 
 
 Mr. Paul Allen, Philadelphia. 
 
14 
 
 LEWIS AND CLARKE AT THE SOURCES OF THE r^IISSOURI AND 
 THE COLUMBIA. 
 
 Extract from their Journal, 
 
 Monday, August 12 [1805]. This morning as soon as it was 
 light Captain Lewis sent Drewyer to reconnoitre, if possible, 
 the route of the Indians. In about an hour and a half he re- 
 turned, after following the tracks of the horse which we had 
 lost yesterday to the mountains, where they ascended and were 
 no longer visible. Captain Lewis now decided on making the 
 circuit along the foot of the mountains which formed the cove, 
 expecting by that means to find a road across them, and ac- 
 cordingly sent Drewyer on one side and Shields on the other. 
 In this way they crossed four small rivulets near each other, 
 on which were some bowers or conical lodges of willow brush, 
 which seemed to have been made recently. From the manner 
 in which the ground in the neighbourhood was torn up the Ind- 
 ians appeared to have been gathering roots ; but Captain Lewis 
 could not discover what particular plant they were searching 
 for, nor could he find any fresh track till at the distance of four 
 miles from his camp he met a large plain Indian road which 
 came into the cove from the north-east, and wound along the 
 foot of the mountains to the south-west, approaching obliquely 
 the main stream he had left yesterday. Down this road he 
 now went towards the south-west. At the distance of five miles 
 it crossed a large run or creek, which is a principal branch of 
 the main stream into which it falls, just above the high cliffs 
 or gates observed yesterday, and which they now saw below 
 them. Here they halted, and breakfasted on the last of the 
 deer, keeping a small piece of pork in reserve against accident. 
 They then continued through the low bottom along the main 
 stream near the foot of the mountains on their right. For the 
 first five miles the valley continues towards the south-west from 
 two to three miles in width. Then the main stream, which 
 had received two small branches from the left in the valley, 
 turns abruptly to the west through a narrow bottom between 
 the mountains. The road was still plain, and, as it led them 
 directly on towards the mountain, the stream gradually became 
 smaller till, after going two miles, it had so greatly diminished 
 in width that one of the men in a fit of enthusiasm, with one 
 foot on each side of the river, thanked God that he had lived 
 to bestride the Missouri. As they went along, their hopes of 
 soon seeing the waters of the Columbia arose almost to pain- 
 
15 
 
 fill anxiety, when after four miles from the last abrupt turn of 
 the river they reached a small gap formed by the high moun- 
 tains which recede on each side, leaving room for the Indian 
 road. From the foot of one of the lowest of these mountains, 
 which rises with a gentle ascent of about half a mile, issues the 
 remotest water of the Missouri. They had now reached the 
 hidden sources of that river, which had never yet been seen by 
 civilized man ; and, as they quenched their thirst at the chaste 
 and icy fountain, as they sat down by the brink of that little 
 rivulet, which yielded its distant and modest tribute to the 
 parent ocean, they felt themselves rewarded for all their 
 labours and all their difficulties. They left reluctantly this 
 interesting spot, and, pursuing the Indian road through the in- 
 terval of the hills, arrived at the top of a ridge, from which 
 they saw high mountains partially covered with snow still to 
 the west of them. The ridge on which they stood formed the 
 dividing line between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific 
 Oceans. They followed a descent much steeper than that on 
 the eastern side, and at the distance of three-quarters of a mile 
 reached a handsome bold creek of cold, clear water running to 
 the westward. They stopped to taste for the first time the 
 waters of the Columbia ; and after a few minutes followed the 
 road across steep hills and low hollows till they reached a 
 spring on the side of a mountain. Here they found a sufficient 
 quantity of dry willow brush for fuel, and therefore halted for 
 the night ; and, having killed nothing in the course of the day, 
 supped on their last piece of pork, and trusted to fortune for 
 some other food to mix with a little flour and parched meal, 
 which was all that now remained of their provisions. Before 
 reaching the fountain of the Missouri, they saw several large 
 hawks nearly black, and some of the heath cocks : these last 
 have a long pointed tail, and are of a uniform dark brown 
 colour, much larger than the common dunghill fowl, and simi- 
 lar in habits and the mode of flying to the grouse or prairie 
 hen, Drewyer also wounded at the distance of one hundred 
 and thirty yards an animal which we had not yet seen, but 
 which, after falling, recovered itself and escaped. It seemed 
 to be of the fox kind, rather larger than the small wolf of the 
 plains, and with a skin in which black, reddish brown, and 
 yellow were curiously intermixed. On the creek of the Colum- 
 bia they found a species of currant which does not grow as high 
 as that of the Missouri, though it is more branching, and its 
 leaf, the under disk of which is covered with a hairy pubescence, 
 is twice as large. The fruit is of the ordinary size and shape 
 
of the currant, and supported in the usual manner, but is of a 
 deep purple colour, acid, and of a very inferior flavour. 
 
 We proceeded on in the boats, but, as the river was very 
 shallow and rapid, the navigation is extremely difficult, and 
 the men who are almost constantly in the water are getting 
 feeble and sore, and so much worn down by fatigue that they 
 are very anxious to commence travelling by land. We went 
 along the main channel which is on the right side ; and, after 
 passing nine bends in that direction, three islands and a num- 
 ber of bayous, reached at the distance of five and a half miles 
 the upper point of a large island. At noon there was a storm 
 of thunder, which continued about half an hour, after which we 
 proceeded ; but, as it was necessary to drag the canoes over the 
 shoals and rapids, made but little progress. On leaving the 
 island, we passed a number of short bends, several bayous, and 
 one run of water on the right side ; and, having gone by four 
 small and two large islands, encamped on a smooth plain to 
 the left near a few cottonwood-trees. Our journey by water 
 was just twelve miles, and four in a direct line. The hunters 
 supplied us with three deer and a fawn. 
 
 The famous expedition of Lewis and Clarke, 1804-6, was the first of the 
 many expeditions sent out during the century for the exploration of the 
 Rocky Mountains. This expedition was sent upon the recommendation of 
 Jefferson, at that time President. Captain Lewis had been Jefferson's 
 private secretary ; Captain Clarke was a brother of the famous George 
 Rogers Clarke. ' Their company consisted of about thirty men, half of them 
 soldiers. In the spring of 1804 they began to ascend the Missouri. They 
 passed the winter among the Mandans, moved forward again early the next 
 April, reached the sources of the Missouri in August, travelled through the 
 mountains, in October embarked on one of the branches of the Columbia, 
 and on November 15 reached the Pacific at the mouth of that great river, 
 having travelled over 4,000 miles. Turning back the next spring, March, 
 1806, they reached St. Louis in September, after an absence of two years 
 and four months. 
 
 The literature of the Lewis and Clarke expedition is very large, especially 
 in the way of government publications. A full account of this literature may 
 be found in the chapter on " Territorial Acquisitions," in the N'arrative and 
 Critical History of America, vol. vii. The principal popular work is the 
 well-known History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis 
 and Clarke, in two volumes, published in 1814. This work was begun by 
 Lewis, and after his suicide was carried on by Nicholas Biddle, with the aid 
 of Clarke and the use of the journals of various officers. The whole was revised by Paul 
 Allen ; and JeflEerson furnished the memoir of Captain Lewis which is reprinted in the 
 present leaflet. This is doubly valuable, as embodying Jefferson's original instructions to 
 Lewis, showing the remarkable comprehensiveness and wisdom of Jefferson's views concern- 
 ing the expeduion, which was to give our people their first authentic, scientific knowledge 
 of the Rocky Mountain country. 
 
 The best brief account of Lewis and Clarke's expedition is in H H. Bancroft's History 
 of the Pacific States, vol. xxiii., which also contains accounts of later expeditions. The 
 notes to the chapter in the Xarrative and Critical History, already referred to, contain 
 accounts of the literature of the later expeditions, down to the time of Fremont. 
 
ELEVENTH SERIES, 1893. No. 7. 
 
 First Ascent 
 
 of Fremont's 
 
 Peak. 
 
 From Fremont's Journal of his First Exiediiion. 
 
 August 10 [1842]. — The air at sunrise is clear and pure, 
 and the morning extremely cold, but beautiful. A lofty snow 
 peak of the mountain is glittering in the first rays of the sun, 
 which has not yet reached us. The long mountain wall to the 
 east, rising two thousand feet abruptly from the plain, behind 
 which we see the peaks, is still dark, and cuts clear against the 
 glowing sky. A fog, just risen from the river, lies along the 
 base of the mountain. A little before sunrise, the thermometer 
 was at 35°, and at sunrise t,^°. Water froze last night, and 
 fires are very comfortable. The scenery becomes hourly more 
 interesting and grand, and the view here is truly magnificent; 
 but, indeed, it needs something to repay the long prairie jour- 
 ney of a thousand miles. The sun has just shot above the 
 wall, and makes a magical change. The whole valley is glow- 
 ing and bright, and all the mountain peaks are gleaming like 
 silver. Though these snow mountains are not the Alps, they 
 have their own character of grandeur and magnificence, and 
 will doubtless find pens and pencils to do them justice. In the 
 scene before us, we feel how much wood improves a view. 
 The pines on the mountain seemed to give it much additional 
 beauty. I was agreeably disappointed in the character of the 
 streams on this side the ridge. Instead of the creeks, which 
 description had led me to expect, I find bold, broad streams, 
 with three or four feet water, and a rapid current. The fork 
 on which we are encamped is upwards of a hundred feet wide, 
 timbered with groves or thickets of the low willow. We were 
 now approaching the loftiest part of the Wind River chain ; 
 and I left the valley a few miles from our encampment, 
 intending to penetrate the mountains, as far as possible, with 
 
the whole party. We were soon involved in very broken 
 ground, among long ridges covered with fragments of granite. 
 Winding our way up a long ravine, we came unexpectedly in 
 view of a most beautiful lake, set like a gem in the mountains. 
 The sheet of water lay transversely across the direction we 
 had been pursuing; and, descending the steep, rocky ridge, 
 where it was necessary to lead our horses, we followed its 
 banks to the southern extremity. Here a view of the utmost 
 magnificence and grandeur burst upon our eyes. With nothing 
 between us and their feet to lessen the effect of the whole 
 height, a grand bed of snow-capped mountains rose before us, 
 pile upon pile, glowing in the bright light of an August day. 
 Immediately below them lay the lake, between two ridges, cov- 
 ered with dark pines, which swept down from the main chain 
 to the spot where we stood. Here, where the lake glittered in 
 the open sunlight, its banks of yellow sand and the light foli- 
 age of aspen groves contrasted well with the gloomy pines. 
 "Never before," said Mr. Preuss, "in this country or in Europe, 
 have I seen such magnificent, grand rocks." I was so much 
 pleased with the beauty of the place that I determined to make 
 the main camp here, where our animals would find good pastur- 
 age, and explore the mountains with a small party of men. 
 Proceeding a little further, we came suddenly upon the outlet 
 of the lake, where it found its way through a narrow passage 
 between low hills. Dark pines, which overhung the stYeam, 
 and masses of rock, where the water foamed along, gave it 
 much romantic beauty. Where we crossed, which was immedi- 
 ately at the outlet, it is two hundred and fifty feet wide, and so 
 deep that with difficulty we were able to ford it. Its bed was 
 an accumulation of rocks, boulders, and broad slabs, and large 
 angular fragments, among which the animals fell repeatedly. 
 
 The current was very swift, and the water cold and of a 
 crystal purity. In crossing this stream, I met with a great 
 misfortune in having my barometer broken. It was the only 
 one. A great part of the interest of the journey for me was in 
 the exploration of these mountains, of which so much had been 
 said that was doubtful and contradictory ; and now their snowy 
 peaks rose majestically before me, and the only means of 
 giving them authentically to science, the object of my anxious 
 solicitude by night and day, was destroyed. We had brought 
 this barometer in safety a thousand miles, and broke it almost 
 among the snow of the mountains. The loss was felt by the 
 whole camp. All had seen my anxiety, and aided me in pre- 
 serving it. The height of these mountains, considered by the 
 
hunters and traders the highest in the whole range, had been 
 a theme of constant discussion among them ; and all had 
 looked forward with pleasure to the moment when the instru- 
 ment, which they believed to be true as the sun, should stand 
 upon the summits and decide their disputes. Their grief was 
 only inferior to my own. 
 
 This lake is about three miles long and of very irregular 
 width and apparently great depth, and is the head water of the 
 third New Fork, a tributary to Green River, the Colorado of 
 the West. On the map and in the narrative I have called it 
 Mountain Lake. I encamped on the north side, about three 
 hundred and fifty yards from the outlet. This was the most 
 western point at which I obtained astronomical observations, 
 by which this place, called Bernier's encampment, is made in 
 110° 08' 03" west longitude from Greenwich, and latitude 43° 
 49' 49". The mountain peaks, as laid down, were fixed by 
 bearings from this and other astronomical points. We had 
 no other compass than the small ones used in sketching the 
 country ; but from an azimuth, in which one of them was used, 
 the variation of the compass is 18° east. The correction made 
 in our field work by the astronomical observations indicates 
 that this is a very correct observation. 
 
 As soon as the camp was formed, I set about endeavoring 
 to repair my barometer. As I have already said, this was a 
 standard cistern barometer, of Troughton's construction. The 
 glass cistern had been broken about midway ; but, as the in- 
 strument had been kept in a proper position, no air had found 
 its way into the tube, the end of which had always remained 
 covered. I had with me a number of vials ot tolerably thick 
 glass, some of which were of the same diameter as the cistern, 
 and I spent the day in slowly working on these, endeavoring to 
 cut them of the requisite length ; but, as my instrument was 
 a very rough file, I invariably broke them. A groove was cut 
 in one of the trees, where the barometer was placed during the 
 night, to be out of the way of any possible danger ; and in the 
 morning I commenced again. Among the powder horns in 
 the camp, I found one which was very transparent, so that its 
 contents could be almost as plainly seen as through glass. 
 This I boiled and stretched on a piece of wood to the requisite 
 diameter, and scraped it very thin, in order to increase to the 
 utmost its transparency. I then secured it firmly in its place 
 on the instrument with strong glue made from a buffalo, and 
 filled it with mercury properly heated. A piece of skin, which 
 had covered one of the vials, furnished a good pocket, which 
 
4 
 
 was well secured with strong thread and glue ; and then the 
 brass cover was screwed to its place. The instrument was left 
 some time to dry ; and, when I reversed it, a few hours after, 
 I had the satisfaction to find it in perfect order, its indications 
 being about the same as on the other side of the lake before it 
 had been broken. Our success in this little incident diffused 
 pleasure throughout the camp ; and we immediately set about 
 our preparations for ascending the mountains. 
 
 As will be seen, on reference to a map, on this short moun- 
 tain chain are the head waters of four great rivers of the conti- 
 nent, — namely, the Colorado, Columbia, Missouri, and Platte 
 Rivers. It had been my design, after having ascended the 
 mountains, to continue our route on the western side of the 
 range, and, crossing through a pass at the north-western end of 
 the chain, about thirty miles from our present camp, return 
 along the eastern slope across the heads of the Yellowstone 
 River, and join on the line to our station of August 7, immedi- 
 ately at the foot of the ridge. In this way, I should be enabled 
 to include the whole chain and its numerous waters in my 
 survey ; but various considerations induced me, very reluctantly, 
 to abandon this plan. 
 
 I was desirous to keep strictly within the scope of my instruc- 
 tions ; and it would have required ten or fifteen additional days 
 for the accomplishment of this object. Our animals had be- 
 come very much worn out with the length of the journey ; game 
 was very scarce ; and, though it does not appear in the course 
 of the narrative (as I have avoided dwelling upon trifling inci- 
 dents not connected with the objects of the expedition), the 
 spirits of the men had been much exhausted by the hardships 
 and privations to which they had been subjected. Our provi- 
 sions had well-nigh all disappeared. Bread had been long out 
 of the question ; and of all our stock we had remaining two or 
 three pounds of coffee and a small quantity of macaroni, 
 which had been husbanded with great care for the mountain 
 expedition we were about to undertake. Our daily meal con- 
 sisted of dry buffalo meat cooked in tallow ; and, as we had 
 not dried this with Indian skill, part of it was spoiled, and 
 what remained of good was as hard as w^ood, having much the 
 taste and appearance of so many pieces of bark. Even of this, 
 our stock was rapidly diminishing in a camp which was capable 
 of consuming two buffaloes in every twenty-four hours. These 
 animals had entirely disappeared, and it was not probable that 
 we should fall in with them again until we returned to the 
 Sweet Water. 
 
5 
 
 Our arrangements for the ascent were rapidly completed. 
 We were in a hostile country, which rendered the greatest 
 vigilance and circumspection necessary. The pass at the north 
 end of the mountain was generally infested by Blackfeet ; and 
 immediately opposite was one of their forts, on the edge of a 
 little thicket, two or three hundred feet from our encampment. 
 We were posted in a grove of beech, on the margin of the lake, 
 and a few hundred feet long, with a narrow prairillon on the 
 inner side, bordered by the rocky ridge. In the upper end of 
 this grove we cleared a circular space about forty feet in 
 diameter, and with the felled timber and interwoven branches 
 surrounded it with a breastwork five feet in height. A gap was 
 left for a gate on the inner side, by which the animals were to 
 be driven in and secured, while the men slept around the little 
 work. It was half hidden by the foliage, and, garrisoned by 
 twelve resolute men, would have set at defiance any band of 
 savages which might chance to discover them in the interval 
 of our absence. Fifteen of the best mules, with fourteen men, 
 were selected for the mountain party. Our provisions consisted 
 of dried meat for two days, with our little stock of coffee and 
 some macaroni. In addition to the barometer and a ther- 
 mometer I took with me a sextant and spy-glass, and we had, 
 of course, our compasses. In charge of the camp I left Brenier, 
 one of my most trustworthy men, who possessed the most deter- 
 mined courage. 
 
 August 12. — Early in the morning we left the camp, fifteen 
 in number, well armed, of course, and mounted on our best 
 mules. A pack animal carried our provisions, with a coffee- 
 pot and kettle and three or four tin cups. Every man had a 
 blanket strapped over his saddle, to serve for his bed, and the 
 instruments were carried by turns on their backs. We entered 
 directly on rough and rocky ground, and, just after crossing the 
 ridge, had the good fortune to shoot an antelope. We heard 
 the roar, and had a glimpse of a waterfall as we rode along ; 
 and, crossing in our way two fine streams, tributary to the Col- 
 orado, in about two hours' ride we reached the top of the first 
 row or range of the mountains. Here, again, a view of the 
 most romantic beauty met our eyes. It seemed as if, from the 
 vast expanse of uninteresting prairie we had passed over, Nat- 
 ure had collected all her beauties together in one chosen place. 
 We were overlooking a deep valley, which was entirely occupied 
 by three lakes, and from the brink the surrounding ridges rose 
 precipitously five hundred and a thousand feet, covered with 
 the dark green of the balsam pine, relieved on the border of 
 
the lake with the light foliage of the aspen. They all com- 
 municated with each other ; and the green of the waters, com- 
 mon to mountain lakes of great depth, showed that it would 
 be impossible to cross them. The surprise manifested by our 
 guides when these impassable obstacles suddenly barred our 
 progress proved that they were among the hidden treasures of 
 the place, unknown even to the wandering trappers of the 
 region. Descending the hill, we proceeded to make our way 
 along the margin to the southern extremity. A narrow strip 
 of angular fragments of rock sometimes afforded a rough path- 
 way for our mules; but generally we rode along the shelving 
 side, occasionally scrambling up, at a considerable risk of 
 tumbling back into the lake. 
 
 The slope was frequently 60°. The pines grew densely to- 
 gether, and the ground was covered with the branches and 
 trunks of trees. The air was fragrant with the odor of the 
 pines ; and I realized this delightful morning the pleasure of 
 breathing that mountain air which makes a constant theme 
 of the hunter's praise, and which now made us feel as if we 
 had all been drinking some exhilarating gas. The depths of 
 this unexplored forest were a place to delight the heart of a 
 botanist. There was a rich undergrowth of plants and numer- 
 ous gay-colored flowers in brilliant bloom. We reached the 
 outlet at length, where some freshly barked willows that lay in 
 the water showed that beaver had been recently at work. 
 There were some small brown squirrels jumping about in the 
 pines and a couple of large mallard ducks swimming about in 
 the stream. 
 
 The hills on this southern end were low, and the lake looked 
 like a mimic sea as the waves broke on the sandy beach in the 
 force of a strong breeze. There was a pretty open spot, wdth 
 fine grass for our mules; and we made our noon halt on the 
 beach, under the shade of some large hemlocks. We resumed 
 our journey after a halt of about an hour, making our way up 
 the ridge on the western side of the lake. In search of 
 smoother ground, we rode a little inland, and, passing through 
 groves of aspen, soon found ourselves again among the pines. 
 Emerging from these, we struck the summit of the ridge above 
 the upper end of the lake. 
 
 We had reached a very elevated point ; and in the valley 
 below and among the hills were a number of lakes at different 
 levels, some two or three hundred feet above others, with which 
 they communicated by foaming torrents. Even to our great 
 height, the roar of the cataracts came up ; and we could see 
 
them leaping down in lines of snowy foam. From this scene 
 of busy waters, we turned abruptly into the stillness of a forest, 
 where we rode among the open bolls of the pines over a lawn 
 of verdant grass, having strikingly the air of cultivated grounds. 
 This led us, after a time, among masses of rock, which had no 
 vegetable earth but in hollows and crevices, though still the 
 pine forest continued. Toward evening we reached a defile, 
 or rather a hole in the mountains, entirely shut in by dark pine- 
 covered rocks. 
 
 A small stream, with a scarcely perceptible current, flowed 
 through a level bottom of perhaps eighty yards' width, where 
 the grass was saturated with water. Into this the mules were 
 turned, and were neither hobbled nor picketed during the night, 
 as the fine pasturage took away all temptation to stray ; and we 
 made our bivouac in the pines. The surrounding masses w^ere 
 all of granite. While supper was being prepared, I set out 
 on an excursion in the neighborhood, accompanied by one of 
 my men. We wandered about among the crags and ravines 
 until dark, richly repaid for our walk by a fine collection of 
 plants, many of them in full bloom. Ascending a peak to find 
 the place of our camp, we saw that the little defile in which we 
 lay communicated with the long green valley of some stream, 
 which, here locked up in the mountains, far away to the south, 
 found its way in a dense forest to the plains. 
 
 Looking along its upward course, it seemed to conduct by a 
 smooth gradual slope directly toward the peak, which, from long 
 consultation as we approached the mountain, we had decided to 
 be the highest of the range. Pleased with the discovery of so 
 fine a road for the next day, we hastened down to the camp, 
 where we arrived just in time for supper. Our table service 
 was rather scant ; and we held the meat in our hands, and clean 
 rocks made good plates on which we spread our macaroni. 
 Among all the strange places on which we had occasion to 
 encamp during our long journey, none have left so vivid an 
 impression on my mind as the camp of this evening. The dis- 
 order of the masses which surrounded us, the little hole through 
 which we saw the stars overhead, the dark pines where we slept, 
 and the rocks lit up with the glow of our fires made a night 
 picture of very wild beauty. 
 
 August 13.— ^ The morning was bright and pleasant, just cool 
 enough to make exercise agreeable ; and we soon entered the 
 defile I had seen the preceding day. It was smoothly carpeted 
 with a soft grass and scattered over with groups of flowers, of 
 which yellow was the predominant color. Sometimes we were 
 
forced by an occasional difficult pass to pick our way on a 
 narrow ledge along the side of the defile, and the mules were 
 frequently on their knees; but these obstructions were rare, 
 and we journeyed on in the sweet morning air, delighted at our 
 good fortune in having found such a beautiful entrance to the 
 mountains. This road continued for about three miles, when 
 we suddenly reached its termination in one of the grand views 
 which at every turn meet the traveller in this magnificent 
 region. Here the defile up which we had travelled opened out 
 into a small lawn, where, in a little lake, the stream had its 
 source. 
 
 There were some fine asters in bloom, but all the flowering 
 plants appeared to seek the shelter of the rocks and to be of 
 lower growth than below, as if they loved the warmth of the 
 soil, and kept out of the way of the winds. Immediately at our 
 feet a precipitous descent led to a confusion of defiles, and 
 before us rose the mountains as we have represented them in 
 the annexed view. It is not by the splendor of far-off views, 
 which have lent such a glory to the Alps, that these impress 
 the mind, but by a gigantic disorder of enormous masses and 
 a savage sublimity of naked rock in wonderful contrast with 
 innumerable green spots of a rich floral beauty shut up in their 
 stern recesses. Their wildness seems well suited to the char- 
 acter of the people who inhabit the country. 
 
 I determined to leave our animals here and make the rest 
 of our way on foot. The peak appeared so near that there was 
 no doubt of our returning before night; and a few men were 
 left in charge of the mules, with our provisions and blankets. 
 We took with us nothing but our arms and instruments, and, 
 as the day had become warm, the greater part left our coats. 
 Having made an early dinner, we started again. We were 
 soon involved in the most ragged precipices, nearing the 
 central chain very slowly, and rising but little. The first ridge 
 hid a succession of others ; and when, with great fatigue and 
 difficulty, we had climbed up five hundred feet, it was but to 
 make an equal descent on the other side. All these interven- 
 ing places were filled with small deep lakes, which met the eye 
 in every direction, descending from one level to another, some- 
 times under bridges formed by huge fragments of granite, 
 beneath which was heard the roar of the water. These con- 
 stantly obstructed our path, forcing us to make long detours, 
 frequently obliged to retrace our steps, and frequently falling 
 among the rocks. Maxwell was precipitated toward the face 
 of a precipice, and saved himself from going over by throwing 
 
himself flat on the ground. We clambered on, always expect- 
 ing with every ridge that we crossed to reach the foot of the 
 peaks, and always disappointed, until about four o'clock, when, 
 pretty well worn out, we reached the shore of a little lake in 
 which there was a rocky island, and from which we obtained 
 the view given in the frontispiece. We remained here a short 
 time to rest, and continued on around the lake, which had in 
 some places a beach of white sand, and in others was bound 
 with rocks, over which the way was difficult and dangerous, as 
 the water from innumerable springs made them very slippery. 
 
 By the time we had reached the further side of the lake, we 
 found ourselves all exceedingly fatigued, and, much to the sat- 
 isfaction of the whole party, we encamped. The spot we had 
 chosen was a broad, flat rock, in some measure protected from 
 the winds by the surrounding crags, and the trunks of fallen pines 
 afforded us bright fires. Near by was a foaming torrent which 
 tumbled into the little lake about one hundred and fifty feet 
 below us, and which, by way of distinction, we have called 
 Island Lake. We had reached the upper limit of the piney 
 region ; as above this point no tree was to be seen, and patches 
 of snow lay everywhere around us on the cold sides of the rocks. 
 The flora of the region we had traversed since leaving our 
 mules was extremely rich, and among the characteristic plants 
 the scarlet flowers of the Dodecatheori deiitatmn everywhere met 
 the eye in great abundance. A small green ravine, on the 
 edge of which we were encamped, was filled with a profusion 
 of alpine plants in brilliant bloom. From barometrical obser- 
 vations made during our three days' sojourn at this place, its 
 elevation above the Gulf of ]\Iexico is 10,000 feet. During the 
 day we had seen no sign of animal life ; but among the rocks 
 here we heard what was supposed to be the bleat of a young 
 goat, which we searched for with hungry activity, and found to 
 proceed from a small animal of a gray color, with short ears 
 and no tail, — probably the Siberian squirrel. We saw a con- 
 siderable number of them, and, with the exception of a small 
 bird like a sparrow, it is the only inhabitant of this elevated 
 part of the mountains. On our return we saw below this lake 
 large flocks of the mountain goat. We had nothing to eat to- 
 night. Lajeunesse with several others took their guns and 
 sallied out in search of a goat, but returned unsuccessful. At 
 sunset the barometer stood at 20.522, the attached thermometer 
 50°. Here we had the misfortune to break our thermometer, 
 having now only that attached to the barometer. I was taken 
 ill shortly after we had encamped, and continued so until late 
 
10 
 
 in the night, with violent headache and vomiting. This was 
 probably caused by the excessive fatigue I had undergone and 
 want of food, and perhaps also in some measure by the rarity 
 of the air. The night was cold, as a violent gale from the 
 north had sprung up at sunset, which entirely blew away the 
 heat of the fires. The cold and our granite beds had not been 
 favorable to sleep, and we were glad to see the face of the sun 
 in the morning. Not being delayed by any preparation for 
 breakfast, we set out immediately. 
 
 On every side as we advanced was heard the roar of waters 
 and of a torrent, which we followed up a short distance until it 
 expanded into a lake about one mile in length. On the north- 
 ern side of the lake was a bank of ice, or rather of snow covered 
 with a crust of ice. Carson had been our guide into the moun- 
 tains, and agreeably to his advice we left this little -valley and 
 took to the ridges again, which we found extremely broken and 
 where w^e were again involved among precipices. Here were 
 ice fields ; among which we were all dispersed, seeking each the 
 best path to ascend the peak. Mr. Preuss attempted to walk 
 along the upper edge of one of these fields, which sloped away 
 at an angle of about twenty degrees ; but his feet slipped from 
 under him, and he went plunging down the plane. A few hun- 
 dred feet below, at the bottom, were some fragments of sharp 
 rock, on which he landed, and, though he turned a couple of 
 somersets, fortunately received no injury beyond a few bruises. 
 Two of the men, Clement Lambert and Descoteaux, had been 
 taken ill, and lay down on the rocks a short distance below ; 
 and at this point I was attacked with headache and giddiness, 
 accompanied by vomiting, as on the day before. Finding my- 
 self unable to proceed, I sent the barometer over to Mr. Preuss, 
 who was in a gap two or three hundred yards distant, desiring 
 him to reach the peak, if possible, and take an observation there. 
 He found himself unable to proceed further in that direction, 
 and took an observation where the barometer stood at 19.401, 
 attached thermometer 50° in the gap. Carson, who had gone 
 over to him, succeeded in reaching one of the snowy summits 
 of the main ridge, whence he saw the peak towards which all 
 our efforts had been directed towering eight or ten hundred 
 feet into the air above him. In the mean time, finding myself 
 grow rather worse than better, and doubtful how far my strength 
 would carry me, I sent Basil Lajeunesse with four men back 
 to the place where the mules had been left. 
 
 We were now better acquainted with the topography of the 
 country ; and I directed him to bring back with him, if it were 
 
II 
 
 in any way possible, four or five mules, with provisions and 
 blankets. With me were Maxwell and Ayer ; and, after we had 
 remained nearly an hour on the rock, it became so unpleasantly 
 cold, though the day was bright, that we set out on our return 
 to the camp, at which we all arrived safely, straggling in one 
 after the other. I continued ill during the afternoon, but be- 
 came better towards sundown, when my recovery was completed 
 by the appearance of Basil and four men, all mounted. The 
 men who had gone with him had been too much fatigued to 
 return, and were relieved by those in charge of the horses ; but 
 in his powers of endurance Basil resembled more a mountain 
 goat than a man. They brought blankets and provisions, and 
 we enjoyed well our dried meat and a cup of good coffee. We 
 rolled ourselves up in our blankets, and, with our feet turned 
 to a blazing fire, slept soundly until morning. 
 
 August 15. — It had been supposed that we had finished with 
 the mountains; and the evening before it had been arranged 
 that Carson should set out at daylight, and return to breakfast 
 at the Camp of the Mules, taking with him all but four or five 
 men, who were to stay with me and bring back the mules and 
 instruments. Accordingly, at the break of day they set out. 
 With Mr. Preuss and myself remained Basil Lajeunesse, Cle'- 
 ment Lambert, Janisse, and Descoteaux. When we had 
 secured strength for the day by a hearty breakfast, we covered 
 what remained, which was enough for one meal, with rocks, in 
 order that it might be safe from any marauding bird, and, 
 saddling our mules, turned our faces once more towards the 
 peaks. This time we determined to proceed quietly and cau- 
 tiously, deliberately resolved to accomplish our object, if it 
 were within the compass of human means. We were of opinion 
 that a long defile which lay to the left of yesterday's route 
 would lead us to the foot of the main peak. Our mules had 
 been refreshed by the fine grass in the little ravine at the island 
 camp, and we intended to ride up the defile as far as possible, 
 in order to husband our strength for the main ascent. Though 
 this was a fine passage, still it was a defile of the most rugged 
 mountains known, and we had many a rough and steep slippery 
 place to cross before reaching the end. In this place the sun 
 rarely shone. Snow lay along the border of the small stream 
 which flowed through it, and occasional icy passages made the 
 footing of the mules very insecure ; and the rocks and ground 
 were moist with the trickling waters in this spring of mighty 
 rivers. We soon had the satisfaction to find ourselves riding 
 along the huge Avail which forms the central summits of the 
 
12 
 
 chain. There at last it rose by our sides, a nearly perpendicu- 
 lar wall of granite, terminating 2,000 to 3,000 feet above our 
 heads in a serrated line of broken, jagged cones. We rode on 
 until we came almost immediately below the main peak, which 
 I denominated the Snow Peak, as it exhibited more snow to 
 the eye than any of the neighboring summits. Here were three 
 small lakes of a green color, each of perhaps a thousand yards 
 in diameter, and apparently very deep. These lay in a kind of 
 chasm ; and, according to the barometer, we had attained but 
 a few hundred feet above the Island Lake. The barometer here 
 stood at 20.450, attached thermometer 70°. 
 
 We managed to get our mules up to a little bench about a 
 hundred feet above the lakes, where there was a patch of good 
 grass, and turned them loose to graze. During our rough ride 
 to this place, they had exhibited a wonderful surefootedness. 
 Parts of the defile were filled with angular, sharp fragments of 
 rock, — three or four and eight or ten feet cube, — and among 
 these they had worked their way, leaping from one narrow point 
 to another, rarely making a false step, and giving us no occasion 
 to dismount. Having divested ourselves of every unnecessary 
 encumbrance, we commenced the ascent. This time, like ex- 
 perienced travellers, we did not press ourselves, but climbed 
 leisurely, sitting down so soon as we found breath beginning to 
 fail. At intervals we reached places where a number of springs 
 gushed from the rocks, and about t,8oo feet above the lakes 
 came to the snow line. From this point our progress was un- 
 interrupted climbing. Hitherto I had worn a pair of thick 
 moccasins, with soles of parfleche ; but here I put on a light 
 thin pair, which I had brought for the purpose, as now the use 
 of our toes became necessary to a further advance. I availed 
 myself of a sort of comb of the mountain, which stood against 
 the wall like a buttress, and which the wind and the solar radi- 
 ation, joined to the steepness of the smooth rock, had kept 
 almost entirely free from snow. Up this I made my way 
 rapidly. Our cautious method of advancing in the outset had 
 spared my strength ; and, with the exception of a slight disposi- 
 tion to headache, I felt no remains of yesterday's illness. In 
 a few minutes we reached a point where the buttress was over- 
 hanging, and there was no other way of surmounting the diffi- 
 culty than by passing around one side of it, which was the face 
 of a vertical precipice of several hundred feet. 
 
 Putting hands and feet in the crevices between the blocks, 
 I succeeded in getting over it, and, when I reached the top, 
 found my companions in a small valley below. Descending 
 
13 
 
 to them, we continued climbing, and in a short time reached 
 the crest. I sprang upon the summit, and another step would 
 have precipitated me into an immense snow field five hundred 
 feet below. To the edge of this field was a sheer icy precipice ; 
 and then, with a gradual fall, the field sloped off for about a 
 mile, until it struck the foot of another lower ridge. I stood on 
 a narrow crest, about three feet in width, with an inclination of 
 about 20° N. 51° E. As soon as I had gratified the first feel- 
 ings of curiosity, I descended, and each man ascended in his 
 turn; for I would only allow one at a time to mount the un- 
 stable and precarious slab, which it seemed a breath would hurl 
 into the abyss below. We mounted the barometer in the snow 
 of the summit, and, fixing a ramrod in a crevice, unfurled the 
 national flag to wave in the breeze where never flag waved 
 before. During our morning's ascent we had met no sign of 
 animal life except the small, sparrow-like bird already men- 
 tioned. A stillness the most profound and a terrible solitude 
 forced themselves constantly on the mind as the great features 
 of the place. Here on the summit where the stillness was ab- 
 solute, unbroken by any sound, and the solitude complete, we 
 thought ourselves beyond the region of animated life ; but, 
 while we were sitting on the rock, a solitary bee {b?'omus, the 
 humble bee) came winging his flight from the eastern valley, and 
 lit on the knee of one of the men. 
 
 It was a strange place — the icy rock and the highest peak of 
 the Rocky Mountains — for a lover of warm sunshine and 
 flowers ; and we pleased ourselves with the idea that he was 
 the first of his species to cross the mountain barrier, a solitary 
 pioneer to foretell the advance of civilization. I believe that 
 a moment's thought would have made us let him continue his 
 way unharmed j but we carried out the law of this country, 
 where all animated nature seems at war, and, seizing him imme- 
 diately, put him in at least a fit place, — in the leaves of a large 
 book, among the flowers we had collected on our way. The 
 barometer stood at 18.293, the attached thermometer at 44°, 
 giving for the elevation of this summit 13.570 feet above the 
 Gulf of Mexico, which may be called the highest flight of the 
 bee. It is certainly the highest known flight of that insect. 
 From the description given by Mackenzie of the mountains 
 where he crossed them with that of a French officer still 
 farther to the north and Colonel Long's measurements to the 
 south, joined to the opinion of the oldest traders of the country, 
 it is presumed that this is the highest peak of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains. The day was sunny and bright, but a slight shining 
 
14 
 
 mist hung over the lower plains, which interfered with our view 
 of the surrounding country. On one side we overlooked in- 
 numerable lakes and streams, the spring of the Colorado of the 
 Gulf of California ; and on the other was the Wind River 
 Valley, where were the heads of the Yellowstone branch of 
 the Missouri. Far to the north we just could discover the 
 snowy heads of the Trois Tetons, where were the sources of 
 the ^Missouri and Columbia Rivers ; and at the southern ex- 
 tremity of the ridge the peaks were plainly visible, among which 
 were some of the springs of the Nebraska or Platte River. 
 Around us the whole scene had one main striking feature, 
 which was that of terrible convulsion. Parallel to its length, 
 the ridge was split into chasms and fissures, between which 
 rose the thin, lofty walls, terminated with slender minarets and 
 columns, which is correctly represented in the view from the 
 camp on Island Lake. According to the barometer, the little 
 crest of the wall on which we stood was three thousand five 
 hundred and seventy feet above that place and two thousand 
 seven hundred and eighty above the little lakes at the bottom, 
 immediately at our feet. Our camp at the Two Hills (an astro- 
 nomical station) bore south 3° east, which with a bearing after- 
 ward obtained from a fixed position enabled us to locate the 
 peak. The bearing of the IVois Teto?is was north 50° west, and 
 the direction of the central ridge of the Wind River Mountains 
 south 39° east. The summit rock was gneiss, succeeded by 
 sienitic gneiss. Sienite and feldspar succeeded in our descent 
 to the snow line, where we found a feldspathic granite. I had 
 remarked that the noise produced by the explosion of our pis- 
 tols had the usual degree of loudness, but was not in the least 
 prolonged, expiring almost instantaneously. Having now made 
 what observations our means afforded, we proceeded to de- 
 scend. We had accomplished an object of laudable ambition, 
 and beyond the strict order of our instructions. We had 
 climbed the loftiest peak of the Rocky Mountains, and looked 
 down upon the snow a thousand feet below, and, standing 
 where never human foot had stood before, felt the exultation of 
 first explorers. It was about two o'clock when we left the sum- 
 mit ; and, when we reached the bottom, the sun had already 
 sunk behind the wall, and the day was drawing to a close. It 
 would have been pleasant to have lingered here and on the 
 summit longer; but we hurried away as rapidly as the ground 
 would permit, for it was an object to regain our party as soon 
 as possible, not knowing what accident the next hour might 
 bring forth. 
 
 We reached our deposit of provisions at nightfall. Here was 
 
J5 
 
 not the inn which awaits the tired traveller on his return from 
 Mont Blanc, or the orange groves of South America, with their 
 refreshing juices and soft, fragrant air ; but we found our little 
 cache of dried meat and coffee undisturbed. Though the moon 
 was bright, the road was full of precipices, and the fatigue of 
 the day had been great. We therefore abandoned the idea of 
 rejoining our friends, and lay down on the rock, and in spite 
 of the cold slept soundly. 
 
 The Great Salt Lake. 
 
 From FremoJifs jfournal of his Seco7id Expedition. 
 
 The cliffs and masses of rock along the shore were whitened 
 by an incrustation of salt where the waves dashed up against 
 them ; and the evaporating water, which had been left in holes 
 and hollows on the surface of the rocks, was covered with a 
 crust of salt about one-eighth of an inch in thickness. It 
 appeared strange that in the midst of this grand reservoir one 
 of our greatest wants lately had been salt. Exposed to be 
 more perfectly dried in the sun, this became very white and 
 fine, having the usual flavor of very excellent common salt, 
 without any foreign taste ; but only a little was collected for 
 present use, as there was in it a number of small black insects. 
 Carrying with us the barometer and other instruments, in the 
 afternoon we ascended to the highest point of the island, — a 
 bare, rocky peak, 800 feet above the lake. Standing on the 
 summit, we enjoyed an extended view of the lake, enclosed in 
 a basin of rugged mountains, which sometimes left marshy flats 
 and extensive bottoms between them and the shore, and in 
 other places came directly down into the water with bold and 
 precipitous bluffs. Following with our glasses the irregular 
 shores, we searched for some indications of a communication 
 with other bodies of water or the entrance of other rivers ; but 
 the distance was so great that we could make out nothing with 
 certainty. To the southward, several peninsular mountains, 
 3,000 or 4,000 feet high, entered the lake, appearing, so far as 
 the distance and our position enabled us to determine, to be 
 connected by flats and low ridges with the mountains in the 
 rear. At the season of high waters in the spring it is probable 
 that all the marshes and low grounds are overflowed, and the 
 surface of the lake considerably greater. In several places the 
 view was of unlimited extent, — here and there a rocky islet 
 appearing above the water at a great distance ; and beyond 
 everything was vague and undefined. As we looked over the 
 vast expanse of water spread out beneath us, and strained our 
 
i6 
 
 eyes along the silent shores over which hung so much doubt 
 and uncertainty, and which were so full of interest to us, I 
 could hardly repress the almost irresistible desire to continue 
 our exploration ; but the lengthening snow on the mountains 
 was a plain indication of the advancing season, and our frail 
 linen boat appeared so insecure that I was unwilling to trust 
 our lives to the uncertainties of the lake. I therefore un- 
 willingly resolved to terminate our survey here, and remain 
 satisfied for the present with what we had been able to add to 
 the unknowai geography of the region. We felt pleasure also 
 in remembering that we were the first who, in the traditionary 
 annals of the country, had visited the islands, and broken, with 
 the cheerful sound of human voices, the long solitude of the 
 place. 
 
 Save Lewis and Clarke alone, there is no name in tiie annals of the 
 exploration of the , Rocky Mountains so brilliant or noteworthy as that of 
 John C. Fremont. In 1842, when not yet thirty years old, Fremont, then a 
 lieutenant in the corps of topographical engineers, projected a geographical 
 survey of the entire territory of the United States, from the Missouri River 
 to the Pacific Ocean. He left Washington May 2, 1842, under the direc- 
 tions of the War Department, to explore the Rocky Mountains, and particu- 
 larly to examine the South Pass. He accomplished his task in four months, 
 exploring the Wind River Mountains and ascending their highest point, 
 since known as Fremont's Peak. His report, a passage from which is 
 given in the present leaflet, attracted great attention both in this country and 
 in Europe. In May, 1S43, he set out with thirty-nine men on a much more 
 comprehensive expedition. In September, after travelling more than 1,700 
 miles, he came in s'ght of the Great Salt Lake, of which very inaccurate 
 notions had obtained until his time. His accounts had an important influ- 
 ence in promoting the settlement of Utah and the Pacific States. He pro- 
 ceeded north to the Columbia River, which he followed to its mouth. He 
 returned to the upper Colorado and thence pushed his way over the moun- 
 tains, through the snows, enduring terrible hardships, to the Sacramento 
 Valley in California. In March, 1844, he turned southward, then crossed 
 the Sierras, and returned by the way of Salt Lake to Kansas, which he 
 reached after an absence of fourteen months. In 1845 ^e set out 011 a third 
 expedition, to explore California and Oregon. On July 4, 1846, he was 
 elected governor of California by the American settlers, and became involved 
 in troubles which led to his leaving the army. In 1848 he started on a 
 fourth expedition, at his ow'n expense, this time to find a southern route to 
 California. He now settled in California, and in 1849 }vas elected one of 
 the two senators to represent the new State in the United States Senate. 
 In 1853, after a year in Europe, he fitted out a fifth exploring expedition for 
 California, in which his party suffered terrible privations, for fifty days living 
 on horse-flesh, and for forty-eight hours at a time being without food of 
 any kind. His name had now become prominent in politics, on account of 
 his opposition to the extension of slavery; and in 1856 he became the first 
 Republican candidate for the Presidency. 
 
 See Fremont's Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, 
 1842, and to Oregon and North California, 1843-44; also his Memoirs of viy 
 Life (1S87), and the Lives of Fremont by Bigelow and others. 
 
ELEVENTH SERIES, 1893. No. S. 
 
 Father 
 
 Marquette at 
 
 Chicago. 
 
 From Marquette's Narrative and Dablon's Narrative. 
 
 After a month's navigation down the Mississippi, from the 
 42d to below the 34th degree, and after having pubHshed the 
 gospel as well as I could to the nations I had met, we left 
 the village of Akamsea on the 17th of July, [1673] to retrace our 
 steps. We accordingly ascended the Mississippi, which gave us 
 great trouble to stem its currents. We left it indeed, about the 
 38th degree, to enter another river which greatly shortened 
 our way, and brought us, with little trouble, to the lake of the 
 llinois.* 
 
 We had seen nothing like this river for the fertility of the 
 land, its prairies, woods, wild cattle, stag, deer, wildcats, bus- 
 tards, swans, ducks, parrots, and even beaver, its many little 
 lakes and rivers. That on which we sailed is broad, deep, and 
 gentle for sixty-five leagues. During the spring and part of the 
 summer the only portage is half a league. 
 
 We found there an Ilinois town called Kaskaskia, composed 
 of seventy-four cabins. They received us well, and compelled 
 me to promise to return and instruct them. One of the chiefs 
 of this tribe, with his young men, escorted us to the Ilinois 
 Lake, whence at last we returned in the close of September to 
 the Bay of the Fetid, whence we had set out in the beginning 
 of June. 
 
 Had all this voyage caused but the salvation of a single soul, 
 I should deem all my fatigue well repaid ; and this I have 
 reason to think, for, when I was returning, I passed by the 
 
 * Lake Michigan was so called for a long time, probably from the fact that through 
 it lay the direct route to the Ilinois villages, which Father Marquette was now the first to 
 visit. Marest erroneously treats the name as a mistake of geographers, and is one of the 
 first to call it Michigan. The river which Marquette now ascended has been more fortunate : 
 it still bears the name of Ilinois. — SAea. 
 
Indians of Peoria."^ I was three days announcing the faith in 
 all their cabins, after which, as we were embarking, they 
 brought me on the water's edge a dying child, which I bap- 
 tized a little before it expired, by an admirable Providence for 
 the salvation of that innocent soul. 
 
 Father James Marquette, having promised the Ilinois, called 
 Kaskaskia, to return among them to teach them our mysteries, 
 had great difficulty in keeping his word. The great hardships 
 of his first voyage had brought on a dysentery, and had so 
 enfeebled him that he lost all hope of undertaking a second 
 voyage. Yet, his malady having given way and almost ceased 
 toward the close of summer in the following year, he obtained 
 permission of his superiors to return to the Ilinois to found that 
 noble mission. t 
 
 * Unfortunately, lie does not tell us where he met these roving Peorians, who thus 
 enabled him to keep his promise to resist them. As they have left their name on the Ilinois 
 River, he may have found them there, below the Kaskaskias, who, no less erratic, left their 
 name to a more southerly river and to a town at its mouth on the Mississippi. It must, then, 
 be borne in mind that Marquette's Peoria and his and Allouez's town of Kaskaskia are quite 
 different from the present places of the name in situation. The Ilinois seemed to have 
 formed a link between the wandering Algonquin and the fixed Iroquois. They had villages 
 like the latter; and, though they roved like the former, they roved in villages. — Shea. 
 
 t By his last journal we learn that Father Marquette was detained at the mission of Saint 
 Francis Xavier in Green Bay during the whole summer of 1674. Recovering in September, 
 he drew up and sent to his superiors copies of his journal down the Mississippi, and, having 
 received orders to repair to the Ilinois, set out on the 25th of October with two men named 
 
 Pierre Porteret and Jacques . They crossed the peninsula which forms the eastern side 
 
 of Green Bay, and began to coast along the shore of Lake Michigan, accompanied by some 
 Ilinois and Pottawatomies. They advanced but slowly by land and water, frequently arrested 
 by the state of the lake. On the 23d of November the good missionary was again seized by 
 his malady ; but he pushed on, and by the 4th of December had reached the Chicago, which 
 connects by portage with the Ilinois. But the river was now frozen; and, though they at- 
 tempted to proceed, the pious missionary submitted to the necessity, and deprived even of 
 the consolation of saying mass on his patronal feast, the Immaculate Conception, resolved at 
 last, on the 14th, to winter at the portage, as his illness increased. His Indian companions 
 now left him; and, though aided by some French traders, he suffered much during the follow- 
 ing months. Of this, however, he says nothing. "The Blessed Virgin Immaculate," says 
 his journal, "has taken such care of us during our wandering that we have never wanted 
 food , we have lived very comfortably ; my illness not having prevented my saying mass 
 every day." How little can we realize the faith and self-denial which could give so pleasant 
 a face to a winter passed by a dying man in a cabin open to the winds. The Ilinois, aware of 
 his presence so near them, sent indeed; but so gross were their ideas of his object that they 
 asked the dying missionary for powder and goods. " I have come to instruct you, and 
 speak to you of the prayer," was his answer. "Powder I have not: we come to spread 
 peace tlirough the land, and I do not wish to see you at war with the Miamis." As for 
 goods, he could but encourage the French to continue their trade. Despairing at last of 
 human remedies, the missionary and his twj pious companions began a novena, or nine days' 
 devotion, to the Blessed Virgin Immaculate. From its close he began to gain strength, and, 
 when the freshet compelled them to remove their cabin, on the 29th of March he set out 
 again on his long interrupted voyage, the river being now open. His last entry is of the 
 6th of April, when the wind and cold compelled them to halt. He never found time to 
 continue his journal; and his last words are a playful allusion to the hardships undergone 
 by the traders, in which he sympathized, while insensible of his own. — Shea. 
 
He set out for this purpose in the month of November, 1674, 
 from the Bay of the Fetid, with two men, one of whom had 
 already made that voyage with him. During a month's naviga- 
 tion on the Ilinois Lake he was pretty well ; but, as soon as 
 the snow began to fall, he was again seized with the dysentery, 
 which forced him to stop in the river which leads to the Ilinois. 
 There they raised a cabin, and spent the winter in such want 
 of every comfort that his illness constantly increased. He felt 
 that God had granted him the grace he had so often asked, 
 and he even plainly told his companions so, assuring them that 
 he would die of that illness and on that voyage. To prepare 
 his soul for its departure, he began that rude wintering by the 
 exercises of Saint Ignatius, which, in spite of his great bodily 
 weakness, he performed with deep sentiments of devotion and 
 great heavenly consolation ; and then spent the rest of his time 
 in colloquies with all heaven, having no more intercourse with 
 earth amid these deserts, except with his two companions, 
 whom he confessed and communicated twice a week, and ex- 
 horted as much as his strength allowed. Some time after 
 Christmas, in order to obtain the grace not to die without 
 having taken possession of his beloved mission, he invited his 
 companions to make a novena in honor of the Immaculate 
 Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Contrary to all human 
 expectation, he was heard, and, recovering, found himself able 
 to proceed to the Ilinois town as soon as navigation was free. 
 This he accomplished in great joy, setting out on the 29th of 
 March. He was eleven days on the way, where he had ample 
 matter for suffering, both from his still sickly state and from 
 the severity and inclemency of the weather. 
 
 Having at last reached the town on the 8th of April, he was 
 received there as an angel from heaven ; and after having sev- 
 eral times assembled the chiefs of the nation with all the old 
 men (anciens,), to sow in their minds the first seed of the 
 gospel, after carrying his instructions into the cabins, which 
 were always filled with crowds of people, he resolved to speak 
 to all publicly in general assembly, which he convoked in the 
 open fields, the cabins being too small for the meeting. A 
 beautiful prairie near the town was chosen for the great coun- 
 cil. It was adorned in the fashion of the country, being spread 
 with mats and bear-skins ; and the father, having hung on cords 
 some pieces of India taffety, attached to them four large pict- 
 ures of the Blessed Virgin, which were thus visible on all sides. 
 The auditory was composed of five hundred chiefs and old men, 
 seated in a circle around the father, while the youth stood with- 
 
out to the number of fifteen hundred, not counting women and 
 children who are very numerous, the town being composed of 
 five or six hundred fires. 
 
 The father spoke to all this gathering, and addressed them 
 ten words by ten presents which he made them; he explained 
 to them the principal mysteries of our religion, and the end for 
 which he had come to their country ; and especially he preached 
 to them Christ crucified, for it was the very eve of the great day 
 on which he died on the cross for them, as well as for the rest 
 of men. He then said mass. 
 
 Three days after, on Easter Sunday, things being arranged 
 in the same manner as on Thursday, he celebrated the holy 
 mysteries for the second time ; and by these two sacrifices, the 
 first ever offered there to God, he took possession of that land 
 in the name of Jesus Christ, and gave this mission the name of 
 the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 He was listened to with universal joy and approbation by all 
 this people, who earnestly besought him to return as soon as 
 possible among them, since his malady obliged him to leave 
 them. The father, on his part, showed them the affection he 
 bore them, his satisfaction at their conduct, and gave his word 
 that he or some other of our fathers would return to con- 
 tinue this mission so happily begun. This promise he repeated 
 again and again, on parting with them to begin his journey. 
 He set out amid such marks of friendship from these good 
 people that they escorted him with pomp more than thirty 
 leagues of the way, contending with one another for the honor 
 of carrying his little baggage. 
 
 After the Ilinois had taken leave of the father, filled with 
 a great idea of the gospel, he continued his voyage, and soon 
 after reached the Ilinois Lake, on which he had nearly a hun- 
 dred leagues to make by an unknown route, because he was 
 obliged to take the southern [eastern] side of the lake, having 
 gone thither by the northern [western]. His strength, however, 
 failed so much that his men despaired of being able to carry 
 him alive to their journey's end ; for, in fact, he became so 
 weak and exhausted that he could no longer help himself, nor 
 even stir, and had to be handled and carried like a child. 
 
 He nevertheless maintained in this state an admirable equa- 
 nimity, joy, and gentleness, consoling his beloved companions 
 and encouraging them to suffer courageously all the hardships 
 of the way, assuring them that our Lord would not forsake 
 
them when he was gone. During this navigation he began to 
 prepare more particularly for death, passing his time in collo- 
 quies with our Lord, with His holy mother, with his angel- 
 guardian, or with all heaven. He was often heard pronouncing 
 these words : " I believe that my Redeemer liveth," or " Mary, 
 mother of grace, mother of God, remember me." Besides a 
 spiritual reading made for him every day, he toward the close 
 asked them to read him his meditation on the preparation of 
 death, which he carried about him. He recited his breviary 
 every day; and, although he was so low that both sight and 
 strength had greatly failed, he did not omit it till the last day 
 of his life, when his companions induced him to cease, as it was 
 shortening his days. 
 
 A week before his death he had the precaution to bless some 
 holy water, to serve him during the rest of his illness, in his 
 agony, and at his burial ; and he instructed his companions how 
 to use it. 
 
 The eve of his death, which was a Friday, he told them, all 
 radiant with joy, that it would take place on the morrow. Dur- 
 ing the whole day he conversed with them about the manner of 
 his burial, the way in which he should be laid out, the place to 
 be selected for his interment; he told them how to arrange his 
 hands, feet, and face, and directed them to raise a cross over 
 his grave. He even went so far as to enjoin them, only three 
 hours before he expired, to take his chapel-bell, as soon as he 
 was dead, and ring it while they carried him to the grave. Of 
 all this he spoke so calmly and collectedly that you would have 
 thought that he spoke of the death and burial of another, and 
 not of his own. 
 
 Thus did he speak with them as they sailed along the lake, 
 till, perceiving the mouth of a river with an eminence on the 
 bank which he thought suited for his burial, he told them that 
 it was the place of his last repose. They wished, however, to 
 pass on, as the weather permitted it and the day was not far 
 advanced ; but God raised a contrary wind which obliged them 
 to return and enter the river pointed out by Father Marquette. 
 
 They then carried him ashore, kindled a little fire, and 
 raised for him a wretched bark cabin, where they laid him as 
 little uncomfortably as they could ; but they were so overcome 
 by sadness that, as they afterward said, they did not know what 
 they were doing. 
 
 The father being thus stretched on the shore, like Saint 
 Francis Xavier, as he had always so ardently desired, and left 
 alone amid those forests, — for his companions were engaged in 
 
unloading, — he had leisure to repeat all the acts in which 
 he had employed himself during the preceding days. 
 
 When his dear companions afterward came up all dejected, 
 he consoled them, and gave them hopes that God would take 
 care of them after his death in those new and unknown coun- 
 tries. He gave them his last instructions, thanked them for 
 all the charity they had shown him during the voyage, begged 
 their pardon for the trouble he had given them, and directed 
 them also to ask pardon in his name of all our fathers and 
 brothers in the Ottawa country, and then disposed them to 
 receive the sacrament of penance, which he administered to 
 them for the last time. He also gave them a paper on which 
 he had written all his faults since his last confession, to be 
 given to his superior to oblige him to pray more earnestly for 
 him. In fine, he promised not to forget them in heaven ; and, 
 as he was very kind-hearted and knew them to be worn out 
 with the toil of the preceding days, he bade them go and take 
 a little rest, assuring them that his hour was not yet so near 
 but that he would wake them when it was time, as in fact he 
 did two or three hours after, calling them when about to enter 
 his agony. 
 
 When they came near, he embraced them for the last time, 
 while they melted in tears at his feet. He then asked for the 
 holy water and his reliquary, and, taking off his crucifix, which 
 he wore around his neck, he placed it in the hands of one, ask- 
 ing him to hold it constantly opposite him, raised before his 
 eyes. Then, feeling that he had but a little time to live, he made 
 a last effort, clasped his hands ; and, with his eyes fixed sweetly 
 on his crucifix, he pronounced aloud his profession of faith, and 
 thanked the Divine Majesty for the immense grace he did him 
 in allowing him to die in the society of Jesus, — to die in it as a 
 missionary of Jesus Christ, and, above all, to die in it, as he had 
 always asked, in a wretched cabin amid the forests, destitute of 
 all human aid. 
 
 On this he became silent, conversing inwardly with God ; 
 yet from time to time words escaped him : '' Sustinuit anima 
 mea in verba ejus," or " Mater Dei, memento mei," which were 
 the last words he uttered before entering on his agony, which 
 was very calm and gentle. 
 
 He had prayed his companions to remind him, when they 
 saw him about to expire, to pronounce frequently the names 
 of Jesus and Mary. When he could not do it himself, they did 
 it for him ; and, when they thought him about to pass, one cried 
 aloud, Jesus Maria, which he several times repeated distinctly, 
 
and then, as if at those sacred names something had appeared 
 to him, he suddenly raised his eyes above his crucifix, fixing 
 them apparently on some object which he seemed to regard 
 with pleasure, and thus with a countenance all radiant with 
 smiles he expired without a struggle, as gently as if he had 
 sunk into a quiet sleep. 
 
 His two poor companions, after shedding many tears over 
 his body, and having laid it out as he had directed, carried it 
 devoutly to the grave, ringing the bell according to his injunc- 
 tion, and raised a large cross near it to serve as a mark for 
 passers-by. 
 
 Father Marquette at Chicago. 
 
 From an Article on " Early Visitors to Chicago,^'' in the New Eng- 
 land Magazine for April, 1 892, by Edward G. Maso7i, 
 President of the Chicago Historical Society. 
 
 It is customary to speak of Chicago as a comparatively new 
 place, but it assumes a respectable antiquity when we remember 
 that it was known to white men more than two hundred years 
 ago. Those who saw it then were so regardless of the curiosity 
 of posterity as to leave but scanty mementoes of their presence. 
 Could any one of them have imagined that he was standing on 
 the site of a city destined to be the second in size in our land, 
 that upon the marsh and sand bank which lay before him was 
 to rise the metropolis of the Great West, we may be sure that 
 he would have taken pains to let us know of his being at the 
 very beginning of human association with this portion of the 
 earth's surface, and to ask us, for that reason, to hold his name 
 in remembrance. 
 
 We cannot possibly identify the earliest visitor to Chicago, 
 but high authority is inclined to hold that the first civilized 
 man who crossed the Chicago Portage was the dauntless 
 pioneer, Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle. We know 
 that two years of his life in America are involved in obscurity -, 
 and his own journal and maps relating to this period, though 
 in the possession of one of his relatives a century later, have 
 disappeared. But an anonymous manuscript exists purporting 
 to contain an account of his explorations during these years, 
 related by La Salle himself. This states that in 167 1 La Salle 
 set forth on Lake Erie, crossed Lake Huron, passed the Straits 
 of Mackinac and La Baye des Puants, which we call Green 
 Bay, and discovered an incomparably larger bay, which doubt- 
 
8 
 
 less was the southern part of Lake Michigan. At its foot 
 towards the west he found " a very good port," and at the end 
 of this a stream going from the east to the west. This port, 
 it is thought by Francis Parkman, whose opinion is of the 
 utmost weight, may have been the entrance to the Chicago 
 River, and the stream the Des Plaines branch of the Illinois. 
 If this manuscript is correct, La Salle was at the site of Chicago 
 two years before Joliet and Marquette. He was the real dis- 
 coverer of the Great West, for he planned its occupation and 
 began its settlement ; and he alone of the men of his time 
 appreciated its boundless possibilities, and with prophetic eye 
 saw in the future its wide area peopled by his own race. It 
 seems very fitting that a city which is the incarnation of the 
 energy, the courage, and the enterprise which animated his 
 iron frame should begin its annals with the splendid name of 
 La Salle. 
 
 Assuming, then, that he was the first, the next visitors to 
 Chicago, who are usually spoken of as the earliest, were Louis 
 Jolliet, usually written Joliet, and Jacques (James) Marquette. 
 Returning from their famous journey on the Mississippi River, 
 they doubtless crossed the portage from the Des Plaines River 
 to the south branch, and went by way of the Chicago River to 
 Lake Michigan, and along its western shore to the present 
 Green Bay, in the late summer or early fall of the year 1673. 
 Father Marquette in his narrative of this journey mentions the 
 river — that is, the Illinois — which brought them with little 
 trouble to the Lake of Illinois (now Lake Michigan). He says, 
 " We have seen nothing like this river for the fertility of its land, 
 its prairies, woods, wild cattle, stag, deer, wild-cats, bustards, 
 swans, ducks, parrots, and even beaver, its many little lakes 
 and rivers." He speaks of the portage of half a league and of 
 the escort which one of the native chiefs gave them to the 
 Lake of the Illinois. These friendly Indian hosts accompanied 
 Joliet and Marquette from the town of Kaskaskia, which was 
 situated on the broad meadow opposite Starved Rock, or, as 
 some think, nearer to the present town of Joliet, and probably 
 bade them good-by upon what is now the Chicago River. 
 
 It is curious to notice that Joliet, who was the leader of the 
 party and especially charged by the government with the dis- 
 covery of the great river, has had less of the resulting honor 
 than Marquette, though the larger part was rightfully his share. 
 Marquette himself says : — 
 
Comte de Frontenac, our governor, and Mr. Talon, then our intendant, 
 selected for the enterprise the Sieur Jollyet, whom they deemed competent 
 for so great a design, wishing to see Father Marquette accompany him. 
 They were not mistaken in their choice of the Sieur Jolliet; for he was a 
 young man born in the country, and endowed with every quality that could 
 be desired in such an enterprise. He possessed experience and a knowledge 
 of the languages of the Ottawa Country, where he had spent several years ; 
 he had the tact and prudence so necessary for the success of a voyage 
 equally dangerous and difficult ; and, lastly, he had courage to fear nothing 
 where all is to be feared. 
 
 Joliet's failure to receive his due meed of fame results entirely 
 from the fact that Marquette's narrative of their voyage was 
 preserved ; while all of Joliet's papers, including his carefully 
 prepared report to his government, and a very exact map, were 
 lost by the upsetting of his canoe in the rapids above Montreal, 
 when he had almost completed his return trip. 
 
 Joliet prepared from recollection an account of his voyage, 
 and sketched a map, both of which Frontenac sent to France. 
 This map, and perhaps others from his hand, have recently 
 come to light ; and we have also a statement prepared by 
 Father Claude Dablon, Superior General of the Jesuit Missions 
 in America, from information furnished him by Joliet, who 
 speaks in it as enthusiastically as did Father Marquette about 
 the Illinois River, which, he says, "is large and deep, full of 
 barbels and sturgeon ; game is found in abundance on its 
 banks ; the wild cattle, cows, stags, turkeys, appear more there 
 than elsewhere. . . . There are prairies there six, ten, and twenty 
 leagues long, and three wide, surrounded by forests of equal 
 extent, beyond which the prairies begin again." Certainly, no 
 State in the Union has received more complimentary mention 
 from its first visitors than Illinois. 
 
 It further appears from this statement that either Joliet or 
 Father Dablon himself, but probably the former, was the first 
 to suggest a ship canal from Lake Michigan to the Illinois 
 River. For the good father, in his remarks upon the utility of 
 Joliet's discovery, says : — 
 
 A very important advantage (of it), and which some will perhaps find it 
 hard to credit, is that we can quite easily go to Florida in boats, and by a very 
 good navigation. There would be but one canal to make by cutting only 
 one-half a league of prairie to pass from the lake of the Illinois (Michigan) 
 into St. Louis River (Des Plaines). The route to be taken is this: the bark 
 should be built in Lake Erie which is near Lake Ontario ; it would pass 
 easily from Lake Erie to Lake Huron, from which it would enter the Lake 
 of the Illinois. At the extremity of this lake would be the cut or canal of 
 which I have spoken to have a passage to St. Louis River, which empties 
 into the Mississippi. The bark having thus entered this river would sail 
 easily to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
10 
 
 If ever the proposed ship canal from Lake Michigan to the 
 Illinois River is constructed, it will not be amiss to associate 
 with it the name of the first projector of such a work, Louis 
 Joliet. 
 
 Count Frontenac wrote the French government in 1674 that 
 Joliet left with the missionaries at Sault Ste. Marie copies of 
 his journals. " These," he says, " we cannot get before next 
 year"; and Father Dablon, speaking of the loss of Joliet's 
 narrative and map, says, " Father Marquette kept a copy of 
 that which has been lost." Thus far neither of these copies 
 has come to light, but I do not despair of the finding of one 
 or both. The joy of the discovery is, I trust, reserved for some 
 ardent antiquarian, who will eagerly unroll the time-stained 
 pages and find in them something more than we now know of 
 the Chicago of 1673. Perhaps he will thus reveal the names of 
 the five other French men who accompanied Joliet and Mar- 
 quette through their entire voyage, and were with them here, 
 and one of whom revisited Chicago with Marquette in the fol- 
 lowing year. Of these five men we know nothing more, save 
 that it is probable that one of them was a victim of the catas- 
 trophe at the Sault Ste. Louis, just by La Salle's old seignory 
 of La Chine, which put such a luckless ending to this otherwise 
 successful exploration. We may be proud to inscribe the name 
 of Louis Joliet upon the muster-roll of the early visitors to 
 Chicago, for he would have been no mean citizen of any city. 
 
 History accords to the brave young priest Marquette the 
 right to be called the earliest resident of Chicago, because of 
 his dreary encampment by the banks of the Chicago River in 
 the winters of 1674-75 on his second journey to the Illinois. 
 He was attended by two faithful French voyageurs, Pierre Por- 
 
 teret and Jacques , whose last name is unknown. Father 
 
 Dablon says that one of these men, but does not tell us which, 
 was with Marquette on his former voyage. I am aware that 
 South Chicago, Evanston, and possibly other places, are in- 
 clined to dispute with Chicago the honor of this visit from 
 Marquette ; but Chicago will not yield to any of them her first 
 City Father, without a struggle. 
 
 An attempt has been made to show, from Marquette's journal 
 of his journey, that he wintered upon the Calumet River, and 
 not upon the Chicago. We learn from this document that he set 
 out from the Mission of St. Francis, which was on the site of 
 the town of Green Bay, October 25, 1674, crossed the portage 
 from Sturgeon Bay to Lake Michigan, and followed its western 
 shore southward ; and after various detentions, on December 4, 
 
II 
 
 he says : " We started well to reach Portage River, which was 
 frozen half a foot thick. There was more snow there than any- 
 where else." To identify Portage River with the Calumet, it is 
 necessary to assume that Marquette spent nine days in going 
 from the Chicago River to the Calumet, a distance of twelve 
 miles, or an average of one and one-third miles per day ; while, up 
 to his arrival at the Chicago River, he had travelled at the rate of 
 seven miles a day, including all delays. It is also necessary to 
 assume that he made a portage between the Grand Calumet, 
 and the Little Calumet, where there is no portage now, and 
 went up the Little Calumet to Stony Brook, near the present 
 town of Blue Island, then up Stony Brook, and by way of 
 the " Sag " to the Des Plaines, — a route which, so far as known, 
 has never been followed by any other traveller, is not laid down 
 on any map, and there is no evidence of its use at any time. 
 I should except, perhaps, an account in the possession of the 
 Chicago Historical Society of the ruins of an old fort, on the 
 line of the " Sag " in the town of Palos, in Cook County, from 
 which it has been argued that this must have been a French 
 fort, that the French would not have had a fort except upon a 
 stream, that a stream is of no use unless it is navigable, and 
 that Father Marquette was the best man to navigate it, and 
 therefore did so. I cannot accept the argument; but I am 
 greatly interested in the fort, and should be glad some day to 
 lead an exploring party in search of it. To my mind, the most 
 convincing proof that the Chicago River is the Portage River 
 of Marquette and Joliet is the account which the latter gives in 
 Dablon's statement that the cutting of half a league of prairie, 
 but a little over a mile, would enable a bark to pass from Lake 
 Michigan to the Des Plaines River. This could not be true of 
 the route by the Calumet, Stony Brook, and the " Sag," where 
 a twelve-mile canal would be necessary for a small vessel to 
 pass, and is applicable only to the short portage between the 
 South Branch and the Des Plaines, which must therefore have 
 been the route followed by Joliet and by Marquette on his 
 second journey. 
 
 It was the Chicago River, therefore, over whose frozen sur- 
 face the valiant missionary toiled on that bleak December day. 
 It was on its banks that he penned that journal, which doubt- 
 less was the first literary production ever written in Chicago, 
 and which gives us such a picture of the unselfishness, the hero- 
 ism, and the sanctity of that lovely soul. We cannot give up 
 Father Marquette ; for his association with Chicago's site is 
 amongst the most precious of its early memories. The feeling 
 
AUG 3 1903 
 
 12 
 
 that he in some measure belongs to Chicago lends a new 
 interest to that brief but beautiful life which began in 1637 in 
 the little city of Laon, in Northern France, and ended in 1675 
 on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. 
 
 Father Marquette's Narrative of his Voyages and Discoveries in the 
 Valley of the Mississippi, from which the passage in the present leaflet is 
 taken, is given entire in John G. Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the 
 Mississippi Vallcv. This narrative was prepared for publication m 1678 by 
 Father Claude bablon, Superior of the missions of the Society of Jesus 
 in Canada, who added the account of Marquette's second voyage, death, and 
 burial. The unfinished letter of Father Marquette to Father Dablon, con- 
 taining a journal of his last visit to the Illinois, is given (m the original 
 French) in the appendix to Shea's work. Marquette's account of his dis- 
 covery of the Mississippi, taken from the same work as the present leaflet, 
 was given in one of the leaflets (No. 2) of the Old South series for 1889. 
 There are very full notices of Marquette and the writings concerning him m 
 the Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. iv. There is a biography 
 in Sparks's series of American Biographies ; and a full and graphic account 
 in Parkman's Discovery of the Great West. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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