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POPULAR WORKS 'm 
 
 dApTAl WILLAI(D ^Li^ZIEI^, 
 
 The Soldier-Author. 
 
 I. ThreeTears in the Federal Cavalry. 
 II. Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape. 
 
 III. Battles for the Union. 
 
 IV. Heroes of Three Wars. 
 
 V. Peculiarities of American Cities. 
 YI. Down the Great River. 
 VII. Headwaters of the Mississippi. 
 VIII. Ocean to Ocean on Horseback. 
 
 Captain Glazier's works are growing more and more 
 popular every day. Their delineations of social, iiiili- 
 tiiry and frontier life, constantly varying scenes, and 
 deeply interesting stories, combine to place tlieir writer 
 in the front rank of American authors. 
 
 SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION. 
 
 ns desiring agencies for any of captai 
 zier's books should address 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
»«**i 
 
 3ft- 
 
OCEAN TO OCEAN 
 
 ON 
 
 HORSEBACK; 
 
 Jfieing 
 
 The Story of a Tour in the Saddle From the Atlantic to 
 THE Pacific; with Especial Reference to the Early 
 History and Development of Cities and Towns 
 along the Route; and Regions Traversed be- 
 yond THE Mississippi; together with In- 
 cidents, Anecdotes and Adventures of 
 the Journey. 
 
 CAPTAIN AVILLARD GLAZIER. 
 
 Aitbor of "Cnptnrei, Prison-Pen and Ksoape," "Three Years in the Fcdernl Cavalry,' 
 
 "Bnltles for the Union," "Heroes of Three Wars," " Periiliarities of American 
 
 Cities," "Down the Oreat Kiver," " Headwaters of t^e Mississippi," Etc. 
 
 1IUu6trate&. 
 
 PHILABELPIirA : 
 
 HUBBARD PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 
 1896. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1895, by 
 WILLARD GLAZIER, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. 
 
 ©_ ^ 
 
 
V^ TO 
 
 ^( THE MEMORY 
 
 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 OF 
 
 flDi? Bclovct) fiDotber, 
 
 TO WHOSE 
 
 i|3rfrr)Jts nutr (I^xamplc 
 
 I AM INDEBTED FOR WHATEVER I HAVE BEEN 
 ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH 
 
 IN 
 
 ^be 3ournc^ of Xife, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY 
 
 DEHICATED. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 ^IT was tlie intention of the writer to pub- 
 lish a narrative descriptive of his over- 
 land tour from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
 soon after returning from California in 
 1876, and his excuse for the delay in 
 publication is that a variety of circum- 
 stances compelled him to postpone for a 
 time the duty of arranging the contents of his journal 
 until other pressing matters had been satisfactorily 
 attended to. Again, considerable unfinished literary 
 work, set aside when he began preparation for crossing 
 the Continent, had to be resumed, and for these 
 reasons the story of his journey from 'KX'EAN 
 TO Ocean on Horseback " is only now ready for 
 the })rinter. In view of this delay in going to press, 
 the author will endeavor to show a due regard for the 
 changes time has wrought along his line of m:ii-eli, luul 
 
 (vii) 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 while noting the incidents of his long ride from day to 
 day, it has been his aim so far as possible to discuss the 
 regions traversed, the growth of cities and the develop- 
 ment of their industries from the standpoint of the 
 present. 
 
 Albany, New York, 
 August 22, 1895. 
 
Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 Boyhood Longings — Confronted by Obstacles — Trapping Along the 
 Oswegiitchie — Enter Gouverneur VVesIyan ISeminiiry — Appointid 
 to State Normal College — Straitened Circumstances — Teach School 
 in llonsseluer County — War of the Kebellion — Enlist in a Cavalry 
 Regiment— Taken Prisoner — Fourteeu Months in Southern 
 Prisons — Esca])e from Columbia — Recaptured — Escape from Syl- 
 vania, Georgia — Re-enter the Army — Close of the War — Publish 
 " Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape" and Other Books — Decide to 
 Cross the Continent — Preparation for Journey from Ocean to 
 Ocean on Horseback 25 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 
 
 Early History and Development — Situation of the Metropolis 
 of New England — Boston Harbor — The Cradle of Liberty — 
 Old South Church — Migrations of the Post Office — Patriots of 
 the Revolution — The Boston Tea Party — Bunker Hill Monument — 
 Visit of Lafayette — The Public Library — House where Franklin 
 was Born — The Back Bay — Public Gardens— Streets of Boston- 
 Soldiers' Monument — The Old Elm — Commonwealth Avenue^ 
 State Capitol — Tremont Temple — Edward Everett — Wendell 
 Phillips — William Loyd Garrison — Phillips Brooks — Harvard 
 University — Wellesley College — Holmes, Parkman — Prescott, 
 Lowell, Longfellow — Boston's Claims to Greatness . . .32 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LKCTUKE AT TKKMoNT TEMPLE. 
 Subject of Lecture — Objects Contemplated— Grand Army of the 
 
X CONTEIiTS. 
 
 • 
 
 Eepublic — Introduction by Captain Tlieodore L. Kelly— Refer- 
 ence to Army and Prison Experiences— Newspaper Comment — 
 Proceeds of Lecture Given to Posts 7 and 15 — Letter to Adjutant- 
 General of Department 70 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BOSTON TO ALBANY. 
 
 First Day of Journey — Start from the Revere House — Escorted to 
 Brighton by G. A. R. Comrades — Dinner at Cattle Fair Hotel — 
 Soutii Framinghani — Second Day — Boston and Albany Turnpike 
 — Riding in a Rainstorm — Arrival at Worcester — Lecture in Opera 
 House — Pioneer History — Rai)id Growth of Worcester — Lincoln 
 Park— The Old Comnum— Third and Fourth Days— The Ride to 
 Springfield — Met by Wife and Daughter — Lecture at Hayiies 
 Opera House — Fifth Day — Ride to Russell — The Berkshire Hills 
 — Sixth Day — Journey to Becket — Rainbow Refleclions — Seventh 
 Day- Over the Hoosac Mountains — Eighth Day — Arrival at 
 Pittsfield — Among the Lebanon Shakers — Ninth Day — Reach 
 Nassau, New York 81 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOUR DAYS AT ALBANY. 
 Nassau to Albany — Among Old Friends in Rensselaer County — 
 Thoughts of Rip Van Winkle — Crossing the Hudson — Albany as 
 Seen from the River — Schoolday Associations — Early History — 
 Settled by the Dutch— Henry Hudson — Killian Van Rensselaer — 
 Fort Orange — Peter Schuyler and Robert Livingstone — Lecture at 
 Tweddle Hall— Call at the Capitol— Meet Army Comrades . 110 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ALBANY TO SYRACUSE. 
 
 Fourteenth Day— On the Schenectady Turnpike — Riding between 
 Showers — Talk with Peter Lansing — Reacli Schenectady — Lecture 
 at Union Hall under G, A. R. Auspices — Fifteenth and Sixteenth 
 Days — Go over to Troy— Lecture at Harmony Hall— Visit Old 
 Friends — Seventeenth Day — Return to Schenectady — Eighteenth 
 Day — In the Mohawk Valley — Halt at Amsterdam — Reach Fonda 
 — Nineteenth Day — Saint Johnsville — Ttventieth Day — Little 
 Falls — Twenty-first Day — Utica — Twenty-second Day — Rome — 
 Ttventy-third Day — Chittenango 118 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TWO DAYS AT SYRACUSE. 
 Walks and Talks with the People— Early History— Lake Onondaga— 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 Father Le Moyoe — Discovery of Salt S])rings — Major Daiiforth — 
 Joshua Forman — James Gediles — The Erie Canal — Visit <A' La 
 Fayette— Syracuse University— Lecture at Shakespeare Hall . l.ili 
 
 CHAPTER VI I r. 
 
 SYRACUSE TO KOCIIKSTER. 
 Twenty-sixth Day — Grand Army Friends — General Sni{)er — (.'aptain 
 Auer — Stopped by a Thunder-shower — An Unpleasant Predica- 
 ment — 2\venty-Seventk Day — Jorilan, New York — Lake Skaneat- 
 eles — Twenty-citjhtk Day — Piiotographed— Entertained at Port 
 Byron — Montezuma Swamp — Twenty-tiiiUh Day — Newark, New 
 York — Journey Continued Along the New York Central Rail- 
 way — Another Adventure with Paul — Thirtieth Z>ay— Fairport- 
 Riding in the Cool of the Day 141 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FOUR DAYS AT ROCHESTER. 
 
 Rainstorm Anticipated — Friends of the Horse — Seven-Sealed Wonder 
 — Newspaper Controversy — Lecture at Corinthian JIall — Colonel 
 J. A. Reynolds — Pioneer History — Colonel Nathaniel Rochester — 
 William Fitzhugh — Charles Carroll— Rapid Growth of City — Sam 
 Patch — (ieiiesee Falls — The Erie Canal — Moujit Hope — Lake 
 Ontario — Fruit Nurseries 147 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ROCHESTER TO BUFFALO. 
 
 Thirty-fifth Day — Churchville — Cordiality of the People — Dinner 
 at Chili — Tlurty-sixth Day — Bergon (Corners— Byron Centre — Rev. 
 Edwin Allen — Thirty-seventh Day — Batavia — Meet a Comrade of 
 the Harris Light Ciivi\]ry— Thirty-eighth X>f/y—" Croft's"— More 
 Trouble with Mosquitoes — Amusing Episode — Thirty-ninth Day 
 — Crittenden — Rural Reminiscences — Fortieth Day — Lancaster — 
 Lectured in Methodist Church — Captain Remington . . 158 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THREE DAYS AT Rl'KFALO. 
 
 "Queen City" of the Lakes — Arrival at the Tift House — Lecture 
 at St. James Hall- -Major Farquhar — Aboriginal History — The 
 Eries— Iroquois — " Cats" — La Hontan —Lake Erie— Black Rock- 
 War of 1812— The Erie Canal— Buffalo River— Grosvenor Library 
 — Historical Society — Red Jacket — Forest Lawn — Predictions 
 for the Future 171 
 
xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 
 Forty-fourth Day— On the Shore of Lake Erie— Forty -fifth Day— 
 Again on the Shore of Erie— Bracing Air— Enchanting Scenery- 
 Angola— Big Sister Creek— Forty-sixth X>o?/— Angola to Dunkirk 
 —Forty-eighth Do?/— Dunkirk to Westfield— Fruit and Vegetable 
 F-drms— Fredoiua.— Forty-ninth i)a?/— Westfield to North East- 
 Cordial Recepi'ion— Fiftieth Z>a2/— North " East to Erie— Oliver 
 Hazzard Verry— Fifty-first Day— Erie to SwamviUe— Fifty-second 
 Day— T3i\k with Early Settlers—John Joseph Swan— Fifty-third 
 i>((y— Swanville to Girard— Greeted by Girard Band— Lecture at 
 Town HsiU— Fifty-fourth i^ay— Girard to Ashtabula— Lecture 
 Tostponed— Fifty fifth i)a2/— Ashtabula to Painesville— The Cen- 
 tennial Fourth -Halt at Farm House— Fifty-sixth Day— 'Reach 
 Willoughby— Guest of the Lloyds 183 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FIVE DAYS AT CLEVELAND. 
 An Early Start— School Girls— " Do you Like Apples, Mister? "— 
 Mentor— Home of Garfield— Dismount at Euclid— Eumors of the 
 Custer Massacre— Reach the " Forest City "—Met by Comrades of 
 the G. A. R.— Lecture at Garrett Hall— Lake Erie— Cuyahoga 
 River — Early History — Moses Cleveland — Connecticut Land Com- 
 pany — Job Stiles — The Ohio Canal — God of Lake Erie — " Ohio 
 City"— West Side Boat Building— "The Pilot"— Levi Johnson- 
 Visit of Lorenzo Dow— Monument Square — Commodore Perry — 
 Public Buildings— Euclid Avenue— " The Flats "—Standard Oil 
 Company 206 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CLEVELAND TO TOLEDO. 
 
 Sixty-first Day — Again in the Saddle — Call on Major Hessler— Do- 
 nate Proceeds of Lecture to Soldiers' Monument Fund — Letters 
 from General James Barnett and Rev. William Earnshaw — Stop 
 for Night at Black River — Sixty-second Day — Mounted at Nine 
 A.M. — Halted at Vermillion for Dinner— Lake Shore Road— More 
 Mosquitoes — Reach Huron Late at Night — Sixty-third Day^ 
 Huron to Sandusky — Traces of the Red Man — Ottawas and 
 Wyandots — Johnson's Island — Lecture in Union Hall — Captain 
 Culver — Sixty-fourth Day — Ride to Castalia — A Remarkable S])ring 
 — Sixty-fifth Day — Reach Fremont— Home of President Hay es-- 
 Sixty-sixth Day — Reach Elmore, Ohio— Comparison of Hotels. 221 
 
CONTENTS. xiil 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FIVIC DAYS AT TOLEDO. 
 
 Ride from Elmore— Lecture at Lyceum ITall — Forsytli Post, G. A. 
 R. — Doctor J. T. Woods — Concerning General Custer — Pioneer 
 History — Battle of Fallen Tiniber.s — Mad Anthony Wayne — 
 Miami and Wabash Indians — The Toledo War — Unpleasant Com- 
 plications — Governor Ijucas — Strategy of General Vantleet — Mil- 
 bouru Wagon Works — Visited by a Detroit Friend . . . 231 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TOLEDO TO DETROIT. 
 
 Seventy-second Day— Leave Toledo— Change of Route — Ride to Erie, 
 Michigan — Paul Shows His Mettle — Seventy-third Day — Sunday 
 —Go to Church— Rev. E. P. Willard— Solicitude of Friends— 
 Seventy -fourth Day — Ride to Monroe — Greeted with Music — Hail 
 Columbia — Star-Spangled Banner — Home of Custer — Meet Custer 
 Family — Custer Monument Association — Received at City Hall — 
 Great Enthusiasm — River Rasin — Indian Massacre — General Win- 
 chester — Battle of the Thames — Death of Tecumseh — Monroe 
 Monitor — Seventy-seventh Day — Lecture at City Hall — Personal 
 Recollections of Custer — Incidents of His School Life — Seventy- 
 eighth Day — Leave Monroe — Huron River — Traces of the Mount! 
 Builders — Rockwood — Seventy-ninth Day — Along the Detroit 
 River — Wyandotte — Ecorse — Eightieth Day — Letter from Judge 
 Wing — Indorsement of Custer Monument Association . . 243 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FOUR DAYS AT DETROIT. 
 Leave Ecorse — ^let at Fort Wayne — Sad News — Reach Detroit- 
 Met by General Throop and Others— at Russell House — Lecture at 
 St. Andrew's Hall— General Trowbridge — Meet Cafftain Hampton 
 — Army and Prison Reminiscences — Pioneer History of Detroit- 
 La Motte Cadillac — ^liamies and Pottawattomies — Fort Ponchar- 
 train— Plot of Pontiac— Major Gladwyn— Fort Shelby— War of 
 1812— General Brock and Tecumseh Advance on Detroit— Sur- 
 render of General Hull — British Compelled to Evacuate . 265 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DETROIT TO CHK^AGO. 
 Eighty-fifth Diiy—JjOa\-e Detroit Reluctantly- PauZ in Good Spirits 
 — ReMch Iiiksfer — Kiqhty-aixth Day — Flowering Clouds — Take 
 Shelter under Trees and in a Woodshed -Meet War Veterans — 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 Ypsilanti — Eighty-seventh Day — Lecture at Union Hall — Incidents 
 of the Late War — Eighty-eighth Bay — An Early Start— Ann Arbor 
 — Michigan University — Dinner at Dexter — Eighty-ninth Day — 
 Dinner at Grass Lake — Reach Jackson — Ninetieth Day — Comment 
 of Jackson Citizen— Qo?l\ Fields — Grand River — Ninety-first Day 
 — A Circus in Town — Parma — Ninety-second Day — " Wolverines " 
 — Ninety-third Day — Ride to Battle Creek — Lecture at Stuart's 
 Hall — Ninety-fourth Day — Go to Church — Goguac Lake — Ninety- 
 fifth Day — Arrive at Kalamazoo — Sketch of the " Big Village" — 
 Ninty-sixth Day — Return to Albion and Lecture in Opera House — 
 Ninety-seventh Day — Lecture at Wayne Hall, Marshall^iVi'ne^^- 
 eighth Day — Calhoun County — Ninety-ni7ith Day — Letter to Custer 
 Monument Association — One Hundreth Day — Colonel Curtenius — 
 One Hundred and First Day — Paw Paw — One Hundred and 
 Second Day — South Bend, Indiana — Hon. Schuyler Colfax — One 
 Hundred and Third i)a2/— Grand Rapids — Speak in Luce's Hall 
 — One Hundred and Fourth Day — Return to Decatur — One Hun- 
 dred and Fifth Day — Again in Paw Paw — One Hundred and 
 Sixth Day — Lecture at Niles — One Hundred and Seventh Day — 
 Go to La Porte by Rail — One Hundred and Eighth Day — Return 
 to Michigan City — One Hundred and Ninth Day — Go Back to 
 Decatur, Michigan — One Hundred and Tenth to One Hundred 
 and Twenty-second Day — Dowagiac — Buchanan — Rolling 
 Prairie 279 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 
 Register at the Grand Pacific Hotel— Lecture at Farwell Hall- 
 Visit McVicker's Theatre — See John T. Raymond in " Mulberry 
 Sellers" — The Chicago Exposition — Site of City — Origin of Name 
 — Father Maj-quette — First Dwelling — Death of Marquette — Lake 
 Michigan — Fort Dearl>orn — First Settlement Destroyed by Indians 
 — Chicago as a Commercial City— The Great Fire — An Unparal- 
 leled Conflagration — Rises from her Ashes— Financial Reorgani- 
 zation—Greater than Before— Schools and Colleges— Historical 
 Society — The Palmer House — Spirit of the People — One Hundred 
 and Twenty-sixth Day — Again at Michigan City — Attend a 
 Political Meeting — Hon. Daniel W. Voorhees — "Blue Jeans" 
 Williams— (>»f Hundred and twenty-eighth Day — Leave Michi- 
 gan Citv — Hobart — "Hoosierdum" — One Hundred and Twenty- 
 ninth Day — Weather Much Cooler 333 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CHICAGO TO DAVEM'OKT. 
 One Hundred and Thirtieth, Vay—FoUowtd by Prairie Wolves- 
 Reach Joliet, Illinois— Lecture at Werner Ilall— Ou^ Hundred 
 and Thirty first Z)(j?/— Ride on Tow Path of Michigan Canal- 
 Morris— 0/ie Hundred and Thirty-second Day—Oorn and Hogs 
 —Arrive at Ottawa— One Hundred and Thirty-third /></»/— Reach 
 La Salle— 0/ir Hundred and Thirly-fourth 7>>«y— Colonel Stephens 
 —One Hundred and Thirty-fjth Vay—Y\sit Peru— 0/te Hundred 
 and Thirty-sixth /)((^— Mistak-en for a Highwayman— Oue Hun- 
 dred and Thirty-seventh Day—Y\iic Stock Farms— Wyauet—On« 
 Hundred and Thirty-eighth X>a?/ — Annawan — Comnieudatory 
 Letter— O/j*- Hundred and Thirty-ninth Bay— A Woman Farmer— 
 One Hundred and Fortieth Day— Reach Milan, Illinois . . 354 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FOUR DAYS AT DAVENPORT. 
 Cross the Mississippi— Lecture at Moore's Hall— Colonel Russell — 
 General Sanders— Early History of the City— Colonel George 
 Davenport— Antoine Le Claire— Griswold College— Rock Island 
 — Fort Armstrong — Rock Island Arsenal — General Rodman — Col- 
 onel Flagler — Rock Island City— Sac and Fox Indians — Black 
 Hawk War — Jefferson Davis — Abraham Lincoln — Defeat of Black 
 Hawk— Rock River— Indian Legends 372 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 DAVENPORT TO DES MOINEvS. 
 One Hundred and Forty-fifth />«?/- Leave Davenport— Stop over 
 Night at Farm House— 0//<> Hundred and Forty-sixth Af?/— Reach 
 Moscow, Iowa — Rolling Prairies — One Hundred and, Forty-seventh 
 Z></j/— Weather Cold and Stormy— Iowa City— Onf Hundred and- 
 Forly-ei<jhth />ay— Description of City — One Hundred and Forty 
 ninth /)ay— Lectured at Ham's Hall— Hon. G. B. Edmunds— 0»c 
 Hundred and Fiftieth i)a?/— Reach Tiffin— Guests of the Tiffin 
 House — One Hundred and Fifty-first Day — Marensxo — One Hun- 
 dred and Fifty-second Day — Halt for the Night at Brooklyn — Om« 
 Hundred nnd Fifty third Day—Kn\e to Kellogg— Stop at a School 
 House— Talk with Boya-One Hund7'ed and Fifty-fourth Day — 
 Reach Colfax— 0«e Hundred and Fifty-fifth Ajy— Arrive at Des 
 Moines — Capital of Iowa — Description of City — Professor Bowen 
 — Meet an Armv Comrade ?'S% 
 
xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 DES MOINES TO OMAHA. 
 
 One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Bay — Leave Des Moines with Pleas- 
 ant Eeflections — Reach Adel — Dallas County — Kaccoou Kiver — 
 One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Day — Ride through Redfield — 
 Reach Dale City — Talk Politics with Farmers — One Hundred and 
 Fijty-ninth Day — A Night with Coyotes— Re-enforced by a Friend- 
 ly Dog — One Hundred and /Sixtieth Day — Cold Winds from the 
 Northwest — All Day on the Prairies — One Hundred and Sixty- 
 first Day — Halt at Avoca — One Hundred and Sixty-second Day — 
 Riding in the Rain— Reach Neola — One Hundred and Sixty-third 
 i^ay— Roads in Bad Condition — Ride through Council Bluffs — Ar- 
 rive at Omaha 401 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 A HALT AT OMAHA. 
 The Metropolis of Nebraska— First Impressions— Peculiarity of the 
 Streets — Hanscom Park — Poor House Farm— Prospect Cemetery 
 — Douglas County Fair Grounds— Omaha Driving Park — Fort 
 Omaha — Creighton College — Father Marquette — The Mormons — 
 "Winter Quarters" — Lone Tree Ferry — Nebraska Ferry Com- 
 pany — Old State House — First Territorial Legislature — Governor 
 Cummings— Omaha in the Civil War— Rapid Development of the 
 " Gate City " 409 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 OMAHA TO CHEYENNE. 
 
 Leave Paul in Omaha — Purchase a Mustang— Use ^^exican Saddle 
 — Over the Great Plains — Surface of Nebraska — Extensive Beds of 
 Peat— Salt Basins— The Platte River— High Winds— Dry Climate- 
 Fertile Soil — Lincoln — Nebraska City — Fremont — Grand Island — 
 Plum Creek— McPherson— Sheep Raising— Elk Horn River— In 
 Wyoming Territory — Reach Cheyenne — Description of Wyoming 
 — " Magic City " — Vigilance Committee— Rocky Mountains — 
 Laramie Plains — Union Pacific Railroad 420 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 
 Leave Cheyenne — Arrange to Journey with Herders — Additional 
 Notes on Territory — Yellowstone National Park — Sherman — 
 Skull Rocks — Laramie Plains — Encounter Indians — Friendly 
 Signals — Surrounded by Arrapahoes — One Indian Killed — Taken 
 Prisoners— Carried toward Deadwood — Indians Propose to Kill 
 
• CONTENTS. xvil 
 
 their Captives— Herder Tortured at the Stake— Move toward 
 Black Hills — Escape from Guards — Pursued by the Arrapalioes — 
 Take llefuj,'e ia a Gulch— Reach a Cattle Rauclj— Secure a 
 Mustang aud Continue Journey 435 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 AMONG THE MORMONS. 
 Ride Across Utah — Chief Occupation of the People — Description of 
 Territory — Great Salt Lake — Mormon Settlements — Brighara 
 Young — Peculiar Views of the Latter Day Saints—" Celestial 
 Marriages " — Joseph Smith, the Founder of Mormonism — The Book 
 of Mormon — City of Ogdeu — Pioneer History — Peter Skeen Ogden 
 — Weber and Ogden Ilivers — Heber C. Kimball — Echo Canyon — 
 Enterprise of the Mormons — Rapid Development of the Terri- 
 tory 446 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 OVER THE SIERRAS. 
 The Word Sierra— At Kelton, Utah— Ride to Terrace— Wells, 
 Nevada — The Sierra Nevada — Lake Tahoe — Silver Mines— The 
 Comstock Lode— Stock Raising — Camp Halleck — Humboldt River 
 — Mineral Springs — Reach Palisade — Reese River Mountain — 
 Golconda— Winnemucca — Lovelocks— Wadsworth— Cross Truckee 
 River — In California 458 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ALONG THE SACRAMENTO. 
 Colfax— ^Auburn— Summit — Reach Sacramento — California Boun- 
 daries — Pacific Ocean — Coast Range Mountains — The Sacramento 
 Valley — Inhabitants of California — John A. Sutter — Sutter's Fort 
 — A Saw-mill— James Wilson Marshall— Discovery of Gold — 
 " Boys, I believe I have found a Gold Mine "—The SecretOut— First 
 Days of Sacramento — A "City of Tents " — Capital of California 465 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO AND END OF JOURNEY. 
 Metropolis of the Pacific Coast — Largest Gold Fields in the World — 
 The Jesuits — Captain Sutter — Argonauts of " 49 " — Great Excite- 
 ment — Discovery of Upper California — Sir Francis Drake — .Tohn 
 P. Lease — The Founding of San Francisco — The "Golden Age" 
 — Story of Kit Carson — The Golden Gate — San Francisco Deserted 
 — The Cholera Plague— California Admitted to the Union— Cran- 
 dall's Stage — Wonderful Development of San Francisco — United 
 States Mint — Handsome Buildings — Trade with China, Japan, 
 India and Australia— Go Out to the Cliff House— Ride into the 
 
 Pacific — End of Journey , 476 
 
 2 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wayside Notes, ' Frontispiece. 
 
 Views in Boston, 33 
 
 Scenes in Boston, 40 
 
 Boston and Environs, .... 49 
 
 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 57 
 
 Leaving the Revere House, Boston, 72 
 
 Riding Through Cambridge, 77 
 
 View in Worcester, Mass.. 81 
 
 A New England Paper Mill, 85 
 
 Old Toll- Bridge at Springfield, 91 
 
 A Massachusetts Mill Stream, 96 
 
 The Springfield Armory, 100 
 
 A Mill in the Berkshire Hills, 103 
 
 A Hamlet in Berkshire Plills, 108 
 
 Suburb of Pittsfield, Ill 
 
 A Scene in the Berkshire Hills, 115 
 
 State Street and Ca[)itol, Albany, N. Y., 121 
 
 River Street, Troy, N. Y., 125 
 
 A Mountain Village, . .^ . . . 129 
 
 View in Schenectady, N. Y., 133 
 
 View in Mohawk Valley, 143 
 
 A Mill Stream in Mohawk Valley, 147 
 
 A Flourishing Farm, 15S 
 
 An Old Landmark, 162 
 
 The Road to Albany, 171 
 
 The District School-House, 175 
 
 Rural Scene in Central New York, 184 
 
 The Road to Buffalo, 193 
 
 •Juvenile Picnic, 206 
 
 Cottage on the Hillside, 211 
 
 Haying in Northern Ohio, 222 
 
 Ju>t Out of Clevehmd, 22«; 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 On the Shore of Lake Erie, 235 
 
 Sunday at the Farm, 239 
 
 A Home in the Woods, 246 
 
 Country Store and Post Office, 259 
 
 An Ohio Farm, 266 
 
 Outskirts of a City, 279 
 
 A Summer Afternoon, 304 
 
 The Country Peddler, 313 
 
 A Mill in the Forest, 322 
 
 No Kooms To Let, 335- 
 
 Rural Scene in Michigan, 342 
 
 Spinning Yarns by a Tavern Fire, 346 
 
 A Hoosier Cabin, 355 
 
 A Circus in Town, 359 
 
 A Country Road in Illinois, 382 
 
 An Illinois Home, 386 
 
 A Happy Family, 395 
 
 The Road to the Church, 399 
 
 An Illinois V^illage, 406 
 
 An Iowa Village, . . 419 
 
 On the Way to the Mill, 428 
 
 A Night Among the Coyotes, ... 432 
 
 High School, Omaha, Neb., 437 
 
 Omaha, Neb., in 1876, 441 
 
 Sport on the Plains, 450 
 
 Pawnee Indians Neb., . 454 
 
 North Platte, Neb., 458 
 
 Plum Creek, Neb., 463 
 
 Cattle Ranch in Nebraska, 467 
 
 View of Sidney, Neb., 471 
 
 Captured by the Indians, 478 
 
 Deciding the Fate of the Captives, 482 
 
 Escape from the Arcapahoes, 491 
 
 An Indian Encampment, Wyoming, 495 
 
 ^ Sheep Ranch in Wyoming, 504 
 
 Mining Camp in Nevada, 508 
 
 A Rocky Mountain River, 513 
 
 A Lake in the Sierra Nevadas, 517 
 
 View in Woodward's Garden, San Francisco, 525 
 
 Cascade by the Roadside, ... 537 
 
 The Pacific Ocean, End of Journey, . . 540 
 
OCEAN TO OCEAN 
 
 ON 
 
 HORSEBACK, 
 
 CPIAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTO R Y. 
 
 ROM earliest boyhood it had been my 
 earnest desire to see and learn from [)er- 
 sonal observation all tliat was possible 
 of the wonderful land of my birth. 
 Passing from the schoolroom to the 
 War of the Rebellion and thence back 
 to the employments of peace, the old 
 longing to make a series of journeys 
 over the American Continent again 
 took possession of me and was the controlling in- 
 centive of all my ambitions and struggles for many 
 years. 
 
 To see New England — the home of my ancestors ; 
 to visit the Middle and Western States; to look u[)on 
 the majestic Mississipj)! ; to cross the Great Plains ; to 
 scale the mountains and to look through tlie Golden 
 Gate upon the far-off Pacific were among tiie clierished 
 desires through which my fancy wandered before leav- 
 ing the Old Home and village school in Northern New 
 York. 
 
 (21) 
 
22 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 The want of an education and the want of money 
 were two serious obstacles which confronted me for a 
 time. Without the former I could not prosecute my 
 journeys intelligently and for want of the latter I 
 could not even attempt them. 
 
 Aspiring to an academic and collegiate course of 
 study, but being at that period entirely without means 
 for the accomplishment of my purpose, I left the dis- 
 trict school of my native town and sought to raise the 
 necessary funds by trapping for mink and other fur- 
 bearing auimals along the Oswegatchie and its tribu- 
 tary streams. This venture proving successful I en- 
 tered the academy at Gouverneur in August, 1857, 
 from which institution I was appointed to the State 
 Normal College at Albany in the fall of 1859. 
 
 I had been in Albany but six weeks when it became 
 apparent that if I continued at the Normal I would 
 soon be compelled to part with my last dollar for 
 board and clothing. 
 
 The years 1859-60 were spent alternately at Albany 
 as student and in the village schools of Rensselaer 
 County as teacher — the latter course being resorted to 
 whenever money was needed with which to meet cur- 
 rent expenses at the Normal School. 
 
 Then came the AVar of the Rebellion overriding 
 every other consideration. Books were thrown aside 
 and the pursuits of the student and teacher supplanted 
 by the sterner and more arduous duties of the soldier. 
 
 During my three years of camping and campaigning 
 with the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac I was 
 enabled to gratify to some extent my desire for travel 
 and to see much of interest as the shifting scenes of 
 conflict led Bayard, Stoneman, Pleasonton, Gregg, 
 
INTR on UCTO R Y. 23 
 
 Custer and Kili)atrick and their followers over (lie 
 liills and through the valk^ys of Virt^inia, INIai-ylaiid 
 and Pennsylvania. 
 
 Beino; eaplnred in a eavalry })attl(? between Kilpat- 
 rick and Stuart in Oetober, l.SO;^, 1 was imprisoned 
 successively at Richmond, Danville, Macon, Savainiah, 
 Charleston and Cohnnhia, from which last prison I 
 escaped in November, 1804; was recaptured and es- 
 caped a second and third time, traversing; the States of 
 South Carolina and Geori^ia in my long tramp from 
 Columbia to Savannah. 
 
 The marches, raids, battles, captures and escapes of 
 those days seem to have increased rather than dimin- 
 ished my ardor for travel and adventure and lience it 
 is possibly not strange that on leaving the army I still 
 looked forward to more extended journeys in the East 
 and exploratory tours beyond the Mississippi. 
 
 AVith the close of the war and mustering out of ser- 
 vice came new duties and responsibilities which I had 
 hardly contemj)lated during my school days. The 
 question of ways and means again confronted me. I 
 desired first to continue the course of study which had 
 been interrupted by my enlistment, and secondly to 
 carry out my cherished plans for exploration. Hav- 
 ing a journal ke[)t during my incarceration in and 
 escapes from Southern ])risons, I was advised and de- 
 cided to am[)lify and publish it if possible with a view 
 to promoting these projects. 
 
 Going to New York, I at once sought the leading 
 publishers. My manuscript was submitted to the 
 Harpers, Appletons, Scribners, and some others, 
 but as I was entirely unknown, few cared to under- 
 take the publication and none seemed disposed to allow 
 
24 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 a royalty which to me at least seemed consistent 
 with the time and labor expended in preparation. I 
 had now spent my last dollar in the ^letropolis in 
 pnrsuit of a pnblislier, and in this dilemma it was 
 tlionght best to retnrn to Albany, where I had friends 
 and perhaps some credit, and endeavor to bring ont the 
 book by subscription. This course would compel me 
 to assume the cost of production, but if successful 
 would prove much more lucrative than if issued in the 
 usual way through the trade. 
 
 Fully resolved upon retracing my steps to Albany, 
 I ^vas most fortunate in meeting an old comrade and 
 friend to whom I frankly stated my plans and circum- 
 stances. He immediately loaned me twenty dollars 
 with which to continue my search for a publisher and 
 to meet in the meantime necessary current expenses. 
 
 On reaching Albany an attic room and meals were 
 secured for a trifling sum, arrangements made with a 
 publisher, and the work of getting out the book begun. 
 While the printer Avas engaged in composing, stereo- 
 typing, printing and binding the work, I employed 
 my spare time in a door-to-door canvass of the city for 
 subscriptions, promising to deliyer on the orders as 
 soon as the books came from the press. In this way 
 the start was made and before the close of the year 
 hundreds of agencies w^re established tiiroughout the 
 country. 
 
 The venture proved successful beyond my most san- 
 guine expectations, and where I had expected to dis- 
 pose of two or three editions and to realize a few hun- 
 dred dollars from the sale of '^ Capture, Prison-Pen 
 and Escape/' the book had a sale of over 400,000 
 copies and netted me $75,000. This remarkable sue- 
 
INTRODUCTORY. .>:, 
 
 cess, rivallini:; in its financial results even " Uncle Tom's 
 Cabin/' which had just had a run of oOO,0()0 copies, 
 was most gratifyin<r and led to the pul)licatiun, at in- 
 tervals, of " Three Years in the Federal Cavalry ; " 
 "Battles for the Union," and "Heroes of Tiu'ce 
 Wars.'' 
 
 The temptation to make the most of my literary 
 ventures lured me on from year to year until 1870, 
 when 1 laid down the pen and began preparation for 
 my long contemplated and oft deferred journey across 
 the Continent. Being now possessed of ample means, 
 I proj)osed to ride at leisure on a tour of observation 
 
 from OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 My j)reference for an equestrian journey was in a 
 great measure due to early associations with the horse, 
 in jaunts along country highways and over the hills 
 after tlie cows, as well as ninnerous boyhood adventures 
 in which this noblest of animals frequently played a 
 conspicuous part. Tlien, too, my exjierience in the 
 cavalry largely influenced me to adopt the saddle as 
 the best suited to my pur])ose. 
 
 Reflecting furtlier iqmn the various modes of travel, 
 I was led to conclude as the result of mlich experience 
 that he who looks at the country from the windows of 
 a railway car, can at best have only an imperfect idea 
 of the many objects of interest which are constantly 
 brouglit to his notice. Again, a journey in tlie saddle, 
 wlierein the rider mounts and dismounts at will as he 
 jogs along over the highway, chatting with an occa- 
 sional farmer, talking with the people in town and 
 gazing upon rural scenes at his jileasure, ])resents many 
 attractive features to the student and tourist who 
 wishes to view the landscape, to comnunie with nature, 
 
26 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 to see men and note the products of their toil and 
 to learn something of their manners and customs. 
 
 Having therefore decided to make my journey in tbe 
 saddle, I at once set about to secure such a horse as 
 was likely to meet the requirements of my undertak- 
 ing. As soon as my purpose was known, horses of 
 every grade, weight and shade were thrust upon my 
 attention and after some three weeks spent in advertis- 
 ing, talks with horse fanciers and in the livery and sale 
 stables of Boston, my choice fell upon a Kentucky 
 Black Hawk, one of the finest animals I had ever seen 
 and, as was subsequently established, just the horse I 
 wanted for my long ride from sea to sea. 
 
 His color was coal black, with a white star in the 
 forehead and four white feet ; long mane and tail ; 
 height fifteen hands ; weiglit between ten and eleven 
 hundred pounds, with an easy and graceful movement 
 under the saddle ; his make-up was all that could be de- 
 sired for the objects I had in view. The price asked 
 for this beautiful anim'al was promptly paid, and it was 
 generally conceded that I had shown excellent judg- 
 ment in the selection of my equine companion. 
 
 A few days after my purchase I learned that my 
 four-le2;2:e(l friend had been but a short time before the 
 property of an ex-governor of Massachusetts and that 
 the reason he had but recently found his way into a livery 
 stable on Portland street, was that he had acquired 
 the very bad habit of running away whenever he saw 
 a railway train or anything else, in short, that tended 
 to disturb his naturally excitable nature. This infor- 
 mation led to no regrets, however, nor did it even 
 lessen my regard for the noble animal which was des- 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 27 
 
 tilled soon to be my sole com})aiiI()n in ni;iny a lonely 
 ride and adventure. 
 
 The unsavory reputation he had made, and possibly 
 of which he was very proud, of running away upon 
 the sliohtest provocation, smashing u{) vehicles and 
 scattering their occupants to the four winds, was consid- 
 ered by his new master a virtue rather than a fault, so 
 long as he ran in the direction of San Francisco, and 
 did not precipitate him from his position in the saddle. 
 
 As soon as I was in possession of my horse the 
 question of a suitable name arose and it was agreed 
 after some discussion among friends that he should be 
 christened Paul Revere^ after that stirring patriot of 
 the Revolution who won undying fame by his ride 
 from Boston and appeals to the yeomanry the night 
 before the Battle of Lexington. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 
 
 HE month of April, 1876, found my- 
 self and horse fully equipped and ready 
 to leave Boston, but I will not ride 
 away from the metropolis of New 
 England without some reference to its 
 early history and remarkable develop- 
 ment, nor without telling the reader of 
 my lecture at Tremont Temple and 
 other contemplated lectures in the lead- 
 ing cities and towns along my route. 
 
 Boston, standing on her three hills with the torch 
 of learning in her hand for the illumination of 
 North, South, East and West, is not one of your 
 ordinary e very-day cities, to be approached without 
 due introduction. Like some ancient dame of historic 
 lineage, her truest hospitality and friendliest face are 
 for those who know her story and properly appreciate 
 her greatness, past and present. Before visiting her, 
 therefore, I recalled to memory those facts which 
 touch us no more nearly than a dream on the pages 
 of written history, but when studied from the living 
 models and relics gain much life, color and verisimili- 
 tude. 
 
 Boston Harbor, with its waters lying in azure 
 (28) 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 2<) 
 
 placidity over the buried boxes of tea which the hasty 
 hands of the angered patriots hurled to a watery 
 grave; Boston Common, whose turf grows velvet- 
 green over ground once blackened by the fires of tiie 
 grim colonial days of witch-burning, and again 
 trampled down by innumerable soldierly feet in 
 Revolutionary times; the Old State House, from 
 whose east window the governor's haughty command, 
 " Disperse, ye rebels ! '^ sounded on the occasion of 
 the "Boston Massacre," the first shedding of American 
 blood by the British military ; and the monument of 
 Bunker Plill — these, with a thousand and one other 
 reminders of the city's brilliant historical record, com- 
 pose the Old Boston which I was pre})ared to see. 
 The fii'st vision, however, of that many-sided city 
 was almost bewilderingly different from the mental 
 picture. Where was the fpiaint Puritan town of the 
 colonial romances? Where were its crooked, winding 
 streets, its plain uncompromising meeting-houses, 
 darkened with time, its curious gabled houses, stoop- 
 ing with age? Around me everything was shining 
 with newness — the smooth wide streets, beautifully 
 paved, the splendid examples o^ fin de siecle architect- 
 ure in churches, public buildings, school houses and 
 dwellings. 
 
 Afterwards I realized that there was a New Boston, 
 risen Pluenix-like from the ashes of its many confla- 
 grations, and an Old Boston, whose " outward and 
 visible signs " are best studied in that pictures<pie, 
 shabby stronghold of ancient story, now rapidly de- 
 generating into a "slum " district — the North End. 
 
 Boston, viewed without regard to its history, is 
 indeed "Hamlet presented without the part of 
 
30 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 m 
 
 Hamlet." It would be interesting to conjecture what 
 the city's present place and condition might be, had 
 Governor Winthrop's and De])uty-Governor Dudley's 
 plan of making " New-towne" — the Cambridge of to- 
 day — tlie Bay Colony's principal settlement, been exe- 
 cuted. Instead, and fortunately, Governor Winthrop 
 became convinced of the superiority of Boston as an 
 embryo " county seat.'' " Tri mountain," as it was first 
 called, was bought in 1630 from Rev. William 
 Blackstone, who dwelt somewhere between the Charles 
 River and what is now Louisburg Square, and held 
 the proprietary right of the entire Boston Peninsula 
 — a sort of American Selkirk, " monarch of all he 
 surveyed, and whose right there was none to dispute." 
 He was '^ bought off," however, for the modest 
 sum of £30, and retired to what was then the 
 wilderness, on the banks of the Blackstone River — 
 named after him — and left '^ Trimountain " to the 
 settlers. Then Boston began to grow, almost with 
 the quickness of Jack's fabled beanstalk. Always 
 one of the most important of colonial towns, it con- 
 ducted itself in sturdy Puritan style, fearing God, 
 honoring the King — with reservations — burning 
 witches and Quakers, waxing prosperous on cod- 
 fish, and placing education above every earthly thing 
 in value, until the exciting events of the Revolution, 
 which has left behind it relics which make Boston a 
 veritable "old curiosity shop" for the antiquarian, or 
 indeed the ordinary loyal American, who can spend a 
 hap[)y day, or week, or month, prowling around the 
 picturesque narrow streets, crooked as the proverbial 
 ram's horn, of Old Boston. 
 
 He will perhaps turn first, as I did, to the 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 31 
 
 "cradle of Liberty "—Faiieiill Hall. A slight 
 shock will await liini, possibly, in the discovery that 
 under the ancient strnctnre, nuind which hover so 
 many imperishable memories of AmcM'ica's early 
 strnggles for freedom, is a market-house, where thrifty 
 housewives and still more thrifty farmers chaffer, 
 chat and drive bargains the year round, and whi(;h 
 brings into the city a comfortable annual income of 
 $'20,000. But the presence of the money-changers 
 in the temple of Freedom does not disturb the '^solid 
 men of Boston," who are pra(!tical as well as public- 
 spirited. The market itself is as old as the hall, 
 which was erected by the city in 1762, to take the 
 place of the old market-house, which Peter Faneuil 
 had built at his own expense and ])resented to the 
 city in 1 742, and which was burned down in 1761. 
 
 The building is an unpretending but substantial 
 structure, ])lainly showing its age both in tlie exterior 
 and the interior. Its size — seventy-four feet long by 
 seventy-five feet wide — is apparently increased bv the 
 lack of seats on the main florjr and even in the gallerv, 
 where only a few of these indispensable adjuncts to the 
 comfort of a later luxurious generation are provided. 
 The hall is granted rent free for such public or political 
 meetings as the city authorities may approve, and proba- 
 bly is only used for gatherings where, as in the old days, 
 the participants bring with them such an excess of 
 effervescent enthusiasm as would make them unwilling 
 to keep their seats if they had any. The walls are 
 embellished by ])ortraits of Hancock, Washington, 
 Adams, Everett, Lincoln, and other great personages, 
 and by Healy\s immense painting — sixteen by thirty 
 feet — of ** Webster Replying to Ilayne." 
 
32 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 
 For a short time Faneuil Hall was occupied by 
 the Boston Post Office, wiiile that institution, whose 
 early days were somewhat restless ones, was seeking 
 a more permanent home. For thirty years after the 
 Revolution, it was moved about from pillar to post, 
 occupying at one time a building on the site of Bos- 
 ton's first meeting-house, and at another the Mer- 
 chants' Exchange Building, whence it was driven by 
 the great fire of 1872. Faneuil Hall was next 
 selected as the temporary headquarters, next the Old 
 South Church, after which the Post Office — a veritable 
 Wandering Jew among Boston public institutions — 
 was finally and suitably housed under its own roof- 
 tree, the present fine building on Post Office Square. 
 
 To the Old South Church itself, the sightseer next 
 turns, if still bent on historical pilgrimages. This 
 venerable building of unadorned brick, whose name 
 figures so prominently in Revolutionary annals, stands 
 at the corner of Washington and Milk streets. Rows 
 of business structures, some of them new and clean as 
 a whistle and almost impertinently eloquent of the im- 
 portance of this world and its goods, cluster around 
 the old churcli and hem it in, but are unable to jostle 
 it out of the quiet dignity with which it holds its 
 place, its heavenward-pointing spire preaching the 
 sermons against world liness which are no longer 
 heard within its ancient walls. To every window the 
 fanciful mind can summon a ghost — that of Benja- 
 min Franklin, who was baptized and attended service 
 here; Whitfield, who here delivered some of the 
 soul-searching, soul-reaching sermons, which swept 
 America like a Pentecostal flame; Warren, who here 
 uttered his famous words on tlie anniversary of the 
 
IAa__, 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 35 
 
 Boston Massacre; of the patriot-orators of the Revolu- 
 tion and the organizers of the Boston Tea-Party, 
 whicli first took place as a definite scheme within 
 these walls. Here and there a red -coated figure would 
 be faintly outlined — one of the lawless troop of 
 British soldiers who in 1775 desecrated the church by 
 usint>;it as a ridinjx-school. 
 
 At present the church is used as a museum, where 
 antique curiosities and historical relics are on exhibi- 
 tion to the public, and the Old South Preservation 
 Committee is making strenuous efforts to save the 
 building from the iconoclastic hand of Progress, which 
 has dealt blows in so many directions in Boston, de- 
 stroying a large number of interesting landmarks. Its 
 congregation left it long ago, in obedience to that in- 
 exorable law of change and removal, which leaves so 
 many old churches stranded amid the business sections 
 of so many of our prominent cities, and settled in the 
 "New Old South Church '' at Dartmouth and Boyls- 
 ton streets. 
 
 It is curious and in its way disappointing to us visitors 
 from other cities to see what " a clean sweep" the 
 broom of improvement has been permitted in a city so 
 intensely and justly proud of its historical associations 
 as Boston. Year by year the old landmarks disap- 
 pear and fine new buildings rise in their places and 
 Boston is apparently satisfied that all is for the best. 
 The historic Beacon, for which Beacon Hill was named 
 and which was erected in 1634 to give alarm to the 
 country round about in case of invasion, is not only 
 gone, but the very mound where it stood has been 
 levelled, this step having been taken in 1811. The 
 Beacon had disappeared ten years before and a shaft 
 
36 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 sixty feet high, dedicated to the fallen heroes of 
 Bunker Hill, had been erected on the spot and of 
 course removed when the mound was levelled. The 
 site of Washington's old lodgings at Court and Han- 
 over street — a fine colouial mansion, later occupied by 
 Daniel Webster and by Harrison Gray Otis, the cele- 
 brated lawyer — is now taken up by an immense 
 wholesale and retail grocery store ; the splendid Han- 
 cock mansion, where the Revolutionary patriot enter- 
 tained Lafayette, D'Estaing, and many other notabili- 
 ties of the day, was torn down in 1863, despite the pro- 
 tests of antiquarian enthusiasts. The double house, 
 in one part of which Lafayette lived in 1825, is still 
 standing; the other half of it was occupied during his 
 lifetime by a distinguished member of that unsur- 
 passed group of literati who helped win for Boston so 
 much of her intellectual pre-eminence — George 
 Ticknor, the Spanish historian, the friend of Holmes, 
 Lowell, Whittier and Longfellow, from whom the 
 latter is supposed to have drawn his portrait of the 
 "Historian" in his " Tales of a Wayside Inn." The 
 Boston Public Library, that magnificent institution, 
 which has done so much to spread '^ sweetness and 
 light," to use Matthew Arnolds' celebrated definition 
 of culture, among the people of the " Hub,'^ counts 
 Mr. Ticknor among the most generous of its bene- 
 factors. 
 
 One interesting spot for the historical pilgrim is the 
 oldest inn in Boston, the '' Hancock House," near 
 Faneuil Hall, which sheltered Talleyrand and Louis 
 Philipi)e during the French reign of terror. 
 
 In addition to the fever for improvement, Boston 
 owes the loss of many of her time-hallowed buildings 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. ;>7 
 
 to a more disastnKis agency — that of the conflagi-a- 
 tions wliich liave visited her with strange frequency. 
 A fire in 1811, wliieh swej>t away the little house on 
 Milk street where Franklin was horn — and which is 
 now occupied by the Boston Post — another in 1871, in 
 which more than one hundred buildings were de- 
 stroyed ; and the'' Great- Boston Fire" of 1872, fol- 
 lowed by conflagrations in 1873,1874, 1877 and 1878, 
 seemed to indicate that the fire fiend had selected 
 Boston as his especial prey. To the terrible fire of 
 1872 many precious lives, property valued at eighty 
 millions of dollars, and the entire section of the city 
 enclosed by Summer, Washington, Milk and Broad 
 streets were sacrificed. The scene was one a witness 
 never could forget. Mingled with the alarum of the 
 fire-bells and the screams and shouts of a fear-stricken 
 people came the sound of terriffic ex[)losions, those of 
 the buildings which were blown up in the hope of 
 thus '^starving out '' the fire by making gaps which 
 it could not overstep, and to still further complete the 
 desolation, the gas was shut off, leaving the city in 
 a horror of darkness; but the flames swept on like a 
 pursuing Fury, wrapping the doomed city still closer 
 in her embrace of death, and who was not satisfied un- 
 til she had left the business centre of Boston a charred 
 and blackened ruin. 
 
 This same district is to-day, however, the most pros- 
 perous and architecturally preposessing of the business 
 sections of the city, practically illustrating another 
 phase of that same sj)irit of improvement and civic 
 pride which has overturned so many ancient idols and 
 to-day threatens others. Indeed, it would be a churl- 
 ish disposition which would lament the disappearance 
 
38 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 » 
 
 of the old edifices, tlie straightening of the thorough- 
 fares, the alterations without number which have 
 taken place, and which have resulted in the Boston 
 of to-dav, one of the most beautiful, prosperous 
 and public-spirited cities in the world. The intel- 
 ligence and local loyalty, for which lier citizens are 
 renowned, have been set to work to attain one object — • 
 the modest goal of perfection. Obstacles which 
 some cities might have contentedly accepted as un- 
 avoidable have been swept away; advantages with 
 which other cities might have been satisfied have 
 been still further extended and improved. The 783 
 acres originally purchased by the settlers of Boston 
 from William Blaxton for £30 has been increased 
 over thirty times, until the city limits comprise 
 23,661 acres ; this not by magic as it would seem, 
 but by annexation of adjoining boroughs — Roxbury, 
 Dorchester, Charlestown, and others — and by recla- 
 mation of the seemingly hopeless marshy land to the 
 north and south of the city. Tlie " Back-Bay '^ district, 
 the very centre of Boston's wealth, fashion and re- 
 finement, the handsomest residence quarter in 
 America, is built upon this '* made land,'' which it 
 cost the city about $1,750,000 to fill in and otherwise 
 render solid. 
 
 All good Bostonians, like the rest of their country- 
 men, may wish to go to Paris when they die — that point 
 cannot be settled; but it is certain that they all wish to 
 go to the Back-Bay while they live. And who can 
 wonder? To drive at night down Commonwealth 
 avenue, the most aristocratic street in this aristocratic 
 quarter, is to view a scene from fairyland. '^The 
 Avenue " itself is 250 feet wide from house to house 
 
SCEXES IX BOSTON. 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 41 
 
 and 175 feet wide from curb to curb, and in the centre 
 a picturesque strip of parklaud, adorned with statues 
 and bordered witli ornamental trees and shrubs, 
 follows its entire length. On either side of the street 
 stand j)alatial hotels and magnificent private resi- 
 dences, from whose innumerable windows twinkle in- 
 numerable lights, wliicli, mingling with the (piadruple 
 row of gas-lamps which look like a winding ribbon of 
 light, make the vista perfectly dazzling in its beauty. 
 By day, when the Back Bay Park, the Public Garden, 
 the fine bridge over the park water-way extension and 
 the handsome surround ino^ and intersectintr streets can 
 be seen, the view is even more attractive. 
 
 In the newer parts of Boston the reproach of 
 crooked streets, which has given her sister cities oppor- 
 tunity for so much good-natured " chaif," is removed, 
 and the thoroughfares are laid out with such precision 
 that ^' the wayfaring man, though a fool," can hardly 
 "err therein." In the business district much money 
 has been spent on the straightening process, a fact 
 whose knowledge prompts the bewildered stranger to 
 exclaim, " Were they ever worse than this? " Stories 
 aimed at this little peculiarity of the " Hul) " are innu- 
 merable, the visitor being told with perfect gravity that 
 if he follows a street in a straight line he will find 
 himself at his original starting-point — a statement the 
 writer's experience can pretty nearly verify. The best, 
 if not the most credible, of these tabs relates how a 
 puzzled pedestrian, becoming " mixed up in his tracks," 
 endeavored to overtake a man who was walking ahead 
 of him, and inquire his way. The faster he walked, 
 however, tiie faster the other man walked, until it 
 became a regular chase, and the now thoroughly con- 
 
42 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 fused stranger had but one idea — to catch his fellow- 
 pedestrian by the coat-tails, if need be, and demand to 
 be set on his homeward way. Finally, by making a 
 frantic forward lurcli, he succeeded — and discovered 
 that the coat-tails he was grasping were his own ! 
 
 The true Bostonian is secretly rather proud, how- 
 ever, of tliis distinguished trait of his beloved city, and 
 is willing to go "all around Robin Hood's barn" to 
 get to his destination. 
 
 But the thing of which the Bostonian is proudest of 
 all is his famous Common, whose green turf and noble 
 shade-trees have formed a stage and background for so 
 many of the most exciting scenes of Colonial and 
 Revolutionary history. Among the troops which have 
 been mustered and drilled upon it were a portion of the 
 forces which captured Quebec and Louisburg ; and the 
 rehearsals for the grim drama of war, which later was 
 partly performed on the same ground by red-coat and 
 continental, took place here. It was at the Common's 
 foot that the hated '^lobster-backs" assembled before era- 
 barking for Lexington ; on the Common that they 
 marshalled their forces for the conflict at Bunker Hill. 
 It has been covered with white tents during the British 
 occupation of Boston ; dotted with earthworks behind 
 which the enemy crouched, expecting an attack by 
 Washington upon their stronghold. It was on Boston 
 Common that the school-boys constructed their snow- 
 men, whose destruction by the insolent red-coats sent 
 an indignant deputation of young Bostonians to com- 
 plain to General Gage, who, stunned by what the 
 young Bostonian of to-day would designate as " the 
 cheek of the thing," promised them redress, and 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 43 
 
 exclaimed, "These boys seem to take in the love of 
 liberty with the very air they breathe." 
 
 There are other interesting historical incidents, 
 recorded in connection with the Common, but space 
 forbids their narration. I would rather describe it as 
 it first appeared to me, a beautiful surprise, a gracious 
 spot of greenness and of silvery waters and splendid 
 shade-trees, in the heart of the busy brick-bound city. 
 Here the children play and coast, as they did in the 
 days of General Gage ; here the lovers walk, on the 
 five beautiful broad pathways, the Tremont street, 
 Park street, Beacon street, Charles street and Boylston 
 street malls. Here the invalids and old folks rest on 
 the numerous benches ; here the people congregate on 
 sumtner evenings to enjoy the free open-air concerts, 
 which are given from the band-stand. " Frog Pond,'' 
 a pretty lakelet, near Flagstaff Hill, and a fine deer- 
 park in the vicinity of the Boylston street mall, are 
 great attractions. The Common covers forty -eight 
 acres, with 1000 stately old shade-trees, and the iron 
 fence by which it is inclosed measures 5932 feet. 
 
 In addition to its natural beauties, the Common has 
 two fine pieces of statuary, the Soldiers' and Sailors' 
 Monument on Flagstaff Hill, and the Brener Fountain. 
 The former was erected in 1871 at a cost of $75,000. 
 It is a majestic granite shaft in the Roman-Doric style, 
 seventy feet high, surmounted by a bronze figure of the 
 Genius of America, eleven feet in height. At the base of 
 the shaft are grouped alto-relievo figures representing 
 the North, the South, the East, and the West. Four 
 other bronze figures, representing Peace, History, the 
 Army and the Navy, stand on projecting pedestals 
 around the foundation. The monument, which was 
 
44 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 executed by Martin Mil more, was Boston's tribute to 
 her fallen heroes of the Civil War. The Brener 
 Fountain is a beautiful bronze casting designed by 
 Lienard, of Paris, with bronze figures representing 
 Neptune, Amphitrite, Acis, and Galatea grouped round 
 the base. The late Gardner Brener presented it to the 
 city in 1868. 
 
 To forget the Old Elm in describing the Common, 
 would be rank disrespect to that hoary " oldest inhabi- 
 tant," albeit nothing remains of it now but its memory. 
 An iron fence surrounds the spot where once it stood, 
 and a vigorous young sapling has })rovidentially 
 sprung up in its place, as a successor. The Old Elm 
 was ancient in 1630, when the town was settled, and 
 was one of its most interesting landmarks up to 1876, 
 when it was blown down. 
 
 The Public Garden, from which the beautiful Com- 
 monwealth avenue begins, the Back-Bay Park, which 
 cost a million of dollars, and the Arnold Arboretum, 
 where Harvard University has planted and maintained 
 a fine horticultural collection for the pleasure of the 
 public, are lovely spots on whose beauty the mind would 
 fain linger, but whose descriptions must be omitted, for 
 all Boston's splendid public buildings wait in stately 
 array their share of attention. Nowhere has the 
 skilled artist-architect, been so freely permitted to carry 
 out his designs unhampered by stupidity and stinginess 
 as in Boston, and the result has been a collection of 
 public buildings unsurpassed by those of any modern 
 city. The Boston State House comes first, of course — 
 did not the " Autocrat of the Breakfast Table " term it, 
 with loving exaggeration, the " Hub of the Solar 
 System ? " From Beacon Hill, the most prominent 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 45 
 
 coign of vantage wliicli could he selected for it, its 
 gilded dome rises majestically against the blue sky and 
 imperiously beckons the visitor to come and pay his 
 respects to this most venerated of Boston institutions. 
 The State House stands, at a height of 110 feet, at the 
 junction of Beacon and Mt. Vernon streets and Han- 
 cock avenue, on a lot which Governor Hancock once 
 used for pasturing his cows, and was erected in 1795, 
 beginning its existence in a blaze of glory, with the 
 corner-stone laid by Paul Revere, then Grand Master 
 of the Masons, and an oration by Samuel Adams. 
 The building contains Doric Hall, which is approached 
 by a fine series of stone terraces from Beacon street; 
 Hall of Representatives, the Senate Chamber, the 
 Goverment Room, and the State Library. 
 
 It abounds in relics, among which are the tattered 
 shreds of flags brought back by Massachusetts soldiers 
 from Southern battlefields — a sight which must stir 
 every loyal heart, to whatsoever State it owes alle- 
 giance ; the guns carried by the Concord minute-men in 
 the Revolutionary conflict ; and duplicates of the gift to 
 the State by Charles Sumner, of the memorial tablets 
 of the Washington ilimily in England. Doric Hall 
 contains busts of Sumner, Adams, Lincoln, and other 
 great men, and several fine statues — one of Washing- 
 ton, by Chantrey, and one by Thomas Ball ; a speaking 
 likeness in marble of John A. Andrew, the indomita- 
 ble old War Governor of Massachusetts. 
 
 On the handsome terraces in front of the building 
 stand two superb bronzes, one is the Horace Mann 
 statue, by Emma Stebbins, which was erected in 18(35, 
 andjMud for by contributions from teachers and school 
 children all over Massachusetts; theother Hiram Powers' 
 
46 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON BORSEHACK. 
 
 • 
 statue of Daniel Webster, which cost $10,000. It was 
 erected in 1859, and was the second statue of Webster 
 which the famous sculptor wrought, the first, the prod- 
 uct of so much toil and pains and the embodiment of 
 so much genius, having been lost at sea. 
 
 Last, but very far from least in importance, may be 
 mentioned the historic codfish, which iiangs from the 
 ceiling of Assembly Hall, dangling before the eyes of 
 the legislators in perpetual reminder of the source of 
 Massachusetts' present greatness, for the codfish might 
 by a stretch of Hibernian rhetoric be described as the 
 patron saint of the Bay State. 
 
 I must confess to having been one of the 50,000 
 curious ones who, it is computed, annually ascend into 
 the gilded cupola and " view the landscape o'er." The 
 spectacle unrolled panorama-like before the sight is 
 indeed a feast to the eyes. 
 
 The Old State House of 1748, built on the site of 
 Boston^s earliest town hall, is now used as a historical 
 museum under the auspices of the Boston ian Society. 
 Careful restoration has perpetuated many of the old 
 associations which hallow the ancient fane, sacred to 
 loyalty and to liberty. The old council-chambers have 
 been given much of their original appearance, and the 
 great carving of the Lion and the Unicorn, which 
 savored of oflPence to patriotic nostrils and so was taken 
 down from its gables in Revolutionary times, has been 
 replaced. To visit this building is a liberal education 
 in local history. 
 
 The Boston Post Office, of whose migrations I have 
 spoken earlier, is now settled for good and all in a 
 magnificent structure of Cape Ann granite, built in 
 Renaissance style, whose corner-stone was laid in 1871 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 47 
 
 and which was just ready for the addition of the roof 
 when theGreat Fire of 1872 descended uj)on it and beat 
 upon it so fiercely that even to-day the traces of the 
 intense heat are visible on parts of the edifice. 
 Damage to the amount of $175,000 was done. The 
 Sub-Treasury, tlie United States courts, the pension and 
 internal revenue offices are domiciled here, and it is 
 considered the handsomest public building in all New 
 England, having cost 16,000,000. The interior fur- 
 nishings are sumptuous in the extreme, the doors and 
 windows in the Sub-Treasury apartments being of solid 
 mahogany, beautifully polished. The *' marble cash- 
 room " is a splendid hall, decorated in Greek style, with 
 wall-slabbing of dark and light shades of Sienna mar- 
 ble and graceful pilasters of Sicilian marble. 
 
 The City Hall, on School street, is the seat of the 
 municipal housekeeping. Here the departments of 
 streets, water, lighting, police, and j)ublic printing 
 have their offices, and Common Council sits in august 
 assemblage. It is a commanding structure of granite, 
 fireproof, and in the Renaissance style. Its cost was 
 $500,000. Two fine bronze statues, one by Greenough, 
 of Franklin, one by Ball, of Josiah Quincy, ornament 
 the grassy square in front of the building. 
 
 No picture of Boston w^ould be complete without 
 that old landmark, Tremont Temple. It occupies 
 the former site of the Tremont Theatre and contains 
 one of the largest halls in the city. The building it- 
 self, however, sinks into insignificance before the crowd 
 of associations that stir the blood at its very name. 
 For years it has been the rallying point of Boston's 
 most notable gatherings — political, intellectual, and 
 religious. If, instead of colorless words, we could 
 
48 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 photograph upon this page the pictures those old walls 
 have looked upon, we might revel in a gallery of 
 famous portraits such as the world has rarely seen. 
 Edward Everett, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd 
 Garrison, Joseph Cook, Phillips Brooks, and other 
 master-spirits of the age, would be there. And there, 
 too, would be a sprinkling of that other sex, no longer 
 handicapped by tlie epithet '^gentler." 
 
 But, could we press the phonograph as well as the 
 camera into our service, and hear again the thunders 
 of stormy oratory, the clash of political warfare, and 
 the pleading tenderness of religious eloquence that has 
 often resounded under that old roof, then indeed we 
 might well forget the world of to-day in the fascination 
 of this drama of the past. 
 
 Architecturally, Boston combines in the happiest 
 way all that is beautiful and dignified in the classic 
 models and all that is fresh and original in modern 
 canons of building. A magnificent group of buildings, 
 in the vicinity of Boylston and Huntingdon streets 
 and Copley Square, fairly takes the breath away with 
 its beauty. Trinity Church and the Museum of Fine 
 Arts, the " New Old South Church '' and the new 
 Boston Public Library, form such a quartet of splen- 
 did edifices as even the travelled eye seldom sees. 
 The Public Library is an embodied Triumph — the 
 symbol of that great heritage of culture which the city 
 pours out on her denizens as lavishly and as freely as 
 water, and which, like " the gentle dew from heaven, 
 blesseth him that gives and him that takes," return- 
 ing to enrich the community with its diffused presence, 
 like the showers which return to the bosom of the river, 
 the moisture the sun only borrowed for a space. 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 51 
 
 Bostonians have always been proud of their Public 
 Library, from its foundation in 1852. By 1885, the 
 Boylston street building, with accommodations for 
 250,000 volumes, was too contracted a space to hold tlie 
 largest public library in the world, and with charac- 
 teristic promptness the city rose to the occasion and era- 
 bodied its thought that ^' nothing can be too good for 
 the people" in the beautiful new library in Copley 
 Square, which cost the royal sum of $2,<J00,000. 
 
 The long chapter of description which this splendid 
 enterprise merits must be reluctantly crowded into a 
 few lines. Nothing, however, save personal observa- 
 tion, can give an adequate perception of its outward 
 loveliness; its exterior of soft cream-gray granite, with 
 a succession of noble arched windows ranged along its 
 fine fa9ades ; its arches, pillars and floorings of rare 
 marbles, and its mosaics, panels and carvings. The grand 
 staircase of splendid Sienna marble, opposite the main 
 entrance, is one of the finest in the world ; and vScholar 
 or philosopher could ask no more attractive spot for 
 thoughtful promenade than the beautiful open court, 
 with its marble basin and MacMonnies fountain in the 
 centre, the soft green of its surrounding turf affording 
 grateful rest to book- wearied eyes, and the pensive beauty 
 of the cloister-like colonnade forming an ideal retreat. 
 
 The foremost artists of the world are represented in 
 the interior decoration. The famous St. Gaudens seal, 
 designed by Kenyon Cox and executed by Augustus 
 St. Gaudens, ornaments the central arch of the main 
 vestibule; the bronze doors are by Daniel G. French; 
 the splendid marble lions in the staircase hall — erected 
 as memorials to their martyred comrades by two regi- 
 ments of Massachusetts volunteers — are by Louis St. 
 
52 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Gaudens ; and Puvis de Chavannes, James McNeil 
 Whistler, Edwin A. Abbey and John S. Sargent are 
 among the celebrated artists who have contributed to 
 the mural decorations, friezes and ceiling frescoes. 
 
 Six hundred and fifty thousand volumes at present 
 constitute the stock of the library — a vast treasure- 
 house of information, instruction and pleasure to 
 which any citizen of Boston can have access by simply 
 registering his name, and which among other valuable 
 special collections includes the Brown musical library 
 of 12,000 volumes and rare autograph manuscripts; 
 the Barton Shaksperian library, one of the finest col- 
 lections of Shakesperiana extant, valued at $250,000; 
 the Bowditch mathematical library and the splendid 
 Chamberlain collection of autographs, which is worth 
 $60,000 and represents a lifetime of work on the part 
 of the donor. The wonderful pneumatic and electric 
 system of tubes and railways which connects thedelivery 
 and stackrooms and keeps this vast collection of books, 
 pamphlets and magazines in circulation, smacks almost 
 of the conjurer's craft. AVhatever else must be 
 crowded out of a visit to Boston, the Public Library 
 assuredly should not be passed by. 
 
 Trinity Church stands within hailing distance of 
 the Public Library, on Boylston and Clarendon streets 
 — an imposing and beautiful edifice of granite and 
 freestone, built in French Romanesque style, with a 
 tower 211 feet high. Far outside of Boston has the 
 fame of Trinity Church penetrated, owing not to the 
 fact that it is one of the most splendid, costly and 
 fashionable churches in the country, but to its ever- 
 revered and ever-mourned rector, the late Phillips 
 Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, whose massive figure 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 53 
 
 will stand out a<:;ain.st the horizon for many a year as 
 the most striking speaker and deeply s[)i ritual thinker 
 Ameriea has ever known. 
 
 From Copley S(piare, not far from Trinity, rise the 
 spires of the " New Old South " Chureh, a superb 
 structure in North Italian Gothic style, rich in 
 beautiful stone-work, carvings and stained glass. It 
 was erected at a cost of over half a million of dollars 
 to take the place of the disused "Old South" on 
 Washington street. Another prominent church is the 
 First Church, at Marlborough and Berkeley streets, 
 the lineal descendant of the humble little mud-walled 
 meeting-house which was the first consecrated roof 
 under which the good folk of Boston gathered for di- 
 vine worship. The congregation of that day could 
 scarce believe their sober Puritan eyes could they be- 
 hold the $325,000 church which was built in 1868 to 
 continue the succession which had begun with the 
 little mud meeting-house of 1632. 
 
 King's Chapel, with its ancient burying-ground, is 
 one of the most famous churches in Boston, having 
 been the chapel of the royal governor, officers of the 
 army and navy, and other official representatives of 
 the " principalities and powers " of the mother coun- 
 try. Massive, almost sombre, in its exterior, and 
 quaint and picturesque within, the old church stands, 
 with few changes, as erected in 1749, with its old-fash- 
 ioned pulpit and sounding-board, ])rim, straight ])illars, 
 and antique high-backed pews which recall the remark 
 of the little o-irl, that when she went to church she 
 "went into a cupboard and climbed up on the shelf." 
 Its burying-ground is believed to be the oldest in the 
 city. Christ Church, built in 1 723, is the oldest church 
 
54 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 edifice in the city. Its ag'e- mellowed chime of bells 
 was the first ever brought into this country, and the 
 first American Sunday-school was established there in 
 1816. To-day its tall steeple, which on the eve of 
 Lexington^s conflict bore the signal lanterns of Paul 
 Revere, is the most conspicuous object in the North 
 End, where the old-time aristocrats who worshipped 
 in Christ Church have given place to a poverty-stricken 
 foreign population to whom the church is little and its 
 traditions less. Churches which well deserve more 
 extended mention, could space permit, are the beautiful 
 Gothic Cathedral of the Holy Cross, with its fine 
 organ and splendid high-altar of onyx and marble; 
 Tremont Temple, whose hall is the largest in Boston; 
 and the South Congregational Church, presided over 
 by Rev. Edward Everett Hale, author of '* The 
 Man without a Country " and other world-famous 
 literary productions, and originator of the equally 
 famous " Ten Times One " clubs. 
 
 Boston's religious history is most interesting, although 
 almost kaleidoscopic in its changes. From being the 
 stronghold of Puritan orthodoxy it has become the 
 headquarters of liberal Unitarianisra. King's Chapel 
 is a curious instance; originally an Episcopal church 
 a«d congregation, it became Unitarian in 1787, retain- 
 ing the Episcopal liturgy with necessary changes, and 
 now doctrines are preached over the tombs of the dead 
 dignitaries interred beneath the church floor, diamet- 
 rically opposed to those in which they lived, died and 
 were buried. Though all denominations of course 
 flourish within her walls, Boston is still strongly Con- 
 gregational in her leanings. 
 
 From the churches to the schools is a natural tran- 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 55 
 
 sition. The founders of Boston's greatness placed the 
 two influences side by side in importance, and their 
 wisdom in doing so has had its justification. The 
 current " poking of fun '' at the " Boston school-ma'am," 
 her glasses, her learning and her devotion to Brown- 
 ing; and the Boston infant, who converses in polysyl- 
 lables almost from his birth, has its foundation in the 
 fact, everywhere admitted, that nowhere are intelli- 
 gence and culture so widely diffused in all ranks of 
 life as in Boston. The free-school system, an experi- 
 ment which she was the first American city to inaugu- 
 rate, is considered by educators to lead the world. Tho 
 city's annual expenditures for her public schools, of 
 which there are over 500, amount to about $2,000,000, 
 and from the kindergarten to the High School, where 
 the pupils can be prepared for college, the youth of 
 the city are carefully watched, trained, instructed, and 
 all that is best in them drawn out. Even in summer, 
 " vacation schools " are held, where the children who 
 would otherwise be running wild in the streets can 
 learn sewing, box-making, cooking and other useful 
 branches. 
 
 The English High and Latin School is the largest 
 free public school building in the world, being 423 
 feet long by 220 feet wide. It is a fine structure in 
 Renaissance style, with every advantage and improve- 
 ment looking to health and convenience that even the 
 progressive Boston mind could think of It would be 
 a sluggish soul indeed that would not be thrilled by 
 the sight of the entire school-battalion going through 
 its exercises in the immense drill-room, and realize the 
 hopeful future for this vast army of coming citizens, 
 
56 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 who are thus early and thus admirably taught the 
 priceless lesson of discipline. 
 
 The Boston Normal School, the Girls' High School 
 and the Public Latin School for girls, fully cover the 
 demand for the higher education of women. The 
 latter institution is the fruit of the eiforts of the 
 Society for the University Education of Women, and 
 its graduates enter the female colleges with ease. 
 Wellesley, the ^' College Beautiful/' as its students have 
 fondly christened it, is situated close to Boston in the 
 beautiful village of Wellesley, where feminine educa- 
 tion is conducted almost on ideal lines. No woman's 
 college in the world has so many students, or so beau- 
 tiful a home in which to shelter the fair heads, in- 
 wardly crammed and running over with knowledge, 
 and outwardly adorned, either in fact or in prospective, 
 with the scholastic cap of learning. Since its opening 
 in 1875, Wellesley has almost created a new era in 
 woman's education, and its curriculum is the same as 
 those of the most advanced male colleges. The Col- 
 lege Aid Society, which at an annual cost of from 
 $6000 to $7000 helps ambitious girlhood, for whom 
 straitened means would otherwise render a university 
 education impossible, is an interesting feature of the 
 college. 
 
 What Wellesley has for twenty years been to Ameri- 
 can girlhood. Harvard University has for 150 years 
 been to American young manhood, and though its chief 
 departments are located at Cambridge, it may still be 
 fairly ranked with Bostonian institutions. The tie 
 which connects the Cambridge University and the 
 capital of Massachusetts is closer than that existing 
 between mere neighbors — it is a veritable bond of kin- 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 59 
 
 ship. It might he said tliat from the opening of the 
 University in l(jo8, Boston made Harvard and Har- 
 vard Boston. Its illustrious founder, John Harvard, 
 was a resident of Charlestown, now a part of Boston — 
 and his monument, erected hy suhscriptions of Harvard 
 graduates, is one of the princi|>al "sights" of that dis- 
 trict, where it stands near the Old State Prison. To its 
 classic groves Boston has sent, and from them received 
 again, the noblest of her sons; and three of her de- 
 partments, the Bussey Institution of Agriculture, the 
 Medical School and the Dental School, are situated 
 within the limits of Boston proper. Harvard Uni- 
 versity at present owns property valued at $6,000,000, 
 and accommodates nearly 2000 puj)ils. In addition 
 to the departments already mentioned and which are 
 located in Boston, the principal sections are Harvard 
 College, the Jefferson Laboratory, the Lawrence 
 Scientific School, the new Law School, the Divinity 
 School, the Harvard Library, Botanical Gardens, 
 Observatory, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Pea- 
 body Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Agassiz 
 Museum, Hemenway Gymnasium and Memorial Hall. 
 To wander through its ancient halls, the oldest of 
 which dates back to 1720, and which have been used 
 by Congress, is to visit the cradle of university educa- 
 tion in America. 
 
 Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of 
 Technology, one of the best scientific colleges on the 
 continent. Tufts College and the celebrated Chauncy 
 Hall School, are among the finest of Boston's mairy 
 admirable educational institutions. 
 
 Mention has been made of the Harvard Monument, 
 but not of the others among the scores of fine examples 
 
60 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 of the sculptor's art which are scattered throughout 
 the city in generous profusion for the delight and the 
 education of the public eye. The famous Bunker Hill 
 Monument was naturally one of the first objects sought 
 out by the writer on the occasion of his first visit to 
 Boston. This splendid shaft of granite was dedicated 
 to the fallen patriots of Bunker Hill in 1841, the 
 corner-stone having been laid in 1825 by General 
 Lafayette — Daniel Webster delivering the orations 
 on both occasions. Its site, on Monument Square, 
 Breed's Hill, is the spot where the Americans threw 
 up the redoubt on the night before the memorable 
 battle, and a tablet at its foot marks the place where 
 the illustrious Warren fell. 
 
 The monument is 221 1^ feet high — a fact fully real- 
 ized only by climbing the 259 steps of the spiral stair- 
 case of stone in the interior of the shaft which leads 
 to a small chamber near the apex, from which four 
 windows look out upon the surrounding country — a 
 superb vista. The cost of this monument was 
 $150,000. 
 
 In the Public Garden, in the Back Bay district, 
 across from Commonwealth avenue, may be seen one 
 of the largest pieces of statuary in America, and, ac- 
 cording to some connoisseurs, the handsomest in Bos- 
 ton. This is Ball's huge statue of Washington, which 
 measures twenty-two feet in height. The statue was 
 unveiled in 1869, and it is said that not a stroke of 
 work was laid upon it by any hand of artisan or artist 
 outside of Massachusetts. The Beacon street side of 
 the Public Garden contains another famous statue — 
 that of Edward Everett, by W. W. Story. Other 
 great citizens whose memory has been perpetuated in 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. Q\ 
 
 life-like marble arc Samuel Adams, William Lloyd 
 Garrison and Colonel William Prescott. The Eman- 
 cipation Group is a duplicate of the ''Frcedman's j\Ie- 
 morial" statue in Washington. The soldiers' monu- 
 ments in Dorclicster, Charlcstown, Roxhury, West 
 Roxbury and Brighton commemorate the unnamed, 
 uncounted, but not unhonored dead who laid down 
 their lives on the battlefields of the Civil War. 
 
 "The bravely dumb who did their deed, 
 And scorned to blot it with a name ; 
 Men of the plain, heroic breed, 
 
 Who loved Heaven's silence more than fame." 
 
 An interesting object is the Ether. Monument on 
 the Arlington street side of the Public Garden, erected 
 in recognition of the fact that it was in the Massa- 
 chusetts General Hospital — in the face of terrible 
 opposition and coldness and discouragement, as history 
 tells us, though the marble does not — that Dr. Sims 
 first gave the world his wonderful discovery of the 
 power of ether to cause insensibility to pain. 
 
 That there should be so many of these fine pieces 
 in Boston's parks and public places is matter for con- 
 gratulation but scarcely for surprise. As a patron of 
 music, literature, art and all the external graces of 
 civilization she has so long and so easily held her su- 
 premacy that one is half inclined to believe that at 
 least a delegation of the Muses, if not the whole 
 sisterhood, had exchanged the lonely and unappre- 
 ciated grandeur of Parnassus for a seat on one of 
 Boston's three hills. The Handel and Haydn Society, 
 the oldest musical society in the United States ; the 
 Harvard Musical Association; the famous Boston 
 
62 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 Symphony Orchestra and the Orpheus Chib, speak — 
 and right musically — of Boston's love for the art of 
 which Cecilia was patron saint. Music Hall, an im- 
 mense edifice near Tremont street, is the home of 
 music in Boston. Here the symphony concerts are 
 held weekly, and here all the musical " stars" whose 
 orbit includes Boston make their first appearance be- 
 fore a critical " Hub" audience. Its great organ, with 
 over 5,000 pipes, is one of the largest ever made. 
 
 The idea of a national university of music — sneered 
 at and scouted when a few enthusiasts first talked and 
 dreamed of it — took shape in 1867 in the now famous 
 New England Conservatory of Music, founded by 
 Eben Tourjee. It is a magnificent school in a mag- 
 nificent home — the old St. James' Hotel on Franklin 
 Square — with a hundred teachers from the very fore- 
 most rank of their profession. The conservatory has 
 possibly done more for New England culture than 
 any other influence save Harvard University. 
 
 The literary life of Boston needs neither chronicler 
 nor comment. Such men as Thomas Bailey Aldrich, 
 Oliver ^yendell Holmes, Francis Parkman, Prescott, 
 the historian, Longfellow, Lowell and countless others 
 who, living, have made the city their home, or, dead, 
 sleep in its chambers of Peace, have cast a glamour of 
 books and bookmen and book-life around her until 
 her title of "The Athens of America" has passed from 
 jest to earnest. The earliest newspaper in America 
 was the Boston News Letter; and to-day its many 
 newspapers maintain the highest standard of '^ up-to- 
 date" journalism in the dignified, not the degrading 
 sense of the word. Boston is indeed a " bookworm's 
 paradise," with its splendid free lending library and 
 
J^OSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. G.I 
 
 low-priced book-stores, making access to the best 
 authors possible to the poorest. The Atlantic Monthly^ 
 wliicli for so many years has occupied a place unique 
 and unapproachable among American magazines, is 
 published here. 
 
 Art is represented by the magnificent Museum of 
 Fine Arts, with its beautiful exterior and interior 
 decorations and fine collection of antiques and art ob- 
 jects ; the Art Club, the Sketch and the Paint and 
 Clay clubs, as well as by the innumerable paintings 
 and statues appearing in public places ; by the Athe- 
 iiseum, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 
 the Boston Society of Natural History, the Warren 
 Museum and the Lowell Institute free lectures. 
 
 To draw this brief study of Boston to a close 
 without mentioning her countless charities would be a 
 grave omission, since these form so large a part of the 
 city's life and activities. As is always the case in 
 great towns, two hands are ever outstretched — that of 
 Lazarus, pleading, demanding, and that of Dives — 
 more unselfish now than in the days of the parable — 
 giving again and yet again. Boston's philanthropists 
 flatter themselves that there the giving is rather more 
 judicious, as well as generous, than is frequently the 
 case ; and that " the pauperizing of the poor," that 
 consummation devoutly to be avoided, is a minimized 
 danger. The " Central Charity Bureau " and the 
 *' Associated Charities " systematize the work of relief, 
 prevent imposture and duplication of charity, and do 
 an invaluable service to the different organizations. 
 Private subscriptions of citizens maintain the work, 
 which is carried on in three fine buildings of brick 
 and stone on Chardon street, one of which is used as a 
 
64 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 temporary home for destitute women and children. 
 The Massachusetts General Hospital — which, save for 
 the Pennsylvania Hospital, is the oldest in the country 
 — the Boston City Hospital, the New England Hos- 
 pital for Women and Children, and a number of other 
 finely-organized institutions care efficiently for the 
 city's sick and suffering. Orphan asylums, reform 
 schools, missions of various sorts, and retreats for the 
 aged and indigent, are numerous. 
 
 One of the most unique and interesting among 
 these charities is " The Cliildren's Mission to the 
 Children of the Destitute,'^ which aims to bring the 
 little ones of these two sadly separated classes, the 
 poor and the well-to-do, in contact for their mutual 
 benefit. By its agency the forlorn little waifs of the 
 streets are provided with home and friends, religious 
 and secular instruction, and employment whenever 
 necessary or advisable. Still more unique is the 
 Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association, 
 whose vast building and hall on Huntingdon avenue 
 occupies an area of over 110,000 square feet. As 
 early as 1795 this association was founded to extend a 
 helping hand to mechanics in difficulties, to establish 
 libraries and classes for apprentices, offer premiums 
 for inventions and improvements in trades, and give 
 every encouragement to the tradesman. The building 
 is a beautiful as well as a vast structure, and eight 
 thousand people can be seated in the grand hall. The 
 mechanics' festivals, fairs, and exhibitions of indus- 
 try are held here from time to time, when there is 
 much awarding of medals, prizes and honors. 
 
 On Boston's commercial greatness there is no space 
 to touch. Nor is it needed. Could her schools, her 
 
BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. G5 
 
 churches, her charities, her institutions, public and 
 private, which have here been outlined, flourish with- 
 out the backbone of Puritan thrift and tiie framework 
 of prosperity which iiave made her one of the wealth- 
 iest of cities? The solid business foundation is appar- 
 ent to all who visit iier teeming marts and exchanges. 
 But the "power behind the throne" is kept with rare 
 judgment in the background; and when the visitor 
 comes to kiss the hand of the " Queen of the Common- 
 wealth " he sees only her chosen handmaids — Ambi- 
 tion, Culture, Philanthropy, Religion. On these, 
 finally, she rests her claims to greatness. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 LECTURE AT TREMONT TEMPLE. 
 
 ECTURING in the towns I purposed 
 visiting was an after consideration of 
 secondary importance — a sort of adjunct 
 to the journey and the objects I had 
 in view. It was thought that it might 
 afford some facilities for meeting large 
 numbers of people face to face in the 
 different sections of the country through 
 which I designed to pass, and thus 
 enable rae the better to learn something of their social 
 customs, industries and general progress in the arts 
 of civilization. 
 
 The subject decided upon for the lecture was 
 "Echoes from the Revolution,'^ and was intended to 
 be in keeping with the spirit of the Centennial year. 
 The fact that I had been a cavalryman during the 
 War of the Rebellion and the novelty of an equestrian 
 journey of such magnitude would, I estimated, very 
 naturally awaken considerable interest and a desire 
 on the part of many to hear what I had to say of the 
 heroes of " 76." 
 
 My lecture was a restrospective view of the leading 
 incidents of the Revolution, with especial reference to 
 some of the sturdy heroes and stirring scenes of that 
 (66) 
 
LECTURE AT TUEMONT TEMPLE. Cyl 
 
 most eventful ])erio(l in American History. Briefly 
 referring to tlie causes wliich led n[) to the war, I 
 started with the Ride of Paul Revere from Boston 
 the night before the ]3attle of Lexington, and closed 
 with the Surrender of C'ornwallis at Yorktown. 
 
 It was not my wish or intention to derive any pe- 
 cuniary benefit from my lectures ; but being a member 
 of the Grand Army of the Republic, and thoroughly 
 in synipathy with the aims and benevolent projects of 
 my soldier friends, it was proposed to donate the pro- 
 ceeds to the Relief Fund of that jMitriotic organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 Fully equipped, the weather favorable and roads in 
 good condition, I was anxious to begin my journey 
 early In May. It was therefore arranged, as previously 
 suggested, that I should lecture at Tremont Temple on 
 the evening of May eighth under the auspices and for 
 the benefit of the G. A. R. Relief Fund. 
 
 The subjoined fraternal and highly complimentary 
 letter of introduction from Captain Frank M. Clark 
 of New York was received by the committee of ar- 
 rangements soon after my arrival in Boston. 
 
 4 Irving Place, 
 Neiv York, April 20, JL876. 
 To Comrades of the G. A. R. : 
 
 I have been intimately acquainted with Captain Willard Ghizier, 
 a comrade in good standing of Post No. 29, Department of New 
 York, Grand Army of the Republic, for the past eight years, and 
 know liim to be worthy the cotifidence of every loyal man. He is 
 an intelligent and courteous gentleman, an author of good repute, a 
 soldier whose record is without a stain, and a true comrade of the 
 ** Grand Army." I bespeak for him the earnest and cordial sujtport 
 of all comrades of the Order. 
 
 Yours very truly in F., C. and L., 
 
 Frank M. Clark, 
 Late A. A. G. Department of New Y'ork, G. A. R. 
 
68 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 I may add that, as this was the first occasion of any 
 
 importance on which I had been expected to appear be- 
 fore a public assemblage, I was strongly recommended 
 to deliver my initial lecture before a smaller and 
 less critical audience than I was likely to confront in 
 Boston, and thus prepare myself for a later appearance 
 in the literary capital ; but I reasoned from the stand- 
 point of a soldier that, as lecturing was a new experi- 
 ence to me, my military training dictated that if I 
 could carry the strongest position in the line I need 
 have but little, if any, concern for the weaker ones, and 
 hence resolved to deliver my first lecture at Tremont 
 Temple. I was introduced by Captain Theodore L. 
 Kelly, commander of Post 15, Department of Mas- 
 sachusetts, G. A. E,., and was honored by the presence 
 on the platform of representatives from nearly all of 
 the Posts of Boston and adjacent cities. In presenting 
 me Captain Kelly spoke in the following most flatter- 
 ing terms : 
 
 " Ladies and Gentlemen : It gives me pleasure to have 
 the honor of introducing to you one who, by his services 
 in the field and by the works of his pen, is entitled to your 
 consideration, and the confidence of the comrades of the 
 ' Grand Army of the Republic. ' I desire to say that he 
 comes well accredited, furnished with the proper vouchers and 
 documents, and highly endorsed and recommended by the 
 officers of the Department of the State of New York. 
 Though young in years, his life has been one of varied and 
 exciting experience. Born in the wilds of St. Lawrence 
 County, New York, his education was drawn from the great 
 book of Nature; and from his surroundings he early imbibed 
 a love of liberty. His early associations naturally invested 
 him with a love of adventure and excitement, and when the 
 call of war was heard he at once responded, and enlisted in 
 the Harris Light Cavalry, with which corps he passed through 
 
LECTURE AT TREMONT TEMPLE. GO 
 
 many exciting scenes of march and fray. His experience 
 amid the various vicissitudes of the war, in camp and field 
 and prison, have been vividly portrayed by his pen in his 
 various publieatioiis. Still inspired by this love of adventure, 
 lie proposes to undertake the novelty of a journey across the 
 Continent in the saddle. His objects are manifold. While 
 visiting scenes and becoming more familiar with his own 
 country, he will collect facts and information for a new book, 
 and at his various stopping-places he will lecture under the 
 auspices and for the benefit of the ' Grand Army of the 
 Republic,' to whose fraternal regard he is most warmly com- 
 mended. Allow me then, ladies and gentlemen, without 
 further ceremony, to present to you the Soldier- Author, and 
 our comrade, Willard Glazier." 
 
 I was much gratified on the morning of the ninth 
 to find commendatory reference to my lecture in the 
 leading journals of Boston, for I will frankly admit 
 that I had had some misgivings as to the verdict of the 
 critics, and rather expected to be " handled without 
 gloves" in some of the first cities on the programme. 
 Of the dailies which came to my notice the Globe 
 said : — 
 
 "A very fair audience considering the unfair condition of the 
 elements, was gathered in Tremont Temple last night to hear Cap- 
 tain Willaid Glazier's lecture upon 'Echoes from the Revolution.' 
 Tlie frequent applause of the audience evinced not only a sympa- 
 thy with the subject, but an evident liking of the manner in which 
 it was delivered. The lecture itself was a retrospective view of the 
 leading incidents of the Revolution. It would have been unfair to 
 expect to hear anything very new upon a subject witli which the 
 veriest school-boy is familiar ; but Captain Glazier wove the events 
 together in a manner which freed the lecture from that most 
 unpardonable of all faults, which can be committed upon the plat- 
 form — dulness. He passed over, in his consideration of the Revo- 
 lution, the old scenes up to the time when Cornwallis surrendered 
 up his sword and command to George Washington. 'The year 
 1S7G,' said (!aptain (ilazier, 're-echoes the scenes and events of a 
 hundred years ago. In imagination we make a pilgrimage back to 
 
70 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the KevoliUion. We visit the fields whereon our ancestors fought 
 for liberty and a republic. We follow patriots from Lexington to 
 Yorktown. I see thera pushing their way through the ice of the 
 Delaware — I see them at Saratoga, at Bennington, at Princeton, 
 and at Monmouth. I follow Marion and his daring troopers 
 through the swamps of Georgia and the Carolinas ;' and in follow- 
 ing them up, the lecturer interspersed his exciting narrative with 
 sundry droll episodes. Treating of the battles of Trenton and 
 Princeton, he expatiated upon the devoted heroism of John Stark, 
 and briefly traced his career until, at Bennington, Burgoyne's 
 victor announced to his comrades, *We must conquer to-day, my 
 boys, or to-night Molly Stark's a widow.' One battle after another 
 was handled by the lecturer in a pleasing manner, showing that he 
 was thoroughly familiar with the subject he had chosen for his 
 theme. After speaking in a most zealous manner of the troops on 
 land, Captain Glazier remarked : ' Our victories on the ocean dur- 
 ing the war of the Revolution were not less decisive and glorious 
 than those achieved on land. John Paul Jones and the gallant 
 tars who, under his leadership, braved the dangers of the deep, 
 and wrested from proud Britain, once queen of the sea, that illus- 
 trious motto which may be seen high on our b'anner beside the 
 stars and stripes.' 
 
 "Captain Glazier made special mention of the naval engagement 
 between the Bon Homme Richard and the British man-of-war 
 Serapis, which took place in September, 1789. He described in 
 glowing words the fierce nature of that memorable contest, until 
 the captain of the Serapis, with his own hand, struck the flag of 
 England to the free Stars and Stripes of young America. Captain 
 Glazier has elements in him which, carefully matured and nur- 
 tured, will make him successful on the platform, as he has already 
 proved himself in the field of literature. He has a strong and 
 melodious voice, a gentlemanly address, and unassuming confi- 
 dence. He was presented to the audience by Commandant Kelly, 
 of Post 15, Grand Army of the Republic, in a brief but eloquent 
 speech. Captain Glazier will start on his long ride to San Fran- 
 cisco, from the Revere House, this morning, at 9.30, and will be 
 accompanied to Bunker Hill and thence to Brighton, by several 
 distinguished members of the 'Grand Army,' and other gentlemen, 
 who wish the captain success on his long journey." 
 
 The lecture proved a success financially, and in ful- 
 
^ >.'»<^^t65Si>^ 
 
 p^-^X 
 
 i 
 
LECTURE AT TREMONT TEMPLE. 7;^ 
 
 filment of my purpose I donated the entire proceeds to 
 tlie Relief Fund of Posts 7 and 15, as I was largely 
 indebted to the comrades of these organizations for 
 the hearty co-operation which insured a full house 
 at Tremont Temple. The letter below was addressed 
 to the Assistant Adjutant-General of the Department. 
 
 Revere House, 
 Boston, Massachusetts, 
 May 9, 1876. 
 Captain Charles W. Thompson, 
 
 A. A. G. Department of Mass., G. A. R. 
 Comrade : I find pleasure in lianding you the net proceeds of 
 my lecture, delivered at Treraont Temple last night, which I de- 
 sire to be divided equally between Posts 7 and 15, G. A. R., of 
 Boston, for the benefit of our disabled comrades, and the needy and 
 destrtute wards of the "Grand Army." Gratefully acknowledging 
 many favors and courtesies, extended to me in your patriotic city, 
 I am yours in F., C. and L., 
 
 WiLLARD Glazier. 
 
 My letter to Captain Thompson elicited responses 
 from the Posts to which donations were made, and the 
 following from the Adjutant of John A. Andrew, 
 Post 15, is introduced to show their appreciation of my 
 efforts in behalf of their Relief Fund. 
 
 Headquarters, 
 Post 15, Department of Massachusetts, G. A. R., 
 Boston, May 12, 1876. 
 Captain Willard Glazier : 
 
 Comradk : In obedience to a vote of this Post, I am ])leased to 
 transmit to you a vote of thanks for the money generously donated 
 by you. through our Commander, as our cjuota of the proceeds of 
 your lecture in this city ; and also the best wishes of the comrades 
 of this Post for you personally, and for the success of your lecture 
 tour from sea to sea. 
 
 Yours in F., C. and L., 
 
 Edward F. IIollins, 
 
 Adjutant of Post 
 
74 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 It is only justice to the comrades of Posts 7 and 
 15 to say that on my arrival in Boston they were 
 most cordial in their reception, most zealous in their 
 co-operation with my advance agents and most solicit- 
 ous for the success of my journey and its objects. In 
 short they were true comrades in the best sense of the 
 term, and my delightful sojourn in their patriotic city 
 was largely due to their numerous courtesies. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BOSTON TO ALBANY. 
 
 iFirst JDaw. 
 
 South Framingham House, 
 
 South Fkaminguam, Massachusetts, 
 
 3Iay 9, 1876. 
 
 HE initial step in my journey from 
 Ocean to Ocean was taken at ten o'clock 
 on the morning of the above date when 
 I mounted my horse in front of the 
 llevere House, Boston, and started for 
 Worcester, where it had been announced 
 I would lecture on the following even- 
 ing. The Revere House was fixed 
 upon by comrades of the G. A. R. as 
 a rendezvous before starting. Here I found a large 
 gatliering of the Order. A rain storm setting in as I 
 put my foot into the stirru[), hasty adieus were said 
 to the Boys in Blue and others as I was about riding 
 away from the ^' Revere." 
 
 I was escorted to Bunker Hill and thence to 
 Brighton by many comi-ades and friends, among thcni 
 (\)lonels Joiin F. Finley and E. A. \\'ilIIston, who 
 were nuMinted ; and Captain CharK's W. Thompson, 
 adjutant-general Department of jNIassachusetts ; Caj)- 
 5 (7.^) 
 
76 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 tain Theodore L. Kelly, Commander of Post 15; 
 Grafton Fen no, adjutant, Post 7, G. A. R., and many 
 others in carriages. 
 
 Our route from Boston was by way of Charlestown 
 and Cambridge to Brighton. A short halt was made 
 at Bunker Hill. After a hurried look at the Monu- 
 ment we rode around it and then headed for Brighton. 
 The rain was now falling in torrents and quick- 
 ening our pace we passed rapidly through Cambridge, 
 glancing hastily at the University Buildings as we 
 galloped down the main thoroughfare of the city. 
 
 Brighton was reached between twelve and one 
 o'clock. Owing to the storm our short journey to this 
 place was anything but agreeable and when we dis- 
 mounted at the Cattle Fair Hotel all who were not in 
 covered conveyances were drenched to the skin. Here 
 the entire party had dinner, after which I took leave 
 of my friendly escort, who one and all took me by the 
 hand and wished me Godspeed. 
 
 Pushing on through Newton and some smaller 
 towns and villages I pulled up in front of the South 
 Framingham House a few minutes after five o'clock 
 in the evening. My clothing was thoroughly soaked 
 and my cavalry boots filled to overflowing. Having 
 secured accommodations for the night, Paul was fed 
 and groomed ; clothing and equipments hung up to 
 dry and the first day of my long ride from sea to sea 
 was off the calendar. 
 
 Seconb ©au. 
 
 Bay State Souse^ 
 
 WoRCESTEK, Massachusetts, 
 
 May Tenth. 
 
 I slept soundly at the South Framingham House 
 
BOSTON TO ALU ANY. 79 
 
 and was up and out to the hotel stable at an early 
 hour in the mornincr. I found Paul Revere, my 
 equine eonipanion, in good spirits and fancied that the 
 si*;nificant look he gave ine was an assurance that he 
 would be ready for the road when called for. 
 
 After a hearty breakfast and a few questions con- 
 cerning the beautiful little city in which I had spent 
 the first night of my journey, I mounted /^//// and 
 rode out towards the J>oston and Albany Turnpike. 
 Being impressed witli the appearance and enterprise 
 of the place, while passing through some of its streets 
 especial inquiry was made concerning its population, 
 schools and industries. I learned that South Fra- 
 mingham is twenty-one miles from Boston, at the junc- 
 tion of the Boston and Albany and Old Colony Rail- 
 ways. Its population at that time was about 10,000. 
 Its graded schools are among the first in the State. 
 It supports several banks and newspapers and is 
 engaged in the manufacture of woollens, rubber goods, 
 boots and shoes, harness and machinery. 
 
 The ride from South Framingham to Worcester 
 was uneventful if I except the pelting rain which 
 from drizzle to down-pour followed me from start to 
 finish. Indeed, it really seemed af3 though the first 
 days of my journey were to be baptismal days and 
 I regret exceedingly that these early stages of the trip 
 were not more propitious; for, had the weather been 
 less disagreeable, I should have seen Eastern Massa- 
 chusetts under much more favorable circumstances. 
 
 The city limits of Worcester were reached at four 
 o'clock in the afternoon and a half hour later I was 
 registered at the Bay State Ilojise. Many relatives 
 called upon me here, most of whom were residents of 
 
go OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the city and vicinity. Lectnred at the Opera House 
 in the evening, being introduced to my audience by 
 Colonel Finley of Ciiarlestown, to wliora previous 
 reference has been made, and with whom I had 
 arranged to accompany me as far as Syracuse, New 
 York, and further if my advance agents should think 
 it advisable for him to do so. 
 
 Tiie fact that both my father and mother were na- 
 tives of Worcester County and that most of our 
 ancestors for several generations had been residents 
 of Worcester and vicinity made that city of unusual 
 interest to me, and I trust the reader will be in- 
 dulgent if I allot too much space or seem too 
 partial in my description of this early landmark in my 
 journey. 
 
 Worcester, nestling among the hills along the 
 Blackstone River, the second city in Massachusetts, 
 the heart of the Commonwealth, has a population of 
 about 85,000. 
 
 Shut in by its wall of hills, it seemed, as I first came 
 into it, something like a little mifiiature world in itself. 
 It possesses some share of all the good we know. 
 Nature, that ^' comely motlier,^^ has laid her caressing 
 hand upon it. Art has made many a beautiful struc- 
 ture to adorn its streets. Commerce smiles upon it. 
 Wliile its wonderful manufactures seem to form a 
 a great living, throbbing heart for the city. 
 
 Sauntering up from the depot, through Front street, 
 five minutes' walk brouglit me to the Old Common. 
 There I found, what one so frequently finds in 
 Massachusetts towns and cities — namely, a War Mon- 
 ument. Apparently that mighty five years' struggle, 
 that brilliant victory, bringing freedom to two million 
 
BOSTON TO ALU A NY. 83 
 
 fellow-creatures, briugiiijj^ power, union, <;lorv to tiu; 
 nation, has burned itself into the very heart of 
 Massachusetts; and lest posterity might forget the 
 lessons she learned from 18(51 to 18G5, everywhere 
 she has planted her war nionuincnts, to remind her 
 children that 
 
 " Simple duty has no j)lace for fear." 
 
 In the shade of Worcester Common is another 
 object of interest. A little plot of ground, wherein 
 stands a grand old tomb. It is the resting-j)lace of 
 Timothy Bigelow, the early ])atri()t of Worcester. 
 Here in the sunshine and the twilight, in the bloom 
 of summer, and under the soft falling snows of winter, 
 he perpetually manifests to the world 
 
 " How sleep the brave, who sink to rest 
 By all their country's wishes blest." 
 
 A sturdy old New Englander was Colonel Bigelow. 
 "When the news of the destruction of the tea in 
 Boston Harbor reached him, he was at work in his 
 blacksmith shop, near the spot now called I^incoln 
 Square. He immediately laid aside his tools, pro- 
 ceeded directly to his house, o})ened the closet, and 
 took from it a canister of tea, went to the fire-place, and 
 poured the contents into the flames. As if feeling 
 that everything which had come in contact with 
 British legislative tyranny should be purified by fire, 
 the canister followed the tea; and then he covered 
 both with coals. 
 
 "Before noon on the nineteenth of April, ITTo, an 
 express came to town, shouting, as he passed through 
 the street at full speed, ^ To arms ! to arms ! — the war's 
 
84 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 begun/ His white horse, IJoody with spurring, and 
 dripping with sweat, fell exhausted by the church. 
 Another was instantly procured, and the tidings went 
 on. The bell rang out the alarm, cannon were fired, 
 and messengers were sent to every part of the town to 
 collect the soldiery. As the news spread, the imple- 
 ments of husbandry were thrown by in the field ; and 
 the citizens left their homes, with no longer delay than 
 to seize their arms. In a short time, the ^ minute-men ' 
 were paraded on the green, under Captain Timothy 
 Bigelow. After fervent prayer by Rev. Mr. Maccarty, 
 they took up their line of march to the scene of con- 
 flict.'^ Such was Bigelow's zeal and ardor in the 
 great cause of the times, that he appeared on the fol- 
 lowing morning, at the head of his ^^ minute-men/' in 
 the square at Watertown, having marched them there, 
 a distance of over thirty miles, during that one short 
 night. 
 
 On the nineteenth of April, 1861, the Bigelow Monu- 
 ment was dedicated. At the very hour of the conse- 
 cration exercises, the Massachusetts Sixth Regiment 
 was engaged in its memorable struggle and triumphant 
 passage through the blockaded streets of Baltimore at 
 the beginning of the Civil War. 
 
 Along the west side of the Old Common runs Main 
 street, just out of which, in Pearl street, is tlie Post 
 Office. I have seen a curious computation with regard 
 to that Post Office development, which aptly illustrates 
 the rapid growth of Worcester. The number of 
 letters sent out in 1809 was about 4,400. The number 
 of letters taken out fifty years later was 523,808. 
 Main street reaches Lincoln Square, where stand the 
 two court houses. The old one has been removed a 
 
BOSTON TO ALHANV. 87 
 
 few feci, and refitted. In it the criminal courts are 
 held ; there too are the oflices of the court of })rol)ate 
 and insolvency. 
 
 The New Court House was built in 1845 of Quincy 
 granite, at a cost of about one hundred thousand 
 dollars. In it the civil terms of the courts are held, 
 with numerous ante-rooms for the jurors and for con- 
 sultation. The lower floor is occu{>ied by the office of 
 the register of deeds, and by the clerk's and treasurer's 
 offices. 
 
 Close neighbor to the court houses is the building 
 containing the rooms of the American Antiquarian 
 Society, one of the leading learned bodies of our 
 country. It was founded in 1812. It possesses a 
 very valuable library, especially rich on subjects of 
 local interest to Americans. The newspapers filed here 
 include over four thousand volumes, beginning with 
 the Boston Neivs Letter of 1804, and closing with the 
 great journals of to-day. This same society also 
 possesses a very interesting collection of pre-historic 
 American relics. 
 
 In Lincoln Square stands the old Salisbury man- 
 sion, an interesting specimen of a colonial house, 
 which has been standing a century or so, since the 
 time when those substantial buildings, with their wide 
 halls, high ceilings, and strong walls, were built on 
 honor. There it has stood in its dignity, more 
 flimsy, more showy architecture springing up around 
 it, until now the Jin de siecle eye discovers that 
 nothing is more to be desired than one of these same 
 sturdy old colonial houses. 
 
 Main street contains many churches, (^n it is the 
 large, ugly-looking, but justly celebrated, Clark Uni- 
 
88 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 versity, which is devoted to scientific research, with its 
 wonderfully equipped chemical laboratory. 
 
 Any one who wants a bird's-eye view of Worcester 
 and its environments, can easily have it by strolling 
 out Highland street to Newton Hill. It is only about 
 a mile from Lincoln Park, but it is six hundred and 
 seventy feet above the sea level, and from it " the 
 whole world, and the glory thereof,'' seems spread out 
 at one's feet. 
 
 On Salisbury street, one mile from the square, 
 stands the house in which George Bancroft, the histo- 
 rian, dear to American hearts, was born. 
 
 A mile and a half from the square, on Salisbury 
 Pond, are located the famous Wire Works of Wash- 
 burn and Moen. 
 
 There are many buildings to interest the visitor in 
 Worcester. The State Lunatic Asylum, with its one 
 thousand patients; the free Public Library on Elm 
 street, containing eighty thousand volumes; the High 
 School on Walnut street; the Museum of the National 
 Historical Society, on Foster street ; All Saint's 
 Church; the Polytechnic Institute; the College of 
 the Holy Cross, six hundred and ninty feet above the 
 sea, and many another place of interest, calling on the 
 passers-by to look, and learn of the world's advance- 
 ment. 
 
 Standing on one of the h^ghts overlooking the 
 little river, the surrounding hills, the busy city, throb- 
 bing with its many manufactories, it seemed to me I 
 had before my eyes an object lesson of the wonderful 
 resources, the vim, the power of making " all things 
 work together for good," which I take to be the vital 
 characteristic of American manhood. 
 
BOSTON TO ALBANY. gjj 
 
 I remembered reading that in IGG? a coniiMittce 
 was appointed to decide whether it would be wise to 
 attempt to locate a village on the present site of 
 Worcester. 
 
 They reported that the })lace was one day's journey 
 from Boston, and one day's journey from Springfield, 
 that the })lace was well watered by streams and 
 brooks, and that in eight miles square there was 
 enough meadow to warrant the settling of sixty 
 families, adding these words: " We recommend that a 
 prudent and able committee be appointed to lay it out, 
 and that due care be taken by said committee that a 
 good minister of God's Word be placed there, as soon 
 as may be, that such people as be there planted may 
 not live like lambs in a large place." 
 
 That was only a little more than a century ago. 
 As I stood overlooking it all, ^' thickly dotted with 
 the homes of the husbandmen, and the viilaires of the 
 manufacturer, traversed by canal and railway, and 
 supporting a dense population," proving so strong a 
 contrast between the past generation's humble antici- 
 pations, and our overflowing prosperity, I asked 
 myself what those old Puritans would have thought 
 of our railroads, our electric cars, our modern ma- 
 chines, our telephones ; and I said, with a spirit of 
 self-gratulation, 
 
 "We are living, we are dwelling, 
 In a grand and awful time; 
 In an age on ages telling, 
 To be living is sublime." 
 
90 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 Sljirb a\\b iTourtl) ^am. 
 
 Bates House, 
 Springfield, Massachusetts, 
 
 May Eleventh. 
 
 Lowering clouds and a slight fall of rain again con- 
 fronted me as I mounted Paul at seven o'clock on the 
 morning of the Third Day in front of the Bay State 
 House, Worcester, and rode out to the Boston and 
 Albany Turnpike. The prospect of meeting my wife 
 and daughter, whom I had not seen for several months, 
 and the lecture appointment for Springfield made this 
 one of the memorable days of my journey for speed 
 and endurance. Fifty-four miles were whirled off in 
 eight hours and the fact established that Paul could 
 be relied upon to do all that was required of him. 
 
 I had hardly dismounted in front of the Bates 
 House when Mrs. Glazier and Alice came running 
 from the hotel to greet me. They had been visiting 
 in Hartford and had come up to Springfield early in 
 the morning, reaching the city several hours before 
 my arrival. This visit with my family at Springfield 
 was one of the pleasant episodes of my journey and 
 long to be remembered in connection with my ride 
 across the Bay State. 
 
 My lecture was delivered at the Haynes Opera 
 House, whither I was escorted by comrades of the 
 G. A. R. The introduction was by Captain Smith, 
 Commander ,of the Springfield Post, who spoke 
 pleasantly of my army and prison experiences and of 
 the objects of my lecture tour. 
 
 Hastening back«to the Bates House after the lecture, 
 
BOSTON TO ALBANY. 93 
 
 the reniaiiulor of tlie evening was spent with my wife 
 and (laughter aiul a few friends who had called for a 
 social talk and to tell nie something of the early 
 history of S[)ringfield and vicinity. 
 
 As the lectnre api)ointment for Pittsfield was set for 
 the fifteenth I readily discovered by a simple calcnla- 
 tion that I conld easily spend another (hiy with Ilattie 
 and Alice and still reach Pittsfield early in the after- 
 noon of the fifteenth. The leisure thus found was 
 devoted to strolls in and around Springfield and a 
 careful study of the city and its environs. 
 
 When King Charles the First had dissolved his third 
 parliament, thus putting his head on the bleeding heart 
 of puritan ism, there lived in Springfield, England, a 
 warden of the established church. " He was thirty- 
 nine years of age, of gentle birth, acute, restive, and 
 singularly self-assertive. He had seen some of the 
 stoutest men of the realm break into tears when the 
 King had cut off free speech in the Commons; he had 
 seen ritualism, like an iron collar, clasped u])on the 
 neck of the church, while a young jewelled courtier, 
 the Duke of Buckingham, dangled the reputation of 
 sober England at his waistcoat. A colom'al enter- 
 prise, pushed by some Lincolnshire gentlemen, had 
 been noised abroad, and the warden joined his for- 
 tunes with them, and thus became one of the original 
 incorporators mentioned in the Royal Charter of the 
 Massachusetts Bay Company in America. This was 
 William Pinchon." After reaching this country he 
 became treasurer of the colony, and a member of the 
 general court. He formed plans for a coast trade, and 
 for a trade with the Indians. 
 
 Such was the man of mark, who in 1G3(J, with a 
 
9-4 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 colony of friends, made a» settlement on the fertile 
 meadows of the Indian Agawam. The spot was 
 obtained by a deed signed by thirteen Indians, and 
 Pinchon, in loving remembrance of his old English 
 home, christened the new settlement Springfield, 
 From the little we can glean of them, the ancient 
 inhabitants of the village must have been a grim old 
 race. 
 
 Hugh Parsons, and Mary, his wife, were tried for 
 witchcraft. 
 
 Good wife Hunter was gagged and made to stand in 
 the stocks for "Sundry exhorbitance of ye toung.'^ 
 
 Men were fined for not attending town meeting and 
 voting. 
 
 In August, 1734, the Rev. Robert Breck was called 
 to the church in Springfield. 
 
 Shortly before that he had used the following words 
 in one of his sermons : " What will become of the 
 heathen who never heard of the gospel, I do not pre- 
 tend to say, but I cannot but indulge a hope that God, 
 in his boundless benevolence, will find out a way 
 whereby those heathen who act up to the light they 
 have may be saved.'^ 
 
 The news of this alarming hope came to Spring- 
 field, and a few other so-called unorthodox utter- 
 ances were attributed to him. "In the minds of the 
 River Gods heterodoxy was his crime. For this the 
 Rev. gentleman was not only tried by a council of the 
 church, but a sheriff and his })osse appeared and 
 arrested Mr. Breck in his Majesty's name, and the 
 prisoner was taken first to the town-house, and after- 
 ward to New London for trial." 
 
 The early Springfield settlers had few of the 
 
BOSTON TO ALBANY. 97 
 
 articles which we consider the comuioiiest cum forts of* 
 lifb. 
 
 Hon. John Worthlngton, ^' One of the Gods of the 
 Connoctlcnt Valley," owned the first uiid)relhi in 
 Springfield. lie never profaned the article hy 
 carrying it in the rain, bnt used it as a snn-shade 
 only. 
 
 In 1753 there w\as bnt one clock in Springfiehl. It 
 was considered a great cnriosity, and people used to 
 stop to hear it strike. 
 
 As early as about 1774 that wonderful innovation, 
 a cooking-stove, made its appearance in Si)ringii('ld. 
 The stove was made in Philadelphia, and weighed 
 . eight or nine hundred pounds. 
 
 It was 1810 when David Ames brought the first 
 piano into the little settlement. 
 
 We are furnished with a description of Springfield 
 iff 1789 by the journal of the Great Washington. 
 Under the date of October twenty-first he wrote, 
 "There is a great equality in the people of this 
 State. Few or no opulent men, and no poor. "Great 
 similitude in their buildings, the general fashion of 
 which is a chimney — always of brick or stone — and a 
 door in the middle, with a staircase fronting the 
 latter, and running up by the side of the former; two 
 flush stories, with a very good show of sash and glass 
 windows; the size generally from thirty to fifty feet 
 in length, and from twenty to thirty in width, ex- 
 clusive of a back shed, which seems to be added as the 
 family increases." 
 
 Much later in our national history, Springfield 
 became one of the most important stations of the 
 " Underground Railroad." 
 
98 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 In a back room on Main street can still be seen a 
 fireplace, preserved as a memento of stirring clays, 
 when many a negro was pushed up through it, to be 
 secreted in the great chimney above. 
 
 Springfield has had many noted citizens. The his- 
 torian Bancroft lived thereat one time; so did John 
 Brown, of Harper's Ferry fame. 
 
 George Ashman, a brilliant member of the local 
 bar, was made chairman of the famous Chicago con- 
 vention of 1860 which nominated Abraham Lincoln 
 for President. Mr. Ashman also had the honor to 
 convey the formal notice of the nomination to Lincoln 
 in Springfield, Illinois. 
 
 Dr. J. G. Holland lived in Springfield, where all 
 of his prose works first made their appearance, in the 
 columns of the Springfield Republican. 
 
 No spot in Springfield is more interesting to those 
 fortunate enough to see it than the United States 
 Arsenal. 
 
 Springfield Armory was established by act of Con- 
 gress, April, 1794, its site having been accepted by 
 by Washington in 1789. The plant consists of the 
 Armory and Arsenal on the hill, and the water shops, 
 distant about two miles, on Mill River. Main 
 Arsenal is on a bhiif overlooking the city, and is one 
 hundred and sixty feet above the river. It is a partial 
 copy of East India House in London. From its tower 
 there is a wonderful view of the surrounding country, 
 and one which was greatly admired by Charles Dickens 
 during his visit to America. 
 
 The Main Arsenal is two hundred feet by seventy, 
 and is three stories high, each floor having storage 
 capacity for one hundred thousand stand of arms. 
 
BOSTOX TO ALU A XV. 101 
 
 Longfellow's lines have made this a elassic spot : 
 
 " This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling, 
 Like a luige organ, rise the burnislied arms; 
 But from the silent pipes no anthem pealing 
 Startles the villages with strange alarms. 
 
 "Oh! what a sound will rise, how wiUl and dreary, 
 When the death angel touches those swift keys I 
 What loud lament and dismal miserere 
 Will mingle with those awful symphonies I 
 
 "Peace! and no longer from its brazen portals 
 
 The blast of War's great organ shakes the skies; 
 But beautiful as songs of the immortals, 
 The holy melodies of love arise." 
 
 Beside the Main Arsenal, two other buildings are 
 used for the storage of arms. 
 
 In 1795 Uncle Sam made his first musket. That 
 year forty or fifty men were employed, and 245 
 muskets were made. Between that and the present 
 time over 2,000,000 weapons have been turned out. 
 During that time $82,500,000 have beea expended. 
 When Sumter was fired 0!i about 1,000 weapons per 
 month were being made. Three months later, .'5,000 
 were made each month. In 1864, 1,000 muskets were 
 completed each day, and 3,400 men were employed, 
 witli pay roll sonietiines amounting to §200,000 per 
 month. At present only 400 men are emi)loyed. 
 
 From Springfield stock have come eight college 
 presidents, namely of Yale, Harvard, Columbia, 
 Amherst, Princeton, Trinity, Beloit, and Dickinson. 
 
 Springfield of to-day is a thriving city of about 
 50,000, and is the county seat of Hampden C^ounty. 
 Some one, I think, has called it the "city of homes." 
 Its streets are l)road, and well shaded by elms and 
 
102 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 maples ; many of its residences are detached, and as 
 a whole it bears the stamp of taste and refinement. 
 
 Springfield is within easy reach of many points of 
 interest. It is ninety-eight miles from Boston, one 
 hundred and twenty miles from New York, and 
 twenty -six miles from Hartford. 
 
 The growth of the Springfiehl Street Railroad 
 Company has been phenomenal. In 1869 this com- 
 pany started out with only $50,000 capital stock. Its 
 length was only about two miles. It had only four 
 cars and twenty-five horses. Three years ago horses 
 were disj)laced by electricity. Now, in the busy season, 
 the daily mileage of transit on the thirty-five miles of 
 track is equal to the distance from Springfield to San 
 Francisco and half-way back. During the fiscal year 
 closing October first, 1892, 7,500,000 fares were taken. 
 
 The stores of Springfield are remarkably large and 
 tasteful. Haynes & Company have the largest clothing 
 house in Massachusetts, out of Boston. 
 
 In 1875 Meakins & Packard started in business 
 with only one boy to help them. Now their building 
 is one hundred feet square, and seven stories high, 
 while they now have over one hundred employees. 
 
 Springfield has three great manufactories. Smith 
 & Wesson Pistol Works ; R. F. Hawkins Iron 
 Works ; and the Wesson Car Manufactory. Smith & 
 Wesson employ about 500 men, with an annual output 
 of 80,000 weapons. They ship goods to Russia and 
 other countries. The Wesson Car Company in 1860 
 sent $300,000 worth of goods to the Egyj)tian govern- 
 ment. They have also done considerable work for 
 South America. They have done $150,000 worth for 
 

 feSM 
 
 -fw ."■*' ■* 
 
 
 'M^^ 
 
BOSTON TO ALBANY. 105 
 
 the Now Jersey Central Railroad, and $1,700,000 
 worth lor the Central Facilie Raih'oad. 
 
 The City Library was built at a eost of $100,000, 
 and contains 80,000 books. A(]joinini^ the library is 
 the beautiful new art building, containing a rare and 
 costly collection of curiosities. 
 
 The City Hall is a building in the Romanesque style. 
 It contains a public hall with a seating capacity of 
 2,700. 
 
 The Court House is an imposing structure, is built 
 of granite, and cost $200,000. 
 
 The city has many a lovely spot in which to 
 recreate. Imagine four hundred acres, woodland al- 
 ternating with highly cultivated lawns, and stretches 
 of blooming plants. Imagine in the midst of this a 
 deep ravine, with a brawling little brook through it. 
 Imagine five lakelets covered by Egyptian lotus, and 
 the different varieties of water-lilies. Through all 
 this loveliness, think of seven miles of charming 
 drives, winding in and out like a ribbon, and you 
 have in your mind a picture of Springfield's darling, 
 Forest Park. 
 
 iifti) JDag. 
 
 Eussell House, 
 
 Russell, Massachusetts, 
 
 May Thirteenth. 
 
 My wife and daughter were not easily reconciled 
 to my leavetaking of Springfield, but yielding to the 
 inevitable, adieus were quickly said, Paul was mounted 
 and I rode slowly away from the Bates House, turn- 
 ing occasionally in the saddle nntil entirely out of 
 sight of my loved ones, then putting spurs to my horse 
 
 6 
 
106 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 galloped out to the turnpike and headed for Russell, 
 the evening objective. 
 
 Considerable rain fell during the day and the roads 
 at this time through Western Massachusetts were in 
 a wretched condition. With clothing thoroughly 
 soaked and mud anywhere from ankle to knee deep, 
 the trip from Springfield to Russell was anything but 
 what I had pictured when planning my overland tour 
 in the saddle. Some consolation was found, however, 
 in recalling similar experiences in the army and I 
 resolved to allow nothing to depress or turn me from 
 my original purpose. A halt was made for dinner 
 during this day's ride, at a country inn or tavern tea 
 miles west of Springfield. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that I did not leave 
 Springfield until nearly ten o'clock in the morning, 
 and that I was out of the saddle over an hour on 
 account of dinner, and compelled to face a pelting 
 storm throughout the day, I did well to advance 
 eighteen miles by four o'clock, the time of dismount- 
 ino^ at the Russell House. 
 
 Russell is one of the most beautiful of the numerous 
 villages of Hampden County, and is picturesquely 
 situated among the Berkshire Hills in the western 
 part of the State. It stands on the banks of the 
 Westfield River, upon which it relies for water-power 
 in the manufacture of paper, its only industry. It 
 has direct communication with Eastern and Western 
 Massachusetts through the Boston and Albany Rail- 
 way, and while it is not likely that it will ev^er come to 
 anything pretentious, it will always be, in appearance 
 at least, a rugged and romantic-looking little village. 
 
BOSTON TO ALBANY, \()\) 
 
 0Utl) ?I)im 
 
 Becket Ho\ise, 
 
 BECKKT, NfASSACirUSETTS, 
 
 May FoxLrteenlh. 
 
 Mounted Paul in front of the hotel at Russell at 
 nine o'clock in the morning to ride towards Chester, 
 along the bank of the Westfield River. This swift 
 branch of the Connecticut runs along between its 
 green banks fertilizing the meadows and turning the 
 factory wheels that here and there dip down into its 
 busy current. The Indian name " Agawam," by which 
 it is known nearer its mouth, seems more a})propriate 
 for the wild little stream, and often, while I was follow- 
 ing its course, I thought of the banished Red Men 
 who had given it this musical name and who had once 
 built their wigwams along its shores. 
 
 On this morning the air was fresh and the view 
 pleasing under the magical influence of spring, and 
 both were none the less enjoyed by the assurance 
 that dinner could be had at our next stopping-place. 
 Upon dismounting, I found that the ride could not 
 have been as agreeable to Paul as to his master, for 
 his back was in a very sore condition. Everything 
 was done for his comfort; cold water and castile soap 
 being applied to relieve the injui'cd parts, and the 
 cumbersome saddle-cloth wliich had been doing duty 
 since we left Boston was discarded for a simple blanket 
 such as I had used while in the cavalry service. This 
 was a change for the better and was made at the right 
 time, for, as I afterwards had some difficulty in keep- 
 ing the direct road, the equipment of my horse re- 
 lieved what might have proved a fatiguing day's ride 
 
110 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 As it was, the novel experience of being lost had its 
 advantages, for a wanderer, in the Berkshire Hills 
 finds much to suit the fancy and to please the eye. At 
 six o'clock, notwithstanding the delay, we came into 
 Becket, where Edwin Lee, the proprietor of the hotel 
 of the place, told me I was the only guest. 
 
 Becket is an enterprising little village, thirty-seven 
 miles northwest of Springfield, having a graded 
 school and several manufactories. The scenery through- 
 out the region is rugged and attractive • a charming 
 characteristic of the Bay State. 
 
 ScDcntl) SDag. 
 
 Berkshire House, 
 
 PiTTSFiELD, Massachusetts, 
 
 3Iay Fifteenth. 
 
 Rode away from Becket at eight o'clock in the 
 morning, and on the way found it necessary to favor 
 Paid in this day's ride; so I dismounted and walked 
 several miles. This was not a disagreeable task, for 
 my journey lay over the picturesque Hoosac Mountains 
 whose wooded sides and fertile valleys were almost a 
 fairyland of loveliness at this season. Owing to this 
 delay, Pittsfield was not reached until one o'clock. 
 Here I delivered my fourth lecture at the Academy 
 of Music, Captain Brewster, commander of the Pitts- 
 field Post, G. A. R., introducing me. 
 
 €\%\]\\) IDag 
 
 Berkshire House, 
 Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 
 
 May Sixteenth. 
 
 Spent the morning at the ^' Berkshire," posting my 
 journal and attending to private and business corre- 
 
 i 
 
BOSTON TO ALBANY. 113 
 
 spondence. Tlie afternoon was passed in a stroll 
 through the town, wliere 1 saw much that was of inter- 
 est and slathered some information eoneerning its early 
 history, })rogress and present condition. 
 
 Of the fourteen counties of Massachusetts, the most 
 strongly marked and highly favored is Ik'rkshire, with 
 its four cardinal boundaries, formed by four dilferent 
 states. To one who sees, for the first time, the lux- 
 uriance of its vegetation, the beauty of its forest-cov- 
 ered hills, the broad shady avenues of its villages, 
 with their palatial homes, it seems as if Nature and 
 wealth had combined to make this spot a veritable 
 ** Garden of the Gods." 
 
 In the exact centre of all this loveliness, more than 
 1,000 feet above the level of the sea, lies the little 
 city of Pittsfield, containing about 16,000 inhabitants. 
 Its principal streets form a cross, North, South, East, 
 and West streets meeting at an elliptical grove of 
 stately elms forming a small park. Here in old days 
 stood one ceixtral tree, its height one hundred and 
 twenty -eight feet, its bare shaft ninety feci, with many 
 a memory of the French and Indian wars attached to 
 it. In 1841, it was struck by lightning. In 1861 
 it was cut down, even stern men weeping at its fall. 
 It was replaced by a fountain, whose stream may be 
 raised to the height of the old tree. This park also 
 holds a huge shaft of granite, U})on which stands the 
 bronze figure of a soldier, flag in hand. On the 
 granite are cut the words, *' For the dead a tribute, for 
 the living a memory, for posterity an emblem of devo- 
 tion to their country's flag." To the west of the park 
 is Pittsfield's large brownstone Post Office, it being 
 the first building on* North street, a small business 
 
114 OCEA^^O OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 thoroughfare, whose stores, with their dainty wares and 
 tasteful fabrics, would do credit to many a large city. 
 
 On the south of the parli stands the Athenaeum, a 
 buiUling of rough stone, erected at the cost of $100,000 
 as a ^'tribute to art, science, and literature," and pre- 
 sented to his fellow-townspeople by Thomas Allen. 
 It contains a large free library, an art gallery, and a 
 very entertaining museum of curiosities. Next door to 
 the Athenaeum is the large white Court House, said to 
 have cost $400,000. Across from the Court House, in 
 a little corner of the park, is a tiny music house, gay 
 with colored electric lights, where open air evening 
 concerts are given all through the summer. 
 
 On the north of the park stand two of the hand- 
 somest of Pittsfield's eleven churches. 
 
 The city's manufactories are large and thrifty, but 
 they, and the operatives who manipulate them, are 
 tucked away in a corner, so to speak, where they may 
 not offend the eyes of the opulent inhabitants. Only 
 in the riotous jostle of Saturday night in the store is 
 one brouu-ht face to face with the fact that beauty, 
 leisure and wealth do not hold a monopoly of the 
 sweet Berkshire air. For everything appears so 
 lovely. The streets are very wide, great stately 
 avenues, where beautiful strips of the finest lawn bor- 
 der each edge of the sidewalk. Society is the choicest, 
 for the summer residences of New York's four hun- 
 dred intermingle with the magnificent old mansions 
 owned by the staunchest of Massachusetts' old blue- 
 blooded sons and daughters. Cropping out through 
 the elegance of this little city are some queer old 
 Yankee traits. Lawlessness there is none. No police- 
 men guard the park, with its ide'al lawns, but a polite 
 
I 
 
BOSTON TO ALBANY. 117 
 
 notice infornis passers-by tliat tins hciiin^ no tlioroiij^li- 
 fare, trespass! iit^ will not he tolerated, and there is 
 none. When the concerts are in fnll blast, peojjle 
 gather in the walks and drives only. Whole rows of 
 little street Arabs may be seen on these occasions, 
 drawn up with their little l)are toes touehin*]^ the very 
 edge of the precious grass. The open music house is 
 always left full of cliairs, which no one steals, nay, 
 which no one uses. The entrance to the Court House is 
 filled with blooming ])lants. No child^ no dog even, 
 is ill-bred enough to break one. 
 
 But the peculiarities of the people, the beauty of 
 the dwellinij;;s, the magnificence of the equipages, the 
 tide of fashionable life which pours in, summer and 
 fall, all, aiAj is forgotten as, from some point of van- 
 tage, the spectator takes in the beauty surrounding 
 him. ^' On the west sweep the Taconics, in that 
 majestic curve, whose grace travelers, familiar with the 
 mountain scenery of both hemisplieres, pronounce un- 
 equaled. On the east the Hoosacs stretch their un- 
 broken battlements, with white villages at their feet, 
 and, if the sunlight favors, paths of mingled lawn and 
 wood, enticing to their summits; while from the 
 south, 'Greylock, cloud-girdled on his purple throne" 
 looks grandly across the valley to the giant heights, 
 keeping watch and ward over the pass where the 
 mountains throw wide their everlasting gates, to let 
 the winding Housatonic flow peacefully toward the 
 
118 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON BORSEBACK. 
 
 Niutl)- JDag. 
 
 Nassau House, 
 
 Nassau, New York, 
 
 May Seventeenth. 
 
 Ordered my horse at ten in the morning, and before 
 riding on stopped at the office of the Berkshire 
 Eagle to talk a few minutes with the editor. The 
 route from Pittsfield lay over the Boston and Albany 
 Turnpike, one of the villages on the way being West 
 Lebanon. Here we had dinner. While quietly pur- 
 suing my journey afterwards, in crossing the Pittsfield 
 Mountain, I overtook Egbert Jolls, a farmer, with 
 whom I had a long and interesting conversation. He 
 amused me with stories of the Lebanon Shakers, among 
 whom he had lived many years, and whose peculiar 
 belief and customs have always set them widely apart 
 from other sects. Perhaps the most singular point in 
 their doctrine is that God is dual, combining in the One 
 Person the eternal Father and Mother ol all generated 
 nature. They believe that the revelation of God is 
 progressive, and in its last aspect the manifestation was 
 God revealed in the character of Mother, as an evidence 
 of Divine affection. Ann Lee, the daughter of a Man- 
 chester blacksmith, is the founder of the sect, and 
 considered from her holy life to be the human repre- 
 sentation of this Divine duality. This is a strange 
 belief, and one that is not generally known, but its 
 adherents have among other good traits one which 
 commends them to the respect of those who know any- 
 thing of them, and that is their sober and industrious 
 habits. 
 
 Soon after crossing the State line between Massachu- 
 
BOSTON TO ALBANY. 119 
 
 setts and New York, we passed the home of Gover-iior 
 Saimicl J. Tildeii. Two years before, this popular 
 Democrat was elected governor, l)y a plurality of 50,000 
 votes above his fellow-eaiididate, Johu A. Dix. lie 
 wou popular attention l)y his strong opposition to 
 certain })()litical abuses; notably the Tweed Charter 
 of 1870; and by incessant activity he was, in 1876, 
 beginning to reap the laurels of a career which began 
 while he was a student at Yale. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 FOUR DAYS AT ALBANY. 
 
 TARTED from Nassau at eleven o^clock, 
 still following the Boston and Albany 
 Turnpike, and soon reached the Old 
 Barringer Homestead. It was with 
 this family that I spent my first night 
 in Rensselaer County sixteen years be- 
 fore, when a lad of seventeen, I was 
 looking for a school commissioner and 
 a school to teach. Brock way's was 
 another well-known landmark which I could not 
 pass without stopping, for it was here that I boarded 
 the first week after opening my school at Schodack 
 Centre in the autumn of 1859. At the school, too, 
 I dismounted, and found that the teacher was one of 
 my old scholars. The Lewis family, at the hotel just 
 beyond, were waiting my approach with wide-open 
 door; for Oscar Lewis had gone to Albany and had 
 said before he left : " Keep a sharp lookout for Captain 
 Glazier, as he will surely pass this way.'' It was very 
 pleasant to be met so cordially, although the sight of 
 well-known faces and landmarks brought back the past 
 and made me feel like another Rip Van Winkle. 
 In crossing the river between Greenbush and Albany, 
 (120) 
 
STATE STBEET AND CAPITOL, ALBANY, NliW YCUK. 
 
FOUR DAYS AT ALBANY. 123 
 
 P<nil siiQincd clisinclined to stay on boiird, so the bars 
 liad to be put up and every precaution taken. It may 
 liave been that the shades of tlio ferrymen who had 
 run the little craft for tlie hist two hundred years came 
 back to vex us. Perhaps the particular ghost of Ilen- 
 drick Albertsen, who, two hundred and eight years 
 airo barirained witli Killian Van Rensselaer for the 
 privilege of running his boat; but whatever the cause 
 of the disturbance we reached terra firma without acci- 
 dent, and were soon in the familiar streets of the old 
 Dutch town ; the day's journey agreeably ended with 
 our trip across the Hudson by the oldest ferry in the 
 United States. 
 
 From the river the view of Albany is picturesque 
 in the extreme, where the eye catches the first glimj)se 
 of the city, rising from the water's edge, and surmounted 
 then by its brown-domed Capitol. It was a sight that 
 had always had a singular charm for me, for many of 
 the pleasantest hours of my early life were spent here, 
 where my sisters and I were educated. Here I left 
 school to enlist at the opening of the Civil War, and 
 here I published my first book, "Capture, Prison-Pen 
 and Escape." But even if the city had no claim other 
 than its own pec;uliar attractiveness it would hold an 
 enviable ])lace among its sister cities. The irregularity 
 of its older streets, the tone of its architecture, the lack 
 of the usual push and bustle of an American town, 
 give it an old-world air that makes it interesting. 
 There is a Common in the centre of the city, shaded 
 by old elms, and around this stand the public buildings 
 — the State Hall for state offices and the City Hall for 
 city offices — both of marble and fronting on the 
 Common. The Albany Academy, where Joseph 
 
124 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Henry, one of its professors from 1826 to 1832, first 
 demonstrated his theory of the magnetic telegraph. 
 A few squares west of the Common was the stretch of 
 green that has since been set apart for a public park, 
 where the good people of Albany may find an agree- 
 able change of scene and an hour's pleasant recreation. 
 The New Capitol, on the site of the Old Capitol, is 
 a magnificent edifice in the renaissance style, built of 
 New England granite, at a cost to the State of many 
 millions. On passing quaint bits of architecture or the 
 suggestive aspect of some out-of-the way corner, one 
 turns naturally to the days of wigs and kneebreeches, 
 before the capital of the Empire State was thought of, 
 and when the forests of fiiir Columbia were overrun by 
 the bronzed warriors who still held undisputed sway. 
 It was back in these days that Henry Hudson, sent from 
 Holland by the Dutch East India Company, in sailing 
 up the " Grande " River in search of a passage to In- 
 dia and China, found that he could not send his ship 
 beyond the point where the city of Hudson now stands. 
 This was discouraging, but sure that the desired passage 
 was found, he and a few of his men pushed farther on 
 in a small craft, landing, it is believed, on the present 
 site of Albany. Later, Hudson and his men returned, 
 assured that the noble river could not take them where 
 they had hoped it miglit. After them came Dutch 
 traders, led by an enterprising Hollander who had been 
 with Hudson on his first voyage, and who saw a prom- 
 ising field in the red man's country. They established 
 a trading-post where the *' Half Moon '^ had been 
 moored before, and from here carried on their barter 
 with the Indians, exchanging attractive trifles for furs. 
 Other traders followed these, and then came the colo- 
 
FOUR DAYS AT ALBANY. 127 
 
 nists; a brave little band full of hope and eager to try 
 their fortune in the New World. Their leader was none 
 other than Killian Van Rensselaer, the wealthy pearl 
 merchant of Amsterdam, and one of the directors of 
 the West India Company, who had received a grant 
 from the Prince of Orange for a large tract of land 
 about the Upper Hudson, including the present site of 
 Albany. Here he established his " patroonship," guard- 
 ing the affairs of the colony, and [)roviding his tenants 
 with comfortable houses and ami)le barns. And more 
 than this, their spiritual welfare was promoted througli 
 the services of the Reverend Doctor Joanes Mega- 
 polensis. From his personal accounts we read that the 
 good Dominie found his life among the ' wilden ' as full 
 of peril and unceasing labor as that of his flock; for he 
 undertook not only the guidance of his own people, but 
 the enlightenment and conversion of the Indians. To 
 this end he threw himself into the task of mastering 
 their language with true missionary zeal ; a task which 
 in those days meant not only difficulty but danger. 
 
 Under the shelter of the handsome churches that 
 grace the streets of the Albany of to-day, we see a 
 striking contrast in the primitive house where this 
 pioneer clergyman preached ; and from the security 
 of long-established peace, we look back upon those 
 sturdy people of Rensselaerwyck who sowed and reaped 
 and went to church under the protection of the Pa- 
 troon's guns. 
 
 But there came a day when English ships sailed up 
 to the harbor at Manhatoes, and demanded the sur- 
 render of the Dutch colonies in the name of the 
 Duke of York and Albany. The terrified people at 
 sight of the guns refused to withstand an attack, and 
 
128 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the English quietly came into possession. Van Rens- 
 selaer sent down his papers, and Fort Orange surren- 
 dered on the twenty-fourth of September, 1664, soon 
 after receiving its new name in honor of the Duke's 
 second title. Twenty-two years later, Albany had the 
 satisfaction of sending two of her representatives, 
 Peter Schuyler and Robert Livingston, to Ne-w York 
 to claim her charter as a city ; which, upon their return, 
 was received, according to the old chronicler, "with all 
 ye joy and acclamation imaginable." 
 
 Through the strength of their new dignity and in- 
 fluence we can trace the spirit of independence which 
 was beginning to rise in opposition to the unjust Eng- 
 lish rule ; and it was here in 1754 that the first Gen- 
 eral Congress was held to discuss arrangements for the 
 national defence, when Franklin and his compatriots 
 " signed the first plan for American Union and pro- 
 claimed to the colonies that they were one people, fit to 
 govern and able to protect themselves." Later, when 
 the storm of the Revolution broke, this place, where 
 the first threatenings were heard, was the most impc v- 
 erished by the contest and the most persevering in the 
 fight; but she came out triumphant, with a record well 
 meriting the honors received in 1797, when she was 
 made the capital of the Empire State. After peace 
 was again established and the routine of business taken 
 up, Albany became the centre of the entire trade of 
 Western New York. 
 
 Fulton's steamboats began to run between Albany 
 and New York as early as 1809, and this commercial 
 activity and contact with the world gave an impulse 
 to the city which has made itself felt all along the 
 Hudson. Since then it has grown rapidly, and has in 
 
FOUR DAYS AT ALBANY. 131 
 
 its steady advancement an influential future to which 
 its citizens may look forward with pardonable pride. 
 
 My arrival in Albany and lecture at Tweddle Hall 
 on the evening of the eighteenth were to me among 
 the notable events of my journey. Colonel J. M. Fin- 
 ley, who accompanied me from Boston, a veteran of the 
 late war and manager of my lecture course from Boston 
 to Buffalo, introduced me. 
 
 Called at the Capitol on the nineteenth to see 
 the adjutant-general in relation to my lecturing in the 
 interest of the fund for the erection of a Soldiers' 
 Home which at that time interested persons had pro- 
 posed to build at Bath, New York. I was j)resented 
 to General Townsend by Colonel Taylor, assistant ad- 
 jutant-general, whom I have known for several years. 
 Found that General Townsend was not, as I had been 
 informed, the treasurer of the fund. Colonel Taylor 
 then went with me up Washington avenue in search 
 of Captain John Palmer, Past Department Commander, 
 G. A. R., whom I was advised to consult on the subject. 
 
 These matters attended to, I went in pursuit of 
 Captain William Blasie and Lieutenant Arthur 
 Richardson — acquaintances of many years and both 
 of whom had been the companions of my capitivity 
 in Southern prisons during the War of the Rebellion. 
 
 My stay in Albany was prolonged by preparation for 
 lectures at Troy and Schenectady, and by needed in- 
 formation concerning the early history and development 
 of the former city. The second Sunday of my journey 
 found me here and I went in the mornintr to the 
 Presbyterian Church at the corner of Hudson and 
 Grand streets. 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 ALBANY TO SYRACUSE. 
 
 Joiirkeutl) SJaj). 
 
 Given's Hotel, 
 
 Schenectady, New Yore. 
 
 3Iay 22, 187ii, 
 
 EFT Albany at eleven o'clock. My 
 journey to this city led me over the 
 Schenectady Turnpike. Was compelled 
 to ride between showers all day as a 
 rainstorm had set in just as I was 
 leaving Albany. Stopped for dinner 
 at Peter Lansing's, whose farm is about 
 midway between the two cities. This 
 genial gentleman of old Knickerbocker 
 stock greatly amused me with his blunt manner and 
 dry jokes. I was sorry to leave the shelter of his 
 hospitable roof, especially as the weather was exceed- 
 ingly disagreeable, but my engagement to lecture in 
 Schenectady obliged me to go on. I found it necessary 
 to ride the last three miles at a gallop in order to avoid 
 an approaching shower. Reached my hotel at four 
 o'clock in the afternoon, and lectured in the evening 
 at Union Hall under the auspices of Post 14, G. A. R. 
 Seyeral representatives of the city press were with me 
 (132) 
 
ALBANY TO SYRACUSE. ]:35 
 
 on the platform, and among tlicm was Culonel S. G. 
 Hamlin, a follow-})risoner in " Libby " during the war, 
 and now editor of tlie Union. In the morning Colonel 
 Finley went over to Troy to assist Mr. Farrington, 
 my advance agent, in arranging for my lecture in that 
 city. 
 
 fiftecntl) anb SutccntI) ^am, 
 
 91 Centre Street, 
 
 Schenectady, New York, 
 
 May Twenty-third-Twentu-fourth. 
 
 Accepting an invitation to spend a day or two with 
 friends, I went to 91 Centre street after my lecture. 
 While here I was occupied chiefly in posting my jour- 
 Dai and in attending to business and private correspond- 
 ence. A telegram from Colonel Finley told me that 
 he had fixed upon the next evening for my lecture at 
 Harmony Hall, Troy. Acting upon this plan I went 
 over to Troy the following afternoon by way of 
 Albany. Called on Captain Palmer in the latter city, 
 and handed liim the proceeds of my lecture at 
 Schenectady, which he at once transmitted to the fund 
 in aid of the Soldiers' Home. AVhile in Troy I met 
 R. H. Ferguson, Hon. Martin I. Townsend, the Mc- 
 Coys and many other friends and acquaintances of 
 Auld Lang Syne. I may add that this was the only 
 instance in my journey thus far in which I had devi- 
 ated from a direct line of march. 
 
 Sauntcentl) San. 
 
 91 Centre Street, 
 Schenectady, New York, 
 
 3Iay Twenty -fifth. 
 
 Returned to Schenectady by way of Albany after 
 7 
 
136 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 my lecture at Troy. Was very busy at this time in 
 organizing for my lecture campaign between Schenec- 
 tady and Buffalo. There was rather a surprising an- 
 nouncement in the afternoon's Union to the effect that 
 I had left for Little Falls. I did not learn from what 
 source Comrade Hamlin of that paper received his in- 
 formation. Colonel Finley went on to Utica, where 
 lie was joined by Mr. Farrington. 
 
 During my stay here I became interested in the place 
 and found that Schenectady was as rich in legends and 
 story as her neighbors. She counts her birthday among 
 the historic dates of America, having begun hercareer in 
 1620, when the Mohawks were still holding their coun- 
 cils of war and spreading the terror of their name. Here 
 in their very haunts a band of courageous Dutchmen es- 
 tablished a trading-post and began the work of civiliza- 
 tion. This brave colony did not find life as peaceful as 
 the innocent aspect of Nature would suggest, however, 
 for in the winter of 1690 the French and Indians began 
 their terrible work, burning the houses and massacre- 
 ing the inhabitants. It was only through a baptism 
 of blood that the small trading-post developed into a 
 city. Now it was one of the most flourishing and im- 
 portant towns in the valley; and the transformation was 
 so complete that it is almost impossible to realize that 
 this was the scene of so many struggles. The Schenec- 
 tady of to-day is a busy manufactuiing town, with a 
 prosperous farming district about it, whose cornfields 
 and orchards attest the richness of the soil. It is the 
 seat of Union College, a well-known institution of 
 rich endowments and possessing a handsome library 
 of 15,000 volumes. The college was founded in 1795 
 by a union of several religious sects. Its buildings 
 
ALBANY TO SYRACUSE. 1.^7 
 
 are plain and substantial, their stuccoed walls sugges- 
 tive of the good solid work that is accomplished within 
 them from year to year. 
 
 aEitjIjtccntI) ?Ilan. 
 
 Union Hotel, 
 
 Fonda, Np;w York, 
 
 3Iay Twenty-sixth. 
 
 Moved from Schenectady at eight o'clock in the 
 morning. Found the weather delightful and the scen- 
 ery charming. On either side were the meadows dotted 
 with spring flowers and fertilized by the river, whose 
 shore line of willows and elms was bright with new 
 green. If I were to except the Berkshire Hills, I saw 
 nothing in INIassachusctts to surpass, or even equal, the 
 Valley of the Mohawk. It surprised me that poet and 
 novelist had apparently found so little here for legen- 
 dary romance. 
 
 Had dinner at Amsterdam, sixteen miles from 
 Schenectady, and while halted here had Paul shod 
 for the first time since leaving Boston. Resumed my 
 journey at four o'clock and reached Fonda two hours 
 later. Made twenty-six miles during the day and was 
 now 243 miles from the " Hub." Through the cour- 
 tesy of Mr. Fislier, my landlord at this place, I was 
 given a verbal sketch of Fonda which made a pleas- 
 ant addition to my own small store of information. 
 There were no striking characteristics here to attract 
 the traveller's eye and history had not chronicled its 
 modest advancement, but for those who enjoy the sight 
 of peace and prosperity, Fonda has a charm of its own. 
 Around it on all sides the grain fields were under ex- 
 
'^ANTi 
 
 138 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 cellerit cultivation, with here and there a well-stocked 
 farm, suggesting an agricultural and dairying centre. 
 I found a good night's rest here, envied the people 
 their peaceful existence, and rode away with a sense 
 of complete refreshment. 
 
 Jfinetmitl) ?3)a2. 
 
 Briggs House, 
 
 Saint Johnsville, New York, 
 
 May Twenty-seventh. 
 
 Called for Paul at eight o'clock, and after halting a 
 moment at the office of the Mohaiuk Valley Democrat^ 
 crossed the river to Fultouville, which is connected 
 with Saint Johnsville by an iron Iwidge. Passing 
 through this town, an enterprising one for its size, I 
 continued my journey along the south bank of the 
 Mohawk until I reached Canajoharie, where I stopped 
 at the Eldridge House for dinner. 
 
 Here I met another Socrates who had a ^^ favorite 
 prescription " for healing the sore on PauVs back. 
 Spent an hour very pleasantly in the office of the 
 Mohawk Valley Register at Fort Plain, where I learned 
 that Charles W. Elliott of this paper is a son of 
 George W. Elliott, author of "Bonnie Eloise." For 
 many years this song was a great favorite, not only 
 along the Mohawk, but all over the country, and is 
 certainly one of the sweetest ballads of America. 
 There is a swing to the rythra and charm in the lines 
 which keeps it in memory, and in riding along 
 through the scenes it describes, my thoughts go back 
 to the old days in Rensselaer County, where as a boy 
 I first heard the words. 
 
ALBANY TO SYRACUSE. 139 
 
 "O sweet is the vale wliere the Mohawk geutly glides, 
 Ou its clear wiiuling way to the sea; 
 Aud dearer than all storied streams ou earth besides, 
 Is this bright rolling river to nie. 
 
 But sweeter, dearer, yes, dearer far thau these, 
 
 Who charms when others all fail. 
 Is blue-eyed, bonuie, bouuie Eloise, 
 
 The belie of the Mohawk vale. 
 
 "0 sweet are the scenes of my boyhood's sunuy years 
 That bespangle the gay valley o'er; 
 And dear are the friends, seen through memory's fond tears. 
 That have lived in the blest days of yore. 
 
 But sweeter, dearer, yes, dearer far thau these, etc. 
 
 "O sweet are the moments when dreaming I roam 
 Through my loved haunts now mossy aud gray ; 
 And dearer thau all is my childhood's hallowed home 
 That is crumbling now slowly away. 
 
 But sweeter, dearer, yes, dearer far than these, etc." 
 
 Reached this place at seven o'clock in the evening 
 and will go on to Little Falls after dinner to-morrow. 
 In the morning I had an opportunity to look about me 
 and admire the unusually fine scenery whose romantic 
 aspect was heightened by a rugged tip of the Adiron- 
 dacks which runs down into the valley at that point. 
 At the foot of the mountain lay the brisk little town 
 of Saint Johnsville, whose manufacturing interests 
 have given it a reputation for miles around. 
 
 Siumtictl) Slati. 
 
 Girvan House, 
 Little Falls, New York, 
 
 3Iai/ Twoity-eighth. 
 
 Rode to this place from Saint Johnsville after five 
 o'clock in the afternoon, taking the north bank of the 
 river. The effect of the scene in front of me as I 
 
140 OCEA^m) OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 traced my way along the valley was most striking. 
 Nearer the town my eye canght the picturesque masses 
 of rock lifting their rugged sides to a height of five 
 hundred feet, the swift waters of the Mohawk rushing 
 along between them. The homes perched all along on 
 the steep hills suggested Swiss scenes and Alpine 
 journeys, but the busy hum and characteristic Ameri- 
 can push soon dissipated these fancies. The rapid fall 
 of the river here is of great benefit to the manufactur- 
 ers who are making good use of their excellent water- 
 power in the paper and woollen mills. 
 
 Soon after my arrival, several citizens came into the 
 hotel to learn tlie particulars of my journey, but before 
 I had time to register. Postmaster Stafford made him- 
 self known and introduced me to several of his friends 
 and acquaintances, among them General Curtis and 
 Major Lintner. A laughable story was related which 
 afforded considerable amusement soon after I rode 
 into town. It seems that a credulous old lady 
 from the country had been led to believe that a 
 gentleman would ride through the place last night 
 on the horse which General Washington rode during 
 the Revolution. A story suggested, no doubt, by the 
 subject of my lecture. She had come in to sell her 
 firkin of butter and had waited until long after dark 
 for the rider and his ancient steed, while the objects 
 of her misguided interest were resting in Saint Johns- 
 ville unconscious of the disappointment they were 
 causing. 
 
ALBANY TO SYRACUSE. 143 
 
 ("Ttoentn-first Dan. 
 
 12 Cornelia Street, 
 
 Utic A , N EW York, 
 
 May Twenty-ninlh. 
 
 After considerable trouble In fiiulintj^a saddle blaid<et 
 for PauJy to take the place of the saddle cloth used 
 until we reached I^ittle Falls, I started from that 
 romantic town at nine o'clock, halting at I lion for 
 dinner. This village, well known through the firm of 
 the Remingtons, is on the south bank of the Mohawk, 
 twelve miles from Utica. From here the famous 
 Remington machines and rifles are sent all over the 
 world. 
 
 Farrington met me two miles east of Utica and 
 escorted me back to the city, conducting Colonel Finley 
 and myself to rooms which had been engaged for us 
 through the hospitality of J. C. Bates. 
 
 Left my pleasant quarters here to make a few obser- 
 vations about town, and found much to arrest my 
 attention. A century ago Utica was known as '^ Old 
 Fort Schuyler" from a small stockade of that name, 
 built on the site in 1750. As the country grew more 
 peaceful, and the life of the future city began, the 
 name was changed. A gradual slope of the land from 
 the river gave from the more elevated parts some very 
 fine views; and the public i)arks with their shade 
 trees and gay flowers made a rich adornment to a nat- 
 urally attractive city. The great Erie Canal passes 
 through the centre of the city and is joined by the 
 Chenango Canal at this point. Among the landmarks 
 are the homes of Roscoe Conkling and Horatio Sey- 
 mour. 
 
144 OC^^Tfl^O OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 9 Stamvix ITall, 
 
 Rome, New York, 
 3fay Thirtieth. 
 
 Was compelled to remain in Utica until four o'clock 
 in the afternoon in order to have my saddle padded. 
 This brief delay, while favoring my equine friend, was 
 in some particulars also favorable to his rider, as it af- 
 forded me an excellent opportunity to gather informa- 
 tion I desired concerning the growth of this enterpris- 
 ing town. 
 
 Rode up to Rome on the south bank of the 
 Mohawk. Soon after my arrival at the Stanwix I 
 met a large number of Grand Army comrades. Room 
 *' 14 " had been engaged and made a rendezvous, and 
 here until a late hour the experiences of the late war 
 were told over again and our battles re-fought. This 
 gathering of comrades to celebrate Memorial Day was 
 marked by deep and enthusiastic feeling ; and, although 
 my day's journey had somewhat fatigued me, I felt 
 this was no time to show a lack of spirit; so I cheer- 
 fully yielded <o the old maxim, "When in Rome do as 
 the Romans do." Through the courtesy of Captain 
 Joseph Porter, then Commander of Skillen Post 47, I 
 was introduced to Hon. H. J. Coggeshall, of Water- 
 ville; Colonel G. A. Cantine, Hon. W. F. Bliss, Mr. 
 Taylor, editor of the Sentinel, and many others. 
 
 Rome lies on a level stretch of land at the head of 
 the valley, whence I could see its spires as I 
 approached. On its site once stood old Fort Stanwix, 
 of Revolutionary fame, which cost the British £60,000 
 sterling. It was built as a defence against the French 
 
ALBANY TO SYRACUSE. 145 
 
 in Canada, and was the first settlement before the 
 French War. From that time until the close of the 
 Revolution it was an important frontier post. Rome 
 is the centre of a large dairying interest, tlie cheese 
 factory system having originated here. 
 
 (Siucntji-tljiiii Dan. 
 
 Chillenango House, 
 
 Chittknango, Nkw York, 
 
 May Tliirly-Jirst. 
 
 Plad a late breakfast at the Stanwix and, after a 
 stroll through the streets of Rome, called for my horse 
 at ten o'clock, and bidding adieu to Grand Army com- 
 rades who had assembled to see me start from their 
 city, mounted and rode out of town. The journey, 
 as usual, since leaving Albany, lay along the New 
 York Central. The roads were dry and favorable, 
 the weather settled, and the scenery through this sec- 
 tion of the Empire State such as to make my journey 
 most enjoyable. Chittenango was not reached until 
 ten o'clock, as the distance from Rome made this one 
 of the longest rides noted in a single day. The twink- 
 ling lights of the village looked very pleasant as I 
 neared my destination, marking here and there the 
 homes of its hundreds of inhabitants. I found upon 
 inquiry at the Chittenango House that I was the only 
 guest, which augured well for a good night's sleep. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TWO D'AYS AT SYRACUSE. 
 
 AD an early breakfast at Chittenango and 
 calling for Paul at eight o'clock mounted 
 and rode forward, witli the city of Syra- 
 cuse as my evening destination. Nothing 
 of especial interest occurred to vary the 
 day's journey. Syracuse was reached at 
 four o^clock in the afternoon, and the 
 remainder of the day was spent in walks 
 and drives through the city which I had 
 visited several limes in former years, and of wliose his- 
 tory I had a fair knowledge. Long before the white man 
 came, a band of Iroquois had built their wigwams in the 
 low basin, almostentirely surrounded by hills, that lies to 
 the south of Lake Onondaga, and from here followed 
 *he [)ursuits of war and peace. We first hear of tiiis 
 Indian village in 1653 through the Jesuit missionary. 
 Father Le Moyne, who had come to establish good 
 feeling between the Iroquois and other Indian tribes ; 
 and we see strange evidences of a counteracting in- 
 fluence made probably by his own countrymen in 
 the discovery of European weapons and ammunition, 
 that were distributed among the red men about the 
 same time. For more than a hundred years after 
 (146) 
 
TWO DAYJS AT SYRACUSE. 119 
 
 tin's, the present site of Syracuse, tlien an un- 
 promising stretcli of swamps, was the home of the 
 wolf and l)ear. Over its dreary waste the cry of 
 the w^Id eat, the warning of the rattlesnake and the 
 hooting of the owl lent their sounds to the weird chorus 
 of Nature, and it was here that the wily Indian came to 
 seek his game. It was through Father IjQ Moyne, 
 too, that we hear of the great Salt Springs, which he 
 visited at the southern end of the lake in company 
 with some Huron and Onondaga chiefs. The Indians, 
 unable to comprehend the strange effect of salt and 
 clear water bubbling from the same fountain, had a 
 superstition that the springs were possessed by an e\nl 
 spirit and were afraid to drink from them ; but when 
 the white man began to share their old haunts, we hear 
 of the bewitched water being fearlessly used, and the 
 evil spirit converted into a propitious one. It was 
 Major Asa Danfortluand his companion, Colonel Com- 
 fort Tyler, who began early in the present century the 
 enterprise which has since proved such a splendid suc- 
 cess. These two pioneers started out afoot for the 
 springs with no other implements than an axe, chain 
 and kettle, which seem primitive enough to us who 
 know of the means that are now employed in^the mak- 
 ing of this great staple. Arrived at the springs, two 
 young trees were cut, a stout branch j)laced in their 
 crochets and on this the kettle was hung. When the 
 work was finished, the men hid their implements in the 
 bushes for safety, shouldered their rich possession and 
 started home over the ground that in a few years was 
 to be the scene of such striking and sudden changes. 
 
 Joshua Forman was the first man who. saw a prom- 
 ising field in the unhealthy land south of Lake Onon- 
 
150 OCEAN^ff^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 daga, and it was he who first thought of a plan for its 
 improvement. 
 
 With characteristic persistency he carried out his 
 ideas, and with the co-operation of James Geddes, a 
 surveyor and fellow-townsman, did more to convince 
 men of the practicability of laying a canal route 
 through central New York than any other man. At 
 tliat time the advocate of such an undertaking was con- 
 sidered mad. Even the President shared the public 
 view of the matter, and when the zealous member from 
 Onondaga laid the plans before this incredulous gen- 
 tleman, Jeiferson remarked: "It is a splendid project, 
 and may be executed a century hence.'^ It must have 
 been a satisfaction to Judge Forman to see this inland 
 water-course completed a few years later, and to real- 
 ize the success of the great enterprise. 
 
 When the breaking up of the unhealthy soil caused 
 so much sickness and so many deaths during the build- 
 ing of the canal at Syracuse — then '^Corinth" — this 
 thoughtful benefactor began to devise a way for im- 
 proving the ground, which resulted in the passage of 
 a bill, a year later, for lowering the lake by means of 
 drains. This stopped the injurious overflow that oc- 
 curred during the spring months and eventually put 
 an end to the "Corduroy" and "gridiron" roads by 
 which the "dreary waste of swamp" had been hitherto 
 approached. 
 
 It seems strange enough now, to one riding through 
 the beautiful and regular streets of the present city, to 
 realize that only a few years ago its pioneers either 
 followed these rough routes, or went around by the 
 hills to avoid them. 
 
 In April, 1820, Syracuse had grown sufficiently 
 
TWO DAYS AT SYRACUSE. 151 
 
 to merit tlic distinction of a Post Office, and with 
 this new acquisition a discussion arose about its 
 name. It had been called successively " Webster's 
 Landing," " South Salina," " Bogardus Corners," 
 "Cossit's Corners" and "Milan;" but, as there was 
 another '^ Milan " in the State, its last title had to be 
 abandoned. For awhile it was known as '' Corinth," 
 but finally by an odd coincidence it was named by its 
 first Postmaster, John Wilkinson, after the old Sicil- 
 ian capital, to which it was supposed to bear a slight 
 resemblance. Mr. Wilkinson, it is said, in reading a 
 poetical description of the ancient city, was singularly 
 impressed by its name, and by the fact that there was 
 a fountain of mythological origin just beyond its 
 walls, from which sprang clear and salt water. 
 
 At a meeting held to decide the matter, he among 
 others eloquently discussed his choice, and it was 
 unanimously accepted. At this time, the government 
 official at Syracuse had charge of such vast communi- 
 cations from " Uncle Sam," that when the Post Office 
 was transferred later to the office of John Durford, 
 printer, Mr. Wilkinson carried the entire concern, 
 *' mail matter, letter bags and boxes on his shoulders ! " 
 Still, when the Marquis de La Fayette visited Syracuse, 
 five years later, it had made such rapid advancement 
 that it called forth his warmest congratulations. On 
 this occasion, truly a great one among the city's records, 
 her founder and benefactor, Joshua Forman, was chosen 
 to express the gratitude of her people. It nuist have 
 been a pleasant moment for the brave General and a 
 proud one for the Syracusans when, in response to their 
 hospitality, he returned Mr. Forman's courtesy in the 
 following words : "The names of Onondaga and Syra- 
 
152 OCEAN T^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. , 
 
 cuse, in belialf of whose population you are pleased so 
 kindly to welcome me, recall to my mind at the same 
 time the wilderness that, sinc% the time I commanded 
 on the Northern frontier, has been transformed into 
 one of the most populous and enlightened parts of the 
 United States; and the ancient Sicilian city, once the 
 seat of republican institutions, much inferior, how- 
 ever, to those which in American Syracuse are founded 
 upon the plain investigation, the unalloyed establish- 
 ment of the rights of men, and upon the best repre- 
 sentative forms of government. No doubt, sir, but 
 that among the co-operators of the Revolution, the 
 most sanguine of us could not fully anticipate the 
 rapidity of the improvements which, on a journey of 
 many thousand miles — the last tour alone from Wash- 
 ington to this place amounting to five thousand miles — 
 have delighted me; and of which this part of the 
 country offers a bright example. Be pleased to ac- 
 cept my personal thanks and in behalf of the people 
 of Onondaga and Syracuse to receive this tribute of 
 my sincere and respectful acknowledgments. " 
 
 Could the Marquis have lived longer, and made his 
 tour hither at this time, he would scarcely have found 
 words to express his surprise. Perhaps no city in 
 New York has made such great strides in so few 
 years. 
 
 Handsome buildings have sprung up on all sides, 
 each one adding to the sightliness of the place ; and 
 on the surrounding hills wealthy residents have built 
 their charming homes. The University of Syracuse, 
 a Methodist institution, built upon one of these hills 
 in 1870, looks down invitingly upon the knowl- 
 edge-seekers of the city, and with the State Ar- 
 
TWO DAYS AT SYRACUSE. If,;] 
 
 moiy, tliat stiiiuls in the park near Onondaga Crock, 
 woukl furnisli a brilliant eqnipment for some modern 
 Minerva, were she to visit this interesting namesake of 
 Sicilian Syraense. 
 
 To the stranger looking ont for characteristics, the 
 Salt Works are the most prominent among them. The 
 sheds stretch along like enormons stock-yards at one 
 end of the city, but looking into them one discovers 
 great vats and troughs filled with salt in every stage 
 of evaporation. There are two ways by which the 
 article is manufactured, one by solar and the other by 
 artificial heat, with thirty or forty companies employ- 
 in"; their chosen method. 
 
 Another striking feature is the unusual number of 
 public halls. This is due to the central location which 
 makes Syracuse a favorite point for conventions. It 
 was my pleasure to lecture in one of these, " Shake- 
 speare Hall," on my first evening in the city, where I 
 was introduced by General Augustus Sniper. After 
 this engagement, I went by rail to Buffalo, on business 
 comiected with my proposed lecture in that city, and 
 returned the following afternoon. This was very un- 
 usual, as it was contrary to the practice of my journey 
 to avail myself of the railway under any circumstances. 
 My advance agents having completed preparations for 
 my lecture at Rochester, I made arrangements to re- 
 sume my journey on the following day. I\Iy short 
 stay here gave me another opportunity to look 
 about this interesting town, and to realize its charms 
 at the prettiest season of the year. Some have be- 
 lieved that its situation, importance and beauty would 
 win for Syracuse the honor, so long bestowed upon the 
 good old town on the Hudson, of being the capital of 
 
154 0CE^9Mli^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the Empire State. Whether or not it will ever be 
 known as such, it will receive the flattering acknowl- 
 edgment of being one of the . loveliest cities in New 
 York. 
 
CHAPTER YTIL 
 
 SYRACUSE TO ROCHESTER. 
 
 (!lu)entij-sutl) ?3att. 
 
 Camillus House, 
 
 Camillus, New York, 
 
 Jane Third. 
 
 OUXTED in front of the Vanderbilt 
 House, Syracuse, at four o'clock in the 
 afternoon. A large number of friends 
 and acquaintances had assembled to see 
 me off, among them many G. A. R. 
 comrades, including General Sniper and 
 Captain Auer; the latter a companion 
 in Libby Prison during the late war. 
 Thomas Babcock, who had been acting 
 as an assistant to my advance agents, accom- 
 panied me as far as Geddes, and arranged to co- 
 operate with my brother and INIr. Farrington in ])rep- 
 aration for my lecture. In passing through this little 
 suburb of Geddes, whose name by the way, keeps in 
 memory one of the prominent men of Onondaga 
 County, my attention was drawn to a fine building 
 standing on a hill, overlooking Syracuse. I learned 
 that it was the New York Asylum for Imbeciles and 
 that the site, a magnificent sweep of upland, measur- 
 8 (lo5) 
 
5;Z^^ 
 
 156 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 iiig fifty-five acres, was donated by the city. I was 
 stopped just west of here by a thunder shower and took 
 refuge under a tree. P^m^ and I had waited for storms 
 to pass over before, and made excellent rainy-day 
 friends. We rather enjoyed resting under some 
 shelter until the dust was well laid and the air freshened. 
 On our arrival at Camillus, myself and horse were liter- 
 ally covered with mud, the result of PauVs frij^dit on the 
 approach of a train at a point where it was impossible 
 to leave the turnpike. We were trotting along quietly 
 and had just turned a bend in the road when the quick 
 ear of .the horse caught the distant rumbling of 
 wheels. In an instant he was on the alert, and when 
 the swift express came round the curve, made a sudden 
 spring to the right, leaped a rail-fence, and landed in 
 a bog where the mud was two or three feet deep. I 
 managed to keep the saddle, but could not avoid the 
 mire iu which we had haplessly fallen. 
 
 (!ru)i:uti)-sct)eut!) Saw. 
 
 Jordan House, 
 
 Jordan, New York, 
 
 June Fourth. 
 
 By an hour's close application to my bespattered 
 garments, after reaching the Camillus House, I found 
 that I was ready to " turn in" for the night. Started 
 forward in the morning, the ride on this perfect June 
 day proving false the old saying that " Jordan is a 
 hard road to travel." This village was reached about 
 noon and I was quite prepared for the generous meal 
 which was placed before me. 
 
 When the gnawings of hunger had been appeased I 
 
SYRACUSE TO ROCHESTER. 159 
 
 gave myself up to the agreeable quiet of Sunday 
 afternoon. 
 
 There was ample encouragement for such a course 
 in this cosy little retreat at the head of I^ake Skancatelcs, 
 for there was not a sound from store or mill while the 
 people were taking their Sabbath rest. 
 
 This brief halt in the march forward was very 
 agreeable, for it gave me an opportunity to try my 
 own powers of locomotion, so little used since leaving 
 Boston. It was a real luxury to stroll al)out the quiet 
 lanes, and scan the outlying fields from the standpoint 
 of a modest pedestrian. In the course of my rambles 
 I came across some photographers from Auburn who 
 had been taking views of the scenery about here. 
 Some of their pictures were excellent. 
 
 Stucutg-eigl)tl) IDan. 
 
 Montezuma Hotel, 
 
 Montezuma, New York, 
 
 June Fifth. 
 
 The Auburn photographers whom I saw yesterday 
 met me as I was riding out of Jordan, and proposed 
 photographing myself and Paul. Some time was 
 passed and several ruses resorted to in attempting to 
 quiet the restless animal, but he skilfully avoided the 
 camera. 
 
 At last some men who haj)pened to be near oifered 
 their assistance, and attempted to attract the attention 
 of the horse from a distance, by jumj)ing up and 
 down in a neighboring field. Paid threw his head for- 
 ward, quietly and curiously watching their manoeuvres. 
 He was evidently amused, but there was no spirit to 
 
160 OCEAN TJT OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the picture. Unfortunately the " spirited '^ part of the 
 scene was out of range. 
 
 This delay for vanity's sa*ke prevented us from 
 getting farther than Weedsport by noon, where a 
 brief halt was made for dinner. I was met here by 
 W. H. Ransom and the proprietor of the Howard 
 House of Port Byron, who came over to Weedsport 
 and escorted me to their village, where I had tea and 
 was very courteously entertained for a few hours. On 
 leaving Port Byron, these gentlemen rode forward 
 with me towards Montezuma Swamp, which lies 
 between the two towns. Here we parted company, 
 there being no reason why they should " run the 
 gauntlet '^ with me. I had heard wonderful tales of the 
 dreaded monsters of this swamp, who were reputed to 
 be the very worst mosquitoes on record, not excepting 
 their famous kinsmen of the Hackensack Flats, New 
 Jersey. 
 
 Unable to bear patiently the torture of my assail- 
 ants who were swarming around me by thousands, I 
 put spurs to Paul^ and went through at a gallop ; but 
 notwithstanding this attempt to put the enemy to rout, 
 superior numbers gave them the advantage and their 
 victim came out covered with scars. 
 
 When Montezuma was reached we were glad to rest, 
 for our late adventure had quite exhausted both horse 
 and rider. 
 
 QTiDcutu-uintl) Sag. 
 
 Newark House, 
 
 Newark, New York, 
 
 June Sixth. 
 
 The journey along the line of the New York Central 
 
SYRACUSE TO ROCHESTER, \{]?y 
 
 from Montezuma to Newark, was an excitini^ one to 
 me and raid. I had long sinee learned that whenever 
 the route brought us in close proximity with the rail- 
 road, the quiet })ursuit of our way was often varied 
 by exciting moments, owing to Paulas sus[)icion of" the 
 " iron horse." The climax of tiiese esca})ad('S was 
 reached this morning, when Paid, becoming frightened 
 by an approaching train repeated the experience of three 
 days ago by })lunging into a slough, about two miles 
 from Newark, and complet(^ly covering himself and 
 rider with mud. When I had recovered sufficiently 
 to realize the situation, my thoughts were not as 
 amiable, I fear, as those of Bunyan's good Christian, 
 tried in like manner. The ''slough of despond'^ was 
 so very literal in this case. 
 
 I had made every effort to control the excited 
 animal, but found the attempt useless; and 1 verily 
 believe if he were between the infernal regions and a 
 coming train, he would choose tlie former at a bound. 
 It was rather trying to ap})ear before people of the 
 town in such a lamentable condition, to say nothing 
 of the discomforts arising from damp clothing; but 
 there was no alternative, so I followed my course; 
 the unfortunate victim of circumstances. 
 
 5ll)irtietl) ^i\\\ 
 
 Fairport House, 
 
 Fairport, New York, 
 
 June Seventh. 
 
 Resumed march at eight o'clock in the morning, but 
 the weather, was so oppressively warm and sultry, that 
 I was obliged to wait over from noon until six o'clock. 
 
164 OCEAN T^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Riding in the cool of the day was much more agree- 
 able, yet, notwithstanding the physical comfort, I 
 must confess that the lonely and unknown road gave 
 rather a gloomy forecast to my thoughts. Beside 
 this, I found some difficuhy in obtaining necessary 
 directions, and lost^ the chief charm of the journey — 
 a view of the beautiful country through which I was 
 passing. 
 
 It had not been my intention to do any travelling 
 after sundown unless the heat made it absolutely 
 necessary, but in this instance I felt justified in chang- 
 ing the original plan. Moving along through the 
 unfamiliar scenes, I missed the pleasant coloring of 
 woods and fields under the broad light of day, the 
 Doisy hum the sunshine calls forth, and the sound of 
 the birds, always the sweetest music to me. Instead 
 of these there was the mystical silence of night, 
 broken only by the clatter of PauVs lioofs over tlie 
 dusty road. Four hours' steady travel brought us in 
 sight of the straggling lights of the little })ost-village 
 of Fairport, where we sto[)})ed for the night. Found 
 several Rociiester papers awaiting me here, wliich con- 
 tained pleasant reference to my proposed lecture at 
 Corinthian Hall. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FOUR DAYS AT KOCH ESTER. 
 
 NTICIPATING rain during the fore- 
 noon and fearing that my journey 
 iniglit be interru|)ted in eonsequence, 
 I started at an early hour on the morn- 
 ing of June eighth from Fairj)ort, and 
 riding at a brisk ])ace c^me into 
 Roeliester at eleven o'clock. 
 
 Just before reaching the city, a halt 
 was made at a little hamlet, two or three 
 miles out, for the purpose of treating PauVs back. 
 Heretofore the necessity of meeting my lecture 
 appointments along the route had given me no 
 opportunity to attend to the painful bruise, al- 
 though I had been studying the various modes 
 of treatment recommended by veterinary surgeons 
 from the time I left Boston until now. The 
 pe(uiliar nature of my journey gave me an excellent 
 opportunity to follow this esj)ecial course, and I felt 
 confident of my ability to do all that was possible for 
 my faithful liorse, yet at every stop})ing-place some 
 kindly disposed admirer of the horse had some favor- 
 ite pr( sc'iiption which he had found a never-failing 
 cure for the particular alHiction that daily confronted 
 me. The enterprising little liandet in question liad 
 
 (lf.5) 
 
166 OCEj^^^ ocean on HORSEBACK. 
 
 its famed savant, who thought it would be highly 
 imprudent of me to proceed farther without liis 
 advice — and a bottle of his '' Seven-Sealed Wonder.'^ 
 
 Anxious to make Rocliester at the earliest moment 
 possible, I had no time to discuss the merits of this 
 great elixir, so, noting the price on the face of the 
 bottle, I handed this modest disciple of ^scuh^pius 
 the amount due, although he generously protested, and 
 congratulating myself upon being the most highly 
 favored traveller between Boston and San Francisco, 
 rode away. 
 
 On a hill just beyond the village and well out of 
 sight, I came upon an old barn standing to the left of 
 the road, on whose front I noticed a huge door with a 
 knothole in the centre. Now was my opportunity for 
 unsealing the '' Wonder.'^ In an instant I brought 
 Paul to a standstill and rising in the saddle, tried my 
 luck. The " Wonder '' fell short of tlie mark, but it met 
 a resistance from the old door which effectually tested 
 its powers, and in my humble opinion placed the good 
 doctor high up in his profession. This momentary 
 diversion over, I again resumed the march, vowing 
 that this would be my last experiment with "sealed 
 wonders" and that hereafter I would confine my 
 treatment to bathing PauVs back with warm water 
 and castile soap, whose virtue I had learned in the 
 cavalry service during the war. 
 
 Found that the Rochester papers had been discuss- 
 ing my military record before my arrival, and that 
 the Express and Sunday Morning Times had upheld 
 my cause against the Union, which had ventured some 
 falsehoods on the ground that my " youthful appear- 
 ance" belied my experience as a soldier. With this 
 
FOUR BAYS AT ROCHESTER. 1G7 
 
 pleasant criticism came another u;reetin<z; from the city 
 press. It had been announced that I vvouUl probably 
 arrive at the Osburn House at four in tlie afternoon, 
 hence it was not strange that my sudden appearance at 
 aii earlier hour caused some sur[)rise and led to the 
 iiiipression that I had come forward by rail, and that 
 my horseback journey was possibly not an entirely 
 genuine atlair. I may add that it had not occurred to 
 me that my trip across country was of sufficient im- 
 })ortance to warrant any criticism upon my methods 
 so lont^ as 1 met my lecture a{)pointments promptly. 
 The siiarp comment had no more serious result than 
 that of increasing the lecture receij)ts in the cities 
 which followed. 
 
 My tenth lecture was delivered in Corinthian Hall, 
 at the usual hour in the evening, the introduction 
 being made by Colonel J. A. Reynolds. 
 
 Next day, June ninth, gave me an opportunity to 
 look up the familiar places and to note the changes 
 that had occurred since my last visit to the city. 
 The cleanliness and beauty of the streets, now in their 
 summer glory of tree and flower, made such a tour of 
 inspection anything but unpleasant. 
 
 East avenue, where the " floiu' and coal kings " are 
 at home, is an attractive place in which to see individ- 
 ual taste carried out in architecture and horticulture. 
 Down town, where the " kings" are at work, there is 
 a brisk activity which pervades everything, like an 
 unending accompaniment to the Falls, whose sounds 
 always mingle with those of the busy life around 
 them. Perhaps it was this continual encouragement 
 from the river, oifcred to her early pioneers, that lias 
 given Rochester such a notable career and made her 
 
168 OcS99l^O OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the metropolis of the Genesee Valley : for with that 
 first mill-wheel set into the stream by old ^' Indian 
 Allen," the faithful waters 'have kept up a continual 
 flow of good fortune. 
 
 Her characteristic enterprise, milling, begun by 
 this same Allen, has been an unfailing source of 
 wealth ; the golden grain with almost magic trans- 
 formation filling the coffers of her merchants and 
 giving her the security that a healthy financial condi- 
 tion brings. Besides this, she owes much to that 
 liberal-minded gentleman. Colonel Nathaniel Roches- 
 ter, who came with his family from Maryland 
 when the settlement was in its infancy, and made his 
 home in "the pleasant valley." It is amusing to 
 fancy the unique procession, headed by the Colonel 
 and his sons on horseback, that started out towards 
 *' the wild west" in the summer of 1802. There 
 were carriages for the ladies and servants, and wagons 
 for provisions and household goods, stretched out in 
 formidable array : for railroads were out of the ques- 
 tion then. 
 
 We hear that the travellers met with cordial hospi- 
 tality at the villages and towns along their route, and 
 that their arrival created quite a sensation. In fact it 
 was an historical event. Two friends of the Roches- 
 ters, William Fitzhugh and Charles Carroll, cast in 
 their fortunes with them, and in 1802 bought together 
 the three hundred acres at the Upper Falls, which 
 were laid out for a settlement ten years later. In 
 those times the prestige of a name went far towards 
 establishing a reputation, and the one chosen by the 
 people of the settlement was afterward proudly placed 
 upon the uiunicipal banner. Soon after the advent 
 
FOUR DAYS AT ROCHESTER. 1G9 
 
 of Colonel Rochester and his friends, the scheme for 
 making a water communication between the Lakes 
 and the Sea began to be eagerly discussed, and there 
 were not a f<;w energetic representatives from ^'Roches- 
 terville" who lent their efforts towards tiic carrying out 
 of the plan. Wlien the canal was completed there 
 was tlie wildest enthusiasm in Rochester, which would 
 perhaps have a greater benefit than any other ])lace 
 along the route: for witli her big grain and coal inter- 
 ests, her future prosperity seemed assured. 
 
 Tlie natural course of events followed. Improve- 
 ment and embellishment began on all sides. New 
 buildings and enterprises started up ou solid foun- 
 dations, and provision was made for those who 
 might "drop out of the ranks," in the selection of 
 beautiful Mount Hope, one of the loveliest ceuK^teries 
 in point of natural cliarm in this country. It lies on 
 a wooded slope between the lake and the city, and its 
 pathwavs, shadowed by tlie great trees from the "forest 
 primeval,'' are the playgrounds for the wild little 
 creatures who make tlieir homes there unmolested. 
 
 Back attain into the town where the sound of the 
 Falls is heard, and one thiidis of the odd touch a simple 
 character has added to the traditions of the place, and 
 whose name, to a stranger, is so often associated with 
 that of Rochester. This quaint figure is none other 
 than "Sam Patch, the jumper," who met his fate by 
 leaping into the Genesee at the "Falls," and who left as 
 a legacy the warning maxim, " Be careful, or, like 
 Sam Patch, you may jump once too often." History 
 has chronicled Sam's last speech, delivered from the 
 ])latf()i-m, just before his fatal leap ; which, as a sample 
 of rustic oratory, is amusing. 
 
170 OCEA^mO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 He said : " Napoleon was a great man and a great 
 general. He conquered armies, and he conquered 
 nations, but he couldnH jump the Genesee FaUs. 
 Wellington was a great man and a great soldier. He 
 conquered armies, and he conquered nations, and he 
 conquered Napoleon, but he couldnH jump the Gene- 
 see Falls. That was left for 7ne to do, and I can do 
 it, and will." 
 
 Rochester, the capital of Monroe County, N"ew 
 York, was first settled in 1810, and incorporated as a 
 city in 1834. It is situated on both sides of the 
 Genesee River, seven miles from Lake Ontario, two 
 hundred and fifty miles from Albany and sixty-nine 
 from Buffalo by railway. An aqueduct of stone car- 
 ries the Erie Canal across the river, the cost of which 
 amounted to over half a million dollars. The city is 
 well laid out with wide and handsome streets, lined 
 with shade trees. 
 
 Within the city limits the Genesee undergoes a 
 sudden descent of two hundred and sixty-eight feet, 
 falling in three separate cataracts within a distance of 
 two miles. The roar of these falls is heard contin- 
 ually all over the city, but no one is inconvenienced by 
 it in the slightest degree. The cataracts are believed 
 to have formed, at one time, a single fall, but the dif- 
 ferent degrees of hardness of the rocks have caused 
 an unequal retrograde movement of the falls, until 
 they have assumed their present position. At the 
 Upper Falls, the river is ])recipitated perpendicularly 
 ninety -six feet. It then flows between nearly perpen- 
 dicular walls of rock, for about a mile and a quarter to 
 the Middle Falls, where it has another descent of twenty- 
 five feet. One hundred rods below, at the Lower 
 
FOUR DAYS AT TtOCHESTEU. 173 
 
 Falls, it again descends eighty-four ^Qctj which brings 
 the stream to the level of Lake Ontario, into which 
 it enters. 
 
 The immense water-power thus afforded in the cen- 
 tre of one of the finest wheat-growing regions in the 
 world, with the facilities of transportation afforded by 
 the Erie Canal, Lake Ontario, and the several rail- 
 ways, have given a vast impulse to the prosperity of 
 Rochester and it has, in consequence, become one of 
 the most imi)ortant manufacturing cities in the East. 
 At the })eriod of my visit, there were eighteen flour 
 mills in o{)eration, grinding annually 2,500,000 bush- 
 els of wheat. The manufacturing interests are im- 
 mense — ready-made clothing being the most extensive, 
 and boots and shoes ranking next. Other leading 
 manufactures are those of iron bridges. India-rubber 
 goods, carriages, furniture, optical instruments, steam 
 engines, glassware and agricultural machinery. Of 
 flourishing industries may be mentioned breweries, 
 tobacco factories, blast furnaces and fruit canning. 
 
 The largest nurseries in America are found here. 
 Thousands of acres within a short distance of the city 
 are devoted to the cultivation of fruit trees, and 
 millions of these trees are annually shipped to other 
 States and foreign countries. Over $2,000,000 is the 
 annual product of these prolific nurseries. 
 
 The city is fast becoming a great distributing centre 
 for coal, which is conveyed in vessels to all points on 
 the Great Lakes. Rochester, being the business centre 
 of the fertile Genesee Valley, shows a steady growth 
 in business and wealth. It has a ma";nificent svstem 
 of water-works, constructed at a cost of $8,250,000, 
 the water being supplied from two sources — one from 
 
174 OCElfl^mtfp OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 the river, which is used for extinguishing fires and 
 running light machinery ; the other from Hemlock 
 Lake, twenty-nine miles frona the centre of the city, 
 and four hundred feet above it. This water is sent 
 through sixty miles of mains, the pressure being such 
 as to throw from the hydrants a stream one hundred 
 and thirty feet perpendicularly. No city is more 
 perfectly protected from fire. 
 
 At the corner of Main and State streets are the 
 Powers' Buildings, a peculiar block of stores, built of 
 stone, glass and iron, seven stories high. In the 
 upper halls is a fine collection of paintings. A tower 
 surmounts the building, from which a fine view of the 
 city and its surroundings is obtained. " The Arcade" 
 is roofed with glass and numerous fine stores line its 
 sides. Opposite stands the County Court House, a 
 handsome building of gray limestone, with a tower 
 one hundred and seventy-five feet high. The hand- 
 somest building in the city is, I think, the Rochester 
 Savings Bank, corner of Main and Fitzhugh streets. 
 The First Baptist, the First Presbyterian and the 
 Catholic Cathedral of St. Patrick are the finest church 
 edifices. 
 
 There are twelve spacious parks here, and four 
 elegant bridges cross the Genesee. Tlie Rochester 
 University, founded by the Baptist denomination in 
 1850, is located on a tract of twelve acres, a little to 
 the east of the city. It has a valuable library and 
 mineralogical cabinet. The State Reform School or 
 Western House of Refuge for vicious boys is an im- 
 posing edifice, containing usually about four hundred in- 
 mates. Mount Hope, the site of the cemetery — before 
 
FOUR DAYS AT ROCHESTER. 177 
 
 referred to — is a heautifiil eminence ()verl<)()kin<^ tlie 
 city. 
 
 At the time of my visit, Rochester supported thirty- 
 four newspapers and periodicals, of which six were 
 (]ailies. The popiihition was about 90,000. 
 
 It seems that Fortune has favored the '' Fh)ur 
 City," or at least that wise heads and generous hearts 
 have planned for her greatest good. It is proper to 
 look back into the beginnings for the keynote to suc- 
 cess in our American towns, and in this case, we 
 doubtless find it in the unselfish forethought of the 
 first men added to its wonderful natural resources. 
 
 A simple little incident, told of Colonel Rochester, 
 illustrates the principle, whose benefit others are reap- 
 ing, lie was working in his garden one day, setting 
 out fi'uit trees, when a neighbor came along and 
 stopped to chat. The Colonel said : '^ I do not know 
 that I shall eat any fruit from the trees I am plant- 
 ing, but as I eat from trees somebody planted for me, 
 I must set out trees for those who will come after 
 me." It was this provision for those who were to 
 "come "after " that has done much towards making 
 Rochester what she is to-day. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ROCHESTER TO BUFFALO. 
 
 urifTtg-fiftl) iDati. 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 Sprague House, 
 Churchville, New York, 
 
 Jime 12, 1876. 
 
 FOUND as I mounted Paul at nine 
 o'clock in front of the Osbnrn House 
 tl)at on this twelfth of June, 1876, my 
 day's ride would be a trying one on 
 account of the heat, but it was impos- 
 sible to change the weather and im- 
 ^^J^ practicable to change my j)lans, so I 
 "^Xs accepted the inevitable. As' usual 
 
 through Central New York a number 
 of Grand Army friends and others had assembled 
 to see me off, and to wish me a safe journey to the 
 "Golden Gate." Tiiis cordiality, shown me all along 
 the route, took away the sense of strangeness natural 
 to one travelling through comparatively unfamiliar 
 places, and gave me an idea of the hospitality of our 
 American people. The pleasant good-byes over, Paul 
 and I started away in the direction of Chili, which we 
 reached about noon. Here I had dinner and passed 
 the remainder of the day, resorting again to the even- 
 (178) 
 
ROCHESTER TO BUFFALO. 179 
 
 ing hours for resuming my journey ; and I may add 
 that in this instance I found "something in a name/' 
 for Chili was an admirable place to keep cool in. 
 
 At six o'clock I started on towards Cimrchville, 
 coming in sight of its church spires a little after sun- 
 set, and lessening the distance to San Francisco by 
 some fifteen miles. 
 
 Notwithstanding the stop over at Chili, I was glad 
 when we came to the end of my journey, and must 
 confess that as I rode into the village the sight of the 
 Sprague House gratified me more than the view of the 
 picturesque town as I saw it outlined against the even- 
 ing sky. 
 
 ®l)u*tg-sii1l) ©aw. 
 
 Byron Centre Hotel, 
 
 Byron Centre, New York, 
 
 June Thirteenth. 
 
 Soon after breakfast in Churchville, I threw myself 
 into the saddle and started for Bergen Corners, reach- 
 ing it by eleven o'clock. This distance of two miles 
 was covered very leisurely, for there was no pressing 
 engagement to fill, and I could '^gang my own gait." 
 When there was anything to attract the eye — a sightly 
 field of grain, or change of scene, I usually stopped 
 to notice it and add one more impression to the pano- 
 rama which my overland journey continually spread 
 before me. At the "Corners" I spent a few hours 
 quietly, if I except the slight interruptions of the 
 landlord of the Hooper House and his family. These 
 interruptions for curiosity's sake were easily par- 
 doned by me, for anything a little humorous and 
 characteristic is always acceptable to one bent on see- 
 
180 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 iiig life in all its phases; and besides, the softening 
 influence of home-made bi'ead and other country 
 luxuries, which were furnished me here, tended to 
 make me look charitably upon everything. 
 
 In the afternoon I left for Byron Centre, reaching 
 it at six o'clock and making eleven miles for the day. 
 While at supper there, the guests of the Byron Centre 
 House were greatly amused by two itinerant photog- 
 raphers who, after their day's work was done, made a 
 practice of entertaining the public with fife and drum. 
 Through this cunning advertising scheme it was my 
 good fortune to see one of the most interesting crowds 
 that rustic America could bring together. These 
 enterprising " artist musicians " seemed to possess the 
 magic powers of Orpheus, for the villagers attracted 
 by their strains came flocking from every direction 
 and unconsciously made up a group which would 
 have been irresistible to a painter, and which was 
 certainly interesting to the ordinary observer. The 
 sight was an entirely novel one to me, for although 
 I am a New Yorker, and have seen roving concerns 
 of almost every description, this particular species 
 had never come to my notice. Through the cour- 
 tesy of Charles Leonard, tlie proprietor of the hotel 
 here, I was introduced to several Byron Centre gentle- 
 men, among them Rev. Edwin Allen, who called just 
 before my departure. Mr. Allen was most cordial, 
 and gave me a very clever idea of the place, and the 
 country adjacent. 
 
ROCHESTER TO BUFFALO. ISl 
 
 (!ri)irty-sct)cntl) IDan. 
 
 aSV. James Hotel, 
 
 Batavia, New York, 
 
 Jinie Fourteen/h. 
 
 A delightful shower of the previous evening eooled 
 tlie air, and made my journey to l^atavia exceedingly 
 pleasant. During tlie day I passed some of the finest 
 clover and wheat fields that 1 had seen since leaving 
 Rochester. The rain may have brightened their color 
 and made them look their best, but regardless of this, 
 it is evident that the soil throucrh this section of New 
 York is under a very high state of cultivation, and 
 signs of thrift are noticeable on every hand. I found, 
 as is generally the case upon approaching a town, the 
 farms more tastefully laid out, with their wide 
 stretches of wheat, and their pretty conventional 
 " kitchen gardens." 
 
 After these outskirting homes I came upon the 
 more dignified buildings of Batavia proper, where 
 push and enterprise have made some striking advances. 
 It is quite a business town, having its share of 
 manufactories, banks and newspapers, and, with its 
 population of something over four tiiousand, possess- 
 ing the benefits of a larger place. It is thirty-two 
 miles west of Rochester and thirty-seven east of 
 Buffalo. The State Institute for the Blind is situated 
 here. 
 
 In the evening I lectured at Ellicott Hall, and was 
 introduced by lawyer S. S. Crosby, a comrade of the 
 Grand Army, who, during the late war, was an officer 
 in the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. Among those who 
 
182 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 called upon me at the St. James before the lecture 
 was Samuel A. Lester, a fellow-soldier of the Harris 
 Light Cavalry, with whom I talked over many of 
 our experiences in Company " E ^' of the " Old Regi- 
 ment." Nothing has been so gratifying to me in the 
 course of my journey, changes of scene, or new faces, 
 as these meetings with old comrades, and the talks of 
 camp and field. Separating at the close of the- war, 
 when the trying experiences we had equally shared 
 had drawn us strangely together, it was natural that a 
 glimpse of those we had known under such circum- 
 stances should be a delight after so many years. It gave 
 a different phase to my journey, too, and made it not 
 only a series of new and pleasant changes, but an 
 extended visit which might delight any traveller. 
 
 (i[l)irti)-dgl)tl) JDajj. 
 
 Crossroads, 
 
 Near Croft's Station, New York, 
 
 Ju7ie Fifteenth. 
 
 I did not find it convenient to leave Batavia until 
 eight o'clock in the evening, but as most of the six 
 miles between the two places lay through a swampy 
 region, I had a running fight with the mosquitoes, 
 which encouraged me to make good time, so that I 
 reached '^Croft's" in an .hour. On my arrival I found 
 Babcock awaiting me with accommodation provided 
 at a quiet little retreat situated at the Crossroads, 
 which was hotel, grocery and farm-house in one. 
 This odd grocery-tavern is about half a mile from the 
 station ; just far enough away to have peculiarities of 
 its own. While its proprietor was throwing down 
 
ROCHESTER TO BUFFALO. 185 
 
 hay for Paul from his barn loft, he in some way lost 
 his footing and fell through, but no serious damage 
 was done. 
 
 This little incident simply added an extra attraction 
 to the "horse that was going to California." In the 
 course of the morning I went to the hotel sitting-room 
 to make some observations and to post my journal. 
 While quietly occupied in this way I noticed the 
 arrival of several of the men and boys of the place, 
 who came in, seated themselv^cs on the wooden 
 benches that were placed around the sides of the 
 room, and began unceremoniously to " look me over." 
 Phoebe, the proprietor's daughter, and the ruling 
 spirit at the "Corners," a bright little maid, who filled 
 the offices of cook, waitress, chambermaid and clerk, 
 assumed one of her various roles and was standing 
 behind the counter. Soon, one of her rustic knights 
 sauntered up to her, pipe in mouth, and called out, 
 " Pheeb, gimme a match ! " Whereupon, her father, 
 who was standing on one side of the room, country 
 fashion, with trousers over his boot-tops, and in his 
 shirt sleeves, stepped forward and said with admirable 
 dignity, " Phebe, sir!" adding, as the nonplused 
 oifender made some bashful apology, " You's brought 
 up well nuff. Jack, but you've forgot some on't." 
 
 This was an unexpected turn of affairs which I 
 scarcely expected to witness at "Croft's," but it at least 
 gave evidence of a certain sense of refinement which 
 we Americans would hardly be credited with outside 
 our cultivated circles. 
 
186 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 Crittenden House, 
 
 Crittenden, New York, 
 
 June Sixteenth. 
 
 Started from ''Croft's" at ten o'clock, stopping at the 
 little post village of Corfu for dinner, where I was 
 introduced to several people who had come together 
 to greet me upon my arrival. Among them w^ere Dr. 
 Fuller, Dr. John McPherson and S. E. Dutton. 
 Dinner over, I rested until five o'clock, resuming my 
 journey at that hour and reaching Crittenden at six. 
 As I rode up to the hotel at this place I found that a 
 number of villagers had gathered to give me welcome, 
 and to learn something of my journey and its objects. 
 I talked to them for some time and then followed a 
 strong inclination to walk into the country. There 
 were no unusual attractions about this little village of 
 a hundred souls excepting the cordiality of its people 
 and the natural attraction that there always is about a 
 small community in the midst of thriving acres. To 
 one who has been "a country boy'' himself, these 
 things never lose their charm, and he will give them 
 the preference, I think, to the finest sights in town. 
 
 They recall a certain old home somewhere, long 
 since abandoned for the charms of Vanity Fair, or a 
 quaint little " school house " where he first began to 
 think about the great world beyond. 
 
noClIESTER TO BUFFALO. 187 
 
 lortictl) ©aw. 
 
 American House, 
 Lancaster, New York, 
 Jwie Seventeenth and Eujhteenth. 
 
 My ride from Crittenden to this place, a distance of 
 ten miles, was made in easy time owing to the opprcs- 
 sively warm weather ; for my only aim was to reach 
 my destination in season to meet my lecture appoint- 
 ment. Found the farmers along the route still work- 
 ing out their taxes on the public roads, which were 
 greatly in need of attention. Speaking to them as I 
 passed along I found that they looked rather curiously 
 at the strange horse and rider, doubtlese wondering 
 whence we came and whither we were bound. 
 
 Addressed my Lancastrian audience in the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church in the evening. Captain G. S. 
 Remington introducing. 
 
 Early in the morning I had found, upon going to the 
 stable, that Paul was badly cut, and there was much 
 speculation as to how and by whom the injury was 
 done; but it was generally conjectured that he had had 
 a battle with a horse belonging to the landlord, during 
 the night. This horse, which was a large and powerful 
 stallion, had recently been shod, so that in the matter 
 of equipment he had a decided advantage over " l\inl 
 Revci^e" who was })osftibly not averse to celebrating 
 the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. 
 
 The day following my arrival at Lancaster being 
 Sunday, Captain Remington called for me in the 
 morning, and I accompanied him to the Presbyterian 
 Church. 
 
188 OCEAN^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 As we passed along on our way to church, I had a 
 good opportunity to see this little town on Cayuga 
 Creek, and the added advantage of a personal account 
 of the place from one of its residents. Like all 
 towns adjacent to a large city, Lancaster has a certain 
 air of independence, and unmistakable signs of con- 
 tact with greater forces ; and besides its pretty homes, 
 some of them the out-of-town retreats of Buffalo 
 business men, it has its share of industrial enterprises. 
 
 Altogether, it is a pretty little neighbor of which 
 any city might be proud, and which in its peace-loving 
 way is very sensible in standing off at a distance from 
 its busier sister. A few minutes by rail can take its 
 thousand and a half inhabitants "to town," where 
 they find the best that the great stores provide ; and a 
 ride of a few minutes more brings them out of the 
 noise to their own quiet haven. 
 
 It is liard to realize a more delightful and thor- 
 oughly restful existence than that found in suburban 
 villages, where the influences of active forces are felt, 
 but where they cannot disturb the even tranquillity. 
 They seem to illustrate the "golden mean" which 
 Horace recommends, and I find that it is always 
 pleasant to reach such places and hard to leave them. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THREE DAYS AT BUFFALO. 
 
 hour's ride from Ijancaster, on the 
 morning of the nineteenth, brought to 
 view the motley array of chimneys 
 and towers that overtop the " Queen 
 City of the Lakes.'' While making 
 my way towards them, and receiving 
 first impressions, my attention was 
 attracted by a brigade drill on the 
 parade ground, which I halted to wit- 
 ness. This was the first instance during my journey 
 in which I had encountered any considerable body of 
 military men, with the exception of the Grand Army 
 procession at Utica, on Memorial Day. The march- 
 ing and manoeuvres evinced close attention to tactics 
 and excellent discipline, and the equipment of officers 
 and men reflected much credit upon the Empire State, 
 which has every reason to be proud of these her 
 citizen-soldiers. 
 
 Drill over, I rode on into Buffalo, and, soon after 
 registering at the Tift House, had the pleasure of 
 meeting Major John M. Farquhar, who introduced me 
 to my audience at St. James Hall in the evening. 
 
 Major Farquhar is a comrade, prominent in G. A. 
 R. circles, and was then commander of the leading 
 
 (189) 
 
190 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HOUSEBACK. 
 
 post of the city. From him I learned something of 
 the changes which had taken place since my last visit 
 here, and which I was desirous to see as much of as 
 circumstances would allow. Buffalo has a peculiarJy 
 rich history, and, like the old towns of the Mohawk 
 Valk y, the romantic view which Indian life and love 
 have given. 
 
 Near here the arrogant Eries held their councils, 
 and deliberated upon the downfall of their powerful 
 neighbors of the Five Nations ; who, in turn, ruined 
 and almost exterminated them. The chronicles tell 
 us that the Iroquois, coming by invitation to engage 
 in friendly contest on the hunting-ground of the 
 Eries, soon discovered the real intent of tlie wily 
 " Cats," who were jealous of the renown of their red 
 brothers. Failing in the games they had themselves 
 proposed, and blind with rage, they saw their tolerant 
 guests depart with the trophies of victory. No sooner 
 were they out of sight than a council of war was held, 
 and a decision to conquer them agreed upon. The 
 war bonnets were donned, the dog sacrificed, and 
 every preparation made for a raid into, the enemy's 
 country; but a Seneca woman who had been taken 
 prisoner by the Eries some years before, apprised 
 the great chiefs of her nation of the intended attack. 
 
 In this way the Eries were in turn surprised and 
 defeated in their last game with their rivals. Only a 
 few of their warriors were left to bear the hateful 
 news to the women and old men who were waiting in 
 the wigwams: and these with their allies, terribly 
 punished as they had been in the encounter, were 
 driven by their infuriated enemies beyond the Missis- 
 sippi. The Senecas, who proudly called themselves 
 
THREE DAYS AT BUFFALO. 191 
 
 the western gate-keepers of the " Long House," made 
 a settlement near Buffalo, to which they gave the 
 musical name of Tc-you-seo-wa, the place of bass- 
 wood, having found tiiere huts covered with basswood 
 })ark, the remnants of some lately abandoned village. 
 This settlement was not as near the lake-front as the 
 city now is, but was cautiously laid out farther back 
 from shore to prevent surprise. Here the young 
 braves found a favorite hunting-ground, and were 
 wont to conceal themselves near the salt springs that 
 bubble up from the border of tiic creek, to await the 
 buffaloes, which came there in herds. There has 
 been some dispute as to the naming of the city, and 
 the possibility of the American bison having fre- 
 quented this part of the country, but it is generally 
 believed that herds of these herbivorous animals did 
 graze on Eastern soil, and that the attacks of carniv- 
 orous beasts and the constant warfare waored aj^ainst 
 them by the Indians drove them to the Western 
 plains. 
 
 Nearly two centuries ago, when the site of the 
 present city was still a wilderness through whose 
 tangled labyrinths Indian eyes peered out over the 
 gleaming waters of the lake. La Hontan penetrated 
 these western wilds, and suggested to his sovereign 
 the building of a fort here, as a safeguard against the 
 Iroquois. 
 
 We see almost instinctively the scenes which he 
 saw as we follow him through lake and stream — the 
 great falls sparkling beneath an August sun, their 
 wild surroundings unmarred and untrodden save 
 by raoccasined feet ; the rapids and then the river, 
 to whose current, farther up, he trusted his boat. 
 
192 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 But it was not until long after this that the sound of 
 the woodman's axe was heard in the forests at the 
 foot of Lake Erie, when the pioneer had come to 
 make his home, and to lay the foundation of a future 
 city. 
 
 One after another crude cabins were raised, and in 
 turn were replaced by more comfortable houses, so 
 that in 1813 the settlement was large enough to make 
 quite a bonfire for the British and their dusky allies. 
 The events which took place at Buffalo, connected 
 with this war, were singularly exciting; and, although 
 there were brave hearts and stout arms ready to de- 
 fend their country, we cannot but regret the peculiar 
 circumstances which led to the general havoc here. 
 
 Historians have gleaned such glowing descriptions 
 from those who were either witnesses or participants 
 in these stirring scenes, that we cannot fail to be 
 moved by them. 
 
 The night surprise, in the woods, near Black Rock, 
 when the American troops were suddenly greeted by 
 ambushed Britons : the rout which followed when 
 the terrified horsemen dashed back in retreat through 
 the ranks of the infantry, demoralizing them in turn, 
 is so vividly drawn that it has the reality of later times. 
 Afterwards wdien the alarmed people heard the cry 
 that the British were coming, and we see them in con- 
 fused masses trying to escape with their household 
 goods, we sympathize with their terror as they saw in 
 the distance the dreaded Indian jogging towards them 
 with club and hatchet. 
 
 It was then that Job Hoysington, who was with 
 one of the retreating parties, lingered behind his com- 
 panions, saying that he would have " one more shot at 
 
THREE BA YS A T B UFF. \L0. ] 95 
 
 the Red Skins.'^ He evidently did luive the coveted 
 eliance, and so did the enemy, for when the snow 
 melted in the spring the brave fellow was fonnd with 
 his empty musket at his side, and a bullet through 
 his brain. The work of vengeance had been completed 
 with the scalping-knife. At the corner of jNIain and 
 Niagara streets an old twelve-pounder stood. As the 
 imposing column of Britisli infantry were advanc- 
 ing upon the town, a patriotic citizen had the gun 
 mounted and two shots fired into the ranks. He 
 afterwards met the enemy with a flag of truce — a 
 handkerchief tied to his cane — and requested a halt. 
 
 This was granted, and a parley begun, while the 
 townspeople were escaping. 
 
 The firing of the houses and the plundering of 
 them by the Indians followed. Buffalo rose, however, 
 from her ashes full of new life and ambition, and 
 much improved in appearance. Her firesides were 
 again the scene of happy security, and her women, 
 lately fugitives, fleeing in terror from fire and sword, 
 were again the social inspirations of a thriving com- 
 munity. More than this, they were contributing to 
 the enterprises of the city, for in 1821 between three 
 and four thousand yards of cloth were woven in tiie 
 homes of Buffalo ! 
 
 The Erie Canal being completed in 1822, and com- 
 merce beginning in earnest, no doubt took away from 
 the importance of the spinning-wheel and loom, for 
 these busy little machines of the past have been stored 
 away in the garrets long enough to make them well- 
 seasoned relics. Housewifely attention at this time 
 had to be turned to the management of larger estab- 
 lishments, for Buffalo had far outgrown her infancy, 
 
196 OCEAN^y^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 and was assuming certain new conceits in architecture, 
 although she has never equalled the splendor of other 
 large cities in her public buifdings. The new City 
 and County Hall approaches more nearly to the 
 modern idea, and is very attractive within and with- 
 out. It is built of Maine granite in the form of a 
 double Roman cross, and is surmounted by a lofty 
 tower bearing four symbolic figures. With the in- 
 crease of canal and railroad traffic, the building of the 
 immense grain elevators, which are a striking feature 
 of Buffalo, was commenced. 
 
 Their number and size have been increased to such 
 an extent that they almost make a town in them- 
 selves and are capable of accommodating eight million 
 bushels of grain. The incessant work of storing and 
 transferring is carried on about these wooden giants 
 day after day, sometimes to the extent of more than 
 three million bushels, while, at their feet, boats come 
 and go in the great commercial game of ^^give and 
 take." There is every facility for carrying on a trade 
 of this kind, for Buffalo River is navigable for 
 more than two miles from its mouth, which is pro- 
 tected by breakwaters which form an excellent harbor, 
 while there is a water-front on the lake and the Niagara 
 River five miles long. In 1869, the United States 
 Government began the construction of an outside har- 
 bor, by building a breakwater 4000 feet long fronting 
 the entrance of the Buffalo River. 
 
 Overlooking Buffalo River stand the office build- 
 ings whence come the • calculating and controlling 
 influences that keep in " clock work " order this mart 
 where grain is ^' received, transferred, stored and for- 
 warded with greater dispatch than in any other port of 
 
THREE DAYS AT BUFFALO. 107 
 
 tlie country.'^ Beyond these, in tlic lieart of the ('ity, 
 arc the retail and wholesale stores, where not only 
 Bnffalo tinds her wants snpplied, hnt nnniberless 
 sister towns; and owiiiii; to her close proxinnty to the 
 great coal region of Pennsylvania, she has very cheap 
 fuel, which, no doubt, is a convenient item when a 
 "cold wave" conies across the lake. Her iron 
 works, reputed to be the largest in the country, add to 
 her general good fortune by putting within easy ac- 
 cess the necessary stoves. 
 
 Besides all this material comfort, the climate is 
 extremely healthful, and the location of the city such 
 as to make clean, wide streets a possibility. 
 
 There are several of these lined with handsome 
 residences, and adorned with parks, which are wisely 
 thought to be an indispensable luxury. 
 
 In the midst of the business hurry there are several 
 quiet corners where one may quench his thirst for 
 knowledge, and where master-thinkers lend their 
 potent influence. One of these is the Grosvenor 
 Library, the munificent gift of one of Buffalo's pio- 
 neers. It is admirably arranged for convenience and 
 comfort, and has a pleasant outlook over a little park 
 between Washington and Main streets. The Jjibrary 
 of the Young Men's Association, although containing 
 nearly twice as many volumes as the Grosvenor, is not 
 so largely frequented, but is, nevertheless, a great 
 resort for readers. There are also a number of smaller 
 libraries, where eager minds may have their fill of 
 books. 
 
 Here and there about the city one finds the familiar 
 evidences of Christian thought and work in the 
 beautiful tower-capped churches, each with its own 
 
[Nrff 
 
 198 OCEAN T7T OCEAN ON HOBSEBACK. 
 
 varied attractions. St. Paul's Cathedral — Episcopa- 
 lian — a handsome structure of brownstone, ivy-grown 
 and picturesque, from* whose walls in summer comes 
 the sound of birds, lies almost centrally among a hun- 
 dred others, and not far away is the Roman Catholic 
 house of worship, the dignified bit of Gothic archi- 
 tecture which they have named St. Joseph's. 
 
 One of my favorite haunts here is the quiet, carpetless 
 " Historical Rooms," from whose walls the Indian war- 
 riors who helped make Buffalo's history look down in 
 unchanging stolidity. Not least among these is Red 
 Jacket, who forms such a striking figure in the city's 
 traditions. An amusing incident which his picture 
 recalls is that of Lafayette on his return from his West- 
 ern tour in 1824. Among the preparations that were 
 being made for his reception was the guarding, by an 
 especial committee, of their "aboriginal lion," who 
 w^as a trifle too fond of his " firewater " and who was 
 to be the leading orator of the day. When the ap- 
 pointed time arrived, so the story goes, the sachem 
 was led upon the platform in all his conscious dignity. 
 A long conversation between him and the great 
 Frenchman followed, through an interpreter, whom 
 Red Jacket employed upon formal occasions ; in the 
 course of which the Indian complimented the General 
 upon his youthful appearance. " Time has left you a 
 fresh countenance, and hair to cover your head," said 
 he, " while as for me — see ! " and he took off the scarf 
 that was wound about his own bald crown. This 
 provoked a laugh among the spectators who knew 
 that Lafayette wore a wig. When Red Jacket was 
 made aware of the fact, he added with ready wit that 
 
THREE DAYS AT BUFFALO. 199 
 
 he too might supply himself with a new head of hair 
 by the aid of a scalping-kiiife ! 
 
 Everything upon the walls and in the cases has 
 been donated by private individuals, as the society 
 has not yet been able to make valuable purchases, 
 but there is enough already to make this treasure- 
 house of the past interesting. Relics from pioneer 
 times figure largely; among the rest, arrow-lieads and 
 tomahawks, pipes and belts of wampum, adding to the 
 odd collection, and suggesting all manner of horrors 
 to those who delight in Indian history. 
 
 " Forest Lawn," tlie place which Buffalo has se- 
 lected for her dead, is a most lovely spot, the loveliest 
 of its kind between Brooklyn's Greenwood and Chi- 
 cago. Everything tliat art could do in the arrange- 
 ment of shrub and flower has been added, and stands 
 as a tribute to those who are " lying low " and as a 
 witness to the faithful thought of the living. It is 
 only one of the beautiful tokens of devotion which 
 one sees, from the simple epitaph in a country grave- 
 yard in the East to the solitary resting-place, high in 
 some tree-top of the West, where our Red Brother 
 "sleeps his last sleep.^' 
 
 Adjoining the Cemetery are a few acres of woodland 
 
 that have been set aside for a kind of park. On warm 
 
 summer days those seeking rest and pleasure, come to 
 
 pay their respects to Dame Nature, who makes herself 
 
 very attractive here. But tliis is only one, and a 
 
 comparatively small one, of the various resorts where 
 
 tired humanity may drop its burden, and roam at 
 
 will. So Buffalo has her grave and her gay side, and 
 
 her business side, which is neither grave nor gay, 
 
 making their different impressions on the traveller's 
 10 
 
ANTb 
 
 200 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 eye, and combining, as a whole, in a very pleasing 
 effect. She has made and will make some very strik- 
 ing changes, as all cities of consequence do; but 
 changes worthy of the ^' Queen City of the Lakes/^ 
 who, although she may have to relinquish her title to 
 some outstripping sister, may always hold her head 
 high with conscious importance. She is still the third 
 city in the State of New York in point of population. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 
 
 jfortti-fourtl) ©aj). 
 
 North Evans Hotel, 
 North Ev^ans, New York, 
 June 23, 1876. 
 
 T had been my intention to leave the 
 " Queen City ^' on the afternoon of 
 the twenty-first, but I was delayed by 
 my advance agents, who required more 
 time to arrange the preliminaries of 
 my lectures between Buffalo and Cleve- 
 land. Babcock went forward to Dun- 
 kirk, Farrington to Erie, while it was 
 decided that my brother should accom- 
 pany me as far as Angola. There were other reasons 
 too, for a longer sojourn at Buffalo, as it was here I 
 met my wife for the last time during my journey, and 
 we had decided that it would be impracticable to meet 
 again before ray return from San Francisco. While 
 I anticipated a pleasant and uninterrupted journey, she 
 had some misgivings as to my ride across the Plains, 
 and tried at the last to dissuade me, but I was sanguine 
 of the outcome and thoroughly determined to continue, 
 at any odds, a journey so delightfully begun. At eight 
 
 (201) 
 
202 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 o'clock, therefore, on the morning of the twenty- 
 second, I returned the parting salute of my wife and 
 friends, and rode away. Turning into North Division 
 street, I went out to Main, down Main to Ohio, and 
 out Ohio to the Buffalo Road. Soon after passing the 
 city limits, I saw Lake Erie, and leaving the highway 
 rode down to the beach and into the water, giving 
 Paul his first drink from the great inland sea, along 
 whose shores we were to spend several days, and in 
 which I and my faithful friend would doubtless 
 quench our thirst many times. After this little diver- 
 sion I pushed forward for thirteen miles and a half, 
 which brought us to Lake View. After stopping 
 here a few moments I rode on to North Evans. In 
 this little village of something over a hundred in- 
 habitants, my peace was in no wise disturbed and I 
 was able to pass the day in comparative seclusion, 
 thinking over the three days at Buffalo and antici- 
 pating the journey to Cleveland. 
 
 5orti)-ftftl) iDag. 
 
 Angola House, 
 Angola, New York, 
 June Twenty-fourth. 
 
 The ride from North Evans to Angola was most 
 delightful, carrying me as it did, along the shore of 
 Lake Erie, which for the most part was plainly seen 
 from the turnpike. The exhilarating breeze from 
 over the water was in pleasing contrast to the intense 
 heat which was felt in Central New York, and 
 I found my appetite sharpening under its brisk in- 
 fluence. The eye had a continual feast of lake and 
 field stretching oiF on either side, and as I rode along 
 
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 203 
 
 enjoying their diverse beauties, my only regret was 
 that I had no companion at tiiis time with wliotn I 
 might share the pleasure. 
 
 To my right lay the shining lake, reflecting every 
 change of cloud and sky ; in front the Shore Road, 
 and to my left as far as the eye could reach, rich 
 green fields returning the salutation of sunny June. 
 Easy travelling brought me into Angola in the early 
 morning, as it is only six miles from North Evans. 
 Here an unfortunate circumstance is identified with the 
 name of the town, owing to a serious railroad disaster 
 that occurred some years ago, in which many lives 
 were lost; but one's attention is easily diverted from 
 such thoughts upon entering the town. Several manu- 
 factories give it a wide-awake tone, and keep a good 
 share of its five hundred inhabitants busy. 
 
 A small stream, known as Big Sister Creek, runs 
 through the place and thence winds its way to the 
 lake, three-quarters of a mile distant. This "Big 
 Sister" adds a pretty touch to the matter-of-fact little 
 village, while its pebbly bed is a charmed spot for 
 young Angolans. Soon after my arrival here, J. S. 
 Parker, formerly of Northern New York, called to 
 see me, and I discovered that he knew many of my 
 old acquaintances in St. Lawrence County. An hour 
 was spent in pleasant conversation with him, during 
 the course of which boyhood days at Gouverneur and 
 along the Oswegatchie were discussed. I strolled 
 about town in the afternoon, looking for "characteris- 
 tics," and in the evening lectured in the Town Hall, 
 the introduction being made by Leroy S. Oatman. 
 
204 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 ibrt^-sutl] anD 5ortg-sn)entl) Slaps. 
 
 Eastern Hotel, 
 
 Dunkirk, New York, 
 
 June 25 & 26. 
 
 The road between Angola and Dunkirk led me 
 through one of the most picturesque and productive 
 counties of the State, which at this time promised well 
 for the haymakers who w^ere busy in their ripened 
 fields. Hitherto the successive and varied scenes 
 along my route had in turn won my admiration, from 
 the pleasant ride across Massachusetts and over the 
 Berkshires to the Mohawk Valley and Western New 
 York, but these grain fields in their golden harvest- 
 time and the glimpses of the lake which the tortuous 
 course of the road now and then aiforded, were cer- 
 tainly as lovely as anything I had seen thus far. 
 I had noticed that the haying season was well 
 advanced when I was passing through Central New 
 York, but owing to the retarding influence which a 
 large body of water always exerts over vegetation, it 
 had been delayed here. Fourteen miles through this 
 pretty section of Erie and Chautauqua counties 
 brought me to Dunkirk, where I lectured at Columbus 
 Hall in the evening, and was introduced to my 
 audience by Rev. J.. A. Kummer. The following 
 day being Sunday, I had another opportunity of 
 meeting tliis gentleman, as he kindly accompanied me 
 in the morning to the Methodist Church, of which he 
 was pastor. During the services, in which I found 
 myself very much interested, there was an opportune 
 moment to study a character which I found to be a 
 thoroughly original one. Mr. Kummer was very 
 

 
 ^^^^ 
 
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 207 
 
 enthusiastic about tlie building of a new church 
 which was much needed, and had been trying to 
 fire his parisliioners with the zeal which lie him- 
 self felt. On this particular morning he made an 
 aj)peal for co-operation and funds, and then asked 
 for a generous offering. The good people of the 
 congregation had hardly warmed to the subject, and 
 their response was rather feeble. Another collection 
 was made with somewhat better results, but still the 
 amount was not raised by half. At last Mr. Kumraer, 
 who no doubt believed that the end justified the 
 means, faced his people and said playfully, yet with 
 evident determination, " Now I am going to order 
 the doors bolted, that none may leave the house until 
 this matter is settled V In less than ten minutes the 
 two thousand dollars necessary was obtained by dona- 
 tion or subscription, and the zealous clergyman looked 
 down upon his people in happy approval. The scene 
 was the most unusual one of the kind which I had 
 ever witnessed, and I was tempted to applaud the 
 generalship which won the situation. Dr. Kummer 
 afterward gave me quite a lively description of his 
 field, in which he had become much interested. 
 
 Lying on rising ground just within a little bay, at 
 whose western extremity a lighthouse stands, Dun- 
 kirk forms a natural port of refuge in bad weather, 
 and although in comparison with Buffalo its commercial 
 importance seems rather insignificant, there is quite a 
 brisk trade carried on by ship and by rail. Three 
 lines centre here, connecting it with the East and 
 West, and with the coal and oil regions of Pennsyl- 
 vania, while the incoming and outgoing vessels are 
 continually plying back and forth with their valuable 
 
208 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 cargoes. In fact, as I soon discovered, my clerical 
 friend was not too severe in demanding a sum for his 
 new church which the people must have been well 
 able to contribute. 
 
 JortB-rigl}tl) Sia^. 
 
 Minton House, 
 
 Westfield, New York, 
 
 June Tiventy -seventh. 
 
 Continued on the Shore Koad from Dunkirk, 
 having left that city at ten o'clock in the morning. 
 While stopping a few minutes for dinner at Fredonia, 
 a pretty little village three miles from Dunkirk, I 
 saw for the first time during my journey quite exten- 
 sive vineyards. The region is famous besides for its 
 garden seeds, hence the people have their share of 
 fruit and vegetables. Found the farmers of this 
 entire section largely engaged in fruit culture, which 
 seems to be a very successful enterprise. Apples 
 and grapes are sent away to other points, and no 
 doubt supply in a measure the breweries and distill- 
 eries of Dunkirk. In looking at the handsome vines 
 already borne down by heavy burdens, the thought 
 occurred to me of the currupt uses to which they 
 would be put, and the havoc they would bring into 
 human lives. The great bunches, not yet ripe, but 
 promising a splendid harvest, looked tempting 
 enough to one who had only seen them on fruit 
 stands, or in market thrown together in unartistic 
 confusion. 
 
 Reached Westfield in the evening, having made 
 twenty-two miles for the day. Owing to my late 
 
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 209 
 
 arrival, I saw very little of the place, but under- 
 stand that it has quite lartre manufacturing interests, 
 a lively trade, two good schools lor its young people: 
 and that unfailing sign of prosperity — a newspaper. 
 I recalled here, another Westfield, many miles away in 
 Massachuetts, which I passed early in May. The two 
 places appeared as unlike as possible, which was due, 
 no doubt, to one being in the ''Bay," and the other 
 in the ''Empire" State, which some travellers will 
 concede makes quite a difference. 
 
 jTortti-niutl) Saw. 
 
 Haynes House, 
 
 North-East, Pennsylvania, 
 
 June Twenty -eighth. 
 
 Rode away from Westfield at ten in the morning, 
 halting just beyond the village at the pretty home of 
 W. N. Allen, where I passed a very pleasant half- 
 hour. AVhile looking after the interests of a large 
 farm, Mr. Allen and his family were very much 
 interested in art matters, and showed me several val- 
 uable paintings which they had recently purchased. 
 I was delighted to find such refinement and taste, for 
 one is apt to believe that where people are not in 
 direct intercourse with congenial elements, they are 
 apt to lose their interest in the arts. As I looked 
 over their well-kept acres, and model buildings, I 
 thought of the influence such lives must exert over 
 the community in which they are passed. On my 
 way toward North East, I passed again through a fine 
 fruit region, stopping for dinner at a little hamlet 
 known as State Line. 
 
010 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 At first the prospects for the " inner man " looked 
 rather doubtful, as I came up»to the solitary State 
 Line House, but a few moments' search brought me 
 to the landlord, who was hoeing in a cornfield, and 
 my wants were soon supplied. By five o'clock I was 
 riding into the borough of North-East, where I found 
 a number of people awaiting me. Upon dismount- 
 ing, I learned that I was announced to lecture in the 
 Town Hall that evening. This was a surprise, but 
 I was ready to comply. The village band escorted 
 me after supper to the hall, taking a position in 
 front of the audience, and giving us "Hail Columbia" 
 before, and " The Sword of Bunker Hill " after the 
 lecture. The hall was so crowded that many were 
 compelled to stand, and if hearty applause is an 
 evidence of satisfaction, I may consider my effort 
 to entertain the North-Easters a success. Captain 
 Bronson Orton, a lawyer of the place, made the in- 
 troduction, and I afterwards had a chat with him 
 about experiences in Georgia, as he was with 
 Sherman's army during its march from Atlanta to 
 the Sea, and was quite familiar with many of its 
 incidents. I too had followed the great strategist 
 through that State, although in a very different 
 capacity; it having been my lot to drop into the 
 rear of his conquering legions during my escape from 
 Southern prisons. The trying circumstances which I 
 passed through, when I evaded the guard at Sylvania, 
 the cautious tramps by day, and vigilance by night, 
 in the friendly swamps, came back after the inter- 
 vening twelve years, with all the vividness of yester- 
 day. I related my experiences with the negroes and 
 
CO 
 
 ITAGE ON THE HILLSIDE. 
 
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 2i;^ 
 
 meeting with good old March Dasher, who led rae 
 rejoicing into the Federal camp. 
 
 None of the events of those exciting days escaped 
 my memory, and the chance of talking them over, 
 with one of the men who had been with Sherman, 
 was a rare pleasure. In the course of our conversa- 
 tion, we touched upon Captain Orton's present home, 
 which is in a very pretty corner of the ^'Keystone'' 
 State, and which apparently has reached the golden 
 mean between business and pleasure. Its residence 
 portion suggests ideal comfort, while its office-build- 
 ings and stores are built upon a substantial and con- 
 venient plan. 
 
 iiftietl) JDag. 
 
 JReed House, 
 Erie, Pennsylvania, 
 
 June Twenty-ninth. 
 
 Upon ray arrival at Erie, I was pleasantly sur- 
 prised to find a letter from Colonel F. H. Ellsworth, 
 proposing to make me his guest at the Reed House 
 during my stay in that city. I gladly availed my- 
 self of his kind invitation, and although my time 
 there was necessarily short, I had, through the 
 thoughtful interest of my host, every o})portunity to 
 see the city, and to hear something of its development. 
 
 Through Erie, Pennsylvania comes in contact with 
 the great commercial interests of the Lakes, and 
 although she only holds a small share of the valuable 
 shore line, there is every advantage for reaping a 
 large benefit. The harbor is most perfect, being pro- 
 tected by a strip of land known as " Presque Isle," 
 and which, long before the persistent waves wore 
 
214 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 away its southern end, was connected with the main- 
 land. Two lighthouses stand at its entrance, and 
 guide tlie night traveller to one of the prettiest ports 
 in this part of the country, while from the bluffs on 
 which the town is built shine myriads of answering 
 lights. The streets are wide and regular and lead to 
 many handsome homes, which they say will bear com- 
 parison with the finest on the Lakes. Several parks 
 relieve the monotony of brick and stone, and add to 
 the sightliness of the place. 
 
 Besides her present importance as representative of 
 her State on the great inland seas, Erie has had her 
 share on the page of history since 1795; among her 
 proudest annals being the departure from her port 
 of Oliver Hazard Perry, who went in 1813 to meet 
 the English in the splendid naval action which has 
 made his name famous. There are many memorials 
 of this engagement among the city's relics, which 
 bring back the reality of those stirring times more 
 forcibly perhaps than the volumes describing them. 
 
 Like Buffalo, Erie's leading enterprises are her iron 
 works, where stoves, machinery and steam engines 
 are made. Large quantities of coal and petroleum, 
 the contributions from Pennsylvania, are sent here 
 for shipment, and form a good share of the varied 
 products which make their way through the large 
 water channels to different parts of the United 
 States. Her educational system is excellent and there 
 are nearly half a hundred public schools, which offer 
 quite good advantages to the children who help make 
 her population of nearly twenty-five thousand. Erie 
 undoubtedly has a bright future before her, which her 
 rapid increase in population since 1870 predicts, and 
 
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 215 
 
 she may, in a measure, balance tlie power in the 
 opposite corner of the State, where the '' City of 
 Brotherly Love" reigns supreme. Having seen so 
 much of the place as time would allow, and heard its 
 story from those who knew it best, I ended the day 
 by lecturing at the Academy of Music, Hon. C. B. 
 Curtis introducing. 
 
 iFifty-first ©ag. 
 
 Farm House, 
 
 SwANViLLE, Pennsylvania, 
 
 Jane Thirtieth. 
 
 Passed a very busy morning at Erie attending to 
 business correspondence with advance agents, making 
 notes, and with the assistance of Mr. Farrington 
 brought my scrap-book up to date. I called also upon 
 a few old acquaintances whom I had known in the East, 
 and whose faces were a welcome surprise at this stage 
 of my journey. The editor of the Erie Dispatch 
 called after dinner and spent an hour with me in a 
 general discussion of the incidents of my trip since 
 leaving Boston, which had been, however, more pleas- 
 ant than exciting. In this way the afternoon slipped 
 by, and it was not until five o'clock that I found 
 myself ready to leave Colonel Ellsworth's hospitable 
 roof. Had I not been fully determined to make 
 some headway before night, the cordial request of 
 my host that I stay longer with iiim might have 
 dissuaded me at the last from starting so late, but I 
 resisted the inclination, and having bade good-bye to 
 my newly-made friends put spurs to Paul^ who soon 
 carried me far beyond the city limits on the road to 
 
216 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Swanville. I had long since learned that in a case 
 of this kind, the charms of hospitality, like those of 
 Circe, were fatal to the interests of him who heeded. 
 Made the eight and a half miles to Swanville in fair 
 time, and was soon settled for the night at the home 
 of John Joseph Swan, an old resident and pioneer, 
 after whom the hamiet is named. 
 
 Farm House, 
 Swanville, Pennsylvania, 
 
 July First. 
 
 Was compelled to remain in this place two days on 
 account of my lecture appointment for Girard, and 
 was singularly fortunate in having cast my lot with 
 the Swans, who were untiring in their efforts to make 
 my stay agreeable. The head of the family was 
 eighty-three years old and quite patriarchal in 
 appearance. From him I learned something of 
 their military record, which reaches over quite an ex- 
 tended period of our country's history, and which 
 makes a noble background for the peace and comfort 
 they now enjoy. Mr. Swan's father was a captain 
 of militia in pioneer days, and his son Andrew was 
 a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry during the late war. 
 He was a participant himself in the war of 1812, and 
 both he and his father were pensioners. In fact they 
 have grown up with the country, having shared its 
 trials and its triumphs. Mr. Swan was one of the 
 earliest settlers in Erie County, and although more 
 than half a century had passed since he had settled 
 there, this veteran still remembered and vividly de- 
 
BUFFALO IX) CLEVELAND. 217 
 
 scribed the scenes and events of those stirring times. 
 He saw the first steamer huinched on the lake and 
 said it was regarded as an evil omen by the Indians, 
 who called it "The Devil's Canoe'' and who ran 
 frightened from the shore at its approach. His 
 stories were most amusing, and their personal narra- 
 tion gave them a freshness which was untiring. 
 While I was with these people, 1 had the pleasure of 
 meeting Miss Eliza Swan, a talented daughter of 
 the family, who had just returned from Paris, where 
 she had been studying under Jules Le Fevre, the 
 well-known painter. Among her better productions 
 I was especially pleased with her portrait from life 
 of an old man, for which she was awarded a medal by 
 Peter Cooper. 
 
 itftu-tljivi JDatt. 
 
 Central House. 
 GiRARD, Pennsylvania, 
 
 July Second. 
 
 Took a walk with Mr. Swan over his farm in the 
 morning, looking at his stock and grain and quietly 
 admiring the thrift and enterprise everywhere appar- 
 ent. The comfort and refinement of these country 
 homes had made a strong impression, and I became 
 quite enthusiastic over the American farmer. My 
 host took especial pleasure in showing me the changes 
 which half a century had wrought upon his premises, 
 and which certainly were surprising. It was difficult 
 to realize that the fields we were looking over had, 
 within the memory of my com})anion, been trans- 
 formed from a wilderness to cultivated acres. While 
 
218 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 we were walking about, the sky became clouded and 
 by noon a torrent of rain deluged Swanville. Owing 
 to this caprice of the elements, I was unable to leave 
 until three o'clock in the afternoon. Made the six 
 miles and a half between the two places in easy time. 
 As I rode into town I was greeted by the Girard 
 Brass Band, which, while it amused me, rather sur- 
 prised Paul, who during our '' triumphal procession" 
 to the Central House did a little " dancing," greatly 
 to the delight of the onlookers. 
 
 After lecturing at the Town Hall in the evening, 
 where I was introduced by Jacob Bender, editor 
 of the Cosmopolite^ I was serenaded at my hotel by 
 the indefatigable band, which certainly made me 
 feel welcome. I was sorry that the limitations put 
 upon my time by appointments ahead allowed me so 
 small an opportunity to meet the people, and get a 
 better idea of their occupations. I should have liked 
 to visit the lumber and brick yards, which are the 
 chief enterprise, but was obliged to content myself 
 with only a ^^ cursory glance," as our newspaper 
 friends say. The soil of the region is almost entirely 
 composed of clay, and is thus peculiarly adapted to 
 the manufacture of brick. 
 
 Jtfts-fourtl) S)ap. 
 
 Fisk House, 
 
 Ashtabula, Ohio, 
 
 July 2'hird. 
 
 A bright sun and clear blue sky gave promise of 
 an exceedingly pleasant day, as I seated myself in 
 the saddle at Girard at eight o'clock. 
 
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 2Vd 
 
 Before leaving I bade good-hye to Mr. Farrlngton, 
 who had been with nie from Jloslon, but wlio now 
 found it necessary to return to liis home at Ehiiira, 
 New York, owing to business interests there. I 
 regretted exceedingly his retirement, as he had ren- 
 dered invaluable service in connection with my 
 lectures, and liad been a most genial and companionable 
 fellow-traveller, whenever circumstances brought us 
 together along the route. 
 
 I found the people everywhere engaged in prepara- 
 tions for the Centennial Fourth, which, as it was to be 
 one of our greatest holidays, was to be celebrated 
 with unusual enthusiasm. Owing to the excitement 
 which prevailed, and to the fact that almost every 
 man and woman was employed upon some active 
 committee, I decided to waive my lecture at Ashta- 
 bula, and enter into the public demonstration. The 
 Rev. Mr. Fisher, who had intended introducing me 
 to my audience at this place, came to see me at the 
 Fisk House soon after my arrival, and talked of the 
 arrangements that were being made for the morrow. 
 In the evening 1 called upon Rev. L. W. Day and 
 had a chat with him about Ashtabula. The town 
 is the capital of Ashtabula County, and lies at the 
 mouth of a small river of the same name,** in the 
 midst of a good farming district. The principal 
 products are wheat, maple sugar and those of the 
 dairy. The chief interests of the tow^n are its manu- 
 factures, which I understand are quite important. 
 11 
 
220 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 liftB-fiftl) SHas. 
 
 Farm House, 
 Near Painesville, Ohio, 
 
 July Fourth. 
 
 This day has been indeed the greatest holiday in 
 the history of the United States. Such grand prep- 
 arations and such lavish disj)lay have proba})ly never 
 been witnessed before on this continent, and although 
 I chanced to be in a comparatively obscure corner of 
 the Republic, I found the prevailing sentiment as 
 deep as though I were in one of the great centres. 
 I doubt if there was sleep for anyone during the 
 preceding night, for the wildest excitement was mani- 
 fested, and the dawn of the Centennial Fourth was 
 presaged by the booming of cannon, the blowing of 
 engine whistles, the ringing of bells and discharge of 
 firearms of every conceivable calibre and description. 
 
 The townspeople were stirring at an early hour, and 
 although I had found very little rest, I was in the 
 saddle by nine o'clock. A thunder-shower overtook 
 me about noon, thanks to the generous use of gun- 
 powder, and I took shelter under a tree, from whence I 
 was invited to dinner by Daniel Flower, a neighboring 
 farmer. AVith him and his family I passed a com- 
 fortable hour, and then moved forward in the direc- 
 tion of Painesville. 
 
 Toward evening I reined up in front of an invit- 
 ing-looking house — a feature which the traveller 
 soon learns to observe — and asked one of the farm 
 hands if Mr. Lee w^as at home. Before the man had 
 time to answer, a young girl came running down the 
 
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 2:1;^ 
 
 path toward the gate, saying, "Are you Captain 
 Ghizier?'' I aoknowlerlged that I was that humble 
 person, whereupon Miss Lee asked me to dismount 
 and ''come riglit in,'' while Jack would take care 
 of the horse. Her father and mother had gone to 
 Cleveland in the morning, to celebrate the Fourth, 
 and were expected back the same night. Tiie little 
 lady insisted upon my stopping overnight, and bustled 
 about with all the importance of a housewife in pre- 
 paring supper. I naturally felt some hesitation in 
 accepting her invitation to remain all night, but she 
 insisted that I be her guest, and made every effort 
 to amuse me. After tea, I was ushered into the 
 parlor, where my hostess soon joined me, saying 
 that I was her "very first caller'' and that she was 
 going to entertain me "the best she knew how." 
 Suiting the action to the word, she took her place at 
 the piano, and began to play some national airs suita- 
 ble to the occasion ; but as the evening slipped away 
 I began to feel the effects of the day's ride, and 
 begged to be allowed to retire. This, however, the 
 young lady seemed at first disinclined to do, asking 
 me to wait for her father and mother, but finally I 
 insisted as gently as possible; so she showed me to 
 my room herself, wishing me a hearty good-night. 
 Dawn was ushered in by the rattling of milk pans and 
 the creaking of a pump under my window, so, know- 
 ing that further rest was out of the question, I 
 dressed and went downstairs, where I met Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lee. I found them very kindly people, and 
 knew that their daughter had inherited from them her 
 share of good nature. That odd little miss was up 
 at the first cock-crow, and was waiting to bid me 
 
224 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 good-morning. As I was about to mount Paul after 
 breakfast, she asked the privilege of a ride on him, 
 and, bounding into the saddle, galloped down the road 
 with the grace of an Indian. When she bade me 
 goodbye at the gate, where her father and mother 
 were standing to see me off, she asked me in her un- 
 sophisticated way to reinember her as my "Centennial 
 girl,'' which I solemnly promised to do, and as I 
 looked back from the road I could see her waving 
 her handkerchief as a parting salute. 
 
 Jiftg-SUtl) JDag. 
 
 Farm House, 
 Near Wickliffe, Ohio, 
 
 July Fifth. 
 
 Starting rather late from Painesville, a town just 
 beyond Mr. Lee's, and riding leisurely during the 
 day, I found it necessary to keep to the road until 
 dark, in order to place myself as near to Cleveland 
 as possible, before halting. Reached Willoughby, the 
 seat of a Methodist College, nineteen miles east of 
 Cleveland, just before sundown, where I was tempted 
 to stay over night, knowing that to ride farther would 
 be gloomy and uninteresting, but in my eagerness to 
 reach the " Forest City," towards which I had looked 
 for several days, I pressed forward. 
 
 As there was no hotel at Wickliffe, I passed through 
 the little hamlet of that name and secured lodgings 
 at the farm house of Thomas Lloyd, an old settler of 
 Lake County, and a very large land-owner. He told 
 me the history of his pioneer life in this section of 
 Ohio, and of his start in the pursuit of a fortune, 
 
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 227 
 
 which gave me a bit of the early history of Ohio 
 from another standpoint. Tt may seem odd that dur- 
 ing the ^*fiying visits" which I sometimes paid to 
 these small j)laees, there was opportunity to hear any- 
 thing about them, but country folk are accustomed to 
 early rising, and as I learned the art, years ago, of 
 waking with the birds, \ very often joined my host, 
 and had a chat witli him before breakfast. The set- 
 tlement near whicrli I stayed overnight is six miles 
 west of Willoughby, which brought me within thir- 
 teen miles of Cleveland. It boasts of nothing more 
 than the necessary blacksmith shop and ''store," and 
 " looks up to " its big neighbor with due reverence. 
 It lies in the fertile county of Lake, a northeastern 
 corner of Ohio, measuring some two hundred and 
 sixty square miles, of which a large portion is covered 
 with forest, and whose surface is generally hilly or 
 undulating. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FIVE DAYS AT CLEVELAND. 
 
 OUND a good night's rest at the quiet 
 farmhouse of the Lloyds, on the night 
 of the fifth, and after an early breakfast 
 on the following morning called for my 
 horse and started for Cleveland. On my 
 way out, near Wickliffe, I overtook a 
 troop of girls on their way to school. 
 One of them, a bright-faced little 
 maid, giving her name as Ettie Warren, 
 and saying she was a granddaughter of Mr. Lloyd, 
 asked me to accept a bouquet, which had no doubt 
 been intended for her teacher. It was a mass of 
 gay colors, which had been gathered from the home 
 garden, and its huge proportions quite a])palled me. 
 However, I accepted it with mock gravity, and as she 
 and her small companions kept beside me, I could 
 overhear a whispered conversation of very secret im- 
 port, which resolved itself into the question, ^^ Do you 
 like apples, mister?'' I confessed my fondness for 
 the fruit, and was soon the chagrined possessor of a 
 pocketful of green ones, which this sunburned little 
 daughter of Eve generously offered. Before riding 
 into town I was obliged to consign these gifts to the 
 (228) 
 
FIVE DAYS AT CLEVELAND. 009 
 
 roadside, but not without a certain j^uilty feeling, and 
 sympathy for the cheated school ma'am. 
 
 Passed through the village of INfentor, a pleasant lit- 
 tle })lace six miles from Cleveland, the home of lion- 
 J. A. Garfield, then an Ohio C'ongressman. 
 
 Noting much excitement as I apj)roached Euclid, 
 I dismounted to learn the cause, and found it was due to 
 a rumor that General Custer and his entire command 
 had been massacred by Indians. The source of this in- 
 formation made it appear reliable, and yet compara- 
 tively few were disposed to believe it. My long associa- 
 tion with the General during the War of the Rebellion 
 led me to take the thought of his death very much to 
 heart, although I was yet unwilling to credit what I 
 had heard. At the Forest City House, whither I had 
 been escorted by a delegation of G. A. R. friends, the 
 truth of the rei)ort was discussed, and the deepest 
 regret manifested, should such a fate have beflillen the 
 brave cavalryman. 
 
 In the evening I lectured at Garrett's Hall, where 
 Major E. M. Hessler introduced me. Later, in behalf 
 of a number of citizens, the Major proposed a ban- 
 quet in my honor, but this I felt justified in declining, 
 owing to imperative duties in connection with my jour- 
 ney. The rest of my time here was passed in looking 
 about the city, and in talking with some of the ^' Forest 
 City" people, who are pardonably proud of their 
 home on Lake Erie. This part of the State was a great 
 hunting-ground for the Indians in former days, who 
 came to make war on the bear and beaver. They 
 started eastward in the autumn and paddled down 
 the lake, entire villages at a time, to the mouth of 
 the Cuyahoga River, on whose baidvs they piled their 
 
230 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 birch canoes and then scattered through the neighbor- 
 ing forests. Returning in the spring to a small cabin 
 which had been built near their landing-place by the 
 Northwestern Fur Company, they disposed of their 
 spoils, and wlien their business with their white 
 brothers was over, re-embarked for their summer 
 homes on the Maumee and Sandusky. 
 
 When General Moses Cleveland came with a sur- 
 veying party in 1796 to lay out the site of the chief 
 city of the ^' Reserve " for the Connecticut Land 
 Company, the cabin of the fur-traders was still stand- 
 ing, but was in too dilapidated a condition to be of 
 use. Two more cabins were therefore raised, one for 
 the party, and the other for Job Stiles, and his wife 
 Tabitha, who was housekeeper. When the ])lans 
 were finished the woman of the settlement found her- 
 self the possessor of one city lot, one ten-acre lot, and 
 one one hundred-acre lot, a donation from the di- 
 rectors and stockholders of the company, made no 
 doubt in consideration of her services, and from the 
 fact that she was the first white woman to take up her 
 abode on the new ground. Two more gifts of the 
 valuable land were made, one to Nathaniel Doane, the 
 company's blacksmith, who had ke{)t their pack-mules 
 shod, and the other to James Kingsbury and his wife, 
 the first who emigrated independently to the Reserve. 
 Within eighty years the worth of this property had 
 increased surprisingly, but the first owners had long 
 since ceased to care toi .vorldly goods, and the land 
 had been resold many times. Buildings that would 
 have astonished those early folk had replaced their 
 simple cabins, and thousands of strange feet were 
 treading in their old haunts. 
 
FIVE DAYS AT CLEVELAND. 231 
 
 For several years, in fact until the opein'ng of tlie 
 Ohio Canal in 18.')4, the population of Cleveland in- 
 creased very slowly. A year after the survey, the 
 homes "under the hill " alon^ the rii^ht bank of the 
 Cuyahoga had to be rcMuoved to the ridge, for even at 
 that time fever and ague began to trouble the settlers. 
 This disagreeable malady, wittily personified as " Ague- 
 agueshakershake," — the God of Lake Erie — was a 
 continual bugbear and made yearly attacks ujion 
 the families. 80 widespread was the reputation it had 
 gained that a stranger stopping at Buffalo, then a rival 
 port, was told that if he went to Cleveland he " would 
 not live over night." On the highlands tlie expo- 
 sure was much less, and soon all the cabins were built 
 there. Then they began to spread out along the ridge 
 toward the east, in the direction of Eucilid, following 
 the line of the Euclid Road, which even then was a 
 popular place on which to have a section and build. 
 In 1801, the first well in Cleveland was dug on this 
 thoroughfare, and was walled in with stones which 
 the Indians had left from their wigwam fireplaces. 
 Two years later Connecticut ceded her Western Re- 
 serve, which she had held under an old charter, to the 
 General Government and the chief city transferred 
 her allegiance to the new State of Ohio. 
 
 Gradually the settlement spread out into the sur- 
 rounding country, where ambitious hamlets, having 
 enjoyed their brief season of independence, ulti- 
 mately cast their fortune with the larger city, and be- 
 came a sharer in its triumphs. One of these, which 
 had attained more importance than the rest, had 
 started up on the o})posite bank of the Cuyahoga, and 
 assumed the bravado of a rival. Cleveland made 
 
232 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 several advances to her which were met with coolness, 
 and at last both villages applied- for charters; the one 
 on the left hank receiving hers first and glorying in 
 her new name of "Ohio City." Again Cleveland be- 
 sought a conciliation and tried to persuade the inde- 
 pentlcut little rival neighbor to change her name, and 
 become one with her, but with ill success. As time 
 wore on, however, population decreased on the left 
 shore and increased on the right, and signs of union 
 became apparent from the fact that " Ohio City " 
 reached out to the southeast, while Cleveland met her 
 half-way by extending toward the southwest. We are 
 not sure how matters were arranged between the two 
 rivals when the final step was taken, but at any rate it 
 was a felicitous event, and now that the coveted 
 neighbor has become the West Side, some Cleve- 
 landers find it difficult to determine which is the 
 " better-half" 
 
 In those early days before the railroads reached her, 
 this new Ohio town was obliged to look about for 
 other means of transportation, and we hear of one of 
 her pioneers establishing a boat yard in the woods a 
 mile and a half from the lake. Here the engineer 
 cut his timber and carried out his plan for the first 
 boat built at Cleveland. The framework was raised 
 in a clearing of the forest, from whence a rough road 
 led to the water, and in this wild but convenient spot 
 the schooner was finished, and ready to be introduced 
 to the world as " The Pilot." The farmers of the 
 surrounding country were invited to assist in the 
 launching and accordingly came into town on the all- 
 important day, with their oxen, to haul the craft down 
 to the shore. The ceremony was greeted with re- 
 
FIVE DAYS AT CLEVELAND. 23:^> 
 
 sounding cheers, and Levi Johnson received his first 
 congratuhitions i'vom his fellow-townsmen. This was 
 in 1814. lie afterwards built a steamboat and gave 
 it the name of one of his own characteristic traits, 
 " Enterprise." 
 
 In 181 G, although the itinerant preachers who had 
 visited the place would scarcely have credited it, a 
 church was organized and an P]piscopalian form of wor- 
 ship established, which later grew into Trinity Church 
 and Parish. Hitherto a bugle had called the people 
 together when a clergyman •a|>peared, and the most 
 primitive services followed. On one of these occa- 
 sions, well-known to those who lived in Cleveland 
 when it was still a churchless community, I^orenzo 
 Dow was announced to preach. He was an eccentric 
 man and the place reputed to be a bad one. His con- 
 gregation, who were waiting under a large oak, did 
 not recognize the solitary figure approaching in his 
 shirt sleeves, and, as he quietly sat upon the ground 
 in their midst, and his head dropped upon his knees in 
 silent prayer, one in the crowd enquired if he were 
 Lorenzo Dow. Some one answered, " Yes," but an- 
 other irreverently said in an undertone, " It's the devil." 
 Dow overheard the remark, and rising, ]>reached to 
 his hearers such a sermon on Gehenna that they never 
 forgot it, or him. 
 
 In 1821, the "Academy" became an institution, and 
 began a course of instruction upon a very liberal 
 basis, giving its pupils the full course for four dollars 
 a term, and se|)arate branches for much less. 
 
 In the year IH>\C) the city was incorporated, and 
 with the new honor seems to have looked to the im- 
 provement of her appearance. The public square. 
 
234 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 which had previously been little more than a grazing- 
 place for cows, was seriously tjonsidered as a possible 
 ornament, and was graded and made more attractive, 
 until now it bears little resemblance to the common 
 on which the irrepressible Indian, ^^Omic,'' breathed 
 his last. It has changed its name since then, and has 
 become ^^ Monumental Square," from the marble statue 
 of Commodore Perry, which adorns its southeastern 
 corner. A good view of the liveliest part of the city 
 can be had from here, and from early morning until 
 late at night there is a continuous stream of people 
 passing through it. 
 
 Superior street, which forms its southern boundary, 
 is lined with retail stores, and its fine buildings and 
 neat pavements hardly suggest the indiiferent houses 
 and plank road of forty years ago. Ontario is 
 another busy thoroughfare running north and south, 
 and bisecting the square. Where it begins, at Lakeside 
 Park, it is lined with private residences, but beyond 
 the square it develops into a genuine work-a-day 
 business street. In 1813 there was a small stock- 
 ade on the lake shore just below it, for Cleveland 
 was a depot for supplies, and was waiting to give a 
 warm reception to the English. Most of the public 
 buildings are on or near the square — the Post Of- 
 fice, Custom House, City Hall, and several of the 
 churches. Not far away is the library of the Young 
 Men's Literary Association, which has had a sin- 
 gularly favored career. Established in 1845 upon a 
 very unpretentious basis in the Case Building, it was 
 soon given a perpetual lease by the owner, and later 
 received a large sum of money for its extension and 
 support from a son of Mr. Case. The Public Library 
 
FIVE DAYS AT CLEVELAND. 237 
 
 is located in tlio old High School Building on End id 
 avenue and has 2(>,000 volnnies in circulation. The 
 Board of Trade is another of the city's time-honored 
 institutions, having been founded in 1848. It is now 
 in the Atwater Building on Superior street. 
 
 Euclid avenue, which from its rustic poi)nlarity in 
 pioneer days, came to bear the proud distinction of 
 being one of the handsomest streets in the world, 
 stretches off eastward from the square, for four and a 
 half miles, until it reaches Wade Park, a beautiful 
 spot, still shaded by the groves and forests which iiave 
 been left from the wilderness. It was a gift from Mr. 
 Wade, one of Cleveland's millionaires. 
 
 From this point the avenue continues for a mile 
 and a half until it finds its terminus in Lake View 
 Cemetery, a magnificent stretch of woodland over- 
 looking the lake from a height of two hundred and 
 fifty feet. 
 
 The avenue is in its entire length a feast of beauty. 
 The homes that line it on either side are fine speci- 
 mens of architecture, and the gardens surrounding 
 them show a lavish devotion to the sweet goddess 
 Flora. Thousands of })eople who are unable to leave 
 town during the summer find a grateful (;hange of 
 scene here, and it so impressed Bayard Taylor that he 
 bestowed upon it the splendid praise of calling it the 
 most beautiful street in the world. Nor is its charm 
 purchased at the expense of squalid surroundings, for 
 the streets of Cleveland are well kept and almost all 
 of its homes have their little gardens around them, while 
 the tenement house is " conspicuous by its absence." 
 In fact the people have chosen rather to sacrifice a 
 trifle more to time and expense and less to space. 
 
238 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 Tiiey have expanded and have built longer street-car 
 lines in proportion. • 
 
 The old eyesore of dilapidated huts and rubbish 
 heaps along the river and lake shore was soon swept 
 away after the railroads came, and a fine paik sub- 
 stituted. The undertaking was a large one, but it 
 proved to be well worth the labor and money expended 
 upon it, and is now one of the city's chief adornments 
 and one of her most delightful rendezvous. 
 
 The stranger, as he nears the " Forest City" wearied 
 with his travels and sensitive to his surroundings, 
 finds nothing to meet his curious gaze but a neat shore 
 line on one side, and on the otiier the green slope of 
 Lakeside Park, with its grottos and fountains, and an 
 occasional suggestion of graveled walks. The top of 
 the ridge is an excellent j)lace whereon to take a 
 morning stroll, and get a good breath of fresh air, and 
 from this eminence the lijies of the five railroads which 
 centre here can be seen converging towards the Union 
 Depot, where a large portion of the coal, petroleum 
 and .lumber is received that makes its way from dis- 
 tant points. 
 
 " The Flats " along the lake and river fronts are 
 alive with business, and present a fascinating scene 
 from some overlooking point. There are factories, ore 
 docks and coal and lumber yards famous the country 
 over, and water craft of every kind and size. One of 
 the most important enterprises is that of the Cleveland 
 Rolling Mill Company, whose buildings occupy thirty- 
 two acres, and whose yearly pay-roll reaches more 
 than $2,000,000. On the West Side is the Cuyahoga 
 Steam Furnace Company, noted for having manu- 
 factured a patent horse-power cannon for the Govern- 
 
FIVE DAYS AT CLEVKLAND. ^^il 
 
 ment, and for Imviiii; turned out the first locomotive 
 in the West. The *z;reat Standard Oil ( 'oinpanv, he^nii 
 in the sixties and later develoj)ing into a stock com- 
 pany under its present name, is located here, and its 
 cars, surmounted hv the familiar white kejr, are seen 
 on almost all the railroads of the country. 
 
 Out from the river's mouth stretch two loniz; piers, 
 two hundred feet a[)art, which represent the final 
 trium})h of the engineer over the tides which have 
 wrought such incessant mischief ever since a certain 
 captain and his crew were delayed in the harbor of 
 Cleveland sixty years ago by a sandbar. There is a 
 lighthouse at the end of each pier, and one high uj) on 
 the shore which was built by the Government in 1830 
 at a cost of $8,000. 
 
 Now, through this inviting gateway, large lake 
 boats steam into port without hindrance, bringing 
 with them the rich copper and iron ores of Lake 
 Su[)erior, the limestone of the Lake Erie Islands, and 
 the miscellaneous products which they take up along 
 their route. With these valuable cargoes, to which 
 have been attributed much of her prosperity, Cleve- 
 land receives a large amount of coal from the mines 
 of Ohio and Pennsylvania, htiving access to the latter 
 throui!:h the Ohio Canal, which has been such an iin- 
 petus to her growth. 
 
 On the other side of the river are her large \A'ater 
 Works, the incessant pumping of whose engines sup- 
 plies this city of 140,000 inhabitants with water. 
 The Reservoir lies upon the top of a cliff, and is a 
 favorite resort in summer. From its crest a fine view 
 of lake and river can be obtained, and if one were to 
 allow his imagination a little freedom, this woultl be 
 
242 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the most satisfactory place to get a retrospective 
 view of Cleveland as it was to the pioneer. About 
 here the Indians stayed unmolested long after they had 
 sold their land to the white man, and across the river 
 on the slope the first log cabin stood. The scene which 
 takes its place is almost bewildering with its network 
 of factories, lake and river craft and housetops. Here 
 and there a dot of green rises above the buildings, be- 
 traying the presence of the elms and maples which 
 have been jealously preserved and which are one of 
 the characteristic beauties of the "Forest City." 
 
 During my stay here, nothing was more gratifying 
 than a walk or ride through the broad streets in the 
 shade of these trees. It made summer in the city 
 something to stay for, and not something to run away 
 from. There were many drives leading out beyond 
 the limits daily frequented by pleasure-seekers, and 
 inviting out-of-the-way places for those who were 
 unable to go elsewhere. Beside these, the lake 
 though the shallowest in the chain and sometimes 
 treacherous on that account, is a continual clarifier and 
 beautiful to look upon. As for the old-time " God," 
 and his attendant maladies, who tyrannized over the 
 pioneer, they seem to have vanished, and now I ven- 
 ture to say there is no healthier city in the country 
 than Cleveland and certainly none more attractive. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CLEVELAND TO TOLEDO. 
 
 Su1j}-first Slag. 
 
 Lampman Hoxtae, 
 
 Black Rivek, Ohio, 
 
 July 11, 1876. 
 
 T eight o'clock, ray favorite hour for be- 
 ginning a day's ride, I mounted Paul in 
 front of the hotel at Cleveland, but before 
 leaving the city I stopped at Major Hess- 
 ler's office to hand him the proceeds of 
 my lecture at Garrett's Hall, which were 
 donated to the Soldiers' Monument Fund 
 at Dayton. This brought me two very 
 kind acknowledgments; one from General 
 James Barnett, who forwarded the money, and the 
 other from Rev. William Earnshaw, custodian of the 
 Monument Fund. These letters, written in behalf of 
 three thousand disabled veterans, amply satisfy me 
 for any sacrifice I may have made, and are among my 
 most prized possessions. General Barnett wrote as 
 follows : 
 
 Headquiirters 
 Post No. 1, Department of Ohio, G. A. R., 
 Cleveland, July 12 1876. 
 Captain Willard Glazier, 
 
 CoMKADK : Through your unsolicited generosity I have the |)leasure 
 to iickuowieiige the receipt of the net j)roc«e(is of your lecture ou 
 >2 (243) 
 
244 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 " Echoes from the Revolution," delivered in our city July 6, 1876, 
 and by your direction have forwarded tl^e amount to Chaplain Wil- 
 liam Earushaw, President of the " Soldiers' Home Monument 
 Fund," at Dayton, to assist in erecting a monument to the memory 
 of the veterans who by tlie fortunes of war await the long roll at the 
 National Military Home, and may your reward be no less than the 
 love and gratitude of our unfortunate comrades. 
 By order of 
 General James Barnett, Commanding. 
 E, M. Hessler, Quartermaster. 
 
 There are certain results following every under- 
 taking which are looked upon either with gratification 
 or dissatisfaction, and which, through side issues, very 
 often assume the importance of those desired to be 
 attained. The recollection of the splendid scenes 
 through which I have passed, the people whom I have 
 met, the cities I have visited, will be a lifelong 
 satisfaction, but the opportunity to help perpetuate 
 the memory of fellow-soldiers and to do others honor 
 while they yet live, will be the most gratifying outcome 
 of my journey. Knowing this, the following letter 
 from Chaplain Earnshaw holds an important place 
 among the papers of my correspondents. 
 
 National Soldiers' Home, 
 Dayton, Ohio, July 27, 1876. 
 Captain Willard Glazier, 
 
 My dear Comrade : We have received, through Major E. M. 
 Hessler, your generous donation to aid in erecting the Soldiers' 
 Monument at the Home. You have the hearty thanks of three 
 thousand disabled veterans now on our rolls ; and a cordial invitation 
 to visit us whenever it is your pleasure to do so. Again, we thank 
 you. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 William Earnshaw, 
 President Historical and Monumental Society. 
 
 On leaving the city several gentlemen gave me the 
 pleasure of their company for some distance, among 
 
CLEVELAND TO TOLEDO. 247 
 
 them Alexander Wilsey, who before the war had been 
 a scholar of mine back in Schodack, New York. 
 
 Meeting him was only one of many similar ex- 
 periences, for here and there along my route I found 
 old acquaintances, whose faces I had never expected to 
 see again. 
 
 After a ride of six hours, I rode into Black River 
 and found it quite an enterprising village, but hardly 
 suggesting its old position as the principal port in the 
 county. 
 
 Siitu-scconb Slag. 
 
 Huron House, 
 Huron, Ohio, 
 
 July Twelfth. 
 
 Left the aspiring village of Black River or " Lor- 
 raine," as the inhabitants are disposed to call it, at 
 nine o'clock, stopping at the Lake House, Vermillion, 
 for dinner. The scenery is very attractive along the 
 Lake Shore Road between Black River and Huron, 
 and I followed it all day and for two or three hours 
 after nightfall, covering a distance of twenty miles. 
 My sense of the beautiful was somewhat dimmed, 
 however, by the cloud of mosquitoes which beset my 
 path, and which were liardly persuaded to part com- 
 pany at the hotel. There were nearly seven hundred 
 people in Huron, and I must confess that so far as the 
 principle of equal distribution is concerned, I harbored 
 socialistic views as I entered the slumbering village. 
 Of all the hordes of squirrels, wild turkeys, wolves, 
 wild cats, deer, buffaloes and panthers that made their 
 homes about this part of the country in the times of 
 the Indian, scarcely a vestige remains. 
 
248 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 The race of the red man is becoming slowly exter- 
 minated, and its friends of the forest seem to be dis- 
 appearing with it, while the white man and the mos- 
 quito fill their places. I am sure no one of average 
 reason, especially our logicians of New Jersey, would 
 deny that this is another proof of the survival of the 
 fittest. 
 
 Although it was dark before I came into Huron, I 
 could get a very good idea of its character, and had 
 formed some notion of the place which was to shelter 
 me. In 1848 it was spoken of as having been 
 " formerly the greatest business place in the county," 
 and this reputation, although it has not made it a 
 Sandusky or a Cleveland, has left it a spark of the old 
 energy. 
 
 Qiitg-tljirb !Ilaj3. 
 
 West House, 
 
 Sandusky, Ohio, 
 
 July Thirteenth. 
 
 I was fortunate in having a comparatively short 
 distance to travel between Huron and this city. It is 
 only nine miles, and I did not start until two o'clock, 
 allowing myself a two hour's easy gallop with the 
 lake on my right all the way. 
 
 Along this shore more than a century ago. General 
 Bradstreet, with three thousand men, sailed to the 
 relief of Fort Junandat, while Pontiac, the great Ot- 
 tawa warrior, was besieging Detroit. Reaching Fort 
 Sandusky he burned the Indian villages there and de- 
 stroyed the cornfields ; passed on up to Detroit to 
 scatter the threatening savages, and returning went 
 
CLEVELAND TO TOLEDO. 249 
 
 into the Wyandot couiitry tlir<)uo;li Sandusky Bay. 
 To have attempted to ride alone on liorseback in those 
 days would have been a foolhardy, if not a fatal 
 undertaking. Now the screech of an engine-whistle 
 announced the approach of a train on the Lake Shore 
 Road, the great wheels thundered by, and Fdul, alert 
 and trembling, was ready to dash away. How differ- 
 ent it would have been in those old pioneer times! 
 The horseman would have been the one to tremble 
 then, his hand reach for his rifle, his eyes strained 
 towards the thicket from whence the expected yell 
 of the savage was to come. 
 
 Among the first proprietors of this section were the 
 Eries. These were followed by the resistless Iroquois, 
 and after them the AYyandots and Ottawas, who seem 
 to have left the strongest impress upon the hills and 
 valleys of Ohio. One of these tribes, the Wyandots) 
 called the bay near which they built their wigwams 
 Sse-san-don-ske, meaning " Lake of the Cold Water," 
 and from this the present name of the city comes. In 
 the early days it was called Ogontz, after a big chief 
 of that name who lived there before the year 1812. 
 All about were rich hunting-grounds, which accounts 
 for its having been chosen by the Indians in times of 
 peace; and even now Sandusky is held to be one 
 of the greatest fish-markets in America. 
 
 The place was bound to be attractive to the white 
 man, and any one might have safely prophesied that a 
 city would rise here. The ground slopes gradually 
 down to the lake, the bay forms an ideal harbor, and 
 looking off u])on the boats and water, the eye rests 
 upon a scene picturesque and striking. 
 
 My attention was called to Johnson's Island^ which 
 
250 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 was used for the confinement of Confederate officers 
 during the late war. ' I learned that they were al- 
 lowed the luxury of an occasional bath in the lake, 
 under guard, of course, and in squads of a hundred 
 men — a luxury which the boys in Libby and Charles- 
 ton and Columbia would have thought *^ too good to 
 be true." 
 
 Under the city are the limestone quarries, which 
 furnish an inexhaustible supply of building material 
 and which give an added distinction to this bright 
 little city of the lakes. 
 
 On the evening of my arrival I spoke in Union 
 Hall and was introduced by Captain Culver, who re- 
 ferred to my military record and the object of my 
 lectures. Ca})tain Culver is a comrade in the G. A. 
 R. and a fellow-prisoner at Libby and other prisons. 
 He did much towards making my stay at Sandusky 
 most agreeable. 
 
 SiirtB-fourtl) 5Dag. 
 
 Fountain House, 
 
 Castalia, Ohio, 
 
 July Fourteenth. 
 
 My Sandusky friend, Captain Culver, called at the 
 West House for me soon after breakfast, and we spent 
 the forenoon strolling about the city. I was shown 
 the newly completed Court House, of which San- 
 duskians are very proud ; met several of the offi- 
 cials and found much to admire. Left at five o'clock 
 in the afternoon and by six had reached Castalia, five 
 miles distant, which I soon found had something to 
 boast of back of its classic name. As a stranger I 
 
CLEVELAND TO TOLF.DO. 251 
 
 was of course imiiiediatcly told of the woiulia's of the 
 " waters/' which 1 learned form (|iiite an attraction in 
 summer and keep the little place in a flutter of ex(;ite- 
 ment. 
 
 Marshall Burton came in 183G and laid out this 
 prairie town at the head of Coal Creek. Findint^ the 
 source of the stream in a cool, clear spring, now known 
 to be two hundred feet in diameter and sixty feet 
 deep, named the place " Castalia," from the famed 
 Greek fountain at the foot of Parnassus. The waters 
 of this spring are so pure that objects are plainly seen 
 through the sixty liquid feet, and they say that when 
 the sun reaches meridian, these objects reflect the 
 colors of the rainbow, which might suggest to Casta- 
 lians that the ancient sun-god, Apollo, favored the 
 western namesake of his Delphian fount. I met no 
 poets here, but possibly inspiration is not one of the 
 powers guaranteed. Indeed if it should treat devotees 
 of the Divine Art, as it does everything else that is 
 plunged into it, we should have petrified poets. 
 
 These petrifying qualities of the water, caused by the 
 combined action of lime, soda, magnesia and iron have 
 made the mill-wheels which turn in Coal Creek in- 
 capable of decay. 
 
 At a little distance from the town is a cave of quite 
 large dimensions, which was discovered accidentally 
 through a dog running into the opening in pursuit of 
 a rabbit. This cave I believe makes up the comple- 
 ment of natural attractions about the village. The 
 chief attraction, the social life of the people, cannot be 
 guessed at by the rapid glance of the traveller. 
 
252 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 jSijrti3-fiftl) JDa^. 
 
 Ball House, 
 
 Fremont, Ohio, 
 
 July Fifteenth. 
 
 I was awakened at twelve p. M. the previous night 
 at Castalia by two villainous imps, who seemed 
 determined to make an impression. Their evident ob- 
 ject was " more rum/^ which to the credit of the land- 
 lord was not furnished them. Exasperated by this 
 temperance measure, they attempted to enter the house, 
 and finding the doors locked began a bombardment 
 with fists and feet. This novel performance was kept 
 up until the object of their wrath and his shot-gun ap- 
 peared. Owing to this my ride of nineteen miles to 
 Fremont was not as refreshing as it might have been. 
 
 As I approached the town I thought of President 
 Hayes, who is so closely identified with it. Here he 
 began the practice of law, and won such popularity, not 
 only among his townsmen, but throughout the State, 
 that in 1864, after a succession of honors, his friends 
 were pushing him for Congress. In answer to a letter 
 written from Cincinnati, suggesting that his presence 
 there would secure his election, he said, " An officer 
 fit for duty, who at this crisis would abandon his post 
 to electioneer for Congress, ought to be scalped. You 
 may feel perfectly sure that I shall do no such thing,'' 
 and in a letter to his wife, written after he had heard 
 of Lincoln's assassination, he expressed another sen- 
 timent quite as strong when he said : " Lincoln's 
 success in his great office, his hold upon the confidence 
 and affection of his countrymen, we shall all say are 
 
CLEVELAND TO TOLEDO. 2;");} 
 
 only second to Washington's. Wo shall {)rol)al)ly 
 feel and think that they are not second even to his.'^ 
 
 Fremont of course is justly proud of the name and 
 fame of Rutherford 15. Hayes. Two years before he 
 returned to his home, after refusing Grant^s offer of 
 an Assistant Secretaryship, but the people of Ohio 
 were not satisfied with this. Their feelings wore 
 probably voiced by the words of a personal friend 
 of Hayes, who said : " With your energies, talents, 
 education, and address, you are green — verdant as 
 grass — to stay in a country village." Soon after- 
 wards, at the urgent and repeated requests of the 
 people, he gave up his quiet life and once more entered 
 the political arena, with results which the election of 
 1876 shows. 
 
 There were apparently many who were dissatisfied 
 with the Nation's choice, but in Ohio, and especially 
 where he was known personally, he was much beloved 
 and admired. His uncle, Sardis Birchard, who died 
 some years ago, leaving his property and fortune to his 
 namesake, has given a park and a fine library to Fre- 
 mont. 
 
 The town is on the Sandusky River, at the head of 
 navigation, and has quite a brisk trade for a plac«» 
 claiming only a little over fiv^e thousand inhabitants. 
 
 jSutTi-0utl) JDatt. 
 
 Elmore House, 
 Elmoke, Ohio, 
 
 July Sixteenth. 
 
 My accommodations at the Ball House, Fremont, 
 were quite in contrast with those placed at my dis- 
 
254 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 posal at Castalia. I heard no stories of " mineral 
 springs " or wonderful freaks of Nature, but shall re- 
 member Fremont as the delightful little city where I 
 had two nights' sleep in one. 
 
 I began my day's journey at eight o'clock with 
 Elmore as the evening objective. Halted a few 
 moments at a hotel known in that locality as the Four- 
 Mile House. Took dinner at Hessville, where I re- 
 mained until four o'clock in the afternoon and then 
 rode on to Elmore. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FIVE DAYS AT TOLEDO. 
 
 RDERED Paul and saddled him myself 
 at Elmore, on the morning of July seven- 
 teenth. In fact it was my usual custom, 
 while riding through the rural districts, to 
 personally groom, feed and care for my 
 horse, as I learned soon after leaving 
 Boston that, unless I attended to his 
 wants myself, he was most likely to be 
 neglected by those in whose hands he 
 was placed, and from a selfish standpoint, knowing 
 also the importance of keeping him in the best possible 
 condition, I never overlooked anything which was 
 likely to add to his comfort. 
 
 On my way from Elmore, I stopped for lunch at a 
 country grocery, hotel and saloon, four miles from this 
 city. A small piece of bread, a bowl of milk, and a 
 few crackers covered my refreshment at the " Jack 
 of A.11 Trades," as upon asking for a second piece of 
 bread I was informed that I had just eaten the last in 
 the house. There being no further appeal, I re- 
 mounted and rode off in the direction of Toledo, where 
 I lectured in the evening at Lyceum Hall, under the 
 auspices of Forsyth Post, being introduced by Doctor 
 
 (255) 
 
256 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 J. T. Woods, a surgeon of our Volunteer Army dur- 
 ing the late war, and now an active comrade in the 
 G. A. R. 
 
 Doctor Woods and I had a long and animated talk 
 at the Boody House over old times, and especially of 
 Custer, who was greatly admired by both of us, as he 
 was by every one who knew anything of him. Doctor 
 Woods had collected a number of articles referring to 
 the General which he thought of especial interest, 
 among others the following lines which seem to bear 
 the very impress of Custer's martial spirit : 
 
 " The neighing troop, the flashing blade, 
 
 The bugle's stirring blast. 
 The charge, the dreadful cannonade, 
 
 The din and shout are past. 
 No war's wild notes nor glory's peal 
 
 Shall thrill with fierce delight 
 The breast that nevermore may feel 
 
 The raptures of the fight." 
 
 When our conversation turned upon Toledo, it be- 
 came more cheerful. The city, after having survived 
 many reverses of fortune, is now on the eve of rapid 
 development, and can hardly be said to have a rival 
 in Northern Ohio. The long and hard battle fought 
 for the soil on which it now stands is almost for- 
 gotten, and instead of arousing the interest of the 
 stranger with thrilling tales of massacre and war, the 
 Toledoan now points to the emblems of peace. 
 
 Not so far away but that the patriotic citizen may 
 become familiar with the place is the old battle-field 
 of ^^ Fallen Timbers," where ^' mad Anthony Wayne" 
 brought the Indians to bay, and having conquered, 
 pursued them for ten miles along the Maumee, until 
 
FIVE DAYS AT TOLEDO. 257 
 
 he reached Swan Creek, now in the centre of the 
 town. 
 
 This battle is one of the most dramatic in the records 
 of Indian warfare. It was at a time wlien the Wa- 
 bash and Miami tribes had refused to accept any over- 
 tures from the Americans, and when they were de- 
 termined to fight out their cause with the help of the 
 British. 
 
 Knowing that pacific measures were then super- 
 fluous, and that the matter must be decided by war, 
 Wayne at the head of a splendid support, marched to 
 the Maumee, erected Fort Defiance at the junction of 
 the An Glaize, and then proceeded to a point where 
 he knew the forces of the enemy were concentrated. 
 The place was in every way favorable to the party in 
 possession — the river on the left, heavy thickets on 
 the right, and in front natural breastworks formed by 
 fallen timbers, the result of a tornado. Into this trap 
 it was necessary to march in order to meet the foe- 
 Wayne's simple plan of attack was this: to rouse 
 the savages from their lair with an irresistible bayonet 
 charge, *' and when up, to deliver a close and well- 
 directed fire on their backs." 
 
 The result was a victory for the Americans. The 
 Indians and their white allies, completely routed, made 
 a precipitous retreat, leaving the battle-field covered 
 with their dead. Hotly pursued, their cornfields 
 and wigwams destroyed on the way, they were finally 
 ready to acknowledge that peace was better than 
 war. So ended the great battle of the Maumee, 
 one of the most fatal in its effect upon the destiny of 
 the red race. 
 
 It was after this, when actual contest was over, and 
 
258 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the Indians had been provided for west of the Mis- 
 sissippi, that the Cincinnati Company laid out a town 
 on the present site and called it Port Lawrence, 
 after the famous flag-ship in which Perry met the 
 British on Lake Erie. Later, Major Stickney, a his- 
 toric pioneer, whose sons, " One " and " Two " Stickney 
 are equally immortal, laid out Vistula, which after- 
 wards joined Port Law^rence, under a name destined to 
 become a power in the State — Toledo. 
 
 The fortunes of the new town were fluctuating as 
 April weather, and the faith of property-holders must 
 have grown weak through wavering. Most of these 
 hard times were due to malaria, which was bred in 
 the neighboring swamps and forests, and which was an 
 ever-present menace; yet when the cloud of contention 
 lowered over the tract of land lying between the 
 territory of Michigan and the State of Ohio, Toledo, 
 the very centre of the trouble, being claimed by both, 
 was animated enough, although her neighbor, Monroe, 
 was wont to vex her with such taunts as this : 
 
 "The potatoes they grow small, on Maumee, 
 And they eat them, tops and all, on Maumee." 
 
 Potato-tops must have possessed singular virtue, for 
 there was no want of spirit when the test came ^' On 
 Maumee." 
 
 The "Toledo War," much talked of and laughed 
 over in its day, is passing slowly into oblivion, and 
 now only an occasional grey-beard brings its scenes 
 back with amusing reminiscence. The cause of the 
 trouble lay in a mistake of Congress, which estab- 
 lished an impossible boundary line between Michigan 
 and Ohio, so that the " bone of contention " was a 
 
FIVE DAYS AT TOLEDO. 261 
 
 tract of land eight miles wide at the western end, 
 and five at the eastern, which both claimed. The 
 people living in this tract were therefore between two 
 fires, some preferring to be governed by the laws of 
 the territory, and the others giving their allegiance to 
 Ohio. The respective governors were the principals 
 in the quarrel, and showed a strong disposition to 
 fight, while the chief executive at Washington, being 
 unable to interfere, was obliged to assume the role of 
 a spectator, advising, however, that the interested 
 parties defer action until the convening of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 The advantages were pretty evenly divided, except 
 that Michigan, as a territory, in attempting to prevent 
 the State from enforcing her supposed right, aroused a 
 strong State pride among the " Buckeyes.'^ The mi- 
 litia was called out on both sides and Michigan 
 threatened with arrest those who should attempt to 
 re-mark the boundary line — the compliment being 
 generously returned by Ohio. 
 
 In the midst of these hostilities the Legislature of 
 Ohio created a new county, calling it Lucas, after the 
 Governor, which included a portion of the contested 
 territory, and had for its seat the town of Toledo. To 
 hold court at this county-seat without the intervention 
 of the authorities of Michigan would virtually decide 
 the case in Ohio's favor, but how this bold coup (Tetat 
 was to be accomplished, and on the date appointed — 
 the seventh of September — was a question that puzzled 
 the Governor himself General Brown, in charge of 
 the ^Michigan militia, was reported to be in Toledo at 
 the time, witli a force twelve hundred strong; while 
 Colonel Vanfleet, tiie Ohio warrior, was to rely upon 
 
262 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the stout hearts of a hundred men, who were to act as 
 jposse for the protection of the court. 
 
 When the judges, sheriff and attendants met at 
 Miami to perfect their plans, on Sunday the sixth of 
 September, they were somewhat fearful of the issue, 
 and finally left the decision of the matter in the hands 
 of Colonel Vanfleet. This intrepid Leonidas imme- 
 diately assumed the championship of his State with 
 admirable skill, and, walking up and down, sword in 
 hand, in front of his hundred followers, for a moment's 
 meditation, turned at last to the judges with these im- 
 pressive words: 
 
 " If you are women, go home ; if you are men, do 
 your duty as judges of the court. I will do mine. If 
 you leave this matter entirely with me, I will be re- 
 sponsible for your safety and insure the accomplishment 
 of our object ; but if otherwise, I can give you no as- 
 surance ! '' 
 
 In the light of present knowledge, the reader of 
 these words, while he respects and admires the spirit 
 in which they were uttered, and the man who spoke 
 them, cannot avoid a mild sense of amusement. But 
 this is not to the point. Matters proceeded seriously 
 on that sixth of September, 1835. Vanfleet called for 
 twenty volunteers, and these having quickly responded 
 to the call, the Colonel then informed his proteges, 
 probably not to their surprise, that the seventh of Sep- 
 tember would begin immediately after midnight; that 
 the law did not specify any time for the opening of 
 court, and that if they would rely upon his protection, 
 they could accomplish their purpose in the face of the 
 toe. 
 
 ^^ Governor Lucas wants the court held,'' he added, 
 
FIVE DAYS AT TOLEDO. 2G3 
 
 "so that by its record lie may show to the world that 
 he has executed the laws of* Ohio over the disputed 
 territory in spite of the vaporing threats of Governor 
 Mason. Be prepared to mount your horses to start for 
 Toledo at precisely one o'clock in the morning. I will 
 be ready with my escort." 
 
 The appointment was met, and Toledo was reached 
 at three o'clock. The l)arty proceeded directly to a 
 school-house, and there court was held in due form of 
 law, its proceedings written out on bits of paper being 
 deposited in the tall crown of the clerk's hat. When 
 business was over, the entire party went to a tavern 
 near by for refreshments. Just as the men were about 
 to indulge in a second cup of cheer, some one called out 
 that General Brown, with a strong force, was on his 
 way to arrest them. Glasses were dropped, the little 
 matter of indebtedness to the saloon-keeper was waived 
 without ceremony, and a moment later not a sign of the 
 Ohio dignitaries remained. 
 
 When they had placed a sufficient amount of the con- 
 tested soil between themselves and General Brown, they 
 halted upon a hill to fire a salute, but at that time it was 
 learned that the clerk's hat, containing the all-important 
 papers, had been knocked off his head by the limb of a 
 tree during the retreat. To return might mean capture 
 and the failure of their plan. To abandon the recovery 
 of the missing hat would be equally deplorable. Van- 
 fleet accordingly sent back a small detachment to search 
 the road ; " the lost was found," and, at last triumphant, 
 a loud salute wa3 fired. To say that the men did not 
 then let the grass grow under their feet is but a mild 
 assertion. It has been said by good authorities, that if 
 
 the retreating party had charged General Brown's regi- 
 13 
 
2G4 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 ment with half the force they employed in getting 
 away, they could haye routecT a force twice its size. 
 When Congress conyened, howeyer, they had the satis- 
 faction of haying a fayorable ycrdict pronounced upon 
 their " unlawful act, lawfully committed/' although 
 Jackson had previously expressed himself in sympathy 
 with the cause of Michigan. The defeated party, to 
 eyen up matters, was giyen the northern peninsula 
 between Superior and Huron, now her richest sec- 
 tion. 
 
 During the course of the '' war " Toledo was full 
 of Michigan troops, who left many anecdotes behind 
 them and whose generally harmless behavior raised 
 many a laugh among the townspeople. As one of 
 these stories goes, Major Stickney, walking out into 
 his garden one morning, noticed something that 
 looked like a human figure in his potato vines. He 
 called out to the mysterious object and asked what 
 was going on there? The call brought to his full 
 length a soldier in uniform, who stretched up and re- 
 plied : 
 
 '' Drafting potato-tops to make the bottoms volun- 
 teer, sir ! " 
 
 And so, half in jest, and half in earnest, the affair 
 continued and ended. 
 
 When the forests were cleared away and the 
 swamps drained, the dread malaria partnership was 
 dissolved ; good health brought good cheer, and pros- 
 perity followed. Very soon after the trouble with 
 Michigan, the Miami and Erie Canal was built, which 
 has been one of the important fiictors in making the 
 "Corn City'' so strong commercially Besides this 
 great inland waterway, eight railways bring into her 
 

 *2 • 
 
 ■I I r 
 
FIVE UAY^S AT TOLELO. 0(j7 
 
 marts the products of the rich farms of Illinois, Indi- 
 ana, Michigan and Oliio. 
 
 From her ports enormous (piautities of frrain are 
 yearly shipped to England either direct, or vUi Mon- 
 treal, and her people say, without expecting to be 
 contradicted, that no city in the United States can 
 point to such a wonderful devel()i)ment of commercial 
 resources. This scarcely suggests the time when To- 
 ledo was little more than the dead carcass of specula- 
 tion, the prey of the tax-gatherer, waiting the resur- 
 rection that followed the War of the Rebellion, when 
 men remained her citizens simply because they had no 
 money with which to get away. 
 
 Commerce takes the lead here, but there is one en- 
 terprise of which Toledoans seem to be even prouder, 
 and to see which they take the visitor " whom they 
 wish to impress with their greatness." This is the 
 thriving and truly imposing Milbourn Wagon Works, 
 put into operation in 1875 and already become famous. 
 The brick buildings are unusually fine and, archi- 
 tecturally, would leave the uninformed stranger under 
 the impression that they might belong to some insti- 
 tution of learning. 
 
 I was enabled to see more of the city than I had 
 expected, owing to an unforeseen circumstance. A 
 little friend who lived in Detroit, and who was dying 
 with consumption, had expressed a wish to come to 
 Toledo to see me and my horse before it was too late. 
 I therefore remained longer than I intended, that her 
 friends might bring her down by boat, although they 
 hardly hoped that she would survive the journey. 
 She was given the pleasure of a quiet trip to Put-in- 
 Bay, the well-known resort, and with this and the 
 
2Q^ OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 gratification of seeing Paulj in whom she was deeply 
 interested, her visit ended. 
 
 Of all the strangers who come to this bright and 
 busy city, active with the impetus given it by fifty 
 thousand souls, I doubt if any take more keen delight 
 in looking upon its business enterprises and individu- 
 ality than did this bright-minded girl, just about to 
 relinquish her hold upon earth. She knew nothing 
 of the dark pages in its history, and only guessed at 
 the wealth and strength back of the thronged harbor. 
 To her it was a happy place — the temporary home 
 of friends. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TOLEDO TO DETROIT, 
 
 0et)cntt)-sccoub SDap. 
 
 Erie Hotel, 
 
 Erik, Michigan, 
 
 July 22, 1876. 
 
 Y Toledo friends were ready at the 
 Boody House to give me good-bye when 
 I mounted at nine o'clock, and I received 
 a right hearty send-off. Upon leaving 
 the city, instead of continuing westward 
 as usual toward the " Golden Gate," I had 
 determined for various reasons to swing 
 off from the direct course, and ride 
 northward to Detroit, moving thence to 
 Chicago. This new route would take me through 
 Monroe, a town with which the life of General Custer 
 was more closely associated than any other, and know- 
 ing that I would find much there that would give me 
 a more intimate knowledge of the man, I looked for- 
 ward to this part of my journey with eager anticipa- 
 tion. 
 
 The ride to Erie being at some distance from the 
 lake, and over a flat region, was rather monotonous. 
 Erie itself is a small unimportant hamlet at the 
 
 (2(ii.) 
 
270 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 western end of the lake, and a modest landmark in 
 my journey from Toledo to Detroit. Paw/, probably 
 impressed with the air of peace that enveloped the 
 place, made up his mind upon his arrival to give the 
 good people a display of his mettle, and accordingly 
 tore through the village streets in the wildest fashion. 
 Having thus introduced himself, he pranced after 
 I had dismounted until he had had enough ; then re- 
 turning to his master, his eyes seeming to flash mischief^ 
 he looked as though he would have said, had he been 
 given tlie power of speech : " I have been having a 
 fine time, haven^t I? and would you like to mount 
 me and enjoy the fun too? but I dare you ! " 
 
 When his superabundant spirits had found vent, 
 I had him led away and myself attended to his wants. 
 Beyond this animated exhibition of my horse the day 
 passed uneventfully, and at night I enjoyed to its 
 fullest extent the quietude of a country inn. 
 
 Erie Hotel, 
 
 Erie, Michigan, 
 
 July Tiveniy-third. 
 
 Weather cool and pleasant ; went to church in the 
 morning and listened to a sermon by Rev. E. P. Wil- 
 lard, on the text, " Remember the Sabbath Day to keep 
 it holy." Doubtless the preacher had his reasons for 
 bringing to the minds of the Erieans this particular 
 command, but judging from appearances they needed 
 a very mild admonition. It looked as though every 
 day were Sunday here. 
 
 A letter reached me at this point from my wife, 
 
TOLEDO TO DETROIT. 271 
 
 full of concern as to my welfare if the journey were to 
 be continued across tiie Plains; and as she was in very 
 indifferent health at tlie time, I was about to abandon 
 my purpose and return. The news of Custer's tragic 
 doatli had reached the East, and my intended route 
 runnint^ as it did across the Indian country, filled 
 my friends witli ap[)rchension. Closely following this 
 letter, however, came another, informing me that 
 my wife was improving, and, with this assurance, I 
 decided not to turn back. By this time, the freedom 
 and charm of this mode of travel had aroused my 
 enthusiasm ; the imaginary line, losing itself in the 
 Pacific, promised a rich experience, and the opportunity 
 was golden. The good news from home was therefore 
 joyfully received. 
 
 StDcutu-fourtl) ?I)ai). 
 
 Strong's JTotel, 
 Monroe, Michigan, 
 
 July Twenty -fo ii rth. 
 
 I was detained at Erie until after dinner, spend- 
 ing part of the forenoon in a blacksmith shop, where 
 Paul was being shod. By two o'clock I was on the 
 road again, riding briskly toward Monroe, for the 
 weather was so nuich cooler than it had been during 
 the })revious week, that I could move comfortably at a 
 good pace. Piud seemed very proud of his new shoes, 
 and, although I halted two or three times, covered 
 somethinjr over ten miles by five o'clock. 
 
 As I reached the outskirts of Monroe, I was con- 
 siderably sur[)rised to find a large number of people 
 assembled on the picnic grounds. They were ac- 
 
272 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 companied by a band, and greeted me with several 
 national air, including "Hail Columbia'^ and the 
 '' Star-Spangled Banner." The Custer Monument As- 
 sociation received me at the City Hall, where I had been 
 announced to lecture in the evening, as it was my in- 
 tention to speak in the interest of the Fund ; but the 
 date was changed to the Thursday following my ar- 
 rival, with a view to giving its members an oppor- 
 tunity to co-operate with my advance agents. 
 
 Great enthusiara was everywhere apparent, and the 
 people of Monroe needed no urging to lend their 
 patronage, when the movement was likely to reflect 
 honor upon their illustrious dead. 
 
 My emotions upon entering this town, long the 
 dearest place in all the world to Custer, can better be 
 imagined than described. That it was a favorite with 
 him is not strange, for aside from the tender associa- 
 tions which it held for him, its pretty homes and broad 
 streets, deeply shaded by maples, make it a most 
 lovely spot and the very type of peace. 
 
 Sft)entu-fiftl) ^liatt. 
 
 Strong's Hotel, 
 
 Monroe, Michigan, 
 
 July Twenty-fifth. 
 
 Wrote to my mother in the morning, and after dinner 
 took a stroll about town. Beyond its associations with 
 Custer, Monroe is interesting through its connection 
 with one of the most romantic and sanguinary scenes 
 connected with the war between Great Britain and the 
 United States; for on the banks of the River Raisin 
 which runs through it to the lake, occurred the 
 
TOLEDO TO DETROIT. 273 
 
 famous Indian massacre of 1812. Relics of the 
 bloody encounter are still found on the field. 
 
 It was at a time when the British were making suc- 
 cessful inroads upon Michigan, and General Win- 
 chester, at the head of eight hundred Kentuckians, 
 had been ordered to Frenchtown, the old name for 
 Monroe, the same point toward which General Miller 
 had previously moved on a mission equally fatal. 
 
 Winc^hester was warned of the advance of the 
 enemy, but thought there was no cause for immediate 
 alarm, and on the night before the engagement, he 
 crossed to the side of the river opposite his men, 
 leaving the camp open to attack. The result was, that 
 he awoke the next morning to find Proctor's troops 
 putting his men to rout, at the point of the bayonet, 
 while their Indian allies were adding to the confusion 
 by their deadly assault. 
 
 Although a part of the Americans escaped on the 
 ice of the river, the field was covered with their dead 
 and wounded, General Winchester being among the 
 former. When the engagement was over, Proctor 
 rode away, leaving a detachment to guard the jn-ison- 
 ers and wounded, with instructions that no violence 
 was to be committed ; but some of the savages who 
 followed him having become intoxicated, returned and 
 fell upon the prisoners with unrestrained frenzy. 
 Most of the latter had been placed in two small cabins.* 
 These were fired, and (he victims perished in the 
 flames, the Indians pushing them back when they at- 
 tempted to escape through the small windows. The 
 remainder were massacred and their bodies left a prey 
 to the wolves. It was this horrible affair that aroused 
 the Americans and particularly the Kentuckians to 
 
274 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 revenge; and when Tenuniseh, tlie Shawnee warrior, 
 who was the chief instigator of these atrocities, urged 
 the British to hazard an engagement at the Thames, 
 after their defeat by Perry, they prepared to return 
 with full interest the blow given their comrades on the 
 Rnisln. The battle of the Thames is well known. 
 Tecumseh, with the war cry on his lips, met his re- 
 ward through a Kentucky bullet early enough in the 
 fight to be spared the shame of defeat. With him fell 
 a powerful foe, but one whom we must admire even in 
 his death. 
 
 "Like monumental bronze, unchanged his look, 
 As one whom pity touched, but never shook ; 
 Train'd from his tree-rocked cradle to his bier 
 The fierce extremes of good and ill to brook. 
 Unchanging, fearing but the shame of fear, 
 A stoic of the woods, a man without a tear." 
 
 Stro7ig's Hotel, 
 Monroe, Michigan, 
 
 Jtdy Twenty-sixth. 
 
 Received a large forwarded mail from my advance 
 agents and others, which I attended to in the after- 
 noon. I was also favored with Detroit papers refer- 
 ring to my proposed lecture in that city, and the fol- 
 lowing notice from the Monroe Monitor, which, together 
 with letters from the Fund Association, I kept as 
 souvenirs of ray stay at this place : 
 
 " The lecture announced to be given for the benefit of the Custer 
 Monument Fund, on Monday evening, at the City Hall, was post. 
 poned for various reasons until Thursday evening, at the same 
 place. On Monday evening several members of the association met 
 
TOLEDO TO DETROIT. 075 
 
 Captain Willard Glazier, and wore most favorably impressed with 
 him. They are coiiviiieed that he is thorouirliiy in earnest, and tliat 
 his proposition is a most liberal one. lie oUers to give the entire pro- 
 ceeds of iiis lecture to the association; and not only in this city, but 
 tliroughout the Slate, he generously offers to do the same thin- 
 This is certainly deserving of the warm recognition of our own 
 people, at least, and we hope on Thursday evening to see the City 
 Hall filled. Captain Glazier comes with the strongest endorsements 
 from well-known gentlemen in the East, both as to his character as 
 a gentleman and a soldier, and his ability as a speaker and writer. 
 The Captain served under the late General Custer in the cavalry 
 and has something to say regarding his personal knowledge of the 
 dead hero." 
 
 When I started from Boston in May, I little 
 dreamed that before my journey was finished the 
 troubles in the West with the Sioux would bring such 
 a result as this! It is true, affairs in Montana and 
 Wyoming territories had assumed a threatening aspect, 
 but no one doubted the efficacy of " Custer's luck," 
 and those who followed the campaign looked upon it 
 as a dramatic and striking incident, rather than a 
 tragic one. 
 
 News was slow in reaching points east of the 
 Mississippi and was then often unreliable, so that if I 
 may judge from personal observation, the people were 
 wholly unprepared for the final result which was 
 flashed across the country on the fifth of July , 
 
 ScDcntn-sccciitl) Dan. 
 
 Strong's Hotel, 
 
 Monroe, Michigan, 
 
 July Tiventij'seventh. 
 
 Rose at an early hour in the morning, and was very 
 busily occupied during the day with correspondence 
 and preparations ihr my lecture. The people of 
 
276 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 Monroe had asked that I would tell them something of 
 my experience with Custer during the late war before 
 beginning the lecture, as everything relating to him 
 was at that time of the most thrilling interest to them. 
 It was not difficult to comply with this request. The 
 old scenes of 1863 were as fresh in memory as though 
 they had been witnessed but yesterday. 
 
 My first meeting with Custer was at the third battle 
 of Brandy Station on the twelfth of September, 1863, 
 as the Cavalry Corps then acting as the advance of the 
 Army of the Potomac was moving toward Culpeper in 
 pursuit of Lee's retreating columns. Custer had but 
 recently been commissioned brigadier-general and this 
 was the first time he went into action at the head of 
 his brigade. His appearance was very conspicuous. A 
 mere boy in years, gorgeously equipped, in short, bear- 
 ing upon his person all the gold lace and other para- 
 phernalia allowed his rank, he formed a striking 
 figure — such a one as is seldom seen on the battle- 
 field. His arrival at Brandy Station was at a critical 
 juncture, and while we were momentarily expecting a 
 conflict with Stuart's cavalry, then directly in our 
 front, all had a curiosity to see how the gayly dressed 
 brigadier would acquit himself. It seemed to be the 
 general impression that he would not have tlie nerve to 
 "face the music" with his bandbox equipment, but he 
 soon proved himself equal to the occasion. Being 
 ordered to charge the enemy, he snatched his cap from 
 his head, handed it to his orderly, drew his sword 
 and dashed to the front of his brigade, then formed in 
 column of squadrons. The command " Forward ! " 
 was instantly given. A moment later "Trot!'' was 
 sounded ; then " Gallop ! " and " Charge ! " and before 
 
TOLEDO TO DETROIT, 977 
 
 the Confederates had time to realize that we really in- 
 tended an attack, they were swept from the field, and a 
 section of a battery with which they had been opposing 
 onr advance was in the possession of the young 
 general and his gallant cavalrymen. 
 
 No soldier who saw him on that day at Brandy 
 Station ever questioned his right to a star, or all 
 the gold lace he felt inclined to wear. He at once be- 
 came a favorite in the Army of the Potomac and his 
 fame was soon heralded throughout the country. 
 After this engagement I saw Custer at Culpeper and 
 Cedar Mountain, and in the skirmishes along the 
 Rapidan during Lee's retreat from Gettysburg; later, 
 when Lee again advanced through Northern Virginia, 
 at Sulphur Springs, Newmarket, Bristoe and in the ac- 
 tion of Octobor 19, 1863, near New Baltimore, where 
 I was taken prisoner. 
 
 The incidents which I recalled were those of war^ 
 but Custer's friends here gave me the incidents of 
 peace. Mr. J. M. Bulk ley, who is perhaps more inti- 
 mately acquainted with the General's early life than 
 any other man in Monroe, was his old school-chum 
 and seat-mate at Stebbin's Academy. 
 
 When this institution was broken up, and its 
 property soldj Mr. Bulkley bought the old desk at 
 which he and Custer had sat, and on which as school- 
 boys they had cut their initials. It stands in his store, 
 and in it are kept all the papers relating to the Monu- 
 ment Fund. 
 
 Custer's next experience was in the INIonroe Semi- 
 nary, and it was while he was a student there that 
 the pretty little face of his future wife flashed into his 
 life. The story of this meeting is laughable and odd. 
 
278 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Custer, then a rough, flaxen-haired lad, coming home 
 one afternoon, his books under his arm, was passing 
 Judge Bacon's residence, when a little brown-eyed 
 girl swinging on the gate called out to him, ^' Hello, 
 you Custer boy!" then, half-frightened by the blue 
 eyes that glanced toward her, ran into the house. The 
 little girl was Libbie Bacon, daughter of the Judge. 
 It was love at first sight for Custer, and although 
 they did not meet again for several years, he was 
 determined to win the owner of those brown eyes. 
 
 Having finished a preliminary course of study and 
 wishing to enter West Point, he urged his father to 
 apply to John Bingham, then a member of Congress for 
 the district in which Monroe was situated, for an ap- 
 pointment. This his father hesitated to do as Mr. Bing- 
 ham's politics were opposed to his. The young man 
 was therefore obliged to rely upon his own efforts. 
 He called upon the dignitary himself. Mr. Bingham 
 was pleased with the applicant, promised to lend his 
 influence, and the result was that George Armstrong 
 Custer ultimately received a formal notification from 
 Washington, bearing the signature of Jefferson Davis, 
 to the effect that the recipient was expected to re- 
 port immediately to the commanding officer at West 
 Point. His course there was about finished upon the 
 breaking out of the late war. He went at once to 
 Washington, and through General Scott was launched 
 upon his military career. What sort of a soldier he 
 was the world knows. What his character was the fol- 
 lowing incident may partially suggest. It occurred 
 early in the war when Custer was beginning to feel 
 somewhat discouraged over his affairs. He had already 
 done much that was worthy of promotion and, having 
 
HV 
 
 BttL^JP''"^ 
 
 
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 ■1 
 
 wst 
 
 ^^^H 
 
 ^^^_^_ 
 
 ^^M 
 
 ^ — ^ ~*^ — • 
 
 P^l 
 
 ^^^' 
 
 ? m 
 
 tWl'i^K ' 
 
TOLEDO TO DETROIT 281 
 
 a boy^s pride iiiul atnhition. Fate seemed lo he against 
 him. The clouds vanished one day, however, when 
 the Army of tiie Potomac was encamped on the north 
 bank of the Cliickahominy near Richmond. 
 
 General Barnard, of the Engineers, starting ont to 
 discover if the river was fordahle at a certain point, 
 called npon Custer to accompany hini. Arrived at the 
 bank of the stream, he ordered the young officer to 
 ^' jump in." He was instantly obeyed, although the 
 pickets of the enpmy were known to be on the op- 
 posite side, and dangerously near. Nor did Custer re- 
 turn, after having found that there was firm bottom, 
 until he had made a thorough reconnoissance of the 
 Confederate outposts. 
 
 Upon their return, Barnard rode up to McClellan, 
 who was about to visit with his staff his own out- 
 posts, and began reporting the recently acquired in- 
 formation, while his late aide, wearied with the under- 
 taking, and covered with Chickahominy mud, had 
 fallen to the rear. Gradually it came out that Custer, 
 and not Custer's superior officer, had performed the 
 important d.uty. He was immediately called for, and 
 to his great embarrassment, for his appearance was far 
 from presentable, was asked by McClellan to make a 
 report of the situation himself. At the end of the re- 
 cital he was asked by his commander, to his amaze- 
 ment, how he would like to join his staff. McClellan 
 had, by a rare power peculiar to him, in that short 
 interview, won Custer's unfailing loyalty and affi^ction, 
 and when Custer was asked afterwards how he felt at 
 the time, his eyes filled with tears, and he said : 
 " I felt I coidd hare died for h'lin.^^ 
 
 This promotion marked the beginning of his future 
 
282 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 success. In recalling his career, these simple lines, 
 written by a poet unknown ^o me, and with which 
 Frederick Whittaker, in his admirable life of Custer, 
 brings his biography to a close, involuntarily suggest 
 themselves : 
 
 " Who early thus upon the fielJ of glory 
 
 Like thee doth fall and die, needs for his fame 
 Naught but the siui{)le telling of his story, 
 The naming of his name." 
 
 Varney House, 
 
 RocKwooD, Michigan, 
 
 July Twenty-eighth. 
 
 Before ordering Paul in the morning, I called again 
 at the home of the Ousters. Tlie General's father 
 seemed greatly interested in my journey, and asked 
 many questions concerning my plans for crossing the 
 Plains. I was shown the rich and interesting collec- 
 tion of relics from the Indian country which Custer 
 had accumulated, and which adds a picturesqueness to 
 every corner of the house, and with these, some very 
 striking photographs of the General taken in every 
 variety of position and costume. After a pleasant 
 chat, in the course of which Mr. Custer assured me of 
 his kind solicitude, he walked back to the hotel with 
 me to see me oif. 
 
 While riding out of town, I met Mr. Bulkley, and 
 was introduced to several gentlemen of his acquaint- 
 ance, many of whom were schoolmates of Custer dur- 
 ing his boyhood. Mr. Bulkley, speaking for the 
 Monupaent Association, assured me that everything 
 
TOLEDO TO DETROIT. 283 
 
 would be (lone that could f'urtlicr my wishes in Michi- 
 gan. 
 
 The lecture last eveiiiui; was well attended and 
 proved a liiiancial success. It was therefore gratifying 
 to give the entire pi'oceeds to the treasurer, Judge T. 
 E. Wing, although he generously offered to divide. 
 Parting with Mr. Bulkley, I continued on my route, 
 my mind filled with the events of the three preced- 
 ing days. Just beyond the town I halted to look 
 back, and then, determined to })revent any sombre 
 thoughts, which might follow, put spurs to Fcudy who 
 very soon covered the thirteen miles between Monroe 
 and this place. As we neared the village, I caught 
 sight of Huron River, the Wrockumiteogoe of the 
 Indians, meaning, " clear water.'' On its banks are 
 found those mysterious legacies of the Mound Build- 
 ers — whether dwellings or tombs, remains for the anti- 
 quarian to determine. 
 
 ScDcutg-nmtl) Sag. 
 
 Fanners' Hotel, 
 
 EcoKSE, Michigan, 
 
 Jidy Twenty-ninth. 
 
 Moved from Rockwood at ten A. M., halting for a 
 few minutes at Trenton, a small village seven miles 
 north of Rockwood ; and from there, riding on to Wy- 
 andotte, which I reached about one o'clock, and stoj^ped 
 only a moment at the Biddle House, finding that 
 dinner was awaiting me at a private residence. I was 
 ready to answer the hospitable summons promptly. 
 Between two and five o'clock, I oc('Uj)ied part of 
 the time in looking about the village, which is chiefly 
 
 14 
 
284 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 noted for its iron industries. Farm implements, iron 
 ships, iron rails, and in fact ^everything that can be 
 made out of iron, is produced here. After dinner I 
 rode on to Ecorse, which is three miles beyond, 
 and there found letters and papers telling me that I 
 was expected at the Russell House, Detroit, on the 
 evening of the coming Monday. Once within my 
 hotel, I found the heat almost unbearable, but follow- 
 ing a certain method which I had found by ex[)erience 
 to be a successful one, I was enabled in a measure to 
 improve my surroundings. To those who might 
 think my modm operandi somewhat unbecoming, I 
 would only suggest that they try my mode of travel 
 through the same region of country, and at the same 
 season of the year. Personal experience might change 
 their opinion. 
 
 Having been shown to my apartment by the land- 
 lord or one of his assistants, I quietly entered and se- 
 cured the door, betraying no surprise upon seeing the 
 inevitable "feather bed." Taking off my coat, I be- 
 gan by removing the layers of mattresses, which 
 had in them a wonderful reserve force of July heat. 
 I then took my lamp and held it so that its lambent 
 flame could warm the cockles of every mosquito's 
 heart clinging to the ceiling. The mosquitoes, quite 
 averse to the intense heat, quietly dropped into the 
 little purgatory which I had prepared for them, and 
 troubled me no more. 
 
 So did I secure my repose at the Farmers' Hotel, 
 and in the morning w'as in the humor to give the good- 
 natured proprietor, Louis Cicotte — a typical French 
 Canadian — a very hearty greeting, and an assurance 
 of my refreshment. 
 
TOLEDO TO DETROIT. 285 
 
 (gigl)tictl) IDaB. 
 
 Farmers^ Hotel, 
 
 E CORSE, Michigan, 
 
 July Thirtitth. 
 
 The weather was oppressively warm again on this 
 day, and business in Ecorse was apparently not " boom- 
 ing." I found the place quite in keeping with the 
 majority of French villages along the Detroit River — 
 unambitious and lifeless. 
 
 Two acknowledgments came from Monroe soon 
 after 1 left, referring to the aid which I had the 
 pleasure of giving to those interested in the Custer 
 Monument. One was a brief and courteous bearer of 
 thanks, and is as follows : 
 
 Headquarters, 
 
 Custer National 3Ionument Association; 
 
 MoNKOE, Michigan, 
 
 July 28, 1876. 
 
 This is to certify that the proceeds of the lecture by Captain 
 Willard Glazier, iu this city on Thursday evening, July 27, 1876, 
 have been paid into the treasury of this association, for which the 
 members hereby tender him their sincere thanks. 
 
 T. E. Wing, 
 Treasurer. 
 
 The other was a letter of introduction and explains 
 itself: 
 
 HeadqiLarters, 
 
 Custer National Monument Association; 
 
 Monroe, Michigan, 
 
 July 28, 1876. 
 
 To Auxiliary Societies and Associations of the Custer 
 Monument Association: 
 Captain Willard Glazier, having kindly and generously volun- 
 teered to devote the proceeds of his lectures through Michigan to the 
 
286 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 fund being raised by this Association, for the erection of a monument 
 to the memory of the late General George A. Custer, has made ar- 
 rangements to remit to our treasurer here the money derived from 
 such lectures, and we bespeak for him your earnest endeavor in aid 
 of our common, glorious cause. Kespectfully, 
 
 J. M. BULKLEY, 
 Secretary. 
 
 Our second day at Ecorse ended pleasantly. In the 
 afternoon my brother and I went for a row on the 
 river, and in the evening took a walk into the country. 
 We did not meet with any game, although natural 
 history proclaims this section the haunt of many 
 varieties of bird and beast. The first settlers even re- 
 member having a casual acquaintance with the deer, 
 bear, wolf, wild cat, and a variety of smaller game, 
 including that interesting little quadruped, the badger, 
 whose name has become the nickname of Michigan. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FOUR DAYS AT DETROIT. 
 
 FTER a mucli-needed rest of a day and 
 two niglits at Ecorse, I left that quiet re- 
 treat on the afternoon of July thirty- 
 first, witli Detroit as my evening object- 
 ive. At Fort Wayne, I was met by 
 Babcock, who brought me the sad intelli- 
 gence of the death of my little Detroit 
 friend, Kitty Murphy, who had failed very 
 rapidly after her brief visit to Toledo. 
 We rode forward together, reaching the Russell House 
 at five o'clock, and there I was met by General 
 William A. Throop and others, who w^re appointed 
 as a committee to receive me. In the evening I lec- 
 tured at St. Andrew's Hall, being introduced by 
 General L. S. Trowbridge and was accom pained on the 
 platform by several Grand Army comrades. 
 
 Immediately after the lecture, I hurried to the 
 home of my bereaved friends, where I found the 
 motiier and sisters of the dead girl completely pros- 
 trated with grief The one who had gone was their 
 favorite, for whom they had the highest hopes, and it 
 was hard to be reconciled to the passing away of a 
 life so full of promise and noble purposes. I was 
 
 (287) 
 
288 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 proud to know that one universally loved and 
 admired had thought of me iit her last moments 
 and had left a token of her friendship. 
 
 On the morning of August first, I arranged my af- 
 fairs so as to be able to attend the funeral services of 
 my young friend the following day. 
 
 The proceeds of my lecture were handed to the 
 Monument Fund committee with a letter from me 
 to be forwarded to Monroe, and its representatives 
 here acknowledged this in the following note : 
 
 City Hall, 
 
 Detroit, Michigan, 
 
 August 1, 1876. 
 
 Received of Captain Willard Glazier, forty dollars, for the benefit 
 of the Custer Monument Association, as the proceeds of his lecture, 
 at Detroit, on the evening of July 31, 1876, in aid of such associa- 
 tion. 
 
 [Signed] L. S. Trowbridge, 
 
 William A. Throop, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 On the afternoon of August second, I went to Kitty's 
 grave with her family and friends, where we arranged 
 on the little mound our gifts of flowers. I placed 
 my own offering — a crown — at her head. It was 
 the last tribute, the " farewell " which we hoped might 
 one day be lost in " welcome.'^ 
 
 During my stay here, many friends extended invi- 
 tations to visit them, but I was able to accept very few. 
 Among those whom I met was my old comrade, 
 Captain Charles G. Hampton, who was at the Russell 
 House to greet me when I arrived. No one could have 
 been more welcome. Captain Hampton and I began 
 our somewhat peculiar acquaintance as classmates in 
 the State Normal College at Albany, New York, in the 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DETROIT. 280 
 
 spring of 1861, where we joined a military organiza- 
 tion known later as the ^^ Normal Company '^ of the 
 " Ellsworth Avengers" — Forty-fourth New York In- 
 fantry — whose members were put through a course of 
 drills inantieipation of future necessity, their voluntary 
 drill masters being Professors Rodney G. Kimball and 
 Albert N. Husted. 
 
 It was argued by the principal and by the faculty 
 generally, that while young men were learning how to 
 teach the schools of the State, it would be well also for 
 them to be prepared to defend the flag of the State. 
 We had just closed our term when President Lincoln 
 issued his call for seventy-five thousand volunteers, and 
 as it was not at this time the apparent intent of the 
 Normal Company to enter the service as a body, we de- 
 cided to enlist in some other organization. 
 
 Hampton went to Rochester where he joined the 
 Eighth New York Cavalry, while I enlisted in the 
 Second New York-Harris Light Cavalry, at Troy. We 
 did not meet again until Novcm})er, 1863 — when, by 
 the fortune of war, we both became inmates of Libby 
 Prison. The circumstances that brought us there were, 
 on his side, wounds and capture in an action with guer- 
 rillas under Mosby; on mine, capture in a cavalry 
 battle near New Baltimore, Virginia, during Lee's 
 retreat from the field of Gettysburg. 
 
 During our imprisonment at Richmond, Danville, 
 Macon, Savannah, and Charleston, Captain Hampton 
 and I belonged to se[)arate messes, so that, while we 
 met daily, we had very little intimate intercourse. At 
 Columbia, however, it was different. We arrived there 
 in the midst of a violent thunder-storm, and were 
 marched to our "quarters," in an open yard where 
 
290 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the water was running in streams. Hampton had 
 managed to get possession of a board about twelve feet 
 long when he met me, and immediately asked if I had 
 anything to stand or lie on. Upon receiving a nega- 
 tive answer he said : "Come on, let us share this plank 
 together." From this time we were messmates, being 
 joined later by Lieutenant Arthur Richardson of Al- 
 bany. When I escaped from Columbia I intrusted to 
 Hampton's keeping a small box in which I had kept 
 some manuscripts and sketches, that I intended to use 
 in future work. This he managed to keej) until his ex- 
 change, when he expressed it to my home in Northern 
 New York. We did not meet again until after the close 
 of the war. The possession of the contents of this box 
 was of inestimable value to me in getting out my first 
 book, ''Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape." Being 
 embarrassed for funds before the first edition of it was 
 published, I wrote to Captain Hampton, and by the 
 next mail received a generous sum sufficient to carry 
 me through that critical period. Since then he has 
 been a most loyal friend and comrade, and during my 
 stay here, did much to make enjoyable my visit to 
 the city which he had chosen for his home. 
 
 One needs no friends though, to make Detroit at- 
 tractive, for its past history and present beauty give it 
 an unfailing interest. As to the latter, it can never 
 be justly drawn, however vivid the description, nor 
 truly understood, however careful the reader. It must 
 be seen. As to its history, that is general and belongs 
 to the country, and I know of no great American city 
 which has a more romantic past. 
 
 In the days of the early explorers the present site 
 was looked upon as favorable for a settlement, com- 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DETROIT. 201 
 
 manding as it does a rich tract of country and lying at 
 the very entrance to the Upper Lakes. Tlie Iroquois 
 were then in possession and their village was known 
 as Tenchsa Grondi. Both the English and French 
 coveted this point, but the latter were more enterpris- 
 ing, and anticipated their rivals by making an ap- 
 pointment with the Iroquois for a great council at 
 Montreal, iu which the Governor-General of Canada 
 and others were to have a voice. The wary Frenchmen 
 presented their claims very i)lausibly, but failed to win 
 the approbation of the equally wary Indians. Tliey 
 were told that their brothers, the Englishmen, had 
 been refused, and that it was not well to show par- 
 tiality ; but this excuse had very little weight with the 
 subjects of the Grande Monarque, who had been ac- 
 customed to make themselves at home generally. The 
 Governor-General in an impressive speech replied that 
 neither the Iroquois nor the English had any right to 
 the land which belonged to the King of France, and 
 that an ex{)edition had been already sent out to estab- 
 lish a fort on the Detroit River! 
 
 This was indeed the case. La Motte Cadillac, with 
 a Jesuit missionary and one hundred men, was on his 
 way, while his countrymen, with the consistency which 
 has ever marked the dealings between the red and 
 white races, were asking permission of the Indians. 
 The French fleet, composed of twenty-five birch canoes 
 bearing the colors of France, reached the Detroit 
 River in July, 1701. There was a telling significance 
 in the floatincr of that flan- over the boats decorated 
 with Indian symbols and, if the savages had discerned 
 it, the French commander and his followers would 
 never have reached their destination. As it was, tliey 
 
292 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 came quietly as friends, and were allowed to establish 
 themselves without interference. 
 
 On the first rise of ground overlooking the river, 
 the palisades w^ere raised and the guns set, and by the 
 close of August, Fort Ponchartrain became a reality. 
 The Miamis and Pottawattomies were soon induced to 
 make a settlement near by, and afterwards a few Huron 
 and Ottawa bands collected on the opposite shore of 
 the river near the site of Windsor. The point quickly 
 attracted the fur trader, being in a direct line from 
 Michilimackinac to Montreal and Quebec. For sixty- 
 two years the French held possession of Detroit, profit- 
 ing by her superior location, and the friendship of 
 the Indians," but tlieir day ended when the sharp eyes 
 of Wolfe discovered the steep ascent to the " Plains of 
 Abraham," in Canada, and pointed a way for British 
 supremacy. 
 
 The Treaty of Paris, which was the outcome of the 
 French and Indian AVar, called for the surrender of 
 all the forts held by the French, but news travelled 
 so slowly that when Captain Rodgers with his two 
 hundred rangers came to take possession of Fort 
 Ponchartrain, he found still floating over it the flag of 
 France. While on his way to execute this mission, 
 he was met by Pontiac, the Ottawa chief, who was 
 angered by the transfer of claimants to his land, and 
 who demanded of Rodgers " what right lie had in 
 entering the dominion of the great Indian King with- 
 out permission." The answer he received w^as far 
 from satisfactory, but he bided his time to make his 
 dissatisfaction felt. The same feeling was manifested 
 everywhere by the Indian allies of the French, 
 but their wrath was concentrated upon Detroit, on 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DETROIT. 21):] 
 
 account of its being the great strongliokl of the 
 West. 
 
 In 17G3, Pontiac had arranged his famous scheme 
 for either annihilating the obnoxious newcomers or 
 driving them east of the Alleghenies. They did not 
 treat liim so considerately as the old claimants, and he 
 was far-seeing enough to realize the result. Aflame 
 with hatred and determined to save his people from 
 the fate that awaited them, he visited the great tribes 
 that were friendly, and sought their co-operation. 
 In a speech at the great council held at Ecorse on the 
 twenty-seventh of April, 17G2, he said, " As for these 
 English — these dogs dressed in red who have come 
 to rob you of your hunting-grounds and to drive away 
 the game — you must lift the hatchet against them and 
 wipe them from the face of the earth." The plan 
 was worthy of a Napoleon. The confederated tribes 
 were to attack simultaneously all the Western fonts, 
 while his particular band was to be brought against 
 Detroit. This point he had expected to take by 
 stratao;em and would no doubt have succeeded but 
 for the betrayal of the plot by an Ojibway maiden 
 who was in love with the British commandant. Th.e 
 day before its execution this Indian girl brought Major 
 Gladwyn a pair of moccasins which he had asked her 
 to make for him, and on her way home with the re- 
 mainder of the deer-skin, which he had furnished 
 for the same purpose, she lingered about the gate 
 so as to attract the attention of the sentinel. He 
 saw that she seemed to be troubled about something, 
 and asked her to return. Wavering between love and 
 duty to her race, she hesitated ; but finally the im- 
 pulse of her heart prevailed, and returning to the 
 
294 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 room of the commandaDt, she told him the terrible 
 secret. 
 
 Pontiac was to come to the fort on the morrow 
 ostensibly to hold peaceful negotiations with his white 
 brothers, but really to massacre them. His warriors, 
 who had cunningly shortened their rifles by sawing off 
 a part of the barrels, so that they might carry them 
 concealed beneath their blankets, were to fall upon 
 Gladwyn and his men at a given signal. This news 
 was lightly received although the statements of the 
 Indian girl seemed to be verified by a slight thread of 
 evidence which had from time to time been brought 
 to Gladwyn's notice. He lauglied at the thought of 
 danger at such a time, when the peace which had 
 lasted for two years appeared so likely to continue ; but 
 while he doubted Pontiac's real intentions, he decided 
 to be prepared for any issue. The guards were 
 doubled, sentinels were stationed on the ramparts, and 
 when the great chief came in the guise of friendship, 
 he was completely nonplussed by the show of discipline 
 in the garrison. Entering the north gate with his 
 sixty blanketed conspirators, he found himself con- 
 fronted by a double line of red-coated soldiers, their 
 muskets held at " present arms.'' At the corners of 
 the streets were groups of fur traders, and at regular 
 intervals the silence was broken by the beating of 
 drums. 
 
 Surprised at every turn, and fearing that his plot 
 had been discovered, Pontiac walked on sullenly en- 
 deavoring to conceal his annoyance. When he reached 
 the council-house he said to Gladwyn, ^' AVhy do I 
 see so many of my father's young men standing in the 
 streets with their guns?" The commandant lightly 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DETROIT, 295 
 
 replied that he had just heoii drilling them to j)rcsorv'e 
 discipline and that it was moreover a custom with the 
 English to thus honor their guests. These suavely- 
 spoken words failed to reassure the chief, who sat 
 down for a few moments without speaking; hut hav- 
 ing recovered his self-possession antl assuming with it 
 an habitual expression of stoical defiance, he arose and 
 began his harangue. Gladwyn, he notieedj instead of 
 listening to what was being said, kept his eyes stead- 
 fastly upon the movements of the other Indians, and 
 when the belt of wampum was taken up and the chief 
 began to reverse it in his hands — the signal for attack 
 — Gladwyn made a quick motion and in an instant the 
 dusky semicircle was startled by the grounding of 
 arms and the beating of drums. 
 
 Thus interrupted and foiled, Pontiac took his seat 
 in silence. Gladwyn then arose, and began his speech 
 as though nothing unusual had occurred ; but after a 
 few moments he changed his tone, accused Pontiac of 
 treachery, and stepping quickly to the nearest Indian 
 threw open his blanket and disclosed the hidden 
 weapon. He then told Pontiac to leave the fort at 
 once, assuring him that he would be allowed to go in 
 safety. The unfortunate result of this act of clemency 
 was very soon felt, for as soon as the Indians were 
 outside of the gates, they turned and fired upon the 
 garrison, thus beginning the terrible siege which was 
 to last fifteen months. 
 
 Autumn approached, and, as the crops were poor, 
 several of the tribes withdrew for the winter, but 
 Pontiac, untiring in his efforts to harass his enemies, 
 remained, sending messages in the meantime to several 
 of the French posts, asking their help. In November 
 
296 OCEA^TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 he received word from the commandant of Fort 
 Chartres on the Mississippi telling him that it was 
 impossible for the French to give any help as they 
 had signed a treaty with the English ; and later 
 similar messages reached him from other points. Still 
 he did not give up. His allies had captured eight 
 forts, and if he could take Detroit success would un- 
 doubtedly follow. 
 
 In the spring the tribes returned to renew the at- 
 tack upon the well nigh exhausted garrison, keeping 
 up their fiendish tortures, capturing vessels sent with 
 supplies and reinforcements, and bringing the handful 
 of brave men within the palisades to the verge of de- 
 spair. As summer advanced the anxious watchers, 
 hearing the sunset gun thunder out across the water, 
 thought that each niglit might be their last ; but oif 
 in the East, General Bradstreet and his large force 
 were starting to the rescue, and by midsummer they 
 had crushed the hopes, if not the proud spirit of Pon- 
 tiac. Sending one of his officers to this chief with 
 terms of peace, his advances were received with the 
 coldest disdain. Captain Morris, who was the ambas- 
 sador, was met beyond the Indian camp by Pontiac 
 himself, but the chief refused to extend his hand, and 
 bending his glittering eyes upon the officer said, with 
 a voice full of bitterness and hatred, *^The English 
 are liars ! " 
 
 All attempts at conciliation were made in vain. 
 Pontiac, taking with him four hundred warriors, went 
 away, revisiting all the tribes, sending the wampum 
 belt and hatchet stained with vermilion far and wide, 
 and exhorting the Indians to unite in the common 
 causo, threatening, if thev refused, to consume them 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DETflOfT. 297 
 
 "as the fire consumes tlie dry grass of* the ])rairie." 
 He failed to rouse them, however, and was forced at 
 last to return to Detroit and accept peace. 
 
 The feelings that surged in his savage heart, when 
 he found himself thus defeated, can only be guessed. 
 Chagrined and disap[)ointed, he retired to Illinois, 
 and there perished hy the hand of an assassin. No 
 stone marks liis burial-place, "and the race whom he 
 hated with such burning rancor tram})le with unceas- 
 ing footsteps over his forgotten grave." 
 
 The early history of Detroit is full of tragedy, and 
 although the beautiful river and its islands, the splen- 
 did forests and sunny fields that encompass it, seem to 
 have been intended for peace and the play of romance, 
 they were instead the scenes of treachery and carnage. 
 During the war of the Revolution, Detroit and Macki- 
 naw, far from the field of action, nevertheless had 
 their share in it. From their magazines Indians were 
 furnished with arms and ammunition and were sent 
 out with these to harass and destroy the frontier settle- 
 ments of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and 
 Kentucky, receiving a price upon their return for the 
 scalps which they brought! Besides these Indian ex- 
 peditions, the local militia went out, atone time under 
 Captain Byrd, and again under Henry Hamilton. 
 The latter, in an attempt to protect the British interests 
 on the Wabash, was cleverly captured at Vincennes 
 by General George Clarke, who advanced upon this 
 post with his men supported by a formidable but 
 harmless device in the form of a cannon cut out of a 
 tree. Hamilton, dreading the artillery, surrendered, 
 and the people of Detroit, believing that the victor 
 would march against them, erected a new fort near the 
 
298 OCEAN^m OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 present corner of Fort and Shelby streets, which they 
 named Lenault. During the war of 1812, this name 
 was changed and the post became known as Fort 
 Shelby. 
 
 After the treaty of 1783 the western posts did not 
 at once acknowledge American jurisdiction, and among 
 these Detroit seemed to be the most defiant, but when 
 Wayne effectually weakened the strength of the 
 Indians, there was a general surrender, although the 
 United States forces did not take actual possession until 
 July eleventh, 1796. With childish spite, the British, 
 upon leaving this fort, broke the windows of the 
 barracks, filled the wells with stones and did all they 
 could to annoy those who were to succeed them, and 
 when General Hull came there as governor of the 
 territory, it is i)ossible that the ruin which he found 
 was occassioned by the same spirit of revenge. 
 
 During the succeeding years, Detroit was again one 
 of the points towards which an un propitious fate 
 pointed a finger. The Indians, still believing that the 
 Americans were driving them from their land, were 
 making preparations to attack the settlements, led on 
 by the powerful influence of the two chiefs, Tecumseh 
 and the Prophet. 
 
 At a grand council the assembled tribes were told, 
 according to the policy of these chiefs, that the Great 
 Spirit had appeared to chief Tront and had told him 
 that He was the father of the English, French, 
 Spaniards and Indians, but that the Americans were 
 the sons of the Evil One ! Under such influence the 
 uprising which resulted in the war between Great 
 Britain and the United States began. 
 
 When General Brock, seconded by Tecumseh, 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DETROIT. 
 
 299 
 
 marc'hi'd on Detroit, he requested of the Chief, in case 
 the place was taken, that the inhabitants shouhl be 
 spared massacre, to whicli the haughty savage replied, 
 *'that he despised thcni too much to have anything to 
 do with them.'^ The result of this attack, and the in- 
 explicable conduct of General Hull, had aroused a 
 strong feeling of disgust, and universal sympathy was 
 felt for those brave men, who, upon hearing that their 
 superior officer was surrendering without an attempt at 
 resistance, '^dashed their muskets upon the ground in 
 an agony of mingled shame and indignation." 
 
 Victories elsewhere finally obliged the British to 
 evacuate, and on the eighteenth of October, General 
 Harrison and Commodore Perry issued a proclama- 
 tion from this fort, which once more assured the people 
 of Michigan of protection. 
 
 Passing through the test of fire and sword, Detroit 
 lias gradually progressed in all those ways which go 
 to make up a great and prosperous city. Fulfilling 
 her natural destiny she has become one of the most 
 important commercial centres in the United States, 
 and as a port of entry can boast with reason of her 
 strength. The narrow lanes which were enclosed 
 within the pickets of Fort Ponchartrain, and trodden 
 by men in the French uniform, in English red coats 
 and in the skins of the deer and beaver, have reached 
 out over many miles, and have become an intricate 
 maze of streets and avenues, lined with homes and 
 business houses which bear no trace of the old time 
 block house and trader's cabin. 
 
 Here and there, where history is preserved, one finds 
 a few relics of the ^Slead past" embalmed in paint or 
 print or labelled within the glass case of a museum; 
 
 15 
 
300 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 but the present Detroit is interesting enough without 
 these. In every direction it is))rightenecl by parks and 
 adorned by fountains; and the broad avenues lined by 
 generous borders of grass and shaded by cool lines of 
 trees, are something for Americans to be proud of, 
 especially when tliey recall the fact that "Johnny Cra- 
 peau " once asserted that this particular corner of the 
 new w^orld belonged to the Grande INIonarque ; and 
 "John Bull " in turn claimed it for his own. 
 
 One of the prettiest parts of the city, and perhaps 
 within the possibility of description, is the Campus 
 Martins. On it stands the suggestive if somewhat 
 unusual monument designed by Randolph Rogers 
 and erected by the city at a cost of sixty thousand 
 dollars. The surmounting figure is that of an 
 Indian maiden representing the State, and on the 
 tablet beneath, the inscription tells us that it was 
 placed there "in honor of the martyrs who fell and the 
 heroes who fought in defence of Liberty and Union." 
 Everywhere are evidences of a high appreciation of 
 beauty and comfort, and if the people of Detroit are 
 sometimes tempted to seek a change and rest on some 
 of the little island resorts of the river, or on Laka St. 
 Clair, it is not because their own homes are unattrac- 
 tive. Some one has said, " if places could speak, they 
 would describe people far better than people can 
 describe places," and this is especially true of this great 
 city. It is impossible by words to do it justice. The 
 public buildings, the thronged streets, the busy harbor,, 
 the shady avenues, must be seen to be appreciated, 
 and there are very few places which will justify j)raise 
 and repay expectation more liberally than this splendid 
 City of the Strait. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DETROIT TO CFIICAGO. 
 
 €ic^l)tn-t\ftl) Dan. 
 
 Inkster ITouse, 
 
 Inkster, Michigan, 
 
 August 4, 1876. 
 
 |AVING before me a lecture appointment 
 at Ypsilanti, which, considering the object 
 I had in view through Michigan, I felt 
 must be met, I rode out of Detroit at 
 three o'clock in the afternoon, somewhat 
 reluctantly perhaps,but within averyshort 
 time the love of travel was again upon 
 me, and I found myself easily reconciled. 
 Paul being in the most delightful spirits, 
 after four days of unbroken rest, displayed quite a 
 little animation as I mounted him in front of the 
 residence of friends on Cnss Avenue, and when we 
 had reached the open country, I gave him tlie rein and 
 allowed him to trot or gallop, as he felt inclined. 
 The edge of his impatience having worn off, he re- 
 sumed his iiabitual easy canter which made the saddle 
 so enjoyable, and at this pace we covered fourteen miles, 
 reachinor our destination a few minutes after six o'clock. 
 
 o 
 
 There was an agreeable if not decided contrast be- 
 
 (301) 
 
302 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 tween the last stopping-place and the present one. A 
 hundred towers announced tbe approach to a great 
 city, as we neared Detroit ; but here a solitary spire rose 
 against the sky, and while the Detroit River teems, 
 throuo-hout its entire lenorth with water-craft of all 
 sorts, the almost unknown little river that winds along 
 between Detroit and Inkster, is at this point as quiet 
 as one of the untravelled streams of the North. The 
 Michigan Central Railway follows its shore for many 
 miles, and as I kept to the highway in the same direc- 
 tion, I could see it shining occasionally through an 
 opening in the trees. The waters of this river are no 
 doubt full offish, as are all the streams of Michigan, 
 and they have besides a fine characteristic — a sparkling 
 clearness. 
 
 (ffigljtM-stvtl) Slag. 
 
 Htuvkins House, 
 
 Ypsilanti, Michigan, 
 
 August Fifth. 
 
 A forbidding sky hung over Inkster as I took my 
 seat in the saddle at ten o'clock, but " Forward" was 
 the watchword, and there was moreover a charm in 
 variety, for sunny skies had become rather monotonous 
 and, under the circumstances, uncomfortable. The 
 dust was well laid wdien we had gone only a short 
 distance, but it rose again in a new form as P(nd 
 quickened his pace, so that we did not present a very 
 dashing appearance to the Ypsilantians, after sixteen 
 miles of such travel. 
 
 Several times I was obliged to turn from the road, 
 once takincr shelter under a tree and asrain in a ^vood- 
 shed. There were in town, however, those who could 
 
W.^^^J* 
 
 *' ••mmw' -«*_ 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 
 
 .'iOo 
 
 excuse the appearance of a spattered traveller — brave 
 men who had gone from Yjxsihmti in the early days 
 of the Rebel Hon, and who had learned from long cam- 
 paigning to look uj)on their comrades without (;riti- 
 cism. The brave Fourteenth Infantry started out 
 from here under Colonel Robert Sinclair, and joining 
 Sherman in Georgia took a lively ])art in all the move- 
 ments of his army, until tlie fall of Atlanta; number- 
 ing among their })roudest achievements the repulse of 
 the enemy at Bentonville, North Carolina, where the 
 hurriedly constructed works of the Fedei'als were 
 charged and taken and then regained at the point of 
 the bayonet ; and their part in the battle of Jonesboro, 
 Georgia, in 1864, which was the last of Sherman's 
 brilliant operations around Atlanta. Many of these 
 brave fellows perished on the field of battle, but 
 enough remain to keep fresh the memory of those 
 stirring days and to add the influence of their patriot- 
 ism to the young Ypsilanti. 
 
 (EigljtW'-'StDcnti) ?I)aii. 
 
 Hawkins House y 
 Ypsilanti, Michigan, 
 August Sixth. 
 
 On the previous evening I met a large number of 
 men of the town, who gave me a hearty welcome, and 
 as many of them were old soldiers, they expressed 
 their satisfaction with the purpose of my lecture, 
 favoring me with considerable enthusiasm in Union 
 Hall. 
 
 The patriots of Micjhigan have many proud deeds to 
 tell of, and are distinguished for their gallant service. 
 
306 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Their military leaders were invariably zealous, and 
 their civil leaders unceasing jn their encouragement. 
 " We cannot consent to have one star obliterated from 
 our flag" was the sentiment, and with the saving of 
 the Union at heart, the men went into battle. 
 
 During Wheeler's repulse at Strawberry Plains in 
 August, 1864, eight Michigan men were left to guard 
 McMillan's Ford on the Halston. One of these, 
 knowing the danger of his position, deserted, leaving 
 his seven companions to " hold the fort." This hand- 
 ful kept back a brigade under the Confederate general 
 almost four hours, but the Rebels crossed above and 
 below the ford and captured the guard. One of their 
 number, a farrier, was wounded, and Wheeler coming 
 up to him began a conversation. Finally Wheeler 
 said, "Are all the Tenth Michigan like you fellows?" 
 "Oh, no," said the other, " we are mostly horse farriers 
 and blacksmiths and not much accustomed to fighting." 
 " Well," said Wheeler, " if I had three hundred such 
 men as you, I could march straight through h — 1 ! " 
 
 3IcKune House, 
 
 Chelsea, Michigan, 
 
 August Seventh. 
 
 Left Ypsilanti bright and early in order to save 
 time, for although nearly the middle of August, I still 
 felt the intense heat, and the dry dusty roads often 
 made my daily journeys far from agreeable. For 
 several days the mercury ranged between 85° and 90°, 
 and as the route was at this time due west, the sun 
 nearly stared me out of countenance in the afternoon. 
 
DKTIIOIT TO CIIICAUO. ;>()7 
 
 Ann Arbor was roaclicil al)out ten o'clock, but I did 
 not take more tluui a passing glance at the University, 
 noticing, liowevcr, that women as well as men were 
 among the students — a recent and wise change in the 
 law of the institution. The })e()ple were raising a 
 flag over one of the buildings as I rode through, and 
 on it in cons})icuous letters were the names of Tilden 
 and Hendricks. 
 
 Delhi, with no signs of a Lalla Rookh, and Scio, 
 modest under the dignity of its suggestive Latin name, 
 were quaint landmarks along my way, but I rode on 
 a mile beyond to have dinner at Dexter. The Huron 
 River has its source near here, in one of a cluster of 
 lakelets, bordering on Livingstone and Washtenaw 
 counties. All Michigan is covered with these small 
 bodies of water, which, with the streams, lie upon its 
 green surface like pearls in a network of silver. 
 
 Leaving Dexter, I had company all the way to 
 Chelsea. Large flocks of sparrows flew along, lighting 
 upon the telegraph wires, and as I approached they 
 would fly away and settle again fiirther along, keeping 
 up a kind of race, which was evidently fun for them, 
 and which greatly amused me. It seemed as though 
 they were tireless, and when I and my horse reached 
 our destination fatigued, after twenty-six miles of 
 travel in the sun, these strong-winged fellows were 
 ready for another flight. 
 
308 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 €igl)tjj-nintl) ?Da». 
 
 Hurd House, 
 Jackson, Michigan, 
 August Eighth. 
 
 A few minutes after seven in the morning found mo 
 in the saddle at Chelsea. I stopped on my way at the 
 Herald office and then struck off towards the main 
 road, along which I cantered to Grass Lake, where ] 
 had dinner and remained until three o'clock. This 
 rest was thoroughly enjoyed, the more so perhaps, as I 
 learned before leaving Chelsea that if my advance 
 agents had not made arrangements for me elsewhere, 
 the people would have asked me to lecture here. In 
 that event I should not have been so familiar with 
 the quiet charms of Grass Lake. 
 
 Probably there are those who, if they had been in 
 my place, would have denied themselves these halts 
 along the way, but they would have been deprived of 
 a double gratification. In the first place they would 
 miss much of the character of the country through 
 which they passed, the real difference in the manners 
 and customs of the people ; and they would miss the 
 opportunity of assuring the credulous that they were 
 not making a test ride across the continent within a 
 certain time and for "a certain reward. 
 
 News often travels incredibly fast when there are no 
 evident means of communication, and I was often 
 amused by the curiosity which my advent excited 
 and the reasons which were whispered about in the 
 villages through which I passed, as to the object of 
 my journey. Indeed many Michiganders, from quiet 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. ;j(j:) 
 
 haunts in their native wilds, made short pilgrinia<;('s 
 " to town " in order to look at one whom they fancied 
 might hold a proud [)laee for having crossed the 
 continent in so many days, hours and seconds. My 
 horse even was looked upon with awe, as '^ the charger 
 upon which General Washington rode during tiie war 
 of the Revolution ! " But this anachronism belongs 
 to New York. 
 
 Leaving Grass Lake late in the afternoon, it was 
 necessary to make better time in order to cover the 
 remainder of the twenty three miles lying between 
 Chelsea and Jackson. The pace quickened. I came 
 into the latter city at six o'clock, and rode directly to 
 the hotel. 
 
 J^inctictl) Da^. 
 
 Hurd House, 
 Jackson, Micuigan, 
 
 August Ninth. 
 
 I clipped the following notice from the Citizen of 
 this date, as a memento of my stay at Jackson. It 
 chronicled the fact that : 
 
 "Captain Willard Glazier lectured last evening in the interest of 
 the Custer Monument Fund. His lecture was a good historical 
 review delivered with graceful rhetoric and at times real eloqnence. 
 The Captain is still in the city giving his horse a rest; a noble 
 Kentucky Black Hawk, whom he has ridden all the way from 
 Boston, and whom he expects to carry him to San Francisco. He 
 starts to-morrow morning for Battle Creek, where he lectures on 
 Saturday evening." 
 
 My advance agent, Babcoclc, went on to Battle Creek 
 in tiie morning, where arrangements were made witii 
 local committees for my lecture on the twelfth. After 
 he had gone I made a leisurely inspection of the 
 
310 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 city. It was impossible to do more on account of the 
 extreme heat. , 
 
 This may no doubt be considered the center of the 
 closely populated southern end of Michigan, ti region 
 dear, in times past, to the heart of the Indian, but 
 which knows him no more. A Chippewa chief stand- 
 ing upon this soil, once said : *' These lakes, these 
 woods, these mountains were left to us by our ancestors ; 
 they are our inheritance, and we wdll part with them 
 to no one.'' He knew not the strength of the pale 
 faces who listened ; for within a few years they were 
 ready to claim, on the same grounds, those hills, and 
 lakes, and mountains for their own. 
 
 Compared to the peninsula, whose mineral-laden 
 shores are washed by Superior, Michigan and Huron, 
 there is the greatest contrast ; and La Hontan, making 
 a little exploratory trip up there before anyone else, 
 called it " the fag end of the world." These words 
 might still be applied to some of the wildest northern 
 points, but here is the very heart of civilization. 
 
 Jackson lies in the coal fields that reach down 
 through several of the southern counties. This deposit 
 is not rich, owing to the amount of sulphur in it, and 
 the demand is chiefly local. The Grand River divides 
 the town and, with the bridge that spans it, adds much 
 to the picturesque effect. 
 
 I 
 
 Niiutg-ftrst ©ag. 
 
 Cooley House y 
 
 Parma, Michigan, 
 
 August Tenth. 
 
 Spent the forenoon in my room at the Hurd House, 
 Jackson, writing letters to my wdfe. Major Hastings 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. o^i 
 
 and others. In the afternoon there was a street parade 
 of Howe's Tiondon Cireus whieh was a very fantastic 
 affair, bnt wiiich seemed to be hngely enjoyed by 
 everybody. Later in tlie day the great tent was upset 
 by a gnst of wind, accompanied by a thunder-sliower, 
 and a droll scene followed, which caused considerable 
 excitement. Tiie people were left exposed with the 
 rain coming down upon them in torrents. So far I 
 have seen nothing more amusing than the country boys 
 and girls rushing up town drenched, and for once at 
 least indifferent to the charms of the " bis: show.'^ ' 
 
 The storm having passed, I ordered Pmd after 
 supper, rode down to the oflice of the Patriot and 
 Citizen, and after a few minutes' conversation with 
 the editor, hurried on toward Parma, which was 
 reached late in the evening. The ride in the dark 
 was cool, but somewhat lonely. 
 
 It was probably on such nights as this that young 
 Dean, the enterprising settler of years ago, played his 
 nocturnal tricks upon his neighbors. He came out to 
 Michigan when it was a wilderness, to make his 
 fortune by clearing land at ten dollars an acre, and 
 while he was drudging he expected to have a little fun. 
 It was his habit to work away all day chopping trees 
 within an inch of the falling point, and then about ten 
 o'clock, when the settlers were well asleep, to go out 
 and give a blow to the end tree, so that it would fall 
 against the others and send them crashing like a row 
 of ninepins. How the old forests must have rung 
 with their thundering and how that plotter Dean must 
 have relished his mischief! 
 
 As I approached Parma, in the darkness I could see 
 nothing about the village to suggest that other Parma, 
 
312 OCEAN^tf^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 far away under an Italian sky, but there is a re- 
 semblance, for the European duchy and its modest 
 American namesake both lie* in a rich agricultural 
 region; and if I mistake not the dull white freestone 
 that is quarried here in such large quantities, finds a 
 prototype over the sea. 
 
 Witt House, 
 Marshall, Michigan, 
 
 August Eleventh. 
 
 As there was a heavy rainfall in the morning, I 
 waited in Parma until nearly ten o'clock, and even 
 then was obliged to start in a thunder-shower in 
 order to keep my appointment for the following 
 evening at Battle Creek. This required no sacrifice, 
 for, excepting the discomfort of wet clothes, the change 
 was agreeable. I reached Albion in time for dinner, 
 and immediately made myself comfortable at the hotel. 
 Rest and refreshment having the desired effect, I after- 
 ward took a short stroll through tlie town, which I 
 found very wide awake, although the Methodist 
 college, the life of the place, was still closed for the 
 summer vacation. In the meantime the men of the 
 village had met, and before I remounted, came to me 
 and persuaded me to return by rail and deliver the 
 Custer lecture on the fifteenth. Glad to do all I 
 could for the"Benefit Fund,"I readily consented and 
 started away with the good wishes of the impromptu 
 committee. Marshall, being only twelve miles beyond, 
 was reached early in the evening, so that before dark I 
 had time to get a mental picture of the place. Calhoun 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAOO. ;>15 
 
 County lias its capitol here, and in 1853 it was looked 
 U[)on as one of the most flourishing towns in Miehi«;an. 
 It has not reached the predicted [)innacle of iin|)ortan(5e, 
 but it has a j)leasant situation, some flourish in<j^ flour 
 mills, and is altoirether a credit to the *' Wolverines." 
 
 Nuutn-tljirti JDan. 
 
 Potter House, 
 
 Battle Crekk, Michigan, 
 
 August Twelfth. 
 
 As soon as Paul was led out in front of the Witt 
 House at Marshall, a large crowd gathered about us; 
 and when I had taken iny seat in the saddle, one of 
 the number stepped forward in behalf of the towns- 
 people to invite me to return at a time which had 
 previously been agreed u[)on and lecture on the heroes 
 of the Revolution. Giving them the best promise I 
 could, I hurried away as I had a good six hours' ride 
 before me. 
 
 Since the day before there had been a decided change 
 in the weather. The sun blazed down with almost 
 tropical heat, drying up the roads and making my way 
 a veritable fiery furnace. I had a rare opportunity 
 for watching "Old Sol " on these solitary rides, as he ap- 
 peared unfailingly in the morning, swung through the 
 heavens, and vanished in the west at night. It was 
 now harvest time, and since that early day in May on 
 which I started westward, I had kept my eye on him 
 like a true worshipper, half understanding the pagan 
 with his devotion to Apollo, and half in sympathy 
 with the Indian wiio greets the JSun-god and weaves 
 
316 OCEANrf^OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 the splendid symbol into pouch and canoe and mocas- 
 sin. Between the hours of ten and four particularly 
 the heat was intense, but in oth'er respects the day was 
 uneventful. 
 
 JTinctg-fouvtl) ?Pag. 
 
 Private House, 
 
 Battle Creek, Michigan, 
 
 August Thirteenth. 
 
 On the preceding evening a full house greeted me 
 at Stuart's Hall, where I was introduced by a comrade 
 of the G. A. K., Lieutenant Eugene T. Freeman. 
 After the lecture I met several of the leading men of 
 the town and later was invited to a private residence, 
 where I was made at home during the remainder of 
 my stay. The Lieutenant called for me on Sunday 
 morning, and I accompanied him to church, meeting 
 the pastor, Rev. L. D. Palmer, who s})oke with anima- 
 tion and warmth and made the service an effective one. 
 I enjoyed it all the more perhaps as I realized that be- 
 fore many Sundays I would be on the Great Plains be- 
 yond the Mississip])i, where churches are known to be 
 very rare. Continuing his courtesies, my comrade friend 
 drove me out to the favorite resort. Lake Goguac, in 
 the afternoon and there I had several fine views of 
 the surrounding country. This little incident suggests 
 an interesting theory concerning oneof thepre-historic 
 races who are supposed to have occupied this section 
 of the country. It seems that in the ancient symbolic 
 manuscripts of the Aztecs frequent mention is made of 
 a land which they called Aztelan, compounded of the 
 
DETROIT TO CUTCAGO. 317 
 
 symbols A. T. S. and signifying " Luke Country," from 
 which also their own name is derived, making it to 
 mean '' the people of the lake country." They refer 
 to their former home as a country lying towards the 
 north and giving further details which might be 
 descriptive of the Peninsular State — so the theorist 
 thiidvs. As a coincident, but advanced nevertheless 
 as a strong argument, the learned gentleman states 
 that the Wyandots have a tradition to the effect that 
 hundreds of years ago, the builders of the mounds 
 were driven southward by invaders from the north- 
 east; and pursuing the magic thread, he suggests that 
 the Aztecs were usurpers in Mexico according to their 
 own traditions and the corroboration of Sjianish 
 history. If this is the case, my comrade and myself, 
 in visiting this pretty little lake, may have trodden, 
 upon the same soil which had been pressed by the 
 feet of the mysterious builders of the mounds. I am 
 personally a trifle sceptical on this point, and believe 
 that the key to this part of ancient history is yet to be 
 found. 
 
 ^inetn-fiftl) Dan 
 
 Kalamazoo ITouae^ 
 
 Kalamazoo, ^NfKnrioAN, 
 
 Autjust Fourteen fk. 
 
 On this day I passed a fine wheat-growing section 
 in the valley of the Kalamazoo, whose richest part is 
 probably near the Big Village — its namesake. This 
 river, which drains Hillsdale, Kalamazoo, Calhoun 
 and Allegan counties, and is navigable for forty miles 
 above its moutli, lias, T believe, more traffic than any 
 
318 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 one of the rivers of Michigan. Thronghout its length 
 of two hundred miles it flows through pine and oak 
 forests, through the richest section of a State famed for 
 its agricultural products, and like the Nile, if I may so 
 compare the relics of a great people with tliose of one 
 comparatively unknown, is looked down upon by the 
 silent monuments of the past. To me the comparison 
 is not unreasonable, for I consider tlie tumuli of those 
 mound-builders scattered over the hills and valleys of 
 America, worthy of as much interest and respect 
 as the more splendid remnants of a higher civil- 
 ization. 
 
 At this point the stream is still broad and picturesque. 
 As to its name I am undecided. According to some 
 it is a corruption of Ke-Kenemazoo, meaning *^ the 
 boiling pot," and according toothers of Kik-alamazoo, 
 " the mirage river, " because to the fanciful Indian the 
 stones that jutted, dark and wet, out of the river-bed 
 looked like otters. The village on its banks was settled 
 in 1829, and after being known for two years by the 
 name of its first settler, Bronson, became, in 1836, 
 Kalamazoo. It is thoroughly alive, has a population 
 of about 18,000, and its position as the half-way place 
 between Detroit and Chicago adds considerably to its 
 importance. I lectured here to a full house, being 
 introduced by Major K. F. Judson, formerly of 
 General Custer's staff, and bearing a high reputation 
 as a soldier. Intercourse with one who had known 
 tiie General so well, and who held him in such loyal 
 regard, gave me a new insight into the life of 
 
 "That mighty man of war, 
 A lion in the battle, and a child by the fireside." 
 
DETROIT TO CJIICAUO, 319 
 
 Ninctrj-siitl) ©ai). 
 
 Albion ffottse^ 
 
 Albion, Michigan, 
 
 Auijast Fijteentk. 
 
 I came hack to this i)hice from Kahxmazoo on the 
 afternoon trahi and was met at tlie station hy Jv. A. 
 Daniels, wlio went with me to the hoteh The intro- 
 duction at the Opera House wliere I Kictured in the 
 evening was made by C'aptain Rienzi Loud. When I 
 conchided, I found that tiie good oUl custom of" pas- 
 sing round the hat" liad not yet lost favor, for two 
 gentlemen, having furnished the " hat/^ assumed the 
 r(Me of collectors and the '' Fund " was within a very 
 short time substantially increased. When this cere- 
 inoiiv was over a man in the audience rose and said : 
 "Captain Glazier! I came in after the hat was passed, 
 but I want to give something toward the 'Monument ;''' 
 and suiting: the action to the word he made his contri- 
 bution. The whole ceremony was so suggestive of a 
 certain little church up in St. Lawrence County, New 
 York, where the same custom prevails on Sundays, 
 that I came very near fancying myself the parson, and 
 if some of my comrades had not come u[) immediately 
 and given me a hearty greeting, I might iiave been 
 guilty of pronouncing a benediction ! 
 
 As it was quite late when I reached this point, hav- 
 ing made twenty-five miles since ten o'clock, there 
 was very little time for sightseeing, but I learned that 
 here was the seat of Ames College, a thriving Methodist 
 institution admitting both men and women, and 
 proudly referred to by the people of Albion. 
 
320 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Jfinetu-aexjeutl) JDag. 
 
 72 West Main Street, 
 
 Battle Creek, Michigan, 
 
 August Sixteenth. 
 
 Called at Captain Loud's law office at Albion -in the 
 morning, and had a delightful chat over old times, 
 our topic an inexhaustible one — the battles and incidents 
 of the late war. As this town was only a short dis- 
 tance away, I was tempted to prolong the chat into a 
 visit, finding the Captain a cordial comrade. 
 
 According to previous agreement I lectured in the 
 evening at Wayne Hall, Marshall, having an intro- 
 duction by Colonel Charles W. Dickie. 
 
 My horse was now in Michigan City, being treated 
 for the sore on his back by an old comrade, who since 
 the war had attained quite a reputation as a veterinary 
 surgeon. The delay was somewhat annoying as I 
 anticipated trouble in crossing the Rockies, if I did 
 not reach them before the season was too far advanced ; 
 but there was a possibility of disabling the animal if 
 his affliction were neglected, and my sympathies were 
 with him. As the delay could not be avoided I 
 availed myself of the ^^Iron Horse" and on it made 
 brief tours to the neighboring towns. 
 
 At this time it was very easy to agree with the theory 
 of the fatalist that " whatever is, is right," for by an 
 accident I was enabled to meet more agreeable people, 
 to enjoy their hospitality, and to see more, which was 
 my chief purpose in crossing the continent. 
 
DETROIT TO CIIICAaO. ;>23 
 
 JTinetn-ciglitl) Dan. 
 
 72 West Main Street, 
 
 Battlk Crkkk, Michigan, 
 
 August Seventeenth. 
 
 Soon after breakfast I left Marshall for Battle Creek 
 on a freight train, as there were no passenger coaches 
 over the road until the afternoon. This mode of 
 travel, if not the most luxurious, was at least novel, 
 and we made very good time. Between the two 
 places* the face of the country hardly changed in ap- 
 pearance. There were the same fields of wheat and 
 corn, and at Battle Creek evidently as much business 
 in the flour mills as at Marshall. 
 
 The creek, uniting here with the Kalamazoo, after 
 a serpentine course of forty miles, supplies the water- 
 power and giv^es the necessary impetus to trade. 
 
 I have heard that the tributary won its bellicose 
 name through a little difficulty between the first sur- 
 veyors of public land who came to mark this section 
 and some Indians. The quarrel ended seriously, and, 
 as the tradition goes, two of the* Indians were killed. 
 
 It may have been that the latter were making an 
 attempt to hold i\w, ground, and that it was but one 
 of the many similar occurrences which were to convince 
 the red man that he was superfluous. Calhoun 
 County was certainly worth making a stand for. Its 
 soil was rich, providing abundantly for the simple 
 wants of the savage, and in the clear waters of the St. 
 Joseph and the Kalamazoo tributaries many a paddle 
 had descended with a deft stroke, upon the gleaming 
 back of pike and pickerel. 
 
324 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 JTinetti-nintl)* JDag. 
 
 32 Portage Street, 
 
 Kalamazoo, Michigan, 
 
 August Eighteenth. 
 
 At nine o^clock I was once more on PmiVs back 
 possessed of a stronger sense of satisfaction than had 
 been mine for many days. The truth is, I had missed 
 my four-legged companion sorely. Reached Augusta 
 at noou. I had a good old-fashioned dinner, and the 
 horse something that was quite satisfactory, and at 
 four o'clock we started on again for Kalamazoo. Soon 
 after I left the village a thunder-shower came up, but 
 there was a convenient tree at hand and we were not 
 slow in reaching it. Thinking that all was well I 
 again put spur to Paul and we started forward, this 
 time coming in sight of the little village of Comstock, 
 three miles east of Kalamazoo, before our progress 
 was interrupted. Off in the distance the warning 
 whistle of an approaching train broke in upon the 
 stillness ; the familiar rumble of wheels followed, 
 and in a mojuent more, as it was rushing by, Paul 
 made a leaj) of forty feet over the embankment. 
 He was o^ood enouo-h to leave me and the saddle be- 
 hind. It was a narrow escape and I was severely 
 stunned, but was soon up again getting my bear- 
 ings. I found my horse standing in the stream 
 stripped of everything except the bridle, and, with the 
 exception of a slight trace of nervousness in him, look- 
 ing as though nothing unusual had occurred. We 
 reached Kalamazoo a little later, and there I wrote to 
 Mr. Bulkley as follows: 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 825 
 
 Kalamazoo House, 
 Kalamazoo, Micjiigan, 
 AiKjust IS, 1876. 
 J. M. Bulk LEY, Esq., 
 
 Secretary Custer Monument Association, 
 Mo u roe, Midi iga u . 
 
 Dkau Sir: — I have the pleasure of transmitting to Judj^e Wing, 
 through Major li. F. Judson, the net proceeds of my lecture, de- 
 livered in this place on the evening of the sixteenth instant. I de- 
 sire to accompany my gift with an acknowledgment of many 
 courtesies extended hy the jiress and band of this i)atriotic village. 
 I resume my journey this afternoon and shall speak at Niles, Soutii 
 Bend, and Laporte before the close of the present week. Hoping 
 that your brightest anticipations for the "Monument" njay be most 
 fully realized, I remain 
 
 Very sincerely yours, WiLLAliD Glaziek. 
 
 This letter I preserved, as I wished to have all the 
 corres[)ondence upon tlie subject ofthe ^'Monument "for 
 future reference. 
 
 ODnc Cjunbrciitl) Wa^. 
 
 Dyckman House, 
 
 Paw Paw, MicniciAN, 
 
 August Nineteoith. 
 
 Had an early breakfast at Kalamazoo. Ordered 
 Paul, and niountino; him rodethroiio'h the Bi*^ VilUfiC 
 to take a last look. Before leaving I called upon jNIajor 
 Judson and Colonel F. W. Curtenius. The latter of 
 whom has had a brilliant career. Gratluatingfrom Ham- 
 ilton College in 182o, he studied law and later went to 
 South America, enlisting in the cause of the Brazil- 
 ians. He served through the war with Mexico, was 
 ai)pointed adjutant-general of Michigan in 1855, 
 holding this office until 1861, having received the 
 high title of Senator in 1 853 and l)eing re-elected to 
 the office in 1867. The Colonel's father was a general 
 
326 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 in the war of 1812, and was for many years a member 
 of the New York Legislature. 1 am only familiar 
 with Major Judson's military record, but his services 
 as a citizen are no doubt as honorable as w^as his 
 career as a soldier. 
 
 With these gentlemen I entrusted the j)roceeds of 
 my lecture and the letter to Mr. Bulkley, with the re- 
 quest that they be transmitted to the Monument As- 
 sociation at Monroe. They expressed their apprecia- 
 tion of my gift in warm terms and handed me the 
 following acknowledgments : 
 
 Kalamazoo, Michigan, 
 August 19, 1876. 
 
 Received of Captain Willard Glazier the net proceeds of his 
 lecture at this phice, which sum is to be applied to the fund for the 
 erection of a Monument to the memory of the kite General Custer at 
 Monroe City, Michigan. We take great pleasure in speaking of 
 Captain Glazier in the highest terms, not only on account of the self- 
 devotion he has manifested in a noble cause, but of his indomitable 
 perseverance and energy. We trust he will, wherever he goes, re- 
 ceive the unanimous support of the citizens whom he addresses. 
 
 F. W. CUKTENIUS, 
 
 Late Colonel U. S. Volunteers. 
 
 I take great pleasure in fully endorsing the above, and recom- 
 mending to ])ublic confidence and support Captain Willard Glazier, 
 in his efforts in behalf of the Custer Monument Association, 
 
 R. F. JUDSON, 
 Late Aide to General Custer. 
 
 With an exchange of salutations and good wishes 
 from the friends whose courtesy I considered it an 
 honor to receive, I left Kalamazoo for Paw Paw. 
 The ride between these towns was unusually trying. 
 PauVs back was still tender, the heat was intense, and 
 under these circumstances it was necessary to cover 
 fourteen miles before any refreshment could be had. 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 327 
 
 ®ne (TjuuLireb anb first ?3an. 
 
 Dyckman JTouse, 
 Paw Paw, Mi('iik;an, 
 
 Auijust Tivcnticth. 
 
 This Siiiulay was a perfect day for rest, and I in- 
 dulged in a generous arnomil. Had breakfast at 
 eight oV'look, after wliic^li 1 strolled through the 
 streets of the Van Buren County capital, finding them 
 generally like all other village streets, but with enough 
 individuality about theni to make them interesting. 
 The High School stood, with the usual dignity of edu- 
 cational institutions, prominent among the neatcottages, 
 and in the business portion two or three newspaper 
 offices gave unfailing proof of local alertness. 
 
 The east and west branches of the Paw Paw Kiver 
 meet here and hurry on to pay their tribute to the 
 Kalamazoo, offering their united strength to the busi- 
 ness concerns which man has erected on their shores. 
 The outlying farms thus naturally irrigated are very 
 rich, and give, with the extensive lumbering interests, 
 a very flourishing and |)rosperous appearance to this 
 section of country and a certain briskness to the trade 
 at Paw Paw. 
 
 On returning to my room I copied the testimonials 
 given me by Colonel Curtenius and Major Judson of 
 Kalamazoo, wrote several letters, attended to some 
 neglected dates in my journal, and made my plans for 
 the next few days. It was my intention to go to 
 South Bend by rail the following morning, to lecture 
 there in the evening and then j)roceed to Grand 
 Rapids, where I was announced for Tuesday. My 
 
328 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 horse was in the meantime undergoing new and 
 vigorous treatment which I hoped would permanently 
 cure him. 
 
 ©ne €)unlircii au^ Scconi) Slag. 
 
 Grand Central Hotel, 
 South Bend, Indiana, 
 
 August Twenty -first. 
 
 At ten o'clock I left Paw Paw, reached Decatur at 
 noon, registered at the Diincombe House and then 
 continued my journey by rail. I hardly realized tliat 
 I was out of Michigan in this town on the St. Joseph, 
 for the river belongs to the " \Yolverines " with the 
 exception of the capricious South Bend, and the streets 
 have the breadth and abundance of shade that have 
 won so much admiration for the cities of Michigan. 
 It has, besides, the Hoosier enterprise, and began to 
 be an important manufacturing })lace fifteen years ago. 
 The first settlement began in 1831 with a liandful of 
 houses and a })opulation of a liundred souls. It has 
 now reached over 10,000. Prominent among the re- 
 sources to which its growth may be attributed is its 
 proximity to the hard-wood forests of Northern 
 Indiana and Michigan. 
 
 These woods have proven a bonanza to South 
 Bend. Enterprising manufacturers have drawn from 
 their unfailing source; prominent among them being 
 the Studebaker Brothers, who have had an enviable 
 career. These enterprising men started in 1852 
 with a cash capital of sixty-eight dollars, and a 
 knowledge of blacksmithing which they had acquired 
 at their father's forge on the Ohio. Thus equipped 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 329 
 
 tliey went to work, turniiit^ out two wagons the first 
 year. The present output makes that iuinible 
 beginning seem almost ineredihle. kStu(lel)aker's 
 wagons are famous and the firm controls capital stock 
 amountinir to a million of dollars. The other notable 
 enterprise is the Oliver Chilled Plow Works, founded 
 in 1853 by James Oliver, a Scotchman, who came to 
 Indiana to follow the vocation of an iron master, and 
 who ultimately had the satisfaction of exporting his 
 manufixctures to his native country. 
 
 The most distinguished citizen of South Bend at 
 the time of my visit, and the most prominent man in 
 Indiana, was Hon. Schuyler Colfax, whose career as a 
 statesman was a singularly brilliant one. For over a 
 quarter of a century he had been eminent in state and 
 national politics. Beginning life as an editor he 
 founded in 1845 the aS^. Joseph Vallcij lie<jhter, 
 an organ of considerable popularity and which at 
 the time had a strong infiuence in local Whig circles. 
 His subsequent duties as Speaker of the House of 
 Representatives and the friend and adviser of Lincoln, 
 kept him out of editorial work, and later he was 
 entirely engrossed with affairs of state. In 1868 he 
 was elected to the office of Vice-President under 
 General Grant as chief executive. 
 
 Sweet's Hotel, 
 Grand Rapids, MicnioANf 
 A ugust Twenty-secondr 
 
 My birthday. Went by rail from South Bend to 
 Kalamazoo in the morning : had dinner at the latter 
 
330 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 place, and then caught an early train for Grand 
 Rapids, where, finding that George had made un- 
 usually good arrangements, I spoke in Luce's Hall to 
 one of the largest audiences which greeted me in 
 Michigan, General AY. P. Innes, well known in 
 Grand Army circles and a mason of high rank, intro- 
 ducing me. A large and strongly executed painting 
 of the Battle of Lookout Mountain, stretchino; across 
 the rear of the platform, made a striking effect and 
 gave zest to my reference to tlie War for the Union. 
 
 My reception at this place was so hearty that I 
 should have enjoyed a longer visit; but plans already 
 laid prevented. I knew the town itself well, for I 
 had previously been there. It is full of interest both 
 on account of its past history and its present activity. 
 The city lies on both sides of the Grand E-iver and 
 seems to be hedged in by the great bluffs that reach 
 along at the w^ater edge of the valley two miles apart. 
 Below is a stratum of limestone rock, forming the bed 
 of the river, for about a mile and a half with a descent 
 of eighteen feet causing the rapids and supplying 
 the water-power. Gypsum is quarried here in large 
 quantities, and this industry supplemented by manu- 
 factures and fruit culture gives it its commercial im- 
 portance. Perhaps its most striking peculiarity is to 
 be. found in the large proportion of Hollanders who 
 swell the population. Their churches, their news- 
 papers and their general thrift give them a high 
 standing in the community, and what they have ever 
 been accorded — a rej)utation for being loyal and enter- 
 prising citizens. 
 
 In 1760 there was a very different state of things 
 here. The Ottawa Indians had a large village below 
 
DETROIT TO (UTICAOO. 331 
 
 the rai)i(ls, aiul there Pontiac's voice was heard, call- 
 iiit^ upon the chiefs to aid him in Iiis projected siege 
 of Detroit. Here the fur traders had tlieir grand de- 
 pot, and the missionaries hibored in the cause of 
 Christianity; and when in 1834 the Indian settlement^ 
 began its metamorphosis, some bohl prophet declared 
 that it won hi soon be " the brightest star in the con- 
 stellation of western viUages." This prophecy has 
 been more than fulfilled, for Grand Rapids is tlie ac- 
 knowledged metropolis of Western Miciiigan. In the 
 mail tiiat awaited me was a copy of the South Bend 
 Herald, containing a pleasant notice which chronicled 
 in true newspaper diction the fact that 
 
 " Captain Glazier delivered his lecture ' Echoes from the Revolution' 
 at the Academy of Music last evening. Promptly at eight o'clock 
 the lecturer, with Mr. J. F. Creed, appeared on the platform. Mr. 
 Creed in introducing the lecturer stated the object of the lecture to 
 be in aid of the Custer Monument Association of Monroe, Michigan. 
 He also read several letters introducing Captain Ghizier to the public, 
 from well-known citizens of Michigan, and acknowledging receipts 
 of the proceeds of the lectures delivered in Detroit and Kalamazoo. 
 The theme of the lecturer afforded a fine field for the display of his 
 talents as a speaker. Possessing a fine imagination, good descri))tive 
 powers and the real qualities of an orator, he could not fail to please 
 the really intelligent audience which greeted him last evening. 
 Probably one hour and a half were consumed in its delivery; but the 
 interest and attention did not flag nor tire, and when the speaker 
 took leave of his audience he was greeted with several rounds of ap- 
 plause." 
 
 (S)uc Quuiircb aub JourtI) Davi. 
 
 Duncombe House, 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 August Twenty-third. 
 
 Came down from Grand Rajiids in the morning in- 
 tending to stop on the way at Lawtou, but was carried 
 
332 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 by tliroiigh the carelessness of a brakeman who neg- 
 lected to announce the station^ The town is quite an 
 important point on the road for its size owing to the 
 extensive fruit orchards of the surrounding farms. 
 This common industry which has sprung up in all 
 parts of the State, but especially in the southern por- 
 tion, and which attracts more attention than anything 
 else, is a contradiction to the statements of those who 
 examined the country while it was yet a wilderness. 
 
 In 1815 the surveyor-general of Ohio made a 
 journey through the State and soberly reported that 
 not more than one acre in a thousand in Southern 
 Michigan would in any case admit of cultivation, 
 yet notwithstanding that worthy's opinion, six hun- 
 dred thousand peach trees flourished in South- 
 western Michigan in 1872 ! Surely that is a fact to 
 be proud of. On my arrival at Decatur I found the 
 Eagle of Grand liapids, containing mention of my 
 lecture at that place as follows : 
 
 "A very large audience gathered at Luce's Hall last night to hear 
 Captain Wilhird Glazier. The sj)eaker was earnest and impassioned 
 his lecture was delivered with a force and eloquence that j)leased his 
 hearers, and all who were in the hall went away glad that they had 
 been there, and ready to add to the praises that have been bestowed 
 on Captain Glazier as soldier, author and orator." 
 
 Such notices were gratifying — not for the leaven of 
 flattery which they contained, but because they helped 
 along the cause which was to raise a shaft to the 
 deserving dead. For this reason I appreciated the 
 comments of the press and owed much to its co-opera- 
 tion. 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 333 
 
 ®nc ffjunbrcii anb 5iftl) ?3at). 
 
 Dyckman JTorise, 
 
 Paw Paw, Michigan, 
 
 August Twenty-Jourlh. 
 
 Took the Michigan Central to Lawton, and chang- 
 ing cars there continued my journey to this place by 
 the Paw Paw Road. Thinking that it might facilitate 
 matters, I had my saddle padded here, and had a talk 
 with the saddler besides, as the delay was becoming 
 serious. At this crisis, if man and horse could have 
 set up a partnership, like the fabled Centaurs, how 
 we could have flown before the wind — or even out- 
 stripped the Michigan Central — as we galloped across 
 country towards the setting sun ! That old myth was 
 an inspiration. Was it invented by some fanciful 
 traveller-horseman hindered on his way to Kome or 
 Athens, by a saddler or a veterinary surgeon? 
 
 During my forced visit, the people of Paw Paw 
 were very kind, making the time pass agreeably and 
 giving me a [)leasant recollection to take away. These 
 small social influences carried great weight with them, 
 and helped to bear out the universally acknowledged 
 fact that associations are all powerful. 
 
 It is not strange that people, rather than their abode 
 or works, strongly impress themselves, nor that, re- 
 alizing this, they should be generous in their hos- 
 pitality. If, then, I praise the beauty or enterprise of 
 these American towns, I bear witness at the same time, 
 to the kindness and courtesy of their inhabitants. 
 
334 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Private House, 
 NiLES, Michigan, 
 
 August Tiventy-fijth. 
 
 Leaving Paw Paw after breakfast I went clown to 
 Lawton by rail, where I changed cars, taking the 
 Michigan Central to Niles, this for the purpose of 
 making use of the extra time that now hung heavily 
 upon my hands. A good proportion of the six thou- 
 sand inhabitants came to Kellogg Hall in the evening 
 to manifest their interest in the Custer Monument and 
 the old Revolutionary heroes, Mr. J. T. Head giving- 
 the introduction. 
 
 Reaching Niles before noon I had ample time to 
 look about, and to hear from old residents something 
 of Berrien County and their home here on the St. 
 Joseph. 
 
 For those who delight in searching out events from 
 the doubtful past, there is suggestion enough here to 
 keep them occupied for at least a week. Even this 
 small town possesses records that date back to 1669, 
 when Pere AUouez came along down the river on a 
 voyage of discovery and who may have encamped on 
 the very site of Niles, for all that the people who live 
 there now know. But putting this aside, it is certain 
 that in 1700 the Jesuits had a mission a short distance 
 south of the present city, and that there were forts 
 built here and there in the vicinity as a protection 
 against the Indians. Later, when matters were settled 
 and the English and French had long since withdrawn, 
 the Reverend Isaac McCoy came out into the wilder- 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 337 
 
 ness with his family and established Gary Mission, 
 probably in si<;lit of where the old Jesuit Mission stood. 
 This was in 1820. Six years afterwards a handful of 
 cabins made their appearance, and out of this nucleus 
 the town of Niles was evolved. This is a mere out- 
 line without the adornment of those pleasant little 
 fi(^tions that cling about the sober history of every in- 
 habited place on earth, and which delight the ear of 
 most travellers, for there may be those who follow me 
 who echo the sentiinent of the Michigan ])ioneer, 
 " From legend and romance, good Lord, deliver us!" 
 
 ®ne C)uni:ir£b anb 0cDcntl) Dan. 
 
 Private House, 
 
 La Pokte, Indiana, 
 
 August Tioerdy -sixth. 
 
 Was compelled to avail myself of livery accommo- 
 dations in order to meet my evening engagement at 
 La Porte. Rode in a hack to South Bend, and finally 
 reached my destination by way of the Micin'gan Cen- 
 tral and Southern Indiana roads. My advance agent, 
 Babcock, met me at the station, and I accompanied 
 him to the home of a Mr. Munday, who I discovered 
 was the father of an old fellow-prisoner at "Libby." 
 
 I was delighted with the situation and appearance 
 of the town. It rises on the border of a beautiful 
 and fruitful prairie, its northern end bounded by a 
 chain of seven lakes which make an ideal resort in 
 summer, and is at a sufficient distance Trom the great 
 body of water which dips down into that corner of 
 the State, to enjoy a comparatively mild climate. Its 
 
338 OCEA^^O OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 population is about 8,000, of which a good share is 
 employed in the foundries, machine shops and mills 
 that make up its business activity. The younger ele- 
 ment is provided for in good schools, and that hixury of 
 modern communities — the public library — is zealously 
 supported. On a line with it, as a free and instructive 
 institution, the Natural History Association, founded 
 in 1863, holds an honored place, and unlike most so- 
 cieties of a simihir character has succeeded in making 
 its researches of interest. In fact for its size the city 
 has made great progress in literary and educational 
 directions. 
 
 ®u£ <5^i^^^i*^^ tt^^ ®uil)tl) Daw. 
 
 Jewell House^ 
 
 Michigan City, Indiana, 
 
 A ugust Twenty-seventh. 
 
 After my lecture of the previous evening at La 
 Porte, I took the first train to this city — emphatically 
 the City of Sand. Time and winds have raised great 
 hills of sand on every side, and from their crests one 
 can look off for miles over the lake, getting perhaps a 
 deeper impression of its vastness than from a less 
 monotonous lookout. 
 
 These sand dunes are supposed by some to be caused 
 by a peculiar meteorological phenomena of currents 
 and counter-currents acting vertically instead of hor- 
 izontally. Whatever the cause, they have made 
 Indiana's only port of entry a place of such striking pe- 
 culiarity, that, *once seen, I doubt if it would ever be 
 forgotten. 
 
 In the forenoon I went out on the lake in a small 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. ?y?,^ 
 
 yacht; but finding the little craft unequal to tiie heavy 
 waves which were rushing in from the north, I soon 
 turned back, having gained by the venture a better 
 idea of tlic dunes antl of their extent as they stretch 
 along tlie western shore. 
 
 The fact tliat they are "building upon tiie sand" 
 gives the people of ^richigan City very little concern, 
 probably because they know there is terra firma some- 
 where beneath their foundations. 
 
 Ames College occupies a site here, and the Car Shops 
 are important and extensive. 
 
 ®ne f)uuk*cJr anl> ^intl) Dai). 
 
 Dun combe House, 
 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 August Twenty-eighth. 
 
 Taking an early train, I returned to this place in 
 the morning, where I had decided to remain for a few 
 days in order to allow more time for the treatment of 
 my horse, and to give my brother and Babcock an 
 op[)ortunity to insure a full house at Farwell Hall, 
 Chicago, where I was announced to lecture on the 
 eleventh of September. 
 
 I had be<i:un to fear that the irritation on PouVa 
 back would develo[) into that most disgusting and 
 painful disease of horses known as fistula; and al- 
 though he never showed any impatience, 1 had not 
 the heart to ride iiim while in this condition. 
 
 My quarters were quite comfortable at the only 
 
 hotel in town, and I thanked my stars that I was not 
 
 stranded in some little backwoods place with the choice 
 17 
 
340 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 of "the softest boards on the floor for a bed," and 
 other accommodations to match — a state of affairs wliich 
 a waylaid jonrneyman once had to face, who, with the 
 soul of a Stoic, left on his window-pane the comfort- 
 ing couplet : 
 
 "Learn hence, young man, and teach it to your sons: 
 The easiest way's to take it as it comes." 
 
 In fact I was doubly fortunate. No sooner had I 
 reached Decatur than I lost the consciousness of being 
 "a stranger within the gates," having been so cordially 
 made to feel that I was among friends, and that the 
 cause which I had taken up in Michigan met with 
 their hearty sympathy. 
 
 Duncombe House, 
 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 August Twenty-ninth. 
 
 Met George L. Darby, an old comrade of the 
 " Harris Light," in the afternoon. He had noticed my 
 signature on the hotel register, and came at once to my 
 room, where after the heartiest of greetings we sat 
 down for a long talk. Thirteen years had slipped away 
 since the time of our capture at New Baltimore, Vir- 
 ginia, which led him to Belle Isle and me to Libby 
 Prison, and yet as we discussed it all, the reality of 
 those events seemed undiminished. Kilpatrick, Stuart, 
 Fitzhugh Lee — their clever manoeuvring, and our 
 own unfortunate experiences on that day, kept us as 
 enthusiastically occupied as though it \yere not an old 
 story : but soldiers may be pardoned for recurring to 
 
DETROIT TO CTTfCAGO. 343 
 
 those events winch, while they impressed themselves 
 upon witnesses with indelible distinctness, may yet have 
 lost their bitterness, when it is remembered that before 
 many years they and their stories will have passed 
 away. To those who indulge in the absurd belief that 
 such topics are discussed with malicious intent, no 
 justificaticfn need be made. 
 
 licd on from one thing to another, I found Darby 
 finally plying me with questions of kindly interest 
 about my peaceful march from Ocean to Ocean, and 
 anxiously asking about my horse, which I had pre- 
 viously left in his care. He offered to do all he could 
 for the animal and with this comforting assurance took 
 his leave. 
 
 ®nc QuniU'cb anb (Elcueutl) ?Ilat3. 
 
 Duncovihe House, 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 August Thirtieth. 
 
 Early in the afternoon Darby called with fishing 
 tackle and proposed that we go out to Lake of the 
 Woods and try our luck with hook and line. The 
 expedition was not successful as far as fish was con- 
 cerned, but we had a delightful boat ride and plenty 
 of talk. 
 
 The lake, a pretty little dot lying, as its name 
 implies, in the heart of the woods, is an ideal spot for 
 rest and enjoyment, and its miniature dimensions bear 
 no resemblance to its filmed namesake of Minnesota. 
 As we had sucli poor success with our tackle I took no 
 note of the kind of fish that make their home within 
 its sleepy borders, and my companion gave me very 
 
[JVT?^ 
 
 344 OCEAN TIT OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 little information. The truth is, we were more inter- 
 ested in our concerns and the serious affairs outside the 
 sport which so fascinated Izak Walton. 
 
 Duncomh^ House, 
 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 August Thirty-first. 
 
 Albert W. Rogers, to whom I had been previously 
 introduced, called late in the afternoon, and invited 
 me to drive with him, determined, he told me, that I 
 should see something of Decatur's surroundings. The 
 time was favorable for agreeable impressions. It had 
 been a typical summer day, with blue sky, a slight 
 breeze and the mercury at 70° ; in short, just such 
 weather as I had encountered in this section of Michi- 
 gan throughout the month of August, and as evening 
 approached, I* was prepared to enjoy to the utmost 
 the pleasure which my new acquaintance had provided. 
 
 On the outskirts of the town one gets a view of 
 gently rolling country under a splendid state of culti- 
 vation, the yellow of the grain fields predominating, 
 and dotted here and there with farmhouses. Dark 
 outlines against the horizon suggested the forests of 
 oak, ash, maple, birch and elm, which stretch over 
 such large tracts of Van Buren County, and which 
 have made a little paradise for lumbermen. Wheat, 
 maize and hay appeared to be flourishing; but I 
 believe that agricultural products do their best in the 
 rich bottom-lands bordering the rivers. I have 
 dwelt so enthusiastically upon this fertile country that 
 to say more would seem extravagant, so I will bring 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 347 
 
 my note, the chronicle of a most dell«rlitfiil day, to a 
 close. 
 
 ©ue CjuuLirci^ auD ®l)irtccntl) Dan. 
 
 JJuncovihe House, 
 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 September First. 
 
 Received and answered a large mail after breakfast, 
 and in the afternoon took a walk tln-ough the vilhige. 
 One is, of course, reminded of the gallant Conunodore 
 whose name, once among the greatest in America, now 
 honors this modest Western town, and whose deeds, 
 once npon every lip in the' young republic, are well- 
 nigh forgotten. The question even suggests itself as 
 to how many of those who live here, where his name 
 is perpetuated, are familiar with his life and character. 
 
 His capture of the frigate Philadelphia, which had 
 been seized and held in the harbor of Tripoli in 
 1801, during the pacha's seizure of our merchantmen, 
 was said by Admiral Nelson to be '' the most daring 
 act of the age," and his di[)lomacy at Algiers and 
 Tunis and Tripoli, where in 1812 his demands were 
 acceded to, received the applause of all Christendom, 
 especially because those demands included the release 
 of the Christian captives at Algiers and of the Danish 
 and Neapolitan prisoners at Tripoli, and ended, forever, 
 the pretensions of the Barbary powers. 
 
 After the trial of Commodore Barron for cowardice, 
 Decatur made some remarks which the former thought 
 should not be allowed to pass unnoticed, and accord- 
 ingly called upon his accuser to retract them. This 
 Decatur refused to do, but attempted to bring about a 
 
iV 2^ 
 
 348 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 reconciliation. Barron refused this and threw down 
 the gauntlet, and when shortly afterwards the two 
 met to settle the difficulty '' with honor/' both fell at 
 the word " Fire ! " — Decatur mortally wounded. The 
 aifair was universally deplored, for his loyal services 
 had endeared Decatur to his country, and when his 
 remains were taken to the grave, they were followed 
 by the largest concourse of people that had ever as- 
 sembled in Washington. 
 
 Duncomhe Ilouse, 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 September Second. 
 
 This was a great day for Decatur. With the morn- 
 ing came the completion of arrangements for a Repub- 
 lican mass-meeting, and a rustic band from an ad- 
 jacent village arrived at nine o'clock in a farm wagon. 
 The "Stars and Stripes" floated majestically over the 
 heads of the patriotic musicians, and the people were 
 drav^n from every quarter to the stirring call of fife 
 and drum, eager to see their leaders and to listen to 
 their views upon the vital questions of the day. The 
 "Silver Cornet Band" of Dowagiac co-operated with 
 the "Decatur Fife and Drum Corps," in rousing the 
 dormant element of the place, and, as its imposing ap- 
 pellation would imply, did so with dignified and class- 
 ical selections. 
 
 The political campaign which had been slumbering 
 since the nomination of Hayes and Tilden reached an 
 interesting stage of its progress at this time, and the 
 friends and champions of the rival candidates were 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. ;i49 
 
 fully alive to the issues of their respective plat- 
 forms. 
 
 By nightfall the place was the scene of great ac- 
 tivity, and to an onlooker produced a singular eifect. 
 Men were collected in grou|)s engaged in excited con- 
 versation, torches flared in every direction, while at 
 brief intervals all voices were drowned in some lively 
 tune from the silver cornets or the life and drum. 
 
 At an appointed hour the speakers of the evening 
 appeared, and I noticed among them Hon. Ransom 
 H. Nutting and Hon. Tliomas W. Keightly — the 
 latter a candidate for Congress from this district. The 
 meeting closed at a late hour, after a succession of 
 heated addresses, and yet the politicians of Van Buren 
 County seemed not at all averse to continuing their 
 talking until sunrise. 
 
 ®nc CjuuLircii aw^ jriftccntlj ^a\\ 
 
 Duncombe House, 
 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 September Third. 
 
 Accepting an invitation from Albert Rogers, I ac- 
 companied him to the Presbyterian Church in the 
 morning, where Rev. Mr. Hoyt, a young clergyman, 
 conducted the services and preached a very good ser- 
 mon. I was pleased by the courtesy extended me 
 when he said, in the course of his announcements : " I 
 take pleasure in calling attention to Captain Glazier's 
 lecture at Union Ilall to-morrow night. I shall be 
 present myself, and recommend all who wish to listen 
 to an instructive and patriotic lecture to be at the hall 
 before eight o'clock.^' When the service was over Mr. 
 
350 OCEAJI mu OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Rogers and I waited to have a few words with Mr. 
 Hoyt, who was evidently very much interested in my 
 journey across country and wtio intended to lend his 
 influence in behalf of the " Monument Fund,'' We 
 then returned to the hotel where I passed the remain- 
 der of the day quietly in my room. 
 
 (E>nt ^)m\tvtl awl &ixkml\) Sap. 
 
 Duncombe House, 
 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 September Fourth. 
 
 Lectured to a full house at Union Hall in the even- 
 ing. My sojourn of a w^eek at this place and the in- 
 terest felt in the effort to perpetuate the memory of 
 Custer, brought about the most gratifying results. 
 Among those who were with me on the platform were 
 Hon. Ransom Nutting, Rev. Mr. Hoyt, Prof. Samuel 
 G. Burked and Albert W. Rogers. I was presented 
 by Mr. Nutting, after which testimonials from the 
 Monument Association were read by Prof Burked, 
 and later the following pleasant acknowledgment 
 from these gentlemen was handed me : 
 
 Decatur, Michigan, 
 
 September 4, 1876. 
 Captain Willard Glazier, 
 
 My Dear Sir : We take this means of expressing to you our ap- 
 preciation of the highly instructive and very entertaining lecture 
 delivered by you at Union Hall this evening. Truly we admire your 
 plan and your generosity in giving the entire proceeds to the Custer 
 Monument Fund. Our endorsement is the expression of our village 
 people generally. You have made many friends here. 
 May success attend you throughout your journey. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 S. Gordon Burked, 
 Ransom Nutting, 
 Albert W. Rogers. 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. ;>rj[ 
 
 Such greeting as this, extended to nie all along my 
 way, gave substantial proof of* the universal kindness 
 with which 1 was received, and of the spontaneous hos- 
 pitality of the American citizen. 
 
 ©nc tjunkcLi anii ScDcutccutI) Claij. 
 
 Seymour House, 
 DowAGiAC, Michigan, 
 
 ^September Fifth. 
 
 Tliere was a larire c:<ithering: in front of tlie Dun- 
 combe House in the morning when I mounted Vdid 
 and faced westward, turning my back u[)on the hos- 
 pitable little village in which I had spent so many 
 pleasant days, and where I felt that I had indeed 
 made many iriends. Mr. Rogers and a young man 
 of the place, whose name I am sorry to have forgotten, 
 escorted me out of town intending to ride with me to 
 Dowagiac, but an a[)proaching rain-storm obliged 
 them to turn back. As I came in sight of the village 
 I noticed unmistakable signs of a stream which I dis- 
 covered was the Dowagiac River, a tributary of the 
 St. Joseph, entering it near Niles. It has been put to 
 good account by the millers, who have established 
 themselves here, and in its small way adds to the 
 blessings of the Michigan husbandmen on its shores. 
 
 (Due QuuireLi anb (Eiijljtccntl) DaiJ. 
 
 Private House , 
 NiLEs, Michigan, 
 
 September Sixth. 
 
 The threatening storm which led my Decatur friends 
 to turn back on the previous afternoon, set in soou 
 
352 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 after niy arrival at Dowaglac, and I considered my- 
 self very fortunate, as it was accompanied by the most 
 violent thunder and lightning that I had yet encount- 
 ered. Notwithstanding this disturbed condition of 
 the elements, I was greeted by a full house at Young 
 Men's Hall, where I was introduced by Dr. Thomas 
 Rix. 
 
 I found a few familiar faces at Niles which I had 
 seen during my previous visit, and several new places 
 of interest about the town. Navigation on the St. 
 Joseph ends at this point, and the narrowed stream is 
 spanned by a railroad bridge; and the water-power in- 
 creased by a dam. There is a brisk business carried 
 on at the water's edge. 
 
 The mills are well supplied with grain from out- 
 lying fields, and boats are continually plying back and 
 forth laden with lumber, grain, flour and fruit, which 
 are shij)()ed from here in large quantities. In fact, for 
 its size — it claims I believe, a population of something 
 over 4,000 — Niles is full of energy and ambition. I 
 found myself on this second visit very much interested 
 in the place and pleased that circumstances had made 
 necessary a second halt. 
 
 Kcnnard House, 
 Buchanan, Michigan, 
 
 September Seventh. 
 
 Resumed my journey at two o'clock in the after- 
 noon at a small way place between Niles and Bu- 
 chanan, where I rested at noon. The heavy rains of 
 the preceding days had left the roads in a most 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 353 
 
 wrelclied condition, and the distance was considerably 
 lengthened as it was necessary to avoid pools and wash- 
 outs, so that it took two hours of* slow riding to reach 
 my destination. Darby, who had gone forward with 
 the other advance agents, was the first to greet me at 
 this })lace and to inform me of the arrangements made 
 for my lecture in the evening. 
 
 As my day's journey had been undertaken leisurely, 
 I started out on a tour of inspection, after having first 
 made comfortable provision for Paul. I found a 
 flourishing village, having a population of something 
 over 2,000, and prettily situated on the St. Joseph 
 River. As I walked in and out through its streets 
 and looked for the last time upon the stream, which 
 for its romantic history and natural charm had forced 
 itself upon my notice so often, I could not avoid a 
 certain feeling of regret that this was to be my last 
 halt in the great State througii which I had made such 
 a pleasant and profitable journey. Pictures of orchard 
 and meadow, of wheat field and river, passed in review 
 once more, and with them the recollection of the 
 splendid part the patriots of Michigan bore in the 
 War for the Union, than whom was none more loyal 
 than the heroic Custer, for whose memory I had spoken 
 and received such warm response. 
 
 ®ue f)uuLircL» aub iilrucutictl) Dan. 
 
 Private House, 
 Rolling Pkairik, Indiana, 
 
 September Ei(jhlh. 
 
 Called for my horse at Buchanan at nine o'clock in 
 the morning, intending to stop at New Buffalo, but 
 
ANTb 
 
 354 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 once on the road, I decided instead to make this 
 village my evening objective. A heavy rain-storm, 
 setting in early in the forenoon, compelled me to take 
 refuge at a farm house for about an hour, where I was 
 initiated into the home life of the Northern Indiana 
 ^' Hoosier." I am sorry to say that during this day's 
 ride I encountered the worst roads and the dullest 
 people of my journey. Many who have resided in 
 this part of Indiana for thirty and even forty years 
 are not only exceedingly illiterate, but know much 
 less of the topography of tjie country than the average 
 Indian — and absolutely nothing of the adjacent towns. 
 As a consequence I was obliged to trust to chance, 
 which brought me to Galion, a tiny hamlet on the 
 outskirts of a swamp, where I had dinner. My ride 
 thither was made under circumstances which suggested 
 the ride of the belated Tam O' Shanter, and while my 
 tortures could not compare with his, they were none 
 the less acute while they lasted. I was met on the 
 edge of the swamp by a swarm of mosquitoes — known 
 in France as petite dlables — who forced their attention 
 upon me without cessation, in spite of the fact that I 
 urged my horse forward at breakneck speed, PauVs 
 steaming flanks and mire-covered legs attesting to the 
 struggle, when we drew up in front of Galion Inn. 
 
 ®ne QitnbrcLi an^ (ilraeutn-first Da^. 
 
 Jeivell House, 
 
 Michigan City, Indiana, 
 
 September Ninth. 
 
 I considered myself fortunate, during my ride from 
 Rolling Prairie to Michigan City — a distance of six- 
 
A IIOOSIER CABIN. 
 
DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 057 
 
 teen miles — in luiving a sandy road and no rain from 
 tlie time of setting ont in the morning nntil my ar- 
 rival here in the evening, but I was less favored 
 than usual in obtaining information. 
 
 The Presidential campaign was now at white heat 
 and very little outside of politics was discussed. I found, 
 however, that the ideas of many of the farmers were 
 confused upon the issues. The three candidates in 
 the field made the canvass unusually exciting. Hayes 
 and Tilden were, of course, the central figures, but 
 Peter Cooper of New York had many staunch sup- 
 porters and a few enthusiasts rallied around Blaine, 
 Conkling and Morton. The proprietor of the Jewell 
 House — a Cooper man — was at this time much more 
 interested in the success of his favorite than in the re- 
 ceipts of his hotel, and his halls and parlors were the 
 rendezvous for men of all parties. 
 
 ®ne i5i»i^^*c^ ^^^^ (iTtuentri-seconii Cap. 
 
 Jewell ITottse, 
 
 Michigan City, Indiana, 
 
 September Tenth. 
 
 As it was Sunday and I had a desire to visit the 
 most imposing institution connected with Michigan 
 City — the Northern State Penitentiary, I decided to 
 make the two miles on foot, and be there for divine 
 service. T found everything admirably conducted, 
 and although such a place is not the most cheerful in 
 the world to be shown through, I was well satisfied 
 that I had gone, and was strongly impressed with the 
 effect of the stern hand of the law. In the afternoon 
 
358 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 a heavy rain and wind storm came up, and I stayed in 
 my room, the greater part of the time, writing up my 
 journal, and arranging for my lecture tour across 
 Illinois and Iowa, thereby accomplishing certain 
 duties which fair weather might have tempted me to 
 neglect. 
 
 It was my intention to go by rail to Chicago on the 
 following morning, where I was announced to lecture 
 at Far well Hall. 
 
 Darby, to whom I have previously referred in con- 
 nection with Decatur, and who was acting as advance 
 agent in the small towns and villages that lay along 
 my route, was with me during my stay at the Jewell 
 House, and we had frequent talks over our adventures 
 in the " Harris Light ^' — Second New York Cavalry — 
 in which most of our active service was passed. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 
 
 N the eleventh of September, I took 
 the 7.50 morning train at IMichigan 
 City for Chicago, instead of going for- 
 ward on liorseback, as I had discovered 
 by a stndy of the map of Illinois, that 
 I could save Paul some thirty miles, 
 in my journey across the State, by 
 riding directly from Michigan City to 
 Joliet, and I saw no good reason why 
 I should ride him up here, especially at a time when 
 he was greatly in need of rest. 
 
 When I had registered at the " Grand Pacific," I 
 went to the Fidelity Safe Deposit Comj^any to attend 
 to some business matters and then over to the Express 
 and Post offices, concluding my rounds by a call upon 
 friends on West AVashington street. 
 
 Lectured to a full house at Farwell ITnll in the 
 evening, the introduction being given by Major E. S. 
 Weedon, editor of the Ai^my and Naxnj Gazette. The 
 Major alluded in eloquent and touching terms to the 
 record of the gallant Custer and immediately put my 
 audience in sympathy with me, ^Fy brother-in-law, 
 Madison H. Buck, of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, called 
 
 (361) 
 
362 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 upon me in the evening and was with me on the plat- 
 form. The lecture closed before ten o'clock, and I 
 hurried over to IMcVicker's Theatre, to see the last acts 
 of " Mulberry Sellers/' in which John T. Raymond 
 was playing his favorite role. The play was having 
 quite a run, and one heard at every turn the expres- 
 sion that had caught the popular fancy — Mulberry's 
 inimitable assurance, " There's millions in it ! " 
 
 On the morning of the twelfth, I settled with George 
 and Babcock, The former went forward to Ottawa, 
 and the latter to Joliet. It was my intention at the 
 time to push on to Omaha and Cheyenne as rapidly 
 as possible in the hope of passing Sherman, at the 
 summit of the mountains, before the snow was too 
 deep to interrupt my journey. Eight general halts 
 had been decided upon between Boston and San Fran- 
 cisco, and these were Albany, Buffalo, Toledo, Chi- 
 cago, Omaha, Cheyenne, Ogden, and Sacramento. I 
 had now reached my fourth objective and felt the 
 importance of more haste and less leisure and sight- 
 seeing. My time, therefore, in this great city was nec- 
 essarily cut short. 
 
 The Exposition had just oj^encd at the time I 
 reached Chicago, and this enabled me to see more in a 
 few hours than I could have possibly seen in any other 
 way, and gave me quite an idea of the industries 
 carried on in Cook County. 
 
 I had never seen a finer local affair of the kind 
 and was confident that its object — the encouragement 
 of agriculture and industry — would be successfully ac- 
 complished. Anyone who sees the way in which 
 Chicagoans throw themselves into an undertaking of 
 this sort, and in fact into everything that has to do 
 
THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 363 
 
 with the enterprise or prosperity of their city, caunot 
 but be struck with acbiiiration. 
 
 Tlieir ii'r('})re8sible hopufiihiess, whicih effected such 
 marvelous results after tin; great conflagration of 1871, 
 is a case in point, and those who have been fortunate 
 enough to see the transformation, are forced to acbnit 
 that the cuhnnity was, alter all, not so nuich to be de- 
 plored. Out of the great waste in which the business 
 portion was laid, handsome buildings have sprung up 
 with almost magic rapidity and auguring well for the 
 future of the " Windy City." Especially is this 
 feature striking in the vicinity of the City ilall, where 
 finer edifices rose upon the old ruins. 
 
 The very name of Chicago carries us back to the 
 barbaric scenes of more than two hundred years 
 ago. Where the beautiful city now stands, those days 
 of long since })ast knew only a morass, an oozy, deso- 
 late stretch of water-soaked swamj). There was a 
 stream in this desolate region, the banks of which, 
 tradition tells us, were parched and cracked and black- 
 ened by the frequent ravages of lightning. The 
 early explorers found on its banks an old stone mound, 
 supposed to have been erected for the sacrifice of lui- 
 man victims to propitiate the wrath of the Indian deity 
 Chekagua, the Thunder Cod. 
 
 On the oldest map of this region now extant, one 
 published in IGS 1, the little river itself bears the 
 name Chekagua, and it may be, that our fair Western 
 metropolis of to-day was also a namesake of that same 
 weird divinity. 
 
 Others, claiming a more ]>ropitious christening, as- 
 sert that Chicago was a derivative from Chacaqua, the 
 
 Indian term for the Divine River. 
 
 18 
 
864 OCEA^^ 
 
 OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Or perhaps the city was named from the successive 
 titles of the proud, old Tamawas Chiefs. 
 
 " Not a monarch in all thaf proud Old World beyond 
 the deep " bore more haughtily his inherited title of 
 Herod or Caesar than did one of these Tamawas 
 rulers exult in the ancient title of Chacaqua. If this 
 theory of the origin of Chicago's cognomen be accepted, 
 then indeed can the '^ Windy City " claim a royal title 
 from the first. 
 
 In 1673, certain Catholic missionaries became inter- 
 ested in exploring the Western Wilds. They were es- 
 pecially enthusiastic in regard to the Materways of 
 darkest America. The Mississippi they had heard of. 
 Was it possible that it ever could be made to join 
 hands with the Great Lakes, of which they had some 
 knowledge ? 
 
 So questioning, Fathers Marquette and Joliet took 
 two canoes and five men from the upper lake regions, 
 and started to explore the charming Valley of the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 On their return they reached the mouth of the 
 Illinois, where they were informed of a new way of 
 reaching Lake Michigan. 
 
 "Taking the Des Plaines branch, they were able to 
 reach the water shed, but eight feet higher than ca- 
 noeable waters, crossing which they launched into the 
 stream which conducted them into the lake." 
 
 In so doing they made perhaps the greatest dis- 
 covery of their time — namely, a discovery of that su- 
 premely important portage which insures Chicago's 
 supremacy so long as American civilization exists. 
 
 In October, 1674, Marquette returned to this spot 
 »*:id erected the first white man's dwellino: which 
 
THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 365 
 
 was ordained to be the beginniii<^ of the great metrop- 
 olis of the West. His little hut was both a home and 
 a sanctuary. Here he wintered, shooting turkey, deer 
 and bufllilo from his door. Here in the spring, from 
 toil and exposure, he died, mourned by the savages 
 whom he had taught. 
 
 Thus was Chicago begun in embryo. 
 
 There in that lagoon, filled with ooze, with its 
 impassable fens, and drifting sands, civilization and 
 religion had their representative who laid the founda- 
 tion of the great Coming City bravely with teachings 
 of "The love of God, and the brotherhood of man." 
 
 We have good maps of 1688 which show us that a 
 little later this lake end of the water communication 
 with Louisiana was made a military post, called Fort 
 Chicagon. 
 
 This place became at one time a favorite settlement 
 for French missionaries. However the spot is sup- 
 posed to have been abandoned about 1763, after which 
 date for about one hundred years white men avoided 
 it. 
 
 In 1774 the site of Chicago, with all the surround- 
 ing country, became a part of Virginia, being conquered 
 by a military expedition from that State. 
 
 In 1778 the region became known as County of 
 Illinois, State of Virginia. 
 
 After the close of the Revolutionary war, Virginia 
 "divided herself by the Ohio River,'' ceding all the 
 territory beyond that boundary to the United States 
 for the "common benefit of all the people." 
 
 In 1795 the Indians also ceded to the general 
 govern inent any rights which tlicir tribes possessed to 
 "one piece of land six miles square, at the mouth of 
 
iV J^ 
 
 366 OCEAN TO* OCEAN ON HORSEBACK:. 
 
 Chekajo River, emptying into the southwest end of 
 Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood." This 
 extingaisliment of the Indian title in 1795, being in 
 the nature of a quit-claim deed for lands, is some- 
 times called the earliest real estate transaction in 
 Chicago. 
 
 Thus, she who was to become the " Queen City " of 
 the West, made her debut into the Union, where, 
 
 possibly, she may yet, 
 
 " The fairest of her daughters," 
 
 rule supreme. 
 
 In the midst of all the down-town rush, at a point 
 where noise and confusion scarcely cease, one notices 
 upon a decidedly modern building a white stone tablet 
 which informs the stranger that it was upon this spot 
 Fort Dearborn stood — the oldest landmark that re- 
 mained to tell the tale of the wilderness. In 1804 two 
 block-houses were built here and a subterranean pas- 
 sage made from the parade to the river, the whole sur- 
 rounded by a picket and furnished with three pieces 
 of light artillery, the object being " to supply the 
 Indian wants and control the Indian policy." The 
 tribes of Pottawatomies overran the country round 
 about and with the little group of French and Cana- 
 dian settlers made the life of the isolated post. In 
 1809 Tecumseh marked it out as one of his objects of 
 vengeance, but fortunately other schemes occupied his 
 attention, and it remained in comparative security un- 
 til the war of 1812. Then, when all the country was 
 disturbed and the Indians were making mischief 
 everywhere, the commander of Fort Dearborn was be- 
 trayed by the Pottawatomies and every vestige of a 
 settlement destroyed. 
 
THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. ?A]1 
 
 It was not until 1818, after Fort Dearborn was 
 again demolished, that the pale face was courageous 
 enough to establish his home at this point. Nor was 
 courage alone recpiired, for the unfavorable position — 
 on a morass where vehicles invariably floundered in 
 its black loam, and where the air was necessarily un- 
 healthy — was well known ; but these first men whose 
 rude homes constituted the end)ryo city must have 
 possessed to a great degree that indomitable spirit 
 which has become the very foundation of Chicago. 
 
 Nine years from this time a most unfavorable re- 
 port of the i)lace was sent to the Government and from 
 this report the })icture is called up of a wretched, un- 
 clean and disreputable community. But this state of 
 affairs, was not to last long. An event of importance 
 took place here in 1833, when the United States com- 
 missioners and chiefs of the Pottawatomie, Chippewa 
 and Ottawa tribes met, that the former might per- 
 suade the latter to give up more of their valuable land 
 in Illinois and jNIichigan and ultimately to relinc^uish 
 it altogether. The exact amount stipulated for was 
 twenty millions of acres. Then po[)ulation increased, 
 for one of the points agreed upon, along with the land, 
 was that the Indians should move west of the Missis- 
 sippi. As a result, Chicago became the centre of much 
 speculating. Eastern capitalists were interested, in- 
 vested and lost heavily, but after the depression which 
 inevitably followed, the people went to work in 
 earnest and brought the town out of her trouble. 
 
 The one point of advantage that Chicago pos- 
 sessed — her possibilities as a commercial post — was 
 put to the test, and so rapidly did she advance, that in 
 1842, after several remarkable advan(!es, she sent out 
 
368 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 600,000 bushels of wheat. She was already becoming 
 a big cattle market, ranch me« further west driving 
 their stock here and helping to increase the impor- 
 tance of the place as a centre of trade. At tliis time a 
 canal was in process of construction, to connect the 
 Illinois and Chicaoo rivers, thus makinty Chicairo the 
 centre for commerce between the Southwest and East, 
 and giving her the opportunity to extend her business 
 from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 Tliis was a splendid opening, and, with the co-opera- 
 tion of the railroads which soon afterwards were ex- 
 tended to this point, the future prosperity of the place 
 was secured. It then only remained for Chicago to 
 improve her appearance and sanitary condition. This 
 she did by having the streets drained, filled up and 
 graded. Local pride was manifesting itself in various 
 Improvements and in private and public buildings, so 
 that by 1871 there was plenty of fuel for the great fire 
 which laid so much of the city waste. 
 
 The well-known origin of the conflagration was in 
 a barn where ^' Mrs. Scully's cow '' innocently turned 
 over a lighted lantern on some dry hay. Soon the 
 barn was in flames and the fire quickly spread to the 
 lumber yards along the river and from thence, the dry 
 timber and wind favoring, leaped along and licked up 
 the homes on the North Side and the business 
 houses on the South Side. 
 
 The first stroke of the alarm sounded about nine 
 o'clock in the evening of October 8, 1871. *'By eleven 
 o'clock 100,000 people were hurrying through the 
 streets of the doomed city," spreading terror as they 
 went. ^'All over the city it was as light as day, and, 
 in the remotest suburb fine print was read by the 
 
THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 369 
 
 glare of the conflagriition three or four miles away. 
 By mklnight nearly every vehicle in the city had 
 been pressed into service, and the frightened animals 
 attached to them, in many cases beyond control, went 
 flying through the streets in all directions, making a 
 racket and a rumble which, coupled with the hoarse 
 shouts of men, the moaning of the gale, the roar of the 
 conflagration and the crash of falling buildings made a 
 conglomeration of siglit and sound so appalling that 
 none who saw it, or were of it, are ever likely to for- 
 get. Few in the city took any notice of the break of 
 day or the rising of the sun. These occurrences 
 seemed to make little difference in the quantity of 
 light. It was only now and then that Old Sol was 
 visible through the almost impenetrable smoke clouds. 
 Nothing could be seen but smoke, smoke, siuoke, here 
 and there interspersed by dark rolling masses of 
 flames. It was chaos come again. The earth was 
 seemingly resolved into its original elements." 
 
 At the end of three days, 300,000 peo})le were desti- 
 tute, 100,000 were absolutely homeless, 200,000 were 
 without water. The food sup[)ly was doubtful for all. 
 Robbers and incendiaries were at work. The gas was 
 gone — blown sky high. Churches, newspapers, po- 
 lice, telegra[)h offices and public institutions were 
 gone, while nineteen-twentieths of all the mercantile 
 stock in the city was consumed. 
 
 The tract destroyed was about a mile in breadth, 
 and the losses were roughly estimated at $200,000,000. 
 Still, so alive was public sentiment and hope, that at 
 the time of my horseback journey, five years later, 
 scarcely a trace remained to tell the tale of this disas- 
 ter, and that of 1874, except the records of history. 
 
370 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 The story of just how Chicago proved herself a ver- 
 itable Phoenix is a very inteBesting one. 
 
 On the evening of October ninth, only twenty-four 
 hours after the commencement of the conflagration, a 
 car-load of provisions arrived from Milwaukee. By 
 the next morning fifty car-loads had come to the af- 
 flicted city. Donations of food and clothing ke])t 
 pouring in until Chicago was fairly sated. By October 
 eleventh every person had food enough and each one's 
 pressing physical necessities were attended to. On the 
 eleventh, also, the Board of Trade met and resolved to 
 require the honoring of all contracts. On the twelfth 
 the bankers met and resolved to pay all depositors in 
 full. The State sent an instalment of $3,000,000 
 with which it then voted to re-imburse the city for its 
 expenditures for the canal enlargement, thus placing the 
 city in the possession of much-needed funds. From 
 all over the civilized world came contributions in 
 money for the resurrected city. The amount so re- 
 ceived within three months after the conflagration be- 
 ing about $4,200,000. 
 
 The Relief Society alone built four thousand houses 
 within five weeks of those dreadful days when all 
 seemed lost. 
 
 In two years after the fire, sixty-nine million, four 
 hundred and sixty-two thousand dollars were expended 
 in erecting buildings of brick, iron, and stone, while 
 miles of humble frame houses were built, each costing 
 from $500 to $10,000. 
 
 Now, in place of the original city of wood, there 
 stands by the Great Lake, a city of stone and iron, able 
 to vie with any other city in growth, enterprise and 
 wealth, bearing the distinction of being the greatest 
 
THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 371 
 
 grain ami liiinher market in the world, and boastiiit; a 
 population, at tlie time of my journey, of about five 
 liundied thousand. From the Athmtic to tiie Paei- 
 fic I rode into no city tiiat made such an impres- 
 sion of i^randeur, business j)o\ver and wealth as this 
 youthful "Queen of the Lakes." 
 
 Ohieai^o's baptism of fire seemed but to piove an in- 
 spiration, goading the city to more activity, to greater 
 success. 
 
 The aggregate amount of business done in the city 
 the year after the fire — entirely exce[)ting the building 
 trades — greatly exceeds that done the })revious year, as 
 the following figures will show. During this one year 
 the wholesale merchandise trade increased fifteen per 
 cent. Receipts of grain increased 8,425,885 bushels ; 
 receipts of live-stock by 872,866 head. Deposits in 
 the city banks increased $1,910,000. 
 
 So much f )r the splendid pluck of Chicago. 
 The Pacific coast has Chicago for her smelting fur- 
 nace, four large silver mills being located here. 
 
 From the Pacific coast also, she has a considerable 
 trade in the productions of the Orient. In the first 
 half of 1873, Chicago received assignments of three- 
 million pounds of tea, two million pounds of coffee, 
 eight hundred thousand pounds of foreign wool, and 
 three hundred and nine thousand, seven hundred and 
 twenty four pounds of foreign silk. Cotton came to 
 her from the Pacific Isles, and nuts from South 
 America. 
 
 Some idea of the commercial importance of Chica- 
 go's trade may be reached by the amount of some of 
 her exports by rail dni'ing 1872: namely, two hundred 
 and thirty-four million [)Ounds of meat ; eighty 
 
^A^T' 
 
 372 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 million, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of 
 lard ; one million, nine hundred and sixty-five thou- 
 sand whole swine; four hundred and eighty -four 
 thousand head of cattle, and one hundred and sixty- 
 two thousand head of sheep. 
 
 I found Chicago justly proud of her public schools. 
 It was roughly estimated that in the city about fifty 
 thousand children between six and twelve years of age 
 received daily instruction. 
 
 The graded system employed in these schools is so 
 advanced, and has proved so successful, that it has be- 
 come a general model for all the schools of the great 
 Northwest. 
 
 More than that, it has been adopted, in part, by the 
 Minister of Education in France, and at the late 
 Vienna Exposition a reward for progress, in the 
 shape of a beautiful medal, was awarded to the school 
 system of Chicago. Chicago claims for herself abso- 
 lute superiority in two particulars over all the public 
 schools in the United States, the "Hub" institutions 
 of Boston not excepted. First: Perfect discipline is 
 said to be attained without the use of corporal punish- 
 ment. Second: The musical culture of the school 
 ciiildren is said to far excel anything attained before 
 on this Continent. 
 
 I found that the city contained a number of colleges, 
 theological seminaries and universities. The Univer- 
 sity of Chicago occupies one of the most elegant and 
 commodious buildings in the West. 
 
 The Dearborn Observatory, which is a part of this 
 University, contains the famous Clark Telescope, one 
 of the most magnificent instruments of its kind in 
 existence. 
 
THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 373 
 
 The Cliiciigo Theological Seminary is noted for the 
 beauty of its cliapel and lecture rooms, and the extent 
 and quality of its library. The Academy of Science 
 was incorporated in 18G5. It has a vast building, 
 well stocked with natural curiosities. 
 
 The Historical Society organized in 1(S56 possesses 
 a rare collection of })ublic and private documents, as 
 well as a library of nearly one hundred thousand 
 volumes. 
 
 There are two hundred and thirty-eight houses of 
 public worship in Chicago; all of the great religious 
 denominations, and perhaps some new ones, being well 
 represented. Differing as they do, they are, as some one 
 says: ^'Agreed on one point, namely, an uncommon 
 sense of mutual toleration and mutual love for each 
 other, and a feeling of 
 
 Peace and sweet good will to all mankind," 
 
 There is a good deal of fine pulpit oratory to bo 
 heard every Sabbath in Chicago ; and the people of the 
 surrounding country know it. It is no uncommon 
 thing for the Saturday night incoming trains to be 
 crowded with young men, some of them from homes 
 one hundred miles away, who are yet regular attend- 
 ants at the religious services of the city. Having en- 
 joyed these to the full, the Sunday evening sleeping 
 cars are again crowded with the same youthful army, 
 very sleepy, but very happy, making the return trip. 
 
 Chicago is justly proud of her streets. About eighty 
 feet wide, and meeting at right angles, they present a 
 beautiful object lesson to some of her elder Eastern 
 sisters. 
 
 The city is said to contain thirteen million dollars' 
 
374 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 worth of liotel property. Perhaps no structure for 
 which any part of this iijmiense sum has been ex- 
 pended is more beautiful and remarkable than the 
 Palmer House. This building is said to contain more 
 bricks than any two hotels on the Continent, and more 
 iron than most of them put together. The flooring 
 contains ninety thousand square feet of marble tiling 
 laid in massive beds of cement. The beams are laid 
 in beds of cement also. 
 
 The immense carriage court is entered by three porte 
 cocheres. There are said to be one hundred miles of 
 electric bell wires in the buildino;. The ma2:nificent 
 office is twenty-four feet in height. It is wainscoted 
 with Italian marble, studded with panels of remark- 
 ably rich rose brocatelle marble, and with many 
 natural mosaics of rare and curious beauty. The 
 wainscoting of the counter is made of the same ex- 
 quisite material. The grand staircase is made of the 
 same. 
 
 Mr. C. M. Palmer travelled extensively for some 
 time, before building, throughout Europe, making an 
 especial study of continental hotels, with a determina- 
 tion to surpass the excellences of them all in his be- 
 loved Chicago. 
 
 M\\ Palmer's spirit seems to be characteristic of all 
 true Cliicagoans. To have their city excel, to have it 
 something more extensive, more impressive, more fa- 
 mous, grander, nobler than any other place which the 
 sun shines on, this is their hearts' desire. Some one 
 said to a great man : 
 
 " What paramount word of advice would you give 
 to young men ? '' 
 
 The answer came, 
 
THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 375 
 
 " Aspire/' 
 
 " What would your next advice be? " 
 " As})ire." 
 " But what then ? " 
 " Aspire/' 
 
 Chicago believes in that advice. She lias always 
 believed in It. Nay, more, she has lived it. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT. 
 
 (Due Qun^reb a\\b Qrtxjeutg-stirtl) ?I)aj3. 
 
 Jeivell House, 
 
 Michigan City, Indiana, 
 
 September 14, 1876. 
 
 N the morning I settled with Darby, and 
 in the afternoon he returned to Decatur. 
 At nightfall here, the excitement 
 which had been rising during the day 
 reached its climax when the Michigan 
 City Democrats repaired to the New Al- 
 bany depot to hold a mass meeting. 
 
 Notwithstanding my own sentiments, 
 I went too, and was highly entertained 
 by the speakers, among whom were Hon. Daniel W. 
 Voorhees of Terre Haute, Hon. James Williams 
 — better known in the Hoosier State as ''Blue Jeans" 
 Williams — and Hon. Morgan Weir, of La Porte. 
 
 When Voorhees arrived his enthusiastic partisans 
 had him driven in state from the station in a carriage 
 drawn by four white horses. He was no doubt the 
 lion of the occasion and his energetic language drew 
 forth frequent applause. The strong features, straight 
 (376) 
 
CIITCAGO TO DAVENPORT. 377 
 
 brows and broad forehead of this politician would pro- 
 claim iiini a man of force anywhere. 
 
 A large crowd had gathered at the appointed place 
 and business began at eight o'clock. As time passed 
 the excitement grew more intense, and towards the 
 close of the meeting an amusing incident was noted, 
 when the honorable senator took issue with his oppo- 
 nents. I then became aware that there were others 
 present of a different flxith, besides myself, for no 
 sooner were Voorhees' anti-Republican sentiments 
 voiced than a vehement champion of the Republican 
 party jumped to his feet denouncing as false the state- 
 ments made, winding up his remarks by thumping his 
 cane on the benches and saying that all that had been 
 spoken was a " pack of lies ! '' Off in another part of 
 the building an excited Irishman also jumped up cry- 
 ing out : '' Mr. Voorhees is a perfect gintleman, sor ! " 
 A compliment which the IToosiers quickly took- up 
 and the depot rang with : ^' Mr. Voorhees is a perfect 
 gintleman, sor ! '^ 
 
 My co-partisan was silenced, if not convinced. The 
 other speakers scored several points for their cause 
 and the meeting closed with three cheers and a tiger 
 for the Democratic candidates. 
 
 ®iu <5unibr£i) anb (Jroeutri'-scocntl) Daij. 
 
 Jewell Honfic, 
 Michigan City, Indiana, 
 
 JSeptem her Fijtein t h . 
 
 Being detained on account of the condition of my 
 horse, and as the weather now was most delightful, I 
 made the best of the situation by looking about the 
 
378 OCEA^^O OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 place, since I had seen comparatively little of it up to 
 this time. Possibly no city or town along my route 
 labors under greater disadvatitages from a geographical 
 or commercial point of view than this ''city of sand," 
 situated as it is at the extreme southern end of Lake 
 Michigan, with the water splashing against it on one 
 side and the wind and sand storms beating against it 
 on the other. 
 
 However, it has overcome these obstacles to a cer- 
 tain degree and is hardly lacking in enterprise, as the 
 mass meeting of the preceding day testified. Here, 
 perhaps, more than at any other of the towns and 
 cities lying around Lake Michigan, one is impressed 
 with the resistless force of this splendid inland sea, 
 and so unique an impression did the place make upon 
 me that my detention did not become irksome, al- 
 though all the fascinations of the Great West lay be- 
 yond. 
 
 ®\\t fjuni)rcii ani) ulrwentw tigljtl) Sau. 
 
 Hohart House, 
 
 HoBART, Indiana, 
 
 September Sixteenth. 
 
 Did not get on the road until nearly eleven o'clock. 
 The rest and treatment which Paul had received at 
 Michigan City put him in excellent spirits for a rapid 
 journey and he stepped off nimbly when I gave him 
 the reins in front of tlie Jewell House. I was greatly 
 encouraged by the condition of my horse and now that 
 the word was once more " onward," all the fascination 
 of the ride came back. 
 
 Although the scenes I passed through were very 
 
CniCAQO TO DAVENPORT. 379 
 
 like others, there being notlilng of iimrked interest to 
 the traveller iu this section of Indiana, I still found 
 much pleasure in looking over the farms as I passed 
 them and noticing the variety of methods and effects. 
 
 A good stimulating breeze came inland from the 
 lake and by noon it had added zest to my appetite. I 
 stopped for dinner at the village of Ciiesterton and 
 then pushed on to this i)lace which was reached in the 
 evening by seven o'clock — twenty-eight miles having 
 been covered during the day. 
 
 The only accommodation to be found was nothing 
 more nor less than a beer-saloon with sleeping rooms 
 attached, a characteristic, I regret to say, which I ob- 
 served in many of the small towns through this sec- 
 tion of the country. As immediate environment has 
 an influence in making impressions, my opinion of 
 this halting-place on the borders of " Hoosierdom '' 
 was not the most exalted. 
 
 Rohmer House, 
 RiCHTON, Illinois, 
 
 September Seventeenth. 
 
 Owing to the late hour of my arrival at Hobart the 
 previous evening I was unable to observe my usual 
 practice of looking through the place and making a 
 note of its striking points in my journal, and for this 
 reason I was not in the saddle until ten o'clock A. M., 
 although the time was spent more in seeing than in 
 chroniclino; wliat was seen. 
 
 Paul was still in the happiest of spirits and I rode 
 
 away from Hobart at a gallop, stirring the dust of this 
 
 19 
 
380 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 sleepy little village as it had possibly not been stirred 
 for many moons. The cheerful fact was made clear to 
 me before leaving that I was as far from Joliet at Ho- 
 bart as I had supposed myself to be at Michigan City. 
 
 In the course of the day, in which twenty-eight 
 miles were again covered, Centralia, Sherry ville and 
 Dyer were passed, these towns being on Grand 
 Prairie, across which I rode from morning till night. 
 At four o'clock I reached the boundary between In- 
 diana and Illinois, realizing that at this point six 
 States had added their rich scenes and splendid enter- 
 prises to my memory. 
 
 As I was moving along on the prairie just before 
 dark my ears caught the sound of a peculiar barking 
 and soon a pack of what I supposed to be dogs were 
 following me. I noticed that PauVs manner changed 
 and he appeared disturbed, but attributed this to the 
 barking and the persistent keeping at his heels of the 
 little animals. To a man whom I met later, I ex- 
 plained that I had been followed for some hours by a 
 pack of dogs, when he promptly informed me that 
 they were doubtless prairie wolves. Of course to an 
 Easterner this news gave an added interest to Grand 
 Prairie. 
 
 ®ne <5ttnkeb anb olljirtictl) ©ag. 
 
 Robertson House, 
 Joliet, Illinois, 
 September Eighteenth. 
 
 Had Paul brought out at eight o'clock. As soon 
 as he was saddled at Rich ton the man who attended to 
 him threw the rein over the neck of the horse, and a 
 
CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT, 383 
 
 moment later he made his appearance unaccom- 
 panied in tVunt of tlie llohnier House. This bein<^ an 
 undoubted sign of his anxiety to be off, I mounted at 
 once and we were soon lessening the distance to Joliet, 
 our evening destination, twenty-one miles away. 
 
 Was all day again on Grand Prairie, which may 
 give some idea of this the greatest and truly the grand- 
 est prairie yet passed on my route. Its proximity to 
 Chicago is doubtless one of the chief causes of the 
 high winds for which the "Windy City '^ is noted; 
 and if Chicago could, she would gladly change her in- 
 convenient environment. 
 
 At Lenox I halted for dinner, reaching Joliet at 
 four p. M. In riding through Jefferson street, I was 
 met by Babcock who seemed much surprised at my 
 early arrival. Notwithstanding the fact that *^ Rip 
 Van Winkle " was being played at the opera house, 
 Robert McWade, a young actor of some prominence, 
 taking the leading r^/e, I found a fair audience await- 
 ing me at Werner Hall in tlie evening, which proved 
 that interest was still felt in the Custer Monument 
 movement. 
 
 ©ne f)uutlrc^ aul» ®l)irtn -first HIaa 
 
 Hopkins House, 
 
 Morris, Illinois, 
 
 September Nineteenth. 
 
 On calling for my bill at the Robertson House, Jo- 
 liet, in the morning, Mr. Conklin the proprietor, de- 
 clined to accept any pay for my accommodations, and 
 when I insisted, said he wished the pleasure of making 
 
384 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 me his guest during my stay. I did not get a very 
 early start, as a family by tlie name of Horner, upon 
 hearing of my arrival, called at the hotel and at their 
 solicitation I made them a short visit. They knew 
 of my journey and interest in the Custer Association, 
 and being patriotic made this their reason for wishing 
 to meet me. Their friendliness was but another proof 
 of the hospitality of the people of Joliet, among whom 
 I had come the day before as a comparative stranger, 
 but whom I left with the kindliest of feeling. 
 
 Before leaving, Mr. Conklin suggested that I ride 
 along the tow-path of the IMichigan Canal from Joliet 
 to Chanahou, and I followed his advice, having din- 
 ner at the latter place. It happened that the inn- 
 keeper was well supplied with sweet cider and I helped 
 him to dispose of it by drinking the contents of six 
 well-filled glasses. Beyond Chanahon, on the Illinois 
 Kiver, I borrowed a hook and line of a farmer who 
 was fishing and caught twenty -three perch in half an 
 hour. 
 
 At four o'clock I reached the summit of a hill on 
 the border of a prairie from which I coukl look off 
 for fifteen or tw^enty miles over a fertile country 
 through which two silver streams wound to unite just 
 below — the Kankakee here paying tribute to the Illi- 
 nois. The atmosphere was perfect — clear and pure; 
 the trees were tinged red and yellow with the first 
 frosts, and to all this was added the glory of the sun- 
 set which I lingered to admire before turning away 
 from so charming a scene. 
 
CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT. 337 
 
 (Due C)un^vc^ auii SI)ivtg--scconii ©an. 
 
 Clifton House, 
 Ottawa, Illinois, 
 
 Si'j)t ember 2\cen tieth. 
 
 I rode out of Morris in the morning just as the pub- 
 lic school bells were ringing nine o'clock. My journey 
 now lay along the north bank of the Illinois River, 
 and took me through some of the finest cornfields I 
 had ever seen. Acres and acres, miles and miles 
 stretched in all directions as far as the eye could reach 
 whenever the elevation of the road was high enough 
 above this waving sea of grain to allow me to look 
 about me. Otherwise I passed through it completely 
 shut in, except as I could look ahead and behind 
 and see the avenue of giant stalks. My horse, six- 
 teen hands high, did not elevate me sufficiently to 
 enable me, sitting in the saddle, to look over the 
 corn tops and they still towered above me like small 
 trees. 
 
 Those who are privileged to see this agricultural 
 wonder must, however, associate it with that other 
 source of pride among Illinois farmers — the " hogs ^' — 
 for most of this splendid harvest is fed to these ani- 
 mals and they, well-fattened thereby, are driven to 
 market. Thus the enterprising farmer is saved the 
 expense of hauling his corn to Cliicago or other points, 
 as the pork, into which it has been transformed, is able 
 to carry itself. 
 
 All along my route across the "Sucker State," I 
 encountered, day after day, white hogs and black hogs, 
 hogs of every grade and shade, my horse often step- 
 
388 OCEAN^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 ping aside in equine dignity to allow a drowsy or 
 pugnacious porker to pass. 
 
 As I had determined to reach Ottawa by nightfall, 
 I was compelled to ride nearly all day in a drizzling 
 rain which at noon was followed by a heavy thunder 
 shower. This I took advantage of by stopping at 
 Seneca for dinner, and then pushed forward. Was 
 forced to halt again at three o'clock on account of rain, 
 and being near a farm house was invited to come in 
 while the good people took care of my horse. 
 
 Overtook a troop of boys on horseback near Ottawa 
 and had their lively company into town. There I 
 met an old acquaintance — Mr. Kean — who was among 
 the first to greet me. My time was passed pleasantly 
 here, and I would do injustice to the proprietor of the 
 Clifton were I to forget the many courtesies politely 
 extended to me while his guest. 
 
 (Due ^uuiuii ani) uHjirtu-tljirl) Slag. 
 
 Harrison House, 
 La Salle, Illinois, 
 
 September Twenty-first. 
 
 Left the Clifton House, Ottawa, at two p. m. The 
 weather was still in an unsettled condition which 
 obliged me to make my way as best I could between 
 showers in order to keep my lecture appointment at La 
 Salle. I considered it fortunate that my route was 
 now along the west bank of the Illinois, a stream in 
 which I had long been interested owing to the impor- 
 tant part it played as a convenient and favorite water 
 course for the early explorers of the Valley of the Mis- 
 
 I 
 I 
 
CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT. 389 
 
 sissipi)i. Between its verdant banks, Juliet, Mar- 
 quette, La Salle and others glided on their way to the 
 great stream. How the lover of history and adven- 
 ture thrills at the aeeounts of La Salle's Fort Crevc- 
 Cceur, and his colony scattered over this same region 
 of country ! 
 
 Probably none of these historic men paid a more 
 flattering tribute to "La Riviere des Illinois" than 
 Henne})in, the priest, who, when passing down it to 
 the Mississippi was not too much oppressed with anx- 
 iety to admire its charms. AV^iat a different appear- 
 ance its shores presented in 1680 to that of 1876! In 
 place of the forest, waving corn fields under high cul- 
 tivation attracted my attention on every hand, and in 
 contrast to the wilderness inhabited by the savages 
 that Hennepin feared, I saw an emigrant train peace- 
 ably moving along on its way from the East to the 
 promising country west of the Mississippi. 
 
 €)ue ijii^i^t'ci anb aijirtu-fourti) ?Ilag. 
 
 Harrison House, 
 
 La Salle, Illinois, 
 
 September Twenty-second. 
 
 The equinoctial storms were now at their height and 
 as my lecture at Davenport was not to be delivered for 
 some days, I decided to spend a day or two in this 
 pleasant little city, until " Old Sol ^' had '^ crossed the 
 line." 
 
 I found that this is the centre of important coal and 
 lead mines, which I should have visited and examined, 
 superficially at least, had not the inclement weather 
 
390 OC^?^^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 prevented. Through the courtesy of Colonel Stephens, 
 editor of the La Salle County Press and a colonel 
 in the volunteer service during the late war, I was in- 
 troduced to many of the citizens who told me much of 
 the history and enterprises of their town. 
 
 (Due ffjunlirA anir Qll)irtu-fiftl) ©a^. 
 
 Harrison House. 
 
 La Salle, Illinois, 
 
 September 2\venty-third. 
 
 Rode down to Peru in the morning accompanied by 
 Colonel Stephens, who wished to show me the pride 
 of the county — the big plow works, which constitute 
 the leading industry of the place. Was introduced to 
 members of the firm and shown through the various 
 departments of the establishment, which were certainly 
 imposing in the way of machinery and in the evidence 
 of mechanical skill. We returned to La Salle at four 
 o'clock and my hospitable comrade proposed that we 
 take a stroll through the city, to which I quickly 
 consented. 
 
 Colonel Stephens introduced me to my audience in 
 the evening, he being one of the gentlemen with me 
 on the platform. My entertainment here was most 
 gratifying and I was warmly assured of the good will 
 of the people through the local press. 
 
CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT. 391 
 
 (Due Ijunbrcii anii (!ll)irtr)-sivtl) 'Q\x\), 
 
 Farm Houses 
 Near IIollowayvillr, Illinois, 
 September Iweiify-fo urth. 
 
 Upon leaving La Salle at three o'clock in the after- 
 noon, I was told that I would have no difficulty in se- 
 curing accommodations for myself and horse at Hol- 
 lowayville, so, with the assurance of finding every- 
 thing lovely liere, I jogged along over the intervening 
 twelve miles at my leisure. 
 
 My feelings can better be imagined than described 
 when, on my arrival at the little handet, I was looked 
 upon with suspicion. The sim{)le-minded inhabitants 
 hinted that I might possibly be a *^ highwayman '^ or a 
 "horse thief," or, for aught they knew, one of the 
 James or Younger brothers. These desperadoes were 
 then exciting the pe()i)le on both sides of the Missis- 
 sippi and my equipment, set off with high top boots 
 and gauntlets, with the peculiar trappings of my 
 horse, only made matters worse. 
 
 Finding it impossible to secure lodging in the vil- 
 lage, I rode on into the country, stopping at a farm 
 house which looked inviting. I entered the front yard 
 slowly and with dignity to dispel the horse thief sus- 
 picion. The farmer^s daughter, a young girl of seven- 
 teen or eighteen years, and a few farm hands, stood 
 about, of whom I asked if the master of the i)lace was 
 at home. The girl took me within, and Monsieur 
 and ]\[adame Croisant received me. They were both 
 in bed, ill, but looking quite comfortable with their 
 heads pointing in diifereiit directions. They carried 
 
392 OCEAN% OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 on a lively conversation in French, the daughter inter- 
 preting, and in conclusion, after assuring them that I 
 was a harmless person, very tired and hungry, they 
 decided, if the clergyman of the place thought it safe, 
 that I might stay with them. The dominie was called, 
 looked me over a few minutes, cross-questioned me, 
 and approved. 
 
 My room that night was unique in more w^ays than 
 one and would have been punishment enough for 
 Jesse James himself. 
 
 When I retired I detected a strong odor in the room 
 and found it due to a collection of sabots, or wooden 
 shoes, seemingly centuries old, which were arranged in 
 a row under my bed. What to do with them was a 
 question, as, under the circumstances, I did not think it 
 best to tamper with the feelings of my host and host- 
 ess. As my room was on the ground floor, I decided 
 to place the sabots carefully outside under the window 
 and take them in in the morning before the family was 
 up. Unfortunately it rained and I overslept, so the 
 shoes were discovered full of water before I appeared. 
 However, nothing was said and I ate my breakfast 
 in peace, the good people probably thanking their 
 stars that they and their house had not been robbed. 
 
 Before leaving in the morning the La Salle County 
 Press was handed me by Miss Croisant, in which I 
 read the following flattering notice of my lecture in 
 that city and which in some measure compensated for 
 my unpleasant reception at Hollowayville : 
 
 " We have not often met with a more agreeable and pleasant gentle- 
 man than Captain Willard Glazier, who entertained a very respect- 
 able number of our citizens at Opera Hall on Saturday evening by 
 delivering a lecture on ' Echoes from the Revolution.' The captain 
 
CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT, ,39:3 
 
 has a fine voice aiul his uiaiiner of delivery is decidedly interesting, 
 while his lani^uat,'e is elo(iueni and fascinating'. His description of 
 the battles ol tlie llevolutioii, and the heroes who took j)urt in them, 
 from the cn^Mgemeiit on the little green at Lexington down to the 
 surrender of Coriiwiillis at Yorktown, was grand indeed, and was re- 
 ceived with frequent and enthusiastic applause. In conclusion he 
 referred in an eh>queut and touching manner to the 'Hoys in Iilue,» 
 who took part in the late war for the Union, and all retired from the 
 ball feeling that the evening had been spent in an agreeable and 
 profitable manner. 
 
 "Captain Glazier served under Generals Kilpatrick and Custer 
 during the late war, since which time he has devoted much labor to 
 writing and is now making the attempt to cross the continent from 
 Boston to San Francisco on horseback, for the purpose of collecting 
 material for another work. He left Boston the early part of May, 
 and will endeavor to reach the Sacramento Valley before the fall of 
 the deep snow. His horse, Paul Revere, \s a magnificent animal, 
 black as a raven, with the exception of four white feet. He was 
 bred in Kentucky of Black Hawk stock, has turned a mile in 2.33, 
 but owing to his inclination to run away on certain occasions, was 
 not considered a safe horse for the track. The captain, however, has 
 broken him to the saddle, and also convinced him that running away 
 is foolish business; consequently, he and the captain have become 
 fast friends, and with Paul for his only companion, the gallant cav- 
 alryman proposes to cross the continent. Success attend him ! " 
 
 (S)nc QimiireLi aub Sljirtji-secnitl) JPati. 
 
 Ellsworth House, 
 Wyanet, Illinois, 
 
 September Twenty-fifth. 
 
 The equinoctial storms which had been raging since 
 I left Ottawa, were, for a few clays at least, at an end, 
 and a bright autumn sun greeted me every morning 
 as I rode onward. Rich cornfields stretclied away on 
 either side of the road, their monotony broken here 
 and there by fine ap[)le and peach orchards just com- 
 ing into tlieir glory. Another characteristic of lUi- 
 Dois — fine stock farms — were also noticeable, and thus 
 
394 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 for another stage of fourteen miles, surrounded by 
 evidences of fertility and thrift, I passed on, reaching 
 Wyauet early in the evening. 
 
 ®ne Q^^^^^^^"^ ^^"^ (ill)lrtii-cigl)tl) JBa^. 
 
 Private House, 
 
 Annawan, Illinois, 
 
 September Txventy-sixth. 
 
 Before leaving Wyanet I had PauVs bridle — a 
 Mexican make — repaired, and when it was again used 
 he chafed at the restraint of the curb. Not for long 
 though, for we were soon on the prairie, he evidently 
 enjoying it as much as his master. The roads were 
 rougher than usual and there was a change here in the 
 soil, its black clayey loam being very rich and pro- 
 ductive, making Henry County noted for its fine 
 farms. Eighteen miles of grass-covered prairie, diver- 
 sified by cultivated fields, brought me to Annawan, 
 where I was the guest of O. T. Buttermore, and while 
 at this place I received the following gratifying com- 
 munication from Colonel Stephens of La Salle — fur- 
 ther proof of the good will to " the stranger within 
 their gates/' of the citizens of La Salle : 
 
 La Sallf, Illinois, 
 
 September 25, 1876. 
 To Captain Willard Glaziek : 
 
 I take pleasure in expressing to you on behalf of many of our 
 citizens, the gratification afforded our people who listened to your 
 instructive and entertaining lecture given at Opera Hall on Saturday 
 evening last. While in conversation with several of our prominent 
 citizens, among them, W. A. Work, superintendent of our public 
 schools ; A. J. O'Connor, clerk of the city court ; W. T. Mason, Esq., 
 and others, all of whom were present and heard your lecture, I was 
 requested to write you and tender their hearty thanks for the enter- 
 
CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT. 397 
 
 tainnient and their good wishes for your success in your ride across 
 the continent. Should you ever again visit our city you can rest as- 
 sured you will be most cordially received. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 R. C. Stephens, 
 Late Colonel U. S. Volunteers. 
 
 ®nc f)un^rcll ani) ull)irtn-nintl) !3ai}. 
 
 Farm House, 
 
 Between Genessko and Moline, Illinois, 
 
 September Twenty-seventh. 
 
 Started away from Annawan at nine o'clock but 
 after riding about a mile and a half I discovered that 
 I had left my journal and was obliged to return for it. 
 All day I was on a seemingly endless prairie, dotted 
 here and there with cornfields and apple orchards. 
 Illinois takes the lead in stock-raising, and the horses 
 and cattle seen in this day's ride were fully up to the 
 best standard. 
 
 Had dinner at the house of a coal miner, whom I 
 found very intelligent, and was well entertained by 
 a talk on mining industries in Illinois from a practi- 
 cal point of view. This is a bituminous coal region 
 and there are mines in operation all over the State. 
 
 My host, Pullman by name, had recently returned 
 from the Pacific coast and to my eager inquiries was 
 able to tell me much about the country between 
 Omaha and Sacramento. 
 
 At night, after having made twenty-one miles, I 
 reached this place and was domiciled with the family 
 of Mrs. Charlotte Bills, who came formerly from Jef- 
 ferson County, New York. As my native county of 
 Saint Lawrence adjoins Jefferson, the Bills and I had 
 
398 OCEA^'O OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 a lively talk on "Old York State," and I became 
 much interested in the work of this enterprising wo- 
 man and her family. 
 
 Mrs. Bills has succeeded in a direction which has 
 not generally been attempted by women ; this is the 
 management of a farm. She does a good business and 
 supports herself and children by raising corn for 
 which, in this stock-raising locality, she finds a ready 
 market. The corn is generally bought for hog feed 
 and as these animals quickly fatten upon it, it is prof- 
 itable. The practical rather than the romantic has 
 place with these Western people who are striving for 
 a livelihood. Each day gave me new ideas of peo- 
 ple and their occupations — but this woman-farmer 
 was something unusual and certainly very praise- 
 worthy. 
 
 ©ne iljuuiireb aniJ Jortictl) JPan. 
 
 3Iilan House, 
 
 Milan, Illinois, 
 
 September Twenty-eighth. 
 
 Mounted my horse at eight o'clock and by easy 
 riding reached a farm house in Rock River Bottom, 
 where I passed the noon hour. After dinner I made 
 good time as the weather had changed and become 
 cold, reminding me of the necessity of hurrying on if 
 I would avoid the deep snows which the traveller is 
 sure to encounter in the elevated regions farther west 
 and it was every day more evident that I could not 
 well afford to allow my lecture appointments to con- 
 flict with the dispatch of my journey. 
 
 On starting from Genesseo in the morning it was 
 
CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT. 401 
 
 my intention to make Moline the evening objective, 
 bnt I was compelled to halt at Milan — twenty miles 
 from the morning starting-point — where the bridge 
 was torn np that crossed Rock River at this point. 
 Being delayed, I sent a note forward to Davenport in- 
 forming Babcock that I would cross the Mississippi 
 the following afternoon at three o'clock ; in the mean- 
 time waiting, with what patience I could muster, for 
 tlie bridge work to proceed. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FOUR DAYS AT DAVENPORT. 
 
 LEFT the Milan House at two P. M., 
 Paul being eager for the start. Before 
 proceeding far I dismounted and ran 
 ahead leaving him to follow me if he 
 would. I ran over two or three small 
 hills and the faithful animal broke into a 
 gallop and was soon by my side mutely 
 inviting me to remount. About four 
 o'clock we crossed the Mississippi on the 
 fine Government Bridge which unites Rock Island and 
 Davenport, and proceeded to the Burtis House — since 
 named the Kimball. Colonel P. A. J. Russell was one 
 of the first to greet me. Moore's Hall having been 
 engaged for my lecture, I spoke at the usual hour 
 to a large audience, to whom General Sanders intro- 
 duced me. The local band in full uniform volun- 
 teered their services for the occasion. The lecture was 
 a financial success. 
 
 The next three days were occupied in making my 
 acquaintance with the city. It is only fifty years ago 
 that the first cabin was erected here by white men. By 
 the side of the great river a bluff rises gradually to an 
 elevation of about one hundred and fifty feet, and on 
 (402) 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DAVENPORT. 403 
 
 its side and at its base the city of Davenport is built. 
 Over a blulF we come upon a beautiful rolling prairie, 
 and back as far as Duck Creek the land is covered 
 Avith fruit, vegetable and flower gardens, and ])resents 
 a picture of uncommon beauty. Views of the Missis- 
 sippi are obtained from the summit of the bluff; also 
 of Rock Island Arsenal and Rock Island City on the 
 opposite shore of the river. 
 
 In 18;3'2, General Winfield Scott made a treaty 
 with the Indians of the Sac tribe for the purchase by 
 the United States of the land occupied by them bor- 
 dering on the west side of the river. The city of 
 Davenport was named after Colonel George Daven- 
 port,, the first white settler. Antoine Le Claire was 
 the first to own land in Davenport. His mother 
 was the daughter of a Pottawatomie chief and his 
 father a French Canadian. At this time the North- 
 west territory was peopled entirely by Indians, with 
 here and there one of a different race fearless enough 
 to brave the dangers of a frontier life. Le Claire pur- 
 chased the claim upon which the city of Davenport 
 was laid out for one hundred and fifty dollars. In 
 1835, he sold it to a company who commenced the 
 building of the city. The first ferry between Daven- 
 port and Rock Island dates from 1835. It was a flat- 
 boat proi)clled by oars. At present a large steamboat 
 is constantly employed in transferring passengers and 
 freight between these cities. The river is about a 
 mile in width at this point. 
 
 Davenport excels all the other cities of the State in 
 
 the beauty and advantages of its location. The view 
 
 from the hill-tops is scarcely to be equalled for pic- 
 
 turesqueness by anything I saw during my journey. 
 
 20 
 
404 OCEA^^ OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 The city has made great and rapid progress in its 
 industries, wealth and population. The education of 
 the young is well provided for. It has a high school 
 built at a cost of $65,000. Griswold College — Ej)isco- 
 palian — occupies a very picturesque site, over-looking 
 the river. The Catholic College is in a retired and 
 quiet spot, surrounded by beautifully shaded grounds, 
 the buildings being elegant and commodious. The 
 churches are numerous, every denomination being 
 represented. Grace Church, the protestant Cathedral, 
 is a fine substantial edifice, erected at a cost of 
 ?80,000. 
 
 The Public Library on Brady street, founded by 
 Mrs. Clarissa Cook, a lady of wealth, is a highly prized 
 and flourishing institution. The Academy of Sciences 
 embraces a most valuable and unique collection of rare 
 curiosities, both ancient and modern, among others, 
 relics from the mounds of Iowa and adjoining States, 
 including skulls and skeletons of pre-historic man. 
 
 The population of Davenport is now about 20,000. 
 On account of its being built on a declivity the drainage 
 is perfect. It is surrounded by a most fertile country 
 and possesses every element for the growth of a large 
 city. 
 
 Recrossingthe magnificent bridge spanning the river 
 between Davenport and the Illinois shores, I found 
 myself on Rock Island. The Island lies to the north 
 of the city, the latter not being located on the Island 
 but on the mainland of Illinois. Since 1804 the 
 Island proper has been the property of the United 
 States Government, although not occupied until 1812, 
 on the breaking out of the war with England. The 
 surface is very fertile, and coal and limestone are 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DAVENPORT. 407 
 
 found in Iaro;e quantities. It is about tliree miles 
 long, covering nine hundred and sixty acres. An 
 arsenal and armory are located here. A fort was 
 erected in 1816, and named Fort Armstrong. It 
 was garrisoned until May, 1836, when it was evac- 
 uated. An ordnance depot was established by the 
 Government in 1840. In 1862, by Act of Con- 
 gress, the Island was made a United States Arse- 
 nal. General Tiiomas J. Rodman was the first 
 appointed to the command and held the position 
 until his death. In 1869, Congress appropriated 
 $500,000 for a bridge across the Mississippi uniting 
 the Island with the city of Davenport. This fine 
 structure is a railroad and wao^on brid^-e and affords 
 all necessary facilities for the movement of military 
 stores. General Rodman was succeeded in the com- 
 mand of the Arsenal, in 1871, by Colonel D. W. 
 Flagler of the Ordnance Corps, and the Island has 
 become, under his management, the strongest military 
 post on the Mississippi. Substantial quarters for the 
 ofificers of the garrison and barracks for the soldiers, 
 have been erected, also a bridge connecting the Island 
 with the city of Moline. 
 
 Rock Island is connnected with Rock Island City 
 on the Illinois sliore and with Davenport on the 
 opposite side of the river, and also with Moline on 
 the east side about three miles above Rock Island. 
 
 In the spring of 1828, there were only nine white 
 men and their families on the site now occupied by 
 Rock Island City ; the Indians of the Sac tribe were 
 much aggrieved by the whites taking possession of 
 their lands while the latter were away on their hunting 
 expeditions. Black Hawk, chief of the tribe, took 
 
408 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 
 great oifence and protested strongly against it, and as 
 the number of white settlers increased the discontent 
 of tlie Indians grew stronger. Tliey were urged by 
 the commandino; officer of the Island and the Indian 
 agent, Colonel Davenport, to move across to the west 
 side of the river in compliance with their treaty with 
 the United States Government; but Black Hawk 
 refused to move and contended that the Island was 
 his property. The Fox tribe crossed the river and 
 established themselves there. The lands on the Illi- 
 nois side were now surveyed and sold to the settlers by 
 the Government, but Black Hawk and the Sacs still 
 refused to leave. Depredations were committed by the 
 Indians of which the whites complained, and in 1831 
 Black Hawk gave notice to the settlers to leave his 
 lands. Some neighboring tribes it was now feared, 
 would unite with the Sacs in an attack on the settlers, 
 who petitioned the military authorities and the Gover- 
 nor of Illinois to protect them, and in this way what 
 is known as the Black Hawk War originated. 
 
 In response to the complaints of the settlers. Gov- 
 ernor Reynolds, of Illinois, called out sixteen hundred 
 mounted volunteers and marched them to the Island 
 and General Gaines at Saint Louis proceeded immedi- 
 ately to the scene of action with the Sixth United States 
 Infantry. General Gaines ordered all the settlers to 
 move to the Island, and then invited Black Hawk to 
 talk over the situation. The military and settlers met 
 in the Council House, and Black Hawk, with about 
 one hundred warriors in their war paint, approached 
 and entered and soon commenced shouting in an 
 intimidating manner. It was thought that an attempt 
 at a o;eneral massacre would be made. An Indian 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DAVENPORT. 409 
 
 called ^' The Proi)het'^ raised Iiis voice very lii^b, 
 gesticulating- and speaUiiig rapidly in an angry tone 
 as it* he desired to excite the warriors to an attack. 
 At length (jniet was obtained and General Gaines 
 spoke to Black Hawk, reminding him of the sale of 
 the lands in dispute to the Unitetl States Government. 
 Black Hawk and his followers claimed that the lands 
 had never been sold. The treaty was then read and 
 explained to the chief, which seemed to enrage him 
 greatly. Black Hawk shouted: "The white people 
 speak from paper, but the Indian always speaks from 
 the heart." He further said that their lands had not 
 been sold, that the men who signed the treaty had no 
 authority to do so, or to sell their land. And even if it 
 was sold, they were not paid for it. The General said 
 that the Government had assigned him and his people 
 land on the west side of the Mississippi. His only 
 answer was that he w^ould neither leave nor fight and 
 if the whites attempted to drive him off, he w^ould sit 
 down in his wigwam and they might do what they 
 liked with him. General Gaines understood by tliis 
 that he would defend what he considered his rights. 
 
 Fre})arations for an attack were now made by the 
 commanding officers and Governor Iveynolds, and on 
 June 19, 18'j1, trooj)s were assembled near the mouth 
 of Rock River. The next morning they moved 
 upon the Indian village. Black Hawk, however, and 
 all his people had left in the night, crossed the i\Iis- 
 sissi[)pi and were camped a few miles below Rock 
 Island. Ten days after, the chief i)resented himself on 
 the Island with twenty-seven warriors and voluntarily 
 signed a treaty of peace with General Gaines and the 
 Governor of Illinois, the latter representing the 
 
410 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 National Government. The terms of this treaty in- 
 chided a pledge on the part of Black Hawk not to 
 return to the east side of the river or give any more 
 trouble to the white settlers. 
 
 In the following winter, Black Hawk refused to 
 keep the treaty any longer and in April, 1832, he and 
 about five hundred of his braves crossed the Mississippi 
 at Burlington and moved up the east bank of the river 
 with his women and children, intending to drive out 
 the settlers and return to their old village on the 
 Island. The Winnebagoes and other Indians were to 
 have assisted him in recovering the land. This news 
 soon reached Saint Louis and Colonel Atkinson with 
 a body of infantry left that city for Rock Island. 
 Zachary Taylor, afterwards President of the United 
 States, was in command of a company, and Lieutenant 
 Jefferson Davis, afterwards President of the Confed- 
 erate States, was attached to the same regiment through- 
 out this campaign. 
 
 About two thousand volunteers were brought for- 
 ward by Governor Reynolds of Illinois, assembling 
 at Beardstown and marching to Yellow Banks, fifty 
 miles below Rock Island. They moved to the mouth 
 of Rock River where they were joined by Colonel 
 Atkinson and his regulars. The volunteers were 
 under the command of General Whiteside, and Abra- 
 ham Lincoln, afterwards President of the United 
 States, served under him as captain of a company. 
 The Indians had ascended Rock River and halted 
 opposite Rock Island, the women and children having 
 been sent higher up the river in canoes. Black Hawk 
 now made an attempt to capture Fort Armstrong. 
 He crossed to the Island with his warriors in the 
 
FOUR DAYS AT DAVENPORT. 411 
 
 niglit, but :i violent stui'in ;irisiii<^ iiiterfc'rcd witli liis 
 plans that ni^lit, and in the ni(jrnin<^ Colonel Atkin- 
 son's Inlimtry arrived and drove tiieni from tlie island. 
 Tliey followed their women nj) Uoek Uiver, pursued 
 by Colonel Atkinson imd the volunteers under (ieneral 
 Whiteside. 
 
 Nearly the whole of i^laek Hawk's band was de- 
 stroyed in the followinj^ months of May, June, July 
 and August, and JJlaek Hawk himself was ('a{)tured 
 and removed as a [)risoner to the Island. He and his 
 son Seoskuk, and other ehiefs, were afterwards taken 
 to Washington and other eastern eities. On his 
 return from his eastern tour, Black Hawk settled 
 down with a remnant of his own tribe on Des Moines 
 Kiver, where he died in 1<S38. 
 
 The Sacs and Foxes are believed to have originally 
 come from the vicinity of Montreal, Canada, about the 
 year 1700, and had lived on or near. Rock Island over 
 one hundred and thirty years. After the close of the 
 "Black Hawk War " there were no hostilities with 
 the Indians at Rock Island. 
 
 During the late Civil War the Island was converted 
 into a military prison and upwards of 12,000 Con- 
 federate prisoners were confined here. About 2,000 
 died and were buried on the Island. 
 
 A pleasant day may be passed in wandering over 
 the Island, which is now an Inipoi'taiit United States 
 Arsenal for the Mississi|)i)i Valley. 
 
 Rock Island City is situated on the mainland on 
 the Illinois bank of the river. p]ast of the city, 
 stretching away to Rock River, are some picturesque 
 bluffs and scenery of great beauty. On the sides of the 
 hills are many comfortable residences of well-to-do 
 
412 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 • 
 
 citizens. The city is about mid-way between Saint 
 Louis and Saint Paul, and immediately opposite the 
 larger city of Davenport, Iowa. The iron bridge 
 owned by the United States Government and connect- 
 ing the two cities is open to the public free of toll. 
 
 The water power produced by the rapids has largely 
 contributed to the growth of Rock Island City, and 
 also of Moline — a city of factories — within an easy 
 walk of its neighbor. In the latter I found many es- 
 tablishments for the manufacture of plows, cultivators 
 and other farming appliances ; also wagons and car- 
 riages, together with foundries and machine shops. 
 
 Rock Island City has a commerce and trade second 
 to no city of its size in the Union. The centre of a 
 system of railroads, the city has a busy aspect at all 
 times. The population at the time of my visit was 
 about 16,000. 
 
 Three miles from Rock Island City, inland, is a re- 
 sort frequented by the residents of both sides of the 
 river. Its traditions and associations are romantic. 
 It is known as Black Ilawk^s Watch Tower. The 
 tower consists of a rock and is the summit of the 
 highest hill, overlooking Rock River and affording an 
 extensive picture of the surrounding country. The 
 rock derives its name from its having been used by 
 Black Hawk as a point from wiiich he could survey 
 his lands for many miles. Tradition says it was se- 
 selected by the chiefs father and overlooked the tribe's 
 first village on the banks of Rock River. Black 
 Hawk gave the following account of the place to 
 Antoine Le Claire in 1833: "The tower was my 
 favorite resort and was often visited by me alone, 
 where I could sit and smoke my pipe and look with 
 
FOUR DAYf^ AT DAVENPORT. 413 
 
 wonder ami pleasure -at tlie a;ran(l scenes that were 
 presented, even aeross the mighty river. On one oc- 
 casion a Frenchman who had been resting in our 
 village, brought his violin with him to the Tower to 
 play and dance ibr the amusement of my ])eople who 
 had assemi)led there, and while dancing with his back 
 to the clilV, accidentally fell over it and was killed. 
 Tiie Indians say that at the same time of the year soft 
 strains of tiie violin can be heard near the spot." lie 
 further relates that in the year lcS27, a young Sioux 
 Indian, who was lost in a violent snow-storm, found 
 liis way into a camp of the Sacs, and while there, fell 
 in love with a beautiful maiden. On leaving for his 
 own country he promised to return in the summer and 
 claim his bride. He did so, secreting himself in the 
 woods until he met the object of his affection. A 
 heavy thunder-storm was coming on at the time, and 
 the lovers took shelter under a rocky cliff on the south 
 side of the Tower. Soon a loud ])eal of thunder was 
 heard; the cliff was rent into a thousand pieces and 
 they were buried beneath them. *' This, their unex- 
 pected tomb," says Jllack Hawk, "still remains undis- 
 turbed." 
 
 In the spring, summer and autumn many hundreds 
 of visitors climb to the Tower, especially on Sunday and 
 holidays, and while breathing the pure, healthful at- 
 mosphere, enjoy delightful views of the surrounding 
 country and the majestic river at their feet. The 
 Davenport ♦family own the property, which, however, 
 is accessible to all visitors. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 DAVENPORT TO DES MOINES. 
 
 ®ne J5«nbreb aul» jFortn-fiftI) JDaw. 
 
 Farm House, 
 
 Near Blue Grass, Iowa, 
 
 October 3, 1876. 
 
 EATHER cold, but clear and bracing. 
 Mounted Paul at three o'clock p. M. 
 and halted at the office of The Democrat, 
 to say good-bye to Colonel Russell. On 
 the road I overtook S. N. Oarlock, a 
 farmer, who invited me to spend the 
 night at his house, which I agreed to do 
 and was made very comfortable. I soon 
 discovered that Mr. Garlock was a 
 native of the Empire State, but came to Iowa twenty- 
 seven years ago, and was now the owner of a pros- 
 perous farm near the village of Blue Grass. He spoke 
 of visiting his old home in the East and his intention 
 to proceed by way of Philadelphia and spend a day or 
 two at the Centennial Exposition. He sai«l that many 
 Western people were making arrangements to go to 
 the *' Exposition " and at the same time visit their old 
 homes and the old folks whom they had not seen for 
 many long years. 
 (314) 
 
DAVENPORT TO DES MOINES. 415 
 
 ®ue (Jiinire^ anli fortti-sktl) ?Darj. 
 
 loioa House, 
 
 Moscow, Iowa, 
 
 October Fourth. 
 
 Moscow is a small agricultural hamlet twenty-nine 
 miles west of Davenport, with a population of less 
 than three hundred, but increasing in number as the 
 surrounding region is occupied. On the road here 
 from J^iue Grass I found the weather becoming very 
 cold and was compelled to dismount several times and 
 walk some heat into my body. The country is rich in 
 fertility of soil — generally rolling prairie. The villages 
 along the road are said to be growing very rapidly. 
 
 (Due fjuubiTLi anb Jorta-set)cutl) Dan. 
 
 St. James Hotel, 
 Iowa City, Iowai 
 
 October Fifth. 
 
 Reached here at six o'clock p. M., fifty-five miles 
 from Davenport. Weather, most of the day, cold, 
 cloudy and generally disagreeable. I learn upon in- 
 quiry that the land about here for miles is, for the 
 most part, settled by a thrifty, intelligent and enter- 
 prising i)eople, and is well adapted to all the wants of 
 the agriculturist. The railroad brings all the produce 
 into market and farmers and manufacturers have their 
 labors rewarded. The soil is a rich, black loam, and 
 often, I am told, from five to ten feet in depth. 
 
 Had su|)i)('r and retired to my room to attend to 
 my correspondence. 
 
416 OCEAN TO OCEAN^ ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 ®ue ijunlireli auti Jorb-rioiljtl) Slaw. 
 
 St. James Hotel, 
 
 Iowa City, Iowa, 
 
 October Sixth. 
 
 The weather continued extremely cold. Babcock 
 completed necessary arrangements with the proprietor 
 of Ham's Hall for my lecture the following evening. 
 In the meantime I took a look at the city which 
 was for many years the State capital. Its most sa- 
 lient feature appeared to be the State University, in 
 which both sexes continue their education with com- 
 mendable zeal, under competent professors. There are 
 also a high school, a female college, a commercial 
 college and several common schools. Four or fivedaily 
 and weekly newspapers keep up the interest of the people 
 in local aifairs and national politics ; and four banks 
 encourage the thrifty to place their spare cash with 
 them at interest. Woollen and flax manufactures give 
 employment to a considerable number of young people, 
 and the mills are said to be in a flourishing condition. 
 
 The city has a large internal trade as well as with 
 the several surrounding villages. 
 
 St. James Hotel, 
 Iowa City, Iowa, 
 
 October Seventh. 
 
 The former State House is a fine and capacious 
 building and an ornament to the city. On the re- 
 moval of the seat of government to Des Moines, one 
 
DAVENPORT TO DES MOINES. 417 
 
 liiindrod and twenty miles farther west, the l)nihlln(r 
 with its ex<ensiv(^ Gfninnds was i^rantod l)y the Legisla- 
 tnre to tlie State University. 
 
 r also noted several lari^e jilaces of husincss here, 
 inelndin<^ dry goods, f^rooeries and hardware. Then* 
 are several Inmher yards, flourintr mills, plow taetories, 
 iron foundries, for manufacturing mac^hinery ; also 
 due proportion to the ])opulation. 
 
 The newspapers published here are, according to all 
 accounts, ably conducted and well sustained. The 
 surrounding country is well adapted to all the wants of 
 the agriculturist and is thickly settled. 
 
 In the evening I delivered my ])romised lecture to a 
 very full house — Hon. G. B. Edmunds introducing 
 me to the audience. The walls were covered with 
 flags and a profusion of flowers greeted me on my ar- 
 rival on the platform. 
 
 ©ue Cjuniivcli auli jTiftictl) IDag. 
 
 Tiffin House, 
 Tiffin, Iowa, 
 
 October Eighth. 
 
 ^founted Paul in front of the vSaint James to con- 
 tinue mv journc^v and felt the need of an overcoat. 
 Drew rein at Tillin, a few miles from Iowa City. Of 
 Tiffin little more can be said than that it has a rustic 
 po])ulation of about fifty souls. The accommodations at 
 the Tiffin Rouse I must leave tocotijecture, as any de- 
 scription would fall short of the reality. The only 
 guests were a Methodist parson, two farmers on an 
 
418 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 expedition in quest of apples, and an overland tourist. 
 The nabob of the village came into tlie [)ublic room in 
 the course of the evening — a farmer and former State 
 senator. This "Hon." gentleman engrossed our atten- 
 tion for about three hours by a long-winded descrip- 
 tion of the varieties of the ^' genus hog " — how to breed, 
 how to feed and fatten, and liow to drive him to mar- 
 ket; all of wdiich would probably have been edifying 
 and elevating to the average Tiffinite, but it made me 
 and the parson drowsy and I retired to dream of hogs 
 and fat bacon until awakened by the daylight. 
 
 ®iu I5wi^*^^*f>^ ^^^^ Jifhvfiret Sag. 
 
 Grand Paci/ic Hotel, 
 
 Marengo, Iowa, 
 
 October Ninth. 
 
 In ray journey from Tiffin I found it necessary to 
 dismount several times and walk in order to drive 
 away the sensation of cold. Reached Marengo in the 
 evening and registered at the Grand Pacific Hotel. 
 Winter seemed to be approaching with rapid strides at 
 this time and I was warned that it was necessary to lose 
 as little time as possible at the different resting-points. 
 
 Marengo is eighty-five miles from Davenport. 
 There is a good bridge crossing the Iowa River here, 
 which adds much to the facilities for doing business. 
 A thriving community of farmers occupy the sur- 
 rounding land. Among the most important villages 
 and towns in this and adjoining counties, are Newton, 
 Grinnell, Montezuma and Millersburg, all growing in 
 size and importance. Marengo is the county -seat of 
 
DAVENPORT TO DES MOINES. A'l\ 
 
 Iowa County, and contains a population of nearly two 
 thousand. 
 
 The State of Iowa, taken ivs a whole, is one of the 
 most fertile in the United States. The native prairies 
 are fields almost ready-made for the farmers' hands; 
 their rich black soil returning him reward for his labor 
 a hundred fold. 
 
 ®nc Cjuubreb anb JTiftn-seconb Daij. 
 
 Skinner House, 
 
 Brooklyn, Iowa, 
 
 October Tenth. 
 
 My ride to-day from Marengo has been over fine 
 prairie land with occasionally a farm in the distance 
 like an oasis in the desert. Brooklyn is one hundred 
 miles from Davenport and, as some evidence of its 
 prosperous condition, has four hotels. I was fortunate 
 in selecting the Skinner House, the proprietor of which 
 knows how to make his guests comfortable. Paul 
 also seemed happy to-night when I shut him in a 
 clean and well-appointed stable with his supper, 
 
 J^rooklyn is a village of over twelve hundred in- 
 habitants, and wears the impress of success. There 
 are several grain elevators, foundries, flour mills and 
 business houses of all kinds; also graded schools, banks, 
 and daily and weekly papers. The streets are clean and 
 well paved, which is more than can be said for its 
 Eastern namesake. The surrounding farms are large 
 and well cultivated, and the country presents a most 
 attractive appearance. 
 
422 OCEAX TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 (Due C)uulircLr aub Jjiftg^tljirii Dap. 
 
 Moore House, 
 
 Kellogg, Iowa, 
 
 October Eleventh. 
 
 In front of the Skinner House, Paul caused me 
 some little anxiety by dashing up the street from the 
 front where I had left him with loose rein for a mo- 
 ment while settling my bill. Coming back he gave 
 me to understand, by a toss of his head, that he only 
 wanted to shake a little dust from his feet. I was soon 
 mounted and off at a full trot, covering thirty miles, 
 when T stopped at a farm house for dinner. 
 
 On reaching the outskirts of Grinncll, I hailed a 
 party of boys who were " playing haUJ' One bright 
 little fellow gave me the time, two o'clock, and the dis- 
 tance to Kellogg. I then pushed on without stopping 
 at Grinnell. Amused myself with some little boys in 
 front of a country school house who were "playing 
 horse J^ I inquired of the youngest if he went to 
 school, and his brother answered for him in the affirma- 
 tive. I then asked, " What does he learn?" "He 
 don't learn nothinY' answered the youth. " Then why 
 do you take him to school?" T inquired. "So, when 
 the boys go out, he can ^ play horse ' with us." 
 
 Have seen some of the finest scenery and grandest 
 farms to-day that I have encountered along my journey. 
 The day has been unusually bright and pleasant, and 
 the country looks lovely in the extreme. Reached 
 Kellogg to-night, half an hour after dark. Caught a 
 young snipe about a mile from the village and offered 
 
DAVENPORT TO DES MOINES. 42t^ 
 
 it to a young girl if she coiilcl name its species. Slie 
 could not, and a boy claimed tlie j)rize. 
 
 Amused some of the guests in the evening with in- 
 cidents of my Journey, and they, in turn, gave me some 
 useful information about the Far West, North Platte, 
 Green River, and Humboldt Valley. 
 
 ©HE f)unlir£b anb Jiiftti-fourtl) Slaw. 
 
 Pacific Hotel, 
 Colfax, Iowa, 
 
 October Twelfth. 
 
 Arrived at Colfax in the evening after a glorious 
 ride over the prairie. The grain on the farms waved 
 in the breeze as the fields were passed and numerous 
 streams crossed finding their way to the rivers that in- 
 tersect the State. This prairie is not entirely devoid 
 of timber, for groves dot the extended landscape like 
 islands in a green sea; while from the higher grounds 
 I viewed the prairie decked with wild hay and autumn 
 
 flowers. 
 
 "Broad on either hand 
 
 The golden wheat-fields glimmered in the sun, 
 And the tall maize its yellow tassels spun." 
 
 The prairie here is from twenty to forty miles in 
 width. A variety of minerals are found and mined to 
 a limited extent. 
 
424 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 ®\\t <5unire^ anb itftg-ftftl] IDan. 
 
 Jones Hoiise, 
 D E s M o I N i<: s , Iowa, 
 
 October TInrteeuth. 
 
 Mounted Paul at eight o'clock and rode twenty miles, 
 which brought me to Des Moines. Most of the 
 journey was over prairie land ; the sun shone brightly 
 and afforded me an agreeable warmth as Paul stepped 
 out bravely — cheered, possibly by the prospect of en- 
 tering a large city and resting for a day or two. We 
 know nothing of a horse's prevision. The country 
 along my route is rich in fertility of soil, but its 
 resources are not yet fully developed. I am told that 
 but little snow falls on this prairie, the winter being- 
 made up of cool, sunshiny days, and clear, frosty 
 nigiits. There is nothing, I think, to hinder this part 
 of Iowa from being one of the most healtliy portions 
 of the United States. 
 
 ®\\t C)U]lL»r£^ anil jTifty-stitl] ?!iatt. 
 
 Jones House, 
 Des Moines, Iowa, 
 
 October Fourteenth. 
 
 I have not seen a brighter or more stirring city in 
 my line of march than Des Moines, the capital of the 
 State of Iowa. Under the escort of Professor E. T. 
 Bowen, city editor of The Leader, and two other well 
 informed gentlemen, I visited the Iowa State Perpetual 
 Exposition and was introduced to the secretary, who 
 courteously showed me over the buildings. 
 
DAVENPORT TO DES MOTNES. 425 
 
 The city stands at the mouth of the Raccoon River, 
 is three hundred and fifty-eight miles west of Chicago 
 and one hnnch'ed and forty-two east of Omaha. Its 
 shape is quadrilateral — four miles long by two miles 
 wide. The Des Moines River flows through its centre, 
 dividing the East from the West Side. The city 
 stands on a declivity, its highest part extending to 
 about one hundred and sixty feet. The Post Office, 
 Court House and city offices, the principal depots and 
 hotels, and the greater portion of the business houses, 
 are situated on a plateau about a mile long and half a 
 mile wide, rising about fifteen feet above high water; 
 and on the higher ground beyond are some of the 
 handsomest and largest private residences. 
 
 On the East Side is another business locality. Cap- 
 itol Square contains ten acres on an elevated site com- 
 manding a fine view. The State House was erected 
 at a cost of nearly $3,000,000. The Public Library 
 contains some 30,000 volumes. There are over twenty 
 churches of all denominations in the city. The Post 
 Office and Court House buildings are of marble and 
 cost $250,000. There is also a State Arsenal, a large 
 County Court House and many public improvements 
 found only in first-class modern cities. Two daily and 
 upwards of a dozen weekly pa})ers are published here. 
 In the vicinity are mines of excellent coal and a num- 
 ber of manufactories of various kinds are in operation. 
 
 Before leaving the Jones House it is but just that I 
 should say that I was not more courteously treated 
 during my journey than by Messrs. George W. Jones 
 and Son. Professor Bowen and Captain Conrad with 
 many others saw me off. 
 
 The next day a copy of the Des Moines Lcadei" 
 
426 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 reached me, in which the following notice appeared. 
 I insert it here as one of many pleasant references to 
 my journey. 
 
 "Captain Willard Glazier, the horseback traveller across the Con- 
 tinent, took in the Exposition on Saturday evening with intense 
 gratification. He says he has seen no place on his route from Boston 
 more promising than Des Moines. Among the calls he received at 
 the Jones House was one from Captain Conrad, a prominent attorney 
 from Missouri and now settled in his profession in this city, who was 
 a fellow-captive with Captain Glazier in Libby Prison during the 
 Rebellion. The Captain continued his journey westward yesterday 
 with the best wishes of the friends he has made during his short stay 
 here." 
 
CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 PES MOINES TO OMAHA. 
 
 ®ue C)unLircLi aub f lftn-0CDeutl) Oag. 
 
 Byers House, 
 A D E L, Iowa, 
 
 Odo6erl5, 1876. 
 
 EFT Des Moines with pleasant tliouglits 
 of the cordial reception I had met with, 
 and pursuing my way westward over the 
 prairies, reached this village in the even- 
 ing after a twenty-five miles' ride over a 
 section of the country strikingly beauti- 
 ful. The soil of the prairie, I am every- 
 where informed, is almost invariably of 
 the most productive character. No other 
 State, in short, has finer facilities for growing all the 
 cereals of the temperate zone than Iowa. 
 
 Adel is the county-seat of Dallas County, situated on 
 the Raccoon River— generally called the '' Coon." At 
 the period of my visit the village had a population of 
 less than one thousand, and although agriculture is 
 the leading industry, considerable attention is given 
 to manufacturing. The prairie land in the vicinity 
 was, as yet, sparsely settled, but every inducement was 
 
 (4-J) 
 
430 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 s 
 
 offered settlers to establish themselves here. I noticed 
 some broken fields, and blue smoke curling up from 
 farm houses in the distance; and after eighteen miles 
 of enjoyable exercise in the pure prairie atmosphere, 
 reached this small village, where I concluded to halt 
 for the night. 
 
 Private House, 
 Dale City, Iowa, 
 
 October Sixteenth. 
 
 Weather warmer, pleasant and more invigorating 
 than during the past few days. Left Adel at eight 
 o'clock A. M., and passed through Redfield at eleven, 
 sttll on the great prairie which appears to have no 
 limit. From the hilltops the valleys w^ar the aspect 
 of cultivated meadows and rich pastures ; and on the 
 level spreads the wild prairie, decked with flowers, its 
 long waves stretching away till sky and prairie mingle 
 in the distance. Twenty years ago the red men chased 
 the elk and buffalo where now are prairie farms and 
 prairie homes. As I advance, I meet occasionally 
 with trees skirting the streams that find their way to 
 the rivers that intersect this beautiful State. 
 
 Had dinner at a prairie farm house and talked poli- 
 tics with the farmer, whom I found was an enthusi- 
 astic admirer of Peter Cooper. He did not expect his 
 political favorite would be elected, but as a matter of 
 principle would vote for him. I told him if he called 
 himself a Republican, he should cast his vote for Gov- 
 ernor Hayes, but my advice probably had little effect 
 upon him. Reached Dale City about one o'clock. It 
 
DES MOINES TO OMAHA. 433 
 
 WHS a small village in Lyon County, with about two 
 lumdred inhabitants. 
 
 ®u£ C)uul»rcLi anil f iftu-nmtl) Dag. 
 
 A Night with Coyotes, 
 
 Between Dale City and Anita, Iowa, 
 
 October IScventeenth. 
 
 My journey to-day led me again over the seemingly 
 endless prairie — extending beyond the range of human 
 vision. Halted at a farm house for dinner, near Dal- 
 manutha, an agricultural settlement in Guthrie County. 
 Wishing to reach Anita before stopping for the night, I 
 continued on the road after dark, contrary to my usual 
 practice. 
 
 For some time before sunset I had not seen a farm 
 house or even a tree as far as the eye could reach, 
 and now could see nothing of road or trail. Ac- 
 cordingly I gave Paul the rein and left him to j)ick 
 his way. He followed a sort of blind road whicli led 
 to a haystack. I thought I could do no better than 
 make my bed on the sweet hay, and decided to spend 
 the night there supj)erless. I had scarcely settled my- 
 self when a troop of coyotes, or j^rairie wolves, came 
 howling and barking in front of me. This made 
 things uncomfortable, and I at once jumped to my feet 
 and, revolver in hand, faced the enemy. Several 
 were killed by my fire. The remainder, however, 
 continued to threaten an attack. I was puzzled as to 
 what was best to do when I was suddenly re-inforced 
 by a friendly dog, who, attracted doubtless, by the report 
 of the pistol and the barking of the coyotes, came to my 
 
434 OCEAX TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 
 rescue, and kept the animals at bay for the remainder 
 of the night. At daybreak I was not sorry to bid 
 adieu to the haystack and, neither, I believe, was Paulj 
 who had also spent a restless night, notwithstanding 
 the abundance of good fodder at his disposal. 
 
 It may be mentioned that the coyote seems to par- 
 take of the nature of the dog and the wolf. In the 
 winter, when food is scarce, these animals will attack 
 man, but, unlike the wolf, if a bold resistance is 
 offered, they will speedily decamp. A pack of coy- 
 otes, however, are not pleasant company on a dark 
 night. 
 
 ©lu Qii^^^^'t^'^ ^^^^ Siilictl) Oaa 
 
 Pacific Hotel, 
 
 Atlantic, Iowa, 
 
 October Eighteenth. 
 
 Was again all day on the prairie inhaling the pure, 
 invigorating air as Paul and I faced a stiff breeze 
 from the Northwest; and at four o'clock arrived at 
 Atlantic, a thriving village of over three thousand 
 inhabitants, dependent, like all the villages I had 
 passed, upon the surrounding farms. These farms are 
 mostly in a flourishing condition, are fenced and under 
 good cultivation, divided into meadows and fields of 
 every variety of grain. The village is delightfully situ- 
 ated. As an evidence of its prosperity it supported 
 two ably conducted daily papers and three weeklies, 
 three banks and several graded schools. I was now 
 eighty-two miles from Des Moines. The prairie here 
 is gently undulating and the soil composed of vege- 
 table mould and sand. Atlantic, I infer from its busy 
 
DES MOINES TO OMAHA. 435 
 
 appearance, has a destiny above that whicli it has 
 attained. 
 
 (Due llunLiicii anil l^Vu-tn-fust Dan. 
 
 Co I u m b ia JIo use, 
 AvocA, Iowa, 
 
 October Nineteenth. 
 
 Weather cloudy, threatening rain as I rode out of 
 Atlantic in the morning at ten o'clock. Covered twenty 
 miles and stopped for dinner at another farm, near 
 Walnut. On my road saw a man at work in a large 
 cornfield and, hailing him, inquired the distance to 
 Avoca. After a few words had passed between us, I 
 was surprised and pleased to discover that he was from 
 my native county — St. Lawrence, New York, and 
 knew many of my old friends and acquaintances in 
 that quarter. Our conversation turned upon old 
 localities and associations, much to our mutual enjoy- 
 ment. The days of our youth were recalled, and 
 although we had never met before, we j^arted after 
 half an hour's chat as if we had been friends of many 
 years' standing. My friend expressed perfect satisfac- 
 tion with his rustic life on the prairie and was quite 
 enthusiastic over the prospects of his farming opera- 
 tions. The soil he said Was excellent, easy to cultivate 
 and, in fact, second to none in the State. 
 
 Avoca is a purely agricultural village with a popu- 
 lation of about Ij^OO, all, more or less, interested in 
 the big farms within a radius of one to two miles of 
 the busy town. Two weekly newspapers kept the 
 citizens en rapport with the outside world and the hus- 
 tling life of the large cities. 
 
436 OCEAN TO OCEAN jDiV HORSEBACK. 
 
 Neola House, 
 
 Neola, Iowa, 
 
 October Twentieth. 
 
 A drizzling rain on leaving Avoca made the pros- 
 pect of my ride to this point somewhat gloomy. Over 
 the interminable prairie again my journey lay, as it 
 had done ever since I entered the State of Iowa, but a 
 more magnificent sight I never saw than presented 
 itself before me this afternoon on reaching the summit 
 of an extensive table-land between Avoca and Minden. 
 
 Halted a few minutes for lunch at Minden, and met 
 a gentleman there who had attended my lecture at 
 Detroit, upon which he was pleased to compliment me. 
 Neola is a small prairie settlement of about three 
 hundred inhabitants and is surrounded by several good 
 farms. Of the Neola House I can only say that I 
 shall not easily forget it and its proprietor — especially 
 the nocturnal serenade of all the cats of Neola — which 
 deprived me of sleep throughout the night; and the 
 extremely scant accommodations provided for the guests. 
 
 The soil here is inferior in quality to that of no 
 other section of the State. The land is well watered 
 and was gradually filling up. with an industrious class 
 of citizens. 
 
 ffinc Q^^^»^^'^^ ^^^^ Sijt'tu-tljtrli Sag. 
 
 Atlantic Hotel, 
 
 Omaha, Nebraska, 
 
 October Twenty-first. 
 
 Left Neola at eight o'clock and reached Council 
 Bluffs at three p. M. Found the road on approaching 
 

 
 UK ill SCHOOL, OMAHA, nkp.i;aska. 
 
DES MOINES TO OMAHA. 4;>9 
 
 the city, in bad condition, but the splendid country 
 tliroui^h which I had passed since entering the State 
 was perhaps c(|ual to anything ever trodden by the feet of 
 man. The surface of Western Iowa is very different 
 from that of the prairie region in the eastern part of 
 the State, being rougher and more hilly. The numer- 
 ous streams proceeding from springs bursting from the 
 hillsides, are clear and swift. Near the Missouri River, 
 high and precipitous mountain bluffs are ranged, and 
 the region contiguous is very hilly. The highest hills 
 are covered with verdure — grass and timber. The soil 
 generally is light and to appearance poor, but is loose 
 and sandy, and found to be easily cultivated. Creeks 
 and smaller streams of water occur frequently and 
 afford power for mills and machinery, and furnish 
 abundant supply for farming uses and stock. 
 
 The first white settlement in Western Iowa was 
 made in the year 1847, by a company of Mormons or 
 Latter-Day Saints, who had been exiled from Illinois 
 in poverty and destitution. They passed through a 
 part of the country then only inhabited by savages. 
 They planted small colonies at places on the route, the 
 main body pushing on to th« bluffs near the Missouri 
 River. A considerable number, unable to go farther, 
 remained here, commenced clearing the land for farm- 
 ing, and two years later, in 1849, began the building 
 of a town on the site now occupied by the city of 
 Council Bluffs. Their new town they named Kanes- 
 ville after one of their leaders. Several stores were 
 built and opened, and the population was soon largely 
 increased by people who were not Mormons and had 
 no sympathy with them. The new settlers being 
 greatly in the majority, virtually drove out the 
 
440 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 "Saints," who finally left in a body to join their people 
 at Salt Lake City. 
 
 Council Bluffs is now the most populous and flour- 
 ishing city of Western Iowa. At the time of my visit, 
 the inhabitants numbered only about 8,000, but it was 
 then growing rapidly and bid fair to become one of 
 the big cities of America. There is a large trade 
 here employing an immense capital. The most im- 
 portant manufactures are the iron works and machine 
 shops, the agricultural works, carriage factories, steam 
 plows, and mills of various kinds, the city has ample 
 railroad communication by means of several lines con- 
 verging here. Omaha, on the opposite bank of the 
 Missouri, is only four miles distant. The fine, sub- 
 stantial bridge connecting the two cities is 2,750 feet 
 in length and has eleven spans. It has a railroad track, 
 and accommodation for horse-cars and ordinary travel. 
 
 The most important public buildings are the County 
 Court House, City Hall, High School building and 
 the ward school houses. There were three banks 
 and two daily and three weekly newspapers. The 
 Catholics have a seminary for young ladies and a boys' 
 parochial school. The State Institute for the Deaf and 
 Dumb is near the city. 
 
ilira''' ''"■^'':i'!illl',ri"'!' :JIS 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 A HALT AT OMAHA. 
 
 HAHA, the county-seat of Douglas 
 County, the capital and metropolis of 
 Nebraska, is the half-way station across 
 the Continent. It is aptly called the 
 "Gate City/' seeming, as it does, a sort 
 of opening to the great railroads, the 
 great waterways, and the whole fascinat- 
 ing great beyond of western enterprise 
 and western commerce. 
 As I rode into the city it seemed that it would be 
 hard to find a more attractive place. 
 
 "A fine plateau nearly a mile broad, and elevated 
 fifly or sixty feet above the Missouri, is occupied by 
 the chief business portion of the city," while the beau- 
 tiful bluffs, the low, rounded, tree-covered hills, form- 
 ing a semi-circle on tlie west and south, are thickly 
 dotted with tasteful and elegant residences and build- 
 ings surrounded by carefully laid-out grounds. 
 
 The streets cross at right angles. Most of them 
 are one hundred feet broad ; but Capitol avenue is 
 one hundred and twenty feet in width. 
 
 On high grounds, just southwest of the city limits, is 
 
 (443) 
 
444 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Hanscom Park, a fine, natural grove, beautified by art 
 for the delight of pleasure seekers. 
 
 Conspicuous on the west is the extensive Poor 
 House Farm, containing the fine brick poor house. 
 
 To tlie north, on a liigh wooded hill, solitary, apart 
 from the city, yet always within sight of its bustle 
 and rush, lies, in its solemnity, Prospect Cemetery. 
 
 In the northern section of the city, also, we find the 
 Douglas County Fair Grounds, the Omaha Driving 
 Park, and Fort Omaha. 
 
 A bridge, the erection of which cost $1,500,000, 
 spans the Missouri and connects Omaha with Council 
 Bluffs. 
 
 I found Omaha not only fair to look upon, but also 
 interesting in many ways. It is the key to the Rocky 
 Mountains and the gold mines of California. Its 
 wholesale trade amounts to about $15,000,000 an- 
 nually and is constantly increasing. Its industries 
 include smelting, brewing, distilling, brick making, 
 machine and engine building and meat packing. The 
 trade in the latter branch being only excelled by that 
 of Chicago and Kansas City. 
 
 Its manufactures are constantly increasing. The 
 Union Pacific Machine Shops alone employ about seven 
 hundred men. Omaha has a linseed oil mill which 
 turns out yearly millions of oil cakes and thousands 
 of gallons of oil. One of the city^s distilleries is so 
 extensive that it pays the United States Government 
 a tax of $300,000 per year. 
 
 The educational advantages of this metropolis are 
 unsurpassed by any city of its size in the West. It has 
 eleven fine ward school buildings and one high school. 
 The latter occupies the former site of the old terri- 
 
A HALT AT OMASA. 445 
 
 torial capitol. It is a fine, large building, erected in 
 1872, at a cost of $250,000. Its spire is tliroo 
 liiiiidred and ninety feet above the Missouri River, and 
 its cupola commands a view embracing many miles of 
 river scenery. 
 
 Creigliton College is a Jesuit institution, endowed 
 by ]Mrs. Edward Creigliton to the amount of about 
 $155,000. It will accommodate four hundred and 
 eighty pupils and opens its hospitable doors to all 
 students, irrespective of creed or race. 
 
 A four-story stone Post Office stands on the corner 
 of Dodge and Fifteenth streets. That building, to- 
 gether with the furniture which it contains, is alleged 
 to have cost $450,000 ; and Omaha people claim that 
 it is one of the handsomest government buildings in 
 all the land. 
 
 By the way, self-respect, humble pride, an appreci- 
 ation, a love and admiration of every good thing the 
 " Gate City " contains, is a characteristic of all honest, 
 true-hearted Omaha men — God bless them ! They are 
 even proud of their jail, which is universally conceded 
 to be the handsomest and strongest penal institution 
 in tlie West. 
 
 Omaha is headquarters for a military division 
 known as the Department of the Platte. A great j)art 
 of the financial supremacy of the city is due to the 
 heavy purchase and distribution of military supplies. 
 The General Government, some time since, acquired 
 eighty-two and a half acres of land, two miles north 
 of Omaha, christened it Fort (,)maha, and spent over 
 $1,000,000 in erecting military buildings upon it. 
 
 Statistics change rapidly in this Gate to })rogress and 
 improvement. In the year 1877, improvements were 
 
446 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 added to the city amounting to about $800,000 ; in 
 1878, amounting to $1,000,000, and in 1879, to about 
 $1,222,000. 
 
 Such was the Omaha which I rode into. How 
 thought-compelling a place it was ! How typical of 
 the push, vigor, enterprise and pluck which have 
 proved so masterful in the development of our once 
 " Wild West.'' It is with pleasure that the mind runs 
 over its history. 
 
 The first knowledge we have of the region in which 
 Omaha is situated, comes to us, like many another 
 crumb of information, from Father Marquette. He 
 visited that tract in 1673, explored it and mapped 
 out the principal streams. At that time the region 
 was claimed by Spain, and formed a part of the great 
 Province of Louisiana. It finally became a French 
 possession, and was sold by that nation to the United 
 States in the year 1800, for $1,500,000. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh of July, 1804, Messrs. Lewis 
 and Clark came up the Missouri, and camped on the 
 Omaha plateau, where the waters of the river then 
 covered what is now the foot of Farnam street, and 
 that part of the city where the Union Pacific Machine 
 Shops are now located, also the smelting works, ware- 
 houses, distillery, extensive coal and lumber yards, 
 and where numerous railroad tracks form a sugges- 
 tive network. 
 
 In 1825, T. B. Roye established an Indian trading 
 station on the present site of the city. 
 
 In 1845, a band of Mormons, driven from Illinois, 
 settled slightly north of the Omaha of to-day. They 
 came as " strangers and pilgrims,'' and called their 
 little settlement by the suggestive title of "Winter 
 
A HALT AT OMAHA. 447 
 
 Quarters/* The Indians, however, insisted that the 
 Mormons should not' remain. So pressed, the saints 
 divided their little party. A few families, under the 
 leadership of Elder Kane, crossed the Missouri and 
 started a settlement destined to become Council Bluffs. 
 
 The balance of the inhabitants of ** Winter Quar- 
 ters " })laccd themselves under (he leadership of 
 Brigham Young, and with one hundred and eight 
 wagons migrated to Utah, where they immediately 
 staked out Salt Lake City, and began to build their 
 Temple. 
 
 By so slight a circumstance Omaha missed being 
 next door neighbor to, or even becoming herself, the 
 New Jerusalem of the Saints. 
 
 William D. Brown is conceded to have been the first 
 white settler who staked out a claim on the plateau 
 now occupied by Omaha. lie started for the Califor- 
 nia gold fields. On his way it occurred to him how 
 profitable it would be to establish a ferry across the 
 Missouri to accommodate the thousands ])assing west- 
 ward. Putting in ])ractice his idea, in 1852, he 
 equipped a flatboat for that purpose. He named this 
 venture of his " Lone Tree Ferry," from one solitary 
 tree on the landing, just east of where in Omaha to- 
 day stand the Union Pacific Shops. 
 
 In the sj)ring of 1853, Mr. Brown staked out a 
 claim embracing most of the original town site of 
 Omaha. 
 
 July 2.*^), 185)^), Brown became a member of the 
 Council Bhiffs and Nebraska Ferry Company, whose 
 object was to open a steam ferry, and to estab- 
 lish a town on the west bank of the river. Despite 
 protests from Indians and without consent of the 
 
 22 
 
448 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 United States, in the winter and early spring of 1854, 
 what is now Douglas County was nearly covered by 
 staked-out claims of "sooners" and speculators. 
 
 May 23, 1854, Nebraska was admitted into the 
 Union as a Territory, and in the same year Douglas 
 County was created. Immediately, upon a beautiful 
 plateau, a town site was selected, laid out, and chris- 
 tened Omaha. 
 
 The first house in Omaha was commenced before 
 Omaha itself legally existed. It was built by Thomas 
 Allen. It was a log house, was named the St. Nicho- 
 las, was used as a hotel, a store, or anything else 
 which the public demanded. 
 
 In July of the same year another house was built — 
 this one being of pine flooring. It was on the present 
 site of Creighton College. Here, a few weeks after its 
 erection, the first native Omaha boy first saw the light, 
 and from this same house, a few days later, an Omaha 
 citizen first passed out to that mysterious country 
 
 " From whence no traveller returns." 
 
 The third house was called '^ Big 6." Its owner 
 opened " A general assortment of merchandise suitable 
 for time and place,'^ and '^ Big 6 " soon became a 
 place of note. 
 
 House No. 4 was opened by a house warming, 
 which was attended even by settlers from the adjacent 
 State of Illinois. 
 
 In the same year, that of 1854, the so-called Old 
 State House was built by the Ferry Company to ac- 
 commodate the first territorial legislature. It was not 
 an architectural beauty, and consequently, in 1857, it 
 gave place to a large, brick Capitol. 
 
 In this, to Omaha, memorable" year of 1854, the 
 
A HALT AT OMAHA. 451 
 
 first doctor, the first lawyer and the first minister 
 settled in her boundaries, also the first steam mill be- 
 gan running. 
 
 January 15, 1855, the large frame Douglas House 
 was opened by a grand ball. It did an immense busi- 
 ness for many years, and became notedly the head- 
 quarters for politicians and speculators. 
 
 The first territorial legislature convened January 
 16, 1855, and remained in session until March seven- 
 teenth of the same year. Where that legislature should 
 meet became a question of vital importance to a number 
 of Nebraska towns. The matter was hotly contested 
 but the metropolis won the prize, acting Governor 
 Cummings designating Omaha as the favored spot. 
 
 Traffic by steamboat did much to develop the ^'Gate 
 City." Sometimes boats arrived seven or eight times a 
 week, bringing new inhabitants, timber, machinery, 
 provisions, furniture, and piling their cargo — human 
 or inanimate — out upon the since washed away levees, 
 to be taken care of as best the embryo city could. 
 
 The first boat of the season was the event of the 
 year. Down the inhabitants ran to meet it, with- 
 out regard to age, sex or race ; down they trooped, 
 laughing, shouting, rejoicing that communication with 
 the great world was once more open. Many a *' cotil- 
 lon " was danced on the deck of that first boat, while 
 the unloading was being vigorously carried on below. 
 
 There was little crime in the new city. In the 
 three formative years only one murder is known to 
 have been committed, and no criminal was legally 
 executed until 18G3. 
 
 There was never much Indian trouble in this vicin- 
 ity. However, Omaha several times raised troops to 
 
452 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON BORSEBACK. 
 
 protect the whites of Douglas County. In 1864, a 
 large band of Indians appeared on the Elkhorn and 
 so frightened the settlers that they poured into Omaha 
 before daylight. Business was suspended, a meeting 
 called in the Court House at two o'clock p. m., and 
 before sunset every able-bodied man was armed. This 
 promptness and efficiency so impressed the Indians 
 that no outbreak took place. 
 
 In the late Civil War, Omaha responded nobly to 
 the call of the General Government. The First Regi- 
 ment of Nebraska Volunteers, the First Battalion, the 
 Second Regiment Nebraska Volunteers, the First Ne- 
 braska Veteran Cavalry, and four companies of Cur- 
 tis' Horse, came almost entirely from Omaha. 
 
 The first telegraph line reached Omaha in 1860. 
 
 The first breaking of ground for the Union Pacific 
 Rail Road took place in Omaha, December 3, 1863. 
 
 The first train from the East reached Omaha by 
 the Chicago and Northwestern route, January 17, 
 1867. 
 
 So Omaha grew and prospered. It took about 
 twenty -seven years to bring it out of original wildness 
 to the state of excellency in which I found it as I 
 passed through on my horseback journey. Yet it 
 seems but yesterday since no human dwelling occupied 
 the place now covered by our young city. Here 
 the Indian council-fires burned ; on the bluffs, with 
 no more civilized weapon than his bow and arrow, 
 he hunted deer, buffalo, elk, bear and wolf. Here 
 his war whoop rang out clear and unmolested. Here 
 brave, free, unfearing, he dwelt, 
 
 " Monarch of all he surveyed." 
 
 And now he is completely effaced from this region. 
 
A HALT AT OMAHA. 455 
 
 Gone and only remembered by some quaint name still 
 attached to stream or mountain. 
 
 To-day "the moving millions, both in this country 
 and Europe, are making earnest inquiry for Ne- 
 braska/' 50,000 new inhabitants came to it in 1880. 
 The close of the late war brought many ex-soldiers 
 and their families here to claim land privileges near 
 Omaha, and from " the four quarters of the globe the 
 swelling thousands have come to settle with those that 
 made their way thither. From Maine and Texas, and 
 from every territory of the Rocky Mountains, they 
 came." " The rank and file, the bone and muscle, 
 were men who came to stay, who counted the cost, 
 who measured the sacrifice.'' Under their faithful 
 hands the desert has been made to "blossom like the 
 rose." '' The dug-out and the log house have given 
 place to the elegant mansion, and thousands of groves 
 have sprung up almost as if by magic all over the 
 prairies." 
 
 These brave pioneers knew it would be so. They 
 believed in the embryo city. By faith they saw the 
 fields blossoming for the harvest. " They heard the 
 song of harvest home, they saw the smoke of the ris- 
 ing city, the highways of commerce, and some of them 
 saw the highways of nations, so long a fable to the 
 American pco})le, stretching up through their valleys 
 to the everlasting mount,ains and on to the broad 
 Pacific. To-day the day-dream of these brave men is 
 realized — 
 
 For lo ! it has all come true. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 OMAHA TO CHEYENNE. 
 
 S winter was approaching and the days 
 were now becoming considerably shorter, 
 it was incumbent upon me to hasten my 
 departure from Omaha, if I would es- 
 cape the violent snowstorms of the 
 mountains. Having learned from fron- 
 tiersmen that Eastern horses are not 
 available in the Alkali Region of the 
 Plains, I placed my faithful Paul in a 
 boarding stable in Omaha, purchased a mustang of a 
 Pawnee Indian and forthwith continued my journey 
 westward. 
 
 Webster defines a mustang as the ^' Wild Horse 
 of the Prairie.'^ My experience with him has taught 
 me that he is sufficiently docile under the restraint 
 of a tight rein ; will travel a longer distance over a 
 rough road in a given time than the average horse, 
 and scarcely ever shows fatigue even if the road is 
 all up-hill. Of course, some of them are vicious, 
 and will make things uncomfortable for the rider; 
 but in this particular some civilized horses are not 
 unlike them. I found tiie Mexican saddle more con- 
 venient than the "McClellan " which I had hitherto 
 used, and thought much easier for the animal. 
 (456) 
 
OMAHA TO CHEYENNE. 459 
 
 My imistiint^ was very obedient and made excellent 
 time; and having obtained in Omaha all the informa- 
 tion within my reach concerning the remaining half 
 of my journey, I determined to use all despatch and 
 avoid as much of the cold weather of the Rockies and 
 Sierras as possible. 
 
 I may here state that in consc(j[Uence of the long 
 rides I was now compelled to make, with very few 
 stoppages except at night, the original plan of the 
 journey was somewhat changed, and my journal neces- 
 sarily fell into disuse; my chief object being to get 
 over the mountains as quickly as possible. I was, 
 therefore, unable during the remainder of my ride to 
 refer so much to daily incidents, but confined myself 
 to jotting down in a general way whatever I thought 
 might prove of interest to the reader. 
 
 Over the Great Plains that lie between the Mis- 
 souri and' the Rockies my nerve was thoroughly 
 tested, and not less so the mettle of my mustang which 
 carried me a distance of five hundred and twenty-two 
 miles in six days. Stoppages were few and far between, 
 except for necessary food and sleep. The weather had 
 become very cold since leaving Omaha, and the ascent 
 had been gradual but continuous. 
 
 The surface of Nebraska is extremely varied. There 
 are no elevations that can be dignified with the name 
 of mountains, but in its northern and western ])arts 
 there are lofty hills. Along the Niobrara and White 
 Rivers, extending into Dakota, there are sand-hills 
 with a very scanty vegetation and very difficult to tra- 
 verse on account of the loose sand. The gently rolling 
 lands of three-fourths of Nebraska appear very much 
 like the suddenly petrified waves and billows of the 
 
460 OCEAN TO OCEAN, ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 ocean. Minerals had not yet been found to any con- 
 siderable extent, and the scarcity of coal rendered more 
 valuable the extensive beds of peat found in some parts 
 of the State. The salt basins of Nebraska are rich and 
 extensive. The principal one is located in Lancaster 
 County, covering an area of twelve by twenty-five 
 miles. Fossil remains, of great interest to geologists, 
 have been discovered in great quantities. Indian hiero- 
 glyphics, which ante-date the traditions of all living 
 tribes, are cut deep in the bluffs along the Missouri 
 River, in places now inaccessible. 
 
 The Platte or Nebraska River, from which the Ter- 
 ritory received its name, is a broad and shallow stream. 
 It is claimed that there is not a foot of land in Eastern 
 Nebraska that is not susceptible of cultivation. High 
 winds sweep over the plains, and the storms are some- 
 times of terrible severity. The climate is dry and 
 exhilarating, and the nights generally cool tliroughout 
 the summer. There is no part of the United States 
 better adapted for stock-raising than the prairies of 
 Nebraska. 
 
 There is a well-equipped university at Lincoln, a 
 normal school for the training of teachers and an insti- 
 tution for the blind at Nebraska City. 
 
 After a fifty miles' ride from Omaha a halt was made 
 at the Sherman House, Fremont, Dodge County, for 
 supper and lodging. The journey had been pleasant 
 and the landscape charming in its quiet beauty. The 
 south wind was neither too warm nor too cold for per- 
 fect comfort, and my mustang looked as if he could 
 carry me another fifty miles without any inconvenience 
 to himself. 
 
 Fremont had a population of nearly 3,000, and has 
 
O^TAITA TO CHEYENNE. 461 
 
 a large trade in grain, cotton and lumber. It lias a 
 court Iiousc, a high school, three banks and four news- 
 papers. 
 
 Ijcft early the following morning and at night slept 
 in a wigwam with Pawnee Indians, in the absence of 
 other shelter, and they gave me of their best. At 
 I^one Tree, a post office in Nance County, I stopped 
 at the Lone Tree House for the night, and next morn- 
 ing at dawn, the weather being very tine, hurried for- 
 ward on my journey. Reached Grand Island, where 
 I was accommodated at a private house with bed and 
 board. 
 
 Grand Island is in the Great Platte Valley on 
 Platte River, one hundred and fifty-four miles west of 
 Omaha. It stands 1,800 feet above sea level. The 
 Island, on which the town is built, is fifty miles long. 
 
 Wood River, my next resting-place, is a township 
 in Hall County with a population not exceeding one 
 thousand. On the following day good headway was 
 made, but I could find no better accommodation for 
 the night than at a Pawnee camp. On the suc- 
 ceeding night, after a hard day's ride, I stopped 
 at Plum Creek, two hundred and thirty miles west of 
 Omaha, and was accommodated at the Plum Creek 
 House. A bridge spans the Platte River at this point. 
 The population was only three hundred, but a weekly 
 })aper had been started and was well supported. The 
 next evening, the ^IcPiierson House, ^IcPherson, 
 received me and my mustang and treated ns hospitably. 
 Then we reached North Platte, one hundred and thirty- 
 seven miles from Grand Island, where I lodged for the 
 night at a private house and was made welcome. The 
 repair shops of the Union Pacific Railroad were located 
 
462 OCEAN TO OCEAN^ ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 here; also a bank and two enterprising newspapers. 
 The population of the township was nearly three thou- 
 sand. At Sidney, which is a military post, I stopped 
 at the Railroad Hotel. Sheep-farming is a leading 
 industry of Sidney and its vicinity. My last stopping- 
 place in Nebraska was at Evans Ranche, Antelope, a 
 small village on the Elk Horn River. 
 
 Crossing the boundary into Wyoming Territory and 
 reaching Cheyenne, I made my entrance into this most 
 interesting region — a great plateau of nearly 100,000 
 square miles, its lowest level 3,543 feet, its highest alti- 
 tude more than 13,000 feet above the sea. Some one 
 has said that it seems "a highway, laid out by the 
 *Great Intelligence,' in the latitude most favorable, at 
 all seasons, for the great migrations to the shores of 
 the Pacific which modern times have witnessed." 
 
 Shales bearing petroleum, iron, limestone, soda, sul- 
 phur, mica, copper, lead, silver and gold, are all there 
 for the taking. 
 
 There, volcanoes are still at work. 
 
 There, great mountains, great canyons, and great 
 cataracts make the face of Nature sublime. 
 
 There, in past centuries, "at some period anterior 
 to the history of existing aboriginal races," lived a 
 mysterious, to us unknown people, traces of whom we 
 still find in neatly finished stratite vessels, " knives, 
 scrapers, and sinkers for fish lines made of volcanic 
 sandstone or of green-veined marble. Such is the 
 tract of territory called Wyoming." 
 
 Beginning at the south-east corner of this tract, we 
 encounter, not far from the boundary, a semi-circular 
 range, about 2,000 feet above the general level, 
 known as Laramie Hills. The north branch of the 
 
IJI.Ita}]ll»lllll^ 
 
 m 
 
 'JW!>";!!'i;"|"!'|i 
 
 ''11 
 ■riMiiiiil 
 
OMAHA TO CHEYENNE. 465 
 
 Platte, coin i 11 1^ from the south, sweeps in a long 
 curve about it; and just at the base of this Laramie 
 range nestles the so-called " Magic City," Cheyenne, 
 the capital of Wyoming. 
 
 White men first explored this region in 1743, and in 
 1744, when Sieur de la Verendrye and his sons came 
 down from Canada, lured by the then unexplored 
 Rocky Mountains. But the region was fearfully 
 wild. Not only was the face of Nature most strange, 
 but the whole tract was overrun by belligerent 
 savages. 
 
 It was 1804 before a few brave whites began hunt- 
 ing beaver there. But it was not for many a long year 
 that civilization took possession of the spot. Not 
 indeed until mining first took place on the summit of 
 the Rocky Mountains in Dakota. 
 
 Then the fact of railroad construction brought great 
 crowds to the North Platte country, crowds composed 
 of two diametrically opposed elements, namely workers 
 and loafers. These two elements joined hands for 
 once, strange as it may seem, and together they settled 
 Cheyenne. They located it near several military posts, 
 and just as close to Denver as they could get it, and 
 still kecj) it in Wyoming. At Denver was a bank. 
 They wanted to be near that institution, and so came 
 within one hundred and six miles of it. Such were a 
 settler's ideas of propinquity! 
 
 Several items contributed to making this young 
 settlement a success. The most important of these 
 items was that, in 1867, the Union Pacific Railroad 
 Company began to locate its shops there. That was 
 rarely fine bait for mechanics. The coal and iron 
 mines in the suburbs proved good bait for miners. 
 
466 OCEAN TO OCEAIH ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 So, from these humble beginnings, Cheyenne came 
 into existence, awoke, bestirred herself, became fired 
 with ambition, and made the summer of 1867 one 
 never to be forgotten in her boundaries. 
 
 On July first of that year, the agent of the Union 
 Pacific Railroad erected in Cheyenne the first structure 
 belonging to that company. 
 
 In August, the city government was formed, H. M. 
 Hook being chosen mayor. 
 
 On September nineteenth, the first issue of the 
 Cheyenne Evening Leader was published. 
 
 September twenty-seventh, a meeting was held for 
 the purpose of organizing a county to be called Lara- 
 mie. 
 
 On October eighth, an election was held to vote for 
 a representative to Congress, to elect county officers, 
 and to locate the county -seat. It was decided that 
 every citizen of the United States, who had been in 
 the territory ten days, might vote. One thousand nine 
 hundred votes were cast, and Cheyenne was declared 
 the county -seat. 
 
 On October twenty-fifth, telegraphic communication 
 with the East was opened. 
 
 November thirteenth, the first passenger train came 
 through from Omaha, and one month later the track 
 was laid to Fort Russell. 
 
 About July first of that year, a Mr. Post bought 
 two lots in Cheyenne for six hundred dollars. He 
 then went to Denver on business, stopped to stake out 
 his claim in a coal mine, and returned to find that city 
 real estate had become so inflated in his absence that 
 he was enabled to sell a fractional part of his six hun- 
 dred dollar lots for five thousand six hundred dollars. 
 
OMABA TO CHEYENNE. 4G0 
 
 About July first, the Union Pacific Railroad sold 
 lots for one liundrcd and fifty dollars per lot. A 
 month later, they were worth one thousand dollars 
 apiece, increasing in price at the rate of one thousand 
 dollars per lot each month for some time after. 
 
 On July 1, 1867, Cheyenne was simply a little cor- 
 ner of the wilderness. 
 
 On January 1, 18G8, it was a city of six thousand 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Was it not indeed a ^^ Magic City," which could 
 furnish a six months' record like the above? 
 
 However, this was but the Quatre Bras before the 
 Waterloo. 
 
 Cheyenne's real struggle for life, for advancement, 
 for culture and permanent prosperity, was to begin 
 with this new year of 1868. We know how grandly 
 the young city conquered, not by "magic" this time, 
 but better still, by patience, pluck, and indomitable 
 will. But to her honest and law-abiding citizens, at 
 the outset of 1868, things looked dark indeed. 
 
 Cheyenne was the terminus of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad that winter, and the scum of the floating 
 Western population drifted thither. 
 
 Houses were insufficient, and many wintered in 
 tents and dugouts. 
 
 To make things worse, great numbers of squatters 
 came, and began seizing town lots. 
 
 "Shootings were frequent, and ev^ery manner of vice 
 abounded. A canvas saloon would answer as well as 
 another for gambling, drinking, and the purposes of 
 the dives. Various men and women made the place 
 intolerable. It was never disputed that this town ex- 
 ceeded in vice and unwholesome excitement any of the 
 
470 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 * 
 
 new cities of the West." The police were overwhelmed. 
 Crime, theft, and assault were rampant. Patience 
 ceased to be a virtue. 
 
 The commander at Fort Russell was appealed to, 
 and a battalion was sent by him to escort the squatters 
 beyond the city limits. 
 
 After that, the good people of Cheyenne took mat- 
 ters into their own hands, deciding to 
 
 " Take up arms against a sea of troubles, 
 And by opposing, end them." 
 
 A vigilance committee, that dernier resort of the 
 order-loving Westerner of that period, was formed. 
 
 On January 11, 1868, this committee arrested three 
 men for robbery. Tlie criminals were bound together 
 and placarded with the following notice: 
 
 "$900 stole. $500 returned! Thieves F. St. Clair, W. Grier, E. 
 D. Brownell ! City authorities please not interfere until ten o'clock 
 A.M. Next case goes up a tree ! Beware of Vigilance Committee! " 
 
 Comparatively gentle measures, like the above, were 
 useless. Authority in that wild land had to be made 
 of ^' sterner stuif.'^ Not until the vigilants had hung 
 and shot a dozen men did comparative order prevail. 
 There was many a dark day for the well-wishers of 
 Cheyenne; yet they lost 
 
 " No jot of heart or hope, 
 But pressed right boldly on," 
 
 and gradually peace came out of strife, order out of 
 confusion, and civilization reigned supreme. 
 
 In 1869, Cheyenne became the great entree port of 
 the vast regions north and west. 
 
 On September seventh of that year the first terra of 
 court was held in the city. 
 

OMAHA TO CHEYENNE. 473 
 
 In that same nioiitli of September, an election for 
 members of the first Territorial Legislature took place. 
 
 That Legislature held a sixty days' session. Some of 
 its (Uda were as follows: 
 
 Gambling was allowed. 
 
 Taxes were placed upon all property, real or per- 
 sonal, excepting only United States and public prop- 
 erty ; and in cases of individuals, exempting clothing 
 and furniture, amounting to one hundred dollars. 
 
 Jails were to be placed in every county. 
 
 And, " last but not least," Cheyenne was declared 
 the seat of the territorial government, and an a])pro- 
 priation was asked for with which to build a capitol. 
 
 Surroundings change rapidly in the rusii of a new 
 community, and 1870 saw Cheyenne established, 
 strengthened, purified, settled. 
 
 Tlie floating riff-raff had passed away, leaving a 
 solid, intelligent population of sixteen hundred. 
 
 The city had at that time one public school and two 
 private ones; the latter containing about sixty pupils. 
 It had five well built and well furnished churches. 
 The orders of Masons, Knights Templar, Odd Fellows, 
 and Good Templars were all represented in Cheyenne 
 at that time. The city had two large banks, three to- 
 bacconists, three hardware houses, two shoe stores, one 
 confectionery, two bakeries, one livery stable, two first- 
 class hotels, many common ones, a daily newsj)aper, 
 two weeklies, a well organized fire department, and 
 *^ an acqueduet, nearly completed, for bringing water 
 from a source seven miles away into tlie city." 
 
 Clieyenne was now well governed, orderly, at peace, 
 and only tliree years old. 
 
474 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK'. 
 
 She lias not stood still — the brave little " Magic 
 City ! " 
 
 She keeps on growing, becoming more beautiful, 
 more prosperous. The best we can wish for her is 
 that her future may prove as phenomenal and brilliant 
 as her past has been. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 
 
 
 ;HKYP]NNE was, at length, left behind. 
 With the object of securing company in 
 crossing the Territory, I had made tlie 
 
 acquaintance of two lici'ders — rough men 
 and plain of speech, but apparently relia- 
 ble and trustworthy. It was my ])i'ac- 
 tice to have company, if possible, in my 
 rides throuy-h tiiis retrion. These men 
 were on their way to Salt Lake City with 
 a few mustangs and ponies and we arranged to journey 
 together as far as our resj)ective routes carried us. 
 
 My ride was extremely pleasant, a southwest wind 
 tempering the chilliness of the season. But, before 
 giving an account of my journey across Wyoming and 
 relating a tragic adventure that befell me and my com- 
 ])nnions, I will here jot down briefly a few additional 
 notes on the Territory, picked up on the road. 
 
 Wyoming Territory — now Wyoming State — is three 
 hundred and lii'tv iniles long, by two hundred and 
 eighty broad. In its northwest corner is the 
 wonderful Yellowstone National Park — the most 
 marvellous collection of geysers, hot springs and other 
 23 (475) 
 
476 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 
 volcanic phenomena upon the globe. Nearly all of it 
 is in Wyoming, a narrow strip extending westward 
 over into Idaho and Montana. 
 
 Wyoming is an immense platean, having a mean 
 height of 6,500 feet above the ocean. From the level, 
 the Rocky Mountains rise to heights, in some cases, 
 exceeding 1,300 feet. Wyoming has many rivers, 
 but none navii!;able within the borders of the 
 State. From the mountain pines is obtained the 
 finest timber in the world. Game is plentiful, 
 including the antelope, bear, mountain sheep, 
 beaver, deer and elk. The mountains abound 
 in minerals. Coal is very plentiful in many parts of 
 the State. Gold and silver are found in the mountain 
 ranges, especially in the Black Hills, between Wyom- 
 ing and Dakota. 
 
 The climate of Wyoming varies with the altitude, 
 being comparatively mild in the sheltered valleys and 
 severe in the mountains. The soil generally is highly 
 productive, yielding fine crops of wheat, rye, oats, bar- 
 ley, and potatoes. Indian corn will not yield on ac- 
 count of the lateness of the spring and the early coming 
 of frosts in the fall. The valleys and plains furnish 
 the best cattle and sheep ranges in the world. The 
 grazing of cattle for beef, the breeding of horses, 
 and the production of wool, constitute the lead- 
 ing industries of Wyoming. The Union Pacific 
 Railroad traverses the southern portion of the 
 State a distance of four hundred and sixty- 
 five miles, and numerous villages have sprung up 
 along the line, with populations of two hundred to 
 4,000. 
 
 The schools are modeled after the very best in the 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 479 
 
 country, wt'll supported, well taught, ficc to all, and 
 fully attontled under a compulsory law and the influ- 
 ence of puhlic sentiment. Churches are numerous. 
 The principal towns of Wyoming are Cheyenne, the 
 capital, Laramie City, Sherman, Rawlins, Carl)on, 
 South Pass City, Rock Springs, Green River City, 
 Atlantic City, and Evanston. The laws of Wyoming 
 are exceptionally liberal, conferring equal political 
 privileges upon all persons of suitable age, regardless 
 of sex, color or condition. 
 
 To resume my journey from Cheyenne. I and my 
 two comj)anions came to a halt at Sherman, having 
 covered thirty-three miles on an U[)-hill road. Here 
 we obtained hospitable quarters for the night, and in 
 the morning started in the direction of Skull Rocks, 
 on the Laramie IMains. These rocks are so named from 
 their sup[)osed resemblance to a human skull. They 
 were in front of us when, suddenly, over a slight eleva- 
 tion appeared a body of Indians — thirteen in number. 
 This caused us no surprise at first, as Indians are often 
 seen on the Plains. We soon discovered, however, 
 that they were on no friendly errand, and were pro- 
 nounced by the herders to be a raiding party of Arra- 
 pahoes. They were decked in their war paint, and as 
 soon as they saw us raised a shout. 
 
 ]\ry companions, fearing that they were in the pres- 
 ence of an enemy who would doubtless endeavor to 
 relieve them of their mustangs and ponies, made 
 friendly signals. 'J'he signals, however, were ignored 
 by the Lidians, who conlinued to advance and grad- 
 ually formed a circle around us. This is the common 
 Indian mode of attack. The circle is contracted while 
 a fire is kept up upon the centre where tiie victims are 
 
480 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 effectually imprisoned — the Indians by rendering 
 themselves a constantly shifting target are thus com- 
 paratively safe from the fire of the centre. 
 
 Riding around rapidly and firing at us, I and 
 my two companions returned the fire over the 
 backs of the mustangs and ponies which were used as 
 a breastwork. The circle gradually became smaller in 
 diameter, when a shot from the gun of one of the 
 herders killed an Indian. A rush was now made 
 upon us, our arms wrested from us, and ourselves 
 speedily bound together with thongs. The mus- 
 tangs and ])onIes were promptly seized, and we were 
 prisoners. Further resistance was useless. We were 
 helpless in the hands of twelve powerful Indians. 
 We were soon ordered to mount, and the entire party, 
 less one Indian, killed, started off in a northerly direc- 
 tion. 
 
 We rode at a trot until about ten o'clock at 
 night, when a halt was ordered by the leader — a chief 
 called *' I.one Wolf" — and all dismounted; a fire was 
 kindled and some antelope meat partially roasted, a 
 portion of which was given to us. We were all squat- 
 ted around a big fire, the Indians being engaged in 
 earnest conv^ersation. One of the herders understood 
 enough of their language to explain that the dis- 
 cussion referred to their captives — that the friends of 
 the Indian who was shot at Skull Rocks, and who 
 were in the majority, were in favor of putting us all 
 to death for having killed one of their number. Lone 
 Wolf, however, interposed, saying it would be 
 enough to take the life of the one who had killed their 
 brother. The supper over, four of the Arrapahoes ap- 
 proached us and seized the herder who had fired the 
 
 I 
 
CAPTUllKl) BY I M) I ASS. 483 
 
 fatal shot. They forced Iiiin towards a stout stake 
 which they had previously driven into the ground 
 about fifty yards from the fire. The whole party of 
 Indians then, without ceremony or talk with their 
 victim, commenced (huuMUi!; around and torturing him 
 in the most fiendish manner, 'i'hey had heated their 
 arrowheads in the fire and held them in contact with 
 his naked flesh, while others, at a few feet from their 
 victim, cast at him their sharp-pointed knives which, 
 penetrating his body, remained embedded in the flesh 
 until he nearly died from agony. One of their num- ' 
 ber then advanced and shot him in the licad, and 
 this ended his sufferings. 
 
 In the meantime, the other herder and I were seated 
 on the ground l)ound together and unable to offer any 
 assistance to our tortured cojupanion. Several of 
 the Indians now aj)proache(l us, and dragging me to 
 the stake, bound me to it and commenced a series 
 of dances accom)»anied by much gesticulation and 
 taunting which they doubtless intended as a sort of 
 introduction to tortures which were to follow. Lone 
 Wolf, who at this time was some distance from the 
 camp-fire, rushed forward and dispersed them. 
 
 One of the Indians removed the scalp from the 
 head of the dead man and fastened it to his waist; 
 after which they all scpiatted around the fire again, 
 engaged for the most }>art in shouting and speech- 
 makiuir. I had never before witnessed a case of 
 torture by Indians and trust I may never see 
 another. 
 
 The horses of the Indians had been tethered by long 
 ropes to stakes. A guard of two Indians was placed 
 iu charge of us, and we were made to lie down, 
 
484: OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Still bound together, with an Indian on each side 
 of us to prevent our escape. The other Indians 
 disposed themselves around the fire and slept. 
 
 I and my companion slept very little, but pretended 
 to do so. We were always on the alert, and seeking 
 opportunities to escape. About two o^clock in the 
 morning the two Indians were relieved by two others, 
 and all was quiet around their camp-fire. At the first 
 streak of dawn, the Indians in a body leaped to their 
 feet. Tiie herder and I were each given a mustang 
 which we mounted under the close scrutiny of our 
 guards and the entire party started northward at a 
 brisk trot. 
 
 We had made no attempt at escape so far, and the 
 watch became somewhat relaxed during the day, the 
 attention of the party being given for the most part to 
 their special duty of foraging. When opportunity 
 offered for making a secret raid, a short halt was called 
 by the leader, and one of the party cree})ing cautiously 
 up to a stray })ony would take possession by the sim- 
 ple process of mounting and riding away. If more 
 than one animal was to be looted, a corresponding 
 number of Indians was assigned to the work, and each, 
 leaping on the mustang or pony, would ride off as only 
 these freebooters of the Plains can ride, with little pros- 
 pect of being overtaken. Thus the day passed ; as a 
 rule, about half the number of Indians remained to 
 guard us while the others foraged for food and any- 
 thing that could be carried off from the ranches we 
 passed. We were now skirting the Black Hills, and 
 I had discovered by this time that we were making 
 our way to the Arrapahoe rendezvous, about one hun- 
 dred miles from Deadwood, 
 
CAPTURED BY ISDIANS. 4,srj 
 
 As the secoiul night overtook us, the routine of the 
 ]>revious night was repeated ; tliey built tlieir fire, 
 eooked and ate their antelope steaks and then lay down 
 around the fire for the night, their two [)risoner8 being 
 again bound together with a guard on each side. 1 
 was, however, quietly on the alert, wide awake, al- 
 though pretending to sleep. I passed the fingers of 
 my right hand over the cord that bound the left to 
 my fellow-prisoner, and felt that, with i)atience and 
 vigilance, the knot might be untied. While our two 
 guards dozed and slept, as on the previous night, our 
 eyes steadily sought the ponies and the arms. The 
 latter were always placed at the head of each sleeper 
 for immediate use in case of surprise. We were quite 
 certain that any attempt to escape if detected and de- 
 feated would be followed by torture and death ; but 
 were resolved to make the eflbrt. We knew, moreover, 
 that if we accompanied the Indians to their rendezvous, 
 we should be retained as hostages, j)r()bably for a long 
 period, and then, })erhnps, be tortured should the fit 
 seize them to be rid of us. 
 
 At dawn of the third day, after the usual breakfast 
 of antelope, we started again and rode all day with 
 the exception of short halts for rest and refreshment, 
 and about eight o'clock camj)ed, supped and lay down 
 to sleej) as before; I and my conq>ani()n being again 
 bound together at the wrists. 
 
 With the experience I had gained in Southern pris- 
 ons during the war and the herder's thorough knowl- 
 edge of the Plains, I thought our escape might be ac- 
 complished if we ke[)t ourselves constantly on the 
 alert for the opportune moment. During the night 
 we had each fixed our eyes upon a pony. These ani- 
 
486 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 mals were turned out to graze with their saddles on, to 
 
 be ready for immediate use, if required. Under the 
 pretence of being sound asleep we commenced snoring 
 loudly, and, at the same time, the guards dozed and 
 slept at intervals, but were restless until about mid- 
 night, when they both succumbed and were soon fast 
 asleep. 
 
 I now worked at the cord on my wrist and found I 
 could unfasten it. While making the attempt one of 
 the Indians moved in his sleep, and we ceased our 
 efforts for the moment and all was quiet again. 
 The opportunity arrived, at length, the knot was 
 loosened, and the noose slipped over our hands which 
 gave us our liberty. We knew where the arms lay, 
 and each of us quickly and quietly secured a navy 
 revolver without disturbing our guards. We then, 
 together, struck the two sleeping guards a strong blow 
 on the head with the butt of the revolvers. The 
 one struck by the herder was nearly killed, while my 
 man was only stunned. We now made for the 
 ponies, leaped into the saddles, and, before the other 
 Indians had shaken oflp their slumber, had struck out 
 with all our might in the direction from which we had 
 come. 
 
 Not many minutes elapsed before a pursuit com- 
 menced in right earnest, the Indians shouting and 
 yelling as they urged their ponies forward ; but this 
 had the effect only of spurring us to still 
 greater speed. I turned in my saddle and sent 
 a bullet among them. Another and. another fol- 
 lowed, and one Indian was dismounted, but the 
 darkness prevented our seeing if the other shots 
 had told. The Arrapahoes returned the fire, but 
 
CAPTUUKI) BY INDIANS. 4s7 
 
 luckily without any worso result thau increasing the 
 pace of our flying ponies. 
 
 Away we tore at the top of our speed and soon en- 
 tered a canyon. Only two or three Indians could now 
 be seen in })ursuit, and my companion saying it would 
 be safer for both if we took different directions, at 
 once daslied off tlirough a ravine to the right. One 
 Indian was observed following, but I sent a bullet into 
 his horse, and this put a stop to further pursuit. I 
 now dropped into a gulch where I remained hidden 
 until daylight. Finding the cuast clear in the morn- 
 ing, I emerged and set out walking in a southwesterly 
 direction which brought me to a cattle ranche, the 
 owner of which, after hearing my story, supplied me 
 with food and a fresh mustang. Again turning my 
 face to the westward I pursued my course over the 
 Rockies. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 AMONG THE MORMONS. 
 
 
 °m 
 
 ^^A 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 B 
 
 N my ride^ across the Territory of Utah 
 amid its snow-capped mountains, hot 
 sulphur springs and its great Salt Lake, 
 I met no hostile Indians, but on the' 
 contrary many hospitable Mormons; in 
 fact, my reception by both Mormon 
 and Gentile was invariably kind and 
 generous. I saw something of the social 
 hTe of Utah as well as the wonderful 
 country through which I passed, and was favorably 
 impressed with the material development of the latter, 
 as witnessed in its farms and mechanical industries. 
 The men I conversed with were fairly intelligent — 
 some exceptionally so; and hesitated not to explain 
 and justify their peculiar faith and domestic life. 
 They are certainly neither monsters nor murderers, 
 but men possessing good manners and some of them 
 refined tastes. In short, I found much good human 
 nature among this people as well as social culture. 
 Business intelligence and activity is a marked feature 
 in their intercourse with strangers. 
 
 In Utah agriculture is the chief occupation of the 
 people. The long dry summers and the clayey charac- 
 (488) 
 
AMONG TllK MORMONS. 4,s9 
 
 * 
 
 ter of tlie soil insure defeat to the fanner, unless he 
 helps his erops l)y artifieial means. Irrigation is 
 therefore universal, and tlie result — the finest ('r()j)s to 
 be found anywhere in the West. 
 
 Tiie Territory of Utaii covers the region drained by 
 the Great Salt Lake and many miles more, both in 
 length and breadth, but the Mormon settlements ex- 
 tend one hundred miles further into Itlaho on the 
 north and two hundred miles into Arizona on the 
 south. These settlements are mostly small, but there 
 are some places of considerable importance, as, for in- 
 stance, Provo at the south and Ogden at the north. 
 
 On July 14, 1847, Brigham Young, a ^Mormon 
 leader, and his followers entered the valley of the 
 Great Salt Lake. The lake itself is one of the most 
 remarkable bodies of water on the globe. It is seventy 
 miles long and forty-five miles broad, and stan-ds 4,2o0 
 feet above the sea-level. It bears a strong resend)lance 
 to the Dead Sea of Palestine, but, unlike that sea, it 
 abounds in animal life. AVHien Young entered the 
 valley Utah belonged to INIexico, and the leader be- 
 lieved he could found whatever character of institution 
 should suit him and his people best. It has been 
 alleged that Brigham Young had ^'chains on men's 
 souls." There is no doubt that superstition and the 
 machinery of the Mormon Church were in some degree 
 the secret of his irresistible power over his followers; 
 but back of the superstition and the marvellous church 
 organization stood the brain of a great and masterful 
 man. His power, he knew, must rest upon something 
 material and tangible, and this something he reason- 
 ably discerned to be the prosperity of the people them- 
 
490 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 selves. He proved himself to be an organizer of pros- 
 perity, and this was the real source of his strength. 
 
 Mornionism is the religion of 250,000 of theAvorld's 
 inhabitants. The Territory of Utah has a population 
 of 160,000, and of tliese, probably, 110,000 are Mor- 
 mons. Their doctrines may be explained in a few 
 words : 
 
 They believe that both matter and spirit are eternal, 
 and both are possessed of intelligence and power to 
 design. 
 
 The spiritual realm contains many gods, all of whom 
 are traced back to one Supreme Deity. 
 
 This Supreme Deity and all the gods resemble men 
 and differ only in the fact that they are immortal. 
 
 In form they are the same as men, having every 
 organ and limb that belongs to humanity. They have 
 many wives, and are as numerous as the sands upon 
 the sea-shore. 
 
 Among the gods, Jesus Christ holds the first place, 
 and is the express image of the Supreme Father. 
 
 A general assembly of the gods, presided over by 
 the Supreme Deity, is the creating power. 
 
 When this world was created, Adam and Eve were 
 taken from the family of gods and placed in it. In 
 the fall they lost all knowledge of their heavenly 
 origin, became possessed of mortal bodies, and only 
 regained what they had lost by the quickening of the 
 Holy Spirit and continuous progress in knowledge and 
 purity. 
 
 Among other creations of the gods are innumerable 
 spirits which can only attain to the rank of gods by 
 the rugged road of discipline and trial trod by our first 
 parents. These spirits are constantly hovering over 
 
AMONG TllK MORMONS. .\\),\ 
 
 our earth waiting for fleshy toiieiucMts in which to be- 
 gin the steep ascent. 
 
 As soon as a chikl is born, one of these sj)irits takes 
 possession of it and is then fairly launclieii ibrth upon 
 its heavenly voyage. 
 
 Tiiose who do not listen to the teach in<rs of the 
 church here will, at death, enter upon a third estate 
 or probationary si)herc, when they will have another 
 opj^ortunlty, wIkmi, if they improve it ariiijht, ihey will, 
 with all the faithful, enter upon the fourth estate, 
 which is the estate of the gods. 
 
 The Holy Spirit is a material substance filling all 
 space, and can perform all the works of the Supreme 
 Deity. It is omnipresent; in animals it is instinct, in 
 man reason and inspiration, enabling him to pro[)hesy, 
 speak with tongues, and perform miracles of healing 
 and many other wonderful things. The Holy Spirit 
 can be im})arted by the laying on of hands by a priest- 
 hood properly constituted and duly authorized. 
 
 The two prominent features of Mormonisjn are po- 
 lygamy and lust for power. Salvation is not so much 
 a matter of character as of the number of family. 
 
 Such is the teaching of Brigham Young in his ser- 
 mons, and of George Q. Cannon, Heber Kimball, and 
 of all the leading Mormons. 
 
 Social life among this people may be judged of from 
 the Mormon estimate of woman. She exists only as a 
 necessity in man's exaltation and glory. Her only 
 hope of a future life depends upon her being united 
 i-n *' celestial marriage" to some man. Thus joined, 
 she will have a share in her hnsljand's glory. In 
 marrying her, her husband confers upon her the great- 
 est possible honor, and for this she must be his obedient 
 
494 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 slave. In order that she may be contented with her 
 lot as a polygamous wife, she is taught from childhood 
 to look upon conjugal love as a weak and foolish senti- 
 ment, and upon marriage as the only way to secure a 
 future life. 
 
 The Mormons have been largely recruited in num- 
 bers by immigrants who have been brought into Utah 
 through the efforts of missionaries sent by the churcii 
 to other parts of America and to Europe. About six 
 thousand missionaries are tluis employed. They leave 
 their homes in Utah and go to any part of the world 
 to which they may be assigned by the autliorities of 
 the church, paying their own expenses, or collecting 
 the money for their sustenance from their converts. 
 These missionaries usually travel in pairs, and preach, 
 for tiie most part, in ignorant communities. It is 
 estimated that about 100,000 immigrants have gone to 
 Utah under their leadership. The organization of the 
 missionary force is very complete and eifective. The 
 immigrants, though for the most part ignorant, are 
 always able-bodied, and are usually industrious, frugal, 
 and obedient to discipline. The average yearly immi- 
 gration is about 2,000 persons. 
 
 Mormon ism has lately spread into the State of 
 Nevada, and into Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and 
 Arizona. 
 
 The sect was founded by Joseph Smith at Manches- 
 ter, New York, in 1830. Smith was born December 
 23, 1805, at Sharon, Vermont. When only fifteen 
 years old he began to have alleged visions, in one of 
 which, he asserts, the angel Moroni appeared to him 
 three times and told him that the Bible of the Western 
 Continent — a supplement to the New Testament — was 
 
AMONG THE MOllMONS, 497 
 
 buried in a certain spot near Manchester. Four years 
 after this event he visited tlie spot indicated by the 
 angel, and asserts that he had deliveied into his charge 
 by another angel a stone box, in which was a volume, 
 six inches thick, made of thin gold plates, eight inches 
 long by seven broad, and fastened together by tliree 
 gold rings. The plates were said to be covered with 
 small writing in the Egyptian character, and were 
 accom})anied by a i)air oi' su[)ernatural spectacles, con- 
 sisting of two crystals set in a silver bow and called 
 " Urim and Ihummim.'^ By aid of these the mystic 
 characters could be read. Joseph Smith, l)eing liimself 
 unable to read or write fluently, employed an amanu- 
 ensis to whom he dictated a translation, which was 
 afterward, in 1830, printed and published under the 
 title of the '* Book of Mormon. '^ The bov^k professes to 
 give the history of America from its first settlement by 
 a colony of refugees from the crowd dispersed by the 
 confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. These 
 settlers having in the course of time destroyed one 
 another, nothing of importance occurred until GOO 
 B. c, when Lehi, his wife and four sons, with ten 
 friends, all from Jerusalem, landed on the coast of 
 Chili, and from that period, according to the Mormon 
 theory, America beoame gradually peopled. 
 
 Ogden. 
 
 Having heard much of the city of Ogden in North- 
 ern Utah — of its peculiar origin and rapid progress — I 
 resolved to rest there for a day or two before j)roceed- 
 ing to Corinne and other points in my route toward 
 the Sierras. 
 
498 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 The pretty city of Ogden lias had one of the wildest 
 and most thrilling of birthplaces. 
 
 To-day it reminds the stranger of one of the peaceful 
 little cities of old Massachusetts, nestled among the 
 Berkshire Hills, wide of street, stately of architecture, 
 redolent of comfort and refinement. 
 
 But in reality Ogden is the child of Utah. Mines 
 of precious metals are its neighbors. It has been the 
 scene of daring explorations, of Indian raids, and of 
 many murders and massacres. Its original inhabitants 
 were fanatics, so enthused with, so overwhelmed by their 
 tenets, as to believ^e themselves of all the world the 
 favorites of the Almighty, the only original handful 
 of His saints, the small remnant of the human family 
 to which constant revelations from Heaven were 
 vouchsafed. 
 
 Upheld by this fanaticism, drawn with it as by a 
 magnet from all over the United States, from Canada, 
 from the countries of Europe, proselytes came to join 
 the Mormons. They journeyed by mule trains over the 
 Plains, or they walked perhaps, pushing their all in 
 hand-carts before them. They encountered persecution, 
 suffering, and even death, undaunted. Some of them, 
 on their perilous journey to the Promised Land, sub- 
 sisted on roots. Some boiled the skins of their buffalo 
 robes and ate them. Some pushed their little carts on 
 the last day of their lives and then laid down to freeze 
 before the land of their desire was in sight. Graves or 
 skeletons frequently marked their route of march, but 
 still they came, and having come they prospered. 
 
 Their farms throve; their boundaries increased; 
 their settlements became many. 
 
AMONG Till': jVORMONS. .\()<) 
 
 A\^itli foollKinliiK'ss, l)iit also wllli (li'sjxTMtioij, wltli 
 (laiintlcsr, onVontcry, wifli iiiliiiilc pluck', tlicy dclicd 
 i\\v United States and lier army, iisintr the tiny liatid- 
 fid of iVroniioii soldiery in a way that makes one's 
 mind run hack' to the stoiy of Thermopylie. 
 
 Such was the hlood that setthul Ogden. 
 
 It was sneh iidiahitants that I>i-i«;ham Youni^, in 
 ISoO, advised to " j)ut up ^ood dwellint^s, open good 
 schools, erect a meeting-honse, cultivate gardens, and 
 })ay es[)ecial care to fruit raising,'^ so that Ogden might 
 hecome a permanent settlement and the headfpiarters 
 for the ^lormons in the northern j)ortion of the Terri- 
 torv. 
 
 So well was his advice carried out that in 1851 tlie 
 city was '' made a stake of Ziou," divided into wards, 
 and incorporated by act of legislature. 
 
 1" ;om the very first, everything connected with the 
 city .-.eemed to have a spice and dash about it. 
 
 Away back in 1540, Father Juan de Padilla and his 
 patrrn, Pedro de Tobar, went on an exploring expedi- 
 tion. On his return the ])riest spoke of a large and 
 interesting river he had found iii that ''Great Un- 
 known," the Northwest. 
 
 The account so fired tlu hearts of his brother Span- 
 iards that Captain Garcia Lopaz de Cardenas was sent 
 to explore further into that wonderland. He returned 
 telling of immense gulches, of rocky battlements, and 
 of mountaitis surrounding a great body of water. 
 Many believe that in that flir distant time, about the 
 tit)ie tnat Elizabeth ascended the throne of England, 
 before Raleigh had done himself the honor of his dis- 
 
 24 
 
500 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 coveries and settlements in Virginia, Signer Cardenas 
 was simply taking a little vacation trip through Utah. 
 
 But however fabulous that may be, we know of a 
 surety that on July 29, 1776, two Franciscan friars 
 set out from Santa F6 to find a direct route to the 
 Pacific Ocean. In their wanderings they strayed far 
 to the north, where they came across many representa- 
 tives of the Utes, who proved to be a loving, faithful, 
 hosi)itable people. From their lips the Si)aniards 
 heard the first description ever listened to by white 
 men of the region of country containing the present 
 site of Ogden. ^' The lake," the Utes said, " occupies 
 many leagues. Its waters are injurious and extremely 
 salt. He that wets any part of his body in this water 
 immediately feels an itching in the wet parts. In the 
 circuit of this lake live a numerous and quiet nation 
 called Puaguampe. They feed on herbs, and drink 
 from various fountains or springs of good water which 
 are about the lake, and they have their little houses of 
 grass and earth, which latter forms the roof." 
 
 So the Great Salt Lake makes its entrance into com- 
 paratively modern American history. 
 
 In 1825, Peter Skeen Ogden, accompanied by 
 his party of Hudson Bay Company trappers, pursued 
 his brilliant adventures, and left behind a record which 
 induced the naming of the city after him. 
 
 In 1841, the country around the spot where the city 
 now lies was held, on a Spanish grant, by Miles M. 
 Goodyear, who built a fort and a few log-houses near 
 the confluence of the Weber and Ogden rivers. 
 
 On June 6, 1848, a man named James Brown 
 came from California with his pockets stuffed with 
 gold dust; nearly five thousand dollars' worth of the 
 
.lvoay; 77//<; mormons. 50J 
 
 precious thing had he. With part of it lie hoiijrlit this 
 tract of hind from (ioodyear. It proved to he a most 
 fertile spot. Bretliren came to it from SaU I^akeCity. 
 (uMitih^s came from everywhere. The sctth-ment grew 
 and j)rospered. 
 
 Tn lS4i), people began to talk of locating a city right 
 there at the junction of the two rivers. 
 
 In I80O, Brigham Young, Heher C. Kimhall, and 
 others, laid out the settlement and called it Ogden, 
 after Peter Skeen Ogden, the explorer, long since dead, 
 hut whose dashing, daring, brilliant adventures were 
 still charming to the men of that wild land. Every 
 time the city's name is mentioned it is another ])roof 
 that although, 
 
 " The man niiglit die, his memory lives." 
 
 Before a year was over a school house was built in 
 the city. 
 
 Then came that un-American sight, a wall of pro- 
 tection built around a city. It cost $40,000, which 
 amount was raised by taxation. 
 
 About this time several suburban settlements were 
 formed, but bears, wolves, and Indians soon drove the 
 venturesome suburbanites within city limits. 
 
 Just then a party of immigrants encamj)ing on the 
 Malade River shot two Indian women. \\y way of 
 reprisal the savages killed a pioneer named Campbell 
 who was building a sawmill near Ogden, and threatened 
 to massacre the entire population of the town. Matters 
 began to look serious, and the commander of the 
 Kauvoo Legion gave the Indians chase, and so over- 
 whelmed thera that they at once retreated, taking with 
 
502 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 them no captives more important than many horses and 
 cattle belonging to the wliite settlers. 
 
 October 23, 1851, the first mniiicipal election was 
 held in Ogden. 
 
 1852 found one hundred families living within city 
 boundaries. 
 
 In 1854, a memorial was addressed to Congress, by 
 the territorial legislature, urging the construction of 
 an overland railroad. But it was May, 1868, before a 
 contract was made between Brigham Young and the 
 superintendent of construction of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad for grading between Echo Canyon and the 
 terminus of the line. At Weber Canyon there was 
 blasting, tunnelling, and heavy stone work for bridges 
 to be done. This work earned 1,000,000 or perhaps 
 1,250,000 dollars' worth of wages. The labor was 
 splendidly done, but the remuneration came slowly. 
 Finally, however, the Union Pacific Railroad turned 
 over 600,000 dollars' worth of rolling stock, and other 
 property to the Mormons. On May 17, 1869, ground 
 was broken for a railroad between Salt Lake City and 
 Ogden. So the city grew and flourished. 
 
 Ogden has an elevation of 4,340 feet. The ground 
 plan of the city is spacious, the drainage good, the 
 climate exceedingly healthy. 
 
 About the time I rode through, the population num- 
 bered 6,000 souls. The city contained one of the 
 finest schools in Utah, a hotel which ranked among 
 the best in the Union, a daily paper, a theatre, three 
 banks, numerous Gentile churches, a 16,000 dollar 
 bridge across the Weber, a reservoir, and a Court 
 House, which was such an architectural beauty that 
 all Utah may well be proud of it. 
 
I mm w^^ar^ 
 
AMONG THE MitllMONS. 595 
 
 So Ogden caiiic through narrow ways to broad 
 ways! So she 
 
 " Cliinbeil the ladder, round by round ! " 
 
 Slie has won the respect and aihniration of* all who 
 have watched her. May her industry never fail, her 
 enthusiasm never lessen, her ])luck remain indomita- 
 ble, and may good fortune perch forever on her ban- 
 uer6 1 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 OVER THE SIERRAS. 
 
 lERRA is the Spanisli word for 'saw' 
 and also for * mountain/ referring to the 
 notched outline of the mountains as 
 seen against the sky/' 
 
 My main object now was to push oa 
 to Sacramento. At Kelton, in Utah, 
 where I remained only a few hours, I 
 was still seven hundred and ninety miles 
 from my destination. Stock is exten- 
 sively grazed here and cattle shipped to the Pacific 
 coast in very large numbers. Leaving Kelton, I rode 
 thirty-three miles to Terrace, a small settlement in the 
 midst of a desert; thence to Wells in the adjoining 
 State of Nevada. 
 
 Nevada belongs to the '^ Great Basin," a table-land 
 elevated 4,500 feet above the sea. It is traversed, 
 with great uniformity, by parallel mountain ranges, 
 rising from 1,000 to 8,000 feet high, running north 
 and south. Long, narrow valleys, or canyons, lie be- 
 tween them. The Sierra Nevada, in some places 
 13,000 feet in height, extends along the western 
 boundary of the State. The only navigable river is 
 the Colorado, but there are several other streams ris- 
 (506) 
 
ovh'R Till': sua: HAS. r>()<) 
 
 uvj; in llic inoiintaiiis and <'iii[)tyiiiL;; into lakt's Nvliich 
 liave no visible outlet. LaUe Talioe is twenty-one 
 miles long, ten miles wide and fil'teen linndred feet 
 deep. Although it is elevated 0,000 I'eet above the 
 sea level, the water of this lake never freezes and has 
 a mean temperature of 57° for the year. Nevada has 
 its hot springs, some of wliieh have a temperature of 
 two hundred degrees. 
 
 A heavy growth of timber, particularly of pine, fir, 
 and spruce, covers the eastern slopes of the Sierra 
 Nevada, many of the trees attaining enormous size. 
 There are numerous alkaline fiats, and extensive sand 
 plains, where nothing growls. The first discovery of 
 silver ore was made on the Comstock lode in 1859, 
 from which more than 1^100,000,000 have been taken. 
 This has been the most valuable silver-bearing lode 
 ever discovered in the world, exceeding in wealth the 
 mines of Peru and Mexico. It is now exhausted and 
 yields only low-grade ores. 
 
 Wells, my first resting-point on the Sierras, stands 
 at an elevation of over 5,600 feet, and had a popula- 
 tion of less than 300. Farming and stoclc. raising are 
 its principal industries. Formerly it was a watering 
 and resting-place for old emigrant travel, where pure 
 water was obtained — a luxury after crossing the Great 
 Desert; and an abundance of" grass for the weary ani- 
 mals. Some of the wells here are 1,700 feet deep. 
 
 Stopped next for the night at Halleck, a small vil- 
 lage — over 5,000 feet elevation — thirteen miles from 
 Camp Halleck, where United States troops are occa- 
 sionally stationed. Leaving Halleck after a night's rest 
 and a hearty breakfast of ham and eggs, I rode twenty- 
 four miles to Elko, six hundred and nineteen miles 
 
510 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 
 
 from San Francisco. This 'important town stands at 
 an elevation of 5,063 feet above sea-level and is on the 
 Humboldt River. The State University is situated 
 here. Silver smelting works and manufactures of 
 farming implements were the principal industries. 
 One daily and two weekly papers were well supported. 
 There were also three large freight depots for the 
 accommodation of the railway business. I noticed sev- 
 eral Indians about the town. The hot mineral springs 
 of Elko are considered of great value for bathing. 
 Population at the time of my visit, about 1,700, but 
 the town is destined to develop into an important city. 
 The money paid for freights consigned to this place, 
 averaged $1,000,000 a year. 
 
 Leaving Elko, I pushed on for thirty miles. The 
 pastures and meadows, with isolated cottages, were 
 soon passed and I reached Palisade in the evening, a 
 village of 250 inhabitants. Remained here for the 
 night. For the last two hundred miles the road had 
 been a gradual descent and the change of temperature 
 was very perceptible. Palisade is a growing little 
 place with a population of about 400 souls. It is 
 located about half-way down a canyon, whose rocky, 
 perpendicidar walls give it a singular but picturesque 
 appearance. 
 
 My mustang carried me forty-one miles next day, 
 to Argentina, where I rested. This village is located 
 in the midst of alkali flats and seemed to me an un- 
 attractive place for a residence. Continuing my jour- 
 ney along the foot of Reese River Mountain, I soon 
 found myself at Battle Mountain, at the junction of 
 Reese River and Humboldt Valleys. The town of 
 Battle Mountain has several stores, a public hall, a 
 
or I': It Till': SI hi:/: AS. 511 
 
 goud school liouse and an excellent hotel ; with incivas- 
 ing trade. The inonntain iVoiii which the town de- 
 rives its name is about three miles south oi" the latter 
 and is said to have been the scene of a conflict between 
 a party of emigrants and a band of Indians. 
 
 Golconda was reac^hed on the evening of the follow- 
 ing day — four hundred and sevent\'-eight miles from 
 San Francisco. Here are gold and silver mines, but 
 the i)laee was small and calls for no fui-ther remark. 
 Remounted at sunrise the following morning and rode 
 to Winnemucca, the county-seat of Humboldt County. 
 The town has a fine brick Court House, together with 
 several stores, a hotel, shops and a school house. 
 
 Reached Humboldt the following day, where I was 
 reminded that I was still in the land t)f civilization. 
 Stopped at the Humboldt House, a most comfortable 
 hostelry, its surroundings recalling my home in the 
 East. Humboldt is the business centre of several 
 mining districts and has a bright j)rospect before it. 
 
 Loyelocks, the next jwint reached, is also on the 
 Central Pacific Railroad. It is a grazing region, and 
 large herds of cattle are fattened upon the rich native 
 grasses. Leaving Lovelocks, I found myself again on 
 a barren desert, covered in places with salt and alkali 
 deposits. Another station in the midst of this desert is 
 Hot Springs. Pushing forward I reached Desert, 
 three hundred and thirty-five miles from San Francisco. 
 The village is rightly named, for it is, in truth, a 
 dreary jilace. I was much relieved on reaching 
 Wadsworth, a town of about 700 inhabitants, and only 
 three hundred and twenty-eight miles from the end of 
 my journey. Some large stores here do a flourishing 
 business. There are also several good hotels, in one of 
 
512 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 which I was soon comfortably housed. For several 
 days I had seen nothing but dreary, monotonous plains, 
 and now, almost another world opened to my view — a 
 world of beauty and sublimity. It was with reluc- 
 tance I left Wadsworth and crossed the Truckee River. 
 The trees, green meadows, comfortable farmhouses, and 
 well-tilled fields, were pleasant to look upon, and with 
 the prospect of soon reaching my final destination, I 
 rode on, and crossed the boundary into California. 
 
 Truckee, although witliin the State of California, is 
 in the Sierra Nevada, one hundred and twenty-one 
 miles from Sacramento. The village is handsomely 
 built, the surroundings picturesque and finely timbered, 
 and there is a line of stashes runninoj to the beautiful 
 Lakes Tahoe and Donner. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ALONG THE SACRAMENTO. 
 
 ROM Triickee 1 rode along the line of 
 the Central Pacific Railroad, stopping for 
 the night at villages intermediate between 
 TrucUee and Sacramento, the })rincipal of 
 which were Summit, Colfax and Auburn. 
 Summit is the highest point of the pass 
 through which the railroad crosses the 
 Sierra Nevada, its height above sea-level 
 being 7,042 feet. The population was 
 only a little over one hundred. Colfax, fifty-four 
 miles from Sacramento, had a population of nearly six 
 hundred, mostly occupied at the gold mines in the 
 vicinity. Auburn, thirty-six miles from Sacramento, 
 is also a gold-mining village. .Its population was 
 given me as over 1,200. Two weekly papers are pub- 
 lished here, and three hotels oifer good accommoda- 
 tions to tourists and others. Sacramento was reached 
 Xovembor twenty-first, and here T found myself within 
 a hundred miles of my destination. 
 
 California has the Pacific Ocean for its western 
 boundary. Along the seaboard lies the Coast Range of 
 mountains, while for an cAstern boundary of the State 
 stretch the Sierras. P>etween these two chains lies 
 many a hill, yet, in the main, the whole interior of the 
 
 (615) 
 
51(3 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 
 
 State is a great depression, called the Valley of Cali- 
 fornia. The northern portion is called again the Sac- 
 ramento Valley; the southern, the Valley of San 
 Joaquin, both named for the streams that water them. 
 
 The inhabitants area motley set; English, Celts, 
 Spaniards, Mexicans, Indians, and above all the man 
 from the eastern part of the United States, leaving his 
 impress on all, Americanizing all. 
 
 Sutter's Fort, as already explained, was founded in 
 1839, very near the junction of the Sacramento and 
 San Joaquin Valleys, by a Swiss named John A. Sutter. 
 It stood on a small hill, skirted by a creek which falls 
 into the American River near its junction with the 
 Sacramento, and overlooked a vast extent of ditch-en- 
 closed fields, and park stock ranges, broken by groves 
 and belts of timber. The settlement consisted of the 
 Fort and an old adobe house, called the hospital. A 
 garden of eight or ten acres, filled with vegetables and 
 tropical fruits, surrounded the Fort, cattle covered the 
 plains and boats were tied to the wharves. 
 
 Sutter's confirmed grant contained eleven leagues. 
 
 The Fort, so called, was a parallelogram. Its walls 
 were of adobe, its dimensions five hundred by one 
 hundred and fifty feet. It had loop-holes, bastions at 
 the angles, and twelve cannon. 
 
 Inside of the walls were granaries, warehouses, store- 
 houses, shops, and in the centre of it all the house of 
 the commander, the potentate, Sutter. His house was 
 rough, " Bare rafters and un panelled walls." Many of 
 the rooms were roughly furnished, crude benches and 
 deal tables. Fine China bowls did duty for both cups 
 and plates, and silver S|)oons were the only luxury 
 which marked the service of the meals. 
 
ALONG THE SACRA MFNTO. 519 
 
 For his ju'lvatc apartiiicnts Sutter ()])tal!H'(1 from 
 the Russians a chiiiisy sot orC^ilifoniia laurel Curuitun'. 
 
 In front of his liouso, yet within the stocUach', was 
 a tiny square rontainini^ one brass <:;un, l)y whicli, day 
 anil night, paced a sentry, stopping only at tlie belfry 
 post to chime the hours. 
 
 The Fort was a business centre. In it was located a 
 blacksmith, a carpenter, and a general variety and 
 liquor store. Prices were booming. Four dollars 
 were charged for shoeing a horse. Wlieat sold for 
 one dollar per bushel, peas for a dollar and a half 
 per bushel. 
 
 A sort of gravel road led to the spot, over which 
 horses galloped, and heavy wagons rolled. 
 
 Sutter owned twelve thousand cattle, two thousand 
 horses and mules, from one thousand to fifteen hun- 
 dred sheep, and two thousand hogs. 
 
 This unique P^ort was "the capital of the vast in- 
 terior valley, pregnant with approaching importance." 
 
 In 1846, Sutter staked out the town of Sutterville, 
 three miles below the Fort on the Sacramento, and built 
 the first house there. His example was shortly fol- 
 lowed by a man named Zims, who erected the first 
 real i)rick structure in the State. 
 
 The Fort and town kept up regular comnuinication 
 with San Francisco by means of a twenty-ton sloop 
 owned by Sutter, and manned by a few savages i!i his 
 employ. 
 
 There was a ferry at the Fort, which consisted of a 
 single canoe handled by an Indian. 
 
 The strangest of populations gathered about the set- 
 tlement. Emigrants were there, many Mormons 
 among them. Native Californians were there, wear- 
 
520 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 ing sombreros, sashes, and jingling spurs. Half-sub- 
 dued Indians abounded, wrapped in their blankets, 
 and decked with beads and feathers. While here and 
 there appeared a shrewd Yankee, come across moun- 
 tains of snow and rocks to seek his fortune. 
 
 The climate of Sacramento is charming, the average 
 temperature in winter being 45° ; that in summer 
 69°. The thermometer does not vary ten degrees be- 
 tween night and day. The sea breezes are constant, 
 leaving rarely an uncooled night. Rainfall is a tenth 
 less than on the Atlantic Coast. Early autumn finds 
 this region dry and arid ; its small streams dried up, 
 the green fields sere, the weeds snapping like glass. 
 
 Tlie winter rain begins in November, after six 
 months of clear weather, and under its grateful min- 
 istry the region " buds and blossoms like the rose." 
 
 John A. Sutter, potentate of the region, in 1847, 
 needed lumber, and therefore needed a saw-mill. His 
 neighbors wanted lumber, too, and there would be a 
 good market for it in San Francisco. Therefore a saw- 
 mill would be profitable; but no trees suitable for this 
 purpose could be found short of the foot-hills. Con- 
 sequently the foot-hills were selected as the spot upon 
 wliich he would build. 
 
 He engaged a motley company of all nationalities to 
 erect his mill, appointing James Wilson Marshall, a 
 native of New Jersey, as superintendent of the venture. 
 
 In August they started for their new field of enter- 
 prise, taking their belongings in Mexican ox-carts, and 
 driving a flock of sheep before them for food. 
 
 By New^ Year's day, 1848, the mill frame was up. 
 
 On the afternoon of January twenty-fourth, Super- 
 intendent Marshall was inspecting the tail-race of the 
 
ALONG THE SACRAMENTO. 52I 
 
 mill. Tlioro had been a heavy flood, wlilch liad pre- 
 viously retreated, and to his surprise Marshall foiiiid 
 the ground thickly strewn with a peculiar yellow dust. 
 He stooped down and <^athered some of it, rcniarkinji; 
 quietly, "Boys, I believe I have found a <ijold mine!" 
 Then he began some simple tests upon the metal. 
 Gold must be heavy. He weighed it. That was all 
 right. Gold must be malleable. He bit and |)ounded 
 it, and it stood the test. Then he applied (Kpiajortis 
 to it, and it responded as it should. And so the truth 
 was known at last. It was gold, and the ground was 
 full of it. 
 
 Marshall saddled his horse, and dashed over to con- 
 sult with Sutter, and togetlier they agreed to keep the 
 matter quiet, and if possible to buy up the surrounding 
 land. But \\o^ to buy it. That was the question ! 
 They leased it from its semi-barbaric owners, paying 
 for it in hats and trinkets, but that title seemed in- 
 secure. The Mexican government could no longer 
 give grants. The United States government was ap- 
 pealed to in vain. The answer came that California 
 was held as a conquered j)rovince, and no title deed 
 could be executed. 
 
 And meantime the precious secret leaked out. Sut- 
 ter was impelled to write the wonderful news to friends 
 at a distance. All the men at the saw-mill knew of 
 the discovery. One of them, named Bennett, while in 
 a store near Monte del Diablo, pulled out of his pocket 
 a bag of gold dust, exclaiming, "I have something 
 here which will make this the greatest country in the 
 world." The same man took a specimen of the precious 
 metal and showjd it at San Francisco. A few days 
 later an intoxicated Swede offered, at a store, to pay 
 
522 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON JWRSEBACK. 
 
 for his drink in gold dnst. Tlien a Mormon must tell 
 his fellow-saints of the discovery. So the secret was 
 ont, and the precions mystery became pnhlic. 
 
 Both Sutter and Marshall were backwoodsmen, un- 
 sophisticated, child-like, trustful, slow. They hesi- 
 tated, they faltered, they delayed mining, and they 
 were lost! Before they fully comprehended the mat- 
 ter, this great world had rushed in, and taken posses- 
 sion of the treasure. 
 
 In the last issue of The Califonilan appears this only 
 too true statement: "The whole country from San 
 Francisco to Los Angeles, and from the seashore to 
 the base of the Sierra Nevada, resounds to the sordid cry 
 of gokl ! GOLD ! ! GOLD ! ! ! while, the field is left 
 half planted, the house half built, and everything neg- 
 lected but the manufacture of shovels and pick-axes, 
 and the means of transportation to the spot where one 
 man obtained one hundred and twenty -eight dollars' 
 worth of the real stuff in one day's washing, and the 
 average for all concerned is twenty dollars per diem." 
 
 In the rush Marshall and Sutter were crushed. 
 
 Marshall had little or no money to invest. He was 
 particularly unfortunate in locating his small claims. 
 Worst of all, the miners, knowing him to be the great 
 discoverer, followed, him en masse, believing that he 
 knew the secrets of the hills and rivers. The crowds 
 so overwhelmed him, that he had no chance to mine. 
 They even threatened to hang him if he did not lead 
 them to the finest diggings. In a few years after, he 
 died, miserable, broken-hearted, poverty-stricken. 
 
 Sutter fared but little better. True, he sold a half- 
 interest in his saw-mill for six thousand dollars, and 
 he gained something from the mining of his Indians, 
 
ALOyO THE SACRAMENTO. r>i>3 
 
 but Sutter's Fort was, for the time being, ruined. Let 
 him tell the story in his own words. He says : 
 
 ^^ My grist mill was never finished. Everything 
 was stolen, even the stones. There is a saying that 
 men will steal everything but a mile-stone and a mill- 
 stone. They stole my mill-stones. They stole the 
 bells from the Fort, and gate-weights ; the hides they 
 stole, and salmon barrels. I had two hundred barrels 
 which I made for salmon. Some of the cannon at the 
 fort were stolen. * * My proi)erty was all left ex- 
 posed, and at the mercy of the rabble, when gold was 
 discovered. My men all deserted me. I could not 
 shut the gates of my Fort, and keep out the rabble. 
 They would have broken them down. The country 
 swarmed with lawless men. Emigrants drove their 
 stock into my yard, and used my grain with impunity. 
 Expostulation did no good. I was alone. There was 
 no law.'' 
 
 In face of all these disadvantages he struggled on 
 until farm helpers demanded ten dollars per day, then, 
 a hopeless old man, he gave up the struggle, and in 
 1849, with his Indians, he moved into Hock Farm, 
 little dreaming that his Fort was to be the nucleus for 
 Sacramento, the second city as to size in California. 
 
 He retired, but his son took the reins out of the 
 father's feeble hands, and staked out a town around 
 the Old Fort, down to tlie embarcadcro, and along the 
 river front, naming the settlement Sacramento. The 
 streets were laid out ei^ ..ty feet wide, except the cen- 
 tre one, M street, which was one hundred feet in width. 
 The purchasing of more tiian four lots by one person 
 "was discouraged. 
 
 At first Sacramento was a "city of tents, with its 
 
524 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 future on paper;'' but by April of that year, 1849, 
 building lots were selling at from one thousand to 
 three thousand dollars a piece ; at that time there were 
 twenty-five or thirty stores upon the embarcadero, and, 
 in the vicinity of the Fort, eight or ten more. There 
 was a hotel, a printing office, bakery, blacksmith's 
 shop, tin-shop, billiard room, and bowling alley. 
 
 In that month of April, the city had the honor of 
 becoming a port of entry. 
 
 By June of the same year, one hundred houses 
 graced the city. 
 
 A few months later the city hotel was completed at 
 a cost of one hundred thousand dollars, and rented to 
 Messrs. Fowler and Fry for five thousand dollars per 
 month. 
 
 In 1850, the scourge of cholera broke out, carrying 
 off one-fifth of those remaining in Sacramento. The 
 city was full to overflowing with a transient popula- 
 tion. Accommodations were scant and primitive, vice 
 and disorder prevailed. The disease became rampant. 
 Patients at the hospital were charged sixteen dollars 
 per day. Then it was that the order of Odd Fellows 
 came nobly forward, setting to that plague-stricken 
 district an example of charity and philanthropy long 
 to be remembered, and -accenting the fact ^'that sim- 
 ple duty has no place for fear ! " 
 
 On February 25, 1854, Sacramento was designated 
 as the seat of government of California. The dignity 
 of being the State capital gave new life to the 
 city. Her growth is instanced by the assessment on 
 real estate, wh'wh rose from $5,400,000 in 1854, to 
 $13,000,000 in twenty years. 
 
 When I rode through, the population was 21,400. 
 
 In 1853 the streets were planked, and provided 
 
ALONG THE SACRAMENTO. 527 
 
 with sewers. In 1854 a gas company was formed. 
 The street railroad came in 1870. There were ten 
 chnrches in tlie city as I found it. 
 
 The first public school came in 1855, the high 
 school in 1856, 
 
 When I was there the city had sustained from time to 
 time about forty daily papers and twenty-four weeklies. 
 
 The State Library is a brilliant feature of the place. 
 Various large manufacturing interests thrive in the 
 city. Its commerce is awe-inspiring. 
 
 Sacramento sent to the east in one year 90,000,000 
 pounds of fruit, her entire east-bound shipments being 
 over 130,000,000 pounds. 
 
 The annual manufacturing and jobbing trade is 
 over $60,000,000. 
 
 Looking at these statistics, one is reminded of the 
 magic tent of Prince Ahmed. At first it was no big- 
 ger than a nut-shell. Surely it could hold nothing; 
 but it did. People flocked to it. Surely it could not 
 cover thera ; — but it did ! it did ! ! The army flocked 
 to it; — but the tent was elastic. It covered all; it 
 sheltered all ; it welcomed all. 
 
 Has not Sacramento proved itself the magic tent of 
 the Golden Age, ready to cover, shelter, welcome the 
 whole world should occasion require? 
 
 From Sacramento to San Francisco my route lay 
 along the eastern shore of the river, and few halts 
 were made between the two cities. I was anxious to 
 reach my final destination, as a feeling of fatigue was now 
 overcoming me, which, however, only served to stimulate 
 and urge me forward. I passed several places that 
 strongly tempted a halt for refreshment and rest, and 
 finally entered the Western Metropolis on the twenty- 
 fourth of November, registering at the Palace Hotel. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO AND END OF JOURNEY. 
 
 AN FRANCISCO, the chief city on the 
 Western Coast of North America, is in 
 every respect a wonderful city, not least 
 so in its origin and development. Not 
 very long ago — less than a century — 
 the Pacific Coast was almost an un- 
 explored region. The great State of 
 California — next to Texas, the largest in 
 the Union — now teems with populous 
 cities and new settlements, and produces meat and 
 grain abundantly sufficient for the supply of a large 
 portion of the country. It has a coast line on the 
 Pacific Ocean of seven hundred miles and, extending 
 from the coast, a breadth of three hundred and thirty 
 miles. California has also the most wonderful gold 
 fields of the world. They were discovered in the 
 middle of the last century by the Jesuits, who kept the 
 knowledge a secret. 
 
 In 1858, as previously stated, Captain Sutter found 
 gold on the land of one of his farms, and the news of 
 the discovery at once spread. The excitement ex- 
 tended throughout the Union and the '^ Argonauts of 
 M9 " came swarming to the gold fields. People ran 
 about picking up the precious lumps as " hogs in a 
 (528) 
 
SAN FRANCISCO AND END OF JOURNEY. h^U 
 
 forest root for t^roimd-nuts.'^ The golden i)ro(liu;t of 
 1848, was $10,000,000; 1849, $40,000,000; and that 
 of] 853, $Go,000,()00. 
 
 Silver mining lias been attempted in many localities 
 in the State, but generally with poor results. There 
 are valuable deposits of iron ore, coal, copper, tin, 
 platinum, manganese, as[)halt, petroleum, lead and 
 zinc. Fruits are abundant, of great size, and are sold 
 in all the Eastern markets. 
 
 The constitution of California requires a free school 
 to be supported in each district six months in each 
 year, and the system includes primary and grammar 
 schools, high schools, evening schools, normal schools, 
 technical schools, and the State University, which is 
 free to both sexes, and is a perpetual public trust. 
 The schools of California are justly famous. 
 
 Upper California was discovered in lf538 by a Span- 
 ish navigator. In 1578, Sir Francis Drake visited it 
 and gave it the name of New Albion. The Spaniards 
 planted the first colony in 1768. The territory was 
 purchased from Mexico by the United States in 1847 
 for $15,000,000. A constitution was adopted in the 
 same year, and in 1850, California, without ever hav- 
 ing been under a territorial government, was admitted 
 into the Union as a State. 
 
 The jM'ogress of California has been of the most 
 substantial character. Gold mining has become a 
 staple industry, but in the agricultural capabilities of 
 her soil lie the possibilities of her greatest wealth. 
 Among the most valuable of her industries in the 
 future will be those of the orchard and the vineyard. 
 The gra])e growers of the State can now sell their 
 grapes with as much certainty as the farmer his wheat. 
 
530 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 There is sent to the Atlantic coast more wine than 
 is imported from France, the heretofore wine market 
 of the world. 
 
 In Central California a little peninsula juts out from 
 the main land, a great harbor is on one side, a great 
 ocean on the other. The lofty mountains, lower just 
 here, form, as it were, a natural gateway to the great 
 interior beyond. 
 
 Here, in 1836, an American named John P. Lease 
 settled, and here, in time, a little town called San 
 Francisco grew up around him. Two miles to the 
 south loomed up the antiquated building of the Catho- 
 lic Mission Dolores, with its pretty old gardens. The 
 opposite shores of the bay presented a most beautiful 
 park-like expanse: the native lawn, brilliant with 
 flowers and dotted by eastward bending oaks, watered 
 by the creeks of the Alameda, San Lorenzo, Sau 
 Leando, and their tributaries, and enclosed by the 
 spurs of the Diablo Mountains. 
 
 San Francisco was on the soil of Mexico, under the 
 flag of Anahuac, governed by an Alcalde and a sapient 
 council, yet the spirit of the United States breathed 
 in it, built its stout w^ooden houses, and thronged its 
 busy wharves. Animated by this spirit, it was des- 
 tined to become the metropolis of the Pacific, one of 
 the noted cities of the globe. 
 
 Before the " Golden Age,'^ while California was a 
 peaceful settlement, of no especial importance, it was 
 said that around San Francisco Bay there w^as raw 
 material enough, of different types, to develop a new 
 race. 
 
 San Francisco was not in the gold region, but it 
 was the gate to that region. 
 
SAN FRANCISCO AND END OF JOURNEY. 531 
 
 Two weeks after Marshall first discovered the 
 precious metal, a bai; of it was brou-rht to the city for 
 analysis, and one day early in May, 1848, '' Samuel 
 Brennan, the Mormon leader, held a bottle of gold 
 dust in one hand, and jubilantly swinging his hat in 
 the other, passed through the streets of San Francisco 
 shouting, 'Gold ! Gold !! Gold !!! from the American 
 River!'" 
 
 This started the enthusiasm, the fever, the madness 
 for gold. 
 
 Carson writes his sensations when first looking upon 
 a well-filled bag of gold dust. Pie says: 
 
 "A frenzy seized my soul, unbidden my legs per- 
 formed some entirely new movements of polka steps. 
 * * Houses were too small for me to stay in. I 
 was soon in the street in search of necessary outfits; 
 piles of gold rose up before me at every step." 
 
 All yielded more or less to the subtle influence of 
 the malady. Men hastened to arrange their affairs, 
 dissolving partnerships, disposing of real estate, and 
 converting other efifects into ready means for de- 
 parture. 
 
 Stores were rummaged for miners* tools. 
 
 One man offered as high as fifty dollars for a shovel. 
 By the middle of June, San Francisco was without 
 male population. The once bustling little town looked 
 as if struck by a plague. Sessions of the town council 
 were at an end. There were no church services. 
 Stores were closed. Newspapers dropped out of exist- 
 ence. Merchandise lay unhandled on the docks. The 
 sailors deserted the ships that lay at anchor in the bay. 
 
 One day a Peruvian bark came to anchor in the 
 port. Amazed at the desolation which he beheld, 
 
532 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 the captain Inquired the cause. He was answered, 
 "Everybody has gone nortliward, where the valleys 
 and mountains are of gold." Instantly upon hearing 
 this marvellous assertion his own crew joined the in- 
 numerable throng. 
 
 The San Francisco Star of May 27, 1848, says: 
 
 " Stores are closed and places of business vacated, a 
 large number of houses are tenantless, various kinds of 
 mechanical labor suspended or given up entirely, 
 and nowhere the pleasant hum of industry salutes the 
 ear as of late. * * Everything in San Francisco 
 wears a desolate and sombre look; everywhere all is 
 dull, monotonous, dead." 
 
 Apparently the Californian of that day was thor- 
 oughly imbued with tlie saying of the Cyclops, "The 
 wise know nothing worth worshipping but wealth.'^ 
 
 The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was incor- 
 porated in 1847, to sail from New York to New 
 Orleans and Chagres, and from Panama to such Pacific 
 port as the Secretary of the Navy might designate. 
 Later, when the existence of gold in her mines made 
 California the cynosure of all eyes, San Francisco was 
 decided upon as the western terminus of the route. 
 
 On October 6, 1848, the "California," the first ves- 
 sel of this line, steamed out of New York harbor, 
 with but a small number of passengers. As this ship 
 was intended for use on the Pacific coast alone, she 
 was obliged to take the tedious and perilous route 
 through the Strait of Magellan to reach her destina- 
 tion. Arriving at Panama, she found the Isthmus 
 apparently turned into pandemonium. The one time 
 dingy, sleepy city of Panama appeared to have fallen 
 entirely into the hands of the gold-seekers. Cholera 
 
SAN FRANCISCO AND END OF JOURNEY. 533 
 
 had broken out with terrible inuli^iiity on the banks 
 of the Cliagres. The panic-stricken travellers were 
 fleein*^ I'roin the disease, some trying to reach the land 
 of their desire by an old trail, others were trying to 
 make some progress in boats called " longos," pcjled by 
 naked negroes. The mass of the worn, weary, eager 
 wayfarers, however, were waiting as best they might, 
 for that vision of hope and comfort, the '^ steamer/' At 
 last she reached them, with accommodations for about 
 one hundred. She was mobbed by the frantic men, and 
 at last when she left port, over four hundred of them 
 had embarked upon her, many a man braving that ad- 
 venturous voyage, with only a coil of rope or a plank 
 for a bed. 
 
 Steerage tickets for the trip are said to have cost 
 one thousand dollars, or over. 
 
 After spending four months in her passage, the 
 "California'^ steamed into the Bay of San Francisco, 
 February 29, 1849, a day never to be forgotten at the 
 Golden Gate! The town was crowded with miners 
 wintering there; the ships in the harbor were gay 
 with bunting ; the guns of the Pacific Squadron 
 boomed out a salute to the new-comers. Bands of 
 music played, handkerchiefs waved, and men cheered 
 in their enthusiasm, as the first steamship of a regular 
 line entered the Golden Gate, in pursuit of the treas- 
 ures of the " Golden AgeJ' 
 
 That ship bore to California the new military com- 
 mander, General Persifor F. Smith. 
 
 So high ran the fever for treasure, that before the 
 passengers had fairly left the steamer, she was deserted 
 by all belonging to her, save one engineer, and she 
 was consequently unable to start on her return trip. 
 
534 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 » 
 
 Nor was It alone the '^California" which was de- 
 serted. Five hundred ships lay in the San Francisco 
 Harbor deserted, the crews, wild for gold, carrying off 
 the ship's boats in their eagerness to reach land ; very 
 often the commander leading, or at least joining in the 
 flight. Many vessels that year were left to rot; many 
 were dragged on shore and used as lodging houses. 
 
 In the spring, San Francisco seemed deserted, only 
 two thousand inhabitants being left. The heart of the 
 city began to quail. Thousands thronging through 
 her harbor, yet so few to stay ! But winter brought 
 the miners back to civilization again, and the popula- 
 tion swelled to twenty thousand. 
 
 San Francisco was at this time mainly a city of 
 tents, although there was a sprinkling of adobe houses, 
 and a few frame buildings. It was a community of 
 men. The census of 1850 showed that only eight per 
 cent, of the population were women. It was, more- 
 over, a community of young men; scarcely a grey 
 head was to be seen in it. 
 
 Men were there from all the European nations, 
 together with Moors and Abyssinians from Africa, 
 Mongols, Malays, and Hindoos from Asia and Aus- 
 tralia. Turks, Hebrews, and Hispano-Americans 
 jostled the ubiquitous Yankee, in the new streets of 
 San Francisco. 
 
 The predominant dress, we are told, was "checked 
 and woollen shirts, mainly red and blue, open at the 
 bosom which could boast of shaggy robustness, or 
 loosely secured by a kerchief; pantaloons tucked into 
 high and wrinkled boots, and belted at the waist, 
 where bristled an arsenal of knife and pistols. Beard 
 and hair emancipated from thraldom, revelled in long 
 
SAN FJiANCISCO AM) END OF JOURNEY. 535 
 
 and Imsliy tufts, which rather harmonized with tiie 
 sh)ii('he(l ami cliiii:;y liat. * * The gainhlers alVeeted 
 the Mexican style of dress, white shirt with diaiiiond 
 studs, chain of native golden s[)eciniens, broad-hriniined 
 hat, with sometimes a feather or siiuirrel's tail tucked 
 under the brim, top-boots, and a rich scarlet sash or 
 silk handkerchief thrown over the shoulder, or wound 
 around the waist.'* 
 
 They were a buoyant race, brave, intrepid, light- 
 hearted — above all things free from restraint. 
 
 They had braved all hardships and dangers to reach 
 the land of their desire. They had reached there 
 safely, however, and they exulted. They overflowed 
 with activity; they worked jubilantly and untiringly. 
 
 They shouted, they fought, they gambled, in their 
 moments of recreation, intoxicated with the bracing 
 climate, with their excitement of success, and with that 
 rollicking: freedom which threw off all shackles of cus- 
 torn or self-restraint. 
 
 They worshipped success, and greatness with them 
 meant " fitness to grasp opportunity ! '' 
 
 In their eyes the unpardonable sin was meanness. 
 
 Fifty cents was the smallest sum which could be 
 offered for the most trivial of services. 
 
 Laborers obtained a dollar an hour, artisans twenty 
 dollars per day. Laundry expenses exceeded the 
 price of new underwear. 
 
 They loved grandeur. Bootblacks carried on business 
 in prettily fitted up recesses furnished with cushioned 
 cliairs, ;uid containing a liberal suj)ply of newspapers. 
 
 It was over such a San Francisco that the frightful 
 plague of cholera swept in 1850, carrying with it a 
 lesser plague of suicide. 
 
636 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 
 Doctors' fees were from sixteen to thirty-two dollars 
 per visit, while for a surgical operation one thousand 
 dollars was the usual price. 
 
 In spite of plague and death, that part of San Fran- 
 cisco wliich escaped continued to be jubilant. 
 
 Bull fights were in high favor, and the stage, though 
 crude, was very popular, but the great, enchanting de- 
 light of the city was gambling. Money, gold, jewelry, 
 houses, land and wharves were all put up to be gam- 
 bled for. The city abounded with men of elegant 
 manners and striking dress, who were professional 
 gamblers. It was indeed an advance in civilization 
 and morality when in September, 1850, a law was 
 passed forbidding this pastime on tiie Sabbath day. 
 
 The news that California had been admitted as a 
 State in the Union reached San Francisco on the morn- 
 ing of October 18, 1850, when the "Oregon " entered the 
 harbor, flying all her bunting, and signalling the good 
 news. Business was suspended ; courts were ad- 
 journed ; and the whole population, frenzied with de- 
 light, congregated on Portsmouth Square to congratu- 
 late each other. Newspapers containing the intelli- 
 gence from Washington sold for five dollars each ! 
 The shipping in the harbor was gaily dressed with 
 flags; guns boomed from the heights ; bonfires blazed 
 at night ; processions were formed ; bands j)layed ; and 
 the people in every way expressed their joy. Mount- 
 ing his box behind six fiery mustangs laslied to highest 
 speed, the driver of Crandall's Stage cried the good 
 news all the way to San Jos^ — "California is ad- 
 mitted ! ! " while a rins^ino; cheer was returned bv the 
 people as the mail flew by. 
 
 The awaking of San Francisco during the five or 
 
CASCADE BY THE ROADSIDE. 
 
SAN FRANCrSCO AND END OF JOURNEY. 537 
 
 six years followiiicr the discovery of gold was won- 
 derful. " Hills were tuinhlcd into the hay, and mud 
 flats were made solid i^round." Streets were graded, 
 liandsorne huildings were erected, and San Francisco 
 hegan to rank among the first cities of the land. So 
 vahiahle was her water-front that, in l(So3, four small 
 blocks on Commercial street sold for over 1,000,000 
 dollars. The assessed valuation of property that year 
 was about 10,000,000 dollars over that of the pre- 
 vious year. 
 
 The population was then estimated at about 50,000; 
 that being about one-seventh of the then population of 
 the State. 
 
 The city had, at this time, 1856, seventeen fire com- 
 panies, twelve military companies, and a number of 
 social clubs, four hospitals, seventeen public schools, 
 thirty-two church organizations, thirteen daily news- 
 papers, and as many weeklies published in half a 
 dozen different languages. 
 
 From that time she has continued ever increasing, 
 ever justifying her title of the metropolis of the Pacific. 
 
 Her City Hall is one of the grandest buildings on the 
 Continent. Its construction cost 6,000,000 dollars. 
 It stands five hundred and fifty feet on Lark in street, 
 seven hundred on McAllister street, and eight hun- 
 dred and sixty feet on Park avenue. 
 
 The Mint at San Francisco is the largest one in the 
 United States. Its architecture is Doric, and it is con- 
 structed of freestone and California granite. 
 
 San Francisco is supplied with water from several 
 large reservoirs, having a united capacity of seventy 
 billion gallons. Her harbor could accommodate the 
 shipping of the whole world. 
 
538 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 • 
 
 Her commerce is immense. The trade of the- West- 
 ern Coast from Chili to Alaska is her natural heritage, 
 and she can justly claim a fair, large share from China, 
 Japan, India, Australia and the islands of the sea. 
 
 She has eighty-one public schools, sixty-nine clubs, 
 nine public libraries, one hundred and fourteen 
 churches, and thirty public parks and ornamental 
 plazas. 
 
 What words could more aptly describe the career of 
 San Francisco tlian those lately written by Governor 
 Mark ham? 
 
 ^'Originally San Francisco consisted of wind-swept 
 hills, the shifting sands of which seemed to defy either 
 stability or cultivation. Now those hills, graded by 
 pick and shovel, are gridironed by streets and rail- 
 ways, and crowned with the magnificent buildings of 
 a populous city, or transformed by the magic of water 
 and patient tillage into miles of verdant park, dotted 
 by miniature lakes, ribboned with gravel drives, 
 crowded with grottoes, statuary, conservatories, and 
 ornamental buildings, enriched by luxuriant shrub- 
 bery and brilliant flowers, the wonder of the tourist, 
 and a delight to her contented people." 
 
 There are larger and more populous cities in 
 America than San Francisco, but few more deserving 
 the designation of a Great City. The energies of her 
 people, the prodigal wealth of her territory, and her 
 singularly equable and temperate climate, form a suf- 
 ficient guarantee of the increasing greatness of her 
 future. 
 
 Finding my quarters at the hotel comfortable and 
 restful after the strain I had endured as the result of 
 
^^te 
 
 ,^"*'%, 
 
 f--," 
 
 w 
 
 IML 
 
 i 
 
SAN FRAXcrSCO AND KNI) OF JOURNEY. 541 
 
 two hundred days of rout^Ii riding, I (U'fonxMl tcr- 
 niinnting my journey for a conple of dnvs. It will 
 be reinenihered that T undei-took to I'ide from tiie 
 Atlantic to the Pacific in tlie saddle, and hence my tonr 
 would not be literally completed until J reached the 
 shore of the Pacific. Accordingly on the twenty-sixth 
 of November I remounted and rode to the Cliff House, 
 a romantic resort built on a rocky prominence overlook- 
 ing the ocean. From here I descended the Toll Road 
 to the sandy beach. A westerly breeze rolled the 
 breakers up to the feet of my horse, and I forthwith 
 walked him into the waters of the Pacific. My self- 
 imposed task — my journey from ()(;kax to Ocean 
 ON Horseback — was accomplished. 
 
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