3 900J 05350 333 lii^iiiirif^imn ¦¦l'l';-^mP 'J'il^: ?..r I : J ' _,.^.:'*'4^ «:* Via^M. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Meagher Gift rHE"THREE F0RKS"-MAD1S0N, GALLATIN AND JEFFERSON RIVERS, FORMING THE MISSOURI, NIAR STERLING, MONTANA. THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, PREHISTORIC EVENTS: GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGINAL FORMATION AND EARLY CONDITION OF THE GREAT VALLEY; OF ITS VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL LIFE ; OF ITS FIRST INHABITANTS, THE MOUND BUILDERS, ITS MINERAL TREASURES AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS. ALL FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES. By C. B. WALKEE. R. T. ROOT, PUBLISHER. BURLINGTON, IOWA. 1880. Entered for Copyright In 1878, E. T. Boot, "All rights reserved.' PREFACE. The object of this book is to supply the means of ac quiring a clear idea of the Origin, Extent, Resources, and Development of the Mississippi Valley. No work before the public embraces this information. Can a subject apparently so familiar in its general features as the development of the Valley of the Mississippi be -clothed with fresh interest ? A brilliant and durable pros perity must have an extraordinary cause ; and a region that has reacted with such happy eifect on the character and destinies of a great nation must be worthy of close study. That study will show that the Valley is only beginning to make itself felt in the country and the world, that its natural .advantages are wholly unequaled by any section of the globe, and that its People and Institutions are equally superior. Scientific studies on its original formation have been principally confined to learned books. Presented in a con densed and popular form, they will be found of fascinating interest; while a complete view of its surface features, its vast area, its variety of climate and soil, its agricultural and mineral resources, its rivers, lakes, and plains, and wide ex panding rim, with the peculiar course and significance of its human history, show it to be the grandest and most -desirable region in the world. It is to be a mighty element in a wonderful Future. The works ofthe Mound Builders, before authentic history began, furnish evidence that it was (3) * PREFACE. even then the abode of a numerous and prosperous people^ and nourished one ofthe Primitive Civilizations ofthe world. The publisher feels justified in saying that in all the range of English literature no publication can be found embodying so many valuable and interesting facts, collected from reli able scientific investigators and from the remains of an tiquity, presented in a manner so pleasing, and, at the same time, free from dry and tedious details. It can not faU to please all friends of literature aud science. INTRODUCTION". Within the last half century the world has been passing through changes of a new and striking kind. Many ten dencies that had been long acquiring strength in secret, have suddenly come to the surface and taken control of life and thought ; directness and force, leading to results of world wide importance such as no previous period could show, have become characteristic of most displays of energy in practical fields, and made the general situation for mankind at large extremely different. It reminds us of the flowering time of the plant when new parts are suddenly unfolded, new purposes and powers revealed, and all its vital energies concentrated on the final work of maturing the fruit. Science is one of the chief factors in this suddenly quick ened progress. It has learned to make its studies at once minute, comprehensive, aud accurate. By carefully ex amining every particular, putting all the facts together to learn the significance of the whole, and then returning to a consideration of the relation of the parts to the general result, it seems to lay bare the secrets of nature. There are few things which it appears capable of concealing from an inquiry so searching, and the practical and the mental worlds seem to share about equally in the grand discoveries. The earth and the history of man have acquired a new meaning, and are invested with greater interest. Tracing effects back to causes, science finds conclusive proof of what before could only be dimly suspected, that (5) b INTKODUCTION. all things are bound together in a true unity ; that the solicf earth has passed through a succession of changes as orderly as the stages of growth ina plant or an animal, each change contributinc; to the general advance toward a foreseen end. It is continually finding new evidence that the earth was fitted up with reference to human history ; and history is found to show more clearly the more carefully it is studied, that it has been guided with reference to the structure and varying resources of different regions of the earth. The physical structure of Europe has exerted immense- influence on civilization, ancient and modern ; the wonderful , effect of the peculiar resources and position of England on its people and the world is well known. The American continent as a whole, the transfer of European institutions to it and their subsequent re-action on development in Europe, also illustrate this law. The Mississippi Valley is in itself a case strongly in point, and in some peculiar ways. Its grand outlines were drawn in the earliest geological times ; it was constructed with great simplicity throughout its general surface, but very elaborately on its borders, where all the resources of volcanic force, of heat and chemi cal activity were taxed to enrich it with various treasures ; glaciers of almost continental magnitude were employed to provide it with a rich, deep soil ; it has an unrivaled loca tion and its system of water-ways gives it a magnificent unity. Nature was lavish of her best, and did not change her mood from first to last. It is interesting and significant to note how carefully the course of human history was guided to preserve this fortu nate Valley from permanent occupation by any people whose genius and stage of development rendered them unfit to be its heirs. The primitive civilization of the Mound Builders was broken up before it became too strong, being, probably, more fully developed in Central America and Mexico ; the INTRODUCTION. 7 Indians were no true owners since they sought little but its game and wild fruits, and soon gave way to a superior race ; the Spaniards flitted across the Lower Valley or along its coasts, and disappeared, overwhelmed in the misfortunes produced by their own violence ; the French soldier or priest was soon lost to view underthe forests, or maintained a precarious and uninfluential foothold at a few points along the rivers; andthe' Spanish, French, and English govern ments intrigued in vain with Indians and colonists to estab lish their control over it in later years. But there was a people to whom the Valley took kindly, among whom were the germs of thought and character which could produce the best institutions and make the wisest use of its great resources. They wandered across the eastern mountains, underthe friendly shelter ofthe tall forests, and felt themselves at home. Though the Indian swung his tomahawk and raised the war-whoop, nature smiled on them. They had no thought of retreat, though the settler must be warrior as well as farmer for almost a generation. The trees fell before his axe, and gradually the grain fields waved green and gold in the summer breeze — rough homes of peace and plenty multiplied over the whole vast region ; the rudeness ajid vices of the border soon gave place to the well-settled order of old communities ; while the freeman found himself nowhere so free, the business man was nowhere so prosperous, and the State, the school, the church, the press vvere nowhere so flourishing. Here was ample room to show that unrestricted political freedom does not necessarily lead to disorder ; that business and trade are governed by laws of their own, which may correct the disturbances of personal ambition ; and that a loose society, with little pressure but its own choice, may prefer to establish and maintain the best institutions of the highest civilization. The time had come for such lessons to 8 INTRODUCTION. be very effective. Presently England gave most of her col onies equal freedom, and the tension of authority among the nations of the Old World has long been giving way. Thus we find the first and the last parts of the Valley's history unified. A thread of intention connects its geology with the latest developments in the history of its enterpris ing inhabitants, and the whole forms a prophecy of the fu ture of no small intei'est. Accumulated causes, in our day, hurry into effects ; industrial and commercial forces have become immense — in the Valley especially — and are daily gathering strength, and the surprises of the past will sink into insignificance before those of the near future. The problems of liberty and national unity have been solved already and completely by the help of the Valley. But these were only preliminary questions. How shall these Doundless resources be so used that all classes of the people shall be prosperous ? How shall the great questions of in dustry, finance, and commerce be settled so that injustice shall be done to none ? Nature here furnishes the means to any desired extent ; it is the true adjustment that is re quired ; the field is roomy, the forces are fairly free to move. Notwithstanding many seeming contradictions, man and nature, here at least, are equally well meaning, on the whole, and the harmonizing law of relations and interests is active and strong. We may therefore believe that the beneficent re-action of the Great Valley on the welfare of the nation has only begun. COIsTTEN'TS PART FIRST. THE AJfOIEIfT HISTOET OP THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AUD or THE MOUND BUILDERS, AS BELATED ¦ BT SOIENOE. True Science dates from the Times of Columbus — The difficulties met in searching for Sound Principles and Methods — The Caution and Pre cision now employed by men of Science. CHAPTER I. HOW NATURE FORMED THE GREAT VALLEY 33 "The Forces employed by Nature have Written their History in the Rocks — The Earth originally a Molten Fiery Mass, whicli gradually cooled — The immense Forces proceeding from Contraction — How ""Continents were outlined, their Parts raised and Mountains elevated — The Outlining of the Great Valley. CHAPTER II. HOW ROCKS ARE MADE AND HOW THEIR "STOrY" IS READ. 41 The Four Geological " Times " and Classes of Rocks — Primordial Time ahd Azoic Rocks, i. e., without Life — Palseozoic Rocks containing Ancient Forms of Life — Mesozoic Rocks containing MediiEval or Middle Forms of Life — Cenozoic Rocks showing Recent Forms of Life — The Great Coal-making Period — The Great Mountain-making ..Periods- (1) 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. ' HOW NATURE FINISHED THE VALLEY AND PREPARED IT FOR MAN 4S The Tertiary Period preceding the Age of Man— The Quaternary, or Recent Period, including the Ageof Man— The Glacial Period, or the Age of Ice — The Drift it formed, and how it was distributed — The Champlain Period and draining of the Valley— The Vegetable Mould gradually produced completes the Work. CHAPTER IV. VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL LIFE ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS. 55 The wonderful Skill and Intelligence of the Life Force— How did it Originate, and How was it Propagated? — Various Theorie.^ — Simi larities and Differences in Animal and Vegetable Forms of Life. CHAPTER V. VEGETATION IN THE VALLEY, ANCIENT AND MODERN 63 The two great Classes of Vegetable Forms — Vegetable Life probably preceded Animal Life — The first known Forms — The small number of Early Forms preserved — The Forests of the Coal Period — Vege tation after the Coal Period — Forest Trees after the Mountains were raised. CHAPTER VI. ANIMAL LIFE IN THE VALLEY, ANCIENT AND MODERN 70 The Five great Divisions of Animal Life — Most Ancient Forms — Life in the Palaeozoic Rocks — Gri-dual introduction of Higher Forms — No Animal with Lungs befo e the Coal Period — Probable reason — Life after the Coal Period in Mesozoic Time — More Recent Animals — Man the Ideal Animal. CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER VII. GENERAL VIEW OF THE FINISHED VALLEY 81 The Great River and its Principal Branches — The Subordinate Rivers and their Basins — The Gulf Slope — The Prairies and their Origin — Gen eral Relations within and without — The Readiness with which it gives up its vast Treasures. CHAPTER VIII. THE MINERAL TREASURES OF THE VALLEY 89' The Causes that produced its Extensive Deposits of useful Minerals — Every Geological Age worked well for the Valley — Iron Deposits in the Primitive Rock — In Later Formations — Fine Q^iality and favora ble Distribution — Copper-bearing Rocks — Lead of Lower Silurian Rocks — Building Stone — Salt and its Origin — Petroleum — Extraordi nary Supply of Coal. CHAPTER IX. AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE VALLEY 97 Its Adaptations favorable to a vast Development of Commerce and Manu factures — However great in other respects, Agriculture -will always Lead — The remarkable Qualities of the Soil — The Climate and Rain fall of different Sections — Comparison of Mississippi Valley with Russia and the Valley of the Amazon — Points of Superiority tO' every other Region. CHAPTER X. THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THE FIRST MEN IN THE VALLEY 113' The Champlain Period and huge Animals — Traces of Man in connection with the Mastodon — Men in the Valley as early as in Europe — Where did they come from? — Their Uiilikeness to any Old World Race — The Moundi in the Valley — The conclusion is that the people who made them had an Organized Government and Institutions. 12 C ONTENTS . CHAPTER XI. THE LABORS OF THE MOUND BUILDERS H? The great number of the Mounds— Mounds classed as Fortifications, Temples, Altars, Sepulchres, etc.— Careful Study of them by Men o Science— Number and Character of Military Enclosures— Fort Hill and Fort Ancient, Ohio— Temple Mounds and Enclosures— Works at Newark, Ohio— Cahokia and Seltzertown Mounds— Altars of Sacri fice — Burial Mounds — Mounds not made by Indians. CHAPTER XII. THE CHARACTER OF THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR INSTITUTIONS 183 Their Mental Qualities as shown by their Skulls — Physical Qualities—; Evidences of a Settled Government — Their numbers and Proof that they were Agriculturists — Military and Mathematical Knowledgfe — Their Art Remains indicate considerable Advancement — The great Difficulties they had to overcome in Industry and Art — Their Relig ious Institutions — Proofs of Sun Worship — Of Human Sacrifices^ Their Priesthood — Evidences of Connection with Central America and Mexico — Sudden Disappearance — Conclusions. PART SECOND. THE INDIAN TEIBES AND EUEOPEAN SETTLEMENT- OP THE MISSISSIPPI YALLET. CHAPTER I. THE WILD HUNTERS OF THE VALLEY 155 Indians totally different from Mound Builders — Their habits, military and. political organization — Comparison of Brain with Mound Builders and Europeans — Difficulty of accepting Civilization, and its Causes — Their manly and childish Qualities — Unhappy effect of contact with Civilized Races — Limited Success of Indian Confederations — Their Origin — Inferences from Language — No Traces of former higher- culture or mixture of Races. CHAPTER II. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION BY THE SPANIARDS 167 Character of Spanish Conquests of the Sixteenth Century — They were- Religious Crusades — Their Unsparing Cruelty — DeSoto's Expedition.. CHAPTER III. THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 175 The Modern Tone of their Missions and Conquests — Marquette and Joliet— The great Vigor and Misfortunes of La Salle — Bienville at the Mouth of the Mississippi. (13) 14 CONTENTS CHAPTER IV. ENGLISH EXPLORATIOWS I.V THE VALLEY IN THE EIGH- TEE.\TH CENTURY 183 The Aims of English Settlers different from those of Spanish and French— English Traders and Colonists— Cause of Indian Hostility to them — Contest of English and French for the Possessionofthe Valley. CHAPTER V. THE Indian's defence of his hunting grounds AGAINST THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH 191 "The Massacre of the Natchez — The Chickasaws and Choctaws Successfully Resist the French — English Policy in the South Against the French — Indians Assist the French in the Upper Valley — Pontiac's Designs and their Failure. CHAPTER VI. the INDIANS MAKE WAR ON THE AMERICAN PIONEERS.200 Indian Titles to the Valley — Purchases by the English and Colonial Authorities — English Policy during the Revolution — Courage of Early Settlers — Bloody Contest during the War in Kentucky and Tennessee — Success of Gen. George Rogers Clarke — Struggle of Indians for Northwest Territory ^ St. Clair's Defeat — Wayne's Victory. CHAPTER VII. TECUMSEH AND HIS ALLIES 209 Fifteen Years Peace — Character and Purposes of Tecumseh — His Organi zation in the North— His Visit to the Creeks — The War of 1S12 The Indians in the English Armies— Fearful Massacres North and South- Death of Tecumseh— Gen. Jackson and the Creeks— Final Subjuga tion of the Indians — Indian Policy and Later Contests- CONTENTS. 15 CHAPTER VIII. THE HEROIC PERIOD OF SETTLEMENT 233 "Daniel Boone and his Companions — The FirSt Settlers in Tennessee — The Spread of Settlement in Kentucky — Incidents of the War in Kentucky— The Brave Girl— The Young Hero— The Prudent Boys— The Two Wounded Men — The Number of Settlers in 1795. CHAPTER IX. WHOLESALE SETTLEMENT UNDER DIFFICULTIES. "The Two Heroic States — Settlement of Ohio and the Northwest — Settle ment in the Lower Valley — Population in 1800 — The Situation in 1812 — Sudden Diffusion of Settlement after the War — Transportation on the Rivers — Social Habits in 1816 — Population in 1820. CHAPTER X. THE STEAMBOAT ERA 350 The Isolation of the Valley and Want of Markets in Early Times — Great Improvement about 1820 on Introduction of Steamboats — Gain of Settlers in 1830 — The Southern Valley — Vast Immigration between 1830 and 1850 — Need of a new Carrying Agent. CHAPTER XI. THE RAILROAD ERA 357 The Difficulty of Building Railways before 1850— California Gold and the Extension of Railroads — Transfer of population from the East to the West — Increase of Population between 1850 and i860. CHAPTER XII. CONSTITUTIONAL BEGINNINGS BYTHE EARLY SETTLERS. 263 The Sturdy Character of the American Colonist — Fortunate Escape of the Valley from Spanish, French and English Rule — Miscarriage of Pro prietary Companies in Early Settlements — Significance of the Rea son — "Articles of Association" of Wautauga Settlement — County Or ganizations in Kentucky and Tennessee — The " State of Franklin"— Its History Illustrates American Character— Foreign Intrigues in the Valley. 16 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM FOR CREATING NEW STATES 224 The "Ordinance of 1787"— It becomes a virtual Territorial Constitution —Its Wise Provisions— The Constitution of the United States as a Definition of State and Popular Rights— Liberal Interpretation e€~ Theory in Practice. CHAPTER XIV. STATE CONSTITUTIONS 292 History of the Organization of each Territory and State in the Valley — • Special Features of each State Constitution detailed — The Featuzi^- ' Common to all the States — Summary of Results. CHAPTER XV. NATIONALITY OF EMIGRANTS TO THE VALLEY, AND THEIK ORIGINAL CHARACTER 32B Immigrants from the Atlantic States in Different Periods — Their Enter prise and Intelligence — Immigrants from the British Isles — They aie Branches from our own Stock — Immigrants from Northern and Cen tral Europe — The readiness with which they "Fall into Line" — ^The French Settlers in the Valley. CHAPTER XVI. THE PIONEERS OF KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE. Their bold and hardy Qualities — The combination of the wily Hunter and the practical Farmer in them — The Independence and self-asser tion acquired— The influence of these qualities on the later History- of the Valley — They furnish a leading Type of Character. CONTENTS. 17 CHAPTER XVII. NEW ENGLAND IN THE WEST 832 The thoughtful, logical and enterprising character of the New England Type of Americans — Long isolation and much hardship did not injure, but improved the Type — What the Yankee lost and what he gained in the woods and prairies of the West — The Undertone thus given, to Western Habits and Institutions — The later New Englander,. what he gave and what he received. CHAPTER XVIII. THE SOUTHERN PLANTER IN THE VALLEY 339 The peculiar character of Pioneer Life in the Southern Valley — The social qualities and intelligence promoted — The Master, the Servant, the Gentleman, and the American Citizen in the Southern Valley. CHAPTER XIX. FOREIGN IMMIGRANTS AS AMERICAN CITIZENS 346 The Foreign elements at different Periods — The readiness with which they caught the American Spirit — Liberalizing influence of the For eign Element of the Population — The Fusion or combined results of all these elements of character in the Valley. CHAPTER XX. EDUCATIONAL BEGINNINGS IN THE VALLEY 353 Origin and Progress of Popular Education in Europe and the Eastern States^Early Embarrassments to Common Schools in the Valley — The eager interest soon displayed — Great and intelligent develop ment from 1850 to i860— Newspapers and Churches. CHAPTER XXI. INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS TO 1860 363 Early Manufactures and their steady increase — Progress of Commerce and Trade — Agricultural beginnings — Progress limited only by capacity of markets — Investment of Capital and production of wealth in different periods. 2 IS CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. THE VALLEY IN 1860 367 Review of favorable features of Valley History to i860— The disadvan tages from industrial and political opposition between the two sec tions — Neither the River nor Railway systems could overcome them — Influence of these two systems on the Civil War. CHAPTER XXIII. THE CONFLICT AND ITS LESSONS 374 Military Strategy and the Railroads — Operations on the Rivers — Other lines of defence and attack — Conquest of principal lines decides the War — How the Valley tends to preserve the unity of the whole country. PART THIRD. THE NEW EEA IN THE VALLET. CHAPTER I. THE SOUTHERN VALLEY AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR... 387 The Misfortunes ofthe People — The Losses in Capital — The Disorganiza tion of Industry — The South must begin anew. CHAPTER II. CHANGES IN THE SOUTHERN VALLEY AFTER THE WAR 394 Re-arrangement of the Labor System — Political Changes — The New Situation Fairly Established — The New Career Open — How Ameri cans Manage a Difficulty — Constitutional Changes CHAPTER III. THE UPPER VALLEY DURING THE WAR 406 Causes of the Uninterrupted Development of the Upper Valley During the War — The East and West Railroad System — Agricultural Ma chinery, Immigration, and Circulation of Money — Its Products find Excellent Markets — A fine Situation. CHAPTER IV. THE NEW STARTING POINT 410 The Fresh Impulses Furnished to Enterprise — A Hopeful Energy Creates Resources — The Era of Results" Succeeds the Era of Beginnings— The Benefits and Evils Resulting from the War. (19) 20 CONTENTS, CHAPTER V. VAST EXTENSION OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM 41ff Completion of the Pacific Railroad— Rapid Development of the Western Valley — Immense increase of Business multiplies Shorter Roads and completes Long Routes — Advantages of the Railroad Furor — The Sudden Reaction. CHAPTER VI. PRODUCTION OF MINERAL WEALTH IN THE NEW ERA.. .424 Increase of Iron Production in the Valley — Consumption of Iron and Steel — Progress of Coal Mining — Significance of these Facts — Petro leum, Copper and Salt — Precious Metals on the Rocky Mountain Border in 1872 — Progress and General Probabilities. CHAPTER VII. RAPID GROWTH OF MANUFACTURES 428 Value of Railroads in Diffusing Industries and Developing the Capacities of every Region — Comparison of Earlier and Later Statistics of Man ufactures — Great Relative Growth in the Center ofthe Country. CHAPTER VIII. THE TRANSFER OF INDUSTRIES TO THE VALLEY 433 It is Promoted by Ready Access to Material— By the Nearness of Pur- ' chasers — By the Large Margin of Profit — Indications of Transfer as a Fact — Growth of Large Citiee in the Valley — Manufactures in the Eastern, the Central and the Southeastern Valley. CHAPTER IX. CULTIVATED AREAS AND FARM VALUES IN THE NEW ERA.. 439 Gain of Acreage Cultivaled from 1S60 to 1870 — Losses in the South — Later Gains — Facts from Census — Later Values — The Period of In vestments and the Period of Profits. CONTENTS. 21 CHAPTER X. THE GIFTS OF THE SOIL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. .444 Grain Production in Various Years — Crops and Prices — Other products of the Farm — The Law of Expansion — The South and the Southwest. CHAPTER XI. COMPARISON OF AGRICULTURE AND OF OTHER INDUSTRIES. .451 Comparison of Data for Fifty Years — Farm Products and Mining — Agri culture and Manufactures — Foreign Export. CHAPTER XII. COMMERCE OF THE RIVERS AND THE LAKES. .457 Earlier and Later Statistics — Carriage by Water and by Railway — The Future of Water-ways. CHAPTER XIII. DIRECT FOREIGN COMMERCE OF THE VALLEY 464 The Past and the Present of Commerce — The great Changes preparing — Atlantic Commerce — The future of South American Commerce — The Mississippi Valley, the Isthmus Canal and Pacific Commerce. CHAPTER XIV. THE STIMULANTS TO EDUCATION SINCE THE WAR 469 Xhe Educating Influence of the War— New demands on Scientific and Technical Education— Sudden removal of Barriers to Observation- Educating power of Intense and Comprehensive Activity— Newspa pers and Libraries. 22 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. THE WONDERFUL PROGRESS OF POPULAR EDUCATION 474 The Funds devoted to School purposes in i860 and 1870— Schools in the diflferent States— The great improvement in Methods— Normal Schools — Universities and Colleges — Significance of School Systems in New States. CHAPTER XVI. THE GROWING BREADTH OF RELATIONS TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD 483 Relations to the Commerce and Manufactures of the East — Tothe Mining and Commerce of the West — A New World of Relations. CHAPTER XVII. THE NEW UNITY OF THE VALLEY 496 A Financial Crisis, and the Telegraph and Railway Systems — The East, the West and the Valley in a Financial Storm — The Valley comes to the Front — It is a World in itself — True Centralization. CHAPTER XVIII. THE PAST AND THE PRESENT OF AMERICAN HISTORY.. ..501 Early directions in Development have not been changed — Expansion and Union of American Types of Character — The American Idea and Manhood Suffrage — The free operation of Natural Law renders Catastrophes impossible. CHAPTER XIX. THE GRAND EXPERIMENT, AND EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY... 609 The Old Theory of Government shown to be False — Fifteen Years of European History— American connection with the Regeneration of European Governments — The Law of Change. CONTENTS. 23 CHAPTER XX. A HISTOET OF THE PROPHETS OF EVIL 519 The Dark Side of the Picture— The Serious Dangers of the Past— How they Disappeared — " Beware of False Prophets." CHAPTER XXI. THE AMERICA OF THE FUTTTEE 527 The Monroe Doctrine and its Fruits— The Continent Unified in the Valley — The Rule of Reason and Interest — Can Intelligence and Science cease to Develop? — The Securities furnished by the Past and the Present — The Certainties of the Future — Its Probabilities. PART FOURTH. THE TWO SLOPES— WEST AND EAST OP THE VALLEY. The Mississippi Valley is the Home Farm of the Anglo-American Race — How the East and West unite to promote its interests. CHAPTER I. THE PACIFIC SLOPE HOW IT WAS FORMED 543 The Great Extent of the Rocky Mountain Plateau — Age of the Mountaina — How Gold and Silver got there — River Systems and Basins. CHAPTER II. AEIZONA THE LAND OF PLATEAUS 551 The peculiar Structure of Ai-izona — The Grand CaRon of the Colorado — The Gila River and the Southern Pacific Railroad. CHAPTER III. PEEHISTOEIC AEIZONA 557 Its former Dangers and Romantic Mysteries — Early Spanish Search for Cities and Treasure — Extensive Ruins of Houses ahd Irrigating Canals — A Prehistoric Civilization — Its Character, Probable Origin and Violent Ending — Climate of Arizona, Rainfall, Soil and Mines. 24 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. THE GEBAT DIVIDE — THE PEINCIPAL PLATEAU OF THE EOCKY MOUNTAINS 576 Structure of the various pafts of the Plateau and Mountain Ranges — Fine Features of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico — The Plains, Stock Raising, Farming and Mining. CHAPTER V. THE GEEAT BASINS 590 The Central Trough from British Columbia to the Gulf of California — Utah and Upper Columbia Basins — River System, Soil and Climate of the diflferent Basins. CHAPTER VI. THE PACIFIC COAST FEOM PUGET SOUND TO SAN DIEGO. 598 Western Washington and Oregon — Promising Features of these Regions — The California Valley — Southern California and the Pacific Coast. CHAPTER VII. AGEICULTUEE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 607 A Wonderful Soil— Its Origin— Statistics of California— Irrigation and its Climatic Eflfects— In California— In the Interior Basins— Western Oregon and Washington. CHAPTER VIII. SETTLEMENT OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE THE VIGOEOUS CHAEACTEE OF THE PEOPLE 626 Spanish Settlement— Character of Mexicans— Gold Discoveries test the Character of Americans— A Magnificent History of Enterprise and Energy. THE ATLANTIC SLOPE. CHAPTER IX. THE BIETH-PLACE OF THE EEPUBLIC 641 The best Anglo-Saxon Traits preserved in the Colonies of the Atlantic Coast— Geological, Commercial and Agricultural Features of this Region— A New and Admirable Race is produced here— The Wisdom of the Original States. CONTENTS. 25 . CHAPTER X. THE DEVELOPMENT AND PEOSPECTS OF THE ATLANTIC SLOPE 655 Early Growth Slow — Great Advantages of New York, Pennsylvania and the Middle Coast— New England— The Southern Coast— Probable Future of each. CHAPTER XI. THE EAST AS A LEADEE 663 Eminent Features of the Sections Compared— Wise Management and En terprise preserve the Ascendency of the East— Its Leadership of Intelligence and Energy, Past, Present and Future. PART FIFTH. CANADA AND ENGLAND. What America owes to England — English Vigor and Skill — The Relations of Canada and the United States. THE DOMINION OF CANADA- CHAPTER I. THE PEOPLE AND THE GOVEENMENT 675 Early French Settlement and History of Canada — The English Conquest results in Self-Goyernment — The Union of the Canadas and Origin of the Dominion. CF ^PTER II. ;,?¦ THE EESOUECES OF THE DOMINION , 696 The Geology, Surface and Soil of the Dominion — Its Extent of Good Land. Lumber, Mines and Fisheries. 26 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. THE PEESENT AND FUTUEE OF THE DOMINION 712" Amount of Realized Wealth— Progress of Railroads— Extent of Its Mer chant Marine— Probable rate of Future Growth. ENGLAND. CHAPTER IV. THE BEITISH ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE 721 Their Situation, Surface and Resources— Development of Government and' Character — Great Vigor and Tenacity of the Race. CHAPTER V. MODEEN ENGLAND 732 How England was led to her great Modern Career — Growth of Commerce and Industries after 1815 — Great Capacities fully Aroused — Her Future. CHAPTER VI. THE WEALTH OF ENGLAND 742 The United States and England Compared — Summaries of Growth in. Realized Wealth in each by English Statisticians — Conclusions. THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. PART FIEST. THE ANCIENT HISTOEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET AND OF THE MOUND BUILDERS, AS RELATED BY SCIENCE. The discoveries of Columbus, and of Portuguese mariners shortly before, opened an era of great importance to Europe and to mankind. They lifted the veil that hid another world from the eyes of the dawning modern civilization, enlarged tenfold the field of adventure and of business activity, and stimulated enterprise by the promise of brilliant rewards. For a thousand years Europe had been a general battle field,' whereon fierce passions, towering ambitions and conflicting interests had wasted the resources of chnrch and state. These new openings for energy gradually relieved the deadly stress of conflict between nations and classes, and changed destruc tive forces into agents of progress and prosperity. In this reconstruction of views and interests, which was made slowly but surely, many illusions and false notions, religious, social and political, disappeared. Mankind seemed now to come of age, so to speak, and enter, for the first time, on the serious work of life. New experiences and a vast multitude of new facts could not all be harmonized with old theories, and the habit of tnore attentive observation, which the necessity of fresh explana tions gradually introduced, led to the re-organization of the old sciences and to the development of many new ones. It was 27 •28 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. the starting point of truer study by more careful investigation. The world, for instance, was proved to be round by mariners who constantly sailed in the same direction till they at length •came back to their starting point ; this laid a solid foundation for a true theory of the planetary system and the starry world ; stimulated inquiry into the laws that govern the motions of the heavenly bodies, and thus enlarged and corrected the Science of Astronomy. In a similar way every branch of knowledge profited by the great events of the Columbian Era. Yet it took a long time to find out the most effective and reliable methods of study, and to teach men not to draw con clusions too hastily. Many difficulties were met in organiz ing this practical school. It was not easy to throw off the influence of old habits and views, and men found it hard to believe that those who had been revered for their learning in former times could have made so many great mistakes. The great men and the theories of the past had become identified with institutwns whose influence and authority seemed to be attacked by the new learning, and persecution was frequently added to the other embarrassments of the student of science. Many of the sciences required long and difficult researches, and the observations which must furnish the material for true theories accumulated facts slowly. The science of geology properly commenced with the inquiry how marine shells could have been placed in the heart of rocks and on the top of moun tains. It was long before the true explanation could be found. Some rocks did not contain shells at all, but bore the appear ance of having cooled from a melted state. These were so numerous, especially in some regions, that it was believed by some that all rock was formed in that way, although that view did not satisfactorily account for the rocks containing the shells. Other regions showed very few, or none, of these fire-made rocks, nearly all contained the remains of organic life, and, the principal effort being to account for them, the theory was advanced that all rocks were formed in water. Much study THE GROWTH OF MODEEN SCIENCE. 29' and discussion followed before it was seen that both these theories were necessary to a complete explanation. Sometimes it was necessary that one science should reach a certain degree of perfection before it could shed the necessary light on important questions of another;' and in others the whole world had to be pretty well known before the true theory could be framed. There was a great attraction in mak ing fresh discoveries, the interest the questions raised con stantly increased, and, as every part of the earth became more fully known to the civilized world, the dark points were gradually cleared up. A theory that is nearest the truth will explain the largest number of facts, and, led on by increasing breadth and clearness of explanation, men of science slowly and painfully conquered the difficulties in their way. But, if the conquest was slow and painful, it was also sure, for it had the solid basis of nature to rest on. If they made mistakes, examined too hastily, and formed conclusions with out the most mature consideration, the ever accumulating facts would convict them of error. In this way they learned extreme caution, sought the most accurate instruments and methods to aid their investigations, and, in our own day, have become renowned for the precise and patient care bestowed on their labors. "Scientific Accuracy" implies the most thorough study and the most absolute certainty which the nature of the subject admits. The glory of all past ages pales before the achievements of the scientific world o^ our generation and of that which imme diately preceded it. The warriors, the statesmen, the artists and the thinkers of past ages appear childish bunglers when compared with these broad-minded, clear-sighted, intellectual and practical giants of our time. The almost miraculous development of the industries and comprehensive activities of recent years, the means by which distance and other obstacles have been deprived of their power to separate men and keep them in ignorance of each other, all come, directly or indi- 30 THE MISSISSIPPI \' ALLEY. rectly, from scientific discoveries. So useful has science become to practical life that it has been made, to a great extent, the general superintendent of the business undertak ings, of the social and political affairs, and of the thought of the world. If it has too lately received that high position to have banished false principles and injurious violation of the laws of nature, of business and of association, it is yet stead ily and vigorously working toward that end, and can not well fail of ultimate success. Science has acquired this great influence by doing its work within its own special field with great and conscientious thoroughness. It will take nothing for granted, it requires proof ; it shuns no labor to arrive at certainty, it will not deceive others nor itself, and declines to pronounce upon a theory until all the facts have been sufficiently examined and reasonable doubts removed. These are its fundamental prin ciples. Some of its teachers, indeed, fail to be always governed by these principles, for they are often more or less imperfectly imbued with its spirit, but their influence is lost in proportion as they are unable to sustain their positions by convincing proof Science belongs to the material world, the world of facts which are capable of being proved, and it has taught the world the carefulness in receiving such proof that it uses in seeking for it. Geology has been perfected with this painstaking care. Several miles of the original depth of the rocks of the earth have been turned up to the light of day by the immense forces that assisted in its structure, and they have laid bare, some where, nearly everyleaf of its journal of its own life and history. By long and patient study its alphabet has been learned and the strange journal read. Chemistry, Zoology, Botanv, Physi ology, Astronomy, and many other sciences have aided in its work, for they are all branches of one great Science of Nature. As the special energies of each department of nature had their part in making the earth, so the facts of each science THE DISCOVEEIES OF SCIENCE. 31 TIOW assist in explaining hoio it was made. Not everything is. known. On the contrary, study seems only now to have fairly commenced. It has surveyed the general field, it has disci plined its workers, organized its forces, and found out the right way to use them. It has exercised its eye, its hand and its judgment so thoroughly that they can work together with great rapidity and certainty. It has learned that nature is not a confused collection of con tradictions, but that the different parts form a consistent, well- proportioned and harmonious whole; that the laws now con trolling its operations are universal, that they always and every where produce the same effect under the same circumstances. This unity of nature enables science to transport its students to distant times and far away regions of the universe. The laws of proportion in the animal frame are so well known that, with a few bones, it can reconstruct the whole animal, discover its habits and the circumstances that surrounded it while liv ing. The chemical constitution of the rocks and the animal or vegetable remains found in them, or absent from them, re veal the condition of the seas and the land during the period from which they date. Thus science walks back and forth through the long ages of the past, and studies each period, each class of vegetable or animal life and the operation of the forces that produced it, with even more ease and certainty than a traveler can study a country and its productions, as they stand in all their completeness before his eyes, at the present day. In some respects the observer can get nearer to the secrets of the past than those of the present. Here he can not always go behind the curtain, but there the curtain is drawn, and he has a closer view of causes. Science sometimes meets with agents and methods of study that make the most important and wonderful revelations. For instance, light, as reflected by different objects, was found to make various revelations as to the nature of those objects, and by this means a multitude of facts in regard to the constitu- 32 THE MISSISSIPPI VAiLEY. tion and condition of the sun, and other distant bodies, were very positively made out. So much clear and precise knowl edge has been gained in the last fifty years, that it would be presumptuous to undertake to mark the future boundaries between the known and the unknown, or perhaps to say that anij subject awakening the interest and curiosity of men will not be sufficiently investigated and cleared up to fully satisfy that curiosity. The outlines of .what science has revealed of the past of one of the most important regions of the earth, are given in the First Part of this work. So far as we can discover all the la bors of nature are directed toward an ultimate end in connection with man. The Mississippi Valley seems to have been formed with peculiar care on a broad and simple plan and to have been supplied with a variety, abundance and excellence of useful materials seen nowhere else in the world. It can not but be of interest to note how and when the original plan of the great Valley was drawn, and how the operations that stored it with so many treasures were con ducted. Science is able to give a very clear and connected history of this long process, and also to furnish a most inter esting tale of an ancient and mysterious people of whom written history knows almost nothing, or at least nothing definite. The facts and the manner in which they have been studied and their meaning learned are contained in a multi tude of books. The details must be_ sought in those. It i& only the general conclusions that are here given. CHAPTEE I. ° HOW NATURE FORMED THE GREAT VALLET. The Book accepted as a Divine Record and Kevelation by the Jews, and afterwards by Christians, opens with a brief and partial outline of the origin of the earth and its progressive fitting up for the use and residence of man. Nature itself must be a revelation, if its narrative can be read, and the two records should be in harmony. The Bible account contains a very brief summary, and leaves wide gaps in the outline — touching but few points. Naturally it would not be fully comprehended until the outline was completed and explained by a multitude of details. This was the task of science, and the more definite and unmistakable its conclusions become, the more decisive appears the agreement between the two records. The Bible commences with "the beginning," when the elements, which came ultimately to their present state, were formless, confused, and utterly "dark;" confines its state ments concerning the early periods chiefly to the origin and development of light, to the gradual introduction of plants and animals, and, finally, of man. Science commences with an examination of the finished work — with the earth as it is now — and follows the process back, step by step, to the time when no life existed, and when it first became possible for the earth to be illuminated as it is now. It confirms, explains and fills up the Bible outline so far as it can reach positive conclu sions. It discovers evidences of a heated state in which rocks and metals were melted, or existed only in the form of gas or vapor, through which the light of the sun could not pene trate. The earth gradually cooled, a crust formed over the 3 38 34 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. molten mass, the vapors condensed and fell to the surface as water, and minerals diffused in it, much of which last at length became solid, leaving the atmosphere as a transparent gas through which the bright sunshine fell on the solid sur face, or the waters, and in which a portion of the water, whenever turned to vapor by heat, floated as clouds, became condensed and fell in the form of rain. Astronomy and chemistry aid us to go back a step beyond even this state of fusion, and confirm the Bible statement that the earth was " without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep ;" when progress commenced by " move ment," or motion, communicated by some power to the dif fused elements of matter. Men of science see reason to con clude that the material of the solid mass of the earth, as well as its liquid and gaseous parts, existed then as thin vapor, the particles of matter being widely separated, thinner and lighter than air, and cold and lifeless, so to speak, because they were not near enough to act and react on each other. To introduce this action they must be condensed — brought into contact. When this was done great activity commenced, producing an immense development of heat accompanied by " light." In this state of lively action particles of the same kind sought each other, came together, or condensed, ultimately hardened, and a direct process of fitting up the surface for man com menced. So far, therefore, as the two records touch on the same points they mutually confirm each other; the order in which organized living things were introduced in later times being substantially the same in each. The Bible narrative is incom plete, yet remarkably exact as far as it goes. The word " day," in the sacred narrative, which has perplexed so many and formerly caused the conclusions of science to be looked upon with suspicion, is used in several senses in that narrative itself, and is now commonly regarded as presenting no obsta cle to the harmony of the two records. THE ORIGIN OF THE EARTH. 35 It is, therefore, believed that the whole planetary system was, at first, one vast mass of vapor, which, gradually con tracting as it revolved, threw off successive rings which col lected in separate masses and condensed independently — the process of condensation being more rapid in proportion as the masses were smaller. The vast central mass — the sun — still remains in the condition in which the earth once was — a ball of glowing fire — the other planets being in the various stages of progress according to their size and rate of motion. This is a theory long since entertained, and, though doubted, by some or considered not fully proved, it seems to be confirmed in various ways by the researches of science. Heat is latent, or unperceived, in vapor. It is developed by motion — it is said to be a mode of motion — and it appears to be connected with all the vast activities that have made the earth what it is. The most violent motion produced, or was accompanied by, the greatest displays of heat. When the boiling matter of the earth began to part with its heat, it contracted so as to occupy less space. It boiled down, so to speak, the lighter and the heavier elements separated, the gases and the vapors that were to form the atmosphere and the waters — or to be gradually returned as solids at a later period — became the envelope of the heavier pasty mass at the center. Thus the central mass thickened, shrunk, as it parted with its heat, until a scum or crust formed at the surface. At first this crust was too hot to allow the vapor to condense into water but it continued to thicken and, cool until a universal sea covered it. The waters were at first hot and saturated with corrosive minerals, which eat into and wore down the surface of the hardened rock, so that this was finally buried under a thick layer of these minute fragments. These fragments gradually consolidated and formed the first or azoic rock — which con tained no sign of life — that was raised out of the waters. It was this which, pulverized by the atmosphere, the rain or the 36 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. waves, furnished material for the layers of rock formed in later ages. Each age left in the rocks formed in it some traces of its plant and animal life. It would seem that, by the operation of some law as yet unknown, the surfaces where the continents were to be, har, dened first, and the lines that were to separate the future con tinent and ocean were drawn at the very beginning. The study of coast lines, of mountain chains and their various ages, with the forces that must have raised them, proves a steady operation of influences in the same direction from the beginning, and renders it quite improbable that the continents and ocean beds have really ever changed places to any great extent. The continents and their immense ranges of moun tains were steadily lifted (or prepared to be raised) while the ocean beds were as steadily depressed until late in geological times. Apparently this result was largely due to the stiffen ing of the crust over the continental areas first. The melted rock . contracted eight to twelve per cent in volume as it cooled and became immovable ; that which cooled last would lie lower and be thinner and more yielding at any given period ; and as the mass beneath cooled it shrunk, and the crust must settle to find support. As it settled to the smaller dimensions of this shrinking ball the crust must wrinkle and fold and produce the mountain systems and continental plateaus of the earth. As the sea bottoms lay lower and yielded to the descending movement most readily (being somewhat thinner because later formed) they must find room by pressing obliquely up against the borders of the continents, thereby tending to raise them as a whole, as well as to fold them, in places, into mountain chains. Accordingly, mountains are usually found not far from the border of the continents, are steepest on the sides which front the sea, from which the strongest lifting pressure came, and it is .found that the higher mountains of a continent border the largest ocean. In America, the Eocky Mountains border- THE EFFECTS OF CONTRACTION. 37 ing the wide Pacific have broad plateaus and high peaks, while those near the narrower Atlantic are more modest in all their proportions. The same peculiarity is observed on all the continents, which points to a general and uniform law of elevation. The almost inconceivable power producing this elevation is thus the result of the contraction which steadily follows the cooling of the earth, and possibly, to some extent, the chemical changes and the force of gravity which consolidate the ma terials of the rocks so that they occupy less and less space. Since rocks, in cooling, lose from eight to twelve per cent in bulk, the surface crust was obliged by its weight to follow the contraction beneath. This process is extremely slow, and the strain produced on all the surface rocks by contraction seems to have had its long periods of accumulation during which it manifested itself by a slow rise and fall of the surface over the continental regions. In some places the changes of level were great and long con tinued, in others slight but changing more often. Along the site of the Alleghany Mountains there was a long period of slow sinking. Nearly eight miles in thickness of rock was there formed. The character of the various layers showed that they were all formed not far below the surface of the water — the sinking and the formation of rock continuing to be about equal during the whole period. There were frequent changes in the direction of the movement over the general surface of the future Valley of the Mississippi, but its range seems to have been small, only about 4,000 feet of rock being formed in the Central Valley. There were several periods during which this force violently cased itself by permanently raising some part of the crust high above the rest. During the first of these periods of permanent rising the Great Valley seems to have been outlined. Land was first made along the northern border, and it is 38 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. believed to have formed the oldest of all the continents. It stretched from Labrador southwest, along the northern rim of the Great Lakes to Minnesota, with another branch from Lake Superior northwest far toward the Pole. The eastern side of the Valley next the Atlantic was then raised, and if land near the Pacific was not made then there was, at least, a sub-marine ridge, and ever thereafter the site of the Valley remained enclosed, sometimes as an interior shallow sea, and at others as low-lying land. The surface of the Valley was always the most stable part of the Continent. After these liftings and some efforts at making mountains in a comparatively small way in Canada and New England, there was a very long period of uneasy movement, during which the land slowly gained on the water along the northern and eastern border of the Valley; but no great or extensive elevations were made. All the rocks and minerals of the Northern and Central Valley east of the Mississippi were made during this time, which was followed by a great display of force. The Alleghany Mountains were raised, and with them probably more than half, possibly two thirds, of the Valley became permanently dry land. This was a far greater display of force than any former elevation, and it is believed by some that the AUeghanies made the first great mountain chain raised on any continent. Much of the surface of the Gulf States was still under water and an arm of the sea, or a channel some hundreds of miles wide, lay between the Missouri Eiver and the site of the future Eocky Mountains. Another period of comparative quiet followed; but still greater forces were gathering, and finally, in the early part of modern geological time, made the grandest show of power the history of the earth can present. The long chain of the Eocky and Andes Mountains was raised, during which period of elevation a region of the con tinent a thousand miles wide was lifted into high plateaus, which served as a basis for many lofty mountain ranges. The RAISING OF CONTINENTS AND MOUNTAINS. 39 western and southern parts of the Valley were raised at the same time. All the highest plateaus and loftiest mountain ranges of other continents also date from this period. All this was accompanied with fearful earthquakes, with immense activity in volcanoes and the gushing forth of vast quantities of lava from long clefts in the rocks which must have been many miles deep. This seemed to have been the great and, in some degree, definite adjustment of the surface of the earth to what lay beneath it. Apparently the surface, or crust of the earth, had become extremely thick and solid, and the former elevations of land and mountains had only partially relieved the strain, which continued to accumulate while the thickness and solidity of the crust also increased, until the pent-up giant force could only be relieved by these vast elevations. There were frequent changes of level over wide regions in. later times and there is much local movement to this day ; but it appears to be chiefly a temporary shifting of level with out any great world-wide or very permanent changes. What is the present condition of the interior of the earth, is a question on which geologists are not fully agreed. To settle it requires a comprehensiveness of knowledge not yet acquired. Many of the most eminent authorities consider it probable that pressure has so far overcome the expansive force of heat that the center of the glowing mass is solid and that a fluid mas.9 lies between it and the surface crust. . The mysterious be havior of magnetic forces has suggested that as an explana tion. Others suppose that there has never been such a sea of molten fire beneath the cold crust as has been described ; that pressure and the cooling process hardened the surface and the interior at the same time. This view allows the same degree of heat in the interior but contends that it did not prevent the solidifying process. The heat has always been escaping — ascending from below through the colder rocks — and the surface changes — sinking of ocean- 23 4:0 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. beds, raising of continents and mountains, and other displays of immense force — are due to the unequal contraction of the cooling rocks lying below those already cooled, and to the unequal qualities of the surface rocks as conductors of heat. This leaves the same horizontal strain in the surface rocks, and the way in which the force is applied to produce the great elevations and constant movements noticed is explained with much plausibility. It is, however, a recent theory, requires mature considera tion, and is not yet received by the exceedingly respectable authorities here followed. Still, it may prove to be true. The earth, as a whole, has been proved to be more than twice as heavy as the weight of its surface rocks would make it, so that extreme density for the interior or a vastly hea'vier substance must be supposed. It is still an open question how this is to be explained, and it was one of the chief reasons for the acceptance by some of the solid theory. To accept it would vary the explanation of continent outlining and mountain making, but would not demand any other change. CHAPTEE II. IS BEAD. We have seen that, amidst all the seeming confusion of the earth in its earlier periods, an orderly and measured progress appears to have ruled from the first. Motion produced notable changes and change was controlled and guided to wards certain definite ends. The materials that came finally together to produce the earth, as we now see it, were all scattered over an unspeakably vast space as vapor or " star dust." Examples of that state of things are believed to exist still in the Universe by astronomers. They are called Nebulae. By some means movement was commenced among these thinly diffused particles of matter — they attracted and repelled each other; from this proceeded heat. Particles of the same kind attracted each other most strongly and produced separa tion and concentration, and progress was commenced. This continued until the highest degree of heat was produced and then concentration was carried forward by the process of cooling until the separation of the mass of heavier material from the lighter, by the formation of a crust, made another long step forward. These lighter materials took the form of air and water ; the water fell to the surface or floated as vapor in the air, and these two, assisted by powerful chemical agents and the vast forces we considered in the previous chapter, commenced the work of reconstructing the surface material of the hard-crust — that is, began a new process of rock making. At first chemical and mechanical forces worked alone. After a time another agent appeared — the Life Force. This 41 42 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. busy and intelligent workman was a remarkably skillful chemist and builder, varied the style and the aims of its work according to circumstances, and so distinctly different are the forms it produced in each period that the geologist uses them as a guide in his researches. The position of the rocks and some of their more general, as well as peculiar, features show in what age they were made. But these characteristics are not always present or may not always be distinct enough to make them reliable as a guide. So many changes have occurred that nowhere in the world do the entire series of rocks lie in regular succession one above the other. When any part of the crust of the earth was raised out of the water no rock was formed, and sometimes, while so raised', many layers already formed were in part or in whole washed away. Then the same surface was often sunk under water again and another series was formed of a later period, leaving a vast break in the series at that point. Sometimes they were so disturbed by elevating forces that it would be difficult to tell where they belonged but for the animal or vegetable remains in them. A careful study of these remains reveals the remarkable fact that some classes of animals are wholly confined to certain series of rocks, and that the varying tribes, families and species of these classes are limited to particular layers in the series formed during a certain period. These remains, therefore, are a most important aid in classifying rocks. The life force, as has been said, varies the forms according to the condition of the climate, of the air and the water, and a thou sand local or general circumstances. These indications, joined with the chemical structure of the rocks, the special materials of which they are composed, the marks of mechanical force which they bear and their position, furnish the alphabet of the language in which they tell their story. It is a language that requires to be learned by study and pains; but when once mastered it is very clear and definite in THE FOUR CLASSES OF ROCKS. 43 conveying information. It is the most reliable of histories, for it is the record made by the events themselves as they passed. It is the phonograph of the long ages before there was a human observer, repeating the story of its own times to us much more exactly than such an observer could have learned it. This story is told in four different volumes; that is to say, there are four periods and four classes of rocks called Azoic, Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. These are Greek terms : Azoic meaning ivithout life; Palaeozoic, ancient life; Meso zoic, medicBval or middle life, and Cenozoic, ^ reee/i# life. The Azoic rocks contain no traces of life ; the Palaeozoic rocks, lying above the first, inclose the oldest remains of life that have been preserved ; the Mesozoic rocks rest above the Palaeozoic, and contain remains of plants and animals more like those which now exist; and the Cenozoic rocks, lying highest of all, except when they have been thrown out of place by elevating or disturbing forces, contain recent forms of life or which bear a close resemblance, to those now ex isting. The igneous rocks (ignis is Latin for fir^ — those which cooled after having been melted — lie at the bottom under neath all the rest, except in cases where they have been thrown out of volcanoes, or have otherwise burst up and overflowed the surface through breaks in the crust, both which cases have been very numerous. Sometimes the rocks originally lying above them have been thrown off in mountain-making or have been quite worn away by the atmosphere, rains, and ice. These forces have always been actively at work crumbling away the elevated surfaces of the land and carrying away frag ments and fine material in blocks, pebbles, sand, and mud, to form new layers in the waters. These layers form " aqueous rocks " (aqua is Latin for 'water'). All the four classes above-mentioned differ Trom the igneous rocks. They are the finely worn material of the igneous, or of 44 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. other aqueous, rocks spread in horizontal layers at the bottom of water, yet sometimes made wholly or partly of the broken, or finely ground, remains of organic forms, or sometimes formed by direct chemical action. The Azoic rocks show that there was a long time after the waters covered the surface, during which there was too much heat, and probably, also, too strong infusions of chemical sub stances unfriendly to life to permit its introduction. The rocks of that period were deeply affected by heat, sometimes rendering it difficult to tell that they were ever stratified or formed of successive layei's, as is the case with all aqueous rocks. It is believed that a deep layer of this primitive rock was spread over all regions before any land was raised out of the universal sea. Then contraction displayed its forces in making the first land, the waters must have cooled, while the chemical substances in them diminished, being deposited as rock. Arrived at this point, seaweeds and the first animals ap- • peared in the waters, vast beds of iron and copper were formed, and Palseozoic time had begun. The waters were soon alive with animals. One of the principal uses of the shell fish, so extremely abundant at this time, was to form limestone after their death from the stony covering in which they inclosed themselves in life. It was a very long period. Slowly the surface of the Valley rose and fell. After each change differ ent classes of rocks were formed, dift'erent species of animals flourished in the waters and different varieties of plants ap peared on the land. No land animals are known to have existed then, and it was only in the latter part of this period that fislies appeared in the seas. Nature makes her great changes very slowlv. So quietly were the elevations and depressions of the central Valley made that the rocks there were but little displaced or bent, and the sinking along the site of the Alleghany moun tains was so slow that the formation of rock could keep pace THE CLOSE OP ANCIENT TIME. 45 with it ; and when, at the close of this long period, these mountains were raised, it was so long in the doing that an eminent authority says, " motion by the few inches (or, at most, a few feet) a century accords best with the facts." Nearly all the rock-making of the region east of the Mis sissippi Eiver from the upper part of the Gulf States except the immediate vicinity of the river below the mouth of the Ohio, and perhaps all of Minnesota, Iowa and Northern Mis souri, was done in this ancient time. On the northern and especially the eastern sides a large part of the material for rocks was obtained from the lands where other rocks were worn down and carried as mud, sand and pebbles to the sea; but in the quiet interior the rocks were chiefly limestone formed from the shells of its immense swarms of animals. Toward the close of this period the sea seems to have been largely shut out. The general surface lay very near the level of the water and vegetable life, for the first time, predomi nated. When avast amount of forest growth had been gath ered, the surface sunk beneath the waters and the vegetable material was buried beneath mud and other rock-making material. A rise then occurred bringing the surface to its former position, the forest growth again springing up to be again buried, and so on many times in succession, each time furnishing material for a layer of coal. After a period of rest which allowed this to consolidate, the first great moun tain-making period closed Ancient, or Palaeozoic time. Only the surface of the upper and eastern Valley was afterwards modified or received additional material. During Mesozoic time much, though not all, of the remain der of the Valley was filled out. In Texas there was a shallow sea, and a great thickness of limestone formed, while in the waters of the upper part of the Gulf States — which took in some of Tennessee and much of Mississippi and Alabama — there was probably a greater depth in which the chalk and flint forma tion was laid from shells of minute animals, and sandstones 46 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. were formed from the material washed down from the lands to the north. What was done during this time in the broad channel between the Missouri Eiver and the site of the moun tains on the west is not so well known except in Nebraska and near the Black Hills where the rocks of the period are rich in tlie remains of the life of that time. Toward the close of the Mesozoic, the symptoms of the coming vast elevations of the great Mountain-making Era began to appear by the elevation of the sea-bottom near to, or just above, the surface of the water and much coal was made, in places, amounting to about fifteen thousand square miles in the Western Valley. There was a very great change in animal and vegetable life, which shows that the climate and the general conditions on which the development of life forms largely depends were very much altered during the coal and mountain-making periods which closed ancient time. It was a transition from the Old to the New and closed with the supreme display of force which produced the largest mountain and high plateau systems of all the continents. This elevation was not wholly completed until Cenozoic or recent time, during the first part of which the low lands bor dering the Gulf were completed to about their present extent. The western plains in the Valley, which continued for awhile to be a region of marshes and fresh water lakes, were then filled up and elevated. This substantially completed the structural work of the Valley and of the continent, and introduced the general con ditions of climate which still exist. With all the great changes which occurred on three of its borders, the Valley itself was a generally quiet region, even the elevation of the mountains, in which it shared, disturbing its rocks but slightly. Yet, slight as they were, these disturbances were of great importance. Tliey produced a displacement, for in stance, across Illinois, Northeastern Iowa and Southwestern Indiana crossing the Ohio Eiver at Louisville, giving access DISTURBANCES IN THE VALLEY. 47 to the strata laid in what had been, for the most part, the quietest region of the northern valley. Nature thus opened the book for science to read and, at the same time, accom plished various other important ends. These uplifts, when they broke and turned up the edges of the rocks, produced a great amount of heat, and the quality of the coal beds pre viously formed there was much improved thereby. The vari ous layers of rock were also hardened and rendered more valuable as building material and the drainage was more or less improved. Parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas shared in these disturbances, during which nature took occa sion to distribute some of the most valuable minerals where they would exert a powerful influence on the welfare of its future inhabitants. Wishing to render the central point at tractive and valuable for historical and industrial purposes, she took much pains to enrich Missouri with minerals and to supply Illinois with a good quality of coal with which to work them at the least expense. Thus all the rocks were formed with a variety of intelligent and benevolent purposes in view. CHAPTER III. HOW NATURE FINISHED THE VALLEY AND PREPARED IT FOE MAN. The last part of the middle period, or Mesozoic time, and the first part of the recent period were occupied in the pro duction of the vast mountain systems which left the continents at their present elevation, and with the same general relations to the seas and to each other as now. The division between the middle and recent times is made at the point where the forms of life that still exist began to appear in the rocks. Cenozoic time is divided by geologists into two parts, the first called the Tertiary, the second and last, which includes the present, the Quaternary. The Tertiary is divided into three parts, according to the abundance of the species of life forms that still exist. The last of these is called the Pliocene, which means " more recent." A large proportion of the species of plants and animals found preserved in its rocks still remain. The next before it, and further back from us in time, is called Miocene, meaning "less recent." The first era of the Tertiary is called the Eocene, which means " the dawn of the recent." There are rocks of all these periods in the western and southern Valley, for the full out lines of those sections were not gained until the mountains and plateaus had reached their present elevation. The gains of land in the Valley were not remarkably large in any of these three eras, for the general surface was already above the reach of the sea, but the rocks of those times that loere made are of very great interest. They were chiefly fresh water formations from the Black Hills southward, and east ward from the base of the Eocky Mountains, and contain a very interesting class of fossil forms of the land animals of 48 THE PLAINS DURING THE TEETIARY'. 49 the three eras immediately preceding the age of ice and the appearance of man. A part of Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and portions of the territories bordering them on the west and south formed a lake region all through the Tertiary, or at least through the most of it. It was then a region of unstable level, very much like the eastern Valley during the age of coal-making, and the results were similar, for some 15,000 square miles of that region have beds of workable coal, which date from these deposits. There is much that is extremely interesting in these coals and rocks besides the animal remains they inclose. Much of the coal is only partially reduced. It is called lignite, or woody coal, for the structure of the wood is often very evi dent and it has not all the density of true coal, nor its value for all purposes. The rocks are also less compact, in general, though in some situations, and when chemical conditions were favorable, very solid and firm building stone is found. Yet, the surface deposits were generally soft and loose, they did not have time to consolidate, and, being mostly formed in fresh water, which had less of chemical substances to unite and compact the materials, it was left comparatively friable. For this reason the surface rocks were very heavily worn down and washed away in later periods, leaving deep river beds and here and there isolated embankments, pyramids, and figures of strange and fanciful shapes^the remains of the original layers. These sometimes very much resemble monu ments of human labor, yet are always distinguishable by being stratified. Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado furnish much curious and interesting scenery varied and beautified by this means. The strata of Tertiary times in the lower Valley were not washed and worn as much as on the plains and, for the most part, were more suddenly raised out of the sea. The climate of this period was warm -temperate — very much like that of the southern Valley at the present day. Vegeta tion was therefore luxuriant and animal life abundant. With 4 50 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. the close of the Tertiary the Valley was fairly complete in its outlines, in its general provision of metals and coal, and in the rocks suitable for the purposes of the future. When these should be sufficiently pulverized they would furnish elements of inexhaustible fertility to the soil. The final processes that were to give to this broad region its crowning value for man were reserved to the last part of Cenozoic time, called the Quaternary period. In a region where the rocks next the surface are Azoic, or where they are of igneous origin, the soil is thin and of moderate fertility, often barren. Even if those parts of it which are crumbled by the atmosphere and frost are not washed away they do not con tain the variety of elements necessary to an abundant vegeta tion; the soil is not deep enough to retain the necessary moisture, or it is too compact and clings too closely to the underlying rock to be sufficiently drained. It was necessary to provide against these disadvantages in the Valley. This was accomplished during the three epochs of the Quaternary. These three eras are called the Glacial period, the Champlain period and the Terrace period. The last includes the time that is now passing. The causes of the Glacial period, or the Age of Ice, are not clearly understood — at least geologists are not agreed upon them — and various theories have been sug gested, none of which seem to be entirely satisfactory. Some attribute it to astronomical influences. The orbit of the earth slowly varies during a long period and then returns to its original state. When it was most elliptical, and carried the earth furthest away from the sun in one part of its track, the Glacial era is supposed to have occurred. Some scientific men of great eminence favor this view. Changes in the amount of heat furnished by the sun, changes in the sea bottom of regions near the equator, or the sinking of the isthmus con necting the two parts of the American Continent, have been appealed to, as also changcf in the atmosphere. Studies on these theories are not sufficiently mature to THE AGE OF ICE AND ITS SERVICES. 51 determine what may be their real value as yet. It seems fairly certain that after the vast mountain elevations ceasing before the end of the Tertiary period the northern parts of the continents were considerably raised as a whole. It is thought that Behrings Straits were closed, and that the sea bottom of the Northern Atlantic was raised so that Europe and North America were connected for a time. This would shut out the warm ocean currents from the Arctic regions, and, joined with the general elevation, might account for the vast sheet of mingled ice, snow and water that slowly moved down to the central Valley. Such a condition of things now exists in Greenland, and the evidences of its former state, from the eastern part of New England to the Eocky Mountains, are very numerous and positive. The flow of ice descended to the Ohio Eiver or its vicinity. The softer rocks on the northern rim of the Valley were ground very fine, while great boulders, or blocks, of the harder rocks were broken off, imbedded in the ice, and brought far down the Valley with immense quantities of smaller frag ments, pebbles and coarse gravel. The depressions of the Great Lakes are believed to have been made at first by vol canic action in early times, to have been nearly filled by a deposit of softer rock in the slow progress of Palseozoic and Mesozoic times which was scooped out and crushed by this resistless shovel and mill, and carried down into the Valley. After this crushing process had accumulated the mass of " drift," as this loose material is called, at the lower extremity of the great glacier, the northern regions slowly sank again, continuing that process far below the present level, when it ceased and a rise again commenced. When the elevation that is supposed to have brought on this Age of Ice ceased and the sinking commenced, the climate began to grow warmer, the ice melted, the glaciers retreated to the neighborhood of the pole, and the Champlain Era began. During this time the melting of the ice and the lower level 52 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. of the northern Valley flooded much or all of it, and the dis tribution of the drift was effected. There were rushing cur rents that carried everything movable before them. The pebbles and heavier material naturally found the lowest place at the bottom of the drift. As the force of the currents diminished, the lighter and finer material was spread over the mass of loose stone, sometimes in very deep embankments of mud, and in the broad lakes and still waters of the period the silt containing the largest amount of material required for a rich, deep soil was slowly deposited. This continued for some time after the rise had again com menced. When this rise had drained off most of the region the wearing down of the present river channels began. The vast amount of water to be drained off made very large streams, which may now be estimated in the distances from bluff to bluff on each side of the river bottoms, for originally the Valleys did not exist, the whole surface being very nearly, or quite, even and all the deep cuts of the valleys (probably where still more ancient river beds had been) were worn out by the streams. Sometimes the gradual rise of the general surface, which caused this powerful wearing down of the channels, was stopped for a while and the shore line formed a terrace or bench. This is called the Terrace epoch. The Champlain Era, during which the drift was chiefly dis tributed, was so called because its effects are very marked in the region of that lake, and it was first carefully studied there. The Glacial, Champlain and Terrace Eras were parts of the one great and important period which gave the Valley its pre eminence as an agricultural region. The first provided the material for a deep undersoil, the second spread it out sys tematically, so that the whole region should get the benefit of it, Taid the coarse material beneath so as to form a natural drain, and held the lighter and richer materials in solution in the waters until they could be laid on the top. The level prairies were the sites of shallow lakes which ORIGIN OF PRAIRIE SUBSOILS. 53 finally became marshes in most cases ; the rolling prairies testify to the rush and recoil of the shallow fresh- water seas that followed the melting of the ice; and the ravines, the hills, and the smaller valleys indicate the washing away of portions of the surface in the process of draining. The plains, that gradually rise from the Missouri Eiver, and from about the western boundary of the State of Missouri until, at the foot of the mountains, nearly 600 miles distant, they are 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, washed very heavily and sent much of the material at the surface to be distributed in the cen tral Valley, or to fill up the basin of the lower Mississippi. This material along the rivers is a purer and heavier deposit than is generally found elsewhere. Old river beds existed here before the age of ice, and the finest and best material naturally flowed toward these lowest levels. When the level of the land was so near that of the water as to render the currents light, very thick deposits were made. Sometimes the current would be stopped by an obstruction in the channel and then a wide-spreading lake would be formed, and so heavily were the waters laden with earthy matter that in time the whole lake would, perhaps, be filled with it. Nearly a third part of Iowa — the western part — the eastern part of Nebraska, with some portions of Kansas and Missouri, were covered by such a vast lake filled with this " Bluff Formation " or "Loess," as it is called, and vast quantities of it were used to fill up the lower Valley of the Mississippi Eiver. It is still being deposited at its various mouths, and making land into the Gulf. These surface deposits contain much loam and chemical material required in vegetable growth, and to it are due the remarkable and durable qualities of the immediate undersoil. As soon as the water was drawn off or became sufficiently shallow, a rich vegetation sprung up and the marshes were filled, in the course of time, with a vegetable mold of great depth, and it accumulated over all the surface of the higher 54 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. ground, though it was frequently washed down from the knolls and hills to lower surfaces. Unnumbered years of this growth and decay of plants and grasses on the prairies and fall of leaves in the forests collected a vast reserve of decayed organic remains, or vegetable mold, which put it in the best possible condition for the husbandman. Nature took abund ance of time to fertilize the Valley and the civilized farmer found it the richest garden. The Animal Kingdom lent its aid to the Vegetable in this furnishing process. The vast mastodon, herds of buffalo and deer, and countless other ani mals, large and sniall, fed on its herbage and were " herded " there from birth to death. Thus was the work of preparing this favored region for its human occupant completed. CHAPTEE IV. VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL LIFE ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS. The mysterious force we call Life is a wonderful and most intelligent Architect. All the resources of chemistry are at its command, and the best trained skill of science fails to reproduce its results, even with the same materials used in the same proportions. The usual laws and qualities of the matter it employs as building material bow to it as their master, being suspended in its presence, or adapting their action to its purposes ; and, armed with such authority, this invisible intelligence raises matter to a higher level of powers and uses with an unerring certainty and cunning skill wonderful to behold. In its hands dead matter becomes alive. It shows inexhaustible ingenuity in varying the form and details of different structures. Now it works them out with exquisite finish of detail, but so minute that many thousands may dwell together in a single drop of water with roomy ease, and again builds the ponderous elephant or whale, the tiny plant, the coarse shrub, or the mighty tree. The powers conferred on these works of its hand are equally various and wonderful. This plant pro duces a virulent poison, that a delicate perfume, the other a nourishing fruit. There is an endless display of different forms, qualities, and uses, which it is the office of the science of Botany aaaong plants, and of Zoology among animals, to investigate, and the fields are so large that, after hun dreds of years of study by enthusiastic learners, they are explored only in part. The animal world is higher in the scale, more varied in 55 66 THE MISSISSIPPI VAILEY. form, in qualities, and in uses, to which its instincts and dis positions exactly correspond. Fierceness and courage go with powerful weapons of attack, while to weakness and timidity are joined strong defences, swiftness in flight or cunning arts of evasion. Each living thing exists for some sufficient reason or purpose, and every individual form of life is the intelligent development of a thought which it would require a volume to present in full detail. This skillful and magic builder has been unwearied in labor. Ever since the seas were cooled and the surface rock pul verized, so as to furnish the necessary material for its opera tions, the products of its activity have been innumerable, with a constant variation of species of the same order or addition of different classes. Twenty thousand species from the Paleeozoic rocks have been described, and these are probably but a small part of the number then existing; and so numerous were the individuals that the defensive armor or stony frame work of some classes of them has, after their death, been formed into rocks of vast extent and hundreds of feet in thickness. But various as are the forms which the life force produces its mode of operating is at first uniform. Its building process is commenced with a cell of softer plastic matter which seems to understand perfectly what it is to produce, what materials are required, and how they are to be handled. A call is issued for material which passes through the wall of the cell and presents itself with obedient readiness. It is dissolved, re-combined, and laid in place. The cell expands, is divided, and the same process continued in each cell until the proper dimensions have been reached in every direction, and the necessary form and consistence has been given to every part of the organism ; different materials or dift'erent combinations ofthe same material often being employed in dift'erent parts. Each part is endowed with the capacity to perform its appro priate work in the general result to be accomplished by the complete living thing in which it is placed. A multitude TEANSMISSION AND VAEIATION. 57 of organs work to a common end with infallible accuracy and harmony. When each form reaches maturity, and the full development and power it was designed to receive within and without is gained, a part of its energies are employed in the work of preparing for a successor, or a multitude of successors, of its own form and kind — the germ of a new individual which shall reach the same development and possess the same quali ties is produced. Thus the life and qualities of the first of each race are transmitted, and the origin of all the future in dividuals of its kind, however numerous or long continued the race may be, is provided for. A small range of variation between the parent and the de scendant is often seen, and a change in outward circumstances has been found to increase variation largely. . Transmission of qualities and form is governed by definite laws, and, by observing these, important changes have been brought about by man in the management of the products of plants and trees, and in similar ways desirable qualities of domestic animals have been improved. Careful and careless cultivation make wide differences in the quality of farm and garden produce, while an intelligent attention to parentage may cause a great gain in the value of domestic animals; but the difference has never been known to be so great or fundamental as to origi nate in this way a wholly neijo animal or plant. Variation is observed to accumulate, however, in long periods of time, and it is believed by many that in the long duration of plant and animal existence it may account for all the different varieties that have ever been known — that they all had their remote origin in one primal being. A study of life through all time shows that the most perfect animals and plants are to be found now, and that they constantly descend in the scale as the observer traces them back toward their beginning. According to this theory the life force in the first animals was feeble and indeterminate; it grew stronger 58 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. and more definite as the circumstances became more favor able. The variations that founded all the different classes arose in the long periods of time seeming to be required for geological changes; so that the whole vast number of species and their surprisingly different forms and qualities are so many branches growing from one original stock. This is rather a theory, striving to account for the succes sion of life on the earth, for the resemblances, diversities and gradual progress of its forms toward the ideal animal — man — than a proved scientific truth. The first forms of life may have been, and probably were, too slight in structure to be preserved in the early rocks, which were subjected to great changes by heat and chemical agents; there are various leaves gone from the volume of nature — at least they seem not to have been found, or, if found, have not been properly inter preted — and observation has not yet been able to trace the steps of the great transformations, if they really occurred, with the clearness and certainty that would amount to proof. If the origin, relationships and progress of life are not to be accounted for in this way, how, then, are they to be explained ? It has been usual, until recently, to consider that each distinct species of plants and animals was specially created by the in telligent Power from whose hand all things originally came, and that each was introduced when the circumstances were suitable. This, also, is without positive proof in the records of the earth itself. There is a class of rocks below which no trace of them has been found ; they made their first appear ance in small numbers, increasing in the later rocks, showing more perfect development, or, at least, more numerous and perfect species, until they disappeared or reached their present condition. How they came the rocks do not explain, and it seems as great an exertion of power to confer on the Life Force this wonderful gift of adaptation and variation, of changing its mode of structure in such astonishing ways and bestowing such an extraordinary diversity of capabilities and CEEATION AND EVOLUTION. 59 qualities on its different products, as to introduce them by direct creation. Many experiments and careful studies have been made to ascertain if nature now contains within itself a power of spontaneous generation — of producing a germ without the aid of parents — but no such instance has been discovered ; no hint has been given that nature ever possessed such a power, unless the fact of the appearance of new species and races may be so considered. On the contrary, early races are often found to combine in their forms and qualities the peculiarities of two or more races that afterward made their appearance, suggesting the idea that they may have been the original stock from which distinct branches grew. A large number of siijiilar facts seem to give countenance to the doctrine of evolution, or the gradual development of different species and classes from those that preceded them. There is certainly a law of evolution — an unfolding of many parts ha'ving close relationship to one stock or root — but it does not seem capable of explaining all the facts ob served. The sudden appearance of classes widely different from any that had before been found is frequently noticed, for which evolution has no well-proved explanation; and a variety of similar facts seems to indicate the operation, occa sionally at least, of some other law regulating the introduc tion and propagation of forms of life. The most interesting question of all relates to Man as an animal and as an all-comprehending intelligence. In the general features of his bodily structure he is closely related to the higher animals, while in his mental and spiritual powers there is a world-wide difference. In one view he seems to be the climax of animal development; in another, he has a kind of faculties with a compass and power absolutely unparalleled in creation as we know it. Physically, he stands as the ultimate end, the most perfect, the most beautiful and noble of all the products of the Life 60 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. Force. He is the finest sample of its architectural skill, and is endowed with a variety and breadth of sweep of physical capabilities and adaptations that place him at the head of the Systems of Life. But, by his intelligence and moral qualities he seems to be the significance, the end and purpose of the system of nature as a whole. He can combine and control' chemical and mechanical powers so as to become superior in strength to all other forces of the organic world united. He is, therefore, King in the earth. He may penetrate the thought of which each part of nature is the embodiment, so that all nature is as a book made for his reading and instruction; and still above this quality is liis range of moral powers; of dis tinguishing between right and wrong; of admiring purity and moral beauty, and of practicing virtue. These capacities of control, of reflection, of combinations whose results often resemble creation; his power of living in the past and the future by a well-trained imagination, render him immeasura bly superior to every other animal. How did he become so like and so unlike all the other products of the Life Force? It is the most interesting and the most difficult question which the consideration of the system of life suggests, and finds, as yet, no satisfactory an swer in the researches of science. It is the last and deepest secret of the systems of nature and of life, and the key to them both. Science has demonstrated, very clearly, that defi nite purposes and ends unite all the stages in the develop ment of animate and in'animate nature. Man was evidently designed to be the interpreter of the whole, to conquer all its secrets. They will be delivered to him in due time. The sep arate volumes are being carefully and successfully studied, and all the relations of one to the other will ultimately be apparent. Nature, with all its various parts and purposes, is evidently one and tends to one great end, which seems to be secured iu the qualities, tlie powers and the destinies of its last and greatest production. Man can never rest until all the meaning which its various developments contain stands clearly revealed. THE LIFE FORCE IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 61 Though the Life Force seems to be a common principle in all the forms it organizes, and to follow the same methods so far as the objects it seeks permit, its manifestations in the different spheres of its activity are extremely different. There ¦seems little in common between the tree, the fish, the horse and man; and yet there is a strong likeness in the first opera tions of the building force to which they all owe their existence ; and there are points of contact in the great classes where it seems difficult to distinguish them from each other. It is difficult to tell that the lowest animals are not plants, and the least developed men seem to be only superior animals. They seem, in some respects, to be parts of one system of life; but the most characteristic examples of development in each place a world-wide difference between the classes. The plant commences with a cell, or a collection of cells, and builds down into the dark and damp earth and up in the sunlight. It uses the earth as its support and both earth and air are its magazines of raw material, while, by its foliage, it expels some gases and takes in others — the light assisting in its work. In the animal the building force commences with a center and works each way toward the extremities — in the lowest animals not distinguishing a head at all, but spend ing more and more elaborate pains on that part as the animal rises in rank. The higher plants are firmly fixed in the earth, have no power of movement and no self-consciousness. All but the lowest animals are free to move, have sensation, consciousness, and a certain power of will in the control of their motions ; these gifts becoming more complete in the higher animals until they find a kind of boundless development in man. The plant finds its nourishment without and near it and drftws it in by attraction through its pores ; the animal goes about for its food which it takes into a central cavity where it is digested and from which it is distributed through the system as needed. 62 THE MISSISSII^PI VAJLLET. The plant organizes its substance directly from the crude, unorganized material of the earth; but the animal depends on the plant world as its magazine of food. It uses only organized material — plants or other animals. Thus the two kingdoms dift'er widely while being most intimately bound together. CHAPTEE V. VEGETATION IN THE VALLET, ANCIENT AND MODERN. The system of life has two sides, the vegetable and the animal, which interlock to form a whole. In some respects, also, the system of vegetable life may be considered the base or condition of animal life. The building force goes directly to the mineral kingdom for its material when it constructs vegetable forms. Decayed vegetable or animal remains, indeed, speed its work, but only by furnishing the material required in greater abundance, thereby saving time and enabling it to build more sumptuously. Though the general plan is the same, the ends are different in each of the two systems. For the vegetable the aim is restricted and modest. It is the servant to wait upon the animal, the magazine con taining the supplies for its physical wants. This is the leading use of vegetable life, but various others are seen, in all of which service is rendered to the higher class. It aids in the collection and deposition of some metals very useful to man; it supplies petroleum and coal in vast abund ance ; it furnishes numberless materials for man's higher development ; enriches the surface of the earth by the decay of its forms and covers it with beauty; supplies the most agreeable and nourishing fruits, and is a magazine of per fumes, of medicines and of art supplies. Much of this, how ever, was reserved for development as the human period approached. In the early days of Palaeozoic time the builder employed comparatively little skill on vegetable forms. The general plan of vegetable structures is radiate; that is, similar parts start from a common center, and spread out in various directions, while for animals there are five different 63 64 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. plans by which the life forms of that kingdom are graded. There are, however, two great classes of vegetable forms — Cryptogams and Phenogams — the distinction being founded on their modes of reproduction. Cryptogams have no proper flowers or fruit, the seed which produces the new plant being of the simplest kind, and, for the most part, there is very little of the surprisingly elaborate and ingenious detail found, as a rule, in the higher class. Phenogams have flowers which surround a system of organs employed in producing the seed that is to give birth to the young plant, and the seed is commonly furnished with a store of nutriment for the use of the germ in the early stages of its development. It is the parental instinct caring for the start in life of its offspring. Very often this thoughtful provision is ofthe greatest advantage to man. All the grains that fur nish him with the "staff of life" are composed of this con centrated food for the young plant stored in the seed. It seems entirely probable that vegetable life was introduced before any animal forms appeared, although geologists have not yet been able to prove positively that it was so. 'For a large part of the ancient time no plants are known to have grown on the land, only sea weeds having been preserved. Plants separate, concentrate, and store up in their forms the nutriment required by the animal, and probably the simplest possible vegetable growth had supplied a sufficient quantity of this in the waters when the first animals appeared. It was only in later times, after vast masses of rock formations had somewhat cleared the waters of their excessive chemical solu tions, that vegetable substances became sufficiently firm to be preserved in the forming rock of their times. Eecently there have been found various and significant traces of vegetation in the Azoic rocks. The presence of carbon in various forms is believed to have originated in large part from vegetable growth, and the deposit of vast quantities of iron ore along the southern border of the most ancient land is by THE PROGRESS OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 65 some considered due to the vegetation of the marshes of that time, the vegetable infusion in the water precipitating the iron oxyds washed down from the neighboring rocks. When the conditions suitable for sea weeds had been reached, the warm and shallow seas probably produced an extremely abundant growth and served to nourish the immense swarms of the lower forms of animal life which are known to have existed in the early part of Palaeozoic Time. Much the larger part of ancient time had passed away before the rocks began to record the existence of land plants. The first that has been satisfactorily distinguished as such was a species of gigantic club moss. It is probable that many varie ties of lichens and mosses had long before flourished and laid the foundation for the extremely profuse vegetation that now hastened to make ready for the era of coal. The evidence seems to prove that the higher lands were not in a condition to support a profuse vegetation, and that trees and plants mostly grew in marshes or very near the surface of the water. Many of the plants that are dwarfed in our age were then of great size. A large proportion of the coal was made from ferns and kindred plants, almost all being from the class of Cryptogams, of loose structure and rapid growth. The climate appears to have been about the same over all the globe, for the coal beds of every country made in the great coal period show that they were produced by exactly the same kind of forests. The temperature was evidently much like that of the Torrid Zone of our day, and there seems to have been a larger proportion of carbonic acid gas in the composition of the air, which would be sufficient of itself to increase the rapidity and luxuriance of vegetable growth. It was this extra carbon that was now removed to be stored up in the earth for future use. The mountains of that time were few and of no great height, and the regions producing coal were low and marshy. The conditions were therefore favorable for the rapid produc- 5 ¦66 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. tion of the immense woody growth that has produced the hundred and fifty thousand square miles of workable coal in the United States — almost all of which is in, or near the bor ders of, the Mississippi Basin. From near the Atlantic shore to the Mississippi Eiver, and some hundreds of miles beyond, was a vast marshy level directly across the Northern and Central Valley, and across Eastern Tennessee into Middle Alabama. There were numerous shallow lakes and sluggish streams flowing mainly from the north or northeast. The shallow water gradually changed to marsh, and impenetrable jungles covered the country ; a heavy, hot, stifling air brooded over the whole, and a dense mass of forest and marsh vegeta tion, of which the human period gives no example, accumu lated the material for the coal-beds. This region was immersed under water and raised again a multitude of times — in some places at least a hundred. A^ small change of level and a sudden flood from higher ground would sweep all this dense mass into heaps and cover it with water and mud before it could decay. The great feature of this age of the world, which, must have lasted a very long time, was the vegetation and its sudden burial so many times in succession. Had there been a human being present to note this splendor of development in the plant world and its repeated ruin, it must have seemed an utter confusion and waste. If this material, however, had not been so stored up, one of the principal means of human discipline and develop ment would have failed in our century and the times to come, and the fate of mankind would have been greatly changed. Previous to the coal-making period in the last part of the Palaeozoic, or ancient time, the first representatives of the second and higher order of vegetable forms appeared. The Phenogams were first represented by a tree belonging to the Conifer tribe, which includes the pine and other cone-bearing trees, and they flourished to a considerable extent during the coal-making era. Another class, somewhat resembling the INTRODUCTION OF MODERN PLANTS. 67 palm, called Cycads, was introduced during the course of that era. After its close the conditions of life in the air were much changed. The composition of the air was now different. The first mountain-making period came on, and probably the climate w?,s very materially changed in temperature thereby, for raising the land lowers the temperature of the air. It was indeed a long time before the mountain-making was complete, but that accomplished, all the circumstances had become so entirely different that the old vegetation which could not accommodate itself to the new relations died out; but it was still longer before distinctively modern forms be came the ruling feature. Accordingly, the first series of rocks after those of the coal formation still show a strong likeness in vegetable forms to those of the coal period. In the first two eras of the Mesozoic that follow this first series — called the Permian — the cone- bearing species of trees increase and grow more modern, and most of the older families represented in the coal-beds disap pear; but in the last of the three eras of the middle period the forms now existing were very largely represented. For the first time oak, maple, willow, and other representative forest and fruit trees appear. As animal life, large and small, in forms similar to the present, began to abound on the land, among which were birds, we may suppose that the seed-bear ing grasses were also introduced in that period. In the Tertiary there was a vast increase in the -variety and modern character of the vegetable forms. It is probable that the Upper Valley, far west ofthe Mississippi, and even ofthe Missouri, was covered with vegetation more or less luxuriant, for a sub-tropical climate reigned even far up toward the pole. The rose, the whortleberry, and various other flower ing shrubs of that period have been found. The earth began to deck itself in all the beauty of our present warm regions, and insect life swarmed among the flowers. The modern era in plant life had fully opened. 68 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. Thus we find that the lowest forms of the lowest class of vegetable life were early developed in the most ancient seas and probably in extraordinary abundance; that lichens and mosses probably soon came to cover the early continents to which all the higher classes of the lowest division of plants — the flowerless Cryptogams — were added as the coal period approached. The cone-bearing trees were also introduced be fore the age of coal. They were the only representatives of the Phenogams or true seed-bearing plants, and, indeed, the first true trees of ancient time. The Cycads were added in the latter part of the coal era. These were Phenogams, in form resembling palms, but fruiting like Conifers. These were both among the lowest of the higher division of plants. Ferns, Conifers and Cycads chiefly ruled the Middle Period, although the more perfect modern trees and plants came in before its close. The Middle Period is called, botanically, the " Age of Cycads," for they were then extremely numerous, but steadily diminished in its closing ages until in modern times there are comparatively few and these are confined to tropical regions. With Cenozoic time were rapidly intro duced the most perfect vegetable structures to supply the wants of ripening animal life. The part vegetable life has played in the processes of stor ing the Great Valley with materials eminently serviceable to man has been therefore large and most important. The best and largest supplies otiron, the vegetable kingdom has assisted to accumulate. It furnished the base of supplies to the animal life that has produced near two thirds of the rock in the Val ley—the limestones— and, in some minute forms, called Dia toms, formed rock of considerable extent. It has supplied much of the petroleum and all the coal with which the Valley is made so eminently rich, and has crowned its long list of great services by furnishing a surface soil of unrivalled depth and value over the most of the wide-spreading bowl. Its modern forests, since the Glacial period especially, prepared RELATIONS OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 69 the country for primitive man, and give to civilized man no small store of wealth. That the vegetable and animal kingdoms form the two har monious sides of one system of life is, finally, noticeable in this, that the life force in animals uses the oxygen of the atmosphere as the chemical agent for preparing its building material and rejects carbonic acid gas; while in vegetables the contrary is true, oxygen being rejected and carbonic acid gas being stored in the form of woody fibre. CHAPTEE VI. ANIMAL LIFE IN THE VALLEY, ANCIENT AND MODEEN. The Life Force gained many and important ends in the comparatively narrow limits of the Vegetable Kingdom. In the plan of animal life several principles appeared that vastly raised this class in the scale of being, and left open the most wonderful possibilities to progress. In the very lowest ani mals there was a feeble dawning of a new individuality in sensation, in intelligence, and in the power of self-control. At the first there was but the faintest glimmer of these, and sometimes they were not all united in the same animal. It is sometimes very difficult to tell whether a structure is veg etable or animal, so slight is the space that separates the most sensitive organization among plants from animals having the least vitality. But sensation was to be gradually developed until it became exquisitely perfect in the elaborate nervous system of the highest sub-kingdom of animals ; the capacity of self-motion was to increase into the most remarkable powers of voluntary physical force ; and intelligence was to ripen until most phases of the supreme mental attributes and capacities of man had been shadowed forth more or less completely, though in every case fragmentally and in limited development; and, flnally, by a vast leap, all these qualities of intelligence, freed, as to the race at large, from definite limitations, were to be concentrated in the Ideal Animal. There is a world of suggestive mystery in the gradual devel opment of the animal frame until some of the animals came to possess physical parts closely resembling man's; and a still greater mystery is the instinct and intelligence so like, and so 70 THE FIVE CLASSES OF ANIMALS. 71 unlike, man's bestowed on the different classes of animals. In each animal these higher gifts are very perfect so far as the special ends of its life can be served by them. There they cease. A single strongly marked quality belongs to each race with all the intelligence necessary to a successful career in such a character. There the resemblance ceases. The animal has no such reserve of unused powers and unlimited capacity of development, in a thousand ways, as are seen in man. There is a breadth and reserve of force in the higher qualities of the man that destroy the idea of his true and close relationship to the animal world. The most intelligent animal has but the shadoio of the man's mental compass outside the range of its physical instincts. It is often a dense shadow, but, in the end,, is nothing more. What mystery of origin and destiny lies behind these real physical, and instinctive and shadowy men tal, relationships? What is man that immeasurable geological time should labor so strenuously and constantly for him, and that all organized nature should bear the broken and shadowy fragments of his image ? There are five great types or divisions of animal life,. regarded as to the plan of their physical structure — Pro tozoans, Eadiates, MoUusks, Articulates and Vertebrates. The first four are called Invertebrates. Most of the larger and more important and perfect animals belong to the last class — Vertebrates. The lowest class. Protozoans, are very simple, almost formless and jelly-like in structure, with no- nervous system, often no mouth or stomach or permanent limbs. Whenever these are required they are extemporized for the occasion. They are usually extremely minute. They are commonly inclosed in a shell, and the substance of the animal is protruded to secure food. The lowest class of these are believed to have been introduced the first of all animals, although the absolute proof seems, as yet, wanting. The Eadiates are formed on the plan of a flower, similar parts spreading from a common center. They are very often 72 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. permanently attached to the sea bottom, or rocks, brilliantly colored, of most graceful forms, and must have caused the early sea bottoms, when they were most numerous, to resem ble a flower garden. Many of the corals were radiate. Most, though not all, were inclosed in some kind of shell. They were extraordinarily numerous in ancient time, and their shells contributed very largely to the making of limestone rock. They had, for the most part, no nervous system, and their mouths were surrounded with tentacles, or a kind of claw, with which they seized their food. Mollusks are soft-bodied animals, with a nervous system of scattered masses. The oyster is a Mollusk, a shell being essential to the protection of the soft baggy body. They often had various appendages, serving as arms or feet. They are very numerous in the Palseozoic rocks. Articulates are jointed animals. Crabs, worms, and insects are of this class. The joints are in the skin or covering, the internal cavities extending continuously through all the joints. The nervous system is below the stomach and other cavities, but has a ganglion, or bunch, in each segment. Articulates have constantly increased in numbers from their first appear ance to the present time. Vertebrates have a jointed internal skeleton with a continu ous cavity through the bones of the back, for the large nervous cord, and other cavities for the various instruments of a highly organized life below or in front of it. In the vertebrates the head is carefully elaborated and with more pains as the animal rises in rank until, in man, it fully dominates and controls the whole body, which is kept as erect as a tree on a very narrow base, yet with admirable powers of locomotion. There are four classes of Vertebrates — Fishes, Eeptiles, Birds and Mammals. Fishes are the lowest class and have no lungs, air bladders supplying their place, and, as well as reptiles, are cold blooded ; btit reptiles usually have lungs— except one division of them, which has the air bladder in early life and THE INTRODUCTION OF SPECIES. 73 lungs at a later period. Birds and mammals are all warm blooded and of a higher style of structure and vital organ ization. Protozoans, Eadiates, Mollusks and Articulates were intro duced in very early geological times, and, as it would seem at the first glance, nearly together; but there is much reason to believe that the first species whose stony structures have been preserved in the lowest Palaeozoic rocks were preceded by a long series of species lower in rank, and whose fragile shells could not be preserved in the metamorphic rocks, or those which were very much transformed by the great heat and the active chemical forces of the earlier times. Much limestone was found in those periods, which, probably, as in later times, was composed chiefly of animal shells, and a part of the car bon found in great quantity in various forms in the Azoic rocks is thought to have been produced, partly, at least, by the oily parts of animal bodies. The first animal forms distinctly preserved were of the lower classes, but not from the very lowest families, and not usually the lowest species in their respective families. There is, however, no real exception to the rule that a steady general progress in the rank of animal forins is found in the rocks, from the lowest that contain them at all to the highest. The forms found in any system of rocks are higher in organization than in the system of rocks next below, and not so high as in the system that follows. All these, and various other obser vations, furnish fairly good ground for thinking that animal life was probably introduced by its simplest forms which have not been preserved. Twenty thousand species from the Palaeozoic rocks have been described. It is probable that large numbers will yet be added, and that multitudes were too slight in organization to be preserved, or too unfavorably located to become known to us. Yet, a general impress was so distinctly given to the whole life of each age by the marked features belonging to it 74 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. that a practiced eye can readily tell from the sight of a few genera whether they belong to earlier or later geological periods from the degree oi finish — the coarseness or fineness of the workmanship. Very many classes of the simplest struc ture, have been in existence from first to last as orders, or great classes, but the species have been many times changed. Not a species now exists that was found in the coal period, or before it, or even long after it. The first division of recent time — the Eocene — contains but five per cent of the species now living. There was, then, improvement from age to age. There was a difference in the length of life of species and in their extent. Some are found only in one particular deposit — the rock made in a single age — others extended through a succession of deposits — a number of ages ; some are found only in a limited region and others extended to every region whose rocks are accessible to us. The introduction of higher forms, as time advanced, was a general and constant feature. Invertebrate life is low in vital organization, in physical structure, and contains no animals at all comparable to the immense size of many of the later vertebrate animals. What they lacked in size, however, was far more than made up in numbers. The aqueous rocks of the Valley average nearly a mile in thickness and more than two-thirds of them, perhaps, are the product of animal life. How inconceivably vast must have been the number of animals whose shells could produce such huge results! How inexhaustibly active has been the Life Force ! For it was that Builder which se creted the lime and silex in the shells of animals, collecting them from the water which held them in solution. When the animals died the shells became the sport of the waves and were mechanically or chemically crumbled, often to powder, to form every kind of marble and most other building' stone. The layers extended, as a rule, a vertical mile beneath us. ANIMALS OF THE ANCIENT ROCKS. 75 ( The softer parts of animals and many vegetables are be lieved to have produced petroleum. If so, how inexhaustible may be the quantity of that useful oil ! It was, in large part, this organic chemistry which enriched the soil of the Valley^ The limestones are capable of being reduced to very fine dust and its constituents furnish rich material for plant structures. To animal life is due much of the agricultural wealth of the Valley. The Ancient Geological Times drew on far toward the Age of Coal before the great vertebrate class of animals had a single representative. The lowest of vertebrates, fishes, were the first to appear. The earliest of this class that has been found was a kind of shark with an imperfect frame, in that it was not bony but cartilaginous. These first known species were not the very lowest in structure. This seems, so far as is yet proven, to be a law controlling the introduction of animals, and, with those who do not favor the strictest form of the evolution theory, is used as a strong argument for the theory of special creation as opposed to evolution. It is, however, supposed by many that the lowest forins were really first introduced, but that, owing to their having no hard parts they were not preserved. It is a question which can not, as yet, be definitely settled. Fishes became very numerous before the coal, but it was not till about the middle of the Mesozoic Time, and long after the Age of Coal, that bony fishes resembling modern forms appeared. During the Age of Coal the still higher class of reptiles was introduced. The two divisions of this class are Amphibians, which have gills and air- bladders, like fishes, in their early. life, but pass through a singular transformation afterward, develop lungs and become air-breathing land animals; and true reptiles born with lungs and having the air as their proper element of life, though they often pass much of their time in water. The amphib ians were first introduced ; true reptiles were not found 76 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. till after the Age of Coal. The earliest are known only by their tracks made iu mud, dried afterward by the sun, and then covered and preserved by another deposit. The existence of the first birds known is discovered in the same way. These discoveries lend considerable probability to the supposition that the first animals of every class may really have been Ihe lowest of their order whose organization was too slight be be preserved. It thus appears that no animals with lungs existed before the coal period, the probable reason being that there was then too much carbonic acid gas in the air to permit the existence of animal life in it. All the coal treasured up during the Carboniferous Epoch in such vast quantities is believed to have been derived from the air through vegetable growth — the woody parts of plants and trees being chiefly formed of carbon re ceived from the atmosphere. The air was purified during the coal age and rendered a suitable element for the development of land animals. Eeptiles are, like fishes, cold-blooded, and therefore of low vitality, and could most easily endure an impure atmosphere. It seems to have been only when the atmosphere had been purified by the embodiment and burying of so much carbon, and when the mountain system of the AUeghanies had been raised, that the conditions were favorable fbr the introduction of warm blooded animals. As fishes seemed to give rise to reptiles by insensibly grading off certain of their classes in that direction, through the amphibian — living one half of its life as a fish, or an exclusively aquatic animal, and then becoming, by trans formation, a land animal — which was followed by the related pure reptile, and exclusivel'y \a,nd animals — so the last, or true reptile, seemed to give rise to tribes more and more like birds until the true bird appeared. There is really much to inti mate that the succession of life has been a grand chain from first to last; and, if the links in many cases do not actually interlock, there are many apparent reasons for supposing THE AGE OF EEPTILES. 77 that they did so in reality. At, the same time the apparent suddenness of very great changes in life-forms shows, accord ing to many men of science, indications of another and deeper Law of Introduction not yet firmly grasped. There is much that is now inexplainable on both sides. Mesozoic, or middle, time was made remarkable by its vast numbers of reptiles and their huge and monstrous forms. It is called, in reference to animal life, the Age of Eeptiles. They were sometimes eight'yfeet in length. There were mon strous sea-serpents, and a great variety of reptiles twenty to fifty feet in length, that sported about the sea-shores, that roamed over the land, the terror of other animals that often became their prey, or that fed on the foliage of trees. Others had immense wings like the bat. The evidence appears to show that the lands were covered with verdure and swarmed with animal life, of which it is probable 'comparatively few specimens have been preserved in the Valley. Many of these monster reptiles have been preserved in the then rock-making regions of Kansas and Nebraska. The types, however, are the same in all lands; for, until after the greater mountain-making era, a warm-temperate or sub tropical climate reigned far w'lthin the Arctic Circle, and great quantities of coal were made there and in various parts of the earth. The ancient genera and species of the animals of the sea had disappeared under the changed conditions, but more modern forms, for the most part, took their places, although some classes quite disappeared. There was a great 'development of insects, and birds, chiefiy aquatic species, became numerous, while, about the middle of the Mesozoic, the class of vertebrates to which man belongs, mammals, or those that suckle their young, appeared. These gradually increased and became quite numerous toward the close of Mesozoic time, while reptiles as steadily decreased and passed over but few of their representatives to the Cenozoic, or Eecent Period. 78 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. From the opening of that period there was a steady and rapid modernizing of animal life in keeping with the general approach to present conditions of continents, seas, and the atmosphere. Vast quantities of coal were magazined from the carbonic-acid gas of the atmosphere just before the Eocky Mountains were raised, or during that process, and the air was fitted to nourish higher and more intense forms of life. The shores of the Gulf abounded in immense whales, and in the rocks of the Western Valley elephants, rhinoceroses, and many other huge animals, which yet approached modern types, are found. (^One of the most interesting is the horse, which com mences in the Eocene, or opening period of Eecent Time, as small as 2. fox, and withybwr toes. As time passes the horse becomes larger, till* it is gigantic, and, one by one, loses its toes till but one remains, the nail of which expands into the hoof as we now find it. ^ It is an interesting revelation of gradual changes of form and quality. At the same time there flourished in the Valley hyenas, wolves, tigers, panthers, tapirs, hogs, camels, lamas, deer, hares, squirrels, beavers, and many other ancestors of modern animals of almost every class. After the Glacial Period many of these disappeared from the western continent. It is somewhat curious to note that many plants and animals that flrst appeared in North America appear in the next age and group of rocks of the Old World, as if this was at some periods the Old ^Yorld which colonized Europe as the then Nexo World. There has been found reason to believe that the first land was raised along the north of the Valley; the AUeghanies are thought to be the oldest of the large mountain-ranges; and probably the upper part of the Valley east of the Missouri was the most extensive region whose rock-making and general struct ure was completed immediately after the Age of Coal. It would not, therefore, be surprising if it was ready for the habitation of some classes of animals before Europe, which MAN THE IDEAL ANIMAL. 79 continued to pass through important changes until late in geological time. Yet many of these animals, after a long career here, wholly disappeared while still continuing in Europe. When the Glacial Period came on it is natural to suppose that the higher land animals retreated southward before it, and many of them survived it to perish before man could be benefited by them — as the horse, reindeer, and others. The animal kingdom continued, however, to be represented by huge and powerful animals, and to raise some of its classes in the scale of organization till man appeared. He was the Ideal Animal. Their progress had ever been (it is not proven how) from feeble to lively sensation ; from few and confused parts and small measures of energy to many and highly elaborated sets of powers ; from a few scattered fascicles of nerves to the ¦extensive and well-protected system of the vertebrates; and the prone body and barrel form of the fish was soon excelled by a more and more erect head, while the long posterior body was shortened until only legs were left, while all the noble vital organs were raised in power and crowded into the front until the head was raised perpendicularly above them, andthe fore legs were no longer instruments of locomotion but ser vants of the brain. This uprightness, with the face and forehead on a perpen dicular line with the front of the body, reached the limit of possible improvement in the frame, while the intelligence of man joined all the instincts and limited perceptions and passions of all the animal world in one mind, with undefined and fairly unlimited possibilities of power and growth, to which was added a class of faculties constituting his highest value — moral powers — the love of virtue and truth. As there can be no nobler frame in the animal world, so there can be no being essentially greater than man, in his highest and peculiar gifts, unless by an expansion of the same qualities. 'There was greater intelligence and power in the Principle 80 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. that planned and produced the world, but since man can comprehend the work he must be of the same nature as the Workman. CHAPTEE VII. GENERAL VIEW OF THE FINISHED VALLET. We have seen how heat and the loss of heat provided the inconceivable force in the crust of the earth required for the immense changes of every geological age. The vastness of the power is very evident, as also is the restraint laid on it. It was, so to speak, tamed and made to work in harness. What it has done shows how easily it could have become a destroyer instead of a builder. Yet it worked slowly, cau tiously, never getting ahead of its chemical, mechanical, and organic associates. Chemical attractions and repulsions made and unmade rocks, and stored up minerals at the points where the forethought that guided volcanic force and the power arising from contraction designated, winds and waves, sun and storm, torrent and gravity made rock in the proper places, and the Life Force worked with unflagging zeal in vegetable and animal to supply the most useful rocks and to store the richest treasures. Finally, cold came to do a most important surface work and then retired, leaving the slow falling and rising of the levels, the waters, dews, rains, and the sun to re-arrange the drift, vital energy to re-people it with animal and vegetable life, and present it -finished to man when he should appear. We have now to observe its general features as completed. From north to south the extreme of its length is about 2,000 miles; the extreme descent through its center in that distance being a little over 1,600 feet. The descent is nowhere very abrupt, although about three fourths of it are accomplished in the upper part of the Valley, from the head of the Mississippi to the mouth of the Missouri. The very gradual fall from 6 81 82 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. that point to the Gulf is one of the most important features of the Valley. Its extremest width, from the heights of the eastern water shed to the crest of the Eocky Mountains, is not far from 1,600 miles. The western rim of the bowl is much the highest ; about 2,000 feet in general along the east, though considerably higher in some places and lower in others; while the head waters of the Missouri are nearly 7,000 feet high ; those of the Arkansas, 10,000 ; and of the Eed Eiver about 2,500. The descent on the west is very gradual, forming, for the most part, vast grassy plains, on which the steady change of level, though so great on the whole, is scarcely perceptible to the eye. On the east, the region inward from the moun tains is much more broken, and, in part of West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, a ridge of mountain is thrown west ward, so that a northward slope is made to meet the general southward descent, in the bed of the Ohio. It is a ridge across the eastern center of the bowl which has prevented the ex treme "washing" of the surface that has taken place west of the Missouri on the "Plains." The whole of the united basins of the great central river and its branches, together with adjoining sections that naturally annex themselves to it by position and relations, cover an area of about 1,800,000 square miles — about the size of Europe without its colder and almost worthless northern regions and the poorer parts of Eussia further south. The actual basins of the Mississippi and its tributaries cover an area of 1,256,000 square miles— it is often stated at 1,244,000, but that omits the delta. The adjoining and affiliated sections are the basin of the Great Lakes, which only a few feet of soil prevents from pour ing its waters into the Mississippi, as it formerly actually did; the basin of the Eed Eiver of the North; and the Gulf coast, including the Valley of the Eio Grande, and, therefore, all of Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado, with large parts of the Territories further north. The length of the main river and THE GEEAT EIVEE AND ITS BEANCHES. 83 its subordinate streams, the height of their head- waters above the level of the sea, and the area of their basins, with some other facts, are given in the following table from Humphrey's and Abbot's "Eeport to the Government on the Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi Eiver." EIVEK. Distance from mouth. MILES. Height above sea. PEET. Width at mouth. FEET. Downfall of rain. rNCHBS. DiBch'rge of water from mouth per sec. CUBIC FT. Area of Basin. SQITAEE MILES. Upper Mississippi... Missouri 1,330 3,908 1,3651,5141,300 500 380 1,386 1,680 6,8001,649 10,000 3,450 310 l,inO 416 5,000 3,0003,000 1,500 800 850700 3,470 35.330.9 41.539.3 39.046.341.1 105,000 120,000158,000 63,000 57,00043,000 31,000 675,000 169.000 518,000314,000 189,000 97,000 13,85010,500 33,500 13,500 Ohio Arkansas Red River Yazoo St. Francis Lower Mississippi... Several small direct tributaries Delta of Mississippi below mouth of Red River , This grand network of rivers supplies an internal navigation by steamboats of near 9,000 miles. The main stream is navi gable from its mouth to St. Paul by large steamers — 1,944 miles — and beyond St. Anthony's Falls 80 miles further, with 350 miles, on its branches in Minnesota and 220 miles on the Illinois Eiver. The Ohio is navigable to Pittsburgh, 975 miles and that distance is about doubled by including the capacity of its branches. The Missouri is navigable almost 2,000 miles, and in high water 600 more. The Arkansas and the Eed Elvers are navigable several hundred miles and the distance is doubled in high water. Several other streams add many hundreds of miles to navigation. The regions of the Valley so reached are the fairest and richest for farming and mercantile purposes. The eastern and central parts of the Valley are extremely well watered, and the shore-line of the Great Lakes, the Gulf shore, and navigable streams emptying into it, altogether furnish for the 84 THE MISSISSIPPI VAILET. Valley basin commercial waterways fully 15,000 miles in length. The basin of the Missouri includes nearly five twelfths of the surface drained by this network of streams, and it contains some of the best, as also of the poorest, land in the whole Valley. The Gulf Slope, or the Lower Basin, except the immediate basins of the Mis.sissippi and its branches, failed of the special provision made for the upper basin; the drift is largely con fined to the northern and central regions. Tet the rock under lying the Gulf States is nearly the latest made, and therefore softer, as a rule, than that formed in earlier times; its climate forces vegetation more, and therefore secures more vegetable mould in proportion, while its long productive seasons and more equable heat give it a monopoly of many rare and val uable products. It is also more abundantly furnished with moisture than most other parts of the Valley. About two thirds of the whole area lie west of the central stream ; about one half of that region has incomparable ad vantages in soil, climate, and situation, leaving nearly one third of the whole area of the Valley less favored in the same way. But this varies largely, nearly all of it having possi bilities of a high order, which will be ultimately developed. A portion of the entire surface, probably equal to the whole of Europe — Eussia, Norway and Sweden excepted — is beyond measure rich in agricultural capabilities. From the Missouri Eiver westward are treeless plains. For six hundred miles Eastward of that river in the upper valley there is a large proportion of prairie; forests naturally grow ing only in rare spots and bordering streams. There has been much speculation as to the causes of this natural treelessness. The level or rolling eastern prairies, at least, were formed by the drift which filled up and evened off the inequalities of the rocky foundation of the Valley. Over this region, or large parts of it, shallow lakes continued for long periods, and after a time for a large part of the year the water in them was stag- THE OEIOIN OF TEEELESS PEAIEIES. 85 nant, vegetation of the kind peculiar to such ponds rapidly filled them up and formed a deep soil, or loam. The inequal ities now peculiar to the surface, were due partly to the under lying rock, partly to the unequal force of the currents distrib uting the drift, perhaps partly, where the rolling is regular, to the measured motion and rush of waves on a large and moderately shallow inland sea stirred by powerful winds, but perhaps more to the action of the waters in draining off, or to subsequent flood by the rains and melting snows, as is very distinctly shown by the ravines formed by the rush of water or gradual washing between high and lower levels. It is believed by some that the soil of the prairies was so largely formed in this way under stagnant water, as to contain qualities — chiefly acids of various kinds — unfavorable to th& growth of trees, and that they can only take root and flourish in it after it has been opened by cultivation to the air, or when they have been expelled by washing and drying in the course of many centuries under favorable circumstances. Therefore, they remain treeless until a forest growth is introduced and cared for by man. Others find the cause in the degree of fineness to which the material of the soil has been reduced, and see confirmation of the theory in the growth of timber on pebbly knolls and on the uneven lands bordering streams, or in the bottoms kept damp and light by vicinity to moisture but where water does not lie long enough to pack it hard and smother the roots of trees. Others have believed prairies to be caused by the annual fires made by the Indians for cen turies past. None of these theories appear capable of explaining all the facts, although it is highly probable that each has its place and degree of influence in the absence of forest vegetation from so large a part of the Valley. A more general and powerful cause has been looked for to explain the treelessness of large regions on every continent. The course of mountain chains, and their relations to the cloud-bearing currents of the atmosphere 86 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. appear to furnish this general principle. Accordingly, gen eral fertility, forest regions, and deserts, depend on the loca tion of mountains and their effect on atmospheric currents that take up and distribute the vapors of the sea. The mountains of the west coast of the United States, ris ing high and cool into the air and above the clouds, condense the vapors that form them, and, for the most part, little rain from the Pacific falls east of the first, or most westerly, range of the Eocky Mountains. The eastern and central parts of the United States are therefore supplied with moisture from the Atlantic, and the larger measure of this comes from the Trade Winds — steady currents that blow across from Africa — within or near the tropics. These winds enter the opening between North and South America, and are neither deprived of their moisture by the low range of mountains in Central America, nor permitted to pass across into the Pacific except in part. Their general direction is changed by the form of the continent there and the current is set northeastward. Taking up large quantities of moisture from the Gulf they spread over the low-lying Valley, which opens itself in that direction to receive them. The shores of the Gulf are heavily watered, and the central stream of rain-laden currents sets broadly in the general di rection of the AUeghanies, nearly northeast. Eastern Texas and part of Arkansas are well watered, but the western line of the heavy rainfall crosses the Mississippi and Western Ken tucky into Indiana. As the rain clouds thin out more and more toward the^west ofthe Valley, so do the natural prairies increase. Illinois has a large increase on Western Indiana, they increase westward in Iowa and Eastern Nebraska, and at length only the narrowest strip of forest is found on the plains along the streams, and even these almost entirely dis appear before the mountains are reached. As this general principle accounts for the large amount of moisture in South America, as also for its treeless Llanos and THE EAINFALL IN DIFFEEENT SECTIONS. 87 Pampas, the Steppes of Eussia and Siberia, and the Deserts of Asia, Africa and Australia, it may be considered a true one. It is confirmed very emphatically by the measure of the rainfall in different parts of the Valley. The table of rainfall for the subordinate basins of the Mississippi shows that the Valley of the Ohio receives, on the average, more than twice as much as that of the Missouri. It it quite certain that the character of the soil has something to do with the distribu tion of the prairie and timber east ofthe Mississippi, and even the Missouri, yet it seems an incidental influence compared with the more determining and decisive point of the average measure of rainfall. There is, also, as the rain thins out westward, an increasing inequality of rain (as an average) for the different seasons of the year. The law regulating the winds and the clouds (the details of which would be too lengthy for this place) cause seventy-flve per cent of the rains that fall on the Western prairies, or " plains," to occur in Spring and Summer when most needed for herbage and agriculture. A nearly even dis tribution for each season, as in the Atlantic regions, would be fatal to agricultural success. A favorable form of the struc ture of New Mexico and Colorado increases the amount of moisture they receive. It will thus be seen that the form of the Valley and its relations to the Gulf of Mexico, the high relief of the coast of Mexico and Central America, and the relations of the Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean have a most important influence on its winds and rainfall, and thereby on the remarkable fruit- fulness of its soil. The general course of the winds during the productive months of the year from the South, or warmer latitudes, also gives a semi-tropical character to the climate of the Valley far to the North, and extends the productive regions of the interior of the continent almost into the center of British America. The depression in that direction to the Arctic Ocean also renders the Winters more severe, while it extends further South the region ofthe most useful grains. gg THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Most of the relations of the Valley, within and without, are admirable. Its farthest extremities are brought into rela tion with the center and the South by the Missouri and Ohio; the long string of the Great Lakes connects much of its most fruitful region with the East by the break of the mountain chains in New York, and the Gulf gives still more perfect and immediate commercial relations with the outside world. The southern Valley is compensated for its failure to receive a general covering of the valuable drift by its greater humidity and warmth and excellent commercial position, while the cen tral and northern parts are indemnified for their isolation in the center of the continent by their extraordinary fertility, singularly favorable climate and double system of waterways, and their vast levels invite the extraordinary development of railways they have recently received. With these favorable circumstances is joined another of singular consequence to the speedy unfolding of all its advantages; an unusual readiness to open its various sources of wealth in all their magnitude. The seasons are long and the climate favorable to perfection of vegetable growth, while the evenness of the surface, the softness of the soil and its freedom to so large an extent from forests, promote speedy, excellent and large returns to the agriculturist. Its minerals lie at once near the surface ofthe earth, and, usually, near the readiest and cheapest means of transport. Various favorable conditions invite and reward enterprise in industry, manufac tures and commerce to a degree unknown together in any other section of the world. Nature is here in her freest and most open-handed mood from whatever point she is viewed. CHAPTEE VIII. THE MINEEAL TEBASUEES OF THE VALLET. The highest kind of power known to us is that which belongs to mind; that which organizes matter into living forms and so confers on it new offices and capabilities, is next lower, beneath which is the power residing in chemical attraction and repulsion ; the mechanical force or 'weight of matter — which measures the power of the attraction called gravitation — being the lowest. Intelligence has evidently superintended the operation of the lower forms of power, from first to last, and probably they are merely the modes in which the Supreme Intelligence displays its energy. The earth has ever been a vast chemical laboratory. Mental and organic powers are scarcely more wonderful or mysterious than chemical force, and they seem dependent on it, in some form, for each of their innumerable manifestations. It is to this active agent and its extraordinary properties that the vast mineral accumulations of the Valley are due. It has acted with the greatest vigor where heat and moisture were abund ant, and therefore its most stupendous deeds were accom plished in the early ages of the World, when the crust was thin, when the internal heat of the earth could make itself powerfully felt on the surface, and while the surface of the Valley was largely covered with water. The largest amount of mineral stores was usually accumulated at the point where these two elements met. Most of the metals have been collected in large quantities by means of water heated by volcanic, or by chemical, forces and therefore along the lines where volcanic energies broke out. Yet, the largest accumulations of iron, the production 89 90 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. of coal and perhaps of lead, did not require, apparently, any great degree of volcanic heat for their immediate deposit. Here the more remote and gradual operations of heat led to the final result. Chemistry, as well as vital force, has had a graduated development to a certain extent. It had its special periods for the accomplishment of various tasks. Eocksof a certain composition could only be produced under certain cir cumstances, and different classes of metals must wait, their turn to be gathered in large masses. There was a constant succession of services performed by chemistry for our Valley through the geological ages. Iron is diffused very widely and abundantly through the rocks under many combinations. It is thought by some that the proportion is still larger in the center of the earth and even that it may constitute two thirds of the mass of the earth. The composition of the meteors — mostly iron — that have reached the earth from other spheres suggests this view, in which case the earth may be considered as hallasted with iron, and to have embodied in its true crust the larger quantity of its various other and lighter mineral substances. Iron was specially abundant in the Azoic and primary rocks and the largest and purest beds date from that time. It is thought that beds of iron are always due to the chemical action of decomposed vegetable matter. The deposits of iron now being made are all accomplished in this way and it seems probable that it has always been done in the same man ner, and that masses of this metal are both the evidence and the measure of the vegetation of the time and place of deposit. In this case evidence would be furnished of an extreme abundance of plant life on what have been usually called the Azoic rocks. The largest beds of iron known, and of a purity and excellence nowhere surpassed, lie along the south shore of Lake Superior. They are in the group of rocks formed immediately before the first of those known as Palae ozoic, which contain the first well-preserved forins of ancient THE lEON OEES OF THE VALLET. 91 animals. At that time this region was the southern shore line of the early continent. Iron was more abundant, or more concentrated, in the early or Archaean rocks, and probably the vegetation of the time was chiefly seaweeds, lichens and possibly the coarse vegeta tion of marshes. The rains and streams leached out and washed down the iron of the surface rock of the land under various combinations, andthe decaying vegetation of the bogs and marshes of the shore caused it to be deposited in great abundance and purity at these points. It is said to equal in quality the best ores of the Old World, while the largest single deposits of that continent would be mere patches compared to the extent of this. The area of the Lake Superior mines is about 150 miles in length from east to west by a varying breadth of from six to seventy miles. Stretching along the shore of the lake the ore is peculiarly well situated for cheap and easy transport to the vicinity of the best and most abundant coals of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Iron, apparently of the same age, is largely developed in Missouri — the very center of the Valley, and not distant from suitable coals for working it. Iron of this age is also found in Arkansas, in New York and New Jersey. Beds of it formed in various ages, and especially in the great Coal Age, are found in most parts of the country and very frequently in the neighborhood of coal areas. Although not so pure or so high in quality, it serves ordinary purposes well and is obtained and worked at a minimum of expense. The use of iron is a measure of comparative civilization and enterprise. The iron ofthe Valley is far more important and useful to it than all the gold and silver mines of the whole world would be. The abundance of this valuable ore indicates the high rank this region is to take as a leader of future civilization. The first group of rocks that contain animal remains hold veins of copper of great purity and unusual abundance in the 92 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Lake Superior regions. This metal appears to have been col lected in the cracks of the rocks under the infiuence of heat and certain chemical conditions. It is found in smaller quan tity in Tennessee. The Valley now furnishes a much larger quantity than is required for use in this country. Still higher series of the ancient rocks contain lead which is found in large quantities in a wide region covering corners of the States of Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa and also in Mis souri. Its deposit was not, apparently, due to volcanic action, but a special chemical condition of the time and regions caused it to collect or crystallize in the fissures of certain rocks. Great quantities of hard, beautiful and useful build ing stone, mainly from various limestone formations, follow in the ascending series and are very abundant for all common purposes through the upper Valley. About midway between the earliest Palaeozoic rocks and those belonging to the Carboniferous, or Coal-making Age, lie the series of formations in which was stored vast quan tities of salt. All this is not confined, however, to one group of rocks. In different countries it has been made in different ages and the process is still going on in some places. It is only necessary that sea- water be confined in a bed so shallow that it may evaporate, when it deposits its salt. If this occur on the sea margin where, in high tides and storms, the salt water may be forced in now and then to evaporate as before, or if there is a very slow sinking of the surface for a long period to furnish occasional supplies to the salt-flat, very large quantities may be treasured up. When this is covered with formations of other rock, it is preserved. If the salt was not formed under conditions to crystallize it into rock and the overlying formations are porous and admit water to it, salt springs are formed. Thc salt-bearing rocks of Michigan cover 17,000 square miles. These are found in Kentucky, and in various parts ofthe Valley, so that there is an abundant supply. SUPPLIES OF PETEOLEtTM AND COAL. 93 In the next higher series are the rocks which, in the north eastern part of the Valley, store up vast quantities of petro leum. This is believed to have been distilled by a suitable chemistry of these rocks, in the layers below or those above them, from vegetables and the soft parts of the bodies of ani mals. Some have thought it a pure mineral product — a com bination of gases ascending from the heated regions of the lower rocks — and that the process is still going on. In this case the supply would be still more inexhaustible, but the gen eral opinion is that this oil is a product of the Plant and Animal Kingdoms. Most of the rocks contain it in greater or less quantity. It is found in paying quantities only in porous rocks. This is sandstone in Pennsylvania and blue limestone in Kentucky. It added largely to the mineral wealth of the Valley. But perhaps the most valuable mineral product of this region is its coal. It is necessary in vast quantities for work ing iron ore on a large scale, and it bears the most important relation to the wonderfully effective activities of modern industry. Great Britain has about 12,000 square miles of her territory underlaid with coal. It often lies very deep, and is there difficult and costly to raise ; but it has made her the foremost nation of the world. The machinery used in manu facturing in Great Britain does the work of fifty million per sons besides those employed to control it, and coal applied to transportation enables that country to develop trade and com merce to corre.=;ponding proportions. In the last seventy-five years, therefore. Great Britain has led the world in industry and commerce, and become the center of wealth among civil ized nations. By means which find operative power in her coal she has acquired possessions and established colonies in every part of the world. Her aggressive spirit has been turned into useful channels, and she has been one of the most effect ive agents of civilization. By her facility in manufacturing she overflows with this S4 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET kind of productiveness and finds her interest iwfree trade with all nations. She has long been able to almost flood the markets of the world with her goods, and undersell many of the most diligent and ingenious people in the special products of their industry in their own markets. Her commerce whitens every sea, she is mistress of the ocean and the common carrier of nations. " Her merchants have become princes." An asso ciation of them acquired political possession, in Southern Asia, of a region ten times the size of her home islands, con taining native inhabitants nearly seven times as numerous as she could count at home, and these two hundred millions pos sessed the accumulated wealth of a very ancient civilization, the prolific resources of a tropical climate, and the commer cial advantage of being surrounded on three sides by the sea. Her colonies, sharing her intelligent and enterprising spirit, tend to become nations; the mother country wisely sustains and protects them in feebleness, and when strong allows them a free and independent development, finding the greatest profit in trade with them and in the markets they supply for her wares. Were the forces of civilization derived from the <5oal beds of England, Scotland and Wales now subtracted from the world its loss would be beyond computation. But the same Anglo-Saxon race rules the Mississippi Valley and owns the coal to which that of England is a trifle. There are three great fields, most of whose deposits lie wholly within the Valley, the remainder being near its rim. The Appala chian coal field, stretching from New York to Alabama, un derlies 60,000 square miles. The Central or Illinois field, extending into Kentucky, is nearly as large. The Western field, including parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and extending, with some breaks, across the Indian Territory into Texas, underlies an area of nearly 100,000 square miles, and the coal of more recent formation, near the base of the Eocky Mountains, in Colorado and Wyoming, extends under about 15,000 scpiare miles. Michigan has also a field, which is comparatively thin, of 5,000 square miles. EXTENT AND VALUE OF COAL BEDS. 95 It is not accurately known how much of this may be so impure or thin as to prove unprofitable to work, but so much is known that it may be confidently asserted that about 150,- 000 square miles of it in the Valley will yield excellent results. All Europe is estimated to contain but 100,000 square miles of coal. To this is to be added that where the Ameri can coal is the thickest and most condensed, it has been gen erally elevated above the drainage in hills and mountains, that almost everywhere in the prairie states it is contained in the highest or surface series of rocks, and usually above the drainage valleys. • It is also more accessible than much of the European coal to carrying agents. By these two circum stances a vast expense is saved in working it. This wide-spread extension seems a foresight of the broad activities that, by means of it, were one day to cover the vast Valley. A glimpse of the inexhaustible quantities and bound less wealth included in this resource of the Valley may be caught by the miners' estimate that a square mile of coal one foot thick would yield 1,000,000 tons. The beds, in vertical thickness, vary from two or three feet to twenty and thirty, and sometimes even more. No single layer is more than a few feet in thickness, but many often lie over each other, in some cases even to the number of sixty or seventy. It is not easy to imagine any activity so great as to exhaust the motive power residing in the coal of the Valley, and every ton of coal represents a large amount of activity producing wealth or comfort. ¦ Large quantities of the precious metals are stored in the western border of the Valley, from the head waters of the Missouri to Texas. These were chiefly collected in the crevices of the rocks, or scattered through quartz rock during the eleva tion of the great Eocky Mountain system, and unknown, but certainly large, quantities are yet to be obtained. The supply of silver is considered practically inexhaustible. But iron and coal are far more necessary to the permanent wealth and 96 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. colossal development of a people than gold and silver, and of those there is most liberal provision. In these respects all apparent possibilities of need are richly provided for. CHAPTEE IX. AGEICULTTTEAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE VALLET. The general surface of the Valley of the Mississippi, through the direction and moderation of its slopes, is charac terized by a broad and grand simplicity. By geological formation, by relations to the outside world, and by peculiar ities of climate there are three sections. These are the Ohio Valley and the southern and western watershed of the Lakes, to which geological, agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing affinities join the Upper Mississippi and its system of drainage; the Missouri Valley, including that of the Upper Arkansas ; and the Gulf Slope, including all the Gulf States and the Lower Mississippi Valley. Yet, nowhere do dividing lines approach the character of barriers. The whole is so tempered and melted together by the interlocking of the streams and slopes and the characteristics of soil, tem perature and rainfall, as to form a broad and grand whole. The lake system on the north and the Gulf on the south both enter as elements of supreme importance to the general in terests of this fortunate region. Internal commerce is provided with remarkable facilities. The heights of Minnesota, of the far Northwest, and of Western. Pennsylvania are joined by three grand arteries of navigation in the centre of the Valley, where the mighty stream of the Lower Mississippi invites intercourse with the south and the outside world. The singularly favored Upper Valley would have suffered seriously in many ways but for the system of Great Lakes and their eastern relations. While the direction of its main slope and the Ohio and Upper Mississippi Elvers suggest its relations with the south, the 7 97 98 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. break in the AUeghanies through New York, the vast con nected links of the lakes and their outlets, give the invitation to close commercial relations with the Atlantic Coast in the same latitude and distinguish the whole northern slope as highly for the most modern times as in the early and later geological ages. The lakes and the rivers insure an always important comtnerce. These water facilities for commerce, however, seem to be overshadowed at present by another ; its smooth, soft surface and wide levels remarkably adapt it to the development of the railway system. This was so readily and cheaply accom plished, was so accommodating to the purposes and wants of the time, that the water-ways of the Valley were almost abandoned. Commercial facilities and the massing of coal, iron, and other useful metals in the Ohio Valley and Lake regions encourage manufactures in a way quite extraordinary. The presence of a large population, the position midway between the two oceans, the cheapness of material from its nearness and abundance, and the ready facilities for cheap distribution — all which must have a great effect to cheapen the price of the articles manufactured — adapt the Valley sin gularly to this form of industry. It is the natural center of a great people. It has ready relations with civilized Europe by Eastern ports, and with the teeming millions of Asia by the Pacific Coast. It has the closest and most important relations with the West Indies and tropical America across the Gulf and the Carribean Sea from the mouth of the Mississippi and the Gulf ports and by the Orinoco and Am azon Elvers and the future ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Under all these stimulants the Valley must develop, in time, immense activity in numerous branches of trade. No region can expect to approach it in greatness in these respects, when its capabilities are fairly unfolded. But however great the Valley may yet become by com merce and various industries from its natural facilities for . AGEICULTUEE TAKES THE LEAD. 99 them, its advantageoils relations and its position, its agricul ture must always be most prominent and profitable. It is the true home of this industry. All the Geological Periods worked intelligently and continuously to concentrate here the rocks that should supply the necessary earthy and chemical materials for the formation of a durable soil, and later ages took care that they should be finely pulverized and well dis tributed. With this foundation agriculture may be developed to any desirable extent. This industry is the base of the social^ and business structure. Man's first and constant ne cessity is food. With an insufficient measure of this in any region all other activities must be put in motion to collect it from more favored localities. Wherever it is produced in nnrestrained abundance the wealth of other regions must ffow. Branches of manufacture, lines of commerce and trade, and the valuable products of mining are subject to fiuctu- ations because they may be over- worked or find competitors with great readiness. As a source of income they have not the steadiness of agriculture for this reason, and because they deal more largely in the supply of the secondary and artificial wants of mankind. These, indeed, by habit, seem soon to become necessaries of life; yet, when financial pressure arises the primary demands of life are undisturbed, while these acquired wants retreat into the background, and disaster and distress spread through the classes whose income depends on the prosperity of the industries which supply them. No people can be poor with whom the most solid fruits of the «oil are abundant. Experience soon shows them that they can be comfortable on what the earth produces, and whatever excess of this produce remains to them is fairly sure of a market. This excess of agricultural products in the Valley can scarcely be said to have any conceivable limit. The measure of results from cultivation of the soil here has been as yet 100 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. ridiculously small compared with its absolute capacity, al though the grains annually produced have long been counted by thousands of millions of bushels. The per cent of surface actually devoted to growing crops in the most thickly settled and oldest parts of the Valley is, perhaps, in no case over 20 to 25, and much the larger part of the surface has been settled recently and thinly, or not at all. Some recapitulation of the geological origin and quality of the soil of the different sections will best convey a general idea of the agricultural possibilities of the Valley. The eastern Valley north of the Ohio, the upper Missis sippi, and the region some distance west of the Missouri in the same latitude to the southeastern part of Dacotah was, with some adjoining parts, the original floor completed and raised at the elevation of the Alleghany Mountains, about the beginning of the Mesozoic, or Middle Period. It had been carefully protected during the long Palsebzoic Period, which included about two thirds of geological time, and had been extremely abundant in the shell fish whose limestone cover ings had been secreted from the waters by the Life Force in these animals. For this reason the shells were easily broken up into fine dust when the animals died, and limestone rock was principally composed of this material. When not hardened and compacted by heat, great pressure, or some peculiar chemical cement this limestone would be dissolved by " weathering," or crushed by the vast glaciers of the Great Ice Age into the very fine dust suitable to be taken up by plants to aid in their structure. The presence of animal and vegetable life in such profusion in this part of the Valley for such immense periods of time also collected in the forming rocks most valuable material to enrich vegetable growth when they were worn down and spread abroad as soil. Add to this, that on the north, much of the east, some spots through the center, and generally over this part of the Valley before, after, and during the Coal- THE SOILS OF THE UPPEE VALLET. 101 making Age, vast quantities of mud, gathered from the finer material of different rocks by atmospheric influences and min gled with the remains of vegetable and animal life of the land and marshes, formed vast layers of loose, shaly rock. This was "weathered down" on the hills, or ground by the ice, and helped to furnish rich supplies for vegetable growth all over the Valley, but more especially over the prairie States and in the river bottoms. As the finer, lighter and richer parts of this material re mained long in suspension in the waters during the Cham plain and Terrace Epochs it was largely diffused over the sur face of the northern Valley. The shallow lakes on the prairie levels received and deposited it. Sometimes, by the dam ming up of streams, wide-spreading lakes would be formed where this material was brought in such abundance as to fill them with this valuable Loess, or bluff soil. The shallow lakes became marshes and gradually filled up with a rich loam supplied by its decaying vegetation. Where the drift was not lodged, or where this fine surface deposit failed to be laid or was washed away frorn the surface, enough was mixed with the gravel to form a fine soil, or the shaly and limestone rocks ofthe hills were dissolved by the atmosphere to furnish plant supplies — as in Kentucky and Tennessee. This preparation was completed by long centuries of vege table growth and decay, by the life and death of innumerable herds of animals, large and small. This formed a rich, often deep, surface mold which made the Valley a garden for pro ductiveness when the Mound Builder or civilized farmer came to cultivate it. This was the condition of the soil of the old " Northwest Territory," between the Upper Mississippi and the Ohio, of Iowa, most of Minnesota, Nebraska, North Missouri and the northeast corner of Kansas. Over all this region, to which parts of Kentucky and Tennessee are to be added, there is a 102 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. boundless possibility of agricultural wealth and very little poor land. The plains between the Missouri and the Eocky Mountains lay for long periods as a region of lakes and marshes; their rocks were soft and rich in material required for vegetation. It was very heavily washed down during the process of ele vation, but still contains in places all the depth and richness of the soil of Illinois and Indiana, and the conditions of agri cultural wealth in general if sufficient moisture were supplied. The Southern Valley, or Gulf Slope, was chiefly formed in later geological time. The Valley of the Lower Mississippi is largely filled with rich materials brought down from the upper Valley after the Glacial Epoch. The Cretaceous or chalk-making era laid heavy deposits which, though not chalk proper, appear to have been formed at the bottom of a deep sea from an ooze composed mainly of minute animals whose light shells produce a rock having excellent fertilizing quali ties. The cotton of the south is largely raised on this belt. As the rocks of the extreme south in general are of compar atively recent formation, they are usually soft and fine. The washings from the land at the north, northeast and northwest formed much shale, or mud rock, that supplies a soft and fer tile soil. Valuable fertilizing marls and green sand, shell rocks, lime, sandstones and clays are also found there. The coast of the Gulf back a hundred miles in Alabama, and still more, sometimes, amounting to two hundred miles further west, was formed in the Tertiary epochs just before the great Ice Age, and therefore in the latest rock-making geological times. The soil is consequently varied more largely in fertile qualities than in the other sections, but its rocks being mostly soft, the warm climate and abundant rainfall help to make the most of the soils they produce. Texas has a large display of cretaceous rocks and limestones, both of which, being chiefly of animal origin, are a fine base for fertility. No region in the world can show a soil so carefully prepared^ HOW THE SOIL IS AIDED BT CLIMATE. 103 through vast geological times, with all the most valuable mineral and chemical supplies for plant-life, and these so well mixed and widely distributed, as that part of the valley which became peTmanently dry land early in the Mesozoic period ; that is, comprising the original " Northwest Territory," and the adjacent parts west of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio. Its abundance naturally overflowed to a large extent into the southern basin, and much of the surface of the plains was washed down the same way. Thus the real possibilities of agriculture throughout the Valley, but especially in the northern and central sections, are wholly above estimate so far as real capacity of soil is concerned. This is admirably seconded by the climate. The opening of the Valley to the south and the direction given to cloud- bearing winds by the high lands and plateaus of Central America and Mexico furnish the stimulus of heat and moisture required to call out these resources. The northern and west-' ern parts of the Valley are tempered by the great lakes, by winds from the north and the mountains, and a winter which wholly rests vegetation for several months in the year. This is varied through many degrees of latitude and longitude and by great differences of precipitated moisture, or rainfall, and various other circumstances. In the south there is almost tropical heat tempered hy abundant moisture, by winds usually from the sea, by the AUeghanies on the northeast, and the elevations toward the Eocky Mountain plateau on the north west of that basin. The position and the latitude, the relation of the Atlantic and the Gulf to the Valley, of the mountains, the lakes, and the depression north toward the pole, all tend to secure desirable features of climate, either to moderate ex tremes or to render them a special benefit. Tables of temperature and rainfall, averaged from the obser vations of many years, by scientific observers, are here given. The average temperature' and moisture of each section of the country during each of the four seasons, and also for the year, 104 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. are recorded, and may be considered satisfactory as a general guide. It has become evident, however, to careful local obser vers west of the Missouri, that the extensive settlement of those regions in recent years is produciuflr marked' and most beneficial changes in the amount of yearly rainfall; it steadily increases as cultivation and treeplantiiig progress. The shock given to the atmosphere by railway trains and the influence of all the changes wrought by active settlement on its electric conditions are believed to be important agents in promoting an increase of rainfall where it was before often insufficient for all the purposes of agriculture. TABLES OF TEMPEEATUEE. 105 TABLE OF TEMPEEATUEE9 IN THE UNITED STATES. STATIONS. ALT. Feet. SPRING. StJMMEB 0 aut'mn WINTER TEAR Toronto, Canada , Portland, Me 341 20 20 71 267 23 130 506 60 600? 78 2020 0025 10 00 300? 450550 1,131 700? 637600591591550? 830 1,000? 896 1,1472,3604,5194.351 3,6636,4186,846 120 5050 403 350 50 50 41.1 42.843.2 44.345.0 48.7 46.7 44.6 50.6 50.0 54.2 65.8 68.678.070.1 70.0 78.0 62.454.154.349.1 45.5 38.537.643.344.950.545.6 54.853.856 5 46.8 46.8 51.7 49.9 48.349.7 73.157.0 59.363.85:10 51.1 40.0 64.8 65.3 64.4 68.668.6 72.170.067.6 71.071.673.180.6 81.6 81.583.782.383.579.176.273.070.266.3 60.8 63.067.367.373.3 70.674.9 74.1 77.3 71.571.975.9 73.8 67.370 4 900 60.173.885.5 70.361.654.3 46.648.149.0 50.1 48.7 54.5 50.0 48.953.1 51.1 53.9 68.169.878 7 71.0 70.7 70.361.355.4 55.0 48.4 48.4 43 0 43.5 50.1 48.8 53.1 45.9 55.353.7 60.3 49.3 50.3 44.5 48.350.675.7 60.161.366.4 52.3 53.743.9 24.534.726.626.2 24.731.426 0 27:033.630.1 33.951.754 9 71.957.356.553.8 43.933.333.938.825.331.8 18.3 36.0 25.9 36.3 16.1 33 0 29.632.4 23.031.183.125.4 33.6 81.656 8 51.546.349.3 35 6 43.433.2 44.3 45.2 Portsmouth, N. H. 45.8 47.3 Amherst, Mass 46.7 NewYork City 51.7 Albany, N.Y 48.2 Rochester, N. Y Philadelphia, Pa 47.051.6 Gettysburg, Pa 50.7 Washington City .')3.8 Charleston, S. C 66.6 Pensacola, Fla_ 68,7 Vera Cruz, Mexico 77.5 Mobile, Ala 70.3 New Orleans, La -. 69.9 Galveston, Texas 69.4' Fort Towson I. T .. 61.7 St, Louis, Mo .- _ 54 5 Cincinnati, 0 53.8 Hudson, 0 49.1 Ann Arhnr, Mirh 46.4 Port "Wilkins. Lake Superior Fort Brady, Lake Superior Milwaukee, Wis -- ..- 40.1 40.4 46.4 Chicago, 111- 46.7 Fort Madison, Iowa 50.8 St Paul's, Minn 446 Fort Scott, Kansas 54.5 Port Leavenworth, Kansas Fort Riley, Kansas 52.856.6 Fort Kearney Neb 47.7 Fort Laramie, Neb 50.1 Great Salt Lake _ Fort Benton, Upper Mo Fort Union Texas '- 48.249.1 Santa Fe, New Mexico 50 6 Fort Yuma Col ... . 73.6 57.3 Sacramento Cal .. _. . 59.9 Fort Miller, Cal 66.0 Dalles of Columbia 53.8 Astoria, Oregon. 52.5 Sitka, Alaska..- - 43.6 106 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. ANNUAL PKECIPITATION OP BAIN AT DIFFEEENT STATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. STATIONS. SPRING SUMM H AUT MN WINTER TEAR. Toronlo, Canada Portland, Me Portsmouth, N. H Cambridge, Mass Amherst, Mass New York City Albany, N.Y Rochester, N. Y Philadelphia, Pa Gettysburg, Pa Pittsburtrh, Pa Washington, D. C Charleston, S. C Vera Cruz, Mexico Pensacola, Fia Mobile, Ala _ -- New Orleans, La Jackson, Miss Fort Jessup, La -. Fort Towson, LT St. Louis, Mo Cincinnati, O Hudson, O Ann Arbor, Mich. Mackinac, ,Mich_. Fort Bra'ly, Mich. _- Milwaukee. Wis St. Paul, Minn Fort Madison, Iowa _.. Fort Scolt, Kansas Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Fort Riley, Kansas Fori Kearney, Neb Fort Laramie, Neb Porl Union, Texas El Ptiso, New Mexico Santa Fe, New Mexico Fort Yuma, Cal S;in Francisco, Cal Sacramento, Cal Port Miller, Cal ' Asioria, Oregon. __ Steibicoora, "Wash. Ter Dalles of Columbia Sitk>i, Alaska .- 7.16 13.11 9.03 10.85 10.33 11.55 9.796.63 10.97 9.749.38 10.45 8.60 81.90 13.8614.2411.29 10.90 13 68 15.5512.3012.14 9.76 7.30 4.675.446.60 6.61 15.3012.57 7.97 7.91 10 80 8.693.470,70 3.88 0 37 7.507.019.57 16,4311,19 3,63 18,33 9.57 10,28 9.31 11.17 11.84 11.33 13.31 8.86 13.4510.30 9.87 10.5318.68 116.80 18.69 18.0017.28 14.30 10.94 14.36 14.1413.70 8.87 11.20 8.88 9.979.70 10.9315.9016.87 12.34 7.15 12.05 5.709.63 3.568.90 1.30 0.090.000.03400 3 85 0.43 15.75 10.3311.93 8.95 13.57 11.3910.3010.27 9 38 10.07 9.778.23 10.16 ll.fil 51.4013.7113.91 9.629.509.74 12.33 8.949.90 6.167.007.01 10.76 6.805.98 14.50 8.397.335.58 3.83 3.96 5.135.356.030.863,96 6 61 3.80 21.77 15 83 3.78 33.10 4.29 10.93 8.88 9.89 9.709.638.80 5.38 10.06 9.107.48 11.07 9.405.50 11.7218,2712.71 18.40 11.49 8.946.94 11.15 8.003.103.31 5.184.30 1.93 4.704.79 2.75 1.36 1.31 1,63 3 03 1.70 2.08 0.72 11.34 12.11 9.79 44 15 22.62 6,98 23,77 31.35 45.2535,57 44.48 43.16 42.23 40.6730.4443.5638.81 34.96 41.30 48.39 183.20 56.98 64.4250.9053.00 45.8551.0843.3240.8933.79 28,6023.87 3-1.3527.20 3).43 50.50 43.1230.2931.90 27.98 19.9819.3411.31 19,83 3.15 31.95 25 73 22.1886.3553.4» 13,81 89,94 THE LAW OF VAEIATION IN RAINFALL. 107 In the lower Yalley and in the densely wooded regions the rainfall is large for all the seasons, and the difl'erence for the seasons not very great; but when the point is reached where the average fall of the year begins to decrease, in about the same degree does the amount of precipitation for the fall and winter diminish, leaving the spring and summer rainfall tolerably near a constant quantity. This law applies par ticularly to the region between western Indiana and the mountains. It, however, requires a broad average both of surfacp and of years, there being important variations for special localities and years. But for this law of rains the vast plains of the upper western Valley would be a real desert. Were the rains there equally distributed through all the sea sons the amount falling in the productive seasons would not be suflicient for the grasses. and grains. Precipitation of rain may be materially increased by plant ing trees. They do not refuse to grow when introduced and cared for by man, and a considerable modification in the dry ness of the western regions is possible. The long rivers that flow from the mountains across these dry plains to the cen tral Yalley furnish the means of irrigating over a large por tion of the best lands, which, with attention to forest growth, will ultimately introduce very great and favorable changes in the extreme west and northwest of the Valley. Russia, in Europe, and the Valley of the Amazon, in South Anierica, have points in common with the Mississippi Valley, and are destined to exert a great influence on the future of mankind. It will be interesting to compare them and see in what points our Valley excels. Russia is a vast plain, stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. It has, to some extent, the character of a shallow trough, there being mountains on the east and higher regions at the north and south of its western boundary, with an opening between, which includes the Baltic Sea and the Northern Plains of Germany. On the southeast the Ural 108 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Mountains melt into a plain that extends across Siberia. From north to south, through 2,000 miles, there is a gradual descent to the Black Sea. The extreme north has an arctic climate and vegetation ; below that is a , vast forest, more or less marshy. A cold and rigorous climate extends far down the slope. The lower half is largely occupied by treeless plains called steppes — closely resembling the prairies of the Missis sippi Valley. Instead of being a grand unity in diversity, in which the north and south temper each other, it is rather an assemblage of contrasts. Dry and warm in the south, it is wet and cold in the north. The geological formations have as little unity. The best soil is in the lower interior, and not in the best region to secure the largest results. There are many long streams flowing southward, but not in a single system, with a great central trunk, like the Mississippi. It has very great resources, part of the soil being extremely fruitful and very little of it absolutely barren, but it fails to be well distributed. It has great mineral resources in the Urals and large quan tities of coal, but far away from the most populous regions and commercial centers. Thus with great advantages are coupled embarrassing extremes and difficulties of position and relations not known in the Great Valley. The Valley of the Amazon is more than a third larger than that of the Mississippi proper, and excels it in the unity and extent of its river system. It descends gently 3,000 miles from the watershed of the Andes to the Atlantic. Some of the head waters of the Amazon are said to be within 60 miles of the Pacific shore. It has a fertile soil and is provided with a deep and soft layer of fine earth over its upper rocks, be lieved by Agassiz the product of a vast glacier, like that which furnished the drift of our upper Valley. This is doubted by other geologists, but it is remarkably useful however produced. This great Valley is extremely well watered ; the cloud-bearing winds from the Atlantic, entering its eastern opening, de- THE VALLET OF THE AMAZON. 109 posit their precious burden over its whole extent,and yield their last reserve to the chill air of the Andes, whence it flows in innumerable streams down the fertile slope to swell the Amazon. The relations of this Valley with the Basin of the Orinoco, on the north, are such as almost to unite the two, and the pampas and llanos of the northern and southern interior find a natural outlet by the Amazon. It is extremely fruitful, the soil being abundantly good. But with all these extreme advantages, and others that might be mentioned, it must be ranked below the Valley of the Mississippi by its very exaggerations. It lies under the equator through its greatest length, and though described as more moderate in temperature and healtlifulness than might be expected, it has an eternal summer, and the vegetable kingdom displays a power and luxuriance that will long remain uncontrolled by man. Abundant moisture, abundant heat, and a consequent extremely rich and stimulating vegetable mold unfit it, for the most part, for the production of concentrated fruits and grains. Tropical fruits, valuable woods, and many extraordinary medicinal and economical products abound. It furnishes much that is of value to general commerce, but nature is not controllable. She has, as it were, taken the bits between her teeth. She is here wild and untamable, to a large extent, and declines the faithful service to man that is so eminent a feature of the sister Valley of North America. She furnishes remarkable sources of wealth to a civilization firmly established and harmoniously developed by the help of a wide range of the most useful resources and under the invigorating climate of the temperate zone. The enervating heat, the spontaneous fruits which supply nearly all the immediate necessities of man with little labor, and the difficulty of acquiring any measure of control over the energies of nature render this extraordinary Valley unfavorable to the development of the elements of civilization. It depresses in stead of stimulating the mental and moral energies lodged in 110 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. humanity. It was a magnificent inheritance for the Portu guese, but has embarrassed rather than aided their progress during the three hundred years and more that it has been in their possession. All things considered, the Valley of the Mississippi has many points of great superiority to any other region in the world. In particular things some regions are more highly favored ; but for the avoidance of extremes in every point of view, united with the most solid and coni,prehensive resources, it is unrivalled. The value of these is enhanced by such a location as to greatly assist the progressive development of the highest form of civilization known to man. The climate, the Lake and River systems and the Gulf unite with the form of the Valley, the structure of the mountains, the general relations to other parts of the continent and the world, to give the greatest possible value to the products of its soils and mines. All these circumstances combined with the social and po litical condition of Europe to select for it, at the right time, the most desirable population that could have been found. Industrious, intelligent and enterprising, they brought the mature results of European civilization and thought to the development of the institutions and industries of this broad and rich alluvial plain. These fortunate coincidences tend to make the most of all the resources of the Valley, but espe cially of its agricultural capacities. They are seen to offer a solid foundation for national development. Every other form of industry is more or less fluctuating; this is steady and sure. Its slow and laboriously earned gains exert a more healthy influence on character than the alternate profusion and pain ful straits — the ebb and flow of success — in commerce, man ufactures, and trade. Abundance is easily secured without.excessive, slavish toil, yet requires steady physical application, under the direction of intelligence, in a healthy and inspiring climate. A mine ITS AGEICULTUEAL EESOUECES. Ill of the precious metals, a branch of manufacture, a line of •commerce may, by intelligent energy and skill, soon be ex hausted with great temporary results ; but a painful, disorgan izing reaction follows. The agricultural resources of the Valley are for all time, and useless beyond the immediate supply of human wants — a steady perennial spring, to become, in time, a powerful stream for the comfort of mankind. CHAPTER X. THE MOUND BUILDEES AND THE FIEST MEN IN THE VALLET. WJien the Age of Ice drew to its close the Champlain Period opened. The indications are that during the Glacial Period the northern part of the continent was raised at least some hundreds of feet higher than now. This elevation was folTdwed by a sinking of the same regions, or, at least, of all that lay below the northern border of Lake Superior, several hundred feet lower than now. It was as if Mother Nature fllled her lungs and emptied them again, causing a measured rise and fall of her bosom. The St. Lawrence Valley was an arm of the sea far up toward Lake Ontario, and salt-water stood some hundreds of feet deep over Montreal. Lake Champlain was an interior sea, visited by whales, while huge animals, among them the mammoth, browsed on its banks and left their bones in its marshes. Both in this country and in Europe multitudes of very large and very ferocious animals made their appearance in this Age of the Drift — often called the Champlain Period, because it has been most carefully studied near that Lake — and at this time the flrst traces of man are found on each con tinent. It was a period of fresh-water overflow from the melting ice, of lakes and marshes in the Valley, and the re mains of animals were buried in the drift as it was distributed by the surging floods. The traces of man in this period are very numerous in Europe, and are not wanting in America, though not so fully studied here. Many facts have been collected which seem to leave no doubt that men lived in the Valley when the mammoth, the mastodon, the lion, the tiger, and other large and ferocious 112 THE FIEST MEN IN THE VALLET. 113 animals, since extinct, roamed over the highlands, and were mired in the marshes. " Big-bone Lick," in Kentucky, acquired its name from the numbers of the immense animals whose remains were entombed there. In a similar spot near the Osage River, in Missouri, the bones of some eighty or more distinct animals have been found. Among these were found several arrow-heads of human manufacture. One was ieneath the bones of a mammoth entombed fifteen feet below the surface in a mass of drift. In another part of the same state the indications were very plain that one of these huge animals was mired in the presence of men, who attacked it with flint-tipped arrows, spears, and stone axes, when, finding the animal helpless but tenacious of life, they built a fire around its head and destroyed it, after which the spot, with all these proofs of human presence, was covered by drift and soil. Numerous marks of a similar kind have been found at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. In the Mississippi delta, below New Orleans, a human skeleton was found beneath two successive forests of cypress. Many other indications, within and without the Valley, go to confirm the same point. The shell-heaps of Florida and California are as significant as the " Kitchen-middings " of Denmark. So far as the general tone of these indications can now be estimated, they are fully in keeping with later developments. The early European man progressed steadily, so that four dif ferent stages of approach to civilization are seen to stand out with great distinctness. They are characterized by the arms and tools of each period as the Rude Stone Age, the Polished Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. These distinctions are not as sharp and clear in America, but there is a marked resemblance. The implements, indi cated by their position in the drift as the oldest on this conti nent, are rude. The Mound Builders belonged to the Polished Stone Age, and the Peruvians reach the development of the Bronze Age; but the Iron Age was introduced by Europeans. 8 114 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET The movement toward civilization here was slower and had some very weak sides where that of the Old World came out strong. It can not well be doubted, however, that the Valley was inhabited as early as the western part of Europe ; that the start was from the same point of rudeness; and that pro gress was only made by select races under favoring circum stances. The Indians were always savages, and it is unlikely that the first men in the Valley tended toward civilization. Whence came the first inhabitants of America? It is a question that has awakened great interest, and the books that ha\e been written on it are to be counted by thousands. It h;is been, and is still, a general impression that the human race originated in Asia. Many courses of inquiry indicate the highlands near the Caspian Sea as the point from which dispersion commenced for the Old World races; but the more closely the Aborigines and ancient monuments of America are studied, the more difficult does it seem to make out their origin. Books have been written to prove their descent from almost every leading race in Asia and Europe; but the more exact studies of recent science show that they have no de tailed likeness with any, and that their separation — if that took place — must have been accomplished before the original stock had made any important or permanent progress. In color, languages and features of character, viewed as a whole, they are a class apart, while the Old World has four well- marked classes. After these first traces of man there seems to be, as yet, a long blank during which, in Europe, the record is apparently continuous; but that was a region of limited and favorable areas surrounded with barriers which protected dawning im provement, while America permitted wide dispersion. This circumstance was highly unfavorable to steady advance. There was too wide a range over a region abundant in spon taneous gifts to man, which, in temporary want or danger, per mitted easy migration to better supplies and greater security. THE MOUNDS AND THEIE BUILDEKS. 115 It is not probable that American civilization commenced in the Valley. There are dim traces of its beginning in the northern parts of South America, near the Andes or among them, and in the confined regions of Central America. Thence, so near as can now be estimated, emigrated a people who had made the start in social organization that bound them too closely and strongly together to permit them to fall apart in the vast spaces of the Mississippi Valley. These people are called Mound Builders. The Valley con tained an immense number of mounds, mainly heaps of the loose earth and soil, but occasionally entirely or partially composed of stone, with a few instances of supporting sur faces of sun-dried brick. The whole number found has been estimated at 100,000, more than 10,000 of which were in the State of Ohio, where they were studied by competent men of science more extensively and accurately than else where. Commencing on the head-waters of the Ohio they extended westward to Nebraska, from near the lakes to the Gulf, and from Texas to the Atlantic coast of Florida. They were mostly found in the fertile valleys of streams where the soil was richest and most easily worked ; seldom in the interior or far distant from those parts of the branches of the great river system that could be navigated by canoes. They appear to Iiave been constructed in greater number and variety in the lower part of Ohio ; were very numerous in the central Val ley near the Mississippi; and were more frequently of large size further south. They occupied what may be considered the very best parts of the Valley and those most easily acces sible from the main streams by water. They varied somewhat in evident destination in dift'erent sections, but bore the strongest marks, without and within, of a common origin. Their location, their size, the purpose evident in them and the relics they contained were found eloquent in descriptions of a period and a people wholly unknown to the modern Aborigi nes. No other record of them has been found that is decisive 116 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. in itself, although the traditions, monuments and history of the Indians contain some traces apparently pointing to them, and which help us to some interesting probabilities. Natural causes, working on so large a scale and with material so plia ble as the surface of the Valley, have often produced curious results, and it was formerly common to attribute all the mounds to geological causes that could not be referred to agency of the Indian tribes; but that idea has never been entertained by those who have made the more characteristic of them a careful study. The Mound Builders have been regarded as a myth only by those writers who had received imperfect information. All the facts thus far gathered furnish unequivocal testi mony to the existence in the Valley at a period far back in the twilight of American time, and probably also during times that were pre-historic in the Old World, of a very numerous and considerably civilized population in the Valley. This race was evidently one controlled by the same ideas and sympathies, fairly uniform in mental, moral and social culture. That culture was too low in kind to have led to results so extensive without settled institutions which must have been based on a strong and vigorously conducted government. The evidence is also fairly conclusive that there was a common bond between all the parts of this population which, at the grade of development they had reached, must have been a central government. There are many evidences of harmony and none of confiict with each other. War was prepared for only in one region, and as that was on the extreme border the danger must have been from without. It is probable that this people vanished from the Valley at about the time that authentic history began its records in Greece, and that their occupation of it covered both the Rude and Polished Stone Ages of European Pre-historic time. It was, apparently, a long occupation by a mild, peaceable race governed with vigor and considerable intelligence. \ii JUluJ* COPPER TOOLS FROM THE MOUNDS, CHAPTER XI. THE LABORS OF THE MOUND BUILDEKS. The active industry that has been employed about ajiundred years in changing the surface of the Valley, as the Mound Builders left it, into a great center of civilization and enter prise, has removed many of the monuments of this ancient race. The graves, the altars, and the temples were more nu merous near many of the present centers of wealth and activ ity than elsewhere. The good sense of these primitive men was apparently as sharp and clear to advantages of situation and value of soils as the many-sided intelligence of a more enlightened people. It is also another proof that they selected freely ; that they were not troubled, for the most part, with enemies. They settled on the best lands, and evidently did not need to fear the vicinity of the natural highway — the rivers — ^which the Indians of later times commonly avoided with great care, as places of residence, because likely to bring enemies to the sudden ruin of their towns. Thus, the remnant of ruins which the wasting eftect of a score and more of centuries had spared was, in large part, obliterated before their significance was properly understood. If these are added to the multitudes remaining and the other 'multitudes which the tooth of time had already devoured, we shall have a vast summary of toil invested by the Mound Builders in their works. They must have been a very numer ous and industrious people. The mounds represent only the outlines and foundations of their public works. Their private dwellings, the structures of wood that surmounted, were en closed by, or surrounded these remains, were too light and temporary to be preserved. The labors of cultivation that 117 118 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. secured food for servants and attendants on these works, with all their painful toil in preparing tools under the greatest disadvantages, must have represented another immense out lay of human energy. Of the nearly twelve thousand works remaining in Ohio, when the general critical examination was made in 1845-7, fifteen hundred were inclosures. These consisted of walls, sometimes miles in total length, surrounding — and sometimes surrounded by — mounds of various size and form, which, with modern facilities for moving earth, would represent the labor of thousands of men ahd animals for a great length of time. The inclosures and mounds have been classified as fortifica tions, temples, altars, sepulchres, signal stations and symbolic figures. Various circumstances make the aim in their con struction, and sometimes their actual use after they were built, very evident to the student of them who makes the study with due intelligence and care. Too many have been explored with haste by persons who did not suspect the great importance of uncovering ancient buried relics with caution and leaving them in undisturbed position until an extensive observation had been made and recorded of their relation to each other and to their surroundings ; for by these circumstances much of their significance is usually determined. They often reveal the manner and the purpose of burial. More than thirty years of the nineteenth century had passed before the investigations of men of science in Europe were directed to the buried traces of pre-historic man on that con tinent, and the idea of gaining precise information from such studies was not fully accepted by high scientific authorities until some years after. It is not surprising, therefore, that these mounds, widely scattered in a new country where scien tific experts were less numerous than in the Old World, should be little noticed, and never studied with sufficient carefulness to discover the right key to their revelations. They had not been unnoticed, however, and some extravagant theories con- THE SUKVET OF OHIO MOUNDS. 119 cerning their origin had been based on superficial observa tions of their appearance and the curious relics often found in them. These theories had little value, because not founded on sufficiently minute and extended examination. In 1845 a careful survey of the mounds in Ohio was begun and continued for two years, by thoroughly competent observ ers, with a scientific care and accuracy that led to important conclusions. A description of these studies, that discarded vague suppositions and loose estimates and furnished detailed and accurate explanations of the leading features of the mounds and their contents, was published. Much interest was awakened in the scientific world, the mounds in all parts ofthe country were critically examined by suitable persons, and the information already gained was confirmed and extended. The information here given, and the interesting inferences drawn, are gathered from these scientific records. Their accu racy can not be questioned, for as the number of thoroughly- trained observers has increased in recent years, the facts have been repeatedly re-studied and verified. Some of the mounds were evidently military structures,, designed for defcHce against enemies, most of the points forti fied being selected with a judgment that would do honor to a modern engineer corps, and with a lavish display of labor and pains that is extremely significant. Fort Hill, Ohio, was a fortress of great strength, occupying the summit of a hill five hundred feet high on two of its sides, and surrounded with a wall along the edge of the hill, the materials for which were thrown up from a deep ditch dug around the brow. The wall and the ditch are more than a mile and a half in circuit and enclose an area of forty-eight acres. The wall, at the more accessible points, is said to be still from six to fifteen feet in height. When examined, it was -covered with a heavy forest of gigantic trees, standing and fallen, and some of the latter could not have been less than a thousand years old. Large artificial reservoirs for water indicate that it was once pro vided with all the means to stand a formidable siege. 120 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Another defensive work, called Fort Ancient, on the Little Miami River, had walls nearly four iniles in length, besides mounds, parallels and curtain walls. These were, when care fully surveyed by a competent party from Cincinnati, eighteen to twenty feet high at exposed points, and the number of cubic yards of excavation made in constructing them was estimated at nearly seven hundred thousand. These are but what remain after the storms of perhaps thousands of years have done their best to diminish and wash them away. Another, in the Scioto Valley, embraces within its defenses an area of one hundred and twenty acres; a stream was turned out of its course to permit a complete circuit of wall; and it includes mounds which, with the walls, contain three mil lion cubic feet of earth. Fortified and covered ways some times lead from fortresses on heights to the streams below. Evidences of military foresight and skill in the art of defence are often very striking, and indicate mature reflection after extensive experience as well as command of unlimited labor for long periods. One military work included between 600,000 and 700,000 cubic yards of earth thrown up ; and the system of defenses at the mouth of the Scioto River is said to be at least twenty miles in total length, though embracing not more than two hundred acres of inclosure. These defensive works are usually on the points of blulFs in bends of rivers, or in the angle formed by the meeting of the streams. They are usually in the vicinity of numerous works of a dift'erent character, indi cating the presence of a large population and a center of the community. They were evidently designed to form a pro tection, and probably, as danger grew more threatening, became places of retreat for the inhabitants. Sometimes these inclosures are so extensive, and embrace so many mounds of various form and size, as to suggest that here was a walled town. A curious implication of foresight and ability in defence is MILITAET AND SACRED INCLOSURES. 121 found in curtain and parallel walls to protect openings or gates in the defenses, and to connect different structures. A long period of danger would seem to have produced a military class and elaborate and intelligent precautions. This idea is supplemented by the frequent occurrence of smaller works on the highest points, as if they were outposts of larger for tresses ; and of elevations on the highest hills with level tops and traces of fire — sites for beacon fires. If the forests were removed it is said these could be seen for many miles around. By means of these signal stations warning of the approach of danger could be transmitted over a large region in a few minutes. These warlike indications are almost entirely confined to the northeast section of the Valley, as if danger only threat ened from the region lying between Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the mountains of northwestern Pennsylvania. The most warlike and vigorous race of Indian conquerors, the Iroquois, or Five Nations, were found settled here in modern times. A few thousand resolute warriors intimidated half a continent by their expeditions from this point. Sacred inclosures are also numerous in the same region. They much more rarely occur further west, and especially south. These are commonly found on the broad and beauti ful terraces of the river bottoms. They are of various sizes and forms — square, circular, elliptical and octagonal. The Newark Works cover hundreds of acres, and contain examples of all these various forms which are j'oined by connecting walled avenues into one system. A most interesting point in connection with this class of inclosures is that they are perfect squares or circles on a large scale. There is, also, a definite relation between the areas of different forms. These walls, constructed with so much mathematical precision, inclose mounds of various forms sym metrically arranged. Unfortunately, all this is only sug gestive — not explanatory. For that explanation we must 122 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. probably look to the rock monuments of Central America and Mexico, which appear to indicate the purposes of such outlines. Temple mounds are leveled on the summit. They are of various sizes and forms, but usually are oblong squares with the corners pointing to the cardinal points of the compass. Commonly their summits are reached by graded ways. Some times one' or more terraces intervene between the general level and the summit, all connected together by these graded ways. Often smaller mounds are found on the top of plat form, or temple mounds, of such form or contents as to sug gest that they were, in some (fases, the foundation of build ings, in others, altars of sacrifice. These platform mounds were much more numerous, and generally larger, toward the south than in the northeast. The American Bottom in Illinois, opposite St. Louis, for merly contained at least two hundred mounds, among which was the immense Cahokia Mound. It was 700 feet long at base, by 500 wide — nearly half a mile in circumference — and 90 feet high. A graded way led to a terrace 300 feet long by 160 wide, and the summit was a platform 460 feet long by 200 wide. A conical mound of small dimensions but 10 feet high contained bones, funereal vases and stone imple ments. Four other smaller mounds, similar in form, stood near it on the level plain; but there was no inclosing wall. There is reason to believe that imposing religious rites were celebrated in the temples of which this vast mass was the foundation. The mounds were very numerous in this vicin ity. St. Louis, the "Mound City," received its popular name from the number formerly covering its site. The whole immediate Valley of the Mississippi from this point, including the lower valleys of its tributaries, especially on the east side, was rich in mounds and other indications of a dense ancient population. Among them these truncated pyramids were very numerous. The Indian name of the TEMPLE MOUNDS OF THE SOUTH. 123 Taaoo River means "The River of Ancient Ruins." A mound near Florence, in the Valley of the Tennessee, was described thirty years ago as being built so that its corners exactly coincided with the cardinal points of the compass. It was about seventy feet high, and its base covered an acre of ground. A group of mounds in Chickasaw County, Missis sippi, described by the same observer in 1847, was surrounded by a wall inclosing six acres of ground. The great mound at Seltzertown, Mississippi, was among the largest and most interesting. It was 600 feet long by 400 feet wide at base. Its top, of four acres in extent, was reached by a graded way. The height of this immense pile was forty feet. Three small circular mounds stood on the top — one at each end and one at the center. Those at the ends were leveled at their summits. The corners of the great mound were about in harmony with the four principal points of the compass, the greater length being from east to west. The circular mound at the western extremity of the platform rose to the height of forty feet, that at the east being somewhat less. Traces of eight other mounds, at regular distances, were also visible on the broad platform. The north side of the large mound was covered with a wall of sun-dried brick two feet thick, and supporting angular tumuli marked the corners which were covered by large bricks having on them the print of human heads. Skeletons, vases, ashes and other evidences of burnt offerings, were found by Dr. Dickeson, the explorer, on the mound. A ditch, averaging ten feet in depth when examined, surrounded the huge mound. It wonld require volumes to note the descriptions that have been given of similar structures over the South. Although extremely numerous only in the neighborhood of the Missis sippi and its eastern tributaries, they have been found across the whole Gulf slope to the Atlantic and a considerable dis tance west of the Great River, and always giving rise to the same suggestions by similarity of features and contents. 124 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. The Sacrificial Mounds do not differ very much from Burial Mounds in external appearance, but a careful examination of the interior reveals a striking unlikeness and many interesting and suggestive points. They, so far as studied, more usually occur within inclosures, and have not been much noticed by explorers in the more Western and the Southern Valley. This may, to some extent, arise from the fact that wide-spread critical examination by the same parties and those thoroughly competent, by long experience, for that class of inquiries, has been mostly confined to the upper part of the Valley. There have been a great number of excellent observers in the south, but the field of each was restricted and they worked without concert with each other. It may, however, be fairly assumed that if they existed there they would have been noticed. The platform, or temple, mounds are few in the region where these altars are numerous, and where the altars are absent the temple mounds are the prevailing type. It may, therefore, be inferred that religious rites were chiefly practiced on these elevated platforms, where they existed, and in structures on them which have mostly disappeared under the wasting hand of time. Three circumstances characterize the altar mounds. They are within or near sacred places or other inclosures; they are always stratified in a peculiar way; and they contain symmet rical platforms within, and generally not far above the origi nal base of the mound, on which there are traces of fire and of various substances more or less perfectly consumed by it. A fourth may be mentioned : after frequent, and often evi dently long-continued, use they were covered with earth and became conical mounds. If this was not always the case the exceptions noted have been few. They are of various sizes and shapes, but symmetrical— usually formed of burned clay which is often placed above a first layer of sand. A few were formed of stone. One was of round selected cobble-stones laid with much care and art. THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE. 125 In form the parts constituting the altar df sacrifice were round, elliptical, square, or oblong. Some were barely two feet across the prepared altar, while others are stated to be fifty feet long by fifteen wide. The usual diameter M^as found to be from five to eight feet. They were nearly all composed of fine clay, not found on the spot, which com monly rested on the surface of the ground, the first elevation not greatly exceeding a foot. This clay is usually burned very hard through all or most of its depth. Where the evi dence of fire was slight few remains were found. Frequently, after long-continued use had burned it out, more or less, a fresh coat of clay was added — in some cases this was done repeat edly — and finally all was covered with earth, sometimes to a depth of ten or fifteen feet. The final burial of the whole with earth appears to have been made while, the fire was still globing, and thus many fragments of perishable material, after having become charred but not burned, were the more perfectly preserved. The burnt oft'erings made on these altars were exceedingly various, and must have included much that was most precious to the ancient worshippers. Human bones, more or less consumed, and sometimes en tirely consumed and to be detected only by analysis of the ashes, were quite commonly found. As the ashes often con tain traces of consumed vegetables and charred maize, it is inferred that they made the offering of First Fruits to their deity — so common among the early nations of the Old World. In some cases the charred remains of cloth. were found and a great variety of ornaments, weapons, tools and specimens of what must have been high art in those days, at least to them. On the banks of the Scioto River, in Ohio, near Chillicothe, was a sacred inclosure apparently devoted to altar worship. It contained thirteen acres, over which were distributed twenty- four mounds. One of these was one hundred and forty feet in length by sixty in greatest breadth. They all contained 126 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. altars, on which were the calcined remains of an extremely large number and variety of offerings. It is called " Mound City." A singular feature of these altars was that a different class of offerings was found in each. One contained hundreds of pipes and little else; another, pottery and copper or stone ornaments; another, shells; discs of hornstone, to the number of thousands, were found in one ; some contained only a layer of ashes. A quarter of a mile distant from this was an in closure of twenty-eight acres, with an outer fosse or ditch. It was evidently a walled town, and some circumstances sug gested that it once contained the residences of the priesthood attendant on the sacred inclosure near by. In the center of this defensive work was a sacrificial mound. The altar of this mound was very elaborately built. The base was of sand packed tight in an excavation made in the soil eight inches deep. This excavation was a circle thirteen feet in diameter, and burnt offerings of men or animals appear to have been made on this compacted sand. The ashes had been removed but the sand was discolored, apparently by fatty matter, and burned hard, so as to be black and strongly cemented on the surface. Another layer of sand was then laid over it of the ¦same thickness but only seven feet in diameter, which was paved with round stones a little larger than a hen's egg, laid with the utmost precision and firmly bedded in the sand. Ashes, apparently the cinders of a human body, rested on this pavement with two heaps of bracelets encircling some bones not quite reduced to ash — five bracelets in each. Two thick plates of mica were the only other ornaments found. These were first covered with a layer of sand and then the whole was covered with earth, forming a circular mound. Occasionally a " brick hearth," appearing to be one of these altars not yet covered over, seems to intimate that the ceremonies of the Mound Builders were suddenly interrupted and never resumed — very likely by the final catastrophe that drove thein from their pleasant homes in the Valley. It thus appears that the THE REVELATIONS OF THE ALTARS. 127 .altar mounds were substitutes for the temples or platform mounds, on whose summits, as on the Mexican Teocallis and Peruvian Huacas, religious rites were performed. These Mexican truncated pyramids, on one of which the captive •companions of Cortez were offered in sacrifice, would now reveal few traces of the rites seen and recorded by the con- .queror and his followers. These altars, so carefully buried, contain information that would without them have been w^holly lost to us. How little would have remained, after two or three thousand years of neglect and decay to show the true ¦character of Aztec civilization and religious rites, notwith standing that their monuments were of more durable material than the mounds of the Valley ! These altars, so carefully and suddenly buried in the very moment of the crisis finishing their ceremonies, aid to throw light on the forest-buried tem-. pies of Uxmal and Palenque and other ancient cities of -Central America, and show how the mound foundations of those edifices and the teocallis of Mexico originated. The mounds serving as tombs are extremely numerous in most parts of the Valley. In the section that has been most •critically examined, however, they seem to be less numerous, and, in general, they were probably the burial places only of the more distinguished of the people. The common mass of the population must have consisted of virtual slaves, who had neither the aspiration nor time to produce such costly tombs. A large part of these burials were accompanied by the use of fire. Cremation was extensively practiced by the Mound Builders. The sepulchral mounds are variable in size — from six to eighty feet in height. Sometimes a large one was sur rounded by a group of smaller ones, and sometimes they crowd on one another and seem to overlap, as if to show more clearly the intimate relations of the group. Where fire has been employed it appears to have been covered still more sud denly than that of the altars, while in full glow, so that often the charred coals of the wood, with few ashes, still remain. 128 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. With the dead were also buried the personal ornaments ofthe deceased, and some of his more valued treasures. Necklaces of pearl, or beads made from shells, are sometimes found in great numbers, and where the body was not burned it is seen that they encircled the neck or arms of the corpse when it was interred. In some cases where the body was buried without burning we have a hint of the long time that has passed since the for mation of the mound. In England skeletons known to have been buried in " Barrows," as the ancient mounds are there called, 1,800 years ago, have been found whole and firm. This is rarely or never the case in the Valley in the driest and most favorable situations. On a point of the third terrace, about one hundred feet above the Scioto River, was a burial mound twentj'-two feet high. The body had been protected by a rude sarcophagus of logs, with a floor of matting or boards. Of this wood only the crumbled dust remained, although the dry compact earth still retained the cast of the logs, and the frame of the corpse turned to ashes at the first touch of the air. Several hundred beads, made from shells and the ivory tusk of some animal, had the appearance of being wrought by turning rather than by hand. The appearance of fire was, in this case, at some distance from the body, indicating some ceremony by fire other than that of cremation. The ornaments and other valuables buried with the dead must have been more costly and precious to them than gold would be to us. The material was usually brought from a great distance and wrought with infinite pains and great skill. It is remarked that the presence of warlike implements in the graves of the dead is a rare exception, which speaks volumes for their peaceable character aud generally quiet life. The same absence of military signs and trophies has been noticed in the ruins of Central America. Often pieces of mica were disposed about the dead, sometimes pieces of cloth are not fully decayed, and feather garments have been found. THE CONTENTS OF BURIAL MOUNDS. 129 But they did not always honor the dead by burying valued ornaments with them. Indeed, it is declared not to have been the case as a more general rule. Sometimes a multitude of bones are found in one mound ; sometimes the bones of many persons are so disposed about the principal person or persons as to intimate that they were personal attendants or close friends, slain in their honor, as was done by the Peruvians and other nations. Urn burial was much practiced in the Central and Southern Valley, and often a simple sarcophagus of flat stones protects the remains. In a few such cases skulls have been preserved to make some interesting revelations concern ing the mental qualities of the race. The "Grave Creek Mound," at the junction of Grave Creek with the Ohio, in West Virginia, has acquired much celebrity by its size and some of the significant circumstances connected with it. It was seventy feet high, nine hundred feet in circumference and had two vaults — one thirty feet above the other. Two skele tons were in the lower and more elaborate vault, one surrounded by beads, one hundred and fifty in number, and an ivory or bone ornament. The other had no ornaments. The single skeleton, in the upper vault, was accompanied by more than 3,000 beads and other pieces of ornament. The largest num ber of the burial mounds were small and the objects found with the human bones not very numerous. Many mounds appear to have been observatories or places for building signal fires; some are inexplicable, as yet; and many appear to be symbolic, though the idea to be conveyed is not very clear to us. They are mostly in regions outside the range of the mass of mounds. These are "animal mounds," so-called, representing birds, beasts and the human form in relief, on the level surface of the country. Most of them are found in Wisconsin, where they contain almost no relics, and it is difficult to imagine any reasonable cause for the expenditure of so much labor. Almost none of the kinds of mounds found elsewhere exist in their neighborhood. 9 130 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Several of these animal mounds are found in Ohio, where they appear to have had some important religious significance. One, the figure of a bird with outstretched wings, between one and two hundred feet in its two longest measurements, was located in the center of a sacred inclosure, and was evi dently used as the altar of sacrifice. Of two others in differ ent localities and on the summit of eminences, one was in the form of an alligator, two hundred and fifty feet long, and evi dently originally finished with great nicety. The other rep resented a serpent, fully one thousand feet long, with the jaws extended in the act of swallowing a huge object believed to represent an egg. These are probably all symbols of some thought, event, or object of especial veneration, but of what is uncertain. The few objects found in the Wisconsin mounds are exactly similar to those of other classes of mounds, and those of Ohio seem evidently wrought by the same hands that produced the others which abound in sight of them. Perhaps some clew may yet be found to tlieir meaning. The serpent sym bol was much used among the Peruvians. Thus it will be seen that the race of the Mounds did a vast arnount of labor not connected with the necessities of daily life. Much of this work formed in the soft soil must have melted away, and perhaps shows as little of the original amount as the present ruins of Babylon display of the origi nal vast magnitude of the City of Nebuchadnezzar. Life was far more orderly and laborious than with any American races known to us save those of Peru, Central America and Mexico, who, in some points, exceeded in the elaborateness of their civilization that of their European conquerors. A thorough examination of the character, habits, languages and traditions of Indians furnishes very complete proof that the mounds could not have been made by their ancestors. The tribes found in North America, though differing from each other in a multitude of subordinate ways, had very THE MOUNDS WERE NOT MADE BT INDIANS. 131 striking general similarities, and in none of them were the traits revealed by the mounds of their builders paralleled. Possibly a single exception should be made in the case of the Natchez; but they were few in number, and their tribal organ ization was broken up before they had been much studied. It is said that their traditions referred their origin and former home to the borders of Mexico. At least they appear to have had no history to give of the origin of the mounds. If they were a branch of the ancient Mound Builder race they must have been almost completely degenerate. The Indians were quite incapable of the vast labors which produced these structures, nor was there, from whatever side they were viewed, any trace of degeneracy or change of direc tion in their qualities and manner of life. They were all of one piece, so to speak. Their social, political and traditional policies were harmonious, and showed them to be true chil dren of nature; the original untutored and savage instinct was completely crystallized. They had no account to render con cerning the mounds, and had in no respect an affinity for the condition of society under which they must have been produced. The Indians sometimes had fortifications, they had burial rites, occasionally they produced monuments and some few sculptures and works of art; but there was a wider difference between them and the products of the Mound Builders than between the last aud the results of modern civilization. In those points relating to fhe absolute necessities of a hunter's life they had some skill, but in every other direction rudeness and simplicity were absolute. They were very strong in many of their mental traits, but strong precisely where the Mound Builders were weak, and that strength was all employed to resist progress toward civilization. No hint in institutions, in mental qualities, or in language, authorizes the supposition that their race could have been bent from its original wild ness so as to develop a primitive civilization and then 132 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. recover its original tone and quality. Had this been the case it would have been an anomaly in history. In fact, every known law of mental philosophy opposes the supposi tion, as do also all the facts yet collected. The race of the Mounds much more resembles the early Chaldeans and Egyptians, while the Indians resemble more nearly, in several points, the nomads of Arabia, the indomit able descendants of the hunter Esau, " whose hand was against every man." Only a race of slaves submitting quietly to absolute authority can be organized and compelled to pro duce such vast and numerous monuments of a primitive people. A more favorable train of influences would perhaps have reproduced in the American Indian the history of the strong- willed and enterprising Teutonic race of Europe. But the American lacked the modifying elements which Western Asia, Southern Europe and Northern Africa exerted on the wan derers of the Steppes and the rude warriors of the German forests. BURIAL URN, INDIANA, SKULL OF MOUND-BUILDER, INDIAN.*,. CHAPTER XII. THE CHARACTER OF THE MOUND BUILDEES AND THEIE INSTITUTIONS. With the lapse of years, and by the increasing exactness and caution of investigation that has been noticed as a special feature of the last half-century, some indications of the mental condition of the Mound Builders have been fairly established. It required much study and care to distinguish between the skulls of the old Mound Builders and the modern Indians, who sometimes buried their dead in the mounds; but after a time these " intrusive burials," as they are called, were found to be so unlike the original ones as to be easily distinguished by a competent observer, and a very marked difference was noticed between the crania of the earlier and later race. By the persevering researches of able men many skulls, unques tionably those of the Builders of the Mounds, have been col lected, and the information they convey made out. They had a retreating forehead, and the mass of the brain was about as much less than that of the modern Indian as his is less than that of the modern European. The Mound Builders were not an intellectual race. It was long questioned whether this low forehead was not due to the fa,shion of applying external pressure to it in infancy, as has been practiced by the Flathead Indians and some other American tribes ; but the conclusion has been reached that this was not the case. Sculpture in the ancient ruins of Central America reveals the same type of head, and various facts intimate that it was the natural form of the skull. On the other hand, the distri bution of the brain, which has much to do with the tendencies and capabilities of character, were favorable. The arrange- 133 134 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. ment of the brain in the European favors the intellectual faculties; in the Indian brain-force is more largely distributed to the animal faculties. The proportions of the skull in the Mound Builder indicate that his intelligence was not over borne by strong and fierce passions. In this respect the hints of the Mounds are fully sustained. A mild and rather feeble character rendered him an easy prey to the influence of authority. The Indian had a strong personal will and a strength of passions that would not tolerate arbitrary control ; while the race of the Mound submitted to it without resistence. This permitted a strong organization and the massing of activities and labor under the control of one will, which was indispensable to the commencement of civilization. The skull corroborates the testimony of the Mounds that they were not warlike. They were like the Peruvians, indisposed to contest but submissive to command, and when they did fight probably preferred to do so behind entrenchments. A vigorous, progressive civilization requires vehement pas sions controlled by a strong intelligence. The primitive and partial culture we see here is the natural product of a quiet, inoffensive race, limited equally in their passions and intelli gence, but easily held to the discipline that would result finally in considerable skill. This submissiveness and patient persistence, so contrary to the nature of the Indian, was fully competent to produce all the monuments and works of art whose remnants we find in the mounds. For the most part they must have been of ordinary or medium size. It is not apoint easy to verify, for they very often reduced the body to ashes, or nearly so, by fire during the funeral cere mony, and where this was not the case the bones were so much decayed as to crumble into dust when exposed to the air. There have, however, been few indications of variation from the usual standard of size sufficient to attract attention. In the demoli tion of a large mound at St. Louis bones were found indicating PHTSICAL QUALITIES OF MOUND BUILDERS. 135 that the persons in life had been rather above the ordinary stature. In Illinois, below that city, many years ago a series of graves under low mounds were found, in which the skele tons were small, and it was supposed that a race of pigmies had been found. As in many other cases, at different points in the Valley, these bodies were protected by flat stones which were so placed as to form a coffin or sarcophagus. As no similar cases of diminutive skeletons have been discovered, except where they were evidently relics of children, it is in ferred that these were not adults. The crania which have been preserved indicate ordinary size. Their choice of the most fertile localities in the Valley and their ability to devote so much labor to purposes apart from the struggle for the means of subsistence indicate that they dwelt in the midst of plenty and were possessed of abundant physical vigor. The Peruvian mummies, preserved in large numbers, show that people to have been of small stature; but they lived mostly in the rarifled air of a mountain plateau. There is much to indicate that the Mound Builders were, strong and healthy, that there were many leisured classes, and that par ties from the Ohio and the Lower Mississippi visited the mines of Lake Superior, the shores of the Gulf, the mountains of North Carolina and of New Mexico. The general tone of revelation by the Mounds shows us a quiet, industrious people, developing, for the most part, in undisturbed peace and plenty, whose strongest passions were connected with the religious sentiment. They had much taste in the minor arts and a good deal of personal vanity as indicated by the profusion of well-wrought ornaments found in many of the sepulchral mounds. The evidences of a settled government are very positive, although based only on inference. The untutored instincts of the primitive man are those of the animal. He knows no higher law than his own necessities and owns no control but that of his own willful caprice. Only outward pressure, which 136 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. he finds no adequate means of resisting, can overcome his love of leisure, when a supply of food has rendered him comfortable in body. To renounce control of himself and to accept the will of another as the law of his life requires much time and a steady pressure until submission becomes a well-settled habit. This habit is that of being governed, and it is only when a government has grown to the full proportions of an institution and all the resources of the people are unhesitat ingly placed in its hand that it can lay broad plans and carry them out in detail. In this view the very existence of the mounds is proof of a strong government. When we find fortifications, deliberately and wisely planned, requiring the painful toil of many thousands of men for months or years, we can not well escape the conclusion that they were in the habit of obeying an authority which exerted a sovereign control over the lives and property of the people. This is still more strongly the case when we see a sacred inclosure drawn around an intricate but harmonious series of immense works covering more than four square miles of surface with, square, circular, elliptical and octagonal inclos ures, great mounds and long-drawn avenues included within what must, originally, have been lofty walls. The evidence is tolerably clear that all the mounds in the Valley were built by a homogeneous people. The same ideas were plainly involved in them all. They vary in dif ferent parts, more or less, yet they intermingle and melt one into the other; no distinct line separates them. If the inclosure is chiefiy characteristic of the region north of the Ohio, and the platform mound, or truncated pyramid, more pre vails at the south, the inclosure is sometimes found from Mis sissippi to Georgia, and the elevated platform still more often appears in the Northern Valley. Only a friend ly spirit, union of interests and intimate intercourse would lead them to avoid interiors and select the most accessible river valleys for their chief settlements. They certainly had nothing to fear from EVIDENCES OF A GENERAL GOVERNMENT. 137 each other which could not have been the case had various governments controlled on the Scioto, the Wabash, the Upper and Lower Mississippi. Independent governments are neces sary rivals in the early stages of civilization. The absolute rulers over nations of submissive slaves can not tolerate ambi tion in each other. It seems probable that a peaceful union existed on a religious base, as in ancient Egypt, and that the kingly and priestly offices concentrated supreme control in one person, ab in Peru. The fable of a descent from the Sun has secured a long and quiet lease of power to the royal families of various primitive nations on each continent. The indications seem to point to some similar fiction among the race of the Mounds, and this joined the Valley in a harmony and quiet unbroken till danger from the northeast, in the later days of their history, rose in formidable proportions, leading to the construction of the numerous fortifications from the Alleghany River to the Wabash. Their size and elaborate structure intimate powerful enemies and the danger of fre quent attacks, while various hints of a sudden catastrophe suggest an overthrow so complete that no prolonged stand was made in the lower Valley. It would be very natural that the seat of government should be near the meeting of the two great streams, on which were the principal masses of the people, and that the finest art relics should be found in that neighborhood. This last has actually been the case, in some lines. The signs of a dense population are numerous while the absense of fortifications intimates that no danger was apprehended, the line of the Wabash containing the nearest defensive works. One of the pyramids of Egypt, if the ancient history is to be relied on, was built by the labor of three hundred and sixty thousand men, continued for twenty years. The great mound of Cahokia was one third the size of the great pyramid of Egypt, and several mounds in the Valley equal 138 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. in cubic contents many of the pyramids of smaller size. Common consent, without other pressure, or despotic tribal governments that should have produced these great monu ments, so numerous, so wide-spread, and bearing throughout the stamp of common ideas, would be impossible anomalies in history. The monuments of Peru and Mexico were due to general governments which controlled the details of private life and held the mass of the citizens as virtual slaves. It was undoubtedly the same in the Valley. The numbers of this race must have been very large — some millions, at least. The size of the inclosures north of the Ohio testifies emphatically to the presence of multitudes. A sacred inclosure extending over four square miles was but one of scores in the Valley of a small tributary of the Ohio. There seems good reason to infer that at least a million people inhabited this part of Ohio and its immediate vicinity. Many thousand must have been gathered about every large platform mound. These evidences of a large population extend from the branches of the Alleghany River to the Gulf — a distance of 2,400 miles — running back on the tributary streams sometimes hundreds of miles with numerous centers evidently crowded with people. It was no thinly scattered population that left so many enduring traces of their presence along the thousands of miles of river valley. It has been suggested that they commenced their labors on the Ohio and its branches, and, being driven thence by fierce northern tribes, retreated down the Valley. Many facts, how ever, are not in keeping with this supposition. Nothing is more striking in regard to the relics of the Ohio mounds than their southern origin. Much the larger portion, in numbers, were from southern waters. The pearls, the beads, made from shells found only on the shores of the Gulf, the mica, exten sively mined in ihe mountains of the southeast, and the ob sidian, from those of the southwest, indicate a lively trade with those regions. Besides, how could the rich valleys of the THE WHOLE VALLET OCCUPIED AT ONCE. 139 lower streams with their milder climate have failed to attract settlement when they could be reached from the north simply by committing themselves in primitive canoes to the current of the great streams? The expulsion of the Mound Builders from the north, where they developed so much talent for military defence, should be indicated by a repetition of those defences if they made a per manent stand below; but of this there is no trace. They were evidently long threatened from the northeast, while the inhabitants of the central and lower Valley dwelt in security; but the danger suddenly burst out in uncontrollable fury. The miners left their work incomplete on Lake Superior; the fortresses were stormed and only a small part of the popula tion about them probably escaped the general massacre. The remnant rushed down the Valley pursued by the triumphant foe, and the Mound Builders Empire suddenly collapsed. This history has often been repeated among the primitive nations. Just so the Empire of Montezuma fell, and the wise rule of the powerful Incas of Peru ended in sudden ruin. A general unity and coincident occupation of the whole Valley is most probable, and this implies a very large popula tion. This large population of unwarlike people would be no argument against sudden annihilation. Alexander conquered the countless hosts ofthe Persian Empire with thirty thousand men, and the Aztecs and Peruvians were overthrown by a few hundred European warriors. The savages by whom this Val ley Empire must have been conquered probably pursued the same policy as the Iroquois of later times. Three distant branches of their own race, which were settled in Upper Canada between the Lakes, and on the southern shore of Erie, were suddenly attacked about the middle of the seventeenth century and annihilated. The dawning missions among the Hurons, from which the Jesuits hoped so much, were suddenly destroyed. Their presence and counsels and French protection could save but a miserable remnant of a once powerful tribe. 140 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. If the numerous and elaborate works of the Valley prove a large population they also furnish the strongest evidence that the crowded population could depend on abundant supplies of food. No hunter race could exist in such numbers or be brought under a control so complete as to give origin to the Mounds. The Indian tribes followed the game in its migra tions, had only temporary residences, and could not spare time if they had possessed the inclination for such labors. The Mound Builders had a keen eye to agricultural productiveness, and all the sites of their works were located in the most fertile alluvial basins. The occurrence of mounds of observation and signal stations on prominent points, which were concealed and useless by the heavy forests on and around them, hints that the forest had been removed before the time of their erection. The heavy timber had been cut down and in its place, without doubt, were vast fields of corn and, perhaps, other grains. The occurrence of charred corn on the altars of sacrifice seems to turn this supposition into certainty. The occurrence of ancient fields, sometimes called " garden-beds," in which regular rows, as of maize carefully cultivated, with a manifest division into distinct lots by a change in the direction of the rows, seems to favor this idea. The Indians were never known to cultivate with such carefulness and regularity. Only a cheap food could render possible the extra labors and public monuments of this race. Maize, or Indian corn, is a native of tropical regions, where it grows wild. It was probably intro duced to North America by this race in their migration from the South, together with tobacco, which is a native of the Andes. The great number of pipes found in the mounds in dicates that tobacco was a favorite luxury with the Mound Builders and widely cultivated. They are believed also to have cultivated beans and various vines. There are indications in places that they sometimes sur rounded their cultivated fields with embankments of earth, and that on some of the streams they built levees to prevent EVIDENCES OF KNOWLEDGE AND FORESIGHT. 141 overflow. Traces of roads and causeways have also been noticed on the affluents of the Lower Mississippi. Maize is so productive in the regions occupied by the Mound Builders that comparatively few persons could easily cultivate enough to furnish the principal food to thousands. It was the basis of their civilization, there is no doubt. The ancient dwellers in the fertile valleys exulted in plenty drawn from a careful and systematic cultivation that furnished all the food they could require. On this unfailing abundance, drawn from the best watered and most fertile parts of the Valley, rose a variety of classes and a division of labor, without which advance in civilization would be impossible. The evidence is clear that the elements of engineering and of skill in laying out military works was considerably advanced. Accurate squares, angles, circles, and other figures on a scale often embracing many acres are fre quent, and works distant from each other inclose precisely the same space. The corners of the platform mounds usually correspond with the points of the compass. A careful, meas ured regularity is a marked feature of a large part of the works, especially where they are carried out on a large scale. Thegenius of foresight and calculation, of preparation against a variety of disasters, indicates a class educated to the military life among a people to whom fighting was not agreeable. The extremely large scale of many of the fortresses indicates that there must have been many soldiers to defend them, and per haps that they were places of temporary resort during an in road of the enemy. Occasionally a town site appears to have been protected with walls; but usually the fortresses occupied the heights which offered the best natural facilities for defence. If wooden stockades crowned the earthworks, as is probable, they must have been very formidable to a savage foe. They probably sheltered the people for many generations against occasional attacks. The arts of the Mound Builders did not extend to working 142 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. stone in masses. For this the surface of the Valley did not furnish very abundant material, but their minor sculptures often indicate an observant eye, and, considering the materials and the tools, an extremely skillful hand. The Peruvians had learned the art of hardening copper with tin so that stone could be worked with metal tools. There is no indication of any such useful tools among this race; and yet the hardest stone was wrought into a great variety of forms. These works of art, in a great multitude of cases, are surprisingly true to nature. Most of the animals of the Valley and some never found in it were executed with rare fidelity and correctness of expression, in characteristic attitudes, and, when the material permitted, a high polish was added. Some of their works rival the best Peruvian specimens. So striking are many of these works of sculptured art that some have refused to believe a people so primitive as they supposed the Mound Builders were, could have produced them. Seven different specimens of the manatee or laman- tin, a curious marine animal, with two fore paws closely re sembling a human hand, have been found. It frequents the shores and rivers of the northern coast of South America. Many other sculptures represent animals of the southern hem isphere, and their occurrence in the mounds of the upper Valley is considered extremely significant. Some have be lieved them imported, but equally skillful representations of birds and most of the animals of the Valley as clearly show that there were artists here quite capable of producing them after having once closely observed the originals. Some unfinished sculptures suggest how the work was car ried on, although the kind of tool used for cutting is a mys tery. The outline was made as a whole, and the details fbr each part worked out together and in harmony — showing that a full picture was in the mind of the artist from the first — and the strokes of the cutting tool were bold and confident, dis playing a well-skilled hand. Occasionally a humorous figure, THE CULTURE PROVEN BT THEIE AET REMAINS. 143 or a caricature, reveals the sense of fun in the maker and his success in reproducing his conceit. Much of this sculpture remains only as the ornamentation of pipes, although human figures have frequently been found, sometimes enshrined in shells, the central parts of which had been eut away. These have been supposed to be small idols, with how much reason is uncertain. Much expression is often conveyed by the human faces and in the attitude of the form. " Nothing can surpass the truth fulness and delicacy of the sculpture," says one very experi enced and intelligent observer; and it is declared that the ornamentation of urns, water-jars and various specimens of pottery is much superior to anything found in Europe in the " Bronze Age." Only in the " Iron Age " next preceding the historical era in Europe, is the same skill noted. All this is fully in keeping with the intelligence and capac ity manifested under other forms by the Mound Builders. All was characteristic of a peculiar, unborrowed and really im portant, advance beyond a barbarous condition, and indicative of a higher degree of culture than those are willing to ac knowledge whose minds are filled with images of the colossal sculptures of Egypt and Assyria. They had laid a solid foundation for future progress by careful original studies, long and patient practice and a wide range of observation and experience. Their measure of advance was the more signifi cant that they had the most serious possible difficulties to overcome by reason of their want of suitable implements with which to embody their conceptions. We may justly assume that what has remained to our times of these very ancient products of industry and art represents but a small part of them when they stood in their full completeness. How little has remained to show the industry, the art, and the splendor of ancient Babylon and Nineveh, of Memphis and Tyre ! A large part of our .knowledge of them is derived from eye witnesses, or from 144 THE I^ISSISSIPPI VALLET. those who lived in or near the same period. They had a knowledge of iron and how to work it so as to make it serve their industries. The horse, the ox, the camel and the elephant aided their labors; and the dry climate of countries surrounded by arid deserts tended to preserve monuments which they built largely of stone. The climate of the Valley, on the contrary, is moist; the material of which its ancient people built their monuments was chiefly the soft soil, easily spread far and wide during the long course of two or three thousand years of storm and wind and frost. They had no beasts of burden ; they knew nothing of iron ; they had not even learned how to harden copper, as did the Peruvians later, and their more effective implements miLst be made of stone. They had numerous copper tools, but they were too soft for heavy work. Their axes and hoes and picks must be painfully shaped out of the more tenacious rocks ; their knives and graving implements they made, like the Mexicans, from flint and obsidian. With stone axes, assisted by fire, they removed the heavy timber growth ; with stone hoes and other awkward imple ments they stirred the soil, cultivated maize, their staple food, which they varied with fish from the streams, near which all their works are found, and with game from the neighboring forests, slain by their fiint-tipped arrows and spears. With how much toil and difficulty all this was accomplished it is difficult for us to conceive. It took more than half a century for the civilized pioneers, provided with the steel-edged axe, the serviceable plow, the light hoe, the sickle and the scythe, assisted by the horse and ox, to repeat their work. They had houses to build with equally inefficient tools, they wove cloth from the fibres of plants for garments, they boiled salt at the " Kentucky Licks," they obtained copper from Lake Superior, obsidian from New Mexico, and heaped up,with RELIGIOUS PURPOSE OP PLATFORM MOUNDS. 145 laborious steadiness, multitudes of mounds and miles upon miles of embankments. But the rich soil responded readily to the touch of their cumbrous implements of agriculture and the labor of one supplied food for many. There was plenty for the rulers and their servants, their numerous priest hood, the thousands of soldiers who garrisoned the strongholds, and the multitudes who labored for the State. A careful examination of the mounds shows that a large part of them were evidently connected with the religious institutions of the builders. The altars of sacrifice, found so numerously in the upper Valley, were replaced in the south by the truncated pyramid, or platform mound. These are peculiar to America and appear to have had their origin in the Mississippi Valley, since they are found in fuller develop ment in Mexico and Central America. The pyramid, or plat form mound, of Cholula, not far from the City of Mexico, is twice as large as the great pyramid of Egypt and supported a temple on its summit. It was on the top of such a mound in Mexico itself that the captive Spaniards were sacrificed under the eye of the helpless Cortez. Stephens, who made an extensive and careful survey of the mysterious stone cities of Central America, remarks : " In Egypt no pyramid was crowned by a temple ; there is no pyramidal structure in this country without it." The frequent presence of altars on these mounds in the South, their habit ual position where multitudes could be gathered at their base, the graded ways leading up to their summits, and various other circumstances, point them out as devoted to the same service, although no stone edifices were erected on them, as in the countries further south. They are one of the strongest links that connect the Mound Builders with the architects in stone in those regions where an obviously later and more elaborate civilization was devel oped. As the Assyrians had learned, in the soft plains of Chaldea, to construct earth mounds as a base for public build- 146 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. ings and transferred the custom to the rocky regions to which they removed, so, apparently, the habit of raising earth mounds in the soft and level spaces of the Valley was carried among the mountain plateaus by the Toltecs in their flight, and the skill they had acquired in the small arts of sculpture expanded into the adornment of the massive stone buildings with which they there crowned them. The most striking feature of character, which the mounds prove was a leading trait of their authors, was their religious habit. It has been conjectured that they were ruled by the religious orders, or that the sacerdotal character was the base of kingly power. The Incas were the " Children of the Sun," and Montezuma was the high priest of his nation. Their religious institutions were probably more perfectly developed than any others. It is inferred from the distinct character of the offerings on the numerous altars of a sacred inclosure on the Scioto that they worshipped various powers, presenting to each a separate class of burnt oft'erings. Like most primitive nations they deified the forces of nature, and, chief ainong these, the Sun. To catch the first rays of the god of day they elevated the mounds high above their habitations and perhaps, in the Mississippi Valley, contented themselves with a worship of the great luminary under the open sky. It was the beneficent source of life, fruitfulness and heat, and eternal fires were maintained in its honor. From this arose, in all probability, the sacrifices by fire that smoked on every altar in the Valley and consumed all that they held most precious. The Persians, the Phffiuicians and Carthaginians, the Peruvians and Aztecs all worshipped the Sun as a principal divinity. The semi- civilized nations of the New World extinguished their fires at certain astronomical periods, rekindled them at the commence ment of the new cycle, and the sacrifices then made usually included human beings. The Aztecs are said to have re- WORSHIP OF THE SUN AND HUMAN SACRIFICES. 147 kindled the fire on the breast of a living man whose heart was afterward torn out. It is supposed that some of the mounds on the highest points in the upper Valley were places where the sacred fire was periodically renewed. They were, in such places, of stone, which give evidence of intense or long-continued heat, caused, probably, by the fires which were never allowed to expire but at the time appointed for renewal. The wonderful powers of nature, whose mysteries now engage the inexhaustible interest and intelligent researches of modern science, were extremely impressive to the early nations and none, perhaps, have failed to worship them under some form. The daily miracle of the sun's progress across the heavens and the various effects pro duced by it in the different seasons were especially noted with superstitious wonder and veneration, which led to institutions for its worship and the setting apart of a priesthood con secrated to its service, to the maintenance of sacred fires and to the presentation of offerings designed to honor or pro pitiate it. Most of the races, whose passage from barbarism to semi- civilization has been noted, have been found to include human sacrifice among these precious offerings to the sun and other heavenly and earthly powers whose anger was feared or whose aid was sought. Few of the altar mounds fail to show evi dences of the burning of human bodies on them, which gives rise to"' the opinion, among those who have studied them, that this horrible custom was prevalent among the Mound Builders. The bodies of the dead were burned as a part of the burial rites in all sections of the Valley to a large extent; yet that was only one of the forms employed, and the ceremony was evidently different in the burial mounds from that practiced on the altars. There can scarcely be a doubt that this ghastly form of worship was a part of the altar service, and that thou sands of human lives have been ended here by violence at the hands of the ministers of religion. Perhaps their best and 148 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. dearest were often so presented by this very religiously in clined race — " the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul " — as in ancient Palestine. The practices of the Mexicans on structures similar to the temple mounds shed a fearful light of suggestion on their uses. Tliat they failed to have a priesthood devoted to the care and service of the altars and temples is most improbable. With so large a number of different religious structures this class must have been well organized into a hierarchy, or succession of orders and grades. Twenty -four altars in one inclosure on the Scioto were consecrated apparently to different objects of adoration. One contained a crescent formed of round pieces of mica, which suggests offerings to the moon; another god was apparently appealed to by offerings of tobacco and pipes, more than two hundred in a charred condition being counted on one altar; flint arrow-heads, in great num bers, were the chief relics of another, as if a treaty closing a war had been solemnized, or the favor of the " god of battles" sought; other altars showed various offerings differing largely on each. This organization ofthe religious sentiment has always been accomplished by, or accompanied with, an extensive develop ment of a priesthood, and there seems no reason whatever to doubt that it occurred here, also. All experience shows the civil and religious powers united in some form in primitive civilizations, and in many cases the king or prince became religious as well as civil head. This was the case in both Peruvian and Aztec organizations, and may be inferred in the kindred race of the Mounds. A quiet and gentle race, such as these evidently were, has always been easily ruled through its religious susceptibilities. The great mounds and the larger sacred inclosures were probably the residences of re ligious dignitaries of the highest rank. The many similarities of the Mound Builders and their evident institutions to the people of tropical America, who THEIR CONNECTION WITH SOUTH AMERICA. 149 had advanced far toward true civilization in some ways when overwhelmed by the Spaniards, have been frequently noticed. The indications are fairly conclusive of extremely intimate relations between them. There are reasons for supposing such relations both before and after the building of the mounds. Wherever early civilizations can be traced back to their ap parent origin they have led the inquirer to a tropical region — usually a healthy plateau or elevated valley. This does not fail in the case of the Mound Builders. There is reason to suppose that the original rise above a barbarous condition commenced on the plateau at the eastern base of the Andes in the north of South America, whence the population wandered northeast through the isthmus, and south among the higher elevations of the mountains. The same general formation of the skull, the same general traits of character, seem to imply this. There is a wide distinction' between the semi-civilized races and savage tribes that seems to prove a very early separation of the stock, or else a different original birth-place for each. The Indian tribes seem to have come from the northwest; the Mound Builders from the south west. Maize and tobacco are natives of South America, and were probably introduced by the Mound Builder race to North America. Along with these they brought a knowledge of tropical birds and animals, of obsidian, pearls, and copper, and this knowledge was probably maintained by subsequent intercourse in some way. The fact of some kind of inter course is unquestionably established by the works of art to which similarities of character and physical structure give great significance. The traditions of the Toltecans of Mexico indicate that they were once settled in a country to the northeast; that they were violently attacked by fierce savage tribes, and, after a war of thirteen years, completely overcome. Under several leaders they abandoned their country and made several settle- 150 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. ments at different points in Mexico, but finally transferred the seat of their government to the Valley of Mexico. A variety of legends have been preserved by the early Spaniards relating apparently to the later stages of this migration. The oldest date in the language of this race is said, by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg — who devoted himself with great zeal to the collection of all the information that could be drawn from original sources before they were quite scattered and lost — to have been 955 B. C. As this dates their advent to power in Mexico their wanderings must have begun about a thousand years before the Christian era. This was two cen turies and a quarter before the first Olympiad — the starting- point of dates in Grecian history — and about two and a half centuries before the foundation of Rome. How far this is to be relied on it is difficult to say. The Abbe Brasseur had learned the Nahuatal, or Toltecan language, and none of his successors among Mexican historians were competent to criticise his statements. We have already seen that a number of indications in the mounds point to the prob ability of about that age for their g-bandonment. Torquemada found in Mexico an old record describing these wanderers on their appearance in that country, " as a fine-looking, intelli gent race, of industrious and orderly habits, and skilled in working metals and stones." There is much difference of opinion as to the trustworthiness of these records, but a gen eral consent in the statement that they ruled Mexico for many centuries, during which they made notable progress in art and science, when their government fell into disorder and finally gave place to that of the fierce and bloody Aztecs who adopted much of their civilization but stood far beneath them in hu manity and real culture. During this long period from their first appearance in Mex ico to their final subjection by the Aztecs, there was appar ently, at all times, a confused state of migrations back and forth over the region between the Valley of Mexico and Cen- THE MIGRATION OF THE TOLTECS. 151 tral America, and it is believed by some that this -race built the best of the mound temples with their singular sculptures in the forests and mountains covering the northern part of Central America, and that the Toltecs, the most truly civilized of all North American races, were the true Mound Builders. According to this view the primitive civilizatic^n of the Mis sissippi Valley was the original type — the base on which the Southern arts and culture of North America was founded. The evidence of a great advance from savage life has been noted, and facts, as well as such traces of history as can be gathered, unite in pointing to one conclusion. It is not, indeed, accepted as the only possible one; but the most care ful research has discovered the largest number of indications of such a connection of events. Such migrations have been very numerous in the history of the Old World, and the fresh impulse given by adventure, together with the mixture of races that has usually followed, have been among the strongest stimulants to more rapid and enlarged progress. The word Toltec is said to be still synon ymous with architect in Mexican ; the very numerous mounds point to the building tendency of an early people who had few tools or models; while Central American architecture indicates models not native to a rocky region and a very long previous training in sculpture, culminating there in the ori gin of hieroglyphic writing, and a really original and im pressive style of architecture. To find such a state of progress in these directions in a confined region without a wider range of experience and a more various discipline than could have been received there would be indeed surprising. The litera ture of Western Asia and Europe was born of many removals and recastings of the primitive civilization. It does not appear to have been original in Egypt from which it was doubly transplanted — to Phoenicia and thence to Greece — before the perfect flower and fruit could be matured. In the Valley of the Mississippi we flnd traces of singu- 152 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. larly mature conceptions for so much backwardness in other respects. The elements of mathematical science are visible in the perfect circles, squares, octagons, ellipses and four-cornered mounds adjusted to the points of the compass ; in the art of military defense, and in the surprising accuracy and truth to nature of the works of the sculptor and ceramic artist. They were on the high road to true culture and the religious tone of the great mass of their monunients stamps them as a thoughtful people. They suddenly disappeared from the Valley leaving little other trace behind save their maize, their tobacco and a very faint and uncertain tradition, if indeed it refers to them. A degree of sacredness was attached by the modern Indian to the pipe and tobacco, which were favorite offerings on the mound altars, and still more closely associated with religious ideas in the minds of the Builders than in those of the Indians. The Ohio was named by the modern Iroquois, but possibly the Mound Builders left their name, or the name of one of their tribes or provinces, to the Alleghany Mountains ; although it appears impossible to tell whether or not that name is only the relic of a hunter tribe of which so many were annihilated by the flerce confederacy of New Tork. The elaborate defenses along the northern tributaries of the Ohio intimate that a struggle, lasting for generations, preceded the final catastrophe. This was produced by, perhaps, the strong Indian confederacy of the Five Nations and prolonged by the Mound Builders' fortifications. But suddenly the mines of Lake Superior were abandoned while they were yet engaged in raising a huge mass of ore and never, apparently, revisited. Unfinished altars remained forever uncovered; the fortress, the sacred inclosure and the temple mound became suddenly solitary, and the forest proceeded to reassert its control over them. They must have been hotly pursued into the lower Valley for they did not rear there fortifications such as they had been rORT ANCIENT. East Bank of the LITTLE MIAMI RIVER, 33 MILE3 ABOVE CINCINNATI, dO HN LOCK SURVEYOR. WHT THET SUDDENLT DISAPPEARED. 153 driven from above, and indeed all their locations were ex tremely accessible to the swift bark, or log, canoe of the Indian. A miserable remnant of prisoners probably dragged out a Aveary and desolate life in slavery, while the more intelligent and enterprising spared from slaughter abandoned the beau tiful Valley, nor felt themselves safe till they were hundreds of miles beyond the Rio Grande, and at length found them selves near the lake of Mexico. Like the central mountain plateau of Asia and the woods of Germany, the highlands of the Rocky Mountains seem to have sent forth swarm after swarm of fierce, warlike, and (in this case) wholly barbarous tribes, which flowed, wave after wave, eastward into the Val ley and south toward Mexico. During some of these destruc tive attacks of the Chichimecs, as all the 'barbarians were called by the Toltecs, a colony fled to Central America for refuge and carried their architectural tendencies to a still higher and more perfect stage of development. Such seem to be the reasonable conclusions from the facts revealed in earth and stone, and by the records of Mexican and Central American history preserved by Jesuit missionaries in New Spain. Apparently only a wandering tribe from the foot of the Andes could introduce maize and tobacco and a knowledge of the fauna of those tropical regions. The Valley was to» thinly populated by the men who had been contem porary with the mammoth and mastodon to have any opposi tion raised to their settlement along the rivers of the middle and eastern Valley, and for unknown centuries they dwelt in security until the numbers and valor of the hunter tribes around Lake, Ontario accumulated danger and, finally, ruin. They were not to be left to build up a political and social structure here that might waste too many of the treasures of thi Valley on the childhood of humanity and an imperfect civilization. These treasures must be held fairly intact and the ground kept clear for the utmost development of the civilization matured with so much pains and care around the 154 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Mediterranean and on the shores of Western Europe. The quiet and busy agricultural. dwellers in the Valley, after ages of undisturbed growth or, in later times, of successful defense by their superior intelligence, were suddenly found unable to resist the fierce, determined onslaught of the bravest of the Indian tribes. In all probability a few thousand warriors of the forest, knowing no mercy and delighting in the slaughter of the flying foe who had long resisted them by virtue of his fortifications, drove before them the millions of the Mound Builders as Alexander scattered the vast armies of Persian Darius. What agonies of terror, what scenes of dreadful carnage, may then have been witnessed by mounds and prairies and streams, we can scarcely hope to know. Undoubtedly in great mental distress and bodily suffering the escaped remnant abandoned their fields, their temples, and the streams whose banks they and their ancestors had beautified by incessant toil. It must have been one of the most fearful catastrophes of warring humanity. The retreat of the ten thousand Greeks, recorded by Xeno- phon, and the distresses of De Soto's little army after his death, must have been trifies compared to this exodus of the disheartened, terrified, and perishing remnant of a great na tion. Their houses left behind decayed; their temples rotted and disappeared from the mounds; the forests reappeared over their pleasant valleys and hills and sacrificial altars. No one entered into their labors or reaped the reward of their pains taking industry. Their very names vanished from the Valley, unless it is recorded by the mountains forming its eastern boundary. The Valley rested in its weighty service to man until the people worthy of it should appear to build a mightier social and political fabric and make full use of all its varied and abundant sources of wealth. The Indian tribes left them essentially untouched. 0 1 8 ARROW-HEADS, EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. PAET SECOND. THE INDIAN TRIBES AND EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT OP THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. CHAPTER I. THE WILD HUNTERS OF THE VALLET. A very different race from the Mound Builders held posses sion of the Valley when adventurers from Europe became acquainted with it. Almost without arts which deserved the name, depending chiefly on hunting, fishing, and the spontane ous fruits of the soil, for food, they spent much of their time in roaming from place to place, bestowing very little care or labor on dwellings temporarily occupied. The art of war, which, after hunting, they considered almost the only serious occupation worthy of a man, was, with them, equally simple. It consisted in sudden attacks on the enemy, in which success was largely due to surprise, and in the use of all the stratagems and feints which their ingenuity could devise, but never, when it could be avoided, in a fair and open contest. It was conducted by small bands, rarely numbering more than a few hundred, who, having struck a decisive blow, or failed in the attempt, withdrew as secretly and rapidly as they had come. They, therefore, seldom fortified themselves, or they did so only when expecting the attack of an unusually formidable and persistent foe. They then contented them selves with a hastily-constructed stockade, or rudely strength ened a naturally strong position to defend themselves against a surprise or the first onset of the enemy. Some more war like tribes, especially the Iroquois at the northeast, and some 155 156 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. of the Mobilians, in the south, bestowed considerable pains on the defenses of the towns where they left their women and children; but, at the best, they were rudely constructed. The Indian warrior detested continuous labor as a restraint, and felt himself degraded by it. Unless immediately associated with his sports or his warlike occupations, he considered it only fitting for women and slaves. Consequently, he acquired little skill in construction when a somewhat more permanent residence, or the necessities of defense, induced him to under take it. The size and special structure of the brain has been found to determine the intellectual rank of the different races of men. The brain of the ancient Peruvian, of the temple builder of Mexico, and of the Mound Builders of the Mis sissippi Valley contains an average space of seventy -five cubic inches; that of the Indian eighty-three, and of the civilized Germanic races of Europe ninety. The mental force of the Indian is, therefore, midway between that of the Mound Builders and other semi-civilized nations of America, and that of the most progressive and intelligent modern race. But the brain of the Mound Builder was more symmetrical and indicated, by its proportions, less of the vigorous ani mal passions and propensities specially characteristic of the Indian. Accordingly the Mound Builder, the ancient Peru vian, Central American and Mexican exhibits less force of will, more docility, and, in general, more of the qualities necessary to patient and continuous labor. Thus, the low forms of civilization developed in Egypt, in ancient Asia and in America, sprung up among races inferior to the modern Indian, but, having a better balance of faculties — less energy of the passions in comparison with the degree of intelligence — better adapted to steady progress. They submitted readily to authority, could be combined in large masses, and all their physical forces concentrated to carry out the purposes of their rulers. Long and steady practice gives skill and develops THE MENTAL QUALITIES OF THE INDIAN. 157 intelligence whenever the nature of the work involves thought. Hence, their progress in art, manufactures and industry. The Indian, with a stronger intellectual organ, but with livelier passions and more strength of will, obstinately resisted the control and restraint necessary to lay the foundations of civilization and maintain a steady growth of improvement. Subjection to the will of another and methodical labor were intolerable to him. With the same strength of the animal propensities and a higher development of the mental faculties, the Indians would, like the Goths, the Gauls, and other German tribes who overthrew the Roman empire, and like the Aztecs, who subdued the Toltecans in Mexico, have admired the arts and comforts of the race they conquered, and the Mound Builders civilization would have been the first staee of a more perfect organization of society, of government, of arts and of religion in the great Valley. But they were like children before intelligence and reflection have matured. The wild, free life of the woods and fields, liberty to rove from place to place at will, were irresistibly attractive to them. A struc ture of society and government that left the individual free from any constraint not imposed with his own consent was necessary to such a people. Their chiefs were clothed with no coercive authority. Their power rested on public opinion, their personal popularity and tact in peace, and their bravery and success in war. An Indian chief without eminence in personal and popular qualities would have no following and no power. Even in war no coercion was employed and none was pos sible. O nly those who chose joined a chief in a proposed expe dition, and, even after having engaged in it, obedience to him was still substantially voluntary. An Indian army was strong only in its enthusiastic love of war, in its confidence in the leader and its assurance of victory. A repulse or other dis heartening event showed it to be a rope of sand. Without shame or loss of reputation the Indian braves abandoned the 158 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. leader in the expedition when it was no longer attractive to them or they no longer hoped for success. A government that may not command or punish, that has no power to carry out its designs when popular enthusiasm declines, and which rests on the spontaneous support of a people in their mental childhood, could never originate, or preserve an inherited, civilization. There can be little doubt that it was the ancestors of the modern Indians — certainly a people like them — who destroyed the Mound Builder's empire and were unable to appreciate or perpetuate its arts and acquisitions, or to imitate them in rising above the wild and savage state. They remained the same from generation to generation. Their habits prevented any accumulation of material or mental treasure, and presented no solid ground on which the spirit of progress could rest its fulcrum and raise the descendants above the ancestors. The wisdom of the old men might, in part, descend to the next generation, but the obstinate attachment to their desultory habits did not permit the son to become, practically or usefully at least, superior to the father. Such as they were when they obliged the old Toltecs to abandon to them the fair Valley they continued to be when De Soto marched through the Gulf States to the Mississippi in 1539 and 1540, and when La Salle explored the Valley from the Lakes to the Gulf in 1682. A certain rigidity of character and customs was a natural result of this perpetual mental childhood which gave entrance to no new ideas and repeated their wanderings and wars from age to age. This characteristic added greatly to the difficulty of a material change for the better, and, when they were brought in contact with the enlightened European nations, presented an obstacle to their civilization that has seldom been effectu ally overcome. They seem incapable of abandoning their ancient habits in the presence of a new situation, and they retreat before civilization instead of embracing it. This in flexibility is perhaps constitutional in the race ; but probably THE INDIAN SUBSTITUTES FOE LAW. 159 the constitutional bias flows from the mental structure noticed above — a want of symmetrj'^ and balance between the mental and physical attributes of the man. That it is not impossible to be at least partially overcome has been demonstrated among the tribes removed to the Indian Territory west of the Missis sippi who have adopted the habits and enjoy the comforts of a tolerably high civilization. The same result is seen among individual Indians in other parts of the country, and to a considerable extent in Canada, especially among the descend ants of the Iroquois. The almost invincible attachment to their ancient customs corrected, in a singular degree, the dangers to civil and social order to which so great an aversion to restraint would expose any other community. The customs of their forefathers held the place of law to them, and no people, perhaps, were ever so little governed and so free from internal disorder. Respect for eminent ability, whether in speech or in act, among the multitude, was responded to by the chiefs in an equal respect for the personal liberty of all. Silver-tongued persuasion, glowing oratory, and emulous deeds were the immediate instruments of government. These were extremely effective, as may be seen in the history of King Philip, of New Eng land, Pontiac, of Michigan, and Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, who labored to construct confederacies among the scattered Indian tribes for the purpose of repelling the European invaders of their hunting grounds. They would, apparently, have succeeded but for the want of skill, war material, and discipline ainong their allies. These were capital defects, inherent in the Indian constitution and mode of life ; but, in spite of them, the influence of these chief's exposed the set tlers to great danger of annihilation. Only superior arms, concert and skill saved the infant settlements from swift ruin. In spite of the loose character of their government and the difficulty of maintaining concert of action and sustained 160 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. concentration of energy, confederacies of many tribes were sometimes effected which produced important results. The best known, and perhaps the most effective of all, was that of the Iroquois, or the Five Nations, of Central and Western New York, who, for unknown generations, had ravaged and more or less completely conquered nearly a third part of the Great Valley. Their union was constructed with much art, recognizing and turning to good account the special features of the Indian character, raising the Indian passion for war to sustained enthusiasm and evoking indomitable fierceness. They were as wise and politic in counsel as they were bril liant and vigorous in action, as may be seen in the history of their long contest with the French, and their success in balancing the French and English against each other for more than a hundred years, while maintaining their own independence and drawing much profit from their relations to each of the rivals. They were a significant example of what the Indian is sometimes capable, notwithstanding the unfavor able features of his character. Their victorious war parties roamed the forests from the borders of Hudson's Bay to the Carolinas, and held in terror all the other tribes from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi. Had this confederacy been capable of a true union, of high military discipline, and a progressive skill in organization sufficient to have pre served, consolidated and firmly ruled their conquests, they might have repeated in America the history of the Romans in Europe, and have built up a vast and vigorous empire that ' would, perhaps, have deferred European occupation of North America for centuries. But the Five Nations shared the defects of the other Indian tribes, and we must admire the wisdom and skill that devel oped so much strength out of materials which no art could really consolidate. Each tribe or nation of this confederacy was essentially independent and often made war and concluded THE INDIAN CONFEDEEACT OF NEW TOEK. 161 peace without reference to the rest. Their grand enterprises were planned in a common council whose authority rested on the general consent and whose determinations any tribe or individual might freely decline, to support. The Iroquois was still an Indian and maintained his freedom of separate action with invincible obstinacy. Union of effort depended on a singular community of habit, inclination and passion, and perhaps, also, in this case, in a hereditary talent for diplomacy. Powerful and permanent confederacies were rare in Indian history, because these common sentiments were so readily turned against each other among the distinct tribes. The violence or caprice of an individual, or a small band, might involve the whole tribe in a bloody feud with any of its neighbors ; and to maintain harmony between any consider able number of tribes for any great length of time was a matter of extreme difficulty. That it was sometimes done demonstrates the great ascendancy which eminent diplomatic abilities might obtain over public opinion and how powerful an instrument of government a traditional policy could be come among these sticklers for personal freedom. Tliere is a tradition among the Iroquois that, in ancient times, a strong confederacy, under eminent leaders, com menced a warfare with a numerous and powerful people in the West, whose mighty chief dwelt in a house of gold ; that they were often repulsed, and that the contest continued a hundred years, when the confederacy triumphed and the con quered people fled down the Yalley. Indian historical tra ditions are not usually thought reliable ; but so great an event as the conquest of the Mound Builders, whose military fortifications indicate a resistance so stout and long contin ued, may well have made a deep impression and have been long dimly remembered. The Algonquin tribes, which were numerous and widespread both in the northern Valley and along the Atlantic coast, have also preserved a tradition 11 162 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. among the Lenni-Lenapes— who are believed to have been the original stock of that race — of a somewhat similar general purport. They represent their ancestors as coming from the West and finding a great people in the Valley of the Mississippi, of whom they requested permission to pass through their territory. This being refused, they commenced a contest, lasting for thirteen years, which. ended in the expulsion of the ancient inhabitants of the Valley. It is possible that both these traditions had a foundation of truth, and relate to the same event ; that a confederacy was formed by the wild tribes of the northeast to expel the peaceful Mound Builders from the Valley which they coveted for a hunting ground ; that while the combined tribes of this section were engaged in the contest the Algonquins, and perhaps other races, approached from the west and united with them and thus brought on the great catastrophe which expelled a large population and an opening civilization from their long- established seat. It must have been a powerful combination of savage foes that so completely rooted out an organized and numerous people from their ancient homes. It has been con jectured by an eminent scholar, who made the Indian char acter, language and traditions a life-long study under pecu liarly favorable conditions, that the Alleghans, who left their name to an eastern branch of the Ohio and to the mountains along the eastern border of the Valley, were the Mound Builders ; but he assigns to them a more recent date than later researches have appeared to justify for the Mound Builders. The era of this expulsion must have been the hteroic age of the Indian. Apparently, the tribes of the northeast, decimated in num bers by a contest so long and wasting, retired to recruit their exhausted bands in their previously established homes, and the Algonquins, much more numerous, and, if the tradition may be trusted, less diminished in numbers from a shorter THE ORIGINAL HOME OF THE TRIBES. 163 connection with the confiict, occupied the Upper Valley and spread themselves far to the north and east above the great Lakes and along the Atlantic, inclosing the diminished Huron-Iroquois tribes — reduced by so long and so great a war to a remnant — on all sides. If these traditions contain a germ of truth, the burden of the contest occurred in the northern basin of the Valley, the conquered remnant escaping south, but, unwilling to trust themselves so near a warlike and pitiless foe, ther© organized an emigration in a body to their ancient homes in the south west. Apparently, the Mobilian tribes, who were afterwards found in the Gulf States and along the Lower Mississippi, wandered from the Rocky Mountain region bordering North ern Mexico after the departure of the Mound Builders. This is indicated by some of their traditions, which describe a long series of travels from west to east, in which they were harassed by branches of the fierce Dacotahs or Sioux for many years. The high plateau north of Mexico, and the upper Rocky Mountain regions, seem to have been as prolific in hardy and savage tribes as Northern Europe during the later Roman period. Mexican traditions almost uniformly point to the north as the original home of her wild tribes, and those of the eastern and central part of the United States indicate as clearly a flow of immigration from the west. The Natchez were the only people of the lower Valley who showed any signs of connection with the more civilized regions of the southwest. It is said that in their form of govern ment, their religious system and their language, they differed radically from all the surrounding tribes, and that, in many respects, they bore the appearance of being a degenerate offshoot of the ancient Mexicans. Their traditions are also stated, by some authorities, to have distinctly affirmed their emigration from Mexico. They were so early extinguished, as a tribe, that they have not been as fully studied as the other races. 164 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. The structure and affinities of language are usually the most certain monuments of the pre-historic experiences of a people, and commonly furnish numerous suggestions and details of great value. By this means the ancient derivation, the wanderings, the relationships, and the gradual progress of a race in civilization, far back in the pre-historic ages, may sometimes be made out. The languages of American Indians, however, have quite baffled the researches of the student of the past, and wholly refused, as yet, to give up the secret of their origin. They contain few or no traces of an ancient civilization, or of a gradual formation by the mingling of two or more languages of distinct origin, as do so many of those of the Old World. Apparently, they had passed through the hands of no more civilized generations and ages than those of the people who employed them in modern times. Simplicity and want of culture evidently characterized the people who originated them, from the earliest times. No remodeling has produced irregularities of form, or omissions and condensa tions to render the expression more brief and less cumbersome. Their testimony seems to prove that they sprang directly from the powers and needs of primitive men who ever after main tained them in their original completeness and simplicity, adding no discordant elements and pruning off no unneces sary and cumbersome exhuberance. Indian language, there fore, in the judgment of the best recent authorities, unites with Indian manners, customs and monuments, in suggesting that if they were not originated on this continent they sepa rated from the parent stock while in its infantile and unde veloped state, and that the Wild Hunter races are not a degenerate offshoot of a more civilized people. The Indian tribes of the Valley, east of the Mississippi, were classed, by their affinities of language, as Mobilians — including the Creeks or Muscogees, Choctaws and Chickasaws — the Uchees and Natchez ; the Cherokees ; and the Algon quins, who occupied most of the upper Valley. Branches of THE LOCATION OF TRIBES IN THE VALLET. 165 Iroquois tribes occupied the headwaters of the Ohio and the southern shore of Lake Erie, nearly to the western boundary of the State of Ohio. The Missouri and its tributaries, from far, up in British America to Texas, was occupied by the Dacotahs, whose lands extended east to, and sometimes beyond, the upper Mississippi. One tribe of this stock was settled on Lake Michigan. Texas is said to have been occupied along the coast by offshoots of the Shoshone race, whose prin cipal tribes dwelt in and about the great Utah Basin. North and northwest Texas belonged to the Comanches. The great Valley and its borders could not fail to be a pleasant residence for these Children of Nature. Its forests, prairies and streams supplied all their wants, and its mild skies saved them from the suffering experienced by dwellers in a more rigorous climate. These various distinct nationalities or classes of tribes of the Valley, so distributed, must have made their appearance there very long before they were visited by Europeans. The divergence of language ainong the widespread branches of one stock required the lapse of many centuries of local sepa ration. Few legends were current in regard to their original settlement in the Valley, and we can not place unreserved confldence in those few. There were few popular and general traditions of their original migration from other regions. They had buried unnumbered generations of their fathers here, and the memory of their origin had retreated, at least for the multitudes, into the thick darkness of the distant past. Changes in habits and manners had been few and unimport ant. The tribes of the Valley generally cultivated corn and some other vegetables, without, in any instance, renouncing their habits as hunters, or making any important advance toward civilization. The tendency to an almost exclusively physical life, which is indicated by the distribution of the brain in the whole race, appeared in the history of all the tribes — under the warmer sun, the briefer and milder winter 166 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. and prolific soil of the South, as well as in the more rigorous climate and scantier vegetation of the North.- The Southern tribes, indeed, did not need to wander so far, and had, or might have had, more permanent homes, with their greater abundance of resources in a smaller space, but, at least when the epoch of English settlement arrived, they were not very appreciably different from the rest. They were incapable, it appears, of improving their fairer opportunity of making a real progress. Such as they must have been when their fore fathers conquered the Mound Builders, they were, substan tially, when the Star of Civilization rose out of the Atlantic to introduce the dawn of a new era. CHAPTER II. DISCX3VEKT AND EXPLORATION BT THE SPANIARDS. Columbus lifted the veil that concealed the New World from the Old in the last part of the fifteenth century ; but it was nearly three centuries later that the people for whom the Valley had been reserved appeared to take permanent posses sion. The Spanish discoverers were fresh from the conquest of the Moors, and overflowing with the spirit of romantic enterprise and religious zeal which that crusade had awakened. The great discoverer had been in his grave but a few years, his followers were scarcely yet firmly settled in possession of the beautiful and productive tropical islands lying between North and South America, and they were still ignorant of the gold and silver of Mexico and Peru that were soon to draw them like vultures to their prey, when the vicinity of Florida at- triacted them to examination, without, however, offering any of the substantial rewards to these high-born freebooters which they especially sought. Yet they gathered some marvelous tales from the simple natives and a hint of the great interior Valley which would probably have led to speedy exploration, and possibly to set tlement, had not the booty to be gained in more southern regions soon drawn their attention away. Still, several abor tive expeditions in various parts of Florida were undertaken, and the wealth of the unfortunate Mexicans and Peruvians only deferred more vigorous explorations. The sixteenth century was distinguished in the annals of the Valley as the period of Spanish exploration, as the seventeenth was for French discovery and settlement, and the eighteenth for the 167 168 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. appearance of the Anglo-American who was destined to inherit all its beauty and wealth. During these three centuries Europe was passing rapidly through the transformations by which the germs of the middle ages ripened into modern civilization and culture. The Spanish, French and English displayed in the Valley the characteristic features of three epochs of development — mental, moral and economic — which marked the transition of Europe from a rude and confused state to the clear concep tions and harmonious growth of the present century. The Spanish period was imbued with the spirit of the Crusades which had animated Europe, more or less, for four hundred years. The Spaniards may be called the Last of the Crusaders — who slew infidels for the love of God — but it was the crusading spirit degenerated and overmastered by love of gain in the soldier, whose violence was winked at by the min isters of religion, partly because they did not fully see the wrong of it, and partly because it was uncontrollable. The Spaniards had just completed the Moorish wars, which were partly patriotic and partly religious, and from which they had secured great gain by the expulsion of the Mohammedans and the possession of their estates. It was an attractive form of piety to rude warriors. The ebbing waves of the Moorish war swept away the elegant civilization which the followers of the Prophet had maintained in the Spanish peninsula fbr eight hundred years, and left the Christian cavaliers in pos session of their cities and lands, and full of enthusiastic eagerness to enter on new conquests for religion on similar terms. A fierce aud sanguinary religious zeal, in their eyes, atoned for the injustice of taking possession of the property of others and slaying them, or reducing them to the hardest servitude, unless they became converts to the faith. This brutal and hideous barbarism in a civilized Christian people is impossible in our humanitarian age, which shows how much the ideas of men have been reformed in three cen- THE CEUELTT OF THE SPANISH IN AMERICA. 169 turies. It was not civilization or Christianity ; they are the chief humanizing and benevolent infiuences to which progress is due. It was animal force trained by social progress to most destructive energy before the principles of truth and justice had become clear enough in the mind to control it. The French Jesuits of the next century met and subdued the Indian by mental, rather than physical, force ; a sense of justice usually characterized the Anglo-Americans of the eighteenth century and founded the American Republic ; and our own century is fast making physical force and the pas sions of men the servant of humanity. But the Spaniards, in the Moorish war, in the outlawry of the Jews, in the tor- turings and burnings of the Inquisition, in the use of fire and sword to destroy heresy in the Netherlands, and the French in the massacre of St. Bartholomew and the persecu tion of the Huguenots, believed themselves praiseworthy as destroyers of the enemies of God and true religion. This bloody faith was in full vigor in Southern Europe when the New World was discovered, and the resistless force of gunpowder and military discipline enabled a handful of these stern and mistaken warriors — enthusiastic to extend the area of Christianity and win converts at the sword's point — to overthrow armies and empires in America. In vain did the devoted but naked valor of thousands strive to destroy by numbers, and their primitive weapons, the few hundreds of the cruel invaders. Gunpowder, discipline and steel were irresistible. To the inexperienced natives the invaders — who profaned every object of their veneration and robbed them of their treasures and their liberty with every circumstance of cruel violence when they spared their lives — must have seemed incarnate fiends. The Spanish conquests and explorations in America in the sixteenth century are a painful comment on the religious zeal which left ambition and greed free for such horrible excesses. Spanish exploration in the direction of the Mississippi 170 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Valley was commenced by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1512. He had been one of the companions of Columbus. Approaching the coast of the continent on Easter Sunday, called by the Spaniards Pascua Florida, he named it Florida for that reason and because the shore was then brilliant with fiowers. It was the peninsula which still bears that name. He heard a marvelous tale of a fountain whose waters would restore to the aged the energies and attractions of youth, and, fired by curiosity and ambition, returned to Spain to obtain from the king authority to settle and rule the lands he had discovered. This obtained, after a long delay, he again approached Florida in 1521, in two vessels, with the men and means to found a colony. He was received with hostility by the natives, was himself mortally wounded in a confiict with them ; many of his people were killed, and the enterprise was abandoned. In the previous year, De Ayllon, another Spanish captain, landed on the coast of South Carolina. He was received by the natives with unsuspecting friendliness and hospitality, which he rewarded by decoying many of them on board his vessel and at once setting sail for St. Domingo, where he sold them as slaves for the plantations and mines. He had the hardihood to return to the same place again but was driven off by the indignant Indians. Gold, in small quantity, had been found among the natives in these expeditions and another Mexico was believed to lie in the interior. While Cortez was pursuing his conquest of Mexico, Pamphilo de Narvaez had attempted to rival and arrest him. He led several hundred men into Mexico to sup plant Cortez, but was overcome by the skill and rapidity of that able captain. His little army joined Cortez who dis missed him without harm other than what he received in battle. Some years later — in April, 1528 — De Narvaez succeeded in collecting a force of three hundred men and eighty horses, with which he landed on the west coast of Florida. He eagerly NARVAEZ AND DE SOTO IN THE VALLET. 171 inquired of the natives for the " Land of Gold." The simple hunters did not know of such a country, but, alarmed by the presence of a force so formidable, encouraged him to look for it further on. There being little worth plunder ing among these roving tribes, he pushed his way through the morasses and swamps of this low, sickly region, trying to find a clue to the object of his hopes for six months, when, disappointed in his ambition, and perishing with toil and fam ine, he attempted to reach Mexico by sea. He was shipwrecked on the coast, and but four or five of his followers, after long wanderings, reached their countrymen. So many disasters and the great attractions of Mexico, Central America and Peru, turned attention from the Valley for nearly ten years ; but it was still believed that there was, somewhere in the Valley region, treasure worth plundering and a people sufficiently civilized to be worthy of the steel of the cavalier and the zeal of the priest. Ferdinand de Soto had gained fame and immense "wealth with Pizarro, in Peru, and, being made Governor of Cuba, he determined to increase both by the discovery and conquest of this supposed wealthy nation in the Valley. Raising his standard for this purpose in Spain, he collected nearly a thousand followers, many of them being nobles and grandees. Elaborate preparations were made. Two hundred and thirteen horses, mounted by chosen cavaliers, stores of all kinds, ainong which were hogs, cattle and mules, were provided. It was a much larger and better appointed expedition than those with which Cortez and Pizarro had conquered the warlike Aztecs, and the well organ ized kingdom of the Incas. De Soto landed in Tampa Bay, on the west coast of Florida. This was in June, 1539. A company of priests, who were to labor for the conversion and instruction of the natives, were added to the expedition and gave it the air and meaning of a crusade." A pack of blood hounds, for tracking fugitive natives, added to the cruel significance of the array. This imposing little army, of 172 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEV. which great things were expected — including a fresh conquest to the church and the state, much renown and great wealth — was landed, in high hope, from the five vessels which brought it and its bountiful stores. The vessels then went back to Cuba, with orders to return to Pensacola Bay with fresh supplies in October of thfe following year. He marched north, constantly attacked by the Indians, multitudes of whom were slain, and others captured to carry the baggage and per form the menial offices of the camp. De Soto spent the win ter near Tallahassee. A Spaniard, who had been a captive among the Indians since the expedition of Narvaez and learned their language, served as interpreter. Constant inquiries for the Land of Gold were usually answered by directions to go toward the northwest. One poor Indian, more frank than the rest, declared that he knew no such country, and was burned alive, as intending to deceive. Thus, strewing his route with cruelty and death, this crusad ing captain pursued his way, when spring opened, toward northern Georgia. Most of the tribes, awed by his formid able force, received him with apparent friendliness, and many with the truest courtesy and kindness. All submitted, with out resistance, to his demands for food and for slaves of both sexes to serve his army and carry its baggage. Submission did not always save them from shameful treatment. Passing through middle Georgia he sent an exploring party into the more mountainous north, but, as they found no cities or gold, he marched southwest across Alabama. About a hundred miles from the Gulf coast was the Indian town of Maubila, surrounded with a palisade fortification. Its chief received the strangers with the usual courtesies, but he was more resolute, warlike, and powerful than the rest, and he secretly proposed to destroy his unwelcome guests. A part of De Soto's army, with the baggage, M-as in advance of the rest, and no sooner had the stores been lodged within the town than the Indians closed the gates and began the attack DE SOTO's CRUSADE MISCARRIES. 173 on the advance guard. In the surprise and desperate .fight that ensued 2,500 of the natives are said to have been killed. The Europeans conquered after a struggle of nine hours, during which the town was fired, the baggage con sumed, and many men and horses killed. The conquerors were in bad plight. The aim of the promising expedition had failed, the provisions and baggage were mostly lost, and only hostility could be expected from the Indians in the future. It was now October, 1540. De Soto had been about a year and four months in the country, and his vessels, with supplies, lay in Pensacola Bay, not far from a hundred miles distant. But De Soto was worthy of being called the peer of Cortez and Pizarro. If unflinching determination and cruel bravery could have given him success, he must have gained it. His followers were discouraged, and wished to abandon a hopeless quest. To go to his vessels was to renounce the chance of fame and riches; he determined to turn his back on supplies and home, and make a fresh attempt. His stern decision sub dued discontent and awakened confldence; his followers sub mitted to his will and followed him to the northwest. He spent the winter in Mississippi, where a night attack of the Indians surprised his troops in their beds, their light cabins were set on fire at the first onset, and many escaped only with their lives. Their means of protection and defense were now greatly reduced, but, repairing the damage, as far as possible, they wore away the winter in frequent contests with the natives, whom they despoiled of food to sustain themselves. In the spring De Soto resumed his route, crossed the Mississippi in •the neighborhood of Memphis, his force still sufficiently for midable for self-protection. They were the first Europeans who beheld the Great River. De Soto wandered over the wes tern Valley, in search of a people worthy to be conquered, for a year, in vain. He pushed far back in Arkansas and to 174 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. the borders of Missouri, and returned, broken in health and sick at heart at the failure of all his hopes, to die on the banks of the Mississippi, May 21, 1542. His diminished and dis heartened followers now thought of nothing but how to escape with life from the fatal Valley. They first sought to reach Mexico by land, but found the difficulties so great that they soon returned to the river, built boats, in which they descended to the Gulf, and coasted along Texas to the settlements of their countrymen. Of the army, nearly a thousand strong, which had landed in Florida, three hundred and eleven escaped the perils of the wilderness, the vengeance of the Indians, whose retaliation they had provoked, and the dangers of the Gulf About twenty years later St. Augustine was founded, and in the course of time settlements were commenced in Texas; but these were more for purposes of barter with the natives and to shut out other European nations, by taking nominal pos session, than from a real design of actual occupation and use. The disastrous termination of the two expeditions — of Narvaez and De Soto — convinced the Spaniards that there was no civil ization worthy to be overthrown, and no considerable amount of gold within reach in the Valley. The real wealth of the Valley had no attractions to them. It did not encourage those who sought unlawful gains, and its savage tribes refused to become slaves. Thus, the old immoralities and evils of European life took no root here. The resources of this region could be really developed only by an industrious and thrifty people, at first almost entirely agricultural. Any other must have but a slight and temporary hold upon it. When the right people came it gave them more than the wealth of the Indies. CHAPTER III. THE FRENCH IN NOETH AMERICA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURT. While the Spanish were following up their conquests and discoveries of wealth, from Mexico to Chili, by a severity of rule that soon destroyed the blooming civilizations they had found, Europe was passing through an important change. The germs of a new learning and wisdom had matured very significant fruit, and the seventeenth century gave evident signs of the near approach of a new and more perfect devel opment of civilization. The institutions and habits inherited from the past still embarrassed some forins of this growth in the Old World, and many sought both religious and civil liberty on the New Continent. The English colonies along the Atlantic coast laid the foundation of new institutions early in the seventeenth century, which were to be fully organized late in the eighteenth, one hundred and fifty years after. Changes among the Anglo-Saxons were the measured and oonsistent result of tendencies firmly established in their char acter, and developed from the primitive institutions of the race. They reached a late but most noble maturity. The French, on the contrary, were quick to respond to a new movement or tendency from without, and, for the time, became its most complete embodiment. Rapid in thought and enthusiastic in following out a theory to the farthest results permitted by circumstances, the pulse of change was always first felt by them, and its direction indicated more clearly than by any other European nation. Anglo-Saxons were averse to change until all was ripe for it; the French at once discarded as much of the old as possible, and quickly adjusted themselves to the new — putting theory into practice with rapid completeness. Thfey were the first in the eighth century 175 176 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. to catch the spirit of a new modern civilization, and hastened to organize it in the great empire of Charlemagne. When the concentration of power in a single administration was interrupted by the growth of Feudalism, they developed that system in greater completeness than in any other country in Europe; when the strengthening of the royal power was required to overcome the abuses of that system, the French king became soonest an absolute ruler; and when theories of republican liberty were promulgated in the latter part of the eighteenth century, the eagerness of the French people to embody them overthrew the throne, the nobility and the priesthood by one vast explosion. This French habit of catching the first breath of social and political or other change, reducing it to a consistent sys tem, and at once seeking the end with too little regard to the means, was very characteristically shown in America ia the seventeenth century by many of the most prominent represent atives of that nation who visited the New World. The plans of Champlain, and of the French Jesuits who accompanied him, at once took in all of the continent with which they were acquainted, and which they thought it desirable to control. Instead of building up quietly and solidly on the coast, as did the English, their first care was to penetrate to the inte rior and form relations with the Indian tribes nearly a thou sand miles from the sea. Important missions, that had a political as well as a religious aim, were immediately com menced on Lake Huron, above the western center , of the Val ley, to which the English did not attempt to penetrate for more than a hundred years. The Age of Physical Force had culminated in Europe, and the Age of Mental Force began to dawn. As usual, the French at once recognized the new tone, and became its first eminent representatives. The system of the Jesuits was one remarkable form under which mental and moral force was first substituted for physical coercion. The nation which, in THE SPIRIT OF FRENCH EXPLORATION. 177 the last half of the sixteenth century, produced the horrors of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, in the first half of the sev enteenth, adopted a mild and humane Indian policy that made almost every red man their friend, and furnished a long list of Jesuit missionaries, animated with the lofty spirit of martyrs. They shrunk from no dangers or sufferings, and calmly sub mitted to the crudest tortures and death, to which, indeed, they looked forward when going hundreds of miles from all civilized companionship, among the most ruthless of mankind. This spirit in the French commanders and priests was pre cisely the opposite of that which had moved the same classes of Spaniards in the previous century, and, usually, in the long run, secured the absolute trust and devotion of the Indian tribes. It was in this spirit that the French under took the exploration of the Mississippi Valley, about the year 1673. The Jesuit missionaries had, some time before, established missions near the outlet of Lake Superior and on Green Bay. Marquette, a French priest, accompanied by Joliet, a trader, and five other Frenchmen, aided by the Indians of Green Bay, carried two frail Indian canoes across the portage separating the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, and floated down the latter stream to the Mississippi, undeterred by the earnest remonstrances of the Indians, who represented that they were rushing into unknown but terrible dangers. They were the first white men to furrow the upper waters of the Great River. Amazed, delighted yet awed by the vast and magnificent solitude, they descended the river to the Arkansas, not far from where the unfortunate, but ruthless, De Soto had met his fate and been buried in its waters. They discovered no traces of men on the way until they reached the lower bound ary of Iowa. Here a pathway showed signs of human pres ence. They came as friends to the Indians of the Valley; for it was the principle of the French in America through this century to make the red men their allies and aids. They 13 178 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. relied on the influence of mental superiority to control them. Marquette and his companions did not, therefore, hesitate to follow up these traces. Fourteen miles, it is related, from the Mississippi they found a band of the tribe of the Illinois. The fame and good name of the French had preceded them in the northern Valley, and they were received with friendly and solemn enthusiasm. These Indians freely gave all the information and aid they could to the white strangers. Cheered and comforted by the sympathy of the simple natives, and furnished by them with the " Pipe of Peace," to secure them a friendly reception from the fierce tribes below, they proceeded on their way; but the route was too long and the unknown dangers were judged too great to attempt' to reach the mouth of the river. From the Arkan sas they retraced their weary way to the mouth of the Illinois, which they ascended to Chicago, holding friendly intercourse with such of the prairie tribes as they met. Launching their barks oh Lake Michigan they coasted back to Green Bay. Such was the adventurous and trustful daring of the French Jesuits. The Great River and the beautiful Valley were now defi nitely comprehended, and the genius of the French for bold and far-reaching plans at once sprung into play. In Canada the French were confined to the St. Lawrence and its tributa ries by the English settlements of New England and New York. More than one French governor cherished the plan of attempting to gain possession of the valley of the Hudson for the sake of a better seaport on the Atlantic than was fur nished by the St. Lawrence, which was closed by the ice several months in the year. These plans it was impossible to execute from the hostility of the Iroquois tribes and the superior development of the English colonies. They now formed the great plan of connecting the settlements on the St. Lawrence with the Great Valley, and so surrounding the English colonies from the rear. LA SALLE AND HIS PLANS FOE THE VALLET. 179 This idea first became a clear and fixed- purpose with Robert Cavalier de La Salle. He possessed the true French genius for bold generalizations with a resoluteness and active energy that would be daunted by no misfortunes or difficul ties. He was fired with a lofty enthusiasm by the report of Marquette and Joliet, immediately conceived a grand enter prise, and spent the remainder of his life in a vain struggle with men, nature and accident, to realize it. In his clear practical sense, his manly resolution and inflexible obstinacy, he was perhaps more English than French. Too unbending to conciliate, he found many and powerful enemies. But fbr them he would probably have succeeded in firmly planting the wrong people on the Great River and its branches, and in greatly changing the destiny of the Valley, as well as in deferring considerably the rapidity of European as well as American development. That he and his successors failed was well for the liberties and progress of the world ; for the com plete success of his comprehensive plans would have made the fairest part of North America, with its incalculable wealth, French instead of Anglo-Saxon ; and this New France, or Louisiana — colonized a hundred years too soon — would have included too many of the vices of the Europe of the Middle Ages. A watchful intelligence, with a steady purpose, still shielded the Valley from premature settlement. We can not fail to sympathize with the disasters and disap pointments of La Salle and to feel indignant with the bitter enemies who neutralized so much fortitude, heroic energy and patriotic ambition, although his success would have been a great misfortune for America. Sustained by the approval of the Governor of Canada and the French ministry, La Salle, about 1678, collected his resources, mortgaged his estates and borrowed of his friends, to equip an expedition for thoroughly exploring the Great River. The length of the route, the malice of his enemies, and the unfriendliness of circumstances, interfered with his 180 THE MISSISSIPPI VAXLET. designs again and again ; but difficulty only serveO to strengthen his resolution. He built a vessel of sixty Wns above the cataract of Niagara and freighted it with furs on the borders of Lake Michigan. The sale of the furs was to fur nish him fresh supplies for his expedition. The vessel and furs were lost, and various other disasters occurred to delay his voyage down the Mississippi to its mouth until 1682. Arrived then at the mouth of the river he solemnly took possession of the country in the name of the French king, Louis XIV. He had already sent Hennepin, a Franciscan priest, to ex plore the upper river. Hennepin ascended as far as the Falls of St. Anthony. La Salle established a fort and trading-house on the Illinois River, near Peoria. He had set his resolute will on the establishment of a colony at the mouth of the river ; and he now retraced his steps, as fast as the difficulties ofthe ascent against the current and his own illness permitted, and regained Mackinaw. The security of his little colony in Illinois and the protection of his Indian allies from the Iroquois, whose war parties roamed over the broad prairies almost to the Mississippi, detained him another year in the Valley, when he returned to France. He had passed over more than 4,000 miles and back, through the territory of multitudes of Indian tribes, and safely returned, mostly in frail canoes, with but twenty-two companions, and depending, in large part, on the hospitality of the Indians for supplies of food. Evidently, the humane and friendly spirit of the French brought its reward. Received with honor at the French court, in spite of the active efforts of formidable enemies, La Salle soon organized an expe dition for founding a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. He reached the neighborhood ofthe river with his vessels, con taining 280 persons, soldiers or settlers, by the first of the year 1685 ; but the conimander of the vessels was in the inter est of his enemies, they missed the mouth of the river by IBERVILLE FOLLOWS THE PLANS OF LA SALLE. 181 sailing too far west, the commander would not return to search for it, and landed La Salle and his colony on the unknown shore of Texas. And now misfortune followed misfortune. The Indians proved unfriendly, his store ship was wrecked and a large part of his supplies lost, and other stores were carried off by the traitorous commander who sailed for France, leaving La Salle and his colony in their great distress. Seeing no alternative, after two years spent in seeking the River and struggling against disaster, he started for Canada to procure aid. Calamity roused the evil passions of some of his companions, and, in the wilds of Texas, La Salle was murdered by one of his own people, March 17, 1687. His colonists were mostly massacred by the Indians, and thus, of the heroic efforts of so many years, little remained but a knowledge of the Valley and of its beauty. In 1699, D'Iberville, a French Canadian naval hero, suc ceeded in accomplishing what La Salle, by no fault of his own, had failed of doing. He entered the mouth of the river, March 2, and established near it a permanent colony of hardy Canadians. For nearly a century a large part of the Valley, belonged nominally, to the French. D'Iberville built his fort in the last year of the seventeenth century at Biloxi, some distance east of the mouth of the Mississippi. In the next year a fort was erected on the river above its mouth, and Le Sueur ascended to the mouth of the St. Peters, in Minnesota, in search of mines. In 1701 Mobile was founded by D'Iberville. French priests, traders and " coureurs des bois " — wood runners, or hunters — became familiar with a large part of the Valley east of the Missis sippi. Could La Salle have lived and received the full co operation of the government and jDCople that his broad plans merited, French power might have been firmly settled in the Valley. The settlement of Canada was due to the energy and capacity of" Champlain. An able leader, spared to guide and plan for twenty or thirty vears, could have done still more for Louisiana. 182 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. But the French Government was too absorbed in European politics, court intrigues, financial difficulties, and foreign wars, to pay much attention to its American possessions till it was too late ; monopolies and official corruption, both at home and in the colonies, prevented healthy growth, and emigration was not made attractive. Besides, the French people loved " La Belle France " too much to emigrate in large numbers. Inspired, for the moment, by brilliant theories and prospects, the French have often undertaken more than they could reasonably hope to accomplish. With only spasmodic and inadequate care from home, arbitrarily governed in the colony, a few thousand colonists were lost in the wilderness and ambition and indus try shrunk to narrow limits. Anglo-Saxon energy and self-dependence would probably have laid a broad foundation for future growth. The pliant yielding to circumstances and the courteous tact that recom mended the French to the Indians sprung from traits of charac ter that unfitted them for overcominsr the erreat difficulties of such a situation. There were too few Champlains and La Salles, the Jesuits became ambitious of wealth and power, lost their great religious zeal for the conversion of the Indians in the Valley — whom they, indeed, found most unpromising material for organizing into strong communities — and became unpop ular both in Europe and America. The embarrassments to individual enterprise in the French colonies left a blight upon them which they bore with a tranquility and patience not favorable to progress. All these and some other causes prevented the French occu pation of the Valley from becoming much more than nomi nal, and still left it free for the energetic agriculturists who were, by and by, to find their way to it over the AUeghanies. So slowly did the interior settlements increase that a census, taken in 1799, showed " Upper Louisiana" to contain less than 5,000 white inhabitants. That same hundred years had seen the English on the Atlantic grow up from a few scattered settlements into a great nation. CHAPTER IV. ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS IN THE VALLET IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURT. While Spanish visitors to the Valley in the sixteenth cen tury were in search of treasures which would enrich the adven turer, and of kingdoms worthy to be conquered and Christian ized by the sword, and French enterprises looked to permanent occupation through alliance with, and conversion of, the Indians by persuasion, the English intruder paid no more attention to the natives than was unavoidable, and rather sought a home than the realization of far-reaching plans. He was not an adventurer but an emigrant ; he was founding a commonwealth in diligent, serious earnest. This was a very modern feature and indicated a rapid evolution of the principles of true civilization. The revolt against the foolish and repressive policy of Euro pean governments was based in England on a widespread intelligence and the resolute character of the individual Englishman. In France it was a fiowing and ebbing wave that now yielded passively to obstacles and again gathered all its strength to rush against and overthrow them. During the first three quarters of the eighteenth century the French people were gathering their energies for one of these fearful upheavals in the last quarter ; and the English in America were growing up into strength to found liberal institutions modeled on those of the mother country. When the time came they stood up to assert and defend their liberties with quiet and resolute dignity — without wrath but also without fear. Such was the progress of the eighteenth century. It laid the foundations for an admirable Republic in America and 183 184 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. for a transformation of Europe no less remarkable in the nineteenth century. We may consider the Anglo-American as the leading representative of civilization. The isolation in a common comparative poverty, community of dangers, struggles against difficulties, and the disappearance of the more glaring social distinctions from ordinary life, tended to consolidate the colonies, to increase their sense of justice, to make them considerate and impartial in sympathy. If the Anglo-American was far from being complete in these virtues, they were yet comparatively strong in him. They did not give him the suave courtesy and politeness of the French, but his good will was hearty and real. Yet, notwithstanding his desire to deal fairly with the Indians, according to his own rather stiff notions of fairness, he rarely lived on really pleasant terms with them long at a time, at least on any other base than that of fear. He made no attempt to reduce them to servitude like the Spanish, he did not often try to make tools of them like the French, and generally was willing to give them what he considered an equivalent for the lands he occupied, though often driving a very hard bargain with the thoughtless and unbusiness-like natives, who, when they realized all the results, were apt to repudiate it as great injustice. With such a revolt of the Indian he had little sympathy, holding that a bargain once made was irrevocable, and punish ing Indian disregard of such arrangements with stern severity. He could not enter into the feelings of the Indian like the Frenchman, and humor his weaknesses or his ignorance, and the Indian quite failed to appreciate civilized virtues. His quiet, unceasing industry and the steady, resistless spread of his settlements, were full of menace and terror to the Indian. The wild hunter, to whom he had no essential ill will, but to whom a sudden change of habits was impossible, was obliged to retire before him. The favorite fields and forests, where his fathers had roved without restraint, were soon con- CAUSES OF INDIAN HOSTILITT TO AMERICANS. 185 verted into farms and dotted with villages and towns. The Indian's eye was offended by the sight of a smiling plenty so agreeable to the civilized man, and his heart swelled with fear and rage when he saw the pioneers of this formidable emigra tion prospecting over his cherished hunting grounds in the Valley. The English were neither roving in search of fabulous wealth nor seeking for allies ; they were building a future — too busy and too strong to court or fear the Indian. If he retaliated on the whites, by bloody massacres, the loss of his woods and prairies, he was punished with unrelenting severity and obliged to move farther away. The order, the freedom, the prosperity of the Anglo-American, was the doom of the wild hunter. He would none of it, he loathed and cursed it and fled before it, after having, by many a vengeful deed of blood, sought in vain to stay the tide of prosperous civilization. Thus the English exploration of the Valley was met by the most determined hostility and the progress of set tlement could be maintained only by an approach to the extermination of the Indian tribes. Even the haughty and bloody Spaniard drew out toward himself from the Indian heart a less deep and bitter resent ment than did the English explorer and settler. The Indians were warriors themselves, accustomed to cruel and barbarous deeds, and could appreciate and admire the brilliant courage and prowess of the roving Spaniards, who seldom allowed victory to escape them. They also were accustomed to follow victory by slaughter and the slavery of the captives ; and, notwithstanding the more rational and more politic French style of making converts to the faith and gaining over the Indians to their interest, instead of crushing opposition by brute force, these gallant gentlemen and devoted priests could be ruthless and cruel to their enemies in a style quite appreciable to the Indian, for the old spirit of the crusades and the inquisition had not yet wholly died out in this vigor- 186 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. OUS Catholic race. Though turned into a new channel by the exquisitely skillful and subtle policy of the Jesuits and the still more humane spirit of other Catholic priests, it still remained to persecute and proscribe the Huguenot, and to add the intensity of hate to the animosity felt toward their political foes of New England and New York. But the Englishman was a daring soldier only by necessity. He did not attract these children of nature by ruthless con quest nor by sympathetic condescension. Busy and reserved, he showed them little courtesy, which greatly wounded their pride and self-respect. He troubled himself little about them unless they intruded on him, when he was haughty and con temptuous ; or when they committed injuries, which he pun ished with a severity that seemed to him just. The more the English settlements prospered, the higher the star of civiliza tion rose, and the more industry, art, commercial and political liberty flourished, the less room was there for the wild and wasteful Indian hunter, the more helpless, dependent and degraded he became. He would not, as, indeed, he could not, accept civilization, and share in the hopes and prosperity which the New Age promised to the New World. The grow ing benevolence and pity of a people daily becoming more enlightened and just to their kind in general, could not be expressed to his comprehension, for the space required by an industrious population under the stimulus of an unexampled prosperity pushed him further and further from his ancient hunting grounds and the graves of his fathers, and his resent ful retaliations made desolating punishments unavoidable. Thus the most enlightened and humane era of exploration — so far as the real character and purposes of the explorers were concerned — became the most wasting and ruinous to the Indian tribes of the Valley. To this statement there were, after a time, and far into our own century, some exceptions, but none during early periods. English interest in the Great Valley commenced just before EAELT ENGLISH EXPLORATION IN THE VALLET. 187 the close of the seventeenth century. As D'Iberville returned from his flrst exploration of the lower course of the Missis sippi, in 1699, he found two English vessels near the mouth of the river. They had been sent by William IIL, king of England, to take possession of the Valley by fortifying the mouth of its principal stream. Finding themselves antici pated by the French, they withdrew. About 1690 the settle ments of Virginia had extended their outposts to the foot of the Blue Ridge, and begun to pass over into the Shenandoah Valley, in the southern part of which are found the head waters of various tributaries of the Ohio; and tliey soon became anxious to know what lay beyond. In 1710 Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, led a party across the watershed, and is said to have given their name to the Cumberland Moun tains. Others refer the name to Dr. Thomas Walker, an explorer of 1747 or 1748. The Cherokees had been visited by an English trader in 1690, and in 1730 Adair, of South Carolina, visited them and some other tribes. In the same year John SaJ^ling, of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, was captured by the Cherokees, and carried to their country; was captured again, while out with one of their hunting parties, by the Illinois tribe, liberated by the French, at Kaskaskia, and returned home, by way of Canada, after an absence of six years. The publications of the French explorers, the above men tioned and other occasional glimpses of English adventurers and traders, and the accounts of the Indians inflamed the desire of the Anglo-American public to penetrate to these, evidently the best, lands of the continent. But the circum stances were long unfavorable. The French home govern ment began to take an interest in the Mississippi Valley, and the Canadian authorities took more and more pains to cul tivate the friendship and alliance of the Indian tribes about the lakes and the headwaters of the Ohio. As the French soldiers, trappers and traders were agreeable companions as 188 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. well as useful allies of these tribes, and did not threaten to dispossess them of their hunting grounds, the Indians believed they could be received with safety as they were with pleasure. But English settlements, whose thrifty and rapid growth threat ened to deprive them of their lands, were dreaded by them as ominous of evil. The French took care to keep this jealousy alive, and even English traders were unwelcome to them. This, however, was partly and gradually overcome by the cheaper rate at which these traders supplied* them with fire arms and trinkets, which, being a monopoly in Canada and an unembarrassed trade among the English, could be furnished by the latter at a cheaper rate with the same profit. Gradu ally these traders worked their way across the border and among the tribes, here and there. They were the first real explorers of the Valley in the English interest, and, to some extent, raised up a counter influence against the French among the Indians, particularly in the south. The French had taken their measures in the northeast so wisely that the middle of the century appoached before trader* ventured very far west of the AUeghanies. The authorities of the central English colonies early began to take measures for acquiring Indian titles to territory in the Valley. In 1684 the Governments of New York and Virginia made a treaty with the Iroquois, at Albany, in which they procured a deed of sale of the Ohio Valley, which these war riors rather vaingloriously claimed as theirs by right of con quest. That title was sought to be strengthened by another treaty made with them, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1744. In pursuance of this idea, and in view of the conquest of all the French possessions in North America, soon to be under taken, the English home government, in 1749, authorized the formation of a company, to which it assigned a large tract of land in the Valley. The gentlemen of Virginia saw in this plan of interior settlement personal gain and a great future for their commonwealth, and eagerly hastened the prelimin- THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH WAR IN THE VALLET. 189 ary steps by holding councils with the Indians and commenc ing explorations. Christopher Gist, the agent of this "Ohio Company," Col. Geo. Croghan, Indian agent for the English Government, George Washington, then rising into notice in the public service of the Colonial Government of Virginia, and a mul titude of Indian traders studied the Upper Ohio Valley in the interest of future settlement. Virginia claimed this region by virtue" of her original charter and warned off the French ; but the Canadian authorities took immediate steps to protect their claims to it. The* agents of the British Gov ernment, of Virginia and of the Ohio Company had taken pains to attach as many of the tribes near the Ohio to their interest as possible ; but the French increased their forces, erected a line of forts from Lake Erie to Pittsburgh, captured a British trading post lately established on the Miami, and strengthened themselves in the central Valley. In the last part of the year 1753, Gov. Dinwiddie sent a re monstrance to the commander of the French forces on the Ohio by the hands of George Washington. This effort, of course, proved a failure and was merely a formal preliminary to the active contest. Both parties now struggled to make the first point by getting firm hold of the peninsula at the junction of the streams forming the Ohio — now Pittsburgh. The French succeeded and held the place with so strong a force that Washington, who returned in the spring of 1754, at the head of 400 men, was too weak to drive them out, was attacked in his intrenchments, and obliged to capitulate. This was. followed in the next year by an expedition under General Braddock, of the British army, which, for the frontier, was large and well appointed and strong enough to overwhelm the French. But Braddock, unacquainted with Indian war fare, and too obstinate to take counsel, was ambuscaded before he reached the fort and his army defeated with great slaughter — about 800 being killed and wounded. He was himself 190 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. fatally wounded and died four days afterward. This memora ble defeat occurred June 19, 1755. The French remained in undisturbed possession of the upper Valley for several years, while the two nations contended around Lakes Ontario and Champlain and in the valley of the St. Lawrence for the mastery of America. The English were at length successful and all the territory claimed by the French east of the Mississippi passed, by a general capitulation, into English hands. CHAPTER V. THE Indian's defense of his hunting grounds against the FRENCH AND ENGLISH. The relations of the French and the Indians in the seven teenth century had been extended and maintained by the missionary zeal of the Jesuits. The arrogance of the noble officer as well as the rudeness of the common soldier had been toned down to general courtesy, partly by this infiuence, partly by the native politeness and pliancy of the race, and also by the pressing need of Indian allies. The English set tlements south of them were politically their rivals and often their enemies by frequent wars between the two mother coun tries ; and a bottomless gulf of religious difference separated them in sympathy. Antagonism in almost every direction seemed to make them mortal foes even in formal peace. Canada was always weak in numbers and poor in resources compared with the vigorous and prosperous colonies from England. The Canadian rulers, therefore, with much pains and skill, cultivated the friendship of the Indians. The Iro quois alone, long resisted their arts and their arms. But circumstances were changed in the southern Valley when, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, the French took possession of the mouth of the Mississippi and built up considerable settlements as compared with those of Canada a hundred years before. Communication with France was more constant, a commercial spirit and political ambition had taken the place of missionary zeal, and the corruption and intrigue which were becoming so prevalent at the French court affected the morals of the colony. The officials ceased to feel dependent on Indian good will and sometimes treated them with contemptuous injustice. This was the more 191 192 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. impolitic that the tribes on the east bank of the river were almost as fierce and warlike as the Iroquois, and English traders from the Atlantic coast passed among them, courted their good will and sought to weaken French infiuence over them, aiding them with advice and assistance when attacked. The English settlements were distant and they had not begun to fear them, while the French were near and in danger of becoming formidable. There were French settlements among the Natchez on the bank of the river ; that tribe grew jealous and discontented, and secretly concerted a rising with other tribes to expel them. This outbreak was hastened bythe imprudent effront ery of the commander of the French post, who required the Natchez to remove their principal village because he wanted to occupy its site. The indignant tribe made all their arrange ments in the most complete privacy, suddenly fell on the French, Nov. 29, 1729, and massacred two hundred in a day. The colony was strong enough to avenge it, which was accom plished with a severity and barbarity worthy of De Soto or of the Indians themselves. Hundreds were slain and their venerated chief Sun, with 400 of his followers, captured and sold in St. Domingo as slaves. The tribe was broken no and 'to up scattered among the neighboring Indian communities. A remnant that still held together in the wdlds of Arkansas was no sooner discovered than it was attacked and massacred. This was a very difterent policy from that which had secured the good will and aid of the tribes of Canada and the West in the previous century and the French suffered much from it. The Chickasaws never contracted a solid peace with them, and their hostility rendered the passage of the river, whose eastern bank above Natchez they held, unsafe. Though awed, perhaps, by the fate of the Natchez, they were strong in numbers and resolution and obtained arms, ammu nition and other conveniences from the English traders. The settlement of Georgia, about this time, by Gen. Oglethorpe, FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS IN THE SOUTH. 193 made Savannah a more convenient depot of supplies than had before existed, and the unfortunate French policy, which alienated the tribes, rendered them more amenable to English influence. The French undertook to chastise the Chickasaws and dis perse the dangers which threatened the passage of the river from New Orleans to Illinois. After long preparation one expedition from New Orleans and another from Illinois marched against them. These expeditions failed to act in concert, the Illinois troops were disastrously routed, and the Chickasaws intrenched themselves against Bienville who led the force from below. Assisted by English traders, they resisted all Bienville's efforts and he retired discomfited, leaving the Indians triumphant and French prestige tarnished. Three years later, Bienville gathered a force of 1,200 French troops and 2,000 Indian allies and again advanced against the Chickasaws. These wily Indians now sued for peace which the French general, who made a long stop in the region of Memphis, and whose troops were much weakened by sickness in that unhealthy climate, gladly granted, and he withdrew with no effective security against further hostility. The Indians were still masters of the situation. In 1752, they formed an alliance, by treaty, with the English, who were preparing for the reduction of Canada. De Vaudreuil, then the French governor of Louisiana, undertook to chastise them by the destruction of their towns, but failed in the attempt and was obliged to retreat. The English repeated in the Gulf States the policy of the French in Canada and Illinois — sought the alliance of the Indians and treated them with consideration. As they did not yet undertake to make settlements very far from the Atlantic coast, and were known chiefly by their flattering speeches and the advantages their trade conferred on the tribes, they were as successful as had been the French in the North. French and English policies were here reversed. 13 194 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. English traders often established themselves among them, took Indian wives and adopted their manner of life. The son of a Scotch trader by an Indian wife became, in after years, an educated, able and powerful chief among the Creeks. The influence thus acquired by friendly intercourse and conformity to Indian habits was exerted against the French, though not in open warfare except in the case of the Chickasaws, and French and English agents and traders competed near the Gulf for the favor and peltry of the red man. The cheap ness of English goods, which were subject to the embarrass ment of no monopoly, and the vigor with which the English man was accustomed to perform every task he undertook, gave him the advantage over the French, who never acquired much influence in the eastern part of the lower Valley, and were not strong enough to make a diversion in favor of Canada when the English Government seriously undertook to conquer it. Yet, in Illinois and about the Great Lakes, the tribes were strongly attached to the French. Though less courted and flattered than formerly, and more attracted to the English by better terms of trade, they were shrewd enough to see that it would be a great advantage to them, as the Iroquois had dis covered, a hundred and thirty years before, to have two nations of Europeans among them who were rivals for their favor. They knew something of the strong development of the cen tral English colonies, and dreaded to have the French with draw, beginning already to feel a dim presentiment of their fate. The more sagacious of the red race were deeply afflicted when, in 1763, the treaty of peace, which followed the capitu lation of the French in Canada, ceded the whole of the east ern Valley, including the regions of the lakes and the posts on the Ohio, to the English. Pontiac, a chief of the Ottawas, had his home in the neigh borhood of Detroit. When that post was delivered up to the English he was about fifty years old — in the full maturity of THE PRELUDE TO PONTIAc's WAR. 195 powers which showed that individual talent is of no race or condition. His own and other tribes from near the lakes had given ready assistance to the French, and chiefly contributed- to Braddock's defeat. Regretfully he had seen that victory neutralized when, November 24, 1758, an English army, better led, in which George Washington had an important command, approached Fort Duquesne, which his people had defended, and which the now feeble garrison, insufficient in numbers to hold, set on flre and abandoned. One by one the posts on the Ohio had fallen into English hands. Immediately after this the theft of some horses, by Chero kee warriors returning from the English army, which they had accompanied as allies to the attack of Fort Duquesne, was severely retaliated by the settlers who had suffered the loss, who killed fourteen of the lawless Cherokees. The nation, infuriated by this bloody deed, and glad of an excuse for attack on intruders into their neighborhood, immediately commenced a desolating war on the scattered settlers who had lately built their cabins under the eastern shadow of the mountains. Fort Loudon had been built, about 1756, in the Cherokee country. The people settled near it, or straggling from it, were butchered, and the Fort beseiged. A force sent to the relief of the garrison was so roughly treated in the battle of the Etchowee, on the headwaters of the Little Tennessee, that it retreated, leaving the Fort to its fate. The famished garri son capitulated, but were attacked after leaving the Fort to return to the colonies, and many of them killed while the rest were held captive. In the next year Col. Grant, of the Brit- ' ish army, led a strong force into the Cherokee country, defeated the Indians in an obstinate battle, laid waste their fields and destroyed their towns. This severe vengeance, the surveys that foreboded English settlement, and the fatal certainty with which settlements spread when commenced, filled Pontiac with alarm for his race. He was a truly royal savage, endowed with all the qualities 196 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. which secure influence to an Indian chief. His name was known and revered by every Wild Hunter from the Missis sippi to New York, and from Hudson's Bay to Georgia. Pon tiac first came into personal relations with the English on the delivery of Detroit to them by the French. He approached and studied them with the skill and penetration of a trained diplomatist, and at once saw the fundamental difference be tween them and the French, with whom he had been familiar. French aims were large and vague, did not threaten speedy dispossession of the Indian, and French courtesy easily avoided a too offensive expression of disgust at habits displeasing to the civilized man. The French peasantry, to whom few sources of gain were open, quietly cultivated a little patch of soil, showed little enterprise or ambition in those days, took life easily and were cordially friendly with the Indians, with whom they often hunted, trapped and. fought. The Anglo-American was a man of business, founding a home and a future for himself, and not unmindful of the future of his race — indeed, beginning seriously to think and act for the welfare of his adopted country. Order, industry and security were inseparable from the thought of the aver age Anglo-Saxon. He represented the energetic, thoughtful, personal thrift that was soon to become the characteristic of a new and higher form of civilization. Indian virtues and Indian vices were expressed in a form highly repellant to him. The Teutonic races are distinguished for energy and directness. They wanted, in America, the smooth and con ciliating exterior of the French, and did not very much restrain their disgust at Indian vanity, brutality, and the want of self- respect that permitted drunkenness and beggary without shame. But the Indian had a rude sense of self-respect and of justice, which the English did not comprehend or regard. If the Englishman and the Anglo-American stood at the head of a deeper, broader, and more important phase of civil ization in the eighteenth century than the Frenchman of the PONTIAC COMMENCES THE WAR AT DETROIT. 197 seventeenth, it was still in the rough, and would take long to reach its highest expression, as sketched in the opening of the " Declaration " of 1776, which is still only partially put in practice. The Indian was elbowed aside, and his weaknesses and vices treated with unconcealed contempt. His violation of treaties which he had not understood, the injustice of which he too late comprehended, was visited with severe punishment by the sword, and still severer punishment in ejectment from his hunting grounds. The Indian constantly felt himself humiliated and swindled, and the inhabitants of the border who were in contact with him, and liable to receive the full bloody consequences of his resentment, could feel no sym pathy for his character and habits, and considered the sever est treatment of him only just. Pontiac completely represented his race in their sympathies and antipathies; his great, though untaught, intelligence ena bled him to see all the danger to the Indian of an advance of the English westward, while his experience was too limited to see how hopeless would be the attempt at resistance. He determined to organize the tribes, expel or destroy the hated invaders, and defend the West from them. His influence was all powerful with most of the tribes, and he arranged the details of a rising and plans for the simultaneous capture of all the forts. On the 7th of May, 1763, he attempted, in person, to surprise the post at Detroit. His plan was betrayed and Major Gladwin, the commander, was prepared to meet it. All the other posts were attacked, some eight or ten falling into the hands of the Indians, in most cases with circum stances of sickening barbarity. Having failed to surprise Detroit, Pontiac laid siege to it. Contrary to all the habits of the Indians, it was beleagured seven months — from early May until November. Fort Pitt was attacked, and a bloody battle fought with a force marching to its relief. Detroit and Fort Pitt, however, both held out. The resources, discipline and skill of the white man triumphed 198 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. over the sudden rush and unexpected persistence of the tribes. The Senecas, of New York, one of the " nations " of the Iro quois confederacy, joined their efforts to those of Pontiac, and hundreds of English traders and scattered settlers of the fron tier, even east of the mountains, were butchered. Terror and confusion reigned along the whole border; for even the Creeks of Georgia laid aside the " Peace Pipe " and entered on the work of slaughter. Consternation prevailed in the councils of the colonies, especially from Pennsylvania southward. If the rising under Pontiac should be successful, a cordon of fire would be drawn around the settlements, from the St. Lawrence to Georgia, for not an Indian heart beat on the continent that was not, at bottom, hostile to the English and alarmed at the display of strength which had expelled the French, whom the most of them loved so well. Two expeditions were prepared. One, under Col. Bradstreet, passed by way of O swego and Niagara to Detroit; the other, under Col. Bouquet, pressed through from Eastern Pennsylvania to Fort Pitt and penetrated to the heart of the Indian country in Ohio. But before the spring had fairly opened it became apparent to Pontiac that the task he had undertaken was beyond his power. The Indians were too scattered and possessed too few resources of support to act together in large numbers, for any considerable length of time. They had been able to maintain the siege of Detroit by the supplies pressed from the French inhabitants settled about it, and the wide range of forest, lake and river in its vicinity. But that was an exceptional case, they had failed there, trade was stopped, and they had long been accustomed to rely on the whites for arms, powder and ball for their own hunts and wars. They were, to crown all, incapable of a compact continu ous union, even under a Pontiac. They were discouraged by the failure to get possession at once of the critical points, Detroit and Fort Pitt. The first heat of hope and passion THE FAILURE OF PONTIAC's HOPES. 199 was past ; they could not now spare the whites, nor con quer them. Pontiac could no longer inspire them with the fire and fervor of the last year. They were ready on the first favorable occasion to treat for peace — with rage and despair, indeed, but they must have supplies ; they must welcome the English traders ; they must make a present submission or they would be crushed by the powerful armies of the whites and the miserable remnants of their tribes would be driven from their lands. Therefore no resistance was offered to the expeditions of this year (1764). Treaties were made by the two commanders and by Sir William Johnson with the more northern and eastern tribes, the captives were given up, military posts re-established, and trade revived. Pontiac's only hope was now in the tribes of the West and in the French, who still held possession of the west bank of the Mississippi. During the next year, 1766, he exerted all his infiuence to get aid from them and to combine the prairie tribes, but in vain. The French were just turning over their forts and settlements to the Spaniards. Finding his cause hopeless the great chieftain accepted the inevitable fate of his race, went in person, in 1766, to Oswego, where envoys of all the tribes met Sir William Johnson, and concluded a treaty of peace. In 1769 he was murdered at Cahokia by an Illi nois Indian, who, it is said, was hired to do the foul deed by an English trader. The whole nation of the Illinois was held responsible for it by the other Western tribes and were, soon after, almost exterminated by them, only a miserable remnant being left. CHAPTER VL THE INDIANS MAKE WAR ON THE AMEEICAiT PIONEERS. The southern Valley was divided with considerable definite- ness between the tribes resident there. The Chickasaws and Choctaws held the east bank of the River, the Creeks, or Muskogees, southern Georgia and Alabama, and the Cherokees the upper Tennessee and the mountainous region southeast of it. If changes had taken place in modern days it had been an unknown length of time before. They had a recognized title to their lands. Kentucky, "the dark and bloody ground," in the thought of the Indian, was a Debatable Land, a common hunting ground, to which all loved to lay claim, and in which none had the hardihood to take up their residence and build their towns. They would have been the common prey of the warlike tribes north and south and ¦ could not hope to escape speedy annihilation. The Iroquois confederacy claimed a title to it because their war parties had sometimes safely crossed it in stealthy expedi tions against the southern tribes and returned victorious to chant their own prowess at Onondaga Castle. The Cherokees claimed it, for they had often beaten their enemies under its pleasant woods, or marched to the Ohio and surprised them at the " Licks," or salt springs. With equal right could the tribes north of the Ohio claim it, for none more often hunted in it or more frequently achieved the joy of the Indian's heart — a stealthy swoop across the rivet on a party of their foes and a rapid retreat to the safety of their own towns far in the interior, triumphantly displaying gory scalp locks on their spears, or at their belts. But these north ern tribes had only the 'claim of present occupation to the lands where they built their towns. The Shawnees had 300 TITLES TO THE NORTHEASTERN VALLET. 201 withdrawn there from the south to escape the vengeance of the Chickasaws and Cherokees ; the Delawares were fugitives from regions far to the east ; and others were modern comers from the west or north, who dwelt in safety because the Iro quois had lately been too busy fighting the French and nego tiating with the English to find time to destroy them or drive them away. Even the distant Illinois trembled between the tribes of the Dakotah on the west and the Iroquois nations in the east. The haughty confederacy of central New York assumed to own the third part of a continent through the terror of their arms and their bloody deeds, and lorded it over many tribes; but they never actually occupied the Valley proper. Their claim was several times secured by treaty, and the English Indian agents and colonial authorities bought up various rights from occupants or claimants, for comparatively trifling sums, given as presents to the chiefs, who were assumed to have the power of sale and transfer. The chief's, however, had no more control over tribal lands than any other member of their communities, except as they might have more influ ence over their sturdily republican subjects. If the tribe refused to ratify the engagements they had made the transaction was null and void, according to Indian usage. Thus, treaties and purchases of territory were often illusory; not understood by the tribes as a flnal alienation of their lands, or, if consented to by these unpractical, grown-up children, the arrangement was repudiated when they had changed their minds. In 1768 Sir William Johnson, as commissioner for the British Govern ment, bought, for flfty-two thousand dollars and some presents to the chiefs, a large territory south of the Ohio River and on its branches, in Pennsylvania and New York, from the Iro quois, the Delawares, Shawnees, Mingoes and others who had real or pretended claims. This did not prevent Indian out breaks, Indian hunting on the ceded grounds, and constant hostility toward the inflowing explorers and settlers. 202 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. The Indians had very indefinite notions of such transactions, and only respected them so long as the impossibility of doing without traders and the conveniences of civilized life, which had replaced their primitive manufactures, was severely felt, and the fear of punishment was strong on them. Their bands of warriors had always been in the habit of roving at will; the individuals of the tribes did not easily conceive a binding force in their consent to a sale of lands such that they could not still roam over them and surprise any party interfering with their hunt, and often they had given no such consent. Their chiefs had pretended to bind them, but they recognized no such power in the chief. The forms of purchase satisfied the sense of justice of the whites, no matter how sharp the bargain or how small the consideration ; but the Indian was unable to see it in the same light, or to feel the continuous and unalterable nature of the agreement. To this he could be brought only when he became civilized, drew his support from the cultivated products of the earth, and looked from the point of view of the thrifty husbandman rather than that of the roving hunter. The antagonism of interests and desires was almost complete. The French got over it in the readiest way by making themselves acceptable to the red man. Anglo- American industry, and the vigorous spread of, and require ments of space for, settlements, as well as the less flexible character of that people, rendered the same degree of success impossible to them when attempted, as it sometimes was. A government policy was followed, by both home and colo nial authorities, aiming to restrain imposition and irregulari ties by individuals and companies in their dealings with the natives. Private contracts and purchases, whereby lands were alienated from the Indians, were forbidden. Titles could be valid only on tracts purchased by government, and settle ments outside these were declared unlgiwful. Such laws were not always regarded, and their violation was a fruitful source of Indian war. Before and immediately after the French war, ENGLISH AND COLONIAL POLICT IN THE WEST. 203 the British Government favored the eager desire of the colo nists to secure lands and commence settlements west of the mountains ; but the discontent of the tribes, as shown in Pontiac's war, the commencing troubles between the colonies on the Atlantic and the Home Government, and other circum stances connected with the government of Canada, now in their hands, induced a change. The authorities of the colo nies were forbidden to grant lands or authorize settlement beyond the headwaters of the streams falling into the Atlan tic. Pontiac's principle was to be, in substance, adopted and the tribes were to be left in undisturbed possession of the eastern Valley. The French policy of conciliation and gen tleness was more fully adopted. When war with the colonies actually broke out, the British Government, determined to subdue the colonies at any cost, sought the alliance and aid of the tribes north and south, fur nished them with warlike stores and organized their expedi tions against the settlements of the border. Had Pontiac been alive he would have seen his desire realized, and it would have gone hard with the settlers of Western Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, for the irresistible tide had began to flow in spite of the commands of the British Government. Pontiac's war had made the people of the border still more familiar with the inviting features of the agricultural Valley; discontent with the colonial policy of England begot many troubles along the coast, and the rough mountain regions were not attractive after a glimpse of the charming and fruitful territory beyond. In 1753 an American settlement of eleven families was made on the Youghiogheny, on the Valley side of the water shed of the AUeghanies, while yet the French held possession of the great rivers. After the occupation of Pittsburgh set tlement began north and south on the more eastern branches of the O hio. Pontiac's war mostly extinguished these in blood, but, a general pacification having quelled Indian animosity 204 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. for the time, they were re-occupied by the courageous frontiers men, and the oncoming tide ofa most fruitful civilization was announced by the gradual filtering through the mountains, from above Pittsburgh to the upper Tennessee, of some hun dreds of families. Among these there could not fail to be some both rash and abandoned characters, whose careless or criminal violence would furnish the spark required to cause the smouldering wrath of the Indian to burst into flame. A misdeed of the Indians below Pittsburgh was retaliated by a party of whites with blind fury, and among the innocent vic tims was the entire family of Logan, a Mingo chief, friendly to the whites. A violent war broke out at once. An army sent by the Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, to subdue the Indians fought a battle with them at the mouth of the Great Kenhawa, October 10, 1774. The Indians fought with obstinate resolution, and the battle lasted the whole day-^ seventy -five whites being killed and one hundred and forty wounded. Logan fully glutted his vengeance for the slaugh ter of his family. The Indians were at length beaten and retreated over the Ohio. The wise and eloquent Logan sued for peace for his people in a memorable speech, preserved by Jefferson, which gives fine expression to one "side of the Indian character. But far more trying than bloody battles to the settlers were the sud den attacks of small bands of enraged Indians on explorers and families, in whicli women and children were pitilessly slaughtered. Nothing wpuld appear better calculated to intimidate and restrain the wave of settlement, and yet it seemed to arouse hardihood and courage instead of awaken ing fear. Although a formal peace was made many times, the conflict was really continuous from 1774 to 1795; and yet, during this period, the numbers of the settlers were increased by more than 150,000 in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and the parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia adjacent. The possibility of having to endure the most dreadful forms of suffering and THE RESOLUTE COURAGE OF EARLT SETTLERS. 205 death seemed to have no power to terrify these courageous men and intrepid women. No signs of quailing or retreating were shown. They floated down the river in flat boats with wives, children and all the property they possessed, liable at every turn to be ambushed and fired on from the shore. Indi viduals wandered, often alone, through the forests, hunting, exploring, or passing from settlement to settlement. They gathered — a few families at most — within a stockade fort lia ble to be at any moment attacked. More courage and resolu tion could not well be displayed. The contest was very obstinate and very bloody during the Revolutionary War. The British, from the posts at Detroit, near Lake Erie and in the " Illinois Country," distributed the "sinews of war" to the tribes. British agents stirred up their animosity, organized, and sometimes led, expeditions against the feeble settlements south of the river; and in the south stimulated the Creeks and Cherokees to slaughter. The Indians were only too ready. In 1776, the settlers of Tennessee fought two desperate but successful battles with the Cherokees which kept them quiet for a time. The Ohio tribes hovered around the settlements in Kentucky until they could safely strike a quick, sure blow, or capture a straggler, then swiftly fled across the river. Sometimes they laid siege to the block-houses and forts ; sometimes bloody battles were fought. The Indians found a people " worthy of their steel " .and even more resolute, fearless and capable than themselves. But hundreds were cut off, many promising homes were laid waste, the women and children barbarously murdered. The wild hunter fought well for his race and his hunting grounds against the intruding civilization he abhorred But he did not always find himself safe on tlie north side of the river though his towns were some days' journey in the interior. Frequent expeditions of the settlers penetrated to them and inflicted severe retaliation. Nor were the posts of the British, though distant hundreds of miles from the 206 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. settlements, secure from attack. After considerable persist ence. Gen. (then Col.) George Rogers Clarke, a truly repre sentative pioneer of Kentucky, obtained authority from Pat rick Henry, Governor of Virginia, to organize an expedition against the British posts in " the Illinois." He collected a small troop at Pittsburgh and gathered the rest from the new and constantly threatened settlements in Kentucky. Notwithstanding the serious danger to their homes, they answered the call. Clarke made a forced march through the forests, captured all the posts by surprise or artiflce, deprived the British of their prestige and stores for the Indians, and secured the rear of the settlements in that direction. Thus no small share of work was done by these pioneers in aiding to secure American Independence. But the Ohio and Indiana tribes were determined to hold their lands, and still maintained the contest with great perti nacity. When the war closed, the British still remained many years at Detroit and gave them more or less encouragement. The settlers suffered some bloody defeats, and the more they increased the more determined became the Indian attack. From 1782 to 1789 it was computed that 2,000 horses were stolen by the Indians, 1,500 persons killed or captured and $60,000 worth of property destroyed. Their attempt to uproot the settlements south of the Ohio had proved vain, but they were the more resolute to hold the country on the north. Until 1788 Ohio was not opened to settlement; and the impossibility of obtain ing titles to lands, the hostility of the Indians and the proclamation of the Government forbidding settlers to enter, (which was sternly enforced by the Indians), until treaties and surveys were completed, conflned the whites to the regions south of the river. During that year many thousands entered the region which had been so populous during the time of the Mound Builders. But this occupation was based chiefly on the assumption that the treaty of peace THE CLOSE OF THE OLD INDIAN WARS. 207 with England had conveyed a permanent right over the soil to the Government of the United States. The Indians re fused to recognize any such right, and demanded that the whole country north of the Ohio should be vacated and left to them. Rights resting on conquest have ever been consid ered among nations as valid. The Indians had joined England in the war and both had been successfully resisted; therefore their territory was held to belong to the conqueror. To make treaties that should quiet the Indians and maintain this point was the effort of the new Government. This eft'ort failed, although various treaties were made with one or more tribes. They were constantly disregarded, after a little time, and more or less desultory war carried on against the settlements north and south of the river. Finding that negotiation made no real headway, although a formidable outbreak was delayed by the tribes. General Harmar was sent against the Miamis in 1790. Although he laid waste their fields and burned some of their towns, his battles were not entirely successful and he retired, leaving a sense of victory in the minds of the Indians. In the follow ing year. General St. Clair led an army of 1,400 men against them and met a defeat as decisive as Braddock's, thirty-six years before. More than 800 were slain and the rest fied in dismay from the field. Preparations were commenced at once to send an adequate force to retrieve these disasters and protect the settlements, while persevering efforts to effect a treaty with the combined tribes without further bloodshed were undertaken. The Indians would not listen, insisted on the evacuation of their lands, continued to attack outlying and vulnerable points and labored to form a strong confederation like that under Pontiac. General Anthony Wayne occupied the years 1792 and 1793 in organizing and training an army equal to the emergency, and, August 20, 1794, fought a decisive battle with them on the Maumee River. This virtually put an end to the war and 208 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. secured a solid peace, which was signed August 3, 1795, by all the western tribes. The Wild Hunter had failed in his defense; in the trial of strength he had proved the weaker; and the English who had encouraged him failed to siiccor him in the hour of need. He now comprehended his destiny and bowed before it. Goods were distributed among the tribes to the value of $20,000, and about $10,000 worth were to be delivered to them annually thereafter. The State of Ohio was mostly ceded, absolutely, to the whites, and the territory west to the Mississippi and north to the upper lakes secured to the Indiana, with the reserve of various locations for forts. The white man permitted the Indian to roam over his own hunting grounds in bitterness of heart, anticipating the speedy approach of the time when he must " move on," because they would be wanted by the civilized race. In his feeling it was a bitter lot, but humanity has been immensely enriched by his dispossession. By this time the Cherokees were so out numbered by dense settlements immediately on their borders that they renounced a hopeless contest. The Ohio tribes had frequently the satisfaction of defeating their foes, and acquired a vast amount of property for those times ; but the Cherokees had been constantly defeated since 1758, when they destroyed Fort Loudon, and there was no encouragement to continue hostilities. Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio became states in the Union, Indiana became a territory, and, after a time, Illinois. The Indians looked on with silent rage. It was past help and hope unless they had other forces than their own. They had valiantly contested every foot of ground in the West; but the more they slaughtered, captured and tortured at the stake, the more rapidly did this flood of civilization which they hated rise and threaten to overwhelm them. " Like the grass of the prairie, like the leaves of the forest," said they to the whites in their picturesque language, " you spring up every where." The vigor of the new stock crowded out the native plant. CHAPTER VII. TECUMSEH AND HIS ALLIES. The Indian had reason to wonder, for in the year 1795 — the year in which they were obliged to consent to the aliena tion of all the lands the whites wanted north of the Ohio — twenty thousand emigrants passed down the river to seek permanent homes on what the tribes considered their own lands; and by the close of the century many more people had emigrated to the Valley than there were individuals in all •the wild tribes of North America. Simple astonishment and a sense of helplessness kept them quiet; a peace of fifteen years permitted the more accessible parts of the southern and eastern Valley to fill up with a population almost as large as all the colonies contained when they declared their independ ence, and this population had laid broad, deep and most satis factory foundations for a great future. New England, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina came, so to speak, bodily to the West. They formed, here and there, large communities and considerable towns, for the time fairly homogeneous, and bearing all the characteristics of the people of the states from which they had emigrated. They soon commenced a new development, but, for the pres ent, it was simply the East set down in the West, with all its institutions, its thrift and the intelligence and ambition which the shock of the War of Independence had awakened in a race rich in undeveloped capacities. This fifteen years was the utter doom of the red man's future as a hunter in the Valley, but he was unable to see its full import. So large an idea there was no room in his mind to receive. Tecumseh was born to rule his people, and, like Philip of Mount Hope and Pontiac, he had the breadth, the power and 14 309 210 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. the enthusiasm of a genius. But no genius can afford to dispense with a broad and true education, which gives clear ness and exactness to thought and distinguishes between the visions of the imagination and the severe realities of life. Tecumseh had been often in communication with the whites in his early life; but he was a genuine Indian. Civilized life did not attract him ; there was nothing he found desirable in the prosperous comfort of the settlements, for it was to be obtained only as the reward of a labor and drudgery that were abhorrent to the soul of the free Child of the Woods. He was ambitious and found no opening for his aspirations among the whites. He fancied that the weakness of the Indian was caused by his accepting the aids of civilization ; that if he returned to primitive habits, excluded the white trader and his demoralizing wares, primitive virtues would return, and that his race would be able to resist the progress of the whites. Associating his brother, the Prophet, who was a famous Indian " Medicine," with himself, he appealed to the super stitions of his race, urged, by eloquent speeches and example, a return to ancient simplicity and self-dependence and labored, like King Philip and Pontiac, to unite all the tribes, north and south, in a general confederacy against the settlers. He resolved that no more lands should be sold to the whites, and secretly visited the tribes, using all his own eloquence and the arts of his brother to organize a strong confederacy in the upper Valley, from 1806 to 1811. Great Britain had not yet lost all hope of recovering her former colonies, and still courted the good will of the Indian tribes around the Great Lakes, as well as of the French inhabitants of Canada. Tecumseh was in communication with them and was aware of the approach ing war, and he prepared to strike a terrible blow when it should break out. He was of the Shawnee tribe, who have been called the Arabs of the Wilderness. They were originally from the THE PLANS OF TECUMSEH, NORTH AND SOUTH. 211 South, from which they had been driven by the combined enmity of the Chickasaws and the Cherokees. Tecumseh visited the southern tribes, just before the outbreak of the war, and urged his views with all the force and fire of Indian oratory. The Chickasaws declined to enter into his plans, but the Creeks lent a more willing ear. The renown of the Shawnees, who were among the most warlike tribes in the Valley, and had been prominent in all the old wars against the whites, was known to them. With some difficulty he persuaded the Creeks to unite with him. For nearly eighty years they had been in relations, for the most part of friendly trade, with the English, and some of their chiefs resisted the proposal and refused to take part in it. Tecumseh assured them that when he returned North he would " stamp his foot and the whole continent would tremble." He visited all the tribes as far as Florida and prepared such a vengeance against the whites in the South as had, nearly three hundred years before, come so near being the utter destruction of De Soto at Maubila. Tecumseh felt England behind him and knew that the war between Great Britain and the American Republic was about to be declared. When that confiict should commence he would " stamp his foot " metaphorically, and his southern allies would attribute the outbreak to his mystical power. He had already confronted Gen. Wm. H. Harrison, Governor of Indiana Territory, in a council held August, 1810, and refused assent to a treaty, on which the Governor insisted, for the sale of more land required for settlement, and believed himself strong enough to defy the power of the whites. He was, however, sufficiently politic to defer the commencement of open war until all should be ready to strike a decisive blow that should " shake the continent." His brother was not as prudent, and precipitated the war before his return from the South, and before a sufficiently large force had been collected to make sure of victory. Governor Harrison, comprehending 212 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. the danger, had obtained some government troops and called out the militia of the territory in order to strike a decisive blow in season. To the great indignation of Tecumseh, his brother attacked this force instead of temporizing and wait ing till success could reasonably be expected. This was the battle of Tippecanoe, and was fought Novem ber 7, 1811, seven months before the declaration of war against England by the United States Government. The Prophet was beaten, his forces scattered, his own prestige, and that of Tecumseh, with the confederacy they had been at so much pains to organize, were lost. The grand blow that was to have been so fatal was turned aside and resolved into an ordinary series of attacks on weak outposts, scattered settlers and small bands of whites. Tecumseh, still hoping to retrieve the mistake through the success of the British forces when the war should begin, retired to Canada, collected his Indian allies in that region, and waited. War was declared June 19, 1812, and hostilities soon com menced in the neighborhood of Detroit. July 17, a British and Indian force captured Mackinaw; General Hull, after com mencing an invasion of Upper Canada, retreated, without good reason, to Detroit; and a party he sent out to meet reinforce ments was ambushed by Tecumseh and cut to pieces. Tecum seh joined the British commander in a demonstration against Detroit, which so intimidated General Hull that he surren dered that place and all the forces under his command, with out resistance,' August 16, 1812. The Indians further west watched their chances, one of which occurred at Chicago August 15. The garrison had been ordered by General Hull to evacuate Fort Dearborn, located at the mouth of Chicago River. After having marched out they were attacked by the Indians. The party attacked contained about eighty soldiers, a trader with his employes, and a number of women and children. Between fifty and sixty, including two women and twelve children, were massacred, and the remainder made THE DEATH OF TECUMSEH. 213 prisoners. But no really important successes in the West enabled the Indian tribes of Indiana and Illinois to over come the depressing effect of the battle of Tippecanoe. A vigorous patrol was kept up on the frontier by the settlers. Many lives were lost but no large Indian force was gathered, and the whites gradually drove the hostile tribes north and west beyond the boundaries of settlement. But Tecumseh had staked all on the success of the British. With two thousand or more warriors he gave them all the assistance possible, and in many reverses which befell the American forces horrible massacres were perpetrated by the tribes he commanded. January 22, 1813, at Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, an American force numbering 800 was defeated, and, after the surrender to the British, all the survi vors but thirty -three were massacred by the Indi ans. Another disaster at Fort Meigs, May 5 following, resulted in the death or captivity of 650 Americans. But the day of hope for Tecumseh was drawing to a close. September 10, 1813, Com modore Perry obtained command of Lake Erie by a decisive naval victory over the British. This was followed by the invasion of Upper Canada by General Harrison and the battle of the Thames, October 5, in which a complete victory was gained over the united British and Indians, and Tecumseh was killed. He had been exceedingly formidable by his reso lute valor and the barbarity of his Indian allies. In his fall all danger of Indian confederations in the upper Valley passed away. In him the hope of the prairie and lake tribes became extinct, and the danger to the settlements was over. In 1812 another event, which became the signal and the instrument of a new and greater era of progress in the devel opment of the Valley, occurred — the first steamboat on west ern waters awakened the echoes of the woods from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. The Age of Steam had begun. In the South the war cry of Tecumseh, in 1812, found no echo among the Choctaws, the Chickasaws or the Cherokees. 214 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. A portion of the Creeks also refused to listen; but some thousands of them seized the tomahawk and sprung upon the war path in answer, and proved themselves the bravest and most uncompromising of their race. For a hundred years they had been multiplying their rela tions with the French and Spanish, on the South and West, and the English on the East; and, since the close of the Rev olutionary War in 1783, emigration had pressed on them from all sides. They had come into closer contact with civilization than the tribes of the North. Some of their most eminent chiefs were educated half-breeds ; trade was briskly driven by multitudes of intelligent men, as well as adventurers, and the capacity of the Indian to become considerably civilized, in time, and under favorable conditions, became evident. There were two parties among them. One clung to the whites; the other sighed for the wild freedom of ancient days and longed for the excitement of war. These had kept up occasional hostilities with the intruding settlers from the first, and tried to resist the progress of civilization among their people. This party sprung to arms at the call of Tecumseh ; the other joined the whites, who were also sup ported, more or less, by bands of Choctaws, Chickasaws and Cherokees. In the heart of their country, about a hundred iniles north of Mobile, were considerable settlements. Here fell the most fearful blows. The war spirit had reached its height; many isolated murders had occurred, and the inhabitants collected into forts. In a battle fought between the whites and Indians on the 27th July, 1813, at Burnt Corn, the whites were defeated. The country was insufficiently provided with means of de fense. Over 550 persons were collected in Fort Mims, a few miles from the ancient Maubila, where the Indians of that time fought so terrible a battle with De Soto, nearly three hundred years before. On the 30th of August this place THE HEROIC BRAVERT OF THE CREEKS. 215 was attacked by one thousand Creek warriors. The garrison was unprepared and one of the gates was open. The Indians rushed in before it could be closed and the fearful workof slaughter began. It continued for five hours, for the doomed settlers fought with the bravery of despair. Fourteen persons escaped, a few negroes and half-breeds were kept as slaves. All the rest perished. The slaughter and cruelties of De Soto were avenged on a nobler race, on women and children. The whole surrounding country was roused. From Geor gia, from Mobile, from the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and from Tennessee the cruel Creeks were assailed. Gen. Jackson, afterward the hero of New Orleans, hastened with a large force from Nashville, and sent Gen. Coffee to attack Tallase- hatchie, where a party of the Creek warriors had assembled. More than 200 were slain, not one asking or accepting ciuarter. They fought till the last was killed. This was November 3, 1813. On the 9th November they were again defeated with great slaughter at Talladega; Gen. Cocke defeated them No vember 18; and Gen. Floyd, commanding an expedition from Georgia, routed them, inflicting on them a loss of 200 war riors, November 29. Gen. Claiborne inflicted another defeat on them, at Holy Ground, December 23. Notwithstanding all these reverses there was no sign of quailing among these fierce and heroic warriors. General Jackson desired to spare a race so brave ; but they preferred death to surrender as long as they could keep the field. Twice they attacked Jackson's force and were beaten off with diffi culty — January 21 and 24, 1814. The Indians considered these to be victories, since, the battles over, the army retired to its intrenchments. It was too weak to pursue so valiant and determined a foe. It has been affirmed that, in these last two battles, the Indians were inferior to Jackson's army by several hundreds. ; January 27, 1814, they attacked General Floyd, with his 216 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. Georgia troops, amounting to more than 1,600 men. Al though beaten off, they had inflicted so much loss that Gem Floyd judged it wisest to retire. March 27, Gen. Jackson attacked a chosen band of 1,000 warriors, who had fortified a peninsula on the Tallapoosa River, called the Horse Shoe, from its form. His force was double that of the Indians and- furnished with cannon and cavalry. The Creeks defended themselves with a bravery never excelled, answered all offers of peace with bullets, and nearly all perished. But a remnant was now left. Part of these made their submission from time to time, and a part fied to the Semi- noles, within the jurisdiction of Spain, to renew the same desperate conflict many years later. August 10, Gen. Jackson concluded a treaty of peace with the Creeks, and the impor tant Indian Wars of the Valley east of the Mississippi River were over. The wild hunter of the South — equally with the tribes of the North — had failed in his defense. He yielded only when he could do no more. Some of the irre concilable Creeks fled to the swamps of Florida and joined the Seminoles. These, thus recruited, and strengthened by escaped negro slaves in later years, made a resolute stand and shed much blood before they could be vanquished in their almost inaccessible retreats. This was done at great cost, and all the tribes east of the river were finally removed to reservations west of that stream — mostly to the Indian Ter ritory west of Arkansas. The red hunter had made a vain but gallant fight for the possession of the Great Valley. The overflowing resources of the Valley may be made to support in abundant comfort perhaps t%vo hundred millions of human beings. The Indian tribes who occupied it proba bly never numbered one hundred thousand souls east of the Mississippi ; they made the least possible use of its capabih- ties, often suffering from want in the midst of the plenty it offered ; and instead of using its resources, they found their chief business and delight in war — capturing, slaying and THE INDIAN POLIOT OF THE UNITED STATES. 217 torturing each other. It is impossible to see any philanthropy in scrupulously leaving them to neglect and waste these immense sources of welfare to man because they were in tem porary possession. If we admit that it was right to oblige them to permit others to develop the wealth they neglected, •the Indian policy of the United States Government may be called worthy of a just and enlightened people. It may even be called chivalrous and considerate almost beyond example, and, in some points, unwisely so. The French of the seventeenth century treated the tribes as allies because they had need of them. When the English Government acquired possession of the regions occupied, or claimed, by the French, it continued this practice for the same reason. The Republic did not require Indian allies, yet it continued to treat them as independent nationalities, over whom it assumed no rights of control but what treaties gave it. The actual character of the situation was not, however, in keeping with this nominal relationship. Equality is assumed by this policy, or, at least, the power on each side of fulfllling treaty stipulations. Could deflnite bounds to the progress of settlement have been maintained, or could the Indians have accepted civilization, have withdrawn themselves to a reasonable area, or have settled on so much land as they could cultivate, like the rest of the agricultural population, no difficulty would have presented itself. This, for the tribes, was impossible from the rigid nature of the Indian and his immemorial habits ; and it was equally impossible to allcrw them sufficient territory to support them as hunters in the best parts of the Valley. The assumed relation, therefore, was not the real one. The Indians were the wards of the nation. They resisted the demand for their lands, but they must be had nevertheless ; and treaties, for the most part, have been merely the expression of Indian assent, most unwillingly given, to a demand which they were unable to resist. This demand was unavoidably made — 218 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. but with such mitigating circumstances as the case admitted Goods and money were freely given to procure assent by temporary gratiflcation, and the future support of the tribes was assumed, so far as they required aid, as a just return for the enforced abandonment of their lands. It has been computed that the Government of the United States has paid, or engaged to pay, to the tribes of the whole country about two hundred millions of dollars for their lands. Much of this is invested and the interest paid them annuallj- for their support. They are treated as far as possible as independent communi ties. They govern themselves with entire freedom within the limits assigned them, and no force is applied to oblige them to change their traditional habits if they keep the peace and carry out the provisions of the treaties. This is both chivalrous and kind; but it has many unfortunate results. For the most part they have few of the qualities necessary to preserve them from degradation when deprived of the excitements and stim ulus to self-preservation of their ancient life. Their few rude and barbarous virtues mostly disappear when in contact with, or dependent on, the whites. They readily receive some of the worst vices of civilization while its virtues are unattrac tive and incomprehensible to them. In this state of inde pendent dependence, so to speak, they are removed from elevating influences while subjected to many that are demor alizing. It is quite impossible to keep abandoned whites wholly away from them; it is practically impossible to con trol government agencies among them so completely that its intentions shall be always fully carried out, and still more impossible to prevent the intrusion and occasional violent deeds of unscrupulous men on the borders of civilized society — or outside of them — that exasperate the tribes and excite them to fearful retaliation on the innocent. Above all, the independent condition leaves them under the control of their naturally fierce and bloody passions. The slavery to THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE INDIAN QUESTION. 219 which the Spaniards subjected the Mexicans and Peruvians was, in some aspects, preferable to this liberty to remain in primitive barbarism — after having lost primitive virtues — and to add to it civilized vices. The Indian Policy of France and Great Britain, in Canada, was different and seems, in some respects, more successful. They have been left there with less liberty, and more strin gent regulations against evil white influence have been com bined with more effort to overcome their distaste for civilized habits ; but the numbers there have been few compared with those in the United States, and, for the most part, from vari ous causes, they have been less fierce and intractable. The difficulties in the way of a satisfactory solution of the Indian Question have proved really insurmountable. The liberty allowed them has constantly been abused, and an Indian war has been of almost annual occurrence since settlement began to pass the Missouri River. The army required to subdue and police them has cost uncounted millions, and many thou sand lives have been lost. The settlers subject to their attacks have very naturally been greatly exasperated at their bloody brutality and would wish them mercilessly exterminated, while those who consider the wrongs almost inevitably done them criticise the Indian Policy from the opposite point of view. It is not easy to see how so intractable a race of several hun dred thousand could have been more generously treated under all the circumstances, nor how the Indian Policy could have been so altered as to obviate the difficulties of the situation with out doing extreme violence to the Indian nature. The means that were at hand to influence them have been employed; all possible liberty has been allowed them, and when their feroc ity has broken forth in war they have been chastised only so far as was necessary to restore peace and induce them to keep it. The character of the race must have made any policy a failure which sought their well-being as civilized communities would understand it. 220 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. The filling up of the Pacific Slope, the vast Rocky Moun tain region and the Western Plains with a civilized popula tion, must make a change in this policy inevitable at no distant day. The idea of a real independence can not be maintained when liberty to remain savages would mean placing adjacent settlements at the mercy of their bloody barbarism. To con strain them to retire to reservations, to lead a quiet and peace able life, and to learn the arts of civilization will be essential to the safety of the growing population of the Great West. This change will naturally be as quiet and gradual as possible; but, ultimately, their destiny is to accept civilization or to be punished into annihilation. This, the safety and welfare of.far larger numbers and much more important interests than their own will absolutely demand. Between 1830 and 1850 the southern tribes, and a part of the northern, were partly persuaded and partly forced to exchange their lands east of the Mississippi for a remarkably fine region — the Indian Territory — beyond the then borders of civilization. Their removal was accomplished at the cost of the United States, and annual funds for their support pro vided. The southern tribes had been so long and closely con nected with the whites that they were able to adopt many of the habits of an agricultural population. The result has not, apparently, been a failure, and it indicates the probable future of the race. While a vast territory remained unoccupied they were interfered with very little; but the plains are already largely settled, and a civilized population is crowding into the fertile valleys and basins and opening mines in the various ranges of the Rocky Mountain plateau. As in the Valley formerly, the tribes of this region now resist encroachment by repeated bloody outbreaks. It is not believed that the whole number of Indians within the present area of the United States is less than the same area contained three hun dred years ago. There will soon be no more room for the Wild Hunter, and stern necessity will require.that he forget THE ULTIMATE FATE OF THE INDIANS. 221 his distaste for labor and adopt the habits of the farmer. The inevitable fate of the tribes of the Dakota race and the Pacific Slope is to imitate the Cherokees, Choctaws and Creeks of the Indian Territory, and their descendants will ultimately become citizens of the Republic. On the whole, the Indian Policy of the country may be designated as just, forbearing and con siderate. CHAPTER VIII. THE HEROIC PERIOD OF SETTLEMENT. By the time that the sparks of Pontiac's War were com pletely extinguished a fair acquaintance with the upper part of the Ohio valley had been gained by various English, or Anglo-American explorers. Dr. Thomas Walker had pene trated to the heart of Kentucky in 1747 and again in 1758. The contest with the French and then the Indians, the nego tiations of British and colonial agents, and the wanderings of English traders south of Lake Erie, had made Ohio and Western Pennsylvania familiar ground. In 1766, a party headed by Capt. James Smith visited the lower valleys of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, tracing them to the Ohio. In the same year Findlay, Harrod and others wandered over other parts of Kentucky. In June, 1769, Daniel Boone and others penetrated to Kentucky. There was danger from the Indians and some of the party were killed, but Boone remained hunting and study ing Kentucky three years ; much of the time alone. A skillful hunter, more than a match for the Indians in their own crafty ways, and delighted with this beautiful region — it was not a " dark and bloody ground " to him, but a Land of Promise. On the 9th of March, 1769, a petition of the " Mississippi Company," signed by George Washington among others, was presented to the English Board of Trade asking for two and a half million acres of land in Ohio. It was not granted until Franklin's paper on "The Ohio Settlement" had interested the Government in the scheme. The king signed the grant, August 14, 1772. In 1769, Tennessee received its first permanent settlers. Previously to this, 323 EARLT SETTLEMENTS FROM PITTSBURGH TO MOBILE. 223 (from 1750 to 1760) settlers had crossed the boundaries of the Valley in southwest Virginia and western North Carolina. This was an extension of those settlements. At the same time settlers located on the Holston River. 1764 to 1769. — French and Spanish settlements already existed on the shores of the Gulf, in Alabama, and near the Great River in Mississippi. This region passed into the hands of the British Government in 1764, being called West Florida. A large part of the French inhabitants retired across the Mississippi. The English encouraged emigration there, and settlers from North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia located in the present State of Mississippi between these dates. French settlements had long before begun to creep up the Alabama River from Mobile, the residence of a garrison. 1770. — A settlement was formed at Wheeling, in this year. Emigrants from New Jersey settled in Mississippi, followed soon after by others from England, Scotland, Ireland and the West Indies. Negro slavery was introduced from the first, by the French and British. 1771. — -Pensacola, in this year, contained eighty houses and was the residence of the English Governor. The unhealthy climate along the Gulf coast rendered the increase of popula tion slow on that side, while the fierceness of the Creeks retarded settlements on the higher lands of the interior; yet traders and travelers were constantly crossing their country in all directions. 1772. — Settlements in East Tennessee extended north and south from the Wautauga. We learn from Washington's diary of a journey made to Pittsburgh and the Kenhawa River below, where he had lands, that families were then (1770) crossing the mountains in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Farms had now begun to multiply in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh. 224 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. 1773. — Kentucky and Tennessee were swarming with sur veyors and explorers selecting sites for settlement. Louisville was surveyed and the plat of a town laid out (though no set tlers had yet arrived) for John Campbell and John Conolly, in this year. Four hundred persons are also said to have passed down the Ohio and Mississippi to settle in the Natchez region. In this year, also, Daniel Boone started with his family and cattle from North Carolina to locate in Kentucky. Being attacked by the Indians on the way and six men slain (there were five other families, and several men besides, with him), he retired to the settlement on Clinch River and waited two years before establishing the first family in Kentucky, in the meanwhile exploring for other parties. Emigrants from Virginia and North Carolina are said to have passed down the Tennessee to Mississippi — an enterprise of astonishing hardi hood and resolution. 1774. — Capt. James Harrod with forty others laid out Harrodsburg, and built a number of cabins, but did not yet bring their families. 1775. — A crop of corn was raised this year by Simon Ken ton and Thomas Williams, at Maysville, Kentucky. Settle ments were commenced at Boonesborough by Daniel Boone, and at Harrodsburg and block-houses built, and also at three other places, all in the heart of Kentucky and widely sepa rated from each other. At the end of this year there were five hundred persons in all the settlements of Kentucky, most of them being vigorous men. Two hundred and fifty acres of corn were planted and gathered. The " Transylvania Company " was formed in North Car olina. Richard Henderson was at its head. They made a private purchase of a large tract of land in Kentucky and another in Tennessee, of the Cherokee Indians, for 10,000 pounds sterling, and sought to organize a government. Vir ginia did not recognize the purchase in Kentucky, and the attempt to organize a government was limited to a prelimi- SETTLEMENT, WAR, AND HEROISM IN KENTUCKT. 225 nary convention. Virginia claimed them as part of her popu lation, in the next year, and organized a county in Kentucky. 1776.^A few^ new settlements were made in Kentucky in this year, in Franklin and Washington Counties. July 7 three young ladies, one being a daughter of Boone, were cap tured by the Indians. The girls were amusing themselves in a canoe, on the Kentucky River, within sight of Boones borough. They were recaptured, uninjured, the next day. A trip was made from Pittsburgh to New Orleans for powder. In the next year 136 kegs were successfully brought up to the former place. George Rogers Clarke settled in Kentucky this year. The Cherokee Indians prepared to destroy the Ten nessee settlements. July 20 and 21 two battles were fought with them by the settlers, with complete success. 1777. — The Indian tribes became much exasperated by the growing settlements and constantly harassed them, hovering about in the woods to surprise individuals, or laying siege to the forts. This state of things continued for twenty years. September 26, Fort Henry, near Wheeling, was approached by 400 hundred Indians. They were led by Simon Girty, a white man, Indian agent of the British Government. The defenders numbered but twelve men and boys, the rest having been lured into the woods and killed before the besiegers showed themselves. The defense continued most of the day, when ammunition ran short. A keg of powder was cpncealed in a house outside of the Fort, sixty yards distant. A young woman volunteered to go for it through a storm of bullets and returned unhurt. The defense was continued till aid arrived, and the savages retreated discomfitted, with a loss of one hundred killed. Logan's Station was besieged from May to September, in this year. Powder giving out Logan took two of his men, and, escaping through the surrounding forest filled with Indians, traveled to the Holston settlement, two hun dred miles distant, and back in ten days. At length help 15 226 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. arrived from Virginia and the garrison was relieved after sev eral months of siege. Through all the preceding winter the woods in the vicinity of the settlement swarmed .with Indians. Provisions grew scarce. Though there was plenty of game it was dangerous to hunt. O ne youth of seventeen succeeded in eluding the watch of the Indians, and, through all the win ter, escaped from the vicinity of his fort before day on the only horse that remained to the garrison, loaded it with game killed beyond the hearing of the beleaguering enemy, and, with an unfailing caution and skill, succeeded in returning at night, thus preserving the besieged from starvation or cap ture. Even the children sometimes displayed the prudence and intrepid resolution which was the prevailing tone of the society about them. It is related that three boys, the oldest not twelve years of age, were surprised by a few Indian warriors on the banks of the Ohio, near Louisville, but out of sight of their home, whose locality was unknown to the savages. To have made it known to them would have been its ruin, and the death or captivity of the family. With great presence of mind, the boys misled them as to its nearness, and were carried far up into Indiana by their captors, the eldest boy, suppressing his grief and fear, keeping up the spirits of his companions, and by his liveliness and boldness pleasing the Indians. For some weeks they were held in captivity, when, being left in the care of an aged Indian and one or two women, during an expedition, the young hero killed them while asleep and suc ceeded in finding his way back to the river with his two com panions. Singular accidents sometimes occurred. Colonel Rogers was defeated in an accidental meeting with a body of Indians at the mouth of the Licking River. Captain Benham was disabled in both legs and another of the party was wounded in both arms. They alone of the survivors were left on the battle field, far from help. Here they remained for six weeks, HOW THE PIONEERS HELD THEIR ' GROUND. 227 the man with the sound legs but useless arms taking the man with good arms but useless legs on his shoulders to hunt and cook, and so preserved each other from famine and death. It was a trying, but often a romantic, time, because courage and ingenuity rose to match the difficulty. The Cherokees, repulsed by the Tennessee settlers, attacked the outlying settlements of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia within striking distance. The author ities of each of these states raised troops which marched into the Cherokee country and infiicted a punishment so severe that the tribe was reduced to the greatest misery and ceased to trouble the new settlements for some time. In this year (1777), Bartram, an able botanist, visited the South, passed through the Creek nation, the English settle ments on the Gulf and those on the Mississippi River. He found settlers increasing and many fine plantations in various parts. Pensacola had several hundred houses, and an active and lucrative trade was carried on with the Indians. 1778. — Boone was surprised and taken prisoner with twenty- seven of his men. All were well treated. Boone was greatly admired by the Indians,' and they wished to adopt him into the tribe. Escaping from them at Chillicothe, Boone traveled 160 miles in four days, having eaten but one meal in that time, and prepared his fort to withstand a siege by several hundred Indians. Ayho, he had learned, were about starting to attack it. General Clarke made an expedition into Illinois and got possession of all the English posts in that country. With a temporary exception, they were held by the Americans during the remainder of the war, and a fort was built on the Mis sissippi River. This occupation, together with the heroic defense of the pioneers of Kentucky and Tennessee, secured the eastern Valley to the United States, by the treaty, of peace made at the close of the war. It also protected the rear of the organized States from invasion by the British and 228 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. their Indian allies. By defending itself, the West defended the rest of the country, and contributed to the establishment of American Independence.. Clarke had, on his first inva sion, biit 153 men, a part of them being from Kentucky. A permanent settlement at Louisville was made in 1778. The inhabitants of Tennessee increased greatly in numbers and prosperity in this and the previous year. Kentucky contin ued to increase in population rapidly, though much harassed by Indian attacks. 1779. — Vincennes, in Indiana, which had been reoccupied by Indians and British troops after Clarke's capture of it, was recovered by Clarke, February 25, with eighty-one prison ers and $60,000 worth of military stores. Lexington, Ken tucky, was settled April 17. In May, Colonel John Bowman invaded the Indian territory in Ohio. After burning Chilli cothe and capturing 163 horses he retreated. Colonel Rogers, with seventy men, was attacked by a large force of Indians, near the mouth of Licking River, and only twenty whites escaped. Several new settlements were made this year in Kentucky. Titles to land having become confused and an noying, Virginia passed land laws and sent a court of com missioners to adjudicate on the claims. They sat until April, 1780, settling 3,000 claims. Colonel Shelby attacked the Chickamauga Indians (Cher okees) below the rapids of the Tennessee River, with com plete success. A settlement was commenced in Middle Ten nessee, on the site of Nashville, this year. 1780. — The winter of 1779 and 1780 was extremely severe. Game in the woods and the stock of the settlers were often frozen and corn sold for $50 to $175 a bushel, in depreciated Continental money. There was much suftering. In June, a British and Indian force of 600, commanded by Colonel Byrd, of the British army, crossed the Ohio and ascended Licking River. They had six cannon. Two block-houses, or stations, Ruddle's and Martin's, surrendered at their approach. GEN. GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE. TRIUMPHANT VIGOR OF THE SETTLERS IN 1780. 229 For the moment there were not, it has been said, over 300 able-bodied men in all the scattered settlements of the inte rior of Kentucky. For some reason not explained the enemy retreated after these two conquests. Gen. George Rogers Clarke collected the settlers and the troops in garrison on the river and invaded the Indian country in Ohio, destroying the town and stores of the Miamis, which checked Indian hos tility for the time. As soon as spring opened, a large immigration down the Ohio took place, three hundred capacious flat-boats, with families and stock, reaching Louisville, which was incorporated as a town, this year, by the Legislature of Virginia. Former settlements increased in numbers and many new ones were commenced, especially in the neighborhood of Louisville. May 26, 1780, St. Louis, the capital of Upper Louisiana, was attacked by a large force, said to be 1,400 Indians and some English officers and Canadians. About sixty persons were killed and thirty taken prisoners, when the enemy with drew, in fear, it was said, of General Clarke then on the Mis- sisippi below, or from meeting with French friends among the citizens. St. Louis had then nearly 1,000 inhabitants. Clarke built a fort this spring, on the Mississippi, five miles below the mouth of the Ohio. The Chickasaws, who claimed that territory, complained that their permission had not been asked. In this year, the Legislature of Virginia organized three counties in Kentucky. In Tennessee, the settlers organized a regiment to assist in repelling the British who were endeav oring to force Western North Carolina into submission. They joined with the mountaineers of Virginia and North Caro lina and obtained the complete victory of King's Mountain, October 7, in which almost all the British troops were killed or taken prisoners. This severe loss was the turning point in the fortunes of Cornwallis. Thus, the West struck most effective blows for American liberty. A corps of these 230 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Valley men remained east of the mountains to assist'in the last campaign in South Carolina, in the following year. The Cherokees again commenced hostilities and marched on the settlements. Colonel Sevier met and defeated them, on Boyd's Creek. A larger force being gathered, the Cherokee towns were destroyed and the tribe forced to make a tempo rary peace. Emigrants followed this army to the French Broad River and settlements spread rapidly. 1781. — In this year a large number of unmarried women emigrated to Kentucky to find husbands and a home among the multitudes of unmarried men in that region. The Chick asaws attacked Fort Jefferson, on the Mississippi. General Clarke relieved, but afterward withdrew, the garrison. Col onel Brodhead led an expedition from the upper Ohio on an invasion of the Indian country without much eft'ect. The Cherokees continued their attacks on unguarded settlers, and their country was again invaded and laid waste by the Ten- nesseeans. A settlement of Americans was formed at Belle- fontaine, Monroe County, Illinois, this year. 1782. — Hostilities continued between Tennessee and the Cherokees, but the settlers there were so little scattered that they were able to rally in time to defeat an Indian expedition. A party of whites from Western Pennsylvania marched against the Moravian, or Christian (Delaware) Indians, on the Muskingum, and nearly one hundred of these harmless natives were murdered, in cold blood, by white men! The inhuman act was universally reprobated. In Kentucky Capt. James Estill was defeated and killed, March 22 ; Captain Holder, August 15 ; and Colonel Laughery, August 22. Six hundred Indians and British besieged (August 15) Bryan's Station, defended by flfty or sixty men, but were repulsed with a loss of thirty men. They were pursued by 182 Kentuckians, who were defeated with a loss of sixty-nine killed, twelve wounded, and seven taken prisoners. It was a disastrous year for Ken tucky. Gen. George Rogers Clarke gathered 1,050 men, in GROWTH AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTIONART WAR. 231 September marched rapidly into the heart of the Indian country, 130 miles up the Miami, destroyed an immense quantity of valuable stores, belonging to the British, and the Indian towns and crops. Peace being arranged between the United States and England about the same time, Indian ardor was somewhat cooled. 1783. — Kentucky was made a Judicial District and a Dis trict Court opened. In 1777 Tennessee had been formed into a county covering the whole state. It was called Washington. In 1779 Sullivan County was formed; and the third and fourth, formed in this year (1783), we»e called Greene and Davidson. A flood of immigration poured into both regions at the close of the war. But one store had ever been opened in Kentucky to this time. This year the second dry goods store was established at Louis ville, by Col. Daniel Brodhead. Some distilleries were built this year in Kentucky. 1784. — Virginia ceded her lands northwest of the Ohio to the General Government, and Congress forbid settlement there until it could obtain titles by treaty and purchase from the Indians. A store was opened in Lexington this year. An extensive movement toward the West after the war, especially by officers and soldiers of the disbanded armies, very soon doubled the number of inhabitants, and nearly all the choice lands then open to settlement were entered in the Land Offices. The flrst court house for Washington County, Tennessee, was built, being the first in Tennessee, and, for the first time, a wagon road was opened to the east, from Holston River. 1785. — The rivers rose this spring to an extraordinary height, the Mississippi reaching thirty feet above the highest water mark ever known. May 23, a convention held by the Ken tucky settlements urged separation from Virginia, and the formation of an Independent commonwealth. Another con vention assembled August 8, and employed still stronger lan guage in its addresses to Virginia and Kentucky. Various 232 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. new towns were founded, and counties formed, in Kentucky. The Indians began to renew their hostilities, and to murder scattered settlers in all parts of the West. A treaty with them was concluded, by General Clarke and others, at Fort Mcintosh, at the mouth of the Miami River, which, however, the Indians did not respect. They stole, October 26,' sixty horses near Maysville, Kentucky. In 1784, North Carolina made a conditional cession of Tennessee to the Federal Government. That state had not organized the Tennessee settlements with the thoroughness which their effective defense against the Indians required, nor was the United States Government prepare4 to do so. The settlers lost patience, called a convention, adopted a consti tution and organized the '' State of Franklin," or Frankland. The first session of the Legislature of this self-constituted state terminated March 31, 1785. North Carolina considered this action a revolt, its Legislature repealed the Act of Session and proceeded to make laws for the Tennessee counties as before. The Tennesseeans persisted and maintained an inde pendent state organization fbr several years. The Illinois settlements were enlarged in 1785, and also in the following year, when Indian hostilities recommenced. Several settlers were killed and others taken captive. Gen. George Rogers Clarke undertook an expedition against the Indians, which, from various causes, accomplished nothing. JOolonel Logan raised about 500 men, penetrated the Shawnee country, laid waste eight towns, and killed and captured about a hundred warriors, with a loss of but ten men. Spain refused the demand of the American Government to permit the free navigation of the Mississippi ; some of the Eastern statesmen were inclined to acquiesce, to the great discontent of the settlers in the Valley, who seemed inclined, in that case, to set up a separate government. But patriotism and good sense were not wanting to both parties and violent ill-feeling subsided in a few months. The " Pittsburgh Gazette,^' the A NEW PERIOD OF GROWTH COMMENCED. 233 first paper published in the Valley, issued its first number July 29, 1786. , The immigration now numbered yearly, from two to four thousand persons, and it is said that 20,000 troops could have been raised west of the mountains. The Cherokees continued to murder settlers and another expedition against them held them somewhat in check. 1787. — A convention of Kentuckians assembled at Dan ville, the capital, to confer in regard to the closing of the Mississippi. Finding that the General Government insisted on maintaining the rights of the American settlers in the Valley, and was disposed to defend them against Spain, they quietly dispersed. General Wilkinson went to New Orleans with tobacco and other produce and obtained per mission from the Spanish Governor to transport, free of duty, on his own accouat, all the products of Kentucky. The " Kent'ochy Gazette " was now established at Lexing ton, being the first newspaper in the state and the second in the West. The settlements in Middle Tennessee, on the Cumberland, had grown rapidly, but were much harassed by the Cherokees and Creeks. An expedition against them from Nashville this year, checked their ravages. The Ohio Indians were constantly hostile, killing and takinga«prisoners many of the Kentuckians. The " Ohio Company " was formed, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1786, ahd, in this year, purchased one million and a half acres in Ohio, to which private specu lations of men .eminent in public position added three and a half millions more, and more than three hundred thousand acres were granted as bounties to soldiers and actual settlers. The Ohio Company organized beforehand a local govern ment and made all arrangements for a vigorous settlement. Congress provided for the general government of the whole territory in the famous " Ordinance" of this year.. General St. Clair was appointed Governor, and 700 troops were ordered to the West, for the defense of the settlers. 234 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. 1788.— The "State of Franklin" by this time began to lose its vitality. North Carolina had pursued a firm but conciliatory policy, and, early in this year, the unauthorized government broke down and disappeared. Serious trouble with the Indians continued everywhere. The Creeks were at war with the people of Georgia and massacred the border settlers without mercy. The 7th April, 1788, is memorable as the day when the first permanent settlement was made in Ohio, by an advance party sent by the " Ohio Company " to prepare, at Marietta, on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Muskingum, a fort and houses for the families that were to follow. Many thousand settlers pushed their way across the mountains this year. Two other settlements were formed in Ohio in 1788, one being at Cincinnati. The Spanish authorities at New Orleans, and the Spanish Minister to the United States, i^n this year sought to detach the Valley from the Union, urging Kentucky to declare herself independent, offering many advantages of com merce and trade to a new govermnent; but, with all the disad vantages of distance, great difficulty in communication with the Atlantic States, and the ineffectual protection afforded by the Republic to the frontiers, constantly laid waste by the Indians, the people remai.ned fairly loyal to the Union. 1789. — In this and the following year eight different settle ments were made in Ohio. Kentucky was more harassed by Indians than Ohio at this time. In this year the eighth Ken tucky Convention was held, in relation to the formation of a state, and Virginia passed her fourth Act of Separation. There was opposition in Congress to its immediate admission, the northern representatives desiring Vermont, a free state, to be admitted at the same time. 1790. — A ninth convention accepted the conditions of Vir ginia for separation, and arrangements were made for the admission of Kentucky as a sovereign state in 1792. The population was now 73,677; of which 61,133 were white, 114 THE FIRST STATE ORGANIZED IN THE VALLEY. 235 free colored, 12,430 slaves. The whole Valley had about 200,000 inhabitants. General Harmar marched against the Indians but was unsuccessful. Tennessee received a Territorial Government in this year, William Blount being appointed Governor by President Washington. Tennessee had about 37,000 people. 1791. — The entire frontier, from the Mississippi to Pitts burgh and Georgia, was harassed by the Indians, and prepa rations were made to chastise them. In February Congress agreed to admit Kentucky as a state, June 1, 1792. In May Gen. Charles Scott marched against the Indians with 800 men (Kentuckians), defeated them sev eral times and destroyed several towns. In August Colonel Wilkinson led a similar expedition toward .the Wabash with similar results. Governor St. Clair, the General-in-Chief, with an army of 1,400 men, was totally defeated farther in the interior, November 4 — 890 men and sixteen officers being killed and wounded. November 5, 1791, ttie first newspaper was published in Tennessee, called The Knoxville Gazette. The town of Knox ville was laid out in this year. 1792. — June 1, Kentucky became a state, and on the 4th the new Legislature met. A new army was gathered' for the pro tection of the frontiers ; Gen. Anthony Wayne was appointed commander, and spent a year in drilling it. Frankfort became the capitol of Kentucky, and several towns were founded in that state, this je&r. Colonel Hardin and Major Truman, peace commissioners to the Indians, were killed. November 6, Maj. Adair, commanding 100 men, was defeated, near Eaton, Ohio. February 17, 1793, General McGillivray, a half blood, and chief of the Creeks, a man of education and great abilities, died. His rank as General was conferred by Washington. He received salaries from both the United States and Spain, was an astute diplomatist, and very wealthy. The Tennessee ans and Georgians waged a bloody war with the Cherokees 236 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. and Creeks. The last Indian invasions of Kentucky occurred this year. General Wayne did not get ready for his grand expedition until the season was too far past for a campaign, and deferred it to the coming year. November 9, the first newspaper in Ohio was established at Cincinnati. It was called The Sentinel of the Northwestern Territory. Kentucky was actively organizing its State Government. Many new settle ments were commenced, especially south of the Ohio. The Ohio settlers were in constant danger from the Indians. 1794. — Governor Simcoe, of Upper Canada, erected an Eng lish Fort at the rapids of the Maurriee, in April of this year; agents of Spain stimulated the Indians to hostility to the United States, and French agents endeavored to organize an expedition among the Kentuckians to attack New Orleans. The growing importance of the United States in the Great Valley became more and more evident each year. The gen eral government, through 1793, made every effort to procure a peaceable settlement with the Indians, which was one reason for the delay of General Wayne's attack; but the Indians insisted on the withdrawal of all settlers to the south of the Ohio, and effective negotiations failed. July 26, 1600 Kentucky volunteers joined General Wayne's army, and, August 20, he defeated an Indian force of 2,000, after an hour's fight, and pursued them two miles, up to the guns of the British Fort. The battle ground was eleven miles southwest of Toledo. The Americans had thirty-three killed and 100 wounded. For fourteen years the inhabitants of Middle Tennessee had been constantly exposed to the attacks of the Cherokees and Creeks. In numerous expeditions they had retaliated and preserved their settlements from total destruction. On the 13th of September, 1794, the inhabitants — who had been more than usually harassed, many families and individuals having been killed, and nearly all the horses in Middle Tennessee stolen — assembled to chastise them, invaded the Cherokee FINAL CLOSE OF THE OLD INDIAN WARS. 237 towns, and fought a decisive battle, which procured a toler able state of peace, lasting until the war of 1812. In this year a Territorial Assembly was first elected. It met at Knoxville, in February. The General Government had much difficulty in restraining the tide of immigration on all the borders within the limits of purchases made from the Indians. The Georgians, especially, constantly pressed on the Creeks. Georgia claimed thewhole territory lying west of it to the Mississippi River, and made treaties and sales of land in defiance of the Federal authori ties, and to the intense disgust and rage of the Creeks. In this year Georgia sold large sections of Alabama and Missis sippi to various land companies. The contracts were repealed by the next Legislature, but many hundreds of settlers had spread over portions of the lands. These held their ground, laying the permanent foundations of "settlements in the terri tory, afterwards erected into those states ; but, unhappily, the discontent of the Creeks, restrained for some years, and then inflamed by Tecumseh, produced the terrible retaliation of the Creek War of 1813 and 1814. 1795. — The old Indian Wars were now brought to a close. August 3, all the tribes of the Upper Valley signed a treaty, at Greenville, Ohio, which continued in force until 1811, when Tecumseh united the tribes for another effort to preserve their hunting grounds. With this year closed the perils from the Indians on the Ohio and its ' tributaries. Nearly the whole of the present state of Ohio was now open to peaceful settlement. Forts and settlements, in Indiana on the Ohio, Wabash, and Mau mee Rivers offered further security to Kentucky and Ohio, but the Indians were completely cowed, for the present, and heroism had henceforth only nature and the want of markets to struggle against. It is remarkably characteristic of the native American that this deadly struggle had no depressing effect, but, on the con- 238 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. trary, was a healthy stimulus to the new settlers. Every blow was returned with interest, all distress and trial was borne without murmuring, and the axe, the hoe, or the rifle were used in turn with equal cheerfulness and resolution. But it left a deep impression on the character of the people", which was intensifled and developed by later circumstances and events. This period has been presented in the form of a condensed chronicle, to indicate the more important of the events that crowded it with excitement and showed the heroic daring of the first settlers. A detailed narrative would require too much space. CHAPTER IX. WHOLESALE SETTLEMENT UNDER DIFFICULTIES. Kentucky became an independent State just before the close of the Indian War, and Tennessee just after. The early explo rations had been made under imminent danger. Indeed, many of the first companions of Boone fell under the Indian gun or tomahawk before he took his family into the dangerous wild erness. Cabins were raised and cornfields cleared, planted and gathered while the exasperated Mingo chief, Logan, was taking a terrible vengeance for the brutal murder of his fam ily, and the year following Kentucky received 500 settlers. These were the two Heroic States. The birth of their settle ments occurred while the thunder of commencing war was rolling, peal after peal, from Lexington and Bunker Hill to Savannah, along the Atlantic coast. Their youth was passed under constant attacks from the O hio Indians on the north and the Cherokees and Creeks on the south. In the meantime the new born states of the coast had their hands abundantly full in asserting independence of the strongest maritine power in the world, whose attacks were invited by a long line of unprotected coast. The heroes of the wilderness did not emigrate to fight the Indians, *hey would gladly have kept the peace, but their presence, and especially their agricultural clearings and com fortable log cabins, which indicated an intention to stay, were regarded by the tribes as a declaration of war. They could hope for no certain aid from the other side of the mountains. They might feel happy if they could obtain powder and ball to protect themselves. "But none of these things moved them." The fruitful soil, and sunny bottoms, and shady slopes drew them with an irresistible attraction. All that 339 240 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. was dear and valuable to them was in constant danger of sud den ruin from a foe that knew no pity and spared neither the harmless child, the helpless woman, nor the property he could not carry away. They were ever ready for a stout defense, to strike a quick, sharp blow and then to offer peace, that they might resume the axe and .the hoe. They were neither fierce, revengeful nor melancholy. They bore up hardily against ill fortune, and cheerfully, even gaily, enjoyed all the good they could win and whatever sunshine fell to their lot. So the deeply tried pioneers held their ground, sent cheerful hails back across the mountains, and thousands, kindred to them in cheerful resolution and contempt of danger because they were strong in the hope soon to become prosperous farmers, con stantly joined them. Want of a standing body of soldiers to watch and ward off danger, want of means, and even of weapons and muni tions of war, want of organization and authority to act when action was pressingly required, added unspeakably to their difficulties and calamities through the whole period. By the time these embarrassments were overcome through the state organizations, which permitted efficient action and prevision in their own behalf, the danger was over. They had borne patiently the fearful heat and burden of the day, and now they were at liberty to care fbr their individual, social and political interests without disturbance. The best lands had already been taken up, their healthy, bold and hardy children were thronging around them and immigration began to fill up all the corners and gaps between their settlements. The new lands beyond the Ohio were now opened and the great and promising West began to attract New England. But the " Old Settlers," of ten or twelve years, who had cleared the way for two lusty young commonwealths, were still the heroes of toil, privation and labor. They hurried across the Ohio by thousands to commence anew on a still richer soil and under more favorable circumstances, and gave THE TOILS OF THE EMIGRANTS. 241 an important degree of tone and direction to the new common wealths of the Northwest. For twenty-five years settlement was to proceed under great difficulties. There were no roads to the East; for ten years the Mississippi was practically closed to trade, and when the vast Louisiana territory was acquired and the Mississippi was all their own, the transpor tation and the markets in that direction were quite as inade quate to the needs of the large population thfen gathered in the upper Valley as in former years. There was still abund ant opportunity to struggle with difficulty, for everything necessary to the development of a vast region and a civilized people was yet to be created. Kentucky and Tennessee, as lying further east and now comparatively old regions, were in the best circumstances. In seven years from the close of the Indian War, the North west Territory had gained at least 75,000 inhabitants, besides those previously there, those who had been born, and those who had died. A large pairt of these had crossed the moun tains; many of them had traveled nearly one thousand miles from their starting point, over roads rude and poor, even in the settled part of the East, but for the last few hundred miles, indescribably rough and difficult. Perhaps an average of fifteen to twenty thousand crossed the mountains to different parts of the Valley each year. With infinite patience and toil they climbed and descended the steep ridges, and labored across the levels through deep ruts and mudholes, and then had some hundreds of miles farther to travel, often through a pathless wilderness. Only the most indispensable articles could be transported so far, and when the journey's end was reached, they were at the beginning of a mighty task. The heavy forests were to be painfully laid low, and then their branches and trunks must be disposed of; the houses and barns were to be built; the conveniences and comforts of life were to be created, with in and without. Nearly all this must be the work of their 16 242 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. hands, for although the virgin soil would readily give them abundance of surplus grain, there was little market for it at any price. Difficulty and distance made exchanges with the out side world nearly impossible. A little found its way to New Orleans; a little filtered across the mountains to the Eastern seaboard ; and thousands of incoming settlers, who were to be supplied for a year or more, with the mechanics and traders of the towns, made a small local market. As a rule, rude comforts were abundant and luxuries very difficult of attain ment — when known at all. As the years wore away, however, the arts of the East were gradually introduced, the new became old, and difficulties were more or less overcome, although the plenty itself became an increasing embarrassment; for the cultivated areas of pro ductive soil enlarged more than the markets they could reach. The attraction of the West had been such that when the nine teenth century opened the population of the Valley, all told, was not far from half a million — two thirds of which was in the upper Valley. During the first ten years of the century the increase was very large indeed, for, by the census, the pop ulation was, in 1810, about 1,300,000. Ohio and Kentucky had received more than half of this increase ; Tennessee and Mississippi about as much together as Kentucky; Indiana, Missouri and Louisiana together about 100,000; Illinois about 10,000, and Michigan probably 1,500. Population was largely concentrated near the rivers, especially the Ohio, whose shores began to bear the appearance of a long-settled region. The resolute energy of the people soon introduced order and all the improvements within the reach of labor. Much money was invested from the East, or found its way up the Mississippi. And now followed three years of war, full of apprehension on the borders where the Indians still held their lands and resolved to make a final stand under Tecumseh, aided by the English Government, against further loss by treaty or force. THE WAR REMOVES BARRIERS TO PROGRESS. 243 Again it was dangerous to be found in the woods alone in Indiana, Illinois and Northern Ohio, or to build the log cabin distant from strong settlements. Yet it had become the habit to organize, and territorial officers were at hand to take the initiative and guard the points of danger. The population of the East was still eager to get to the Land of Plenty and Hope, and, as before, war did not prevent immigration, and the more that it was the war of the Government in a somewhat different sense from the war of the Revolution. Tecumseh's wider plans among the Western tribes were a failure from the first. The battles were fought by the regular soldiers and their presence, and the expenditure of Government funds in the West, made an unusually favorable opportunity for the sale of produce. The commerce of the Atlantic cities was dried up by the war on the ocean, and distress fell on the East, while the old plenty still reigned in the West. The land victories of the war by Western generals about Lake Erie and at New Orleans, the death of Tecumseh and the complete subjugation of the Creeks, filled the men of the Valley with pride and enthusiasm and reflected honor on the West and the South. Pointless and unsatisfactory as was the close of the war with England, in some respects, it was a complete triumph to the Valley by removing effectually the old barriers to advance ment. The Indians of the eastern Valley gave up the attempt to stem the tide of aggression and consented to the sale of such lands as were required for settlement. The wild lands of the West had been repeatedly traversed by soldiers, and otherwise more completely studied; the Government and eastern people now fully comprehended that the body of wealth and the greatest sources of prosperity and power lay in the West; and a fever for improvements that should make it more accessible grew fast. The road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh was improved. A great national road, called the Cumberland, opened the way from the southeast far into the 244 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. Valley ; the building of the Erie Canal was begun ; steamers began to ply on the rivers ; Ohio soon undertook to connect the river on the south with the lake on the north; and other improvements began to smooth the great difficulties to immi gration and prosperity in the northwest. Since 1810, Ohio had increased her population, according to the census of 1820, by 200,000; Indiana and Illinois had become states, and Mis souri was only waiting the final act of graduation. The great work of opening the newer parts of the country was still done, however, under difficulties quite unknown at later periods. The lower Valley had wonderfully prospered in settlement since the Louisiana purchase. Settlements had penetrated Alabama from Mobile up the rivers from the south, and as an extension of those of Middle Tennessee on the north. In 1810 there were 10,000 or more whites and negroes in Alabama ; Mississippi had grown greatly both from the Gulf and the River; Louisiana had become a state in 1812. Access to these regions was not so difficult as to the upper Valley. The borders, and parts of the interior, were reached frpm the sea and from the upper Valley by the Great River, while no mountains separated them from the Atlantic coast. When the hostility of the Creeks was overcome, and the ChickasaWs and Choctaws became willing to sell large tracts of their lands, government roads had been long built toward the east, over which the cheerful and patriarchal planters of Virginia, the two Carolinas and Georgia had passed with their troops of servants, herds and flocks, and their comfortable furniture. Settling largely along the rivers, navigable to the Gulf, they had less difficulty in flnding a market for their productions as they began to grow in volume ; cotton, sugar and rice were profitable, because confined to that climate, and they only needed the result of Jackson's confiict with the Creeks to render them wealthy and strong from Louisiana to Georgia. Mississippi and Alabama became states before 1820, and since 1810 the emigrants to the " Louisiana Purchase," GEEAT SPREAD OF SETTLEMENTS AFTER THE WAR. 245 who had crossed the Mississippi River to seek homes, num bered one hundred and fifty thousand. Thus the close of the war in 1815 dated the dawn of a new era, though it was not fully opened till about 1820. Difficul ties, however, were not regarded. The people of the East were eager to reach and develop the treasures in the glo rious agricultural Valley that had waited so many thousand years to be thoroughly comprehended. They and the Valley were perfectly matched at last. In 1820 the Valley had nearly the same population as the thirteen colonies when, in 1769, Tennessee received her first settlers — or 2,500,000. Indiana and Alabama had each re ceived about 100,000 since 1815 ; Illinois, about 40,000 ; "Kentucky and Tennessee each about 150,000 — Tennessee this time leading in the number, perhaps from the larger emigration from Kentucky across the Ohio and Mississippi; but both contributed largely to the increase of newer regions. They two, with Ohio, sent at least 100,000 to set an example of bold and strong, if uncouth, frontier virtues to the settlers of the prairies from older states beyond the mountains. Thus, after the war there was a sudden diffusion of settle ment, led, perhaps, by the mania for speculation as much as by the more moderate desire for a home and property in a soil each farm on which was worth a gold mine. Towns sprang up as by magic, and he who secured the location before its future could be generally comprehended became at once a rich man through the rise in the value of the lands. This spirit has often been ridiculed by people from more staid com munities whose age of rapid growth was long past, but they must be a very careless and thriftless people who are so insen sible to the love of gain as not to be moved by such wonderful opportunities. It had, indeed, some disagreeable and demor alizing features ; but they were displayed quite as much by shrewd men who lived by their wits in the East as by actual residents in the Valley. 246 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Transportation on the rivers still continued to be chiefly by flatboats, keelboats and barges, of rude and cheap construc tion, floated down by the current and propelled against it from below by the stout and muscular arms of hardy men. They were often of large size, containing one or more families with their household goods, farm implements, stock and more or less provisions if they were going to the backwoods. These fam ily boats were of all sizes, and made the great water highway an enlivening spectacle. But multitudes of flatboats were loaded with farm produce, which was taken down to New Orleans for sale, the boats there broken up for lumber, and the crews journeyed back by lighter boats, by land, or, in the later years, by steainboat. These flatboats continued to be in use until the days of railways, notwithstanding the multipli cation of steamboats. They were cheap, grain and other pro duce from the upper Valley was low in price and time was not so valuable to men then as now. They counted many thousands almost up to 1850. This gave rise to a class of boatmen for whom a rude life had attractions, who were often boisterously rough and some times criminally violent, among the quiet river towns; but usually they were so under the influence of careless merri ment rather than malice. Boisterous joke, and jest, and song echoed from the river banks from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. It was the unpolished, but free and essentially just and manly, opening of a new phase of human experience — a new nation was displaying the lusty vigor of its youth and developing, in unrestrained and uncultured fullness, the leading characteris tics of the future in the generous and smiling Valley. The efforts and expenditures of the General Government, of States, and of private wealth and enterprise gradually ameliorated the difficulties of the primitive times of settle ment. But at the close of the war, forty years after the strong commencement of the stream of immigration had fully settled the fact that the West was to br Jninndiaiely SOCIAL HABITS OF THE PIONEERS IN 1816. 247. occupied by Anglo-Americans, the life of the people was still that of pioneers, buried in the heart of the continent. In 1816 there were no markets to speak of but those supplied by the people themselves and the vast immigration. Luxury and elegance were to be found, to some extent, in the towns where outside wealth had surmounted all difficulties, and ingenious skill had created comfort in a still wider circle ; but among the people at large the early difficulties still remained. Food was abundant and the more substantial requirements of life were nowhere lacking. A primitive simplicity and hearti ness reigned. Kentucky and Tennessee, as the longest settled, the most inured to deprivation of the thousand accessories of prosperous social life in older countries, furnish the strongest picture. All that grain and vegetables, the game of the forests and the herds, fiocks and poultry yards could furnish, were enjoyed in unlimited abundance. To these add fish from the streams, the products of the dairy, wild and cultivated fruit, with maple or New Orleans sugar as a rarity, and the kitchen may be considered richly supplied with the healthiest and the best materials for the table. No necessities of economy restrained hospitality; a frank, cheerful and independent spirit had largely abolished the idea of social distinctions except between the white and the black; the difficulties of beginnings were past and the situation did not yet permit much opportunity of large acquisitions from agriculture. Therefore there was little to check social intercourse, there was leisure, abundance, and general sympathy to promote it. The social habits of the times were unrivaled, perhaps, in any time or place, for geniality and heartiness. This was a general tone through all the Valley, varied north of the Ohio by the more thrifty and provident habits of the New England settlers, whom, yet, the peculiar circumstances inclined to greater openness of heart and hand than accorded with their ordinary habit. Dangers, privations, hopes and plenty shared together, while yet the elements of society were unclassified, 248 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. produced singularly pleasant intercourse. This was often in tensified by its rarity in a region so large, where farms and settlements were frequently separated by great distances. Churches and religious organizations were rare, and great gatherings in " camp-meetings " became a feature of the Cen tral Valley. These were held in the delightful forests, and gathered all the inhabitants, to the number, sometimes, of many thousands, from great distances around. They, in part, served the purposes of social meetings and of the politician, who courted acquaintance and public favor, as well as of the earnestly religious. Social life had then its Golden Period. It was never more free from the deceptions, hollow appear ances and envies of an older country. Dress was simple, in expensive, and chiefiy homespun ; manners were truly cordial and free, and life was so healthy that there was comparatively little vice. It was the frank, open, generous youth of society, before the cares, ambitions and antagonisms of later life have begun. This condition was very gradually changed in after years, though the locality was subject to constant transfer. The towns were already much like Eastern towns, and society there was more or less collected around natural centers. Character and condition had begun the work of analysis and separation. The introduction of steam on the rivers, the spread of a speculating mania, and the gradual withdrawal of the wealthy, educated and ambitious into social coteries by themselves, soon raised distinctions, in the older regions, but community of feeling and free hospitality traveled westward with the new settlements. By 1820 the depression of the war, the increase of steam boats on the rivers, and the opening of other channels of com munication, had raised the number of recent settlers above that of the older residents, and considerably modified the character of pioneer life. The poor of Europe fiocked in, the educated youth of the East, who hoped for more rapid advance- 249 ment, came West, with enterprising men of business, who looked forward here to larger fortunes more easily made. What would become of this medley of people of such diverse training, habits and character? The question was often asked by the philanthropist and statesman with much anxiety. CHAPTER X. THE STEAMBOAT ERA. The feeling of isolation in the upper Valley from the mar kets of the East grew as the immigration became wholesale. Not only was the distance to tidewater towns across the moun tains far more difficult to pass than that across the Atlantic now, but the distances were so great in the Valley itself, by want of roads and the circuitous routes by the rivers, and by the impossibility of employing the wind as a motive power, to any great or certain extent, that the moving of the only materials whereby wealth could be accumulated became in creasingly burdensome and unprofitable. The larger the area opened for cultivation the less valuable had produce become. The distance from New Orleans to Atlantic seaports by sailing vessels was great and the passage perilous. So costly was transport, even to those who lived imme diately by the rivers, that little was to be made, and a vast amount of labor was required to compass that little. It had its compensations in making the inhabitants of the extremes ofthe Valley known to each other and entered as an element of cul ture into the life and thoughts of the backwoodsmen. It also strengthened the bonds of union between the distant parts of the country, which was no small matter at this early period. Yet, those who could only find good lands at a distance from the streams obtained little pay for anything they could pro duce. The cost of getting it to market was too great, the Valley was too prolific for so large a number of farmers and so much isolation from the world of men and the centers of trade. But when this difficulty began to threaten to crush the poorer and later immigrants a new motive power was developed to wonderful efficiency. The Age of Steam 350 THE STEAMBOAT AS AN ELEMENT OF PROGRESS. 251 was fairly opened about 1820; just when, but for it, the progress of the Valley would have been crippled. With the steamboat the whole situation was changed. Now, a voyage to New Orleans from the extremes of the upper Valley could be made, and the returns effected, in less than a month, with out the painful labors and exposures that often shortened the lives of the boatmen. The steamboats were capacious and could take vast loads down the river in a few days. The river system of the Valley seemed the true home of the steamboat and the improvement was immense. A vast dis tance was almost annihilated by this wonderful mechanical force, and the pulsations of the steamer gave a richer and more successful life to the struggling farmer far in the woods or on the most distant prairies. It was the power needed to give a lively circulation through the whole body of the Valley. The result, as condensed from official and other documents of the time, was substantially as follows : There were 8 steam ers built on the Ohio previously to 1817, some of which did not return after descending to New Orleans, being retained there for local trade, or other reasons. They were the trial boats, and it was still some years before steam began to aid directly and largely in the prosperity of the whole Valley. By 1825, so great was the ingenuity and enterprise applied by the bold and active men of the West that a hundred or more were in use, and some of them were considered the finest boats, both for service and elegance, in the world. Thus the manufac turing industry of the Valley wrote " Excelsior " on its ban ner of progress in the early days. From 1819 to 1829 the whole number of steamboats built was estimated as embracing a capacity of 56,000 tons, at a first cost of $5,600,000, with repairs amounting, in the same time, to $2,800,000. In the year 1829 there were over two hundred steamers in use, having a capacity of 35,000 tons, their expenditures for fuel, hands, food and other things 252 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. amounting to v^ry near $2,500,000. These boats made five or six trips in the year. Twelve years before (1817) the trade of the Ohio Valley and " Upper Country " was esti mated at about 2,000 tons annually, in boats which made but one trip in the year, with very little expenditure to enrich the settlers on the way. In 1834 the number of boats was 230, with an aggregate capacity of 39,000 tons, and the running expenses- amounted to $4,644,000. The amount of fuel consumed in the year cost nearly $1,500,000. These boats were more cheaply built than in earlier times, and the capital invested in them was estimated at $3,000,000. Thus over seven and a half million dollars were spent in the Valley merely in conducting the business. In 1832 it was estimated that, besides the steamboats, 4,000 flat- boats descended the river, the whole expenditure on them, in cluding their expenses, being $1,380,000; while the cost and expenses of the steamboats in use that year were $5,906,000. The value of the produce exported on them was estimated at $26,000,000. This was more than $30,000,000 distributed broadcast over the Valley by the commerce of the rivers. The n\imber of persons deriving their subsistence from employ ment in connection with the making, repairing and working of the boats was believed to be about 90,000. These persons furnished local markets to the agricultural producers, and the cash amounts realized by the farmers, chiefly of the upper Valley, were millions on the sale of their crops, besides their own support. This continued to increase at a large ratio, fbr, with results so excellent, immigration increased, facilities for transportation multiplied, and markets enlarged. The effect of this commerce in cheapening M'hat the people of the Val ley wished to import from the Eastern States was great. The carriage of goods from the seaboard to Pittsburgh was long estimated at $5 to $8 per hundred pounds. They could often now import from Philadelphia by way of New Orleans for $1 per hundred — a vast gain to the purchaser in the Valley. COMMERCE OF THE LAKES AND RIVERS IN 1842. 253 Official statistics in 1842 indicate an immense development of internal commerce on the rivers and lakes in eight years. Six hundred steamboats and four thousand flatboats were then employed. The tonnage of the steamboats was 126,000. This was largely in excess of the capacity of the entire steamboat tonnage of the British Empire at that time. More than 200,- 000 persons were directly employed in expediting this naviga tion, and the cost of the boats, machinery, furnitjure, and entire annual expenses counted up to about twenty million dollars, about fifteen million of which was spent annually in the Valley. As the increase in tonnage was more than three hundred per cent in ten years, we may suppose that the trade, and its profits to the Valley, had increased in the same proportion. It is stated that the entire tonnage of all vessels in the United States was but two thirds that of Great Britain at this time; yet the steamboat tonnage on western waters exceeded, by about one third, the same class of vessels belong ing to that " Mistress of the Seas." This fact is an eloquent comment on the intelligent energy gained by Anglo-Ameri cans, since, as Anglo-Saxons, they had emigrated from Eng land. The mixture of other nationalities had not weakened either intelligence or energy. Finding a new and suitable instrument for use, they developed it, notwithstanding_ their want of capital, of skilled labor, and in spite of various other difficulties, with a vigor that put the extreme resolution of England to the blush. In these instruments of internal com merce it was estimated that, in 1842, $220,000,000 worth of commercial exchanges floated on the western waters. At this time the entire imports and exports of the whole United States amounted to a little less thah $250,000,000. If the coast trade of the Southern States and rivers not included in the $220,000,000 be added — and it was extremely valuable, being chiefly cotton and rice for export, and much of the provisions of the Southern people, besides almost all the manufactured articles they required in exchange — the trade of the Valley 254 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. must have been considerably in excess of the whole foreign trade of the country. The southern Valley was now in a full tide of prosperity, and gave itself up almost exclusively to the cultivation of its three staples, cotton, sugar and rice. It expanded and glowed under its warm southern sun, by the enterprise and wealth of its planters and the toil of its dusky laborers. The planters loved space, and large plantations everywhere increased. The Indians had been removed and their territories occupied; Texas was about to be added, and room was abundant. The smaller . streams bore the cotton to the coast; the rice and sugar found their best locality near it. Thus, from the Lakes to the Gulf, the intelligent and forceful inhabitants found every desirable opportunity for profitable enterprise. All the regions of the Valley offered perennial springs of wealth to a people who knew how to open them, and never had a people shown this ability so eminently as those who had now found their way here. In 1820 the preliminaries necessary to the commencement of the actual development of all the fields of activity and income in the Valley had been supplied. Suitable institu tions and a fairly enlightened political economy had been devised;' set in operation, and found to work fairly well for the time; embarrassing foreign influences had been removed; population had been diffused sufficiently to bring all the sources of strength to the support of the shrewd energy of the people, and the application, of steam as a motive power was about to multiply a hundred fold the effectiveness of those energies, and supply the great lack of population for the vast work to be done. A large fiatboat on the Western rivers required forty to fifty men; a steamboat with the same number carried perhaps ten times the burden in a fifth part of the time, could ascend the current easily and speedily, and make several trips during one season. In 1817 the Erie Canal, connecting the waters and naviga- VAST IMMIGRATION BETWEEN 1830 AND 1850. 255 tion of Lake Erie with the Hudson, was commenced. It was finished in 1825. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, in due time, followed this example ; the wagon road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh was improved ; and the Cumber land road rendered communication between the Potomac and the Ohio Rivers easy. Although the completion of all these channels of internal commerce required more than thirty years, some of them were well advanced in 1820, and a jour ney from New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore to the centers of population in the Valley was as rapid and easy as one from Boston to Philadelphia in the first years of independence. The East and the West were joined by the strong ties of interest and trade. The effect of the greater freedom and ease of communica tion on the progress of settlement, during this third period of Valley growth, was very remarkable. By 1830 the pop ulation of the Valley was 4,190,000 — an increase of nearly ¦ two million in ten years. Indiana, Tennessee and Alabama had each gained, in the ten years, about 200,000 inhabitants; Ohio, 350,000 ; the other states from sixty to two hundred thousand each ; Michigan about 23,000 ; Arkansas 15,000. In 1840 the population of the Valley was over 6,700,000, the greatest gains being made in the three states lying north of the Ohio River ; Alabama, Mississippi and Michigan come next ; followed by Missouri, Louisiana and Arkansas. From 1840 to 1850, the gain was about three and a half millions. About one third of this was gained in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin ; more than one fourth crossed the Mississippi, and the remainder settled in the states lying between Lake Erie and the Gulf The population of the Valley in 1850 considerably exceeded that ofthe whole coun try in 1820— rising above 10,000,000. Yet, in 1860, the census showed a gain in the Valley almost equal to the population of the whole Valley in 1840. Between 1840 and 1850 Illinois gained more than 400,000 256 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. inhabitants; Indiana over 300,000; Michigan nearly 350,000 Wisconsin 275,000; Iowa 150,000; Missouri almost .300,000 Arkansas 100,000; Louisiana 235,000; Mississippi 370,000 Alabama about 280,000; Texas 100,000 or more. Ohio beat them all, gaining 470,000. Kentucky people had a fancy for emigrating, to " grow up with a new country," and gained but 90,000. Tennessee increased by 140,000. These were vast changes to take place so suddenly. In a single generation a wilderness had become an empire. Many a man who had fought the Indians in Kentucky and Ohio in his youth lived to see the Valley under the aspect of an old country, himself as lost amid its busy and thriving millions as he had often found himself, in early life, among the pathless forests. Cities and towns had sprung up, as if by magic, along the rivers and lakes. Canals, whose united length might almost span the continent, were channels of busy activity, and many hundreds of steamers constantly vexed the waters of the great rivers. Yet, this was only preliminary to the greater growth that was to follow. The cotton of the southern Valley and the grain of the northern could not get to the seaboard fast enough, with all these outlets. Inexhaustible fertility supplied so large a surplus that food was cheap and it would not pay to cul tivate land away from the rivers, and the spaces were so vast that ten millions of people could only skirt the streams and cover the more accessible prairies. A new carrying agent, of greater compass and speed, was required. But neither nature nor circumstances seemed willing to deny anything to the Beautiful Valley, and what it required was forthcoming. With 1850 commenced the great development of the Railway System. CHAPTER XI. THE RAILROAD EEA. The floating commerce of the West had reached the value of $500,000,000 before 1850, the number of steamboats rising to 1,190 as early as 1847; and yet the increasing abundance qf the products of the soil kept all the channels of exit glutted, or, if they were not, it was only that the requisite cheapness of transport failed, and that it was unprofitable to raise all that the Valley so bountifully offered to the labor of its favored possessors. The situation and aims of southern agri culturists confined them to their special staples and prevented a general development of all the resources of their section; they fell behind the North in various lines of progress, and both foreign and domestic markets were to be sought through the commercial and manufacturing cities on or near the coast of the North Atlantic. Steamboats could not reach these mar kets directly east, the canals were not adequate to the immense business from Lake Erie; the roundabout transport by New Orleans from the upper Valley, with the hot tropical seas, and the dangers of the South Atlantic coast, made it objec tionable as a route for the transport of grain to the northern cities, or, as it was thought, to Europe. The steamboat had done much for the Valley, but it had its limits of use fulness. These difficulties might possibly be put up with if development were to be arrested, or to proceed with a more measured step; but the rate of development had been acquired and it must proceed with ever-increasing rapidity. The means of overcoming this difficulty had been foreseen for twenty years ; a new application of steam had begun to aid in solving the problem. By 1830 the success of railways in the East was fairly assured.. Their progress was attentively 17 357 268 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. observed from the West, and it was very soon decided that this was the special instrument needed for the development' of the upper Valley. The interiors of the prairie states and ter ritories were unprofitable for settlement from the inadequate supply of lumber, the expense of reaching markets and the low price of agricultural products. By the -winter of 1835-6 the great progress made in ten years and the general prosperity of the country led the people of the West to feel that nothing was impossible to them. They proposed to cover the prairies with railroads and do precisely that which has been done in later years. The courage, the self-reliance, the sense of power, which had brought them successfully through the Heroic Period, through the immense difficulties of the following twenty-five years, and had then developed the internal com merce of the country to such vast proportions, by the steam boat, filled them with buoyant exultation. They had sur mounted formidable difficulties with a pertinacious energy that certainly gave them the right to feel proudly confident. Western Legislatures seemed to fully comprehend the mean ing of the railroad; they saw at once that the results would be what they have since become. Young America, in this region of boundless opportunities, showed a quickness of apprehen sion and a courage of endeavor equal to the occasion. At this time (1836) the Legislature of Illinois incorporated companies for building railroads whose contemplated length was three tho'uswnd, two humdred and eighty-seven miles. The Legisla ture of Missouri incorporated one and contemplated another. Such was the spirited feeling of the men of the West! But they had not counted the cost, had not yet bargained with cap ital, nor taken possible disasters into the account. The coun try had been growing prosperous beyond any similar experi ence of mankind ; grave business men and statesmen lost their mental equilibrium with the sight of a growth so rapid, and, evidently, so solid ; the national debt was extinguished except a few hundred thousand dollars, which could not be paid, EFFECTS OF THE FINANCIAL PANIC OF 1837. 259 though it might have been done ten times over with funds at hand; with a large surplus income it determined to lend to the states, and the West felt itself thoroughly prosperous. With such fair prospects everybody made haste to be rich, and credit was almost unlimited ; the future was judged by the immediate past, and its growth freely pledged for loans that were expected to multiply results indefinitely. But they now received a sad lesson on the evils of over-confidence and over-haste. Credit had gone too far and assumed too much. An attempt to rectify itself resulted in panic and a hasty attempt of lenders to recover from creditors; this could not be done at once nor at all without the expected help of the future. A sudden fall of values was the result. This created great distress, especially in the Valley, where so much had been invested which could not make returns for years. Rail road projects were therefore mostly abandoned until better times and the people of the Valley set themselves to the work of repairing the injuries of the storm of disaster. The few railways that went on proceeded very slowly. Young Amer ica must learn to be patient as well as courageous. Railroads were steadily pressed forward in the East, how ever, so that, in 1850, there were 8,600 miles of road in use. Only a few hundred of these were in the Valley ; but those in the East, were, in many cases, lines, or parts of lines, built from the seaboard cities toward it. Some of them had reached its borders. Boston was joined to New York and that city with Lake Erie ; Chicago was connected with Detroit near Lake Erie ; and the upper Ohio was about to be joined to Philadelphia and Baltimore by two routes. The East was as eager to tap the streams of wealth in the Valley, for its own benefit, as the West was to open larger channels for the outfiow of its abundance for the sake of sale. The difficulty was in a deficiency of capital. Hundreds of millions of dollars required to be withdrawn from immedi ately productive pursuits, large returns must be deferred for 260 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. some years, and some uncertainty must be allowed in many of the ventures. In the earlier days this capital could not be at once spared. The beginnings already made had exhausted the accumulations seeking investment; there must be time for fresh accumulations. This point was suddenly gained by the discovery of gold in California. The amount was so large and continued to flow so long that capital at once became abundant, and by various channels found its way to invest ment in the railroad system of the Valley that had been so liberally projected fifteen years before. Some hundreds of millions of gold were supplied to the floating, or cash, capi tal of the country when it was most needed. The railroad system already united with steamboat navigation to connect the lakes and the upper Ohio with the northern Atlantic; now a new impulse was given to constuction ; the omissions in th"e chain were filled in; various roads soon crossed the Valley, extended down the rivers and along the lakes, to compete with the steamboat; the interiors were connected with the commercial centers, and any section it was desired to completely open up to settlement was supplied with a railroad. The great destiny of the Northwest had already become apparent, but it had been embarrassed by the difficulties attending the settlement of an interior prairie region, by the ice and storms of winter, and by the difficulty of navigating the rivers during the low water of summer. Chicago now became a great railroad center as well as port for shipping; lines of railway radiated from it in all directions. In 1842 Illinois had but forty-two miles of railroad and in 1852 but one hundred and forty-eight; in 1860 it had 2,811, Wisconsin nearly 1,000, and the system had already begun to expand west of the Mississippi. Missouri had two lines, begun early in the decade. The great lumber regions of Wisconsin and Minne sota now furnished building material in cheap abundance, which was distributed where most needed — on the prairies— by the railroads. EASE AND COMFORT OF SETTLEMENT WITH RAILROADS. 261 The eager desire of the American people to acquire full possession of the great wealth the Valley offered them was now fully met by facilities equal to their need. The East poured its people west in a mighty fiood. The peasants and artisans of Europe came by the hundred thousand, replacing the drain from the East as well as multiplying the emigrants to the West. There was a transfer of millions from the East to the West. It hardly bore the character of emigration, for the railroads often received considerable communities of friends and neighbors, with all their movable comforts and belongings, set them down together, on some vacant spot on the beautiful prairies, and, in a brief space, furnished them all the means of replacing their abandoned homes by still more beautiful ones. In a year or two the farms had been fenced and tilled, the buildings put in order, the village artisans settled to their callings, the school and church supplied, and a mature, orderly and prosperous community was pursuing its quiet way as before in the East. " Going West " was no longer becoming pioneers, to suffer deprivation, to pass through years of strug gle with -difficulty before the comforts and advantages left could be replaced. With every facility for instantly sur rounding themselves with all the conveniences of life, and entering immediately on the work of production, they had all the advantages of distant markets brought to their doors, and a considerable income could be immediately obtained. It was a vast change, suddenly 'wrought, and the more sud denly that it was now chiefiy the prairie that was sought. The accessible timbered regions had been settled before. With so much ease and convenience of replacing homes and incomes, the transfer from the East to the West was made in masses, and the gain of population in the Valley between 1850 and 1860 was quite as great as had been the whole number as late as the year 1838. Wisconsin had received about 470,000; Texas nearly 400,000 ; Tennessee and Kentucky had gained about 250,000; Ohio 260,000; Illinois more than 800,000; Indiana 262 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. 320,000; Missouri 500,000; Iowa 480,000; Minnesota 166,- 000; Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana about 190,000 each; Michigan 350,000; Arkansas 227,000; Kansas over 100,000, and Nebraska nearly 30,000. Some other gains raised the whole number considerably above 5,000,000. The center of population for the United States was already within the limits of the Valley, and every condition of a still greater growth and prosperity was abundantly supplied, had enterprise re mained unchecked and chiefly confined east of the Rocky Mountains. Human affairs are so arranged that the spring and summer of a great prosperity are usually followed by a ¦winter of great disaster. It so occurred at this time, though not without important compensations. CHAPTER XII. CONSTITUTIONAL BEGINNINGS BT THE EAELT SETTLERS. The people of the colonies which furnished the pioneers of the Mississippi Valley were not all of one nationality by descent; they were from various classes of society in the Old World; and many of the principles that were to be afterward embodied in the institutions they created lay, in the earlier times, undeveloped in their minds. They were truly attached to the mother country, and the customs ruling in the ancient homes of their meiriories and affections were, so far as they were suitable, continued in their new surroundings. Yet, in spite of their loyalty to influences and bonds that reached across the Atlantic, they were all of the stock which had built up a vigorous, though turbulent, civilization on the splendid ruins of the Roman Empire it had overthrown, and their circumstances in the New World insensibly developed the stronger and nobler features of character which lay at the root of European history. They were of the races of the Feudal Knights of Chivalry and Romance, of the Crusaders, and of the Northmen — of the races that had covered Europe •with battle-fields, that scarcely evefrested from fighting, and yet grew more thoughtful and wise from age to age. Transplanted to America with chartered rights to defend against all attacks, with endless trials of fortitude and courage while subduing a wilderness and conquering the warlike Indians, the same resolute character that had kept Europe in tumult for fifteen hundred years was more and more drawn out. When they made a point they held to it ; truly civilized, they felt the value of legal governments on which the security of property, the comfort of life, and the strength of the com munity against public enemies depend ; they respected author- 363 264 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. ity, endeavored to keep within legal limits in resisting its exactions, and argued and diplomatized with much patience for years; but what they had resolved authority should not force on them they resisted with unwavering constancy. All the colonies, differing much in many other things, were endowed with this sturdiness of character. There was a repressed fervor — held in check by prudence and habit — that consist ently animated their lives as a whole. Not much remarked on ordinary occasions, it broke out with intensity at great crises. This fiery resoluteness lay partly in reserve for emergencies, and partly as a steady, stimulating force at the springs of action. It is the most useful and admirable contradiction in character any people can possess. These elements of character crossed the mountains with the pioneers of the Valley and were still further developed there by a severe and peculiar discipline. The Indian dashed against them, as against a rock, and rebounded wounded and broken. The French, the Spanish and the English tried against them all their arts of war, of diplomacy, and of glit tering promises, with the same result. "While, few and unpro tected, they were struggling to build homes and open farms in a vast ocean of forest in the far interior, and the colonies on the coast were confronting the navies and armies of Eng land, they stood successfully at bay before the Indians, who, stimulated by British agents and furnished -with British arms, sought to sweep them down by the bullet, the tomahawk and the firebrand. They not only stood firm ; they knew how to strike back with great effect. They completely defeated the British Indian Policy in the Valley, and held the outposts of the new Republic against great odds — not as soldiers but as farmers. Their main business was agricultural; fighting was only undertaken when not to be avoided, or to secure relief from attack. It was extremely fortunate that this people, intent only on industrial progress, secured possession of the richest and best FORTUNATE ESCAPE OF THE VALLET FROM FOREIGN RULE. 265 agricultural region in the world instead of the Spanish, French or English. Under the control of a foreign government, which would have subordinated the interests of their subjects here to their European policy, and have deprived them of the freedom of action and the stimulus to enterprise necessary to great results, there would have been a repetition, more or less- complete, of the history of Canada and the Spanish American colonies. Could the French habitans of Canada have developed as freely as the Anglo-Americans in the Valley, their history would have been prouder and more impressive. Under the policy pursued by France and Spain their colonists stagnated ; both character and enterprise lay dormant. Although England was considerably wiser than France or Spain her colonial policy remained a huge stumb ling block to her colonies until within the last fifty years, and a part of her recent wisdom is due to the infiuence and example of free America. One hundred and forty-four years after the death of De Soto, La Salle, representing the humane and courteous side of the old chivalry brightened with the morning rays of a new civilization and a riper age, fell a victim to Jesuit intrigue and the disappointed passions of his followers. Had he lived and prospered he would have held the lower and central Val ley and a new France would have taken root in the prairies, and, in alliance with the Indians, have confined Anglo-Amer ican development to the Atlantic Slope for a long period, at least. The character of the Republic, could it have come into being so surrounded with adverse influences, must have been extremely different. More compact and concentrated, it would have been more European, its thought less free, its growth less expansive. The spirit of modern justice can not shed a tear over the tragic fate of the heart-broken De Soto. He embodied, for the Valley, the inhumanity of his country and times — it was fitting that an ambition so brutal and unholy should find a grave in the waters of the Mississippi. La Salle belonged 266 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. to more modern times ; he had much of our own appreciation of the beautiful Valley, and his ambition might easily have been gratified without the bloodshed and ruin which were essential to the success of Cortez and Pizarro. The disastrous close of La Salle's career, in the full strength and power of a manhood so noble and on the eve of success, is painful to contemplate, for his character and aspirations awaken all our sympathy; but the success of his great plans would have widely and disastrously changed the history of the first century of the Republic, and the great wealth of the Val ley would have nourished a sadly imperfect form of European civilization. Thirteen years after the death of La Salle the Canadian, D'Iberville, established a French colony in the lower Val ley; but it was not the time, nor was he the man, to realize the broad schemes of the great French pioneer. The French settlements on the feverish and unhealthy Gulf coast added but slightly to the strength and development of the germs La Salle had planted on the Illinois. The settle ments there became simple trading posts ; the settlers, having no stimulus and no vigorous head to think and plan for them, bowed before the difficulties of the situation and simk, as nearly as their memories and previous habits would permit, toward the level of the Indian. The wilderness overwhelmed them. They did not settle like the Anglo-Saxon, work out a destiny of their own by developing the resources of the country, and hewing their way to the outside world. They took life easily, hunted, traveled, and cultivated a little ; lived in a primi tive simplicity, little above that of the Indians, without acquir ing their vigorous passion for war. Falling, in the lower Valley, into hostile relations to the Chickasaws and Choctaws, as the early Canadians had done to the Iroquois, and maintaining closer relations with France, they preserved a stronger organ ization without developing a much higher or more aggressive character. French dominion in the Valley was, therefore, an THE VALLET REJECTS PROPRIETAKT GOVEENMENT. 267 element too feeble and uncertain to seriously affect its desti nies. They served mainly to exclude a more vigorous intru sion until the true masters and civilizers of the Valley should appear. When they were confined, after the conquest of Canada, to the west bank of the river, the French inhabi tants on the east bank lost little by retiring across it, for they left little but a memory. The English constitution contained the germs of freedom, and those germs lay even more in the intelligence and character of the Anglo-Saxon people than in the policy or traditions of Government. Anglo-Americans remembered the princi ples which had often been forgotten by Kings, Lords, and even Commons, and proceeded to give them a broad and free inter pretation. Yet progress even in this was slow; and consti tutional beginnings were, at first, on the old English models. Soon after the close of Pontiac's war a " Mississippi Com pany " was formed in the colonies, and a petition, signed by George Washington, among other Virginia gentlemen, was presented to the English Board of Trade for two and a half million acres of land in " Ohio." The English Government did not look favorably on an extension of the settlements across the mountains. Franklin, then the agent of the colonies in England, wrote a paper on the " Ohio Settlements " which somewhat changed its views, and the concession asked received the signature of the king, August 14, 1772, while irregular settlement was forbidden by royal proclamation. The ap proach of the Revolutionary struggle prevented this scheme from ripening into act. " West Florida," as the shore of the Gulf east of the Mississippi River was called, had passed *into the hands of the English Government in 1764, and emi gration there was encouraged for commercial and military purposes; but the settlements did not then acquire any great strength. The coast was unhealthy, and the warlike Creeks held the upper regions. In 1775 Richard Henderson and other gentlemen, residents 268 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. of North Carolina, having formed the " Transylvania Com pany," purchased territory, in Kentucky and Tennessee, of the Cherokees, and founded the first settlements in Kentucky at Boonesborough and several other points in that region. The government was to be a mixed proprietary and popular one, on the plan of many of the colonies, as had probably been proposed by the " Mississippi Company." On the 23d of May, 1775, having laid the first foundations of four settle ments, the proprietors met representatives from each of them in the yet unfinished fort at Boonesborough, to legislate for the common interest. The proprietors prepared a document answering to a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, and the House of Delegates, as the representatives called themselves, with all due formalities, prepared such a code of laws as was deemed necessary for the present, which was signed by the proprietors. This proprietary scheme fell through because Virginia claimed the territory west of the mountains to the Mississippi River, refused to recognize the treaty of cession made to the Company by the Cherokees, and deprived them of a valid titl e to the lands. Proprietary governments were, really, a relic of the past. Several attempts were afterwards made to introduce them into the Valley, under various modifications, but they did not suit the rising genius of the new nation. Many complications and vexations in regard to titles soon banished them altogether, while the self-reliance enforced by the dangers and difficulties of the -wilderness soon taught the poorer settlers that dependence on proprietors was a hin drance and not a help. The misgovernment of royal officers and the high spirit of the backwoodsmen of North and South Carolina led to the* establishment, between 1760 and 1770, of considerable settle ments within the border of the Valley, on the Holston and Watauga Rivers, near where the boundaries of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee now meet. Though beyond the recognized boundaries of civilization, they did not pro- THE WATAUGA " ARTICLES OP ASSOCIATION." 269 pose to cease to be civilized, and, in 1772, feeling the need of some form of government, with true American instinct, they drew up " Articles of Association " and established a small provisional republic. Rules, or laws, for the government of their common interests were adopted and commissioners appointed by popular vote to see them properly executed. Settlers from Pennsylvania wandered down the Shenandoah Valley and the settlement soon spread over into what is now Tennessee. For several years these Articles of Association formed the only constitution and law of the settlements. The executive tribunal appointed under it held sessions at regular intervals. .It had a clerk, an attorney, and appointed a sheriff. The laws of Virginia were adopted as the standard by which its decisions were rendered. When, in 1776, the decisive confiict of the colonies -with the Mother Country had over- thro-wn the royal government, from whose injustice they had withdrawn to the wilderness, the Watauga settlers within the boundaries of Tennessee petitioned to be annexed to North Carolina. The Legislature of that state organized a district embracing the whole of what became the State of Tennessee, which these ardent backwoods republicans called Washington, in honor of the great patriot whose recent success in driving a British army from Boston filled them with joy. In the following year it became a county, with courts, sher iffs and justices of the peace. Virginia made similar provi sion for Kentucky at the same time. Both counties at once elected deputies to represent them in the Legislatures of their respective states. A constant stream of pioneers increased these two settlements to many thousands before the close of the war, and several other counties had then been formed. They were, nominally, integral parts of Virginia and North Carolina. Really, they suffered the inconveniences of that relation without its advantages. The British, as a war measure, sought to attack the colonies in the rear by forming alliances with 270 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. the Indians, furnishing them with military supplies and stirring up their hostility to the settlers. Holding the posts of the French pioneers, from Detroit to the Mississippi River and along the Gulf, they drew a cordon of fire around the rebels, from the Hudson to the Ohio and from Kentucky to Georgia. The East had its hands full and could give little aid to the West. In January, 1778, Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, commissioned George Rogers Clarke, at his own urgent request, to raise a force for the conquest of the British posts in " The Illinois Country," and, calling for volunteers along the frontier, he fell like a thunderbolt on the distant post of Kaskaskia, and took possession of it by surprise, July 4th, of that year, and contrived, by his admirable daring and strategy, to maintain the general superiority ofthe American. arms over the British and Indians in that vast -wilderness during the rest of the war. The Tennesseeans were equally successful in thwarting English agents among the Cherokees and Creeks, a^d, furnishing a contingent to the patriot forces in the Carolinas, assisted in gaining some of the brilliant victories that preceded the fall of Cornwallis. But the Indians, though usually defeated, continually returned to the attack. The settlers, without any permanent military force to protect their quiet progress, were required to be ready at any and every moment to lay do-wn the axe and the hoe and take up the rifle. Property and life were in con stant peril. Indian hostility did not cease when the independ ence ,of the country was secured ; the General Government had but the shadow of power, and state governments were absorbed in repairing their own disasters. England still held possession of Detroit and the Upper Lakes, and hoped yet to recover her lost colonies ; while Spain held possession of the mouth of the Mississippi. The settlements were increased by many thousands yearly, but these were largely women and children who must be supported by such resources as the GEEAT NEED OF STATE GO-VERNMENTS IN THE WEST. 271 Valley itself supplied, and the more they increased the more abundant were the opportunities of the Indians to glut their vengeance by slaughter and booty. Thus the formation of an efficient local government became an absorbing interest, and immediately after the close of the war Kentucky and Tennessee began to agitate constitutional questions. It had become evident that the state governments east of the mountains could not perform their functions suc cessfully in the West; the need of stronger organization there was imperative, and yet the embarrassing dependence could not easily be shaken off until a definite plan was agreed upon. Kentucky agitated, negotiated and waited. Tennessee remon strated without effect, and acted by organizing the " State of Franklin." Both Virginia and North Carolina took steps between 1780 and 1784, looking to the cession "of the territories they claimed in the West to the Continental Government. That government was overwhelmed with debt, and well nigh help less for good. It inspired little confidence or respect, and the reluctance of the states to grant it larger powers did not promise further help from it to the bleeding settlements in the Valley. The idea was then prevalent that the difficulties of commu nication between the East and the West across the mountains could not be overcome, and projects of entire independence of the East were frequently suggested to the leading settlers by intriguers in the interest of foreign governments, by the ambitious who found in them promises of personal advance ment, and, perhaps, also, by their own refiections on the vari ous embarrassments of the situation. The bold, decisive and enterprising spirit which the necessities of the times culti vated in them would, in any other race, have led to un happy consequences; but their caution and good sense were equal to their valor. Kentucky held convention after conven tion to mature plans, to ascertain the views of the masses of 272 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. the people, and to negotiate with Virginia, the Mother State. Though anxious, and sometimes indignant, at the slow and uncertain movements of the Eastern people who dwelt in security, while the tomahawk and the firebrand were laying waste their infant settlements, they would no nothing illegal. They added patience to their other virtues, and waited nearly ten years for liberty to construct the organization they so much needed. If Tennessee acted promptly she was no less ready to correct the error when it was clearly recognized. The fierce Cherokees and Creeks were immediate neighbors, and the Tennesseeans were exposed to even greater dangers than the Kentuckians, whose enemies were scattered at long distances north of the Ohio. Two conventions, in 1784, organized their independ ent State of Franklin, and its first Legislature assembled early in 1785. The constitution was completely republican, accord ing to the American idea of that time. The legislative author ity was confided to a single House of Representatives ; the exec utive consisted of a Governor and Council, all elected by vote of the citizens. All white people could purchase lands on taking the oath of allegiance to the state, and become citizens after one year's residence. North Carolina had made a conditional cession of Tennessee to the General Government, but it had not yet taken effect. Its Legislature highly disapproved the measures of the Ten nesseeans, immediately revoked the cession, reclaimed the alle giance of the Franklinites and sought to remove all the causes of discontent that had led to the organization of the independ ent state. With great prudence and moderation it abstained from harsh measures, but ordered elections and appointed officers as formerly. The Franklin Government had gone into operation and continued to perform its functions for three years ; but the citizens gradually fell awaj' from it and recognized Ncfrth Carolina officers and laws, and the unusual spectacle was seen of two state governments acting quietly, THE POLITICAL MODERATION OF THE PIONEERS. 273 with almost no collision, in the same community. The peo ple came gradually to believe that they had no sufficient reason for revolutionary measures, and, in 1798, the Franklin Gov ernment died a natural death. As soon as the United States Government, under the new Constitution, went into operation both Kentucky and Tennessee were ceded to it. Kentucky was waiting to be received into the Union as a state and never received a formal territorial organization. Its county organ izations and courts, as constituted by Virginia, took care of public order until its admission into the Union, June 1, 1792. Tennessee was organized under an Ordinance of Congress, which adopted all the features of that of 1787 for the North west Terrritory, except in regard to slavery, which had been introduced under the laws of North Carolina and remained undisturbed. Thus, by their wisdomj moderation and patience under the severest temptations to independent action, the sim ple and true common-sense of the pioneers of the Valley for bore to add to the difficulties which beset the Republic at the close of the war, and, though suffering greatly, bided their time for receiving justice and relief. They showed, in these early days, before the new nation had organized its strength, the healthy, practical instincts that have saved the Republic in all its perilous crises, and which are the real source of its greatness. 18 CHAPTER XIII. THE CONSTITUTIONAL STSTEM FOR CREATING NEW STATES. While Tennessee was beginning to revise her hasty action in disregarding her eastern relations, and Kentucky was show ing herself worthy of independence by her respect for con stitutional restraints, the statesmen of the "East were doing themselves equal honor in providing for the future welfare of the parts of the country not included in the organized states. July 13, 1787, the Continental Congress perfected an Ordinance for the government of the territory lying between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the Great Lakes. This instrument defined the character of a Territory, as dis tinguished in its government from that of a State, and settled the general practice subsequently followed. Some of its pro visions formed part of a political compromise between the free and slave states of great importance, and it is here given in full. It is called THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary govern ment, be one district, subject, however, to be dividea into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid. That the estates, both of resident, and non-resident proprietors in said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed ainong, their children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts ; the descendants of a deceased child, or grandchild, to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts 374 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 275 among them : And where there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kig in equal degree ; and, among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased parent's share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half-blood; saving, in all cases, to the widow of the intestate, her third part of the real estate for life, and one third part of the personal estate; and this law, relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force, until altered by the Legisla ture of the district. And, until the Governor and Judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said Terri tory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be (being of full age), and attested by three witnesses : and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered, by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts, and registers, shall be appointed for that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery ; saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid. That there shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a Governor, whose commission shall continue in force for three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress ; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein in 1,000 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a Secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked ; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein in 500 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the Legislature, and the public records of the district, and proceedings of the Gov ernor in his Executive department : and transmit authentic 276 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. copies of such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the Secretary of Congress : There shall also be appointed a Court to consist of three Judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law of jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in 500 acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their com missions shall continue in force during good behavior. The Governor and Judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be necpssary, and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress from time to time; which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but, afterwards, the Legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall. think fit. The Governor for ^e time being shall be commander-in- chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of general officers ; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, the Governor shall appoint such magistrates, and other civil offi cers, in each county or township, as he shall find necessarj for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same; After the General Assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers, shall be regulated and defined by the said Assembly ; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the Governor. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to he adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the Governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the Legislature. So soon as there shall be 5,000 free male inhabitants of full age in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the Governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 277 to elect Representatives from their counties or townships to represent them inthe General Assembly: Provided, That, for every 500 free male inhabitants, there shall be one Repre sentative, and so on progressively with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation increase, until the number of Representatives shall amount to twenty- five ; after which, the number and proportion of Representa tives shall be regulated by the Legislature : Provided. That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a Representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years ; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same: Provided, also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years' residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a Representative. The Representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years : and, in case of the death' of a Representative, or removal from office, the Governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term. The General Assembly, or Legislature, shall consist of the Governor, Legislative Council, and a House of Representa tives. The Legislative Council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress ; any three of whom to be a quorum : and the mem bers of the Council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit : As soon as Representatives shall be elected, the Governor shall appoint a time and place for . them to meet together; and when met they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to Congress ; five of whom Congress shall appoint and com mission to serve as aforesaid; and, whenever a vacancy shall happen in the Council, by death or removal from office, the House of Representatjves shall nominate two persons, quali fied as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress; one of whom Congress shall appoint and commis sion for the residue of the term. And every five years, four 278 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of the Council, the said House shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commis sion to serve as members of the Council five years, unless sooner removed. And the Governor, Legislative Council, and House of Representatives, shall have authority to make laws in all cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the House, and by a majority in the Council, shall be referred to the Governor for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The Governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the General Assembly, when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. The Governor, Judges, Legislative Council, Secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath of affirmation of fidelity and of office; the Governor before the President of Congress, and all other offi cers before the Governor. As soon as a Legislature shall be formed in the district, the Council and House assembled in one room, shall have authority,, by joint ballot, to elect a Del egate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government. And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory; to provide also for the establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and for their aomission to a share in the Federal Councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest: It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority afore said, That the following articles shall be considered as arti cles of compact between the original States and the people and States in the said Territory, and forever remain unalter able, unless by common consent, to wit: Art. I. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 279 orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said Territory. Art. II. The inhabitants of the said Territory shall always he entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury, of a proportionate representation of the peo ple in the Legislature; and of judicial proceedings according to the course of common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be infiicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judg ment of his peers or the law of the land; and, should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preserva tion, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, inter fere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed. Art. III. Religion, morality and knowledge, being ne cessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encour aged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them. Art. IV. The said Territory, and States which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this Confed eracy of the United States of America, subject to the Arti cles of Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made ; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said Territory shall be sub ject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted, or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of gov ernment, to be apportioned on them by Congress according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments 280 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. thereof shall be made on the other states; and the taxes, for paying their proportion, shall be laid and levied by the author ity and direction of the Legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The Leg islatures of those districts or new States shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers.''^ No tax shall be imposed on lands the prop erty of the United States; and, in no case, shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said Terri tory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be admitted into the Confederacy, 'with out any tax, impost or duty, therefor. Art. V. There shall be formed in the said Territory, not less than three nor more than five States; and the bound aries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: The western State in the said Territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio and Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post St. Vincent's due north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and, by the said territorial , line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post St. Vincent's to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, to the said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line: Provided, however, and it is further under stood and declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the said territory which lies *Act of 35th February, 1811, provides the same in Louisiana; and, also, that lands sold by Congress shall not be taxed for five years after sale— in Mississippi, by act of 1st March, 1817, and so of all others. THE LIl.EEAL CHAEACTEE OF THE ORDINANCE. 281 north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And, whenever any of the said States shall have 60,000 free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a per manent Constitution and State Government: Provided, the constitution and government so to be formed, shall be repub lican, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the state than sixty thousand. Art. VI. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary ser-^ vitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always. That any person escaping into the' same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or ser- -dce as aforesaid. This ordinance was an instrument of great significance. It defined, simply and clearly, the relations of the territory not organized into sovereign states to the rest of the country. As this territory was held to be the common property of all the states, their common liberties were introduced into it. No citizen of any state could feel himself deprived of any general rights by removal to it. Provision was made for as vigorous a government from the first, under the oversight of the National Legislature, as the scattered condition of the settlers permitted for the election of a Territorial Legislature as soon as the free male inhabitants of legal age numbered 5,000 ; and for the formation of States in the new Territory, and their admission into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States, as soon as a moderately numerous population flowed in. It deflned the future and cheered the settlers with the assurance of care, protection and ultimate equality with other sections and local independence, setting at rest the questionings and 282 THE MISSISSIPPI. VALLEY. strivings that had so long disturbed Kentucky and Tennessee. It was, virtually, a territorial constitution. Although, in form and origin but a law of Congress, and subject to repeal and alteration by the same, or any subsequent,- Congress, it laid down principles so just and wise as to be accepted by future legislators as an authoritative precedent, and presided, thenceforth, over the destinies of all the common possessions of the Union and the preliminary organization of more than twenty states. It illustrates the admirable quality of the Anglo-Saxon mind, which plants itself on principles rather than forms, but which, having found a suitable form for the expression of an important principle, steadfastly respects that form so long as it does not interfere with growth. The Eng lish Constitution is quite made up of such precedents, and the real Constitution of the United States is by no means wholly •contained in the written instrument bearing that name. The Ordinance of 1787 rested, in one point, on a compro mise such as has rarely been seen but among people of Anglo- Saxon descent, whose good sense, moderation, and bargaining instincts have often enabled them to avoid dangerous conflicts, and even sometimes to draw additional security and strength from what seemed elements of certain ruin. The introduc tion of slavery into Virginia, in 1620, proved fruitful of dangers and disasters to American liberty. Moral, social and industrial antagonisms gradually sprung out of it and threat ened the peace and stability of the Union from its beginning. The instinctive foresight of danger, the causes of w-hich they could not agree to banish altogether, led them to compare interests and views and ascertain what settlement of them was possible. Collision, apparently, would be fatal; union was indispensable; therefore they made terms with each other, giving the territory north of the Ohio to the free labor sys tem, and that south of the Ohio to the forced labor system. Compromises are often but a temporary settlement of dis putes, since something is sacrificed on either side for the sake THE REASONS FOR EARLT COMPROMISES. 283 of harmony. If the principles, or interests, sacrificed con tinue to diverge instead of melting into each other, with the progress of time, the compromise not only fails but renders future settlement more difficult ; the idea of unfaithfulness to the terms of the original compact embittering one or both parties. This difficulty subsequently rose into very formidable pro portions on the slavery question ; but the situation immedi ately after the Revolution seemed too critical to allow a vio lent contest, and neither the principles nor the interests involved were sufficiently well developed at that time to impress those great men with the danger which a compromise might involve. Other dangers seemed to them more imme diate, and the truce between the two systems of morality, of social life, and of labor adjourned conflict and permitted the country to grow strong and learn its own mind more fully before undertaking a final solution of the problem. The conflict necessarily grew more violent as principles became more sharply defined, as interests diverged, and the strength of the parties increased. No permanent compromise finally proved possible and the shock was fearful; but the develop ment of strength had not been equal and the free section passed through it with ease, coming out seemingly stronger than ever. Each period of national history has its own measure of -wisdom and foresight, its special questions to settle, and its instinct of self-preservation. The compromises involved in the Ordinance of 1787 and in the Constitution of the United States, elaborated a little later in that year, may be accepted, when all the circumstances and difficulties of that period are weighed, as a proof of the patriotic wisdom and moderation of the Fathers of the Republic. They deferred a dangerous quarrel until the country could give it all its attention. Other questions involving the existence of the State required all their thoughts and energies. 284 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. In July, 1788, the Ordinance went into operation in the Northwest Territory. For six years Indian wars retarded settlement; but, ten years after the foundations of the first town north of the Ohio were laid at the mouth of the Muskingum, the Territory was found to have 5,000 free male inhabitants over 21 years of age, and the people assumed the duty of legislating for themselves. Four years later still, the State of Ohio took her place in the Union. The Territories of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were succes sively formed under the Ordinance, as population extended into them, and in due time achieved the dignity of States ; but the Territories so fully managed their own affairs, that, in most respects, the change of political status affected the interests of the people but slightly. The Ordinance which became a virtual constitution for the territories, and the Constitution of the United States as sub sequently adopted, were both produced in the summer of 1787. The first was almost the last important legislation done by the old " Continental Congress." It was the result of toler ably calm and deliberate discussion, no serious difficulties interfering to prevent its becoming a satisfactory expression of the convictions of its framers. The Constitution, on the contrary, was agreed upon in the convention with diffi culty, and gave complete satisfaction to few or none of its makers. It was largely a compromise between conflicting views and interests, and narrowly escaped rejection by the States when submitted to them. But the institutions it organ ized and the jealous care for justice and equal liberty among all classes and sections — with the exception of the colored race — proved equal to the necessities of the case. It was a true and great sticcess. ' The idea of an organic, and not merely a federal, unity was conveyed by its preamble. " We, the people of the LTnited States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, THE STATES AND THE UNITED STATES. 285 promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of lib erty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Only time and circumstances could build up a true senti ment of national unity; but, though the form and expressions of the Constitution are a proof of the sagacity of it framers, it may be doubted if this point would have been gained but for the Valley and its wonderful growth, the broader and more national feeling which sprung up in the new interior states, and the vast interior commerce which produced a close community of interests. The relations established by the Constitution between the central government and the states, and which exercised a general control over their constitutional history and form of government, are seen in the following extracts from it. The supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the United States over those of the States is affirmed by Article VL, Section 2, as follows: " This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the land, and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." Certain valuable guarantees are given to the States by the Constitution of the United States. Article IV., Section 4, secures them a republican form of government: " The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union, a republican form of government; and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of the Leg islature, or of the executive (when the Legislature can not be convened) against domestic violence." Article IV., Section 3, provides for the admission of new states and the control of the public territory and property without prejudice to the interests of the state. 286 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. " New states may be admitted by Congress into this Union; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the juris diction of any other state, nor any state formed by the junc tion of two or more states, or parts of states, without the con sent of the Legislatures of the states concerned as well as of Congress. Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all need ful rules and regulations respecting the territory, or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to pr^'udice any claims of the United States or of any particular state." Each state is to be duly respected by all the others by Article IV., Section 1. "Full faith and credit shall be given, >in each state, to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof" By Article I., Section 9, they are secured uniform privileges and a free inter-state commerce. " No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another." By Article IV., Section 2, fugitives from justice or labor in one state are to be returned by the others on due legal process. " A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state hav ing jurisdiction of the crime. No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor; but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." Article IV, Section 2, gives a guaranty to the citizens of PERSONAL RIGHTS SECURED TO ALL. 287 each state, and the ten first Amendments secure many valu able personal rights. " The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the priv ileges and immunities of citizens in the several states." " Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to peti tion the government for a redress of grievances. Art. II. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Art. III. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in a time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Art. IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or things to be seized. Art. "V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or in dictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service, in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject, for the same offense, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself ; nor be deprived "of life, liberty or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just com pensation. Art. VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the -witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining wit nesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 288 THE MISSISSIPPI ' VALLET. Art. vii. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Art. viii. Excessive bails shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Art. IX. The enumeration in the constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Art. X. • The powers not delegated to the United States, by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are re served to the states respectively or to the people." Article I, Sections 1 and 2, prohibits certain powers to the states which are of a sovereign nature. " No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder ation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex-post- facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts ; or grant any title of nobility. No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imports or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any state on imports or exports shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States, and all such laws shall be subject to the revis ion and control of Congress. No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay." Article I, Section 8, determines the extent of the powers which, being granted to the National Legislature, are sub tracted from the constitutional powers of the states: " The Congress shall have power — To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the constitutional powers of congress. 289 the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the 'United States; but all duties, imposts and ex cises shall be uniform throughout the United States: To borrow money on the credit of the United States: To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes: To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States : To coin money ; to regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin ; and fix the standard of weights and meas ures : To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the secu rities and current coin of the United States: To establish post offices and post roads: To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times, to authors and inventors, the ex clusive right to their respective writings and discoveries: To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme' Court: To define and punish pir§,cies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations: To declare war ; grant letters of marque and reprisal; and make rules concerning captures on land and water: To raise and support armies ; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years: To provide and maintain a navy: To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces : To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel inva sions : To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be em ployed in the service ofthe United States; reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia, according to the discipline prescribed by Congress: To exerci.se exclusive legislation in all ' cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and 19 290 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings: And, To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof" The powers bestowed on the President of the United States are chiefly executive. He carries into effect the laws of Congress and wields the supreme power confided to the Gen eral Government; but he does not trench on the prerogatives of the states or of the people in any important point beyond those above mentioned. The United States Judiciary is the legal judge of the mean ing of, and powers conferred by, the Federal Constitution. No restrictions to the constitutional powers of the states and the people are, therefore, expressed or implied in the range of authority granted to the Executive and Judicial Departments of the General Government that are not involved in the grant made to the Legislative Branch and in the general regulations guarding the national authority. The states and the people have supreme power in all cases where it is not expressly taken from them. Federal Sovereignty is general, and expressly con veyed; State Sovereignty is local, and absolute where not expressly limited. Congress determined the time when, and the conditions under which, the Territories might proceed to form a Consti tution and organize a State Government ; those conditions having been met, the Constitution adopted having provided a republican form of government, and containing no provi sions conflicting with the Constitution of the United States, it became a Sovereign State in the American Union, equal in all respects to the original States. The Valley must needs be republican, and was guaranteed local self-government. Its general interests were naturally and necessarily identified, by A LIBERAL INTERPRETATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 291 its character and situation, with those of other sections of the country. Its loss of absolute sovereignty was more than com pensated by sharing, through the United States citizenship of its people, representation in the Federal Congress, and free trade with other sections of the Union. The theory of state and popular rights presented in the Constitution was liberally interpreted, at least through all the periods that have been under review. The thirteen states that had united in the Revolution had previously been inde pendent of each other ; they looked with suspicion on a strong central authority, and naturally maintained all the rights of the states. It was an acknowledged government of the peo ple, and classes and sections could be favored only with the consent of the people themselves. The Valley was the domain of all the people, was principally settled by the citizens of the United States, and wholly ruled by them. It contained the sources of wealth and greatness for the eastern capitalist, manufacturer and trader as for the Republic itself; common treasures and interests were bound up in its prosperity, and it was constantly treated with a fairly wise liberality. No irksome conditions were devised, no meddlesome inter ference was practiced, and an interpretation of the funda mental law more frank, just and kind could not easily have been imagined. When sectional difficulties found entrance they were not between the Valley and the East, but between labor systems and social habits which compromises had divided by Mason and Dixon's Line ; between free and slave states — North and South. Constitutionally, the Valley was dealt with most fairly and no people ever had a better opportunity to manage their own affairs at their own will. CHAPTER XIV. STATE CONSTITUTIONS. The two first States organized in the Valley — Kentucky and Tennessee — having been largely settled while they re mained parts of the States of Virginia and North Carolina, some of the forms of admission as of preliminary organiza tion, which became customary afterward, were omitted. Feb ruary 4, 1791, Congress consented to the admission of Ken tucky June 1, 1792; while the Convention which framed its Constitution did not assemble until April 3, 1792, closing their labors the 19th of the same month. The Constitution was not submitted for approval either to Congress or to the people of Kentucky, but went into operation without opposition. Representation was based on the free male inhabitants 21 years of age. The form of the government was, in general, what it continues to be after two revisals, and substan tially the same as those afterwards adopted by all the new- States. It followed, in many respects, the forms of the Con stitution of the United States, dividing the government into three branches: Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The Legislature, called the General Assembly, consisted of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Governor and Senators were appointed by electors chosen by the people. Both of these held office for four years; the Representatives for one year. There was no Lieutenant-Governor, the President ol the Senate acting as Governor in case of a vacancy. The Judges were elected by the people, but held office during good behavior. In 1799 this Constitution was revised, giving the election of Governor and Senators directly to the people, and pro viding for a Lieutenant-Governor. In 1850 another revision 293 THE STATE CONSTITUTION OF TENNESSEE. 293 was made which gave the Judges definite terms of office. Change has been in the direction of more complete popular control over lawmakers and officers. Tennessee elected a Convention, which completed the prep aration of a Constitution February 6, 1796, and soon after transmitted a copy of it to the President of the United States, with the notification that the Legislature would meet March 28, following, to act on the Constitution, and that the Territorial Government would then cease. These confident measures, taken without a previous Enabling Act of Con gress, produced some opposition in that body, but the Bill admitting the State become a law June 1, 1796. The Senate, House of Representatives and Governor were elected every two years. The Legislature met every other year. There was no Lieutenant-Governor; the Governor could serve but six years out of eight ; and the Speaker of the Senate acted as Governor in case of a vacancy in that office. The Judges and State and District Attorneys were appointed by joint ballot of both Houses, and held their offices during good behavior. Ministers of the gospel and infidels were ineligible to civil office. Every freeman, who was a free holder, 21 years of age, was a voter. In 1835 an amended Constitution was ratified by the people. The principal changes related to the number of Representa tives and Senators. In 1853 an amendment gave the election of the Judges to the people with a term of eight years, and a term of six years to State and District Attorneys. The gen eral forms of the Constitution were like those of Kentucky. The same care for common school education was evinced. The new Constitution of 1835 made every free white citizen, resi dent six months in the county, a voter. Slavery in these States had been inherited from Virginia and North Carolina. Some effort was made, in 1799, to secure its gradual abolition in Kentucky, but without effect. The first Constitution of Tennesssee did not mention slavery; 294 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. but the laws of North Carolina, which were adopted, sus tained it. Ohio, then called the Northwest Territory, was authorized by Act of Congress, April 30, 1802, to form a State Govern ment. The Convention appointed for the purpose completed the first Constitution November 29, of the same year, which was approved by Congress February 19, 1803, and Ohio recognized as a State in the Union. The Governor and Senators were elected for two years, the Representatives for one year; the other State officers and judges were appointed by joint ballot of the General Assembly. The Governor must have been a citizen of the United States twelve years, resident in the State four years, and thirty years of age. The free use of the veto power by General St. Clair, while Governor of the territory, had given much dissatisfaction which led the framers of the Constitution to exclude the Governor from all connection with the enactment of laws. In most of the States the Governor's approval and signature were essential to the validity of a law. Only white male inhabitants 21 years of age, one year resident in the State, were legal voters. The sessions of the Legislature were annual. There was no Lieutenant-Governor, the Speaker of the Senate filling any vacancy occurring in that office. A new Constitution was approved by the people in 1851. By this the sessions of the Legislature were made biennial, and the terms of the Representatives extended to two years. State officers and Judges were to be elected by the people, and the elective principle was made general. Eight Arti cles, relating to education and benevolent institutions, to the public debt and public works, to County and Township organ izations and apportionment for election purposes, to a revision of the laws and the mode of amending the Constitution, as also the election of a Lieutenant-Governor, were added. April 19, 1816, Congress passed an Enabling Act, author izing Indiana to form a State Constitution, which instrument CONSTITUTIONS OF INDIANA AND LOUISIANA. 295 was completed by the Convention June 29, of that year, and Indiana was recognized as a State in the Union by joint resolution of Congress, December 11, following. The Consti tution was not submitted to the people. The sessions of the Legislature were annual, the Represent atives elected for one year, the Senators, Governor and Lieu tenant-Governor for three years. All white males twenty-one years of age, citizens of the United States, and resident in the State and County one year, were legal voters. The same qualifications were required in candidates for the House of Representatives. Senators must be twenty -five years of age, two years resident in the State and one in the county or dis trict. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor must have been citizens of the United States for ten years, five years resident in the State. The State officers were appointed by joint ballot of the two Houses of the Legislature; the Judges by the Governor and Senate, for seven years. The Governor was ineligible more than six years in nine. In 1851 a new Constitution was adopted. It introduced the elective principle generally. The terms of Senators, Governor and Lieutenant-Governor were extended to four years ; the terms of Judges were reduced to six years. Vari ous changes were made in the wording, additions made to the Bill of Rights, and Articles inserted concerning State benevo lent institutions, finance, forbidding immigration of colored persons into the State, and boundaries. Louisiana was organized as a Territory of the First Class — that is, with a Legislature elected by its inhabitants — March 2, 1805, and called Orleans. February 20, 1811, it was author ized, by Act of Congress, to form a Constitution and State Gov ernment in conformity with the Constitution of the United States and with republican principles as understood by Amer icans. A Convention having framed a Constitution accepta ble to Congress, it was submitted to, and approved by, the people of Louisiana, and it became a State in the Union, 296 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. April 30, 1812. It was the first State formed in territory not belonging to the United States when the Constitution was adopted, and fear was expressed in Congress that its admission was unconstitutional and might lead to a dissolu tion of the Union; but the powerful principle of unity con tributed by the Valley as a whole was much strengthened by the admission of a State controlling the mouth of the Mis sissippi. This Constitution was, apparently, modeled on that adopted by Kentucky, in 1799, in its form and general provisions. The sessions of the Legislature were annual ; the Senators and Gov ernor were elected for four years, and the Representatives for two ; Judges were appointed by the Governor and Senate dur ing good behavior. November 5, 1845, the people of Louisiana adopted a revised Constitution. Sessions of the Legislature were made biennial and some other changes were introduced. In 1852 a Conven tion again re-vised the Constitution, which was ratified by the people in the same year. Legislative sessions became annual again, the Judiciary and nearly all subordinate officers were made elective for the first time. A Board of Public Works was created and public schools were provided for more fully. Every free white male twenty-one years of age, who was a citi zen of the United States, a resident of the State one year and of the parish six months, was made a voter, and also eligible to the House of Representatives and the Senate. A Repre sentative served two years, a Senator four years. The Gov ernor and Lieutenant-Governor must be twenty-eight years old and four years citizens and residents of the State. The Gover nor's term was four years, and he was ineligible for the suc ceeding term. In this State, as in several others in the Valley, civil officers were required to make oath that they had not sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel, nor acted as seconds in one. March 1, 1817, an Enabling Act of Congress authorized CONSTITUTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. 297 Mississippi to form a State Government. Its Constitution was completed by the Convention August 15, approved by the people, and the State was admitted into the Union by joint resolution of Congress, December 10, of the same year. In 1832 the people ratified a new Constitution, which changed the sessions of the Legislature from annual to biennial, the terms of Representatives from one to two years, and Senators from three to four years; the form of the Judiciary was some what changed, and, from being, at first, appointed by joint vote of the two Houses of the General Assembly during good behavior, the Judges were elected by the people for a term of six years. A Chancellor was elected for six years. Judges of the Circuit Court for four years, and Justices of the Peace for two years. This is said to have been the first example among American Constitutions of making the Judiciary elective, but it soon became almost universal. Every free white male 21 years of age, who was a citizen of the United States, resident one year in the State and four months in the place of voting, was made an elector or voter. Representatives must be 21 years old, have resided two years in the State and one year in the county or town ; Senators must be 30 years old, have resided four years in the State and one in the district; and the Governor must be 30 years of age, have been a citizen of the United States 20 years and resident in the State five years. He was eligible only four years in six. An Enabling Act of Congress permitted Alabama to form a State Government, March. 2, 1819. A Constitution was completed by the Convention, ratified by the people, and the State admitted by joint resolution of Congress, December 14, 1819. This Constitution resembled that of Mississippi. Amendments were to be proposed by the General Assembly *nd voted on by the people. Changes were made in 1830, 1846 and 1850. Sessions of the Legislature were, at first, annual, but, after 1846, biennial, and elections of members of 298 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. the House changed in the same way, while the terms of Sena tors were changed from three to four years. In 1830 the term of the Judges was limited to six years. It had before been during good behavior. A voter must be a white man 21 years of age, a citizen of the United States, resident one year in the State and three months within the county, city or town. A Repre sentative must have resided in the State two years, in the county, city or town he represents one year, and be twenty- one years old. A Senator with the same residence must be twenty-seven years of age. The Governor must be thirty years of age, a native citizen oi the United States, resident four years in the State. Illinois was authorized to form a Constitution and State Government, by an Enabling Act of Congress, April 18, 1818. A Constitution, approved bythe people, was presented to Congress and approved by it, December 3, in the same year. The Legislature held biennial sessions. Representa tives were elected for two years, Senators, Governor and Lieu tenant-Governor for four years. All white male inhabitants, 'resident six months in the State, were authorized to vote. Most of the subordinate officers were appointed — the Judges and State officers by joint ballot of the two Houses of the General Assembly, others by the Governor and Senate. The Judges of the Supreme Court were associated with the Gov ernor in ayjproving laws before their passage— a novel feature in the Valley. A revised Constitution was approved by the people in 1848. The elective principle took the place of appointment, the veto power was confided to the Governor alone. The Judges of the Supreme Court were elected for nine years, of the District Courts for six years. County Judges for four years. A Rep resentative must be twenty-five years old, a citizen of the United States, three years resident in the State, and one year in the county or district. A Senator must be thirty years of CONSTITUTIONS OF ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI. 299 age, a citizen of the United States, five years resident in the State and one year in the district. The Governor must have been fourteen years a citizen of the United States, ten years a resident of the State. Articles relating to revenue, corporations, common lands, and the public debt were added to this Constitution. A pro posed new Constitution, prepared by a Convention in 1861, was rejected by the people in 1862. The votes, for and against, were on party lines. One ofthe features of the separate votes on the section relating to the colored race was the marked hostility to their citizenship and presence in the State. The citizens of Missouri petitioned Congress, in 1818, for permission to form a State Government, and a contest, continuing two years, ensued in that body between the free and slave states, which resulted in an agreement between the two sections, in regard to the formation of new States with or without slavery as a legal domestic institution, known as the " Missouri Compromise." Missouri was to be admitted as a slave state but no other was to be formed in the " Louisiana Purchase " north of the line of 36 degrees 30 minutes, which was, with the exception of a fragment on the southeast, the southern line of the State. This point settled, Missouri was authorized to form a State Constitution by an Act of Congress which became a law March 6, 1820. A Convention formed the Constitution which was approved by the people, and accepted by Congress March 2, 1821, which took effect August 10, following. All free white male citizens of the United States, twenty- one years of age, who had resided in the State one year, and in the county or district three months, were authorized to vote. A Representative must be twenty-four years old, a citizen of the United States, two years resident in the State, and one year in the county. A Senator must be thirtj' years old, a citizen of the United States, four years resident in the State and one in the district. The Governor must be thirty-five 300 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. years of age, a native citizen of the United States, or resi dent of the Louisiana Purchase at the time of its transfer to the United States, and a resident in the State four years. The General Assembly met once in two years. Representa tives held office two years, Senators, Governor and Lieuten ant-Governor for four years. No acting clergymen or relig ious teacher could hold any office except that of Justice of the Peace. The Judges and most of the subordinate officers were appointed, until 1850, when the elective principle was generally introduced ; the State officers term, generally, being four years and the Judges six years. Amendments were to be proposed by two thirds of each House, published in all the news papers one year before the next general election, and ratified by two thirds of each House at the next session of the Legisla ture. Amendments were ratified in 1822, 1835, 1849, 1851, 1853 and 1855, the most important of which introduced the elective principle in filling all offices. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas, which had revolted from Mexico and formed an independent govern ment, was adopted March 17, 1836, by a Convention assem bled for that purpose. Representatives were elected annually, Senators and Governor for three years. Judges were appointed by joint ballot of the two Houses of Congress. Slavery was introduced, and no free person of pure or mixed African blood could reside in the country without the special authority of (the Texan) Congress. Texas maintained its independence of Mexico by force of arms, but sought admission into the Amer ican Union. As it involved the extension of slavery and a war with Mexico there was a contest of some j^ears' duration over it in the Congress of the United States. One of the great political parties of the country favored it. An Act of Congress approved the annexation on conditions 'which were accepted by Texas, and a joint resolution of Congress, approved December 29, 1845, made it A State in the Union. A Texas Convention had framed a State Constitution which. CONSTITUTIONS OF TEXAS AND ARKANSAS. 301 October 13, 1845, had been ratified by the people and after ward approved by the Congress of the United States. Every free male twenty-one years of age, who was a citizen of the United States, or of Texas at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, resident one year in the State, and six months in the county or town, was deemed a qualified voter. All free males twenty-one years of age, who had resided in Texas six months before the adoption of the Constitution, were deemed citizens of the State. A Representative must be a citizen of the United States, or of Texas at the time of its admission into the Union, two years resident in the State, and one in the county, town, or city, and twenty-one years of age. They were elected for two years, and the sessions of the Legislature were biennial; Senators, the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, with the same qualifications as to citizenship, must have re sided three years in the State and must be thirty years of age. The Governor's term was two years, the Senator's four. The Judges were appointed by the Governor and Senate, for six years. The appointing principle obtained in filling most of the offices. State and local. One tenth of the revenue of the State was set apart for the establishment and support of free schools. This Constitution remained unchanged until the civil war. Early in 1836 a Convention, ordered elected by the Terri torial Legislature of Arkansas, assembled to prepare a State Constitution. The Legislature held that the right so to organ ize was conferred on them by the terms of the treaty which conveyed the whole of the Louisiana Purchase to the United States, which required thatthe inhabitants of the ceded terri tory should be admitted, " as soon as possible," to all the rights and privileges of citizens of the United States. This Constitution was laid before Congress March 1, following, and the State adniitted June 15, 1836. By this Constitution every free white male twenty-one years of age, being a citizen of the United States, resident six months in the State, was authorized to vote. The General 302 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Assembly met biennially ; Representatives must be twenty -five years of age, and were elected for two years ; Senators must be thirty years old, resident in the State one year, and were chosen for four years; the Governor must be thirty years old,, have resided ten years in the State if not a native of the United States, four years if a native-born American. He could hold that office but eight years out of twelve. There being no Lieutenant-Governor, the President of the Senate filled any vacancy that might occur in the office. The State Secretary was chosen by joint vote of both Houses of the Legislature for four years, the Treasurer and Auditor for two years. The Judges of the Supreme Court must be thirty years old and were chosen by joint vote of the Legislature for eight years ; the Judges of the Circuit Court must be twenty-:^ve years old and were appointed for four years. Judges of the County Court were appointed by the Justices of the Peace of the county, who were themselves elected by the people, for two ^ears. The Justices of the Peace formed the County Court. A Constable was elected in each township ; a Sheriff, Coroner, Treasurer and Surveyor were elected by the voters of each county. No infidel could hold a civil office. The incorpora tion of banks was authorized, but this was withdrawn by an Amendment ratified in 1846. Amendments to the Constitution were made by vote of two thirds of both Houses of one Legislature and ratified by the same vote of the next General Assembly without direct reference to the people. A Constitutional Convention framed a new Constitution, in 1868, which was ratified by the people. It provided for the election of a Lieutenant-Governor, introduced the elec tive principle generally, although the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was to be appointed by the Governor and Senate. Education and finance received much attention, and Amendments, after having passed two Legislatures, were to be ratified by the people. THE STATE CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 303 The inhabitants of Iowa Territory, finding that it had over 80,000 people, did not wait for an Enabling Act of Congress, but, in 1844, proceeded to form a Constitution, which they presented to Congress, for its approval, in De cember of that year. The boundaries made by that Consti tution covered a considerable part of what is now Minnesota. Congress passed a Bill for its admission, with a large reduction of boundaries; but it was not accepted by the people. August 4, Congress passed an Enabling Act, giv ing the present boundary, a second Convention framed a new Constitution in conformity with it, which was ratified by the people, and an Act of Congress declared the State a meinber of the Union, December 8, 1846. Every white male citizen of the United States, twenty-one years of age, resident in the State six months, and in the county twenty (after 1857, sixty) days, was an authorized voter. The sessions of the General Assembly were made biennial, the Representatives elected every second year, with one year's residence in the State and thirty days (after 1857, sixty) in the county or district, and other qualifications the same as a voter. Senators were elected for the term of four years, must have the same qualifications of citizenship and residence, and be twenty-five years old. The Governor must be thirty years old, a citizen of the United States, two years a resident of the State. His term of office was four years. There being no Lieutenant-Governor, the Secretary of State was to fill any vacancy in the office. The Judges of the Su preme Court were appointed by joint vote of the two Houses of the Legislature, for six years, the inferior Judges were elected by the people, for five years. The other officers of the State Government, and most of the local officers, were elected for two years. An Article of this Constitution pro vided that the State debt should not exceed $100,000 unless authorized by a popular vote, and that only in certain defined cases. Another forbade banking and the issue of paper money. 304 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Certain amendments were found desirable, which were ramed by a Convention early in 1857, and the new Constitution was ratified by the people in the same year. This Constitution authorized a State debt of $250,000, re duced the term of the Governor to two years and provided for a Lieutenant-Governor, gave the election of the Judges of the Supreme Court to the people, and reduced the term of the district Judges to four years. Banking, under certain restric tions, might be authorized by law. Various changes and addi tions were made in most of the other Articles without materially altering their substance, and many careful provisions in regard to education were introduced, among others an elected Board of Education, which was almost a second organized legisla ture for that interest, but might be remodeled or abolished by the General Assembly after 1860. The people of Michigan sought the permission of Congress to form a State Government in 1832, believing they had the population required by the Ordinance of 1787. An early mis take as to t^e position of the southern point of Lake Michi gan with reference to the mouth of the Miami River, at the western end of Lake Erie, gave rise to a conflict of boundary claims with Ohio, which prevented the passage of an Ena^ bling Act. Michigan waited until f 835, when, finding by a census that they had more than 80,000 inhabitants, the Leg islative Council of the Territory called a Convention, which framed a Constitution. It was ratified by the people, a State Government was organized, and application made to Congress for admission into the Union. The boundaries of the pro posed State included only the lower peninsula and covered some territory claimed by Ohio. Congress passed a Bill admitting the State but requiring a formal renunciation of the claim to the contested territory by a Convention to be called for the purpose, and compensating^ this loss by includhig the upper peninsula in the boundary of the State. The Convention, -n'hen called, rejected this condi- CONSTITUTIONS OF MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN. 305 tion; but a change in popular views led to tlie informal call ing of another Convention, which accepted the condition, and, as this was evidently the decision of a majority of the peo])le. Congress passed an Act admitting Michigan into the Union, January 23, 1837. The Constitution of 1835 gave to every white male twenty-one years of age, and six months resident in the State, a right of voting. The sessions of the Legisla ture were annual. Representatives were elected for one year and Senators for two ; their qualifications including only those of voters and of being citizens of the United States. The Gov ernor and Lieutenant-Governor were elected for two years, must have been five years citizens of the United States, two years resident in the State. Judges of the Supreme Court were appointed by the Governor and Senate, for seven years. Judges of the County Court were elected by the people of the county, for four years. The Supreme Court appointed its Clerks; County Clerks and Justices of the Peace were elected, the former for two, the latter for four years. Other county officers were elected for two years. The Secretary of State, Auditor-General and Attorney-General were appointed by the Governor and Senate, for two years; the State Treas urer by joint vote of both Houses of the Legislature, for two years. Careful provision was made for education, a Super intendent of Public Instruction being appointed by joint vote of the Legislature on nomination by the Governor, for a term of two years. A new Constitution was ratified by the people of Michigan in 1850. It made the elective principle general, re-organized the Judiciary, and added many provisions relating to educa tion, finance, banking, etc. Wisconsin, having found by a census, taken in 1846, that she had over 155,000 inhabitants, applied to Congress for author ity to form a State government, which passed an Enabling Act August 6, 1846. The Constitution, framed by the Con vention appointed for that purpose, was acceptable to Congress 30 306 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. but rejected by the people. A census taken in December, 1847, gave over 210,000 inhabitants. A new Constitution having been ratified by the people, Wisconsin was admitted into the Union by Act of Congress, May 29, 1848. By this Constitution all white males twenty-one years of age citizens of the United States, Indians not belonging to any tribe, those declared citizens by law of Congress, and foreigners having declared their intention to become citizens, all resident one year in the State, were deemed qualified voters. The qualifi cations of Representatives, Senators, Governor and Lieutenant- Governor were the same as for voters. The sessions of the Legislature were annual, the Representatives elected for one year, the Senators for two years, as also the Governor. Judges of the Supreme and Circuit Courts were elected for six years; Probate Judges and Justices of the Peace for two years. The elective principle obtained generally in filling all subordinate offices. The state debt could no't exceed $100,000; careful provision was made for education, and amendments were to be approved by a majority of all the members elected to both Houses of the Legislature at two successive sessions, after which they were to be submitted to the people for ratification or rejection. The question of calling a Convention to revise the Constitution might be submitted to the people by the Legislature at its discretion. Minnesota, in the latter part of 1857, had about 150,000 inhabitants, who, not agreeing on the boundaries to be pro posed, did not seek permission of Congress to form a State Government. That body, not waiting for the expressed desire of the Territory, passed an Enabling Act, February 20, 1857, designating the boundaries as now existing. The Territory extended westward to the Missouri River, many — and among them a majority of the Territorial Legislature — desired to divide the Territory by an east and west line rather than by one north and south, as had been done by Congress. An act passed by the House of Representatives and Legislative THE CONSTITUTION OF MINNESOTA. 307 Council of the Territory to remove the capital from St. Paul to St. Peter, failed to become a law; a Constitutional Conven tion was called which separated, on party lines, into two bodies, each of which proceeded to frame a Constitution. Before closing their labors, however, they appointed a com mittee of conference which agreed on a Constitution, which was signed in duplicate by each body — they remaining sepa rate to the end. It was ratified almost unanimously by the people and approved by Congress May 11, 1858. By this Constitution, white males twenty-one years of age, who had resided in the United States one year, in the State four months, and in the election district ten days, and who were citizens of the United States, foreigners who had declared their intention to become citizens, and Indians and half breeds who had adopted the customs and habits of civilization, were deemed competent to vote. The frequency of sessions of the Legislature was to be ascertained by law. The qual ifications of Representatives, Senators, Governor and Lieu tenant-Governor were the same as those of electors, or voters, save that the last two must be twenty-five years of age. The elective principle was made general in filling offices. The terms of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney General were two years, of State Auditor three years. Judges of the Supreme and District Courts were elected for seven years ; Judges of the Pro bate, or County, Court and Justices of the Peace for two years. The State debt could not exceed $250,000. A provision allowing State Bonds, to the amount of $5,000,000, to be issued in aid of certain railways, was inserted by an amend ment of 1858, but expunged in 1860. Amendments approved by both Houses of any Legislature might be submitted to the people. Being ratified by them, they became integral parts of the Constitution. A Legislature might also submit the question of calling a Oonstitutional Convention to the people. Careful provision was made for education. 308 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. When the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska were organ ized, in 1854, the " Missouri Compromise " was repealed and Kansas became the field on which the contending parties, up holding and resisting the further extension of slavery, strug gled. From both sides of " Mason and Dixon's Line" zealous partisans hastened to this Territory to strive for supremacy. Great bitterness and considerable bloodshed characterized this contest fbr some years. Efforts to frame a State Constitution commenced in August, 1855, by the Free State party, whose Convention presented the " Topeka Constitution," which was ratified by those who voted, the opposite party not voting. The whole proceedings were without legal authority, and were severely denounced by the President of the United States. The Territorial Legislature, which was of the opposite party, took measures for framing another Constitution, in 1856, which resulted in the "Lecompton Constitution." Only certain clauses relating to slavery were presented to the people and ratified, the Free State advocates not voting. It was produced under legal forms and laid before Congress. Some of its pro visions were deemed inadmissible by that body, which pre sented other terms for the decision of the people of the Territory. The parties opposing it rallied and defeated it. The friends of the Lecompton Constitution had held a pre vious separate election and voted for it, but the voting was not at a regular time, and the voters did not equal the number of those who had voted against it. A new Convention was called, a Constitution framed and submitted to the people, who ratified it, in October, 1859, but it was not approved by Congress until January 29, 1861, when Kansas became a State in the Union. Slavery was excluded from the State. The sessions of the Legislature were annual. Representatives serving for one year. Senators, Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and other State offi cers, for two years. Judges of the Supreme Court were elected for six years. District Judges for four years. Probate, or County CONSTITUTIONS OF KANSAS AND NEBRASKA. 309 Judges, and Justices of the Peace, for two years. White males twenty-one years of age, resident six months in the State and thirty days in the election district, who were citizens of the United States, and foreigners who had declared their inten tion to become citizens, were competent to vote. No other qualifications were required in members of the Legislature or civil officers of the State. The public debt could not exceed $1,000,000. Amendments proposed by two thirds of all the members elected to a Legislature were to be submitted to the people for ratification at the next general election. The same majority of the Legislature could submit to the people the question of calling a Constitutional Convention, when they judged it necessary. A provision was introduced requiring the Legislature to pass laws to protect the rights of married women to the possession of property independently of the hus band, and to equal rights in the possession of their children. The Territory of Nebraska was organized by the same Act of Congress that called Kansas Territory into being. In the intention of the advocates of slavery extension Kansas was to become a slave, and Nebraska a free State, thus preserving the balance of free and slave States in the Union. Its north ern position in the line of greatest free State emigration, and the comparatively small number of proslavery emigrants also pronounced in favor of that destination for Nebraska. There was, therefore, no contest here, as in Kansas, over that element of dissension in the Union. The question of a State Government was first presented to the inhabitants of the Territory in 1860, but not approved. By request of the Territorial Legislature an Enabling Act was passed by Congress, April, 1864, authorizing the people of Nebraska to form a State Constitution. The estimated population was, at this time, but 30,000. Many of the inhab itants did not favor immediate action and the subject was suffered to lie over until 1866, when the Territorial Legisla ture framed a Constitution which was ratified by the people. 310 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. A bill for the admission of Nebraska as a State into the Union passed both Houses of Congress in the same year, but not being signed by the President, failed to become a law. Early in the next year a new act of admission was passed by Congress containing some stipulations not mentioned in the Enabling Act. It was vetoed by the President, for that and other reasons, but passed over the veto by both Houses and became a law, February 10, 1867. The State Legislature having accepted the terms of this act, Nebraska was pro claimed a State in the Union, by the President, March 1, following. This Constitution made every male, twenty-one years of age, who was a citizen 6f the United States, or a foreigner who had declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, who had resided in the State, county and elec tion district for the time required by law, competent to vote. The sessions of the Legislature were biennial. Representa tives, Senators, the Governor and subordinate State officers, except the Auditor, were elected for two years, the Auditor for four years; their qualifications were the same as for voters. There was no Lieutenant-Governor, the Secretary of State filling any vacancy in the Governor's office. Judges of the Supreme Court were elected for six years, other Judges and Justices of the Peace for terms to be determined by law. The State debt could not exceed $50,000. A majority of any Legislature could submit the question of calling a Constitu tional Convention to the people. The inhabitants of Virginia west of the mountains had long been discontented with what they considered the une qual relations of the eastern and western parts of the State. When the Legislature of the State, in 1861, joined the Southern Confederacy they remained loyal and took measures to erect a separate State Government by the election of a provisional convention which reorganized the State Govern ment and called a Convention to prepare a Constitution which THE STATE CONSTITUTION OF WEST VIRGINIA. 311 was submitted to, and ratified by, the people. The consent of the loyal Legislature of Virginia and of Congress having been given, the President declared by proclamation, April 20, 1863, that West Virginia would become a State in the Union at the expiration of sixty days. All white male citizens, twenty-one years of age, resident one year in the State, who were not of unsound mind, or guilty of treason, felony, or bribery at an election, were enti tled to vote. No persons not qualified voters could hold any ci-vil office. Judges must be thirty-five years of age, the Gov ernor thirty, Senators and the Attorney-General twenty-five. The term of Senators was two years, of Delegates (members of the Lower House) one year. The Legislature met once a year. The Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer and Audi tor were elected for two years. There was no Lieutenant- Governor, the President of the Senate filling any vacancy in the Governor's office. Judges of the Supreme Court were elected for twelve years, of the 'Circuit Courts for six years ; inferior tribunals were to be organized, and the officers and their terms to be ascertained, by law. A Clerk of the Circuit Court and Sheriff, were elected in each county for four years; a Recorder, Prosecuting Attorney, Surveyor of Lands and one or more Assessors for two years. Townships elected a Super visor, Clerk of the Township, Surveyor of Roads, and Over seer of the Poor annually; a Justice of the Peace every four years — or two, if the white population exceeded 1,200 — and as many Constables as Justices, every two years. • Provision was made for education, and a General Superintendent of Free Schools for the State might be elected for two years, and also County Superintendents of Schools. Amendments might be made by a majority of the members elected to two successive Legislatures which were then to be submitted to the people for ratification; and two thirds of the members elected to any Legislature might submit the question of calling a Constitutional Convention to the people, the Amendments 312 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. adopted by the Convention, if called, to be submitted to the people. Colorado was organized as a Territory by an Act of Con gress of March 2, 1861. It authorized the people to elect a Legislature — consisting of a Council and House of Represen tatives, Treasurer, Auditor and Superintendent of Schools. All other officers, including the Governor and the Judiciary, were appointed by the President of the United States. In March, 1864, an Enabling Act of Congress authorized prep arations for admission as a State into the Union. A Consti tution, framed and submitted to the people the same year, was rejected. Another, submitted September 5, 1865, was ac cepted by a small majority and a Legislature and State officers elected under it. The Act of Congress admitting Colorado was vetoed by the President, May 15, 1866. A second veto, February 28, 1867, again adjourned its admission, and, as the people of the Territory were not united in desiring admission, the Constitu tion and State Government passed into oblivion. March 3, 1875, an Enabling Act of Congress was approved, which left all further action to the people of the Territory and to the President. The Constitutional Convention agreed upon a Constitution, March 14, 1876, which was submitted to the people and accepted by them July 1, and Colorado was pro claimed a State in the Union by the President, August 1, following. All males twenty-one years old, who were citizens of the United States or had declared their intention to become such, having resided six months in the State, and in the county or town as determined by law, were deemed voters, unless con fined for crime, which disability ceased when they were legally set at liberty. Females could vote and hold office in school district affairs ; and the Legislature could extend the general right of suffrage to women at its discretion. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, State Superintend- THE STATE CONSTITUTION OF COLORADO. 313 ent of Schools and Judges of the Supreme Court, must be at least thirty years old ; the Auditor, Secretary of State, Treasu rer, Attorney-General and members of the Legislature must be twenty -five years of age. All these except Senators, were elected for two years — Senators for four years. The Governor had all the usual powers conferred by other States. The Legislature met biennially on the first Wednesday in January. The Judicial department was vested in Supreme, District and County Courts and Justices of the Peace. Judges of the Supreme Court were elected fbr nine years. District Judges for six years, County Judges and District Attorneys for three years. Elaborate provision was made for education and benevolent institutions, to guard against State, county and city debts, and to prevent excessive taxation. The principle of election to office was nearly universal. Much pains was taken to pre vent abuses by corporations, and to protect mining and irri gation. A proposition for a Convention to amend the Con stitution could be submitted by any Legislature to the people, or a two thirds vote of all the members could submit to the vote of the people Amendments to any one Article of the Constitution. Several liberal modifications were introduced into the usual Bill of Rights. No public funds were permit ted to be given in aid of denominational schools. All effort was made to protect every liberty and personal or public right. Many States in the Valley have, since 1870, endeavored to introduce improvements in this direction into their organic laws. It will be seen by a review of this glance at Constitu tional History that the political institutions of the Valley assumed their special forms under the superintendence of the East. The principles of the Ordinance of 1787 were applied by the United States Congress, whose members, for the first forty years, were mainly from the Atlantic States ; the Con stitution of the United States defined the general character of 314 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. the new States and gave them equal rights with the " Old Thirteen;" and the mass of the settlers who erected them were originally residents and citizens east of the mountains. The structures erected by the great and wise statesmen of the Revolution were singularly well adapted to the genius of the people and the wants of the time, as also of the future. The work was thorough, the principles comprehensive, and the system employed in their application -wisely free and elastic. The sagacity, moderation and love of full and equal justice, as well as good order, displayed by the Fathers of the Repub lic, secured so much respect and veneration for their work from the people at large that, when they crossed the moun tains and became constitutional architects in their turn, they carefully followed the models they had known in the East, and especially the forms presented in the Constitution of the United States. They were required only to preserve " a repub lican form of government," which gave them great latitude in details, but of which they did not very largely avail them selves. The Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of all the State Governments were substantially alike. The Gen eral Government was so well balanced and proportioned that the idea of experimenting fbr something better does not seem to have occurred to them. With English good sense they were content to " let well enough alone," and though varying some of the details, according to circumstances, and enough to show that they were not simply slavish and blind imitators, they yet followed a common plan so closely that one State Constitution is a very fair sample of all — the chief differences lying in the wording and subdivisions of the instrument. This general similarity, where there was so large an oppor tunity for diversity, shows how much more complete and vital is the unity produced by freedom than that obtained by com pulsion. Community of ideas, circulating without pressure, banishes antagonisms much more effectually than the stress of THE PRUDENCE OF PIONEER LEGISLATORS. 315 authority. By the wise liberality of eastern statesmen the peo ple of the West were left, with the least possible restriction, to found institutions according to their own minds. It was virgin ground and it would not have appeared strange if theo rizing and experiment had gone fast and far. They, on the contrary, emulated practical eastern wisdom, studied the struc tures already built, and confined experiment to very narrow limits. The best models were generally imitated, with intel ligence and judgment, throughout the Valley, and a truly national harmony and unity was the result. Thus, the Constitutional History of the Valley is the best possible comment on, and justification of, the broad states manship and subtle prudence of the Legislators of the East during the last years of the eighteenth century. They trusted the people of the territories, governed them — and limited them in self-government — as little as possible, and, in return, found themselves revered as authorities and their best hopes and plans realized with a spontaneity and completeness extremely honoraible to both sections and fortunate for the destinies of the country. This respect for the calm and deliberate wisdom and patriot ism of the early legislators of the Republic was a great benefit to the Valley whose early inhabitants were mainly simple backwoods farmers or emigrants from the mass of common people in the East. This class has never before been supposed equal to the burdens and duties of a profound and broad states manship. Here, however, they were required to found insti tutions, to decide on constitutional policy, and to lay the bases ofa great national development. They had the penetration to discover who was the wisest teacher, and what were the best forms and principles to adopt, and their work, as a whole, proved to be permanent. No really fundamental remodeling has since been required. As the Constitutions were when they first went into operation, such they substantially remain. Most of the States have amended their Constitutions more 316 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. than once — some of them many times — but the general features have not been altered. The changes have, almost uniformly, been only such as a rapid growth required — adaptations of minor details to chang ing circumstances. Respect for the popular will has constantly increased. The framers of many of the first Constitutions did not see the need of consulting the people before setting the machinery of government in motion. Such an omission has not occurred since the early years of the nineteeth century. A large part of the Union, State and local officers obtained their places at first by appointment of the Governor, Legis lature or other authority; but the elective principle has stead ily gained ground and few places are now filled otherwise than by election. Changes have more often been made in financial and educational systems, in the conduct of subordinate local affairs, and in principles of temporary policy, which have be longed, some have thought, more to the legislative than to the constitutional field, in which. Legislatures not ha-ving produced satisfactory results, Constitutional Conventions have tried their hand. In many of these cases the evil has not seemed to be within the reach of Legislatures or Constitutions. Arising from the new and perplexing complications of an unexampled development, they could be best remedied only by the checks and balances indicated by time, by the laws of business and society operating freely, and which experiments, legislative or constitutional, have often hindered more than they have helped. The jostling of interests, public, corporate and private, where expansion was so rapid, was unavoidable, and time only could show the right remedy. The resort to constitutional regu lation has not, therefore, always been successful and then required to be undone, and experiment and change have gone on within certain limits; but success and failures in one State have been so many lessons for all the rest, and constitutional progress has kept a generally even step throughout the Valley, HEALTHY GROWTH CURES IMPERFECTIONS. 317 and, to a somewhat less extent, in the rest of the country. Every Constitution contains provision for its own amendment, when it is believed necessary, so that the Constitutional sys tem is elastic and renders resort to revolutionary measures unnecessary and extremely improbable, especially after the emphatic failure of the South in the civil war. The Con stitutional History of the States of the Valley seems to have furnished a complete vindication of the wisdom of confiding government to the masses of the people. They have been generally cautious and temperate and common . sense has proved itself in general, in this field, to be good sense. Partial, or one-sided examination, indeed, reveals much im perfection, and produces in some minds doubt as to the result. A judgment rendered from many party and other special standpoints frequently leads the prejudiced examiner to a serious questioning of the real excellence and success of our institutions. Their liberality often seems to have degenerated into license, public interests appear to be sacriflced to the ambition and greed of individuals, corporations, " rings," and parties, and true patriotism appears to have vanished. There have never been wanting many prophets of evil who seemed to make a strong case and to prove that the utmost peril was imminent. The mistake of such views lies in conflning the observa tion to one class of facts, which seldom fail to be more or less exaggerated by the assumptions that make them cover, or nearly so, the whole field of action. More careful and impar tial study invariably discovers that the real evil was, or is, less than represented, was but a temporary phase in the general current of free movement, or was an efibrt by short-sighted and unworthy men to reach an impossible result. These evils, when real, were merely temporary, and only required to be distinctly comprehended by the people at large to be neutral ized, and, in the course of time, have disappeared. So uni- 318 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. formly has this been the case in the whole past history of the Republic as to fairly justify the position that the prevailing character of moral, political, and business life is really healthy and sound, that the facts interpreted to the contrary are mis conceived or temporary only, and that every evil existing at a given time will be replaced by its opposite sooner or later. In the cases where these evils are generally recognized and continue to exist, the whole past history of the country and of each section of it justifies the assumption that the Anglo- Saxon thoughtfulness and prudence underlying our whole life is only waiting to discover the effectual remedy, which it can not believe has yet been found. No fault should be found with this cautious habit, for it is the real source of strength and permanence in both English and American institutions. Experience and observation have more and more convinced this progressive race that radical reforms, hastily undertaken, usually defeat their aim by introducing more evils than they cure. The good sense of the people, therefore, leads them to wait till they can see their way clearly. Reform moves slower in England than in the United States for the above reason. There is more to be unsettled, and more disturbance and confusion must ensue from the greater num ber of habits and relations that have grown up with time. The same may be remarked of the Eastern States as compared with the Valley. Re-adjustment is easier and less harmful in the newer States, and important changes have more generally — indeed, almost always — commenced in the West, and, if they proved successful there, they were adopted later by the East. This has been true, among other cases, of the removal of the restriction of suffrage to property owners, the extension of the elective principle in filling subordinate offices generally, and especially the State Judiciary. Constantly protested against as dangerous, they have spread from the Valley to the East and thence thrust an entering wedge into the institutions of Europe. The dangers prophesied have not been experienced; THE USES OF FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITT. 319 the "leveling" resulting has been " up " instead of " down;" and the standard of official fitness and purity has improved instead of deteriorating; while the wider field of action and responsibility assigned to the people has made them more thoughtful and more intelligent in their criticism. On the whole the Constitutional history of the Valley has proved, more conclusively than had ever before been done, that freedom and responsibility tend to raise the masses of the people — even the lowest — out of the condition of a mob — moved by blind impulses when it is not ruled by as blind and abject a submission to authority — towards manliness and true statesmanship. It is they who have been the real authors of these Constitutions and of the order and social progress re sulting under them. They have proved themselves true and enlightened statesmen. The moderation and wisdom of these free and comparatively untutored backwoodsmen afforded a striking and significant lesson which was the only justifica tion of the experiment of enfranchising four millions of slaves at a stroke. That experiment might well seem dangerous. That it has not been ruinous is due to the good sense of the Southern whites and to the elevating influence of manhood suffrage. The fortunate history of the institutions of the Valley in general, and of that bold venture in particular, proves that man is never so dangerous as when deprived of manhood rights, and never so worthy and useful as when en joying them in their fullest measure. CHAPTER XV. NATIONALITT OF EMIGRANTS TO THE VALLET AND THEIE ORIGINAL CHARACTER. The first immigration across the mountains to the Valley in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, beginning about 1750, was from Pennsylvania and Virginia — the earliest largely from the latter. But the course of the valleys, and especially of the Shenandoah, invited the restless in the more western settlements of eastern Pennsylvania to move south- westward, and people from that state mingled with Virginians and North Carolinians in the first settlements of Tennessee. Boone and many of his companions started from North Car olina to settle Kentucky. Tennessee was held to be included in the original charter of North Carolina and Kentucky in that of Virginia, and, as a more general rule, Tennessee re ceived settlers from North Carolina, and Kentucky from Virginia. The first settlers were, in considerable part, from the borders or frontiers of the colonies. These backwoodsmen were un comfortable in their relations with the royal governments which, after 1760, replaced the charter and proprietary gov ernments, and which, in various ways, encroached on popular rights, or resisted the demand of the people for greater free dom and a larger share of infiuence in public affairs. In North Carolina, especially, there had been great discontent for a long period. Many resolute and ambitious men, whose ideas of their rights and determination to maintain them, together with their eagerness to secure better locations than the Atlantic coast offered for private gain, studied the remote parts of the country and found their ideal met west of the mountains. For the most part they had little property in 330 EMIGRATION FROM THE EAST. 321 the East, but their hardy enterprise was to secure it for them in the West. Although there were many of all classes, and from Various colonies, who helped to settle the regions south of the Ohio, the origin of most was to be traced to the labor ing population of the " Old Dominion," and the " Old North State." Many of the representatives of the best classes of English society were to be found in the middle colonies, and while multitudes from the lower classes of Europe had filled up all the colonies, they had opportunities for " grading up " in the New World that did not exist for them in the Old. The " gentlemen " were far from being a useless class among the early colonists. In large part, they furnished a standard of good sense, propriety and dignity that made a great im pression on the forming character of the general community around them. Washington, and a multitude like him, moulded the found ers of the new nation, in the Southern colonies, by present ing an almost ideal type of republican simplicity and nobility. This standard of manhood was borne across the mountains in the minds of the settlers, and the men who approached it most nearly rose to influence and guided social and political development in the Valley. A steady stream of settlers flowed into the southwest territory far into the present century. After the close of the Creek war the Southwest received a large part of this stream of emigration from Virginia and North Carolina. It had already begun, in the last years of the eighteenth century, to join that from South Carolina and Georgia which crowded on the Creeks, or passed around them to the east and west banks of the Lower Mississippi River. The Northern States began to furnish large numbers of emigrants to the West after the war of independence, but the stream did not become very noticeable until Ohio was thrown open, in 1788. New England, New York and New Jersey 322 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. with Pennsylvania furnished most of the early and later set tlers to the Northwest territory. Southern Indiana and nearly half of Illinois were occupied, in large part, by emi grants from Kentucky and Tennessee. In later times the bulk of emigration to slave States, or Territories expected to become such, was from regions south of Mason and Dixon's line; while the free States and Territories of the Valley were chiefly filled up from free States further east. Thus there was really threatened a radical difference of civilization in the North and the South, and it has often been maintained that it already existed. Economic and social affairs in the two sections certainly sought similar ends by widely different means, but the qualities of race were the same in each. In both, hardy enterprise was guided by intelligence, and the special advan tages of the northern and southern basin were developed with great zeal and effect. The Revolutionary War demonstrated that a new race — the Anglo-American — had come into exist ence, and that the people of all the thirteen colonies belonged to it. But multitudes not of American birth became immigrants to the Valley. The largest and most notable part of these were from the British Isles. In the early years of the present century the larger number of those who located in the West were from England and Scotland, Ireland furnishing a large emigration later. These last became laborers in the towns and on the public works, or located in newer States and Territories. Scattering widely, they were usually surrounded by Americans. The emigrants from Great Britain, speaking one lan guage, raised under the general influence of common ideas and similar institutions, with the same fundamental tendencies of character and aspiration, very soon received whatever was peculiar to the land of their adoption. British thought and British principles were imported by the first Atlantic colonies and became the foundation of American CHARACTER OF EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS. 323 institutions. It was comparatively easy for the later arrivals to grasp the meaning of the transformations through which these thoughts and principles had passed and they readily became thorough Americans. If this were the case only with the more thoughtful of the first generation, in matters of custom aud sympathy, it was sure to be true of all the descendants. It has been demonstrated by history, that races radically different mingle completely with difficulty. The laws of heredity operate against intimate sympathy and harmony ; common ideas and aims, common interests and action, need to operate, often through many generations, before strong peculiarities and antagonisms can be overcome. This was a comparatively slight difficulty with the English and Scotch, and even the Celtic inhabitants of Ireland aud Wales, for Anglo-Saxon blood had circulated among them, and English rule, for many hundred years, had been at work assimilating them to English thought and custom and multiplying inti mate relationships. Neither was it very difficult to bring other nationalities of Northern and Central Europe to a sim ilar comprehension and sympathy. Modern Europe has borne the character of one great commonwealth in many ways, for at least twelve hundred years. The common re ligious bond, common learned languages, alternate conquests, diplomatic, business and social relations, have tended more and more strongly to familiarize them with each other, and especially in the last five hundred years. But behind this intercourse lies the important fact that the nations inclined to emigrate to America were mostly, from a thousand to fifteen hundred years ago, of one race — the Teu tonic — from which the Anglo-Saxon (and later the Norman) conquerors of England sprung. A broad and important base of common character, and many features of common develop ment, made it easy to harmonize them, after a little time, with Anglo-American ideas and ways. Many Germans, Swedes 824 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. and French Huguenots — who were, in considerable part, of Norman blood, and inclined by powerful religious sympathies toward protestant America — were among the earlier settlers who took an earnest part in establishing the Republic. There was a considerable stream flowing to the colonies from north ern and central Europe from the flrst, and it grew constantly larger as the States consolidated into a strong and free Federal Union, which furnished the world with a new and higher idea of political liberty. Many came for political reasons, full of eager sympathy for free institutions, and many to improve the opportunity to raise themselves and their families to the com fort or opulence which the rich and cheap lands of America promised to all industrious settlers. All readily fell into line with native Americans, and fully appreciated the larger political and industrial opportunities here freely offered them. Thus, no important element of discord was introduced by the large streams of immigration from Europe directly to the Valley. The French of the southwest were considerable in numbers at the beginning of the century — from 30,000 to 40,000 — but the Franks, who conquered Roman Gaul (the present France) and gave it their name, were a German tribe and they had a later infusion of Teutonic blood through the Normans. They were flexible and intelligent by race, and soon heartily sym pathized with the somewhat radical and pronounced theories on which the Revolutionary leaders had rested the structure of the Union. They were very soon, when once incorporated in the Republic, most hearty and useful citizens. They had long been in the Valley, and in business relations with Anglo- Americans for thirty years. They became a valuable element in building up the southwest. Comparatively few of the French came directly from Europe with the later stream of immigration. In the upper Valley they were enterprising fur dealers or lived a quiet, careless, joyful life «s small farm ers, hunters and " voyageurs " or forest guides. CHAPTER XVI. THE PIONEERS OF KENTUCKT AND TENNESSEE. Kentucky, much of Tennessee, and the territory lying im mediately north of the Ohio River, had long ceased to be, if they had ever really been, the immediate and permanent abode of the Red Men. It was the debatable land, the hunting and battle ground equally of the northern and southern tribes. On the hills and along the streams of this delightful forest they were sure to meet with abundance of game, animal or human. In settling here, the white man was certain to be assailed as an intruding enemy by all the tribes. From the south, and north, and west, they would suddenly skulk upon him, strike a quick, flerce blow and hastily retire. Judging him again off his guard, they were ready for a fresh attack. But danger had no terrors for the backwoodsmen who first crossed the eastern watershed of the Valley. They rather courted it and gloried in it. It furnished an agreeable excite ment and stimulus to daily life, otherwise somewhat monoto nous. Although too civilized and careful of their wives ai^d children, too eager to gather around them the comforts of eastern communities, to seek it as the business of life, they had not lived in and roved through the wilderness from boy hood without catching more or less of the features of the wild man's character. This was often a mischievous spark to the tinder of the Indian's nature, who enjoyed the contest with a worthy antagonist, whose bravery and skill he admired, some of whose conveniences he coveted, and whose permanent presence and scornful rule were bitterness and gall to him. Thus he alternately made peace and war, in utter defiance of consistency, until his spirit was broken by the fall of Tecumseh, 325 326 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. and the destruction of the hostile Creeks during the war closing in 1815. Though it was a single phase of experience among the pion eers, lasting scarcely more than twenty years in any single region, it produced a deep and permanent impression on the character of the whole Valley. Cut off from the hojje of aid in an emergency by the hundreds of miles of forest and moun tain that lay between them and eastern population, they stood firm, trusting only in themselves for help. This self-reliance, constantly exercised through the whole of a vigorous manhood, and wrought into the character and habits of the young, devel oped a singular mental robustness and confidence. Success could not have failed them had the difficulties been ten times as great; but the dangers were great and constant enough to call forth their best energies, and the success sufficiently diffi cult of attainment to give it the highest value in their eyes and afford great self-satisfaction. The fame of the " Long Knives " — so the settlers below the Ohio were called by the tribes — among the Indians was great. A stirring life in a fine climate, and comparatively few of the vices of savage or civilized life to diminish physical vigor, pro duced a tall, large framed and muscular race. The body and the mind were fairly matched. The red man could admire strength, subtlety and courage as well as the civilized white. They sometimes tried to adopt the white " braves " into their tribes. Daniel Boone was a fine specimen of all the pioneer virtues, and though his rifle was very fatal among their war parties they were very anxious to capture and " tame " so dis tinguished a white warrior. Calm, cool and extremely skillful as a hunter and fighter, he was free from the darker passions of malice and hatred. Caught for once, with twenty-seven companions, at his dinner, by a large party of Indians, resist ance was useless. The Indians spared all the party for his sake, hoping he would consent to adoption into their tribe. He was treated with great courtesy and remained with them THE MENTAL AND PHTSICAL STAMINA OF PIONEERS. 327 quietly, to insure the safety of his friends, until he learned that his own fort was soon to be assailed by an Indian expe dition, when he stole away alone, put Boonesborough in order for resistance, and successfully defended it. Though promi nent for bold and daring deeds he was only one among mul titudes. This undaunted courage and confidence, which no danger could subdue, which found an attraction and romance in appal ling adventures, has often been displayed by communities who made war a business, but probably was never before joined so completely to the habits and virtues of civilization. Their chief interest was still not war and adventure, but settlement and cultivation. They were simple farmers, endowed with warlike virtues. The warrior and the adventurer in them did not expel the quiet plodding virtues of civilized life. Those simply came forward, at need, to protect and cherish these. It was an admirable basis of character and habit on which to build free institutions. All Indian claims — supposed tobe real or just — to Kentucky and much of Tennessee, had been purchased from the various claimants, but the Cherokees and Creeks were annoyed by the growing strength of the settlements on their borders, and indi vidual white aggression or violence often gave them the pre text for war they wanted, while all the tribes north of the Ohio considered Kentucky as their hunting ground, and could not resist the passion for keeping up their immemorial custom of roaming and fighting there ; and until the two became States, -with a large population, whom it was ruin for the Indians to attack, the settlers were required to defend themselves. The backwoodsmen of the Eastern States continued to wander along the bridle paths that crossed the mountains, unawed by the almost incessant Indian war wi^h all its butcherings and destruction. The valleys of Eastern and Middle; Tennessee, the slopes and bottoms of delightful Kentucky — which rested its head on the mountains, bathed its limbs in the Ohio, and 328 ' THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. its feet in the Mississippi — were irresistibly attractive to them when compared with the harsh and sterile regions on the east ern slope of the mountains ; for even the mountainous parts of the Valley have a softer, more fertile and inviting aspect than elsewhere. They came, therefore, not to fight but to find farms — for which they were not at all unwilling to fight if that was the price of them. Thus, while the inhabitants on the Atlantic were maintaining against England the native "Rights of Englishmen," and, having secured them by independence, were organizing institutions to render their possession of them complete and permanent, the often rude and rough but noble and true-hearted pioneers of the backwoods were extending the field of liberty and settling the foundations of the repub lic in the Valley. So far as they could, the English and the Spaniards confronted them and chiefly through the Indians. But liberty and the welfare of the future were safe in their hands. Their ambition could not be persuaded to seek for anything but the farmers' modest competence and for a free and well ordered government of their own. These untaught men of the woods were as sound at heart and in judgment, and as moderate and wise in general conduct, as Washington and his fellow patriots of Virginia and Massachusetts. They were not, indeed, all from the frontiers of the Atlantic States, and most of them had the rudiments of learning. They would have been respectable and prominent in any community where good sense and weight of character had influence ; but as a whole they were unpolished and very moderately educated in books and the reflnements of life. They were, still, the solid material out of which the durable structure of the American Union was built. They had the capacities of statesmen and all the best instincts of civilization. Culture and polish would come with opportunity and prosperity; but none of the demands of the time failed to be fairly met. During this period of flghting, domestic and social life THE MODEST AMBITION OF EARLT PIONEERS. 329 assumed the simplest forms well conceivable in a civilized community. Luxuries and elegancies of furniture or dress and conveniences for labor did not abound, even at the East, in those times. Only the wealthy could procure them from Europe. Great simplicity prevailed on the borders of the eastern settlements ; nothing but the absolutely indispensable could be carried over the mountains. A gun, an axe, an augur, an iron or earthen vessel or two for the purposes of cooking, with a very limited quantity of home-made clothing, formed the outfit of the emigrant, with an occasional drawing knife and other instrument or two for coopering. With these the house and its furniture were constructed, the forests cut down, game was procured, and the Indians conquered. Suitable garments were made of the dressed skins of animals, of fiax, and, after a time, of wool and cotton. Great industry and ingenuity surrounded them, very soon, with rude, but sub stantial, comfort. The virgin soil furnished them grain and vegetables in plenty; the woods and streams supplied them with the ten derest, most nourishing meats; and as the herds multiplied the finest products of the dairy abounded. Their tables were supplied with the rarest steaks, the most delicate fish, the most nourishing bread, the best butter, with honey, maple sugar and -wild fruit. They had almost no market for their surplus, and hospitality was scarcely a virtue, it was attended with so little cost. Social qualities naturally flourished in this abundance, isolation, and community of danger. Similar conditions, con tinuing far into our century, made this a marked feature of western, and especially southern, life. To all this bodily comfort add comparative freedom from the ambitions and small cares and anxieties of an artificial society, and the high spirit produced by danger and difficulty successfully overcome — a confident trust in their ability to meet every emergency and master every situation — and we have before us one of the prominent features of early life in 330 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. the Valley, which gave it a manly and generous tone for all time to come. When this simple and genial freedom gave place, under rapidly increasing wealth and immigration, to the social forms and culture of the East, the mental tone and bent had been given and the force and vigor of character which lay behind them enabled the Valley to dominate all the opposite mental elements and social habitudes with which it came in contact. Not that it excluded them, but modified them by its persistence and superior vigor. It required the eastern citi zen to become acclimated in thought and manner. A life so simple and natural rendered the artifices and shows of an old society odious to it. The self-confident, frank, and open temper which had gro-wii so strong scorned and ridiculed the shallow pretence and artificial gloss that endeavored to impose on its presumed simplicity and ignorance. What was really sound and true it recognized and honored, and proved itself, in the end, capable of a high culture and a bright polish. This energetic element had grown up, concentrated and strong, to large proportions in Kentucky and Tennessee before the prairie regions were open to settlement, and when that time arrived those two States sent out multitudes to the newer regions and occupied so much of the Valley as to impress their peculiarities on its whole future. These pecu liarities were also -strengthened by the general difficulties of a settlement of the interior which had no adequate market for nearly a generation after 1815. The force of this peculiar development, which was raised to eminence by the great difficulties overcome so completely, naturally tended to exaggeration, and this was increased by the growth of the slaveholding system. With prosperity came wealth, and the whites became gentlemen of leisure as the close of the pioneer period of hardship and difficulty devolved most of the manual labor on the colored servants. The young men were not so well prepared to make the best use of leisure and, in many cases, the self-confident assurance of the fathers A LEADING TYPE OF WESTERN CHARACTER. 331 became vices more or less offensive in the sons. This, how ever was a temporary phase which good sense and education gradually restrained. The poorer and less fortunate in mental balance became, often, the noisy and fearless blackleg and gambler of the river town and the frontier, and gave an air of rudeness and violence to far-western life and an unde served ill-fame, to a certain extent, and among superficial observers, to a noble race. Exaggerated virtues become vices everywhere and " tares " grow among the " wheat " in every society. The openness and freedom of the Valley gave this class special prominence for a time, but the evil was corrected -with the course of years, and the sooner that the virtues from which it was a temporary aberration, were full of soundness and vigor, and, exerting a free and quiet influence, at length balanced and regulated society by their weight. Kentuckians and Tennesseeans scattered through all the new States and Territories. They were even more " irrepres sible " than the ideal Yankee, for their buoyant assurance carried them, everywhere, to the surface. They furnished to the country its typical orator in Henry Clay, many of its weighty statesmen, of its great generals, and its president most beloved and revered after Washington. These oldest Valley States furnished many of its leading forces to the country and impressed their character ineffaceably on its whole history. CHAPTER XVII. NEW ENGLAND IN THE WEST. The settlers of Ohio during the early period were chiefly from New England. Commencing later and with previous careful organization, which was immediately placed under the protection of a Territorial Government supported by United States troops, traveling over a route that had long formed a military road, and confining themselves, at first, to compact settlements near the Ohio, they were able to surround them selves with many of their accustomed comforts and conveni ences, and to continue, in the depths of the continent, very much the same manner of life they had led in New England. A fort, comfortable cottages, accommodations for schools and religious services, were already prepared when the first fami lies arrived. Twelve years had passed since the Declaration of Independence had been "issued, and republican ideas had taken definite form, in the previous year, in the " Ordinance " and in the Constitution of the United States. A large popu lation had already firmly established civilization south of the Ohio, the Indians were, in a few years, to be pushed out of their immediate neighborhood and awed into tolerable quiet by a final defeat. The conditions, therefore, for the Ohio settlements, were very different from those that attended the early growth of Kentucky and Tennessee. While the discipline of these ear liest pioneers had tended to the development of a courageous temper — a bold, confident and outspoken independence of feeling — the later New England settlers were able to devote themselves, in comparative security and comfort, to the work ing out of the new ideas of the time. It was a different stock and had here a different discipline. At first it was New Eng- 383 CHARACTER OF PIONEERS FROM NEW ENGLAND. 333 land transferred, with all its habits and peculiar institutions, to the woods, carefully upheld and nourished by previous or ganization and constant military protection; but the boundless space about it, the freedom of the woods, and the rudeness of frontier life, dissipated much of the strength and controlling force of organization, threw the individual upon himself, and left the fundamental quality of the New England mind to a free development. The German and Quaker elements of Penn sylvania mingled with it somewhat and enlarged its mental horizon by intimate contact with new ideas and habits. What- .ever, therefore, of strictness and narrowness might attach to the descendant of the Pilgrim Fathers, in Massachusetts and Connecticut, was modified and partially removed here by new suggestions and both mental and social freedom from restraint, even of public opinion. After the first six or seven years of danger from Indian attack, during which military organization was kept up, and adventurous scouts and sentinels became skillful in the wild warfare of the woods, and communicated to the new settlers in general a little of the boldness and confidence of Kentuck ians, they settled down to the individual toil and struggle unavoidable in laying the first foundations of a great com monwealth in a vast region wholly new. During this period the real fundamental character of these people developed freely. The New Englander adapted himself to the changed conditions and was better prepared to organize a new State than if wholly fresh from an eastern community. In twelve years from the day the first house was built in Marietta, the Northwest Territory had forty-five thousand inhabitants ; and when the wa,r of 1812 broke out there were two hundred and fifty thousand souls breathing the free healthy air of the woods of Ohio. All these soon caught the spirit and tendency of the first settlers, were sub jected to the rough discipline of pioneer life, and built up a newer, fresher and more natural New England in the West. 334 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. New England society and institutions had been formed on English models before the liberal and expansive ideas of a later time had taken form. Their reconstruction here, com pleted their return to nature. The Revolutionary era had passed and a new departure had been taken. Laborious and simple habits and warm sympathy between all classes, begotten by the community of poverty and struggle of pioneer life, freed them from prejudice. Consequently the First Principles of political and social science, enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, were more fully incorporated into the thought, habits and institutions of the Northwest Territory, and grew with lusty vigor in the healthy industry and quiet of the woods and prairies. Thorough republican principles had a certain degree of resistance to meet and overcome in the East from other forms of thought, and habits inherited from England, before they could be perfectly embodied. In the West the peoj)le were, at first, widely scattered and society was very much broken up by the extensive spread of pioneer settlement. Mind and habit were left free, for a time, to ex pand under the influence of the new ideas, and the people were then reassembled to form a new body politic, and remodel institutions under the freest and most natural forms. Of all Anglo-Saxons the people of New England were the most orderly, the most logical in thought, and the most per sistent in applying their mental conclusions to practical life. The mental capacity was shared by the Virginians — who stand as representatives of the Southern colonies as the people of Massachusetts do of the Northern. In fact, the Virg-inians possessed the quickness and vividness of conception to be seen in the French, and had the high honor to give the first and fullest expression to the thought and aspiration of all the colonies in the Declaration of Independence, as well as to furnish the most typical patriots and statesmen of the Repub lic in Washington and Jefferson; but they had not the prac tical tenacity and logical consistency of the New Englander. THE LOSS AND GAIN OF THE YANKEE IN THE WEST. 335 They tolerated slavery and retained many English forms and habits not in harmony with the new growth. They had the misfortune to introduce forced labor into Kentucky and Ten nessee, and the noble and simple-hearted freemen there wanted the mental clearness and decision to' divest themselves of it when first acting constitutionally. The New Englander in the West acquired a more liberal logic, but i^t did not cease to be just and practical. He laid the foundations of the great Northwest — the most prosperous, free, and powerful region in the world. New Englanders have always highly esteemed their own special institutions and peculiarities — which is very natural. With their usual forethought they proposed to organize their settlements so carefully that the savor and the vigor of New England life and customs should be transferred to the West. Marietta and its companion settlements were, therefore, ar ranged in the East, with orderly precision. The township officers were provided; the territorial organization began to operate simultaneously, and the East seemed transferred in all its completeness and peculiarities to the West. This attempt, however, was a failure, for the settlements as a whole, because they could not be kept compact. Association lost its force for the time, the community be came resolved into its individual components, who spread far and wide through the wilderness, relying on themselves almost entirely for a new start in life. The old German instinct of individualism reasserted itself with a greater emphasis than it had ever displayed in England or on the Atlantic coast. Society resolved itself into its original elements in the early and middle periods of settlement in the Valley more thor oughly than this race had known before since it emerged from the primitive barbarism where the individual was nearly everything and social force almost nothing. But, in this scattering of the settlers, they carried all the elements of civilization with them, and reorganization at once 336 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. commenced on a base more favorable to free action. The individual made more room around himself, so to speak, and the social and political structures resulting no longer ham pered him at any point. He could put forth his whole strength, and, as he was as fully penetrated with a sense of the advantages of association and order as any European, or citizen of the Atlantic States, he inclined to reconstruct with all necessary thoroughness and solidity. Thus the institutions of the Valley proved, in the end, to be more liberal as to the individual, and equally vigorous and decisive in action. The ideal of freedom and strength in union was more nearly approached in the West than in the East. As settlement extended and these tendencies revealed themselves, the various restrictions to popular suffrage that had obtained in the Atlantic States were abandoned in the Valley. Their exam ple, proved contagious and extended back to the East. So, in a thousand ways, the Valley proved to be a liberalizing force in the country. The careful attention of the intelligent leaders of settlement in the Northwest Territory was at once given to education; but adequate provision for it was attainable, at first, only in the towns and more populous settlements. The people spread over a vast region, the larger part of them were farmers, and more attention was paid to securing the best land, after danger from the Indians ceased, than to' any other point. We see two hundred and fifty thousand people thinly sprinkled over much of the State of Ohio in the first twenty-five years fol lowing the commencement of settlement. Then the prairie sections of the West were opened, the northern parts of the State were safe, and there was much migration to those regions. The solitude of the woods and thinly settled prairies had be come attractive to some; the desire for change and to secure the best lands of new regions inspired others; so that, some times, by repeated removals, families were formed and passed into the second or third generation in want of all the oppor tunities of education and social culture. AN IMPROVEMENT ON THE NEW ENGLAND TTPE. 337 But, notwithstanding isolation and hardship, and though the surface of their life became rude and rough, the real New England type did not deteriorate. The wild growth was a healthy one; it was solid and firm. Western youth, if almost ignorant of books and of the habits of good society of the older regions, were bold, inquisitive and pushing; well versed in popular politics, and inclined to pursue their aims with a vigor that commonly secured success. The thoughtfulness, ingenuity and persistence of the Yankee were not lost. They acquired heartiness, independence and force, and kept up the advance in a definite direction, as a whole. They were ready to make sacrifices for public improvements, to promote edu- oation, and were extremely thrifty in the conduct of their private afi'airs. The New Englander lost in the West the European peculiar ities of thought and habit which, though useful in some ways, ¦cramped and limited him in others. Social distinctions, polit ical and other theories, a thousand' modes of thought and habits of life inherited from an old and imperfect civilization which had grown out of circumstances long since passed away, but which left their impress on later life, were preserved on the Atlantic Slope by institutions originally cast in a Euro pean mould and preserved by commercial, social and literary relations across the ocean. To develop the full strength and peculiarities suited to the time and place of a new class of men and of ideas, to render the new nation truly American or "Continental, this western discipline was greatly needed. The new isolation and the opportunity io forget — the dift'erent inter ests and aims of this new and vast interior world — recast the New Englander as they had recast the Virginian. Without losing his excellencies, he gained by girding himself more fully to a new career — gained in breadth and depth, even as his new horizon was more expanded and his soil and resources were deeper and richer. He lost in sectional feeling, which is necessarily too limited, 23 338 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. and gained — by contact with new and larger facts, and asso ciation with people of other regions and other nationalities on equal terms — the power of judging more freely and justly and in a larger sense. He became less a New Englander and more an American. The new boldness and force of independ ence the ^vestern people acquired under their long apprentice ship to solitude, hardship and difficulty fitted them to exert a. controlling influence on new comers into the Valley whom they constrained to become mentally and socially acclimated, even as they must needs become physically. The intelligent, the cultured and the prejudiced from old communities, however strong-willed, must learn to clothe their thoughts and conduct in western style to secure influence, and thus the peculiar tone acquired in this region dominated all the vast multitudes of immigrants from other States and from Europe. They received, however, as well as gave, and were modified and greatly improved by all the solid worth and refinement that had matured elsewhere; but they selected what was appropri ate and suppressed what thej^ deemed unfitting. The later New Englander usually brought to the Valley methodical business habits, a good education, the polish of an old and progressive society, and all these he imparted to the aspiring settlers of the backwoods and lonely prairies. He- found an opportunity to display all the genuine power that was in him, on a broad field, and received many suggestions of value that would not have occurred to him in a narrower- one. The West, as every new country, was merciless to shams but most kindly toward all that was true and valuable. Some what against its will, the East has felt the influence of the West, in many ways, and been benefited by it. CHAPTER XVIII. THE SOUTHERN PLANTER IN THE VALLET. The Southern Valley east of the Mississippi was settled to a small extent along the Gulf coast by the Spanish, French and English, previous to the American Revolution. Com paratively few Spaniards or Frenchmen remained, however, after the English took possession of it, and, except to the trading towns on the Gulf, and the east bank of the Missis sippi, there was no extensive immigration before the severe chastisement of the Creeks by Gen. Jackson, in 1814. The Tennessee settlements which had extended below the bend of the Tennessee River numbered several thousand at the close of that war. Northwestern and southwestern Mississippi had many thousand settlers by that time. Many were from Ken tucky, Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas. Others were descended from English, Scotch and Irish parents; some were from Northern colonies or States, and some from Louisiana. The forced labor system had been introduced by Spanish, French, English, the colonies and the States alike. The hardships and difficulties which had been exj^erienced in the upper Valley were comparatively little known here except in the settlements near the Tennessee River, and in later times in neighboring localities. Elsewhere the settle ments were along the rivers; there was a ready market for agricultural products, and the special staples raised only there had a sure and profitable sale. Many of the settlers were well supplied -with colored labor, from the first, and soon all were so. There was much more of comfort and no- long period of helpless poverty for those who required money to pay for farms and improvements. The northern part of Alabama was in the Valley of the 339 340 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Tennessee and had no water outlet except by that river to the Ohio and Mississippi, so that it lay about four hundred miles farther from markets than Pittsburgh. It was 1,600 miles to New Orleans, by that route, though that part of Alabama is but 500 miles from the same place in a direct line. This, however, was but a small section of the state ; the larger part had access to the Gulf markets by its river system. Pioneer life, for the multitudes in the early periods, except in the Tennessee Valley, was less embarrassed with difficulty, either in reaching the objective point for settlement or in pro ducing a comfortable income, than the upper Valley. More conveniences, implements and laborers could be introduced at the first, or very soon accumulated. The first settlers east of the Mississippi were extremely various in origin, being adventurous people from the various parts of the colonies — or later, the States and Territories — and some immigrants direct from Europe. The original number, ho-wever, was not very large. The larger part of the settlers after the close of the war, in 1815, were from Georgia, the Carolinas and Vir ginia; many were people of wealth, character and position, many were young and enterprising men of good families and education ; while many more, perhaps, were the struggling poor who sought to retrieve their fortunes in a productive new region. Prosperity was great and tolerably general, for cotton was in great demand and brought a high price for some years, and those who could profit by the opportunity soon acquired wealth. It is stated that many plantations produced a reve nue of $40,000 per annum, in those times, and smaller estates in the same proportion. This extraordinary condition of things did not last long, but still, southern staples were al ways ready of sale and extremely profitable to raise. The employment of colored labor and the great advantage secured by the large over the small cultivators by the facility of in creasing the area of their lands, very soon produced great dif- PIONEER LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN VALLEY. 341 ferences in fortune, and ultimately two agricultural classes — the planters and the poor whites. The large plantations tended to increase, and the smaller to diminish. Capital must be invested in labor to secure it in abundance. This system tended to make profitable agriculture a kind of monopoly of the wealthy and to raise a comparatively small class to an eminence resembling a European aristocracy. The planters ruled the extreme South by their ownership of labor, by the possession of capital, by their social position and their intelligence. In the early periods, while settlement was in active progress, this was only a tendency. It ripened fast after 1840 and became strongly defined before 1860. This was in strong contrast with the upper Valley, where the general tendency was to equalize property, as far as indi vidual differences of capacity and energy would permit. There, the labor system was built on the same race that controlled politics, and there was no tendency of agricultural property and resources to accumulate in a few hands, but rather the contrary. The variety of occupations in the North also helped to maintain greater equality among the people. The central Valley, or border slave States, formed a medium between the two, the tendency being strongly to the southern system of grading the classes, though it was partly counteracted by agri cultural conditions similar to those north of the Ohio. Viewed from the industrial point this southern system was, temporarily, an important advantage, since it rapidly devel oped enormous wealth, from the attention given to the culti vation of southern staples — and especially cotton, which was in great demand in Europe — stimulated the comrnerce of the country by furnishing a large part of its most profitable exports, and greatly aided to maintain the balance of trade with the manufacturing nations of Europe; but it was a disadvantage in the long run since it deteriorated the fortunes of the mass of the southern people. The poorer whites had few resources, compared with the poor of the North, wherewith to improve 342 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. their condition, and fell to a continually greater extent, finan cially and mentally, under the control of the class which had so much the advantage of them in wealth and culture, and the influences which spring from them. The resources of the South were only partly developed, and a great loss to the gen eral community was sustained, w-hile various minor evils grad ually came to the surface and increased in magnitude. Among the m(jst important of these was the mental stagnation of the lower grade of whites and the unintelligent character of labor. It ultimately seemed evident that no region where labor was merely mechanical, where it had no mental stimulus or pro gressiveness in skill, could compete with regions where the contrary ruled. Resources are developed from the mental force that is put into the work, and the intelligence that con trols the muscles of the laborer must, ordinarily, to produce eminent results, dwell in the same body. Oversight and direc tion, however intelligent, can not produce results in compari son with intelligent labor. Unintelligent labor is not flexible, not at ready command when changes are desirable, and imme diate results are less with the same capital and numbers. For a moderate period this is not particularly observable, but in the end the difference is very great. Yet, the loss in this direction was partly balanced by the gain in another. The depression of the two classes operated to raise the third. Among the immigrants to the Valley in the South were many gentlemen of the class that did such honorable service to liberty during the Revolution. Many were descended from the chivalry of England and France, where the blood of their forefathers had been " gentle " back to the dim twilight of modern European history. Many of the French in Louisiana were descended from the higher classes of the .Mother Country ; and the settlers from the southern Atlan tic States included many whose hereditary endowments em braced all the advantages and tendencies of distinguished origin. They were gentlemen by birth, by position such as FINE QUALITIES (.IF THE SOUTIIEUN PLANTER. 343 wealth and culture can give, and by the fine instincts and native dignity and intelligence which are the only excuses for an aristocracy. To such natural leaders were joined the enterprising and successful who made equal fortunes by ability and the special favor of circumstances. These very often included persons who were coarse and rude, not very susceptible of refinement, though, for the most part, they caught, more or less, the spirit of the society to which success introduced them. After the beginnings were past and large incomes were secured, these classes usually committed the care of labor on their estates to overseers and had abundant leisure; the education of their families was usually cared for without regard to expense ; society became increasingly refined. The fervent climate which stimulated the generous qualities of the race, the free dom from care, the large incomes and the isolation of country life on large plantations, gave a rare geniality and compass to social qualities and furnished the singular spectacle in the ne-«'ly broken wilderness and the mixed population, hastily and recently collected from many regions, of a society of which the oldest countries niight be proud. This class, when fairly developed and dominant in the South, contained a few hundred thousand among several millions of whites; but their mental influence was deeply felt through out the Union. They possessed many most agreeable and valuable qualities. Generous and amiable, with an assured position and abundant incomes, they were rarely severe mas ters and the kindness and sympathy of the patriarchal relation was much more frequently represented between the master and servant than the outside world was inclined to believe. With some painful exceptions, gentleness, rather than severity, char acterized the master. Pecuniary difficulty, which sometimes broke up life-long relations, the occaaional tyranny of paid overseers, or the rise to wealth of coarse and violent men — all which must be considered exceptions to the rule — were the 344 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. common causes of abuse of power and oppression of .the helpless. The absoluteness and fixity of the relation usually rendered the master the more ready in kindness. The servant was of the gentlest of races, apparently want ing in the mental robustness and force required for strong self-assertion, revering the master and his race as superior beings, with an overflowing abundance of light-hear tedness and the emotional nature that readily seeks expression in strong attachment. This race was but a few generations removed from absolute barbarism, at the longest, and many had been born in it. The favorable influence of their white masters on them must now be conceded in comparing their conduct, during and after the civil war, with that of the same race under self-government in Hayti, or under English control after liberation in Jamaica. It can not be doubted that more happiness and less suffering reigned among the mass of South- Ern slaves during servitude than after they became freedmen. It is being tested whether or not they can, as a race, maintain with honor the character and dignity of citizens on their own resources. No trial can be considered complete until gen- srations shall have displayed their tendencies and real capaci ties. Character is of slow growth ; yet the commencement is full of promise. Perhaps the finest and most honorable character in which the Southern slaveholder appeared was in that of an Ameri can citizen. Largely of aristocratic descent, habits and im mediate surroundings, he proved an American and a republi can of the most pronounced type in all that related to the white race. No class in the republic more forcibly advocated or applied the principles, constitutional and judicial, on which it was based. Leaving the colored man aside, he was in fullest sympathy with that which was most distinctively American. The Constitutions of the Gulf States were even more liberal in admitting the elective principle to its fullest development than those of the New England States. The planter had leisure- THE PLANTER A TRUE AMERICAN. 345 and ambition and threw himself, with French vivacity and Anglo-Saxon heartiness, into political life. The South long exerted a controlling influence on the politics of the country, and its general liberal development may testify that its influ ence was not injurious. The people of the Southern Valley were of more purely American descent, the great flood of European immigration being chiefly dispersed over the free States of the upper basin. The instincts of the class and their course in all matters unconnected with slavery were, and are, an honor to the Anglo-American race. CHAPTER XIX. FOREIGN IMMIGRANTS AS AMERICAN CITIZENS. The Colonies which, in 1776, declared their independence, •and permanently established the Republic of the United States of America, had been more than one hundred and fifty years in reaching a total population of about three million. In 1790 the population of the whole country was about 3,200,000 whites and 700,000 blacks. The growth had been slow. The population of New England in 1760 was not far from 400,000, almost all of which was the increase of the twenty thousand Anglo-Saxons who emigrated from England between 1620 and 1650. The larger part of the immigrants who formed the other colonies came from Europe previous to 1700, and had long been undergoing the process of transformation from Anglo-Saxons to Anglo-Americans. The emigrants from continental Europe were an inconsiderable number compared with those from the British Isles and proved themselves true Americans during the war. That contest and its results proved that a new race had commenced its career during colonial times. Previous to 1820 comparatively few foreigners found their way to the Valley. Probably not more than 150,000 out of the 2,500,000 then inhabiting the Valley -were of foreign birth, including the French of the Louisiana Purchase and the Span ish of Florida. Accurate figures are not attainable, but that seems a fair estimate. After 1820 statistics of immigration were officially kept. From that year up to 1S35 less than 40,000 foreigners spread over the whole country. 0 f these not over 25,000 came to the West. From 1S35 to 1830, including the former but not the latter year, something more than 90,000 foreigners settled in the whole country. The population of the Valley had increased about a million and a half, not over 346 FOREIGN ELEMENTS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. 347 100,000 of which could have been foreigners; the increase of foreigners to the increase of native Americans being as one to fifteen at the utmost, and of foreigners of recent immigra tion to the whole population of the Valley as one to forty. In 1840 the population of the Valley was about 6,700,000— -an increase in ten years of 2,700,000. In this time immigra tion to the United States aggregated 540,000, of which perhaps half settled in the Valley, the remainder locating in cities .and manufactories, or laboring on public works in the East. Between 1840 and 1850 immigration to the United States from Europe rose to about 1,350,000. The Valley had now over 10,000,000 inhabitants. The increase of 3,300,000 proba bly included 800,000 foreigners, or nearly one fourth. Between 1850 a,nd 1860 more than two and a half million persons emi grated from Europe to the United States. Of these perhaps 1,500,000 settled in the Valley, which had gained, in that time, more than 6,500,000 — the whole population being about 16,600,- •000. Of the 5,500,000 foreign born inhabitants of the United States, in 1870, probably upwards of three fifths were in the Valley. Of the 10,000,000 in the Valley in 1850 much less than 1,500,000 were of foreign birth, and large numbers of these were of American education. Nearly two thirds of the whole, however, had immigrated within ten years. The early periods of settlement in the Valley were given to the formation of a truly American character and spirit; the foreign element being too small to do more than expand their views by aiding the native Americans to comprehend how things looked from other points of view than their own. Foreigners have always been too small a minority to exert much general control, even if the resolute spirit of native -Americans, their intelligence and aggressiveness, had not marked them as the necessarily dominant race. There has always been a fear in the minds of thoughtful, but not fully instructed, patriots that the large numbers of foreigners, who so readily reached the position of citizens 348 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. under the naturalization laws, might do harm to the future- of the republic. It seemed to them unlikely that the Anglo- American race would always be able to maintain the firm control over their institutions necessary to their excellence, with so large an element from abroad able to turn the scale by their votes at a critical time. In the midst of the great tide of immigration, soon after 1850, this apprehension was embodied in a political party which undertook to exclude foreigners from official position; but it soon dissolved. Every agriculturist who emigrated from Europe was equivalent to- a moderate capital invested in the country, speeding its progress by developing its resources. It was impolitic, finan cially, to receive immigrants coldly and treat them with suspicion. To this was' added the perception, partly from European history and partly from the observation and instinc tive good sense of Americans, that foreigners who came as permanent settlers identified their interests with the home of their adoption. The crowded population of European states, the monopoly of wealth, influence and station by hereditary transmission, the difficulty for the lower classes of improving their future,, the burden of taxation and of conscription into the vast- armies there maintained, made them feel like prisoners un bound and set free in America. Their first, and usually their only thought, for a series of years, was to get them a home, to surround it with comfort, and to provide a future for their families. During these years they became familiarized with American life and institutions, their children grew up as Americans, became imbued with the temper and spirit of natives and were, usually, fully prepared to assume the- duties of citizens when the burdens of mature life fell on them. America was so much an ideal country to their imagina tions before they arrived, and the opportunities they found were really so great, that they adjusted themselves to Amer- THE TEUTONIC NATIONS EASILY AMERICANIZED. 349 lean ideas very readily. Had they been required to assist in founding and shaping the form of institutions their want of experience and development must have had very unhappy results. But Americans, almost unassisted, had done this already ; the work had become mature and all the tendencies settled before any large number of foreigners came. They were then too small in number to disturb the mighty current of American destiny as Anglo-Americans had settled it ; they could only be carried along with it and this was to a future so promising that they did not wish to interfere with it. The prospect was almost as bright as anything they could dream. The European peasant, who had nothing but his strong arm and his habits of labor, and who had known no prospect of anything in life but to labor incessantly for a mere pittance, while others were enriched by his toil, found here a chance to labor for himself, to secure a home and farm of his own that should richly reward his patient industry ; he was an equal among the free; he could educate his children; if they had gifts of mind and ambition for honors and place they had an equal chance with others. It was impossible that they should not enter as heartily into the spirit spread like an atmosphere about them as the habits of their early lives would permit. Their children caught the strong impulses of a free society and grew up true Americans. Those who came with education, or with property, found in them the means of entering on a new and high career of brilliant possibilities. Besides, the latent spirit of the Angles, the Saxons and Nor mans, which the despotic and aristocratic governments of Europe had suppressed in their races for ages, now woke into life. The ancient relationship of life and blood told. The steady industry of the parents engaged the approval of the thrifty American farmers and the sympathies of ancient blood relationship awoke in the children. The branches of the old race, long separated, reunited easily. There was also a liberalizing influence in immigration. 350 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. Nations that live apart and often have, or think they have,. contrary interests, on which wars are founded and miscon ceptions arise, learn to think ill of each other. Patriotism re quires them, they think, to hate other races in order to be true to their own. To live in close contact with foreigners, with the same evident interests, is to enlarge patriotism, to learn that virtue and worth are of no country or kindred. It is a lesson which, well learned, elevates and ennobles a people, makes them high minded and just in international relations, and secures them respect, honor and much profit. This liberal appreciation was learned '\vhen numerous rep resentatives of many nations mingled freely with Americans in relations sueh as to bring out all their virtues. The ideas, the habits, the mental tone and different mode of viewing the same subjects, brought out in amicable intercourse or public discussion, opened a wider mental field to the intelligent, ap preciative American. The more numerous the various points from which the same thing is regarded the more completely just and accurate is the final judgment concerning it. The mental breadth of America gained by immigration. The circumstances were favorable for a fusion of the foreign qualities and for casting them in the native mould. Neigh borhood, social and political life embraced all the various ele ments ; there being no strong causes to maintain separation, and many to introduce intimate union, they mingled and brought a result differing in various ways from either of the constitu ents combining. Where two or more races can so unite, on terms not too unequal, it is an advantage to both. The union of races has been one of the most important elements of prog ress known to civilization. Physical and mental vigor are im proved; the blood is made richer; thought is enlarged ; anew genius, or mental element, is produced. So the hardy, bold Northman gained by contact with the vivacity and light tem per of France. His solid qualities took on a brilliant polish. Conquering Saxon England, both Saxons and Normans were NATIVES AND FOREIGNERS MODIFY' EACH OTHER. 351 improved by the contact, and development in England was hastened. So the French in America have mingled with the citizens and improved the character of the downright, eager, business-like Anglo-Saxons ; the Germans have brought phys ical stamina and mental equanimity, and the Irish quick blood and careless joviality. All these and other special characteristics of the several races meet and mutually modify each other in scjciety and business, by intermarriage, and by various modes of contact. They give and take, or, at times, perhaps, neutralize each other in the mental chemistry of the product, and make the Anglo- American nation richer in aptitudes, better balanced in mind and action, broader and more just in judgment. This has been the evident tendency. The larger flow of immigration has been comparatively recent, and the fusion, so far as much of it is concerned, is still very incomplete; but the process has- been long in operation; it commenced with the first settle ment of the colonies ; it has been proceeding on a large scale since 1820, and the result is fairly evident. The digestion of the Anglo-American body politic is strong; foreigners have not endangered the Republic, have not upset public schools, have not sought to raise up an aristocracy. Evils have oeen abundant but not as harmful or permanent as they seemed. Time will dispose of them all. CHAPTER XX. EDUCATIONAL BEGINNINGS IN THE VALLET. A Republic is dependent, beyond any other form of govern ment, on the intelligence of the people as a whole. The endur ing excellence of its institutions, springing immediately from the people and constantly subject to their control and revi sion, can not exceed the combined wisdom of the majority. Should that majority consent to allow superior individuals to organize them, it must be capable of appreciating excellence; otherwise they will fail in submission, in continuously appoint ing equally wise administrators, or in preserving the excellent features long enough to allow them to produce their appro priate results. In a popular government the wisdom of the statesmen must be fully supported by the clear, steady intel ligence of the populace. So far as we have examined we have seen this to be the case in the Valley, in a general way, and that the 'vrisdom of the people increased more rapidly in proportion than the growth of the country. Elements of danger and difficulty multiplied on every hand as population from without poured in ; yet the people proved themselves masters of every situation, solved every difficulty in harmony with the principles first adopted, and made eminent progress in every direction. Whence they derived this intelligence, and' how they perpetuated and increased it for three generations, are questions of interest. If they receive but a general and partial answer here it is be cause this was only a Period of Beginnings, and in following out their results at a later time, it will be more interesting and impressive to make the view of educational progress in the Valley fairly complete then. To notice when and where the tree, that afterwards bore noble fruit, was planted, and 352 ORIGIN OF POPULAR EDUCATION. 353 from what sources its roots drew nourishment, falls in with the present plan and is essential to a full comprehension of the character of this epoch. Almost as soon as there came to be educated men in the Greek republics, nearly 500 years before the Christian Era, the importance of general education was perceived by the more thoughtful; but they were too far ahead of their times to be able to give prevalence to their views. The Christian church had no sooner emerged from its early persecutions than it began to educate the common people; but the disorders of the time allowed them small success. Serious eft'orts were made by Charlemagne to promote study, and the church, from SOO to 1200, issued frequent decrees, through Popes and Coun cils,- ordering the establishment of schools for the children of the poor, without pay ; but the disorganized and miserable state in which society was held by the Feudal System defeated these efforts. Besides, until the multiplication of books by the dis covery of the printing press, in 1440, their scarcity and high price made progress almost impossible. The religious reformers of the sixteenth century, a hundred years later, availed themselves of the press to promulgate their views, and naturally took much interest in the spread of edu cation among the common people. Protestantism was an appeal from the authority of the few to the private judgment of each individual among the masses of the people. This appeal assumed previous instruction, the facilities for gaining it were now great, and education spread widely, especially among the Germans and Anglo-Saxons. The religious and political disorders of England prevented its taking the lead in well organized school systems, and Germany had the honor of making the first persistent and successful attempts to organize general education. At an early period, in England, numerous grammar schools had been established by persons of wealth and eminence, which were largely increased from time to time, after the 23 354 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. destruction of monastic establishments; and, for three centu ries before the establishment of American Independence, sums that would be equivalent to three or four millions of dollars were expended annually on grammar schools and free schools, in educating the English people. Parochial schools were established in Scotland in 1696, which contributed greatly to general education. The wealthier classes in Eng land have been educated, for many centuries, in the universi ties of Oxford and Cambridge. Holland and Sweden had taken pains to promote general instruction before the period of English settlement in America ; and thus the nationalities which sent the most of the emigrants who aided in founding the Thirteen Colonies, sent with them the habit of, and the^ desire for, popular education. The Puritans of New England immediately ordered schools to be established in all the townships, and all the other colonies,, from New York to Georgia, followed their example, more or less closely, or rather, brought with them from England, Holland, Sweden, Huguenot France and Germany, school masters and books, as a necessity of life. Before 1776, there were eleven Colleges in existence in thfr colonies which remain to this day ; and nine academies,, founded between 1665 and 1774, are still in operation. Before 1800 twelve more colleges and twenty-eight academies, that are still fiourishing, were founded. Out of New England, the want of common schools, organized by the government, for teaching the rudiments of education, was supplied by church, or parochial, and private schools. In 1776 there were twenty-nine libraries in the thirteen new made States, and thirty-seven newspapers. The latter increased to 150 by 1800. Washington, Jeft'erson, Hamilton, and all the statesmen who acted a distinguished part in founding our institutions, urged the greatest diligence in providing for universal educa tion, and the framers of the ordinance of 1787 were mindful EARLY' HINDRANCES TO COMMON SCHOOLS. 355 of this point, when they insisted, in this fundamental law which controlled the foundation of five great States, on " the means of education " being provided " and the encourage ment of schools." In 1802, the Congress of the United States gave eft'ect to this provision, by presenting the sixteenth section in each township, or the thirty-sixth part of the pub lic lands, to the State of Ohio for the support of common schools, besides three whole lownships in support of colleges. This became a common provision in forming the new states ever after. The settlers, then, brought across the mountains a sense of the importance of education. During the Indian wars and the disturbed and scattered state of the settlements, they could do little to give effect to this feeling; but Kentucky and Ten nessee made provisions for educational establishments as soon as they had organized governments, and Ohio imitated New England, from the first, as far as the scattered condition of the settlers and their limited means permitted. These two last mentioned obstacles were an almost insuperable bar to the advancement of education, in the newer and more thinly set tled sections of the Valley, for more than fifty years. In the towns and more prosperous settlements, which were commonly near the navigable streams, these difficulties were soon con quered, to a considerable extent, and where a number of fam ilies lived near each other, and found a sufficient market for labor or produce to raise the means, they combined to support a school. Often, however, they lived far apart, the State had small cash resources for distribution, or none at all, and multitudes of the young grew up with no means of education. Books, were scarce and dear, and money scarcer still; therefore much of western society was, for a long time, wild and rude. A. love of isolation and solitude, combined with the hope of bet tering their fortunes and the spirit of adventure to introduce- on the frontiers the habit of selling " improvements," as pop- 356 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. ulation began to multiply, and going to wilder and more lonely regions to commence anew. An emigrating mania, thus, for several decades, kept a portion of the people far from all edu cational advantages, and multitudes of the young grew up to manhood with little or no culture. But such a life had com paratively few of the disadvantages which surround ignor ance in the midst of a numerous society. The woods and prairies allowed them to grow wild; they did not often be come corrupt — a very fortunate circumstance. To this is to be added that inhabitants from more favored regions settled near, or mingled with, them, from time to time; association with these modified their ignorance and rudeness, and, after the close of the war of 1812, a steady improvement went on. The intellectual ambition of the Anglo-Saxon race did not permit them to become debased, and prompted them to improve all the means of rising that fell in their way. The West was again indebted to the East and to Europe, when order began to rise out of the, social chaos of settlement. In some of the eastern States an organized common school sys tem had been attempted, about the beginning of the century, which was not very successful, at first, from lack of means and experience; they were repeated and improved, from 1812 to 1820, and began then to awaken the interest of all sections of the country. About 1830 the German methods, which had been thoroughly reorganized and much improved after the great wars with Napoleon, began to be studied by other nations, and capa ble men were sent, from different sections of this country, to observe and report on them. The result was a remarkable growth of interest in the organization of common schools in most of the old States. The enthusiasm was, in due time, communicated to the West, which was beginning to feel the pulses of a new pros perity as its commerce and resources enlarged after the in troduction of steamboats on its rivers and lakes. The large immigration of families accustomed to consider educatiou THE FREE SCHOOL SYSTEM IN THE VALLEY. 357 indispensable, the westward flow of ambitious young men, recent graduates of eastern schools, who, with little or no capital but their education to start them in life, sought situ ations for teaching until a higher career should open to them, gave a new impulse to the tendency in the direction of general education which could not fail to become strong among all who felt anxious for the success of the new Republic. The importance of a system of free schools began to be agi tated in Ohio soon after 1820, and, at the same time with a great system of public works, one was organized by law, in that State, in February, 1825. The zealous partisans of each united, joined hands to carry through what neither could do alone, and commenced, in both cases, a new stage of develop ment for the State, and, by the force of its example, for all the West. Indiana had already inserted an educational law in her statute book, as a beginning. Illinois was involved in many financial disasters by the inexperience and overhaste of her legislators. When, in 1845, she began to recover and to attend more carefully to educational interests, it was still found difficult to organize a satisfactory system and provide a suffi cient fund for the education of all the young in the State. After many efforts, with imperfect results, a law of 1855 set her educational machinery in motion with great success. About 1837 Michigan commenced a fine career as a State educator. Between 1850 and 1860 a very great improvement took place in most of the States of the West. Kentucky and Louisiana, and other southern, or slave, States, had endeavored to organize in the same direction. The General' Government was generous in bestowing public lands, which laid the foun dation of a liberal fund for popular education. In the free States the difficulties to efficient organization constantly dimin ished as population multiplied, as ignorance of methods was dissipated by agitation and by success in various States, and as resources increased. In most of the slave States, how ever, the hindrances to a good and efficient system of com- 358 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. mon schools tended to increase. Estates became larger and the white inhabitants more scattered ; the education of the blacks was found incompatible with their continuance in slavery, and a great inequality of conditions — inconsiderable at first — gradually arose among the whites, which rendered a common school system, like those of the northern States, more and more difficult. Education was not neglected, but was con fined chiefly to the wealthier classes and to the towns, or to private schools or family tutors. Perhaps a larger number in proportion received a finished education. In 1832, there were nineteen colleges in the Western States and less than half the number in the Southern part of the Valley. The number of pupils in the schools was one to five of the whole population in New England, one to eight in Pennsylvania, one to thirteen ih Illinois and one to twenty-one in Kentucky. That State, Tennessee and Mis souri were more successful in general education than the cotton-growing States of the lower Valley. Yet, leaving out the blacks, there was as wide a diffusion of intelligence as could possibly be expected in a country so new. The Northwestern States, having fewer checks to educational improvement and a larger number of earnest and ambitious partisans of universal education, once fairly entered on this career of organization and reform, pursued it with a 'vigor and thoroughness worthy of all praise. Republican freedom, the invigorating discipline inseparable from the conquest of so many enemies, and the establishment of all the attributes and comforts of civilization in the course of a few generations in the wilds of the western continent, had the eft'ect to add to the sober and conservative progressiveness of the Anglo-Saxon somewhat of the dash and vivacity of the Gallic race. The American has some of the characteristics of the Frenchman. The rapid growth of the Valley encouraged these features of Anglo-American character. These rich resources and great opportunities stimulated conception and execution. In RAPID GROWTH OF THE COMMON SCHOOLS. 359 a few years a wild forest or a virgin prairie appeared like a long settled region. The entire complicated machinery of social, industrial, commercial and political life was organized. Between 1840 and 1860 a work, that might have sufficed for a century in any other country, was accomplished by the busy thought and the active hand of the Valley. In 1850 the number of schools of all classes in the United States and Territories was 87,257. Of these, 42,360 were in the Valley; and, out of 3,642,094 pupils in all the schools in the country at that time, 1,581,000 were in the Valley. Ohio was the most compactly settled, the oldest of the Northwestern States, and had the largest number of inhabitants of New England origin. She had also given more careful attention to her schools for a longer period than any other in the West. She had about one fourth of the whole number of schools in the Valley in 1850 and nearly one third of all the pupils. The schools of all the East had been educating the future inhab itants of the Valley from the first. Therefore its measure of educated intelligence was always very much greater than could be furnished by its ewn schools. Its relations to the rest of the Union were greatly in its favor. It received a good portion of the educated men, of the best and most active business talent, and of the productive capital of the country. How could it fail to prosper ? In 1860 there were 115,224 schools of all kinds in the whole country. Of these, 63,700 were in the Valley— over 5,000 more than one half of the whole — while, out of the 5,477,037 pupils attending all the schools in the country, 3,175,800 were in the Valley — nearly two thirds of the whole. The increase in the number of schools in the whole country from 1850 to 1860 was 28,224, of which 21,340 were in the Valley. The whole increase in the number of pupils in all the schools of the Republic was 1,834,943, of which number 1,594,800, were in the Valley. The increase of pupils in all the rest of the country east and west of the Valley, in the ten years, was 360 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. only a little over 240,000: — the gain in the Valley was, there fore, nearly seven times that of the other States and Terri tories. Modern intelligence is sometimes estimated by the circula tion of newspapers. In 1850 there were 2,526 newspapers in the United States and Territories ; in 1860 there were 4,051. There were 1,060 in the Valley in 1850; in 1860 it had 2,048. The gain in the Valley was 988 ; in the rest of the country 537 — but little more than half as much. The whole number of copies of all these newspapers printed in 1850 was 426,409,- 978; in 1860 it was 927,951,548— about seventy-five million more than double. The number of copies printed in the Val ley in 1850 was 95,071,615; in 1860, 239,817,362, the number here being nearly two and a half times as many. The abso lute increase of the rest of the country was nearly one and a half times greater than the increase in the Valley during the ten years ; but the western and southern papers had, in gen eral, but a limited local circulation, while many of the news papers of the East had been long established, were ably edited, and had a vast circulation in the Valley itself. Every number of these papers read in the Valley would diminish the differ ence by two. It is probable that all the numbers of dailies, semi-weeklies and weeklies printed in the East and sent to the Valley would restore to it much of the superiority in this point also. The earnest and almost umversal interest in education, the great facilities which had been multiplying rapidly for thirty years, and the general previous education of the immigrants, insured a high degree of intelligence throughout the Valley among all the white population, which the universal diflusion of newspaper literature aided very much to develop. Great prosperity and a long experience had enabled most of the more populous States, especially of the upper Valley, to per fect the organization of schools of all grades and to give them an extension so complete that the most happy results were GEEAT ACTIVITT OF MORAL FORCES. 361 obtained during all this decade. The qualifications of teach ers were everywhere raised and greater thoroughness obtained. The same opportunities were perhaps twice as effective in 1860 as in 1840 in the great mass of common schools, and a much larger number in proportion received an extended education. Moral and religious infiuences also gained in about the same proportion. In 1850 there were 18,300 churches in the Val- l6y; they had increased, in 1860, to 28,800 — a gain of 10,500. The gain in the number of churches in the rest of the coun try was but 5,400. This indicates great religious activity and a large proportionate increase of moral force. The value of church property in the whole Valley, in 1850, was $24,300,- 000; in 1860, $58,100,000. In the rest of the country the gain was $50,154,000, and in the Valley $33,800,000. The precious metals produced in California at this time, and the great prosperity of the whole country spread ease and wealth through the East. The West was employed in laying foun dations. Costly church buildings became abundant in the former; in the latter a larger proportion were inexpensive. Church accommodations in the Valley increased from 6,400,- 000 to 9,700,000, a gain of 3,300,000 sittings; while in the rest of the country the gain of sittings was but 1,591,000 — a much more extensive provision for religious instruction and all the ameliorating and elevating influences which it exerts on society was thus made in the Valley. CHAPTER XXI. INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS TQ 1860. Manufactures commenced in the Valley with the first fam ilies who occupied the log cabins and block houses raised in the incipient clearings. They could bring almost nothing "with them through the forest paths that were followed across the mountains and valleys. What they could not do without their own ingenious skill must produce. With almost no tools these were rude enough, but served the purpose. But isoon the active enterprise and inventive genius native to the race commenced manufactures at Pittsburgh. This was, necessarily, by slow degrees, for the people had little where with to pay. When the Indian war was over, however, manu factures prospered in Pittsburgh, which soon became famous for its glass and iron works, and ever continued to be one of the principal centers of this industry; so much so, indeed, that it was called the " Birmingham of the West." The Yankees of Ohio soon contrived to give it a rival in Cincin nati. Manufactures were carried on by mechanics on a compara tively small scale, in most of the villages, for local sale, and trade gradually enlarged the call for the products of the chief manufacturing centers until after 1815, when they received-a great impulse. Iron works multiplied in Western Pennsylva nia, Ohio and Tennessee. JVIachinery for steam engines, and every variety of iron articles then in use, was made at Pitts burgh and Cincinnati. In 1826, Cincinnati produced $1,800,000 worth of manu factures. It was estimated, in 1835, that the amount was $5,000,000. Pittsburgh was not far behind, and along the Ohio and many of the towns on the streams tributary to it 363 THE RISE OF MANUFACTURES IN TIIE WEST. 363 factories sprung up at an early time. Accurate statistics were not easily obtained in periods prior to 1850, but the increase was very rapid. In 1840, Cincinnati produced manufactured articles valued at $14,500,000; and in 1841, $17,400,000; and in 1847, the production was believed to be nearly $30,000,000. In 1850, the whole Valley produced manufactures valued ¦at $240,000,000. In 1860, at $440,000,000. Manufacturing ¦establishments numbered 41,968, in 1850, and 52,137 in 1860. While manufactures sliyly stood in the background of the upper Ohio, as if uncertain of the reception they might meet in the middle Valley, devoted by its soil to agriculture, and by its Rivers, Lakes and Gulf to commerce and trade, these last :availed themselves of its machinery to enlarge their operations a thousand fold. Not until the railroad era had prepared their way, did the more important manufactures venture boldly out from the vicinity of the mountains and establish themselves on the borders of the prairies, at Chicago and St. Louis. From those points they spread themselves through the West. The general diffusion, however, was deferred, in large part, until the civil war was over. By the time three millions of people had settled themselves to the work of developing the resources of the soil in the Valley — which was only one generation after the first census in 1790 had ascertained that there were but little over three millions of whites in the whole United States — commerce and trade had secured the effective aid of steam. Up to that time, the river currents and human muscle had been the main propelling forces used by internal commerce. 'The Erie canal was not opened to the lake for several years, and the wind could be but little used on the rivers. Muscle -and current were opposed to each other when the rivers had to be ascended. The will power and muscular force among the stalwart settlers were great, but the difficulties opposed by vast distances were still greater. Man alone against nature is weak; when he can summon any desirable amount of natural 364 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. force to his aid, and his mental power is turned from the use. of the muscles to the product and supervision of machinery that obliges nature herself to become his drudge, he is really supreme. So the property that fioated on the streams of the Valley for exchange rose from a few millions in 1821, to $220,000,000 in 1841, and $350,000,000 in 1850. In the latter year, the commerce of the lakes was estimated at $140,000,000, and railroads had already begun to share the burden of transpor tation to and from the Valley, so that $500,000,000 would not cover the value of this interior commerce. Manufactures had now come to be produced in the Valley itself at the rate of hundreds of millions of dollars annually, ^nd only part of these were distributed by the water routes, so that trade outside these lines was immense. We may suppose the trade of the whole Valley to have been worth, at least, one thousand million dollars a year at this time. This was only the begin ning of the colossal activities developed in the Valley ; for only now was the transporting agent capable of answering all demands. All this vast business rested on agriculture as its base. The manufactures were only for the Valley, and were very far from supplying its wants. Millions of people were supported in the East and in Europe by the proceeds of the fabrics they made for the Valley people. More than half of the foreign exports of the country were drawn from the soil of this region, and a large part of the wealth gained by the Eastern trades men, manufacturers and capitalists was furnished from the same source. By 1852, $100,000,000 had been invested in building canals to furnish additional outlets to the produce of western farms, and from 1850 to 1860 some hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in building railroads in the Valley itself In 1859 the revenues of the four trunk lines, connecting the northern Valley with the seaboard, were $19,- 500,000. We are lost, from this time, in vast figures, which THE GREAT PROGRESS MADE FROM 1850 TO 1860. 365 labor in vain to represent to us the great results of develop ment in this fruitful soil. The channels of commerce and trade whose spring was in the Valley, had become so numer ous, flowed so freely, and in so many directions, that it is quite impossible to ascertain their sum. Agricultural beginnings had been small. At first there was little demand for the food products the settlers could fur nish so readily. But, by degrees, steam changed the face of the world and revolutionized business. Manufacturing and commercial acti'vity produced hundreds of millions and sent them circiulating through the Valley, the Atlantic States and Europe. Great cities multiplied everywhere, or increased their populations to be fed, at an unprecedented rate, and markets enlarged. Steamboats and railroads came when the world was ready for them. Agriculture in the Valley devel oped as markets opened and facilities for transportation were supplied. It was the Age of Invention, the Age of Begin nings for new and broader activities, the world over. To pro duce the machinery, and all the accompaniments of its use, required the labor of vast numbers of workmen, and other multitudes entered the shops and manufactories that were prepared to transform the raw material into articles of trade to be transported over the world. It was an extraordinary time— one of the great crises in the progress of mankind. Most of the enlargement, in Europe and America, reacted on the Valley, in some form, and increased its prosperity. Its resources were inexhaustible and easily drawn out as required. The farmers had overflowing crops on a small percentage of the soil ; they, stood ready to answer all calls for food supplies and cotton. Had the demand been ten times as large it would soon have been met. This progress has always waited on the needs of the rest of the world, that is, on markets. The num ber of acres of improved land, in 1850, was 52,400,000; in 1860, it was 90,000,000. The value of all the land inclosed in farms was $1,400,000,000 in 1850; in 1860 it was $3,700,000,000. 366 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. The annual value of the agricultural products of the whole country was increased, during this ten years, by $1,000,000,000^ and much the largest part of this increase was in the Valley. The investment of capital from sources outside the Valley was very extensive. The people themselves had all they could do here to lay foundations. The farms were to be opened; private dwellings, fences, barns, agricultural implements and stock, absorbed vast sums. In older sections the public build ings for State, county, city or town and neighborhood uses; the roads, grading, paving, waterworks and various municipal undertakings, of city and country, had already been supplied. Here, they must be furnished while the people were in the act of settlement. Countless millions were so expended, and often by the help of loans from outside capitalists, for which they paid high interest. It was not, therefore, only its own people that were enriched. The gain in personal property and real estate, since 1850, was made, by the census of 1860, to stand at $2,500,000,000. It is very likely that the actual production of wealth invested in various ways, within and without the Valley, not here included, would add one thou sand million dollars more to this sum. In 1850 it had taken seventy-five years to accumulate property worth $3,100,000,- 000 in the Valley, and it was nearly doubled between that year and I860., It seems a marvelous tale to tell ; yet this was small com pared with gains at a later period. All this was but laying foundations. Only a part of the resources lying near the sur face had been gathered. They still lay on the surface, offer ing themselves to the first comer, in inexhaustible profusion; and beneath the surface, to be sought by practiced skill, there was a bottomless ocean of material for wealth. CHAPTER XXII. THE VALLEY IN 1860. It is not easy to see how a people and a region could have- been better fitted to each other than these Anglo-Americans» with an infusion of industrious Europeans, and the Missis sippi Valley. The long Geological Ages had given it the- precise form and outlets to be desired. By the help of facil ities for communication with the Atlantic and Europe the- right stimulus was given at the right time; by its barriers- against ingress and egress in the early days a degree of iso lation and discipline was possible, through a period suffi ciently long to make a permanent impression, of the most desirable kind, on the character of the race which was to pos sess and rule it. Vegetable -life had helped to store it with iron, with petroleum and coal, and gathered the richest surface mould; animal life had aided in various ways to strengthen its soil and furnish it with suitable qualities of rock for all its general purposes. Fire and water, expansion and contraction,, ocean and lake and marsh, sun and winds and rain, were all controlled so as to do their work for the great advantage of this- favored region. The history of Mound Builders, Indians, and European nations in their enterprises in the New World, had all been guided so that the right people should find no invin cible difficulties in taking possession of its virgin treasures. So, also, Anglo-American history on the Atlantic side of the AUeghanies had- reached the most favorable point when the theatre of significant events was extended westward ; the ambitions of France, Spain and England, and the schemes of Aaron Burr failed ; the necessities of France and the foresight of Napoleon united every slope of the Valley politically as the Mississippi united them naturally. At the critical time the:. 367 368 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. steamboat was invented for its waters, and again the railroad for its plains and prairies, and the markets of England were thrown open by free trade just when the Valley was ready to fill them with its produce. Thus, all the seeming accidents that played an important part in its history tell a tale of fore sight and supervision — were made determining influences to accumulate and preserve a vast mass of material to be yielded up to those who would use it wisely, at the right moment to give an immense impulse to the progress of civilization. Hardy, bold and ready for conflict and deprivation as only the rude backwoodsman can be; intelligent, industrious and attached to legal order as Anglo-Saxons naturally are; the adventurous, untaught and poor pioneers faced the forest, the red hunter and the hardships of an interior settlement with out shrinking and conducted themselves with singular pru dence. The chief difficulties surmounted, independent, un curbed by arbitrary power or by education, the bold boister- ousness of their young men seemed likely to reduce society to chaos. Nothing of that kind occurred. It was the flush of buoyant health, of overflowing vigor and the consciousness of capability, rather than the license of vice. It settled into highly civilized and polished ambition when once the idea was caught and the opening appeared. It was the rough ness of the uncut diamond which intercourse with men soon rubbed down, revealing the rare quality beneath. This people, with hints, suggestions and example alone from the other side of the mountains, formed their own institutions, selected their own laws and officers, legislated for themselves and became responsible for the prevalence of liberty and law. They made many a mistake in questions of detail, but none in constitutional principles. The mistakes they well knew how to remedy. The result was security to property, with the healthiest freedom of action ; general morality, without painful constraint. This wise moderation and good order highly favored the influx of people and of money. The FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL DANGERS AVOIDED. 369 quiet and intelligent could come without fear and invest ments could be made with confidence. Every possible barrier to the truest progress was thrown down ; every possible en couragement to active enterprise was given. With such a prudent policy. Eastern and European capital stood ready to aid all useful undertakings. It was only necessary to show that they would pay by a speedy development. The greatest trouble was not too little confidence, too short a credit, but too much. Not too much trust in men, but in the rush of business. If development go fast in one direction it may outrun the progress made in others. An army must move together ; its divisions must be in supporting distance. The divisions of industrial progress did not all move with equal step in the Valley, at times, and disorder sometimes appeared in the finances. But this was only temporary. A little time for the laggard branches to come up, a careful revision of past policy, and the race commenced anew. The political history of the States was singularly free from resistance to constituted authority. A single case in Western Pennsylvania, of rebellion against a tax of the General Gov ernment, occurred during the administration of Washington in 1792. The Government was firm and opposition disap peared. Yet men were self-seeking and ambitious — there was more liberty to be so here than anywhere else in the world — every man had a recognized right to his opinion and to advo cate it; every man was free to act, so he did not violate the law. There often appeared to be much turbulence ; party spirit ran high and self-seeking did not always regard public or individual good. Every period had its peculiar troubles and fears ; each party was sure the other would ruin the State or country ; there were always examples enough of roguery, of crime, of artful maneuvering for illegal advantages, of stratagems to acquire place and power, to fill the timid and shortsighted with apprehension for the future. That future showed that those fears were gratuitous. The 24 370 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. main facts were most honorable to the people, the parties and the multitude of individuals. Evils truly threatened van ished, not by main force, nor so much by excess of general purity, as by the law of interest. Society is a body, as fully organized by natural relationships- and laws as a human body. It has vital forces, like any other organized body, and its health can be secured best by an unre stricted operation of these forces ; too much government coddling interferes with them ; there was the minimum of government here; they had nowhere, in any place or time, operated so fully as in the Valley. The result was health and soundness. The vigor of life subdued and expelled dis order; a tendency to equilibrium — to justice and respect for public and personal right — asserted itself. That is a point of great importance ; it has had much to do 'with the safe and rapid progress of American institutions. Under all these favoring circumstances, by dint of an active, natural, healthy , life — a life full of labor, where all were thrown on their own resources, and no system of organized favoritism helped one and oppressed another — progress was great to an unheard of degree. Almost every feature of the history of this region — the northern Valley especially — was so favorable, so rich in solid results, that it might seem almost as if the people ought to be spoiled by their own success. But life was too healthy and busy for that. It is the idle who are most likely to be demoralized by wealth. There was, however, in 1860, a dark reverse to this bright side. It had gradually been taking form and consistence from the adoption of the Constitution. The labor systems of the North and South were in violent contrast, in some respects, and constantly tended to the disadvantage of each. The in dustrial difference was irreconcilable. The interest of the upper Valley required the full development of the lower ;, that it should be filled with a population such as naturally belonged with its great and various resources. As it was. THE REVERSE OF A BRIGHT PICTURE. 371 there were a fe^v lines of development only ; the results tended to accumulate in few hands; white labor was practi cally excluded and black labor did not open much market. In large part it was as if the southern Valley had been want ing, and the northern basin would have been, perhaps, better oft' had it been really absent if the facilities of ocean com merce could have been put in place of the comparatively small trade carried on between the sections. The world could not well do without the cotton; but it might be raised elsewhere, and only a small part of it benefitted the free States. The North put a moral objection foremost, but much of its political strength lay in the industrial objection. The South grew irritated and indignant, felt injured and persecuted, and bitter feeling produced added evils. A sharp struggle was commenced on the embodiment of northern objection to slavery in a political party. It did not demand the aboli tion of slavery — it sought only to prevent its extension^but the desire to remove it lay at the bottom, and its extension was the only security for the South of retaining an equal influence over federal treatment of it. It drove the sections apart on a conventional line, more and more interrupted har mony, and threatened great evils to the West. Limits were set to its expansion when it was in full career; it might be cut off from the Gulf and the use of the river, its most natural outlet, and, at the very least, an artificial' division would em barrass growth. As it was a matter of feeling in favor of an institution interwoven with all their social as well as industrial habits, the lately increased facilities of intercourse by railroads could not overcome the difficulty any more than the interest con nected with the river system could do it. Rather, the closer they were drawn together by outward forces, the farther apart they drifted in antagonism. The railroad system had, in large part, monopolized the carrying trade because it was speedy and the principal markets 372 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. of the free States lay directly east of them. The binding influ ence of the river was much diminished when another adequate substitute, which might answer all purposes for a long time, was provided. It seemed as if the South must suffer most; yet she lay on the Gulf aud the ocean, and supplied most of the world's cotton. The political difficulty was increased by the superiority of the free and more populous North in filling vacant territory with settlers in a short time. A - final struggle in Kansas tested this point, turned in favor of that section, and hastened the determination of the South to separate. This conclusion was a sad interruption to a great career. Both sections had worked out beginnings and were ready to reap what they had sown when called away from labor by the tocsin of war. The means that had contributed in such a high degree to the wonderful development of the Valley, that had seemed to join the sections indissolubly, became the most efficient aids to rival armies. The telegraph, which had so expedited busi ness, now conveyed military orders from, and information to, every important point. The work of months, by telegraph, river and rail, could be compressed into days. Armies con centrated by railroad in an incredibly short time, and their movements could usually be followed by long trains contain ing their baggage and supplies for support and defence or for aggression. The steamboat was equally useful, for, if it could not go everywhere, it could reach numerous important points, be made a fioating battery besides, and become a powerful engine of war. Both railroads and steamboats added to the magnitude and destructiveness of the confiict. Larger armies could be gath ered, fed and rapidly moved from point to point; destructive engines of war of great weight could be quickly moved. But, inasmuch as the South stood chiefly on the defensive, these agencies were more harmful to her. Her coasts and rivers could be attacked by powerful shipping, and railroads took EFFECT OF RIVERS AND RAILROADS ON THE WAR. 373 vast armies far into her borders, while the greater freedom and productive activity of her antagonist reaped vast advantage from the railway system that conducted the business of the North without hindrance, and kept up supplies of men and stores for the attack. But for these, possibly, she might have succeeded in breaking away, permanently, from the bonds that had been so useful and dear but now were so hateful. CHAPTER XXIII. THE CONFLICT AND ITS LESSONS. The civil war was caused by a confiict of labor systems. The disapproval of the southern system in the free States was based on moral and economic grounds and on its inconsistency with the theories of democratic equality, on which American institutions were held to be founded. The resistance in the South was founded on the great diff'erence between the white and colored races, which, in the belief of the southern people, met the moral and democratic objections; on the relations which their labor system sustained to all their industrial and financial interests and to their social organization; and on their absolute right to undisturbed control of a local insti tution which had been recognized in the formation of the Republic. The conflict broke out on the question of the extension of that system. The South required its enlargement to main tain political equilibrium; the North refused to consent. The exact legal status of the question was violently disputed; the forces beliind such questions permitted no common under standing and the South determined on separation. The free States were in possession of the Federal Government and refused to permit it. The sword alone could decide the ques tion. The North considered it impossible to abandon either the fundamental principle of democratic liberty or the Union on which general prosperity depended. The South saw all its interests and its own personal liberties involved. Such was the Gordian knot of difficulty to be cut by war. After the presidential election of November, 1860, South Carolina commenced preparations for leaving the Union. In February, the new confederacy was provisionally organized 374 THE COMMENCEMENT OF TIIE CONFLICT. 375 at Montgomery, Ala., which then included only the more Southern states from Texas to the Carolinas. Virginia, Ten nessee and Arkansas were slower in their action, but decided in May to join their fortunes to the Confederate States. West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri were divided in opinion. The bombardment of Fort Sumter, a Federal fortress in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, in April, 1861, opened the military conflict and " let loose the dogs of war." From that time preparation was diligently made on each side, though nearly ten months elapsed before anything more than preliminary trials of strength occurred. The severest engagements were skirmishing compared to the serious work that followed. Indeed, it was not to be expected that citizens , should become skillful in war without an introductory train ing and discipline. The battle of Bull Run, the campaign in West Virginia, the many fights in Missouri, and the few that preceded the advance of the Federal army under Grant on Forts Henry and Donelson in Kentucky, were all of that character. TKey were the first essays of citizens in arms who were learning to be soldiers. There was too much serious ness and resolution behind these, sometimes awkward and uncertain, essays in war not to make tliem extremely useful lessons. There was good material for soldiers on each side. The active and decisive parts of the great conflict took place in the Valley, because its result depended on the posses sion of that fountain of resources. If. the central artery of the Valley could be held by the South-and its lower Valley -defended, the armies in Virginia would not be able to decide the issue. In this view the taking of Vicksburg was a much more important event than the battle of Gettysburg, which sent Lee back to Virginia, for it opened the whole length of the great river to Federal use ; and the battle of Chickamauga, with the subsequent series of battles ending with the capture of Atlanta and the dispersion of the great 376 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Southern army in the Valley, had more effect on the result than the campaign in the Wilderness which drove General Lee from the Rapidan to Petersburg. Whatever the com parative size of the armies or the force and skill employed, it was necessary for the winning side to hold the Valley. It furnished the strength and resources indispensable to a con tinuance of the conflict by the South. While the North was gathering and training its vast armies, the South hastened to occupy the frontiers of its wide field. A confused conflict raged from Kansas to the Potomac through the border States. The Confederate forces occupied West Virginia, though not in sufficient strength to hold the line of the Ohio. Kentucky endeavored to remain neutral, but many of her citizens organized both for the North aijd the South. Federal forces gathered along the Ohio, while the Confederate armies occupied posts on the Mississippi River in the State, and their lines extended across the lower part of the State from Columbus to the mountains, the three points of advance from Tennessee being along the Mississippi, from Nashville, and from East Tennessee through the mountains. The active work began in West Virginia, which, by the middle of July, was fairly in the hands of the Federal troops. A widespread conflict continued all the summer in Missouri, no less than sixty battles and skirmishes having occurred up to the close of the year. The general result, though not very sharply defined, was in favor of the Federal forces. There was less con fusion and more of careful preparation in Kentucky, where the two armies did not hasten so much toward a trial of strength. This was regarded as the key of the situation, and a careful plan of Federal operations was not mature before midwinter. The first project of invasion in the Valley, entertained by the Federal authorities, was that of sending an expedition on gunboats down the Mississippi to capture and hold command. ing positions on its banks, make them the basis of future expe MILITART STRATEGT AND RAILROADS. 377 ditions into the interior, and isolate the western portion of the Confederacy. This was found to be a difficult matter, if not impossible, and a different strategy was soon devised — that of flanking and forcing the evacuation of these river fortresses by operations in the interior at their rear. In this plan the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers played an important part, and the great features of the railway system of the southern Valley east of the Mississippi entered into it as a large factor. It played an important part in the years that followed, to the great advantage of the North and damage of the South. The lower part of the railroad system was of great importance to the Confederacy for the rapid concentration and transfer oi~ forces, and transport of supplies to Virginia and the border. From Paducah, on the Ohio, below Louisville, a continuous line of railway ran nearly due south to Mobile and New Orleans. From Memphis, at the southwest corner of Tennessee and on the Mississippi, a line skirted the northern border of the States of Mississippi and Alabama, to Chattanooga, in East Tennes see, and thence northeast between the parallel ranges of the AUeghanies to the tidewaters of the Atlantic, in Virginia. This line was intersected at Decatur, Ala., and Stevenson, Ga., from the north by a road from Louisville, which passed through Bowling Green, Ky., where a branch connected with Memphis. Chattanooga was connected by railway through Atlanta, Ga., with the Atlantic seaboard at Charleston, S. C, and Savannah, Ga., and with the Gulf at Pensacola, Florida. Vicksburg, a strong fortification on the east bank of the Mis sissippi, midway between Memphis and New Orleans, was ultimately connected by railway with Montgomery, Ala., and Atlanta. The Confederate lines at Bowling Green were joined 'with the force at Columbus by the intermediate fortifications of Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. Paducah lies at the mouth of the Tennessee on the Ohio. Forts Henry and Donelson formed the center of :378 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. the Confederate line, which, being broken there, would expose both Bowling Green and Columbus to an attack in the rear, or their communications with the Confederacy could be easily severed. This plan was adopted by the Federal commanders with success. While a Federal army confronted the Confederate forces at Bowling Green, another, supported by a fieet of gun boats, ascended the Tennessee from Paducah and captured Fort Henry; the boats returned to the Ohio and ascended ,the Cumberland to Fort Donelson, the army crossed the -sl^rt distance between the two rivers to the same point, and Donelson also fell. The Confederate forces at Columbus and Bowling Green were obliged, by this disaster, to withdraw without a struggle; Middle and East Tennessee were opened to Federal occupa,tion, and the Confederate lines were re formed south of the Tennessee River on the northern border of Mississippi. The disadvantage to the South of having so large a territory to defend with inferior forces and warlike material was apparent; it was, in fact, decisive of the whole struggle. It gave too much advantage to their opponents in mental warfare, or strategy. In a smaller field, as in Vir ginia, where defensive strategy could be employed to make up for inferiority of numbers, they were more successful. The Federal armies pressed forward against the ne'w Con federate line. Forts Henry and Donelson had fallen in Feb ruary, 1862. By April the antagonists confronted each other •on the south bank of the Tennessee at Shiloh, or Pittsburgh Lauding. Before the two Federal armies had concentrated the Confederates attacked the one nearest, at Shiloh, and one of the most desperate and characteristic battles of the war occurred. It was of extreme importance to the Confederacy to hold this line, for the Memphis and Chattanooga Railroad lay but a few miles to the south, and this \vas the most import ant, shortest, and, at that time, the only line of communication between the eastern and western parts of their territory. The OPERATIONS IN THE EASTERN VALLEY. 379 loss of it might be fatal to them. The Southern army, about 40,000 strong, was confronted by the Federal force under General Grant with 33,000 men. General Buell, commanding the Federal army that had lain between Bowling Green and Louisville, was advancing to form a junction with Grant. This would give the Union army a great superiority of numljers. The Confederate army, therefore, made a furious attack which was with the utmost difficulty withstood by troops, in large part, recently recruited and undisciplined. But the shades of night found them still in arms and reso lutely refusing to acknowledge defeat, although nearly half their number had been disabled or killed. In the evening the army of General Buell began to arrive and another day was fought through with a great increase of force on the Fed eral side. The Confederate army was almost annihilated, but withdrew so bravely that its shattered and helpless condition was not suspected, and it remained a long time intrenched within a few miles, its defiant attitude conveying an impres sion of strength which it did not possess. This disaster might, perhaps, have been repaired had not other parts of the field diverted so much of the attention of the Confederate Government. The fortifications on the Mis sissippi below Columbus were soon taken. Commodore Far- ragut captured New Orleans and the lower defences of the river, and the Federal array, under McClellan, was threaten ing Richmond, Va., the Confederate capital. The Federal forces also gained a foothold on the coast of North and South Carolina, and secured Pensacola. Only Vicksburg and Port Hudson held the t-^vo parts of the Confederacy together. Under such a cloud of misfortunes the South might well have despaired. It did not, however. McClellan was repulsed from the Peninsula and the tide of war again rolled up toward Washington, and even crossed the Potomac into Maryland for a time. A vigorous effort was made throughout the South; fresh armies were organized, and a bold push northward was 380 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. made from East Tennessee as well as from Richmond. Gen eral Buel was proceeding with his army from the neighbor hood of Corinth to Chattanooga, when General Bragg, Con federate commander, suddenly transferred his army ahead of him across Alabama to Chattanooga, and pushed forward into the fairest part of Kentucky, and toward Louisville, which re quired Buell to repair to that point for its protection. After gathering vast and various supplies, which were much needed in the South, General Bragg succeeded in conveying them away in safety and in withdrawing his army without a great battle. Although disappointed in its hope of holding Ken tucky and carrying the war into the North, the South was, inspired with new energy by such successes after so many great reverses, and tenaciously held on its way. Corinth and Memphis had fallen in June, principally by retreat after resistance became hopeless, and the most impor tant line of railway joining the east and West of the Confed eracy, between Memphis and Chattanooga, had passed mostly into Federal hands or been destroyed. The strong fortifica tions of Vicksburg, and the east and west railway line of which it was the terminus, became the mainstay and hope of the South. The Yazoo River and unfavorable ground protected the strong hold in the rear, and for more than a year it resisted the most desperate efforts of the Federal generals. By the invasion of Kentucky after having lost both that State and most of Ten nessee, the South barely failed of recovering nearly all it had lost, which gave it a glimpse of the possibilities of war from which its sturdy courage and unbending will took all the en couragement it wished. The winter found it still in possession of East Tennessee and the railway connections, so important to the Confederacy, at Chattanooga, and triumphantly holding Vicksburg. A long series of strategic movements and battles, covering much of Kentucky, Tennessee and parts of Alabama and Mississippi, had occupied the summer and fall. Arkansas had been the THE FEDERAL AND CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS. 381 theatre of incessant confiict, but the bulk of the forces had been withdrawn by both sides to support the more critical operations in the eastern Valley. The bravery of the South ern armies had covered them with glory and required an equal valor and far greater resources on the Federal side to make head against them. The Confederate soldier was often in want of almost everything but the most indispensable means of fighting and keeping life in his worn, overworked and under fed body; while the invasion of a hostile country, the vast masses of men required and the abundant means of the North, made the question of supplies one of leading importance in the strategy and operations of the Federal generals. Com pared with the Confederate, the Federal soldier may almost be said to have fought at his ease and in comfort. By December 1, 1862, more than 1,300,000 men had been put in the field by the North, while, it is affirmed, the South had never half that number at once in arms. The entire num ber of different men in the Southern armies during the whole war is stated at about one third the whole number of its an tagonists. The sacrifices of the North were immense and seemed inconceivable, but the devotion of the South to a con stantly failing cause was not less honorable to its spirit. It is true that there were many, both North and South, who did not scruple to improve the opportunities offered, during the confusion of war, to enrich themselves at the expense of their government; and many, in the South, sought to avoid a per sonal share of the fighting after having exerted their influence to promote the desperate collision ; yet, as a whole, the South ern people were disposed to sacrifice everything to independ ence, and the Northern citizens were ready to assume _^all the burdens required to preserve the Union. The South displayed much energy, after the loss of the upper and lower Mississippi, of the central Valley and of most of its seaports, by the advances in force into Maryland and Kentucky. The North thought that there was reason enough 382 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. for the Confederacy to hold itself fairly beaten; as it would not, the Federal Government determined to subtract the slave element, as far as possible, from the sujsport ofthe South. The colored race had conducted itself with much discretion, during the confiict, quietly going its laborious way, raising no insur rections and creating no disturbances when nearly all the able bodied whites went to the front. They labored at home, respected the families and interests of their cn'ners, and dis played, generally, their usual docility. This was extremely fortunate for the South, which could thus dispose of all its military force for active warfare, while the negroes raised the supplies for the armies and were employed in great numbers wherever fortifications and earthworks were to be raised. In September, 1862, it was proposed, by the President, to emancipate the slaves in all the Confederate States on the 1st January, 1863, which was actually proclaimed at that time. The negroes belonging to partisans of the Confederate Gov ernment were, therefore, held to be free whenever they came within the Union lines, and were soon enlisted into companies and regiments and employed more or less in army operations, adding considerable strength to the Federal side. This move ment gathered force and breadth as it proceeded. Soon, the blacks of the border States were invited into military organi zations, with the promise of freedom, by the General Govern ment; the freedom of their families followed, to be succeeded by the final sweeping away of the whole system by the adop tion of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, soon after the close of the war. The conduct of the blacks as soldiers was as honorable to them and as unexpected to the country and the world as it had been 'while remaining at home to raise provisions for the Confederate troops. This modera tion and good behavior in dangerous crises was afterward rewarded, as a reconstruction measure, by giving them the full privilege of citizenship — to the indignation and embarrass ment of the South. THE GREAT BATTLES IN TENNESSEE. 383 During the autumn of 1863, and after the retreat of the Southern army from Kentucky, General Bragg, its com mander, lay in Middle Tennessee, not far from Nashville, facing a Federal force under General Rosecrans. On the last day of the year these two armies came to a trial of strength in the desperate and bloody battle of Murfreesborough, or Stone River, in which the general advantage was on the Confed erate side during nearly the whole fight of 'three days, and 'victory declared, somewhat indecisively, for the Federals only at the last moment. The Union army and its leaders reso lutely refused to consider themselves beaten when that ap peared actually the case and held their ground, to be justified in the end. It had the larger number, but more of them had no previous experience in their deadly trade. Both parties remained, through the winter, in the same region, defiantly facing each other, but, on the return of weather suitable for military operations, Bragg withdrew to, and through, Chatta nooga, and the battle of Chickamauga, near that place, at the end of summer (September 19 and 20), resulted in the defeat or serious check, of Rosecrans, although Bragg was not able to recover Chattanooga. The conflict continued during the 'winter in Virginia and in Mississippi, with varying results, the Confederate forces, on the whole, maintaining the most important points, frequently gaining considerable advantages,. which they were not strong enough to hold with their dimin ishing resources and the inexhaustible supplies of the Federal Government. The great abilities and superior armies of Grant, Sherman and others at length triumphed at Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, and the whole river was soon after opened to Federal use. The conqueror of Vicksburg, with a considerable part of his army, was, in the autumn, transferred to Chattanooga, where, in November, another great battle was fought, result ing in favor of the Federal forces. But, although the inevit able end seemed apparent enough to the North, the South, :384 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. with the most genuine Anglo-Saxon grit, would not see it. The Southwest, away from the Mississippi, was mostly un touched, as yet, by invasion, and the Atlantic coast was still joined to the Valley by lines of railway skirting the eastern and southern base of the AUeghanies. She hoped, to the last, to recover her lost ground, and, in some way, to thrust back the powerful invasion. The larger features of the wdr were more concentrated dur ing 1864. At least the antagonists had been schooled by the three years' conflict, and all the desperate valor of a noble race was developed by an opponent worthy of its steel. It required a whole campaign for Sherman to drive the army that had been beaten at Chattanooga to Atlanta, in Georgia, and Grant had not conquered Lee, in Virginia, when he reached the neighborhood of Richmond. Hood, in command of the Southern army, which had disputed every step of the advance from Nashville to Atlanta, in November of this year (1864), suddenly turned back to the starting point. But the supe riority of the Federal armies enabled Sherman to pursue his -special plans and still detach an adequate force for the protec tion of Tennessee, and Hood was completely defeated before he had inflicted serious losses in that region. During all this year, while the bulk of the armies were test ing their mutual strength in Virginia and Georgia, under Grant and Sherman, Lee, Bragg, Johnston and Hood, a minor series of conflicts was carried on over almost the whole of the Southern States, both within the Federal and Confederate lines, by detached parties, or small armies, moving with great rapid ity. General Price invaded Missouri, General Banks led a Federal expedition up the Red River, in Louisiana. These were both unsuccessful. Mobile was captured and various Federal successes occurred along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Federal raids, or detached operations, into the Southern inte rior were answered by similar movements of small Confeder- -ate forces into Tennessee and Kentucky. THE LOSS OF THE A'ALLEY DECIDES THE WAR. 385 Washington itself was threatened by the Confederate Gen eral Early, and a desperate conflict between him and Sheridan was afterward carried on in the Shenandoah Valley, in Vir ginia, resulting in the definite defeat of Early. Federal power was, on the whole, overwhelming, and only a gallantry that took little account of odds until it had fairly exhausted itself could have carried the confiict through so many campaigns. During the winter of 1864-5 General Sherman — after des troying the shops and material for warlike supplies, which had made Atlanta the most important town in the Confeder acy — sent a sufficient force back to Tennessee to confront Gen eral Hood, removed his hospitals and extra stores to Chat tanooga, and left Atlanta with a strong army, and marched through the heart of the Confederacy, 250 miles, upon Savan nah, which had defended itself against all Federal attacks from the sea. His route led him across all the lines of communi cation by which supplies from the Valley could yet reach the armies in Virginia; his large army of well-trained veterans was hopelessly superior to any obstructions which could be thrown in his way by the South on short notice, and his destruction of public stores and railways was an irreparable disaster for it. Reaching Savannah from the rear he easily captured it, and marched northeastward above Charleston, now almost in ruins from a long Federal bombardment, but which had held out successfully to this time. His operations in its rear led to its evacuation. He continued north, through the center of South and North Carolina, the strength of his army, and the co-operation of Federal forces gathered on the coast at various points, rendering all the opposition which the Confederate authorities could bring against him fruitless. With all the important lines of communication in the Valley in Federal hands, the close of the contest on the Atlantic could not long be delayed. Cut off from supplies and recruits, the Confederate army daily diminished, while the Federal forces were ever stronger in numbers and re- 35 386 THE MISSISSIPPI valley. sources. The conquest of the Mississippi and of the railway lines was a final defeat. The structure of the Valley made the union of the States and sections a foregone conclusion. Only lines of deinarkation which had grown up, like those of Europe, from difference of early history — difference of origin, of language and of political institutions — could per mit different nationalities to form on the Atlantic slope and in the Valley. ' The mountains disappear to open the Valley on the north and on the south. New York, Savannah and New Orleans are equally essential to the interior. The great enterprises of modern life, with a really homogeneous people occupying both the interior and the coast, both the North and the South, render political harmony, such as can only be found under one government, absolutely essential to the welfare of the people. A real union once consummated, interest would make it indissoluble. The Valley is ready to pour out a mighty and exhaustless flood of wealth. It is as essential to their welfare that the East and the South should receive it as that the northern and central Valley should send it. Com mercial and industrial forces are the strongest now in opera tion among men; they are irresistible. These forces required the union of the whole country that they might reach their natural expression and assume their proper magnitude. In the resources of the Valley lay the securities for the stability of the American Union. The common origin of the mass of the people, and tie favorable reaction of the Valley on their character and the direction of their development, coincided with other circumstances. The people were one and their interests harmonious, notwithstand ing the difference of labor systems. The result — the victory of the economic labor system and the permanence of the Union — was natural and inevitable. PAET THIRD. THE NE'W ERA IN THE VALLET. CHAPTER I. THE SOUTHERN VALLET AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. The North had made great sacrifices to maintain the integ rity of the Union so far as that could be done by force. No men or money had been spared; the ranks of the armies had been kept full as needed ; a system of extraordinary taxation had been devised and accepted by the people and a vast debt created. The burden had been great ; but, for the time, ex traordinary expenditure had stimulated every branch of activ ity and production; immigration and machinery had taken the place of men withdrawn to the armies, and there was great prosperity, which did not cease for many years after the war. The South experienced the opposite fortune. With the close of the war and for some time after, its misfortunes seemed to have reached a climax. During the war all the funds obtainable were gathered by the Confederate Gov emment for military expenditure, and little gold, or that which could be turned into gold, failed to be sent out of the country to secure military supplies. For the most part, the cash capital of the people had been in the banks and the- Govemment acquired all the sound values deposited in them in exchange for its paper money. If that government failed its money issues would be worthless. The people burned their ships behind them and staked all on success. 387 388 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. That success eluded them; the Government dissolved with out a successor, and as to cash resources they were ruined. The enthusiasm of the people had endeavored to supplement the eftbrts of the Confederate Government in the support of the army by voluntary aid, and still further reduced their slender resources. Had the blacks remained in servitude the planters could have recovered prosperity in a short time by resuming forms of industry with which they were familiar. Much of their former property had been invested in slaves. The labor they owned was their current capital ; some two thousand five hundred millions of dollars had been so invested ; it disappeared with the war. Multitudes of the large plant ers were left penniless and helpless ; tens of thousands of widows and orphans, whose property had consisted chiefiy of colored servants, were destitute. For four years war had desolated their lands and cities and verj^ many of their pleasant homes ; it had struck down their vigorous men on the battlefield or returned them wounded and broken to helpless poverty, throwing their families into the deepest distress ; there were no pensions to sustain the wounded, to smooth their way to health or the grave, nor to furnish a pittance to the dependent women and children. The conquer ing government would not, indeed, leave them to starve when their cases were known and within reach ; but such dependence was a humiliation they, of all others, found it hardest to bear. The land remained and, '«'here the rush of war had not swept, the buildings still stood; but the lands were of little value in themselves now, the houses were bare and decayed from the waste of war or free contributions of comforts to the soldiers during years of blockade, the absence of the master or loss of income. The loss of personal property in slaves was at least $2,500, 000,000. The expense and waste of war, the destruction and deterioration of property must have been twice as much more. Industrial development was arrested in all the South with the THE LOSSES OF TIIE SOUTHERN PEOPLE. 389 opening of the war except in warlike directions. The ground was cultivated for the necessary supplies of food, and some cotton still raised in the hope of getting it through the block ade to foreign markets; this was, in general, impossible, and the country was shut in from the world. War Avas the great fact and absorbed most of the energies it did not palsy and the resources it did not dry up. Everything was lost that, with an Anglo-American people, it was possible to lose. Their tenacious bravery, fbr the most part, kept the desolations of actual conflict to the great strategic lines and the regions immediately adjacent, and the interiors remained, as a rule, undisturbed; yet, all that was left was really but a remnant. The desolation was great. The diversion and loss of indus trial and business energies and resources, the disorganization that entered into every field of ordinary activity, were equiva lent to the entire loss of capital. The small values that re mained were counterbalanced by a loss of business habits, by mental and moral depression, and the want of hopefulness that has been the true spring of American progress. Besides all these losses, which were greater than could easily be conceived in the North, tliere were many and serious em barrassments to a return of prosperity. Could this popula tion have been placed in a new country with the untamed A'igor, boldness and hope of the early settlers of the Valley the dif ficulties would soon have been mastered. It was not the worst that everything was virtually lost, that the weight of sorrow ful memory rested upon their energies. There is a vitality and recuperative force inherent in the race that would soon restore mental and physical tone. The greatest embarrass ment lay in the new industrial situation. The subject and superior races stood in antagonism. The necessity of obedi ence had been removed from the first before the mental change that alonecould render it logical and healthy had been obtained. It was impossible that the colored people should not be demor alized, industrially, by a liberty so suddenly gained. Servile 390 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. habits could not be immediately changed for a wise self-control ; they could but be transformed, for a time, into license. Lib erty could not mean to them what it meant to the intelligent white; it was, for the mass of them, and for an indefinite time, liberty to be idle, liberty to be absurdly inconsequent and changeable, to be careless of the future and to obey the fancies of the moment. Thus, there was an inevitable disorganization of any labor system; the blacks remained, but in a condition singularly embarrassing to the resumption of profitable industry. The impossibility of a sudden mental revolution among the whites, all whose habits had been based on absolute control of the laboring class, added to this difficulty. It seemed an absurd situation. Chaos was come again. The mode of reconstruc tion adopted by the General Government required the new prosperity of the South, however, to be built up in harmony with these conditions. The Southern people had no power of control; they could not restore former relations; the princi ple of equality as citizens must be regarded. The abolition of slavery became constitutional l:iy the Thir teenth Amendment, at the close of 1865 ; the Civil Rights Bill became a law in the following year; the Fourteenth Amend ment went into operation in 1868; and in ISTO the Fifteenth Amendment conferred the elective franchise, or right to vote, on the colored people. The Southern people must begin anew, contrary to their habits, to their judgment, and, as they Avere situated men tally and industrially, to their interests. They Avere dis franchised for the time, lest they should exert industrial and political control and interfere '^vith this transformation of the colored race from servitude to citizenship. So great a change, on so large a scale and in so short a time, had ne\'er before occurred in human history. It had been l)elleyed impossible. A war of races had been predicted. It had not been thought that there lay in humanity the capacity to endure a change so THE DIFFICULT FEATURES OF THE SITUATION. 391 vast and sudden at once. All history and logic protested against it; but the Government was inexorable. The Southern people submitted, as a whole. They had the chief miseries to bear, the principal sacrifices to make, and must be consid ered as having done high honor to fhemseh-es, to the Anglo- American race and to human nature. The most disagreeable features of the situation for the Southern whites continued from seA'cn to ten years in the dif ferent States, according to their progress in political " Recon struction." At first it was a general military occupation, during which civil government was gradually organized under the supervision of intelligent army officers. Their sense of justice and sympathy for misfortune softened some of the harsher features of the situation, for the time. As soon as pos sible, military rule ceased and local goA'ernment Avas conducted by the classes^ considered loyal to the General Government. These included a small minority of the Southern whites; Northern people ncAvly settled in the South; officials of the General Government; and, soon, of the new citizens of Afri can descent. All these classes had interests more or less antagonistic to those of the great body of the Southern whites Avho had formed the ruling class before, and during, the war. The true Southron inevitably felt more or less contempt, aversion and hostility to those whom he regarded as the usurpers of his rights. Many of influence among these new rulers were -neither very wise nor very virtuous, and sometimes their legislation and finance were really an outrage on the general public. Yet, acting under Federal and Congressional in spiration, they gave the necessary new cast to Southern insti tutions and forms of government bythe adoption and inaugu ration of ncAV State Constitutions. The colored race came into power under the guidance of Federal officers, of the Freedman's Bureau, and of Northern teachers and settlers. It was natural that many unwise things should be done by 392 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. these inexperienced rulers and that the people of the South should feel much of secret sorrow, shame and rage, if it was not openly expressed. In general, they endured what could not be helped in silence and waited for better days. Some scenes of violence occurred, some murders were committed, and ill-feeling, though generally suppressed in its more vio lent forms, rendered all parties uncomfortable and apprehen sive; yet, on the whole, the Southern people endured with very commendable patience and self-control. It was the most humiliating, painful and difficult period for them. Yet it soon passed, and various experiences taught them that there was more hope for them in their own land, with all these miseries, than anywhere else. Some, at the close of the war, believed that they could make a more endurable future in Mexico, South America and other foreign lands than in their desolated and ruined country. Some years of experience, however, showed them that nothing was to he gained and much was to be lost by these self-expatriations, and no general emigration was organized. In the course of years most of these emigrants returned and accommodated themselA'cs cheer fully to the new situation. At the close of the war, and for some time after, these dis tressing features of the situation predominated. Many a matron, accustomed to superintend a large household of ser vants, but unfamiliar with manual labor, Avas reduced to the necessity of caring for her family unaided. To unusual toil was added the unskillfulness of tlie beginner, adding doubly to the physical and mental strain. Delicate women, accus tomed to affluence, and tenderly nurtured children, were thrown, by thousands, on their own resources; their natural supporters and guardians having perished on the field of bat tle or in the army hospital, leaving no income behind for their support. Many a gentleman born to Avealth and ease found himself face to fade Avith absolute poverty, without habits of labor,. STERN ENFORCEMENT OF RECONSTRUCTION. 393 ¦with no knowledge of a profession or handicraft from which he inight draw a support for himself and his family. A com munity where all are accustomed to take an active part in bearing the burdens of life, Avhere personal labor is the rule, would bear these losses with tolerable equanimity. At least their past habits would be an aid, and not a bar, to recovery. It was impossible for the people of the North to realize the extent and severity of such a Aveight of calamity among com munities where social and industrial life had been organized so differently from their own. The Federal Government was conducted almost exclusively by the North — at least the great majority of the party in power were from the free States. The success of the Federal armies was, to them, but the first step taken. Tho future must be secured. They had prevented disunion; they must now take care that it should be forever impossible. They there fore elaborated a plan of reconstruction with an inflexibility that could not but seem ruthlessness to the impoverished South — it would perhaps have seemed so to themselves could they have been able to realize fully the Southern situation in detail. With the cessation of resistance they ceased shedding blood and confiscating property, and in those respects showed a moder ation not often recorded in history; but theyAvere all the more unyielding in carrying out the system of reconstruction they had adopted. The character of the instruments they employed in the South, and the brief time allowed for the most radical changes, greatly intensified the misfortunes of the Southern people for the first few years. These, hoAvever, were borne so wisely by the mass of Southern whites, and they accommo dated themselves so soon to the new situations, that a new era of hope and prosperity soon began to dawn on them. CHAPTER II. CHANGES IN THE SOUTHERN VALLEY AFTER THE WAR. Institutions truly democratic leave a very large liberty to individual activity, which often appears, in formative periods, to threaten anarchy. There seems to be no adequate restraint to ambition and passion, and irregularity, disorder, and some times violence, become the predominating features on the sur face of society. But all American history has shown that beneath the surface were conservative elements of so much vigor that only a short time was required for them to master the disorder, and that they could do this more naturally, com pletely and in a shorter time, than a system of external force. The treatment of the Southern -^vhites Avas now in strong contrast with the theory of republican equality and it could be maintained only as a temporary measure. The principle was as odious to the North as to the South, and Avas designed to be abandoned as soon as it became evident that the per manence of the Union Avas no longer threatened. A large minority in Congress unceasingly protested against the system of reconstruction adopted by the majority and so rigorously applied. That system was chiefly embodied in the three Con stitutional Amendments securing citizenship and its rights to the colored race, and when these were definitely accepted by the South coercion Avas to cease. In actual fact, there was very little military force applied in the South after the dispersion of the Confederate armies and Government. A few thousand troops were scattered over the vast territory where, at first, they merely did police duty and acted as civil agents of the Federal Government. Soon they were withdrawn from all but the most prominent central points, where the smallness of their numbers made them lif- 394 RECONSTRUCTION SUCCESSFULLY BEGUN. 395 tie more than a moral force. Self-control had become so habitual to the American that no occupation " in force " was required in the South — no military police answering to the ''gensd'armerie" of the mouarchial governments of Europe. There Avas virtual freedom of personal moA'ement, and abso lute freedom from espionage. Notwithstanding the bloody war and the deep antagonism of principle and sentiment still existing, the tAvo sections understood and trusted each other to a degree unparalleled in history. Nominally, there was a Federal army in the South and its political destiny was in the hands of Congress. Actually, the South was left to recon struct itself, provided it would respect the three new Amend ments. Political disabilities were very soon removed from the mass of the white population. They generally held aloof from political action where they must see the institutions among Avhicli they had been born and for Avhich they had fought overthrown. They, in general, quietly turned away until the change had been wrought hy other hands. There Avere scenes of violence, of bloodshed, of desperate revenge on the new-made citizens, colored office holders and Northern teachers; but these Avere not projierly the acts of the Southern people. They Avere, usually, in isolated communi ties largely composed of the rude and uncontrollable classes of society, or by desperate characters ^yho improved the oppor tunity to commit crime under the shield of political opposi tion. These acts were truly disapproved by the mass of the Southern people. The native good sense of that people soon recognized the wasteful and undesirable character of the slave-labor system and felt it to have been a mistake. Irritation at the elevation of the ignorant black to citizenship continued longer, but, in the course of years, this gave Avay so far as to permit their .general return to the political field of action, where they em ployed their diplomatic abilities in the effort to secure the •colored vote to their own side. 396 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. Thus, republican habits and traditions interposed to temper the A'iolence of the changes produced by the war — to mod erate the arrogance of the conqueror, and preserve a large portion of freedom to the conquered — from the first, as well as to moderate the conduct of those who had lost their cause on the battle field. They renounced a revenge which must be futile, and more injurious to themselves than to any one else, and soon proceeded with vigor to the work of recon structing their fortunes and exerting all their influence on their local government. The way was prepared, A*ery soon, for a much better political situation and, gradually, the indus trial and financial condition of the South was ameliorated. The colored race also soon began to illustrate the beneficial influence of personal freedom. The moral and industrial vices of the labor system of the South so long held the atten tion of the civilized world, and especially the dominant party in the North which took control of the General Government at the opening of the war, that some other phases of the case were quite overlooked. It Avas, therefore, a matter of great surprise to the country Avlien, on the outbreak of the conflict, during its whole course and Avhen they became the domi nant political force in the South after it, the black displayed a singular degree of mildness and moderation. There was no frenzied outbreak of savage rcA'enge when a large part of the Southern planters and the flower of their young men hastened to the armies, leaving the weak and defenceless in the care of their servants. The conduct of the blacks in Hayti and Jamaica on their attainment of freedom was not repeated. The three or four million slaves in the Ccnifederate States calmly waited the hour A\'hen they should be legally freed, in the meantime doing their full duty to the lands and families of their masters, left in their care. No insurrec tions, no murders, prejudiced their prospects. It AA'as not cowardice, or stolidity, that kept them quiet. They generally understood that the hour of their freedom 'was approaching,. THE CHARACTER OF THE COLORED PEOPLE. 397 and when, in the later years of the Avar, t-liey were mustered into the Federal army by tens of thousands, they proved good soldiers. The Southern people themselves had not expected from them so much good sense, patience in waiting, or valor in battle. These blacks had for ancestors, but a fcAV generations back, the most barbarous and degraded of the negro tribes of Central Africa. It had been the severest charge of Christian philan thropists in the North that the Southern people held them aloof from all elevating influences — that their system, Avhich held them as property, tended to dehumanize what remains of manliness barbarism had left to them. Yet, when the se\-erest test was applied to them, their conduct would have done honor to the most civilized people in Christendom. The conclusion seemed to be inevitable that the influence of their masters had not done them the harm assumed. Their contact with the Avell- ordered civilization of America had ripened them into men of a higher order than their African ancestors. If, in many re spects, they remained ignorant and stupid, in others, they had been educated to a manly self-control and a high degree of good sense. This result is extremely honorable to the Southern people. Force of character in their masters and general contact with them through generations had devel oped much of essential manhood in the enslaved African. It can not be regarded as an argument for slavery. A forced labor system is an economical, a social, and a moral heresy; yet, in this case, it had its palliatives. It held a barbarous race, with a strong hand, in steady subordination to, and con tact Avith, a highly civilized and enlightened race, until many of its virtues had been acquired. After the first confusion, and repulsive antagonism, of a forced liberation of the colored race among their former mas ters had passed, the excellent qualities of both the whites and the blacks began to manifest themselves in a steady and rapid improvement of the situation. They adjusted themselves to 398 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. each other under the new relations better than could have been expected. Not all were prudent and free from senseless passion and violence — but the general masses, on each side, displayed their best qualities to each other and made the best of their new relations. The steady improvement manifest in almost every form in the South for the ten years followinn- 1868, and the general quiet that reigned through its commu nities, admit no other conclusion. The occasional local diffi culties that occurred, and that seemed, to one outside, symp toms of a general convulsion, proved to be so few, so limited in range, and so dependent on outside interference and political contests for their existence, as to prove the rule in' the most striking manner. Under this general reign of good sense and moderation the waste of Avar began to be rapidly restored. The newly created wealth was more equally distributed and produced vastly more general comfort. While the great fortunes of the periods be fore the war were seldom regained, a large number reached a condition of modest abundance and prosperity. Many of the colored people acquired property and raised themselves to positions of respectability and influence. Small farms and a healthy variety of industries gave evidence that the natural laAvs controlling the activities and interests of man were in full play and Avere operating Avholesome changes. The abso lute necessity of general industry to saA'e themseh-es from want called out much of the latent energy of every class of tlie people, white and black, and began to introduce the respect for honest toil that had before been more largely rendered to it in the North, while active emplojanent helped to banish the excessive fervency of regret for what had been lost. Thus, there Avas agroAving intensity of light in the Southern picture. There were, indeed, many sliadoAvs that Avere extremely vexatious, they seemed, to Southerners, so unnecessary — the result of interference by the General Government, and by associations and private persons from the North interested, HOW AAIERIC.ANS MANAGE A DIFFICULTY. 399 really or ostensibly, in the welfare of the freedman. It could not be expected that this interference, when conducted with the greatest care and judgment, could be looked on with approval by the South; and it was not always Avisely made. Unscru pulous and selfish men sometimes took advantage of the politi cal powerlessness of the whites and the general confusion that too easily concealed irregularities, as well as of the ignorance and too great confidence of the blacks, to carry out measures more or less harmful. Misunderstandings, joolitical partisan ship and private passion often interrupted, for a time, in vari ous localities, the growing prosperity. Sometimes conflicts arose in which blood was shed ; but these outbursts did not so far receive the approval of the Southern people as to be sup ported, or prove capable of groAving to serious proportions. They, as a whole, submitted to the authority of the General Government and endeavored to make the best of a painful situation. It was only individuals, or really small minorities which happened to be strong in some regions, that created dis turbance. The Southern public, in general, patiently waited for the time when it could legally set right what it saw to be oppressive* and wrong, thereby proving itself fairly worthy of a restoration of all its powers as a body politic in the Union. Northern sympathy and humanity at once came forward to assist in the relief of Southern distress, even before the fight ing had wholly ceased; and the prosperous activities that had been maintained in the free States during all the mighty con flict were prepared, at its close, to enter the South and assist in its restoration. Northern wealth flowed, through many business channels, into the unfortunate States and helped their industries to reorganize. Old merchants and pi an ters resumed the relations with factors and capitalists in the North which had been suspended during the struggle, and obtained the credits indi-spensable to the re-commencemt of business. The North and the South probably respected each other even more after the war than before. However they might 400 THE MISSISSIPPI A'ALLEY'. differ on political and social questions, they each privately honored the other Avith the esteem of countrymen and breth ren, where only business or personal relations were in question. Business interest is of no party; northern capital at once floAved South for investment, and thousands of enterprising Northern men sought to establish themselves where less com petition in their own line of activity promised them larger gains. This prejudice gradually gave way, painful memories grew dim, and the future became more and more attractive. The most valuable resources of the Southern States had not been developed, to any great extent, under their former labor system, and a great, a new, future was before them. The North had an interest in this thorough development of Southern regions second only to that of their OAvn inhabitants, and every opportunity for profitable inA'estment was quickly improA'ed. Thus, money immediately began to circulate in the South, manufactures before unknown there were established, a market for all its common and rarer productions was very soon found. Material prosperity restored the dilapidated cities, the waste places began to bloom, railways multiplied, a hitherto un known bustle and activity was noted, and the sorrowful mem ories of the past gradually retreated before a new prosperity, new hopes and fears. The pledge of a speedy and complete recovery from all the evils and misfortunes, in which the close of war found them plunged, was in the character of the Southern people. The very immensity of the misfortune had sprung from the force ahd tenacity of that character ; and one of the distinguishing traits of the Anglo-American — one Avhich had placed his country, in three quarters of a century, in many respects, at the very head of modern progress — was his flexibility. United as it was with intelligence, Avith resolution and perseverance, it made him superior to all situations, fertile in expedients for surmounting difficulties in the wise and practical way habitual to the English and their kin. A NEW SITUATION FAIRLY ESTABLISHED. 401 This power of accommodation to circumstances, joined with force of character and the strong and broad good sense pecu liar to Americans in general, Avas never more con.spicuous in the race than in the Southern States during the ten years following the close of the Avar, but especially in those fol lowing 1870. To accept their former servants as freemen and citizens, to accommodate themselves to a new labor system, to become capable masters of free . laborers, to con vince thein that they were their real friends, and to assist them to a wise use of their newly gained rights and privi leges, was a supreme eft'ort for them. The situation having been forced on them contrary to their will and judgment, -they had themselves, as well as other numerous and great dif ficulties, to conquer. This effort was substantially crowned with success at the ¦close of the last of the three presidential terms, of which the first commenced in the spring of 1865. It was naturally im possible for a free people, possessing traits of character so -marked and vigorous, to so far forget their own dignity as to yield their principles to anything but conviction, and they were very naturally repelled from the lesson by the manner in Avhich it Avas set before them for study. It had, however, been studied with careful thoroughness and mental change produced changes in all other forms. At that period the National Government was so Avell satisfied with the spirit manifested bythe Southern people as to withdraw all signs of outward pres-iure and want of confidence in them as loyal citizens of the Republic. They had already, at various times, resumed the political management of their own States and local affairs, and were now as completely free from outside -control as the Northern people. Such a result required, and had been gained by, the co-operation of the North and the South, the whites and the blacks. Their mutual efforts laid the foundation of a perpetual Federal and National Union, Tendered the more secure that the vexed questions of the 26 402 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. past were, in real truth, forever put aside. Tlie political rights and liberties of the colored race Avere now guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, and that guarantee had received the sanction of the white portion of the Southern people. If the foregoing statements, when ¦ made, seemed often too definite and positive, and to ignore some aspects and circum stances of Southern life which deeply impressed a part of the Northern people, it was because of the extreme difficulty, even to an enlightened and fairly impartial mind, of so overcoming the Avant of an intimate and life-long acquaintance Avith the inhabitants of another section as to be able to judge, Avith exact discrimination and justice, the exceptional incidents and acts of violence that occurred, from time to time, in Southern society. A murder in the South was liable to be noticed with more care and to be interpreted more unfavorably, to be suspected of a deeper political significance, than one occur ring in a region more familiar, and Avith whose general social,. political and moral tone they Avere fully acquainted. Great changes Avere passing in the general mind and feeling of the South. In the other sections the degree and quality of these changes were not fully known nor easily appreciated; the explanation of the Southerner, who alone was fully prepared to judge them, was regarded with suspicion as probably partial or partisan. To most people a really accurate and impartial judgment of events and persons of their own generation is impossible. The perspective is not sufficiently extended; the view is too close ; the reach of vision too narrow ; some of the important relations to be considered are too imperfectly known. Besides, events sometimes admit of various interpretations, and time alone can prove, with absolute conclusiveness, which is right. The Southern people have erred in various ways, they have suf fered and lost much more than most people outside of their own. section can well appreciate, but they have re-conquered a lost CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES IN TIIE SOUTH. 403 prosperity and nationality in a remarkably short space of time. As a section they have proved their right to be considered real and true Americans. Constitutional changes, embracing all the features insisted on bythe General Government, had been introduced Avhen the States which had formerly been members of the Confederate Union were re-admitted by the Federal Congress. These re-admissions of Southern States commenced, in the Valley, with Tennessee, which conformed its Constitution to the cir cumstances bya Convention whose action Avas approved by the people of the State, March 4, 1865, and the Legislature and Governor, appointed under it, having approved the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, July 12 and 13, 1866, the State was formally re-admit ted by Congress on the 24th of the same month. Missouri and Kentucky were not held to have left the Union. Arkan sas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were formally admitted to representation in Congress, at different times, between 1868 and 1870. The votes of the Freedmen being received in the appointment of delegates to Constitutional Conventions and the ratification of the revised instruments, the Southern whites took little part in them, although procla mations of amnesty had restored the civil rights of the masses of the people. Most of these new Constitutions formally abolished slavery, denied the right of secession, and forbade the ackriowledg- inent of debts contracted by the Confederate Govern ments. Some of them were subsequently revised aud omit ted any formal statement of these points, but left out the word "white" in determining the qualifications of voters; the pro visions of the Federal Constitution, binding on all the States as the supreme law of the land, sufficiently securing the other points. The Constitution of Kentucky remained the same as in 1850, although some of its provisions were made obsolete by the amendments to the Federal Constitution. Most of 404 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. these States made provision in their new Constitutions for an efficient common school system of education, which included the colored as well as the white population, and the State GoA'ernments proceeded, as soon as practicable, to put them in operation. Many millions of dollars, in the course of years, fiowed in from the North in support of educational enterprises of various kinds, and a new source of promise and hope for the future of the South was opened. One very unhappy accompaniment of these Constitutional and Legislative changes was experienced. They were sug gested by the Federal Government but conducted, in large part, by Northern people who were either imperfectly fitted for that task by want of familiarity with Southern interests, or dishonest and heartless enough to make personal advance ment a principal aim. Thej' took advantage of the ignor ance of the colored people and the helplessness of the whites to plunder the painfully gathered public funds, when, of all times, it Avas most harmful to the desolated States. It was one of the cases of disorder in which superior authori ties did not feel at liberty to interfere, since, nominally, the State Governments Avere re-established and Federal power could occupy itself only in its restricted circle, unless called upon to keep the public peace ; therefore freedom of individual action and respect for constitutional limitations, combined with antagonism between the Avhite and colored races in the South, to open a large margin to possibilities of harmful action. It is a peculiarity very noticeable in various periods of our history. The mode of its cure illustrates a favorable feature of American life. It could only be effectually corrected by the Southern whites; and, in proportion as the evil afflicted and injured them, were they inspired to earnestness in the effort to gain the confidence of the colored voters, at least of a sufflcient number to give them control of State Govern ments. In this way the evil would work its own cure. Years THE FOUNDATIONS OF A NEW UNION. 405 of painful contest were required, indeed, to bring this adjust ment to a conclusion, involving much bitter party strife, with occasional acts of lamentable violence ; but it Avas steadily pushed forward by the interests involved, until the extension of the evil Avas stopped and its effects gradually modified. Though extremely hurtful and discreditable, it was terini uated in a natural Avay by the free operation of the orderly and sen sible spirit of the people themselves. Freedom is, at times, turbulent, but effectually corrects its own errors. Thus social, political and industrial reconstruction went hand in hand. The violence which had recjuired it left the South bleeding at every pore and surrounded 'with the ruins of her former prosperous greatness. Gradually her wounds Avere bound up and healed; the fever of passion passed away from both North and South; a long convalescence followed, but was ended by the return of rugged health, sounder and broader principles of policy, and the elements of a more per fect union between the sections of the country. The time Avas soon to come when the parties who had met in deadly conflict on the battle flelds, which they had left strcAved with the noblest and best of their fallen braves, could meet on the same fields, to mourn together over the losses of each, and mingle their tears in mutual sympathy and respect. They had learned to know each other on a thousand battle fields, to esteem their common country more highly because each formed part of it, and had clearly ascertained how their vari ous interests could be reconciled. The fearful price paid for the Union re-established and more perfectly consolidated, and for the removal of all the great causes of discord, '^vas not too great if there were no other way of accomplishing those ends. Strong races must needs have strong faults. Tlieir errors are, occasionally, as disastrous as their character is vigorous; but human life was not arranged to exclude error, and, happily, this generous race was capable of " learning wisdom by the things it suft'ered."' CHAPTER III. THE UPPER VALLET DURING THE WAR. The people of the Southern Valley had lost about four fifths of their property during the war, and found numerous and great embarrassments, at first, in their efforts to employ the remainder as an effective base for the recovery of prosperity. In addi tion, they had lost much of their best and most energetic population, and the stimulus of lively hope. Dark clouds lay on their future, gloom rested on their minds, and dis couragement sapped their energies. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the upper Valley had gained, at least, as much as the war had cost them, and invested it in important and valuable improvements that would pay a large interest in the long future. General prosperity attended them during all the desperate struggle — after it had been taken into the account as an unavoidable fact. Although they had formerly been largely dependent on the river system for transportation, the railroads had delivered them from it after 1850, and their activities Avere scarcely embarrassed, after the first year of confusion, by the blockade of the Mississippi. Their chief trade had come to be with the East, and with Europe from eastern ports, andthe require ments of the armies had made up the loss of Southern sales. The West had sent about a million of its able-bodied men to the armies that were making such havoc in the South, and Avas receiving good pay from the Government for feeding them there. Their places Avere partly supplied by immigra tion, for more than 550,000 foreigners had come into the North during the four years of the war, and a large part had been attracted to the West by its prosperity and the large Avages paid t-o laborers. The reinainiiiij; loss was more than met by 406 PROGRESS 'OF THE UPPER A'ALLEY DURING TIIE WAR. 407 the increase of labor-saving agricultural machinery. The free circulation of money had given all the stimulus required. DcA-elopment had been uninterrupted, and perhaps greater than if there had been no thunder of cannon or rattle of mus ketry from Kansas to the Potomac. When the war closed, therefore, the West had never been so prosperous. The pub lic debt, which had put so much money in circulation, would make itself felt in the future, but, for the present, the preser vation of the Union and the general extreme prosperity were the prominent facts. During the war about 1,500 miles of railroad had been built in the northern Valley — about as much as the length of one trunk line from the Atlantic shore to the Mississippi. Four great lines, with innumerable feeders, extended from the cen ter of Iowa and Missouri to eastern tideAvater, besides the Avater route of the lakes and the Erie canal. These trans ported the stock, the pork and the grain of the West to the best markets, as well as transferred the munitions of war and army supplies. No cordon of armed vessels beleagured the Atlantic ports; no international law prevented free intercourse with the world beyond the ocean, and profitable trade and com merce went on as usual. It was well for the North that this ample outlet had been put in good Avorking order before the breaking out of the conflict. By it she had full command of all her resources and could take full advantage of the openings for traffic and the profusion of money. Machinery for conducting agriculture over the smooth areas of the northern Valley, whereby multitudes of men could be spared, had already been invented and introduced before the war, and many establishments for multiplying them had been constructed even as far west as the Mississippi. To press their production and dispersion over all the prairie States was ¦easy. Frequently one man could do the work of ten, by their help, and there was, therefore, ample opportunity to raise all the food that could be sold. The increase of manufactures 408 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. everywhere called for larger harvests every year ; the great consumption and waste of war increased the demand, and foreign export continually increased. No class of the people were more prosperous than the farmers — except the army contractors. It Avas a most salutary fact and helped much to lay a base for the future and to offset the demoraliza tion inevitable in a state of war. The prosperity of this class, and the necessity of manufacturing for them, invited the establishment of that industry on a larger scale, in the West, built up the cities and toAvns, and furnished millions more of artisans to be fed at home. The creation of the greenback, or Government money, was one of the important circumstances of the situation. It gave a vigor of life and activity to all kinds of business that other wise must have felt the impoverishment of war. As it was, the extraordinary resources of the Valley were drawn out, profitable trade was maintained, the money Avas scattered far and wide to benefit every class of the people and stimulate every kind of production. The actual gain in capital, and in preparation for future production and a higher degree of prosperity, must have been fully equal to all the immense expenditures of the war. Thus, when the war closed, everything was ready in the North for an unexampled spring of progress. Skilled me^ chanics and laborers, in every brancli of manufacture, had been gathered and trained; farms had been put in the best order; careful organization of all branches of business left no time to be wasted in preliminaries; and the temper ofthe people was at the right pitch for the production of the great est possible results. It Avas as fine a situation, as full of hope and promise, as that of the South Avas sad and dark. Nothing could shoAv more impressively the advantage of a free and intelligent laboring class, than the strong contrast here suggested by the condition of the sections. The unhappy South drank the dregs of the cup of confusion and trouble THE CONTRAST OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH. 409 that a false and illogical policy had poured out for her. Had the Northern people lost all, as the Southern had done, they would still have had the skillful hand and intelligently trained muscles of their laborers to re-create capital. These would have been of more value to the South than thousands of millions of money. CHAPTER IV. THE NEW STARTING POINT. It is seen that war had wasted only the South, drained it of •capital and left it helpless ; while the most that had been spent on armaments and supplies had tended to assist and enrich the people of the North, and especially those living in the Valley. The new starting point presented features of promise more inspiring than had ever before smiled on that region. The extent and variety of its resources were evidently so great that no conceivable disaster could really interrupt, or seriously check, the progress of its people. It could sustain the loss of hundreds of thousands of its best citizens without losing the momentum of industrial advance; it could meet every possi ble demand for its productions which could arise in the coun try or come from foreign lands; it could so sustain the credit of the whole country by its boundless possibilities that the waste of three thousand millions of treasure could be borne with little difficulty; it could, perhaps, replace them by its surplus earnings while the shock of armies and navies was causing the whole continent to tremble. The war was a singularly triumphant test of the ability of the country to stand any strain, to meet any possible call. At the close of that mighty struggle all the channels of its industry and trade were full to overflowing, ready to spread out over the devastated South, and to employ all the abilities and facilities that had been occupied for years in the armies and naA-ies of the nation. No soldier and no ship need fail of full and profltable oppor tunities for such service as their soundness could render. It was discovered to have the widest margin fbr " proflt and loss " of any country under the sun. This was the laase for its new start. 410 THE GREAT CHANGE IN TIIE SITU.ATION. 411 Up to this time the more prominent feature of Valley his tory, as a whole, had been that of laying foundations, of mak ing commencements, opening new farms, building new towns, establishing new industries. This feature did not cease; for over all its settled areas and around all its northern and west ern margins were virgin lands to be broken for the first time by the plow, openings for new activities and an indefinitely greater population. The filling up and extension might, and did, continue as actively as ever; but it became a subordinate, it was no longer the leading, feature. Development from the beginnings already made became that leading feature. The Valley Avas now ready to penetrate beneath the surface, to ascertain how deep were the treasures Avhose " first fruits " had proved so rich. The more absorbing topic was how to improve methods in farming, in manufacture, in trade, and organize its instruments of wealth so as to produce more largely at less cost. The prospecting period had ceased, the time for productive labor had come; running hither and thither to make trials comparatively ceased during the war, when the disturbed condition of the southwest, and the smaller num ber of unattached individuals rendered a steady development of the farm, the trade, or the manufacture already open more profitable. The people of Ohio, for instance, no longer-, as in former years, poured over its boundaries by hundreds of thousands yearly. They staid at home to make the most if their oppor tunities there. The stalwart sons of Kentucky and Tennessee staid at home to repair their desolations and create new sources of gain to replace their losses by war and emancipation — and so throughout most of the States. Ohio had steadily reduced its State indebtedness per head of its j)opulation during the war. In 1860 it Avas $6.09 for each of its population; in 1865 but $5.13, notwithstanding the vast contributions made, under various forms, to the war fund ; and its Auditor estimated that the whole debt might easily be extinguished in seven years, while 412 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. its grand career of public prosperity seemed but just begun. Similar features, modified by various circumstances but testi fying to the same great facts, characterized all the States of the Northwest. The innumerable springs of prosperity that had been gushing forth from the whole surface of the West during the last fifty years were now gathering into a mighty riA'er,, broadening and deepening with every stage of progress. The situation was improved by the new national enthusiasm developed by the victories of the war and the new sense of unity and strength in the Republic. The institutions estab lished in the Valley had been subjected to a powerful strain and had manifested no sign of weakness but had rather settled more firmly into place. The test seemed to have been a ben efit, rather than an injury, and the future could be faced with an absolute confidence. The element of weakness and dissen sion that had seemed to be forming two nationalities in the Valley was definitely removed, and, sooner or later, the agen cies set in operation after the Avar must harmonize the popu lation of the upper and lower basins in their feelings and sympathies. Soon, the Avealth and prosperity of the upper branches of the great river must follow the course of the waters and enrich all the South Avith their golden flood. There was a stimulus to hopefulness in this prospect Avhich ; could not but react with immense power on the sti'uggling energies of all the States; inclining the South to courage, the North to sympathy, forbearance and generosity; and alto gether to united counsels and vigorous eftort. The future gave assurance of restored prosperity to the exhausted South, of increased gain to the alert and enterprising North. The " manifest destiny " of the great nation, of AA'hich the Valley included so important a part, was henceforth quite certain and all its citizens felt themselves girded up for new and more arduous undertakings. All this had been felt by the North and the Federal Con gress during most of the war and was one of the secrets of HOPEFUL ENERGY CREATES RESOURCES. 413 its success if not, indeed, the principal cause of their con stancy and vigor in pressing it. The failure to realize this grand future was a possibility which the people and their representatives would not take into account ; to secure it they considered no sacrifice too great, and felt almost as sure of the ultimate success of the Federal arms at the beginning as at the close of the conflict. This idea united the mass of both the great parties, regardless of the protest of the minority, and their naturally generous sympathy for the invaded and bleeding South. The war was fought to a successful conclusion to realize this idea, and, having secured that end, the impulsive force springing from it naturally gathered weight and led the sec tion which had triumphed to cherish, more heartily than ever, its patriotic dreams of future greatness. It Avas sensibly drawing nearer to the aim of its hopes. Nor could the South long remain insensible to the attractions of that hope. It had dreamed in vain of a separate nation. Now that the dream was dispelled so rudely and completely it must discoA'cr that it had much misjudged the antagonist that had tri umphantly overcome a heroic resistance; must presently see that such wealth of resources, such manly vigor and capacity, were the allies it needed. It must comprehend that this 'reality was far better and more promising than the dream of an empire built on cotton and the negro; and, dismissing its dream with a sigh, perhaps, would address itself to this beckoning hope. This substantially occurred. The idea of recovering slavery, under any form, was immediately given up in answer to the earnest wish and fixed resolve of the rest of the nation; in its discouragement and poverty it was inspired by the grander views that began to smile from the future and the situation was improved by the beginning of a new and more perfect union between the sections. When the armies were disbanded inthe spring and summer of 1865, they returned to their homes inspired by these bright 414 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY'. visions, to aid in making them a reality. So fllled were the released soldiers of the Federal Government with this patri otic enthusiasm that they displayed very little of the inevita ble demoralization of the camp, and quietly resumed their places in the office, the workshop and on the farm, as if only returned from a journey. A powerful impulse within and about them carried them back to their accustomed life, and the demoralization was manifest chiefly in the looser notions that ruled, for a time, in public and business life, and in the impatience and hurry generally felt to realize their personal aims and Avishes suddenly, and with too little heed to the means employed. This promise of the future and absorption in active labor was the escape-valve for the passion and excitement brought from the army, and for the excessive ambition which flush times and great prosperity had encouraged among those who had remained at home. In due time it would be chastened and controlled by the good sense of the general community and the public reprobation it would not fail to receive. The Southern soldier, who had shown himself the bravest of the brave — for no test of bravery is more decisive than that displayed in support of a constantly failing cause — being overpowered and disarmed, experienced, to some extent, a very natural reaction, and a longing to attach himself to ideas and occupy himself with deeds capable of succeeding. He returned to build up the wastes and repair the ruins of the desolated " sunny South," penetrated with respect for his fellow of the North whom his utmost valor could not over come or weary, and, perhaps, even more disposed to re-em brace the cause of the promising country capable of inspir ing so much tenacious patriotism. After all, it was Us country and he was not shut out from sharing its glorious destiny. He would soon come to discover that tbe real re sources of his beloved South were wasted and overlooked by the former system, and that free labor and a more varied and THE WAR AN EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE. 415' intelligent industry alone could develop it and give it proper rank in the Union. With the return of the army to productive and business life higher ideas obtained full sway and a period of more vigorous execution in all the lines of development opened. The war was a practical education of the people, who perceived more clearly what they wanted, what they were resolved to have, what was possible and how it was to be obtained. From this point commenced, a new growth, a new vigor of pushing the old lines of growth, and a new sense of capacity. A new era opened to the Valley and to the nation, in the year 1865, and the first ten years of this era would leave the situation so improved, old evils so forgotten, and the scars of battle so nearly coA'ered that the renovated nation would hardly be able to put itself back, in imagination, in the posi tion it had occupied fifteen years before. It seemed a dim^, distant, and almost impossible past. CHAPTER V. VAST EXTENSION OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM. The first thing to be done to prepare the way for a new era of vast development in the great Valley was to complete the Railway System so as to render access to its treasures and remotest localities from the Eastern and Western seaboards easy, speedy and cheap. The Railway was the true provi dence of the Valley. Its products were found to be so vast and so easily obtained that Avater transportation by its systems of rivers, lakes and canals was wholly inadequate long before the latter were completed. Corn, transported more than 125 miles by ordinary roads, loses its value, or profit, even when it may be sold at 76 cents per bushel ; and Avheat, at ^1.50 per bushel, can be profitably transported only 250 miles. Residence at any considerable distance from places of ship ment by water took all profit from the heavy products of the prairies. When! the water courses were most wanted they were frozen up; delay by accident, and frequent losses, re quired a high rate of insurance, and with only facilities of transportation by water the progress of this rich agricultural region must be painfully slow. The transportation of freight by railroads commenced on a grand scale in 1851 and soon came, by its cheapness, to in crease the value of the products of the Valley one hundred and sixty times over that which they bore when required to be transported to market on ordinary roads by land. Thus between 1850 and 1860 the gold mines of California opened a far richer mine in the West and furnished the North with the " sinews of war" for the four years' struggle. Railways enriched the South much less than the North, chiefly owing to its different industrial organization. Its 416 SPEEDY' DEVELOPMENT BY' RAILWAY'S. 417 inability to .develop its equally great sources of wealth except in one direction, for want of au intelligent laboring class and a variety of pursuits, left it far behind when the strict com parison was made in a long and vigorous war. Yet, it was by means of its railway system that it was able to maintain a desperate resistance so long. When this system was broken up by the conquest of Chattanooga, Atlanta, and Sherman's raid through Georgia the members of the Confederacy were severed and its destruction inevitable. During the war comparatively little was done in railway extension. About 1,500 miles had been built during the four years, in the northern Valley ; but for the next five years the system was extended greatly, averaging 2,000 miles a year for the whole Valley, or 10,000 by 1870. In the next four years the increase was more than 12,000 miles in the Valley, and the whole increase outside of it for the ten years, a large part of which was, directly or indirectly, tributary to its prosper ity, Avas about 20,000 miles. The value of the merchandise transported over all the rail ways of the country in 1870 was six times the amount of the public debt, and had increased yearly, after 1865, on an aver age of over a thousand million dollars, or one half the war debt, and the earnings of all the roads were about one fifth of that debt yearly. All the railways in the country, in 1870, had cost, for building, about one thousand five hundred million dollars, and it has been affirmed that the increased value they gave to property — or the wealth they created, as it is said — equaled that sum the moment they Avere completed — that is, their existence restored, to the full, the capital invested in them. They increased the capacity of the Valley for devel opment perhaps two hundred times. We quite lose ourselves in these immense estimates; but the new nation found itself in the vast wealth which immediately fiowed through all the channels of commerce, business and industry, and, Avhile con stantly lightening the burdens of taxation, was able, in ten years, to pay off more than one fifth of its war debt. 418 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. While yet the war was in progress the prophetic spirit of the people, their unbounded confidence in the great destiny awaiting the re-united nation inspired them to lay great plans, the accomplishment of which had been before consid ered as vague possibilities of a distant future. In 1863,Avhile the Avar was at its height, the Pacific railway was planned. This was to complete the railway connections between the two oceans. In 1865 about one hundred miles of it Avere com pleted; in 1866 three hundred were open for use; three hun dred in 1867; eight hundred in 1868, and the remaining three hundred in 1869. The importance of this enterprise was even greater politically than commercially. It was continuing, and irrevocably confirming, the idea of indissoluble union — of an undivided nationality. Its economical result was to hasten the growth of Nebraska and Colorado, on the Avestern borders of the Valley; to facilitate the AVorking of the precious metals in the broad ranges of the Rocky Mountains; to build up the ports and the commerce of the Pacific coast, and to bring China and the trade of Eastern Asia practically nearer the Valley by more than two thousand miles. Besides this, the moral effect of success in carrying through, in so short a time, the greatest undertaking of any time was, possibly, greater still. The American could think fcAv things impossible after this experience and that of the war, and all the citizens were inspired to plan boldly and execute vigorously in all the walks of life and business. The mental force which it brought into action told with great effect. This general enthusiasm of eagerness to provide all the con ditions for the great developments they foresaw Avas shared by the General Government as well as by the mass of the people, which it, in this at least, very completely represented. For many years every possible encouragement was given to the extension of the railway system. To assist their construction in the thinly settled, or entirely vacant, sections, and over the vast distances of the West, Congress granted, between the EFFECT OF GOVERNMENT AID TO RAILWAYS. 419 years 1850 and 1870, about 80,000 square miles of unsettled land to the corporations undertaking the Avork. Some of this land Avas Avorthless and some companies failed to meet the conditions; but it has been estimated that nearly 60,000 square miles would be available and valuable to the compa nies. Besides this, the Government lent its credit in bonds to the Pacific road for over sixty-four million dollars. States, counties and towns followed this example with contagious enthusiasm, and there AA^as accomplished, in a fcAv years, a work that might reasonably have occupied generations. They did not see the point at which it was advisable to moderate their action, and where encouragement became a Avaste and a loss, involving great financial difficulty for the production and business of the country. The world could not immediately find sufficient market for the supplies necessary to occupy all the railways, so over-extended, nor a sufficient surplus popu lation to occupy and cultivate all the wild lands so opened to settlement. In their eagerness to accumulate and to obtain large reve nues, railway organizations consolidated to secure a monopoly of business and control the price of carriage, and provoked opposition ancl counter combinations; excessive investment in raihvay extension, excessive production, excessive speculation and the determination to recover the currency from the depreci ation it had sustained by excessive issue during the war, com bined to bring on a serious financial disturbance in the autumn of 1873. Loose morality inevitably gains ground when the confusion pf war gives a shock to the stricter habits of peace, unaccustomed profusion of expenditure tempts the ambitious to speculation and illicit gain; and these disorders no doubt had much to do with the sudden check to the rapid movement of business. Activity had become too great in certain lines,, enthusiasm had turned to fever, and ends had been lost sight of in the preparation of means. Yet, happily, in a country where action and reaction have 420 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. a play so free and undisturbed, the cure of evils is soon and naturally accomplished. While the active period of railway expansion continued individuals and communities were eager to have one, or several, passing near them because they ad vanced the value of property ; the yearly earnings of the roads averaged $10,000 per mile, and the investment of money in railway stocks, the opportunities for speculation on a large scale and in various ways stimulated capitalists, and finan ciers, individuals and companies found many opportunities for gain. The free organization of American institutions provided no general control over the activities of its citizens, and left the extension of the railway system, as other branches of business, to the operation of the laws of trade. When rail road investments no longer proved profitable they must cease of themselves. It became apparent in the end, that railway building did not really require government aid any more than other branches of industry, and that such aid, in the majority of cases, sooner or later served to over-stimulate that branch and found its way quite as often into the hands of individuals as into the public purse. As a general result it disturbed, instead of aiding, the natural course of development, and produced evils greater than it removed. It increased the tendency begun during the periods of profuse war expenditure, to accumulate wealth in the hands of individuals. It rendered corporations powerful enough to exert an excessive control over general business, more to their own advantage than to that of the public; and it helped to destroy the equilibrium of development which alone can prevent difficult situations and financial crises that sweep, like a tropical storm, over the business of the country, leaving ruin and paralysis in their track. Yet this stimulus to private and corporate enterprise was far from being all evil. The initiation it gave to great under takings which promoted rapidity of development and tended to equalize the advantages of all the sections of the whole ADA'ANTAGES OF TIIE RAILROAD FUROR. 421 country, the immediate access afforded to ncAV sources of great wealth, and the increase in the variety and magnitude of industrial development, could not be other than an advantage in many ways, and highly profitable in the long run. The harm was limited and temporary; disturbing relations rather than resources. It was so far a positive benefit that the dis turbance of business made political economy and the laws of trade and finance the subject of a prolonged and profound study while industry was changing its front and its organization, and capital Avas preparing for new undertakings. The sudden introduction of new and poAverful forces into the fields of business, and the immense wealth developed thereby, had dis concerted the best trained intelligence of the age; the laAvs of business and industry applicable to former times and dif ferent situations were no longer in point ; fresh studies were required to master a science whose field had lost its ancient boundaries by a vast enlargement and included new elements. The financial reverses and business stagnation that folloAved the autumn of 1873 gave the needed opportunity of re-exam ination, and an immediate effort was made to comprehend and control the difficulty, to eliminate the immural ele ments introduced or inspired by the confusion and disorder of war, and to apply such modifications to public policy as ex perience and reflection should suggest. The result could not but be beneficial. Meantime the true Avealth and prosperity of the country remained the same. The Valley, the seat and source of the bulk of real wealth in the nation, Avas least affected by the temporary check — the ebb-tide of business— her farmers still supplied the markets of the world with their surplus products, and, by organization, Avere able to apply some restraint to powerful corporations by whom they had felt oppressed, and secured a larger per cent of profit on their products than formeriy ; and, though the rush of improvement ceased, extensions of the railway system actually required continued to be made. 422 THE MISSI.-5.Sn'IT VALLEY. That system had grown by nearly 5,000 miles yearly for the three years following 1870. It still continued to extend at the rate of more than 1,000 miles yearly. Many roads became unprofitable to the holders of their stock while yet doing good and useful service to the communities through which they passed; and in general, after a little time, the financial reverse was more injurious to individuals and corporations than to the public at large. In this, as in so many other cases in American experience, the free operation of social and indus trial law soon corrected the errors of governments and the disorganizing eft'ects of unnatural events — such as excess and hurry of immigration, the existence of slavery, civil Avar, and general overhaste in improvement. All the depart ments of life are found to have been submitted to the opera tion of definite laws, and to possess, in themselves, a recu perative power which, if its operation be not interfered with, quickly reveals a remedy for the Avounds that may have been received by ignorant or excessive action ; and this remedy commonly presents itself during the reaction following naturally after the harm. During this period of activity following the war, every part of the Valley was made accessible and obtained profitable connections with the markets it required ; or, in cases Avhere important links had not been completed, in 1873, they were finished subsequently. Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and even the Indian Territory, were brought into relations with all the rest of the country. In 1874, the lines of railway west of the Mississippi, in all the States and Territories to the Pacific, fell but little beloAv 20,000 miles; the five States formed out of the original North west Territory had constructed nearly 31,000; aud the re maining part of the Valley had more than 8,000. Of the railways beyond the Mississippi scarcely 3,000 miles lay be yond the western border of the Valley, and about 45,000 out of the 72,600 in the United States, Avere in the Valley itself RAILAVAYS AND TELEGRAPHS CONSOLIDATE. 423 The total cost of all these railways has been considerably more than twice the amount of the public debt. This was the material preparation for the new union and the new greatness which was rendered possible by the result of the war. In the accomplishment of this task the railway was poAverfully aided by the electric telegraph, which, extend ing its intricate network still more widely than the railway system over all parts of the country, put every section in daily and at need, almost instantaneous, communication with the rest; it facilitated the dispatch of business as much as it pro moted intimate intercourse, mutual acquaintance and unity of sentiment. These two instruments, the one bearing exchanges of value, the other exchanges of thought, consolidated the Union much more perfectly than the war could do it. They aided in equal izing the wealth of the sections, in building up mutual inter ests and sympathies, and in removing all the remaining bar riers that kept them apart. CHAPTER VI. PRODUCTION OF MINERAL WEALTH IN THE NEW ERA. The universal spread of railways in the Valley furnished a. test of its capacities in many directions. The Atlantic Slope had proved to be extremely rich in coal, in iron, and in build ing material, and the Pacific coast had, soon after 1870, al ready supplied a thousand and two hundred million dollars in precious metals. The Valley had been chiefiy esteemed out side of it for its capacity to supply unlimited quantities of food and for giving, by these supplies and its purchases, the most complete support to the varied manufacturing industries of the East and the mining of the West. It seemed almost unfair to other sections that it should display anything more than a local abundance of resources in their OAvn special lines. Yet, the magnitude of modern development rendered a monopoly of any one line for a limited region impossible for any long period of time. Competition reduced profits to a narrow margin and made it necessary for many branches of business to transfer themselves to the regions AA'here they could be pursued most economically. Under this imperative law of economy, the mineral wealth of the Valley began to rise to prominence with the spread of railroads, and, from seven to ten years after the war, some of the industries found it impos sible to maintain an extensive and profitable activity without its aid. The Valley had been projected on a grand scale in all its features; whatever it did contain was found, in most cases, to be incomparably abundant, superior in quality, and to be obtained with unaccustomed ease and cheapness. Geological explorations had already, before the Avar, made knoAvn many of its advantages ; and the great State of Pennsylvania — lying 434 INCREASE OF IRON PRODUCTION IN THE VALLEY. 425 on either side of the mountains — soon found the western part more varied and abundant in sources of wealth than the east ern, notwithstanding the enormous deposits of anthracite coal which lay so near the largest cities and greatest manufactur ing centers of the country. The production of petroleum and coal across the mountains became, soon after 1870, nearly equal to the vast coal trade of the anthracite fields of the east; and the iron trade soon developed in the Valley to great pro portions. Although most of the States of the Atlantic border abound in iron, which was first Avorked there, the larger quantity, purer quality and greater ease and cheapness of production speedily led to extensive mining on Lake Superior, in Mis souri, in Tennessee and Alabama ; and more especially that an abundance of suitable coal was to be found within easy reach of the ore beds. The water highways of the West permitted the superior ores of the Michigan and Missouri mines to be cheaply transported to the vicinity of the coal mines of Pitts burgh and Ohio, to Chicago and to Indiana; while the prox imity of excellent ores and extensive coal beds in West Vir ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama encouraged the progress of iron production in those States. In 1872, when the point *of highest production was reached, the amount of pig-iron from western ores began to approach one half that of the whole country. The rapid increase of this production was checked, in 1873, by the financial crisis ; but it became quite evident that the facilities of the Valley would, in a few years, concentrate within its borders much the larger part of the iron production of the country. England has long produced one half the iron and steel used by the world, obtaining much of her ore from other countries; but the Valley, which has both the best ores and suitable coal in unlimited quantities, will inevitably, from these facts, take the lead of the world as well as of the country at no distant time. In 1856, the world consumed 7,000,000 tons of iron annu- 426 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. ally; in 1874, 15,000,000 tons ; by the end of this century it is estimated that it will require 25,000,000 tons. In 1860 this country produced somewhat over 900,000 tons; in 1870, 1,800,000; which rose, in 1872, to 2,800,000. In 1874 all the furnaces of the country had a capacity for producing 4,500,000 tons — but little more than half that capacity being then actu ally used. The growth of this industry is scarcely begun ; but it is destined to an enormous development. The most promising points seem to be in the vicinity of Lake Supe rior and Missouri, though they may be possibly equaled in Tennessee, Alabama and some other regions; Ohio and Ar kansas give great promise of future abundance. Of all the blast furnaces iu the United States in 1871, more than one half were within the Valley. Of the 50,000,000 tons of coal estimated to have been pro duced in the United States in 1873, about one half was from various parts of the Valley; Western Pennsylvania furnishing about 15,000,000 tons, Michigan 30,000, Indiana 800,000, Kentucky 300,000, Illinois' 3,000,000, Colorado 200,000; Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and West Virginia produced the remainder. Texas is said to liaA-e fine qualities, and probably considerable quantities of coal, which have not, as yet, been very extensively worked. Most of the States have more or less copper, but the Lake Superior mines at present throw all others into the shade. From 1858 they have been progressiA'ely productive, until, in 1874, out of 19,700 tons of pure copper produced in the country, 17,300 Avere obtained from them, Avith all indications of an inexhaustible supply for the future. In 1870 the census statistics of mining, including quarrying, oil-boring and peat-cutting, amounted to $152,590,000 in A'alue; and of this product $80,400,000 was obtained in the Valley— 4,300 out of the 7,900 establishments being located there. In 1874, 10,600,000 barrels of petroleum— nearly all from the Valley — were produced. In 1870, all the salt produced COMPARATIVE AND ABSOLUTE VALUE OF METALS. 427 in the country was valued at $4,800,000, of which $3,800,000 was the product of the Valley States. The product of the borders of the Valley in the precious metals has been comparatively insignificant; yet, up to 1872, all the regions drained by the Valley systems of rivers had produced about $55,000,000, with an annual product at that time of at least $10,000,000, and the explorations appeared to be yet in their infancy. It is not improbable that the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains will produce, when it comes to be carefully worked, at least one third of the annual product of precious metals in the Avhole country. Yet, except to the development of the regions immediately concerned, this in dustry is of comparatively small moment. It has been af firmed that these metals cost twice their intrinsic value to obtain, and they are mainly useful as measures, or represen tatives, of A'alue, while iron is stated to add by a thousandfold of its original value when Avrought up for the various uses of civilized man, to his actual wealth, or to his capacity for producing wealth; and four tons of coal, employed in gen erating steam, is said to produce an effective force equal to the muscular power for labor of 35,000 men. It is truly significant, that this remarkable region is most eminently rich in those metals most important to man as aids in attaining the highest ends of the most perfect ciA'ili- zation and of the truest prosperity. The Valley has unlim ited stores of material for the necessities, the conveniences, and the comforts of man in his most cultivated state, and was evidently constructed for the purpose of bringing together, in a compact body, the largest number and the greatest devel opment of useful industries that will ever be found in any one region of the earth. CHAPTER VII. RAPID GROWTH OF MANUFACTURES. . But one generation has passed since the railroad began to lend its aid to the development of the Republic, to any con siderable extent. In 1848, but little over 8,000 miles of road had been built. At that time the West had been rejoicing over the powerful aid of the steamboat for more than twenty years, had invested largely in canals, and had found the capacity of water carriage unequal to the vast amount and kind of work required. The proper points were not reached; the cheapness, speed and safety required were unattainable, so great was the rate of growth in production and of capacity in the markets to be supplied. The difficulties of cost, of time, of space, must be overcome. These were set aside by the railroad. It could be extended everywhere, it was so elastic ; it was capable of enlargement to meet all possible necessities in the amount of labor to be done. Nothing so unified the country, so equalized the ad vantages of different sections, so set aside natural difficulties. While there still remained large margins of profit in all branches of trade it promoted, it Avas almost as if all the mountains had been leveled and the far interior brought to the seaboard. Yet, this was a brief period, for production was so stimulated that competition reduced the margins, the cost of transport became again an important item, and the first consideration was to reduce it. Mountain districts containing the minerals necessary to the manufacturer were no longer shut out from the field of competition because no navigable stream opened their way to the outside world. A railroad set aside their difficulties and made their wealth of material available. Ease of access to and from every part 438 RAILROADS GIA'E A FREE CHOICE OF LOCALITY. 429 of the country diffused its industries by the freedom of move ment permitted. As heat and water dissolve different mineral substances from accidental or mechanical combinations and restore to them their freedom to act after their highest laAV, or strongest affinity, so the railroad gave to industry and trade full liberty to rearrange themselves according to their respective interests. They were no longer subject to arbitrary infiuences, nor required to remain where they had been placed accidentally, or under the demands of a different or more restricted population and smaller markets. The Valley was so rounded and full in its capacities of serving the wants of the age ; so well formed and so related to the most active and progressive parts of the modern civilized world, as to favor freedom in every line. No development anywhere in the world has ever been so completely free to obey natural law; and this complete freedom came to manu factures with the full development of the railroad system, which relieved transfer from the restraints of distance, time and cost. It unchained activity — rendered it fluid, so to speak — channels were opened in every direction, it could go when it was wanted, and form a reservoir for re-distribution wher ever the circumstances faA'ored. Therefore, all the capacities of the Valley were now at command and manufactures sprang up in all favorable localities. As will be seen by the figures of the following chapter, the amount of manufactures in 1850, '60 and '70 compare as 24, 42 and 145 for the respective periods. Continued back ward 1840 may be represented as 10 and 1830 as 4. The man ufactures of 1820 were inconsiderable, amounting to a few millions altogether. The increase was still greater up to 1874, when financial difficulty arrested the development of that class of activities, in most branches, throughout the country. Yet, the production was largely for local uses, in the Valley, Avhose farmers continued to prosper far beyond other classes of the peo ple, and the comparative diminution in volume Avas less there 430 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. than elsewhere. The manufactures of the whole country, in 1850, were very near one third smaller than those of the Yal ley alone in 1870. All the manufactures of the United States were given as $1,019,000,000, in 1850, and in the Valley, in 1870, at $1,455,000,000. Such a growth has as nearly the appearance of the miracu lous as any operation of natural law can have. This industry has a natural fixity — an obstinacy of attachment to the locality Avhere it has taken root — greater than almost any other. Hav ing invested capital and conformed surrounding circumstances to its requirements, by degrees and much trouble, it does not easily determine to change, and growth is apt to cluster around original beginnings, where the first difficulties haA'e been over- Come, and where, in general, various special circumstances favor it. The East had made it a specialty and was ready to increase its production to supply all demands; but, notwith standing, it must see a very prosperous rival suddenly step into the market. In the twenty years, between 1850 and 1870, the entire increase in the value of manufactures in the United States was $3,213,000,000, of which the increase in the Valley was $1,213,000,000. With all the advantages of the East, its volume of gain above that of the Valley was but $787,- 000,000, or less than a fourth part of the entire gain. That relative gain was probably largely reduced in the five years following the taking of the census. This vast growth of manufacturing industries in the Valley was of signal advantage to it. The articles made in its midst were much cheaper — a saving of many tens of millions tothe Valley people — while a better home market for produce was made, giving a direct gain of fully as much more to the farm ers of that section. This growth in the center of the Valley was relatively much greater than on the borders. The advantage of entire free dom in the labor system was seen in the transfer of one third of the entire manufacturing interest of the Valley, in 1870, TENDENCA' OF MANUFACTURES TO TIIE CENTER. 431 to the former slaveholding States. Before the war the results of this kind of industry Avere trifling in the slave States. Of the twenty States in the Valley, Missouri produced nearly one seventh of the entire manufactures of the section, and only $63,000,000 less than Ohio, the " New England of the West," which had early established those industries and for some decades, with Western Pennsylvania, almost entirely monop olized them. One third of the manufacturing industries in the Valley had, in 1870, sought the central region, indicating a, very strong tendency to much greater relative growth there. This tendency is likely to be permanent for a long time to come. Facility of access, ease and cheapness of distribution, are likely to seek central points for large classes of articles. With the new, deeper and broader prosperity that A\'ill fol low the readjustment of business, made during the financial depression, the old tendencies are fairly sure to be resumed. It has" been so in every case hitherto in the Valley. Its greatest agricultural wealth has gravitated in the same direc tion as the rivers, and its manufacturing development will radiate from the central points. CHAPTER VIII. THE TRANSFER OF INDUSTRIES TO THE VALLET. Many circumstances had tended to localize the manufacturing industries in the East. They had been established there while yet the West was a new, thinly-settled frontier and very difficult of access, and had reached a vast development while the mass of the population and the general capital of the country re mained on that side of the mountains ; great investments had been made in machinery and buildings, and the people had been taught the necessary skill. Only powerful inducements could transfer them, or the recent growth of them, to another local ity whose leading feature was agriculture, the almost miracu lous growth of which was creating so much wealth among the masses of the people, and making so many fortunes. It was natural to suppose that the growth of manufactures would — until the Valley became comparatively old in its specialty — be slow, and that no great degree of actual transfer would take place for many decades. Up to 1860 this had been the case. Between 1850 and 1860 the product of manufacturing industries outside of the Val ley had doubled; within the Valley the increase was less — about as 11 to 6. Between 1860 and 1870, on the contrary, the gain in the value of the products of manufacturing indus tries in the Valley was about as 14 to 4 — or increased l^y three and a half times itself— while the gain in the East Avas nearly as 42 to 19— only a little more than doubled. This great change in the direction of the gain intimated a sudden and extensive process of transfer of the seat of some manufactures from East to West. At the same time the growth of popula tion in the Valley had been only as 20 to 15 ; while outside the Valley it had' been as 18 to 15. 433 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS IN AND OUTSIDE THE VALLEY. 433 That is to say, products of manufacturing industry in the Valley had been given as about $242,000,000 in 1850 ; $440,- 000,000 in 1860, and $1,455,000,000 in 1870; while the entire manufactures of the whole country were worth $1,019,000,000 in 1850; $1,885,000,000 in 1860, and $4,232,000,000 in 1870. In the latter year one third the value of all the manufactures was produced between the summits of the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains. The gain in manufacturing establish ments was not so great. The Valley had 41,900 in 1850; 52,100 in 1860, and 118,100 in 1870. The increase in the proportion of products to the proportion of manufacturing establishments in the Valley Avas as 3^ to 2^. Of the manufactures in the Valley about 60,000,000 more than one half were produced in the five States formed out of the original NortliAvest Territory; one third was obtained in the States originally slaveholding, and more than one fifth west of the Mississippi. More than one third was produced in tweh'e principal cities; Pittsburgh, Chicago and St. Louis furnishing four fifths of this, and St. Louis — the third manu facturing city in the Union — nearly one half of that, and about one ninth of all the manufactures of the entire Valley. Not far from one eighth of these manufacturing products of the Valley came from the fiouring mills — although but a portion of her grain AA'as made into flour within her borders. Of the $51,000,000 worth of agricultural implements made in the United States $32,000,000 Avere made in the Valley, and nearly two thirds of these were produced in Ohio and Illinois. Ohio made these implements to the A'alue of $11,- «00,000 ; New York $11,800,000, and Illinois $8,800,000. No other State made to the value of $2,000,000 except Pennsyl vania $3,600,000; Indiana $2,300,000, and Wisconsin $2,100,- 000. Of the $125,000,000 in value of machinery (other than agricultural), made in the United States, $43,000,000 Avorth came from the workshops of the Valley — more than one third. Much of her pure metal and some of her ores went to the 434 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. great manufactories of the East to be worked up, and some metal was exported. Of the amount made in the Valley, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana produced more than three fourths, of which Ohio produced one fourth, Illinois one seventh, and Missouri one tenth. Of the carriages and wagons — amounting to sixty-flve million dollars in value in all the country — the Valley States made thirty-one million dollars' worth, or very near half In this industry Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Missouri took the lead; Wisconsin, Iowa and Kentucky following in order. About six million dollars' worth of cotton goods were manu factured in the Valley, not far from two thirds of which were made in the southern part of the basin. Without going into further details it is plain that the East has no monopoly of manufacturing; that many of those indus tries have displayed an evident intention of emigrating across the mountains in the wake of much more than half the inhabi tants of the country. This movement did not become decided, as a large one, until after the Avar, and, in 18?0, it had but fairly set in. It was actively kept up until 1873, when the financial reverses of the country struck manufactures, generally, with paralysis, where not required for immediate consumption. Yet, the West was more fortunate than other sections, be cause its great industry — farming — gave more clear revenue to the producers than ever before, from the greater cheapness of transportation, and could spare more, in proportion, for improvements and luxuries than the other parts of the country. That it steadily advanced in the direction assumed previ ously to 1870 is proven by the great growth of its large cities and multitudes of its toAvns. Chicago and St. Louis, with a population of 298,000 and 310,000, respectiA-ely, in 1870, came to contain, by estimate of their people, each nearly half a mil lion inhabitants, in 1876, and many smaller towns grew in proportion, which implied great progress in the variety and extent of the manufacturing industries which, in considera- GROWTH OF MANUFACTURES IN THE CENTRAL A'ALLEY. 435 bie part, supported them. While there is not likely to be any failure, in the East, to hold a steady progress in its industries, great groAvth Avill more and more characterize the manufac tures of the interior in directions Avhich seek to supply those regions, while greater convenience of access to the materials used will lead to a constant process of transfer of certain industries from the East to the West. The great city in the heart of the Valley and of the coun try, on the banks of the Mississippi and near the mouths of the Missouri and Ohio, which has passed so many others so rapidly in attaining the rank of the third manufacturing city in the Union, has every reason to believe it possible that, at no distant day, she may occupy the first place. As the upper and lower Valley and the region between the Mississippi and the Pacific coast fill up with prosperous inhabitants her indus tries must increase in proportion. It is difficult to see why the causes that have led to so startling a development there, in a few years, should not continue in operation with an increased momentum. The manufactures of Missouri, which, in 1850, were $24,- 000,000, and in 1860 $41,000,000, were, in 1870, in spite of the disorder, waste and depression of four years of civil Avar in the State, $206,000,000. Illinois and Ohio had less to interrupt and much more to stimulate them during the years of the war. They lost no time, labor or means in the re-organ ization required in Missouri, and a fuller tide of prosperity had set in for them both by 1860. In 1850 the manufactur ing industries of Ohio produced values giA'cn, by the census, at $62,000,000, which, in 1860, amounted to $121,000,000, and in 1870 to $269,000,000. Illinois manufactured, in 1850, to the amount of $16,000,000, in 1860 of $57,000,000, and in 1870 of $205,000,000. The rate of increase in Ohio during the second decade was 2.22; in Illinois 3.59, and in Missouri 5, notwithstanding the stagnation and waste of war. The development of the southern Valley, near the Mississippi, 436 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. the Missouri, and the regions west and southwest of them, in the years to come, and the singular extent and variety of their resources, with the favorable situation and mineral riches of Missouri, would seem to assure it a far greater ratio of progress in the future. St. Louis, as a manufacturing cen ter, will grow in proportion. Arkansas is rich in some of the best qualities of coal and has already begun preparations to supply to the lower Valley what it has been accustomed to receive from Ohio and West ern Pennsylvania ; Texas is said to possess anthracite coal ; Colorado is already producing coal at the rate of 200,000 tons yearly ; and other regions west of the Mississippi are known to be rich in that essential of manufacturing and me chanical progress. The southwestern and the western sections of the Valley are therefore certain soon to display the high speed of progress in all the elements of wealth and industry that has been so marked in the States north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi since 1850. Progress in every section of the United States can scarcely fail to be immense; but the period for the transfer of capital, of skill, and of the most profitable activity to the Southwest has but just arrived, and the dial which shall mark the advance of that growth is located in St. Louis. The need of cotton manufactures in the South is being met and a certain amount of transfer from New England of that industry has set in and proved so highly successful as to jus tify the foresight of its great increase in the near future; the production and manufacture of iron is gaining a solid footing in East Tennessee and Alabama, with the promise of a mag nificent development in due time ; and Michigan, so favorably 'situated and so remarkably rich in its upper Peninsula, in mineral resources, has given indications of a growing tendency to compete Avith other manufacturing States of the Valley for a high place in the front rank. Her products in this line of industry advanced from $11,000,000 in 1850, to $32,000,000 EECENT AND FUTURE GROWTH OF MANUFACTURES. 437 in 1860, and $118,000,000 in 1870, Development, begun along the Ohio, has already reached the northern latitudes, the facilities and material there are unrivaled, and, having fully started, the North Avest will make great progress. There Avas, therefore, a new start made in the Valley in manufacturing industry at the close of the war. When the census of 1870 Avas taken that fresh impulse had but fairly commenced. It may be justly concluded that the regular per cent of increase had not been reached in so short a time ; for the few previous years had been only a portion of the period of beginnings in many industries destined to colossal devel opment. No data sufficiently reliable and extended have been attainable since to furnish an accurate measure of the later speed of progress, but they Avill be supplied by the census of 1880 ; yet, the indications of the summaries furnished by commerce, by the export of the products of different branches of industry, and various manuals of trade, indicate the full realization of a very reasonable expectation of immense de velopment up to, and in some cases after, the financial disas ters of 1873. There is also much reason to suppose that the arrest of activity in A-arious lines of manufacture in the East favored a change of location to more desirable points in the West and South; or a considerable amount of transfer to the advantage of the Valley ; particularly in those branches which had nothing to hope from foreign commerce in the near future, but bore important relations to the whole country. To these a central location was desirable and the middle Mis sissippi region alone could furnish it. It was this relation of the Valley that rendered the result of the war in preserving and strengthening the Union even more important to it than to other sections. The wide rela tions, constantly growing in magnitude, and the severe com petition of business reduced profit to an extremely small margin. A central position most convenient to material and to the largest number of customers often made the difference 438 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. between success and failure, or, at least, threatened to have that effect. An entirely free system of trade relations between all sec tions of the country favored the interests of all in a high degree; but most of all, that which had the most numerous relations — the central Valley. It must become, to a large extent, the common ground for economical exchanges, and the theatre of the most varied activities aside from its natural capacities for valuable production. It had, therefore, an eminent interest in unity and harmony. The specialties of the East and the West, of the manufac turing and mining sections, made them its best customers, the largest buyers of its surplus food products, and profit might often depend on the cheapest and freest transfer. As it was the real center, capital from other regions fiowed to it, a certain share of the industries most peculiar to other re gions would be transferred to it from motives of convenience, and it would assume pre-eminence from its position as well as from its resources. This tendency is likely to continue and gather strength as time passes. CHAPTER IX. CULTIVATED AREAS AND FARM VALUES IN THE NEW EEA. The brilliant progress secured to the Valley from the close ¦of the war had commenced with the second yesk of that strug gle, when the first line of Confederate defence had been broken. The loyal part of the Union no longer doubted the ultimate result; the issues of bonds and legal tenders of the Govern ment served the purpose of a vast capital supplied to the bus iness of the North; and the States above the Ohio River com menced a new career of remarkable prosperity. In all the free States a new impulse had been given to manufactures and trade, railways were organized or extended, cities grew apace, workshops sprung up and business of most kinds be came unusually actiA-e. The eastern States extended their agriculture under the stimulus of high prices, and by favor of improved methods, excellent fertilizers and machinery increased results with a smaller corps of laborers; but their best lands had long been occupied and the growth of agricultural products became, from year to year, less adequate to the supply of a non-agricultural population that was growing so much more rapidly. The greater supply required was obtained chiefiy in the Valley and on the Pacific coast. In the East the vigorous and ambi tious sons of the farmer were drawn to the cities by the favor able openings offered to industry and enterprise through the factory, the workshop, and trade. A fortunate venture, a few years of diligence, or a government contract, often produced a fortune; while the farm promised, at best, moderate gains to persevering toil. The fertile Valley, however, gave more generous promise, lent itself more readily to the use of machinery, and fur- 439 440 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. nished large returns to small investments. Railroads pene trated already through and through its most fertile sections, and bore its exhaustless abundance, at comparatively cheap rates, to all the villages and towns of the manufacturing East as well as to the great commercial centers. The war, the growth of cities, the new activity everywhere, helped to build up the agriculture of the West. The increasfe of the Valley, as a whole, in its acreage of improved lands in farms, between 1860 and 1870, was but 28,000,000; but the 90,000,000 acres of 1860 included the lands of the southern Valley, which failed to show as largely in the census of 1870 as in that of 1860, in cultivated land^ by 39,000,000 acres. This loss, and its natural gain had there been no war, would probably have amounted, at least, to eighty million acres, which must be added to the gain as it appears in the census to show the real progress of the North west. The value of farm lands in the Valley amounted, in 1860, to three thousand, seven hundred million dollars, in 1870 this value had advanced to five thousand, four hundred millions; while those values in Alabama, Arkansas, Missis sippi, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee had fallen off, in 1870, from the amount given in 1860 four hundred and eighty-five millions. Their united increase, added to the greater increase of Missouri and Kentucky had there been no Avar, should have been at least a thousand million dollars. The southern Valley may be fairly estimated to have lost in agricultural values, as a result of the war — in direct waste and failure of natural increase — to the amount of two thousand million. dollars. The actual gain of the whole country in the value of farms Avas two thousand, six hundred million dollars; of which one thousand, seven hundred millions Avas in the northern Valley. The absolute gain, hoAvever, ascertained from the statistics of the several States and Territories of the Northwest with Missouri, Kentucky West Virginia and Western Pennsylvar GAIN IN AGRICULTURAL VALUES AND IMPLEMENTS. 441 nia was about two thousand, five hundred million dollars. As the entire value of farms in the United States, by the census of 1870, was $9,200,000,000, the gain of the upper Valley, during this decade covering the years of an immense and wasteful war, Avas more than one fourth of that vast amount. This advance was made in a disturbed period and at long dis tances from the great markets, while about half a million of the more effective farmers were withdrawn from their labors for nearly half the time, and one half of these were killed, disabled by wounds, or broken in health. This sufficiently indicates the astonishing capacity of the Valley for agricul tural progress. Railways and farm machinery supplied its losses and carried it triumphantly over every obstacle. The values lost in the South were more than replaced in the North. The gain of the whole country in the value of farming implements and machinery during this decade was one hundred ten million dollars, seventy millions of Avhich was in the Valley, although the losses in this respect, in the southern Valley, were so great during the war that in 1870, the values of 1860 had not been replaced by twenty-five million dollars. There was, therefore, an absolute gain in the value of farm appliances in the upper Valley of nearly one hundred million dollars — niuch more than one fourth of the entire value of those articles in the United States in 1860, which then amounted to the value of three hundred and thirty-six million dollars. This investment, much of which was in labor-saving machinery, explains the great material progress in agricultural values during a period of changes so great and trying to the country. In many cases it enabled one man tp accomplish the work of ten and produce a corres ponding increase of income, although, necessarily, a part of the additional income must be spent in the purchase of these instruments of labor. But by their means the supplies and waste of war, the increasing amount required by the growth 442 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. of manufactures arid large proportionate decrease in the num bers of the agricultural population, were obtained with ease, and the war was closed in the midst of an almost unprece dented general prosperity. For this it had to thank, first, the generous promptness of its glorious Valley, and, second, the inventive genius and skill of its artisans and mechanics, and, not least, the capitalists who invested so freely in the vast iines of railway that made the results of the other two so completely available. This combination of favorable circumstances, at a most critical period in the history of the Valley and the political situation, was but one of a series of seeming accidents which we must regard as the expression of a law controlling and guiding human events and social development. All history illustrates this law which binds the whole race together in a regular sequence, or progressive growth. The treasures stored in England and the character of its inhabitants were made to tell, at the proper moment, with the greatest effect, on the development of the civilization of the AA'hole world. The course of history is like that of a river which grows con stantly broader and deeper and more powerful with its advance. Every considerable change in locality finds it in creased in volume and force ; the past is repeated, but with a change and in larger proportions. The immense power added by the Valley to the course of events must have far more effect on the history and development of man kind than any previous cause whatever. Its entrance into history with its population, unequaled in intelligence and- energy, marked the commencement of a period of changes of great and beneficent magnitude. It has only begun to tell on the general course of events; but the tendency of its influ ence is clearly marked and most satisfactory. The character of its people, under favor of events which can not be regarded as fortuitous, but rather the operation of a law, or system of laws, which secures the progress of mankind, as a whole, ina high and noble direction, assures the employment of its THE PROFIT FOLLOWING INVESTMENT IS GREAT. 443 immeasurable material resources in the interest of human welfare. This was the true commencement of the period of profits as distinguished from the period of investments. Pioneer labor — breaking ground, building, covering the face of the country with all the important features of a truly and highly civilized land — had been heretofore the main features of Valley life. More than could be earned by the people with all this abundance of production had to be spent in improve ments. These improA'ements paid partly in immediate and partly in prospective values. They promoted the morality, , good order, intelligence and general Avelfare of the commu nities as well as increased the present value of property. But a part of their value could not be turned into dollars and cents at once; the remainder was necessary work saved to future generations, which would devote themselves, more fully than these pioneers, to the work of reaping what had been sowed. The pioneers had labored and others entered into their labors to continue them and to reap both a higher kind and a larger per cent of profit. Every generation accumulates something which the follow ing inherits to add to it and transmit increased to its heirs. It is thus that a grand progress — an accumulating value in possessions, arts, ideas, institutions and character — has been secured to mankind. There has been a steady onward march of the eras, centuries and generations. Each has added to what it received, and the general capital of the race has in cessantly accumulated. Every race, every land, every active life, failure as well as success, has added something to the general fund; some more, some less, according to their quality and gifts, but all something. It is hard to say who have done the most among nations; but the Anglo-American is not be hind the foremost, and it is not easy to see why the Valley has not been permitted to give the most among all lands. England makes all lands her tributaries ; but the Valley con tains almost all classes of resources in itself. CHAPTER X. THE GIFTS OF THE SOIL AGEICULTUEAL PRODUCTIONS. The value of the farm products of the Valley in 1870 was over one thousand, five hundred million dollars; those of the rest of the country were stated at nine hundred million. But the prices obtained in the regions outside of the Valley were, in general, one third larger than the average prices of the sa.me kinds in it because they were surrounded by markets, while the products of the Valley had to go far to seek them. It is also to be considered that the States of the southern Valley did not, in 1870, produce one half as much as in 1860, and also that the estimates of the census of 1870 were made on a year that was below the average of production. If the average value of production in all parts of the country and the average production of each year from 1866 to 1876 be applied, the annual value of farm productions in the Valley would not vary much from tAvo thousand million dollars. In 1860, the number of bushels of the principal grains raised in the United States Avas twelve hundred thirty millions, eight hundred fifty millions of Avliich Avere grown in the Valley. In 1869, the whole amount AA^as thirteen hundred eighty millions — the Valley then supplying ten hundred and thirty millions, notwithstanding an immense falling off in the southern part of it. The progress made in the first half of the decade, commencing with 1870, has been much more striking. The crop of 1875 was about three fourths larger in the Valley than that of 1870 ; and more than tAvice that of 1869, amounting to seventeen hundred aud twenty million bushels — the product of the Avhole country being stated at twenty-one hundred and ninety million bushels. In this 444 ABUNDANT CROPS AND LOAV PRICES. 445 year the production of corn was ten per cent larger than in the previous year, the whole country supplying thirteen hundred and twenty million bushels of that grain, of which eleven hundred and forty were from the Valley. Yet, not one tenth of the productive lands of the Valley were cultivated in the last year named, and the period of be ginnings is so recent in most of the area that a simple and exhaustive process of cultivation is generally pursued. A restorative process, that constantly returned to the soil the most important elements taken from it and keeping it at the highest point of productive capacity would, perhaps, afford on an average, results four times larger over the same surface. Therefore, the utmost that has yet been obtained in the most favorable years is but a faint suggestion of its wonderful possibilities. In fact, production is so easy and abundant that individ ual eagerness is constantly pushing results beyond the profit able point. The enormous yield of corn, in 1875, of five hundred million bushels beyond the average, s,o reduced prices that, if the same sum be considered to have been paid for the amount of the previous crop, this excess was worth but one cemt a bushel. An excess is, in this way, shown to be a heavy loss to the producers, for the cost bestowed on it before it is ready for market is large. Yet, if the producers lost, the consumers gained and either hoarded the surplus, which distributes the wealth of the Valley over the whole country, or furnjshed the results of their own labors to the farmers at a cheaper rate, which returns to them something of their loss. Probably the first is done, for the time being, but the last is sure to occur ultimately in some degree. The general result is, that the world's toilers live with more ease, and the Valley spreads its blessings far and wide. Western agriculture has always been on the verge of over production and is likely to be so for a long time in some directions. Its surplus must go from one to four thousand 446 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. miles to its final market, and the cost of transport so di minishes the profit of the producer as to create great em barrassments for the Western farmers. The gain of the laboring and trading millions is his loss to a large extent, and sets him to an anxious search for the means of repairing it. This is hard to find; for if he obliges the railway to share its profit with him the railway system — whiclT is his best ally — falls into endless difficulties which he can not avoid sharing more or less ; co-operation to reduce the cost of his purchases disturbs the Avorld of trade, and creates other difii- culties which trouble the prosperity surrounding him, and Avhich must affect him at some or various points.' A direct and immediate remedy produces confusion and more or less loss. In a general way, it may be stated that the less inter ference attempted the better. As the great laws that control the intercourse, the conduct and all the business interests of men come to be better under stood they are found to echo the demand that laid the founda tion of- the. American Republic, and has caused it to be so suc cessful through its first century of existence — that for self- government. The instinctive sense of the Anglo-Saxon in America discovered that the fault of the European was too much government — an unwise interference with interests of whose laws he Avas more or less ignorant. Self-government Avould permit him to reduce and control the evil. Experience has, thus far, justified his position. It is not easy, however, for people or legislators to arrest governmental interference at the right point, and American history gives indications that there is still too much government. The history of the business interests of the Avorld fully sus tains the American idea. These interests are thoroughly republican and demand a clear field. Business may be read ily disturbed by legislation or combined action, but it is not so easily aided. Its laAvs are self-executing and operate with full effect only when left to their freest action. Assistance, THE DIFFICULTIES ARISING FROM OVER-PRODUCTION. 447 offered with the best motives, often introduces confusion; restraint produces more or less paralysis in some part of the machinery and increases the evil. All departments of busi ness have, when not unnaturally restrained, a healthy power of restoring lost equilibrium and of reducing to due and moderate limits any excessive action. So the misfortunes arising from the excessive productive ness of the Valley are to be most readily overcome by leaving its agricultural interests to self-government. Left free to work the remedy, they will, sooner or later, produce a har mony and prosperity which no effort at regulation could reach. Over-production in certain crops tends to awaken attention to other varieties whose products are in demand. If one crop does not pay for raising, the efforts of the farmer are turned to another that will, by the certain law of personal interest. This has a somewhat narrow play, being restricted by climate and soil; yet great changes are sometimes produced in lim ited periods, and the inventive and enterprising genius of the American can be relied on to secure the widest possible range, for this means of enlarging variety of production of which the case admits. The increase of the non-agricultural classes in the Valley — enlarging its market within its own boundaries — we have seen to be an actual process of enlarging profits of consider able magnitude between 1860 and 1870. It was commenced by causes that must operate more and more powerfully, within certain limits, for a long time. The rapid gathering of a man ufacturing and trading population in a part of the cities and toAvns of the West has been one of its most marked features since the war, and never more so, perhaps, than in the three years following 1870. Somewhat modified by the financial embarrassment of 1873 and later, it can not well fail to become a permanent feature of certain regions of the Valley. It is probable, even, that the more moderate and steady 448 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. prosperity following that depression, and the great compe tition, which renders comparatively small differences in cost of importance to the otherwise slight margin of profit, will hasten the transfer of many branches of industry to the most suitable points of this favored region. As population gathers on the Pacific Slope and spreads through the valleys and basins of the broad range of the Rocky Mountains, as the south^ern basin ofthe great Valley grows more prosperous; and as the wide regions of the Northwest become populous, the central States of the Valley will fill up with manufacturers and traders Avhose customers are found in all these regions. The business of the country, within certain limits, will seek it as the most desirable location for far-reaching enterprises. All this will help to solve the farmer's problem and enable him to sell cheap at a good profit. His customers will con stantly increase at his doors. Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Louisville, and a thousand other cities and towns, will rival the manufacturing centers of the East, and might far outgrow them did not the vast com merce of the Atlantic stimulate them so powerfully. The home market Avill grow ever larger, although better methods of farming and larger cultivated areas are sure to keep pace with it. The spasmodic expansion of the railway system, between 1865 and 1873, will not occur again. It opened so much new and remarkably rich agricultural territory that required little labor to develop that the equilibrium Avas destroyed. The best lands have been reached, the sudden gush of the unsealed foun tain will settle into a steady flow, Avhose measure can be cal culated and brought within the operation of the knoAvn laAvs of trade. Increase in the areas cultiA-ated and the average production will be easily calculable and the body of clear sighted and intelligent agriculturists, applying these same laws, under pressure of their personal interests, will not expe rience the unmanageable difficulties of the past. FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE IN DIFFERENT STATES. 449 At the commencement of 1876 a general estimate of the value of animals in connection with agriculture in the United States gave the Valley, in round numbers, an investment of one thousand million dollars, and outside of it six hundred million dollars. The average value of these animals outside the Valley Avas much more than in it. Their Avhole number in the Valley was about forty -four million and out of it only a little over twenty million — not one half as many. The statistics of crops in 1875 aft'ord some interesting con clusions regarding the future of agriculture in different parts of the Valley. As the country advances and competition becomes closer, each different region dcA'otes itself more and more to the cultivation of those crops to which it is best adapted and from Avhich it can obtain the largest per cent of clear profit. Four States produced more than one third of all the wheat raised in the whole country and but little less than half of that raised in the whole Valley — Illinois, loAva, Wis consin and Minnesota. They are likely in the end to raise two thirds of the Avheat crop of the country, since the relative quantity increases Avith them and diminishes in the other States. Three States — Illinois, Iowa and Missouri produced more than one half the corn groAvn in the whole Valley, and with Kansas are likely to produce, in future, nearly two thirds of the corn crop of the country. The southern part of the Valley is likely to produce more than one half of the re mainder. The cotton crop must always take the lead in Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas ; sugar in Louisiana ; Texas, but slightly developed as yet, is singularly fortunate in rising from the sub-tropical gulf coast through all gradations to very near the temperate climate of the upper part of the Valley, and is destined to acquire immense and A'arious agri cultural wealth; Tennessee and Arkansas are similarly favored within a smaller range ; Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Mich- 29 450 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. igan seem destined to miscellaneous productions of food for the great manufacturing population that will soon be gath ered in them. The upper Missouri, as well as the upper- Mississippi, will devote itself largely to the cultivation of wheat. The whole agricultural capabilities of the Valley lying west of the western boundary of Missouri are sure to be required, at no distant day, and in all the future, to supply the large mining and manufacturing population that will gather along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Missouri, south of its river, and Arkansas will require more than their oavu food supplies to sustain the same classes gathered in their limits, and the cereals of the southern Valley will never fully supply their own population. Therefore, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Texas will supply almost entirely the wants of the East and the foreign exports of food. Indeed, before the close of the second century of American Independence, the Valley will scarcely be found, as now, too large and too bountiful in its food supplies, though they were multiplied, as is likely, two hundred fold. CHAPTER XI. COMPARISON OF AGRICULTURE AND OTHER INDUSTRIES. The influence of America has considerably changed the des tinies of the Avorld by dcA-eloping character, by working out high ideals, and by emancipating business from false and re- strictiA'e principles. In no particular has it been greater than in its effect on the welfare of agriculture and the agriculturist. The ease with AA'hich traders and manufacturers could com bine led to the first successful efforts of the common people — the Avorld's reliance as Avorkers — to resist the despotism of royal and aristocratic power. The result Avas the commercial Republics of Southern Europe, the Communes of France and the Free Cities of Germany. The increase of wealth among the people and the poAver it gave soon added another to the ruling class. But these classes, with the traders and craftsmen added; AA'cre still small compared Avith the masses of the people; the spirit of the aristocratic classes descended among tradesmen and man ufacturers, and a small part of them soon learned to monopolize the fruits of other men's labors. As the f'eudel gentry made and kept the laborers on the lands serfs, so these plebeian capitalists reduced the operatives, who created their wealth for them, to serni-slaA'cry. It was not till the m,asses of a nation could, in someway, be made capitalists and permanently inde pendent that the combined oppression of position and wealth could be broken. The industries of Europe commenced a good work but they were unable to complete it; for power in the indu.strial world tended to concentrate in a few hands. Instead of enlarging popular liberties these fcAv joined with the royal and aristocratic classes to keep the remainder of the people on a common level of helpless servitude. The powerful classes 451 462 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. united to control the fate of the laboring classes and could oblige them to accept the smallest reward for their labor on which they could contrive to live while they themselves ap propriated the mass of profit. Republics, Communes and Free Cities, in general, gave up independence, in the course of time, to concentrated authority. It Avas the aristocracy of commercial wealth that so bravely and successfully resisted the whole power of Spain and established the United Nether lands; but, independence secured, they did not tend.toward a true democracy and drifted back to a centralized government. Switzerland maintained an imperfect republic from its citizens beinglargely agricultural. The lower classes AA'ere united Avith an aristocracy which engrossed a large share of power in the goA'ernment. In colonial America most of the inhabitants were agricul turists, and so the citizens of the States have ever continued to be. That this has continued to be so has been chiefly due to the Valley, and the breaking down of class rule in America has hastened, by centuries, the political enfranchisement of the Avorld. The Valley yielded its wealth to the laboring millions. The farmers who fought through the war of the Revolution and framed the institutions of the new nation allowed the widest latitude to acquisition and political influ ence; so that personal independence, intelligence and wealth, first of all countries, became the inheritance, in the United States, of the producing classes, and, from its larger numbers, of the class engaged in agriculture. The nation grew into greatness and power from free agriculture as a principal base. The significance of the result is illustrated by the recent his tory of France. Its land laws were changed during its terri ble revolution, and its peasants gradually became proprietors. In the course of time prosperity and intelligence spread widely among the people. Its ability to bear reverses, from this fact, has recently been the astonishment of the world, and all its monarchical parties combined could not overthrow a republic PREPONDERANCE OF AGRICULTURE. 453 which sprung up in the crisis of the greatest calamity of its history. The most hopeful feature of the America of the future is the general tendency of the number of land holdings in the United States to increase. The cases in which large accumu lations of land are made by individuals are exceptional. It is, as a rule, the small or moderate sized farms that are most profitable. Too much land is apt to ruin its owner. As in all other things, so in this, the Valley is impartial and promotes general progress. As if by a settled law, it has uni formly discouraged monopolies, nor does there seem to be any reason to suppose there will be a change in any future Avhieh can now be foreseen. The South lost its " Cause " for disre garding this principle and allowing its agriculture to favor a kind of monopoly of the soil and its productions by a contin ually decreasing class — that is relatively decreasing. Natural *law has a firm control of the Valley and of the political econ omy of the nation through it. It demands free labor, declines to encourage a servile class to develop its resources, and, if labor must be hired, requires that it be honest, hearty and interested. These tendencies, founded in the general situa tion, are far better than agrarian laws and fairly assure the intelligence and independence of all future generations. The farmer leads a life too healthy, makes his gains too naturally, is too self-dependent to become corrupt and the class will, undoubtedly, always be strong enough to control the corrup tions of the other classes. Agriculture has always been the ruling industry in the country by the amount of Avealth it produced, and notwith standing the immense development of other industries, it has ever kept its distance ahead of them. As the summaries of production have been carefully compiled only in later years, the point may be illustrated by studying the data of foreign exports for the last fifty years. BetAveen 1825 and 1830, the annual average of agricultural exports was $50,500,000. 454 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. Other exports were inconsiderable and continued to be so even down to the present, never rising much above twenty -five per cent and usually falling much below it. Lately, since mining and manufacturing have developed to unusual proportions, the values they send abroad by many neAV channels are still less than twenty per cent of the whole. In 1874, agricultural exports Avere valued at $548,300,000 — nearly tenfold the earlier sum. In 1875 it was $478,700,000 ; yet this smaller sum Avas equal to four dollars for every acre of land improved in the Valley. The amount of export per head of the whole population of the United States was $4.20 in 1825, and in 1875 more than double that amount for the vastly-increased population, while the annual average of export from 1870 to 1875 was about $16 per head of all the jjopulation of the Valley, or au average of about $70 for each farm in the Valley. Cotton, though increasing sixfold in amount since 1830,' then formed fifty -five per cent of all the exports. In 1874, it was but 39 per cent. The Valley States produce four fifths of all the cotton and more than the amount exported ; and, since the agriculture outside the Valley does not supply the population of those regions, we may consider all these exports as being A'irtually from the Valley. Agricultural exports to foreign countries have steadily gained on the increase of population in the AA'hole United States by an average per head of about one dollar and twenty- five cents for each ten years since 1825 ; and Ave have reason to believe that the increase Avill be still more rapid in future. The requirements of the populations of Europe beyond their home supplies of food increase year by year. Steam and the telegraph haA^e consolidated the business of the civilized world, and a strong competition requires that, for a complete and permanent success, the great mass of each of the indus tries shall be carried on chiefiy in the region most favorable to it, and A\'here the facilities are so superior that the largest THE INDUSTRIES AND THE GROAVTH OF CITIES. 455 quantity may be produced of the best material and at the cheapest rate. As the Valley is the locality where the most important foods can be produced by the largest use of machinery, and in unlimited quantities, it is sure of supplying the increasing demands of the general market. The proportion of population gathered into cities — and therefore withdrawn in nearly the same ratio from agricul tural occupations — ^lias steadily increased, in Europe and in. the United States, during the whole course of the preseint century. In 1800, about one thirtieth of the people of the Republic lived in cities; in 1840, one twelfth; iu 1850, one eighth; in 1860, one sixth; and in 1870, more than one fifth. The use of improved agricultural machinery and implements vastly increases the poAver of production Avhile allowing the proportionate number of producers to diminish. This tendency has greatly aided to solve the problem of the Western farmer and will continue to do so by the accummula- tion of a non-agricultural population in it. It is not proba ble, however, that this state of things will continue when the country and the world have adjusted themselves to the new conditions introduced by steam machinery. They diminish the comparative numbers required in all the industries and probably a fairly stable equilibrium will soon be reached, and it seems not improbable that reforms in economic and social science will ultimately reduce the unhealthy concentration of hundreds of thousands of people on a few square miles. When the laws of material prosperity are Avell understood and in full operation there will be abundant opportunity for progress in sanitary science. The agricultural population will then increase. The product of all the mining industries in 1870 was about $152,600,000, and probably rose later to $200,000,000 or more; while agricultural products reached very near $2,500,- 000,000 and later, probably, to fully $3,000,000,000. . All the mineral treasures, therefore, were but one fifteenth of the 456 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. agricultural in value, nor is that proportion likely to be exceeded. Coal, iron and many other minerals will be pro duced in ever-increasing quantity, but the gifts of the soil are verj' sure to grow in equal ratio. All the precious metals produced in the United States since 1848 have been estimated at $1,500,000,000, or about one half the agricultural income of a single year. The best gold mine is the soil of the rich and beautiful Vallej'. Manufactures furnish a large class of growing industries which produce enormous results. They, however, use the materials of the mines and the products of the soil which do not nearly double in value, on the average, in the change they undergo. The value of manufactured articles, in 1870, Avas $4,230,000,000; of this the crude material was worth $2,480,- 000,000; leaving $1,7-10,000,000 of value" added as the true product of manufacture. As that estimate was made in a period of exceptional prosperity, of money inflation and high prices, we may probably be justified in considering the annual average for the decade following 1870 as $1,500,000,000- not greatly exceeding one half the results of agriculture. In the new era, so full of enthusiastic enterprise, that fol lowed the stress and strain of the civil AA'ar, American genius and skill proved themselves, in the line they followed, supe rior to the long and minute training of the European artisan; and the generous soil, with machinery and railroads to reduce the costs of production and transportation, enabled America to greatly enlarge her trade Avith Europe. The increase of exports, in the ten years folloAving 1868, OA'er the previous decade, Avas one hundred and fifty-three per cent; and of the $680,680,000 of entire export in the last year of this decade $592,470,000 were agricultural products, leaving less than $90,000,000 as the export of manufactures and other mate rials, or less than fifteen per cent. Yet, manufactures are so largely supplying our OAvn country that less and less are im ported every year. CHAPTER XII. COMMERCE ON THE RIVERS AND LAKES. No large region in the world has been so favored as the Mississippi Valley in natural commercial higliAvays except the countries lying about the Mediterranean sea. There the character of the outlines, the relations of the regions to each other, and the general peculiarities of the separate countries, in themselves, indicated that it was the office of the Avater high way that linked them together to promote the mutual inter course of numerous small nations and thereby favor their progress in civilization. It separated them as well as joined them; it formed a community of nationalities which Avere to learn from and stimulate each other. It did not favor the for mation of a single nation out of the whole. Contact could not be close, intimate and permanent enough for that. Yet, the commerce of the great sea, bordered by three continents, brought about the unity and progress from permanent diver sity of elements that the times and the interests of humanity demanded. The connections instituted by the water liighAvays of the great Valley tended to unify the human development and its material progress. The united river system, the level surfaces and gentle slopes made it impossible to separate the interests of one section from those of others or allow isolation. They must mingle as do their waters. The great interior seas of the northern border, with their eastern outlet, pointed significantly to community of interests and close relations with the Atlantic Slope, and to commerce with Europe. The Avhole character of the northern basin of the Valley both adapted it to such relations and invited the immigration of the vigorous nations of the temperate climate. It offered them the occupations, 457 458 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. the climate and the products with which they were most familiar, which promised them the largest degree of comfort and the greatest measure of prosperity. That which had been proposed by nature did not fail to be realized in history; the isolation produced by distance and intervening wildness gave the desired continental, or peculiar American, tone to the population by the vigor with Avhich this fine region reacted onthe pioneers; and eastern relations then became the pre dominant ones with the upper Valley. After the Erie and Welland canals had opened the channels to Atlantic ports commerce from the upper Ohio and the NorthAA-est floAved powerfully in that direction, and the railroads Avere afterward a marvelous success because it was the natural direction. This course of the commerce of the most fertile and tem perate part of the Valley weakened relations with the southern basin remarkably. It left the South, with its unthrifty labor system, almost to itself. Had Florida been left off the con tinent the comparative fate of New York and New Orleans would have been dift'erent; and a similar result — perhaps a more significant one — would have followed had the AUe ghanies continued their full development through New York and confined the waterways of the northern Valley to outlets by the Mississippi River. Thus, the Valley has two parts with an important difference in their relations. Historical events, or the great industrial growth of the free States, developed the Northwest very much sooner than the lower, or central, Valley. Its value Avas ap parent, from the first, as the most promising field of labor mankind had yet inherited, and the thriftiest and most intel ligently industrious of the nations at once set to work to make the most of it. The railroad came to the help of steam at the right time and pushed its groWth to the most remark able height. But the course of the streams and the relations produced by the Gulf, thrown into shade for the time, must assert their TRANSPORTATION ON THE LAKES AND RIVERS. 459 power sooner or later. It Avas the misfortune of the Southern Confederacy and its labor system that the lake system and the railroads rendered the upper Valley, with its great prepon derance of growth on the Northeast, tolerably independent of the Mississippi and the Gulf Had the loAA'er Valley, at that time, opened the sources of her power and wealth as fully as the upper the result must have been more or less different. The misfortune of having slavery in the South, and the want of development in the countries Avith which the Gulf naturally associated it, left it weak in population and resources. Its hour has not, even yet, come, and the commerce of the rivers has given but a faint prophecy of its destiny. It is only a question of time, hoAvever, which the force of natural rela tions renders absolutely certain. The great and sudden development of the railroad system broke in upon the sIoav movement that, between 1804 and 1850, was pushing forAvard the interests of the lower Valley and deferred its rise to its due prominence at least half a cen tury. The general data of commerce on the lakes and rivers for different periods are A'ery expressive. The whole number of steamboats built for the western and southern rivers, from 1819 to 1829, included a capacity of 56,000 tons. In 1817, all the boats then fioating the trade of the Ohio were estimated to have a capacity of 2,000 tons annually. The capacity must have been 70,000 in 1830. The trade on the Great Lakes was chiefly connected Avitli furs or the transport of goods for Indian traders, prior to 1825, when the Erie canal opened a channel for the transit of com merce to the Hudson RiA-er. About 20,000 tons of carrying capacity was then employed for some years, chiefly in the transport of emigrants and their goods to the regions near the lakes. The commerce of the lakes and canals began, after 1835, to grow rapidly. The Ohio had been connected, by two canals across the State of that name, with Lake Erie. By 1840 the State of Ohio exported, by canals and Lake Erie, nearly 460 THE MISSISSIPPI A'ALLEY. 4,000,000 bushels of wheat, and in 1850 near 12,000,000 bushels. In 1842 the steamboat tonnage of the lakes and rivers was 126,000, and including flatboats, barges and sail ing vessels about 150,000. The steam marine of the lakes and rivers, in 1851, was reported at 765 vessels, with a tonnage capacity of 204,725. The ocean coast (Atlantic and Gulf) steam marine at this tirne comprised 625 vessels, of 213,500 tonnage capacity. The values transported on the lakes in 1851 Avere, by careful estimate for that year, stated at $326,- 590,000. Estimates for the trade of the rivers of the Valley, for 1850, made it amount to $350,000,000. This Avould give the entire amount of lake and river trade, in 1851, at very near $700,000,000. As no absolutely accurate figures were obtainable, in those days, the amount of values transported can only be approx imated. The perfectly free and unembarrassed internal commerce of this happy region enjoys a rare immunity from government interference. The amount of commercial ex changes has been made note of, however, by boards of trade in later times, and by records of tonnage transported on rail roads. Values of property are, however, matters of estimate still,al though extended experience has given them fair accuracy. At this time railroads entered largely into internal com merce and quite changed the fate of waterways — both river and lake. In 1876, the amount of property annually transported on railroads in the United States was estimated at $10,000,000,000; that couA'cyed in vessels on the lakes and rivers at $750,000,000; and on canals at $500,000,000; which carries up the sum of the values transported on these internal public highways to $11,250,000,000. This intimates that, on the whole, the commerce of the rivers and lakes continued about the same for tAventy-five years; the entire immense gain during that time being ab sorbed by the railroad system. For this there were many COST OF CARRIAGE BT WATER AND BY EAILWATS. 461 reasons. The capacity of water transport was limited at the eastern side of the Valley by the necessity of using canals ; greater speed and elasticity of accommodation was found in the railroads, combined Avith great cheapness where an im mense business was concerned ; only that system could accommodate trade at all seasons; and the bars at the mouth of the Mississippi, the heated Avaters of the gulf, and the perils of the Atlantic coa.st, with the length of the route, turned the vast products of the northern Valley eastward by rail. Other things being equal, water transportation must be cheapest for gross freight which is not required to hurry. The value of all the shipping required to accommodate a foreign commerce amounting annually to about $1,300,000,000 has been estimated at $200,000,000; Avhile the cost of all the railroads, con\-eying values ten times as great, is stated at about $4,500,000,000, or more than twenty-two times as much, and the annual losses and repairs required are many times greater in proportion. While there Avere large margins to permit disregard of this greater dearness of railroad trans portation and other imperative reasons for overlooking the water routes, the rivers and lakes were necessarily neg lected. It is, however, apparently but a question of time when their fullest use will be resumed. It is a constant law, arising from the imperfection of hu man wisdom and foresight, that business shall tend to lose its equilibrium — to fall into excesses that derange it greatly. There is another law, however, that takes care for its read justment from time to time. It is like machinery that should be in the long run self-adjusting, but permits disturbances to accumulate to a certain point before the restorative process is commenced. These periods of readjustment of disturbed balances are commenced by what is called a financial crisis, and while the restorative work is going on the machinery moves languidly. It usually requires some years of depres- 462 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. sion to conquer the difficulty, but when it is overcome there is a new series of situations; harmony is more exact and a fresh period of great prosperity follows. During the periods of oscillation, the particular laws more especially violated be come clearer; men learn what they are and how to avoid their penalties, and so progress goes on. In due time these dis turbances will become more rare and, perhaps, in the distant future will cease altogether. There has been vast loss on railroads in the Valley because of their excessive cost and the inability of their business to meet, immediately, all the conditions of corporate prosperity. Greater economy will be employed in the end, and they will, perhaps, be confined to the kinds of transportation that will pay best. Yet they now pay in some form and public aid comes, very largely, to the rescue of individual capital. But a gradual reA'ision of methods and change of economy must be made when large new sources of Avealth cease to be found and waterways, which transport in larger masses with less capital and cost for repairs, will lend all the aid to commerce of which they are capable. The amount of trade movement, vast as it now seems, is but a trifle to what it will be in years to come, and Avhile railroads will continue to multiply, they will require the aid of every available water channel to keep the passages to and from the Valley from choking up. It is highly probable that the true growth of commerce on the lakes and rivers has not yet commenced. From 1820 to 1850 it Avas a mere trial; after 1850 it was continued as a collateral of railroad transportation, and so it still remains. Its future may be supposed to have the massiveness and grand proportions Avhich the lakes, the rlA'crs and the Gulf bear to the Valley whose uses they Avere designed to serve. The uses to which natural forces were destined may lie unimproA'ed while the corresponding development of mankind and their interests fail; but still these forces are a prophecy of what is yet to be, and their time of service Avill ultimately come. THE FUTURE OF WATER-WATS. 463 These valuable natural channels will some day bear the heavy burdens of commerce and the railways will transport its lighter, more costly, frail and less bulky materials, and collect from the interiors, to the streams, the general fruits of industry. All obstructions in the river channels will be set aside, ample outlets from the lakes eastward will be provided, and scores of billions of value in merchandise will be found floating out of and into this fruitful region. But this great result has still, apparently, to wait for gener ations before it can be fully realized. The South must reach her natural development — so long delayed; the West Indies, Mexico, the Central and South American States, must reach the degree of general prosperity, of social order and indus trial activity assigned them by the resources they can com mand; the rich traffic of the Pacific and Eastern Asia must pour through the ship canal which is to join the great ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. When all this great industrial devel opment has been acquired in the neighboring countries the Mississippi will, perhaps, be too small for the vast burden of values with which the immense trade then existing will have to deal. The passengers, the fruits, the delicate goods and materials required in haste, will then seek the railroad; but the river will float an unimagined quantity of the more solid results of agriculture and manufactures to the sea. The 9,000 miles of navigable streams, the 3,000 miles of lake shore, and the long line of Gulf coast, will then serve the same purposes of foreign commerce that the Atlantic and Pacific coasts do now. These waterways, so large and long, will then join the interior of the continent with the active world without, as they were designed to do, and the center of the Valley will be, industrially and commercially, the cen ter of the country. CHAPTER XIIL DIEECT FOREIGN COMMERCE OF THE VALLET. The Mississippi Valley has been the providence of the American Republic. Binding it together through a common ownership, common settlement and a common development of its vast wealth, all classes in the East, but especially the manufacturers, the traders, the capitalists, and the shrewd speculators, have been enriched by it. Few walks in the general business life of the East have failed to draw a large part of their profit, directly or indirectly, from the overflow ing abundance of this region. The people of the West sup plied cheap provisions to the manufacturing classes and bought their Avares Avith the price heightened by a protective tarifi". Merchants imported foreign goods, re-sold them at a profit in the interior, and bought agricultural products to export — with a profit. Capitalists and bankers invested and loaned to reap. hundreds of millions iu interest and the rise of values. But in no way has the country been more benefited by the Valley than in its contributions to commerce. The bulk of the exports which were to pay for imports haA'e been from the northern or southern Valley. The cotton, which long formed fully one half of the exports, was largely produced in the lower Valley, and half the remainder of the values ex ported Avas from the grain regions of the West. In more recent tinies, manufactures enter largely into export trade ; but the increase in articles of food has gained in still larger proportions. The most of that which produced balances in European exchange, or drew money from abroad, was due to the Valley. So great has been the favorable reaction of the West on the East by the impulse given its manufactures, commerce and 464 THE RELATIONS OF THE EAST AND THE WEST. 465 trade, that Eastern cities haA'e increased in population since 1830, at about one half the ratio of the cities of the West, although millions annually emigrated from East to West. Almost one half the capitalized wealth of the country has ac cumulated in the Eastern and Middle States, although they have but little over one fifth of the population. As they are owners of much property in the Valley the difference is much greater than appears from the census. The surplus produce of the West has gone to the East and through it to foreign markets and paid a heaA'y profit to the East for handling; this profit has been reinvested in, or reloaned to, the West at extraordinarily high rates with the effect of compound interest. The West has been in so great a hurry to lay its foundations and reach its true productive period and the advantageous condition of an old country that it has not stopped to calculate and bargain, in the interest of economy, for its own section. It has hastily taken all the aid it could get at whatever usurious rates. By so doing it has gained many years of progress but poured the larger part of its earnings into the lap of the East. The child has richly endowed the parent in this process;- it now remains for it to attend more shrewdly to its own interests. This it is partly prepared to do by producing a considerable portion of its own manufactures, and the next step is to carry on as much of its own commerce as possible. As an interior region, it can do this only in part, the superiority of the Atlantic ports being absolute ; yet it has great outlets on the north and south which have been almost unused for purposes of foreign trade. It has furnished about four fifths of the exports of the whole country and will, perhaps, keep up that proportion; if it do its own business on its own capital it will, in timp, become as superior in accumulated property as it is in population and compass of resources. The changes that are preparing to this end lie partly in the transfer of manufactures which enable it to accumulate fioat- 30 466 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. ing capital ; partly in the opening of the South to general industry and development by putting away the slave-labor system ; and partly in the development of the countries nearest the Gulf ports and the mouth of the great river to such a degree that profitable exchanges can be made on a vast scale. Other changes lie in the future and will, apparently, be wide- reaching. Among these is probably a resuscitation of direct commerce with Europe from the great lakes and from the river. The St. Lawrence was made to be used, and the Upper Mississippi, the Missouri and the Ohio were not united in the center of the Valley, forming the broadest commercial highway, without an important purpose. These channels, both leading to the outside world from a region that, more than any other on any continent, is entitled to be called the World's Granary — are the cheapest and most natural outlets for the boundless supplies of food the world needs, and the requirements of the Valley farmer can never be fairly met till they are fully in use. When an adequate population has developed all the natural industries of the Gulf States, the massive volume of excess will press southward to the sea. The channel of the Missis sippi River will be improved; all the 20,000 miles of interior water-ways, formerly said to be accessible from New Orleans, will be laden with the rich products of an inexhaustible soil drawn from it by the wise industry and economy of fifty or a hundred million agriculturists; the then well-ordered so ciety of the rich islands of the Gulf will supply material for an immense trade; the mines and plateaus of Mexico Avill flour ish as now do those of California and Nevada; the trade of the re-organized Central and South American States will reach fabulous sums, and no unimportant marine tonnage will fetch and carry between St. Louis and London. The energy of the Anglo Saxon race is supplemented, in America, by a most valuable inventive genius, and intelligent THE VALLET AND THE ISTHMUS SHIP CANAL. 467 skill in reaching the broadest and highest ends in every line of activity. The Valley has received a large share of the very best part of this special ability and affords the highest degree of stimulus in every way besides giving it the largest field. When the wide areas of the Valley itself are well explored and all its resources are fully opened the energy of this race will find ample scope in the basin of the Gulf of Mexico, south and west of it, and by an isthmus ship canal with the vast trade of the Pacific. The Spanish Ameri cans will not be left alone to work out, slowly and painfully, by their Creole and native races, the high civilization and great industrial prosperity for which their countries were formed. America is as aggressive as is England; but its aggressiveness is directed against false systems of thought, of industry and economy. The vast activities that have done so much for the Valley itself, in one generation, will soon begin to overfiow its boundaries to stimulate and guide the thought and industry of its immediate neighbors. This activity will be to the advantage of the foreign trade of the Valley. The precious woods and valuable agricultural products of the trop ical regions around the Gulf will find markets so large and prof itable that Americans will work them if their careless OAvners will not; the great valley of the Amazon will become an ap pendage of the Mississippi Valley, commercially, through the Orinoco, Avith which its waters are connected; the trade of Peru, Bolivia and Chili will be tapped for St. Louis by the isthmus canal; and the teas, silks and spices of Eastern Asia and the East Indies will be imported directly to the heart of the United States. Long before this system of direct connections with new fields of colossal commerce shall have been entirely opened the internal business of the country will have become too heavy for the railroad system alone, and every possible use will be made of the rivers and lakes. It may never be felt on the aver age, most energetic and successfully progressive. When they give place to the youth now receiving superior instruc tion the law of progress will declare itself with still greater distinctness. Let the educational deprivations of the pioneers east of the Mississippi be compared with the attention now given to pop ular instruction in new States and Territories. What the New England pioneers first undertook in Ohio, and only partially succeeded in, is carried out effectively in the new regions of the present. Usually the best and most expensive building erected in Kansas, Nebraska, and other new settlements of the western border of the Valley, is a school house. In all the villages and toAA'us of a few hundred scholars, graded schools, taught by carefully trained instructors, are in full operation; normal schools, libraries, newspapers, the telegraph and rail road, unite to bring all the impulses and light of the most PRESENT EDUCATION AND THE FUTURE. 481 favored communities to bear on the young as well as the adult. They are still in the center of civilization and feel all the powerful pulsations of its stirring life. There is now no fron tier where life and thought can be arrested and stagnate. How great must be the sum of intellectual power added in the next twenty years when growth is universal and the various im plements of learning and practical discipline are increased tenfold, both in number and comparative , efficiency, over those of the last twenty years ? Education meets with more difficulties, in the way of ef fective organization, in the South, because it is comparatively poor and it has four millions of freedmen to instruct. But the opening stage will soon be past, organizations will get into the best working order, and progress acquire a momentum sufficient to override all difficulties. The significance of the general educational situation is very great. It certainly promises an extraordinary future, such as has seldom been imagined but by the brain of an enthusiast. Culture is a living, growing organism. It has become thoroughly natural ized in every walk of life in the Valley and will bring forth in as great abundance as the soil of the prairies. 31 CHAPTER XVI. THE GROWING BREADTH OF RELATIONS TO THE OUTSIDE WOELD. The actual usefulness of the resources of the Valley, and the degree in which they will become sources of colossal wealth to its inhabitants, depends on the development of other sections and other nations in different lines. As these become wealthy and great in other ways, and require and are able to pay for the excess of its special products, those products will acquire value. If others do not need, and will not buy, at remunerative prices, what it can furnish beyond its own consumption it will still be poor in the midst of its abundance; its "activity will be checked ; and it will be unable to purchase the thousand things it does not produce and which enter so largely, in modern times, into the list of necessities, comforts or luxuries of life. A due estimate of the Valley, therefore, requires some knowledge of the character and degree of development of outside regions. The Eastern or Atlantic States bear closer and more im portant relation to the center of the continent than any other region. At first, they contained the nation; for more than half the period of its existence they have held the great mass of its population and have always held the larger part of its surplus Avealth and owned and conducted the mass of its commerce, trade and manufactures. It has been only within a few years that this central section, so long and laboriously occupied in laying foundations, has so far succeeded as to begin to accumulate on a large scale. The East, by its position facing Europe, has always had a substantial monopoly of commerce and must always possess eminent advantages in that respect over the rest of the coun- 483 THE RELATIONS OF THE VALLET WITH THE EAST. 483 trj'. The constant growth of its commerce is secure. The southern and central Valley will naturally obtain a consider able share of that branch of activity, by the gulf and its great river, but it will be chiefly a division of the growth of commerce, immense in itself as the South develops its un touched resources and the markets of the world enlaro-e • but small compared with the upper Atlantic regions — placed directly between the grain-groAving States of the Northwest and Europe, with the immense advantage of the chain of great lakes and easy railway communications. The commer cial superiority of the Atlantic region will ahvays make its prosperity a matter of great interest to the upper Valley. But it is still more eminent for its manufactures than its commerce. We have seen that a considerable degree of trans fer of some of these industries to the Valley began betAveen 1860 and 1870. Western Pennsylvania and Ohio together produced four fifths as much as Massachusetts, ih 1870, and Illinois and Missouri together about the same, and, united, these four Western regions produced one fourth more than New York; but that did not prevent a colossal development of manufactures in the East during that decade. The products of the manufactures of Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania rose from less than one thousand mil lion dollars' value in 1860, to more than two thousand five hundred million in 1870 ; and at the last date they produced considerably more than half the manufactures of the entire Union. Transfers of much importance, of some of these in dustries, are likely to be made westward and the Valley will soon far excel the present manufactured values of the whole country; yet it can not be questioned that the East will always maintain a great superiority. America is beginning to manufacture for the foreign world on a larger scale each year; and the advantages of vicinity to the great commercial ports, of vast investments made and tendencies produced, will preserve to it the lead in this direction probably in all the future. 484 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. The East has its agricultural greatness, also. In 1870 the value of farms in New York was greater than that of any other State in the Union by more than two hundred and fifty million dollars; Pennsylvania was only slightly exceeded by Ohio, and exceeded Illinois by eighty million dollars; and the agricultural interest in the East, generally, is one of great magnitude. But it will be remembered that one third of Pennsylvania is in the Valley, and that much of New York is the eastern part of the Great Lake system by geological origin, as Avell as by position and soil, and that system is an essential part of the Valley. Nor is it to be forgotten that, having the great advantage of lying near the centers of pop ulation and wealth, these States have already reached a com parative maturity of agricultural development, while most of the Valley proper has, as yet, produced only its first fruits and given but a hint of its capacities. While, then, the results of agriculture in the East will be comparatively stationary, the Valley agriculture may be developed to any desirable extent for centuries to come. The proportion of foofl produced in the East to its population will constantly diminish and its relations to the welfare of the Valley enlarge in the same degree. By its commercial and manufacturing superiority it must gather a dense population, generally prosperous, which will furnish an ever larger market to the Valley. As, therefore, the Valley will be ever a large customer of the East so it will find in that section one of the largest sources of its wealth. They complement each other. The mining regions of the Pacific section are comparatively new, but had the foundations of their Anglo-American civili zation laid with surprising speed under the stimulus of gold discoveries. These were enlarged and consolidated by the con struction of the Pacific Railway, connecting them with the East, which was completed in 1869. They decreased in the product of precious metals from sixty-five million dollars, in THE PACIFIC SLOPE AND THE VALLET. 485 1853, to thirty-six millions, in 1872 and 1873; but the great quantity of these metals deposited through the whole range of the Rocky Mountains becomes more evident as they are more carefully examined, and they may be relied on to fur nish a constant supply for centuries to come, and also vast quantities of more common, but more useful, mineral products. The product of gold and silver in this whole region, includ ing Colorado, Montana and westward to the Pacific, was esti mated to have amounted, between the years 1848 and the com mencement of 1876, to one thousand, five hundred and ninety million dollars. Yet its true mining wealth must be consid ered as but slightly drawn upon. Already more than a mil lion inhabitants are spread along the Pacific Slope or scattered through the valleys and gorges of the mountains. San Fran cisco will become another New York — the metropolis of a populous region and numerous States, the center of vast com merce with Japan, China and the East Indies; other railways will join this coast with the Valley and with the East; and, in time, its commerce and the products of its mines will be come, perhaps, almost as important in value as the products of the East. Its agricultural capacities are not the least of its resources, as yet. In 1870 the value of the farms of Cali fornia amounted to $141,000,000, and their products to about $50,000,000, increased to over $54,000,000 in 1875, exclusive of its fruits, while its live stock was then valued at more than $45,000,000. Its entire income, from all these resources, must have amounted, in that year, to $65,000,000 — the largest sum it ever produced in one year from its mines. Yet, great as is the agricultural capacity which these statis tics indicate, commerce, manufactures and mining will gather a great population of non-agriculturists, whose demands for food can not be supplied by the utmost resources of all the lands of those States which can be cultivated Avith profit, great as future results are certain to prove, with irrigation. In time, the abundant food products of the Valley will fiow across the 486 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. mountains to its commercial centers for the use of its popu lation and for export to Asia or the islands of the Pacific. The mining industries, the forests, and the commerce of the Pacific side of the continent will ultimately raise that region to a prosperity and a magnitude of development rivaling the East; for it has a field more vast without the same rivalry from Europe. Western America will regenerate Asia, in the course of time, by its free and natural civilization, and grow rich in the process. Thus, the Valley finds itself midway between two sections whose internal capacities and outside relations assure them a boundless development. The East has two classes of markets, whose capacity to receive from her will constantly enlarge — Europe and all the lands readily reached by the commerce of the Atlantic on one side, and those of the inexhaustibly fer tile Valley on the other. The extreme West is equally favored by ready connections with Asia, the East Indies and the trop ical wealth of the Pacific islands on one side, and the Valley on the other. By means, then, of these two powerful sup ports — these two arms stretched out east and west to Europe •and Asia — the Valley makes its great superiority in its own special resources felt to the ends of the earth. Steam and the electric telegraph have quite changed the relations of those communities of mankind called nations. From the dawn of history nations have been, in general, Ishmaelites to each other — each in a state of violent antag onism to the rest, which, as a rule, only prudence and a sense of weakness restrained. Alliances were formed to give tem porary strength for self-protection or for offense. As civili zation ripened in modern times, and wide-spread activities required some check to this spirit ever threatening a sudden and dangerous outbreak of war, a loose confederacy was formed, among the most civilized nations, to maintain the " Balance of Power " in Europe. It put a curb on ambition and raised strong barriers against the destructive exercise of military MODERN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 487 power. Napoleon Bonaparte defied this prudent European tribunal, and, after a contest of nearly twenty years, was finally overthrown by it. Yet, so strong is the antagonistic principle among men that even Europe has had small success in her effort to control it. So afraid are her nations of each other, so ready to improve any favorable chance of building up their oavu power at the expense of others, that, in profound peace, Europe is a vast warlike camp; its armies and navies, and the interest of its war debts, exceed all its other expenses. Its war debts are too large to hope ever to pay off, some nations not being able even to pay the interest on them. With the return to first principles and natural law of the American Republic an ele ment of reform was introduced. The United States would be the friend of all, the enemy of none, and declined to maintain a larger standing army than was necessary to protect her fron tiers. The war with England, with Mexico, and the Civil War were exceptional. The prinpiple has gathered strength even from the result of these wars; but its great gain has been derived from the development of power in the people every where and the corresponding decrease of strength in govern ments. The chief direct instruments of this happy re-distribution of power have been steam and electricity. They have brought nations nearer to each other, have greatly multiplied relations of mutual profit between them, and have immensely promoted the development of the elements of wealth in civilized lands, while, at the same time, distributing it more equally among all classes of men. Nations no longer prosper independently. Those which have business relations with the largest number of foreign peoples are the most prosperous, and the degree of their prosperity will be measured by the extent of business done with each. This draws the nations together, increases community of interests and makes the prosperity of one the prosperity of all. They have become mutually dependent. 488 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. The disturbance of friendly relations between any two intro duces a disastrous element into the business of those most dis tant and causes suffering through the whole civilized world. Under this consolidation of the nations into a vast com munity, that member which possesses the greatest quantity of valuable products of a kind wanted by the largest number of other nations will hold the most important and vital rela tions toward the rest. It will " come to the front," will exert the most influence and will be the most concerned in the peace and prosperity of the world. The nation holding that fore most place at the present time is England. The annual value of her commerce much exceeds three thousand million dollars, while that of France and the United States, both holding the second rank, and nearly equal with each other, is less than one half as much for each. Their foreign commerce united does not equal England's. It is largely by her manufacturing activity that she has gained and holds this rank, her coal sup plying her with manufacturing force In 1876 her production of coal amounted to 149,300,000 tons, while its production in the United States was estimated at 47,500,000 tons. But all the coal in the rest of the world is, apparently, but a fraction of that held by the United States. While, therefore, England is the commercial and manufac turing country of the present, the United States is that of the future. England imports a large part of her raw material for manufacturing purposes, while America produces the larger part of hers — perhaps she is capable of producing all. Eng land imported, in 1873-4, 3,149,000 bales of cotton, consum ing herself 2,040,000 bales of it. The United States, in the same year, consumed 1,306,000 bales, and, in 1875, produced 4,600,000 bales. The United States, by the illimitable re sources of its great Valley, must be able to distance every competitor as a manufacturing and commercial nation. Eng land must import much of her material and food for the work men who produce the manufactures for her export commerce HOAV AMERICA WILL SURPASS ENGLAND. 489 — a great burden laid on her production, which is almost entirely spared the American manufacturer. He can, in the long run, and on close competition, produce cheaper and faster than his English compeer, and has the assurance of the future market. It Avas the Anglo-Saxon instinct of business sagacity, the very natural desire to be rid of a dangerous rival in their own line if it could occur Avithout injury to themselves, that led to a large degree of English sympathy for the South in the Civil War and the disposition, indulged farther than prudence would have counseled, to render it aid; and it was the same sagacity that led the loyal States to cheerfully strain every nerve to preserve a Union on which the speedy attainment of commer cial and manufacturing superiority depended. To keep the great Valley entire and joined to the East was as important to the natural development as to the political strength of the Anglo-American people. The Valley, then, stands as the feeder, and in many respects the support, of the right and left wing of the country, giving vigor to each strong arm to perform its own special work, and adding to their commercial exports an enormous amount of its special products. The internal commerce of the country, in 1876, is estimated to have been as follows: $10,000,000,000 worth of goods transported over its railways ; $500,000 on its canals, and $750,000,000 on vessels engaged in its domes tic trade — $11,250,000,000 in all, more than seven times the value of the whole foreign commerce of the country, in cluding exports and imports. Perhaps flve times the value of the foreign trade was transported from, to, or within the Valley, for all which transportation its products paid. Its relations to the world of business within and without the country are already of great magnitude. England is an old country It had only the extension of its business to provide for, while the United States, being new and vast, must attend to laying, and building on, first foundations. Everything must 490 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. be built up and organized from the bottom ; it could give a portion only of its attention, capital and skill to work in which energetic England was wholly engaged. It is now far advanced in preparation and may be expected to compete with England as fast as it can open markets for its wares. The magnificent results of its industry and enterprise will soon astonish the world. When the Gulf States are well developed, and even as soon as they are in the full career toward this condition, an active and rapidly-growing commerce will make their section fore most in the country in prosperity and wealth. All the hindrances will soon be overcome. To the full development of a successful commercial compe tition with the Atlantic States it is necessary that 4:he West Indies, Mexico, Central America and the South American States should acquire political, social and industrial stability and begin a solid and rapid progress, which may be held as assured to them by the painful lessons of their past experience, by the admixture of industrious foreign blood and by the growing infiuence and powerful example of the United States. Another circumstance of perhaps still greater importance will bring a flood of foreign commerce to the lower Valley. A ship canal through the Isthmus will open the Pacific to Atlantic commerce. Ncav Orleans and St. Louis may then load their vessels for Japan, China and the West coast of America without re-shipment of exports and imports. The Valley will then be in direct relations with Europe by the St. Lawrence, with all the South Atlantic countries by the Gulf of Mexico and with all Pacific lands by the Isthmus canal. The foreign commerce of the river system of the Valley will be a new and great relief to tbe overflowing products of the Valley It will not be easy, when such relations are fully established, to compel its farmers to sell, for an insufficient THE FUTUEE RANK OF NATIONS AND SECTIONS. 491 price, its several thousand million bushels of various grains. The storehouses and granaries will be kept comparatively free and the whole Valley will feel the stimulus of a ucav life. The railway problems will be simplified, the manufactures, the mining and general trade of the Valley will fiourish, and, joined to its specialty, will raise the Valley out of dependence on the capitalists and jobbers of the East. The relations of the Valley arising from its central position between the two powerful sections, each having a great specialty, and the two oceans which give it the advantage be longing to Rome and Italy at the commencement of the Christian era as a kind of center of the world, are of great importance to it, to the country as a whole, and to the other four quarters of the globe. As yet, indeed, this central emi nence is only suggested ; it is a realization for the future. It can not be foreseen that, when it is realized, it will dimin ish the proper greatness of other sections ; or that the superior ity of the United States, as a whole, will dry up any of the real sources of prosperity in other lands. A certain redistri bution of industries Avill give to every region an eminence of its OAVU determined by its natural resources and the special genius of its inhabitants, whereby its power to produce results will be greatly increased ; but the rank of nations and coun tries will be reassigned. That nation or section which is possessed of the most exten sive, and the largest number of, permanent resources, with the capacity in its people of making the most of them by their enterprise and intelligence, will necessarily come to the front and exert the widest infiuence. The ultimate leadership of the world was determined by the operation of those forces which, in geological times, distributed the resources of the earth in its bosom, and, later, arranged the relatiA'c positions, and directed the development and distribution, of the races of mankind. Character and special fitness will always have much to do with the course of human affairs and the rank of 492 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. nations. The Germanic races will take the lead of the world for centuries, if not forever, and the practical sense pf the Anglo-Saxon seems to assure to them always the front of this vanguard of progress and power. It can not be foreseen that England will eyer experience the fate of Assyria, Chaldea, Greece, Carthage, or Rome. Macauley's New Zealander is an impossibility. They all rested on superficial and temporary features of national char acter and on their relative situation. The prosperity of England rests on the inherent character and mental resources of her inhabitants and on a superior situation. This charac ter and accompanying advantages are developed and strength ened, not worn and wasted, by her advance. When one re source of material power fails another will be easily found. Physical resources and particular advantages may be exhausted and changed ; mental power is nourished by action. It does not seem that this vigorous intelligence can ever fail; that it can become the sport of circumstances or the victim of false systems. It is so strongly progressive and so wisely con servative as to become more and more the master of all situ ations, and no exhaustion of present resources can fail to be replaced by some other and greater. England, apparently, must always advance in greatness. Yet, her own children, endowed with the leading features of her genius, found a better base for development, and, compar atively unfettered by the past, they had the same high instinct of prudence which has made her great. It led them to loosen the bonds that interfered with free action. The Anglo- American in the Valley has found a situation and outward resources which he is in the Avay of improving to the utmost, and which, in less than two centuries of independent life, will give him a decided and permanent advantage over his Euro pean relative. America has looser institutions, but the love of order and regard for law; a quick and intelligent percep tion of interest finds fewer obstacles than in the mother FUTURE CONCENTRATION OF POWER IN THE VALLET. 493 country; and her people have commenced a course of success ful rivalry that will place the old country in the second rank at no distant day. Great as may be the progress of Old England, the New England, with its wonderful Valley, will outstrip her. Capital tends toward it — not only because it can gather the largest rewards in the development of the superior mass and quality of resources, and of the greater ease and less expense of obtaining the raw material for its industries — but also because, from its central situation, it can more readily survey and reach with its products all the various markets for which they are destined. Capital will often cross the mountains and locate at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago or St. Louis, accord ing to the convenience and cheapness of material, if it seeks a market in every region of the country. Circumstances, indeed, modify that movement for the present; facilities are not equally developed in many of the newer sections, markets have not opened everywhere as they will in the course of years. When population has fiowed everywhere and produced a de mand for manufactures at every point, when competition is so close that small differences in cost of material and trans portation, or presence in the general center of the country, secures larger sales at less cost, then what are trifles now will form the real margin of profit, and capital will prefer the Valley to the extreme East or West. This period will come in one, two, or a few, generations. Business is generalized more readily when it is conducted from the center, unless local circumstances are so favorable as to over-balance that advantage. In a country of spaces so large and sources of prosperity so many and so great, the internal commerce will always remain vastly superior to the foreign, and a large part of it will start from central points. The middle regions of the Valley, therefore, will attract activ ity and, in the long run, will gather the greatest accumula tions of industry and wealth. The business of the whole 494 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLET. country will radiate from it and the tendency to outgrow and to control other sections must constantly increase. What the countr}' has become in a hundred years is very little to what it will become in another century. Its politics, its industries, its agents of activity, are developed to a stable point — are so unified that the pulsations of its thought and energy meet comparatively trifling obstacles and are felt from ocean to ocean and from Montana to Florida. With this free field activity will organize — that is to say, will regulate and harmonize its various branches so as to lose as little poAver in conflict as possible; which implies a center and a circum ference, a head and extremities, a wise control and subordi nation. As the body of the people, the bulk of the natural wealth of the country, and conveniences for combining, assim ilating and distributing the products of labor are found inthe Valley it follows that other sections are united in it and con trolled through it. A large proportion of the commerce, the manufactures and the mining of the other sections are guided by the needs of the center and most important region of the nation. The country finds its unity and completeness in it. It is no longer possible for one section of the United States to mistreat another. Interests are too closely interlaced, the importance of the welfare of one section to the others would consolidate the majority in all against any scheme of injus tice. Although sectional misunderstandings and antagonisms produced a long strife ending iu a fearful war, with its heated passions and bitterness, its reaction of demoralization, impe- riousness and hatred, yet the contest did not have its root in the hearts, in the character of the people. It AA'as precipita ted by temporary and surface obstacles to an understanding which, during its course, were put in the way of extinction. The passions it called out, the evils it produced, had not force of permanent antagonism to sustain them. The inter ests, the clear common sense, the natural unity of race, of THE VALLEY PROMOTES HARMONY. 495 principle and of country, forbade them a long existence. The sympathies of the inhabitants of the northern Valley flow out to the dweller in the Southern States as naturally and irresisti- hly as do the waters of the Great River. A sense of justice, the impossibility of long withholding natural rights from others, is absolute in the mind of the Anglo-American. Freer and more cosmopolitan in the Valley than elsewhere, the Ameri- 'Can citizen there banishes the prejudice or partial vicAvs that may offend other sections. He is deeply interested in unity ¦of territory, of business and of feeling. So the country is united in the Valley by all the cords of ¦character, of sympathy, of policy, and of interest which bind a community into what we call a nation. With the close of the war, time only was wanted to produce the strongest national sentiment known to history. The free operation of the laws of association disposed of every evil existing before, ¦or cultivated by, the war, and the powerful influences that brought the great work of reconciliation near to a conclusion in twelve years after its close with a celerity and irresistible force known only to American annals, were, in largest part, those springing from the Valley. It has nearly eliminated the Southern question, the negro question, the States rights question, from politics. The Valley requires national union, a harmonious but a decentralized .government — an indissoluble union, but one which cares for all interests, cultivates earnest common sympathies, and leaves