A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of America Part 4

From Lebanon we proceeded across a chain of hills, and came in on a beautiful plain, called the "American bottom." Some of those hills were clear to the summit, while others were crowned with rich foliage. Before us, to the extreme right, were six or seven tumuli, or "Indian mounds;"

and to the left, and immediately in front, lay a handsome wood. From the hills to the river is about six miles; and this s.p.a.ce appears evidently to have been a lake at some former period, previous to the Mississippi's flowing through its present deep channel. Several stagnant ponds lay by our road; sufficient indications of the presence of disease, which this place has the character of producing in abundance. The beauty of the spot, and the fertility of the soil, have, notwithstanding, induced several English families to settle here. Their houses are built of brick, and their gardens and farms are laid out and fenced tastefully.

After traversing the wood, we at length came in sight of the Mississippi, which is here about three quarters of a mile broad. There is a steam ferry-boat stationed at this point, (opposite St. Louis), the construction of which is rather singular. It is built nearly square, having in the middle a house containing two s.p.a.cious apartments, and on each side decks, on which stand horses, oxen, waggons and carriages of every description.

St. Louis is built on a bluff bank. The _princ.i.p.al_ streets rise one above the other, running parallel with the river; the houses are mostly built of stone, the bank being entirely composed of that material, the walls whitewashed, and the roofs covered with tin: from the opposite side it presents a very gay appearance. The ascent from the water's edge to the back of the town is considerable, but regular. The streets intersect each other at right angles, as do those of most American towns. They are much too narrow, having been laid down and built on from a plan designed by the Spanish commandant, previous to the Missouri territory becoming part of the United States. The population is estimated at six thousand, composed of Creole-French, Irish, and Americans.

St. Louis must, at some future period, become decidedly the most important town in the western country, from its local and relative situation. It is seated on the most favourable point below the mouths of two n.o.ble rivers, the Missouri and the Illinois,[5] having at its back an immense tract of fertile country, and open and easy communication with the finest parts of the western and north-western territories. These advantages, added to the constant and uninterrupted intercourse which it enjoys with the southern ports, must ultimately make St. Louis a town of wealth and magnitude.

We visited General Clarke's museum, which chiefly contains Indian costumes and implements of war, with some minerals and fossils, a portion of which he collected while on the expedition to the Rocky mountains with Lewis; and also, two sods of good black turf, from the bogs of Allen, in Ireland.

A sight which was quite exhilarating, and reminded me so strongly of the fine odour which exhales from the products of illicit distillation, that guagers and potteen, like the phantoms of hallucination, were presenting themselves continually to my imagination for the remainder of that day.

General Clarke is a tall, robust, grey-headed old man, with beetle-brows, and uncouthly aspect: his countenance is expressive of anything but intelligence; and his celebrity is said to have been gained princ.i.p.ally by his having been the _companion_ of Lewis to the Rocky mountains.

The country around St. Louis is princ.i.p.ally prairie, and the soil luxuriant. There are many excellent farms, and some fine herds of cattle, in the neighbourhood: yet the supply of produce seems to be insufficient, as considerable quant.i.ties are imported annually from Louisville and Cincinnati. The princ.i.p.al lots of ground in and near the town are at the disposal of some five or six individuals, who, having thus created a monopoly, keep up the price. This, added to the little inducement held out to farming people in a slave state, where no man can work himself without losing _caste_, has mainly contributed to r.e.t.a.r.d the increase of population and prosperity in the neighbourhood of St. Louis.

There are two fur companies established here. The expeditions depart early in spring, and generally return late in autumn. This trade is very profitable. A person who is at present at the head of one of those companies, was five years ago a bankrupt, and is now considered wealthy.

He bears the character of being a regular Yankee; and if the never giving a direct answer to a plain question const.i.tutes a Yankee, he is one most decidedly. We had some intention of crossing to Santa Fe, in New Mexico, and we accordingly waited on him for the purpose of making some inquiries relative to the departure of the caravans; but to any of the plain questions we asked, we could not get a satisfactory answer,--at length, becoming tired of hedge-fighting, we departed, with quite as much information as we had before the interview.

A trapping expedition is being fitted out for the Rocky mountains, on an extensive scale. The number of persons intended to be employed on this, is about two hundred. Teams for the transportation of merchandize and luggage are preparing, which is an accommodation never enjoyed before by trappers, as pack-horses have always. .h.i.therto been subst.i.tuted. These waggons may also be found useful as _barricades_, in case of an attack from the Indians. The expedition will be absent two or three years.

A trade with Santa Fe is also established. In the Spanish country the traders receive, in exchange for dry goods and merchandize of every description, specie, princ.i.p.ally; which makes money much more plentiful here than in any other town in the western country.

The caravans generally strike away, near the head waters of the Arkansas and Red rivers, to the south-west, close to the foot of the Rocky mountains--travelling above a thousand miles through the Indian country before they reach the Mexican boundary. These journeys are long and tedious, and require men of nerve and muscle to undertake them; the mora.s.ses and rivers which they have to cross--the extensive prairies and savannahs they have to traverse, and the dense forests to penetrate, are sufficient to subdue any but iron const.i.tutions.

The countries west of the Mississippi are likely to be greatly enriched by the trade with Mexico; as, in addition to the vast quant.i.ties of valuable merchandize procured from that country, specie to a very large amount is put in circulation, which to a new country is of incalculable advantage.

The party which lately returned to Fayette in Missouri, brought 200,000 dollars in specie.

The lead-mines of Galena and Potosi inundate St. Louis with that metal.

The latter mines are extensive, consisting of forty in number, and are situated near the head of Big-river, which flows into the Merrimac: a water transportation is thus effected to the Mississippi, eighteen miles below St. Louis. This, however, is only in the spring and fall, as at other seasons the Merrimac is not navigable for common-sized boats, at a greater distance than fifty miles from its mouth. The Merrimac is upwards of 200 miles in length, and at its outlet it is about 200 yards in breadth.

The princ.i.p.al buildings in St. Louis are, the government-house, the theatre, the bank of the United States, and three or four Catholic and Protestant churches. The Catholic is the prevalent religion. There are two newspapers published here. Cafes, billiard tables, dancing houses, &c., are in abundance.

The inhabitants of St. Louis more resemble Europeans in their manners and habits than any other people I met with in the west. The more wealthy people generally spend some time in New Orleans every year, which makes them much more sociable, and much less _brusque_ than their neighbours.

We visited Florissant, a French village, containing a convent and a young ladies' seminary. The country about this place pleased us much. We pa.s.sed many fine farms--through open woodlands, which have much the appearance of domains--and across large tracts of sumach, the leaves of which at this season are no longer green, but have a.s.sumed a rich crimson hue. The Indians use these leaves as provision for the pipe.

We stayed for eight days at a small village on the banks of the Mississippi, about six miles below St. Louis, and four above Jefferson barracks, called Carondalet, or, _en badinage, "vide poche."_ The inhabitants are nearly all Creole-French, and speak a miserable _patois_.

The same love of pleasure which, with bravery, characterizes the French people in Europe, also distinguishes their descendants in Carondalet.

Every Sat.u.r.day night _les garcons et les filles_ meet to dance quadrilles.

The girls dance well, and on these occasions they dress tastefully. These villagers live well, dress well, and dance well, but have miserable-looking habitations; the house of a Frenchman being always a secondary consideration. At one of those b.a.l.l.s I observed a very pretty girl surrounded by gay young Frenchmen, with whom she was flirting in a style that would not have disgraced a belle from the _Faubourg St. Denis_, and turning to my neighbour, I asked him who she was; he replied, "Elle s'appelle Louise Constant, monsieur,--c'est la rose de village." Could a peasant of any other nation have expressed himself so prettily, or have been gallant with such a grace?

Accompanied by our landlord, we visited Jefferson barracks. The officer to whom we had an introduction not being _chez-lui_ at that time, we were introduced to some other officers by our host, who united in his single person the triple capacity of squire, or magistrate, newspaper proprietor, and tavern-keeper. The officers, as may be expected, are men from every quarter of the Union, whose manners necessarily vary and partake of the character of their several states.

The barracks stand on the bluffs of the Mississippi, and, with the river's bank, they form a parallelogram--the buildings are on three sides, and the fourth opens to the river; the descent from the extremity of the area to the water's edge is planted with trees, and the whole has a picturesque effect. These buildings have been almost entirely erected by the soldiers, who are compelled to work from morning till night at every kind of laborious employment. This arrangement has saved the state much money; yet the propriety of employing soldiers altogether in this manner is very questionable. Desertions are frequent, and the punishment hitherto inflicted for that crime has been flogging; but Jackson declares now that shooting must be resorted to. The soldiers are obliged to be servilely respectful to the officers, _pulling off_ the undress cap at their approach. This species of discipline may be p.r.o.nounced inconsistent with the inst.i.tutions of the country, yet when we come to consider the materials of which an _American_ regular regiment is composed, we shall find the difficulty of producing order and regularity in such a body much greater than at first view might be apprehended. In this country any man who wishes to work may employ himself profitably, consequently all those who sell their liberty by enlisting must be the very dregs of society--men without either character or industry--drunkards, thieves, and culprits who by flight have escaped the penitentiary, and enlisted under the impression that the life of a soldier was one of idleness; in which they have been most grievously mistaken. When we take these facts into consideration, the difficulty of managing a set of such fellows will appear more than a little. Yet unquestionably there are individuals among the officers whose bearing is calculated to inspire any thing but that respect which they so scrupulously exact, and without which they declare it would be impossible to command. The drillings take place on Sundays.

Near Carondalet we visited two slave-holders, who employed slaves in agriculture; which practice experience has shewn in every instance to be unprofitable. One had thirteen; and yet every thing about his house rather indicated poverty than affluence. These slaves lived in a hut, among the outhouses, about twelve feet square--men, women, and children; and in every respect were fully as miserable and degraded in condition as the unfortunate wretches who reside in the lanes and alleys of St. Giles' and Spitalfields, with this exception, that _they_ were well fed. The other slave-holder, brother of the former, lived much in the same manner;--but it is necessary to observe that both these persons were hunters, and that hunters have nothing good in their houses but dogs and venison.

T---- having gone on a hunting excursion with our host, and some of his friends, B---- and I drove the ladies to the plantation of the latter gentleman. He had a farm on the bluffs, which was broken and irregular, as is always the case in those situations. Large holes, called "sink-holes,"

are numerous along these banks; the shape of them is precisely that of an inverted cone, through the apex of which the water sinks, and works its way into the river. Cedar trees grow on the rocks, and the scenery is in many places extremely grand. Wild-geese congregate in mult.i.tudes on the islands in the Mississippi, and at night send forth the most wild and piercing cries.

Our hostess was one of those sylvan Amazons who could handle any thing, from the hunting-knife to the ponderous axe; and she dressed in the true sylph-like costume of the backwoods. Her _robe_, which appeared to be the only garment with which she enc.u.mbered herself, fitted her, as they say at sea, "like a purser's s.h.i.+rt on a handspike," and looked for all the world like an inverted sack, with appropriate apertures cut for head and arms; she wore shoes, in compliment to her guests--her hair hung about her shoulders in true Indian style; and altogether she was a genuine sample of backwoods' civilization. We were placed in a good bed--the state-bed of course--and as we lay, paid our devotions to Urania, and contemplated the beauties of the starry firmament, through an aperture in the roof which would have admitted a jacka.s.s.

The proprietor a.s.sured us that his slaves produced him no more than the bare interest of the money invested in their purchase, and that he was a slave-holder not from choice, but because it was the prevailing practice of the country. He said he had two handsome Mulatto girls hired out at the barracks for six dollars per month each.

In St. Louis there were seven Indian chiefs, hostages from the Ioway nation. Their features were handsome--with one exception, they had all aquiline noses--they were tall and finely proportioned, and altogether as fine-looking fellows as I ever saw. The colour of these Indians was much redder than that of any others I had seen; their heads were shaven, with the exception of a small stripe, extending from the centre of the crown back to the _organ of philoprogenitiveness_--the gallant scalping-lock--which was decorated with feathers so as somewhat to resemble the crest of a Greek or Roman helmet. Their bodies were uncovered from the waist upwards, except when they wore blankets, a modern subst.i.tute for the buffalo-robe, which they commonly wore over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm and breast bare. The Ioways are a nation dwelling in the Missouri territory, and these hostages delivered themselves up pending the investigation of an affray that had taken place between their people and the backwoodsmen.

The day previous to our departure from St. Louis, the investigation took place in the Museum, which is also the office of Indian affairs. There were upwards of twenty Indians present, including the hostages. The charge made against these unfortunate people and on which they had been obliged to come six or seven hundred miles, to stand their trial before _white judges_, was, "that the Ioways had come down on the white territory--killed the cattle, and attacked the settlers, by which attack four citizens lost their lives." The princ.i.p.al chief implicated in the affair, named "Big-neck," was called upon for his defence. In the person of this man there was nothing remarkable. He advanced into the centre of the room, and disengaging his right arm from the blanket, shook hands with the judges, and then, in succession, with all the officers of the court.

This ceremony being ended, he paused, and drawing himself up to his full height, extended his arm forward towards the judge, and inclining his head a little in the same direction, said, "If I had done that of which my white brother accuses me, I would not stand here now. The words of my red-headed father (General Clarke) have pa.s.sed through both my ears, and I have remembered them. I am accused, and I am not guilty." (The interpreter translated each sentence as it was delivered, and gave it as nearly verbatim as possible--observe, the p.r.o.noun I is here used figuratively, for _his party, and for the tribe_). "I thought I would come down to see my red-headed father, to hold a talk with him.--I come across the line (boundary)--I see the cattle of my white brother dead--I see the Sauk kill them in great numbers--I said that there would be trouble--I turn to go to my village--I find I have no provisions--I say, let us go down to our white brother, and trade our powder and shot for a little--I do so, and again turn upon my tracks, until I reach my village."--He here paused, and looking sternly down the room, to where two Sauks sat, pointed his finger at them and said, "The Sauk, who always tells lie of me, goes to my white brother and says--the Ioway has killed your cattle. When the lie (the Sauk) had talked thus to my white brother, he comes, thirty, up to my village--we hear our brother is coming--we are glad, and leave our cabins to tell him he is welcome--but while I shake hands with my white brother," he said, pointing to his forehead, "my white brother shoots me through the head--my best chief--three of my young men, a squaw and his[6]

child. We come from our huts unarmed--even without our blankets--and yet, while I shake hands with my white brother, he shoots me down--my best chief. My young men within, hear me shot--they rush out--they fire on my white brother--he falls, four--my people fly to the woods without their rifles." He then stated that four more Indians died in the forest of cold and starvation, fearing to return to their villages, and being without either blankets or guns. At length returning, and finding that their "great chiefs" had delivered themselves up, he came to stand his trial.

The next person called was an old chief, named "Pumpkin," who corroborated the testimony of "Big-Neck," but had not been with the party when the Sauks were seen killing the cattle. When he came to that part of the story where the Indian comes from his wig-wam to meet the white man, he said, nearly in the same words used by Big-neck, "While I shake hands with my white brother, my white brother shoots me down--my best chief"--he here paused, and lifting his eyes above the heads of the auditors, his lip curling a little, but resuming again, almost immediately, its natural position, he p.r.o.nounced in a low but distinct guttural tone, the Indian word meaning "_my_ son." His eye seemed fixed for a few seconds, and then, as if conscious of his weakness, and that the eyes of the great warriors of his tribe were upon him, he looked slowly round in a kind of solemn triumph, and resumed his tale. There was a strong feeling excited in the court by the misfortune of this old man, for the "best chief" of the Ioways was his _only_ son. The court asked the chiefs what they thought should be done in the matter? They spoke a few words to each other, and then answered promptly, that all they required was, that their white brother should be brought down also, and confronted with them. The prisoners were set at liberty on their parole.

Nothing could have been more respectable than the silence and gravity of the Indians during the investigation. The hostages particularly, were really imposing in their appearance; an air of solemnity overspread their manly countenances, whilst their eyes bespoke that unquailing spirit which the habits and vicissitudes of a sylvan life are calculated rather to raise than depress. The Indians, when uncontaminated by the vices of the whites, are really a fine people; and it is melancholy to reflect that in a few centuries the red-man will be known only by name, for his total extinction seems almost inevitable.

The upshot of this affair proved that the Indians' statement was correct, and a few presents was then thought sufficient to compensate the tribe for this most unwarrantable outrage.

The fact of the prisoners being set free on their parole, proves the high character they maintain with the whites. An officer who had seen a great deal of service on the frontiers, a.s.sured me that, from _experience_, he had rather fall into the hands of the Indians, than of the backwoodsmen.[7] Once, while crossing one of the immense prairies in the Missouri territory during the winter season, this gentleman, Mr. R----, was seized with rheumatic pains, and unable to proceed. His party, consisting only of a few men, had no provisions, nor had they any means of taking him with them, being completely exhausted themselves--he was left on the plains to die. An old Indian chief, of one of the hostile tribes, chanced to find him; he carried him home, and nourished him until he was sufficiently recovered to eat with the warriors; when they came to the hut of his host, in order as they said to do honour to the unfortunate white chief. He remained in their village for two months; at the expiration of which time, being sufficiently recovered, they conducted him to the frontiers, took their leave, and retired.

Clements Burleigh, who resided thirty years in the United States, says, in his "Advice to Emigrants," "It may be objected by some that it is dangerous to go to the frontier country, on account of the Indians, wild beasts, &c.; this is no more than a scarecrow. Indians in time of peace are perfectly inoffensive, and every dependence may be placed on them. If you call at their huts, you are invited to partake of what they have--they even will divide with you the last morsel they have, if they were starving themselves; and while you remain with them you are perfectly safe, as every individual of them would lose his life in your defence. This unfortunate portion of the human race has not been treated with that degree of justice and tenderness which people calling themselves Christians ought to have exercised towards them. Their lands have been forcibly taken from them in many instances without rendering them a compensation; and in their wars with the people of the United States, the most shocking cruelties have been exercised towards them. I myself fought against them in two campaigns, and was witness to scenes a repet.i.tion of which would chill the blood, and be only a monument of disgrace to people of my own colour.

"Being in the neighbourhood of the Indians during the time of peace, need not alarm the emigrant, as the Indian will not be as dangerous to him as idle vagabonds that roam the woods and hunt. He has more to dread from these people of his own colour than from the Indians."

FOOTNOTES:

[5] Eighteen miles below the mouth of the Missouri, and thirty-six below that of the Illinois.

[6] In the Indian tongue there is no distinction of masculine or feminine gender, but simply of animate and inanimate beings.

[7] "The freedom of manners, and the uncertainty of life, from the various hazards to which it is inevitably exposed, imparts to the character of savages a species of liberality, under which are couched many benevolent principles; a respect for the aged, and in several instances a deference to their equals. The natural coldness of their temperament, admits of few outward demonstrations of civility. They are, however, affable in their mode, and are ever disposed to show towards strangers, and particularly towards the unfortunate, the strongest marks of hospitality. A savage will seldom hesitate to share with a fellow-creature oppressed by hunger, his last morsel of provisions."--Vide _Heriot_, p. 318.

CHAPTER VI.

On our return to Illinois from Missouri, we visited the tumuli in the "American bottom," for the purpose of more closely investigating the form and disposition of these sepulchral mounds. Their shape is invariably hemispherical, or of the _mamelle_ form. Throughout the country, from the banks of the Hudson to a considerable distance beyond the Mississippi, tumuli, and the remains of earthen fortifications were dispersed. Those of the former which have been removed, were found to contain human bones, earthen vessels, and utensils composed of alloyed metal; which latter fact is worthy of particular notice, as none of the Indians of North America are acquainted with the art of alloying. The vessels were generally of the form of drinking cups, or ewer-shaped cans, sometimes with a f.l.a.n.g.e to admit a cover. One of those which I saw in a museum at Cincinnati, had three small k.n.o.bs at the bottom on which it stood, and I was credibly informed that a dissenting clergyman, through the _esprit de metier_, undertook to prove from the circ.u.mstance, that the people who raised these mounds and fortifications must have been acquainted with the doctrine of the Trinity. How far the reverend gentleman is correct in his inference, I leave for theologians to decide.

The Indians do not claim the mounds as depositories for _their_ dead, but are well aware of their containing human bones. They frequently encamp near them, and visit them on their journeys, but more as land marks than on any other account. They approach them with reverence, as they do all burial places, no matter of what people or nation. The Quapaws have a tradition, that they were raised "many hundred snows" ago, by a people that no longer exists; they say, that in those days game was so plenty that very little exertion was necessary to procure a subsistence, and there were then no wars--these happy people having then no employment, collected, merely for sport, these heaps of earth, which have ever since remained, and have subsequently been used by another people, who succeeded them, as depositories of their dead. Another tradition is, that they were erected by the Indians to protect them from the mammoths, until the Great Spirit took pity on his red children, and annihilated these enormous elephants. Most of the Indian nations concur in their having been the work of a people which had ceased to exist before the red men possessed those hunting grounds.

The numerous mounds, fortifications, and burial caverns, and the skeletons and mummies, that have been discovered in these catacombs, sufficiently establish the fact, that a people altogether different from the present aborigines once inhabited these regions. At what period this by-gone people flourished still remains a matter of mere conjecture, for to the present time no discovery has been made that could lead to any plausible supposition.

De Witt Clinton having paid more attention to the antiquities of America than any other person of whom I am aware, I shall here insert his description of the forts. He says, "These forts were, generally speaking, erected on the most commanding ground. The walls, or breastworks, were earthen. The ditches were on the exterior of the works. On some of the parapets, oak trees were to be seen, which, from the number of concentric circles, must have been standing one hundred and fifty, two hundred and sixty, and three hundred years; and there were evident indications, not only that they had sprung up since the erection of these works, but that they were at least a second growth. The trenches were in some cases deep and wide, and in others shallow and narrow; and the breastworks varied in alt.i.tude from three to eight feet. They sometimes had one, and sometimes two entrances, as was to be inferred from there being no ditches at those places. When the works were protected by a deep ravine, or large stream of water, no ditch was to be seen. The areas of these forts varied from two to six acres; and the form was in general an irregular ellipsis; in some of them, fragments of earthenware and pulverized substances, supposed to have been originally human bones, were to be found."

"I believe we may confidently p.r.o.nounce, that all the hypotheses which attribute these works to Europeans are incorrect and fanciful: 1st. on account of the present number of the works; 2d. on account of their antiquity; having from every appearance been erected a long time before the discovery of America; and, finally, their form and manner are varient from European fortifications, either in ancient or modern times.