André Michaux's Travels into Kentucky, 1793-96; François André Michaux's Travels West of Alleghany Mountains, 1802; Thaddeus Mason Harris's Journal of a Tour Northwest of Alleghany Mountains, 1803.
Author: André Michaux; Thaddeus Mason Harris; François André Michaux
Date: 2025-05-26T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: United States -- Description and travel; Southern States -- Description and travel; Pennsylvania -- Description and travel; Ohio River Valley -- Description and travel

The Project Gutenberg eBook of André Michaux's Travels into Kentucky, 1793-96; François André Michaux's Travels West of Alleghany Mountains, 1802; Thaddeus Mason Harris's Journal of a Tour Northwest of Alleghany Mountains, 1803.

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Title: André Michaux's Travels into Kentucky, 1793-96; François André Michaux's Travels West of Alleghany Mountains, 1802; Thaddeus Mason Harris's Journal of a Tour Northwest of Alleghany Mountains, 1803.

Author: André Michaux

Thaddeus Mason Harris

François André Michaux

Editor: Reuben Gold Thwaites

Release date: May 26, 2025 [eBook #76162]

Language: English

Original publication: Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1904

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76162

Credits: Carol Brown, Greg Bergquist and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANDRÉ MICHAUX'S TRAVELS INTO KENTUCKY, 1793-96; FRANÇOIS ANDRÉ MICHAUX'S TRAVELS WEST OF ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS, 1802; THADDEUS MASON HARRIS'S JOURNAL OF A TOUR NORTHWEST OF ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS, 1803. ***

Transcriber’s Note:

Long ‘s’ (ſ) were converted to ‘s’. Footnotes moved to the end of each book. There are two anchors to footnote [122] in André Michaux’s Travels.

Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, missing or partially printed letters and punctuation, were corrected. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and abbreviations were added. In the second book, manuscript page numbers are displayed within brackets, e.g. {36}.

Words may have inconsistant spelling, diacriticals and hyphenation in the text. These were left unchanged, as were obsolete and alternative spellings. Except as noted below, misspelled words were not corrected.

The following were changed:

- answer to answers
- wool to wood
- prevous to previous

Fr. André Michaux

Early Western Travels

1748-1846

A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best
and rarest contemporary volumes of travel,
descriptive of the Aborigines and Social and
Economic Conditions in the Middle
and Far West, during the Period
of Early American Settlement

Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by

Reuben Gold Thwaites

Editor of “The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents,” “Wisconsin
Historical Collections,” “Chronicles of Border Warfare,”
“Hennepin’s New Discovery,” etc.

Volume III

André Michaux’s Travels into Kentucky, 1793-96. François
André Michaux’s Travels West of Alleghany Mountains,
1802. Thaddeus Mason Harris’s Journal of a Tour
Northwest of Alleghany Mountains, 1803

Cleveland, Ohio
The Arthur H. Clark Company
1904

Copyright 1904, by
THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Lakeside Press
R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
CHICAGO

CONTENTS OF VOLUME III

Preface. The Editor | 11
I
Journal of Travels into Kentucky; July 15, 1793—April 11, 1796. André Michaux | 25
II

Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains, in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessea, and back to Charleston, by the Upper Carolines ... undertaken in the year 1802. September 24, 1801—March 1, 1803. François André Michaux

105

III

The Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains; made in the Spring of the Year 1803. April 7—“beginning of July.” Thaddeus Mason Harris, A.M.

307

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME III

I. | Portrait of François André Michaux. From oil painting in possession of American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia | Frontispiece
II. | Carte des Etats du Centre, de l’Ouest et du Sud des Etats-Unis, 1804 [From the original French edition] | 108
III. | Photographic facsimile of title-page to François André Michaux’s Travels | 109
IV. | Photographic facsimile of title-page to Harris’s Journal | 309
V. | Photographic facsimile of Map of Alleghany and Yohiogany Rivers; from Harris’s Journal | 331
VI. | Photographic facsimile of Map of the State of Ohio, by Rufus Putnam; from Harris’s Journal | 351

PREFACE TO VOLUME III

We publish in this volume André Michaux’s journal of his travels into Kentucky from 1793-96, Englished by us from the French version in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society; a reprint of the English version of Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains, made in 1802 by his son, François André Michaux; and a reprint of Thaddeus Mason Harris’s Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains, made in the Spring of the Year 1803—omitting, however, as unnecessary to our present purpose, the appendix thereto.

The Michauxs

André Michaux, whose name is known to scientists of both hemispheres, was born at Satory, Versailles, in 1746. Destined by his father for the superintendence of a farm belonging to the royal estate, Michaux early became interested in agriculture, even while pursuing classical studies. Upon the death of his young wife, Cecil Claye, which occurred at the birth of their son, François André (1770), he devoted himself to scientific studies in the effort to overcome his grief. These naturally took the direction of botany, and Michaux became imbued with a desire to seek for strange plants in foreign countries. From 1779-81 he travelled in England, the Auvergne, and the Pyrenees; and later (1782-85), in Persia, botanizing, and studying the political situation of the Orient. He had intended to return to Persia, but while in France (1785) the government requested that he should proceed to North America in order to make a study of forest trees, and experiment with regard to their transplantation to France. Accordingly, in the autumn of 1785, he left France, taking with him his young son.

Landing in New York he passed a year and a half in that vicinity, herborizing, and attempting a botanical garden. Finding the latitude of the Southern states, however, more suited to his enterprise, he removed in the spring of 1787 to Charleston. Purchasing a plantation about ten miles from the city, he entered with enthusiasm into the search for new plants and their culture upon his estate. In this year he explored the mountains of the Carolinas, and a twelve-month later made a difficult and hazardous journey through the swamps and marshes of Florida. The next year (1789) was occupied by a voyage to the Bahamas, and another search among the mountains for plants of a commercial nature—notably ginseng, whose utility he taught the mountaineers.

In 1794 he undertook a most difficult expedition to Canada and the arctic regions about Hudson Bay, and upon his return proposed to the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia an exploration of the great West by way of the Missouri River. A subscription was begun for this purpose, and Jefferson drafted for him detailed instructions for the journey;[1] but his services were needed in another direction, and the Missouri exploration was abandoned for a political mission.

The discontent of the Western settlers with regard to the free navigation of the Mississippi had reached an acute stage; the French minister to the United States had come armed with instructions to secure the co-operation of trans-Allegheny Americans for a raid upon the Spanish territory of Louisiana, aimed to recover that province for the power to which it had formerly belonged, and make it a basis for revolutionary movements in Canada, the West Indies, and ultimately all Spanish America.[2] This minister arrived in Charleston in February, 1793, and selected Michaux as his agent to communicate with the Kentucky leaders. An ardent republican, already in the pay of the French government, and friendly with influential men in government circles, Michaux seemed a most desirable as well as the most available agent possible. One characteristic was not, however, sufficiently considered. Whatever may have been his interest in the intrigue, whatever accounts thereof are through caution or prudence omitted from the journal here printed, one fact is evident—that Michaux was chiefly devoted to the cause of science; these pages reveal that a rare plant or new tree interested him much more than an American general or a plot to subvert Spanish tyranny.

His first Kentucky journey was, from the point of view of the diplomats, but moderately successful. With the collapse of the enterprise—due to the imprudence of Genet, the firmness of Washington, the growing loyalty of the Westerners to the new federal government, and the change of leaders in France—Michaux returned to botanical pursuits, and his later journeys appear to have been undertaken solely in order to herborize. There are, however, some slight indications in the text that he entertained hope of continuing the enterprise, and of its ultimate success. His inquiries, in the Cumberland, for guides for the Missouri expedition, prove that he had by no means abandoned his purpose of undertaking that hazardous project.

But these long Western journeys had exhausted his resources; for seven years he had had no remittance from the French government, and was now under the necessity of returning to Europe to attend to his affairs. Accordingly in 1796 he embarked for France, and was shipwrecked on the coast of Holland, losing part of his collections; but his herbarium was preserved, and is now in the Musée de Paris. He ardently desired to be sent back to America; but his government offered him no encouragement, and finally he accepted a post upon an expedition to New Holland, and in November, 1802, died of fever upon the island of Madagascar.

His son, François André, entered into his father’s pursuits and greatly assisted him. While yet a lad, he accompanied him on several arduous journeys in America; at other times remaining upon the plantation, engaged in the care of the transplanted trees. He returned to France some years before his father, in order to study medicine, and in the year of the latter’s death was commissioned by the French minister of the interior to proceed to the United States to study forests and agriculture in general.

The journal of his travels was not originally intended for print; but the interest aroused in the Western region of the United States by the sale of Louisiana, induced its publication. The first French edition appeared in 1804, under the title, Voyage à l’ouest des Monts Alléghanys, dans les États de l’Ohio, et du Kentucky, et du Tennessée, et retour a Charleston par les Hautes-Carolines. Another edition appeared in 1808. The first was soon Englished by B. Lambert, and two editions with different publishers issued from London presses in 1805. The same year another translation, somewhat abridged, appeared in volume i of Phillip’s Collection of Voyages. Neither of these translations is well executed. The same year, a German translation issued from the Weimar press.

The younger Michaux continued to be interested in the study of trees, and spent several years in preparing the three volumes of Histoire des Arbres forestiers de l’Amérique Septentrionale, which appeared in 1810-13. This was translated, and passed through several English editions, with an additional volume added by Thomas Nuttall under the title of The North American Sylva.

Michaux’s report on the naturalization of American forest trees, made to the Société d’Agriculture du département de la Seine, was printed in 1809.[3] His “Notice sur les Isles Bermudas, et particulièrement sur l’Isle St. George” was published in Annales des Sciences naturelles (1806), volume viii. He also assisted in editing his father’s work, Histoire des Chênes de l’Amérique; and his final publication on American observations was Mémoire sur les causes de la fièvre jaune, published at Paris in 1852. Dr. Michaux died at Vauréal, near Pontoise, in 1855.

In 1824 the younger Michaux presented to the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia the notebooks containing the diary of his father’s travels in America—all save those covering the first two years (1785-87), which were lost in the shipwreck on the coast of Holland. The value of these journals has long been known to scientists; their larger interest, as revealing both political and social conditions in the new West, will perhaps be first recognized upon this presentation of them in English form. Written “by the light of his lonely campfires, during brief moments snatched from short hours of repose, in the midst of hardships and often surrounded by dangers,” their literary form is deficient, and frequent gaps occur, which doubtless were intended to be filled in at some future moments of leisure. This was prevented by the author’s untimely death in the midst of his labors. For nearly a century the journals existed only in manuscript. In 1884 Charles S. Sargent, director of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, prepared the manuscript for the press, with explanatory notes chiefly on botanical matters.[4] It was published in the original French, in the American Philosophical Society Proceedings, 1889, pp. 1-145.

From this journal of nearly eleven years’ travel in America—from Florida on the south, to the wilds of the Hudson Bay country on the north, from Philadelphia and Charleston on the Atlantic coast to the most remote Western settlements, and the Indian lands of the Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee—we have selected for translation and inclusion within our series, the portions that concern particularly the trans-Allegheny region. These relate to the expedition made to Kentucky by way of the Ohio (1793), with the return over the Wilderness Road and through the Valley of Virginia; and the longer journey (1795-96) from Charleston to Tennessee, thence through Kentucky to the Illinois, and back by a similar route with side excursions on the great Western rivers.

The journals of the elder Michaux “record the impressions of a man of unusual intelligence—a traveller in many lands, who had learned by long practice to use his eyes to good advantage and to write down only what they saw.” A part of the value of these documents to a student of Western history consists in their accurate and succinct outline of the areas of colonization. The extent and boundaries of Michaux’s travels enable us to map with considerable accuracy the limits of the settled regions—first, that from Pittsburg down the Ohio to just below Marietta; then, after passing a region without a town, between Gallipolis and Limestone (Maysville, Kentucky), the traveller enters the thickly occupied area of Kentucky, bounded on the south and west by the “barrens,” into which emigration was beginning to creep. In the Illinois, Michaux’s unfavorable comment upon the French habitants is in accord with that of other visitors of the same nationality; his travels therein show that the small French group were the only settlers, save a few venturesome Americans at Bellefontaine, and “Corne de Cerf.” In East Tennessee, the outpost was Fort Southwest Point, where the Clinch and Holston meet; thence, a journey of a hundred and twenty miles through “the Wilderness” brought one to the frontier post of the Cumberland settlements, at Bledsoe’s Lick. Upon Michaux’s return, nearly a year later, the Cumberland frontier had extended, and Fort Blount had been built forty miles to the eastward as a protection for the ever-increasing number of travellers and pioneers. The western borders of Cumberland were also rapidly enlarging. Clarksville, on the Cumberland River at the mouth of the Red, had long been on the extreme border in this direction; but Michaux found daring settlements stretching out beyond, seizing the rich river bottoms and organizing a town as a nucleus for scattered planters.

Michaux faithfully presents the conditions that confronted travellers in his day—the lack of inns, the straying of horses with the consequent annoyance and delay, the inadequate means for crossing rivers, the frequent necessity for waiting until a sufficient body of travellers had collected to act as a guard through the uninhabited regions. He also traversed nearly all the routes by which emigration was pouring into the Western country—the Wilderness Road to Kentucky, the routes from North Carolina over the mountains to East Tennessee, the Wilderness Road of Tennessee (this last a narrow and dangerous link with the Cumberland settlements), the paths thither to Louisville, and the Indian trails thence to the Illinois; as well as the river routes—the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Cumberland.

Glimpses of the chief founders of the Western country are tantalizing by their meagreness. We should have valued more detailed accounts of conversations with Clark, Logan, and Shelby, concerning Nicholas’s plan for securing the navigation of the Mississippi; of the attitude of Robertson, Blount, and Daniel Smith toward the French enterprise; and of the impression made at this early day by “a resident near the Cumberland River, Mr. Jackson.” Particularly interesting is the record of the number of Frenchmen who became prominent and useful citizens of the West—Lucas at Pittsburg, Lacassagne at Louisville, Tardiveau, Honoré, and Depauw at Danville and vicinity; apart from the settlers at Gallipolis, whose misfortunes our author deplores. It is hoped that this English version of the elder Michaux’s journals may prove a contribution of importance to those interested in early conditions in the Mississippi Valley.

Michaux’s published works are, Histoire des Chênes de l’Amérique—which appeared in 1801, and is supposed to have been recast or corrected by other scientists—and Flora Boreali-Americana, written in Latin by Richard from the plants which Michaux had collected in America, and issued a year after the latter’s death.[5]

The few years that intervened between the journeys of the elder and younger Michaux show the rapidity with which the West was changing. Conditions of travel had meantime been improved, and the development of resources was proceeding with bounds. The opening of the Mississippi had caused an immense growth in both the extent and means of Western commerce; the son describes ship-building upon the waters along which the father had passed in Indian canoes. The increase in the number, size, and appearance of the towns, and the additional comforts in the homes of the people, were indicative of a great and growing prosperity.

The younger traveller describes the inhabitants with more particularity than his father. His observations upon the characteristics of the people, their occupations and recreations and their political bias, are those of an intelligent and sympathetic narrator, with a predisposition in favor of the Western settlers. His remarks in chapter xii on the restlessness of the pioneers, their eagerness to push onward to a newer country, their impatience with the growing trammels of civilization, show habits of close observation. His optimism with regard to the future of the country, in thinking that within twenty years the Ohio Valley would be “the most populous and commercial part of the United States, and where I should settle in preference to any other,” exhibits a large comprehension of the forces and elements of Western growth.

The American popularity of the younger Michaux’s journal, in its own time, proved his ability to interpret the ideas of our people, and the sympathetic interest of a cultured Frenchman in the democratizing processes of the New World.

Thaddeus Mason Harris

Thaddeus Mason Harris, author of the Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains, was one of the coterie of liberal clergymen who occupied the New England pulpits in the early part of the nineteenth century. As a member of this group, Harris’s observations of the Western country are of peculiar interest. He had the training of the typical New Englander—“plain living and high thinking.” Born in Charlestown in 1768, his family were driven from their home at the battle of Bunker Hill, and three years later the father died of exposure contracted during his service in the Revolutionary army. As the eldest of the children, Thaddeus was sent to “board around” among the neighboring farmers, one of whom took sufficient interest in the promising lad to fit him for college. An accidental supply of money at a later period, accepted as a special interposition of Providence, made such an impression upon the young man’s mind that he determined to enter the ministry. He was graduated from Harvard in 1787, in the same class with John Quincy Adams. After a year’s teaching at Worcester, the position was tendered him of private secretary to the newly-chosen President Washington, but an attack of small-pox prevented its acceptance, and the place was filled by Tobias Lear.

In 1789 our author was “approbated to preach,” and the following year received his A.M. degree, delivering on the occasion the Phi Beta Kappa address. During the two succeeding years he served as the librarian of his alma mater, and was elected (1792) a resident member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The year 1793 saw Harris installed as pastor of the first church of Dorchester—a relation which was continued through over forty years of faithful and acceptable service. A careful pastor, he exposed himself during the epidemic of yellow fever in 1802 to such an extent that he contracted the disease, and during his convalescence the Western journey was planned and undertaken as a means of recuperation. In this it was eminently successful, and upon his return to Dorchester Harris plunged anew into literary and philanthropic labors. Within the next few years he aided in founding the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Humane Society, the American Peace Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Archæological Society at Athens, and was chosen corresponding member of the New York Historical Society. His addresses and sermons on different occasions found their way into print, until nearly sixty were published. Harvard honored itself by conferring upon him the degree of doctor of divinity in 1813, and during his entire later life he acted as overseer in the college corporation. His eldest son, a well-known entomologist, served as Harvard librarian for twenty-five years (1831-56).

After a second severe illness (1833), Dr. Harris visited Georgia, and thereupon published a biography of Oglethorpe. In 1838 he resigned his pastorate and spent his remaining five years in congenial literary pursuits, serving for a time as the librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He is described as a “little quaint old man, indescribably bent, but still wearing a hale aspect, who used to haunt the alcoves of the library at Harvard.” After March, 1842, the place of the old scholar and reader in the college library was vacant.

Dr. Harris made no contribution of permanent value to American literature, unless the present book may be so considered. Besides the works mentioned, he aided (1805) in putting forth an encyclopedia, and a Natural History of the Bible; the result of the last-named labor was pirated by an English firm, which issued it in several editions. The Journal of a Tour, which we here republish, sold well, and was soon out of print. In recent years, the volume has brought a good price at antiquarian sales. In addition to the journal proper, Harris added a bulky appendix, entitled a “Geographical and Historical Account of the State of Ohio,” from material collected during his visit at Marietta, annexing thereto: a “Letter to the Earl of Hillsborough on the navigation of the Ohio (1770);” the “Act of Congress forming the State;” the “Constitution of the State;” an “Account of the destruction of the Moravian Settlements on the Muskingum;” “Wayne’s Treaty;” and a number of papers connected with the formation of the Ohio Company of Associates, and the establishment of the Northwest Territory. This appendix we have omitted as not within the sphere of the present series, and as containing information which can readily be secured elsewhere.

As an observer, two points characterize Harris’s narrative—his enthusiasm for natural scenery, and the delight shown in its description; and the dryness of his statements with regard to the human life which he saw en route. Its chief value lies in the accuracy which he exhibits in data concerning the size of the towns, their prosperity and growth, their business interests, and stage of material development; in matters regarding the growth of ship-building and navigation, the number of manufactories, and the general material prosperity of the region, Harris gives useful information. But as a picture of Western life, or as a sympathetic relation of human affairs in this region, the value is small. This arose in part from the New Englander’s stout prejudices against conditions unfamiliar to him. His attitude toward the Western inhabitants is quite the contrary of that of the younger Michaux, and forms thereto an effective foil.

As with previous volumes of this series, the Editor has had the active co-operation of Louise Phelps Kellogg in the preparation of notes.

R. G. T.

Madison, Wis., February, 1904.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See documents in Original Journals of Lewis and Clark (New York, 1904), appendix.

[2] See Turner, “Origin of Genet’s Projected Attack on Louisiana and the Floridas” in American Historical Review, July, 1897; also documents in American Historical Association Report, 1896 and 1897.

[3] See review in Monthly Anthology (Boston, 1810), viii, p. 280.

[4] The notes in the journals of the elder Michaux signed C. S. S., are those of Sargent, found in the French edition and designed chiefly to elucidate botanical references.

[5] The references in Sargent’s notes marked “Michx.,” refer to this Flora.

Journal of André Michaux, 1793-1796

Source: Englished from the original French, appearing in American Philosophical Society Proceedings, 1889, pp. 91-101, 114-140.

JOURNAL OF ANDRÉ MICHAUX

On the 15ᵗʰ of July 1793, I took leave of Citizen Genet, Minister of the Republic of France to the United States[1] and started from Philadelphia on the same date at ten o’clock at night to avoid the great heat, and to travel by Moonlight. The 16th, being in company with ... Humeau and ... Leblanc,[2] we journeyed 40 miles.

The 17th, passed by Lancaster and made 35 Miles.

The 18th, passed by Carlisle ... Miles and slept at Chipesbourg [Shippensburg].

The 19th we slept at Strasbourg ... Miles.

Sunday the 20th, we started from Strasbourg, a small town situate at the foot of the Mountains; one of our horses having fallen sick we traveled only 21 Miles; observed Magnolia acuminata, Azalea octandra, Kalmia latifolia, Fagus castanea, Fagus pumila, Pinus 2-folia, 3-folia, Strobus: Abies Canadensis; Quercus castaneaefolia etc. Juglans nigra.

The 21st of July started from Wells’s tavern, crossed the Juniata river ... and noticed Rhododendron maximum, Hydrangea frutescens, Trillium erectum; slept at Bedford. 21 Miles.

The 22nd. Started from Bedford and breakfasted at a place 4 miles distant where the Pittsburg Road divides into two. We took the right hand road; the Rain compelled us to stop and sleep only twelve Miles from Bedford.[3]

The 23rd we made 24 Miles and passed the summit of the Alleganys.

The 24th we made 25 Miles.

The 25th we passed by Green’sburg and made 31 Miles.

The 26th Rain; we made only ... Miles.

The 27th, we made 19 Miles and arrived in Pittsburgh. Total 32[4] Miles from Philadelphia.

The 28th visited Mr. H. Brackenridge.[5]

The 29th herborised; recognized on the banks of the Monongahela, Dracocephalum Virginianum,[6] Bignonia radicans, Crotalaria alba? These plants grow on the banks of the river which are submerged when the waters are high.

The 30th of the same, recognized a Plant of the Genus Ziziphora ... Cunila pulegioides[7] floribus tetandris; Teucrium Canadense, Eupatorium aromaticum, Sigesbeckia ...; Verbenae several species.

The 1st of August, herborised and recognized Cassia Marylandica; Monarda didyma; Sanicula Marylandica; Triosteum perfoliatum; Sicyos angulata; Acer rubrum, saccharum; Campanula, ...; Cercis Canadensis; Menispermum Canadense; Actaea spicata; Tilia Americana; Urtica divaricata; Arum triphyllum; Celtis occidentalis; Panax quinquefolium; Staphylea trifoliata; Azarum Canadense; Rhus typhina, glabra, vernix; copallinum, radicans, toxicodendron; Clinopodium vulgare, incanum.

The 2nd of August recognized Aristolochia sipho or macrophylla; Panax quinquefolium; Lobelia siphilitica; Convallaria many species; Veronica ... Ozalis stricta.

The 3rd and 4th of August herborised: Cacalia 2 species, Phryma leptostachia; Leontice thalictroides; Lobelia siphilitica, inflata, cardinalis; Eupatorium perfoliatum, maculatum, odoratum et celestinum; Actea spicata; Podophyllum peltatum; Azarum Canadense; Hydrophyllum Canadense; Trillium cernuum; Panax quinquefolium; Aristolochia Sipho; Menispermum ...; Sambucus Canadensis fructu nigro; Sambucus ..., fructu rubro foliis tomentosis; Tilia Americana; Laurus Sassafras, benzoin; Robinia pseudocacia, Juglans oblonga, Juglans hiccory; Plantanus occidentalis; Acer rubrum, saccharum; Ulmus ...; Hamamelis ..., Cynoglossum 3 species; Vitis vulpina; Dioscorea fructu infero; Teucrium Canadense; Scrophularia Marylandica; Dracocephalum Virginianum; Dianthera ...; Sophora foliis ternis stipulis lato-lanceolatis floribus coeruleis vexillo corollâ breviore; Mimulus ringens; Bignonia radicans; Cercis Canadensis; Fagus sylvatica Americana; Circaea Canadensis; Urtica inermis; Erigeron Canadense; Cornus florida; Rubus odorata, Rubus occidentalis; Penthorum sedoides; Cephalantus occidentalis; Polygonum aviculare, hydropiper, amphibium, scandens; Sanguinaria Canadensis.

On the 6th of August I saw on the bank of the Monongahela river opposite Pittsburgh a Coal mine at the entrance of which there seems to be a thickness of 15 feet of that mineral without admixture; sometimes a ferruginous tint can be distinguished between the different layers. In several spots soft rocks are to be found which seem good for use as whet-stones for large tools; they seem to me to consist of a combination of sandy, clayey and ferruginous particles with particles of mica in very rare instances.

The soil in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh is generally clayey, the calcareous rocks or stones of a brown color, consisting of much muddy clay. The soil between the two rivers on which Pittsburgh is built, is alluvial; stones rounded and worn by the rolling of torrents have even been found in the earth, dug up while sinking wells at a depth of more than 30 feet.

The 9th of August, when I was ready to start, the conductor of the Boat on which I had embarked my baggage came to tell me that he was waiting for the Boats destined to convey the troops, especially as the Boat seemed too deeply laden for that Season when the Waters are low; there was an appearance of Rain.

The 10th the river seems to be falling.

The 11th, 12th and 13th we remained, awaiting the departure.

The 13th three Boats arrived from the Illinois belonging to Mr. Vigo.[8] They were manned by about 30 French Canadian or Illinois oarsmen.

A Frenchman who has resided in America for 14 years and whose business consists in shipping supplies of flour to New Orleans, told me that he would give me Letters for Illinois addressed to the Commandant of the Post of St Louis. He is at present settled in Pittsbourgh and his name is Audrain.[9] This Audrain is said to be in partnership with one Louisière or Delousière who was exiled from France for having been concerned in the plot to deliver Havre to the combined English and Spanish fleets. This Louisière is at present absent from Pittsburgh. There is another Frenchman residing in Pittsburgh, Mr Lucas de Pentareau, an excellent Democrat, now absent. He passes for an educated man with legal knowledge.[10]

Pittsburgh is situated at the confluence of the two rivers, Monongahela and Allegany. These two rivers unite and form the Ohio or Belle Rivière. There are a great many more houses on the Monongahela river than on the Allegany. The number of houses is about 250 and it increases considerably every year. The ditches are still to be seen that served as the entrenchment of the Fort built by the French and called Fort Duquesne. The English, since that time, had built another almost beside it at the angle formed by the junction of the two rivers. It was built of brick and the Americans are demolishing it to use the bricks in building the houses that are being erected every day at Fort Pitt.[11]

The Americans have a Fort of Palisades situated behind the town on the bank of the Allegany River; it serves as a Depot for the arrival of the troops that are being sent against the Savages and as a Magazine for the Munitions sent there from Philadelphia.[12]

Wednesday the 14th of August, started from Pittsbourgh and slept at a distance of two miles only on the point of a small island on which I found Acer negundo, rubrum, saccharum; Evonimus capsulis glabris.[13]

The 15th recognized at 20 Miles from Pittsburgh Pavia lutea, Panax quinquefolium; A Bryonia plant monoica calyce 5-fido, corolla 5 partita floribus masculis spicatis axillaribus floribus femineis quoque axillaribus germine instructo spinis innocuis.[14] Our journey covered 28 Miles.

The 16th at 7 o’clock in the morning we crossed the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia. The line is marked by cutting down the trees on a width of about ... feet on the right and left of the Ohio or Belle Rivière and this place is 45 miles from Pittsbourgh. In the evening of the same day arrived at Buffalo Creek. 79 Miles from Pittsburgh.

The 17th passed by Willing [Wheeling] 92 Miles from Pittsburgh;[15] this place is inhabited by about 12 families as is also Buffalo Creek [Wellsburg]. Owing to the contrary wind we traveled only 30 Miles.

Sunday August 18th 1793, saw several flocks of wild Turkeys; wind contrary.

The 19th we made 50 Miles. There are no settlements between Willing and Marietta, a small Town situate at the mouth of the Muskingum river. We slept at the place called Fort Harmar, situate opposite Marietta on the right bank of the Muskingum river.[16] Dianthera americana.

The 20th we spent the day there.

The 21st, we passed by Little Kanhaway,[17] Belpré, and Belleville 34 Miles.

The 22nd we saw no settlements. Recognized Polymnia canadensis; Acer rubrum foliis inferne glaucis; Acer negundo, Acer saccharum, Acer foliis rugosis nervis sublanuginosis; Annona triloba, Pavia lutea, Platanus occidentalis.

The 23rd passed Great Kanhaway,[18] 4 miles before arriving at Galliapolis on the opposite bank.

The 23rd we arrived at the settlement of Galliapolis situate on the left bank of the Belle rivière. The houses are all built of squared logs merely notched at the ends instead of being Mortised (Log-house).[19]

The 24th remained over, visited doctor Petit who inspired me with the greatest respect by his good sense, his knowledge and his virtue. It seemed to me that humanity is the only thing that keeps him attached to that unfortunate colony.[20] Out of the 600 persons who came there to settle, only about 150 remain.

Sunday the 25th started from Galliapolis; at a distance of 35 Miles recognized Iresine celosioides on the banks of the belle rivière where they are submerged by the great inundations. Passed a small river called Gay [Guyandotte]. We saw no habitations; 40 Miles.

The 26th, saw no habitations; passed the river Scioto ... Miles.[21]

The 27th, saw a Settlement of several houses at the place called Three Islands, ten miles before arriving at Lime Stone;[22] these Settlements are considered the first belonging to Kentuckey. We reached Lime Stone toward evening.[23]

Limestone is considered the Landing place or Port of Kentuckey. Goods are landed there that are sent from Philadelphia for Danville, Lexington etc. A small town founded six years ago at a distance of 4 Miles on the Lexington road, is called Washington and is very flourishing being situate in very fertile land.

The 28th, visited Colonel Alexander D. Orr.[24]

The 29th I left the two Companions who had come with me from Philadelphia. They continued their journey to Louisville while I went on by way of the inland Settlements. Colonel D. Orr offered me his Company to go with him to Lexington whither he proposed to go in a few days.

The 30th and 31st herborised while waiting until horses could be procured for the journey to Lexington. Guilandina dioica; Fraxinus (quadrangularis); Gleditsia triacanthos; Serratula praealta; Eupatorium aromaticum, Crepis Sibirica? etc.

Sunday 1st of September 1793. Dined at Colonel Lee’s.[25]

The 2nd dined with ... Fox and prepared my baggage for departure.

The 3rd the journey was put off until the Following day. The soil in the vicinity of Washington is clayey and blackish, very rich. The stones are of an opaque bluish calcareous Substance, full of petrifactions of seashells. The bones of those monster animals supposed to be Elephants are found in the neighborhood.[26] It is to be presumed that those bones belonged to marine Individuals, judging by the great abundance of debris of marine bodies collected in those places.

The 4th started from Washington; passed by a place where the soil is impregnated with saline substances and whither the Buffaloes used to go in great numbers to lick the particles of Salt continually exuding from the surface of the Soil. There are at this spot springs whose water is bitter, putrid, blackish and full of mephitic air which frees itself at the slightest movement of the soil by the bubbles appearing on the surface of the spring as one approaches. The people living in the neighborhood erect ovens with kettles and extract Salt by the evaporation of the water.[27] We traveled 33 Miles.

The 5th we made 27 miles and, at an early hour, reached Lexington,[28] the chief town amongst the Settlements of the State of Kentuckey. We passed a small Settlement, looked upon as a town and called Paris, the capital of Bourbon county.[29] It contains about 18 houses. There are farming Establishments along the road and travelers now go without danger from Lime Stone to Lexington, a distance of Sixty six miles from one place to the other. 66 Miles.

The 6th visited two persons residing in Lexington for whom I had Letters of introduction.

The 7th herborised....

Sunday 8th of September was obliged to remain being unable to hire a horse.

The 9th left Lexington, went through portions of forest lands with very scattered Plantations. Crossed the Kentuckey river the banks of which are very close to one another; when the waters are low there is a height of more than 100 feet from the bank of the river to the level of the lands bordering on it and through which it runs. I am told that in flood-time it rises to a height of 40 feet in one day. On arriving there one would think himself between two ranges of very steep Mountains but in fact it is merely a torrent or a river whose Bed has been deeply worn. The rocks on the banks are of a calcareous nature. Several shrubs and Plants, natives of Carolina, grow on the cliff with a southern exposure being secured and protected from cold by the favorable situation offered by the great depth of the bed of the river.

The 10th arrived in Danville[30] and visited several persons for whom I had Letters: Colonel Barbee etc, Capt. Peter Tardivau, a witty man[31] etc. etc.

The 11th, visited General Benjamin Logan whose house is situate 12 Miles from Danville. I confided to him the Commission entrusted to me; He told me he would be delighted to take part in the enterprise but that he had received a Letter a few days previously from J. Brown[32] which informed him that negotiations had been begun between the United States and the Spaniards respecting the navigation of the Mississipi and the Creek Indians; That a messenger had been sent to Madrid[33] and that any one of the United States that would venture to act in a hostile manner against the Spaniards before the return of the first of December next, would be disapproved by the federal Government; That he was going to start the following day for his Establishment of Boulskine [Bullskin] Creek and that, after I should have conferred with General Clark, he hoped the latter would, in consequence of what I should communicate to him, make arrangements for further conferences together[34] etc. etc.

The 12th returned to Danville.

The 13th Visited (his Excellency) the Governor of the State of Kentuckey, Isaac Shelby;[35] visited the hills called Knob Licks;[36] Saw several Plants especially in the salt lands enclosed in the interior of the territory of Kentuckey. Andromeda arborea.

The 14th left Danville for Louisville, lodged with Cumberland 19 Miles from Danville.

Sunday 15th of September 1793, 22 Miles from Danville found a sort of Tragia, a monoecian Plant, fructification in the manner of the Euphorbias. Shortly before reaching Beardstown recognized the rocks and stones of calcareous substances possessing all the forms of the Madrepores. The tops of the Mountains (hills) one has to cross, 3 or 4 Miles before reaching Beardstown, consist entirely of these petrified madrepores. Recognized many Plants not found elsewhere: Fagara of the State of New York; Rhamnus (Carolinian) and Rhamnus ... etc etc. The neighborhood would be very interesting for a Botanist to visit. Dined at Beardstown[37] and slept 6 miles further. 31 Miles.

The country between Beardstown and Louisville possesses no interest for a Botanist.

The 16th arrived at Louisville having traveled by the new road.[38] 29 Miles. In all 79 Miles from Danville.

The 17th of September visited General Clarke. I handed him the Letters from the Minister and informed him of the object of my Mission. He told me that he was very eager for the Undertaking but that, although he had written so long ago, he had received no answer and thought it had been abandoned.[39] I told him that his Letter had fallen into other hands and that the Minister had received it only indirectly after his arrival in Philadelphia. He informed me that a fresh circumstance seemed to oppose an obstacle to it.[40]

The 18th remained at Louisville and herborised.

The 19th returned to visit General Clarke....

The 20th started from Louisville, passed by General Clarke’s[41] and passed on to sleep near Salt river.

The 21st passed by Beardstown. Evonimus ramulis quadrangulis capsulis muricatis.[42]

Sunday September 22nd arrived once more at Danville at 5 o’clock in the evening. Wrote to Minister Genet the same day by the Philadelphia Post.[43]

The 23rd I rested.

The 24th started for Lexington and slept at the Kentuckey river crossing.

The 25th found that my horse had wandered away. I slept at an inn where there was no Stable; my horse jumped over the fence and I spent the whole day looking for him.

While so engaged I saw on the sandy beaches: Iresine celosioides; Mollugo verticillata; On the rocks; Heuchera Americana; Asplenium rhyzophorum; Pteris nova; Parietaria ...; Hydrangea arborescens. On the limestone mountains: Serratula 2 unknown species; Cuphea viscosa; Didynamia gymnosperma novum genus; Didynamia angiosperma novum genus. On the bank of the Dickson river, Dirca palustris; Sophora floribus coerulis. In the shady forests etc: Acer foliis argenteis an rubrum? Acer saccharum; Fraxinus foliolis subintegris, Fraxinus foliolis serratis ramis quadrangularis; Gleditsia triacanthos; Guilandina dioica, Robinia pseudo-acacia; Evonimus ramulis subrotundis, capsulis laevibus.

The 26th of September 1793, Rained all day; slept at a mile from Kentuckey river at the house of ... Hogan[44] who was kind enough to lend me a horse for nothing to go in search of mine.

The 27th arrived at Lexington distant only 20 Miles from the crossing of Kentuckey river called Hickman junction.[45]

The 5th of October started from Lexington.

Sunday the 6th of the same arrived at Danville. The same day wrote to Citizen Minister Genet.

The 7th took lodgings at Puvit’s[46] and received my baggage.

The 10th Sent a Messenger to Louisville.[47]

The 13th Sunday returned to Lexington and came back on Sunday the 20th, to Danville. Not having received general Clark’s answer I was unable to take advantage of the Post to write to the Minister at Philadelphia.

The 21st received General Clark’s answer.[48]

The 10th of November 1793, Year 2 of the French Republic, left Danville for Philadelphia after visiting Colonel George Nicholas[49] near Danville. He laid stress upon the plan he had proposed to me the previous day regarding the Navigation of the Mississipi. Namely: That the Naval Forces of the Republic should seize the Mouth of the Mississipi, declare that the Country belonged to them by right of Conquest and invite the Americans of the Western Country to take advantage of the freedom of Navigation. Then, if the Spaniards situated higher up the river molested the Vessels carrying the provisions conveyed by the Americans, the latter would have the right to repel Constraint and force by force. Thus the Spanish Government would have no reason to complain of the United States having broken through inasmuch as the country would be reputed in the possession of the French Republic.

Slept at Crab orchard distant from Danville 22 Miles.

The 11th of November 1793, started from Crab Orchard in company with 12 persons who had assembled at that place to pass through the Woods inhabited and frequented by the Savages. The tract between Crab orchard and Houlston settlement is 130 Miles wide and is called The Wilderness.[50] Slept at Longford Station. 10 Miles.

The 12th slept at Modnell Station 28 Miles.

The 13th slept at Middleton station. 28 Miles.

The 14th crossed low, swampy places where the water was brown and stagnant. Six miles from Middleton Post and 18 miles before reaching the top of Cumberland Gap, saw a climbing fern covering an area of over six acres of ground near the road.[51] At this season when the Frost had produced ice from 3 to 4 lines thick, this plant was not at all injured by it. In this territory are two places, one called Flat lick and the other Stinking Creek.

Saw near the Carcass of a Stag the ... Raven (Corvus corax). Davissas station 2 miles to the[52] ... Cumberland Gap[53] 26 Miles.

The 15th of November traveled through parts of very high Mountains in the midst of which we crossed Clinch river and slept at Houlston Station[54] in the house of one ... 27 Miles.

The 16th followed the bank of the Houlston river and slept at the house of ... Amis Esquire, three Miles from Hawkin Court house.[55] 26 Miles.

Sunday the 17th the Rain compelled me to remain in a a small Cabin near the North fork of Houlston. 25 Miles.

The 18th my horse was so tired owing to the rapidity of the journey and the bad roads across the Wilderness that I was obliged to stop after a Journey of only eleven Miles. 11 Miles.

The 19th started at daybreak. At the foot of the house where I lodged, the Kentuckey road divides,[56] the right one leads to Burke court house in North Carolina passing by the Mouth of Wataga river; the other leads to Abington court house, the first town of Virginia. As my horse was still tired, I made only 20 miles.

The 20th I made 15 Miles; arrived at Abington.[57]

The 21st I slept 22 Miles from Abington near Seven Miles Ford, the middle Branch of the Houlston.

The 22nd of November 1793 crossed Seven Miles ford. The Holston river consists of three principal Branches, namely: North fork, Seven Miles fork and South fork of Holston river.

In the space of six miles after crossing that little river, observed on the northern Hills bordering several small rivers the Pinus abies canadensis, Thuya occidentalis, Rhododendron maximum and also Magnolia acuminata in places where the soil is very rich: Fagus chinquapin; clayey soil, ferruginous Quartz rocks, Slates rare and lime Stones sometimes interveined with white Quartz; grey Squirrel (forgot to mention that, in passing Abington, saw a Tortoise 8 inches in diameter petrified in a black calcareous substance like the Rocks abounding in the territory). Our day’s journey was 23 miles.

The 23rd of November slept in the house of a German. During the night my horses strayed away. Between Abington and With Court house[58] among the Mountains Abies canadensis and Thuya occidentalis.

Sunday the 24th, passed by With Court house and at about 18 Miles in the steep Mountains observed Pinus Strobus, Pinus foliis ternis (pitch pine), Pinus foliis geminis ..., Pinus abies canadensis, Rhododendron maximum, Kalmia latifolia, Gaultheria procumbens, Epigea repens: In more arid places, Fagus chinquapin, Fagus castanea americana, Fagus sylvatica americana, Andromeda arborea, Hypericum Kalmianum. Among the damp rocks or those watered by the streams; Rocks of silex and also of agate slightly transparent.

From Seven Miles ford to With Court house 36 Miles.

The 25th crossed the ferry called Peper’s ferry[59] on the New River and afterward crossed from the West to the East side of the Alleganies; slept on a branch of James river called Catawba which flows eastward while the New River flows West of the Mountains.

The 26th continued on my way to Botetort Court house 30 miles.

The 27th passed by Botetort Court house[60] and by the south Branch of the James River 12 miles from Botetort.

The 28th passed by Lexington [61] 40 miles distant from Botetort and by the north branch of James river to one Mile from Lexington. Thuya occidentalis, Pinus Strobus.

The 29th of November, remained in Mac Dowall’s house;[62] my horse’s leg was so swelled that he could not walk.

The 30th journeyed 27 miles.

Sunday the first of December 1793 passed by Stanton, a small and rather flourishing town situate 120 Miles from Richemont and 75 Miles from Botetort.[63]

The 2nd passed by Rockyham or Rockytown[64] 20 miles distant from Stanton.

The 3rd passed by Woodstock,[65] another small town 37 Miles from Rockytown. Between Stanton and Woodstock the country is mountainous, the soil rather fertile, of a clayey nature, with calcareous rocks called Blue limestone; Quercus rubra, alba; Fagus chinquapin and Pinus foliis geminis, conis squamis rigidis et aculeatis. Three miles before reaching that town, on the North of a Hill on the road, Thuya occidentalis, Pinus foliis geminis, Juniperus virginiana.

The 4th started from Woodstock, passed by Newtown.[66]

The 5th passed by Winchester,[67] 35 Miles from Woodstock, formerly called Miller’stown.

The 6th passed by Charlestown[68] 22 Miles from Winchester. Passed by Harspur ferry[69] across the Potomack river 8 miles from Charleston and entered Maryland.

The 7th passed by Fredericktown[70] 20 Miles from Harspur ferry (Potomack river) and 50 miles from Winchester.

Sunday the 8th passed by Woodberry and Littletown[71] 35 Miles from Fredericktown.

The 9th passed by Hanover, formerly MacAllistertown[72] 42 miles from Fredericktown and by Yorktown 18 Miles from MacAllistertown now Hanovertown.

The 10th passed by the Susquehanna river and entered Pennsylvania eleven miles from Yorktown.[73] Passed Lancaster 12 miles from Harris ferry on the Susquehanna river and 24 miles from York.[74]

The 11th of December 1793 traveled 30 Miles.

Thursday the 12th, arrived in Philadelphia 66 miles from Lancaster.

The 13th visited Citizen Genet, Minister Plenipotentiary of the French Republic.

The 14th Visited Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Rittenhouse[75] and ...

Sunday the 15th; Recapitulation of the journey, namely:

From Danville to Lincoln | 12 | miles
From Lincoln to Crab Orchard | 10 |
From Crab Orchard to Langford Station | 10 |
From Langford to Modrell Station | 28 |
Modrell to Middleton Station | 28 |
Middleton to Cumberland Gap | 24 |
Cumberland to Davisses Station | 2 |
Davisses to Houlston | 27 |
Houlston to Hawkin Court house | 22 |
Hawkin to ... Amis | 3 |
Amis to North Fork of Houlston | 25 |
North fork to Carolina fork | 31 |
From the fork to Abington formerly Washington Court House in Virginia | 15 |
From Abington to Seven Mile ford | ⎬60[76] |
From seven Mile ford to With Courthouse |
From With Court house to Peper ferry | 33 |
From Peper ferry to Botetout Court house | 50 |
From Boteton to James River South fork | 12 |
From James river South fork to Lexington | 28 |
From Lexington to Stanton | 35 |
From Stanton to Rockytown | 20 |
From Rockyham to Woodstock | 37 |
From Woodstock to Winchester | 35 |
From Winchester to Charleston | 22 |
From Charleston to Harpur ferry or Potomack | 8 |
From Potomack to Fredericktown | 20 |
From Fredericktown to Littletown | 35 |
From Littletown to Hanover formerly MacAlister | 7 |
From Hanover to Yorktown | 18 |
From York to Susquehanna, Harris ferry | 11 |
From Susquehanna to Lancaster | 12 |
From Lancaster to Philadelphia | 66 |
Total | 746 | Miles
From Danville to Lexington | 33 | Miles
From Danville to Louisville[77] | 84 | “

The 30th Germinal in the 3rd year of the French Republic One and Indivisible (Sunday 19th of April 1795 old style) started to go and herborise in the high Mountains of the Carolinas and afterward to visit the Western territories. Plants seen before arriving at Monk’s corner: Heuchera ..., Vicia 2 species, Smilax herbacea erecta, Melampodium? ... Polygonum necessaria, Silene Virginica, Phlox lanceolata then in flower, Valeriana. Slept at 45 Mile House.

The 10th Floreal (20th of April,) around forty five Mile house, Valeriana; 3 Miles before reaching Neilson’s ferry Gnaphalium dioicuin, Uvularia? On the said 20th of April a new tree of the Santee river, elm-leaved, fructus muricati capsula muricata, semen unicum subovatum.[78]

These seeds were then almost ripe; Celtis occidentalis flowers ...[79] and lower male flowers.

Slept 77 Miles from Charleston.

The 21st of April noticed on the Santee High-hills: Phlox with white flowers and Phlox with pink flowers, two different species, very small Phlox with lance shaped leaves; Saw in the neighborhood of Monk’s corner Lupinus hirsutus in flower. Dined with Dʳ ...; slept at Statesboroug.

The 22nd passed by Cambden; five miles beyond, a new Kalmia; it was not yet in flower. Slept 10 Miles beyond Cambden.

The 23rd of April passed by Flat rock, by Hanging rock Creek and slept at Cane Creek, Lancaster county, in the house of a Mr May; my horse strayed away during the night and following his traces it was found that he had passed by Mr Lee’s.

The 24th I was obliged to look for him all day. Mr Lee also sent his son and his negro to search for him. He procured me a Horse to go on my quest and afterward invited me to lodge with him; he overwhelmed me with civilities.[80]

The 25th, the horse came to Mr Lee’s house of his accord. Plants on the creek: Dodecatheon Meadia, Asarum Canadense, Claytonia Virginica, Erythronium dens-leonis.

Sunday 26th of April, started from Cane Creek, passed by Land’sford on the Catawba river. But the real road is from Cane Creek, ask for Colonel Crawford’s house or Plantation on the Waxsaw, then pass MacClean Hands ferry on the Catawba; Thence straight to the Iron works called Hill’s Iron Works operated by Colonel Hill.[81]

Thus from Cane Creek to Waxsaw ... Miles; From Waxsaw to Iron Works, York county ...

The 27th passed Iron Works about 32 miles from Cane Creek.

The 28th passed by Armstrong[82] ford on the south branch of the Catawba, 12 miles from Iron Works.

The same day passed by the dwelling of Bennet Smith where there is a ... Magnolia, 12 Miles from Armstrong ford.

The 29th passed by Lincoln,[83] 12 Miles from Bennet Smith’s and 36 miles from Iron Works.

Thursday 30th of April passed by the dwelling of Old man Wilson[84] 9 miles from Lincoln and 6 Miles from Robertson’s. Reached Morganton[85] 30 Miles from Robertson.

The 1st of May spent the day at Morganton and herborised in the neighborhood.

The 2nd spent the day at Colonel Avery’s,[86] 4 miles from Morganton.

Sunday 3rd of May started for the Mountains; at a distance of 14 Miles from Burke is Wagely’s house.

The Lineville Mountains at whose foot this house is situated, abound in Magnolia auriculata. They were then in flower. From Wagely’s to Captain Young’s is 8 Miles.

The 4th of May left Young’s. The distance to Ainswort’s is 2 Miles but by going to the right one reaches the foot of a very high Mountain 3 Miles from Young’s. The summit is 5 Miles from Young’s.

From the summit of the Mountain at Young’s to Bright’s, called Bright’s Settlement, the distance is 3 Miles and from Bright’s to Davin Port’s 2 Miles, making 10 Miles in all from Young’s to Davin Port’s.[87]

The 5th of May herborised in the vicinity of the dwellings of Davin Port and Wiseman.

The 6th started for the Mountains, namely: Round [Roan] Mountain and Yellow Mountain; Toe River flows between these Mountains. All the Convallaria were in flower as well as the Podophyllum diphyllum and umbellatum.

Sunday 10th of May 1795 returned from the Mountains to the dwelling of Davin Port.

The 11th herborised on the Mountains facing the dwelling. The distance to the summit of the Bleue Ridges at the part called Rompback is about 3 Miles; on the first Mountains are to be seen in very great abundance the Azalea foliis apice glandulosis, Azalea lutea. There is no other Azalea on the Hills surrounding the dwellings of Davin Port and Wiseman but this yellow-flowered species. That on the River banks is generally that with carnation flowers and that with white flowers.[88]

The 12th ascended the summit of the Blueridges, Rhododendron minus in flower, Cypripedium Luteum.

The 13th of May started to continue my journey. At Noon arrived at the foot of Yellow Mountain 10 Miles. In the evening came to sleep at the house of John Miller 12 Miles from the Mountain. Thus there are 22 Miles from Davin Port’s to Miller’s; at a distance of half a mile one commences to cross Doe River.

The 14th followed and crossed Doe river 27 times. It is dangerous when the waters are high. Slept at the house of Colonel Tipton,[89] 20 Miles from Miller’s.

The 15th passed by Johnsboroug[90] 10 Miles from Colonel Tipton’s dwelling and 84 Miles from Burke Court house. Slept at the house of Anthony Moore near Noleychukey river. During the night my horse strayed away.

The 16th, Sunday 17th, & 18th were spent in searching for my horse.

The 19th bought another horse for the price of fifty Dollars from an inhabitant of Noley Chukey river named ... Earnest, a neighbor of one Andrew Fox. The Magnolia tripetala abounds on the banks of Noley Chukey.

Wednesday 20th of May, passed by Green Court house 27 Miles from John’s Borough and the road to Kentuckey, taking the right hand and passing by ... ferry on the Holston river. Continuing straight on the road leads to Knoxville. By going to the left a little before Green the road leads to Frenchbroad.[91] The distance from John Borough to Green Court house is 27 Miles.

The 21st passed by Bull’s Gap 18 Miles from Green.[92]

The 22nd passed by Iron Works[93] 30 Miles from Bull’s gap. The distance to the river called Houlston river is only four miles. Two miles from Iron Works is a Rock of mineral, pieces whereof on being crushed and reduced to powder dye cotton red; this mineral is boiled etc.

The 23rd as my horse was injured I was obliged to remain a Mile from Iron Works on Mossy Creek at the house of one Newman. Near his house (½ mile) is to be found the mineral that I take to be Antimony.

Sunday 24th, arrived at Colonel King’s on the Houlston river at the place called Macby ferry[94] 15 Miles from Iron Works.

The 25th crossed the ferry and arrived at Knoxville 15 miles from Macby ferry, the residence of the Governor of the Western territories, 110 Miles from Johnsborough.[95] Plants and Trees of the Territory of Knoxville and of the neighboring country: Quercus prinus saxosa; Quercus prinus humilis; Quercus rubra; Quercus proemorsa; Quercus tomentosa; Quercus pinnatifida; Quercus alba ...; Ulmus viscosa; Ulmus fungosa; Fraxinus ...; Diospiros Virginiana; Liquidambar styraciflua; Juglans nigra, alba or oblonga, hiccory pignut. Platanus occidentalis; Nyssa aquatica; Fagus castanea americana; Fagus pumila; Fagus sylvatica americana; Magnolia acuminata; Betula alnus americanus; Cercis Canadensis; Cornus florida; Evonimus latifolius, Evonimus Americanus; Podophyllum peltatum; Jeffersonia; Sanguinaria Canadensis; Trillium sessile.

Remained the whole week at Knoxville and herborised in the vicinity while awaiting a sufficiently numerous caravan to pass through the Wilderness.

Sunday 31st of May received notice that twenty five armed travelers were on the point of arriving at Knoxville.

Monday 1st of June 1795, old style, the journey was again put off.

Thursday 4th of June started from Knoxville and slept 15 miles away at captain Camel’s at the place called Camel [Campbell] station.

Friday the 5th, slept at the place called West Point on Clinch river, a Post of soldiers guarding the frontiers of the territory,[96] 25 Miles from Camel station.

The 6th started and crossed the river in a Scow or ferry connected with West point station. Our journey covered 10 miles. The Travelers consisted of 15 armed men and more than thirty women and children.

Sunday 7th of June crossed the Mountains called Cumberland Mountains, 22 Miles.

The 8th continued our march in the Mountains 23 Miles. Magnolia petalis basi purpureis.[97]

Tuesday 9th of June 1795, alternately ascended and descended the Mountains. In the bottom lands Magnolia tripetala in abundance, 25 Miles.

The 10th arrived at the Cumberland River, 10 Miles, and slept beyond the 20th Mile.

The 11th arrived at Blodsoe Lick or Blodsoe station,[98] 20 Miles. 120 Miles in all of the Wilderness.

Slept at this place where there is food for men and Horses.

Friday the 12th, came one mile to Colonel Winchester’s;[99] slept there two nights to rest myself and my Horse.

Sunday the 14th herborised.

The 15th came to the house of a resident near Cumberland River, Mr. Jackson;[100] soil fertile. Oaks, Quercus prinus: Quercus rubra, Quercus glandibus magnis, capsulâ includentibus, called Overcup White Oak.[101] Quercus tomentosa,[102] Quercus praemorsa. 25 Miles.

The 16th arrived at Nashville 12 Miles.

Total 197 Miles from Knoxville to Nashville, the capital of the Cumberland Settlements on the Cumberland river.[103]

The 17th visited various persons, Daniel Smith,[104] Colonel Robertson,[105] Captain Gordon, [G. M.] Deaderick, Dr White, Thomas Craighead[106] etc. etc.

Herborised on the following days.

Trees of Nashville Territory:

Quercus prinus; Quercus phellos latifolia; Quercus pinnatifida; Quercus foliis lyratis subtus tomentosis calycibus maximis margine laciniatis glandibus includentibus Vulgo; Over cup White Oak;[107] Quercus rubra; Quercus tomentosa; Acer saccharum, Acer negundo, Acer rubrum; Juglans nigra, oblonga, hiccory: Platanus occidentalis; Liquidamber styraciflua; Ulmus viscosa fungosa;[108] Carpinus Ostrya americana; Rhamnus Alaternus latifolius, Rhamnus frangula?[109] frutex prunifer; Juniperus Virginiana. Banks of Cumberland river Philadelphus inodorus; Aristolochia siphotomentosa;[110] Mimosa erecta-herbacea; Mirabilis[111] clandestina seu umbellata seu parviflora; Hypericum Kalmianum grandiflorum.[112]

Soil of Nashville clayey, rocky, limestone Rocks somewhat similar to the Kentuckey formation, position of the Rocks horizontal, occasionally Quartz Veins in the Rocks, abounding in marine petrifactions.

Sunday 21st of June 1795, killed and skinned some birds.

Birds: Robin, Cardinal, Tetrao (grouse), Lanius Tyrannus rare, Quantities of the Genus Muscicopa; few species of the Genus Picus: Wild Turkeys. Quadrupeds: Musk-rat, Beaver, Elk, dwarf Deer, Bears, Buffalos, Wolves, small grey Squirrels.

Minerals: soil clayey. Limestone Rocks always in a horizontal position; impure Slate, flocks of schistus; Petrifactions of land and fresh-water shells.

Monday 22nd of June 1795 (Old style) 4th of Messidor in the 3rd year of the Republic, started from Nashville for Kentuckey; passed by Mansko’s Lick,[113] 12 miles from Nashville; slept at Major Sharp’s[114] 29 Miles from Nashville.

The 23rd crossed the Barren oaks and slept at [Drake’s] Creek. There is no house in the interval. The Soil produces only black oaks. 30 Miles.

The 24th passed by Big Barren River. The man who keeps the Ferry is well supplied with provisions.[115] The distance is 3 Miles from [Drake] Creek.

Crossed the Barrens and slept on the ground without a fire and without allowing my horse to graze at large through fear of the Savages.

The 25th passed by Little Barren River, the first house 43 Miles from Big Barren River. Afterward passed by Green River 6 Miles from Little Barren River.

The 26th passed by Roland [Rolling] fork, head of Salt River, 30 Miles from Green River.

The 27th arrived at Danville 35 Miles from Roland old fork.

From Nashville to Danville, the oldest town in Kentuckey 117 Miles.

Sunday 28th of June rested.

The 29th skinned three striped Squirrels (Sciurus striatus)

The 30th herborised.

Wednesday 1st of July 1795 visited several residents.

The 2nd continued rain.

The 3rd put my old Collections in order.

The 4th

Sunday 5th of July[116]

Sunday 12th of July dined with the Governor of the State of Kentuckey, Isaac Shelby.

Thursday 16th of July 1795 left Danville.

The 17th passed by Beardston forty three Miles from Danville.

The 18th arrived at Stanford’s near Man’s Lick.[117]

Sunday 19th remained to await my Baggage.

The 20th remained, and being obliged to stay, watched the Process of manufacturing Salt. The Wells for getting the salt water are dug to a depth of about ... feet. Muddy clay is met with to a depth of ... feet. Then ... feet of slatey rock. When the rock is pierced the salt water is found at a depth of more than ... feet. This slate burns in the fire as if impregnated with bitumen or entirely made up of that substance. Bones of those great marine bodies that are rather frequently met with on the banks of the Ohio have been found in the impure clay that was dug up to reach the slatey rock.

The 21st of July, arrived at Louisville, 40 Miles from Beardstown.

The 22nd and 23rd remained and herborised.

The 24th returned to Manslick, 16 Miles from Louisville.

The 25th returned to Louisville.

Sunday 26th of July herborised.

Plants in the neighborhood of Louisville: Quercus cerroides,[118] Quercus rubra; Quercus alba; Quercus prinus; Liriodendron; Fagus castanea, Fagus sylvatica; Rhus foliis alatis dioique; Hibiscus[119] foliis hastatis calyce exteriore lacinis subulatis flore pallide roseo.[120]

Saturday first of August made ready to leave for the Wabash and the Illinois.

Sunday the 2nd I was invited to dine with a Frenchman named La Cassagne,[121] a resident of Louisville for more than 15 Years.

Trees, shrubs and Plants of Louisville territory:

Liriodendron tulipifera; Platanus occidentalis; Acer rubrum foliis inferne argenteis; Fagus sylvatica americana; Quercus rubra; Quercus alba, Quercus praemorsa,[122] Quercus prinus, Quercus cerroides;[122] Tilia americana; Juglans nigra, Juglans alba, Juglans hiccory, (Juglans pacane rare); Gleditsia triacanthos, Guilandina dioica.

Sunday 9th of August 1795, started from Louisville and slept at Clarksville,[123] two miles from Louisville on the opposite Bank of the Ohio.

The 10th we set out and arrived at Post Vincennes situate on the Wabash River on Thursday the 13th of August in the evening.[124] The distance is considered to be one hundred and twenty five Miles. On the day of our arrival we crossed a River about 20 miles before reaching Post Vincennes and although the Waters were then very low we were on the point of making a Raft for the Country is not inhabited along this Road. Of all the Journeys I have made in America in the past 10 years this is one of the most difficult owing to the quantity of Trees overturned by storms, to the thick brushwood through which one is obliged to pass; to the numbers of Flies by which one is devoured, etc.

The 14th, 15th and Sunday the 16th of August I was obliged to rest having arrived almost ill. My horse, while trying to jump over the trunk of a large fallen tree, fell and threw me a great distance and I suffered for several days from an injury to the lower part of the Chest on the left side because the trigger of my gun had struck there.

The 17th spent a portion of the day herborising on the banks of the Wabash River.

I continued herborising on the following days.

The 18th of August 1795

List of Plants observed on the Wabash:

No. 1—Verbena[125] urticifolia caule erecto, paniculis divaricatis, bracteis flore brevioribus, floribus albis.

No. 2—Verbena[126] ..., caule erecto, paniculis fastigiatis erectis, bracteis et calycibus pilosis, floribus purpureo-ceruleis.

No. 3—Verbena[127] caule erecto, paniculis rectis foliis ovatis, tomentosis, duplicato-serratis.

No. 4—Verbena ...

No. 5—Verbena[128] caule repente, foliis pinnatifidis, bracteis longissimis.

Silphium perfoliatum, Silphium connatum, Silphium laciniatum, Silphium grandifolium, Silphium trisoliatum, Silphium pinnatifidum. Andropogon muticum; Holcus? ...; Poa ...; Quercus cerroides Chêne frisé, Overcup White Oak; Quercus latifolia Chêne à latte Ram’s Oak; Quercus ... Polygonum aviculare staminibus 5, Stylis 3; Polygonum aviculare majus staminibus 5, Stylis 3. Trifolium? pentandrum majus; Trifolium? pentandrum floribus purpureis; Sanicula[129] marylandica or [called] Racine à Becquel by the Illinois French and Sakintépouah by the Pians[130] Savages: A decoction of the root is a sovereign remedy for several diseases and for long-continued venereal diseases.

Sunday 23rd of August 1795 started from Post Vincennes situated on the Wabash River for the Illinois on the Mississipi. We journeyed six Miles and camped on the bank of a Little River [Embarras]. I had no other company than a Savage and his wife. I had hired the Savage for ten Dollars and promised him two Dollars more to induce him to carry all my baggage on his horse.

The 24th we made about 25 Miles; the Savage was ill and was obliged to stop more than three hours before sunset.

The 25th crossed several Prairies. Observed a new species of Gerardia.[131] Stalk commonly simple, oval leaves opposite one another, sessile, axillary flowers purpurine flowers.

The 26th the Provision of meat was consumed. The Savage stopped very early, finding a favorable spot for hunting. Moreover heavy Rain fell about three o’clock in the afternoon. An hour after camping the Savage came back laden with a Bear cub and with the two hams of another and much older one. We boiled the kettle twice and had enough to satisfy us. We roasted what remained.

The 27th the Savage killed two Stags. We halted very early to dry the Skins and to eat, for the Savage and his wife ate five meals a day. Moreover, they regaled themselves with the marrow of the bones which they ate raw; for, being unable to carry away the meat, they contented themselves with a piece of the animal’s loins.

The 28th of August 1795. Just as I was eager to see Game the 1st and 2nd day, so was I afraid to see it then owing to the waste of time. I was all the more anxious to proceed that it rained every day. I had already been obliged once to dry at a fire my baggage that had been wet through especially four books of Botany and Mineralogy I had with me, as I had been unwilling to expose them to the hazards of the River and had sent by way of the Mississipi two Trunks containing grey Paper, Powder, Lead, Alum, Boxes for collecting Insects, and all the articles required for making Collections of Plants, Animals, Insects and Minerals.

Sunday 30th of August arrived at the village of Kaskaskia[132] situated two mile from the Mississipi river and half a mile from the Kaskaskia River. It is inhabited by former Frenchmen under the American Government. The number of families is about forty five. It is agreeably situated but the number of inhabitants had decreased; nothing is to be seen but houses in ruins and abandoned because the French of the Illinois country, having always been brought up in and accustomed to the Fur trade with the savages, have become the laziest and most ignorant of all men. They live and the majority of them are clothed in the manner of the Savages. They wear no breeches but pass between their thighs a piece of cloth of about one third of an ell [in length] which is kept in place before and behind above the hips by a belt.

The 31st of August herborised.

Tuesday the first of September continued my herborising; also on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of the same.

The 5th started for the village called Prairie du Rocher about 15 miles distant from Kaskaskia.[133] Passed by the village of St Philippe abandoned by the French and inhabited by three families of Americans.[134] This village is 9 Miles from Prairie du Rocher.

The 6th arrived at Kaskia [Cahokia][135] near the Mississipi ... Miles from Prairie du Rocher.

The 7th herborised and visited the neighborhood of Kaskia.

The 8th started to return to Kaskaskia and arrived there on the 9th.

The 10th continued herborising in the vicinity of Kaskaskia Village until the 13th of the same month.

Sunday the 13th of September crossed over with a savage guide to the south bank of the Kaskaskia River and continued to herborise there until the 18th of the same month.

The 18th and 19th Rained continually. Put my Collections in order and gave my horse a rest.

Sunday the 20th ...

Kaskaskia 45 families; Prairie du Rocher from 22 to 24 families. St. Philippe 3 American families. Fort de Chartres in ruins.[136] Kaskias 120 families. Americans at Corne de Cerf and at Bellefontaine[137] 35 families. St Louis flourishing[138] ... Prairies and hills.

Friday 2nd of October started to go by land to the place where the Ohio falls into the Mississipi. Owing to the difficulty experienced in crossing the Kaskaskia river we traveled only 12 Miles.

The 3rd and Sunday the 4th Rained and we crossed several prairies. Traveled about 27 Miles.

The 5th passed more Prairies intersected by strips of Forest. My guide killed an Elk called Cerf by the Canadians and French of Illinois. This animal is much larger (twice as large) than the dwarf Deer of the United States of which there is an abundance also in the Illinois country and which the French of these countries call Chevreuil. Its antlers are twice the size of those of the European Stags. Below each of its two eyes is a cavity which keeps closed but, by separating the two sides like eyelids, one can insert a finger to the depth of an inch. This cavity seems intended for the purpose of secreting some kind of humor. In fact on opening the cavity I found a substance of the form and consistency of a hare’s dropping but of the size of an acorn. This animal has canine teeth in the upper and lower jaw like those of horses, called fangs. The hunters say that this animal is always very fat. In fact this one was exceedingly so. Traveled about 32 Miles.

The 6th entered the forests and crossed several rivers. Traveled ... miles.

The 7th of October 1795 my guide killed a Buffalo which he considered to be about four years old. It seemed to weigh over nine hundred pounds. As it was not very fat my guide told me it was very common to see animals at that age weighing over twelve hundred pounds. It seemed larger than any Oxen in France and to surpass them in length and size.

Thursday the 8th saw another Buffalo thirty toises from our Road. We stopped to look at it. It walked very slowly but after a couple of minutes it stopped and, recognizing us, ran away with extraordinary speed. On the same day arrived at Fort Cheroquis otherwise called Fort Massac by the Americans.[139] 125 Miles.

The 9th of October 1795 herborised on the bank of the Mississipi: Platanus Liquidamber Bonducs, pekan Nut-trees, hiccory Nut-trees, called by the French Noyers durs; prickly Nuts (by the French Noyer amer) round Nuts. White Oak, Quercus alba, Quercus rubra ramosissima, Quercus cerroides (by the French chêne frisé and by the Americans overcup White Oak), Quercus prinus, Quercus integrifolia[140] or Quercus foliis junioribus omnibus et adultis semper integerrimis margine undulatis apice setaceis. This species of oak abounds in the Illinois Country. It loses its leaves later than the other species of Oak. The French inhabitants call it Chêne à lattes. In Lower Carolina it is rather rare but keeps its leaves until the month of February or March. It seems to resemble the green Oak from which it differs in the shape of its acorns.

Nyssa montana rather rare; Gleditsia triacanthos; Robinia pseudoacacia (by the French fevier). The Gleditsia triacanthos is called fevier épineux and the Guilandina dioica Gros fevier and the seeds Gourganes. Note. On the Illinois river is a species or variety of Guilandina dioica whose seeds are twice as big as those on the Banks of the Mississipi, Cumberland etc. Liana Rajanioides; Anonymos[141] ligustroides; Vitis[142] monosperma, this species is found along the Rivers and not in the interior of the forest; I saw it on the Kaskaskia River, on the Mississipi in the vicinity of fort Massac, on the Tenasse river, but it completely covers the banks of the Cumberland river from its mouth to a distance of 45 Miles.

Sunday 11th of October 1795 started with a Guide to ascend the Cumberland (Shavanon) river[143] in a Canoe. The rain compelled us to return.

Tuesday the 13th hired two men at a dollar a day each to ascend the Rivers of the Territory of the Cheroquis Savages. Started from fort Cheroquis or Fort Massac. The distance is six Miles to reach the mouth of the Tenassee River called by the French of Illinois Cheroquis River.[144] This river is very great and very wide. After ascending it about six miles we saw the tracks of a Bear on the bank. We stopped and entered the wood when we came upon a she Bear with cubs. The dog pursued the Mother, the cubs climbed a tree; I killed one and the guides killed the two others. We passed the night at that place.

The 14th very heavy Fog; we made only 5 Miles. Rain began to fall about noon.

The 16th paddled or rowed about ten Miles owing to a heavy Wind that began by a storm the previous evening and continued a part of the day. We camped opposite an Island or Chain of Rocks running nearly across the River. Nevertheless there is a channel on the south Bank that is fairly deep and sufficient for the passage of large boats.

Banks of the Cheroquis river (Tenassee): Platanus; Juglans pacana, Hiccori, pignut; Liquidambar; Quercus rubra, prinus; Anonymos carpinoides; Anonymos ligustroides;[145] Betula austrolis grey-bark Birch,[146] which is found throughout America from Virginia to the Floridas; it differs from the Betula papyrifera; Bignonia catalpa; Ulmus; Fraxinus; Vitis rubra or monosperma; Gleditsia triacanthos; Diospiros; Smilax pseudochina; Bignonia crucigera, radicans; Rajania ... Dioecia 8-dria; Populus Caroliniana, by the French Creoles Liard, and by the Americans Cotton tree. (Note: The Canada Poplar is called by the Canadians Tremble and by the English of Canada Quaking Aspen); Acer rubrum, saccharinum, negundo; Anonymos ligustroides; Anonymos ulmoides.[147]

(The 22nd of June 1795, according to the Gazette the Agents of the French Republic were recognized by President Washington

Philip Joseph Letombe, Consul General

Théodore Charles Mozard, Consul at Boston

Jean Anthony Bern Rosier, Consul at New York

Léon Delaunay, Pennsylvania

Louis Etienne Duhait, Maryland)[148]

The 15th October 1795 herborised.

The 16th descended the river and camped at the mouth of the Shavanon River called Cumberland river by the Americans eighteen Miles from fort Massac; killed a Canada Goose called by the French Canadians and Illinois French Outarde; killed two water-Hens an American kingfisher, an American pelican.

The 17th ascended the River about ten Miles; there were numbers of wild Turkeys on the banks; the Rowers and I killed five from the Canoe in passing, without landing.

The 18th continued on our way toward the upper part of the River.

The 19th descended the river.

Tuesday 20th of October 1795 returned to Fort Cheroquis or Fort Massac.

Trees and Plants in the neighborhood on the Banks of the Ohio.

Platanus occidentalis, by the Americans Sycamore and by the Illinois French cotonnier; Populus, by the Americans Cotton tree and by the Illinois French, Liard; Celtis occidentalis, by the Americans Hackberry tree and by the French Bois inconnu; Liquidambar styraciflua, by the French of Louisiana Copalm and by the Americans....

A Frenchman who traded among the Cheroquis Savages cured himself of the Itch by drinking for ten days a decoction of Chips of that tree which he called Copalm and which is the true Liquidambar; Gleditsia triacanthos, fevier (bean-plant) by the French and sweet locust by the Americans.

Guilandina dioica.[149]

Sunday 25th of October 1795 Spiraea trifoliata is a purgative used by the Savages and by the Illinois French. They call it Papiconah. In the neighborhood of Fort Cheroquis is found also the Geranium called herbe or rather Racine à Becquet which is given for chronic Diseases during several weeks; Veronica virginica called by the French herbe à quatre feuilles (four-leaved grass) is often added.

Sunday first of November I was obliged to defer my departure, my Horse not having been found.

Friday the 6th my Horse was brought back to the Fort and I at once made ready to start for the Illinois. Started the same day and journeyed about 18 Miles.

The 7th the Rain began early in the morning and continued all day. Remained camped under a Rock where I had stopped the previous day with my Guide.

Sunday the 8th traveled through woods and Hills.

The 9th, the same.

The 10th arrived toward evening at the Prairies.

The 11th crossed the Prairies.

The 12th toward evening Re-entered the Woods once more and slept 7 Miles from Kaskaskia river.

The 13th arrived before breakfast at Kaskaskia about 130 Miles from Fort Massac.

The 13th of November I rested.

Sunday the 14th went out to hunt Canada Geese.

The 15th put my Collections of seeds in order.

The 16th same occupation.

The 17th I went Hunting.

Thursday 18th started for Prairie du Rocher.

The 19th Duck Hunting.

The 20th Goose Hunting.

Sunday 22nd paid visits.

The 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th visited the Mountains of Rock bordering on the inhabited Country; Opossums, Raccoons, aquatic Birds etc.

Sunday 29th of November went to the Village of St Philippe called the Little Village.

The 30th visited Fort de Chartres.

Tuesday the 1st of December started for Kaskaskias and remained there.

The 2nd and 3rd of the same Made arrangements with Richard[150] to go by water to Cumberland.

The 4th returned to Prairie du Rocher.

The 5th prepared to start. Stuffed a white-headed wild Goose.

The 6th started once more for Kaskaskias.

The 7th confirmed once more in my opinion that the Second Bark of Celtis occidentalis (called in the Illinois country Bois connu and toward New Orleans Bois inconnu) is an excellent remedy for curing jaundice; a handful of the roots or leaves of Smilax sarsaparilla is added to it; it is used for about eight days as a decoction.

The 8th of December 1795. The French Creoles call the species of Smilax found in the Illinois country, Squine. Only the thorny species grows there; it loses its leaves in the Autumn. The other species is herbaceous and climbing.

The 9th of December. The root of Fagara as a decoction is a powerful remedy for curing disease of the Spleen. I have no doubt that the root of Zanthoxilum clava-Herculi can be used for obstructions of the liver and Spleen.

The 10th: Bignonia Catalpa,[151] by the French Creoles Bois Shavanon; Cercis canadensis, Bois noir (black wood); Liriodendron tulipifera, Bois jaune (yellow wood); Nyssa, Olivier (olive). In making Wheels for vehicles the workmen use the Wood of Padus Virginiana for the felloes, Elm for the Naves and white oak for the Spokes.

The 11th of December. Confirmed once more in my opinion that the root of Veronica Virginiana, vulgarly known as Herbe à quatre feuilles (four-leaved grass), used as a decoction for a month, is effective for the cure of venereal Diseases. Four or five of the roots are boiled. As this beverage is purgative the strength of this Ptisan must be increased or reduced by putting more or less according to the effect it has on one. It is sufficient for the first days that the bowels be relaxed and looser than usual; it is not unusual that the bowels be moved 3 or 4 times the first day.

I was informed at Illinois that Mackey a Scotchman and Even a Welshman, started at the end of July 1795 from St Louis to ascend the Missouri in a 4 oared Barge. They are aided by a Company whereof Charles Morgan, a creole from the Islands, is Manager.[152]

December the [12th] 1795.

Sunday the 13th made my preparations for the journey to Cumberland.

The 14th started for Cumberland; passed the Salt spring on Spanish territory. Observed Tagetoides. Learned the news of the peace between France and Spain. Slept six miles from the Salt spring. Observed on the banks of the Mississipi river Equisetum which the French Creoles call Prêle. This Plant has here a circumference of nearly one inch and the stalk is 4 feet high.

The 15th passed Cape St Côme[153] at the foot of which the Mississipi makes an angle. Fish is caught here in abundance; the distance from Kaskaskia is eighteen Miles. Camped at Girardeau[154] 17 leagues from Kaskaskia.

The 16th continued for 6 hours with Hills and Rocks on the shores of the river, then low land. We camped at the place where the Belle Rivière [Ohio] falls into the Mississipi. On the opposite bank was camped Governor Don Gayoso, Governor of Natchez and upper Louisiana.[155] He sent a Boat to find out who we were and, learning that I was a passenger, he came to see me. He told me the news of the Peace between France and Spain. He offered me his services. The distance from Cape Girardeau to the Mouth of the Belle Rivière is eighteen leagues and in all 35 leagues from Illinois.

The 17th camped at a distance of about 7 leagues.

The 18th arrived near Fort Massac; seven leagues.

The 19th camped opposite the Mouth of the River Cheroquis or Tenasse.

Sunday the 20th passed by la Pacanière; this is an extensive Swamp on the North West side bordered by Pekan Nut-trees situate opposite or rather a little before entering the Cumberland River.

The same day Sunday 20th of December, entered the River Shavanon or Cumberland River the mouth of which is six long leagues from Fort Massac. Slept two leagues above the Mouth.

The 21st rowed about 8 leagues.

The 22nd rowed about 7 leagues, and slept at the great Eddy which is considered to be at a distance of forty five miles from the mouth.[156]

The 23rd we camped above the Isle aux Saules (Willow Island); rowed about 12 Miles or 4 leagues.

The 24th remained in camp. Rained all day. The River which was very easy to navigate until today, rose considerably and flooded the woods.

The 25th Rain continued to fall mixed with hail. Remained in Camp.

The 26th Remained in camp on account of the rising of the river whose current was too strong.

Sunday 27th of December 1795. rowed about 4 Miles only owing to the difficulty of rowing against the current of the river. Camped at the mouth of Little River.

The 28th crossed to the opposite bank. The current was as rapid as on the previous days and compelled us to camp. White frost.

The 29th it again Rained heavily. Remained in camp.

The 30th the River having overflowed and flooded all parts of the woods, we shifted camp and returned to the Little river; we ascended it until we came to a Hill high enough to relieve us from the fear of being flooded. Rain.

The 31st the weather became clear, the wind shifted to the North but the river continued to overflow its banks. Most of us went hunting wild Turkeys.

Friday first of January 1796. Wind from the north; Frost; the River rose one inch during the night.

In the vicinity of Little river, the Country has Hills scattered here and there. Soil clayey, very rich Mould, Rock consisting of Silex very slightly ferruginous. Blue Limestone.

Animals: Raccoons, dwarf Deer, Opossums, Buffaloes, Bears, grey Squirrels, Beaver, Otter, Musk-rats (these three species very rare).

Birds: Ravens, Owls of the large species, Cardinals, blue Jays; green Parroquets with yellow heads of the small species; Jays with red heads and throats.

Trees and Plants: Liriodendron; Liquidambar; yellow chestnut Oak, red Oak; Annona; horn-bean.

The 2nd of January, still remained in camp at the same spot. Weather cloudy. The River fell two inches only.

Sunday the 3rd Heavy wind. Nyassa montana is called by the French Creoles Olivier Sauvage and by the Kentucky Americans Black Gum tree and by the Pennsylvania Americans Tupelo. Having nothing to do I made ink with gall nuts which I gathered on the Oaks in the vicinity of the spot where we were camped. It was made in less than five minutes and will serve me as a sample. In the neighborhood of Little river Liriodendron; Liquidambar; Carpinus ostrya; Ulmus fungosa; Padus Virginiana minor; Laurus benzoin etc.

The 4th rowed about 4 or 5 Miles. Camped near rather high Hills consisting of shifting soil and rolled boulders. Carpinus ostrya; Ulmus fungosa; Padus Virginiana minor; Philadelphus inodorus; Nyssa montana, by the Americans Black gum; Acer rubrum; Viscum parasite; Fagus Americana and Orobanche Virginiana a parasite on the roots of the Fagus Americana; Betula spuria[157] called by the French Bouleau bâtard.

Tuesday 5th of January 1796 we rowed 7 Miles and camped opposite Diev Island 12 Miles from Little River.

The 6th the snow that fell during the night had cooled the weather. Steep limestone Rocks from the place where we were camped continuing for about a Mile on the east bank. Rowed about 8 Miles.

The 7th The River fell 19 inches during the night; as the frost had lowered the water this led us to hope that it would be easier to row against the current of this river which is naturally hemmed in between Hills. Rowed about 8 Miles.

The 8th the river fell 19 inches during the night. Passed by the Island of the boundary line between Cumberland and Kentuckey.

Plants on the Banks: Platanus occidentalis; Betula australis or spuria; Acer rubrum; Ulmus Americana; Fraxinus; Salix on the low Islands; Anonymos ligustroides. Rowed about 10 Miles.

The 9th the river fell nearly five feet during the night. We rowed about ten Miles.

Sunday 10th of January the River fell 4 feet during the night. Continual Rain and Snow. Passed Yellow Creek 16 Miles before reaching Clark’s ville. Passed Blowming grove (?) 13 Miles before reaching Clark’s ville. Rocks and Hills. Passed Dixon Island (?) 10 Miles before reaching Clark’s ville and at present the most remote Settlement of Cumberland territory. This Settlement consists of fifteen families who established themselves there three months ago. The chief place of this settlement is called Blount’s borough or Blount’s ville.

The 11th Rained all the previous night and a portion of the day. Passed by a chain of Hills and by a rock called Red painted rock on the right side of the River that is to say on the north bank of the river 2 Miles from Clark’s ville. Afterwards passed by the red river whose mouth is likewise on the north side and a quarter of a mile from Clark’s ville. Finally arrived at Clark’s ville.[158]

The 12th of January 1796, remained at Clark’s ville on account of the river rising.

The 13th Doctor Brown of Carolina who had come to found this new town Blount’s borough 10 Miles above Clark’s ville, was at the latter place.[159]

The 15th bought a horse at the price of one hundred Dollars.

The 16th departed; my horse ran away and I caught him 6 Miles from Clark’s ville at the Mill, 10 Miles.

Sunday the 17th dined 10 Miles from Nashville at Ebneston’s a quarter of a Mile from the Mill at the house of an old Pennsylvanian, an educated man well informed as regards foreign news.[160] Slept at Crokes 18 Miles from Ebneston. The Widow Martin lives near there and her house is better for travelers.

The 18th passed the Ridges, 15 Miles, without seeing any houses as far as White Creek. Old Stumps[161] lives 5 miles from White Creek.

The 19th started from Stumps’ and arrived at Nashville 5 Miles.

Total from Clark’s ville to Nashville 54 Miles by land and 70 Miles by water.

From St Louis to Kaskaskias | 94 |
From Kaskaskias to the place where the Ohio falls into the Mississipi | 95 | Miles
From there to fort Massac | 45 | Miles
From there to the mouth of the Cumberland river | 18 | Miles
From there to Clark’s ville on the red river | 120 | Miles
From there to Nashville | 60 | Miles
Total 432 Miles | 432 |

(Prices at Nashville): Dinner 2 shillings, Breakfast or supper 1 shilling 4 pence; ½ Quart of Whiskey 1 shilling. Hay and maize for Horse 2 shillings. The whole is six Shillings for one Dollar.

The 20th, 21st, and 22nd remained at Nashville.

The 23rd started from Nashville and journeyed 29¾ Miles; lodged with Major Sharp.

Sunday the 24th of January 1796 arrived at a Creek at a distance of 29 Miles near which one Chapman keeps lodgings at 3½ Miles; MacFaddin on Big Brown [Barren] keeps a ferry and lodgings. Total 32½ Miles.

The 25th Rain and Snow.

The 26th Started for Green river. The ground was covered with snow, the Roads rough and my horse fell lame. I was obliged to walk. I made 12 miles. I was unable to light a fire because the trees and wood were all frosted. I spent the night nearly frozen. About 2 o’clock the Moon rose and I resolved to return to MacFaddin’s where I arrived at 10 o’clock in the morning.

The 27th being overcome by cold and weariness, having traveled afoot, having eaten nothing since the morning of the previous day and not having slept during the night, the toes of my right foot became inflamed. I bathed my feet in cold water several times during the following night and no sores resulted therefrom but for several days the toes were numb and as if deprived of sensation.

The 28th I was compelled to go a distance of seven Miles to get my horse shod and I went to sleep at Mr. Maddison’s whose plantation was close by.

The 29th of January 1796 I started very early in the morning as I had 38 Miles to travel without coming to an inn or other habitation. I had been received with all the civility that can be expected from a man who has had a higher education than the other inhabitants of the country. This Mr Maddisson was a Virginian and a relative of the celebrated Madisson, Member of Congress. This gentleman was a true Republican in his principles and I spent a very interesting and very pleasant evening at his house.[162] His wife surpassed him in offering me every service that hospitality could suggest, which is seldom met with in America except in the case of persons better educated than the common people. That Lady suggested that I should wear heavy woollen socks over my shoes. She herself cut me out a pair and I was so surprised at the comfort I derived from them on the following days that I resolved never to travel in the season of snow and frost without taking the precaution to have a pair in my Porte Monteau. In the evening I came to a place three Miles from Green river and slept at the house of one Walter; I slept on the floor and my horse in the open air; but I was accustomed to this.

The 30th I crossed the Green river ferry in the morning. The cold was excessive and such as had not been felt for Many years. At 9 Miles I passed by Bacon Creek and the Cabin of a man but recently settled there and who was unprovided with everything, even Maize, needed for the sustenance of his household. At 22 Miles from Green River is the House of one Ragon and I hurried on to reach some better habitations before night. 26 Miles from Green River I perceived a House 200 toises[163] from the Road situate on the bank of a Creek. The inhabitant was a German who had been settled there only a year; he had a good stable, was well supplied with fodder of wheat, straw, and Maize leaves for my horse, and I ate Wheat bread for the first time since I had left Illinois. My supper consisted of bread and milk and I found myself very well treated. The name of my host was George Cloes; a German by Birth; his house is situated on the South fork of Nolin river.

Sunday the 31st passed by Huggins mill[164] on Nolin river (good lodgings); at a quarter of a Mile the road on the right hand leads to Beardston. At 2½ Miles the new cut road is straight. At 9 Miles passed by Rolling fork and 4 Miles further slept at Mr. Scoth’s on Beech fork.

Monday 1st of February 1796 passed by Dr Smith’s house 8 Miles from Beech fork and by Mackinsy 9 Miles from Beech fork. From Mac Kinsy to Long Lake 6 Miles. From Longlake to Sheperdston on Salt river 4 miles.[165] From Shepperdston to Standeford 9 Miles (good inn). From Standeford to Prince Old station 8 Miles. From Prince to Louisville 6 Miles.

The 2nd started from Prince’s and arrived at Louisville. 3½ Miles before arriving measured a Liriodendron tulipifera on the left hand road whose size was twenty two feet in circumference, making more than seven feet in diameter. (Correspondent of Monsieur La Cassagne and St. James Bauvais at New Orleans Monsieur Serpe Trader at New Orleans.[166] Correspondent of Monsieur La Cassagne at Philadelphia Geguir and Holmes, Merchants, Philadelphia. Prices: Dinner 1 shilling 6 pence; Supper and Breakfast 1 shilling 6 pence; Lodging 9 shillings; ½ quart of Brandy 2 shillings 3 pence; Horse per day on hay and maize 3 shillings 9 pence.)

The 3rd, 4th and 5th remained at Louisville, being occupied in gathering together the Collections I had left with one La Cassagne.

The 6th I saw General Clarke and he informed me of the visit of Colonel Fulton who had come from France a few months previously.[167]

Sunday the 7th breakfasted with General Clarke’s Father whose house is 4 miles from Louisville. I wanted to obtain more ample information regarding Lieutenant-Colonel Foulton. I was told that he was to proceed to Philadelphia immediately after having gone to Georgia. That he was to embark for France and hoped to return to America at the end of this summer 1796. The same day, I started to return to Nashville. Slept at Standeford. 14 Miles from Louisville. (Supper 1 shilling, Bed 6 pence. Hay for the horse for the night 1 shilling. Maize 8 quarts 1 shilling 4 pence.)

Monday 8th of February 1796. (Breakfast 1 shilling) Passed by Sheperdston 9 Miles from Standeford. Maize for horse 3 quarts, 9 Pence, Virginia money, as in all parts of Kentuckey and Cumberland. Passed by Long lake, where Salt is made as well as at Sheperdston and slept at Mackinsy’s 7 Miles from Longlake.

In swampy places in the vicinity of Longlake: Quercus alba; Quercus cerroides; Fraxinus ...; Nyssa; Laurus benjoin; Sassafras; Mitchella repens; Fagus sylvatica americana.

On the hills: Pinus[168] foliis geminis conis oblongis minoribus squamis aculeis retrocurvis. Saw planks of this tree at the house of an inhabitant; the wood seemed to me almost as heavy as that of the three leaved Pine of Carolina. Tar is also made of it in this part of Kentucky.

The 9th I started very early in the morning from Mackinsy’s. I had been very well received there that is to say he gave me a supper of boiled Pork; the same for breakfast. My horse fared very well on Maize fodder and in a Stable that was not muddy like all those in America when one lodges with Americans or with Irish.

I paid 3 shillings, being 1 shilling 6 pence for my horse and as much for myself. I had paid 5 shillings for my lodging the previous night and had not been so well satisfied. As the daughter of this house was the smartest of any I had ever seen in America I gave her a quarter of a Dollar and the old man offered me a stuffed Tongue but I thanked him, not being fond of salt meat.

It began to rain an hour after I started but I was fortunate enough to pass Beechford and Rollingford. 13 Miles from Mackinsy’s.

I was obliged to stop at the house of an inhabitant a Mile and a half from the crossing and the Rain compelled me to pass the night there.

In the neighborhood there is Liriodendron with yellow wood and in some parts Liriodendron with white wood. The inhabitants prefer the yellow variety.

Wednesday 10th of February 1796, I had supped the previous evening on Tea made from the shrub called Spice-wood. A handful of young twigs or branches is set to boil and after it has boiled at least a quarter of an hour sugar is added and it is drunk like real Tea. There was no Milk at the time and I was told that Milk makes it much more agreeable to the taste. This beverage restores strength and it had that effect for I was very tired when I arrived. This shrub is the Laurus Benjoin Linn. The Illinois French call it Poivrier and the hunters season their meat with some pieces of its wood.

In the vicinity grows a plant[169] of the Orchis family whose leaf remains all winter. There are seldom two; the form is oval, furrowed, entire; the root bears two or three very viscous bulbs. It is used in the Country to mend broken crockery. It is called Adam and Eve. This plant is more common in the rich low lands of the territory West of the Allegany Mountains. I have also seen it in Lower Carolina but it is very rare there. It is not rare in Illinois.

Rain continued to fall all day and I was obliged to spend the night in a house near Nolin Creek because the river had overflowed its banks.

The 11th arrived at Huggins’s 12 Miles from Rollinford.

The 12th passed through a Country covered with grass and Oaks which no longer exist as forests, having been burned every year. These lands are called Barren lands although not really sterile. The grasses predominate: Salix pumila, Quercus nigra and Quercus alba called Mountain White Oak. Gnaphalium dioicum also grows there in abundance. It is called by the Americans White Plantain.

The same day 12th of February 1796 passed by Bacon Creek, a new settlement 19 Miles from Huggins Mill and arrived at Green river 9 Miles from Bacon Creek. Slept 3 Miles further on at the house of one Walter.

The 13th of February traveled 37 Miles without seeing a House through the lands called Barren lands. The Salix pumila that grows there in abundance is the same as that which is very common in the Illinois prairies as one leaves Vincennes Post to go to Kaskaskia. Slept beyond the Big Barren river.

Sunday the 14th traveled about 30 Miles. In all the Houses the children were suffering from Hooping Cough. This disease probably results from a simple Cold but the reprehensible system of living continually on salt and smoked meat fried in the pan produces those acrid humors that render expectoration more difficult.

The 15th traveled 27 Miles and arrived at Nashville. Supper, bed and breakfast 2 shillings.

The 16th started to go and visit Colonel Hays[170] a wealthy inhabitant to whom I had been recommended the previous year by Governor Blount, Governor of the Country known under the name of Western territories, South west of the Ohio. This Country, which is estimated to have 60 Thousand inhabitants, in consequence of the considerable annual immigration and of the rapid increase of population, has just been erected into a State governed by its own representatives under the new name of the State of Tennesee from the name of a very large river that runs through the whole Houlston Country, the Cumberland Country, the Country of the Cheroquis Indians and other adjacent countries. This large river falls into the Ohio 9 Miles above fort Massac. It was known by the French, who were the first to discover the Countries in the interior of North America, under the name of Cheroquis River and it is so designated on the French Maps. I met at Colonel Hays’s several inhabitants of the neighborhood who came to confer upon current matters in connection with the election of new civil and military Officers.

The 17th and 18th of February 1796 remained at Colonel Hays’ on account of bad weather.

The 19th concluded the bargain for the purchase of a Horse to convey the baggage, Collections of Plants, Birds and other Things I had brought from Illinois and recently from Kentuckey. Returned the same day to sleep at Nashville.

The 20th spent the entire day in getting my collections together and in packing them. Saw some French voyageurs who spend all their lives in the Trade with the Savages and asked the Terms on which I could obtain a Guide to go up the Missouri river. One of them named ... told me he would willingly engage for a year for the sum of 500 dollars in furs that is to say 1000 dollars in money; another asked me 2000 dollars in money.

Sunday the 21st prepared for my journey.

The 22nd had my two horses shod.

The 23rd started and after making two Miles was obliged to return on account of....

The 25th started to return to Carolina and slept 10 Miles away at the house of Colonel Mansko, a declared enemy of the French because, he said, they have killed their King. Although I had not dined I would not accept his supper believing that a Republican should not be under obligations to a fanatical partisan of Royalty. I was greatly mortified that the night and the rain should compel me to remain in his House. But I slept on my Deer skin and paid for the Maize he supplied me with to cross the Wilderness.

The 26th

Sunday 28th of February 1796 stopped ten miles from the river on account of the Rain and because the Creeks had overflowed their banks.

The 29th in the evening crossed the Creeks and slept in the Wood near the road at a place where Reeds or Canes were growing in abundance. This species of grass which grows abundantly in many places which have not been settled, is destroyed when completely eaten by Cattle; Swine also destroy it by rooting in the earth and breaking the roots. The stalk is sometimes as thick as a goose quill, but in the rich lands bordering on the rivers and between the mountains, some stalks are as much as 2 and even three inches in diameter; the height is sometimes from 25 to 30 feet. This grass is ramose but it seldom bears fruit in the territory of Kentuckey, in that of Tenesee or in that of the Carolinas. This grass begins in the southern and maritime portion of Virginia. Further South as in the Carolinas, in the Floridas and in Lower Louisiana, this grass is found in abundance.[171]

Snow fell throughout the night and on the following morning my two Horses that had been tied had their legs swelled in consequence of the cold and of the continually muddy roads over which I had traveled the previous day.

The 1st of March 1796 arrived at Fort Blount situated on the Cumberland River.[172] Snow continued to fall during a part of the day.

The 2nd remained over in order to pull young Shoots of a new Sophora[173] I had remarked in the vicinity of Fleen’s [Flinns] creek about 12 Miles from the Fort. Snow covered the ground and I was unable to get any young Shoots but Captain Williams, the young [officer] stationed in the Fort cut down some trees and I found some good seeds.

I also pulled up some roots of those trees to replant them in my garden in Carolina.

The same day I had occasion to write to Governor Blount.

The 3rd of March continued my journey; crossed Fleen’s Creek several times. Saw again the small bulbous umbelliferous plant I had remarked some days previously. Toward evening the road was less muddy.

The 4th arrived at the Mountains called Cumberland mountains.

The 5th passed several Creeks and Rivers on which is an abundance of a climbing Fern of the genus....[174]

The land through which these rivers flow is less fertile than the territory of Nashville or Cumberland settlement and two-leaved Pines are found there in abundance.

Sunday 6th of March 1796 arrived at West Point on the Clinch River.

The 7th slept at a distance of 15 Miles near the junction of the Houlston river with that called Tenesee.

The 8th arrived at Knoxville.

The 9th Dined with Governor William Blount.

The 10th took my lodgings in the house of Captain Louné near the Cumberland river.[175]

The 11th herborised on the opposite bank bordered by steep rocks covered with Saxifrage, bulbous umbellifera etc.

The 12th continued to herborise.

Sunday the 13th, Visited Captain Richard, Commandant of the garrison.

The 14th herborised; saw in bloom, Anemone hepatica; Claytonia Virginica; Sanguinaria.

Saw a new genus of Plant designated by Linnaeus Podophyllum diphyllum and discovered some years ago in Virginia while passing by Fort Chissel. This Plant is less rare in the fertile lands of Kentuckey and Cumberland. It is found in the neighborhood of Knoxville. Dr Barton[176] called it Jeffersonia in a description he gave of this Plant after seeing the flower of the Shoots I had brought back to Philadelphia in the hands of the Botanist Bartram.[177] The time when the plant flowers in the neighborhood of Knoxville is about the 10th of March.

The 15th received the Letter from Governor Blount in answer to that I had written him respecting the discovery of a new Sophora in the neighborhood of fort Blount. Started the same day and slept at a distance of 7 Miles. Paid 2 shillings 3 pence for Supper and for Maize and fodder for the Horses. Bundle of fodder 2 pence.

The 16th of March 1796 slept a mile from Iron Works at the house of Mr Rice, Lawyer, 30 Miles from Knoxville. Observed in bloom: Ulmus viscosa, Acer rubrum ♂ flower on one individual and ♀ flower on another tree.

The 17th slept near Bull’s gap 30 Miles from Iron Works.

The 18th passed by Lick creek and by Green court house 18 Miles from Bull’s gap.

The 19th passed by Johnsborough 25 Miles from Green [ville]. Several merchants are established at Johnsborough who obtain their goods from Philadelphia by land.

Sunday the 20th started from Johnsborough. Saw in passing Mr Overton of Kentuckey,[178] Major Carter of Wataga[179] at whose house I had lodged several years previously with my son, and Colonel Avery.

Sunday 20th of March 1796 saw in bloom Corylus americana, ♀ flower having the Styles or Stigmas of a purpurine color. Ulmus viscosa geminis aureis floribus 4-5-6-andris, stigmatibus purpureis. Acer rubrum ♂ flower on one individual and ♀ flower on another. Slept at Colonel Tipton’s 10 Miles from Johnsborough.

The 21st remarked that the Mountains were covered in several places with Sanguinaria, Claytonia and Erythronium with spotted leaves. These Plants were in bloom. Magnolia acuminata et auriculata; Rhododendron; Kalmia; Pinus abies canadensis, Pinus strobus; Azalea etc. etc. grow in abundance at the foot of those Mountains. Arrived at Lime Stone cove and slept at Charles Collier’s 18 Miles from Colonel Tipton’s.

The 22nd crossed Iron Mountain and arrived at night at David Becker’s, 23 Miles without seeing a house.

The 23rd started from Becker’s on Cane Creek to Rider’s 6 Miles; from Rider’s to Widow Nigh’s 7 Miles; from Nigh’s to Samuel Ramsey’s 2 Miles; from Ramsey’s to David Cox’s on Paper Creek 4 Miles and from Cox’s to Young’s 1 Mile; from Sam Ramsey’s to Davinport’s 8 Miles.[180] Total 23 Miles. Slept at Davinport’s. Remarked the Salix capreoides in flower on the banks of the streams.

The 24th visited the high Mountains opposite Davinport’s house; pulled up several hundred Shoots: Azalea lutea fulva; Anonymos azaleoides. Rhododendron minus etc.

The 25th of March 1796. Saw in flower the Corylus cornuta,[181] amentis [male] geminis quandoque solitariis squamis ciliatis; antheris apice ciliates, stylis coccineis.

This species flowers about 15 days later than the species of Corylus americana found in all the Climates of North America even in lower Carolina in the neighborhood of Charleston. The Corylus cornuta is found only on the highest mountains and in Canada. Corylus americana amentis [male] solitariis squamis externe tomentosis margine nudâ; floris [female] stylis coccineis.

The 26th herborised and pulled Shoots of shrubs and fresh Shoots to transport them to the garden of the Republic in Carolina.

Sunday 27th of March....

The 28th prepared and packed my Collection of fresh Mountain Plants.

The 29th started from Davinport’s and slept at the house of ... Young. Violet with dentate reniform leaves, villous petiole and yellow flower in full bloom on the banks of streams and very cool places.

The 30th continued my journey and by mistake took a road to the right leading to Wilkes [County]. Another Viole lutea scopus foliosus foliis hastatis in flower in cool places and also less damp places. This one is a little more tardy than the previous one.[182]

The 31st arrived at Colonel Avery’s and slept at Morganton or Burke Court house.

Friday 1st of April 1796, started from Morganton. Slept at Robertson’s, formerly Henry Waggner’s, 30 Miles from Morganton.

The 2nd of April Epigea repens in full bloom as on previous days; on several individuals all the female flowers were without rudiments of Stamens while on other individuals all the flowers were hermaphrodites. Arrived at noon at the house of Christian Reinhart near Lincoln. Remained all day to pull shoots of the Spiraea tomentosa that grow in swampy spots.

Sunday 3rd of April arrived at Bennet Smith’s 12 Miles from Lincoln; remained all day to pull shoots of a new Magnolia[183] with very large leaves, auriculate, oblong, glaucous, silky, especially the young leaves; the buds very silky; Flowers white Petals with a base of a purple color. Stamens yellow etc. Along the Creek on the bank of which this Magnolia grows I also saw the Kalmia latifolia, Viola lutea, foliis hastatis; Ulmus viscosa then in process of fructification; Halesia; Stewartia pentagyna.

The 4th started and crossed Tuck-a-segee ford on the Catawba[184] river 10 Miles from Bennet Smith’s. Took the road to the left instead of passing by Charlotte and slept 11 Miles from Catawba river.[185]

The 5th of April 1796 at a distance of 12 Miles took once more the road leading from Cambden to Charlotte.[186]

Took Shoots of Calamus aromaticus that grows in damp places in the neighborhood of Charlotte and of Lincoln. Rhus pumila. Slept near Waxsaw Creek in South Carolina about 35 Miles from Tuck-a-Segee ford.

The 6th at the house of Colonel Crawford near Waxsaw Creek: anonymous Plant with leaves quaternate, perfoliate, glabrous, entire. This same Plant grows in the Settlements of Cumberland and in Kentuckey. Frasera foetida.[187]

Passed by Hanging Rock; the distance from Waxsaw to Hanging Rock is 22 Miles. To go to Morganton or Burke Court house one should not pass by Charlotte, but take the Road to the left 3½ Miles from Hanging Rock.

About 20 Toises after leaving the fork of the two roads (one of which leads to Charlotte) one sees the Anonymous[188] shrub with a red root which has the appearance of the Calycanthus. This shrub is the one I saw in the vicinity of Morganton. Slept near Hanging Rock.

Thursday 7th of April 1796 arrived at Cambden; five or six Miles before arriving there pulled Shoots of a new Kalmia seen some years previously. The distance from Hanging Rock to Cambden is 26 Miles.

Friday 8th of April started from Cambden, passed by State’s borough 22 Miles from Cambden and slept at Manchester 30 Miles from Cambden.

The 9th my Horses strayed away during the night, having broken the Fence within which they were placed.

In the streams: Callitriche americana; fructificatio simplex, axillaris sessilis, Calyx 2-phyllus, stamen unicum; filamentum longum, latere geminis germen duplex? styli duo longitudine staminis, stigmata acuta.

Silene ... calyx 5-fidus cylindricus, corolla Petala 5 (or 5-partita usque ad basim) unguibus angustis, laciniis planis apice obtusis; Stamina 10 basi corolla inserta; Germen oblongum. Styli tres; stigmata acuta; Capsula unilocularis, semina plura numerosa, flores rosei.[189]

Started in the afternoon and slept at 15 Miles having crossed 10 Miles of sand called Santee High Hills in the space of which observed Phlox; Silene ...; Dianthus ... in flower; Lupinus perennis et pilosus in flower.

Sunday 10th of April 1796 arrived at the Santee River at the place called Manigault ferry; before arriving there observed Verbena (aubletia?) and on the banks of the Santee, arbor Anonymous whose fruit (muricatis) covered with soft points, was almost ripe.[190] Manigault ferry is 28 Miles from Manchester.

Two miles further on one takes the road to the right called Gaillard road which is shorter than the ordinary road but muddy in winter. Slept at the house of the Widow Stuard 18 Miles from Manigault ferry. Tavern dirty and without a supply of fodder for Horses.

The 11th started very early; at a distance of 5 Miles remarked Lupinus perennis and Lupinus pilosus in flower. Distance from Charleston 40 to 43 Miles. Arrived at the garden of the Republic 37 Miles from the Widow Stuard’s that is to say 47 Miles from Charleston.

Recapitulation of the journey from Illinois to Charleston.
From St Louis of the Illinois to Kaskias | 4 | Miles
To the village of St Philippe | 45 |
To the Prairie du Rocher | 9 |
To Kaskaskias | 45 |
To the junction of the Mississipi and Belle Rivière | 95 |
To Fort Massac | 45 |
To the Junction of the Cumberland and Belle Rivière | 18 |
To Clark’s ville on the red river | 120 |
To Nashville | 60 |
To Bloodshed’s lick[191] | 30 |
To Fort Blount on the Cumberland river | 40 |
To West Point on the Clinch river | 90 |
To Knoxville on the Houlston river | 40 |
From Knoxville to Iron Works | 30 |
To Bull’s gap | 30 |
To Green’s ville | 25 |
To John’s borough | 25 |
To Colonel Tipton’s | 10 |
To Limestone cove | 18 |
To David Becker’s beyond the Mountain called Iron mountain | 23 |
From Backer’s to Young’s | 20 |
To Morganton or Burke | 22 |
To Robertson’s | 30 |
To Lincoln | 16 |
To Tuck a Segee | 22 |
To Wax Saw Creek | 35 |
To Hanging Rock | 22 |
To Cambden | 26 |
To Manchester | 30 |
To Manigault ferry | 28 |
To Charleston | 70 |
Total | 1123 | Miles
374⅓ leagues

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Edmond Charles Genet (Genest) was born at Versailles about 1765. His father was a diplomat who was interested in English literature, and who welcomed the American coterie in Paris to his home. Henrietta Genet, later Madame Campan, was first lady of honor to Queen Marie Antoinette; her brother was chosen at the early age of twenty-four, secretary—later, chargé d’affaires—to the French embassy at St. Petersburg. His dispatches thence were of so republican a tone, that in 1792 he was commissioned minister of the new French republic, to Holland; but late in the same year was chosen for the mission to the United States, where he arrived April 8, 1793. His career in America is well known. After his commission was revoked, Genet became a naturalized American citizen, married a daughter of Governor Clinton of New York, and died at Jamaica, Long Island, in 1834.—Ed.

[2] Humeau and Le Blanc appear to have been agents of Genet, assisting in this revolutionary movement. Nothing is known of the former. Le Blanc was a citizen of New Orleans, well-affected to the French revolutionary cause. He was to have been made mayor of New Orleans, when that city should fall into the hands of the revolutionists. See American Historical Association Report, 1896, pp. 1049, 1050.—Ed.

[3] For a description of the left-hand or southern branch of the road, known as “The Old Glade,” see Harris’s Journal, post.—Ed.

[4] Evident error; perhaps 320 was intended.—C. S. S.

The distance in reality by this route was somewhat less than this.—Ed.

[5] Hugh H. Brackenridge was at this time the most prominent lawyer in Pittsburg, whither he had come in 1781, after graduating at Princeton and serving as chaplain in the regular army. Brackenridge was a Scotch-Irishman, and a Democrat in politics; therefore he sympathized with the uprising known as the Whiskey Rebellion, and wrote a work in its defense, although his influence had been exercised to moderate its excesses. Gallatin defeated him for Congress in 1794; but later he took his place upon the bench of the state supreme court, and served with great ability until his death in 1816.—Ed.

[6] Physostegia Virginiana, Benth.—C. S. S.

[7] Hedeoma pulegiodes, Pers.—C. S. S.

[8] Col. Francis Vigo was a Sardinian, who came to Louisiana in the Spanish army. Settling at St. Louis as a trader, he embraced the cause of American independence, rendering substantial aid in many ways to George Rogers Clark, in the latter’s Illinois campaigns. Vigo took the oath of allegiance to the United States, and later settled at Vincennes, where he died in poverty in 1836. His just claims upon the government were not settled until thirty years after his death.—Ed.

[9] A Spanish document of this period complains of Audrain as having misappropriated funds for his contracts, also charges him with being a radical republican, receiving all the patriots at his house, where dinners were given and toasts drunk to the downfall of monarchy. See American Historical Association Report, 1896, p. 1049.

The commandant at St. Louis was Captain Don Zenon Trudeau, who held the office from 1792-99.—Ed.

[10] This Frenchman was known in Pittsburg as J. B. C. Lucas, and was appointed associate judge of Allegheny County in 1800. His Democratic principles were so strong that he brought about the impeachment of his colleague, Judge Addison, a well-known Federalist.—Ed.

[11] The writer here uses the term “Fort Pitt” as the name of the town; the brick fortification which was being demolished was the one known by that name, built by Stanwix in 1759-61. It stood between the rivers, below Third, West, and part of Liberty streets. A redoubt, built in 1764 as a part of these works, is still standing, and has been restored by the Pittsburg chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, whom it serves as a museum. See Frontier Forts of Western Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, 1896), ii, pp. 99-159.—Ed.

[12] Fort Fayette, a stockade erected in 1792 for protection against the Indians. It stood about a quarter of a mile above Fort Pitt, on the present Penn Street, at the crossing of Garrison Avenue.—Ed.

[13] E. atropurpureus, Jacq.—C. S. S.

[14] This is probably his Sicyos lobata (Echinocystis lobata of Torr. and Gray) which, according to the Flora, was detected by Michaux “in occidentalibus Pensylvaniae, juxta fluvium Ohio.” The “corolla 5 partita” is retained by Richard in his description.—C. S. S.

[15] Wheeling was founded upon land taken up by Col. Ebenezer Zane in 1770. During Lord Dunmore’s War a stockade was built at this place, called Fort Fincastle; later, the name was changed in honor of Patrick Henry, first governor of the state of Virginia. Fort Henry was thrice besieged during the Revolution—in 1777, 1781, and 1782. Many romantic incidents are told of these events; most notable, that of the sortie for additional powder, successfully executed by Elizabeth Zane. Colonel Zane laid out the place in town-lots in 1793; two years later, the Virginia legislature incorporated it. In 1797 Wheeling became the seat of Ohio County; and early in the nineteenth century appeared likely to surpass Pittsburg in prosperity, and as an important emporium for Western trade.—Ed.

[16] The site for Fort Harmar was chosen by Gen. Richard Butler (1785), on his journey to Cincinnati to make peace with the Miami Indians. A detachment under Major Doughty began building the fort—named in honor of Gen. Josiah Harmar—in the autumn of this year; its completion in 1786 afforded protection to the frontier inhabitants of Virginia. Two years later (1788), the Ohio Company of Associates—New England veterans of the Revolution—came out under the leadership of Gen. Rufus Putnam, and began the settlement of Marietta, “the Plymouth Rock of the West.”—Ed.

[17] For the Little Kanawha, see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series, note 98.—Ed.

[18] For the Great Kanawha and its historical associations, see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series, note 101; also Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio.—Ed.

[19] For the history of this French settlement on the Ohio, see Journal of F. A. Michaux, post.—Ed.

[20] Jean G. Petit was the most prominent man of this settlement, acting both as physician and judge.—Ed.

[21] For a description of the Scioto, and its early historical importance, see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series, note 102; also Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio.—Ed.

[22] The Three Islands were noted landmarks in the early history of Kentucky. Kennedy and his company encamped there in 1773, but the settlement was in a dangerous location, as this was near an Indian crossing place. In 1791, twenty men were told off to garrison the settlement. The upper island was near Brush Creek, in Ohio. Only one island remains at this place.—Ed.

[23] Limestone (now Maysville) was long the chief river post for Kentucky, but was not early settled owing to its exposure to Indian attacks. Bullitt and the McAfees were there in 1773; Simon Kenton settled farther up on Limestone Creek in 1776. The same year, George Rogers Clark landed at this place the powder provided by Virginia for the protection of the Kentucky settlements. The first blockhouse was built on the site of Limestone in 1783; four years later, the town was incorporated by the Virginia legislature.—Ed.

[24] Alexander D. Orr was representative in Congress for Kentucky, from its admission and through the fourth Congress (1792-97). A Virginian by birth (1765), he removed to Mason County at an early period, and had much influence in his neighborhood, where he lived as a planter until his death, June 21, 1835. Michaux’s visit to Colonel Orr is probably significant of the fact that Orr was interested in the former’s mission.—Ed.

[25] Gen. Henry Lee was one of the earliest settlers in Mason County. Coming to Kentucky as a surveyor in 1779, six years later he established Lee’s Station, near Washington—one of the earliest in northeastern Kentucky. Lee was Kentucky delegate in the Virginia house of burgesses (1788), a member of the convention that adopted the federal constitution, and later member of the Danville conventions for organizing the State of Kentucky; his political influence, therefore, was important. Unlike many of the pioneers, he prospered in business and amassed a considerable fortune, dying on his estate in 1845.—Ed.

[26] For the history of Big Bone Lick, see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series, note 104.—Ed.

[27] This was either May’s Lick, in Mason County, or the Lower Blue Licks, in Nicholas County. It is evident that the buffalo had nearly disappeared from this region, where less than thirty years before Croghan had found them in such vast numbers. Butricke (Historical Magazine, viii, p. 259) says that in 1768 they were scarce above the Scioto River. The last buffalo was killed in the Great Kanawha Valley, about twelve miles below Charleston, West Virginia, in 1815.—Ed.

[28] There is some doubt thrown upon the commonly-accepted statement that the first cabin at Lexington was built in 1775, and the place named in honor of the opening battle of the Revolution, news of which had just been received. The permanent settlement was not made until 1779; the following year the town was made county seat of the newly-erected Fayette County, and itself incorporated in 1782.—Ed.

[29] Paris was laid out in 1786, the first court of Bourbon County being held there in 1787. Two years later, it was incorporated by the Virginia legislature as Hopewell; the present designation was adopted in 1790.—Ed.

[30] Danville was laid off as a town by Walker Daniel in 1781, and rapidly rose to importance, being the centre of political activity and the seat of the conventions in which statehood for Kentucky was agitated (1785-92). After the admission of Kentucky as a state, Frankfort was chosen capital, and the importance of Danville declined.—Ed.

[31] Joshua Barbee was born in Virginia, and after serving in the Revolution removed to the vicinity of Danville, early in the Kentucky settlement. He was militia officer in 1791, a member of the political club of Danville, and of the state legislature. A man of wealth and prominence, his family became intimately associated with Kentucky history. He died in 1839.

Pierre Tardiveau was a French merchant who had an extensive business in the West, and connections in Bordeaux. With his partner, Honoré, he carried on trade with New Orleans, and made frequent trips thither. Tardiveau embarked in Genet’s enterprise, and was appointed interpreter in chief by Michaux, who appears to have used him to communicate with agents in New Orleans. See Claiborne, Mississippi (Jackson, 1880), pp. 152, 153; also American Historical Association Report, 1896, pp. 952, 1026, 1096. Tardiveau removed to Louisiana when it came under American dominion.—Ed.

[32] John Brown, one of Kentucky’s most prominent public men, was born at Staunton, Virginia, in 1757, and while a student at Princeton joined the Revolutionary army as aid to Lafayette. At the close of the war he removed to Kentucky, was its first representative to the old Congress (1787-89); then to Congress under the Constitution (1789-92), where he was employed in securing the admission of Kentucky as a state. Upon that event (1792), Brown was sent to the United States Senate, of which he remained a prominent member until 1805. He was a personal friend of Washington, Jefferson (with whom he studied law), and Madison, and when he died in 1837 was the last survivor of the Congress of the Confederation. Brown was cognizant of Michaux’s plans, and evidently sympathized with them, having been interested in previous separatist movements for Kentucky. See Butler, Kentucky, and John Mason Brown, “Political Beginnings of Kentucky,” Filson Club Publications No. 6. Brown gave letters of introduction to Michaux. See American Historical Association Report, 1896, pp. 982, 983, 1010.—Ed.

[33] Brown refers here to the embassy of Carmichael, and the negotiations entered into by him and Pinckney, the minister at Madrid, that ultimately led to the treaty of 1794.

The Creek Indians lay south of the United States territory in West Florida, and were believed by the Westerners to be incited to attacks upon Americans by the Spanish authorities of this province and of Louisiana.—Ed.

[34] Michaux went to what was known as St. Asaph’s, or Logan’s Station, in Lincoln County, to see the well-known pioneer and Indian fighter, Gen. Benjamin Logan. Next to Clark, Logan was, doubtless, the best known person in Kentucky, and had been chosen by Genet as second in command of the expedition. That he afterwards decided to enter upon this affair, seems evident from his letter to Clark of December 31, 1793, in American Historical Association Report, 1896, p. 1026. Logan was a Scotch-Irishman, born in Virginia in 1743. When but fourteen his father died, and he was left as eldest son of the family. Having removed to Holston, he was out with Bouquet in 1764, and ten years later in Lord Dunmore’s War. Locating his station in Kentucky in 1775, he brought out his family the following year, and sustained many Indian attacks as well as led several aggressive campaigns against the savages. As county lieutenant he was a safeguard for the new settlements, and was revered and respected by all his neighbors. Having served in the legislature and the convention that drew up the Kentucky constitution, he died at his home in Lincoln County in 1802.—Ed.

[35] There was no better-known character in the West, than Governor Shelby. Born in Maryland in 1750, the family were of pioneer stock, and early moved to Western Virginia, where young Shelby was sheriff (1771), and lieutenant under his father, Evan Shelby, at the Battle of Point Pleasant (1774). The next year he surveyed in Kentucky, and then returned to the Holston to engage in the Revolutionary struggles. To his forethought is attributed the success of the battle of King’s Mountain, after which he served in the North Carolina legislature. Removing to Kentucky in 1783, Shelby was welcomed as a hero by the new community, and made the first governor of the State. He served a second term during the War of 1812-15, reinforcing Harrison at a critical juncture for the Western division of the army. Refusing the portfolio of war, offered by Monroe in 1817, Shelby retired to his farm in Lincoln County, where he died in 1826. Michaux carried letters to Shelby; see American Historical Association Report, 1896, pp. 983, 984. On Shelby’s later attitude toward the expedition, see ibid., pp. 934, 1023, 1040, note.—Ed.

[36] Knob Licks, Lincoln County, was formed as a settlement in 1776 by Governor Shelby. De Pauw, one of the French agents, resided here. See American Historical Association Report, 1896, pp. 977, 1002, 1023, 1102-1106. The Knobs were a peculiar formation of detached hillocks.—Ed.

[37] Beardstown (Bardstown) was an important settlement in early Kentucky history, established (1788) near the Salt River in what is now Nelson County, and named for the proprietor, David Baird. It is now a small village, although still the county seat.—Ed.

[38] For the founding of Louisville, see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series, note 106. The old road from Bardstown to Louisville went via the Salt Works (Shepherdsville, Bullitt County), and was reckoned at forty-five miles. See Speed, “Wilderness Road,” Filson Club Publications (Louisville, 1886), p. 17. The new road was more direct, went across country from Bardstown, and joined the old about ten miles below Louisville.—Ed.

[39] For the letters of Genet and Clark, see American Historical Association Report, 1896, pp. 967, 986.—Ed.

[40] In Clark’s letter to Genet, he seems to indicate that this obstacle was the leaking out of the secret, by which intimations might reach the Spaniards. Possibly he refers to the Spanish mission which caused Logan’s hesitation; see ante, note 33; also American Historical Association Report, 1896, p. 1007-1009.—Ed.

[41] The home of Clark’s father, with whom he resided, was known as “Mulberry Hill,” situated in the environs of Louisville.—Ed.

[42] E. Americanus, L.—C.S.S.

[43] On the early mail routes, see Speed, Wilderness Road, pp. 65-68.—Ed.

[44] James Hogan was a pioneer of Kentucky who settled at Bryan’s Station before 1779, and took a leading part in its defense against Indians (1781). He was granted (1785) by the Virginia legislature the right to maintain a ferry across the Kentucky River.—Ed.

[45] The principal ferry on the road from Danville to Lexington was at the mouth of Hickman’s Creek, so named in honor of the first Baptist preacher in Kentucky, Rev. William Hickman.—Ed.

[46] See letter of this date, written by Michaux to Clark (American Historical Association Report, 1896, p. 1010), in which he gives his address at “Mᵗᵉ Isham Prewitt, Jefferson County, near Danville.”—Ed.

[47] The original letter sent by this messenger is in the Wisconsin Historical Library (Draper MSS., 55 J 5), and is printed in American Historical Association Report, 1896, p. 1013.—Ed.

[48] This reply is given in American Historical Association Report, 1896, pp. 1007-1009. The break in the manuscript of Michaux’s diary is occasioned by the completion of one blank book and the commencement of another.—Ed.

[49] Nicholas was one of a famous coterie of Virginia constitutional lawyers. Born in 1743, the son of a distinguished lawyer, Robert Cary Nicholas, he served as captain in the Revolution, and at its close qualified for the bar. His services in the Virginia convention which adopted the federal constitution, were important. Shortly after its close he removed to Kentucky, and there aided in the adoption of its state constitution, which is reputed to have been drawn up by his hand. Upon the formation of the state government, he was chosen first attorney general. Nicholas adopted a moderate position in regard to Western politics; the scheme here outlined, seems characteristic. In 1799 he was appointed law professor in Transylvania University, but died during the same year.—Ed.

[50] Michaux returned to Philadelphia by the well-known “Wilderness Road,” the chief means of exit from Kentucky. Parties frequently waited at Crab Orchard—the western terminus in Lincoln County—until enough had gathered to act as protection against the Indians. See Speed, “Wilderness Road,” Filson Club Publications, No. 2 (Louisville, 1886); also Hulbert, Historic Highways of America, vol. vi.—Ed.

[51] Lygodium palmatum, Swz.—C.S.S.

[52] Three words are here frayed away in the manuscript of the Journal.—C.S.S.

[53] Cumberland Gap, in southeastern Kentucky, emerging into Tennessee, was explored in 1750 by Dr. Thomas Walker, who named both mountains and river in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II.—Ed.

[54] The Clinch and Holston rivers are upper waters of the Tennessee, in southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee. The settlements in these valleys were among the first on the west-flowing streams. See map in Turner, “State Making in the Revolutionary Era,” in American Historical Review, i, p. 74.—Ed.

[55] Both of these stations are mentioned in an early journal; see Speed, Wilderness Road, p. 21. The first was the seat for Hawkins County, Tennessee.—Ed.

[56] The forks of the road was at the junction of the north and south forks of the Holston River, near the present town of Kingsport, Sullivan County, Tennessee.—Ed.

[57] Abingdon, originally known as Wolf Hills, was one of the earliest settlements in the Valley of Virginia, and the seat of Washington County. It was established as a town in 1778. It is still the county seat, and a station on the Norfolk & Western Railway.—Ed.

[58] Wytheville, near the centre of the county of that name, and its county seat.—Ed.

[59] The early route through the Virginia Valley crossed New River at Ingles’s Ferry, a short distance west of Blacksburg, Montgomery County. A new road shortened the distance and crossed the New River about five miles farther up the stream, at a ferry operated by the pioneer family of Pepper. They are alluded to in the Draper MSS., Wisconsin Historical Library, I QQ 97.—Ed.

[60] Botetourt Court House, now Fincastle, the seat of Botetourt County (established in 1769), was laid off as a town in 1772 on land donated for the purpose by Israel Christian. It was named for the ancestral seat of Lord Botetourt, an early governor of Virginia.—Ed.

[61] Lexington was established by law in 1777 as county seat for Rockbridge, then newly-formed out of Augusta and Botetourt. See ante, note 28.—Ed.

[62] Col. James McDowell, who lived near Fairfield, Rockbridge County, was a descendant of the Scotch-Irish settler, Capt. John McDowell, who came to the valley as a surveyor in 1737, and was killed in the first Indian fight therein (1742).—Ed.

[63] The present roads through the Valley of Virginia follow the course described by Michaux, passing through the same towns. Staunton is one of the earliest towns of the region, having been settled in 1732 by John Lewis, a Scotch-Irishman, whose sons Andrew and Charles were among the most prominent borderers. Andrew commanded the Sandy Creek expedition in 1756; and at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, where Charles was slain. Staunton was laid out as a town in 1748, at the “Beverly Mill Place,” but was not established by act of legislature until 1761.—Ed.

[64] This town is generally known as Harrisonburg, from its founder, Thomas Harrison (1780). The county of Rockingham was erected in 1778, and held its first court at the house of Daniel Smith, which was two miles north of Harrisonburg.—Ed.

[65] The upper or northern portion of the Valley of Virginia was first settled by German emigrants from Pennsylvania. Woodstock was laid off as a town by Jacob Miller, and established by law in 1761.—Ed.

[66] Newtown, or Stephensburg, was founded by Lewis Stephens on the site of his father’s first claim. Peter Stephens came to Virginia in 1732, with Joist Hite, an early settler of the northern portion of the Valley. His son established the town in 1758, it being called Newtown to distinguish it from the older Winchester. Newtown is now a small hamlet, without a post-office.—Ed.

[67] Winchester was built upon Lord Fairfax’s grant in 1752. In 1738 there were two cabins at this place, which was then called “Shawnee Springs,” and was the frontier outpost in that direction. The population was a mixture of Germans and Scotch-Irishmen. Col. James Wood is accredited with the foundation of the town of Winchester.—Ed.

[68] Charlestown, in what was then Berkeley County, but now the seat for Jefferson County, West Virginia, was laid off (1786) upon his own land by Col. Charles Washington, brother of the general, and christened from his own Christian name.—Ed.

[69] Harper’s Ferry takes its name from the first settler, Robert Harper, who formed part of the German emigration of 1734. Washington perceived the strategic importance of this place, and recommended it as the site of a national arsenal.—Ed.

[70] Frederick City, Maryland, was laid out in 1745 by Patrick Dulany, and named in honor of the sixth Lord Baltimore. The first house, however, was not erected on this site until 1748, when it became the seat of the newly-erected Frederick County. Most of the early settlers were Germans, with an admixture of Scotch-Irish. At Frederick the road from Virginia crossed the National Road from Baltimore to Wheeling.—Ed.

[71] Woodsboro is a small village in Frederick County, Maryland. Littlestown, in Adams County, Pennsylvania, was laid out in 1765 by one of the early German settlers of the region, called Peter Klein (Little). It was frequently called Petersburg in the earlier days. It is now a small station on the Fredericksburg branch of the Pennsylvania Railway.—Ed.

[72] Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, was laid out upon a tract granted by Lord Baltimore to John Digges in 1728. The proprietors of Maryland claimed this region, and Digges settled a number of German immigrants upon his tract of 10,000 acres, which was known as “Digges’s Choice.” A Scotch-Irishman, Richard McAllister, emigrated thither about 1749 and acquired great influence over the German settlers of the neighborhood, where he kept a store and tavern. He laid out the town and named it Hanover in 1763 or 1764.—Ed.

[73] Michaux is mistaken in placing the Pennsylvania boundary so far north, as he had entered that state before reaching Littlestown. This territory, however, had been in dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland, but was settled by the running of Mason and Dixon’s line in 1763. York was not settled on the lands of the Penn estate until 1741, when there were 2,000 settlers within the bounds of what is now York County. The town became an incorporated borough in 1785.—Ed.

[74] For the early history of Harris Ferry, see Post’s Journals, vol. i of this series, note 73.—Ed.

[75] Dr. Daniel Rittenhouse was one of America’s best known scientists. Born in Pennsylvania in 1732, his talent for mathematics early manifested itself, and he became a clock and instrument maker, and finally an astronomer of much repute. He held important positions in the new State of Pennsylvania, was its treasurer (1777-89), also first director of the United States mint. Rittenhouse was employed to settle the boundary between Virginia and his own state, and during 1784-85 was in service in the field, directing the running of the line. He succeeded Franklin as president of the American Philosophical Society in 1790, retaining the office until his death in 1796.—Ed.

[76] The manuscript is so frayed that the figures for these two distances are destroyed. The footing requires 60 M. for the two.—C. S. S.

[77] Michaux remained in Philadelphia until February 9, 1794, chiefly occupied with his botanical pursuits, and in getting his accounts audited. Proceeding south on horseback, he arrived at Charleston March 14, 1794, where he consulted with the French consul, Mangourit, concerning the Florida portion of the expedition against French territory. See American Historical Association Report, 1897, pp. 569-679. Upon the collapse of this project, Michaux undertook a botanizing tour to the mountains of North Carolina, from July 14, to October 2, 1794. Upon his return, he had an attack of fever for “more than six weeks,” and passed the remainder of the winter in arranging his garden and classifying his plants.—Ed.

[78] Planera aquatica, Gmel. (P. Gmelini, Michx.).—C. S. S.

[79] A word here is illegible in the manuscript.—C. S. S.

[80] Probably this was Thomas Lee, son of a Revolutionary patriot, and usually a dweller in Charleston. In 1792, however, he married and afterwards lived for some time on his estate in the up-country. Born in Charleston in 1769, he was admitted to the bar in 1790, and later was assistant judge (1804-16), and United States district judge (1823-39). He was one of the most prominent South Carolinians of his day.—Ed.

[81] These were the most important iron-works in the state; their owner had invented an improved water-blast, and had a forge, furnace, rolling mill, and nail factory.—Ed.

[82] Col. Martin Armstrong was a Revolutionary soldier in command of the local militia, and much engaged in the war against the Tories. After the battle of King’s Mountain, he took over the command from Benjamin Cleveland.—Ed.

[83] Lincolnton is the seat of Lincoln County, which was originally part of Tyron. The name was changed in 1779 in honor of the patriot leader, Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. This entire region was a centre of agitation for independence; and in 1780 a fierce battle between Whigs and Tories was fought at Ramsour’s Mills, near Lincolnton.—Ed.

[84] Probably this was Capt. Zaccheus Wilson, a Scotch-Irish resident of this region who migrated thither from Pennsylvania between 1740 and 1750. Wilson was an ardent patriot, a member of the Mechlenburg convention in 1775, of the provincial congress of the state the following year, and a captain at King’s Mountain in 1780. In 1796 he followed his brother David to Tennessee, where he lived until his death in 1823 or 1824.—Ed.

[85] Morganton is the oldest town in the mountainous district of North Carolina, having been founded during the Revolution, and named in honor of Gen. Daniel Morgan. The settlers of this region were largely Scotch-Irish, who had emigrated from Pennsylvania by way of the Valley of Virginia.—Ed.

[86] Col. Waightstill Avery was of New England origin, born in Connecticut in 1743. At the age of twenty-three he was graduated at Princeton, and after studying law in Maryland removed to North Carolina in 1769. He was very influential in the upper country, a member of the Mechlenburg convention of 1775, and of the state provincial congress the following year. After a campaign against the Cherokees, he was commissioned to negotiate a treaty with this tribe in 1777. During the war Colonel Avery was in active service as a militia officer; at its close he settled four miles from Morganton, calling his plantation “Swan Ponds.” Five times Burke County sent him to the state legislature, and in 1796 to the senate. Andrew Jackson challenged Avery to a duel in 1788, but later became his firm friend. He died about 1821.—Ed.

[87] Michaux followed the well-known Bright’s trace, by which communication was maintained between the settlements of East Tennessee and those of Western North Carolina. Over this road came the men who won the victory at King’s Mountain in 1780. Bright’s place is now in the possession of the Avery family. Martin Davenport resided at a noted spring not far from Toe River, in Mitchell County, North Carolina. He was a well-known Whig; his son William became a man of prominence, several times representing his county in the state legislature.—Ed.

[88] Rhododendron arborescens, Torrey.—C. S. S.

[89] Col. John Tipton was one of the noted pioneers of Tennessee. Born in Virginia, he early removed to Eastern Tennessee, and was engaged in the defense of the frontier. Upon the inauguration of the state of Franklin, Tipton joined the North Carolina party, and a fierce factional struggle ensued, which culminated in the arrest of Colonel Sevier by Tipton’s agency. Tipton lived east of Jonesborough, on Sinking Creek.—Ed.

[90] Jonesborough is the oldest town in Tennessee, having been founded in 1779 and named in honor of Willie Jones, Esq., an active patriot of Halifax, North Carolina, and a warm friend of the Western counties. Jonesborough was the first capital of Washington District, and is still the seat of Washington county.—Ed.

[91] Greene Court House is now Greeneville, seat of Greene County. From here two roads branch off, that to the right toward Cumberland Gap and Kentucky; that to the left through Newport and Sevierville, along the French Broad Valley. Michaux took, as he says, the right hand road, leaving it, however, beyond Russelville, and continuing by this upper and less frequented road to Knoxville.—Ed.

[92] Bull’s Gap is a pass in Bay’s Mountain, between Jefferson and Greene counties, named probably for Captain Bull, an early pioneer.—Ed.

[93] This was one of the earliest forges in Tennessee; it was in Jefferson County, not far from Mossy Creek.—Ed.

[94] McBee’s Ferry, crossing the Holston in the northwestern corner of Knox County, was a well-known landmark of this region.—Ed.

[95] Knoxville was settled by James White in 1787, and at first called White’s Station. In 1791 a town was laid out, named in honor of General Knox, which after the establishment of territorial government became the capital. The first governor of the territory was William Blount, who was born in North Carolina in 1749, and was active both in the War of the Regulators (1771), and in the Revolution. Blount was a member of the North Carolina legislature and later of the national constitutional convention. Washington appointed him governor of Southwest Territory, and on the admission of Tennessee as a state he was chosen first state senator. For intriguing with foreign emissaries he was impeached, and expelled from the Senate. The people, however, showed their confidence by choosing him to the state senate (1797). He died in Knox County in 1800.—Ed.

[96] Fort Southwest Point, as it was usually called, was erected in 1792 at the junction of Clinch and Holston rivers, near the present town of Kingston, as an outpost on the road to Western Tennessee, and a protection against the Cherokee Indians. As late as 1803 travellers found it safer to go in company through this wilderness. See journal of F. A. Michaux, post.—Ed.

[97] Probably M. macrophylla, Michx. In the Flora, it is described as only growing “in regionibus occidentalibus fluvio Tennassee trajectis.”—C. S. S.

[98] Isaac Bledsoe was one of a party of hunters who discovered this lick (near Gallatin, in Sumner County) as early as 1771. He removed hither in 1779 and founded a station; he was also one of the framers of the Cumberland Association, and a faithful adherent of Robertson. His brother, Col. Anthony Bledsoe, who had a reputation as a leader in the Holtson settlement, later removed to Cumberland, and was an able second in command on Indian expeditions, especially that against the Chickamaugas in 1787. He was killed by Indians at Bledsoe’s Station in 1788. The spring at this place is now called “Castilian Springs.”—Ed.

[99] Gen. James Winchester, born in Maryland in 1752, served in the Revolution, after which he removed to Tennessee, and settled not far from Gallatin, in Sumner County. He served in the territorial and state militia, and in 1812 was appointed brigadier-general in the regular army, superseding Harrison in command of the Western division. Captured at the River Raisin, he was exchanged in 1814, resigned the following year, and died at his home in Tennessee in 1826.—Ed.

[100] Michaux’s remark indicates the obscurity of Andrew Jackson at this early period of his history. He then lived upon a plantation called Hunter’s Hill, thirteen miles from Nashville, not having removed to the “Hermitage” (two miles beyond) until 1804.—Ed.

[101] Quercus macrocarpa, Michx.—here first mentioned.—C. S. S.

[102] Q. bicolor, Willd.—C. S. S.

[103] Nashville was founded by James Robertson, who in 1779 came overland from the settlements of Eastern Tennessee. Donelson’s party, which went via the rivers, did not arrive until April of the following year. Being beyond the jurisdiction of any state, the settlers drew up a compact under which they lived until the organization (1783) of Davidson County as a part of North Carolina. The town, named for the patriot General Nash, was until 1784 called Nashborough. Nashville was incorporated in 1806. The legislature met at this city in 1812-16 and after 1826, but the city was not made the permanent capital until 1843.—Ed.

[104] See description of visit to Daniel Smith, brother-in-law of Andrew Jackson, in Journal of F. A. Michaux, post.—Ed.

[105] Gen. James Robertson, the founder of West Tennessee, was born in Virginia in 1742, but removed to North Carolina at an early age, and was one of the first settlers of Watauga. In 1774 he took part in Dunmore’s War, defended the Watauga fort in a siege in 1776, and three years later removed with a party to the Cumberland. This settlement was maintained only by heroic exertions, and the courage and wisdom of Robertson in his dealing with the Indians. In 1790, Washington appointed him brigadier-general and Indian commissioner. He died in the Chickasaw country in 1814.—Ed.

[106] These were all prominent early settlers of Cumberland. Captain Gordon was commander in several Indian affrays, notably the Nickajack expedition, and served under Jackson in 1813. Thomas Craighead was the first clergyman in Nashville, where he arrived in 1785 and built a school-house at Spring Hill. He was an especial friend of Andrew Jackson, whose wife was a member of his church (Presbyterian).—Ed.

[107] Q. lyrata, Nutt.—C. S. S.

[108] Ulmus fulva, Michx.—C. S. S.

[109] Rhamnus Caroliniana, Gray.—C. S. S.

[110] A. tomentosa, Sims.—C. S. S.

[111] Oxybaphus nyctagineus, Sweet. (Allionia nyctaginea, Michx.).—C. S. S.

[112] Probably Hypericum aureum, Bartram.—C. S. S.

[113] Mansco Lick was in the northeastern part of Davidson County, named for its discoverer, Kasper Mansco (Mansker), who was one of the party of Long Hunters in 1769. On his adventures, see Roosevelt, Winning of the West, i, pp. 147 ff.—Ed.

[114] Major Sharp had formerly lived in Washington County, Virginia, whence he had gone out to serve at the battle of King’s Mountain. He removed to Kentucky soon after the Revolution, and later settled in the Barrens. His son, Solomon P. Sharp, born in 1780, became one of the most noted Kentucky lawyers and political leaders, serving in the thirteenth and fourteenth Congresses, a friend and adherent of Calhoun. He was assassinated in the midst of a brilliant career.—Ed.

[115] This was Andrew McFadden, who settled a station and ferry at this point in 1785, and was a well-known character of that region.—Ed.

[116] A part of one leaf of the Journal is here left blank.—C. S. S.

[117] Mann’s Lick was a salt station before 1786; it was on the road from Shepherdsville to Louisville, on the southern border of Jefferson County.—Ed.

[118] Probably some form of Quercus alba, Michx.—C. S. S.

[119] Hibiscus militaris, Cav. (H. hastatus, Michx.).—C. S. S.

[120] Here follow to the end of this part of the Journal separate memoranda on loose sheets.—C. S. S. We omit these.—Ed.

[121] Michael Lacassagne was one of the richest and most prominent merchants of Louisville; he enjoyed the confidence of the community, and was a member of the Kentucky convention of 1787.—Ed.

[122] It is not clear what species are here referred to. Q. praemorsa is probably Q. macrocarpa, and Q. cerroides some form of Q. alba, although later in the journal it is spoken of as an overcup oak.—C. S. S.

[123] Clarksville, named in honor of Gen. George Rogers Clark, was intended as the metropolis of the Illinois grant of 150,000 acres, which was made by the Virginia legislature in 1783 to the officers and soldiers of the Illinois regiment which had served with Clark. A board of trustees was established for the town, and a few of the former officers settled here; but the place did not thrive, and is now but a suburb of New Albany.—Ed.

[124] For the early history of Vincennes, see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series, note 113.—Ed.

[125] V. urticifolia, L.—C. S. S.

[126] V. hastata, L.?—C. S. S.

[127] V. stricta, Vent. (V. ringens, Michx.).—C. S. S.

[128] V. bracteosa, Michx.—C. S. S.

[129] Spigelia?—C. S. S.

[130] The Piankeshaw tribe of Indians, a branch of the Miami nation that dwelt around Vincennes.—Ed.

[131] G. auriculala, Michx.—C. S. S.

[132] The French villages in Illinois resulted from the plans of La Salle; the earliest grew up about Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois River. In 1700, the Kaskaskia tribe of Indians removed to the river bearing their name, the Jesuit missionaries and traders followed, and the village at this place began. The inhabitants were chiefly descendants of the coureurs des bois, intermixed with Indian blood. The Jesuit plantation at Kaskaskia consisted of two hundred and forty arpents of land, well-cultivated and stocked with cattle, containing also a brewery. When the Jesuits were suppressed, the buyer, Beauvais, raised eighty-six thousand weight of flour from a single harvest. The French dominion came to an end in 1765 (see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series). Kaskaskia was captured from the English in 1778 by George Rogers Clark, and the American régime was instituted by John Todd, under appointment from Virginia. See Mason, Chapters from Illinois History (Chicago, 1901), pp. 250-279.—Ed.

[133] Prairie du Rocher was a small French village situated upon a grant made to Boisbriant (about 1725) by the Mississippi Company, and by him transferred to his nephew Langlois, who maintained seignioral rights therein until the establishment of American government.—Ed.

[134] St. Philippe was founded upon Regnault’s grant. Pittman (Present State of European Settlements on the Mississippi, London, 1770), says that when he visited it (1766) there were sixteen houses, a small church, and one inhabitant, dubbed “captain of the militia,” who had twenty slaves, many cattle, and a mill.—Ed.

[135] Cahokia was probably the oldest settlement in the Illinois, although Kaskaskia disputes its priority. A mission of the Séminaire des Missions Etrangères was founded among the Tamaroa and Cahokia Indians about 1698, and a French village sprang up around the place. In 1714 there was a large accession of renegade coureurs des bois. See Wisconsin Historical Collections (Madison, 1902), xvi, pp. 331, 332. After the English acquired the Illinois, many inhabitants migrated from Cahokia to St. Louis.—Ed.

[136] Fort Chartres was the most considerable fortification built by the French in the western part of America. The original fort was constructed in 1720 by Boisbriant, commandant in Illinois for the Company of the Indies. In 1756, the stronghold was rebuilt in stone, being described as an irregular quadrangle with port-holes for cannon, houses, barracks, magazines, etc. For a contemporary description, see Pittman, Settlements on the Mississippi, pp. 45, 46. After 1765, Fort Chartres was garrisoned by the English; but in 1772 the erosion by the river caused a portion to collapse, and the fort was abandoned. For its present condition, see Mason, Chapters from Illinois History, pp. 241-249.—Ed.

[137] The earliest American settlements in Illinois were made by soldiers of Clark’s army. Bellefontaine, in the present Monroe County, was the centre for American life. More American families were reported a few years previous to this. Probably the Indian wars and the allurements of the Indian trade had caused some dispersal.—Ed.

[138] St. Louis was founded by Pierre Laclède in April 1764. He had secured a license from the French governor of Louisiana to trade upon the upper Mississippi and the Missouri. Upon arriving in the Illinois country, the previous November, he chose the site for his new settlement, and spent the winter at Cahokia making arrangements. Meanwhile the news of the transfer of Canada and the Illinois to the British had arrived. Under the impression that France had retained the left bank of the Mississippi, many Illinois settlers removed thither with Laclède. St. Louis flourished under Spanish dominion, but was known by its neighbors as “Pain Court” (Scant-bread) because its inhabitants devoted more time to fur-trading than to agriculture. It was not until transferred to the United States (March, 1804) that the career of St. Louis as a city began.—Ed.

[139] For definition of Toise, see post, note 163.

Fort Massac had been erected by the order of General Wayne in 1794, in order to check the expedition which Michaux went to Kentucky to promote. It was on the site of an old French post, which had been erected in 1757 by Aubry, governor of Illinois. He first named it Fort Ascension, and proceeded thence to reinforce Fort Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio. After the evacuation of that fortress (1758), the Illinois troops dropped down to this place, and renamed it Fort Massac, in honor of the Marquis de Massiac, minister of marine. When the French surrendered the Illinois, the British neglected to fortify this place, although recommended to do so by their engineers. Accordingly Clark marched hither overland to his capture of Illinois.—Ed.

[140] Q. imbricaria, Michx.—C. S. S.

[141] Forestiera acuminata, Poir. (Adelia acuminata, Michx.).—C. S. S.

[142] Vitis riparia, Michx., or more probably, in part, at least, V. palmata, Vahl. (V. rubra, Michx. in herb), a species which is often monospermous, and which was discovered by Michaux in this region and merged by him with his V. riparia.—C. S. S.

[143] The Cumberland River was usually known as the Shawnese River on early maps. Doubtless this Indian tribe had dwelt thereon when first met by white explorers.—Ed.

[144] So called because it took its rise in the Cherokee territory. See Weiser’s Journal, vol. i of this series, note 33.—Ed.

[145] Forestiera ligustrina, Poir. (Adelia ligustrina., Michx.).—C. S. S.

[146] Betula nigra, L. (B. lanulosa, Michx.).—C. S. S.

[147] Planera aquatica, Gmel.—C. S. S.

[148] The interpolation of these names in the journal at this point, would appear to indicate that the news of the appointments consequent upon the arrival of the new French minister, Adet (June 1, 1795), had just reached Michaux; also that his interest in political affairs was still active, and that other motives may have led him to this country under feint of herborizing.—Ed.

[149] A blank of five days in the Journal occurs here.—C. S. S.

[150] A habitant named Pierre Richard is listed as a head of family at Kaskaskia in 1783, and again in 1790.—Ed.

[151] This, doubtless, is C. speciosa, Warder, the only indigenous species in this region.—C. S. S.

[152] The principal fur-trading company at St. Louis had been formed in 1794 by a union of all the traders at the suggestion of the governor, Trudeau; at its head as manager was placed Jacques Clanmorgan (Ch. Morgan is a misprint for Clanmorgan), who had for some time been in business in St. Louis, but did not sustain an honorable reputation. He, however, succeeded in interesting in his enterprises, a rich merchant of Canada, named Todd, and probably the Scotchman and Welshman were his factors. See Billon, Annals of St. Louis (St. Louis, 1886), pp. 283 ff.—Ed.

[153] Cape St. Cosme has been corrupted into Cape Cinque Hommes, in Perry County, Missouri. It was originally named for Jean François de St. Cosme, a Canadian Seminary priest who made a voyage down the Mississippi in 1700, and was a missionary to the Illinois and Natchez. A few years later, he was assassinated on the lower Mississippi by a band of savages, upon whom Bienville later avenged his death. The term “Cap St. Cosme” is found on a map of 1758.—Ed.

[154] Cape Girardeau was settled in 1794, the first house having been built by a Frenchman. The later settlement, however, was almost exclusively American; by 1803 there was a population of twelve hundred.—Ed.

[155] Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos was educated in England and married an American. During his governorship at Natchez he was employed by Carondelet in intrigues with the inhabitants of Kentucky; he had come north at this time for a conference with Sebastian, and to communicate with Wilkinson. In 1797 he was made governor-general of Louisiana, and died two years later, after a dinner given at New Orleans in honor of Wilkinson.—Ed.

[156] The town of Eddyville, Lyon County, Kentucky, was founded at this eddy in 1799.—Ed.

[157] B. nigra, L.—C. S. S.

[158] Clarksville was one of the oldest settlements of Cumberland, having first been occupied (1780) by the Renfroe and Turpin families. As an advanced outpost it was attacked many times by Indians, the latest onslaught having occurred in 1794. The other settlements which Michaux mentions were, as he says, of quite recent origin—incident upon the close of the Indian war (1795), and the inrush of settlers over the new wagon road made this same year to the Cumberland.—Ed.

[159] The entry for the 14th is omitted in the original publication.—Ed.

[160] Capt. John Edmeston was a well-known Indian fighter and leader of the militia. An expedition against the Chickasaws, organized by him in 1792, was forbidden by Robertson, because of negotiations pending with this warlike tribe.—Ed.

[161] “Old man” Frederick Stumps was a German, who early made improvements on White Creek, north of Eaton’s Station. His flight of three miles to the latter station, with Indian pursuers close at his heels, was one of the traditions of the settlement.—Ed.

[162] This was George Madison, brother of Bishop Madison of Virginia. Born about 1763, he served in the Revolution while yet a boy, and enlisting in the regular army was wounded at St. Clair’s defeat (1791), and again the following year. Shortly after this visit of Michaux, Madison was appointed state auditor, and removed to Frankfort, where he held the office for twenty ensuing years. In 1812 he served as major in the army, was captured at Raisin River, and sent as prisoner to Quebec. Upon his exchange, he was received in Kentucky with great rejoicing, and elected governor (1816), but died during the first year of his term.—Ed.

[163] A toise is a French linear measure equivalent to 6.395 English feet.—Ed.

[164] This mill was at the site of the present town of Hodgenville, seat of Larue County. Abraham Lincoln was born about two miles south of this place, when Larue was still part of Hardin County—Ed.

[165] Shepherdsville, the seat of Bullitt County, was incorporated as a town in 1793. Its site was at the falls of Salt River, and it was an important station in early Kentucky history.—Ed.

[166] Gayoso mentions one Sarpy, a rich merchant of New Orleans, as concerned in the plot against Louisiana (1793). Another merchant, Beauvais, was similarly involved. Consult American Historical Association Report, 1896, p. 1049.—Ed.

[167] Samuel Fulton, a native of North Carolina, who had lived for some time among the Creek Indians, was agent for Clark in settling his accounts with the French government. He arrived from France late in 1795, and Michaux’s testimony was relied upon to secure the affidavits necessary to obtain recompense from the French republic. See American State Papers, Indian Affairs, i, p. 463. Consult, also, American Historical Association Report, 1896, pp. 1047-1065.—Ed.

[168] Probably Pinus inops, Ait.—C. S. S.

[169] Aplectrum hyemale, Nutt.—C. S. S.

[170] Col. Robert Hays, a brother-in-law of Andrew Jackson, was born in North Carolina, and served in the Revolution, being captured at Charleston. He removed to Cumberland in 1784, was first United States marshal of Tennessee, muster-master-general for Jackson in 1813, and died at his home near Nashville in 1819.—Ed.

[171] Arundinaria macrosperma, Michx.—C. S. S.

[172] Fort Blount was not a pioneer stronghold, but one erected by the government shortly before Michaux’s visit, for protection of the settlers against the Cherokees. It was on the north bank of Cumberland River, in the southwestern part of Jackson County, about midway between the Eastern and Western Tennessee settlements.—Ed.

[173] Cladrastis tinctoria Raf., discovered here by Michaux, although not included in his Flora. A letter written by Michaux to Governor Blount suggesting the value of the wood of this tree as a dye wood, was, according to the younger Michaux, published in the Knoxville Gazette, on the fifteenth of March, 1769. [See his journal, post.]—C. S. S.

[174] Lygodium palmatum Swz.—C. S. S.

[175] The Looneys were a prominent family in the early history of East Tennessee. Captain David Looney was militia officer during the Revolution and the Indian wars.—Ed.

[176] Dr. Benjamin S. Barton was one of the best known scientists and naturalists of his day, as well as a skilful physician. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he was educated in Europe and took up practice in Philadelphia. In 1789, he was made professor of botany and natural history in the University of Pennsylvania; he was vice-president of the American Philosophical Society, and member of other learned organizations. He was designated to edit the scientific data of Lewis and Clark’s expedition, but died before accomplishing this (1815).—Ed.

[177] William Bartram, son and co-worker of John Bartram, one of America’s first naturalists, was born in Pennsylvania in 1739. He devoted his life to the study of botany, travelling extensively for the discovery of plants. His head-quarters were at the botanical gardens near Philadelphia.—Ed.

[178] John Overton was one of the best-known jurists of Tennessee. Born in Virginia, he early emigrated to Kentucky, whence he removed to Nashville, about the time Jackson began his career. He became Jackson’s partner and warm friend. From 1804-10 he was judge of the superior court, and of great service in adjusting land titles; the next five years (1811-16) Judge Overton served on the supreme bench of the state. He was one of the early proprietors of Memphis; and died near Nashville in 1833.—Ed.

[179] John Carter was the foremost man of the early Watauga settlement. Coming from North Carolina, he had the prestige of family and a superior education, and was chosen head of the new community, serving efficiently in many capacities. He was concerned in the State of Franklin movement, and was frequently called out at the head of the militia, on Indian expeditions. Carter County was named for him, and he had therein a large estate.—Ed.

[180] Michaux returned across the mountains by a different route from the one by which he went out. The northern or upper road over Yellow Mountain appears to have been the more frequented; the lower road, over the Iron Mountain range and down the Nolichucky, the more direct. See the younger Michaux’s account (post) of the difficulties of this route, when he passed over it six years later. Limestone Cove was probably at the mouth of Limestone Creek, a tributary of the Nolichucky on the western or Tennessee side of the mountain. Cane and Paper Creeks are small tributaries of the Nolichucky, on the eastern or North Carolina grade of the mountains.—Ed.

[181] C. rostrata, Ait.—C. S. S.

[182] V. hastata, Michx.—C. S. S.

[183] M. macrophylla, Michx.—C. S. S.

[184] Tuckasegee Ford is between the present Gaston County and Mechlenburg, about ten miles west of Charlotte.—Ed.

[185] Note: before passing the ford, I dined with ... Alexander, a very respectable man from whom I have received many courtesies.—Michaux.

It is impossible to determine from this allusion, which of the numerous Alexander family Michaux visited. The Alexanders of Mechlenburg were noted as patriotic, God-fearing, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who had a large share in the Revolutionary War in their country. Abraham presided at the Mechlenburg Convention (1775), of which Adam and John McKnitt Alexander were both members.—Ed.

[186] When one does not wish to pass by Charlotte in going to Lincoln, he must inquire twelve or fifteen miles before reaching these, for the route to the left which passes by Tuckasegee Ford.—Michaux.

[187] It has been suggested that this may refer to F. Caroliniana, Walt. (F. Walteri, Michx.).—C. S. S.

[188] It is not at all clear what shrub Michaux refers to in this entry. Mr. Canby, to whom several of the doubtful points in the Journal have been referred, and whose knowledge of the plants of the Allegheny region is now unrivaled, suggests that Michaux may have found Darbya. There is nothing in his herbarium to indicate that he ever saw that plant, which was found, however, by M. A. Curtis not far from Morganton.—C. S. S.

[189] Probably Silene Pennsylvanica as suggested by Mr. Canby, or S. Baldwinii, as suggested by Mr. Meehan. In both of the species the petals are sometimes rose colored.—C. S. S.

[190] Planera aquatica, Gmelin.—C. S. S.

[191] Bledsoe’s Lick. A pioneer told Lyman C. Draper that this was often called “the Bloody Ground,” because so many whites were there killed by Indians—note in Draper MSS., Wisconsin Historical Society, 3 XX 18.—Ed.

Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains,

by François André Michaux

Reprint from London edition, 1805

Carte
des Etats du Centre, de
L’Ouest et du Sud
DES
Etats-Unis.

Dessinée par Dupias fils
An xii.__1804.

TRAVELS
TO THE WEST OF THE
ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS,
IN THE STATES OF
Ohio,
KENTUCKY, AND TENNESSEA,
AND BACK TO CHARLESTON, BY THE UPPER
CAROLINES;
COMPRISING
The most interesting Details on the present State of
Agriculture,
AND
THE NATURAL PRODUCE OF THOSE COUNTRIES:
TOGETHER WITH
Particulars relative to the Commerce that exists between the above-mentioned
States, and those situated East of the Mountains
and Low Louisiana,
UNDERTAKEN, IN THE YEAR 1802,
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
His Excellency M. CHAPTAL, Minister of the Interior,
By F. A. MICHAUX,
MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY AT PARIS; CORRESPONDENT
OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY IN THE DEPARTMENT
OF THE SEINE AND OISE.

LONDON:
Printed by D. N. SHURY, Berwick Street, Soho;
FOR B. CROSBY AND CO. STATIONERS’ COURT;
AND J. F. HUGHES, WIGMORE STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE:

1805.

CONTENTS

CHAP. I

Departure from Bourdeaux.—Arrival at Charleston.—Remarks upon the yellow fever.—A short description of the town of Charleston.—Observations upon several trees, natives of the old continent, reared in a botanic garden near the city 117

CHAP. II

Departure from Charleston for New York.—A short description of the town.—Botanic excursions in New Jersey.—Remarks upon the quercus tinctoria, or black oak, and the nut trees of that country.—Departure from New York for Philadelphia.—Abode 125

{vi} CHAP. III

Departure from Philadelphia to the western country.—Communications by land in the United States.—Arrival at Lancaster.—Description of the town and its environs.—Departure.—Columbia.—Passage from Susquehannah, York, Dover, Carlisle.—Arrival at Shippensburgh.—Remarks upon the state of agriculture during the journey 132

CHAP. IV

Departure from Shippensburgh to Strasburgh.—Journey over the Blue Ridges.—New Species of rhododendrum.—Passage over the river Juniata.—Use of the cones of the magnolia acuminata.—Arrival at Bedford Court House.—Excesses to which the natives of that part of the country are addicted.—Departure from Bedford.—Journey over Alleghany Ridge and Laurel Hill.—Arrival at West Liberty Town 141

CHAP. V

Departure from West Liberty Town to go among the mountains in search of a shrub supposed to give good oil, a new species of azalea.—Ligonier Valley.—Coal Mines.—Greensburgh.—Arrival at Pittsburgh 149

{vii} CHAP. VI

Description of Pittsburgh.—Commerce of the Town and adjacent countries with New Orleans.—Construction of large vessels.—Description of the rivers Monongahela and Alleghany.—Towns situated on their banks.—Agriculture.—Maple sugar 156

CHAP. VII

Description of the Ohio.—Navigation of that river.—Mr. S. Craft.—The object of his travels.—Remarks upon the state of Vermont 163

CHAP. VIII

Departure from Pittsburgh for Kentucky.—Journey by land to Wheeling.—State of agriculture on the route.—West Liberty Town in Virginia.—Wheeling 168

CHAP. IX

Departure from Wheeling for Marietta.—Aspect of the banks of the Ohio.—Nature of the forests.—Extraordinary size of several kinds of trees 172

{viii} CHAP. X

Marietta.—Ship building.—Departure for Gallipoli.—Falling in with a Kentucky boat.—Point Pleasant.—The Great Kenhaway 177

CHAP. XI

Gallipoli.—State of the French colony Scioto.—Alexandria at the mouth of the Great Scioto.—Arrival at Limestone in Kentucky 182

CHAP. XII

Fish and shells of the Ohio.—Inhabitants on the banks of the river.—Agriculture.—American emigrant.—Commercial intelligence relative to that part of the United States 188

CHAP. XIII

Limestone.—Route from Limestone to Lexinton.—Washington.— Salt-works at Mays-Lick.—Millesburgh.—Paris 195

CHAP. XIV

Lexinton.—Manufactories established there.—Commerce.—Dr. Samuel Brown 199

{ix} CHAP. XV

Departure from Lexinton.—Culture of the vine at Kentucky.—Passage over the Kentucky and Dick Rivers.—Departure for Nasheville.—Mulder Hill.—Passage over Green River 206

CHAP. XVI

Passage over the Barrens, or Meadows.—Plantations upon the road.—The view they present.—Plants discovered there.—Arrival at Nasheville 215

CHAP. XVII

General observations upon Kentucky.—Nature of the soil.—First settlements in the state.—Right of property uncertain.—Population 222

CHAP. XVIII

Distinction of Estates.—Species of Trees peculiar to each of them.—Ginseng.—Animals in Kentucky 228

CHAP. XIX

Different kinds of culture in Kentucky.—Exportation of colonial produce.—Peach trees.—Taxes 237

{x} CHAP. XX

Particulars relative to the manners of the inhabitants of Kentucky.—Horses and cattle.—Necessity of giving them salt.—Wild Horses caught in the Plains of New Mexico.—Exportation of salt provisions 243

[CHAP.] XXI

Nasheville.—Commercial details.—Settlement of the Natches 250

CHAP. XXII

Departure for Knoxville.—Arrival at Fort Blount.—Remarks upon the drying up of the Rivers in the Summer.—Plantations on the road.—Fertility of the soil.—Excursions in a canoe on the river Cumberland 255

CHAP. XXIII

Departure from Fort Blount to West Point, through the Wilderness.—Botanical excursions upon Roaring River.—Description of its Banks.—Saline productions found there.—Indian Cherokees.—Arrival at Knoxville 258

{xi} CHAP. XXIV

Knoxville.—Commercial intelligence.—Trees that grow in the environs.—Converting some parts of the Meadows into Forests.—River Nolachuky.—Greensville.—Arrival at Jonesborough 265

CHAP. XXV

General observations on the state of Tennessea.—Rivers Cumberland and Tennessea.—What is meant by East Tennessea or Holston, and West Tennessea or Cumberland.—First settlements in West Tennessea.—Trees natives of that country 271

CHAP. XXVI

Different kinds of produce of West Tennessea.—Domestic manufactories for cottons encouraged by the Legislature of this State.—Mode of letting out Estates by some of the Emigrants 276

CHAP. XXVII

East Tennessea, or Holston.—Agriculture.—Population.—Commerce 280

{xii} CHAP. XXVIII

Departure from Jonesborough for Morganton, in North Carolina.—Journey over Iron Mountains.—Sojourn on the mountains.—Journey over the Blue Ridges and Linneville Mountains.—Arrival at Morganton 283

CHAP. XXIX

General observations upon this part of the Chain of the Alleghanies.—Salamander which is found in the torrents.—Bear hunting 286

CHAP. XXX

Morganton.—Departure for Charleston.—Lincolnton.—Chester.—Winesborough.—Columbia.—Aspect of the Country on the Road.—Agriculture, &c. &c. 290

CHAP. XXXI

General observations on the Carolinas and Georgia.—Agriculture and produce peculiar to the upper part of these states 296

CHAP. XXXII

Low part of the Carolines and Georgia.—Agriculture.—Population.—Arrival at Charleston 301

TRAVELS, &C., &C.

Chapter I

CHAP. I

Departure from Bourdeaux.—Arrival at Charleston.—Remarks upon the yellow fever.—A short description of the town of Charleston.—Observations upon several trees, natives of the old continent, reared in a botanic garden near the city.

Charleston, in South Carolina, being the first place of my destination, I went to Bourdeaux as one of the ports of France that trades most with the southern parts of the United States, and where there are most commonly vessels from the different points of North America. I embarked the 24th of {2} September 1801, on board the John and Francis, commanded by the same captain with whom I returned to Europe several years ago.[1] A fortnight after our departure we were overtaken by a calm, within sight of the Açorian Islands. Saint George’s and Graciosa were those nearest to us, where we clearly distinguished a few houses, which appeared built with stone and chalk; and the rapid declivity of the land divided by hedges, which most likely separated the property of different occupiers. The major part of these islands abound with stupendous mountains, in various directions, and beyond which the summit of Pico, in a pyramidical form rises majestically above the clouds, which were then illumined by the rays of the setting sun. A gentle breeze springing up, we soon lost sight of that charming prospect, and on the 9th of October following entered the Charleston roads, in company with two other vessels which had left Bourdeaux, the one eighteen days, and the other a month before us.

The pleasure that we felt on discovering the shore was very soon abated. The pilot informed us that the yellow fever had made dreadful ravages at Charleston, and was still carrying off a great number of the inhabitants. This intelligence alarmed the {3} passengers, who were fourteen in number, the most of whom had either friends or relatives in the town. Every one was fearful of learning some disastrous news or other. The anchor was no sooner weighed than those who had never been accustomed to warm countries were escorted by their friends to the Isle of Sullivan. This island is situated about seven miles from Charleston. Its dry and parched-up soil is almost bereft of vegetation; but as it is exposed to the breeze of the open sea, the air is generally cool and pleasant. Within these few years, since that bilious and inflammatory disorder, commonly known by the name of the yellow fever, shows itself regularly every summer at Charleston, a great number of the inhabitants and planters, who took refuge in the town to escape the intermittent fevers which attack seven-tenths of those resident in the country, have built houses in that island, where they sojourn from the early part of July till the first frost, which usually takes place about the 15th of November. A few of the inhabitants keep boarding-houses, where they receive those who have no settled residence. It has been remarked that foreigners, newly arrived from Europe or the states of North America, and {4} who go immediately to reside in this island, are exempt from the yellow fever.

However powerful these considerations were, they could not induce me to go and pass my time in such a dull and melancholy abode; upon which I refused the advice of my friends, and staid in the town. I had nearly been the victim of my obstinacy, having been, a few days after, attacked with the first symptoms of this dreadful malady, under which I laboured upward of a month.

The yellow fever varies every year according to the intenseness of the heat; at the same time the observation has not yet been forcible enough to point out the characteristic signs by which they can discover whether it will be more or less malignant in the summer. The natives are not so subject to it as foreigners, eight-tenths of whom died the year of my arrival; and whenever the former are attacked with it, it is always in a much less proportion.

It has been observed that during the months of July, August, September, and October, when this disorder is usually most prevalent, the persons who leave Charleston for a few days only, are, on their return to town, much more susceptible of catching it {5} than those who staid at home. The natives of Upper Carolina, two or three hundred miles distant, are as subject to it as foreigners; and those of the environs are not always exempt from it: whence it results that during one third of the year all communications are nearly cut off between the country and town, whither they go but very reluctantly, and seldom or ever sleep there. The supply of provisions at that time is only made by the negroes, who are never subject to the fever. On my return to Charleston in the month of October 1802, from my travels over the western part of the country, I did not meet, on the most populous road, for the space of three hundred miles, a single traveller that was either going to town or returning from it; and in the houses where I stopped there was not a person who conceived his business of that importance to oblige him to go there while the season lasted.

From the 1st of November till the month of May the country affords a picture widely different; every thing resumes new life; trade is re-animated; the suspended communications re-commence; the roads are covered with waggons, bringing from all quarters the produce of the exterior; an immense number of carriages and single-horse chaises roll rapidly {6} along, and keep up a continual correspondence between the city and the neighbouring plantations, where the owners spend the greatest part of the season. In short, the commercial activity renders Charleston just as lively as it is dull and melancholy in the summer.

It is generally thought at Charleston that the yellow fever which rages there, as well as at Savannah, every summer, is analogous to that which breaks out in the colonies, and that it is not contagious: but this opinion is not universally adopted in the northern cities. It is a fact, that whenever the disease is prevalent at New York and Philadelphia, the natives are as apt to contract it as foreigners, and that they remove as soon as they learn that their neighbours are attacked with it. Notwithstanding they have a very valuable advantage that is not to be found at Charleston, which is, that the country places bordering on Philadelphia and New York are pleasant and salubrious; and that at two or three miles’ distance the inhabitants are in perfect safety, though even the disorder committed the greatest ravages in the above-mentioned towns.

I took the liberty to make this slight digression, for the information of those who might have to go to the {7} southern parts of the United States that it is dangerous to arrive there in the months of July, August, September, and October. I conceived, like many others, that the using of every means necessary to prevent the effervescence of the blood was infallibly a preservative against this disorder; but every year it is proved by experience that those who have pursued that mode of living, which is certainly the best, are not all exempt from sharing the fate of those who confine themselves to any particular kind of regimen.

Charleston is situated at the conflux of the rivers Ashley and Cooper. The spot of ground that it occupies is about a mile in length. From the middle of the principal street the two rivers might be clearly seen, were it not for a public edifice built upon the banks of the Cooper, which intercepts the view. The most populous and commercial part of the town is situated along the Ashley. Several ill-constructed quays project into the river, to facilitate the trading vessels taking in their cargoes. These quays are formed with the trunks of palm trees fixed together, and laid out in squares one above the other. Experience has shown that the trunks of these trees, although of a very spungy nature, lie buried in the {8} water many years without decaying; upon which account they are generally preferred for these purposes to any other kind of wood in the country. The streets of Charleston are extremely wide, but not paved, consequently every time your foot slips from a kind of brick pavement before the doors, you are immerged nearly ancle-deep in sand. The rapid circulation of the carriages, which, proportionately speaking, are far more considerable here in number than in any other part of America, continually grinds this moving sand, and pulverizes it in such a manner, that the most gentle wind fills the shops with it, and renders it very disagreeable to foot passengers. At regular distances pumps supply the inhabitants with water of such a brackish taste, that it is truly astonishing how foreigners can grow used to it. Two-thirds of the houses are built with wood, the rest with brick. According to the last computation, made in 1803, the population, comprising foreigners, amounted to 10,690 whites and 9050 slaves.

Strangers that arrive at Charleston, or at any town in the United States, find no furnished hotels nor rooms to let for their accommodation, no coffee-houses where they can regale themselves. The whole of this is replaced by boarding-houses, where every thing necessary {9} is provided. In Carolina you pay, at these receptacles, from twelve to twenty piastres per week. This enormous sum is by no means proportionate to the price of provisions. For example, beef very seldom exceeds sixpence a pound. Vegetables are dearer there than meat. Independent of the articles of consumption that the country supplies, the port of Charleston is generally full of small vessels from Boston, Newport, New York, and Philadelphia, and from all the little intermediate ports, which are loaded with flour, salt provisions, potatoes, onions, carrots, beet-roots, apples, oats, Indian corn, and hay. Planks and building materials comprize another considerable article of importation; and although these different kinds of produce are brought from three to four hundred leagues, they are not so dear and of a better quality than those of their own growth.

In winter the markets of Charleston are well stocked with live sea-fish, which are brought from the northern part of the United States in vessels so constructed as to keep them in a continual supply of water. The ships engaged in this kind of traffic load, in return, with rice and cottons, the greater part of which is re-exported into Europe, the freight {10} being always higher in the northern than in the southern states. The cotton wool that they keep in the north for their own consumption is more than sufficient to supply the manufacturies, being but very few: the overplus is disposed of in the country places, where the women fabricate coarse cottons for the use of their families.

Wood is extravagantly dear at Charleston; it costs from forty to fifty shillings[2] a cord, notwithstanding forests, which are almost boundless in extent, begin at six miles, and even at a less distance from the town, and the conveyance of it is facilitated by the two rivers at the conflux of which it is situated; on which account a great number of the inhabitants burn coals that are brought from England.

As soon as I recovered from my illness I left Charleston, and went to reside in a small plantation about ten miles from the town, where my father had formed a botanic garden. It was there he collected and cultivated, with the greatest care, the plants that he found in the long and painful travels that his ardent love for science had urged him to make, almost every year, in the different quarters of America. Ever animated with a desire of serving the country he was in, he conceived that the climate of South Carolina {11} must be favourable to the culture of several useful vegetables of the old continent, and made a memorial of them, which he read to the Agricultural Society at Charleston. A few happy essays confirmed him in his opinion, but his return to Europe did not permit him to continue his former attempts. On my arrival at Carolina I found in this garden a superb collection of trees and plants that had survived almost a total neglect for nearly the space of four years. I likewise found there a great number of trees belonging to the old continent, that my father had planted, some of which were in the most flourishing state. I principally remarked two ginkgo bilobas, that had not been planted above seven years, and which were then upward of thirty feet in height; several sterculia platanifolia, which had yielded seed upward of six years; in short, more than a hundred and fifty mimosa illibrissin, the first plant of which came from Europe about ten inches in diameter. I set several before my return to France, this tree being at that time very much esteemed for its magnificent flowers. The Agricultural Society at Carolina are now in possession of this garden: they intend keeping it in order, and cultivating the useful vegetables belonging to the old continent, which, {12} from the analogy of the climate, promise every success.[3] I employed the remainder of the autumn in making collections of seed, which I sent to Europe; and the winter, in visiting the different parts of Low Carolina, and in reconnoitring the places where, the year following, I might make more abundant harvests, and procure the various sorts that I had not been able to collect during the autumn.

On this account I must observe, that in North America, and perhaps more so than in Europe, there are plants that only inhabit certain places; whence it happens that a botanist, in despite of all his zeal and activity, does not meet with them for years; whilst another, led by a happy chance, finds them in his first excursion. I shall add, in favour of those who wish to travel over the southern part of the United States for botanical researches, that the epoch of the flower season begins in the early part of February; the time for gathering the seeds of herbaceous plants in the month of August; and on the 1st of October for that of forest trees.

Chapter II

{13} CHAP. II

Departure from Charleston for New York.—A short description of the town.—Botanic excursions in New Jersey.—Remark upon the Quercus tinctoria or Black Oak, and the nut trees of that country.—Departure from New York for Philadelphia.—Abode.

In the spring of the year 1802 I left Charleston to go to New York, where I arrived after a passage of ten days. Trade is so brisk between the northern and southern states, that there is generally an opportunity at Charleston to get into any of the ports of the northern states you wish. Several vessels have rooms, tastefully arranged and commodiously fitted up, for the reception of passengers, who every year go in crowds to reside in the northern part of the United States, during the unhealthy season, and return to Charleston in the month of November following. You pay for the passage from forty to fifty {14} piastres. Its duration varies according to the weather. It is generally about ten days, but it is sometimes prolonged by violent gusts of wind which casually spring up on doubling Cape Hatras.

New York, situated at the conflux of the rivers from the east and north, is much nearer to the sea than Philadelphia. Its harbour being safe, and of an easy access in all seasons, makes it very advantageous to the city, and adds incessantly to its extent, riches, and population. The town consists of more than 50,000 souls, among whom are reckoned but a very small number of negroes. Living is not so dear there as at Charleston; one may board for eight or ten piastres a week.

During my stay at New York I frequently had an opportunity of seeing Dr. Hosack, who was held in the highest reputation as a professor of botany. He was at that time employed in establishing a botanical garden, where he intended giving a regular course of lectures. This garden is a few miles from the town: the spot of ground is well adapted, especially for plants that require a peculiar aspect or situation. Mr. Hosack is the physician belonging to the hospital and prison, by virtue of which he permitted me to accompany him in one of his visits, and I had by that {15} means an opportunity of seeing those two establishments. The hospital is well situated, the buildings are extensive, the rooms lofty and well aired; but the beds appeared to me very indifferent; they are composed of a very low bedstead, edged with board about four inches wide, and furnished with a mattress, or rather a pallias, filled with oat straw, not very thick, coarse brown linen sheets, and a rug. The prison is remarkable for the decorum, the arrangement, the cleanliness that reigns there, and more especially for the willingness with which the prisoners seem to work at the different employments allotted for them.

Each seemed to be tasked according to his abilities or profession; some were making shoes, and others manufacturing cut-nails. These nails, made by the help of a machine, have no point, and cannot be used for the same purposes as others wrought in the usual way; notwithstanding, a great many people prefer them for nailing on roofs of houses. They pretend that these nails have not the inconvenience of starting out by reason of the weather, as it frequently happens with others; as upon the roofs of old houses a great number of nails may be seen {16} which do not appear to have been driven in more than half or one-third of their length.

During my stay at New York, I took a botanical excursion into New Jersey, by the river side, towards the north. This part of New Jersey is very uneven; the soil is hard and flinty, to judge of it by the grass which I saw in places pulled up. Large rocks, of a chalky nature, as if decayed, appeared even with the ground upon almost all the hills. Notwithstanding, we observed different species of trees; among others, a variety of the red oak, the acorn of which is nearly round; the white oak, quercus alba; and, among the different species or varieties of nut trees, the juglans tomentosa, or mocker-nut, and the juglans minima, or pig-nut. In the low and marshy places, where it is overflowed almost all the year, we found the juglans-hickery, or shell-barked hickery; the quercus prinus aquatica, which belongs to the series of prunus, and is not mentioned in the “History of Oaks.”[4] The valleys are planted with ash trees, palms, cornus florida’s poplars, and quercus tinctoria’s, known in the country by the name of the black oak.

The quercus tinctoria is very common in all the {17} northern states; it is likewise found to the west of the Alleghany mountains, but is not so abundant in the low part of Georgia and the two Carolinas. The leaves of the lower branches assume a different form from those of the higher branches; the latter are more sharp and pointed. The plate given in the History of Oaks only represents the leaves of the lower branches, and the shape of them when quite young. Amid these numerous species and varieties of oaks, the leaves of which vary, as to form, according to their age, which generally confounds them with each other; notwithstanding, there are certain characteristic signs by which the quercus tinctoria may be always known. In all the other species the stalk, fibres, and leaves themselves are of a lightish green, and towards the autumn their colour grows darker, and changes to a reddish hue; on the contrary, the stalk, fibres and leaves of the black oak are of a yellowish cast, and apparently very dry; again, the yellow grows deeper towards the approach of winter. This remark is sufficient not to mistake them; notwithstanding, there is another still more positive, by which this species may be recognised in winter, when even it has lost its leaves; that is, by the bitter taste of its bark, and the yellow colour {18} which the spittle assumes when chewed. The bark of the quercus cinerea has nearly the same property; and, finding this, I made an observation of it to Dr. Bancroft, who was at Charleston in the winter of 1802. Upon the whole, it is impossible to be mistaken concerning these two kinds of oaks; for the latter grows only in the dryest parts of the southern states. It is very rarely more than four inches in diameter, and eighteen feet in height; its leaves are lanceolated: on the other hand, the quercus tinctoria grows upwards of eighty feet in height, and its leaves are in several lobes, and very long.

Among the species of acorns that I sent over from the northern states of America to France, and those which I brought with me in the spring of 1803, were some of the black oak, which have come up very abundantly in the nursery at Trianon. Mr. Cels has upwards of a hundred young plants of them in his garden.

The species and variety of nut trees natural to the United States are also extremely numerous, and might be the subject of a useful and interesting monography; but that work would never be precisely accurate provided the different qualities of those trees are not studied in the country itself. I have {19} seen some of those nut trees which, by the leaves and blossom, appeared of the same species, when the shells and nuts seemed to class them differently. I have, on the contrary, seen others where the leaves and blossoms were absolutely different, and the fruit perfectly analogous. It is true there are some, where the fruit and blossom are systematically regular at the same time, but very few. This numerous species of nut trees is not confined to the United States; it is remarked in every part of North America from the northern extremity of the United States as far as Mississipi; that is to say, an extent of more than eight hundred leagues from north to south, and five hundred from east to west. I brought over with me some new nuts of six different species, which have come up exceedingly well, and which appear not to have been yet described.

I left New York the 8th of June 1802, to go to Philadelphia; the distance is about a hundred miles. The stages make this journey some in a day, others in a day and a half; the fare is five piastres each person. At the taverns where the stages stop they pay one piaster for dinner, half one for supper or breakfast, and the same for a bed. The space of ground that separates the two cities is completely {20} cleared, and the farms are contiguous to each other. About nine miles from New York is a place called Newark, a pretty little town situated in New Jersey. The fields that encompass it are planted with apple trees; the cyder that is made there is accounted the best in the United States; however, I conceived it by far inferior to that of Saint Lo, Coutance, or Bayeux. Among the other small towns by the road side, Trenton seemed worthy of attention. Its situation upon the Delaware, the beautiful tract of country that surrounds it, must render it a most delightful place of abode.

Philadelphia is situated upon the Delaware, a hundred miles distant from the sea; at this period the most extensive, the handsomest, and most populous city of the United States. In my opinion, there is not one upon the old continent built upon so regular a plan. The streets cut each other at right angles, and are from forty to fifty feet in breadth, except the middle one, which is twice as broad. The market is built in this street, and is remarkable for its extent and extreme cleanliness; it is in the centre of the town, and occupies nearly one-third of its length. The streets are paved commodiously before the houses with brick; pumps erected on both sides, about {21} fifty yards distant from each other, afford an abundant supply of water; upon the top of each is a brilliant lamp. Several streets are planted with Italian poplars of a most beautiful growth, which makes the houses appear elegantly rural.

The population of Philadelphia is always on the increase; in 1749, there were eleven thousand inhabitants; in 1785, forty thousand; and now the number is computed to be about seventy thousand. The few Negroes that are there are free, the greatest part of whom go out to service. Provisions are not quite so dear at Philadelphia as New York; on which account the boarding houses do not charge more than from six to ten piastres per week. You never meet any poor at Philadelphia, not a creature wearing the aspect of misery in his face; that distressing spectacle, so common in European cities, is unknown in America; love, industry, the want of sufficient hands, the scarcity of workmanship, an active commerce, property, are the direct causes that contend against the introduction of beggary, whether in town or country.

During my stay at Philadelphia, I had an opportunity of seeing the Rev. Dr. Collin, minister of the Swedish church, and president of the Philosophical {22} Society; Mr. John Vaughan, the secretary; Messrs. Piles, John and William Bartram.[5] These different gentlemen had formerly been particularly acquainted with my father, and I received from them every mark of attention and respect. Mr. Piles has a beautiful cabinet of natural history. The legislature of Pensylvania have presented him with a place to arrange it in; that is the only encouragement he has received. He is continually employed in enriching it by increasing the number of his correspondents in Europe, as well as in the remote parts of the United States; still, except a bison, I saw nothing in his collection but what may be found in the Museum at Paris.

The absence of Mr. W. Hamilton deprived me of the pleasure of seeing him; notwithstanding, I went into his magnificent garden, situated upon the borders of the Schuylkill, about four miles from Philadelphia. His collection of exotics is immense, and remarkable for plants from New Holland; all the trees and shrubs of the United States, at least those that could stand the winter at Philadelphia, after being once removed from their native soil; in short, it would be almost impossible to find a more agreeable situation than the residence of Mr. W. Hamilton.[6]

Chapter III

{23} CHAP. III

Departure from Philadelphia to the Western Country.—Communications by land in the United States.—Arrival at Lancaster.—Description of the town and its environs.—Departure.—Columbia.—Passage from Susquehannah, York, Dover, Carlisle.—Arrival at Shippensburgh.—Remarks upon the state of agriculture during the journey.

The states of Kentucky, Tennessea, and Ohio comprise that vast extent of country known in America by the name of the Western Country. Almost all the Europeans who have published observations upon the United States, have been pleased to say, according to common report, that this part of the country is very fertile; but they have never entered into the least particulars. It is true that, to reach these new settlements, one is obliged to travel over a considerable tract of uninhabited country, and that {24} these journies are tedious, painful, and afford nothing very interesting to travellers who wish to describe the manners of the people who reside in the town or most populous parts; but as natural history, and more especially vegetable productions, with the state of agriculture, were the chief object of my researches; my business was to avoid the parts most known, in order to visit those which had been less explored; consequently, I resolved to undertake the journey to that remote and almost isolated part of the country. I had nearly two thousand miles to travel over before my return to Charleston, where I was to be absolutely about the beginning of October. My journey had likewise every appearance of being retarded by a thousand common-place obstacles, which is either impossible to foresee, or by any means prevent. These considerations, however, did not stop me; accordingly I fixed my departure from Philadelphia on the 27th of June 1802: I had not the least motive to proceed on slowly, in order to collect observations already confirmed by travellers who had written before me on that subject; this very reason induced me to take the most expeditious means for the purpose of reaching Pittsburgh, situated at the extremity of Ohio; in consequence of which I took {25} the stage[7] at Philadelphia, that goes to Shippensburgh by Lancaster, York, and Carlisle. Shippensburgh, about one hundred and forty miles from Philadelphia, is the farthest place that the stages go to upon that road.[8]

It is reckoned sixty miles from Philadelphia to Lancaster, where I arrived the same day in the afternoon. The road is kept in good repair by the means of turnpikes, fixed at a regular distance from each other. Nearly the whole of the way the houses are almost close together; every proprietor to his enclosure. Throughout the United States all the land that is cultivated is fenced in, to keep it from the cattle and quadrupeds of every kind that the inhabitants leave the major part of the year in the woods, which in that respect are free. Near towns or villages these {26} enclosures are made with posts, fixed in the ground about twelve feet from each other, containing five mortises, at the distance of eight or nine inches, in which are fitted long spars about four or five inches in diameter, similar to the poles used by builders for making scaffolds. The reason of their enclosing thus is principally through economy, as it takes up but very little wood, which is extremely dear in the environs of the Northern cities; but in the interior of the country, and in the Southern states, the enclosures are made with pieces of wood of equal length, placed one above the other, disposed in a zig-zag form, and supported by their extremities, which cross and interlace each other; the enclosures appear to be about seven feet in height. In the lower part of the Carolines they are made of fir; in the other parts of the country, and throughout the North, they are comprised of oak and walnut-tree; they are said to last about five and twenty years when kept in good repair.

The tract of country we have to cross, before we get to Lancaster, is exceedingly fertile and productive; the fields are covered with wheat, rye, and oats, which is a proof that the soil is better than that between New York and Philadelphia. The inns are very {27} numerous on the road; in almost all of them they speak German. My fellow travellers being continually thirsty, made the stage stop at every inn to drink a glass or two of grog. This beverage, which is generally used in the United States, is a mixture of brandy and water, or rum and water, the proportion of which depends upon the person’s taste.

Lancaster is situated in a fertile and well-cultivated plain. The town is built upon a regular plan; the houses, elevated two stories, are all of brick; the two principal streets are paved as at Philadelphia. The population is from four to five thousand inhabitants, almost all of German origin, and various sects; each to his particular church; that of the Roman Catholics is the least numerous. The inhabitants are for the most part armourers, hatters, saddlers, and coopers; the armourers of Lancaster have been long esteemed for the manufacturing of rifle-barrelled guns, the only arms that are used by the inhabitants of the interior part of the country, and the Indian nations that border on the frontiers of the United States.

At Lancaster I formed acquaintance with Mr. Mulhenberg, a Lutheran minister, who, for twenty years past, had applied himself to botany. He shewed {28} me the manuscript concerning a Flora Lancastriensis. The number of the species described were upwards of twelve hundred. Mr. Mulhenberg is very communicative, and more than once he expressed to me the pleasure it would give him to be on terms of intimacy with the French botanists; he corresponds regularly with Messrs. Wildenow and Smith.[9] I met at Lancaster Mr. W. Hamilton, whose magnificent garden I had an opportunity of seeing near Philadelphia. This amateur was very intimate with my father; and I can never forget the marks of benevolence that I received from him and Mr. Mulhenberg, as well as the concern they both expressed for the success of the long journey I had undertaken.

On the 27th of June I set out from Lancaster for Shippensburgh. There were only four of us in the stage, which was fitted up to hold twelve passengers. Columbia, situated upon the Susquehannah, is the first town that we arrived at; it is composed of about fifty houses, scattered here and there, and almost all built with wood; at this place ends the turnpike road.

It is not useless to observe here, that in the United States they give often the name of town to a group of seven or eight houses, and that the mode of constructing them is not the same everywhere. At {29} Philadelphia the houses are built with brick. In the other towns and country places that surround them, the half, and even frequently the whole, is built with wood; but at places within seventy or eighty miles of the sea, in the central and southern states, and again more particularly in those situated to the Westward of the Alleghany Mountains, one third of the inhabitants reside in log houses. These dwellings are made with the trunks of trees, from twenty to thirty feet in length, about five inches diameter, placed one upon another, and kept up by notches cut at their extremities. The roof is formed with pieces of similar length to those that compose the body of the house, but not quite so thick, and gradually sloped on each side. Two doors, which often supply the place of windows, are made by sawing away a part of the trunks that form the body of the house; the chimney, always placed at one of the extremities, is likewise made with the trunks of trees of a suitable length; the back of the chimney is made of clay, about six inches thick, which separates the fire from the wooden walls. Notwithstanding this want of precaution, fires very seldom happen in the country places. The space between these trunks of trees is filled up with clay, but so very carelessly, that the {30} light may be seen through in every part; in consequence of which these huts are exceedingly cold in winter, notwithstanding the amazing quantity of wood that is burnt. The doors move upon wooden hinges, and the greater part of them have no locks. In the night time they only push them to, or fasten them with a wooden peg. Four or five days are sufficient for two men to finish one of these houses, in which not a nail is used. Two great beds receive the whole family. It frequently happens that in summer the children sleep upon the ground, in a kind of rug. The floor is raised from one to two feet above the surface of the ground, and boarded. They generally make use of feather beds, or feathers alone, and not mattresses. Sheep being very scarce, the wool is very dear; at the same time they reserve it to make stockings. The clothes belonging to the family are hung up round the room, or suspended upon a long pole.

At Columbia the Susquehannah is nearly a quarter of a mile in breadth. We crossed it in a ferry-boat. At that time it had so little water in it, that we could easily see the bottom. The banks of this river were formed by lofty and majestic hills, and the bosom of it is strewed with little islands, which {31} seem to divide it into several streams. Some of them do not extend above five or six acres at most, and still they are as lofty as the surrounding hills. Their irregularity, and the singular forms that they present, render this situation picturesque and truly remarkable, more especially at that season of the year, when the trees were in full vegetation.

About a mile from Susquehannah I observed an annona triloba, the fruit of which is tolerably good, although insipid. When arrived at maturity it is nearly the size of a common egg. According to the testimony of Mr. Mulhenberg this shrub grows in the environs of Philadelphia.

About twelve miles from Columbia is a little town called York, the houses of which are not so straggling as many others, and are principally built with brick. The inhabitants are computed to be upward of eighteen hundred, most of them of German origin, and none speak English. About six miles from York we passed through Dover, composed of twenty or thirty log-houses, erected here and there. The stage stopped at the house of one M’Logan, who keeps a miserable inn fifteen miles from York.[10] That day we travelled only thirty or forty miles.

Inns are very numerous in the United States, and {32} especially in the little towns; yet almost everywhere, except in the principal towns, they are very bad, notwithstanding rum, brandy, and whiskey[11] are in plenty. In fact, in houses of the above description all kinds of spirits are considered the most material, as they generally meet with great consumption. Travellers wait in common till the family go to meals. At breakfast they make use of very indifferent tea, and coffee still worse, with small slices of ham fried in the stove, to which they sometimes add eggs and a broiled chicken. At dinner they give a piece of salt beef and roasted fowls, and rum and water as a beverage. In the evening, coffee, tea, and ham. There are always several beds in the rooms where you sleep; seldom do you meet with clean sheets. Fortunate is the traveller who arrives on the day they happen to be changed; although an American would be quite indifferent about it.

Early on the 28th of June we reached Carlisle, situated about fifty-four miles from Lancaster. The town consists of about two hundred houses, a few of them built with brick, but by far the greatest part {33} with wood. Upon the whole it has a respectable appearance, from a considerable number of large shops and warehouses. These receptacles are supplied from the interior parts of the country with large quantities of jewellery, mercery, spices, &c. The persons who keep those shops purchase and also barter with the country people for the produce of their farms, which they afterwards send off to the seaport towns for exportation.

From M’Logan’s inn to Carlisle the country is barren and mountainous, in consequence of which the houses are not so numerous on the road, being at a distance of two or three miles from each other; and out of the main road they are still more straggling. The white, red, and black oaks, the chesnut, and maple trees are those most common in the forests. Upon the summit of the hills we observed the quercus banisteri. From Carlisle to Shippensburgh the country continues mountainous, and is not much inhabited, being also barren and uncultivated.

We found but very few huts upon the road, and those, from their miserable picture, clearly announced that their inhabitants were in but a wretched state; as from every appearance of their approaching {34} harvest it could only afford them a scanty subsistence.

The coach stopped at an inn called the General Washington, at Shippensburgh, kept by one Colonel Ripey, whose character is that of being very obliging to all travellers that may happen to stop at his house on their tour to the western countries. Shippensburgh has scarcely seventy houses in it. The chief of its trade is dealing in corn and flour. When I left this place, a barrel of flour, weighing ninety-six pounds, was worth five piastres.

From Shippensburgh to Pittsburgh the distance is about an hundred and seventy miles.[12] The stages going no farther, a person must either travel the remainder of the road on foot, or purchase horses. There are always some to be disposed of; but the natives, taking advantage of travellers thus situated, make them pay more than double their value; and when you arrive at Pittsburgh, on your return, you can only sell them for one half of what they cost. I could have wished, for the sake of economy, to travel the rest of the way on foot, but from the observations I had heard I was induced to buy a horse, in conjunction with an American officer with whom I came in the stage, and who was also going to Pittsburgh. We agreed to ride alternately.

Chapter IV

{35} CHAP. IV

Departure from Shippensburgh to Strasburgh--Journey over the Blue Ridges—New species of Rhododendrum—Passage over the river Juniata—Use of the Cones of the Magnolia Acuminata—Arrival at Bedford Court House—Excesses to which the Natives of that part of the Country are addicted—Departure from Bedford—Journey over Alleghany Ridge and Laurel Hill—Arrival at West Liberty Town.

On the morning of the 30th of June we left Shippensburgh, and arrived at twelve o’clock at Strasburgh, being a distance of ten miles. This town consists of about forty log-houses, and is situated at the foot of the first chain of Blue Ridges. The tract of country you have to cross before you get there, although uneven, is much better; and you have a view of several plantations tolerably well {36} cultivated. After having taken a moment’s repose at Strasburgh, we pursued our journey notwithstanding the heat, which was excessive, and ascended the first ridge by an extremely steep and rocky path. We reached the summit after three quarters of an hour’s difficult walking, and crossed two other ridges of nearly the same height, and which follow the same direction. These three ridges form two little valleys, the first of which presents several small huts built on the declivity; in the second, which is rather more extensive, is situated a town called Fenetsburgh, composed of about thirty houses, which stand on both sides of the road; the plantations that surround them are about twenty in number, each of which is composed of from two to three hundred acres of woody land, of which, from the scarcity of hands, there are seldom more than a few acres cleared. In this part of Pensylvania every individual is content with cultivating a sufficiency for himself and family; and according as that is more or less numerous the parts so cleared are more or less extensive; whence it follows, that the larger family a man has capable of assisting him, the greater independence he enjoys; this is one of the principal {37} causes of the rapid progress that population makes in the United States.

This day we travelled only six-and-twenty miles, and slept at Fort Littleton, about six miles from Strasburg, at the house of one Colonel Bird, who keeps a good inn. From Shippensburgh the mountains are very flinty, and the soil extremely bad; the trees of an indifferent growth, and particularly the white oak that grows upon the summit, and the calmia latifolia on the other parts.

The next day we set out very early in the morning to go to Bedford Court House. From Fort Littleton to the river Juniata we found very few plantations; nothing but a succession of ridges, the spaces between which were filled up with a number of little hills. Being on the summit of one of these lofty ridges, the inequality of this group of mountains, crowned with innumerable woods, and overshadowing the earth, it afforded nearly the same picture that the troubled sea presents after a dreadful storm.

Two miles before you come to the river Juniata, the road is divided into two branches, which meet again at the river side. The right leads across the mountains, and the left, which we took, appeared to {38} have been, and may be still the bed of a deep torrent, the ground being wet and marshy. The banks were covered with the andromeda, vaccinium, and more particularly with a species of rhododendrum, that bears a flower of the clearest white; the fibres of the stamina are also white, and the leaves more obtuse, and not so large as the rhododendrum maximum. This singular variation must of course admit its being classed under a particular species. I discovered this beautiful shrub a second time on the mountains of North Carolina. Its seeds were at that time ripe, and I carried some of them over with me to France, which came up exceedingly well. The river Juniata was not, in that part, above thirty or forty fathoms broad, and in consequence of the tide being very low, we forded it; still, the greatest part of the year people cross it in a ferry-boat. Its banks are lofty and very airy. The magnolia acuminata is very common in the environs; it is known in the country by the name of the cucumber tree. The inhabitants of the remote parts of Pensylvania, Virginia, and even the western countries, pick the cones when green to infuse in whiskey, which gives it a pleasant bitter. This bitter is very much esteemed in the country as a preventive against intermittent {39} fevers; but I have my doubts whether it would be so generally used if it had the same qualities when mixed with water.

From the crossing of the river Juniata to Bedford Court House, the country, although mountainous, is still better, and more inhabited, than that we travelled over from Shippensburgh. The plantations, although seldom in sight of each other, are near enough to give a more animated appearance to the country. We arrived at Bedford in the dusk of the evening, and took lodgings at an inn, the landlord of which was an acquaintance of the American officer with whom I was travelling. His house was commodious, and elevated one story above the ground floor, which is very rare in that part of the country. The day of our arrival was a day of rejoicing for the country people, who had assembled together in this little town to celebrate the suppression of the tax laid upon the whiskey distilleries; rather an arbitrary tax, that had disaffected the inhabitants of the interior against the late president, Mr. Adams.[13] The public houses, inns, and more especially the one where we lodged, were filled with the lower class of people, who made the most dreadful riot, and committed such horrible excesses, that {40} is almost impossible to form the least idea of. The rooms, stairs, and yard were strewed with drunken men; and those who had still the power of speech uttered nothing but the accents of rage and fury. A passion for spirituous liquors is one of the features that characterise the country people belonging to the interior of the United States. This passion is so strong, that they desert their homes every now and then to get drunk in public houses; in fact, I do not conceive there are ten out of a hundred who have resolution enough to desist from it a moment provided they had it by them, notwithstanding their usual beverage in summer is nothing but water, or sour milk. They care very little for cyder, which they find too weak. Their dislike to this wholesome and pleasant beverage is the more distressing as they might easily procure it at a very trifling expense, for apple trees of every kind grow to wonderful perfection in this country. This is a remark which I have made towards the east as well as the west of the Alleghany Mountains, where I have known lofty trees spring up from kernels, which bore apples from eight to nine inches in circumference.

At Bedford there are scarce a hundred and twenty houses in the whole, and those but of a miserable {41} appearance, most of them being built of wood. This little town, like all the rest on that road, trades in all kinds of corn, flour, &c. which, with salt provisions, are the only articles they sell for exportation. During the war, in the time of the French revolution, the inhabitants found it more to their advantage to send their corn, &c. to Pittsburgh, there to be sent by the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, or embark them for the Carribbees, than to send them to Philadelphia or Baltimore; notwithstanding it is not computed to be more than two hundred miles from Bedford to Philadelphia, and a hundred and fifty from Bedford to Baltimore, whilst the distance from Bedford to New Orleans is about two thousand two hundred miles; viz. a hundred miles by land to Pittsburgh, and two thousand one hundred miles by water from Pittsburgh to the mouth of the Mississippi. It is evident, according to this calculation, that the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi is very easy, and by far less expensive, since it compensates for the enormous difference that exists between those two distances. The situation of New Orleans, with respect to the Carribbees, by this rule, gives this town the most signal advantage over all the ports eastward of the United States; and in proportion as {42} the new western states increase in population, New Orleans will become the centre of an immense commerce. Other facts will still rise up to the support of this observation.

On the following day (the 1st of July) we left Bedford very early in the morning. The heat was excessive; the ridges that we had perpetually to climb, and the little mountains that rise between these ridges, rendered the journey extremely difficult; we travelled no more than six-and-twenty miles this day. About four miles from Bedford the road divides into two different directions; we took the left, and stopped to breakfast with a miller who keeps a public house. We found a man there lying upon the ground, wrapt up in a blanket, who on the preceding evening had been bitten by a rattle-snake. The first symptoms that appeared, about an hour after the accident, were violent vomitings, which was succeeded by a raging fever. When I saw him first his leg and thigh were very much swelled, his respiration very laborious, and his countenance turgescent, and similar to that of a person attacked with the hydrophobia whom I had an opportunity of seeing at Charité. I put several questions to him; but he was so absorbed that it was impossible to obtain {43} the least answer from him. I learnt from some persons in the house that immediately after the bite, the juice of certain plants had been applied to the wound, waiting the doctor’s arrival, who lived fifteen or twenty miles off. Those who do not die with it are always very sickly, and sensible to the changes of the atmosphere. The plants made use of against the bite are very numerous, and almost all succulent. There are a great many rattle-snakes in these mountainous parts of Pensylvania; we found a great number of them killed upon the road. In the warm and dry season of the year they come out from beneath the rocks, and inhabit those places where there is water.

On that same day we crossed the ridge which takes more particularly the name of Alleghany Ridges. The road we took was extremely rugged, and covered with enormous stones. We attained the summit after two hours painful journey. It is truly astonishing how the vehicles of conveyance pass over so easily, and with so few accidents this multitude of steep hills or ridges, that uninterruptedly follow in succession from Shippensburgh to Pittsburgh, and where the spaces between each are filled up with an infinity of small mountains of a less elevation.

{44} Alleghany Ridge is the most elevated link in Pensylvania; on its summit are two log-houses, very indifferently constructed, about three miles distant from each other, which serve as public houses. These were the only habitations we met with on the road from Bedford; the remaining part of the country is uninhabited. We stopped at the second, kept by one Chatlers, tolerably well supplied with provisions for the country, as they served us up for dinner slices of ham and venison fried on the hearth, with a kind of muffins made of flour, which they baked before the fire upon a little board.

Notwithstanding a very heavy fall of rain, we went to sleep that day at Stanley Town, a small place, which, like all those in that part of Pensylvania, is built upon a hill. It is composed of about fifty houses, the half of which are log-houses; among the rest are a few inns, and two or three shops, supplied from Philadelphia; the distance is about seven miles from Chatler’s; the country that separates them is very fertile, and abounds with trees of the highest elevation; those most prevalent in the woods are the white, red, and black oaks, the beech, tulip, and magnolia acuminata.

The horse we bought at Shippensburgh, and which {45} we rode alternately, was very much fatigued, in consequence of which we travelled but very little farther than if we had been on foot; in the mean time the American officer, my companion, was in haste to arrive at Pittsburgh, to be present at the fête of the 4th of July in commemoration of the American independence. In order to gain a day, he hired a horse at Stanley Town, with which we crossed Laurel Hill, a distance of four miles. The direction of this ridge is parallel with those we had left behind us; the woods which cover it are more tufted, and the vegetation appears more lively. The name given to this mountain I have no doubt proceeds from the great quantity of calmia latifolia, from eight to ten feet high, which grows exclusively in all the vacant places, and that of the rhododendrum maximum, which enamel the borders of the torrents; for the inhabitants call the rhododendrum laurel as frequently as the calmia latifolia. Some describe the latter shrub by the name of the colico-tree, the leaves of which, they say, are a very subtle poison to sheep, who die almost instantaneously after eating them. At the foot of Laurel Hill begins the valley of Ligonier, in which is situated, about a quarter of a mile from the mountain, West Liberty Town, composed {46} of eighteen or twenty log-houses. The soil of this valley appears extremely fertile. It is very near this place that the French, formerly masters of Canada, built Fort Ligonier, as every part of the United States west of the Alleghany Mountains depended on Canada or Louisiana.[14]

Chapter V

{47} CHAP. V

Departure from West Liberty Town to go among the Mountains in search of a Shrub supposed to give good Oil, a new Species of Azalea.—Ligonier Valley.—Coal Mines.—Greensburgh.—Arrival at Pittsburgh.

On my journey to Lancaster Mr. W. Hamilton had informed me that at a short distance from West Liberty Town, and near the plantation of Mr. Patrick Archibald, there grew a shrub, the fruit of which he had been told produced excellent oil. Several persons at New York and Philadelphia had heard the same, and entertained a hope that, cultivated largely, it might turn to general advantage. In fact, it would have been a treasure to find a shrub which, to the valuable qualities of the olive-tree, united that of enduring the cold of the most northern countries. Induced by these motives, I left my {48} travelling companion to go amongst the mountains in quest of the shrub. About two miles from West Liberty Town I passed by Probes’s Furnace, a foundry established by a Frenchman from Alsace, who manufactures all kinds of vessels in brass and copper; the largest contain about two hundred pints, which are sent into Kentucky and Tennessea, where they use them for the preparation of salt by evaporation; the smaller ones are destined for domestic uses. They directed me at the foundry which road I was to take, notwithstanding I frequently missed my way on account of the roads being more or less cut, which lead to different plantations scattered about the woods; still I met with the greatest civility from the inhabitants, who very obligingly put me in my road, and on the same evening I reached Patrick Archibald’s, where I was kindly received after having imparted the subject of my visit. One would think that this man, who has a mill and other valuables of his own, might live in the greatest comfort; yet he resides in a miserable log-house about twenty feet long, subject to the inclemency of the weather. Four large beds, two of which are very low, are placed underneath the others in the day-time, and drawn out of an evening {49} into the middle of the room, receive the whole family, composed of ten persons, and at times strangers, who casually entreat to have a bed. This mode of living, which would announce poverty in Europe, is by no means the sign of it with them; for in an extent of two thousand miles and upward that I have travelled, there is not a single family but has milk, butter, salted or dried meat, and Indian corn generally in the house; the poorest man has always one or more horses, and an inhabitant very rarely goes on foot to see his neighbour.

The day after my arrival I went into the woods, and in my first excursion I found the shrub which was at that moment the object of my researches. I knew it to be the same that my father had discovered fifteen years before in the mountains of South Carolina, and which, in despite of all the attention he bestowed, he could not bring to any perfection in his garden.[15] Mr. W. Hamilton, who had received a few seeds and plants of it from that part of Pensylvania where I then was, had not been more successful. The seeds grow so soon rancid, that in the course of a few days they lose their germinative faculty, and contract an uncommon sharpness. This shrub, which seldom rises above five feet in {50} height is diocal. It grows exclusively on the mountains, and is only found in cool and shady places, and where the soil is very fertile. Its roots, of a citron colour, do not divide, but extend horizontally to a great distance, and give birth to several shoots, which very seldom grow more than eighteen inches high. The roots and the bark rubbed together, produce an unpleasant smell. I commissioned my landlord to gather half a bushel of seed, and send it to Mr. William Hamilton, giving him the necessary precaution to keep it fresh.—On the banks of the creek where Mr. Archibald’s mill is erected, and along the rivulets in the environs, grows a species of the azalea, which was then in full blossom. It rises from twelve to fifteen feet. Its flowers, of a beautiful white, and larger than those of the other known species, exhale the most delicious perfume. The azalea coccinea, on the contrary, grows on the summit of the mountains, is of a nasturtium colour, and blows two months before.

Ligonier Valley is reckoned very fertile. Wheat, rye, and oats are among its chief productions. Some of the inhabitants plant Indian corn upon the summit of the mountains, but it does not succeed well, the country being too cold. The sun is not {51} seen there for three quarters of an hour after it has risen. They also cultivate hemp and flax, and each gathers a sufficient quantity of it to supply his domestic wants; and as all the women know how to spin and weave, they supply themselves and family, by this means, with linen. The price of land is from one to two piastres an acre. The taxes are very moderate, and no complaints are ever made against them. In this part of the United States, as well as in all mountainous countries, the air is very wholesome. I have seen men there upward of seventy-five years of age, which is very rare in the Atlantic states situated south of Pennsylvania. During my travels in this country the measles were very prevalent. At the invitation of my host I went to see several of his relatives and friends that were attacked with it. I found them all drinking whiskey, to excite perspiration. I advised them a decoction of the leaves of the viscous elm, with the addition of a spoonful of vinegar to a pint, and an ounce of sugar of maple. In consequence of the country being poor, and the population not very numerous, there are but few medical men there; and in cases of necessity they have to go twenty or thirty miles to fetch them.

{52} On the 4th of July I left Archibald’s, and posted on toward Greensburgh, which is about eleven miles from it. I had not gone far before I had to cross Chesnut Ridge, a very steep hill, the summit of which, for an extent of two miles, presents nothing but a dry and chalky soil, abounding with oaks and chesnut trees, stunted in their growth: but as I advanced toward Greensburgh the aspect of the country changes, the soil becomes better. The plantations, although surrounded with woods, are not so far apart as in the valley of Ligonier. The houses are much larger, and most of them have two rooms. The land better cultivated, the enclosures better formed, prove clearly it is a German settlement. With them every thing announces ease, the fruit of their assiduity to labour. They assist each other in their harvests, live happy among themselves, always speak German, and preserve, as much as possible, the customs of their ancestors, formerly from Europe. They live much better than the American descendants of the English, Scotch, and Irish. They are not so much addicted to spirituous liquors, and have not that wandering mind which often, for the slightest motive, prompts them to emigrate several {53} hundred miles, in hopes of finding a more fertile soil.

Prior to my arrival at Greensburgh[16] I had an opportunity of remarking several parts of the woods exclusively composed of white oaks, or quercus alba, the foliage of which being a lightish green, formed a beautiful contrast with other trees of a deeper colour. About a mile from the town, and on the borders of a tremendous cavity I perceived unequivocal signs of a coal mine. I learnt at Greensburgh and Pittsburgh that this substance was so common and so easy to procure, that many of the inhabitants burnt it from economical motives. Not that there is a scarcity of wood, the whole country being covered with it, but labour is very dear; so that there is not a proprietor who would not consent to sell a cord of wood for half the sum that coals would cost, provided a person would go a mile to fell the trees, and take them home.

Greensburgh contains about a hundred houses. The town is built upon the summit of a hill on the road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The soil of the environs is fertile; the inhabitants, who are of German origin, cultivate wheat, rye, and oats with great success. The flour is exported at Pittsburgh.

{54} I lodged at the Seven Stars with one Erbach, who keeps a good inn.[17] I there fell into company with a traveller who came from the state of Vermont, and through necessity we were obliged to sleep in one room. Without entering into any explanation relative to the intention of our journey, we communicated to each other our remarks upon the country that we had just travelled over. He had been upward of six hundred miles since his departure from his place of residence, and I had been four hundred since I left New York. He proposed accompanying me to Pittsburgh. I observed to him that I was on foot, and gave him my reasons for it, as it is very uncommon in America to travel in that manner, the poorest inhabitant possessing always one, and even several horses.

From Greensburgh to Pittsburgh it is computed to be about thirty-two miles. The road that leads to it is very mountainous. To avoid the heat, and to accelerate my journey, I set out at four in the morning. I had no trouble in getting out of the house, the door being only on the latch. At the inns in small towns, on the contrary, they are extremely careful in locking the stables, as horse-stealers are by no means uncommon in certain parts of the {55} United States; and this is one of the accidents to which travellers are the most exposed, more especially in the southern states and in the western countries, where they are sometimes obliged to sleep in the woods. It also frequently happens that they steal them from the inhabitants; at the same time nothing is more easy, as the horses are, in one part of the year, turned out in the forests, and in the spring they frequently stray many miles from home; but on the slightest probability of the road the thief has taken, the plundered inhabitant vigorously pursues him, and frequently succeeds in taking him; upon which he confines him in the county prison, or, which is not uncommon, kills him on the spot. In the different states the laws against horse-stealing are very severe, and this severity appears influenced by the great facility the country presents for committing the crime.

I had travelled about fifteen miles when I was overtaken by an American gentleman whom I had met the preceding evening at Greensburgh. Although he was on horseback, he had the politeness to slacken his pace, and I accompanied him to Pittsburgh. This second interview made us more intimately acquainted. He informed me that his intention {56} was to go by the side of the Ohio. Having the same design, I entertained a wish to travel with him, and more so, as he was not an amateur of whiskey; being compelled, by the heat of the weather, frequently to halt at the inns, which are tolerably numerous, I had observed that he drank very little of that liquor in water, and that he gave a preference to sour milk, whenever it could be procured.[18] In that respect he differed from the American officer with whom I had travelled almost all the way from Shippensburgh.

About ten miles from Greensburgh, on the left, is a road that cuts off more than three miles, but which is only passable for persons on foot or on horseback. We took it, and in the course of half an hour perceived the river Monongahela, which we coasted till within a short distance of Pittsburgh. A tremendous shower obliged us to take shelter in a house about a hundred fathoms from the river. The owner having recognized us to be strangers, informed us that it was on that very spot that the French, in the seven years’ war, had completely defeated General Braddock; and he also showed us several trees that are still damaged by the balls.[19]

We reached Pittsburgh at a very early hour, when {57} I took up my residence with a Frenchman named Marie, who keeps a respectable inn. What pleased me most was my having accomplished my journey, as I began to be fatigued with travelling over so mountainous a country; for during an extent of about a hundred and eighty miles, which I had travelled almost entirely on foot, I do not think I walked fifty fathoms without either ascending or descending.

Chapter VI

{58} CHAP. VI

Description of Pittsburgh.—Commerce of the Town and adjacent Countries with New Orleans.—Construction of large Vessels.—Description of the Rivers Monongahela and Alleghany.—Towns situated on their Banks.—Agriculture.—Maple Sugar.

Pittsburgh is situated at the conflux of the rivers Monongahela and Alleghany, the uniting of which forms the Ohio. The even soil upon which it is built is not more than forty or fifty acres in extent. It is in the form of an angle, the three sides of which are enclosed either by the bed of the two rivers or by stupendous mountains. The houses are principally brick, they are computed to be about four hundred, most of which are built upon the Monongahela; that side is considered the most commercial part of the town. As a great number of the houses are separated from each other by large spaces, the {59} whole surface of the angle is completely taken up. On the summit of the angle the French built Fort Duquesne, which is now entirely destroyed, and nothing more is seen than the vestige of the ditches that surrounded it.[20] This spot affords the most pleasing view, produced by the perspective of the rivers, overshadowed with forests, and especially the Ohio, which flows in a strait line, and, to appearance, loses itself in space.

The air is very salubrious at Pittsburgh and its environs; intermittent fevers are unknown there, although so common in the southern states, neither are they tormented in the summer with musquitoes. A person may subsist there for one-third of what he pays at Philadelphia. Two printing-offices have been long established there, and, for the amusement of the curious, each publish a newspaper weekly.[21]

Pittsburgh has been long considered by the Americans as the key to the western country. Thence the federal forces were marched against the Indians who opposed the former settlement of the Americans in Kentucky, and on the banks of the Ohio. However, now the Indian nations are repulsed to a considerable distance, and reduced to the impossibility {60} of hurting the most remote settlers in the interior of the states; besides, the western country has acquired a great mass of population, insomuch that there is nothing now at Pittsburgh but a feeble garrison, barracked in a fort belonging to the town, on the banks of the river Allighany.[22]

However, though this town has lost its importance as a military post, it has acquired a still greater one in respect to commerce. It serves as a staple for the different sorts of merchandise that Philadelphia and Baltimore send, in the beginning of spring and autumn, for supplying the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and the settlement of Natches.

The conveyance of merchandise from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh is made in large covered waggons, drawn by four horses two a-breast. The price of carrying goods varies according to the season; but in general it does not exceed six piastres the quintal. They reckon it to be three hundred miles from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and the carriers generally make it a journey of from twenty to twenty-four days. The price of conveyance would not be so high as it really is, were it not that the waggons frequently return empty; notwithstanding they sometimes bring back, on their return to Philadelphia or {61} Baltimore, fur skins that come from Illinois or Ginseng, which is very common in that part of Pensylvania.

Pittsburgh is not only the staple of the Philadelphia and Baltimore trade with the western country, but of the numerous settlements that are formed upon the Monongahela and Alleghany. The territorial produce of that part of the country finds an easy and advantageous conveyance by the Ohio and Mississippi. Corn, hams and dried pork are the principal articles sent to New Orleans, whence they are re-exported into the Carribbees. They also export for the consumption of Louisiana, bar-iron, coarse linen, bottles manufactured at Pittsburgh, whiskey, and salt butter. A great part of these provisions come from Redstone, a small commercial town, situated upon the Monongahela, about fifty miles beyond Pittsburgh.[23] All these advantages joined together have, within these ten years, increased ten-fold the population and price of articles in the town, and contribute to its improvements, which daily grow more and more rapid.

The major part of the merchants settled at Pittsburgh, or in the environs, are the partners, or else the factors, belonging to the houses at Philadelphia. {62} Their brokers at New Orleans sell, as much as they can, for ready money; or rather, take in exchange cottons, indigo, raw sugar, the produce of Low Louisiana, which they send off by sea to the houses at Philadelphia and Baltimore, and thus cover their first advances. The bargemen return thus by sea to Philadelphia or Baltimore, whence they go by land to Pittsburgh and the environs, where the major part of them generally reside. Although the passage from New Orleans to one of these two ports is twenty or thirty days, and that they have to take a route by land of three hundred miles to return to Pittsburgh, they prefer this way, being not so difficult as the return by land from New Orleans to Pittsburgh, this last distance being fourteen or fifteen hundred miles. However, when the barges are only destined for Limeston, in Kentucky, or for Cincinnati, in the state of Ohio, the bargemen return by land, and by that means take a route of four or five hundred miles.

The navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi is so much improved of late that they can tell almost to a certainty the distance from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, which they compute to be two thousand one hundred miles. The barges in the spring season {63} usually take forty or fifty days to make the passage, which two or three persons in a pirogue[24] make in five and twenty days.

What many, perhaps, are ignorant of in Europe is, that they build large vessels on the Ohio, and at the town of Pittsburgh. One of the principal ship yards is upon the Monongahela, about two hundred fathoms beyond the last houses in the town. The timber they make use of is the white oak, or quercus alba; the red oak, or quercus rubra; the black oak, or quercus tinctoria; a kind of nut tree, or juglans minima; the Virginia cherry-tree, or cerasus Virginia; and a kind of pine, which they use for masting, as well as for the sides of the vessels which require a slighter wood. The whole of this timber being near at hand, the expense of building is not so great as in the ports of the Atlantic states. The cordage is manufactured at Redstone and Lexinton, where there are two extensive rope-walks, which also supply ships with rigging that are built at Marietta and Louisville. On my journey to Pittsburgh in the month of July 1802, there was a three-mast vessel[25] of two {64} hundred and fifty tons, and a smaller one of ninety, which was on the point of being finished. These ships were to go, in the spring following, to New Orleans, loaded with the produce of the country, after having made a passage of two thousand two hundred miles before they got into the ocean. There is no doubt but they can, by the same rule, build ships two hundred leagues beyond the mouth of the Missouri, fifty from that of the river Illinois, and even in the Mississippi, two hundred beyond the place whence these rivers flow; that is to say, six hundred and fifty leagues from the sea; as their bed in the appointed space is as deep as that of the Ohio at Pittsburgh; in consequence of which it must be a wrong conjecture to suppose that the immense tract of country watered by these rivers cannot be populous enough to execute such undertakings. The rapid population of the three new western states, under less favourable circumstances, proves this assertion to be true.[26] Those states, where thirty years ago there was scarcely three hundred inhabitants, are now computed to contain upwards of a hundred thousand; and although the plantations on the roads are scarcely four miles distant from each other, it is very rare to find one, even among {65} the most flourishing, where one cannot with confidence ask the owner, whence he has emigrated; or, according to the trivial manner of the Americans, “What part of the world do you come from?” as if these immense and fertile regions were to be the asylum common to all the inhabitants of the globe. Now if we consider these astonishing and rapid ameliorations, what ideas must we not form of the height of prosperity to which the western country is rising, and of the recent spring that the commerce, population and culture of the country is taking by uniting Louisiana to the American territory.

The river Monongahela derives its source in Virginia, at the foot of Laurel Mountain, which comprises a part of the chain of the Alleghanies; bending its course toward the west, it runs into Pennsylvania, and before it reaches Alleghany it receives in its current the rivers Chéat and Youghiogheny, which proceed from the south west. The territory watered by this river is extremely fertile; and the settlements formed upon the banks are not very far apart. It begins to be navigable at Morgan Town, which is composed of about sixty houses, and is situated upon the right, within a hundred miles of its embouchure.[27] Of all the little towns built upon {66} the Monongahela, New Geneva and Redstone have the most active commerce. The former has a glass-house in it, the produce of which is exported chiefly into the western country; the latter has shoe and paper manufactories, several flour mills, and contains about five hundred inhabitants. At this town a great number of those who emigrate from the eastern states embark to go into the west. It is also famous for building large boats, called Kentucky boats, used in the Kentucky trade; numbers are also built at Elizabeth Town,[28] situated on the same river, about twenty-three miles from Pittsburgh—the Monongahela Farmer was launched there, a sailing vessel of two hundred tons.

Alleghany takes its source fifteen or twenty miles from lake Eria; its current is enlarged by the French Creek, and various small rivers of less importance. The Alleghany begins to be navigable within two hundred miles of Pittsburgh. The banks of this river are fertile; the inhabitants who have formed settlements there export, as well as those of Monongahela, the produce of their culture by the way of the Ohio and Mississippi. On the banks of this river they begin to form a few small towns; among the most considerable are Meadville, situated two {67} hundred and thirty miles from Pittsburgh; Franklin, about two hundred; and Freeport, scarcely one; each of which does not contain above forty or fifty houses.

Let the weather be what it will, the stream of the Alleghany is clear and limped; that of the Monongahela, on the contrary, grows rather muddy with a few days incessant rain in that part of the Alleghany Mountains where it derives its source.

The sugar-maple is very common in every part of Pennsylvania which the Monongahela and Alleghany water. This tree thrives most in cold, wet, and mountainous countries, and its seed is always more abundant when the winter is most severe. The sugar extracted from it is generally very coarse, and is sold, after having been prepared in loaves of six, eight, and ten pounds each, at the rate of seven-pence per pound. The inhabitants manufacture none but for their own use; the greater part of them drink tea and coffee daily, but they use it just as it has passed the first evaporation, and never take the trouble to refine it, on account of the great waste occasioned by the operation.

Chapter VII

{68} CHAP. VII

Description of the Ohio.—Navigation of that river.—Mr. S. Craft.—The object of his travels.—Remarks upon the State of Vermont.

The Ohio, formed by the union of the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers, appears to be rather a continuance of the former than the latter, which only happens obliquely at the conflux. The Ohio may be, at Pittsburgh, two hundred fathoms broad. The current of this immense and magnificent river inclines at first north west for about twenty miles, then bends gradually west south west. It follows that direction for about the space of five hundred miles; turns thence south west a hundred and sixty miles; then west two hundred and seventy-five; at length runs into the Mississippi in a southwesterly direction, in the latitude of 36 deg. 46 min. about eleven hundred miles from Pittsburgh, and nearly {69} the same distance from Orleans. This river runs so extremely serpentine, that in going down it, you appear following a track directly opposite to the one you mean to take. Its breadth varies from two hundred to a thousand fathoms. The islands that are met with in its current are very numerous. We counted upward of fifty in the space of three hundred and eighty miles. Some contain but a few acres, and others more than a thousand in length. Their banks are very low, and must be subject to inundations. These islands are a great impediment to the navigation in the summer. The sands that the river drives up form, at the head of some of them, a number of little shoals; and in this season of the year the channel is so narrow from the want of water, that the few boats, even of a middling size, that venture to go down, are frequently run aground, and it is with great difficulty that they are got afloat; notwithstanding which there is at all times a sufficiency of water for a skiff or a canoe. As these little boats are very light when they strike upon the sands, it is very easy to push them off into a deeper part. In consequence of this, it is only in the spring and autumn that the Ohio is navigable, at least as far as Limestone, about a hundred and twenty {70} miles from Pittsburgh. During those two seasons the water rises to such a height, that vessels of three hundred tons, piloted by men who are acquainted with the river, may go down in the greatest safety. The spring season begins at the end of February, and lasts three months; the autumn begins in October, and only lasts till the first of December. In the mean time these two epochs fall sooner or later, as the winter is more or less rainy, or the rivers are a shorter or a longer time thawing. Again, it so happens, that in the course of the summer heavy and incessant rains fall in the Alheghany Mountains, which suddenly swell the Ohio: at that time persons may go down it with the greatest safety; but such circumstances are not always to be depended on.

The banks of the Ohio are high and solid; its current is free from a thousand obstacles that render the navigation of the Mississippi difficult, and often dangerous, when they have not skilful conductors. On the Ohio persons may travel all night without the smallest danger; instead of which, on the Mississippi prudence requires them to stop every evening, at least from the mouth of the Ohio to Naches, a space of nearly seven hundred and fifty miles.

{71} The rapidity of the Ohio’s current is extreme in spring; at the same time in this season there is no necessity for rowing. The excessive swiftness it would give, by that means, to the boat would be more dangerous than useful, by turning it out of the current, and running it upon some island or other, where it might get entangled among a heap of dead trees that are half under water, and from which it would be very difficult to extricate them; for which reason they generally go with the current, which is always strong enough to advance with great celerity, and is always more rapid in the middle of the stream. The amazing rapidity of the Ohio has an influence on the shape of the boats that navigate upon it, and that shape is not calculated to accelerate their progress, but to stem the current of the stream. All the boats or barges, whether those in the Kentucky or Mississippi trade, or those which convey the families that go into the eastern or western states, are built in the same manner. They are of a square form, some longer than others; their sides are raised four feet and a half above the water; their length is from fifteen to fifty feet; the two extremities are square, upon one of which is a kind of awning, under which the passengers shelter themselves {72} when it rains. I was alone upon the banks of the Monongahela, when I perceived, at a distance, five or six of these barges, which were going down the river. I could not conceive what these great square boxes were, which, left to the stream, presented alternately their ends, sides, and even their angles. As they advanced, I heard a confused noise, but without distinguishing any thing, on account of their sides being so very high. However, on ascending the banks of the river, I perceived in these barges several families, carrying with them their horses, cows, poultry, waggons, ploughs, harness, beds, instruments of agriculture, in fine, every thing necessary to cultivate the land, and also for domestic use. These people were abandoning themselves to the mercy of the stream, without knowing the place where they should stop, to exercise their industry, and enjoy peaceably the fruit of their labour under one of the best governments that exists in the world.

I sojourned ten days at Pittsburgh, during which I several times saw the Chevalier Dubac, formerly an officer in the French service, who, obliged, on account of the revolution, to emigrate from France, at first went to settle at Scioto, but very soon after {73} changed his residence, and went to Pittsburgh, where he is now in trade. He has very correct ideas concerning the western country; he is also perfectly acquainted with the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi, having several times travelled over New Orleans, and gives, with all possible complaisance, to the few of his fellow-countrymen who go into that country, instructions to facilitate their journey, and prevent the accidents that might happen to them.

During my stay at Pittsburgh I formed a most particular acquaintance with my fellow-traveller Mr. Samuel Craft, an inhabitant of the state of Vermont, whom I met, for the first time, at Greensburgh. I learnt of him, among other things, that in this state, and those contiguous to it, the expences occasioned by clearing the land are always covered by the produce of pearl-ashes, extracted from the ashes of trees which they burn; and that there are even persons who undertake to clear it on the sole condition of having the pearl-ashes. This kind of economy, however, does not exist in the other parts of North America; for in all the parts of the east, from New York westward, the trees are burnt at a certain loss. It is true that the inhabitants of New England, which, properly speaking, comprehends all the {74} states east of New York, are acknowledged to be the most enterprising and industrious of all the Americans, especially those who understand domestic economy the best.

Mr. Craft then imparted to me the intent of his journey, which was to be convinced that what he had seen published upon the extraordinary salubrity and fertility of the banks of the river Yazous was correct, and in that case to acquire for himself and a few friends several acres of land, and to go and settle there with two or three families in his neighbourhood who were rather embarrassed. The motive for his emigration to so remote a country was founded, in the first place, on the length of the winters, which in the state of Vermont are as severe as in Canada, and which shackle the activity of its inhabitants more than one third of the year; and in the next place, upon the cheapness of the country’s produce: instead of which, in those parts watered by the river Yazous,[29] the temperature of the climate and the fertility of the soil are favourable to the cultivation of cotton, indigo, and tobacco, {75} the produce of which is a great deal more lucrative than that of the northern part of the United States, and the sale of which is assured by their exportation to New Orleans, where they can go and come by the river in less than a fortnight.

Chapter VIII

{76} CHAP. VIII

Departure from Pittsburgh for Kentucky.—Journey by land to Wheeling.—State of agriculture on the route.—West Liberty Town in Virginia.—Wheeling.

Mr. Craft and I agreed to go together to Kentucky by the Ohio, preferring that way, although longer by a hundred and forty miles, to that by land, which is more expensive. However, as the season of the year being that when the waters are at the lowest, to gain time, and to avoid a considerable winding which the river makes on leaving Pittsburgh, we were advised to embark at Wheeling, a small town situated upon the Ohio, eighty miles lower down the river, but not so far by land.[30] On the 14th of July, in the evening, we set out on foot, and crossed the Monongahela at John’s Ferry, situated on the opposite bank, at the bottom of Coal-Hill, a very lofty mountain which borders the river to a vast {77} extent, insomuch that it conceals the view of all the houses at Pittsburgh built on the other side.

After having coasted along the borders of the Ohio about a mile and a half, we entered the wood, and went to sleep at an indifferent inn at Charter Creek, where there was but one bed destined for travellers: whenever it happens that several travellers meet together, the last that arrive sleep on the floor, wrapped in the rug which they always carry with them when they travel into the remote parts of the United States.

The following day we made upwards of twenty miles, and went to lodge with one Patterson. On this route the plantations are two or three miles distant from each other, and more numerous than in the interior of the country, which is a general observation of all travellers. The inhabitants of this part of Pennsylvania are precise in their behaviour, and very religious. We saw, in some places, churches isolated in the woods, and in others, pulpits placed beneath large oaks. Patterson holds a considerable and extensive farm, and a corn-mill built upon a small river. He sends his corn to New Orleans. The rivers and creeks are rather scarce in this part of Virginia, on which account they are obliged to {78} have recourse to mills which they turn by horses; but the flour that comes from them is consumed in the country, not being susceptible of entering into trade. Nobody has ever yet thought of constructing windmills, although there are on the top of several of the hills places sufficiently cleared, that offer favourable situations.

On the 16th of July we arrived at Wheeling, very much fatigued. We were on foot, and the heat was extreme. Our journey was rendered more difficult from the nature of the country, which is covered with hills very close together, to some of which we were almost half an hour before we could reach the summit. About six miles from Patterson’s we found the line of demarkation that separates Pennsylvania from Virginia, and cuts the road at right angles. This line is traced by the rubbish that is piled up on lofty eminences, consisting of all the large trees, in a breadth of forty feet. Twelve miles before our arrival at Wheeling we passed by Liberty Town, a small town consisting of about a hundred houses, built upon a hill.[31] The plantations are numerous in the environs, and the soil, although even, is extremely fertile. The produce of the lands vary: they produce from fifteen to twenty bushels of corn {79} per acre, when they are entirely cleared, and only twelve to fifteen when the clearing away is not complete, that is to say, when there are many stumps remaining; for in clearing they begin by cutting the trees within two feet of the ground, and after that dig up the stumps. It is proper to observe that the inhabitants give only one tillage, use no manure, and never let the soil lie idle. The value of this land is according to its quality. The best, in the proportion of twenty to twenty-five acres cleared, for a lot of two or three hundred, is not worth more than three or four piastres per acre. The taxes are from a half-penny to a penny per acre. The hands being very scarce, labour is dear, and by no means in proportion with the price of produce; the result of which is, that in all the middle and southern states, within fifty miles of the sea, each proprietor clears very little more than what he can cultivate with his family, or with the reciprocal aid of some of his neighbours. This is applied more particularly to the western country, where every individual may easily procure land, and is excited to labour by its incomparable fertility.

Within a mile and a half of West Liberty Town the road passes through a narrow valley about four miles long, the borders of which, elevated in {80} many places from twenty-five to thirty feet, present several beds of coal from five to six feet thick, growing horizontally. This substance is extremely common in all that part of Pennsylvania and Virginia; but as the country is nothing but one continued forest, and its population scarce, these mines are of no account. On the other hand, were they situated in the eastern states, where they burn, in the great towns, coals imported from England, their value would be great.

The trees that grow in this valley are very close together, and of large diameter, and their species more varied than in any country I had seen before.

Wheeling, situated on one of the lofty banks of the Ohio, has not been above twelve years in existence: it consists of about seventy houses, built of wood, which, as in all the new towns of the United States, are separated by an interval of several fathoms. This little town is bounded by a long hill, nearly two hundred fathoms high, the base of which is not more than two hundred fathoms from the river. In this space the houses are built, forming but one street, in the middle of which is the main road, which follows the windings of the river for a distance of more than two hundred miles. From fifteen to twenty large {81} shops, well stocked, supply the inhabitants twenty miles round with provisions. This little town also shares in the export trade that is carried on at Pittsburgh with the western country. Numbers of the merchants at Philadelphia prefer sending their goods there, although the journey is a day longer: but this trifling inconvenience is well compensated by the advantage gained in avoiding the long winding which the Ohio makes on leaving Pittsburgh, where the numerous shallows and the slow movement of the stream, in summer time, retard the navigation.

We passed the night at Wheeling with Captain Reymer, who keeps the sign of the Waggon, and takes in boarders at the rate of two piastres a-week. The accommodation, on the whole, is very comfortable, provisions in that part of the country being remarkably cheap. A dozen fowls could be bought for one piastre, and a hundred weight of flour was then only worth a piastre and a half.

Chapter IX

{82} CHAP. IX

Departure from Wheeling for Marietta.—Aspect of the Banks of the Ohio.—Nature of the Forests.—Extraordinary size of several kinds of Trees.

On the 18th of July in the morning we purchased a canoe, twenty-four feet long, eighteen inches wide, and about as many in depth. These canoes are always made with a single trunk of a tree; the pine and tulip tree are preferred for that purpose, the wood being very soft. These canoes are too narrow to use well with oars, and in shallow water are generally forced along either with a paddle or a staff. Being obliged at times to shorten our journey by leaving the banks of the river, where one is under shade, to get into the current, or to pass from one point to another, and be exposed to the heat of a scorching sun, we covered our canoe a quarter of its length with a piece of cloth thrown {83} upon two hoops. In less than three quarters of an hour we made up our minds to continue our journey by water; notwithstanding we were obliged to defer our departure till the afternoon, to wait for provisions which we might have wanted by the way; as the inhabitants who live in different parts upon the banks of the river are very badly supplied.

We left Wheeling about five in the afternoon, made twelve miles that evening, and went to sleep on the right bank of the Ohio, which forms the boundary of the government, described by the name of the North West territory of the Ohio, and which is now admitted in the union under the denomination of the State of Ohio. Although we had made no more than twelve miles we were exceedingly fatigued, not so much by continually paddling as by remaining constantly seated with our legs extended. Our canoe being very narrow at bottom, obliged us to keep that position; the least motion would have exposed us to being overset. However, in the course of a few days custom made these inconveniences disappear, and we attained the art of travelling comfortably.

We took three days and a half in going to Marietta, about a hundred miles from Wheeling. Our {84} second day was thirty miles, the third forty, and on the fourth in the morning we reached this little town, situated at the mouth of the great Muskingum. The first day, wholly taken up with this mode of travelling, so novel to us, and which did not appear to me to be very safe, I did not bend my attention further; but on the following day, better used to this kind of navigation, I observed more tranquilly from our canoe, the aspect that the borders of this magnificent river presented.

Leaving Pittsburgh, the Ohio flows between two ridges, or lofty mountains, nearly of the same height, which we judged to be about two hundred fathoms. Frequently they appeared undulated at their summit, at other times it seemed as though they had been completely level. These hills continue uninterruptedly for the space of a mile or more, then a slight interval is observed, that sometimes affords a passage to the rivers that empty themselves into the Ohio; but most commonly another hill of the same height begins at a very short distance from the place where the preceding one left off. These mountains rise successively for the space of three hundred miles, and from our canoe we were enabled to observe them more distinctly, as they were more or less distant {85} from the borders of the river. Their direction is parallel to the chain of the Alleghanies; and although they are at times from forty to a hundred miles distant from them, and that for an extent of two hundred miles, one cannot help looking upon them as belonging to these mountains. All that part of Virginia situated upon the left bank of the Ohio is excessively mountainous, covered with forests, and almost uninhabited; where I have been told by those who live on the banks of the Ohio, they go every winter to hunt bears.

They give the name of river-bottoms and flat-bottoms to the flat and woody ground between the foot of these mountains and the banks of the river, the space of which is sometimes five or six miles broad. The major part of the rivers which empty themselves into the Ohio have also these river-bottoms, which, as well as those in question, are of an easy culture, but nothing equal to the fertility of the banks of the Ohio. The soil is a true vegetable humus, produced by the thick bed of leaves with which the earth is loaded every year, and which is speedily converted into mould by the humidity that reigns in these forests. But what adds still more to the thickness of these successive beds of vegetable {86} earth are the trunks of enormous trees, thrown down by time, with which the surface of the soil is bestrewed in every part, and which rapidly decays. In more than a thousand leagues of the country, over which I have travelled at different epochs, in North America, I do not remember having seen one to compare with the latter for the vegetative strength of the forests. The best sort of land in Kentucky and Tenessea, situated beyond the mountains of Cumberland, is much the same; but the trees do not grow to such a size as on the borders of the Ohio. Thirty-six miles before our arrival at Marietta we stopped at the hut of one of the inhabitants of the right bank, who shewed us, about fifty yards from his door, a palm-tree, or platanus occidentalis, the trunk of which was swelled to an amazing size; we measured it four feet beyond the surface of the soil, and found it forty-seven feet in circumference. It appeared to keep the same dimensions for the height of fifteen or twenty feet, it then divided into several branches of a proportionate size. By its external appearance no one could tell that the tree was hollow; however I assured myself it was by striking it in several places with a billet. Our host told us that if we would spend the day with him he would {87} shew us others as large, in several parts of the wood, within two or three miles of the river. This circumstance supports the observations which my father made, when travelling in that part of the country, that the poplar and palm are, of all the trees in North America, those that attain the greatest diameter.

“About fifteen miles,” said he, “up the river Muskingum, in a small island of the Ohio, we found a palm-tree, or platanus occidentalis, the circumference of which, five feet from the surface of the earth, where the trunk was most uniform, was forty feet four inches, which makes about thirteen feet in diameter. Twenty years prior to my travels, General Washington had measured this same tree, and had found it nearly of the same dimensions. I have also measured palms in Kentucky, but I never met with any above fifteen or sixteen feet in circumference. These trees generally grow in marshy places.

“The largest tree in North America, after the palm, is the poplar, or liriodendron tulipifera. Its circumference is sometimes fifteen, sixteen, and even eighteen feet: Kentucky is their native country; between Beard Town and Louisville we {88} saw several parts of the wood which were exclusively composed of them. The soil is clayey, cold and marshy; but never inundated.

“The trees that are usually found in the forests that border the Ohio are the palm, or platanus occidentalis; the poplar, the beach-tree, the magnolia acuminata, the celtis occidentalis, the acacia, the sugar-maple, the red maple, the populus nigra, and several species of nut-trees; the most common shrubs are, the annona triloba, the evonimus latifolius, and the laurus bensoin.”

Chapter X

{89} CHAP. X

Marietta.—Ship building.—Departure for Gallipoli.—Falling in with a Kentucky Boat.—Point-Pleasant.—The Great Kenhaway.

Marietta, the chief of the settlements on the New Continent, is situated upon the right bank of the Great Muskingum, at its embouchure in the Ohio. This town, which fifteen years ago was not in existence, is now composed of more than two hundred houses, some of which are built of brick, but the greatest part of wood. There are several from two to three stories high, which are somewhat elegantly built; nearly all of them are in front of the Ohio. The mountains which from Pittsburgh run by the side of this river, are at Marietta some distance from its banks, and leave a considerable extent of even ground, which will facilitate, in every respect, the enlarging of the town upon a {90} regular plan, and afford its inhabitants the most advantageous and agreeable situations; it will not be attended with the inconveniences that are met with at Pittsburgh, which is locked in on all sides by lofty mountains.

The inhabitants of Marietta were the first that had an idea of exporting directly to the Carribbee Islands the produce of the country, in a vessel built in their own town, which they sent to Jamaica. The success which crowned this first attempt excited such emulation among the inhabitants of that part of the Western Country, that several new vessels were launched at Pittsburgh and Louisville, and expedited to the isles, or to New York and Philadelphia. The ship yard at Marietta is situated near the town, on the Great Muskingum. When I was there they were building three brigs, one of which was of two hundred and twenty tons burthen.

The river Muskingum takes its source toward Lake Eria; it is not navigable for two hundred miles from its mouth in the Ohio, where it is about a hundred and sixty fathoms broad.[32] The country that it runs through, and especially its banks, are extremely fertile.

Near the town of Marietta are the remains of several {91} Indian fortifications. When they were discovered, they were full of trees of the same nature as those of the neighbouring forests, some of which were upwards of three feet diameter. These trees have been hewn down, and the ground is now almost entirely cultivated with Indian corn.

Major-General Hart, with whose son I was acquainted at Marietta, gave, in the Columbia Magazine for the year 1787, Vol. I. No. 9, a plan and a minute description of these ancient fortifications of the Indians: the translation of which is given in his Travels in Upper Pennsylvania. This officer, of the most distinguished merit, fell in the famous battle that General St. Clair[33] lost in 1791, near Lake Eria, against the united savages. When I was at Marietta, General St. Clair was Governor of the State of Ohio, a post which he occupied till this state was admitted in the union. His Excellency coming from Pittsburgh and going to Chillicotha, alighted at the inn where I lodged. As he was travelling in an old chaise, and without a servant, he did not at first attract my attention. In the United States, those who are called by the wish of their fellow-citizens to exercise these important functions do not change their dress, continue dwelling in their own houses, {92} and live like private individuals, without showing more ostentation, or incurring more expense. The emoluments attached to this office varies in every state; that of South Carolina, one of the richest of the union, gives its governor 4280 piastres, while the Governor of Kentucky receives no more than twelve or fifteen hundred. The inhabitants of the State of Ohio are divided in opinion concerning the political conduct of General St. Clair. With respect to talents, he has the reputation of being a better lawyer than a soldier.

On the eve of my departure I met a Frenchman at Marietta, who is settled on the banks of the Great Muskingum, about twenty miles from the town. I regretted much my inability to accept the invitation that he gave me to go and see him at his plantation, which would have given me time to make more extensive observations in that part of the Western Country.

On the 21st of July we set out from Marietta for Gallipoli, which is a distance of about a hundred miles. We reached there after having been four days on the water. The inhabitants of the country, by putting off from the shore in the night time, would have made that passage in two days and a half {93} or three days. According to the calculation that we made, the mean force of the stream was about a mile and a half an hour; it is hardly to be perceived in those parts where the water is very deep; but as you get nearer the isles, which, as I have said before, are very numerous, the bed of the river diminishes in depth, so that frequently there is not a foot of water out of the main channel. Whenever we came near those shallows the swiftness of the current was extreme, and the canoe was carried away like an arrow, which led us to observe that it was only as we distanced the islands that the bed increases in depth, and that the stream becomes less rapid.

On the day of our departure we joined, in the evening, a Kentucky boat, destined for Cincinnati. This boat, about forty feet long and fifteen broad, was loaded with bar iron and brass pots. There was also an emigrant family in it, consisting of the father, mother, and seven children, with all their furniture and implements of husbandry. The boatmen, three in number, granted us, without difficulty, permission to fasten our canoe to the end of their boat, and to pass the night with them. We intended, by that means, to accelerate our journey, by not putting up {94} at night, as we had before been accustomed to do, and hoped to spend a more comfortable night than the preceding one, during which we had been sadly tormented by the fleas, with which the greater part of the houses where we had slept, from the moment of our embarkation, had been infested. However our hopes were frustrated; for so far from being comfortable, we were still more incommoded. In the course of my travels it was only on the banks of the Ohio that I experienced this inconvenience.

We were on the point of leaving them about two in the morning, when the boat ran aground. Under these circumstances we could not desert our hosts, who had entertained us with their best, and who had made us partake of a wild turkey which they had shot the preceding evening on the banks of the river. We got into the water with the boatmen, and by the help of large sticks that we made use of as oars succeeded in pushing the vessel afloat, after two hours’ painful efforts.

In the course of the night we passed the mouth of the Little Kenhaway, which, after having watered that part of Virginia, empties itself into the Ohio, on its right bank. Its borders are not inhabited for more than fifteen or twenty miles from its embouchure. {95} The remainder of the country is so mountainous that they will not think of forming settlements there this long time. About five miles on this side the mouth of this little river, and on the right bank of the Ohio, is situated Bellepree, where there are not more than a dozen houses; but the settlements formed in the environs increase rapidly. This intelligence was given us at a house where we stopped after having left the Kentucky boat.

On the 23d of July, about ten in the morning, we discovered Point Pleasant, situated a little above the mouth of the Great Kenhaway, at the extremity of a point formed by the right bank of this river, which runs nearly in a direct line as far as the middle of the Ohio. What makes the situation more beautiful is, that for four or five miles on this side the Point, the Ohio, four hundred fathoms broad, continues the same breadth the whole of that extent, and presents on every side the most perfect line. Its borders, sloping, and elevated from twenty-five to forty feet, are, as in the whole of its windings, planted, at their base, with willows from fifteen to eighteen feet in height, the drooping branches and foliage of which form a pleasing contrast to the sugar maples, red maples, and ash trees, situated immediately {96} above. The latter, in return, are overlooked by palms, poplars, beeches, magnolias of the highest elevation, the enormous branches of which, attracted by a more splendid light and easier expansion, extend toward the borders, overshadowing the river, at the same time completely covering the trees situated under them. This natural display, which reigns upon the two banks, affords on each side a regular arch, the shadow of which, reflected by the crystal stream, embellishes, in an extraordinary degree, this magnificent coup d’œil.

The Ohio at Marietta presents a perspective somewhat similar, perhaps even more picturesque than the one I have just described, through the houses of this little town, that we perceived five or six miles off, the situation of which is fronting the middle of the river, going up.

The Great Kenhaway, more known in the country under that denomination than by that of the New River, which it bears in some charts, takes its source at the foot of the Yellow Mountain in Tennessea, but the mass of its waters proceed from one part of the Alleghany Mountains. The falls and currents that are so frequently met with in this river, for upward {97} of four hundred miles, will always be an obstacle to the exportation, by the Ohio and the Mississippi, of provisions from the part of Virginia which it waters. Its banks are inhabited, but less than those of the Ohio.

Chapter XI

{98} CHAP. XI

Gallipoli.—State of the French colony Scioto.—Alexandria at the mouth of the Great Scioto.—Arrival at Limestone in Kentucky.

Gallipoli is situated four miles below Point Pleasant, on the right bank of the Ohio. At this place assembled nearly a fourth part of the French, who, in 1789 and 1790, left their country to go and settle at Scioto: but it was not till after a sojourn of fifteen months at Alexandria in Virginia, where they waited the termination of the war with the savages, that they could take possession of the lands which they had bought so dearly. They were even on the point of being dispossessed of them, on account of the disputes that arose between the Scioto Company and that of the Ohio, of whom the former had primitively purchased these estates; but scarcely had they arrived upon the soil that was destined for {99} them when the war broke out afresh between the Americans and Indians, and ended in the destruction of those unfortunate colonies. There is no doubt that, alone and destitute of support, they would have been all massacred, had it not been for the predilection which all the Indian nations round Canada and Louisiana have for the French. Again, as long as they did not take an active part in that war, they were not disturbed: but the American army having gained a signal advantage near the embouchure of the Great Kenaway, and crossed the Ohio, the inhabitants of Gallipoli were united to it. From that time they were no longer protected, nor could they stir out of the inclosure of their village. Out of two that had strayed not more than two hundred yards, one was scalped and murdered, and the other carried a prisoner a great distance into the interior. When I was at Gallipoli they had just heard from him. He gained his livelihood very comfortably by repairing guns, and exercising his trade as a goldsmith in the Indian village where he lived, and did not express the least wish to return with his countrymen.

The war being terminated, the congress, in order to indemnify these unfortunate Frenchmen for the {100} successive losses which they had sustained, gave them twenty thousand acres of land situated between the small rivers Sandy and Scioto, seventy miles lower than Gallipoli. These twenty thousand acres were at the rate of two hundred and ten acres to every family. Those among them who had neither strength nor resolution enough to go a second time, without any other support than that of their children, to isolate themselves amidst the woods, hew down, burn, and root up the lower parts of trees, which are frequently more than five feet in diameter, and afterward split them to inclose their fields, sold their lots to the Americans or Frenchmen that were somewhat more enterprising. Thirty families only went to settle in their new possessions. Since the three or four years that they have resided there they have succeeded, by dint of labour, in forming for themselves tolerable establishments, where, by the help of a soil excessively fertile, they have an abundant supply of provisions; at least I conceived so, when I was there.

Gallipoli, situated on the borders of the Ohio, is composed solely of about sixty log-houses, most of which being uninhabited, are falling into ruins; the rest are occupied by Frenchmen, who breathe out a {101} miserable existence. Two only among them appear to enjoy the smallest ray of comfort: the one keeps an inn, and distills brandy from peaches, which he sends to Kentucky, or sells it at a tolerable advantage: the other, M. Burau, from Paris, by whom I was well entertained, though unacquainted with him. Nothing can equal the perseverance of this Frenchman, whom the nature of his commerce obliges continually to travel over the banks of the Ohio, and to make, once or twice a year, a journey of four or five hundred miles through the woods, to go to the towns situated beyond the Alleghany Mountains. I learnt from him that the intermittent fevers, which at first had added to the calamities of the inhabitants of Gallipoli, had not shown itself for upwards of three years. That, however, did not prevent a dozen of them going lately to New Orleans in quest of a better fortune, but almost all of them died of the yellow fever the first year after their arrival.

Such was the situation of the establishment of Scioto when I was there. Though they did not succeed better, it is not that the French are less persevering and industrious than the Americans and Germans; it is that among those who departed for Scioto not a tenth part were fit for the toils they {102} were destined to endure. However, it was not politic of the speculators, who sold land at five shillings an acre, which at that time was not worth one in America, to acquaint those whom they induced to purchase that they would be obliged, for the two first years, to have an axe in their hands nine hours a day; or that a good wood-cutter, having nothing but his hands, would be sooner at his ease on those fertile borders, but which he must, in the first place, clear, than he who, arriving there with two or three hundred guineas in his purse, is unaccustomed to such kind of labour. This cause, independent of the war with the natives, was more than sufficient to plunge the new colonists in misery, and stifle the colony in its birth.[34]

On the 25th of July we set out from Gallipoli for Alexandria, which is about a hundred and four miles distant, and arrived there in three days and a half. The ground designed for this town is at the mouth of the Great Scioto, and in the angle which the right bank of this river forms with the north west border of the Ohio. Although the plan of Alexandria has been laid out these many years, nobody goes to settle there; and the number of its houses is not more than twenty, the major part of which are {103} log-houses. Notwithstanding its situation is very favourable with regard to the numerous settlements already formed beyond the new town upon the Great Scioto, whose banks, not so high, and more marshy, are, it is said, nearly as fertile as those of the Ohio. The population would be much more considerable, if the inhabitants were not subject, every autumn, to intermittent fevers, which seldom abate till the approach of winter. This part of the country is the most unwholesome of all those that compose the immense state of Ohio. The seat of government belonging to this new state is at Chillicotha, which contains about a hundred and fifty houses, and is situated sixty miles from the mouth of the Great Scioto. A weekly newspaper is published there.[35]

At Alexandria, and the other little towns in the western country, which are situated upon a very rich soil, the space between every house is almost entirely covered with stramonium. This dangerous and disagreeable plant has propagated surprisingly in every part where the earth has been uncovered and cultivated within twelve or fifteen years; and let the inhabitants do what they will, it spreads still wider every year. It is generally supposed to have made its appearance at James-Town in Virginia, whence it derived {104} the name of Jamesweed. Travellers use it to heal the wounds made on horses’ backs occasioned by the rubbing of the saddle.

Mullein is the second European plant that I found very abundant in the United States, although in a less proportion than the stramonium. It is very common on the road leading from Philadelphia to Lancaster, but less so past the town; and I saw no more of it beyond the Alleghany Mountains.

On the 1st of August we arrived at Limestone in Kentucky, fifty miles lower than Alexandria. There ended my travels on the Ohio. We had come three hundred and forty-eight miles in a canoe from Wheeling, and had taken ten days to perform the journey, during which we were incessantly obliged to paddle, on account of the slowness of the stream. This labour, although painful, at any rate, to those who are unaccustomed to it, was still more so on account of the intense heat. We also suffered much from thirst, not being able to procure any thing to drink but by stopping at the plantations on the banks of the river; for in summer the water of the Ohio acquires such a degree of heat, that it is not fit to be drank till it has been kept twenty-four hours. This excessive heat is occasioned, on the one hand, by the {105} extreme heat of the climate in that season of the year, and on the other, by the slow movement of the stream.

I had fixed on the 1st of October to be the epoch of my return to Charleston in South Carolina, and I had nearly a thousand miles to go by land before I could arrive there, in executing the design I had formed of travelling through the state of Tennessea, which lengthened my route considerably. Pressed for time, I relinquished the intention I had formed of going farther down the Ohio, and took leave of Mr. Samuel Craft, who pursued by himself, in a canoe, his journey to Louisville, whence, after having come down the Ohio and Mississippi, he was to proceed up the river Yazous to go to Natches, and then return by land to the state of Vermont, where he expected to be about the middle of November following, after having made, in six months, a circuit of nearly four thousand miles.

Chapter XII

{106} CHAP. XII

Fish and shells of the Ohio—Inhabitants on the Banks of the river—Agriculture—American Emigrant—Commercial Intelligence relative to that part of the United States.

The banks of the Ohio, although elevated from twenty to sixty feet, scarcely afford any strong substances from Pittsburgh; and except large detached stones of a greyish colour and very soft, that we observed in an extent of ten or twelve miles below Wheeling, the remainder part seems vegetable earth. A few miles before we reached Limestone we began to observe a bank of a chalky nature, the thickness of which being very considerable, left no room to doubt but what it must be of a great extent.

Two kinds of flint, roundish and of a middling size, furnished the bed of the Ohio abundantly, especially as we approached the isles, where they are accumulated {107} by the strength of the current; some of a darkish hue, break easily; others smaller, and in less quantities, are three parts white, and scarcely transparent.

In the Ohio, as well as in the Alleghany, Monongahela, and other rivers in the west, they find in abundance a species of Mulette which is from five to six inches in length. They do not eat it, but the mother-o’-pearl which is very thick in it, is used in making buttons. I have seen some at Lexinton which were as beautiful as those they make in Europe. This new species which I brought over with me, has been described by Mr. Bosc, under the name of the Unio Ohiotensis.

The Ohio abounds in fish of different kinds; the most common is the cat-fish, or silurus felis, which is generally caught with a line, and weighs sometimes a hundred pounds. The first fold of the upper fins of this fish are strong and pointed, similar to those of a perch, which he makes use of to kill others of a lesser size. He swims several inches under the one he wishes to attack, then rising rapidly, he pierces him several times in the belly; this we had an opportunity of observing twice in the course {108} of our navigation. This fish is also taken with a kind of spear.

Till the years 1796 and 1797 the banks of the Ohio were so little populated that they scarcely consisted of thirty families in the space of four hundred miles; but since that epoch a great number of emigrants have come from the mountainous parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and settled there; in consequence of which the plantations now are so increased, that they are not farther than two or three miles distant from each other, and when on the river we always had a view of some of them.

The inhabitants on the borders of the Ohio, employ the greatest part of their time in stag and bear hunting, for the sake of the skins, which they dispose of. The taste that they have contracted for this kind of life is prejudicial to the culture of their lands; besides they have scarcely any time to meliorate their new possessions, that usually consist of two or three hundred acres, of which not more than eight or ten are cleared. Nevertheless, the produce that they derive from them, with the milk of their cows, is sufficient for themselves and families, which are always very numerous. The houses that they inhabit {109} are built upon the borders of the river, generally in a pleasant situation, whence they enjoy the most delightful prospects; still their mode of building does not correspond with the beauties of the spot, being nothing but miserable log houses, without windows, and so small that two beds occupy the greatest part of them. Notwithstanding two men may erect and finish, in less than three days, one of these habitations, which, by their diminutive size and sorry appearance, seem rather to belong to a country where timber is very scarce, instead of a place that abounds with forests. The inhabitants on the borders of the Ohio do not hesitate to receive travellers who claim their hospitality; they give them a lodging, that is to say, they permit them to sleep upon the floor wrapped up in their rugs. They are accommodated with bread, Indian corn, dried ham, milk and butter, but seldom any thing else; at the same time the price of provisions is very moderate in this part of the United States, and all through the western country.

No attention is paid by the inhabitants to any thing else but the culture of Indian corn; and although it is brought to no great perfection, the soil being so full of roots, the stems are from ten to twelve feet {110} high, and produce from twenty to thirty-five hundred weight of corn per acre. For the three first years after the ground is cleared, the corn springs up too strong, and scatters before it ears, so that they cannot sow in it for four or five years after, when the ground is cleared of the stumps and roots that were left in at first. The Americans in the interior cultivate corn rather through speculation to send the flour to the sea-ports, than for their own consumption; as nine tenths of them eat no other bread but that made from Indian corn; they make loaves of it from eight to ten pounds, which they bake in ovens, or small cakes baked on a board before the fire. This bread is generally eaten hot, and is not very palatable to those who are not used to it.

The peach is the only fruit tree that they have as yet cultivated, which thrives so rapidly that it produces fruit after the second year.

The price of the best land on the borders of the Ohio did not exceed three piastres per acre; at the same time it is not so dear on the left bank in the States of Virginia and Kentucky, where the settlements are not looked upon as quite so good.

The two banks of the Ohio, properly speaking, not having been inhabited above eight or nine years, {111} nor the borders of the rivers that run into it, the Americans who are settled there, share but very feebly in the commerce that is carried on through the channel of the Mississippi. This commerce consists at present in hams and salted pork, brandies distilled from corn and peaches, butter, hemp, skins and various sorts of flour. They send again cattle to the Atlantic States. Tradespeople who supply themselves at Pittsburgh and Wheeling, and go up and down the river in a canoe, convey them haberdashery goods, and more especially tea and coffee, taking some of their produce in return.

More than half of those who inhabit the borders of the Ohio, are again the first inhabitants, or as they are called in the United States, the first settlers, a kind of men who cannot settle upon the soil that they have cleared, and who under pretence of finding a better land, a more wholesome country, a greater abundance of game, push forward, incline perpetually towards the most distant points of the American population, and go and settle in the neighbourhood of the savage nations, whom they brave even in their own country. Their ungenerous mode of treating them stirs up frequent broils, that brings on bloody wars, in which they generally fall victims; {112} rather on account of their being so few in number, than through defect of courage.

Prior to our arrival at Marietta, we met one of these settlers, an inhabitant of the environs of Wheeling, who accompanied us down the Ohio, and with whom we travelled for two days. Alone in a canoe from eighteen to twenty feet long, and from twelve to fifteen inches broad, he was going to survey the borders of the Missouri[36] for a hundred and fifty miles beyond its embouchure. The excellent quality of the land that is reckoned to be more fertile there than that on the borders of the Ohio, and which the Spanish government at that time ordered to be distributed gratis, the quantity of beavers, elks, and more especially bisons, were the motives that induced him to emigrate into this remote part of the country, whence after having determined on a suitable spot to settle there with his family, he was returning to fetch them from the borders of the Ohio, which obliged him to take a journey of fourteen or fifteen hundred {113} miles, his costume, like that of all the American sportsmen, consisted of a waistcoat with sleeves, a pair of pantaloons, and a large red and yellow worsted sash. A carabine, a tomahawk or little axe, which the Indians make use of to cut wood and to terminate the existence of their enemies, two beaver-snares, and a large knife suspended at his side, constituted his sporting dress. A rug comprised the whole of his luggage. Every evening he encamped on the banks of the river, where, after having made a fire, he passed the night; and whenever he conceived the place favourable for the chace, he remained in the woods for several days together, and with the produce of his sport, he gained the means of subsistence, and new ammunition with the skins of the animals that he had killed.

Such were the first inhabitants of Kentucky and Tennessea, of whom there are now remaining but very few. It was they who began to clear those fertile countries, and wrested them from the savages who ferociously disputed their right; it was they, in short, who made themselves masters of the possessions, after five or six years’ bloody war: but the long habit of a wandering and idle life has prevented their enjoying the fruit of their labours, and profiting by {114} the very price to which these lands have risen in so short a time. They have emigrated to more remote parts of the country, and formed new settlements. It will be the same with most of those who inhabit the borders of the Ohio. The same inclination that led them there will induce them to emigrate from it. To the latter will succeed fresh emigrants, coming also from the Atlantic states, who will desert their possessions to go in quest of a milder climate and a more fertile soil. The money that they will get for them will suffice to pay for their new acquisitions, the peaceful delight of which is assured by a numerous population. The last comers instead of log-houses, with which the present inhabitants are contented, will build wooden ones, clear a greater quantity of the land, and be as industrious and persevering in the melioration of their new possessions as the former were indolent in every thing, being so fond of hunting. To the culture of Indian corn they will add that of other grain, hemp, and tobacco; rich pasturages will nourish innumerable flocks, and an advantageous sale of all the country’s produce will be assured them through the channel of the Ohio.

The happy situation of this river entitles it to be looked upon as the centre of commercial activity between {115} the eastern and western states. By it the latter receive the manufactured goods which Europe, India, and the Caribbees supply the former; and it is the only open communication with the ocean, for the exportation of provisions from the immense and fertile part of the United States comprised between the Alleghany Mountains, the lakes, and the left banks of the Mississippi.

All these advantages, blended with the salubrity of the climate and the beauty of the landscapes, enlivened in the spring by a group of boats which the current whirls along with an astonishing rapidity, and the uncommon number of sailing vessels that from the bosom of this vast continent go directly to the Caribbees; all these advantages, I say, make me think that the banks of the Ohio, from Pittsburgh to Louisville inclusively, will, in the course of twenty years, be the most populous and commercial part of the United States, and where I should settle in preference to any other.

Chapter XIII

{116} CHAP. XIII

Limestone.—Route from Limestone to Lexinton.—Washington.—Salt-works at Mays-Lick.—Millesburgh.—Paris.

Limestone, situated upon the left bank of the Ohio, consists only of about thirty or forty houses constructed with wood. This little town, built upwards of fifteen years, one would imagine to be more extensive. It has long been the place where all the emigrants landed who came from the Northern States by the way of Pittsburgh, and is still the staple for all sorts of merchandize sent from Philadelphia and Baltimore to Kentucky.

The travellers who arrive at Limestone by the Ohio find great difficulty in procuring horses on hire, to go to the places of their destination. The inhabitants there, as well as at Shippensburgh, take this undue advantage, in order to sell them at an {117} enormous price. As I intended staying some time at Lexinton, which would greatly enhance my expenses, I resolved to travel there on foot; upon which I left my portmanteau with the landlord of the inn where I stopped, which he undertook for a piaster to send me to Lexinton, and I set off the same day. It is reckoned from Limestone to Lexinton to be sixty-five miles, which I went in two days and a half. The first town we came to was Washington, which was only four miles off.[37] It is much larger than Limestone, and contains about two hundred houses, all of wood, and built on both sides of the road. Trade is very brisk there; it consists principally in corn, which is exported to New Orleans. There are several very fine plantations in the environs, the land of which is as well cultivated and the enclosures as well constructed, as at Virginia and Pennsylvania. I went seven miles the first evening, and on the following day reached Springfield, composed of five or six houses, among the number of which are two spacious inns, well built, where the inhabitants of the environs assemble together. Thence I passed through Mays-Lick, where there is a salt-mine. I stopped there to examine the process pursued for the extraction of salt. The {118} wells that supply the salt water are about twenty feet in depth, and not more than fifty or sixty fathoms from the river Salt-Lick, the waters of which are somewhat brackish in summer time. For evaporation they make use of brazen pots, containing about two hundred pints, and similar in form to those used in France for making lye. They put ten or a dozen of them in a row on a pit four feet in depth, and a breadth proportionate to their diameter, so that the sides lay upon the edge of the pit, supported by a few handfuls of white clay, which fill up but very imperfectly the spaces between the vessels. The wood, which they cut in billets of about three feet, is thrown in at the extremities of the pit. These sort of kilns are extravagant, and consume a prodigious quantity of wood; I made an observation of it to the people employed in the business, to which they made answer, that they did not know there was any preferable mode; and they should follow their own till some person or other from the Old Country (meaning Europe) came and taught them to do better. The scarcity of hands for the cutting down and conveyance of the wood, and the few saline principles that the water contains when dissolved, occasions the salt to be very dear; they sell it at from four to {119} five piasters per hundred weight. It is that scarcity which induces many of them to search for salt springs. They are usually found in places described by the name of Licks where the bisons, elks, and stags that existed in Kentucky before the arrival of the Europeans, went by hundreds to lick the saline particles with which the soil is impregnated. There are in this state and that of Tenessea a set of quacks, who by means of a hazle wand pretend to discover springs of salt and fresh water; but they are only consulted by the more ignorant class of people, who never send for them but when they are induced by some circumstance or other to search over a spot of ground where they suspect one of those springs.

The country we traversed ten miles on this side Mays-Lick, and eight miles beyond, did not afford the least vestige of a plantation. The soil is dry and sandy; the road is covered with immense flat chalky stones, of a bluish cast inside, the edges of which are round. The only trees that we observed were the white oak, or quercus alba, and nut-tree, or juglans hickery, but their stinted growth and wretched appearance clearly indicated the sterility of the soil, occasioned, doubtless, by the salt mines that it contains.

{120} From Mays-Lick I went to Millesburgh, composed of fifty houses; I went there to visit Mr. Savary, who had been very intimately acquainted with my father, and by his invitation I left my inn and went to lodge at his house.[38] Mr. Savary is one of the greatest proprietors in that part of the country; he possesses more than eighty thousand acres of land in Virginia, Tenessea and Kentucky. The taxes that he pays, although moderate, are notwithstanding very burthensome to him; more so, as it is with the greatest difficulty he can find purchasers for his land, as the emigrations of the eastern states, having taken a different direction, incline but very feebly towards Kentucky.

Near Millesburgh flows a little river, from five to six fathoms broad, upon which two saw-mills are erected. The stream was then so low that I crossed it upon large chalky stones, which comprised a part of its bottom, and which at that time were above water. In winter time, on the contrary, it swells to such a degree that it can scarcely be passed by means of a bridge twenty-five feet in height. The bridges thrown over the small rivers, or creeks, that are met with frequently in the interior of the country, more especially in the eastern states, are all formed of the {121} trunks of trees placed transversely by each other. These bridges have no railings; and whenever a person travels on horseback, it is always prudent to alight in order to cross them.

On this side Lexinton we passed through Paris, a manor-house for the county of Bourbon. This small town, in the year 1796, consisted of no more than eighteen houses, and now contains more than a hundred and fifty, half of which are brick. It is situated on a delightful plain, and watered by a small river, near which are several corn mills. Every thing seems to announce the comfort of its inhabitants. Seven or eight were drinking whiskey at a respectable inn where I stopped to refresh myself on account of the excessive heat. After having replied to different questions which they asked me concerning the intent of my journey, one of them invited me to dine with him, wishing to introduce me to one of my fellow-countrymen arrived lately from Bengal. I yielded to his entreaties, and actually found a Frenchman who had left Calcutta to go and reside at Kentucky. He was settled at Paris, where he exercised the profession of a school-master.

Chapter XIV

{122} CHAP. XIV

Lexinton.—Manufactories established there.—Commerce.—Dr. Samuel Brown

Lexinton, the manor-house for the county of Fayette, is situated in the midst of a flat soil of about three hundred acres, like the rest of the small towns of the United States that are not upon the borders of the sea. This town is traced upon a regular plan, and its streets, sufficiently broad, cut each other at right angles. The want of pavement renders it very muddy in winter time, and rainy weather. The houses, most of which are brick, are disseminated upon an extent of eighty or a hundred acres, except those which form the main street, where they are contiguous to each other. This town, founded in 1780, is the oldest and most wealthy of the three new western states; it contains about three thousand inhabitants. Frankfort, the seat of government in Kentucky, which is upwards of twenty {123} miles distant from it, is not so populous.[39] We may attribute the rapid increase of Lexinton to its situation in the centre of one of the most fertile parts of the country, comprised in a kind of semicircle, formed by the Kentucky river.

There are two printing-offices at Lexinton, in each of which a newspaper is published twice a week. Part of the paper is manufactured in the country, and is dearer by one-third than in France.[40] That which they use for writing, originally imported from England, comes by the way of Philadelphia and Baltimore. Two extensive rope walks, constantly in employ, supply the ships with rigging that are built upon the Ohio. On the borders of the little river that runs very near the town several tan-yards are established that supply the wants of the inhabitants. I observed at the gates of these tan-yards strong leathers of a yellowish cast, tanned with the black oak; in consequence of which I saw that this tree grew in Kentucky, although I had not observed it between Limestone and Lexinton; in fact, I had seen nothing but land either parched up or extremely fertile; and, as I have since observed, this tree grows in neither, it is an inhabitant of the mountainous parts, where the soil is gravelly and rather moist.

{124} The want of hands excites the industry of the inhabitants of this country. When I was at Lexinton one of them had just obtained a patent for a nail machine, more complete and expeditious than the one made use of in the prisons at New York and Philadelphia; and a second announced one for the grinding and cleaning of hemp and sawing wood and stones. This machine, moved by a horse or a current of water, is capable, according to what the inventor said, to break and clean eight thousand weight of hemp per day.

The articles manufactured at Lexinton are very passable, and the speculators are ever said to make rapid fortunes, notwithstanding the extreme scarcity of hands. This scarcity proceeds from the inhabitants giving so decided a preference to agriculture, that there are very few of them who put their children to any trade, wanting their services in the field. The following comparison will more clearly prove this scarcity of artificers in the western states: At Charleston in Carolina, and at Savannah in Georgia, a cabinet-maker, carpenter, mason, tinman, tailor, shoemaker, &c. earns two piastres a day, and cannot live for less than six per week; at New York and Philadelphia he has but one piaster, and it {125} costs him four per week. At Marietta, Lexinton and Nasheville, in Tenessea, these workmen earn from one piaster to one and a half a day, and can subsist a week with the produce of one day’s labour. Another example may tend to give an idea of the low price of provisions in the western states. The boarding-house, where I lived during my stay at Lexinton, passes for one of the best in the town, and we were profusely served at the rate of two piastres per week. I am informed that living is equally cheap in the states of New England, which comprise Connecticut, Massachusets, and New Hampshire; but the price of labour is not so high, and therefore more proportionate to the price of provisions.

Independent of those manufactories which are established in Lexinton, there are several common potteries, and one or two powder-mills, the produce of which is consumed in the country or exported to Upper Carolina and Low Louisiana. The sulphur is obtained from Philadelphia and the saltpetre is manufactured in the country; the materials are extracted from the grottos, or caverns, that are found on the declivity of lofty hills in the most mountainous part of the state. The soil there is extremely rich in nitrous particles, which is evidently due to {126} the chalky rock, at the expense of which all these excavations are formed, as well as for vegetable substances, which are casually thrust into their interior. This appears to demonstrate that the assimilation of animal matters is not absolutely necessary, even in the formation of artificial nitrous veins, to produce a higher degree of nitrification. Saltpetre of the first preparation is sold at about sixpence halfpenny per pound. Among the various samples I have seen, I never observed the least appearance of marine salt. The process that is used is as defective as their preparation of salt; I only speak relative to the extraction of the saltpetre, not having seen the powder-mills. I shall conclude by observing, that it is only in Kentucky and Tenessea that saltpetre is manufactured, and not in the Atlantic States.

The majority of the inhabitants of Lexinton trade with Kentucky;[41] they receive their merchandize from Philadelphia and Baltimore in thirty-five or forty days, including the journey of two days and a half from Limestone, where they land all the goods destined for Kentucky. The price of carriage is from seven to eight piastres per hundred weight. Seven-tenths of the manufactured articles consumed in Kentucky, as well as in the other parts of the {127} United States, are imported from England; they consist chiefly in coarse and fine jewellery, cutlery, ironmongery, and tin ware; in short, drapery, mercery, drugs, and fine earthenware, muslins, nankeens, tea, &c. are imported directly from India to the United States by the American vessels; and they get from the Carribbees coffee, and various kinds of raw sugar, as none but the poorer class of the inhabitants make use of maple sugar.

The French goods that are sent into this part of the country are reduced to a few articles in the silk line, such as taffetas, silk stockings, &c. also brandies and millstones, notwithstanding their enormous weight, and the distance from the sea ports.

From Lexinton the different kinds of merchandize are despatched into the interior of the state, and the overplus is sent by land into Tenessea. It is an easy thing for merchants to make their fortunes; in the first place, they usually have a twelvemonth’s credit from the houses at Philadelphia and Baltimore, and in the next, as there are so few, they are always able to fix in their favour the course of colonial produce, which they take in exchange for their goods: as, through the extreme scarcity of specie, most of these transactions are done by way of barter; the merchants, {128} however, use every exertion in their power to get into their possession the little specie in circulation; it is only particular articles that are sold for money, or in exchange for produce the sale of which is always certain, such as the linen of the country, or hemp. Payments in money always bear a difference of fifteen or twenty per cent to the merchant’s profits. All the specie collected in the course of trade is sent by land to Philadelphia; I have seen convoys of this kind that consisted of fifteen or twenty horses.[42] The trouble of conveyance is so great that they give the preference to Bank bills of the United States, which bear a discount of two per cent. The merchants in all parts take them, but the inhabitants of the country will not, through fear of their being forged. I must again remark, that there is not a single species of colonial produce in Kentucky, except gensing, that will bear the expense of carriage by land from that state to Philadelphia; as it is demonstrated that twenty-five pounds weight {129} would cost more expediting that way, even going up the Ohio, than a thousand by that river, without reckoning the passage by sea, although we have had repeated examples that the passage from New Orleans to Philadelphia or New York is sometimes as long as that from France to the United States.

The current coin in the states of Kentucky and Tennessea has the same divisions as in Virginia. They reckon six shillings to the dollar or piastre. The hundreds which nearly correspond with our halfpence, although having a forced currency, do not appear in circulation. The quarters, eighths, and sixteenths of a piastre form the small white money. As it is extremely scarce, it is supplied by a very indifferent method, but which appears necessary, and consists in cutting the dollars into pieces. As every body is entitled to make this division, there are people who do it for the sake of gain; at the same time in the retail trade the seller will generally abate in his articles for a whole dollar, than have their full worth in six or eight pieces.

I have heard from several persons very well informed, that during the last war, corn being kept up at an exorbitant rate, it was computed that the exportations from Kentucky had balanced the price {130} of the importations of English goods from Philadelphia and Baltimore, by the way of the Ohio: but since the peace, the demand for flour and salt provisions having ceased in the Caribbees, corn has fallen considerably; so that the balance of trade is wholly unfavourable to the country.

During my stay at Lexinton I frequently saw Dr. Samuel Brown, from Virginia, a physician of the college of Edinburgh, and member of the Philosophical Society, to whom several members of that society had given me letters of recommendation. A merited reputation undeniably places Dr. S. Brown in the first rank of physicians settled in that part of the country. Receiving regularly the scientific journals from London, he is always in the channel of new discoveries, and turns them to the advantage of his fellow-citizens. It is to him that they are indebted for the introduction of the cow-pox. He had at that time inoculated upward of five hundred persons in Kentucky, when they were making their first attempts in New York and Philadelphia. Dr. Brown also employs himself in collecting fossils and other natural productions, which abound in this interesting country. I have seen at his house several relics of very large unknown fish, caught in the {131} Kentucky River, and which were remarkable for their singular forms. The analysis of the mineral waters at Mud-Lick was to employ the first leisure time he had. These waters are about sixty miles from Lexinton; they are held in great esteem, and the most distinguished personages in the country were drinking them when I was in the town. The Philosophical Transactions and the Monthly Review, published at New York by Dr. Mitchel, are the periodical works wherein Dr. Brown inserts the fruit of his observation and research.[43]

I had also the pleasure of forming an acquaintance with several French gentlemen settled in that part of the country: Mr. Robert, to whom I was recommended by Mr. Marbois, jun. then in the United States; and Messrs. Duhamel and Mentelle, sons of the members of the National Institution of the same name. The two latter are settled in the environs of Lexinton; the first as a physician, and the second as a farmer. I received from them that marked attention and respect so pleasing to a foreigner at a distance from his country and his friends; in consequence of which I now feel myself happy in having this means of publicly expressing my warmest gratitude.

Chapter XV

{132} CHAP. XV

Departure from Lexinton.—Culture of the vine at Kentucky.—Passage over the Kentucky and Dick Rivers.—Departure for Nasheville.—Mulder Hill.—Passage over Green River.

I set out on the 10th of August from Lexinton to Nasheville, in the state of Tennessea; and as the establishment formed to naturalize the vine in Kentucky was but a few miles out of my road, I resolved to go and see it. There is no American but what takes the warmest interest in attempts of that kind, and several persons in the Atlantic states had spoken to me of the success which had crowned this undertaking. French wines being one of the principal articles of our commerce with the United States, I wished to be satisfied respecting the degree of prosperity which this establishment might have acquired. {133} In the mean time, from the indifferent manner which I had heard it spoken of in the country I suspected beforehand that the first attempts had not been very fortunate.

About fourteen miles from Lexinton I quitted the Hickman Ferry road, turned on my left, and strolled into the woods, so that I did not reach the vineyard till the evening, when I was handsomely received by Mr. Dufour, who superintends the business. He gave me an invitation to sleep, and spend the following day with him, which I accepted.

There reigns in the United States a public spirit that makes them greedily seize hold of every plan that tends to enrich the country by agriculture and commerce. That of rearing the vine in Kentucky was eagerly embraced. Several individuals united together, and formed a society to put it in execution, and it was decreed that a fund should be established of ten thousand dollars, divided into two hundred shares of fifty dollars each. This fund was very soon accomplished. Mr. Dufour, the chief of a small Swiss colony which seven or eight years before had settled in Kentucky, and who had proposed this undertaking, was deputed to search for a proper soil, to procure vine plants, and to do every thing he {134} might think necessary to insure success. The spot that he has chosen and cleared is on the Kentucky river, about twenty miles from Lexinton. The soil is excellent and the vineyard is planted upon the declivity of a hill exposed to the south, and the base of which is about two hundred fathoms from the river.

Mr. Dufour intended to go to France to procure the vine plants, and with that idea went to New York; but the war, or other causes that I know not, prevented his setting out, and he contented himself with collecting, in this town and Philadelphia, slips of every species that he could find in the possession of individuals that had them in their gardens. After unremitted labour he made a collection of twenty-five different sorts, which he brought to Kentucky, where he employed himself in cultivating them. However the success did not answer the expectation; only four or five various kinds survived, among which were those that he had described by the name of Burgundy and Madeira, but the former is far from being healthy. The grape generally decays before it is ripe. When I saw them the bunches were thin and poor, the berries small, and every thing announced that the vintage of 1802 would not be more {135} abundant than that of the preceding years. The Madeira vines appeared, on the contrary, to give some hopes. Out of a hundred and fifty or two hundred, there was a third loaded with very fine bunches. The whole of these vines do not occupy a space of more than six acres. They are planted and fixed with props similar to those in the environs of Paris.

Such was then the situation of this establishment, in which the stockholders concerned themselves but very little. It was again about to experience another check by the division of Mr. Dufour’s family, one part of which was on the point of setting out to the banks of the Ohio, there to form a settlement. These particulars are sufficient to give, on the pretended flourishing state of the vines in Kentucky, an idea very different to that which might be formed from the pompous account of them which appeared some months since in our public papers.

I profited by my stay with Mr. Dufour, to ask him in what part of Kentucky the numerous emigration of his countrymen had settled, which had been so much spoken of in our newspapers in 1793 and 1794. His reply was, that a great number of the Swiss had actually formed an intention to settle there; but {136} just as they were setting out, the major part had changed their mind, and that the colony was then reduced to his family and a few friends, forming, in the whole, eleven persons.

I did not set out from the vineyard till the second day after my arrival. Mr. Dufour offered, in order to shorten my journey, to conduct me through the wood where they cross the Kentucky river. I accepted his proposal, and although the distance was only four miles we took two hours to accomplish it, as we were obliged to alight either to climb up or descend the mountains, or to leap our horses over the trunks of old trees piled one upon another. The soil, as fertile as in the environs of Lexinton, will be difficult to cultivate, on account of the great inequality of the ground. Beech, nut, and oak trees, form chiefly the mass of the forests. We crossed, in the mean time, the shallows of the river, covered exclusively with beautiful palms. A great number of people in the country dread the proximity of these palms; they conceive that the down which grows on the reverse of the leaves, in spring, and which falls off in the course of the summer, brings on consumptions, by producing an irritation of the lungs, almost insensible, but continued.

{137} In this season of the year the Kentucky River is so low at Hickman Ferry that a person may ford it with the greatest ease.

I stopped a few minutes at the inn where the ferry-boat plies when the water is high, and while they were giving my horse some corn I went on the banks of the river to survey it more attentively. Its borders are formed by an enormous mass of chalky stones, remarkably peaked, about a hundred and fifty feet high, and which bear, from the bottom to the top, evident traces of the action of the waters, which have washed them away in several parts. A broad and long street, where the houses are arranged in a right line, will give an idea of the channel of this river at Hickman Ferry. It swells amazingly in spring and autumn, and its waters rise at that time, in a few days, from sixty to seventy feet.

I met, at this inn, an inhabitant of the country who lived about sixty miles farther up. This gentleman, with whom I entered into conversation, and who appeared to me to enjoy a comfortable existence, gave me strong invitations to pass a week with him at his house; and as he supposed that I was in quest of a spot to form a settlement, which is usually the intention of those who go to Kentucky, he offered {138} his services to shew me a healthy soil, wishing very much, he said, to have an inhabitant of the old country for a neighbour. It has often happened to me, in this state as well as in that of Tennessea, to refuse similar propositions by strangers whom I met at the inns or at the houses where I asked a lodging, and who invited me, after that, to spend a few days in their family.

About a mile from Kentucky I left the Danville road, and took that of Harrod’s Burgh,[44] to go to General Adair,[45] to whom Dr. Ramsey of Charleston had given me a letter of recommendation. I arrived at his house the same day. I crossed Dick’s River, which is not half so broad as the Kentucky, but is extremely pleasant at this season of the year. Its bed is uniformly hollowed out by nature, and seems cased with stone. Part of the right bank, opposite to the place where they land, discovers a beautiful rock of a chalky substance, more than two hundred and fifty feet in height. The stratum forms one continued mass, which does not present the smallest interval, and which is only distinguished by zones and parallels of a bluish cast, the colour of which contrasts with the whiteness of the towering pile. On leaving its summit, numerous furrows, hollowed {139} in the rock, very near together, and which seem to run ad infinitum, are seen at different heights. These furrows have visibly been formed by the current of the river, which at distant epochs had its bed at these various levels. Dick’s River, like the Kentucky, experiences, in the spring, an extraordinary increase of water. The stratum of vegetable earth which covers the rock does not appear to be more than two or three feet thick. Virginia cedars are very common there. This tree, which is fond of lofty places where the chalky substance is very near to the superficies of the soil, thrives very well; but other trees, such as the black oak, the hickery, &c. are stinted, and assume a miserable appearance.

General Adair was absent when I arrived at his plantation. His lady received me in the most obliging manner, and for five or six days that I staid with her I received every mark of attention and hospitality, as though I had been intimately acquainted with the family.

A spacious and commodious house, a number of black servants, equipages, every thing announced the opulence of the General, which it is well known is not always, in America, the appendage of those honoured with that title. His plantation is situated {140} near Harrodsburgh in the county of Mercer. Magnificent peach orchards, immense fields of Indian wheat, surround the house. The soil there is extremely fertile, which shews itself by the largeness of the blades of corn, their extraordinary height, and the abundance of the crops, that yield annually thirty or forty hundred weight of corn per acre. The mass of the surrounding forests is composed of those species of trees that are found in the better sort of land, such as the gleditia acanthus, guilandina dioica, ulmus viscosa, morus-rubra, corylus, annona triloba. In short, for several miles round the surface of the ground is flat, which is very rare in that country.

As I could not defer my travels any longer, I did not accept of Mrs. Adair’s invitation, who entreated me to stay till her husband’s return; and on the 20th of August I set out in order to continue my route toward Nasheville, very much regretting not having had it in my power to form an acquaintance with the General.

My first day’s journey was upward of twenty miles, and in the evening I put up at the house of one Hays, who keeps a kind of inn about fifty miles from Lexinton. Harrodsburgh, which I passed {141} through that day, at present consists only of about twenty houses, irregularly scattered, and built of wood. Twelve miles farther I regained, at Chaplain Fork, the road to Danville. In this space, which is uninhabited, the soil is excellent, but very unequal.

The second day I went nearly thirty miles, and stopped at an inn kept by a person of the name of Skeggs. Ten miles on this side is Mulder-Hill, a steep and lofty mountain that forms a kind of amphitheatre. From its summit the neighbouring country presents the aspect of an immense valley, covered with forests of an imperceptible extent, whence, as far as the eye can reach, nothing but a gloomy verdant space is seen, formed by the tops of the close-connected trees, and through which not the vestige of a plantation can be discerned. The profound silence that reigns in these woods, uninhabited by wild beasts, and the security of the place, forms an ensemble rarely to be met with in other countries. At the summit of Mulder-Hill the road divides, to unite again a few miles farther on. I took the left, and the first plantation that I reached was that of Mr. Macmahon, formerly professor of a college in Virginia, who came very lately to reside in this part of the country, where he officiates as a clergyman.

{142} Skeggs’s inn, where I stopped after having left Mulder-Hill, was the worst station that I took from Limestone to Nasheville. It was destitute of every kind of provision, and I was obliged to sleep on the floor, wrapped up in my rug, without having been able to procure a supper. As there was no stable in this plantation, I turned my horse into a peach orchard for pasture. The fences that inclosed it were broken down, and fearing he would escape in the night, I put a bell on his neck, such as travellers carry with them when compelled to sleep in the woods. The peaches at that time were in full perfection, and I perceived that my horse had been feeding on them, from the immense quantity of kernels lying under three or four trees. This was very easy for him, as the branches, loaded with fruit, hung nearly to the ground.

About eight miles hence I forded Green River, which flows into the Ohio, after innumerable windings, and runs through a narrow valley not more than a mile in breadth. At the place where I crossed it it had not three [feet?] of water in an extent from fifteen to twenty fathoms broad; but in the spring, the only epoch when it is navigable, the water rises about eighteen feet, as may be judged by the roots of the {143} trees that adorn its banks, and which are stripped naked by the current. Beyond the river we regain the road, which for the space of two miles serpentines in that part of the valley which is on the left bank. The soil of these shallows is marshy and very fruitful, where the beech tree, among others, flourishes in great perfection. Its diameter is usually in proportion to its height, and its massy trunk sometimes rises twenty-five or thirty feet from the earth divested of a single branch. The soil occupied by these trees is considered by the inhabitants as the most difficult to clear.

Chapter XVI

{144} CHAP. XVI

Passage over the Barrens, or Meadows.—Plantations upon the Road.—The View they present.—Plants discovered there.—Arrival at Nasheville.

About ten miles from Green River flows the Little Barren, a small river, from thirty to forty feet in breadth; the ground in the environs is dry and barren, and produces nothing but a few Virginia cedars, two-leaved pines, and black oaks. A little beyond this commence the Barrens, or Kentucky Meadows. I went the first day thirteen miles across these meadows, and put up at the house of Mr. Williamson, near Bears-Wallow.

In the morning, before I left the place, I wanted to give my horse some water, upon which my host directed me to a spring about a quarter of a mile from the house, where his family was supplied; I wandered {145} about for the space of two hours in search of this, when I discovered a plantation in a low and narrow valley, where I learnt that I had mistaken the path, and was obliged to return to the place from whence I came. The mistress of the house told me that she had resided in the Barrens upwards of three years, and that for eighteen months prior to my going there she had not seen an individual; that, weary of living thus isolated, her husband had been more than two months from home in quest of another spot, towards the mouth of the Ohio. Such was the pretence for this removal, which made the third since the family left Virginia. A daughter about fourteen years of age, and two children considerably younger, were all the company she had; her house, on the other hand, was stocked abundantly with vegetables and corn.

This part of the Barrens that chance occasioned me to stroll over, was precisely similar to that I had traversed the day before. I found a spring in a cavity of an orbicular form, where it took me upwards of an hour to get half a pail of water for my horse. The time that I had thus employed, that which I had lost in wandering about, added to the intense heat, obliged {146} me to shorten my route: in consequence of which I put up at Dripping Spring, about ten miles from Bears-Wallow.

On the following day, the 26th, I went twenty-eight miles, and stopped at the house of Mr. Jacob Kesly, belonging to the Dunker sect, which I discovered by his long beard. About ten miles from Dripping Spring I forded Big-Barren River, which appeared to me one third broader than Green River, the plantation of one Macfiddit, who plies a ferry-boat when the waters are high; and another, belonging to one Chapman. About three miles farther are the two oldest settlements on the road, both of them having been built upwards of fourteen years. When I was at this place, a boat laden with salt arrived from St. Genevieve, a French village situated upon the right bank of the Mississippi, about a hundred miles beyond the mouth of the Ohio.

My landlord’s house was as miserably furnished as those I had lodged at for several days preceding, and I was again obliged to sleep on the floor. The major part of the inhabitants of Kentucky have been there too short a time to make any great improvements; they have a very indifferent supply of any thing except Indian corn and forage.

{147} On the 27th of August I set off very early in the morning; and about thirteen miles from Mr. Kesley’s I crossed the line that separates the State of Tennessea from that of Kentucky. There also terminates the Barrens; and to my great satisfaction I got into the woods.[46] Nothing can be more tiresome than the doleful uniformity of these immense meadows where there is nobody to be met with; and where, except a great number of partridges, we neither see nor hear any species of living beings, and are still more isolated than in the middle of the forests.

The first plantation that I reached on entering Tennessea belonged to a person of the name of Checks, of whom I entertained a very indifferent opinion, by the conversation that he was holding with seven or eight of his neighbours, with whom he was drinking whiskey. Fearing lest I should witness some murdering scene or other, which among the inhabitants of this part of the country is frequently the end of intoxication, produced by this kind of spirits, I quickly took my leave, and put up at an inn about three miles farther off, where I found every accommodation. The late Duke of Orleans’ son lodged at this house a few years before.[47] On the {148} day following I arrived at Nasheville, after having travelled twenty-seven miles.

The Barrens, or Kentucky Meadows, comprise an extent from sixty to seventy miles in length, by sixty miles in breadth. According to the signification of this word, I conceived I should have had to cross over a naked space, sown here and there with a few plants. I was confirmed in my opinion by that which some of the country people had given me of these meadows before I reached them. They told me that in this season I should perish with heat and thirst, and that I should not find the least shade the whole of the way, as the major part of the Americans who live in the woods have not the least idea that there is any part of the country entirely open, and still less that they could inhabit it. Instead of finding a country as it had been depicted to me, I was agreeably surprised to see a beautiful meadow, where the grass was from two to three feet high. Amidst these pasture lands I discovered a great variety of plants, among which were the gerardia flava, or gall of the earth; the gnaphalium dioicum, or white plantain; and the rudbekia purpurea. I observed that the roots of the latter plant participated in some degree with the sharp taste of the leaves of the spilanthus {149} oleracca. When I crossed these meadows the flower season was over with three parts of the plants, but the time for most of the seeds to ripen was still at a great distance; nevertheless I gathered about ninety different species of them which I took with me to France.

In some parts of the meadows we observed several species of the wild vine, and in particular that called by the inhabitants summer grapes, the bunches are as large, and the grapes of as good a quality as those in the vineyards round Paris, with this difference, that the berries are not quite so close together.

It seems to me that the attempts which have been made in Kentucky to establish the culture of the vine would have been more successful in the Barrens, the soil of which appears to me more adapted for this kind of culture than that on the banks of the Kentucky; the latter is richer it is true, at the same time the nature of the country, and the proximity of the forests render it much damper. This was also my father’s opinion; he thought that [of] the different parts of North America that he had travelled through, during a sojourn of twelve years, the States of Kentucky and Tennessea, and particularly the Barrens, were the parts in which the vine might {150} be cultivated with the greatest success. His opinion was founded in a great measure upon the certainty that the vegetable stratum in the above states lies upon a chalky mass.

The Barrens are circumscribed by a wood about three miles broad, which in some parts joins to surrounding forests. The trees are in general very straggling, and at a greater distance from each other as they approach the meadows. On the side of Tennessea this border is exclusively composed of post oaks, or quercus oblusiloba, the wood of which being very hard, and not liable to rot, is, in preference to any other, used for fences. This serviceable tree would be easy to naturalize in France, as it grows among the pines in the worst of soil. We observed again, here and there, in the meadow, several black oaks, or quercus nigra; and nut trees, or juglans hickery, which rise about twelve or fifteen feet. Sometimes they formed small arbours, but always far enough apart from each other so as not to intercept the surrounding view. With the exception of small willows, about two feet high, selix longirostris, and a few shumacs, there is not the least appearance of a shrub. The surface of these meadows is generally very even; towards Dripping Spring I observed {151} a lofty eminence, slightly adorned with trees, and bestrewed with enormous rocks, which hang jutting over the main road.

It appears there are a great number of subterraneous caverns in the Barrens, some of which are very near the surface. A short time before I was there, several pieces of the rocks that were decayed, fell with a tremendous crash into the road near Bears-Wallow, as a traveller was passing, who, by the greatest miracle escaped. We may easily conceive with what consequences such accidents must be attended in a country where the plantations are so distant from each other, and where, perhaps, a traveller does not pass for several days.

We remarked in these meadows several holes, widened at the top in the shape of funnels, the breadth of which varies according to their depth. In some of these holes, about five or six feet from the bottom, flows a small vein of water, which, in the same proportions as it fills, loses itself through another part. These kind of springs never fail; in consequence of which several of the inhabitants have been induced to settle in their vicinity; for, except the river Big-Barren, I did not see the smallest rivulet or creek; nor did I hear that they have ever attempted to dig {152} wells; but were they to make the essay, I have no doubt of their success. According to the observations we have just made, the want of water, and wood adapted to make fences, will be long an obstacle to the increase of settlements in this part of Kentucky. Notwithstanding, one of these two inconveniences might be obviated, by changing the present mode of enclosing land, and substituting hedges, upon which the gleditsia triacanthos, one of the most common trees in the country, might be used with success. The Barrens at present are very thinly populated, considering their extent; for on the road where the plantations are closest together we counted but eighteen in a space of sixty or seventy miles.

Some of the inhabitants divide land of the Barrens in Kentucky into three classes, according to its quality. That which I crossed, where the soil is yellowish and rather gravelly, appeared to me the best adapted for the culture of corn. That of Indian wheat is almost the only thing to which the inhabitants apply themselves; but as the settlements are of a fresh date, the land has not been able to acquire that degree of prosperity that is observed on this side Mulder Hill. Most of the inhabitants who go to settle in the country, incline upon the skirts, or along {153} the Little and Big Barren rivers, where they are attracted by the advantage that the meadows offer as pasture for the cattle, an advantage which, in a great measure, the inhabitants of the most fertile districts are deprived of, the country being so very woody, that there is scarcely any grass land to be seen.

Every year, in the course of the months of March or April, the inhabitants set fire to the grass, which at that time is dried up, and through its extreme length, would conceal from the cattle a fortnight or three weeks longer the new grass, which then begins to spring up. This custom is nevertheless generally censured; as being set on fire too early, the new grass is stripped of the covering that ought to shelter it from the spring and frosts, and in consequence of which its vegetation is retarded. The custom of burning the meadows was formerly practised by the natives, who came in this part of the country to hunt; in fact, they do it now in the other parts of North America, where there are savannas of an immense extent. Their aim in setting fire to it is to allure the stags, bisons, &c. into the parts which are burnt, where they can discern them at a greater distance. Unless a person has seen these dreadful conflagrations, it is impossible to form {154} the least idea of them. The flames that occupy generally an extent of several miles, are sometimes driven by the wind with such rapidity, that the inhabitants, even on horseback, have become a prey to them. The American sportsmen and the savages preserve themselves from this danger by a very ingenious method; they immediately set fire to the part of the meadow where they are, and then retire into the space that is burnt, where the flame that threatened them stops for the want of nourishment.

Chapter XVII

{155} CHAP. XVII

General observations upon Kentucky.—Nature of the soil.—First settlements in the state.—Right of property uncertain.—Population.

The state of Kentucky is situated 36 deg. 30 min. and 39 deg. 30 min. north latitude, and 28 deg. and 89 deg. west longitude; its boundaries to the northwest are the Ohio, for an extent of about seven hundred and sixty miles, to the east of Virginia, and to the south of Tennessea; it is separated from Virginia by the river Sandy and the Laurel Mountains, one of the principal links of the Alleghanies. The greatest length of this state is about four hundred miles, and its greatest breadth about two hundred. This vast extent appears to lie upon a bank of chalky stone, identic in its nature, and covered with a stratum of vegetable earth, which varies in its composition, and is from ten to fifteen feet thick. The {156} boundaries of this immense bank are not yet prescribed in any correct manner, but its thickness must be very considerable, to judge of it by the rivers in the country, the borders of which, and particularly those of the Kentucky and Dick rivers, which is one branch of it, rise, in some parts, three hundred feet perpendicular, where the chalky stone is seen quite bare.

The soil in Kentucky, although irregular, is not mountainous, if we except some parts contiguous to the Ohio and on this side Virginia. The chalky stone, and abundant coal mines which lie useless, are the only mineral substances worthy of notice. Iron mines are very scarce there, and, to the best of my remembrance, but one was worked, which is far from being sufficient for the wants of the country.

The Kentucky and Green rivers empty themselves into the Ohio, after a course of three hundred miles; they fall so low in summer time, that they are forded a hundred and fifty miles from their embouchure; but in the winter and spring they experience such sudden and strong increases that the waters of the Kentucky rise about forty feet in four-and-twenty hours. This variation is still more remarkable in the secondary rivers which run into it; the latter, {157} though frequently from ten to fifteen fathoms broad, preserve such little water in summer, that there is scarcely one of them which cannot be crossed without wetting the feet; and the stream of water that serpentines upon the bed of chalky rock is at that time reduced to a few inches in depth; in consequence of which we may look upon the Kentucky as an immense bason, which, independent of the natural illapse of its waters through the channel of the rivers, loses a great part of them by interior openings.

The Atlantic part of the United States in that respect affords a perfect contrast with Kentucky, as on the other side of the Alleghanies not the least vestige of chalky stone is seen. The rivers, great and small, however distant from their source, are subject to no other change in the volume of their waters but what results from a more or less rainy season; and their springs, which are very numerous, always supply water in abundance; this applies more particularly to the southern states, with which I am perfectly acquainted.

According to the succinct idea that we have just given of Kentucky, it is easy to judge that the inhabitants are exposed to a very serious inconvenience, {158} that of wanting water in the summer; still we must except those in the vicinity of great rivers and their principal channels, that always preserve water enough to supply their domestic wants; thence it results that many estates, even among the most fertile, are not cleared, and that the owners cannot get rid of them without the greatest difficulty, as the emigrants, better informed now a days, make no purchases before they have a correct statement of localities.

Kentucky is that of the three states situated west of the Alleghanies which was first populated. This country was discovered in 1770, by some Virginia sportsmen, when the favourable accounts they gave of it induced others to go there. No fixed establishment, however, was formed there before 1780. At that time this immense country was not occupied by any Indian nation; they went there to hunt, but all with one common assent made a war of extermination against those who wished to settle there. Thence this country derives the name of Kentucky, which signifies, in the language of the natives, the Land of Blood. When the whites made their appearance there, the natives showed still more opposition to their establishment; they carried for a long {159} time death and desolation, and dispatched, after their usual mode, their prisoners in the most cruel torments. This state of things lasted till 1783, at which time the American population having become too strong for them to penetrate to the centre of the establishment, they were reduced to the necessity of attacking the emigrants on their route; and, on the other hand, they were deserted by the English in Canada, who had abetted and supported them in the war.

In 1782 they began to open roads for carriages in the interior of the country; prior to this there were only paths practicable for persons on foot and horseback. Till 1788 those who emigrated from the eastern states travelled by way of Virginia. In the first place, they went to Block House, situated in Holston, westward of the mountains; and as the government of the United States did not furnish them with an escort, they waited at this place till they were sufficiently numerous to pass in safety through the Wilderness, an uninhabited space of a hundred and thirty miles, which they had to travel over before they arrived at Crab Orchard, the first post occupied by the whites.[48] The enthusiasm for emigrating to Kentucky was at that time carried to {160} such a degree in the United States, that some years upwards of twenty thousand have been known to pass, and many of them had even deserted their estates, not having been able to dispose of them quick enough. This overflow of new colonists very soon raised the price of land in Kentucky, from two-pence and two-pence halfpenny per acre, it suddenly rose to seven or eight shillings. The stock-jobbers profited by this infatuation, and, not content with a moderate share of gain, practised the most illegal measures to dispose of the land to great advantage. They went so far as to fabricate false plans, in which they traced rivers favourable for mills and other uses; in this manner many ideal lots, from five hundred to a hundred thousand acres, were sold in Europe, and even in several great towns of the United States.

Till the year 1792, Kentucky formed a part of Virginia; but the distance from Richmond, the seat of government belonging to this state, being seven hundred miles from Lexinton, occasions the most serious inconveniences to the inhabitants, and their number rising considerably above that required to form an independent state, they were admitted into the union in the month of March following. The {161} state of Virginia, on giving up its pretensions to that country, consented to it only on certain conditions; it imposed on the convention at Kentucky an obligation to follow, in part, its code of laws, and particularly to keep up the slave-trade.

Prior to the year 1782, the number of inhabitants at Kentucky did not exceed three thousand; it was about a hundred thousand in 1790, and in the general verification made in 1800, it amounted to two hundred thousand. When I was at Lexinton in the month of August 1802, its population was estimated at two hundred thousand, including twenty thousand negro slaves. Thus, in this state, where there were not ten individuals at the age of twenty-five who were born there, the number of the inhabitants is now as considerable as in seven of the old states; and there are only four where the population is twice as numerous. This increase, already so rapid, would have been much more so had it not been for a particular circumstance that prevents emigrants from going there; I mean the difficulty of proving the right of property. Of all the states in the union it is that wherein the rights of an individual are most subject to contest. I did not stop at the house of one inhabitant who was persuaded of {162} the validity of his own right but what seemed dubious of his neighbour’s.

Among the numerous causes which have produced this incredible confusion with respect to property, one of the principal may be attributed to the ignorance of the surveyors, or rather to the difficulty they experienced, in the early stage of things, in following their professions. The continual state of war in which this country was at that time obliged them frequently to suspend their business, in order to avoid being shot by the natives, who were watching for them in the woods. The danger they ran was extreme, as it is well known a native will go upwards of a hundred miles to kill a single enemy; he stays for several days in the hollow of a tree to take him by surprise, and when he has killed him, he scalps him, and returns with the same rapidity. From this state of things, the result was that the same lot has not only been measured several times by different surveyors, but more frequently it has been crossed by different lines, which distinguish particular parts of that lot from the lots adjacent, which, in return, are in the same situation with regard to those that are contiguous to them; in short, there are lots of a thousand acres where a hundred {163} of them are not reclaimed. Military rights are still looked upon as the most assured. One very remarkable thing is, that many of the inhabitants find a guarantee for their estates that are thus confused; as the law, being always on the side of agriculture, enacts that all improvements shall be reimbursed by the person who comes forward to declare himself the first possessor; and as the estimation, on account of the high price of labour, is always made in favour of the cultivators, it follows that many people dare not claim their rights through fear of considerable indemnifications being awarded against them, and of being in turn expelled by others, who might attack them at the moment when they least expected it. This incertitude in the right of property is an inexhaustible source of tedious and expensive law-suits, which serve to enrich the professional gentlemen of the country.

Chapter XVIII

{164} CHAP. XVIII

Distinction of Estates.—Species of Trees peculiar to each of them.—Ginseng.—Animals in Kentucky.

In Kentucky, as well as in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Carolina, the estates are divided into three classes, for the better assessment of the taxes. This division with respect to the fertility of the land is relative to each of these states; thus in Kentucky, for example, they would put in the second class estates, which, east of the mountains, would be ranked in the first, and in the third, those which in Georgia and Low Carolina would be the second. I do not mean, however, to say by this that there are not some possessions in the eastern states as fertile as in the western; but they are seldom found except along the rivers and in the vallies, and do not embrace so considerable a tract of country as in {165} Kentucky, and that part of Tennessea situate west of the Cumberland Mountains.

In these two states they appreciate the fertility of the land by the different species of trees that grow there; thus when they announce the sale of an estate, they take care to specify the particular species of trees peculiar to its various parts, which is a sufficient index for the purchaser. This rule, however, suffers an exception to the Barrens, the soil of which, as I have remarked, is fertile enough, and where there are notwithstanding here and there Scroby oaks, or quercus nigra, shell-barked hickeries, or juglans hickery, which in forests characterise the worst of soil. In support of this mode of appreciating in America the fecundity of the soil by the nature of the trees it produces, I shall impart a remarkable observation that I made on my entering this state. In Kentucky and Cumberland,[49] independent of a few trees natives of this part of these countries, the mass of the forests, in estates of the first class, is composed of the same species which {166} are found, but very rarely, east of the mountains, in the most fertile soil; these species are the following, cerasus Virginia, or cherry-tree; juglans oblonga, or white walnut; pavia lutea, buck-eye; fraxinus alba, nigra, cerulea, or white, black, and blue ash; celtis foliis villosis, or ack berry; ulmus viscosa, or slippery elm; quercus imbricaria, or black-jack oak; guilandina disica, or coffee tree; gleditsia triacanthos, or honey locust; and the annona triloba, or papaw, which grows thirty feet in height. These three latter species denote the richest lands. In the cool and mountainous parts, and along the rivers where the banks are not very steep, we observed again the quercus macrocarpa, or over-cup white oak, the acorns of which are as large as a hen’s egg; the acer sacharinum, or sugar-maple; the fagus sylvatica, or beech; together with the planus occidentalis, or plane: the liriodendrum tulipifera, or white and yellow poplar; and the magnolia acuminata, or cucumber-tree, all three of which measure from eighteen to twenty feet in circumference; the plane, as I have before observed, attains a greater diameter. The two species of poplar, i.e. the white and yellow wood, have not the least external character, neither in their leaves nor flowers, by which they may be {167} distinguished from each other; and as the species of the yellow wood is of a much greater use, before they fell a tree they satisfy themselves by a notch that it is of that species.

In estates of the second class are the fagus castanea, or chestnut tree; quercus rubra, or red oak; quercus tinctoria, or black oak; laurus sassafras, or sassafras; diospiros virginia, or persimon; liquidambar styraciflua, or sweet gum; nyssa villosa, or gum tree, a tree which, in direct opposition to its name, affords neither gum nor resin. Those of the third class, which commonly are dry and mountainous, produce very little except black and red oaks, chestnut oaks of the mountains, quercus prinus montana, or rocky oak pines, and a few Virginia cedars.

The juglans pacane is found beyond the embouchure of the rivers Cumberland and Tennessea, whence they sometimes bring it to the markets at Lexinton. This tree does not grow east of the Alleghany Mountains. The lobelia cardinalis grows abundantly in all the cool and marshy places, as well as the lobelia sphilitica. The latter is more common in Kentucky than in the other parts of the United States that I travelled over. The laurus {168} bensoin, or spice wood, is also very numerous there. The two kinds of vaccinium and andromeda, which form a series of more than thirty species, all very abundant in the eastern states, seem in some measure excluded from those of the western and the chalky region, where we found none but the andromeda arborea.

In all the fertile parts covered by the forests the soil is completely barren; no kind of herbage is seen except a few plants, scattered here and there; and the trees are always far enough apart that a stag may be seen a hundred or a hundred and fifty fathoms off. Prior to the Europeans settling, the whole of this space, now bare, was covered with a species of the great articulated reed, called arundinaria macrosperma, or cane, which is in the woods from three to four inches diameter, and grows seven or eight feet high; but in the swamps and marshes that border the Mississippi it is upward of twenty feet. Although it often freezes in Kentucky, from five to six degrees, for several days together, its foliage keeps always green, and does not appear to suffer by the cold.

Although the ginseng is not a plant peculiar to Kentucky, it is still very numerous there. This induces {169} me to speak of it here. The ginseng is found in America from Lower Canada as far as the state of Georgia, which comprises an extent of more than fifteen hundred miles. It grows chiefly in the mountainous regions of the Alleghanies, and is by far more abundant as the chain of these mountains incline south west. It is also found in the environs of New York and Philadelphia, as well as in that part of the northern states situated between the mountains and the sea. It grows upon the declivity of the hills, in the cool and shady places, where the soil is richest. A man cannot pull up above eight or nine pounds of fresh roots per day. These roots are always less than an inch diameter, even after fifteen years’ growth, if by any means we can judge of it with certitude by the number of impressions that are to be seen round the upper part of the neck of the root, produced by the stalks that succeed each other annually. The shape of these roots is generally elliptical; and whenever it is biforked, which is very rare, one of the divisions is always thicker and longer than the other. The seeds of the ginseng are of a brilliant red, and fastened to each other. Every foot seldom yields more than two or three. They are very similar in shape and size to the wild {170} honey suckle. When they are disencumbered of the substance that envelopes them they are flat and semicircular. Their taste is more spicy, and not so bitter as the root. A month or two after they are gathered they grow oily; and it is probable to the rancidity which in course of time the seed attains we must attribute the difficulty there is in rearing them when they are kept too long. They are full ripe from the 15th of September to the 1st of October. I gathered about half an ounce of them, which was a great deal, considering the difficulty there is in procuring them.

It was a French missionary who first discovered the ginseng in Canada. When it was verified that this plant was the same as that which grows in Tartary, the root of which has such valuable qualities in the eyes of the Chinese, it became an article of trade with China. For some time after its discovery the root was sold for its weight in gold; but this lucrative trade was but of short duration. The ginseng exported from America was so badly prepared, that it fell very low in price, and the trade almost entirely ceased. However, for some time past it has been rather better. Though the Americans have been so long deprived of this beneficial trade, it can {171} only be attributed to the want of precaution that they used either in the gathering or preparation of the ginseng. In Chinese Tartary this gathering belongs exclusively to the emperor; it is done only by his orders, and they proceed in it with the greatest care. It commences in autumn, and continues all the winter, the epoch when the root has acquired its full degree of maturity and perfection; and by the means of a very simple process they render it almost transparent.

In the United States, on the contrary, they begin gathering of ginseng in the spring, and end at the decline of autumn. Its root, then soft and watery, wrinkles in drying, terminates in being extremely hard, and loses thus a third of its bulk, and nearly half its weight. These causes have contributed in lowering its value. It is only gathered in America by the inhabitants whose usual occupations afford them leisure, and by the sportsmen, who, with their carabine, provide themselves, for this purpose, with a bag and a pickaxe. The merchants settled in the interior of the country purchase dried ginseng at the rate of ten pence per pound, and sell it again from eighteen pence to two shillings, at the seaports. I have never heard particularly what quantity {172} of it was exported annually to China, but I think it must exceed twenty-five to thirty thousand pounds weight. Within these four or five years this trade has been very brisk. Several persons begin even to employ the means made use of by the Chinese to make the root transparent. This process, long since described in several works, is still a secret which is sold for four hundred dollars in Kentucky. The ginseng thus prepared is purchased at six or seven dollars per pound, by the merchants at Philadelphia, and is, they say, sold again at Canton for fifty or a hundred, according to the quality of the roots. Again, the profits must be very considerable, since there are people who export it themselves from Kentucky to China.

They have again, in Kentucky, and the western country, the same animals that inhabit those parts east of the mountains, and even Canada: but a short time after the settling of the Europeans several species of them wholly disappeared, particularly the elks and bisons. The latter, notwithstanding, were more common there than in any other part of North America. The non-occupation of the country, the quantity of rushes and wild peas, which supplied them abundantly with food the whole year round; and {173} the licks (places impregnated with salt, as I have before mentioned) are the causes that kept them there. Their number was at that time so considerable, that they were met in flocks of a hundred and fifty to two hundred. They were so far from being ferocious, that they did not fear the approach of the huntsmen, who sometimes shot them solely for the sake of having their tongue, which they looked upon as a delicious morsel. At four years old they weigh from twelve to fourteen hundred weight; and their flesh, it is said, is preferable to that of the ox. At present there are scarcely any from Ohio to the river Illinois. They have nearly deserted these parts, and strayed to the right bank of the Mississippi.

The only species of animals that are still common in the country are the following, viz. the deer, bear, wolf, red and grey fox, wild cat, racoon, opossum, and three or four kinds of squirrels.

The animals to which the Americans give the name of wild cat is the Canadian lynx, or simply a different species; and it is through mistake that several authors have advanced that the true wild cat, as they look upon to be the original of the domestic species, either existed in the United States, or more northerly.

The racoon, or ursus lotor, is about the size of a {174} fox, but not so tall and more robust. Taken young, it very soon grows tame, and stays in the house, where it catches mice similar to a cat. The name of lotor is very appropriate, as the animal retires in preference in the hollow trees that grow by the side of creeks or small rivers that run through the swamp; and in these sorts of marshes it is most generally found. It is most common in the southern and western states, as well as in the remote parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia. It is very destructive in the corn fields. The usual method of catching this animal is with dogs, in the dead of the night, as it is very rarely to be seen in the day time. Its skin is very much esteemed, throughout the United States, by the hat manufacturers, who purchase them at the rate of two shillings each.

Nearer toward the houses the inhabitants are infested with squirrels, which do also considerable damage to the corn. This species sciurus corolinianus, is of a greyish colour, and rather larger than those in Europe. The number of them is so immense, that several times a day the children are sent round the fields to frighten them away. At the least noise they run out by dozens, and take shelter upon the trees, whence they come down the very moment after. {175} As well as the bears in North America, they are subject to emigrations. Toward the approach of winter they appear in so great a number, that the inhabitants are obliged to meet together in order to destroy them. An excursion for this purpose, every now and then, is looked upon as pleasure. They go generally two by two, and kill sometimes thirty or forty in a morning. A single man, on the contrary, could scarcely kill one, as the squirrel, springing upon the branch of a tree, keeps turning round successively to put himself in opposition to the gunner. I was at one of these sporting parties, where, for dinner, which is generally taken in some part of the wood appointed for the rendezvous, they had above sixty of them roasted. Their flesh is white and exceedingly tender, and this method of dressing them is preferable to any other.

Wild turkies, which begin to grow very scarce in the southern states, are still extremely numerous in the west. In the parts least inhabited they are so very tame, that they may be shot with a pistol. In the east, on the contrary, and more particularly in the environs of the seaports, it is very difficult to approach them. They are not alarmed at a noise, {176} but they have a very piercing sight, and as soon as they perceive the gunner they fly with such swiftness that it is impossible for a dog to overtake them for several minutes; and when they see themselves on the point of being taken, they escape by resuming their flight. Wild turkies usually frequent the swamps and the sides of creeks and rivers, whence they only go out morning and evening. They perch upon the tops of the loftiest trees, where, notwithstanding their size, it is not always easy to perceive them. When they are not frightened, they return upon the same trees for several weeks together.

For the space of eight hundred leagues east of Mississippi there is only this one species of the wild turkey. They are much larger than those that we have in our farm-yards. In autumn and winter they chiefly feed on chesnuts and acorns. At that time some are shot that weigh from thirty to forty pounds. The variety of domestic turkies proceeds originally from this species of wild turkies; and when it has not been crossed with the common species, it preserves the primitive colour of its plumage, and that of the feet, which are of a deep red. Though ever since the year 1525 our domestic turkies were naturalized {177} in Spain, whence they were introduced into Europe, it is probable that they are natives of some of the more southern parts of America, where there may be, I have no doubt, a different species from that found in the United States.

Chapter XIX

{178} CHAP. XIX

Different kinds of culture in Kentucky.—Exportation of colonial produce.—Peach trees.—Taxes

In the state of Kentucky, like those of the southern parts, nearly the whole of the inhabitants, isolated in the woods, cultivate their estates themselves, and particularly in harvest time they assist each other; while some, more independent, have their land cultivated by negro slaves.

They cultivate, in this state, tobacco, hemp, and different sorts of grain from Europe, principally wheat and Indian corn. The frosts, which begin very early, are unfavourable to the culture of cotton, which might be a profitable part of their commerce, provided the inhabitants had any hopes of success. It is by the culture of Indian corn that all those who form establishments commence; since for the few {179} years after the ground is cleared the soil is so fertile in estates of the first class, that the corn drops before it ears. Their process in husbandry is thus: after having opened, with the plough, furrows about three feet from each other, they cut them transversely by others at an equal distance, and set seven or eight grains in the points of intersection. When they have all come up, only two or three plants are left in the ground; a necessary precaution, in order to give free scope for the vegetation, and to insure a more abundant harvest. Toward the middle of the summer the leaves from the bottom of the stalk begin to wither, and successively those from the top. In proportion as they dry up they are carried away carefully, and reserved as a winter sustenance for horses, which prefer that kind of forage to the best hay.

In estates of the first class, that yield annually, Indian corn grows from ten to twelve feet high, and produces, in a common year, forty to fifty English bushels per acre, and sixty to seventy-five in abundant years. Some have been known, the second and third year after the land has been cleared, to yield a hundred. The bushel, weighing about fifty to fifty-five pounds, never sells for more than a {180} quarter of a dollar, and sometimes does not bring half the money.

The species of corn that they cultivate is long and flat in point of shape, and generally of a deep yellow. The time of harvest is toward the end of September. A single individual may cultivate eight or ten acres of it. The culture of corn is one of the most important of the country; much more, however, with regard to exportation than as an object of consumption. The county of Fayette, of which Lexinton is the chief town, and the surrounding counties, are those that supply the most. Good estates produce from twenty-five to thirty bushels per acre, weighing about sixty pounds, although they never manure the ground, nor till it more than once.

The harvest is made in the commencement of July. The corn is cut with a sickle, and threshed the same as in other parts of Europe. The corn is of a beautiful colour, and I am convinced, through the excellence of the soil, that the flour will be of a superior quality to that of Philadelphia, which, as it is well known, surpasses in whiteness the best that grows in France.

The plough which they make use of is light, {181} without wheels, and drawn by horses. It is the same in all the southern states.

The blight, the blue flower, and the poppy, so common in our fields among the corn, have not shewn themselves in North America.

The harvest of 1802 was so plentiful in Kentucky, that in the month of August, the time that I was at Lexinton, corn did not bring more than eighteen pence per bushel, (about two shillings per hundred weight). It had never been known at so low a price. Still this fall was not only attributed to the abundance of the harvest, but also on account of the return of peace in Europe. They are convinced, in the country, that at this price the culture of corn cannot support itself as an object of commerce; and that in order for the inhabitants to cover their expense the barrel of flour ought not to be sold at New Orleans for less than four or five dollars.

In all the United States the flour that they export is put into slight barrels made of oak, and of an uniform size. In Kentucky the price of them is about three-eighths of a dollar, (fifteen pence). They ought to contain ninety-six pounds of flour, which takes five bushels of corn, including the expenses of grinding.

{182} The freightage of a boat to convey the flour to Low Louisiana costs about a hundred dollars. They contain from two hundred and fifty to three hundred barrels, and are navigated by five men, of whom the chief receives a hundred dollars for the voyage, and the others fifty each. They take, from Louisville, where nearly the whole embarkations are made, from thirty to thirty-five days to go to New Orleans. They reckon it four hundred and thirty-five miles from Louisville to the embouchure of the Ohio, and about a thousand miles thence to New Orleans, which makes it, upon the whole, a passage of fourteen hundred and thirty-five miles; and these boats have to navigate upon the river a space of eight or nine hundred miles without meeting with any plantations. A part of the crew return to Lexinton by land, which is about eleven hundred miles, in forty or forty-five days. This journey is extremely unpleasant, and those who dread the fatigues of it return by sea. They embark at New Orleans for New York and Philadelphia, whence they return to Pittsburgh, and thence go down the Ohio as far as Kentucky.

An inspector belonging to the port of Louisville inserted in the Kentucky Gazette of the 6th of August {183} 1802, that 85,570 barrels of flour, from the 1st of January to the 30th of June following, went out of that port to Low Louisiana. More than two thirds of this quantity may be considered as coming from the state of Kentucky, and the rest from Ohio and the settlements situated upon the rivers Monongahela and Alleghany. The spring and autumn are principally the seasons in which this exportation is made. It is almost null in summer, an epoch at which almost all the mills are stopped for the want of water. Rye and oats come up also extremely well in Kentucky. The rye is nearly all made use of in the distilling of whiskey, and the oats as food for horses, to which they give it frequently in little bunches from two to three pounds, without being threshed.

The culture of tobacco has been greatly extended within these few years. The temperature of the climate, and the extraordinary fertility of the soil gives, in that respect, to this state, a very great advantage over that of Virginia; in consequence of which tobacco and corn form the principal branch of its commerce. It exports annually several thousand hogsheads, from a thousand to twelve hundred pounds each. The price of it is from two to three dollars per hundred weight.

{184} Hemp, both raw and manufactured, is also an article of exportation. In the same year, 1802, there has been sent out of the country, raw 42,048 pounds, and 2402 hundred weight, converted into cables and various sorts of cordage.

Many of the inhabitants cultivate flax. The women manufacture linen of it for their families, and exchange the surplus with the trades-people for articles imported from Europe. These linens, though coarse, are of a good quality; yet none but the inferior inhabitants use them, the others giving a preference to Irish linens, which comprise a considerable share of their commerce. Although whiter, they are not so good as our linens of Bretagne. The latter would have found a great sale in the western states, had it not been for yielding Louisiana; since it is now clearly demonstrated that the expense of conveying goods which go up the river again from New Orleans to Louisville is not so great as that from Philadelphia to Limestone.

Although the temperature of the climate in Kentucky and other western states is favourable to the culture of fruit trees, these parts have not been populated long enough for them to be brought to any great perfection. Beside, the Americans are by no means so industrious or interested in this kind of {185} culture as the European states. They have confined themselves, at present, to the planting of peach and apple trees.

The former are very numerous, and come to the greatest perfection. There are five or six species of them, some forward, and others late, of an oval form, and much larger than our garden peaches. All the peaches grow in the open field, and proceed from kernels without being either pruned or grafted. They shoot so vigorously, that at the age of four years they begin to bear. The major part of the inhabitants plant them round their houses, and others have great orchards of them planted crosswise. They turn the hogs there for two months before the fruit gets ripe. These animals search with avidity for the peaches that fall in great numbers, and crack the stones of them for the kernels.

The immense quantity of peaches which they gather are converted in brandy, of which there is a great consumption in the country, and the rest is exported. A few only of the inhabitants have stills; the others carry their peaches to them, and bring back a quantity of brandy proportionate to the number of peaches they carried, except a part that is left for the expense of distilling. Peach brandy sells {186} for a dollar a gallon, which is equal to four English quarts.

In Kentucky the taxes are assessed in the following manner: they pay a sum equivalent to one shilling and eight-pence for every white servant, six-pence halfpenny for every negro, three-pence for a horse, two shillings per hundred acres of land of the first class, cultivated or not, seventeen-pence per hundred of the second class, and sixpence halfpenny per hundred of the third class. Although these taxes are, as we must suppose, very moderate, and though nobody complains of them, still a great number of those taxable are much in arrears. This is what I perceived by the numerous advertisements of the collectors that I have seen pasted up in different parts of the town of Lexinton. Again, these delays are not peculiar to the state of Kentucky, as I have made the same remark in those of the east.

Chapter XX

{187} CHAP. XX

Particulars relative to the manners of the inhabitants of Kentucky.—Horses and Cattle.—Necessity of giving them salt.—Wild Horses caught in the Plains of New Mexico.—Exportation of salt provisions.

For some time past the inhabitants of Kentucky have taken to the rearing and training horses;[50] and by this lucrative branch of trade they derive considerable profit, on account of the superfluous quantity of Indian corn, oats, and other forage, of which they are deficient at New Orleans.

Of all the states belonging to the union, Virginia is said to have the finest coach and saddle-horses, and those they have in this country proceed originally from them, the greatest part of which was brought by the emigrants who came from Virginia {188} to settle in this state. The number of horses, now very considerable, increases daily. Almost all the inhabitants employ themselves in training and meliorating the breed of these animals; and so great a degree of importance is attached to the melioration, that the owners of fine stallions charge from fifteen to twenty dollars for the covering of a mare. These stallions come from Virginia, and, as I have been told, some were at different times imported from England. The horses that proceed from them have slim legs, a well-proportioned head, and are elegantly formed. With draught-horses it is quite different. The inhabitants pay no attention with respect to improving this breed; in consequence of which they are small, wretched in appearance, and similar to those made use of by the peasantry in France. They appeared to me still worse in Georgia and Upper Carolina. In short, I must say that throughout the United States there is not a single draught-horse that can be in any wise compared with the poorest race of horses that I have seen in England. This is an assertion which many Americans may probably not believe, but still it is correct.

Many individuals profess to treat sick horses, but none of them have any regular notions of the veterinary {189} art; an art which would be so necessary in a breeding country, and which has, within these few years, acquired so high a degree of perfection in England and France.

In Kentucky, as well as in the southern states, the horses are generally fed with Indian corn. Its nutritive quality is esteemed double to that of oats; notwithstanding sometimes they are mixed together. In this state horses are not limited as to food. In most of the plantations the manger is filled with corn, they eat of it when they please, leave the stable to go to grass, and return at pleasure to feed on the Indian wheat. The stables are nothing but log-houses, where the light penetrates on all sides, the interval that separates the trunks of the trees with which they are constructed not being filled up with clay.

The southern states, and in particular South Carolina, are the principal places destined for the sale of Kentucky horses. They are taken there in droves of fifteen, twenty and thirty at a time, in the early part of winter, an epoch when the most business is transacted at Carolina, and when the drivers are in no fear of the yellow fever, of which the inhabitants of the interior have the greatest apprehension. {190} They usually take eighteen or twenty days to go from Lexinton to Charleston. This distance, which is about seven hundred miles, makes a difference of twenty-five or thirty per cent in the price of horses. A fine saddle-horse in Kentucky costs about a hundred and thirty to a hundred and forty dollars.

During my sojourn in this state I had an opportunity of seeing those wild horses that are caught in the plains of New Mexico, and which descend from those that the Spaniards introduced there formerly. To catch them they make use of tame horses that run much swifter, and with which they approach them near enough to halter them. They take them to New Orleans and Natches, where they fetch about fifty dollars. The crews belonging to the boats that return by land to Kentucky frequently purchase some of them. The two that I saw and made a trial of were roan coloured, of a middling size, the head large, and not proportionate with the neck, the limbs thick, and the mane rather full and handsome. These horses have a very unpleasant gait, are capricious, difficult to govern, and even frequently throw the rider and take flight.

The number of horned cattle is very considerable in Kentucky; those who deal in them purchase them {191} lean, and drive them in droves of from two to three hundred to Virginia, along the river Potomack, where they sell them to graziers, who fatten them in order to supply the markets of Baltimore and Philadelphia. The price of a good milch cow is, at Kentucky, from ten to twelve dollars. The milk in a great measure comprises the chief sustenance of the inhabitants. The butter that is not consumed in the country is put into barrels, and exported by the river to the Carribbees.

They bring up very few sheep in these parts; for, although I went upwards of two hundred miles in this state, I saw them only in four plantations. Their flesh is not much esteemed, and their wool is of the same quality as that of the sheep in the eastern states. The most that I ever observed was in Rhode Island.

Of all domestic animals hogs are the most numerous; they are kept by all the inhabitants, several of them feed a hundred and fifty or two hundred. These animals never leave the woods, where they always find a sufficiency of food, especially in autumn and winter. They grow extremely wild, and generally go in herds. Whenever they are surprised, or attacked by a dog or any other animal, they either {192} make their escape, or flock together in the form of a circle to defend themselves. They are of a bulky shape, middling size, and straight eared. Every inhabitant recognizes those that belong to him by the particular manner in which their ears are cut. They stray sometimes in the forests, and do not make their appearance again for several months; they accustom them, notwithstanding, to return every now and then to the plantation, by throwing them Indian corn once or twice a week. It is surprising that in so vast a country, covered with forests, so thinly populated, comparatively to its immense extent, and where there are so few destructive animals, pigs have not increased so far as to grow completely wild.

In all the western states, and even to the east of the Alleghanies, two hundred miles of the sea coast, they are obliged to give salt to the cattle. Were it not for that, the food they give them would never make them look well; in fact, they are so fond of it that they go of their own accord to implore it at the doors of the houses every week or ten days, and spend hours together in licking the trough into which they have scattered a small quantity for them. This want manifests itself most among the horses; {193} but it may be on account of their having it given them more frequently.

Salt provisions form another important article of the Kentucky trade. The quantity exported in the first six months of the year 1802 was seventy-two thousand barrels of dried pork, and two thousand four hundred and eighty-five of salt.

Notwithstanding the superfluity of corn that grows in this part of the country, there is scarcely any of the inhabitants that keep poultry. This branch of domestic economy would not increase their expense, but add a pleasing variety in their food. Two reasons may be assigned for this neglect; the first is, that the use of salt provisions, (a use to which the prevalence of the scurvy among them may be attributed,) renders these delicacies too insipid; the second, that the fields of Indian corn contiguous to the plantations would be exposed to considerable damage, the fences with which they are inclosed being only sufficient to prevent the cattle and pigs from trespassing.

The inhabitants of Kentucky, as we have before stated, are nearly all natives of Virginia, and particularly the remotest parts of that state; and exclusive of the gentlemen of the law, physicians, and a small {194} number of citizens who have received an education suitable to their professions in the Atlantic states, they have preserved the manners of the Virginians. With them the passion for gaming and spirituous liquors is carried to excess, which frequently terminates in quarrels degrading to human nature. The public-houses are always crowded, more especially during the sittings of the courts of justice. Horses and law-suits comprise the usual topic of their conversation. If a traveller happens to pass by, his horse is appreciated; if he stops, he is presented with a glass of whiskey, and then asked a thousand questions, such as, Where do you come from? where are you going? what is your name? where do you live? what profession? were there any fevers in the different parts of the country you came through? These questions, which are frequently repeated in the course of a journey, become tedious, but it is easy to give a check to their inquiries by a little address; their only object being the gratification of that curiosity so natural to people who live isolated in the woods, and seldom see a stranger. They are never dictated by mistrust; for from whatever part of the globe a person comes, he may visit all the ports and principal towns of the United States, stay {195} there as long as he pleases, and travel in any part of the country without ever being interrogated by a public officer.

The inhabitants of Kentucky eagerly recommend to strangers the country they inhabit as the best part of the United States, as that where the soil is most fertile, the climate most salubrious, and where all the inhabitants were brought through the love of liberty and independence! In the interior of their houses they are generally very neat; which induced me, whenever an opportunity offered, to prefer lodging in a private family rather than at a public house, where the accommodation is inferior, although the charges are considerably higher.

The women seldom assist in the labours of the field; they are very attentive to their domestic concerns, and the spinning of hemp or cotton, which they convert into linen for the use of their family. This employment alone is truly laborious, as there are few houses which contain less than four or five children.

Among the various sects that exist in Kentucky, those of the Methodists and Anabaptists are the most numerous. The spirit of religion has acquired a fresh degree of strength within these seven or eight {196} years among the country inhabitants, since, independent of Sundays, which are scrupulously observed, they assemble, during the summer, in the course of the week, to hear sermons. These meetings, which frequently consist of two or three thousand persons who come from all parts of the country within fifteen or twenty miles, take place in the woods, and continue for several days. Each brings his provisions, and spends the night round a fire. The clergymen are very vehement in their discourses. Often in the midst of the sermons the heads are lifted up, the imaginations exalted, and the inspired fall backwards, exclaiming, “Glory! glory!” This species of infatuation happens chiefly among the women, who are carried out of the crowd, and put under a tree, where they lie a long time extended, heaving the most lamentable sighs.

There have been instances of two or three hundred of the congregation being thus affected during the performance of divine service; so that one-third of the hearers were engaged in recovering the rest. Whilst I was at Lexinton I was present at one of these meetings. The better informed people do not share the opinion of the multitude with regard to this state of ecstacy, and on this account they are {197} branded with the appellation of bad folks. Except during the continuance of this preaching, religion is very seldom the topic of conversation. Although divided into several sects, they live in the greatest harmony; and whenever there is an alliance between the families, the difference of religion is never considered as an obstacle; the husband and wife pursue whatever kind of worship they like best, and their children, when they grow up, do just the same, without the interference of their parents.

Throughout the western country the children are kept punctually at school, where they learn reading, writing, and the elements of arithmetic. These schools are supported at the expense of the inhabitants, who send for masters as soon as the population and their circumstances permit; in consequence of which it is very rare to find an American who does not know how to read and write. Upon the Ohio, and in the Barrens, where the settlements are farther apart, the inhabitants have not yet been able to procure this advantage, which is the object of solicitude in every family.

Chapter XXI

{198} CHAP. XXI

Nasheville.—Commercial details.—Settlement of the Natches.

Nasheville, the principal and the oldest town in this part of Tennessea, is situate upon the river Cumberland, the borders of which, in this part, are formed by a mass of chalky stone upwards of sixty feet in height. Except seven or eight houses that are built of brick, the rest, to the number of about a hundred and twenty, are constructed of wood, and distributed upon a surface of twenty-five or thirty acres, where the rock appears almost bare in every part. They cannot procure water in the town without going a considerable way about to reach the banks of the river, or descending by a deep and dangerous path. When I was at Nasheville one of the inhabitants was endeavouring to pierce the rock, in order to make a well; but at that time he {199} had only dug a few feet, on account of the stone being so amazingly hard.

This little town, although built upwards of fifteen years, contains no kind of manufactory or public establishment; but there is a printing-office which publishes a newspaper once a week. They have also began to found a college, which has been presented with several benefactions for its endowment, but this establishment was only in its infancy, having but seven or eight students and one professor.[51]

The price of labour is higher in this town than at Lexinton, and the same disproportion exists between this price and that of provisions. There appeared to be from fifteen to twenty shops, which are supplied from Philadelphia and Baltimore, but they did not seem so well stocked as those at Lexinton, and the articles, though dearer, are of an inferior quality. The cause of their being so dear may be in some measure attributed to the expense of carriage, which is much greater on account of the amazing distance the boats destined for Tennessea have to go up the Ohio. In fact, after having passed by Limestone, the place where they unload for Kentucky, and which is four hundred and twenty miles from Pittsburgh, they have still to make a passage up the river of six {200} hundred and nineteen miles to reach the mouth of the river Cumberland, and a hundred and eighty miles to arrive at Nasheville, which, in the whole, comprises a space of one thousand five hundred and twenty-one miles from Philadelphia, of which twelve hundred are by water. Some merchants get their goods also from New Orleans, whence the boats go up the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Cumberland. This last distance is about twelve hundred and forty-three miles; viz. a thousand miles from New Orleans to the embouchure of the Ohio, sixty-three miles from thence to Cumberland, and a hundred and eighty from this river to Nasheville.

There are very few cultivators who take upon themselves to export the produce of their labour, consisting chiefly of cotton; the major part of them sell it to the tradespeople at Nasheville, who send it by the river to New Orleans, where it is expedited to New York and Philadelphia, or exported direct to Europe. These tradesmen, like those of Lexinton, do not pay always in cash for the cotton they purchase, but make the cultivators take goods in exchange, which adds considerably to their profit. A great quantity of it is also sent by land to Kentucky, where each family is supplied with it to manufacture articles for their domestic wants.

{201} When I was there in 1802 they made the first attempt to send cottons by the Ohio to Pittsburgh, in order to be thence conveyed to the remote parts of Pennsylvania. I met several barges laden with them near Marietta; they were going up the river with a staff, and making about twenty miles a day. Thus are the remotest parts of the western states united by commercial interests, of which cotton is the basis, and the Ohio the tie of communication, the results of which must give a high degree of prosperity to this part of Tennessea, and insure its inhabitants a signal advantage over those of the Ohio and Kentucky, the territorial produce of which is not of a nature to meet with a great sale in the country or the adjoining parts, and which they are obliged to send to New Orleans.

I had a letter from Dr. Brown, of Lexinton, for Mr. William Peter Anderson, a gentleman of the law at Nasheville, who received me in the most obliging manner; I am also indebted to him for the acquaintance of several other gentlemen; among others was a Mr. Fisk, of New England, president of the college, with whom I had the pleasure of travelling to Knoxville.[52] The inhabitants are very engaging in their manners, and use but little ceremony. {202} On my arrival, I had scarcely alighted when several of them who were at the inn invited me to their plantations.

All the inhabitants of the western country who go by the river to New Orleans, return by land, pass through Nasheville, which is the first town beyond the Natches. The interval that separates them is about six hundred miles, and entirely uninhabited; which obliges them to carry their provisions on horseback to supply them on the road. It is true they have two or three little towns to cross, inhabited by the Chicasaws; but instead of recruiting their stock there, the natives themselves are so indifferently supplied, that travellers are obliged to be very cautious lest they should wish to share with them. Several persons who have been this road assured me, that for a space of four or five hundred miles beyond the Natches the country is very irregular, that the soil is very sandy, in some parts covered with pines, and not much adapted to any kind of culture; but that the borders of the river Tennessea are, on the contrary, very fertile, and even superior to the richest counties in Kentucky and Tennessea.

The settlement of the Natches, which is described by the name of the Mississippi Territory, daily acquires {203} a fresh degree of prosperity, notwithstanding the unhealthiness of the climate, which is such that three-fourths of the inhabitants are every year exposed to intermittent fevers during the summer and autumn; nevertheless, the great profits derived from the cotton entice an immense number of foreigners into that part. The population now amounts to five thousand whites and three thousand negro slaves.[53]

The road that leads to the Natches was only a path that serpentined through these boundless forests, but the federal government have just opened a road, which is on the point of being finished, and will be one of the finest in the United States, both on account of its breadth and the solidity of the bridges constructed over the small rivers that cut through it; to which advantages it will unite that of being shorter than the other by a hundred miles. Thus we may henceforth, on crossing the western country, go in a carriage from Boston to New Orleans, a distance of more than two thousand miles.

Chapter XXII

{204} CHAP. XXII

Departure for Knoxville.—Arrival at Fort Blount.—Remarks upon the drying up of the Rivers in the Summer.—Plantations on the Road.—Fertility of the Soil.—Excursions in a Canoe on the River Cumberland.

On the 5th of September I set out from Nasheville for Knoxville, with Mr. Fisk, sent by the state of Tennessea to determine in a more correct manner, in concert with the commissaries of Virginia, the boundaries between the two states. We did not arrive till the 9th at Fort Blount, built upon the river Cumberland, about sixty miles from Nasheville; we stopped on the road with different friends of Mr. Fisk, among others, at the house of General Smith, one of the oldest inhabitants in the country, where he has resided sixteen or seventeen years. It is to him they are indebted for the best map of this state, which is found in the Geographical Atlas, published by Matthew Carey, bookseller, at Philadelphia. He confessed to me, notwithstanding, that this map, {205} taken several years ago, was in many respects imperfect. The General has a beautiful plantation cultivated in Indian wheat and cotton; he has also a neat distillery for peach brandy, which he sells at five shillings per gallon. In his leisure hours he busies himself in chemistry. I have seen at his house English translations of the works of Lavoisier and Fourcroy.[54]

We likewise saw, en passant, General Winchester, who was at a stone house that was building for him on the road; this mansion, considering the country, bore the external marks of grandeur; it consisted of four large rooms on the ground floor, one story, and a garret. The workmen employed to finish the inside came from Baltimore, a distance of nearly seven hundred miles. The stones are of a chalky nature; there are no others in all that part of Tennessea except round flints, which are found in the beds of some of the rivers which come originally from the mountainous region, whence they have been hurried by the force of the torrents. On the other hand there are so very few of the inhabitants that build in this manner, on account of the price of workmanship, masons being still scarcer than carpenters and joiners.

Not far from the General’s house runs a river, {206} from forty to fifty feet wide, which we crossed dry-footed. Its banks in certain places are upwards of twenty-five feet high, the bottom of its bed is formed with flag stones, furrowed by small grooves, about three or four inches broad, and as many deep, through which the water flowed; but on the contrary the tide is so high in winter, that by means of a lock, they stop a sufficient quantity to turn a mill, situated more than thirty feet in height.

We had now passed several of these rivers that we could have strided over, but which, during the season, are crossed by means of ferry-boats.

A few miles from General Winchester’s plantation, and at a short distance from the road, is situated a small town, founded within these few years, and to which they have given the name of Cairo, in memory of the taking of Cairo by the French.

Between Nasheville and Fort Blount the plantations, although always isolated in the woods, are nevertheless, upon the road, within two or three miles of each other. The inhabitants live in comfortable log houses; the major part keep negroes, and appear to live happy and in abundance. For the whole of this space the soil is but slightly undulated at times very even, and in general excellent; in consequence of {207} which the forests look very beautiful. It is in particular, at Dixon’s Spring, fifty miles from Nasheville, and a few miles on this side Major Dixon’s, where I sojourned a day and a half, that we remarked this great fertility. We saw again in the environs a considerable mass of forests, filled with those canes or reeds I have before mentioned, and which grow so close to each other, that at the distance of ten or twelve feet a man could not be perceived was he concealed there. Their tufted foliage presents a mass of verdure that diverts the sight amid these still and gloomy forests. I have before remarked that, in proportion as new plantations are formed, these canes in a few years disappear, as the cattle prefer the leaves of them to any other kind of vegetables, and destroy them still more by breaking the body of the plant while browzing on the top of the stalks. The pigs contribute also to this destruction, by raking up the ground in order to search for the young roots.

Fort Blount was constructed about eighteen years ago, to protect the emigrants who came at that time to settle in Cumberland, against the attacks of the natives, who declared a perpetual war against them, in order to drive them out; but peace having been concluded with them, and the population being {208} much increased, they have been reduced to the impossibility of doing them farther harm, and the Fort has been destroyed. There now exists on this spot a beautiful plantation, belonging to Captain William Samson, with whom Mr. Fisk usually resides. During the two days that we stopped at his house, I went in a canoe up the river Cumberland for several miles. This mode of reconnoitring the natural productions still more various upon the bank of the rivers, is preferable to any other, especially when the rivers are like the latter, bounded by enormous rocks, which are so very steep, that scarcely any person ventures to ascend their lofty heights. In these excursions I enriched my collections with several seeds of trees and plants peculiar to the country, and divers other objects of natural history.

Chapter XXIII

{209} CHAP. XXIII

Departure from Fort Blount to West Point, through the Wilderness.—Botanical excursions upon Roaring River.—Description of its Banks.—Saline productions found there.—Indian Cherokees.—Arrival at Knoxville.

On the 11th of September we went from Fort Blount to the house of a Mr. Blackborn, whose plantation, situated fifteen miles from this fortress, is the last that the whites possess on this side the line, that separates the territory of the United States from that of the Indian Cherokees. This line presents, as far as West Point upon the Clinch, a country uninhabited upward of eighty miles in breadth, to which they give the name of the Wilderness, and of which the mountains of Cumberland occupy a great part. As Mr. Fisk was obliged to go to the court of justice, which is held a few miles from thence in the county {210} of Jackson; we deferred crossing the Wilderness for a few days, and I profited by his absence to go and see Roaring River, one of the branches of the Cumberland. This river, from ten to fifteen fathoms broad, received its name from the confused noise that is heard a mile distant, and which is occasioned by falls of water produced by the sudden lapse of its bed, formed by large flat stones contiguous to each other. These falls, from six, eight, to ten feet high, are so near together, that several of them are to be seen within the space of fifty to a hundred fathoms. We observed in the middle of this river, great stones, from five to six feet in diameter, completely round, and of which nobody could form the least idea how they could have been conveyed there.

The right bank of Roaring River rises in some places from eighty to a hundred feet, and surmounted at this height by rocks that jet out fifteen or twenty feet, and which cover again thick beds of ferruginous schiste, situated horizontally. The flakes they consist of are so soft and brittle, that as soon as they are touched, they break off in pieces of a foot long, and fall into a kind of dust, which, in the course of time, imperceptibly undermines the rocks. Upon the flakes of schiste that are least exposed to the air {211} and water, we observed a kind of white efflorescence, extremely thin, and very similar to snow.

There exists again upon the banks of this river, and in other parts of Cumberland, immense caverns, where there are masses of aluminous substances, within so small a degree of the purity necessary to be employed in dyeing, that the inhabitants not only go to fetch it for their own use, but export it to Kentucky. They cut it into pieces with an axe; but nobody is acquainted there with the process used on the Old Continent to prepare the different substances, as it is found in trade.

Large rivulets, after having serpentined in the forests, terminate their windings at the steep banks of this river, whence they fall murmuring into its bed, and form magnificent cascades several fathoms wide. The perpetual humidity that these cascades preserve in these places gives birth to a multitude of plants which grow in the midst of a thick moss, with which the rock is covered, and which forms the most beautiful verdant carpet.

All these circumstances give the borders of Roaring River a cool and pleasing aspect, which I had never witnessed before on the banks of other rivers. A {212} charming variety of trees and shrubs are also seen there, which are to be met with no where else. We observed the magnolia auriculata, macrophilla, cordata, acuminata, and tripetala. The fruit of these trees, so remarkable for the beauty of their flowers and superb foliage, were in the highest perfection. I gathered a few seeds to multiply them in France, and to add to the embellishment of our gardens. These seeds grow rancid very soon. I endeavoured to remedy this inconvenience by putting them into fresh moss, which I renewed every fortnight till my return to Carolina, where I continued the same precautions till the epoch of my embarking for Europe. I have since had the satisfaction to see that my pains were not fruitless, and that I succeeded by this means in preserving their germinative faculty.

Major Russel, with whom I went to lodge after I had taken my leave of Mr. Blackborn, and where Mr. Fisk rejoined me, furnished us very obligingly with necessary provisions for the two days journey through the territory of the Cherokees. Notwithstanding the harmony that at present subsists between the whites and these Indians, it is always more prudent to travel five or six in a party. Nevertheless as we were at a considerable distance from the usual place of rendezvous, where the travellers put up, we resolved {213} to set out alone, and we arrived happily at West Point. This country is exceedingly mountainous, we could not make above forty-five miles the first day, although we travelled till midnight. We encamped near a small river, where there was an abundance of grass; and after having made a fire we slept in our rugs, keeping watch alternately in order to guard our horses, and make them feed close by us for fear of the natives, who sometimes steal them in spite of all the precaution a traveller can take, as their dexterity in that point exceeds all that a person can imagine. During this day’s journey we saw nothing but wild turkies, thirty or forty in a flight.

The second day after our departure we met a party of eight or ten Indians, who were searching for grapes and chinquapins, a species of small chesnuts, superior in taste to those in Europe. As we had only twenty miles to go before we reached West Point, we gave them the remainder of our provisions, with which they were highly delighted. Bread is a great treat for them, their usual food consisting of nothing but venison and wild fowl.

The road that crosses this part of the Indian territory cuts through the mountains in Cumberland; it is as broad and commodious as those in the environs of Philadelphia, in consequence of the amazing number {214} of emigrants that travel through it to go and settle in the western country. It is, notwithstanding, in some places very rugged, but nothing near so much as the one that leads from Strasburgh to Bedford in Pennsylvania. About forty miles from Nasheville we met an emigrant family in a carriage, followed by their negroes on foot, that had performed their journey without any accident. Little boards painted black and nailed upon the trees every three miles, indicate to travellers the distance they have to go.

In this part of Tennessea the mass of the forests is composed of all the species of trees that belong more particularly to the mountainous regions of North America, such as oaks, maples, and nut trees. Pines abound in those parts where the soil is the worst. What appeared to me very extraordinary was, to find some parts of the woods, for the space of several miles, where all the pines that formed at least one fifth part of the other trees were dead since the preceding year, and still kept all their withered foliage. I was not able to learn the causes that produced this singular phenomenon. I only heard that the same thing happens every fifteen or twenty years.

At West Point is established a fort, pallisadoed round with trees, built upon a lofty eminence, at the {215} conflux of the rivers Clinch and Holston. The fedral government maintain a company of soldiers there, the aim of which is to hold the Indians in respect, and at the same time to protect them against the inhabitants on the frontiers, whose illiberal proceedings excite them frequently to war. The objects of these insults were to drive them from their possessions; but the government has prevented this fruitless source of broils and wars, by declaring that all the possessions occupied by the Indians within the boundaries of the United States, comprise a part of their domains.

The following trait will give an idea of the ferocious disposition of some of these Americans on the frontiers. One of them belonging to the environs of Fort Blount, had lost one of his horses, which had strayed from his plantation and penetrated some distance into the Indian territory. About a fortnight after it was brought to him by two Cherokees; they were scarcely fifty yards from the house when the owner perceiving them, killed one upon the spot with his carabine; the other fled and carried the news to his fellow-countrymen. The murderer was thrown into prison; but was afterwards released for the want of evidence, although he stood convicted in the eyes {216} of every one. During the time he was in prison the Indians suspended their resentment, in hopes that the death of their fellow-countryman would be revenged; but scarcely were they informed that he was set at liberty when they killed a white, at more than a hundred and fifty miles from the place where the first murder had been committed. To the present moment we have never been able to make the Indians comprehend that punishment should only fall upon the guilty; they conceive that the murder of one or more of their people ought to be avenged by the death of an equal number of individuals belonging to the nation of that person who committed the deed. This is a custom they will not renounce, more especially if the person so murdered belongs to a distinguished family, as among the Creeks and Cherokees there exists a superior class to the common of the nation. These Indians are above the middling stature, well proportioned, and healthy in appearance, notwithstanding the long fasting they frequently endure in pursuit of animals, the flesh of which forms their chief subsistence. The carabine is the only weapon they make use of; they are very dexterous with it, and kill at a very great distance. The usual dress of the men consists of a shirt, à l’Européene, which {217} hangs loose, and of a slip of blue cloth about half a yard in length, which serves them as breeches; they put it between their thighs, and fasten the two ends, before and behind, to a sort of girdle. They wear long gaiters, and shoes of stag skins prepared. When full dressed they wear a coat, waistcoat, and hat, but never any breeches. The natives of North America have never been able to adopt that part of our dress. They have only on the top of their heads a tuft of hair, of which they make several tresses, that hang down the sides of the face, and very frequently they attach quills or little silver tubes to the extremities. A great number of them pierce their noses, in order to put rings through, and cut holes in their ears, that hang down two or three inches, by the means of pieces of lead that they fasten to them when they are quite young. They paint their faces red, blue, or black.

A man’s shirt and a short petticoat form the dress of the women, who wear also gaiters like the men; they let their hair grow, which is always of a jet black, to its natural length, but they never pierce their noses, nor disfigure their ears. In winter, the men and women, in order to guard against the cold, wrap themselves in a blue rug, which they always {218} carry with them, and which forms an essential part of their luggage.

Near the fort is established a kind of warehouse where the Cherokees carry ginseng and furs, consisting chiefly of bear, stag, and otter skins. They give them in exchange for coarse stuffs, knives, hatchets, and other articles that they stand in need of.

I learnt at West Point, of several persons who make frequent journies among the Cherokees that within these few years they take to the cultivating of their possessions, and that they make a rapid progress. Some of them have good plantations, and even negro slaves. Several of the women spin and manufacture cotton stuffs. The federal government devotes annually a sum to supply them with instruments necessary for agriculture and different trades. Being pressed for time I could not penetrate farther into the interior of the country, as I had intended, and I did not profit by the letters of recommendation that Mr. W. P. Anderson had given me for that purpose to the garrison-officers in the fort.

They reckon thirty-five miles from West Point to Knoxville. About a mile from West Point we passed through Kingstown, composed of thirty or forty log houses; after that the road runs upwards of eighteen {219} miles through a rugged and flinty soil, although covered with a kind of grass. The trees that occupy this extent grow within twenty or thirty yards of each other, which makes it seem as though this district changes from the appearance of a meadow to that of a forest. After this the soil grows better, and the plantations are not so far apart.

Chapter XXIV

{220} CHAP. XXIV

Knoxville.—Commercial intelligence.—Trees that grow in the environs.—Converting some parts of the Meadows into Forests.—River Nolachuky.—Greensville.—Arrival at Jonesborough.

Knoxville, the seat of government belonging to the state of Tennessea, is situate upon the river Holston, in this part nearly a hundred and fifty fathoms broad. The houses that compose it are about two hundred in number, and chiefly built of wood. Although founded eighteen or twenty years ago, this little town does not yet possess any kind of establishment or manufactory, except two or three tan yards. Trade, notwithstanding, is brisker here than at Nasheville. The shops, though very few in {221} number, are in general better stocked. The tradespeople get their provisions by land from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Richmond in Virginia; and they send in return, by the same way, the produce of the country, which they buy of the cultivators, or take in barter for their goods. Baltimore and Richmond are the towns with which this part of the country does most business. The price of conveyance from Baltimore is six or seven dollars per hundred weight. They reckon seven hundred miles from this town to Knoxville, six hundred and forty from Philadelphia, and four hundred and twenty from Richmond.

They send flour, cotton and lime to New Orleans by the river Tennessea; but this way is not so much frequented by the trade, the navigation of this river being very much encumbered in two different places by shallows interspersed with rocks. They reckon about six hundred miles from Knoxville to the embouchure of the Tennessea in the Ohio, and thirty-eight miles thence to that of the Ohio in the Mississippi.

{222} We alighted at Knoxville at the house of one Haynes, the sign of the General Washington, the best inn in the town. Travellers and their horses are accommodated there at the rate of five shillings per day; though this is rather dear for a country where the situation is by no means favourable to the sale of provisions, which they are obliged to send to more remote parts. The reason of things being so dear proceeds from the desire of growing rich in a short time, a general desire in the United States, where every man who exercises a profession or art wishes to get a great deal by it, and does not content himself with a moderate profit, as they do in Europe.

There is a newspaper printed at Knoxville[55] which comes out twice a week, and written and published by Mr. Roulstone, a fellow-countryman and friend of my travelling companion, Mr. Fisk. It is very remarkable that most of the emigrants from New England have an ascendancy over the others in point of morals, industry, and knowledge.

{223} On the 17th of September I took leave of Mr. Fisk, and proceeded towards Jonesborough, about a hundred miles from Knoxville, and situate at the foot of the lofty mountains that separate North Carolina from the state of Tennessea. On leaving Knoxville the soil is uneven, stony and very indifferent, of which it is an easy thing to judge by the quantity of pines, or pinus mitis, that are in the forests. We also found there an abundance of Chinquapin oaks, or quercus prinus Chinquapin, that seldom grow above three feet high, some of which were that year so loaded with acorns that they were bent to the ground. The sorel-tree, or andromeda arborea, is also very common. This tree, that rises about forty feet in the mountains, would be one of the most splendid ornaments for our gardens, on account of its opening clusters of white flowers. Its leaves are very acid, and many of the inhabitants prefer them to shumac for dyeing cottons.

I crossed the river Holston at Macby, about fifteen miles from Knoxville; here the soil grows better, {224} and the plantations are nearer together, although not immediately within sight of each other. At some distance from Macby the road, for the space of two miles, runs by the side of a copse, extremely full of young suckers, the highest of which was not above twenty feet. As I had never seen any part of a forest so composed before, I made an observation of it to the inhabitants of the country, who told me that this place was formerly part of a barren, or meadow, which had naturally clothed itself again with trees, that fifteen years since they had been totally destroyed by fire, in order to clear the land, which is a common practice in all the southern states. This example appears to demonstrate that the spacious meadows in Kentucky and Tennessea owe their birth to some great conflagration that has consumed the forests, and that they are kept up as meadows by the custom that is still practised of annually setting them on fire. In these conflagrations, when chance preserves any part from the ravages of the flame, for a certain number of years they are re-stocked with trees; but {225} as it is then extremely thick, the fire burns them completely down, and reduces them again to a sort of meadow. We may thence conclude, that in these parts of the country the meadows encroach continually upon the forests. The same has probably taken place in Upper Louisiana and New Mexico, which are only immense plains, burnt annually by the natives, and where there is not a tree to be found.

I stopped the first day at a place where most of the inhabitants are Quakers, who came fifteen or eighteen years since from Pennsylvania. The one with whom I lodged had an excellent plantation, and his log-house was divided into two rooms, which is very uncommon in that part of the country. Around the house magnificent apple-trees were planted, which, although produced from pips, bore fruit of an extraordinary size and luxuriance in taste, which proves how well this country is adapted for the culture of fruit trees. Here, as well as in Kentucky, they give the preference to the peach, on account of their {226} making brandy with it. At the same house where I stopped there were two emigrant families, forming together ten or twelve persons, who were going to settle in Tennessea. Their ragged clothes, and the miserable appearance of their children, who were bare-footed and in their shirts, was a plain indication of their poverty, a circumstance by no means uncommon in the United States. At the same time it is not in the western country that the riches of the inhabitants consist in specie; for I am persuaded that not one in ten of them are in possession of a single dollar; still each enjoys himself at home with the produce of his estate, and the money arising from the sale of a horse or a few cows is always more than sufficient to procure him the secondary articles that come from England.

The following day I passed by the iron-works, situate about thirty miles from Knoxville, where I stopped some time to get a sample of the native ore. The iron that proceeds from it they say is of an excellent quality. The road at this place divides into {227} two branches, both of which lead to Jonesborough; but as I wanted to survey the banks of the river Nolachuky, so renowned in that part of the country for their fertility, I took the right, although it was rather longer, and not so much frequented. About six or seven miles from the iron-works we found upon the road small rock crystals, two or three inches long, and beautifully transparent. The facets of the pyramids that terminate the two extremities of the prism are perfectly equal with respect to size, they are loose, and disseminated in a reddish kind of earth, and rather clayey. In less than ten minutes I picked up forty. Arrived on the boundaries of the river Nolachuky, I did not observe any species of trees or plants that I had not seen elsewhere, except a few poplars and horse-chesnuts, which bore a yellow blossom. Some of these poplars were five or six feet in diameter, perfectly straight, and free from branches for thirty or forty feet from the earth.

On the 21st I arrived at Greenville, which contains scarcely forty houses, constructed with square {228} beams something like the log-houses. They reckon twenty-five miles from this place to Jonesborough. In this space the country is slightly mountainous, the soil more adapted to the culture of corn than that of Indian wheat, and the plantations are situated upon the road, two or three miles distant from each other.

Jonesborough, the last town in Tennessea, is composed of about a hundred and fifty houses, built of wood, and disposed on both sides the road. Four or five respectable shops are established there, and the tradespeople who keep them have their goods from Richmond and Baltimore. All kinds of English-manufactured goods are as dear here as at Knoxville. A newspaper in folio is published at this town twice a week. Periodical sheets are the only works that have ever been printed in the towns or villages situate west of the Alleghanies.

Chapter XXV

{229} CHAP. XXV

General observations on the State of Tennessea.—Rivers Cumberland and Tennessea.—What is meant by East Tennessea or Holston, and West Tennessea or Cumberland.—First settlements in West Tennessea.—Trees natives of that country.

The state of Tennessea is situated between 35 and 36 deg. 30 min. latitude, and 80 and 90 deg. 30 min. longitude. It is bounded north by Kentucky, south by the territories belonging to the Indian Cherokees and Chactaws, west by the Ohio, and east by the Alleghany Mountains, which separate it from Virginia and North Carolina. Its extent in breadth is nearly a hundred and three miles {230} by three hundred and sixty in length. Prior to the year 1796, the epoch of its being admitted into the Union, this country comprised a part of North Carolina. The two principal rivers are the Cumberland and Tennessea, which flow into the Ohio eleven miles distant from each other, and are separated by the chain of mountains in Cumberland.

The river Cumberland, known to the French Canadians by the name of the river Shavanon, derives its source in Kentucky, amidst the mountains that separate it from Virginia. Its course is about four hundred and fifty miles. It is navigable, in winter and spring, for three hundred and fifty miles from its embouchure; but in summer, not above fifty miles from Nasheville. The river Tennessea, named by the French Canadians the Cherokee River, is the most considerable of all those that empty themselves into the Ohio. It begins at West Point, where it is formed by the junction of the rivers Clinch and Holston, which derive their source in that part of the Alleghany Mountains situated in Virginia, each of {231} which are more than a hundred fathoms broad at their embouchure. Both are navigable to an immense distance, and particularly the Holston, which is so for two hundred miles. The river French Broad, one of the principal branches of the Holston, receives its waters from the Nolachuky, is about twenty fathoms broad, and is navigable in the spring. Thus the Tennessea, with the Holston, has, in the whole, a navigable course for near eight hundred miles: but this navigation is interrupted six months in the year by the muscle shoals, a kind of shallows interspersed with rocks, which are met with in its bed two hundred miles from its embouchure in the Ohio. From West Point the borders of this great river are yet almost entirely uninhabited. The signification of the name of Tennessea, which it bears, is unknown to the Cherokees and Chactaws that occupied this country before the whites. Mr. Fisk, who has had several conversations with these Indians, never heard any precise account; in consequence of which it is most likely that this name has {232} been given to it by the nation that the Cherokees succeeded.[56]

The Cumberland Mountains are but a continuation of Laurel Mountain, which itself is one of the principal links of the Alleghanies. These mountains, on the confines of Virginia, incline more toward the west, and by the direction which they take, cut obliquely in two the state of Tennessea, which, in consequence, divides East and West Tennessea into two parts, both primitively known by the names of the Holston and Cumberland settlements, and which afford each a different aspect, both by the nature of the country, and by the productions that grow there.

West Tennessea comprises two-thirds of this state. The greater part of it reposes upon a bank of chalky substance of the same nature, the beds of which are horizontal. The stratum of vegetable earth with which it is covered appears generally not so thick as in Kentucky, and participates less of the clayey nature. It is usually, in point of colour, of {233} a dark brown, without the least mixture of stony substances. The forests that cover the country clearly indicate how favourable the soil is for vegetation, as most of the trees acquire a very large diameter. Iron mines are also as scarce there as in Kentucky; and provided any new ones were discovered, they would have been worked immediately, since the iron that is imported from Pennsylvania is at such an enormous price.

The secondary rivers which in this part of Tennessea run into Cumberland are almost completely dry during the summer; and it is probable enough, that when the population grows more numerous, and the plantations are formed farther from their banks, the want of water will be more severely felt in this part than in Kentucky. There are, notwithstanding, several large rivulets or creeks that issue from excavations that are found at the foot of the mountains, in different parts of the country: at the same time it has been remarked that these kind of sources never fail, although the water is not so deep in summer. {234} Just at the mouth of these subterraneous passages they are sometimes accompanied with a current of air strong enough to extinguish a light. I observed this particularly myself at the spring of the rivulet called Dixon’s Spring, and of another situated about four miles from Nasheville.

It was in 1780 that the whites first made the attempt to travel over the Cumberland Mountains, and to settle in the environs of Nasheville; but the emigrants were not very numerous there till the year 1789. They had to support, for several years, a bloody war against the Indian Cherokees, and till 1795 the settlements at Holston and Kentucky communicated with those in Cumberland by caravans, for the sake of travelling in safety over so extensive a tract of uninhabited country that separated them; but for these five or six years past, since peace has been made with the natives, the communications formed between the countries are perfectly established; and although not much frequented, they travel there with as much safety as in any other part of the Atlantic states.

{235} This country having been populated after that of Kentucky, every measure was taken at the commencement to avoid the great confusion that exists concerning the right of property in the latter state; at the same time the titles are looked upon as more valid, and not so subject to dispute. This reason, the extraordinary fertility of the soil, and a more healthy climate, are such great inducements to the emigrants of the Atlantic states, that most of them prefer settling in West Tennessea than in Kentucky. They reckon there, at present, thirty thousand inhabitants, and five or six thousand negro slaves.

With a few exceptions the various species of trees and shrubs that form the mass of the forests are the same as those that I observed in the most fertile parts of Kentucky. The gleditsia triacanthos is still more common there.[57] Of this wood the Indians made their bows, before they adopted the use of fire-arms.

We found particularly, in these forests, a tree which, by the shape of its fruit and the disposition of its leaves, appears to have great affinity with the {236} sophora japonica, the wood of which is used by the Chinese for dyeing yellow. My father, who discovered this tree in 1796, thought that it might be employed for the same use, and become an important object of traffic for the country. He imparted his conjectures to Mr. Blount, then governor of this state, and his letter was inserted in the Gazette at Knoxville on the 15th of March 1796. Several persons in the country having a great desire to know whether it were possible to fix the beautiful yellow which the wood of this tree communicated to the water by the simple infusion, cold, I profited by my stay at Nasheville to send twenty pounds of it to New York, the half of which was remitted to Dr. Mitchell, professor of chemistry, and the other addressed to Paris, to the Board of Agriculture, attached to the Minister of the Interior, in order to verify the degree of utility that might be derived from it. This tree very seldom rises above forty feet, and grows, in preference, on the knobs, species of little hills, where the soil is very rich. Several of the inhabitants have {237} remarked that there is not in the country a single species of tree that produces so great an abundance of sap. The quantity that it supplies exceeds even that of the sugar maple, although the latter is twice its bulk. The epoch of my stay at Nasheville being that when the seeds of this tree were ripe, I gathered a small quantity of them, which I brought over with me, and which have all come up. Several of the plants are at the present moment ten or fifteen inches high. It is very probable that this tree may be reared in France, and that it will endure the cold of our winters, and more so, as, according to what I have been told, the winters are as severe in Tennessea as in any parts of France.

West Tennessea is not so salubrious as Holston and Kentucky. A warmer and damper climate is the cause of intermittent fevers being more common there. Emigrants, for the first year of their settling there, and even travellers, are, during that season, subject to an exanthemetic affection similar to the itch. This malady, with which I began to be attacked {238} before I reached Fort Blount, yielded to a cooling regimen, and repeated bathings in the rivers Cumberland and Roaring. This disorder is very appropriately called in the country the Tennessean itch.

Chapter XXVI

{239} CHAP. XXVI

Different kinds of produce of West Tennessea.—Domestic manufactories for cottons encouraged by the legislature of this state.—Mode of letting out estates by some of the emigrants.

West Tennessea, or Cumberland, being situated under a more southerly latitude than Kentucky, is particularly favourable to the growth of cotton; in consequence of which the inhabitants give themselves up almost entirely to it, and cultivate but little more corn, hemp, and tobacco than what is necessary for their own consumption.

The soil, which is fat and clayey, appears to be a recent dissolving of vegetable substances, and seems, {240} till now, less adapted for the culture of corn than that of Indian wheat. The harvests of this grain are as plentiful as in Kentucky; the blades run up ten or twelve feet high; and the ears, which grow six or seven feet from the earth, are from nine to ten inches in length, and proportionate in size. It is cultivated in the same manner as in other parts of the western country.

The crows, which are a true plague in the Atlantic states, where they ravage, at three different periods, the fields of Indian wheat, which are obliged to be sown again as many times, have not yet made their appearance in Tennessea; but it is very probable that this visit is only deferred, as they do, annually, great damage in Kentucky.

I must also observe here that the grey European rats have not yet penetrated into Cumberland, though they are very numerous in other parts of the country, particularly in those settlements belonging to the whites.

The culture of cotton, infinitely more lucrative {241} than that of corn and tobacco, is, as before observed, the most adhered to in West Tennessea. There is scarcely a single emigrant but what begins to plant his estate with it the third year after his settling in the country. Those who have no negroes cultivate it with the plough, nearly in the same manner as Indian wheat, taking particular care to weed and throw new earth upon it several times in the course of the season. Others lay out their fields in parallel furrows, made with the hoe, from twelve to fifteen inches high. It is computed that one man, who employs himself with this alone, is sufficient to cultivate eight or nine acres, but not to gather in the harvest. A man and a woman, with two or three children, may, notwithstanding, cultivate four acres with the greatest ease, independent of the Indian wheat necessary for their subsistence; and calculating upon a harvest of three hundred and fifty pounds weight per acre, which is very moderate according to the extreme fertility of the soil, they will have, in four acres, a produce of fourteen hundred pounds of {242} cotton. Valuing it at the rate of eighteen dollars per hundred weight, the lowest price to which it had fallen at the epoch of the last peace, when I was in the country, gives two hundred and fifty-two dollars; from which deducting forty dollars for the expenses of culture, they will have a net produce of two hundred and twelve dollars; while the same number of acres, planted with Indian wheat, or sown with corn, would only yield at the rate of fifty bushels per acre; and twenty-five bushels of corn, about fifty dollars, reckoning the Indian wheat at thirteen pence, and the corn at two shillings and two pence per bushel; under the supposition that they can sell it at that price, which is not always the case. This light sketch demonstrates with what facility a poor family may acquire speedily, in West Tennessea, a certain degree of independence, particularly after having been settled five or six years, as they procure the means of purchasing one or two negroes, and of annually increasing their number.

The species of cotton which they cultivate here is {243} somewhat more esteemed than that described by the name of green-seed cotton, in which there is a trifling distinction in point of colour.

The cottons that are manufactured in West Tennessea are exceedingly fine, and superior in quality to those I saw in the course of my travels. The legislature of this state, appreciating the advantage of encouraging this kind of industry, and of diminishing, by that means, the importation of English goods of the same nature, has given, for these two years past, a premium of ten dollars to the female inhabitant who, in every county, presents the best manufactured piece; for in this part, as well as in Kentucky, the higher circles wear, in summer time, as much from patriotism as from economy, dresses made of the cottons manufactured in the country. At the same time they are convinced that it is the only means of preserving the little specie that is in the country, and of preventing its going to England.

The price of the best land does not yet exceed five dollars per acre in the environs of Nasheville, and {244} thirty or forty miles from the town they are not even worth three dollars. They can at that price purchase a plantation completely formed, composed of two to three hundred acres, of which fifteen to twenty are cleared, and a log-house. The taxes in this state are also not so high as in Kentucky.

Among the emigrants that arrive annually from the eastern country at Tennessea there are always some who have not the means of purchasing estates; still there is no difficulty in procuring them at a certain rent; for the speculators who possess many thousand acres are very happy to get tenants for their land, as it induces others to come and settle in the environs; since the speculation of estates in Kentucky and Tennessea is so profitable to the owners, who reside upon the spot, and who, on the arrival of the emigrants, know how to give directions in cultivation, which speedily enhances the value of their possessions.

The conditions imposed upon the renter are to clear and inclose eight or nine acres, to build a log-house, and to pay to the owner eight or ten bushels {245} of Indian wheat for every acre cleared. These contracts are kept up for seven or eight years. The second year after the price of two hundred acres of land belonging to a new settlement of this kind increases nearly thirty per cent.; and this estate is purchased in preference by a new emigrant, who is sure of gathering corn enough for the supplies of his family and cattle.

In this state they are not so famed for rearing horses as in Kentucky; yet the greatest care is taken to improve their breed, by rearing them with those of the latter state, whence they send for the finest mare foals that can be procured.

Although this country abounds with saline springs, none are yet worked, as the scarcity of hands would render the salt dearer than what is imported from the salt-pits of St. Genevieve, which supply all Cumberland. It is sold at two dollars per bushel, about sixty pounds weight.

Chapter XXVII

{246} CHAP. XXVII

East Tennessea, or Holston.—Agriculture.—Population.—Commerce.

East Tennessea, or Holston, is situated between the loftiest of the Alleghany and Cumberland Mountains. It comprises, in length, an extent of nearly a hundred and forty miles, and differs chiefly from West Tennessea in point of the earth’s being not so chalky, and better watered by the small rivers issuing from the adjacent mountains, which cross it in every part. The best land is upon their borders. The remainder of the territory, almost everywhere interspersed with hills, is of a middling quality, and produces nothing but white, red, black, chincapin, {247} and mountain oaks, &c. intermixed with pines; and, as we have before observed, except the quercus macrocarpa, the rest never grow, even in the most fertile places.

Indian wheat forms here also one of the principal branches of agriculture; but it very seldom comes up above seven or eight feet high, and a produce of thirty bushels per acre passes for an extraordinary harvest. The nature of the soil, somewhat gravelly, appears more adapted for the culture of wheat, rye, and oats; in consequence of which it is more adhered to than in Cumberland. That of cotton is little noticed, on account of the cold weather, which sets in very early. One may judge, according to this, that Holston is in every point inferior in fertility to Cumberland and Kentucky.

To consume the superfluity of their corn the inhabitants rear a great number of cattle, which they take four or five hundred miles to the seaports belonging to the southern states. They lose very few of these animals by the way, although they have to {248} cross several rivers, and travel through an uninterrupted forest, with this disadvantage, of the cattle being extremely wild.

This part of Tennessea began to be inhabited in 1775, and the population is so much increased, that there is now computed to be about seventy thousand inhabitants, including three or four thousand negro slaves. In 1787 they attempted to form themselves into an independent state, under the name of the Franklin State; but this project was abandoned.[58] It is still very probable, and has already been in question, that East and West Tennessea will ultimately form two distinct states, which will each enlarge itself by a new addition of part of the territory belonging to the Cherokee Indians. The natives, it is true, will not hear the least mention of a cession being made, objecting that their tract of country is barely sufficient to furnish, by hunting, a subsistence for their families. However, sooner or later they will be obliged to yield. The division of Tennessea cannot be long before it takes place, whether under {249} the consideration of convenience, or the enterprising disposition of the Americans. It is commanded, on the one hand, by the boundaries that Nature herself has prescribed between the two countries, in separating them by the Cumberland Mountains; and on the other, by their commerce, which is wholly different, since Cumberland carries on its trade by the Ohio and Mississippi, while Holston does most by land with the seaports belonging to the Atlantic states, and has very little to do with New Orleans by the river Tennessea, and scarcely any with Cumberland and Kentucky. Under this consideration, Holston is, of all parts in the United States that are now inhabited, the most unfavourably situated, being on every side circumscribed by considerable tracts of country that produce the same provisions, and which are either more fertile or nearer to the borders of the sea.

What has been said relative to the manners of the inhabitants of Kentucky will apply, in a great measure to Tennessea, since they come, as the former {250} do, from North Carolina and Virginia: still the inhabitants of Tennessea do not yet enjoy that degree of independence which is remarked among those of Kentucky. They appear also not so religious, although, in the mean time, they are very strict observers of Sundays. We found but very few churches in Tennessea. Itinerant preachers wander, in summer, through the different countries, and preach in the woods, where the people collect together.

Chapter XXVIII

{251} CHAP. XXVIII

Departure from Jonesborough for Morganton in North Carolina.—Journey over Iron Mountains.—Sojourn on the mountains.—Journey over the Blue Ridges and Linneville Mountains.—Arrival at Morganton.

On the 21st of September 1802 I set out from Jonesborough to cross the Alleghanies for North Carolina. About nine miles from Jonesborough the road divides into two branches, which unite again fifty-six miles beyond the mountains. The left, which is principally for carriages, cuts through Yellow Mountain, and the other through Iron {252} Mountain. I took the latter, as I had been informed it was much the shortest. I only made nineteen miles that day, and put up at one Cayerd’s at the Limestone Cove, where I arrived benumbed with cold by the thick fog that reigns almost habitually in the vallies of these enormous mountains.

Seven miles on this side Cayerd’s plantation, the road, or rather the path, begins to be so little cut that one can scarce discern the track for plants of all kinds that cover the superficies of it; it is also encumbered by forests of rhododendrum, shrubs from eighteen to twenty feet in height, the branches of which, twisting and interwoven with each other, impede the traveller every moment, insomuch that he is obliged to use an axe to clear his way. The torrents that we had continually to cross added to the difficulty and danger of the journey, the horses being exposed to fall on account of the loose round flints, concealed by the ebullition of the waters with which the bottom of these torrents are filled.

I had the day following twenty-three miles to {253} make without meeting with the least kind of a plantation. After having made the most minute inquiry with regard to the path I had to take, I set out about eight o’clock in the morning from the Limestone Cove, and after a journey of three hours I reached the summit of the mountain, which I recognized by several trees with “the road” marked on each, and in the same direction to indicate the line of demarcation that separates the state of Tennessea from that of North Carolina. The distance from the Limestone Cove to the summit of the mountain is computed to be about two miles and a half, and three miles thence to the other side. The declivity of the two sides is very steep, insomuch that it is with great difficulty a person can sit upon his horse, and that half the time he is obliged to go on foot. Arrived at the bottom of the mountain, I had again, as the evening before, to cross through forests of rhododendrum, and a large torrent called Rocky Creek, the winding course of which cut the path in twelve or fifteen directions; every time I was obliged to alight, or go {254} up the torrent by walking into the middle for the space of ten or fifteen fathoms, in order to regain on the other bank the continuation of the path, which is very rarely opposite, and of which the entrance was frequently concealed by tufts of grass or branches of trees, which have time to grow and extend their foliage, since whole months elapse without its being passed by travellers. At length I happily arrived at the end of my journey. I then perceived the imprudence I had committed in having exposed myself without a guide in a road so little frequented, and where a person every moment runs the risk of losing himself on account of the sub-divisions of the road, that ultimately disappear, and which it would be impossible to find again, unless by being perfectly acquainted with the localities and disposition of the country, where obstacle upon obstacle oppose the journey of the traveller, and whose situation would in a short time become very critical from the want of provisions.

On the 23d I made twenty-two miles through a {255} country bestrewed with mountains, but not so lofty as that which I had just passed over, and arrived at the house of one Davenport, the owner of a charming plantation upon Doe river, a torrent about forty feet in breadth, and which empties itself into the Nolachuky. I had learnt the evening before, of the person with whom I had lodged, that it was at Davenport’s my father had resided, and that it was this man who served him as a guide across the mountains when on his travels to discover their productions. I was at that time very far from thinking that at the same time when this worthy man was entertaining me about his old travelling companion, I lost a beloved father, who died a victim of his zeal for the progress of natural history upon the coast of the island of Madagascar!

I staid a week at Davenport’s, in order to rest myself after a journey of six hundred miles that I had just made, and during this interval I travelled over the Blue Ridges that encompass his plantation. On the 2d of October 1802 I set out on my journey {256} again, and proceeded towards Morganton, a distance of thirty-five miles. About four miles from Doe river I re-passed the chain of the Blue Ridges. Its summit is obtained by a gentle declivity, which is much longer and more rapid on the eastern side, without being impracticable for carriages. The journey over this mountain is computed to be about four miles and a half.

About five miles from the Blue Ridges are the Linneville Mountains, not quite so lofty as the latter, but steeper, and more difficult to ascend. The road that cuts through them is encumbered westward with large, flat stones, which impede the traveller on his route. From the summit of these mountains, which is not overstocked with trees, we discovered an immense extent of mountainous country covered with forests, and at their base only three small places cleared, which form as many plantations, three or four miles distant from each other.

From the Linneville Mountains to Morganton it is computed to be twenty-five miles, where I arrived {257} on the 5th of October. In this interval the country is slightly mountainous, and the soil extremely bad; at the same time we did not find more than four or five plantations on the road. About a mile on this side the town we crossed the northern arm of the river Catabaw, in this part nearly fifty fathoms broad, although the source of this river is only fifty miles. The rains that had fallen in the mountains had produced a sudden increase of water, and the master of the ferry-boat conceiving it would not last long, had not thought proper to re-establish his boat, so that I was obliged to ford. One of his children pointed out to me the different directions that I had to take in order to avoid the immense cavities under water.

Chapter XXIX

{258} CHAP. XXIX

General observations upon this part of the Chain of the Alleghanies.—Salamander which is found in the torrents.—Bear hunting.

In Pennsylvania and Virginia the Alleghanies present themselves under the form of parallel furrows, but varying in their length. They are mostly near together, and form narrow vallies; but sometimes the interval that separates them is from twenty to thirty miles in length; again these spaces are filled with a multitude of hills of a lesser elevation, confusedly scattered, and in no wise affecting the direction of the principal chains. On the confines of North Carolina and Tennessea the Alleghanies are, {259} on the contrary, isolated mountains, and only contiguous by their base; they embrace also in diameter an extent of country less considerable, and which is not computed to be more than seventy miles. The furrow that bears more particularly the name of the Alleghany Ridge in Pennsylvania, and that of Blue Ridge in North Carolina, is the only one that, continuing uninterruptedly, divides the rivers that run into the Atlantic Ocean from those that swell the current of the Ohio. The height of this chain is still infinitely less than that of the neighbouring mountains. It is here that the Alleghanies, which cross the United States for the space of nine hundred miles, have the highest elevation. This is the opinion of most of the inhabitants, who, from the mountainous part of Pennsylvania and Virginia, have emigrated on the confines of North Carolina, and who know the respective heights of all these mountains. That of the first rank is called Grandfather Mountain, the next Iron Mountain, and thus in succession Yellow Mountain, Black Mountain, and Table {260} Mountain, which are all situate upon the western rivers. On the top of Yellow Mountain, the only one that is not stocked with trees, all the abovementioned may be seen.

We may again remark, in support of the preceding observation, that from the 10th to the 20th of September the cold is so keenly felt upon the mountains that the inhabitants are obliged to make a fire, which is not the case upon any of those in Virginia, although they are situated more northerly by several degrees: and besides I have since seen in my father’s notes that he had observed trees and shrubs upon the Yellow and Grandfather Mountains that he did not meet with again till he reached Low Canada.

As the only ideas given concerning the height of the Alleghanies are the result of observations taken in Virginia, we see, according to that short exposition, that we have but an inaccurate account; this induced me to point out the highest mountains where their true elevation might be ascertained. They are about three hundred and sixty miles from Charleston, in {261} South Carolina, and five hundred and fifty from Philadelphia.

The mineral kingdom is very little diversified in these mountains. The mines which have hitherto been found are chiefly those of iron. They are worked with success, and the iron which they derive from it is of an excellent quality.

In the mountainous parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia the land, frequently dry and flinty, is of an indifferent nature. Here, on the contrary, the soil far from being flinty, is perpetually moist, and very fertile. We may judge of it by the vegetable strength of the trees, among which we observed the red and black oak, the sugar-maple, the ash, the yellow-blossomed chesnut, or the magnolia acuminata and auriculata, and the common chesnut, which grows to a prodigious height. The side of these mountains that looks north is sometimes covered exclusively with the kalmia latifolia, or calico-tree, from twelve to fifteen feet high. They frequently occupy spaces of from two to three hundred acres, {262} which at a distance affords the aspect of a charming meadow. It is well known that this shrub excels every other in point of blossom.

In the great woods the superficies of the soil is covered with a species of wild peas, that rises about three feet from the earth, and serves as excellent fodder for the cattle. They prefer this pasturage to any other, and whenever they are driven from it they pine away, or make their escape to get to it again.

These mountains begin to be populated rapidly. The salubrity of the air, the excellence of the water, and more especially the pasturage of these wild peas for the cattle, are so many causes that induce new inhabitants to settle there.

Estates of the first class are sold at the rate of two dollars, and the taxes are not more than a half-penny per acre. Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, and peach trees, are the sole objects of culture.

In the torrents we found a species of salamander, called by the inhabitants the mountain alligator; {263} many of which are upwards of two feet in length.[59] It was in Doe river that my father caught the one which is described in The New Dictionary of Natural History, published by Deterville.

The inhabitants of these mountains are famed for being excellent hunters. Towards the middle of autumn most of them go in pursuit of bears, of which they sell the skins, and the flesh, which is very good, serves them in a great measure for food during that season. They prefer it to all other kinds of meat, and look upon it as the only thing they can eat without being indisposed by it. They make also of their hind legs the most delicious hams. In autumn and winter the bears grow excessively fat; some of them weigh upward of four hundred weight. Their grease is consumed in the country instead of oil. They hunt them with great dogs, which, without going near them, bark, teaze, and oblige them to climb up a tree, when the hunter kills them with a carabine. A beautiful skin sells for a dollar and a half or two dollars. The black bear of North {264} America lives chiefly on roots, acorns and chesnuts. In order to procure a greater quantity of them, he gets up into the trees, and as his weight does not permit him to climb to any height, he breaks off the branch where he has observed the most fruit by hugging it with one of his fore paws. I have seen branches of such a diameter that these animals must be endowed with an uncommon strength to have been able to break them by setting about it in this manner. In the summer, when they are most exposed to want victuals, they fall upon pigs, and sometimes even upon men.

Chapter XXX

{265} CHAP. XXX

Morganton.—Departure for Charleston.—Lincolnton.—Chester.—Winesborough.—Columbia.—Aspect of the Country on the Road.—Agriculture, &c. &c.

Morganton, the principal town of the county of Burke, contains about fifty houses built of wood, and almost all inhabited by tradesmen. One warehouse only, supported by a commercial house at Charleston, is established in this little town, where the inhabitants, for twenty miles round, come and purchase mercery and jewellery goods from England, or give in exchange a part of their produce, which consists chiefly of dried hams, butter, tallow, {266} bear and stag skins, and ginseng, which they bring from the mountains.

From Morganton to Charleston it is computed to be two hundred and eighty-five miles. There are several roads to it, which do not vary in point of distance above twenty miles. Travellers take that where they think of finding the best houses for accommodation: I took the one that leads through Lincolnton, Chester, and Columbia. The distance from Morganton to Lincolnton is forty-five miles. For the whole of this space the soil is extremely bad, and the plantations, straggling five or six miles from each other, have but a middling appearance. The woods are in a great measure composed of different kinds of oaks, and the surface of the ground is covered with grass, intermixed with plants.

Lincolnton, the principal town of the county of Lincoln, is formed by the junction of forty houses, surrounded by the woods like all the small towns of the interior. Two or three large shops, that do the same kind of business as that at Morganton, are established {267} there. The tradesmen who keep them send the produce of their country to Charleston, but they find it sometimes answers their purpose better to stock themselves with goods from Philadelphia, although farther by six hundred miles. Some expedite them by sea to Carolina, whence they go by land to Lincolnton. The freight, a little higher from England to Charleston, and the enormous advance which the merchants lay on their goods, appear the only motives that make them give the preference to those of Philadelphia.

At Lincolnton they print a newspaper in folio, that comes out twice a week. The price of subscription is two dollars per year; but the printer, who is his own editor, takes, by way of payment, for the ease of his country subscribers, flour, rye, wax, &c. at the market price. The advertisements inserted for the inhabitants of the country are generally the surest profit to the printers. The foreign news is extracted from the papers that are published at the sea ports. The federal government, of which the constant aim is {268} to propagate among the people instruction, the knowledge of the laws, grants the editors of periodical papers, throughout the whole extent of the United States, the right to receive, free of postage, the newspapers that they wish to exchange among themselves, or those which are addressed to them.

The county of Lincoln is populated, in a great measure, by Germans from Pennsylvania. Their plantations are kept in the greatest order, and their lands well cultivated. Almost all have negro slaves, and there reigns much more independance among them than in the families of English origin. One may form a correct idea of the industry of some of them by the appearance of the plantation where I stopped, situated upon a branch of the Catabaw River. In eight hundred acres, of which it is composed, a hundred and fifty are cultivated in cotton, Indian corn, wheat, and oats, and dunged annually, which is a great degree of perfection in the present state of the agriculture of this part of the country. Independant of this, he has built in his yard several {269} machines, that the same current of water puts in motion; they consist of a corn mill, a saw mill, another to separate the cotton seeds, a tan-house, a tan-mill, a distillery to make peach brandy, and a small forge, where the inhabitants of the country go to have their horses shod. Seven or eight negro slaves are employed in the different departments, some of which are only occupied at certain periods of the year. Their wives are employed under the direction of the mistress in manufacturing cotton and linen for the use of the family.

The whole of my landlord’s taxes, assessed upon his landed property, and these different kinds of industry, did not amount annually to more than seven dollars; whilst under the presidency of J. Adams they had increased to fifty; at the same time his memory is not held in great veneration in Upper Carolina and the Western States, where the political opinion is strongly pronounced in the sense of opposition, and where nobody durst confess himself publicly attached to the federal party.

{270} In all the towns that I travelled through every tanner has his tan mill, which does not cost him above ten dollars to erect. The bark is put into a wooden arch, twelve or fourteen feet in diameter, the edges of which are about fifteen inches high, and it is crushed under the weight of a wheel, about one foot thick, which is turned by a horse, and fixed similar to a cyder-press. For this purpose they generally make use of an old mill-stone, or a wooden wheel, formed by several pieces joined together, and furnished in its circumference with three rows of teeth, also made of wood, about two inches long and twelve or fifteen wide.

From Lincolnton to Chester court house in the state of South Carolina, it is computed to be about seventy miles. For the whole of this space the earth is light and of an inferior quality to that situated between Morganton and Lincolnton, although the mass of the forests is composed of various species of oaks; in the mean time the pines are in such abundance there, that for several miles the ground is covered {271} with nothing else. Plantations are so little increased there, that we scarcely saw twenty where they cultivate cotton or Indian wheat. We passed by several that had been deserted by the owners as not sufficiently productive: for the inhabitants of Georgia and the two Carolinas, who plant nothing but rice, choose frequently rather to make new clearings than to keep their land in a state of producing annually, by regular tillage, as they do in Europe, and even in New England and Pennsylvania. The considerable extent of this country, compared with the trifling population, gives rise to these changes which take place after fifteen or twenty successive harvests.

Chester contains about thirty houses, built of wood; among the number are two inns and two respectable shops. In the principal county towns of the Western and Southern States, they have neither fairs nor markets. The inhabitants sell the produce of their culture to shopkeepers settled in the small towns, or what is more usual in the south, they convey them in waggons to the sea ports.

{272} From Chester the country grows worse in every respect. The traveller no longer meets reception at plantations; he is obliged to put up at inns, where he is badly accommodated both in point of board and lodging, and pays dearer than in any other part of the United States. The reputation of these inns is esteemed according to the quantity and different kinds of spirits that they sell, among which French brandies hold always the first rank, although they are often mixed with water for the third or fourth time.

They reckon fifty-five miles from Chester to Columbia; twenty-five miles on this side we passed through Winesborough, composed of about a hundred and fifty houses. This place is one of the oldest inhabited in Carolina, and several planters of the low country go and spend the summer and autumn there. Fifteen miles on this side Winesborough the pine barrens begin, and thence to the sea side the country is one continued forest composed of pines.

Columbia, founded within these twenty years, is the seat of government for the state of South Carolina. {273} It is built about two hundred fathoms from the Catabaw River, upon an uniform spot of ground. The number of its houses does not exceed two hundred; they are almost all built of wood, and painted grey and yellow; and although there are very few of them more than two stories high, they have a very respectable appearance. The legislature, formed by the union of the delegates of different counties that send them in a number proportionate to their population, meet there annually on the first of December, and all the business is transacted in the same month; it then dissolves, and, except at that time, the town derives no particular advantage from being the seat of government.

The inhabitants of the upper country, who do not approve of sending their provisions to Charleston, stop at Columbia, where they dispose of them at several respectable shops established in the town.

The river Catabaw, about twenty fathoms broad, is only navigable during the winter; the rest of the year its navigation is stopped by large rocks that intercept {274} its course. They have been, nevertheless, at work for these several years past in forming a canal to facilitate the descent of the boats, but the work goes on very slowly for the want of hands, although the workmen are paid at the rate of a dollar per day.

Columbia is about a hundred and twenty miles from Charleston; for the whole of this space, and particularly from Orangeburgh, composed of twenty houses, the road crosses an even country, sandy and dry during the summer; whilst in the autumn and winter it is so covered with water that in several places, for the space of eight or ten miles, the horses are up to their middles. Every two or three miles we meet with a miserable log-house upon the road, surrounded with little fields of Indian corn, the slender stalks of which are very seldom more than five or six feet high, and which, from the second harvest, do not yield more than four or five bushels per acre. In the mean time, notwithstanding their sterility, this land is sold at the rate of two dollars per acre.

The extreme unwholesomeness of the climate is {275} clearly demonstrated by the pale and livid countenances of the inhabitants, who, during the months of September and October, are almost all affected with tertian fevers, insomuch that at this period of the year Georgia and the Lower Carolinas resemble, in some measure, an extensive hospital. Very few persons take any remedy, but wait the approach of the first frosts, which, provided they live so long, generally effect a cure. The negroes are much less subject to intermittent fevers than the whites; and it is seldom that in the great rice plantations there is more than one fifth of them disabled on this account.

Chapter XXXI

{276} CHAP. XXXI

General observations on the Carolinas and Georgia.—Agriculture and produce peculiar to the upper part of these states.

The two Carolinas and Georgia are naturally divided into the upper and lower country, but the upper embraces a greater extent. Just at the point where the maritime part is terminated the soil rises gradually till it reaches the Alleghany Mountains, and presents, upon the whole, a ground rather irregular than mountainous, and interspersed with little hills as far as the mountains. The Alleghanies give birth to a great number of creeks or small rivers, the junction of which forms the rivers Pidea, Santea, {277} Savannah, and Alatamaha, which are hardly navigable above two hundred miles from their embouchure. In the upper country the most fertile lands are situated upon the borders of these creeks. Those that occupy the intermediate spaces are much less so. The latter are not much cultivated; and even those who occupy them are obliged to be perpetually clearing them, in order to obtain more abundant harvests; in consequence of which a great number of the inhabitants emigrate into the western country, where they are attracted by the extreme fertility of the soil and low price of land; since that of the first class may be purchased for the same money as that of the second in Upper Carolina; and, as we have already said, the latter is scarcely to be compared to that which in Kentucky and Cumberland is ranked in the third.

In the upper country the mass of the forests is chiefly composed of oaks, nut trees, maples, and poplars. Chesnut trees do not begin to appear in these states for sixty miles on this side the mountains. {278} It is only in the remote parts that the inhabitants manufacture maple sugar for their use.

Through the whole of the country the nature of the soil is adapted for the growth of wheat, rye, and Indian corn. Good land produces upward of twenty bushels of Indian wheat per acre, which is commonly worth about half a dollar per bushel. A general consumption is made of it for the support of the inhabitants since, except those who are of German origin, there are very few, as we have before remarked, that make use of wheaten bread. The growth of corn is very circumscribed, and the small quantity of flour that is exported to Charleston and Savannah is sold fifteen per cent. cheaper than that imported from Philadelphia.

The low price to which tobacco is fallen in Europe, within these few years, has made them give up the culture of it in this part of the country. That of green-seed cotton has resumed its place, to the great advantage of the inhabitants, many of whom have since made their fortunes by it. The separation {279} of the seed from the felt that envelopes them is a tedious operation, and which requires many hands, is now simplified by a machine for which the inventor has obtained a patent from the federal government. The legislature of South Carolina paid him, three years since, the sum of a hundred thousand dollars, for all the inhabitants belonging to the state to have the privilege of erecting one. This machine, very simple, and the price of which does not exceed sixty dollars, is put in motion by a horse or by a current of water, and separates from the seed three or four hundred pounds of cotton per day; while by the usual method, a man is not able to separate above thirty pounds. This machine, it is true, has the inconvenience of shortening by haggling it; the wool, on that account, is rather inferior in point of quality, but this inconvenience is, they say, well compensated by the saving of time, and more particularly workmanship.[60]

It is very probable that the various species of fruit trees that we have in France would succeed very well {280} in Upper Carolina. About two hundred miles from the sea-coast the apple trees are magnificent, and in the county of Lincoln several Germans make cyder. But here, as well as in Tennessea, and the greatest part of Kentucky, they cultivate no other but the peach. The other kinds of trees, such as pears, apricots, plumbs, cherries, almonds, mulberries, nuts, and gooseberries, are very little known, except by name. Many of the inhabitants who are independent would be happy to procure some of them, but the distance from the sea-ports renders it very difficult. The major part of the inhabitants do not even cultivate vegetables; and out of twenty there is scarcely one of them that plants a small bed of cabbages; and when they do, it is in the same field as the Indian wheat.

In Upper Carolina the surface of the soil is covered with a kind of grass, which grows in greater abundance as the forests are more open. The woods are also like a common, where the inhabitants turn out their cattle, which they know again by their {281} private mark. Several persons have in their flocks a variety of poll oxen, which are not more esteemed than those of the common species. In the whole course of my travels I never saw any that could be compared to those I have seen in England, which beyond doubt proceeds from the little care that the inhabitants take of them, and from what these animals suffer during the summer, when they are cruelly tormented by an innumerable multitude of ticks and muskitos, and in the winter, through the want of grass, which dries up through the effect of the first frosts. These inconveniences are still more sensible, during the summer, in the low country, through the extreme heat of the climate. The result is, that the cows give but little milk, and are dry at the end of three or four months. In the environs of Philadelphia and New York, where they bestow the same care upon them as in England, they are, on the contrary, as fine, and give as great a quantity of milk.

The horses that they rear in this part of the {282} southern states are inferior to those of the western. The inhabitants keep but very few sheep, and those who have a dozen are accounted to have a great number.

The commercial intercourse of the Upper Carolines and Georgia is carried on, in a great measure, with Charleston, which is not much farther than Wilmington and Savannah. The inhabitants go there in preference, because the commerce is more active, and the sales more easy. The articles they carry there consists chiefly in short cotton, tobacco, hams, salt butter, wax, stag, and bear skins, and cattle. They take, in return, coarse iron ware, tea, coffee, powder sugar, coarse cloths, and fine linen, but no bar iron, the upper country abounding in mines of that metal, and those which are worked sufficing the wants of the inhabitants. They also bring salt from the sea-ports, since there are no salt pits in any part of the Atlantic states. The carriage of these goods is made in large waggons with four wheels, drawn by four or six horses, that travel {283} about twenty-four miles a day, and encamp every evening in the woods. The price of conveyance is about three shillings and four-pence per hundred weight for every hundred miles.

Although the climate of the Upper Carolinas is infinitely more wholesome than that of the lower parts, it is not, in the mean time, at two hundred miles, and even two hundred and fifty, from the ocean, that a person is safe from the yellow fever.

Eight-tenths of the inhabitants of this part of the country are in the same situation as those of Tennessea and Kentucky. They reside, like the latter, in log-houses isolated in the woods, which are left open in the night as well as the day. They live in the same manner with regard to their domestic affairs, and follow the same plans of agriculture. Notwithstanding there are many of them whose moral characters, perhaps, are not so unspotted as those of the western inhabitants, it is probably altered by associating with the Scotch and Irish who come every year in great numbers to settle in the country, and {284} who teach them a part of their vices and defects, the usual attendants on a great population. The major part of these new adventurers go into the upper country, where they engage to serve, for a year or two, those persons who have paid the captain of the ship for their passage.

Chapter XXXII

{285} CHAP. XXXII

Low part of the Carolines and Georgia.—Agriculture.—Population.—Arrival at Charleston.

The low country of the two Carolinas extends from the borders of the sea for a hundred and twenty or a hundred and fifty miles, widening as it gets towards the south. The space that this extent embraces presents an even and regular soil, formed by a blackish sand, rather deep in parts, in which there are neither stones nor flints; in consequence of which they seldom shoe their horses in that part of the United States. Seven-tenths of the country are {286} covered with pines of one species, or pinus palustris, which, as the soil is drier and lighter, grow loftier and not so branchy. These trees, frequently twenty feet distant from each other, are not damaged by the fire that they make here annually in the woods, at the commencement of spring, to burn the grass and other plants that the frost has killed. These pines, encumbered with very few branches, and which split even, are preferred to other trees to form fences for plantations. Notwithstanding the sterility of the land where they grow, they are sometimes interspersed with three kinds of oaks; viz. the quercus nigra, the quercus catasbœi, and the quercus obtusiloba. The wood of the two first is only fit to burn, whilst that of the other is of an excellent use, as I have before remarked.

The Pine Barrens are crossed by little swamps, in the midst of which generally flows a rivulet. These swamps, from ten to forty fathoms broad, are sometimes more than a mile in length, and border on others, more spacious and marshy, near the rivers. {287} Each have different degrees of fertility, clearly indicated by the trees that grow there exclusively, and which are not to be found in the upper country. Thus the chesnut oak, or quercus prinus palustris, the magnolia grandiflora, the magnolia tripetala, the nyssa biflora, &c. flourish only in swamps where the soil is of a good quality, and continually cool, moist, and shady. In some parts of these same swamps, that are half the year submerged, where the earth is black, muddy, and reposes upon a clayey bottom, the acacia-leaved cypress, the gleditsia monosperme, the lyric oak, and the bunchy nut-tree, the nuts of which are small, and break easily between the fingers. The aquatic oak, the red maple, the magnolia glauca, the liquidambar stiracyflua, the nyssa villosa, the Gordonia lasyanthus, and the laurus Caroliniensis, cover, on the contrary, exclusively the narrow swamps of the Pine Barrens.

The Spanish beard, tillandsia asneoides, a kind of moss of a greyish colour, which is several feet in length, and which grows in abundance upon the {288} oaks and other trees, is again a plant peculiar to the low country.

In those districts where there are no pines, the soil is not so dry, deeper, and more productive. We found there white oaks, or quercus alba, aquatic oaks, or quercus aquatica, chesnut oaks, or quercus prinus palustris, and several species of nut-trees. The whole of these trees are here an index of the greatest fertility, which does not take place in the western country, as I have before observed.

The best rice plantations are established in the great swamps, that favour the watering of them when convenient. The harvests are abundant there, and the rice that proceeds from them, stripped of its husk, is larger, more transparent, and is sold dearer than that which is in a drier soil, where they have not the means or facility of irrigation. The culture of rice in the southern and maritime part of the United States has greatly diminished within these few years; it has been in a great measure replaced by that of cotton, which affords greater profit to the planters, {289} since they compute a good cotton harvest equivalent to two of rice. The result is, that many rice fields have been transformed into those of cotton, avoiding as much as possible the water penetrating.

The soil most adapted for the culture of cotton is in the isles situate upon the coast. Those which belong to the state of Georgia produce the best of cotton, which is known in the French trade by the name of Georgia cotton, fine wool, and in England by that of Sea Island cotton. The seed of this kind of cotton is of a deep black, and the wool fine and very long. In February 1803 it was sold at Charleston at 1s. 8d. per pound, whilst that which grows in the upper country is not worth above seventeen or eighteen pence. The first is exported to England, and the other goes to France; but what is very remarkable is, that whenever by any circumstance they import these two qualities into our ports, they only admit of a difference of from twelve to fifteen per cent. The cotton planters have particularly to dread the frosts that set in very early, and that frequently {290} do great damage to the crops by freezing one half of the stalks, so that the cotton has not an opportunity to ripen.

In all the plantations they cultivate Indian corn. The best land brings from fifteen to twenty bushels. They plant it, as well as the cotton, about two feet and a half distance, in parallel furrows from fifteen to eighteen inches high. The seed of this kind of Indian corn is round, and very white. When boiled it is preferable to that cultivated in the middle and western states, and in Upper Carolina. The chief part of what they grow is destined to support the negroes nine months in the year; their allowance is about two pounds per day, which they boil in water after having pounded it a little; the other three months they are fed upon yams. They never give them meat. In the other parts of the United States they are better treated, and live nearly upon the same as their masters, without having any set allowance. Indian corn is sold at Charleston for ten shillings per bushel, about fifty-five pounds weight.

{291} Thus rice, long cotton, yams, and Indian wheat, are the only cultures in the maritime part of the southern states; the temperature of the climate, and the nature of the soil, which is too light or too moist, being in no wise favourable for that of wheat or any kind of grain.

Through the whole of the low country the agricultural labours are performed by negro slaves, and the major part of the planters employ them to drag the plough; they conceive the land is better cultivated, and calculate besides that in the course of a year a horse, for food and looking after, costs ten times more than a negro, the annual expense of which does not exceed fifteen dollars.

I shall abstain from any reflexion concerning this, as the opinion of many people is fixed.

The climate of Lower Carolina and Georgia is too warm in summer to be favourable to European fruit-trees, and too cold in winter to suit those of the Carribbees. The fig is the only tree that succeeds tolerably well; again, the figs turn sour a few days after {292} they have acquired the last degree of maturity, which must doubtless be attributed to the constant dampness of the atmosphere.

In the environs of Charleston, and in the isles that border the coast, the orange-trees stand the winter in the open fields, and are seldom damaged by the frosts; but at ten miles distance, in the interior, they freeze every year even with the ground, although those parts of the country are situate under a more southerly latitude than Malta and Tunis. The oranges that they gather in Carolina are not good to eat. Those consumed there come from the island of St. Anastasia, situate opposite St. Augustin, the capital of East Florida; they are sweet, very large, fine skinned, and more esteemed than those brought from the Carribbees. About fifty years ago the seeds were brought from India, and given to an inhabitant of this island, who has so increased them that he has got an orchard of forty acres. I had an opportunity of seeing this beautiful plantation when I was at Florida in 1788.

{293} In the general verification of the United States, published in 1800, the population of North Carolina, comprising negro slaves, amounted to four hundred and seventy-eight thousand inhabitants, that of Georgia to one hundred and sixty-three thousand, and that of South Carolina to three hundred and forty-six thousand. Not having been able to see the private extracts of the two former states, I am unacquainted with the proportion that there is between the whites and blacks, and the difference that exists between the population of the low and high countries; however an idea may be formed by the verification of South Carolina, where they reckon in the low country, comprising the town of Charleston, thirty-six thousand whites and a hundred thousand negroes, and in the high country one hundred and sixty-three thousand whites and forty-six thousand negroes.

I arrived at Charleston on the 18th of October 1802, three months and a half after my departure from Philadelphia, having travelled over a space of {294} nearly eighteen hundred miles. I staid at Carolina till the 1st of March 1803, the epoch when I embarked for France on board the same ship that had taken me to America eighteen months before, and arrived at Bourdeaux on the 26th of March 1803.

THE END

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The date given here is evidently wrong; the translation in Phillips’s Voyages gives it as August 25, which corresponds with the arrival of Michaux in Charleston.—Ed.

[2] The piastre was the Spanish dollar, then the common circulating coin in the United States, and the one whose value was adopted in our dollar. A South Carolina shilling was worth 3/14 of a dollar.—Ed.

[3] The services of the elder Michaux in introducing European plants into America, were considerable. He is said also to have been the first to teach the frontier settlers the value of ginseng.—Ed.

[4] The History of Oaks discovered in America by A. Michaux.—F. A. Michaux.

[5] Dr. Nicholas Collin was one of the most prominent members of the Philosophical Society, elected in 1789, dying in 1831. It is a curious mistake of Michaux’s to call him president, at a time when Jefferson held this position. Dr. Collin was often acting chairman, and had been chairman of the committee for raising funds for the elder Michaux’s proposed Western exploration (1792).

Dr. John Vaughan was treasurer and librarian of the Society for many years.

The Bartrams were famous botanists of Philadelphia, whom the elder Michaux frequently visited. See ante, p. 97, note 177.—Ed.

[6] The gardens of William Hamilton were at this time the most famous in the United States. They now form part of Woodlawn cemetery, West Philadelphia, where some rare trees planted by him still exist.—Ed.

[7] Till the year 1802, the stages that set out at Philadelphia did not go farther South than to Petersburg in Virginia, which is about three hundred miles from Philadelphia; but in the month of March of that year, a new line of correspondence was formed between the latter city and Charleston. The journey is about a fortnight, the distance fifteen hundred miles, and the fare fifty piastres. There are stages also between Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, as well as between Charleston and Savannah, in Georgia, so that from Boston to Savannah, a distance of twelve hundred miles, persons may travel by the stages.—F. A. Michaux.

[8] For historical sketch of Shippensburg, see Post’s Journals, vol. i of this series, p. 238, note 76.—Ed.

[9] Gotthilf Heinrich Ernest Muhlenberg was a brother of General Muhlenburg of Revolutionary fame, and grandson of Conrad Weiser. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1753, educated at Halle, Germany, and on his return to America in 1774 was ordained as a Lutheran clergyman. He served charges in New Jersey and Philadelphia until 1779, when he settled at Lancaster, where he remained until his death in 1807. He was much interested in botany, and devoted all his leisure to that pursuit, being a member of the American Philosophical Society, and, as Michaux notes, in correspondence with many scientists.—Ed.

[10] The town of Columbia was situated at what was known as Wright’s Ferry, one of the oldest crossing places on the Susquehanna.

Michaux’s father was at York, July 18, 1789, and describes it as “a pretty enough little town situated at 59 miles from Fredericksburg (Md.). The country appears to me to be but little cultivated in the environs. The inhabitants are Germans as well as in Pennsylvania. They are generally very laborious and very industrious.” On his later journey he does not describe this place, see ante, p. 50.—Ed.

[11] They give the name of whiskey, in the United States, to a sort of brandy made with rye.—F. A. Michaux.

[12] Michaux travelled to Pittsburg by way of the Pennsylvania state road which was laid out and built 1785-87, following in the main the road cut for Forbes’s army in 1758. This was the most important thoroughfare to the West, until the Cumberland national road was built; and even afterwards a large share of the traffic went this way. For a description of travel about this period see McMaster, History of People of United States (New York, 1895), vol. iv, chap. 33; and Albert, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1882), chap. 35.—Ed.

[13] Michaux refers here to the excise tax that led to the “Whiskey Rebellion” in this part of Pennsylvania. Its repeal was one of the first financial measures of Jefferson’s administration, and had occurred at the session of Congress in the spring of 1802.—Ed.

[14] Michaux is in error in saying that the French built Fort Ligonier. He was probably misled by the name. It was named for Sir John Ligonier, commander-in-chief of the land-forces of Great Britain (1751), and erected on Loyalhanna Creek, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, during the advance of Forbes’s army (1758). Fort Ligonier was thrice attacked, once after Grant’s defeat (October 12, 1758), and in the following June by a party of French and Indians. During Pontiac’s War, it endured a long siege, being relieved in August, 1763. This outpost served to protect the frontier during the Revolution, after which it was no longer garrisoned. General St. Clair made his later home at this place, dying here in 1818.—Ed.

[15] Professor R. A. Harper, of the University of Wisconsin, thinks this plant may have been some variety of sumac (rhus).—Ed.

[16] Greensburg was the successor to Hannastown, a place at the crossing of Forbes’s road, and the Indian trail to Kiskiminitas Creek. The latter was made the county seat at the erection of Westmoreland in 1773; but in 1782 was totally destroyed by an Indian raid. In 1786, Greensburg was laid out, about three miles southwest, as the seat of Westmoreland County; and here the first court was held in January, 1787.—Ed.

[17] Horbach’s inn was the stopping place for the mail, its proprietor being a contractor. It was situated on the corner of Main and East Pittsburg streets, Greensburg.—Ed.

[18] These last sentences result from a faulty translation of the French. Michaux stated that the gentleman’s intention was to descend the Ohio, and that he was not fond of whiskey.—Ed.

[19] For a description of the present appearance of Braddock’s battle-field, see Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio (New York, 1897, and Chicago, 1903), p. 17; also “A Day on Braddock’s Road,” in How George Rogers Clark won the Northwest (Chicago, 1903).—Ed.

[20] Fort Duquesne, built in the summer of 1754 by the French commander Contrecœur, and named for the governor of New France, was situated directly in the point or angle made by the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. It was strengthened, and strongly garrisoned, during the four years which the French possessed it; and was evacuated and burned by its commandant, DeLignery, on the approach of Forbes’s army in November, 1758.—Ed.

[21] These newspapers were the Pittsburgh Gazette, founded in 1786; and the Commonwealth, a Democratic journal begun about the time of Michaux’s visit.—Ed.

[22]] Michaux here refers to the Indian wars of the Northwest, culminating in the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1795, followed by the treaty of Greenville in 1796.—Ed.

[23] As early as 1752, the Ohio Company had built a storehouse, called the “Hangard,” at the mouth of Redstone Creek, and it was described by the French officer who (1754) explored that region and burned the English defenses. After the capture of Fort Duquesne (1758), Bouquet sent Colonel James Burd to build a fort at this place, which was named Fort Burd; but it was long popularly known as Redstone Old Fort, because of the remains of moundbuilding Indians to be seen at this point. The fort was abandoned during Pontiac’s War (1763), but appears to have been garrisoned by the time of Lord Dunmore’s War (1774). It was the rendezvous for Clark’s men in 1778, and in 1791 the assembly place for fomenters of the Whiskey Rebellion. In 1785 the town of Brownsville was incorporated, and for many years continued to be an important starting point for Western emigration. See Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio, for descriptions of this movement, and of the region in general.—Ed.

[24] An Indian boat.—F. A. Michaux.

[25] I have been informed since my return, that this ship, named the Pittsburgh, was arrived at Philadelphia.—F. A. Michaux.

[26] Kentucky was erected into a state in 1792, Tennessee in 1796, and Ohio in 1802.—Ed.

[27] Morgantown, West Virginia, was settled originally in 1758 by the ill-fated Deckers, who were massacred the following year; but not until 1768 was it a permanent settlement established by the Morgan brothers. The town was incorporated in 1785. It is now the seat of West Virginia University.—Ed.

[28] The settlement of Southwestern Pennsylvania—the Monongahela and Youghiogheny valleys—was largely by emigrants from Virginia and the Southeast. Elizabeth was founded by Stephen Bayard of Maryland, a Revolutionary officer who came West after the war and formed a partnership with Major Isaac Craig of Pittsburg. The site of the town was originally called New Store. Bayard gave it the present name in 1787, in honor of his wife. It was from this point that many travellers took boats for the Ohio journey.—Ed.

[29] The river Yazous runs into the Mississippi between the thirty-second and thirty-third degree of latitude.—F. A. Michaux.

[30] An early trader on the Ohio, speaking of the return journey, says, “As soon as we got to Wheeling, we went on foot to Pittsburgh, it being less fatiguing and costing less time to walk 57 miles, the land distance, than to pole and paddle 90 miles, the distance by the river.”—Cist’s Advertiser, November, 1849.—Ed.

[31] The boundary line between Virginia and Pennsylvania was the cause of much disturbance, each colony claiming the region south of the Ohio. The Monongahela Valley was settled largely from Virginia, and on several occasions the conflict of jurisdiction nearly led to a border war. The settlers themselves desired a new state. The controversy was finally settled by an agreement between the states in 1780, although the lines were not finally run until 1785. See Turner, “Western State Making in the Revolutionary Era,” in American Historical Review, i, pp. 81-83.

West Liberty was established as a town November 29, 1787.—Ed.

[32] The translation here is faulty. It should be, “it is navigable for only two hundred miles,” etc.—Ed.

[33] General Arthur St. Clair was a native of Scotland, who came to America during the French and Indian War, and settled in Western Pennsylvania. He served with much success in the Revolution, and in 1787 was president of the Congress of the Confederation. He was appointed by Washington first governor of the Northwest Territory, and served in that capacity 1788-1802. He was unpopular because of the military defeat here mentioned, and his Federalist principles. On his dismissal, in 1802, he retired to his home in Pennsylvania, and died there in obscurity in 1818.—Ed.

[34] Michaux has here given a good account of the unfortunate French colony founded on the banks of the Ohio, nearly opposite the mouth of the Great Kanawha. The Scioto Company was an offshoot of the Ohio Company formed by Manasseh Cutler and his associates. In May, 1788, the Scioto Company employed Joel Barlow, “the patriot poet of the Revolution,” to go to Paris and sell lands for them. The buyers were, as Michaux remarks, unsuited to pioneer life; the company overcharged them, and then ensued litigation in which the settlers lost the titles to their lands. The log-houses mentioned by Michaux were built for the settlers on their arrival in October, 1790, but the severity of the climate, Indian hostilities, and frontier hardships, decimated their ranks. The present town has been built up by the energy of American and German settlers, and in 1893 but three descendants of the French settlers lived there. For further accounts, see Winsor, Westward Movement (Boston, 1897), pp. 402-407, 498; “Centennial of Gallipolis,” in Ohio Archæological and Historical Society Publications, iii; and Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio.—Ed.

[35] Chillicothe, on the site of the famous Indian village, was laid out in 1796 by General Massie as an American town. It was in the heart of the Virginia military district, and was chiefly settled by Southerners. It was the seat of government for Ohio until 1816. The weekly newspaper was the Scioto Gazette, begun at this place in 1800 by Nathaniel Willis, grandfather of the poet N. P. Willis.—Ed.

[36] The banks of this river are now inhabited by the Americans, for forty miles beyond its embouchure in the Mississippi; the number of those who are settled there is computed to be about three thousand, and it increases daily by the repeated emigrations that are made from Kentucky and the Upper Carolinas.—F. A. Michaux.

[37] The route from Limestone to Lexington was the road whereby most of the travel by way of the Ohio came into Kentucky. It passed through the present county of Mason, along the western corner of Fleming, crossed the Licking River in Nicholas County, and the South Fork of the same at Hinkston’s Ferry, thence passed through Bourbon and Fayette counties to Lexington.

Washington was first settled by Simon Kenton, the well-known pioneer hunter, in 1784; it was laid out as a town in 1786; and was the seat of Mason County from 1788-1848. With the introduction of railroads, its importance declined.—Ed.

[38] May’s Lick was named for John May of Virginia, its original owner, who was killed by Indians when descending the Ohio in 1790.

Millersburg was settled by John Miller about 1784, on lands that he had located in 1775 on Hinkston Creek, in Bourbon County. It is still a small town and the present seat of Kentucky Wesleyan University, founded in 1817.

Henry Savary was an enterprising Frenchman who kept one of the first stores in Millersburg.—Ed.

[39] The name of Kentucky’s capital is said to be taken from that of a pioneer, Stephen Frank, who was killed on this spot in 1780. The site was first surveyed in 1773 for the McAfees, but the place was not incorporated until 1786. It was made the seat of government in 1793.—Ed.

[40] The first two newspapers were the Kentucke Gazette, founded by John Bradford in 1787—the pioneer paper of the West; and the Kentucky Herald, founded by James H. Stewart in 1795. See Perrin, “Pioneer Press of Kentucky,” in Filson Club Publications (Louisville, 1887), No. 3.—Ed.

[41] This is a mistranslation; it should be, “the majority of the inhabitants of Kentucky trade with Lexington merchants.”—Ed.

[42] The distance from Lexinton to Philadelphia, by way of Pennsylvania, is about six hundred and fifty miles. Those who have occasion to go there on business, generally set out in autumn, and take three weeks or a month to perform the journey.—F. A. Michaux.

[43] Dr. Samuel Brown was a younger brother of John Brown, first delegate from Kentucky to the Continental Congress. He was born in Virginia, in 1769, educated at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and took a medical course at Edinburgh. One of the first physicians of Kentucky, he was professor of medicine in Transylvania College, 1799-1806, and again in 1819. He later removed to Huntsville, Alabama, where he died in 1830.—Ed.

[44] Harrodsburg, seat of Mercer County, is the oldest town in the state, the first cabin being built there by James Harrod in 1774, and the fort in 1775. In June, 1776, a convention was held at this place, which chose George Rogers Clark a delegate to the Virginia legislature. He secured the appointment of Harrodsburg as county town for the newly-erected Kentucky County. Until about 1785, therefore, Harrodsburg was the seat of government, but it declined in importance before its neighbor Danville.—Ed.

[45] General John Adair was a South Carolinian who, after distinguished Revolutionary services, emigrated to Kentucky about 1786, and settled in Mercer County. He was a leader of Kentucky volunteers in St. Clair’s campaign (1791); and served with distinction in the War of 1812-15, commanding the Kentucky detachment at the battle of New Orleans. From 1820-24, he was governor of the state, and was a Kentucky member of both the national House of Representatives and the Senate, dying in 1840 at his Kentucky home.—Ed.

[46] Michaux passed from General Adair’s, through Mercer and Marion counties, and over the range of Muldrow’s Hills, which until about 1785 formed the southern boundary of Kentucky settlement. The “barrens,” lying south and west, were so called from their lack of trees. The road led through Green, Barren, and Allen counties, and entered Tennessee in Sumner County, about forty miles northeast of Nashville.—Ed.

[47] The sons of the Duke of Orleans, Louis-Philippe and his two young brothers, came to the United States and travelled extensively in 1797, visiting the Southern and Western states, the Great Lakes, and New England. Finally passing through the Mississippi Valley, they embarked at New Orleans for Europe.—Ed.

[48] For an account of this road, see ante, p. 45.—Ed.

[49] In the United States they give the name of Cumberland to that part of Tennessea situated to the west of the mountains of the same name.—F. A. Michaux.

[50] As evidence of the interest of the early Kentuckians in the raising of horses, it is noted that the first legislative assembly for Transylvania, meeting at Boonesborough in 1775, passed an “act for preserving the breed of horses.”—Ed.

[51] The first newspaper published in Western Tennessee was the Tennessee Gazette, begun in 1797; its name was changed to the Nashville Clarion, in 1800.

One of the acts of Robertson, founder of Nashville, was to secure from the North Carolina legislature, in 1785, a bill for the “promotion of learning in Davidson County.” A tract of land was granted, and the school organized as Davidson Academy; this became Cumberland College in 1806. The year of Michaux’s visit, a plan was made for the erection of a building, which was not completed until 1807, and now forms part of Vanderbilt University.

Michaux seems to be in error in calling Moses Fisk the president of this college; he solicited funds to keep the Academy in Nashville, but James Craighead was president until 1809.—Ed.

[52] This was Moses Fisk, of Massachusetts, who graduated from Harvard in the same class with Daniel Webster. A man of considerable fortune, he came to Cumberland in the period after the Revolution, and was instrumental in the educational and industrial development of this section. In 1805 he settled at Hillham, Overton County, which he hoped to make an important city, and built many turnpike roads about it. He was trustee of Davidson Academy, and founded at Hillham an academy for young women.—Ed.

[53] Natchez was a prominent frontier town of the Southwest, which had had a long and varied history. In 1715 the French of Louisiana established a trading post at this place, and in 1716 Fort Rosalie was built. Thirteen years later occurred the massacre of the garrison and inhabitants by the Natchez Indians. While a fort was rebuilt at this place, there seems to have been no settlement during the remainder of the French occupation. When this territory passed into the hands of the English (1763) liberal land grants were made, and Fort Panmure was erected on the site of Fort Rosalie; emigration from the Southern states and the East then came into this region, especially from New Jersey and Connecticut. After the beginning of the Revolution, an attempt was made to secure the neutrality of the Natchez people, if not their co-operation with the American cause. But the brutality of Captain Willing, sent on this mission in 1778, alienated the inhabitants and kept them loyal to Great Britain. On the outbreak of war between England and Spain (1779) the Spanish governor Gayoso made an expedition into West Florida, and captured Natchez with other British posts. The inhabitants rebelled and seized Fort Panmure; but on the downfall of Pensacola, they were obliged to flee. The Spaniards took possession by treaty in 1783, and under their régime, at the close of the American Revolution, a large immigration took place. Land speculation and intrigues ran riot. The Yazoo grants occupied this territory in part. The United States claimed the Natchez district as within her boundaries. In the treaty of 1795 with Spain, this claim was conceded, and a commission was appointed to run a boundary line. In 1798 Mississippi Territory was organized, Natchez being included therein. In the early days of the Mississippi traffic, the commercial importance of the place was second only to New Orleans. The Natchez trace, of which Michaux speaks, was one of the most travelled roads of the Western country.—Ed.

[54] General Daniel Smith, born in Virginia about 1740, migrated to Tennessee at an early age, and was first secretary of the territory south of the Ohio (1790-96), United States senator (1798-99 and 1805-09), and major general of militia. He was one of the most prominent of the early pioneers, a man of education and wealth, and his home in Sumner County was the seat of wide hospitality.—Ed.

[55] The newspaper referred to by Michaux was established by George Roulstone at Rogersville in 1791; later it was removed to the capital, and called the Knoxville Gazette.—Ed.

[56] The derivation of the word “Tennessee” is variously given: as from a village of the Cherokee Indians, “Tanase;” a Cherokee word meaning “curved spoon;” or from the Taensa Indians of the Natchesan family, who lived in Louisiana within historic times.—Ed.

[57] The gleditsia triacanthus, or honey locust, is common to a large part of the United States.—Ed.

[58] For an account of the movement for the State of Franklin, see Turner, “Western State Making,” American Historical Review, i, pp. 256-261.—Ed.

[59] The protonopsis horrida, or a similar variety limited to the Alleghanies—protonopsis fusca. The former is generally called the “hellbender.”—Ed.

[60] For the invention of the cotton-gin, and its effect on the growth of cotton culture, see Hammond, “Cotton Industry,” in American Economic Association Publications, i (new series).—Ed.

Journal of a Tour ... Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains, by Thaddeus Mason Harris, A. M.

Reprint from Boston edition, 1805; the Journal proper, omitting
the Appendix thereto

THE

JOURNAL OF A TOUR

INTO THE

Territory Northwest of the Alleghany
Mountains;

Made in the Spring of the Year 1803.

WITH

A GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF

THE

State of Ohio.

Illustrated with Original Maps and Views.

BY
THADDEUS MASON HARRIS, A. M.
Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

“Profuit et varios mores, hominumque locorumque

Explorasse situs, multas cum peregrinavit

Aut vidisse ipsum urbes, aut narrantibus illas

Ex aliis novisse.” Vidæ, poet.

Boston:
PRINTED BY MANNING & LORING, NO. 2, CORNHILL.

1805.

District of Massachusetts, to wit.

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the first day of February, in the twenty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, Thaddeus Mason Harris, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit:—“The Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains; made in the Spring of the year 1803. With a geographical and historical Account of the State of Ohio. By Thaddeus Mason Harris, A.M. Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.—Illustrated with 1. An original Map of the Alleghany, Monongahela, and Yohiogany Rivers. 2. A Map of the State of Ohio, by the Hon. Rufus Putnam, Esq. Surveyor General of the United States, made from actual Surveys. 3. A Map of the Tract appropriated by Congress for Military Services; on which the Sections are laid down and marked by Numbers, &c. 4. A Ground Plat of the City Marietta. 5. A View of the Ancient Mounds and Fortifications on the Muskingum.”

In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, “An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned;” and also to an Act, entitled, “An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned; and extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving, and Etching, Historical and other Prints.”

N. GOODALE, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.

A true Copy of Record. Attest:

N. Goodale, Clerk.

TO THE

Hon. RUFUS PUTNAM, Esq.

GENERAL IN THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE LATE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, AND SINCE SURVEYOR GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, &C. &C.[1]

Permit me, dear Sir, to inscribe to you the following pages, in grateful acknowledgment of the hospitality and kindness you showed me while at Marietta, and of the readiness with which you answered my inquiries respecting the State of Ohio.

I am sensible that the geographical sketches I have given of that Territory will appear very imperfect to you, who have so intimate an acquaintance with every part of it; but to others they may convey information more particular and correct than has been hitherto published.

As the founder and father of the State, you will feel interested in the details I have given; and, I hope, will not be wholly disappointed {iv} with my attempt to describe a part of our country so rapidly increasing in population and importance.

Relying on your candor, and encouraged by the very flattering manner in which you have seconded my proposals for this publication, I am led to flatter myself that, while you condescend to take the work under your patronage, you will consider it as the offering of one whose address on this occasion proceeds from the pure motive of veneration for a character so worthily distinguished, and from the honest ambition of being known as your friend.

THADDEUS MASON HARRIS

INTRODUCTION

Having long laboured under wasting sickness, which obliged me for a time to relinquish the duties of my ministry; my mind, naturally feeble and timid, sunk under its depressions and yielded to despondency. To divert its attention, by directing its regards to objects remote from its corroding cares, and to benefit my bodily health by means of exercise and change of climate, my physicians urged my taking a journey.

A much esteemed neighbour, Mr. Seth Adams, was about making an excursion into the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, and proposed my accompanying him thither. My brother in law, Mr. John Dix, kindly offered to be my attendant, and assisted me in summoning resolution for the undertaking.

On the 29th of March, 1803, we set out on the tour. We took the post road from Boston, through New-York and Philadelphia, to Lancaster; and thence, through Carlisle and Shippensburgh, to Strasburgh at the foot of the {vi} Alleghany Mountains. Here commence the extracts from my journal.

For the gratification of my family and a few friends, I kept a record of the occurrences each day afforded, and some particulars of the several towns through which we passed. I was advised, on my return, to communicate the Geographical articles to the public; and I have consented, from a willingness to contribute my mite, however insignificant, to the common stock of the topographical knowledge of our country.

I am aware that many of the remarks and observations may appear desultory or trivial: but some indulgence is due to them from the circumstances under which they were made. They were first sketched down, as opportunity presented, in a pocket-book with a lead pencil; and at evening transcribed into my diary. They consist of such reflections as were made upon the places and the prospects immediately under my eye, and of such information as could be collected from intelligent individuals with whom I had the opportunity of conversing. The whole is the fruit of those moments of leisure, (rescued from a fatiguing journey) which the languor and pain of a miserable state of health would permit me to employ.

I hope the freedom with which I have expatiated on the description of forest and mountain {vii} scenery will not be unpleasing to those who have never had the privilege of beholding the grand and prominent features of nature, or of penetrating its sequestered glooms. For myself, I have always been an admirer of the sublime and beautiful in creation; and the immediate effect upon my feelings, produced by umbrageous forests, and by contemplating extended prospects from lofty mountains, was of so pleasurable and exalted a kind, that I wished to retain the impression to myself, and, as well as I could, communicate it to others, by a description taken on the spot.

“A state of convalescence (says a fine writer[2]) appears to me to be that of all others, which is most open to, and which indulges most in, the melancholy and awful impressions: and the transitions from the sublime to the pleasing, and from the sounds of discordance to those of melody, have their alternate and sympathetic effects, and have consequently their attractions. Every object delights the eye, and every murmur of the grove is in unison with the soul. The convalescent has his hopes, his wishes, and his fears; but the remembrance of sickness melts them down to resigned patience, and humble expectation.”

{viii} An apology is necessary for the delay of the publication. This has been partly occasioned by waiting for the return of the subscription papers, and partly by the length of time necessary to complete the engravings and the impression.

To the candor of the Public,
I submit my work;
to the
providence and favour of Almighty God,
I commend my beloved Family;
and to the hopes,
not of the present,
but
of the future life,
I resign myself.

Dorchester | }
Jan. 1805.

PART I

Journey over the Alleghany Mountains into the
State of Ohio

“Sylvæ umbrosæ, montes excelsi, fertilesque valles, varias præbent
amœnitates ad Viatorem delectandum”

JOURNAL

Thursday, April 7, 1803

Having ridden this morning from Shippensburgh, a distance of eleven miles, we stopped at Strasburg to breakfast.[3]

As we approached the Alleghany Mountains, their form and magnificence became more and more distinct. We had, for several days past, seen their blue tops towering into the sky, alternately hidden and displayed by rolling and shifting clouds. Now, we ascertained that some of them were quite covered with trees; but that the rocky and bleak tops of others were naked, or scantily fringed with low savins.

These stupendous mountains seemed to stretch before us an impassable barrier; but, at times, we could see the narrow winding {12} road by which we were to ascend, though it apprized us of the fatigue and difficulty to be encountered in the undertaking. Our apprehensions, however, were somewhat abated by information that, the way, though more steep, was not so rough, nor much more difficult than the Connewago Hills we had already passed.

Strasburg is a pleasant post-town in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. It is situated at the foot of the Blue Mountain, the first of the great range of the Alleghanies. It contains about eighty houses, principally built of hewn logs, with the interstices between them filled with flat stones and mortar. They stand on a main street, which runs from north to south. On the easterly side of the street, a little back of the houses, is a fine spring of excellent water, issuing from several fountains, over which are small buildings erected for the purpose of preserving milk, butter, and provisions, during the heats of summer. So copious is the issue of water, that it soon forms a considerable and never failing brook, which, within the distance of half a mile, carries a mill. This stream is the westerly branch of Conedogwinnet Creek, which {13} falls into the Susquehannah opposite to Harrisburgh.

The inhabitants of this village are subject to severe rheumatic complaints, in consequence of the sudden changes of the weather in this vicinity to the mountain.

Near this place is shewn a large fissure in the side of the mountain, occasioned by the bursting of a water-spout. The excavation is deep. Trees, and even rocks, were dislodged in its course.

The first mountain, which is three miles over, was not so difficult to pass as we had apprehended. It is steep, but there are some convenient resting places; and the westerly side is rendered easy of descent by very judicious improvements in the condition and turnings of the road. The surface is very rocky; and the trees towards the top are small, and but thinly scattered. The stone which mostly prevails on its surface is granite, more or less perfect. At the foot is a beautiful and fertile valley, about half a mile wide, and fifteen miles long; irrigated by fine springs, whose streams uniting form the pretty brook that meanders through the fields and meadows of this enchanting place.

{14} We stopped here awhile, to let our horses rest, and to bask in the pleasant sunshine. Having been chilled with the air on the summit of the mountain, we were pleased with inhaling the warm breeze of the valley.

The contrast, between the verdant meads and fertile arable ground of this secluded spot, and the rugged mountains and frowning precipices by which it is environed, gives the prospect we have contemplated a mixture of romantic wildness and cultivated beauty which is really delightful.

Hence we crossed the second mountain, four miles over, and stopped to dine at Fannetsburg, a little village on a graceful eminence swelling from the bosom of the vale. The houses are all built of wood, mostly of hewn logs, except our Inn, which is a handsome edifice of lime-stone.

In the afternoon we crossed the third ridge, which is three miles and an half over; in some places steep and difficult of ascent; and, passing part of the valley below, reached a place called Burnt Cabins to lodge. The settlement in this place is named from the destruction of the first buildings erected here, at the time of the defeat of Col. {15} Washington, at the Little Meadows in 1753.[4]

The temporary buildings of the first settlers in the wilds are called Cabins. They are built with unhewn logs, the interstices between which are stopped with rails, calked with moss or straw, and daubed with mud. The roof is covered with a sort of thin staves split out of oak or ash, about four feet long and five inches wide, fastened on by heavy poles being laid upon them. “If the logs be hewed; if the interstices be stopped with stone, and neatly plastered; and the roof composed of shingles nicely laid on, it is called a log-house.” A log-house has glass windows and a chimney; a cabin has commonly no window at all, and only a hole at the top for the smoke to escape. After saw-mills are erected, and boards can be procured, the settlers provide themselves more decent houses, with neat floors and ceiling.

Friday, April 8

A ride of thirteen miles this morning brought us to the foot of another mountain, called Sideling Hills, eight miles over. This is not like the others, a distinct ridge, but a succession of ridges, with long {16} ascent and descent on the main sides, and intermediate risings and short vallies between.

It was a fine clear morning when we began to ascend. As we advanced, the prospect widened and became very interesting. The deep and gloomy valley below was a vast wilderness, skirted by mountains of every hue and form; some craggy and bare, and others wooded to the top: but even this extensive wild pleased me, and gave scope to boundless reflection.

Quitting the elevated region to which we had reached, we descended about half a mile, and then rose another and more lofty gradation. Hence the view was still more diversified and magnificent, crowded with mountains upon mountains in every direction; between and beyond which were seen the blue tops of others more distant, mellowed down to the softest shades, till all was lost in unison with the clouds.

As we descended, we beheld the mists rising from the deep vallies, and the clouds thickening around. It was cold and blustering, and we expected an immediate tempest and rain: but, as we mounted the third ridge, the clouds broke away over {17} our heads; and, as they dispersed, the sun would shine between and give a gliding radiance to the opening scene. We soon got beyond the clouded region, and saw the misty volumes floating down to the vallies and encircling the lower hills; so that, before we reached the summit, we had the pleasure of looking abroad in an unclouded sky.

——“Here could we survey
The gathered tempests rolling far beneath,
And stand above the storm.”

The whole horizon was fringed with piles of distant mountains. The intermediate vallies were filled with clouds, or obscured with thick mists and shade: but the lofty summits, gilded with the blaze of day, lighted up under an azure heaven, gave a surprising grandeur and brilliancy to the whole scene.

The descent is in many places precipitous and rocky. At the bottom we crossed the Juniata in a ferry-boat. Climbing the steep banks of the river, our rout was along a range of hills exhibiting a succession of interesting landscape. In many parts we were immersed in woods; then again we came into open ground, and saw the winding {18} river just below us, and the sides and tops of the mountains soaring above. Sometimes we rode, for a considerable distance, on the banks of the river; then we quitted it to mount a hill, and here again,

“The bordering lawn, the gaily flowered vale,
The river’s crystal, and the meadow’s green,
Grateful diversity, allure the eye.”

Such transitions yield some of the sweetest recreations which the varied prospect of nature can afford.

An accident in breaking our carriage, delayed us so long, that it was evening before we arrived at our Inn. We rode thirty miles this day.

Saturday, April 9

While our carriage is repairing we rest at Capt. Graham’s, who resides in a delightful valley, belonging to Providence township, in Bristol County.[5] His neat and commodious dwelling is principally built with lime-stone, laid in mortar. The rooms and chambers are snug, and handsomely furnished; and the accommodations and entertainment he provides are the best to be met with between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

{19} A fine lawn spreads before the house, bordered on one part by a meandering brook, and on the other by the Juniata river, from the margin of which rise the steep sides of Mount Dallas. The trees of other times add hoary greatness to its brow, and the clouds which rest in misty shades upon its head give it a frowning and gloomy pre-eminence.

The Juniata rises from two principal springs on the Alleghany mountains; one of which is very near the top, and pours a copious stream. It receives, also, supplies from many small rills in its course, and working out a bed between the mountains, passes through a gap in the Blue ridge, and empties into the Susquehannah, fifteen miles above Harrisburg.

Back of us the woods with which one of the mountains was clothed was on fire. During the darkness of the night, the awfulness and sublimity of this spectacle were beyond description; terror mingled with it, for, as we were at no great distance, we feared that the shifting of the wind would drive the flames upon us.

{20} Monday, April 11

We resume our journey; cross the two branches of the Juniata, and arrive at Bedford, the chief town of Bedford County in Pennsylvania, to breakfast. It is regularly laid out, and there are several houses on the main street built with bricks; even the others, which are of hewn logs, have a distinguishing neatness in their appearance. The Court House, Market House, and Record Office, are brick; the Gaol is built of stone. The inhabitants are supplied with water brought in pipes to a large reservoir in the middle of the town. On the northerly skirt of the town flows Rayston creek, a considerable branch of the Juniata.

Bedford was made an incorporate town in 1795. The officers of police are two Burgesses, a Constable, a Town Clerk, and three Assistants. Their power is limited to preserve the peace and order of the place.

Upon quitting the plain, we left a fertile soil clothed with verdure, and a warm and pleasing climate; but, as we ascended the mountain, the soil appeared more barren, and the weather became colder. Yet here and there we met with a little verdant spot {21} around a spring, or at the bottom of a small indenture in the sides of the mountain. Climbing hence, the prospect widened. Deep vallies, embowered with woods, abrupt precipices, and cloud-capt hills, on all sides met the view.

In these mountainous scenes nature exhibits her boldest features. Every object is extended upon a vast scale; and the whole assemblage impresses the spectator with awe as well as admiration.

After many a wearisome ascent, we arrived at Seybour’s, on the top of the Alleghany; and, having ridden thirty-one miles, were sufficiently tired to accept even of the miserable accommodations this Inn afforded for the night.

Tuesday, April 12

On leaving our lodging on “the highest of hills,” we had to descend through six miles of rugged paths, over precipices, and among rocks, and then along a miry valley, with formidable ascents in view.

The Alleghany, which we had now crossed, is about fifteen miles over.

We descried at a distance the towering ridges of mountains, beyond many an intermediate height; some encircled with {22} wreaths of clouds, and others pointed with fire kindled by the hunters, or involved in curling volumes of smoke.

We were the principal part of the day passing the valley, and mounting Laurel Hill, which is about three miles in direct ascent, and lodged at Behmer’s near the top, after a journey of twenty-four miles.

As the woods were on fire all around us, and the smoke filled the air, we seemed to have ridden all day in a chimney, and to sleep all night in an oven.

Wednesday, April 13

This mountain has its name from the various species of Laurel with which it is clothed; (Rhododendron Maximum, Kalmia Latifolia, &c.) There were several varieties now in flower, which made a most elegant appearance.

Our road, which at best must be rugged and dreary, was now much obstructed by the trees which had fallen across it; and our journey rendered hazardous by those on each side which trembled to their fall. We remarked, with regret and indignation, the wanton destruction of these noble forests. For more than fifty miles, to the west and north, the mountains were burning. {23} This is done by the hunters, who set fire to the dry leaves and decayed fallen timber in the vallies, in order to thin the undergrowth, that they may traverse the woods with more ease in pursuit of game. But they defeat their own object; for the fires drive the moose, deer, and wild animals into the more northerly and westerly parts, and destroy the turkies, partridges, and quails, at this season on their nests, or just leading out their broods. An incalculable injury, too, is done to the woods, by preventing entirely the growth of the trees, many of which being on the acclivities and rocky sides of the mountains, leave only the most dreary and irrecoverable barrenness in their place.

We took breakfast at Jones’ mill, six miles from the top of Laurel Hill; dined at Mount Pleasant, eleven miles farther; and riding five miles in the afternoon, reached M’Kean’s to lodge.

We left Fort Ligonier, built by Gen. Forbes in 1758, to our right, and crossed the Chesnut Ridge, a very rough and rocky mountain, the last of the great range, on the Glade road. In dry seasons this is considered as much better than what is called {24} “Braddock’s road;” but, after heavy rains, it is almost impassable.

By the rout we took over the mountains the whole distance from Strasburg is one hundred and eighteen miles.

The road is very rugged and difficult over the mountains; and we were often led to comment upon the arduous enterprize of the unfortunate General Braddock, by whom it was cut. Obliged to make a pass for his army and waggons, “through unfrequented woods and dangerous defiles over mountains deemed impassable,”[6] the toil and fatigue of his pioneers and soldiers must have been indescribably great. But it was here that his precursor, the youthful Washington, gathered some of his earliest laurels.[7]

During the whole of this journey there are but a few scattered habitations, of a very ordinary appearance. The lands, except in the vallies, are of an indifferent quality, and offer but little encouragement to the cultivator.

The Alleghany mountains, which we had now passed, consist of several nearly parallel ridges, rising in remote parts of {25} New-York and New-Jersey, and running a southwesterly course till they are lost in the flat lands of West-Florida. They have not a continued top, but are rather a row or chain of distinct hills. There are frequent and large vallies disjoining the several eminences; some of them so deep as to admit a passage for the rivers which empty themselves into the Atlantic Ocean on the East, and into the Gulph of Mexico on the South. It is only in particular places that these ridges can be crossed. Generally the road leads through gaps, and winds around the sides of the mountains; and, even at these places, is steep and difficult.

The rocks and cliffs of the mountains are principally grit, or free-stone; but in several places, particularly towards the foot, the slate and lime-stone predominate. Through the Glades, the slaty schist and lime-stone is abundant. On Laurel Hill, and the mountains westward of that, the fossil coal (Lithanthrax) abounds, and lies so near the surface that it is discoverable in the gullies of the road, and among the roots of trees that have been overthrown by the wind.

{26} Thursday, April 14

Now that we have crossed all the mountains, the gradual and easy slope of the ground indicates to us that we are approaching those vast savannas through which flow “the Western waters.” The plain expands on all sides. The country assumes a different aspect; and even its decorations are changed. The woods are thick, lofty, and extremely beautiful, and prove a rich soil. A refreshing verdure clothes the open meadows. The banks of the brooks and river are enamelled with flowers of various forms and hues. The air, which before was cold and raw, is now mild and warm. Every breeze wafts a thousand perfumes, and swells with the gay warblings of feathered choristers.

——“Variæ, circumque supraque,
Assuetæ ripis volucres et fluminis alveo,
Æthera mulcebant cantu, lucroque volabant.”

The painted birds that haunt the golden tide,
And flutter round the banks on every side,
Along the groves in pleasing triumph play,
And with soft music hail the vernal day.

The long and tedious journey we had passed, through lonesome woods and over rugged ways, contributed not a little, perhaps, {27} to enhance the agreeableness of the prospect now before us. Certainly there is something very animating to the feelings, when a traveller, after traversing a region without culture, emerges from the depths of solitude, and comes out upon an open, pleasant, and cultivated country. For myself I must observe, that the novelty and beauty of the romantic prospects, together with the genial influence of the vernal season, were peculiarly reviving to my bodily frame for a long time weakened by sickness, and exhilarating to my mind worn down by anxiety and care.

We were now upon the banks of the Yohiogany River, which we crossed at Budd’s ferry.[8]

A Map of the
Alleghany
Monongahela
and
Yohiogany
Rivers.

The name of this river is spelt, by some writers Yohogany, and by others Yoxhiogeni; by General Braddock it was written Yaughyaughané;[9] but the common pronunciation is Yokagany, and the inhabitants in these parts call it “the Yok river.” It rises from springs in the Alleghany mountain, which soon unite their streams in the valley, or, as it is called, “the great meadows,” below. The point where the {28} north branch from the northward, the little crossing from the southeast, and the great south branch, form a junction, three miles above Laurel Hill, is called “the Turkey foot.”[10] With the accession of some smaller runs, it becomes a very considerable and beautiful river. Pursuing a northwesterly course, as it passes through a gap in Laurel Hill, it precipitates itself over a ledge of rocks which lie nearly at right angles to the course of the stream, and forms a noble cascade, called “the Ohiopyle Falls.” Dr. Rittenhouse, who has published a description of these falls, accompanied with an engraving, found the perpendicular height of the cataract to be “about twenty feet, and the breadth of the river two hundred and forty feet.[11] For a considerable distance below the falls, the river is very rapid, and boils and foams vehemently, occasioning a continual mist to arise from it. The river at this place runs to the southwest, but presently winds round to the northwest, and continuing this general course for thirty or forty miles, it loses its name by uniting with the Monongahela, which comes from the southward, and contains perhaps twice as much water.”

{29} The navigation of this river is obstructed by the falls and the rapids below for ten miles; but thence to the Monongahela, boats that draw but three feet of water may pass freely, except in dry seasons.

The land in the vicinity of the river is uneven; but in the vallies the soil is extremely rich. The whole region abounds with coal, which lies almost on the surface.

We garnished our bouquet to day with the beautiful white flowers of the Blood root, (Sanguinaria Canadensis) called by the Indians “Puccoon:” they somewhat resemble those of the Narcissus. This plant grows in mellow high land. The root yields a bright red tincture, with which the Indians used to paint themselves, and to colour some of their manufactures, particularly their cane baskets.—The root possesses emetic qualities.—Transplanted into our gardens, this would be admired as an ornamental flower, while the roots would furnish artists with a brilliant paint or dye, and perhaps be adopted into the Materia Medica as a valuable drug.

At Elizabethtown, about eighteen miles from Pittsburg, we crossed the Monongahela.[12] Having collected particular information {30} respecting this river and the Alleghany, and an account of the settlements upon their banks, I insert it in this place.[13]

The Monongahela takes its rise at the foot of Laurel Hill in Virginia, about Lat. 38° 30′ N. Thence meandering in a north by east direction it passes into Pennsylvania, and at last, uniting its waters with those of the Alleghany at Pittsburg, forms the noble Ohio.

The settlements on both sides of this river are fine and extensive, and the land is good and well cultivated. Numerous trading and family boats pass continually. In the spring and fall the river seems covered with them. The former, laden with flour, whiskey, peach-brandy, cider, bacon, iron, potters’ ware, cabinet work, &c. all the produce or manufacture of the country, are destined for Kentucky, and New Orleans, or the towns on the Spanish side of the Missisippi. The latter convey the families of emigrants, with their furniture, farming utensils, &c. to the new settlements they have in view. These boats are generally called “Arks;” and are said to have been invented by Mr. {31} Krudger, on the Juniata, about ten years ago. They are square, and flat-bottomed; about forty feet by fifteen, with sides six feet deep; covered with a roof of thin boards, and accommodated with a fire-place. They will hold from 200 to 500 barrels of flour. They require but four hands to navigate them; carry no sail, and are wafted down by the current.

The banks of the river opposite to Pittsburg, and on each side for some distance, or rather the high hills whose feet it laves, appear to be one entire body of coal. This is of great advantage to that flourishing town; for it supplies all their fires, and enables them to reserve their timber and wood for ship building and the use of mechanicks.

Morgantown, which is one hundred and seven miles from Pittsburg, may be considered as the head of navigation on the Monongahela.[14]

This is a flourishing town, pleasantly situated on the east side of the river. It contains about sixty dwelling-houses, a Court-house, and stone Gaol. It is the shire town for the counties of Harrison, {32} Monongalia, Ohio, and Randolph, in Virginia.

Eight miles below this town the Cheat River enters; three or four miles within the Pennsylvania line. “It is 200 yards wide at its mouth, and 100 yards at the Dunkard’s settlement fifty miles higher; and is navigable for boats except in dry seasons. There is a portage of thirty-seven miles from this river to the Potomac at the mouth of Savage river.”[15] [16]

Two miles lower down it receives the waters of Dunkard’s Creek on the west side; and ten miles lower George’s Creek joins it on the east. Just below the mouth of this creek is situated New Geneva, a thriving post-town, a place of much business, and rendered famous by the glass-works in its vicinity, which not only supply the neighbourhood with window-glass, bottles, &c. but send large quantities down the river. There is also a papermill, and a manufactory for muskets, in the place. Arks, and other boats are built here.[17]

A little below, and on the other side of the river, lies Greensburgh, so called in honor of the late General Greene. It is a neat little village.[18]

{33} Within the distance of twenty-three miles from this enter Big Whitely Creek, Little Whitely, Brown’s run, Middle run, Cat’s run, Muddy Creek, and Ten mile run. Near the latter is Fredericktown, a pretty village on the west side of the river.

Seven miles lower down, immediately above the mouth of Dunlap’s Creek, on the east side, is Bridgeport, a small thriving town, connected with Brownsville by a neat bridge 260 feet long.

Brownsville, formerly called “Redstone old fort,” is a post-town, belonging to Fayette County in Pennsylvania. Though extremely pleasant, and commanding a most extensive and interesting prospect of the river, the creeks, and the fine country around, it seems rather disadvantageously situated on account of the steep declivity of the hill on which it is principally built. It contains about one hundred and fifty houses, and five hundred inhabitants. There is a Roman Catholic church here, and four Friends’ meeting-houses in the vicinity.

An extensive paper-mill on Redstone Creek, a rope-walk, a brewery, several valuable manufactories, and within a few miles of the town twenty-four saw, grist, oil, and {34} fulling mills, render this a place of much business. The trade and emigration down the river employ boat-builders very profitably. About one hundred boats of twenty tons each are said to be built here annually.

On the south side of Redstone Creek formerly stood Byrd’s Fort.[19]

About nineteen miles below is Williamsport, a growing settlement, on the direct road from Philadelphia to Wheeling.

Twelve miles lower is Elizabethtown, on the southeast side of the river, containing about sixty houses. At this place much business is done in boat and ship building. The “Monongahela Farmer,” and other vessels of considerable burden, were built here, and, laden with the produce of the adjacent country, were sent to the West-India islands.[20]

Eight miles farther is McKeesport, situated just below the junction of the Yohiogany with the Monongahela. Many boats are built here for transportation and the use of those who emigrate to the western country. The place is growing in business, and most probably will rise into considerable importance.

{35} Having received the Yohiogany, and waters from several creeks, the river winds its course, with replenished stream, till it unites with the Alleghany below Pittsburg, where it is about four hundred yards wide.

Braddock’s Field is at the head of Turtle Creek, seven miles from Pittsburg. Here that brave, but unfortunate General engaged a party of Indians, was repulsed, himself mortally wounded, and his army put to flight, July 9, 1755.[21]

The Alleghany River, by the Delaware Indians called “Alligewisipo,”[22] rises on the western side of the mountain from which it derives its name. Its head is near Sinemahoning Creek, a boatable stream that falls into the Susquehannah; to which there is a portage of twenty-two miles. Another branch tends towards Le Boeuf, whence is a portage of only fifteen miles to Presq’ Isle, one of the finest harbours on Lake Erie. This distance is a continued chesnut-bottom swamp, except about one mile from Le Boeuf, and two miles from Presq’ Isle; and the road between these two places, some years ago, for nine miles, was made by a kind of causeway of logs.[23] There has been {36} lately an Act of the Assembly of Pennsylvania for forming a turnpike over it.

Presq’ Isle, which owed its name to the form of a large point of land jutting into the Lake, and by its curvature making a very commodious harbour capable of admitting vessels drawing nine feet of water, is now called Erie; having been laid out a few years since by the Legislature of the State upon a large scale, and made the shire town of Erie county. Commanding an extensive trade through the Lakes, and then down the Alleghany, Ohio, and Missisippi, the situation of this place was considered as very important, and great encouragement was given to settlers. But a prevailing fever for some time retarded the settlement. It is said, however, that this obstacle is now nearly, if not entirely removed; and that the place rapidly increases in population and importance.

A post-office is established here, which receives the mail from Philadelphia once every second week.

Le Boeuf, now called Waterford, is a growing settlement at the head of the north branch of French Creek. A post-office is, also, kept here.

{37} The old French fort Le Boeuf, was about two miles east from Small Lake. This was formerly one of the western posts, but is now evacuated.[24]

Forty-eight miles lower down on French Creek is Meadville, a thriving post-town, and the seat of justice for the counties of Warren and Crawford, to the latter of which it belongs. It contains about one hundred houses, and several stores; and is a place of considerable business.[25]

Immediately below the mouth of French Creek, at the place where it unites with the northeasterly branch of the Alleghany river, is Franklin, a post-town, containing about fifty houses, and several stores. It is the shire town for Venango county. The river is here two hundred yards wide.

Near this was the antient post Venango, and on the scite of this town was erected Fort Franklin in the year 1787, to defend the frontiers of Pennsylvania from the depredations of the neighbouring Indians.

About one hundred miles lower down, as the river runs, or one hundred and ninety-eight from Erie, is Freeport, on the mouth of Buffalo Creek, and opposite {38} to Kiskimenetas, a considerable branch of the Alleghany river. The head waters of this branch are Little Conemaugh and Stone Creek, which rise from the foot of the Alleghany mountain, and pass in a N.N.W. direction through gaps in the Laurel Hill and Chesnut Ridge. After their junction the principal stream is called Conemaugh River. But, having received Black Lick from the N. E. and, seventeen miles from its mouth, Loyalhannon Creek from the S.S.E. it is called the Kiskimenetas River. It is navigable for batteaux forty or fifty miles, and good portages are found between it and the Juniata and Potomac rivers. A batteau is a flat-bottomed boat, widest in the middle, and tapering to a point at each end, of about 1500 weight burden; and is managed by two men with paddles and setting-poles.

At the mouth of Sandy Creek, a vessel of 160 tons burden was lately launched, took in her cargo, and sailed for the West-Indies.

The principal creeks and tributary streams with which the Alleghany river is replenished, are delineated on the Map, I believe with a good degree of accuracy; but a particular account of each it was not in {39} my power to obtain. The junction of this river with the Monongahela at Pittsburg has been already mentioned.

The Alleghany is remarkable for the clearness of its waters and the rapidity of its current; and the freshets in it are greater and more sudden than those of its connubial stream.[26] It seldom happens that it does not mark its course across the mouth of the Monongahela, with whose turbid and sluggish waters it forms a very observable contrast. It is curious, also, in the time of the spring floods to see the Alleghany full of ice, and the Monongahela entirely free. These floods are occasioned by the dissolution of the immense bodies of ice and snow accumulated during winter in those northern regions through which the river passes, and by the heavy falls of rain at the setting in and breaking up of winter.

Friday, April 15

We this morning arrived at Pittsburg, a post-town in Pennsylvania, and the capital {40} of Alleghany County. It is built at the point of land formed by the junction of the two rivers; and is in N. Lat. 40° 26′ 15″, and Longitude (in time) 5 hours, 19 minutes, and 53 seconds W. of Greenwich.

Immediately on the point was erected the old French garrison Du Quesne, built by M. de la Jonquier at the command of the Marquis du Quesne, Governor of Canada, in 1754.[27] General Forbes, who took it Nov. 25, 1758, built a new fort, which he called “Fort Pitt,” in honor of the Earl of Chatham; adjacent to the former, but higher up the Monongahela. It was formerly a place of some consequence in the annals of frontier settlements; but fell into decay upon its being given up by its founders. Being included in one of the manors of the Penn family, it was sold by the proprietaries, and is now laid out in house-lots as a part of the town of Pittsburg, which was built in the year 1765.

The local situation of this place is so commanding that it has been emphatically called “the key to the Western Territory;” and it has rapidly increased in population, business, and prosperity within a few years past. It contains upwards of four hundred {41} houses, several of them large and handsomely built of brick; forty-nine are occupied as stores and shops. There are three congregations; an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, and a Seceder. The number of inhabitants is about two thousand.

There are two printing-offices, each of which issue a weekly news-paper; and many mechanics, who carry on most of the manufactures that are to be met with in any other part of the United States. Two glass-houses have been lately erected, and are wrought to great advantage.[28] They make window-glass, bottles, &c. This is an establishment of the first importance to this part of the country; for the transportation of these brittle articles from Philadelphia over the mountains has been attended with much hazard, as well as expense. Articles of cabinet work are, also, made at Pittsburg of their native woods, which supply many of the settlements on both sides of the Ohio and Missisippi. The furniture made of the black walnut, wild cherry, and yellow birch, is very strong and handsome, and admits of a beautiful polish. The tinplate manufactory, that for cutting nails, and the smiths’ shops for making axes and {42} farming utensils, find a ready and extensive market for all their articles.

Dry goods in general are sold nearly as cheap as at Baltimore; other goods, are, on account of the carriage, which is four dollars fifty cents from Baltimore and five dollars pr. 100 lbs. from Philadelphia, proportionably higher. The merchants here, as well as those of the western country, receive their goods from Philadelphia and Baltimore; but a small part of the trade being given to New-York and Alexandria. The terms of credit are generally from nine to twelve months. The produce which they receive of the farmers is sent to New Orleans; the proceeds of which are remitted to the Atlantic States, to meet their payments.

Most of the articles of merchandize brought in waggons over the mountains in the summer season, and destined for the trade down the river, are stored at this place, to be ready for embarkation. With these a great many trading boats are laden, which float down the river, stopping at the towns on its banks to vend the articles. In a country, so remote from commerce, and of so great extent, where each one resides {43} on his own farm, and has neither opportunity nor convenience for visiting a market, these trading boats contribute very much to the accommodation of life, by bringing to every man’s house those little necessaries which it would be very troublesome to go a great distance to procure.

At and near this place, ship-building is an object of great attention. Several vessels are now on the stocks; and three have been launched this spring, from 160 to 275 tons burden.

The principal navigation of the Ohio river is during the floods of the spring and autumn. The spring season commences at the breaking up of the ice in the Alleghany, which generally happens about the middle of February, and continues for eight or ten weeks. The fall season is occasioned by the autumnal rains in October, and lasts till about the beginning of December, when the ice begins to form. But the times of high-water can scarcely be called periodical; for they vary considerably as the season is dry or rainy, and with the later setting in or breaking up of winter. Sometimes, also, the falling of heavy showers on the mountains, during the summer, will so {44} swell the sources of the Monongahela as to supply a temporary sufficiency of water for the purpose of navigation.

In the time of the freshets the Ohio rises from fifteen to thirty feet, and sometimes even higher; overflowing its banks to a very considerable distance. The rise is generally sudden, often ten feet in twenty-four hours. The increase is not regular. At times the water will fall four or five feet, and then rise again. The flood maintains its greatest height about a week or ten days, and then gradually subsides, till the river is reduced to its usual depth. By spreading over the flat lands a rich coating of leaves, decayed vegetables, and loam, washed down by the rain from the sides of the hills, these inundations greatly promote the fertility of the soil.

Fort Fayette, built a few years since, is within the limits of the town of Pittsburg. It is erected on the banks of the Alleghany. At present a garrison is kept there, which, for the most part, is made head-quarters of the United States army.[29]

The high ground back of the fort, called “Grant’s hill,” commands a most extensive prospect, taking in a view of the two rivers {45} for several miles above and below their junction.[30]

The inhabitants use the water of the river here and down the Ohio for drink and cookery, even in preference to the spring water from the hills; for as yet they have not practised the digging of wells. At first we were surprised at this preference; but they assured us that the river water was more wholesome and generally much more palatable. We were soon convinced that this must be the case: for, though the river water receives a great deal of decayed wood, leaves, &c. from the creeks and runs that empty into it, they are soon deposited on the shallows, and the deeper places are very clear and fine. Even the turbid water of the margin of the stream becomes pellucid by standing in an open vessel over night, depositing its feculencies at the bottom. But the spring water, issuing through fissures in the hills, which are only masses of coal, is so impregnated with bituminous and sulphureous particles as to be frequently nauseous to the taste and prejudicial to the health.

We observed several people near Pittsburg affected with a tumour on the throat {46} like a wen. Inquiring into the cause of it, we were informed that they imputed it to some effect of the climate under the brows of the high mountains where they reside, and added that even dogs and some other animals were subject to it. Indeed we saw a couple of goats who had this uncomfortable appendage to their necks.

The Seneca Indian Oil in so much repute here is Petroleum; a liquid bitumen, which oozes through fissures of the rocks and coal in the mountains, and is found floating on the surface of the waters of several springs in this part of the country, whence it is skimmed off, and kept for use. From a strong vapour which arises from it when first collected, it appears to combine with it sulphureous particles. It is very inflammable. In these parts it is used as a medicine; and, probably, in external applications with considerable success. For chilblains and rheumatism it is considered as an infallible specific. I suppose it to be the bitumen which Pliny describes under the name of Naptha, Lib. II. ch. 105.

{47} Tuesday, April 19

Crossed the ferry over the Monongahela, opposite the glass-houses, and pursued our journey.

The country is very mountainous and broken, and the road extremely rough and difficult. We were told that our’s was the first private carriage that had ever passed it, having been but lately opened, and used only by strong waggons and carts.

We dined at Cannonsburg, a post-town, pleasantly situated on rising ground near the north side of the west branch of Chartier’s Creek. It is 18 miles S. W. from Pittsburg, and 9 miles N. E. from Washington. It contains about 100 houses, and has two congregations, and meeting-houses; a Presbyterian and a Seceder. It has been settled but twelve years, and already puts on the appearance of a long cultivated region. There is an Academy here in a very flourishing state; and the last session of the Assembly a charter was granted for a College.[31]

At Washington, the chief town of a county of the same name in Pennsylvania, situated on another branch of Chartier’s Creek, we stopped to lodge.

{48} A Court-house and a large building for public offices, of brick; and a Gaol and an Academy, of stone, with a large number of handsomely built dwelling-houses, give this town a very respectable appearance. It seems to be a place of considerable business, and of thriving manufactories and trade.[32]

Wednesday, April 20

Passed through Alexandria, a small town in Washington County, Pennsylvania, on the Virginia line. It contains between fifty and sixty dwelling-houses, and has a large and decent house for public worship.[33] It is sixteen miles S. W. from Washington, and the same distance N. E. from Wheeling.

We dined at Shepherd’s Mills on Wheeling Creek, having winded along a most romantic valley between high mountains, and repeatedly crossed [seventeen times in about five miles] the beautiful stream running through it.[34]

The proprietor of these mills resides in one of the best built and handsomest stone houses we saw on this side of the mountains.[35]

Quitting this secluded vale, we passed over a high chain of mountains, whence we {49} overlooked the town of Wheeling, and enjoyed fine and extensive views of a hilly and well-wooded country, intersected by the river Ohio.—We then descended into the town.

Wheeling is a post-town, in Ohio County, Virginia, healthily and pleasantly situated on the sloping sides of a hill gracefully rising from the banks of the Ohio. It is laid out principally on one street; and most of the houses are handsome, several being built with brick, and some with faced stone.[36]

It is twelve miles S. W. of West Liberty, and fifty-four miles from Pittsburg; three hundred and thirty-two miles from Philadelphia, and twelve miles above Grave Creek.

It is increasing very rapidly in population and in prosperous trade; and is, next to Pittsburg, the most considerable place of embarkation to traders and emigrants, any where on the western waters. During the dry season great quantities of merchandize are brought hither, designed to supply the inhabitants on the Ohio river and the waters that flow into it; as boats can go from {50} hence, when they cannot from places higher up the river.

Boat-building is carried on at this place to a great extent; and several large keel boats and some vessels have been built.

Opposite the town is a most beautiful island in the river, containing about four hundred acres. Interspersed with buildings, highly cultivated fields, some fine orchards, and copses of wood, it appears to great advantage from the town, and forms a very interesting part of the prospect. After the eyes have been strained in viewing the vast amphitheatre of country all around, or dazzled with tracing the windings of the river, they are agreeably rested and refreshed by the verdure and beauty of Wheeling Island.

At Wheeling we left our carriage, and took passage down the river in a keel boat.

Just below the town stands an old Fort, at the point of land formed by the junction of Big Wheeling Creek and the Ohio river.

The passage down the river was extremely entertaining, exhibiting at every bend a change of scenery. Sometimes we were in the vicinity of dark forests, which threw a solemn shade over us as we glided by; sometimes we passed along overhanging {51} banks, decorated with blooming shrubs which timidly bent their light boughs to sweep the passing stream; and sometimes around the shore of an island which tinged the water with a reflected landscape. The lively carols of the birds, which “sung among the branches,” entertained us exceedingly, and gave life and pleasure to the woodland scene. The flocks of wild geese and ducks which swam upon the stream, the vast number of turkies, partridges, and quails we saw upon the shore, and the herds of deer or some other animals of the forest darting through the thickets, afforded us constant amusement.

From Fish Creek, on the Virginia shore,[37] the country is flat on the banks of the river; and, on the opposite side, generally broken and rough, without much bottom-land; the mountains and hills mostly rising contiguous to the edge of the river. But, below the islands called “The Three Brothers,” the bottom-lands on the N. W. side are extensive and rich.

Map
of the State of
Ohio
by
Rufus I. Putnam
Surveyor General of the United States

Here fine cultivated plains and rising settlements charm the eye amidst the boundless prospect of desolate wilds. When we see the land cleared of those enormous trees {52} with which it was overgrown, and the cliffs and quarries converted into materials for building, we cannot help dwelling upon the industry and art of man, which by dint of toil and perseverance can change the desert into a fruitful field, and shape the rough rock to use and elegance. When the solitary waste is peopled, and convenient habitations arise amidst the former retreats of wild beasts; when the silence of nature is succeeded by the buzz of employment, the congratulations of society, and the voice of joy; in fine, when we behold competence and plenty springing from the bosom of dreary forests,—what a lesson is afforded of the benevolent intentions of Providence!

Having been part of three days upon the river, we arrived at Marietta, in the State of Ohio, on Saturday morning, April 23d.

The second week after our arrival, in consequence of three or four rainy days, the water in the Ohio rose fifteen feet, and gave opportunity for several vessels, which were waiting for a flood, to set sail. Accordingly on May 4th the schooner “Dorcas and Sally,” of 70 tons, built at Wheeling and rigged at Marietta, dropped down the {53} river. The following day there passed down the schooner “Amity,” of 103 tons, from Pittsburg, and the ship “Pittsburg,” of 275 tons burden, from the same place, laden with seventeen hundred barrels of flour, with the rest of her cargo in flat-bottomed boats. In the evening the brig “Mary Avery,” of 130 tons, built at Marietta, set sail.[38]

These afforded an interesting spectacle to the inhabitants of this place, who saluted the vessels as they passed with three cheers, and by firing a small piece of ordnance from the banks.

While at this place I collected several particulars respecting the History and Geography of the State of Ohio, from General Putnam, Judge Gilman, Judge Woodbridge, and others, who obligingly answered my many inquiries.[39] The information thus obtained, together with that which resulted from various visits to neighbouring towns and excursions into the interior country, I have arranged by itself.

PART II

Returning

“What an excellent remedy, or, at least, what a palliative, for the sufferings of the head and heart, is TRAVELLING. Alternate weariness and rest leave no room for any train of ideas, and every thing conspires to render us as happy as if our sufferings were ended.”

Duke de la Rochefaucalt Liancourt’s Travels.
Vol. I. p. 173.

JOURNAL

Marietta

I soon found that the genial influences of a mild and salubrious climate, aided by habitual exercise, daily improved my bodily strength; while my mind, relieved of its cares, was constantly occupied and amused with the new and interesting scenery and the wonderful antiquities in this neighbourhood; and my spirits were soothed and cheered by the kind attentions of hospitality and friendship.

Thus led to indulge some encouraging prospects of restoration to health, my thoughts turned towards my distant home, which I had never expected to revisit. Taking an affectionate leave of my brother, who inclined to settle in the State of Ohio, and of my much esteemed friends at Marietta, accompanied by Mr. Adams, I set out homewards on Monday morning, June 6th.

{58} I quitted with regret a place where I had passed a few weeks so pleasantly. I shall ever retain a grateful sense of the hospitality with which I was received, and of the respect and attention with which I was honored by the inhabitants of Marietta and Belle Pré.

As we preferred traversing the woods to ascending the river in a boat, we returned to Wheeling on horseback.

The industrious habits and neat improvements of the people on the west side of the river, are strikingly contrasted with those on the east. Here, in Ohio, they are intelligent, industrious, and thriving; there, on the back skirts of Virginia, ignorant, lazy, and poor. Here the buildings are neat, though small, and furnished in many instances with brick chimnies and glass windows; there the habitations are miserable cabins. Here the grounds are laid out in a regular manner, and inclosed by strong posts and rails; there the fields are surrounded by a rough zigzag log fence. Here are thrifty young apple orchards; there the only fruit that is raised is the peach, from which a good brandy is distilled!

{59} I had often heard a degrading character of the Back settlers; and had now an opportunity of seeing it exhibited. The abundance of wild game allures them to be huntsmen. They not only find sport in this pursuit, but supply of provisions, together with considerable profit from the peltry. They neglect, of course, the cultivation of the land. They acquire rough and savage manners. Sloth and independence are prominent traits in their character; to indulge the former is their principal enjoyment, and to protect the latter their chief ambition.

Another cause of the difference may be that, in the back counties of Virginia, every planter depends upon his NEGROES for the cultivation of his lands; but in the State of Ohio, where slavery is not allowed, every farmer tills his ground HIMSELF. To all this may be added, that most of the “Back-wood’s men,” as they are called, are emigrants from foreign countries, but the State of Ohio was settled by people from New-England, the region of Industry, Economy, and steady habits.

{60} The wilderness through which we rode often presented most delightful prospects, particularly as we approached the bank of the river, which opened and enlarged the view.

We frequently remarked that the banks are higher at the margin, than at a little distance back. I account for it in this manner. Large trees, which are brought down the river by the inundations, are lodged upon the borders of the bank; but cannot be floated far upon the champaign, because obstructed by the growth of wood. Retaining their situation when the waters subside, they obstruct and detain the leaves and mud, which would else recoil into the stream, and thus, in process of time, form a bank higher than the interior flats.

Tuesday, June 7

There is something which impresses the mind with awe in the shade and silence of these vast forests. In deep solitude, alone with nature, we converse with God.

Our course through the woods was directed by marked trees. As yet there is no road cut.

There is but little underwood; but on the sides of the creeks, and near the river, {61} the papaw (Annona glabra,) the spice bush, or wild pimento (Laurus benzoin,) and the dogberry (cornus Florida,) grow in the greatest abundance.

We often stopped to admire the grapevines in these forests, which twine among and spread a canopy over the summits of the highest trees. Some are nine inches in diameter. They stretch from the root, which is often thirty and forty feet from the trunk of the tree, and ascend in a straight line to the first high limb, thirty and even sixty feet from the ground. How they have reached such an height, without the help of intermediate branches, is unaccountable.

On the upper beach of one of the islands we saw a large flock of Turkey Buzzards, attracted there by a dead carcass that had floated down the river, and lodged upon the bar. These birds did not fly upon our approach.

We reached Tomlinson, a small settlement near Grave Creek, to lodge.[40] We propose spending tomorrow here in viewing the surprizing forts and the “Big Mound,” in this vicinity.

{62} Wednesday, June 8

“Behind me rises huge a reverend pile
Sole on this desert heath, a place of tombs,
Waste, desolate; where Ruin dreary dwells,

Brooding o’er sightless skulls and crumbling bones.”

We went out this morning to examine the antient monuments about Grave Creek. The town of Tomlinson is partly built upon one of the square forts. Several mounds are to be seen. I think there are nine within a mile. Three of them, which stand adjoining each other, are of superior height and magnitude to those which are most commonly to be met with. In digging away the side of one of these, in order to build a stable, many curious stone implements were found; one resembled a syringe; there were, also, a pestle, some copper beads of an oval shape, and several other articles. One of the mounds in Col. Bygg’s garden was excavated in order to make an ice-house.[41] It contained a vast number of human bones, a variety of stone tools, and a kind of stone signet of an oval shape, two inches in length, with a figure in relievo resembling a note of admiration, surrounded by two raised rims. Capt. Wilson, who presented the stone to my companion Mr. Adams, observed that it was exactly the figure of {63} the brand with which the Mexican horses were marked.[42] One of the mounds was surrounded by a regular ditch and parapet, with only one entrance. The tumulus was about twelve feet high, and the parapet five.

The “Big grave,” as it is called, is a most astonishing mound. We measured the perpendicular height, and it was sixty-seven feet and a half. By the measurement of George Millar, Esq.[43] of Wheeling, it is sixty-eight feet. Its sides are quite steep. The diameter of the top is fifty-five feet: but the apex seems to have caved in; for the present summit forms a bason, three or four feet in depth. Not having a surveyor’s chain, we could not take the circumference, but judged that its base covered more than half an acre. It is overgrown with large trees on all sides. Near the top is a white oak of three feet diameter; one still larger grows on the eastern side about half way down. The mound sounds hollow. Undoubtedly its contents will be numerous, curious, and calculated to develop in a farther degree the history of the antiquities which abound in this part of our country.

{64} As there are no excavations near the mound, and no hills or banks of earth, we infer that it must have been principally formed of sods skimmed from the surface, or of earth brought from a great distance. The labour of collecting such a prodigious quantity must have been inconceivably great. And when we consider the multitude of workmen, the length of time, and the expense, requisite to form such a stupendous mound; when we reflect upon the spirit of ambition which suggested the idea of this monument, of great but simple magnificence, to the memory of some renowned prince or warrior, we cannot but regret that the name and the glory it was designed to perpetuate are gone—LOST IN THE DARKNESS OF THE GRAVE![44]

Thursday, June 9

The route from Tomlinson to Wheeling was very romantic. Sometimes we passed through shaded vales of towering trees, and sometimes on a winding road along the steep sides of a precipice, at the bottom of which flowed the beautiful Ohio. The passage is circuitous and narrow, and guarded from the steep descent to the river by a slight parapet of logs or stones. If {65} you look below, you fear that the stumbling horse will precipitate you among crags and trees to the river’s edge; while from above, loosened rocks seem to threaten to crush you by a fall.

On these declivities grow the mountain raspberry (Rubus montanus floridus,) in great plenty. It is a handsome bush; and the flower, which is of a pale pink colour, and of the size and appearance of that of the sweet-briar, or hedge rose, gives it a very ornamental appearance. We were told that the fruit is large, and exceedingly delicious.

Friday, June 10

Leave Wheeling, and proceed homewards in our carriage. Lodge at Donegala, in Washington County, Pennsylvania.[45]

Saturday, June 11

Pass through Washington and arrived at Brownsville to spend the Sabbath. The remarks I made upon the situation of this place have been transferred to the preceding account of the settlements on the Monongahela river.

{66} Monday, June 13

Dined, and spent the afternoon at Uniontown, in company with the worthy Judge Addison, Judge Roberts, and the Judges, lawyers, and gentlemen of the circuit Court of Fayette County.[46]

Uniontown is the shire town of the County. It is a very pleasant and thriving place, situated near Redstone Creek, and principally built upon one straight street, the side walks of which are neatly paved with large flat stones. It contains about one hundred and twenty houses, many of them well built, and some quite handsome. The public buildings are a meeting-house, and a stone Gaol. There is a printing-office in the town which issues a weekly newspaper. Several manufactures are carried on in the place, and much business done in the mercantile line to very great advantage. Though the town has been settled but fifteen years, it is, next to Pittsburg and Wheeling, the most flourishing town through which we passed on the western side of the mountains. Near it are some valuable merchant-mills; and in the county are eighteen furnaces and iron works, and several distilleries.[47]

{67} Towards evening we pursued our journey as far as Connelsville, where we slept. This town has been settled eight years. It is pleasantly situated on the Yohiogany; and contains about eighty houses, and four hundred inhabitants.[48]

Tuesday, June 14

Through woody and rugged ways we passed the Chesnut Ridge, and Laurel Hill, and reached Somerset to lodge: a distance of thirty-three miles. This is a pretty place, the shire town of the County of the same name. It has been settled eight years; contains about fifty houses, several of them well built; some merchants’ stores, shops of artists, a meeting-house, and a handsome Court-house and Gaol built with stone.

Finding the afternoon too far spent to admit of another stage, we concluded to pass the night here. After a repast at the inn, we walked out to view the place, and inhale the cool breezes of declining day. The sun was just sinking below the western mountains, and fringed their tops with a rich variety of fiery hues, which died away into the most delicate tints of purple. We stood contemplating this scene of admirable {68} beauty, till the grey shades of evening shut it out from the view.

Wednesday, June 15

Beginning now to ascend the steep sides of the Alleghany, the road is rough and tiresome, and the prospect assumes a wilder and more romantic appearance at every step we advance.

We crossed a considerable stream which dashes over the rocks from the declivity of the mountain, and makes the fourth fork of Buffalo-lick Creek; one of the principal branches of the Yohiogany river. It issues from a spring near the top of the mountain. The indistinct echoes of the distant waterfall, and the plaintive murmurs of the breeze breaking in upon the stillness of the desert region, constitute an accompaniment corresponding with the solemnity and grandeur of the whole scene.

We dined at Seybour’s on the top of the mountain. We then visited the beautiful spring, near the house, on the easterly brow of the mountain, which is the source of Caicutuck, or Will’s Creek, whose waters enter the Potomack at Fort Cumberland, an outer post built by General Braddock in 1755.[49]

{69} Next we walked up to the higher ground, to enjoy the prospect afforded by this stupendous elevation.

From this summit a sweep of hundreds of miles is visible, except where remote intervening mountains break the line of the horizon, which in other parts is lost in the interminable azure wherewith the heaven and the earth are blended. Ideas of immensity swelled and exalted our minds as we contemplated a prospect partaking so much of infinitude; and we felt some wonderful relations to an universe without boundary or end.

Descending the mountain, we reached Metzker’s, an obscure inn, to lodge.

Thursday, June 16

We rose early in the morning and pursued our journey. For several miles we had an excellent road on the top of Dry Ridge. The sky was clear. The stars shone brightly. All was solemn and still, as if “nature felt a pause.” For some time we but dimly discerned our way; but, as the twilight became brighter, the prospect opened before us. The increasing light of dawning day extended the stretch of picturesque scenery. The horizon assumed a {70} hue of tawny red, which gradually heightened into ruddy tints, and formed a glowing tiara to encircle the splendors of the rising sun. The orb of day rose with uncommon grandeur among clouds of purple, red, and gold, which mingling with the serene azure of the upper sky, composed a richness and harmony of colouring which we never saw surpassed. The vapours of the night rested in the vallies below, and seemed to the view one vast ocean, through which the projecting peaks and summits of mountains looked like clusters of islands. The whole scene was novel and interesting in the highest degree. But we soon had to descend, and were immersed in fog and vapour, and shut out from the pleasant light of the sun for nearly half the day. The next mountain, however, raised us above these low clouds, and presented us with a view of the clear and unveiled sky.

Making a journey of twenty-eight miles this day, we arrived at Martin’s, by the crossings of the Juniata, and put up for the night.

Friday, June 17

Passing the Sideling Hills, we reach McConnel’s town, a delightful, {71} well-watered village in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, to dine. It is situated in the valley, or, as it is called “the Cove,” between Sideling and North Mountain. It has been built eight years; contains about eighty houses, several of them handsomely built with brick or stone, a number of stores and shops, and a small Dutch meeting-house.

Quitting this sequestered place, we ascended the North Mountain, and enjoyed from its top a variegated and magnificent prospect. Deep below we saw the town and beautiful vale we had passed, with the meandering stream which runs through it. Scattered houses, and rich cultivated farms, formed an interesting contrast with the rugged mountains with which they were environed. On the north and west the prospect is circumscribed by ranges of mountains; but on the east and south a prodigious expanse of country is laid open to the eye, and the senses are almost bewildered in contemplating the vastness of the scene.

To wander through the shady grove, to contemplate the verdant pasture and the field of ripening grain, or to admire the {72} flowery beauties of the garden, may afford a pleasant recreation; but the majestic features of the uncultivated wilderness, and the extensive views of nature gained from the brows of a lofty mountain, produce an expansion of fancy and an elevation of thought more dignified and noble. When these great scenes of creation open upon the view, they rouse an admiration exalting as it is delightful: and while the eye surveys at a glance the immensity of heaven and earth, the mind is rendered conscious of its innate dignity, and recognises those great and comprehensive powers with which it is endowed. The Sublime in Nature, which, in its effect is equally solemn and pleasing, captivates while it awes, and charms while it elevates and expands the soul.

Saturday, June 18

We tarried last night at Campbell’s at the Cold Springs, where we met with the most excellent accommodations, and lodging peculiarly refreshing to weary wayworn travellers; and rose this morning with renovated strength and spirits to resume our journey.

{73} We stopped at Chambersburg to breakfast. This is a fine town, situated on Conogocheague Creek, through which might be opened an easy communication with the Potomack. It is a post-town, and the capital of Franklin County, in Pennsylvania; and is principally built on two large streets which intersect each other at right angles, leaving a public square in the centre. It contains about two hundred and fifty houses, handsomely built of brick or stone; two Presbyterian churches; a Court-house of brick, and a stone Gaol. There is a printing-office in the place, and a paper-mill in the vicinity. It is a situation favourable to trade and manufactures, and every thing looks lively and thriving. The land in the neighbourhood appears rich and fertile, and is highly cultivated.[50]

We dined at Horne’s on the top of the South Mountain, and slept at Oxford, a small town which has been built nine years, but does not appear to much advantage.[51]

Lord’s Day, June 19

Wishing to attend public worship at Yorktown, we rose early this morning and arrived there by nine o’clock; having passed {74} through Abbot’s Town, a pretty flourishing village, the chief town of Adams County.[52]

Monday, June 20

Yorktown is a fine place, in pleasantness vying with Lancaster, in neatness exceeding it. It is a post-town, and capital of the county of York. It is situated on the east side of Codorus Creek, which empties into the Susquehannah. It is regularly laid out, principally on two main streets which cross each other at right angles. It contains more than five hundred houses, several of which are handsomely built of brick, and some of stone. The public buildings are a German Lutheran, a German Calvinist, a Presbyterian, a Roman Catholic, and a Moravian Church; a Quaker meeting-house; a Court house; a stone Gaol; a Record office, and an Academy.

Hence our journey was through Lancaster, Reading, and Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania; Warwick and Fishkill, in New York; and Farmington and Hartford in Connecticut.

We reached home the beginning of July.

—“O quid solutis est beatius curis,
Cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino
Labore fessi, venimus Larem ad nostrum!”

{75} Itinerary

The following directory of the Roads and Distances over the mountains, from Lancaster in Pennsylvania, may be of use to explain some particulars in the preceding Journal, and prove of service to those who may have occasion to make the same tour.[53]

Towns | Inns | Distances in miles
From Lancaster to Big Chickey’s | Cockran’s | 9
Elizabeth town | Black horse | 9
Middletown | 9
Chambers’ ferry over the Susquehannah | 6
¶Silver springs[54] | 8
Carlisle | 10
Mount rock | Grand Turk | 10
Shippensburg | 11
Strasburg | 11
Over TWO MOUNTAINS to Fannetsburg | 7
Over the THIRD MOUNTAIN to Burnt Cabins | 4
Over Sideling Hills to Wilds | 13
Crossings of the Juniata | ¶ Martin’s | 9
| ¶ Graham’s | 8
{76} Bedford[55] | 6
Forks of the road[56] | ¶ Smith’s | 4
Glade road | Metzker’s | 10
Top of the Alleghany | White horse | 11
Somerset | ¶ Webster’s | 13
Laurel Hill | 8
| Behmer’s | 3
Jones’s Mill | 6
Mount Pleasant | 11
Westmoreland | ¶ McKean’s | 5
Budd’s ferry over the Yohiogany | 8
Pittsburg | ¶ Pure fountain | 28
Cannonsburg | Black horse | 18
Washington | Indian Queen | 9
Alexandria | 16
Shepherd’s Mills | 9
Wheeling[57] | ¶ Goodwin’s | 7
Down the river to Marietta | 95
{77} Returning
From Marietta to
Newport | ¶ Dana’s | 6
| Williamson’s | 14
| ¶ McBride’s | 12
Hurd’s ferry across the Ohio | Hurd’s | 12
Fish Creek | 8
Grave Creek | ¶ Bigg’s | 12
Wheeling | ¶ Goodwin’s | 12
Donegala | 23
Washington | Indian Queen | 9
| ¶ Hawkin’s | 13
Brownsville or Redstone | ¶ Jenkinson’s | 12
Union-town | ¶ Collins’s | 12
Connelsville | ¶ Welles’ | 11
Chesnut Ridge | ¶Woodruff | 9
| Bachelor’s | 5
Top of Laurel Hill | Slaucher’s | 4
Somerset | Webster’s | 14
| McDommet’s | 8
Top of Alleghany | 6
| Strotler’s | 7
| Metzker’s | 4
Forks of the road | Bonnet’s | 9
| ¶ Smith’s | 1
End of the Glade road.
{78} Bedford | 4
| ¶ Graham’s[58] | 6
Crossings of the Juniata | ¶ Martin’s[59] | 8
[Then, to go by Chambersburg, take the road on the S. E. side of Sideling Hills] | Beckwith’s | 8
McConnelstown | ¶ Davis’s | 9
| Campbell’s | 5
Chambersburg | 9
| McKean’s | 4
| Brigham’s | 4
| Horne’s | 5
| Cross Keys | 7
| Lion | 3
| Murphy’s | 8
Oxford | 2
Abbot’s town | 4
| ¶King’s | 4
| Wolfe’s | 6
Yorktown | ¶Upp’s | 5
| Wright’s ferry | 12
Lancaster | Swan’s | 10

{79} THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS

From, April 6 to June 13, 1803

Days of the
month

Times of
observation

Place

Wind

Weather

APRIL | Fahrenh. | deg. | | |
6 | VI. A.M. | 34 | Carlisle in Pennsylvania. | N.W. |
| II. P.M. | 64 | 127 miles from Philad. | S.W. | Fair all day.
7 | X. A.M. | 52 | Strasburg, at the foot of the mountain. | N. |
| XI. A.M. | 58 | Top of the mountain. | W.N.W. |
| XII. M. | 67 | Valley below. | |
| I½. P.M. | 57 | Top of the second ridge. | |
| III. P.M. | 69 | Fannetsburg; 2d valley. | W. |
| V. P.M. | 72 | Top of third mountain. | |
| VII. P.M. | 60 | Burnt Cabins; 3d valley. | S.W. | Fair all day.
8 | VI. A.M. | 48 | Same place. | W.S.W. | Hazy.
| X. A.M. | 62 | Foot of Sideling mountain. | | Fair, except while enveloped with clouds on the side of the mountain.
9 | XII. M. | 56 | ⎫ | Borders of the Juniata. | ⎫ | N.W. | Fair.
| II. P.M. | 65 | ⎬ | ⎬
| V. P.M. | 58 | ⎭ | ⎭
10 | VIII. A.M. | 39 | ⎫ | same place | | Fair.
| XI. A.M. | 62 | ⎬
| II. P.M. | 68 | ⎭
11 | VII. A.M. | 54 | Bedford | | ⎫ | Fair.
| II. P.M. | 78 | Foot of the Alleghany | | ⎭
| VII. P.M. | 52 | Top of the mountain. | |
12 | VI. A.M. | 55 | Top of the mountain | E. | Smoky.
| XII. M. | 74 | Somerset | W. |
| V. P.M. | 77 | Foot of Laurel mountain. | W. |
| VII. P.M. | 60 | Top of the mountain. | W. | Smoky all day.
13 | VI. A.M. | 57 | same place | |
| X. A.M. | 63 | Bottom of Laurel Hill | | Hazy.
| XII. M. | 84 | 265 miles from Philad. | S.W. | Fair.
| VII. P.M. | 79 | 280 same place. | | Smoky.
14 | VI. A.M. | 70 | 285 same place (Westmoreland County.) | | Shower.
| II. P.M. | 65 | Banks of Monongahela. | |
| VII.P.M. | 68 | Mifflin (Alleghany Co.) 312 miles from Philad. | |
15 | VI. A.M. | 58 | Valley of Monongahela. | N.W. | ⎫ | Rain.
| X. A.M. | 64 | Pittsburg | W. | ⎭
| VII. P.M. | 55 | same place. | | Cloudy. Snow in the night.
| IX. P.M. | 49 | same place. |
16 | VII. A.M. | 35 | ⎫ | same place. | | Clear.
| XII. M. | 48 | ⎬ | | Flurry of snow.
{80} | VI. P.M. | 46 | ⎭ | | Cloudy.
17 | VII. A.M. | 44 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 46 | ⎬ | Pittsburg. | S.E. | Fair[60]
| VI. P.M. | 45 | ⎭ | | |
18 | VII. A.M. | 43 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 63 | ⎬ | same place. | S.E. by E. | Fair & pleasant.
| VII. P.M. | 60 | ⎭ | | |
19 | VII. A.M. | 45 | Pittsburg. | ⎫ | |
| II. P.M. | 72 | Cannonsburg. | ⎬ | S.S.W. | Fair.
| VII. P.M. | 62 | Washington. | ⎭ | |
20 | X. A.M. | 62 | 10 miles beyond Wash. | | ⎫ |
| III. P.M. | 78 | Shepherd’s mills on Wheeling Creek. | | ⎬ | Fair.
| VI. P.M. | 68 | Wheeling. | | ⎭ |
21 | VII. A.M. | 62 | Wheeling. | | Shower early in morn.
| II. P.M. | 75 | Captinat Island on the Ohio, 101 miles below Pittsburg. | | ⎫ | Fair.
| VII. P.M. | 72 | Fish Creek, 110 miles below Pittsburg. | | ⎭
22 | VII. A.M. | 64 | Long reach on the Ohio 127 miles below Pittsburg. | | ⎫ |
| II. P.M. | 73 | Long reach. | | ⎬ | Fair.
| VII. P.M. | 65 | Head of Muskingum Isl. | | ⎭ |
23 | VII. A.M. | 58 | ⎫ | | S.E. and by S. |
| II. P.M. | 65 | ⎬ | Marietta. | Rainy.
| V. P.M. | 63 | ⎭ | |
24 | VII. A.M. | 66 | ⎫ | | |
| II. P.M. | 68 | ⎬ | same place. | S.S.W. | Rainy.
| V. P.M. | 65 | ⎭ | | |
25 | VII. A.M. | 55 | ⎫ | | |
| II. P.M. | 66 | ⎬ | same place. | S.W.&W. | Rainy.
| V. P.M. | 64 | ⎭ | | |
26 | VII. A.M. | 46 | ⎫ | | | Cloudy.
| II. P.M. | 60 | ⎬ | same place. | E.N.E. | ⎫ | Fair
| V. P.M. | 58 | ⎭ | | | ⎭
27 | VII. A.M. | 48 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 61 | ⎬ | same place. | E.and by S. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 57 | ⎭ | | |
28 | VII. A.M. | 55 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 75 | ⎬ | same place. | W.S.W. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 64 | ⎭ | | |
29 | VII. A.M. | 59 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 70 | ⎬ | same place. | S.W. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 68 | ⎭ | | |

30

VII. A.M.

61

⎫

S.W. and by W.

Fair.
Hazy.

| XII. M. | 76 | ⎬ | same place.
| V. P.M. | 75 | ⎭ |
MAY | | | |
1 | VII. A.M. | 72 | ⎫ | | | ⎫ | Fair.

XII. M.

79

⎬

same place.

⎬

Fresh wind
W.N.W.

⎬

{81} | V. P.M. | 68 | ⎭ | | ⎭
2 | VII. A.M. | 63 | ⎫ | | | Fair. Slight frost in the night.
| XII. M. | 61 | ⎬ | same place. | N.W.
| V. P.M. | 50 | ⎭ | |
3 | VII. A.M. | 55 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 58 | ⎬ | same place. | N.W. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 55 | ⎭ | | |
4 | VII A.M. | 54 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 62 | ⎬ | same place. | S.S.W. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 58 | ⎭ | | |
5 | VII. A.M. | 56 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 62 | ⎬ | same place. | W.N.W. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 59 | ⎭ | | |
6 | VII. A.M. | 54 | ⎫ | | | Remarkably cold for this region.
| XII. M. | 58 | ⎬ | Bellepré. | N.
| V. P.M. | 52 | ⎭ | |
7 | VII. A.M. | 44 | ⎫ | | | Fall of snow: very unusual here, and more than fell at any one time in the winter.
| XII. M. | 52 | ⎬ | same place. | N.N.W.
| V. P.M. | 39 | ⎭ | |
8 | VII. A.M. | 384 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 56 | ⎬ | same place. | N.N.W. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 55 | ⎭ | | |
9 | VII. A.M. | 53 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 58 | ⎬ | same place. | | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 56 | ⎭ | | |
10 | VII. A.M. | 55 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 69 | ⎬ | same place. | N.W. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 58 | ⎭ | | |
11 | VII. A.M. | 55 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 70 | ⎬ | Marietta. | W.S.W. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 71 | ⎭ | | |
12 | VII. A.M. | 65 | ⎫ | | W. and by N. |
| XII. M. | 80 | ⎬ | same place. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 77 | ⎭ | |
13 | VII. A.M. | 68 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 82 | ⎬ | same place. | | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 79 | ⎭ | | |
14 | VII. A.M. | 72 | ⎫ | Marietta. | | ⎫ | Fair.
| XII. M. | 80 | ⎭ | | ⎭
| V. P.M. | 79 | 8 miles up the Muskingum. | | Thundershower.
15 | VII. A.M. | 71 | ⎫ | At Rainbow, a little village 12 miles up the Muskingum. | | Hazy.
| XII. M. | 78 | ⎬ | |
| V. P.M. | 75 | ⎭ | | Fair.
16 | VII. A.M. | 78 | ⎫ | Up the Muskingum. | | Broken clouds.
| XII. M. | 83 | ⎭ |
| V. P.M. | 77 | 18 miles from Marietta. | | Thun. showers.
17 | VII. A.M. | 62 | ⎫ | Waterford, 25 miles from Marietta. | |
| XII. M. | 85 | ⎬ | | Fair.
{82} | V. P.M. | 80 | ⎭ | |
18 | VII. A.M. | 63 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 80 | ⎬ | Waterford. | | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 77 | ⎭ | | |
19 | VII. AM. | 82 | ⎫ | Returning from Waterford. | | Showery.
| XII. M. | 84 | ⎬ | | Clouds united from the N.E. and S.W. with a heavy thunder shower.
| V. P.M. | 86 | ⎭ |
20 | VII. A.M. | 71 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 76 | ⎬ | Marietta. | W.N.W. | Cloudy.
| V. P.M. | 73 | ⎭ | | | Fair.
21 | VII. A.M. | 63 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 69 | ⎬ | same place. | W.N.W. | Cloudy.
| V. P.M. | 65 | ⎭ | | |
22 | VII. A.M. | 64 | ⎫ | | ⎫ | W.N.W. | Rainy.
| XII. M. | 69 | ⎬ | same place. | ⎭ | N.N.E. |
| V. P.M. | 68 | ⎭ | | S.S.W. | Fair.
23 | VII. A.M. | 5 | ⎫ | | | Cloudy.
| XII. M. | 66 | ⎬ | same place. | |
| V. P.M. | 60 | ⎭ | | S.W. | Rain.
24 | VII. A.M. | 70 | ⎫ | | | Cloudy.
| XII. M. | 71 | ⎬ | same place. | | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 68 | ⎭ | | | Thun. showers.
25 | VII. A.M. | 64 | ⎫ | | | Fair.
| XII. M. | 68 | ⎬ | same place. | | Cloudy.
| V. P.M. | 66 | ⎭ | | | Thun. showers.
26 | VII. A.M. | 65 | ⎫ | | | ⎫ | Fair.
| XII. M. | 68 | ⎬ | same place. | | ⎭
| V. P.M. | 65 | ⎭ | | | Flying clouds, & distant thun.
27 | VII. A.M. | 64 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 75 | ⎬ | same place. | E.N.E. | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 63 | ⎭ | | |
28 | VII. A.M. | 62 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 68 | ⎬ | Bellepré. | | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 64 | ⎭ | | |
29 | VII. A.M. | 58 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 63 | ⎬ | same place. | | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 56 | ⎭ | | |
30 | VII. A.M. | 59 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 72 | ⎬ | same place. | | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 70 | ⎭ | | |
31 | VII. A.M. | 58 | ⎫ | Vienna, a little village on the Ohio, in the State of Virginia | | Fair.
| XII. M. | 72 | ⎬ |
| V. P.M. | 60 | ⎭ |
JUNE | | | |
1 | VII. A.M. | 71 | ⎫ | | | Fair.
| XII. M. | 80 | ⎬ | Marietta. | | Scattered
| V. P.M. | 76 | ⎭ | | | clouds.
2 | VII. A.M. | 72 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 85 | ⎬ | same place. | | Fair.
{83} | V. P.M. | 81 | ⎭ | | |
3 | VII. A.M. | 72 | ⎫ | | | ⎫ | Rainy.
| XII. M. | 79 | ⎬ | same place. | S.S.W. | ⎭
| V. P.M. | 74 | ⎭ | | | Thunder.
4 | VII. A.M. | 71 | ⎫ | | S.W. and by W. |
| XII. M. | 74 | ⎬ | same place. | Rainy.
| V. P.M. | 72 | ⎭ | |
5 | VII. A.M. | 69 | ⎫ | | | Scatt. clouds.
| XII. M. | 774 | ⎬ | same place. | | ⎫ | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 62 | ⎭ | | | ⎭
6 | VII. A.M. | 67 | Marietta. | | ⎫ |
| XII. M. | 75 | 25 miles up the river. | | ⎬ | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 63 | 48 do. | | ⎭ |
7 | VII. A.M. | 66 | same place. | | ⎫ |
| XII. M. | 77 | 63 miles up the river. | | ⎬ | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 62 | Grave Creek. | | ⎭ |
8 | VII. A.M. | 59 | ⎫ | do. | | ⎫ | Fair.
| XII. M. | 76 | ⎭ | | ⎭
| V. P.M. | 70 | Wheeling. | | Shower.
9 | VII. A.M. | 64 | ⎫ | | |
| XII. M. | 73 | ⎬ | Wheeling. | | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 72 | ⎭ | | |
10 | VII. A.M. | 68 | Wheeling. | | ⎫ |
| XII. M. | 84 | 12 miles from Wheeling. | | ⎬ | Fair.
| V. P.M. | 78 | Donegala, a small town in Pennsylvania. | | ⎭ |
11 | VII. A.M. | 74 | ⎫ | Washington, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. | |
| XII. M. | 84 | ⎬ | |
| V. P.M. | 82 | ⎭ | |
12 | VII. A.M. | 72 | same place. | | ⎫ | Fair.
| XII. M. | 84 | ⎫ | | | ⎭
| V. P.M. | 83 | ⎭ | Brownsville.[61] | | Thundershower in the evening.

{84} METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

MADE AT GRENVILLE COLLEGE IN THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

By William Chandler, a.m. one of the Tutors

March, 1803 | Observations

Thermometer

The greatest degree of cold was on the 2d in the morning: the greatest degree of heat on the 26th P.M. Prevalent winds from S. to W. A very little snow on the 9th. From the 1st to 7th fair; on the 7th and 8th much rain, and some thunder; on the 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, and 27th rain, much wind, and thunder. The remaining days sunshine and pleasant.
Peach trees bloom the latter end of this month.

Times of observation | Highest | Lowest | Mean
Morning. | 65 | 63 | 44
Noon. | 73 | 20 | 58
P.M. | 75 | 20 | 63
| Barometer
A.M. | 28,80 | 28,14 | 28,50
M. | 28,82 | 28,18 | 28,56
P.M. | 28,78 | 28,33 | 28,55

April

The greatest degree of cold was on the 17th; the greatest degree of heat was on the 29th. Prevalent winds from S. to N.W. Rain on the 4th, 15th, 20th, 22d, 23d, and 25th. The atmosphere was very smoky a considerable part of the remaining days. On the 17th, 18th, and 19th were frosts which destroyed the young fruit, and the principal part of the mast.
Not much thunder this month.

| Thermometer
Times of observation | Highest | Lowest | Mean
A.M. | 70 | 32 | 55
M. | 78 | 50 | 69
P.M. | 82 | 54 | 70
| Barometer
A.M. | 28,79 | 28,21 | 28,57
M. | 28,79 | 28,21 | 28,58
P.M. | 28,79 | 28,43 | 28,57

May

The greatest degree of heat was on the 17th; the least on the 9th, when there was frost. Rain on the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 22d, 24th, 25th, and 26th; the other days were fair; but few of them smoky.
Not much thunder this month.

| Thermometer
Times of observation | Highest | Lowest | Mean
A.M. | 70 | 44 | 61
M. | 82 | 58 | 73
P.M. | 86 | 60 | 75
| Barometer
A.M. | 28,90 | 28,26 | 28,52
M. | 28,91 | 28,26 | 28,52
P.M. | 28,89. | 28,27. | 28,54

June

Greatest degree of heat on the 17th and 27th, least on the 6th. Rain on the 4th, 5th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 18th, and 19th. The remainder of the month pleasant. No days smoky.
The meazles have prevailed this, and the preceding months, with greater severity than had been known before. In many instances they proved fatal.

| Thermometer
Times of observation | Highest | Lowest | Mean
A.M. | 76 | 61 | 69
M. | 83 | 72 | 78
P.M. | 87 | 72 | 83
| Barometer
A.M. | 28,80 | 28,33 | 28,54
M. | 28,81 | 28,32 | 28,56
P.M. | 28,77 | 28,29 | 28,54

{85} July

The greatest degree of heat was on the 12th and 13th; the least on the 6th and 7th. The thermometer has stood at 90 two or three times at between III. and IV. P.M. We had rain on the 2d, 4th, 16th, 17th, and 24th.
For the two last months the prevalent winds were from S.W. to W. We have very few winds from the east. Storms are heard to roar in the mountains, fifteen miles south of this place, for one or more days before they come.

| Thermometer
Times of observation | Highest | Lowest | Mean
A.M. | 77 | 64 | 71
M. | 86 | 72 | 79
P.M. | 89 | 75 | 73
| Barometer
A.M. | 28,79 | 28,39 | 28,58
M. | 28,80 | 28,35 | 28,59
P.M. | 28,78 | 28,34 | 28,57
Note. The time of P.M. observation is a little past the greatest heat of the day.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] General Rufus Putnam (born in Massachusetts, 1738) served in the French and Indian War, and later with distinction in the Revolution. He is best known to history as the superintendent of the Ohio Company and the founder of the soldier-colony at Marietta. Self-educated, and rising to prominence by force of will and character, his accomplishments in engineering and surveying, and his services to Western development, were valuable. Washington appointed him surveyor-general for the United States (1793), which position he held for ten years, when removed as a Federalist by Jefferson. His interests during all the later years of his life were bound up with those of Ohio and the Marietta settlement. At his death (1824) he was (with the exception of Lafayette) the last surviving general officer of the Revolutionary army.—Ed.

[2] Beckford. History of Jamaica, vol. i. p. 191.—Harris.

[3] Harris travelled westward by the Pennsylvania State Road, the great thoroughfare to the Western country. It was completed about 1785, and passed west from Carlisle through Shippensburg, Strasburg, and Bedford. Beyond Bedford the road forked, and Harris took the lower, or Glade Road. Michaux had gone out the preceding year by the northern branch, also reaching Carlisle by a different route. For a more detailed description than Michaux gives, see Cuming, Sketches of a Tour of the Western Country (Pittsburg, 1810), which will be republished as vol. iv of the present series.—Ed.

[4] Harris is mistaken in his derivation of the term “Burnt Cabins.” Little Meadows is nearly a hundred miles west of this place. Burnt Cabins took its name from the dispossession of the settlers by the Pennsylvania authorities in 1750. About ten years previous, groups of Scotch-Irish had begun to push over the Susquehanna into the attractive basin of the Juniata, which was still unpurchased Indian territory. The aborigines were so incensed that a deputation went to Philadelphia to protest, and an Indian war appeared imminent. The government sent out a commission headed by Secretary Peters, and including George Croghan and Conrad Weiser as members, to drive off the intruders and burn their cabins. The official report is found in Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 440-449. The settlers themselves aided in the work, and Peters remarked, “It may be proper to add, that the Cabbins or Log Houses which were burnt were of no considerable Value, being such as the Country People erect in a Day or two, and cost only the Charge of an Entertainment [i.e., a log-rolling].” An Indian war was thus averted. The locality has retained its name of Burnt Cabins to the present day.—Ed.

[5] This is a misprint for Bedford County, in which East and West Providence townships are situated.—Ed.

[6] See Gen. Braddock’s letter to Sir T. Robinson, June 5th, 1755.—Harris.

[7] Harris’s allusions to the various roads are confusing and misleading. The road (Pennsylvania State) which he left to the north, passing through Ligonier and Greensburg, followed in the main the route cut (1758) for Forbes’s army. Braddock’s Road lay much to the south of this, going out from Fort Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac. The question of the availability of these two roads was a point at issue during Forbes’s campaign. See Hulbert, Historic Highways of America (Cleveland, 1903), vols. iv, v. Harris took neither Forbes’s Road, nor Braddock’s (later the line of the Cumberland National Road), but what was locally known as the “Old Glade Road,” a branch of Forbes’s Road, leaving the latter four miles beyond Bedford, and crossing to the Youghiogheny through Somerset and Mount Pleasant.—Ed.

[8] The Old Glade Road, also locally known as the Jones’s Mill Road, received legislative appropriations during the early part of the nineteenth century, and was quite as popular as its northern rival, the State Road. It crossed the Youghiogheny at what is now known as West Newton, Westmoreland County. The term Budd’s Ferry is found upon a map of 1792; but in the early part of the century it was usually spoken of as Robbstown, from the name of the first proprietor. The road is now known as the “Wellersburg and West Newton plank.”—Ed.

[9] Letter to Sir T. Robinson, June 5, 1755.—Harris.

[10] The Youghiogheny is said to owe its name to the Kanawha Indians, and to signify “four streams;” that is, the three branches—Laurel Hill Creek, the northern; Castleman’s River, the middle, or southeast fork; and the South fork—unite to form the fourth or main stream of the river. The point of intersection was appropriately named Turkey’s Foot, and at the site is the present town of Confluence, Somerset County.—Ed.

[11] The name of these falls in the Youghiogheny River probably signifies “beautiful cascade.” At present the total descent is thirty-six feet, and the direct fall sixteen. The cascade is utilized for water-power at the present Falls City, Fayette County. For sketch of Rittenhouse, see Michaux’s Travels, ante, p. 51.—Ed.

[12] For note on Elizabethtown, see F. A. Michaux’s Travels, ante, p. 162.—Ed.

[13] Partly from a little pamphlet, published at Pittsburg, called “The Ohio Navigator,” with such other remarks as my own observation and inquiries could supply.—Harris.

[14] For the early history of Morgantown, see F. A. Michaux’s Travels, ante, p. 162.—Ed.

[15] Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia.—Harris.

[16] The citation from Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia ends with the word “seasons.” Jefferson does, however, discuss the portage from the Cheat to the Potomac, which he says “will be from 15 to 40 miles, according to the trouble which shall be taken to approach the two navigations.” A canal connecting these two water-systems was a favorite project of both Jefferson and Washington; the latter at one time estimated that it would not need to exceed twenty miles in length.—Ed.

[17] New Geneva was originally laid out by Albert Gallatin, who came to America in 1780, and four years later bought a farm at the junction of George’s Creek with the Monongahela. The name of the town was given in honor of its founder’s birthplace, and through his influence a number of Swiss emigrants settled at this place. The glass works were established by Gallatin (1795) in conjunction with two German partners, the Kramers brothers. Gallatin’s country house near New Geneva was entitled “Friendship Hill,” and thereat he entertained Lafayette on his last visit to America.—Ed.

[18] This is not to be confused with Greensburg, the county-seat for Westmoreland. Greensburg (now Greensboro), here mentioned, is on the Monongahela in Greene County, nearly opposite New Geneva, and was laid out by Gallatin’s friend and compatriot, Badollet.—Ed.

[19] For the early history of Brownsville, and the erection of Fort Burd, see F. A. Michaux’s Travels, ante, p. 159; also, Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio.—Ed.

[20] Many sailing vessels were built upon the Monongahela from 1810-11. In the latter year the first steamboat was launched at Pittsburg, and sailing vessels were soon superseded.—Ed.

[21] The site of Braddock’s field is now occupied by the manufacturing town which takes its name from the unfortunate British general. See Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio.—Ed.

[22] Loskiel’s History of Moravian missions in America.—Harris.

[23] For the early history of Presqu’ Isle, and the road built thence by the French expedition of 1753, see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series, p. 101, note 62.—Ed.

[24] For the history of Fort Le Boeuf, see Croghan’s Journals, vol. i of this series, p. 102, note 65.—Ed.

[25] Meadville was the earliest settlement in northwest Pennsylvania, west of the Allegheny River. About 1788 a party came out from Wyoming Valley, led by David Mead, who afterwards was judge and major-general of militia for the district. The settlement was almost exterminated during the Indian wars, and its inhabitants obliged to take refuge at Fort Franklin. Nevertheless, Meadville was laid out as a town in 1793. It is the seat of Allegheny College, founded in 1815.—Ed.

[26] The word freshet, says the late Dr. Belknap, means a river swollen by rain or melted snow, in the interior country, rising above its usual level, spreading over the adjacent low lands, and rushing with an accelerated current to the sea.—Hist. of New Hampshire, v. 3. preface.—Harris.

[27] For a brief notice of Fort Duquesne, see F. A. Michaux’s Travels, ante, p. 156, note 20.—Ed.

[28] For the two Pittsburg newspapers, see F. A. Michaux’s Travels, ante p. 157, note 21. The glass works were built by General James O’Hara.—Ed.

[29] For a sketch of Fort Fayette, see Michaux’s Travels, ante, p. 32.—Ed.

[30] Grant’s Hill is so named from the defeat (Sept. 11, 1758) of a detachment of Highlanders under Major Grant by a party of French and Indians from Fort Duquesne. Grant, who had been sent out by Bouquet, commanding the van of Forbes’s army, to reconnoitre, incautiously approached too near the enemies’ stronghold, was surrounded, and driven back with many losses.—Ed.

[31] Canonsburg was named for its first settler, Colonel John Canon, who took up the land under a Virginia warrant in 1773. Colonel Canon was a man of note in Western Pennsylvania—justice of the peace, commander of the militia, and representative in the assembly.

Jefferson College, to which Harris refers, owes its beginnings to Colonel Canon, who in 1791 donated the lot and advanced money for building the first structure. After long years of rivalry, Jefferson College was finally consolidated (1869) with that of Washington, at the town of that name, under the joint title of Washington and Jefferson College. Canonsburgh Academy occupies the former college buildings.—Ed.

[32] The town of Washington, when laid out in 1780, was entitled Bassett Town. The name was changed when it was chosen as the seat of Washington County.—Ed.

[33] Alexandria, or West Alexander, was laid out by Robert Humphreys in 1796. Humphreys, who had been a Revolutionary soldier, serving under Lafayette, took up the land on a Virginia military certificate, and named the town in honor of his wife, whose maiden name was Martha Alexander.—Ed.

[34] Little Wheeling Creek.—Harris.

[35] This was the house of Moses Shepherd, son of Colonel David Shepherd, one of the most prominent of the pioneer officers of Western Virginia. The latter came West in 1773, and built a blockhouse and fort at the junction of Big and Little Wheeling Creeks, where the village of Elm Grove is now situated. Colonel Shepherd was county-lieutenant during the Indian wars, assisted at both sieges of Wheeling, joined Brodhead’s expedition, and was of great use in protecting the frontier. The house mentioned by Harris is said to be still standing.—Ed.

[36] For the early history of Wheeling, see Michaux’s Travels, ante, p. 33, note 15. There were two routes from Pittsburg to Wheeling; one more direct, but rougher, passing through West Liberty, was taken by the younger Michaux (q. v.) the year previous; the stage route, by way of Canonsburg, Washington, and Alexandria was that chosen by Harris.—Ed.

[37] Fish Creek was on the “Warrior Branch,” a great Indian highway leading from the Ohio into Tennessee. The locality is interesting for its connection with the early life of George Rogers Clark, who explored the neighborhood as early as 1772, and passed the succeeding winter in a log cabin about a mile above Fish Creek. Clark was a leader among the young men on the frontier, and held a school for them at the cabin of his friend Yates Conwell, built directly at the mouth of Fish Creek. The two years passed here were valuable in the experience thus gained of frontier life, which made his later career so marked a success.—Ed.

[38] Michaux says (ante, p. 177) that the inhabitants of Marietta were the first to conduct an exchange with the West Indies by means of vessels built at their own docks.—Ed.

[39] Judge Joseph Gilman was a native of New Hampshire, where he had served as chairman of the committee of safety during the troubled times of the Revolution. He was one of the Ohio associates and removed to Marietta in 1789. Governor St. Clair appointed him probate judge, judge of the court of common pleas, etc., until (1796) he was chosen one of the three judges of the territory, an office which he filled acceptably until the organization of the state of Ohio (1803), when he again became a local justice. Judge Gilman died at Marietta in 1806 at the age of seventy.

His collaborator, Judge Dudley Woodbridge, was a Connecticut man, graduate of Yale College, and educated for the bar. The Revolution interrupted his legal studies, which he later resumed, and after removal to Ohio he was one of the first justices of the new state. His son, William, became prominent in politics, and was governor of Michigan.—Ed.

[40] Joseph Tomlinson was the son of a Scotch-Irish emigrant who had settled in Maryland, where the former was born in 1745. He explored this region as early as 1770, but made a permanent location in 1772. The first town that Tomlinson attempted to establish (1795), he named Elizabethtown for his wife. It was later merged in Moundsville, West Virginia, of which Tomlinson was also proprietor and founder.—Ed.

[41] The Biggs family was an important one in the pioneer annals of Western Virginia. The father migrated from Maryland, and about 1770 settled on Short Creek above Wheeling. There were six sons noted as Indian fighters of whom General Benjamin Biggs was best known, having served in Lord Dunmore’s War and that of the Revolution, and acting as brigadier-general of Ohio County militia during the later Indian wars. His papers form part of the Draper Manuscripts Collection, belonging to the Wisconsin Historical Society. Probably the Colonel Biggs mentioned by Harris was Joseph, he having bought one of the first lots in Elizabeth (now Moundsville).

Joseph Biggs took part as a boy in the siege of Fort Henry, at Wheeling; defended a besieged blockhouse in Ohio, opposite Wheeling, in 1791; and finally died in Ohio about 1833. He claimed to have been in seventeen Indian fights in and about the neighborhood of Wheeling.—Ed.

[42] This singular marking-stone is now deposited in Mr. Turell’s Cabinet of Curiosities in Boston.—Harris.

[43] George Millar had one of the first potteries of this region at Wheeling, and served as mayor of the town (1806-7).—Ed.

[44] For recent study of Indian mounds, consult Smithsonian Institution Report, 1891 (Washington, 1893); also American Bureau of Ethnology, Twelfth Annual Report (Washington, 1894).—Ed.

[45] Harris returned from Wheeling by a road which followed the route later taken by the National or Cumberland Road from Wheeling to Uniontown, in Fayette County. See Searight, The Old Pike: A History of the National Road (Uniontown, Pennsylvania, 1894) for the building and continuation of this road, as well as the Congressional debates thereon.

The town of Donegala has vanished from the map; it was probably at or near the present Claysville, in Donegal Township, Washington County.—Ed.

[46] Judge Alexander Addison was a Scotchman who first entered the ministry; afterwards studying for the bar, he became the first law judge in western Pennsylvania. His opposition to the Whiskey Rebellion, and prosecution of its leaders, and his strong Federalist attitude, made him many enemies among the Western settlers, at whose instance he was impeached and removed from the bench in 1802. Addison was succeeded by Judge Samuel Roberts, who had been born and educated in Philadelphia. Admitted to the bar in 1793, he was a successful lawyer when placed upon the bench (1803), where he remained until his death in 1820.—Ed.

[47] The site of Uniontown was first occupied in 1767 by two Scotch-Irishmen, who were bought out by Henry Beeson, whose blacksmith forge and mill early attracted settlers. A blockhouse was built here in 1774, and two years later a town was laid out, known as Beesontown. This did not flourish until after the Revolution, when the present name of Uniontown gradually came into use. The place was incorporated in 1796, and made the seat of Fayette County.—Ed.

[48] Connellsville, at the head of navigation of the Youghiogheny, was settled by sons-in-law of Colonel William Crawford, for one of whom the town was named, when laid out in 1793. It prospered because of its mills and navigation interests, and in 1806 was incorporated as a borough.—Ed.

[49] Fort Cumberland was built the winter before Braddock’s campaign, by the independent companies sent out from New York and North Carolina to support Washington in his advance toward the forks of the Ohio. The first title was Fort Mount Pleasant, soon changed in honor of the commander of the British army. The fort was garrisoned until the close of the French wars in 1765, and never again re-occupied save for a few days during the Whiskey Rebellion (1794). For a detailed history of this place, see Lowdermilk, History of Cumberland (Washington, 1878).—Ed.

[50] For the early history of Chambersburg, see Post’s Journals, vol. i of this series, p. 238, note 77. Harris returned east by the southern route, or Chambersburg pike, which branched from the main route some twelve miles east of Bedford, passed through the central part of Franklin and Adams counties, and through York to Wright’s Ferry on the Susquehanna.—Ed.

[51] This is now known as New Oxford, a town in Adams County; it was laid out by a German, Henry Kuhns, in 1792.—Ed.

[52] This territory was largely a German settlement, and few towns were desired. Abbottstown was laid out by a pioneer of that name, as early as 1753, but not incorporated until 1835.—Ed.

[53] Those places where the best entertainment for travellers is furnished, are distinguished by this mark.¶—Harris.

[54] At this place guests are regaled with a repast of fine trout.—Harris.

[55] From Bedford to Baltimore 143 miles, and to Pittsburg 111 miles.—Harris.

[56] The southernmost road is called the Glade road, and is considered as the best except after heavy rains; the northernmost is called the Old or Forbes’s road, and goes by Fort Ligonier. These roads unite twenty-eight miles on this side of Pittsburg.—Harris.

[57] The whole distance from Boston to Wheeling, the road we went, is 817 miles, and from Philadelphia 472 miles.—Harris.

[58] See the preceding Journal.—Harris.

[59] Neat chambers, clean beds, and soft pillows; sweet water, and assiduous attendance.—Harris.

[60] From Bedford our direction has been north to the amount of more than a degree.—Harris.

[61] At this place I was so unfortunate as to break my Thermometer.—Harris.

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EXPLORATIONS by early Navigators, descriptions of the Islands and their Peoples, their History, and records of the Catholic Missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial, and religious conditions of those Islands from their earliest relations with European Nations to the end of the nineteenth century.

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*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANDRÉ MICHAUX'S TRAVELS INTO KENTUCKY, 1793-96; FRANÇOIS ANDRÉ MICHAUX'S TRAVELS WEST OF ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS, 1802; THADDEUS MASON HARRIS'S JOURNAL OF A TOUR NORTHWEST OF ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS, 1803. ***

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Table of Contents

- Transcriber’s Note:
- Early Western Travels
- CONTENTS OF VOLUME III
- ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME III

- PREFACE TO VOLUME III

- FOOTNOTES:

- Journal of André Michaux, 1793-1796

- JOURNAL OF ANDRÉ MICHAUX

- FOOTNOTES:

- Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains,

- CONTENTS

- TRAVELS, &C., &C.

- Chapter I
- Chapter II
- Chapter III
- Chapter IV
- Chapter V
- Chapter VI
- Chapter VII
- Chapter VIII
- Chapter IX
- Chapter X
- Chapter XI
- Chapter XII
- Chapter XIII
- Chapter XIV
- Chapter XV
- Chapter XVI
- Chapter XVII
- Chapter XVIII
- Chapter XIX
- Chapter XX
- Chapter XXI
- Chapter XXII
- Chapter XXIII
- Chapter XXIV
- Chapter XXV
- Chapter XXVI
- Chapter XXVII
- Chapter XXVIII
- Chapter XXIX
- Chapter XXX
- Chapter XXXI

- Chapter XXXII

- FOOTNOTES:

- JOURNAL OF A TOUR

- INTRODUCTION

- PART I

- PART II

- FOOTNOTES:

- THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE