Part 19

In travelling in the vicinity of the western rivers, I could not always obtain good accommodations upon them. As such accommodations, however, were of but little consequence to me, I always, when I wished to descend the rivers, jumped into the first boat I could find.—Sometimes I moved along in a keel, sometimes in an ark, and sometimes rowed myself in a little skiff. By taking this course, I not only could land when I pleased, but became particularly acquainted with the navigation of the rivers, and with the various means of transportation upon them. My society, it is true, was not always the best; but, perhaps, not the less instructive for this circumstance. To become practically acquainted with the world, one must see human nature in all its aspects. Sometimes I met real gentlemen, and sometimes fell in with the perfect boor. I was not known to any one; but the boatmen, frequently becoming sick, applied to me for medical aid; and hence I acquired the title of Doctor.

My prescriptions were always simple; and, _strange to tell_, I did not lose a single patient. My knowledge of the Materia Medica was, no doubt, limited. Without, however, consulting Celsus or Boerhave, I always told the sick, that in a few days, they would be perfectly well. I really suppose that men often die, because they think they shall. Much depends, in sickness, upon the state of the mind. Our intellectual and physical nature always sympathise with each other. Resistance lessens the force of an attack; and there is something {156} in the declaration, I will not be conquered! which fortifies both the mind and the body.

My next _learned_ theory was, that nature loves herself; and, in sickness, requires, in many cases, only a little aid to enable her so to exert her powers as to produce the desired effect. The most simple prescriptions, if efficient, are always the best. Powerful remedies tend to disorganize the most subtle functions of the animal economy; and by curing one disease to produce a complication of many others.

But I would not call in question the importance of the profession of medicine. As to its station in the catalogue of sciences, it ranks among the very first. This profession presents to the human mind the most extensive field for investigation. The great science of physiology is its basis; and chymistry, the wonderful magician, by whom the constituent parts of matter are ascertained, the effects of their various combinations discovered, and the production of new qualities realized. The physician should be, emphatically, a child of nature, and well acquainted with the principles of her government, both with respect to mind and matter.

Upon the western rivers a great many boatmen die, and their graves upon the banks are numerous; hence those who are taken sick are, generally, much alarmed.

The boatmen of the west are conspicuous for their habits of intemperance, and swearing. Whilst on the western rivers my ears were shocked by their oaths and curses. I endeavoured to lessen this practice. To effect my object I, occasionally, associated with them; and by a kind, free, and yet grave manner, prepared the way for some friendly counsel upon the subject. They saw that I did not feel above their labours, or their modes of living.—I fully participated in their hard fare; slept across flour {157} barrels, without bed or covering, drank water from the river, and sometimes laboured at their oars. Thus I gained their confidence and their good will.

At one time, during the silence of evening, I addressed about twenty boatmen upon the subject of swearing. I represented the practice as not only wicked, but idle, low, and unmanly. They heard me with attention, some of them made many acknowledgments, and whilst I continued with them, they swore little or none. Upon many other occasions I spake to boatmen upon the subject; and from their manner, I have no doubt that the practice of swearing among them might be rendered less common. But, perhaps, there is no habit, the controul of which depends less upon the will than that of swearing. The tongue is a little member, and often moves ere the judgment can controul the impulses of the heart. A pretty lad, in one of the western boats, attracted my attention, both by his beauty and his profaneness. After speaking to him upon the subject, I offered him a dollar upon the condition of his not swearing for the remainder of the day. He was much pleased with the proposition; but after controuling himself with much watchfulness, for about an hour, he became discouraged, and partially returned to his long established practice. Let those, who are so happy as to be free from this vice, guard against the subtle influences of its example.

As to intemperance, I think it is by no means peculiar, even in degree, to this part of the country. But I am happy in being able to add, that during a tour which I took through the middle and southern states in 1815; and also during that, an account of which I am now writing, I witnessed much less intemperance than information previously obtained had led me to anticipate. Still, there is, in the {158} United States, much inebriation, and a great want of economy in the use of spirituous liquors. By the distillery of grain among us, the community are, sometimes, deprived of the necessary quantity of bread; and a substitute is furnished which tends, at once, to beggar, and to depopulate the country.

Before I dismiss these topics, I may add, that I have often heard of the low conversation, which is said to prevail among the boatmen of the west; and also of their quarrelsome and fighting habits. All these practices are much less than they are represented to be.

Here I may be permitted to observe, that with respect to low conversation, many who call themselves gentlemen, and pass for such in the world, are highly culpable. Indecency is a vice committed without temptation. It corrupts the moral sense, and deprives the human heart of all those etherial visitations, which remind man of his original innocence, and eloquently persuade him that there are pleasures far above those of sense. Indeed, how evident is it, that when we cultivate pure and upright affections, the blessed spirits of truth and peace visit our hearts, enlarge our views of moral nature, and tell us of nameless hopes. The infirmities of man would add an interest to human nature, if they were not voluntarily displayed. When covered with the mantle of an amiable and sensible delicacy, they blend the ideas of weakness and suffering here, with perfection and immortality hereafter.

That part of the state of Virginia which lies on the Ohio, extends from about forty miles below Pittsburg to Great Sandy River, the line between this state and Kentucky. The western parts of Virginia are mountainous, and a good grazing country. The soil below the mountains, though not {159} rich, is well calculated for the growth of tobacco and Indian corn. Many of the ridges of land in this state are very fertile; particularly the Blue Ridge.

The town of Wheeling, in Virginia, is situated on the Ohio, twelve miles above Grave Creek; and on this creek is a celebrated Indian grave.[145]

The principal rivers and creeks, which enter the Ohio from this state, are Charteer’s, Big Grave, Baker’s, Fish, and Fishing creek; and Little Kenhawa, Great Kenhawa, and the Great Sandy River.[146]

The Great Kenhawa is nearly three hundred yards wide at its junction with the Ohio; but its rapids are numerous, and its navigation very difficult. It derives its sources, through a vast tract of country, from the Laurel and Alleghany mountains on the north-east, from the Cumberland mountains on the west, and from the mountains in North Carolina near the sources of the Roanoke. On the Great Kenhawa are inexhaustible lead mines.

The principal source of the Great Sandy River is in the Cumberland mountains. Its length is not great; and it is navigable for loaded batteaux only about fifty miles. At its mouth it is about sixty yards wide, and it enters the Ohio opposite to Galliopolis. This place was settled by a company of French emigrants; but in 1796 disease and other misfortunes caused them to abandon the establishment.[147]

The town of Steubenville, in the state of Ohio, extends for a considerable distance along the bank of the river.[148] There are here some manufactories, and several handsome dwelling houses. Its situation is considerably elevated, and here and there are some large trees which were spared from the forest.

The first principal river which enters the Ohio, and which finds its source in that state is the Muskingum. This river is situated about one hundred {160} and seventy miles below Pittsburg, and is, at its confluence with the Ohio, nearly one hundred and fifty yards wide. It is navigable for large batteaux to a place called the Three Legs,[149] one hundred miles from its mouth, and for small ones to its source, which is within seven miles of the Cayahoga. The Muskingum presents a gentle appearance, and near its banks there are valuable salt springs, and considerable quantities of coal and free stone.

The town of Marietta is situated on the east of the junction of the Ohio and Muskingum.[150] Its position is pleasant; but it has a deserted aspect, and is rapidly declining. It is not true, that the Muskingum is not subject to inundations. All the banks of the western river are, more or less, exposed to freshets; and this circumstance considerably lessens the value of the lands and buildings upon them. At the mouth of the Muskingum stands Fort Harmar.

The Hockhocking is rather smaller than the Muskingum, and is situated about twenty-five miles below the latter.[151] On the banks of this river are quarries of free stone, iron and lead mines, pit coal, and salt springs. There are some fine lands on both of these rivers.

The town of Athens lies on the Hockhocking, about forty miles from the Ohio. It is pleasantly situated, and is the seat of the Ohio University.

The River Scioto is even larger than the Muskingum. It is navigable nearly two hundred miles, and is connected with the river Sandusky, which enters Lake Erie, by a portage of four miles. On the Scioto, about one hundred miles from the Ohio, is the town of Chilicothe.[152] This place is the seat of government. Not far from the Scioto, are salt springs, which belong to the state; also coal, free stone, and several kinds of valuable clay.

{161} The town of Cincinnati[153] is situated on the east of the Great Miami, near its junction with the Ohio. This town is pleasantly situated, and presents the appearance of much business. It is a very flourishing place. There are several manufactories here, one of which is situated at the foot of the bank, and is eight or ten stories high.

In Cincinnati is situated Fort Washington. This is the first of that chain of forts which extends west. On the eastern branch of the Great Miami is Fort St. Clair; and on the western branches Forts Jefferson and Greenville. On the river Calumet, which enters the Wabash, stands fort Recovery; and just above this fort is the place of St. Clair’s defeat.[154]

The Great Miami is the boundary of the state of Ohio on the river of this name. The Great Miami is about three hundred yards wide at its mouth, and interlocks with the Scioto, above Chilicothe. One of its branches runs within four miles of the Miami of the Lake, and within seven miles of the Sandusky. The bed of the Great Miami is stony, and its current rapid. Just above its mouth is fort Hamilton.

There are many small creeks and towns near the Ohio, which in my course I saw and visited; but which furnish no interesting materials for remark. Besides, I am not writing a Gazetteer; and with geography, my fellow-citizens are well acquainted.

I may here speak, as I promised, upon the probable course of the seasons in the west. I am much inclined to believe, that the cold seasons, which the people of New-England have for many years experienced, and which have so much injured the interests of agriculture among us, are passing off to the west; and that the people of the west will, for several years, experience seasons less favourable than usual. My opinion is founded upon the facts, that for the two last years we have experienced more favourable {162} seasons, and the people of the west less favourable ones, in the same comparative proportions. This is a good criterion by which to form an opinion upon the subject. The change of seasons in both sections of the country prove and corroborate each other.

The spring and summer of 1817 were, with us, less unfavourable than usual. The hopes of our farmers, and of those who depend for a sufficiency of provisions upon an abundant market, were considerably revived; and this year we have experienced something like a good old-fashioned season. The golden ears of corn, more beautiful than the productions of the richest mines, have again brightened our fields, and cheered our hearts. Had ungenial seasons continued much longer, this part of the country would have become impoverished and depopulated:—people were going down into Egypt for bread.

Last year the seed time and harvest of the west were unfavourable; and the spring of 1818 was in the highest degree unpromising. In the western parts of Virginia, where the climate is, usually, warmer than on the east of the mountains; and in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, &c. planting time this year was very backward. When, according to the usual course of the seasons, it was time for corn to appear above the surface of the ground, ploughing had not commenced. Some of the farmers asserted, that the season was even later than the spring before by five or six weeks.

During the month of May, the weather in the west was cold and windy. On the 3d of this month the birds were assembling for a more southern climate. They were so chilled that I caught many of them without difficulty; and others of them perished in the night. The season for the commencement of {163} vegetation here is probably four weeks earlier than in New-Hampshire.

Until my arrival at New-Orleans the weather, generally, was cold and dry; and even here the wind was frequently cool. About the middle of May I experienced frost in Kentucky; and near the Mississippi the cotton, much later than this, was in a wretched state. In Tennessee, heretofore remarkable for the excellence of its cotton, this article, for two years past, has been rapidly degenerating. The severity of the last winter even in New-Orleans, was unparalleled. The streets there were covered with ice sufficiently hard to bear loaded waggons.

Should Heaven favour the New-England states with good seasons, no country in the world would be preferable to it. Our unfavourable seasons have taught us our dependence upon that Being, “who prepareth rain for the earth, and maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.”

I am of opinion, that for some years to come, our seasons will be remarkably fruitful. The earth here has, for a considerable time, been acquiring strength, which has not been called forth; and having been accustomed to cool seasons, warm ones, operating upon this new acquisition of vegetative power, will cause an extraordinary impetus in the soil.

I have spoken of our bright Indian harvest. The corn of the west is much inferior to ours. Growing upon a rank soil, its production is rapid, and the kernel is large and unsubstantial. Indian meal is seldom used in the west, excepting for cattle; and very few persons there are acquainted with the Yankee mode of making Indian cakes. Being fond of this coarse bread, I frequently, during my tour, instructed the gentle dames of the west in this New-England custom. But in many cases, after waiting {164} an hour for my repast, I was deprived of most of it by the fondness of the children of the house for this new dish; and in one instance the _kind_ mother could get rid of them only by knocking them under the table as fast as they would come up.

The variety of birds which I saw in the western woods excited much interest. Many species entirely new to me made their appearance. Some of them were very beautiful. Many of these birds being common in the South of Europe, proves that the climate of the west is mild; and the spontaneous growth of hops and grapes here speak favourably of its soil.

Fruit trees, particularly peach and apple, flourish well in Ohio; but a more northern climate is more peculiarly calculated for the latter.

The western country is exceedingly well adapted to the growth of hemp; both as it respects its climate, and its extensive levels of deep and rich mould. This advantage, and the abundance of excellent ship timber, and iron, which its forests and hills produce, would enable it to furnish for the market the finest ships. The black walnut here is said to be as durable as the live oak; and the frames of vessels built upon the western waters, are frequently made of this wood. There is here too, an abundance of excellent yellow pine, suitable for masts and spars. These, with many other kinds of lumber, are rafted and floated down the rivers to New-Orleans, and there sell at a high price. Upon these rafts large quantities of produce are often transported to the same place.

The produce carried down to this vast market consists, principally, of flour, corn, pork, beef, bacon, venison, flax, whiskey, lumber, and live stock, particularly horses. The foreign goods received into the western states, lying on the Mississippi and {165} Ohio, and their principal sources, come, as has been observed, from Philadelphia and Baltimore, by the way of Pittsburg. This place is the great depot for the supply of all places below it. Foreign goods to a large amount are also brought from New-Orleans; and some from Virginia, by the way of Richmond.

In speaking of large vessels on the Ohio, I may add, that ships of large tonnage have been built on this river, laden for the West-Indies, and there sold, both vessel and cargo. A person in Europe, unacquainted with the geography of our western waters, would be astonished to see, in the Atlantic ocean, a large vessel, freighted with country produce, which was built and laden at Pittsburgh, between two and three thousand miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

How wonderfully impressive is the prospect, which this country presents to the politician, during his cogitations upon our remote destinies! Every thing is conspiring to render the United States far more populous than Europe. In the course of a few hundred years all that is great, and splendid will characterize us.—The arts of Greece, the arms of Rome, the pride of England will be ours. May God avert the rest!

Whilst on the Ohio, I was pleased with the appearance of the floating grist-mill used on this river. This kind of mill is supported by two boats, and the wheel moves between them. The boats move both up and down the river, and when employment can be obtained, they are placed in the strongest current near the shore, and the mill is set in motion. Here there is no tax for ground rent, mill-dam, or race.

In speaking of mills, I may advert to one which I saw in Indiana, and which excited some interest. As I was one day passing through a wood, near a {166} small log building, I heard a singular noise in the latter, and had the curiosity to look in. There was here a grist-mill moved by a horse, and attended by a little boy about nine years of age. The horse draws upon a stable fixed in a post; but making no progress, he pushes back with his feet the platform upon which he stands, and which is of a circular form. Through the centre of this platform there is a post fixed in the ground. The walking of the horse sets the machinery in motion. The cogs, the wallower, the trunnel-head, and the stones operated pretty much in the usual way. The Lilliputian miller displayed all the airs and importance so common to the managers of such noisy establishments.

In the state of Ohio, and in other places in the west, are some natural curiosities, with respect to which I must not be silent; but as I can probably throw no light upon the mystery in which they are involved, my remarks upon them will be brief.

As to the bones of animals which have been found at the Licks, particularly at that called the Big Bone,[155] I think there can be no doubt, that they are those of animals which, from a variety of causes, have perished there. Animals in the west were once very numerous, and, no doubt, vast herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and even the mammoth resorted thither. Probably many of them fell into these licks, either by accident, by contention, or by their eagerness to get to the salt, and were thus destroyed. Some too probably killed themselves by the quantity of salt water which they drank; and where such vast numbers were constantly assembling, many must have died in consequence of disease and old age.

Much less plausible suppositions can be suggested relative to the vast mounds and walls of earth in the west; the former of which, it is said, contain human bones.

{167} It may be presumed that these walls were erected for the purpose of defence. It is well known that savage tribes wage with each other the most destructive wars. Some of the tribes of North America have distinguished themselves by their blood-thirsty and exterminating disposition. The Iroquois were once the terror of all the neighbouring tribes. By their hostile and ferocious spirit many of these tribes became nearly extinct. Of the Nadonaicks only four cabins or families remained. The Puans too, were not less formidable and fierce than the Iroquois. They violated every humane principle. The very name of stranger embittered them. They supposed themselves invincible, and persecuted and destroyed every tribe whom they could discover. There were other tribes similarly disposed.

Now it may be supposed, that the tribes in the neighbourhood of those whose object it was to exterminate all other tribes, would assemble for mutual defence. Coalitions of this kind are not unfrequent among savages. Further: nothing would be more natural than for savages, thus situated, to erect fortifications of trees and earth, for the purpose of securing themselves against the common enemy. Such a principle of self defence would be natural, and, of course, universal.