PART II OF FLAGG'S THE FAR WEST, 1836-1837

Reprint of chapters xxxiii-xli of Volume II of original edition: New York, 1838

CONTENTS

XXXIII

Blackness of Darkness--Fall of a Forest-tree--A sublime Incident--Musings--A Moral--A Wolf--A Meal--A Mistake--A broiling Sun--The "Heights of Chester"--A noble View--An Island--A "Bend"--A Steamer--Chester--Site and Anticipations--A romantic Pathway--The Sycamores--The Undergrowth--The Bluffs--Forest Quietude--The wild-grape Vines--Size, Tortuosity, and Tenacity--A Juliet-bower--A Prediction--Kaskaskia Bottom--An elegant Farm and Mansion--The Outhouses--The Harvest-fields and Grounds--The Bluffs--The Village 19

XXXIV

Antiqueness--A Proposition and Corollary--"All is New"--Freshness of Natural Scenery--The immigrant Inhabitants--An Exception--A serious Duty--A laudable Resolution--A gay Bevy--A Hawser-ferry--A Scene on the Kaskaskia--"Old Kaskaskia"--Structure of Dwellings--Aspect of Antiquity--A Contrast--"City of the Pilgrims"--The Scenes of a Century--Lane-like Streets--Old Customs--"The Parallel ceases"--The same Fact with the Spaniards--The Cause--The French Villagers--The Inn-gallery--A civil Landlord--The _Table d'Hôte_--A Moonlight Ramble--The old Church--The Courthouse--The fresh Laugh--The Piano--The Brunettes 26

XXXV

The Explorers of the West--The French Jesuits--Cause of the Undertaking--The Tale of the Hunters--Marquette and Joliet [viii]--Their Exploration--The Natives--The Illini--A Village--_Manito_ of the Missouri--The Illinois--Amazed Delight--Joliet's Narrative--Marquette--Name to the River--Joliet's Reward--Lapse of Years--M. Robert, Cavalier de la Salle--His Talent, Ambition, and Enterprise--Visit to Canada--Success at Paris--Tonti and Hennepin--Exploration--The Illinois--An Indian Village--The Hoard of Corn--Peoria Lake--Treatment by the Natives--Loss of the Supply-boat--Fort "_Creve Cœur_"--Its Site--"Spring Bay"--The Indian War--Danger of La Salle--The Mutiny--The Poison--Exploration of the Mississippi--The Falls--Captivity--Hennepin's Travels--Character of these early Writers--"Fort St. Louis"--Second Expedition of La Salle--The _Osage_--A Village of Natives--The _Oubachi_--Fort _Prudhomme_--Formal Possession--_Louisiana_--Ceremonies at the Gulf--River "St. Louis"--Villages founded--Fate of La Salle--Retributive Justice--Fate of Marquette--Decease and Burial--Canadian Colonies--Their Design--Mining Expeditions--M. de Seur--Disappointment--_Couriers du bois_--_Petits Paysans_--Merry Mortals--Origin of Kaskaskia--Name--Depôt of Fur-trade--De Soto and the Tradition--His Death and Burial--Original Extent of Kaskaskia--The "Common Field"--The Grant--Policy of French and Spanish Governments--"Common Fields" and "Commons"--Regulations--Congress-grants--Harmony with the Savages--The Cause--Exaggeration--Early Peace and Prosperity--Jesuit College--Law's Scheme--The Design--_Les Illinois_--The Failure--The "South Sea Bubble"--Prosperity of Kaskaskia--Luxuriance of Agriculture--A chimerical Design--Cession and Recession--An unwelcome Change--Removal and the Causes 34

XXXVI

Portraiture of Character--The Difficulty--The French Villager of the Mississippi--His ordinary Deportment--Hospitality--Laws and Courts--Scholastic Proficiency--Affairs of the Nation--"A Burden!"--Their Virtues--The Helpmate--Religious Faith--Festivals--Their Property--The Change--Their Avocations--Their Idiom--A Contrast--The Peculiarities--Costume--Amusements--Slaves--Early Government--An unwelcome Change--"Improvement!"--A hateful [ix] Term--The Steam-engine--The old Edifices--The Streets--Advantages of the Change--The Contrast--The poorer Class--Evils of the Change--Superior Enterprise 52

XXXVII

Delay on an interesting Subject--Peculiarities of French and Spanish Villages similar--Social Intercourse--Old Legends--Dreamy Seclusion--Commercial Advantages of Kaskaskia--The Trade--The River--The Land-office--Population--Fort Gage--Clarke's Expedition--The Catholic Church--Erection--Its Exterior--The Interior--The Altar-lamp--Structure of the Roof--Surprise of the Villagers--Interdict on the Architect--The Belfry--The Bell--View from the Tower--The Churchyard--The first Record--Old Chronicles--The Nunnery--The Seminary--Departure from Kaskaskia--Farms of the French--A Reminiscence--"Indian Old Point"--Extermination of the Norridgewocks--Details--The Obelisk to Father Rasle--Route to _Prairie du Rocher_--_Aubuchon_--Profusion of wild Fruit--Nuts--Grapes--A Wine Story--Mode of Manufacture--The Cliffs of _Prairie du Rocher_--"Common Field"--Productions--The _Bayou_--A Scene of Blood--A Century Slumber--Peculiarities--View from the Cliffs--Petrifactions--Simplicity and Ignorance--Characteristics of the French Villager--The Catholic Church--Unhealthy Site--Cause of a Phenomenon 59

XXXVIII

The Western Valley--Early Conception of its Extent inadequate--The French _Cordon_ of Fortification--Origin of the Policy--Stations of Posts erected--Fort Chartres--Groves of wild Fruit--The Dark-browed Villager--His direction to the Ruins--Desertion and Dreariness of the Spot--Solemn Effect of the old Pile in the Forest--_Coup d'œil_--The Mississippi _Slough_--Erection of Fort Chartres--The Design--Expense--Material--Rebuilding--Village Cession, Recession, and the Results--Seat of Power--Form and Extent--Preservation of the Masonry--French Engineering--Original Structure of the Fortress--The Pride of its Prime--Its Scenes--The "Golden Age"--The "old Residenters"--The Pomp of War--A Shelter for the Night 73

[x] XXXIX

Fort Chartres--A romantic Scene--Legendary Lore--Erection of Fort Chartres--Enormous Expenditure--Needless Strength--The Engineer--His Fate--The "Buried Treasure"--The Money-diggers--Their Success--The "Western Hannibal"--Expedition against Vincennes--Capture of the French Villages--Siege of Fort Chartres--A successful _Ruse du Guerre_--A Scrap of History--The Capture of Fort Vincent--The Stratagem--Fort Du Quesne--Erection and History--Useless Strength--A Morning Scene--Philippe Francis Renault--His Mining Operations--The Village St. Philippe--The Cottonwood Forest--The Mississippi!--A Mistake--A weary Plod--An Atmosphere of Pestilence--Causes of Disease--Salubrious Site for a Cabin--Precautions for the Emigrant--Diseases of the West--Fevers--Sickly Months--"Milk Sickness"--Its Cause and Effects--Fever and Ague--An Escape--A sick Family--The Consumptive--Refreshment--An early Settler 85

XL

The "Squatter"--His Character and Person--A View from the Bluffs--The ancient Indian Village--Reliques--The Squatter's Reflections--His Wanderings--A Discovery--The Grave of a Chief--The Ancient Burial-grounds--Human Remains--A Coffin of Stone--The "Pigmy Race"--An Investigation--Ancient Pottery--The _Turtle_--The _Sink-holes_--Waterloo--Its Windmill and Courthouse--Bellefontaine--An evening Ride--"Hail Columbia!"--An _immortal_ Name--A very poor Pun--A miserable Night--A pleasant Dawn--The American Bottom--Its Name--Extent--Boundaries--Bluffs--Lakes, their Cause and Consequence--Disease an Obstacle to Settlement--The Remedy--The _Grand Marais_--The Soil--Its Fertility--The appropriate Production 97

XLI

The American Bottom--Its alluvial Character--An interesting Query--The Ancient Lake--The Southern Limit--The Parapet of Stone--Alluvial Action on the Cliffs--A similar Expansion--The Eastern Limit and the Western--The "Mamelle [xi] Prairie"--Elevation of Country North--Cause of the Draining--The Rocks at "Grand Tower"--Abrasion of Waters--Volcanic Action--A Tide-spring--The "Blockhouse"--Geology of the Region--Volcanic Convulsions--Impress of Omnipotence--Reflections suggested--Ignorance and Indifference on the Subject--Remarks of Dr. Buckland and Cuvier--A very _ancient_ Revolution--Huge Remains--Theory of Cuvier--Productions of the American Bottom--The Farms--Prairie-flowers--Mounds--_Prairie du Pont_--Refreshment--A novel Churn--A disagreeable Village--_Cahokia_--The Indian Tribe--The Settlement--The Mississippi--The Creek--Harmonious Intercourse--A Contrast--Early Inhabitants of Cahokia--Peculiarities of the Village--The "Common Field"--Grant of Congress--Cahokia at the present Time--Route to St. Louis--Sunset on the Water--View of the City--Moonlight--Arrival at St. Louis--A Farewell! 108

THE FAR WEST

[PART II]

XXXIII[1]

"Stranger, if thou hast learn'd a truth which needs Experience more than reason, that the world Is full of guilt and misery, and hast known Enough of all its sorrows, crimes, and cares To tire thee of it; enter this wild wood, And view the haunts of Nature." BRYANT.

The moon had gone down; the last star had burned out in the firmament; and that deep darkness which precedes the dawn was brooding over the earth as the traveller turned away from the little inn at the village of Pinkneyville. Fortunately he had, the previous evening, while surveying the face of the region from the door of the hostelrie, gained some general idea of the route to [CXXVII] Kaskaskia; and now, dropping the reins upon his horse's neck, he began floundering along through a blackness of darkness perfectly Cimmerian. It was, indeed, a gloomy night. The early mists were rising, damp and chill, from the soil saturated with the showers of the preceding day; and the darkness had become of a density almost palpable to the sense. Crossing a narrow arm of the prairie in the direction presumed to be correct, my horse carried me into a dense wood, and, if possible, the darkness increased. I had penetrated some miles into the heart of the forest, and was advancing slowly upon my way, when my attention was suddenly arrested by a low, whispering, rustling sound in the depths of the wood at my right; this gradually increasing, was almost immediately succeeded by a crashing, thundering, rushing report, till every echo far and wide in that dark old wood was wakened, and the whole forest for miles around resounded with the roar. My horse, terrified at the noise, leaped and plunged like a mad creature. An enormous forest-tree had fallen within a dozen rods of the spot on which I stood. As I left the noble ruin and resumed my lonely way, my mind brooded over the event, and I thought I could perceive in the occurrence a powerful feature of the sublime. The fall of an aged tree in the noiseless lapse of time is ever an event not unworthy of notice; but, at a moment like this, it was surely so in an eminent degree. Ages since--long ere the first white man had pressed the soil of this Western world, and while the untamed denizens of the wilderness [CXXVIII] roamed in the freedom of primitive creation--ages since had seen the germe of that mighty tree lifting up its young, green leaf from the sod, beneath the genial warmth of the sunlight and the summer wind. An age passed away. The tender stem had reared itself into a gigantic pillar, and proudly tossed its green head amid the upper skies: that young leaf, expanded and developed, had spread itself abroad, until, at length, the beasts of the earth had sought out its shade, and the tree stood up the monarch of the forest. Another age is gone, and the hoary moss of time is flaunting to the winds from its venerable branches. Long ago the thunderbolt had consecrated its lofty top with the baptismal of fire, and, sere and rifted, the storm-cloud now sings through its naked limbs. Like an aged man, its head is bleached with years, while the strength and verdure of ripened maturity yet girdle its trunk. But the worm is at the root: rottenness at the heart is doing its work. Its day and its hour are appointed, and their bounds it may not pass. That hour, that moment is come! and in the deep, pulseless stillness of the night-time, when slumber falleth upon man and Nature pauses in her working, the offspring of centuries is laid low, and bows himself along the earth. Yet another age is gone; but the traveller comes not to muse over the relics of the once-glorious ruin. Long ago has each been mouldering away, and their dust has mingled with the common mother of us all. Ah! there is a _moral_ in the falling of an aged tree!

[CXXIX] I was dwelling with rather melancholy reflections upon this casual occurrence, when a quick panting close at my side attracted my attention; a large, gaunt-looking prairie-wolf had just turned on his _heel_ and was trotting off into the shade. The gray dawn had now begun to flicker along the sky, and, crossing a beautiful prairie and grove, I found myself at the pleasant farmhouse of a settler of some twenty or thirty years' standing; and dismounting, after a ride of eighteen miles, I partook, with little reluctance or ceremony, of an early breakfast. Thus much for the _night adventures of a traveller_ in the woods and wilds of Illinois! My host, the old gentleman to whom I have referred, very sagely mistook his guest for a physician, owing to a peculiarly convenient structure of those indispensables ycleped saddle-bags; and was just about consulting his fancied man of medicines respecting the ailings of his "woman," who was reclining on a bed, when, to his admiration, he was undeceived.

Passing through an inconsiderable village on the north side of the Little Vermillion called Georgetown, my route lay through an extended range of hills and _barrens_.[2] Among the former were some most intolerably tedious, especially to a horseman beneath a broiling sun, who had passed a sleepless night: but the sweep of scenery from their summits was beautiful and extensive. At length the traveller stood upon the "heights of Chester," and the broad Mississippi was rolling on its turbid floods a hundred yards beneath. The view is here a noble [CXXX] one, not unlike that from the Alton or Grafton bluffs at the other extremity of the "American Bottom," though less extensive. Directly at the feet of the spectator, scattered along a low, narrow interval, lies the village of Chester. Upon the opposite bank the forest rolls away to the horizon in unbroken magnificence, excepting that here and there along the bottom the hand of cultivation is betrayed by the dark luxuriance of waving maize-fields. A beautiful island, with lofty trees and green smiling meadows, stretches itself along in the middle of the stream before the town, adding not a little to the picturesqueness of the scene, and, in all probability, destined to add something more to the future importance of the place. To the right, at a short distance, come in the soft-flowing waters of the Kaskaskia through deeply-wooded banks; and nearly in the same direction winds away the mirror-surface of the Mississippi for twenty miles, to accomplish a direct passage of but four, an occurrence by no means unusual in its course. As I stood gazing upon the scene, a steamer appeared sweeping around the bend, and, puffing lazily along with the current past the town, soon disappeared in the distance. From the heights an exceedingly precipitous pathway leads down to the village. Chester is one of the new places of Illinois, and, of course, can boast but little to interest the stranger apart from the highly scenic beauty of its situation.[3] It has been mostly erected within the few years past; and, for its extent, is a flourishing business place. Its landing is excellent, location healthy, [CXXXI] adjacent region fertile, and, for aught I know to the contrary, may, in course of years, rival even the far-famed Alton. Its landing, I was informed, is the only one for many miles upon the river, above or below, suitable for a place of extensive commerce.

From Chester, in a direction not far from north, a narrow pathway winds along beneath the bluffs, among the tall cane-brakes of the bottom. Leaving the Mississippi at the mouth of the Kaskaskia, it runs along the low banks of the latter stream, and begins to assume an aspect truly delightful. Upon either side rise the shafts of enormous sycamores to the altitude of an hundred feet, and then, flinging abroad and interlacing their long branches, form a living arch of exquisite beauty, stretching away in unbroken luxuriance for miles. Beneath springs from the rich loam a dense undergrowth of canes; a profusion of wild vines and bushes clustering with fruit serving effectually to exclude the sunbeams, except a few checkered spots here and there playing upon the foliage, while at intervals through the dark verdure is caught the flashing sheen of the moving waters. Upon the right, at the distance of only a few yards, go up the bluffs to the sheer height of some hundred feet, densely clothed with woods. The path, though exceedingly narrow and serpentine, is for the most part a hard-trodden, smooth, and excellent one when dry. The coolness and fragrance of these deep, old, shadowy woodlands has always for me a resistless charm. There is so much of quiet seclusion from the feverish turmoil of ordinary life within [CXXXII] their peaceful avenues, that, to one not wedded to the world, they are ever inexpressibly grateful.

"The calm shade Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze, That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm To thy sick heart. Thou wilt find nothing here Of all that pain'd thee in the haunts of men, And made thee loathe thy life."

In the wild, fierce glaring of a summer noontide, when amid "the haunts of men" all is parched up, and dusty, and scathed, how refreshingly cool are the still depths of the forest! The clear crystal streamlet gushes forth with perennial laughter from the rock, seeming to exult in its happy existence; the bright enamelled mosses of a century creep along the gnarled old roots, and life in all its fairy forms trips forth to greet the eremite heart and charm it from the world. But there was one feature of the scene through which I was passing that struck me as peculiarly imposing, and to which I have not yet referred. I allude to the enormous, almost preternatural magnitude of the wild-grape vine, and its tortuosity. I have more than once, in the course of my wanderings, remarked the peculiarities of these vast parasites; but such is the unrivalled fertility, and the depth of soil of the Kaskaskia bottom, that vegetation of every kind there attains a size and proportion elsewhere almost unknown. Six or seven of these vast vegetable serpents are usually beheld leaping forth with a broad whirl from the mould at the root of a tree, and then, writhing, and twining, and twisting [CXXXIII] among themselves into all imaginable forms, at length away they start, all at once and together, in different directions for the summit, around which they immediately clasp their bodies, one over the other, and swing depending in festoons on every side. Some of these vines, when old and dried up by the elements, are amazingly strong; more so, perhaps, than a hempen hawser of the same diameter.

Having but a short ride before me the evening I left Chester, I alighted from my horse, and leisurely strolled along through this beautiful bower I have been attempting to describe. What a charming spot, thought I, for a Romeo and Juliet!--pardon my roving fancy, sober reader--but really, with all my own sobriety, I could not but imagine this a delightful scene for a "Meet me by moonlight alone," or any other _improper_ thing of the kind, whether or not a trip to Gretna Green subsequently ensued. And if, in coming years, when the little city of Chester shall have become all that it now seems to promise, and the venerable Kaskaskia, having cast her slough, having rejuvenated her withered energies, and recalled the days of her pristine _traditionary_ glory; if then, I say, the young men and maidens make not this the consecrated spot of the long summer-evening ramble and the trysting-place of the heart, reader, believe us not; in the dignified _parlance_ of the _corps editorial_, believe _us_ not.

Some portions of the Kaskaskia bottom have formerly, at different times, been cleared and cultivated; but nothing now remains but the ruins of [CXXXIV] tenements to acquaint one with the circumstance. The spot must have been exceedingly unhealthy in its wild state. There is, however, one beautiful and extensive farm under high cultivation nearly opposite Kaskaskia, which no traveller can fail to observe and admire. It is the residence of Colonel M----, a French gentleman of wealth, who has done everything a cultivated taste could dictate to render it a delightful spot.[4] A fine, airy farmhouse stands beneath the bluffs, built after the French style, with heavy roof, broad balconies, and with a rare luxury in this region--green Venetian blinds. The outhouses, most of them substantially constructed of stone, are surpassed in beauty and extent only by the residence itself. Fields yellow with golden harvest, orchards loaded with fruit, and groves, and parks, and pastures sprinkled with grazing cattle, spread out themselves on every side. In the back-ground rise the wooded bluffs, gracefully rounded to their summits, while in front roams the gentle Kaskaskia, beyond which, peacefully reposing in the sunlight, lay the place of my destination.

_Kaskaskia, Ill._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Volume xxvii of our series begins with chapter xxxiii of the original New York edition (1838) of Flagg's _The Far West_. The author is here describing the part of his journey made in the late summer or early autumn of 1836.--ED.

[2] The Vermilion River (which Flagg incorrectly wrote Little Vermilion) rises, with several branches, in the western and southern portions of La Salle County, and flows north and west, entering Illinois River at Rock Island, in Livingston County.

Steelesville (formerly Georgetown) is about fifteen miles east of Kaskaskia, on the road between Pinkneyville and Chester; the site was settled on by George Steele in 1810. A block-house fort erected there in 1812 protected the settlers against attacks from the Kickapoo Indians. In 1825 a tread-mill was built, and two years later a store and post-office were erected. The latter was named Steele's Mills. The settlement was originally called Georgetown and later changed by an act of state legislature to Steelesville, being surveyed in 1832.--ED.

[3] Chester is on the Mississippi River, in Randolph County, just below the mouth of Kaskaskia River. In the summer of 1829, Samuel Smith built the first house there, and two years later he, together with Mather, Lamb and Company, platted the town site. It was named by Jane Smith from her native town, Chester, England, and was made the seat of justice for Randolph in 1848.--ED.

[4] Flagg is probably referring to Colonel Pierre Menard. See our