THE HISTORIC 
 
 SERIES FOR 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 Class, Izi^}!-. 
 Book //^ 
 
 Copyright ]^^ 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSrn 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
THE HISTORIC 
 
 SERIES FOR 
 YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
pq 
 
 O 
 
Historic Adventures 
 
 T^ales from American History 
 
 By 
 RUPERT S. HOLLAND 
 
 Author of "Historic Boyhoods" "Historic Girlhoods" 
 "Historic Inventions," etc. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
E'/7S 
 
 ■ 3 
 ■H73 
 
 Copyright, 1913, by 
 
 George W. Jacobs & Company 
 
 Published October, 1913 
 
 All rights reserved 
 Printed in U. S. A. 
 
 ©Oi,A354843 
 
To 
 Robert D, Jenks 
 
Contents 
 
 I. The Lost Children .... 9 
 
 II. The Great Journey of Lewis and Clark 21 
 
 III. The Conspiracy of Aaron Burr 
 
 IV. How the Young Republic Fought the 
 Barbary Pirates 
 
 V. The Fate of Lovejoy's Printing-Press 
 
 VI. How Marcus Whitman Saved Oregon 
 
 VII. How the Mormons Came to Settle Utah 
 
 VIII. The Golden Days of 'Forty-Nine . 
 
 IX. How the United States Made Friends 
 with Japan .... 
 
 X. The Pig that Almost Caused a War 
 
 XI. John Brown at Harper's Ferry 
 
 XII. An Arctic Explorer 
 
 XIII. The Story of Alaska 
 
 XIV. How the " Merrimac " was Sunk in San 
 
 tiago Harbor .... 
 
 59 
 
 80 
 113 
 135 
 165 
 181 
 
 203 
 222 
 229 
 254 
 264 
 
 275 
 
Illustrations 
 
 Shooting tongues of smoke from their great black 
 
 throats Frontispiece ^ 
 
 Sawquehanna seemed to remember the voice . Facing page \ 8 ^ 
 
 Decatur caught the Moor's arm . . . " " 90 t^ 
 
 The last six hundred miles were the hardest . " ** 
 
 Nauvoo had handsome houses and public 
 buildings ..... 
 
 Wherever there was a stream explorers began 
 to dig ...... 
 
 The teams, exhausted, began to fail 
 
 Spanish boats pulled close to them . 
 
 (( « 
 
 C( (( 
 
 «( tt 
 
 152 
 
 >/ 
 
 166 
 
 I. 
 
 J 86 
 
 • 
 
 200 
 
 \y 
 
 282 
 
 v 
 
THE LOST CHILDREN 
 
 The valleys of Pennsylvania were dotted with log 
 cabins in the days of the French and Indian wars. 
 Sometimes a number of the little houses stood close 
 together for protection, but often they were built far 
 apart. Wherever the pioneer saw good farm land 
 he settled. It was a new sensation for men to be 
 able to go into the country and take whatever land 
 attracted them. Gentle rolling fields, with wide 
 views of distant country through the notches of the 
 hills, shining rivers, splendid uncut forests, and rich 
 pasturage were to be found not far from the grow- 
 ing village of Philadelphia, and were free to any who 
 wished to take them. Such a land would have been 
 a paradise, but for one shadow that hung over it. 
 In the background always lurked the Indians, who 
 might at any time, without rhyme or reason, steal 
 down upon the lonely hamlet or cabin, and lay it 
 waste. The pioneer looked across the broad acres 
 of central Pennsylvania and found them beautiful. 
 Only when he had built his home and planted his 
 fields did he fully realize the constant peril that 
 lurked in the wooded mountains. 
 
 English, French, and Spanish came to the new 
 
lo HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 world, and the English proved themselves the best 
 colonists. They settled the central part of the At- 
 lantic Coast, but among them and mixed with them 
 were people of other lands. The Dutch took a liking 
 for the Island of Manhattan and the Hudson River, 
 the Swedes for Delaware, and into the colony of 
 William Penn came pilgrims from what was called 
 the Palatinate, Germans, a strong race drawn partly 
 by desire for religious freedom, partly by the reports 
 of the great free lands across the ocean. They 
 brought with them the tongue, the customs, and the 
 names of the German Fatherland, and many a valley 
 of eastern Pennsylvania heard only the German lan- 
 guage spoken. 
 
 The Indian tribes known as the Six Nations 
 roamed through the country watered by the Susque- 
 hanna. They hunted through all the land south of 
 the Great Lakes. Sometimes they fought with the 
 Delawares, sometimes with the Catawbas, and again 
 they would smoke the calumet or pipe of peace with 
 their neighbors, and give up the war-path for months 
 at a time. But the settlers could never be sure of 
 their intentions. Wily French agents might sow 
 seeds of discord in the Indians' minds, and then the 
 chiefs who had lately exchanged gifts with the set- 
 tlers might suddenly steal upon some quiet village 
 and leave the place in ruins. This constant peril 
 was the price men had to pay in return for the right 
 to take whatever land they liked. 
 
 In a little valley of eastern Pennsylvania a Ger- 
 
THE LOST CHILDREN ii 
 
 man settler named John Hartman had built a cabin 
 in 1754. He had come to this place with his wife 
 and four children because here he might earn a good 
 living from the land. He was a hard worker, and 
 his farm was prospering. He had horses and cattle, 
 and his wife spun and wove the clothing for the 
 family. The four children, George, Barbara, Regina, 
 and Christian, looked upon the valley as their home, 
 forgetting the German village over the sea. Not far 
 away lived neighbors, and sometimes the children 
 went to play with other boys and girls, and some- 
 times their friends spent a holiday on John Hart- 
 man's farm. 
 
 The family, like all farmers' families, rose early. 
 Before they began the day's work the father would 
 read to them from his big Bible, which he had 
 brought from his native land as his most valuable 
 possession. On a bright morning in the autumn of 
 1754 he gathered his family in the living-room of his 
 cabin and read them a Bible lesson. The doors and 
 windows stood open, and the sun flooded the little 
 house, built of rough boards, and scrupulously clean. 
 The farmer's dog, Wasser, lay curled up asleep 
 just outside the front door, and a pair of horses, al- 
 ready harnessed, stood waiting to be driven to the 
 field. Birds singing in the trees called to the chil- 
 dren to hurry out-of-doors. They tried to listen to 
 their father's voice as he read, and to pay atten- 
 tion. As they all knelt he prayed for their safety. 
 Then they had breakfast, and the father and mother 
 
12 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 made plans for the day. Mrs. Hartman was to 
 take the younger boy, Christian, to the flour-mill 
 several miles away, and if they had time was to call 
 at the cabin of a sick friend. The father and George 
 went to the field to finish their sowing before the 
 autumn rains should come, and the two little girls 
 were told to look after the house till their mother 
 should return. Little Christian sat upon an old 
 horse, held on by his mother, and waved his hand 
 to his father and George as he rode by the field on 
 his way to the mill. 
 
 The girls, like their mother, were good house- 
 keepers. They set the table for dinner, and at noon 
 Barbara blew the big tin horn to call her father and 
 brother. As they were eating dinner the dog 
 Wasser came running into the house growling, and 
 acting as if he were very much frightened. Mr. 
 Hartman spoke to him, and called him to his side. 
 But the dog stood in the doorway, and then suddenly 
 leaped forward and sprang upon an Indian who came 
 around the wall. 
 
 The peril that lurked in the woods had come. 
 John Hartman jumped to the door, but two rifle 
 bullets struck him down. George sprang up, only 
 to fall beside his father. An Indian killed the dog 
 with his tomahawk. Into the peaceful cabin 
 swarmed fifteen yelling savages. Barbara ran up a 
 ladder into the loft, and Regina fell on her knees, 
 murmuring " Herr Jesus I Herr Jesus ! " The In- 
 dians hesitated, then one of them seized her, and 
 
THE LOST CHILDREN i^ 
 
 made a motion with his knife across her lips to bid 
 her be silent. Another went after Barbara and 
 brought her down from the loft, and then the Indians 
 ordered the two girls to put on the table all the food 
 there was in the cabin. 
 
 When the food was gone the savages plundered 
 the house, making bundles of what they wanted and 
 slinging them over their shoulders. They took the 
 two litde girls into the field. There another girl 
 stood tied to the fence. When she saw Barbara and 
 Regina she began to cry, and called in German for 
 her mother. While the three frightened girls stood 
 close together the Indians set fire to the cabin. 
 Very soon the log house that had cost John Hart- 
 man so much labor was burned to the ground. 
 When their work of destruction was completed the 
 Indians took the three children into the woods. 
 
 At sunset Mrs. Hartman returned from the flour- 
 mill with little Christian riding his horse, but when 
 she came up the road it seemed as if her house had 
 disappeared. Yet the pine trees, the fences, the 
 plowed fields, and the orchard were still there. The 
 little boy cried, "Where is our house, mother?" and 
 the poor woman could not understand. 
 
 The story of what had occurred was only too 
 plain to her a few minutes later. What had hap- 
 pened to many other pioneers had happened to her 
 family. Clutching Christian in her arms she ran to 
 the house of her nearest neighbor. There she heard 
 that the Indians had left the same track of blood 
 
14 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 through other parts of the valley ; that farmers had 
 been slain ; their crops burned ; and their children 
 carried off into the wilderness. The terrified settlers 
 banded together for protection. For weeks new 
 stories came of the Indians' massacres. If ever 
 there were heartless savages these were ! They did 
 not carry all the children to their wigwams ; some 
 were killed on the way ; and among them was little 
 Barbara Hartman. Word came from time to time 
 of some of the stolen children, but there was no 
 word of Regina or Susan Smith, the daughter of the 
 neighboring farmer. 
 
 Far in the forests of western New York was the 
 camp of a great Indian tribe. The wigwams stood 
 on the banks of a beautiful mountain stream, broken 
 by great rocks that sent the water leaping in cas- 
 cades and falls. In one of the wigwams lived the 
 mother of a famous warrior of the tribe, and with her 
 were two girls whom she treated as her daughters. 
 The name of the old squaw was She-lack-la, which 
 meant " the Dark and Rainy Cloud," a name given 
 her because at times she grew very angry and ill- 
 treated every one around her. Fortunately there 
 were two girls in her wigwam, and when the old 
 squaw was in a bad temper they had each other for 
 protection. The older girl had been given the name 
 of Saw-que-han-na, or " the White Lily," and the 
 other was known as Kno-los-ka, " the Short-legged 
 Bear." Like all the Indian girls they had to work 
 
THE LOST CHILDREN 15 
 
 hard, grinding corn, cooking and keeping house for 
 the boys and men who were brought up to hunt and 
 fight. Sawquehanna was tall and strong, spoke the 
 language of the tribe, and looked very much like her 
 Indian girl friends. 
 
 In the meantime many batdes had been fought 
 through the country of the pioneers, and the English 
 colonists were beating the French and Indians, and 
 driving the Frenchmen farther and farther north. 
 In 1765 the long war between the two nations 
 ended. Under a treaty of peace the English Colonel 
 Boquet demanded that all the white children who 
 had been captured by the Indian tribes should be 
 surrendered to the English officers. So one day 
 white soldiers came into the woods of western New 
 York and found the wigwams there. The children 
 were called out, and the soldiers took the two girls 
 from the old squaw Shelackla. Then they went on 
 to the other tribes, and from each they took all the 
 white children. They carried them to Fort Duquesne. 
 The Fort was in western Pennsylvania, and as soon 
 as it was known that the lost white children were 
 there, fathers and mothers all over the country hur- 
 ried to find their boys and girls. Many of the chil- 
 dren had been away so long that they hardly remem- 
 bered their parents, but most of the parents knew 
 their children, and found them again within the 
 walls of the fortress. 
 
 Some of the children, however, were not claimed. 
 Sawquehanna and her friend Knoloska and nearly 
 
i6 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 fifty more found no one looking for them and 
 wondered what would happen to them. After they 
 had waited at Fort Duquesne eight days, Colonel 
 Boquet started to march with his band of children to 
 the town of Carlisle, in hopes that they might find 
 friends farther east, or at least kind-hearted people 
 who would give the children homes. He sent news 
 of their march all through the country, and from day 
 to day as they traveled through the mountains by 
 way of Fort Ligonier, Raystown, and Louden, eager 
 people arrived to search among the band of children 
 for lost sons and daughters. When the children 
 came to Carlisle the town was filled with settlers 
 from the East. 
 
 The children stood in the market-place, and the 
 men and women pressed about them, trying to 
 recognize little ones who had been carried away by 
 Indians years before. Some people who lived in 
 the Blue Mountains were in the throng, and they 
 recognized the dark-haired Indian girl Knoloska as 
 Susan, the daughter of Mr. Smith, the farmer who had 
 lived near the Hartmans. Knoloska and Sawque- 
 hanna had not been separated for a long time. 
 They had kept together ever since the white soldiers 
 had freed them from the old squaw's wigwam. 
 Sawquehanna could not bear to think of having her 
 comrade leave her, and Susan clung to her adopted 
 sister's arm and kissed her again and again. The 
 white people were much kinder than the old squaw 
 had been, and instead of beating the girls when they 
 
THE LOST CHILDREN 17 
 
 cried, and frightening them with threats, the officers 
 told Sawquehanna that she would probably find 
 some friends soon, and if she did not, that perhaps 
 Susan's family would let her live in their home^ 
 But as nobody seemed to recognize her Sawque- 
 hanna felt more lonely than she had ever felt be- 
 fore. 
 
 Meanwhile Mrs. Hartman was living in the valley 
 with her son Christian, who had grown to be a 
 strong boy of fourteen. Neighbors told her that 
 the lost children were being brought across the 
 mountains to Carlisle, but there seemed little chance 
 that her own Regina might be one of them. She 
 decided, however, that she must go to the town and 
 see. Travel was difficult in those days, but the 
 brave woman set out over the mountains and across 
 the rivers to Carlisle, and at last reached the town 
 market-place. She looked anxiously among the 
 girls, remembering her little daughter as she had 
 been on that autumn day eleven years before ; but 
 none of the girls had the blue eyes, light yellow 
 hair and red cheeks of Regina. Mrs. Hartman 
 shook her head, and decided that her daughter was 
 not among these children. 
 
 As she turned away, disconsolate. Colonel Boquet 
 said to her, " Can't you find your daughter ? " 
 
 " No," said the disappointed mother, " my daugh- 
 ter is not among those children." 
 
 •' Are you sure ? " asked the colonel. " Are there 
 no marks by which you might know her ? " 
 
i8 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 " None, sir," she answered, shaking her head. 
 
 Colonel Boquet considered the matter for a few 
 minutes. " Did you ever sing to her ? " he asked 
 presently. " Was there no old hymn that she was 
 fond of?" 
 
 The mother looked up quickly. " Yes, there 
 was ! " she answered. " I have often sung her to 
 sleep in my arms with an old German hymn we all 
 loved so well." 
 
 " Then," said the colonel, " you and I will walk 
 along the line of girls and you shall sing that hymn. 
 It may be that your daughter has changed so much 
 that you wouldn't know her, but she may remember 
 the tune." 
 
 Mrs. Hartman looked very doubtful. " There is 
 little use in it, sir," she said, " for certainly I should 
 have known her if she were here ; and if I try your 
 plan all these soldiers will laugh at me for a foolish 
 old German woman." 
 
 The colonel, however, begged her at least to try 
 his plan, and she finally consented. They walked 
 back to the place where the children were standing, 
 and Mrs. Hartman began to sing in a trembling 
 voice the first words of the old hymn : 
 
 " Alone, and yet not all alone, am I 
 In this lone wilderness." 
 
 As she went on singing every one stopped talking 
 and turned to look at her. The woman's hands 
 
Sawquehanna Seemed to Remember the Voice 
 
THE LOST CHILDREN 19 
 
 were clasped as if in prayer, and her eyes were 
 closed. The sun shone full upon her white hair and 
 upturned face. There was something very beautiful 
 in the picture she made, and there was silence in the 
 market-place as her gentle voice went on through 
 the words of the hymn. 
 
 The mother had begun the second verse when 
 one of the children gave a cry. It was Sawque- 
 hanna, who seemed suddenly to have remembered 
 the voice and words. She rushed forward, and 
 flung her arms about the mother's neck, crying, 
 *' Mother, mother ! " Then, with her arms tight 
 about her, the tall girl joined in singing the words 
 that had lulled her to sleep in their cabin home. 
 
 " Alone, and yet not all alone, am I 
 
 In this lone wilderness, 
 I feel my Saviour ahvays nigh ; 
 
 He comes the weary hours to bless. 
 I am with Him, and He with me, 
 
 E'en here alone I cannot be." 
 
 The people in the market-place moved on about 
 their own affairs, and the mother and daughter were 
 left together. Now Mrs. Hartman recognized the 
 blue eyes of Regina, and knew her daughter in 
 spite of her height and dark skin, Regina began 
 to remember the days of her childhood, and the 
 years she had spent among the Indians were forgot- 
 ten. She was a white girl again, and happier now 
 than she had ever thought to be. 
 
20 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Next day Knoloska, now Susan Smith, and Saw- 
 quehanna, or Regina Hartman, went back to their 
 homes in the valley. Many a settler there had 
 found his son or daughter in the crowd of lost 
 children at Carlisle. 
 
II 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND 
 CLARK 
 
 French is still spoken in Quebec and New Or- 
 leans, reminders that the land of the lilies had much 
 to do with the settlement of North America. Many 
 of the greatest explorers of the continent were French- 
 men. Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence 
 River in 1534, ^.nd Champlain in 1603 founded New 
 France, and from his small fortress at Quebec 
 planned an empire that should reach to Florida. In 
 1666 Robert Cavalier, the Sieur de La Salle, came to 
 Canada, and set out from his seigneurie near the 
 rapids of Montreal to find the long-sought road to 
 China. Instead of doing that he discovered the 
 Ohio River, first of white men he voyaged across the 
 Great Lakes and sailed down the Mississippi to its 
 mouth. Great explorer, he mapped the country 
 from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, from 
 the Mississippi to the Atlantic Ocean, and built fron- 
 tier-posts in the wilderness. He traveled thousands 
 of miles, and in 1682 he raised the lilies of France 
 near the mouth of the Mississippi and named the 
 whole territory he had covered Louisiana^ in honor 
 of King Louis XIV of France. 
 
22 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 The first colony on the Gulf was established seven- 
 teen years later at Biloxi by a Canadian seigneur 
 named Iberville, Soon afterward this seigneur^s 
 brother, Bienville, founded New Orleans and attracted 
 many French pioneers there. The French proved to 
 be better explorers than farmers or settlers. In the 
 south they hunted the sources of the Arkansas and 
 Red Rivers, and discovered the little-known Pawnee 
 and Comanche Indians. In the north they pressed 
 westward and came in sight of the Rocky Mountains. 
 At that time it seemed as if France was to own at 
 least two-thirds of the continent. The English gen- 
 eral, Braddock, was defeated at Fort Duquesne in 
 1755, and the French commanded the Ohio as well 
 as the Mississippi ; but four years later the English 
 general, Wolfe, won the victory of the Plains of 
 Abraham near Quebec ; and France's chance was 
 over. Men in Paris who knew little concerning the 
 new world did not scruple to give away their coun- 
 try's title to vast lands. The French ceded Canada 
 and all of La Salle's old province of Louisiana east 
 of the Mississippi, except New Orleans, to England. 
 Soon afterward France, to outwit England, gave 
 Spain New Orleans and her claim to the half of the 
 Mississippi Valley west of the river to which the 
 name Louisiana now came to be restricted. 
 
 The French, however, were great adventurers by 
 nature, and Napoleon, changing the map of Europe, 
 could not keep his fingers from North America. He 
 planned to win back the New France that had been 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 23 
 
 given away. Spain was weak, and Napoleon traded 
 a small province in Italy for the great tract of Louisi- 
 ana. He meant to colonize and fortify this splendid 
 empire, but before it could be done enemies gathered 
 against his eagles at home, and to save his European 
 throne he had to forsake his western colony. 
 
 When Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801, 
 he found the people of the South and West disturbed 
 at France's repossessing herself of so much territory. 
 He sent Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe to 
 Paris to try to buy New Orleans and the country 
 known as the Floridas for $2,000,000. Instead Na- 
 poleon offered to sell not only New Orleans, but the 
 whole of Louisiana Territory extending as far west 
 as the Rocky Mountains for $15,000,000. Napoleon 
 insisted on the sale, and the envoys agreed. Jeffer- 
 son and the people in the eastern United States were 
 dismayed at the price paid for what they considered 
 almost worthless land, but the West was delighted, 
 owning the mouth of the great Mississippi and with 
 the country beyond it free to them to explore. In 
 time this purchase of Louisiana, or the territory 
 stretching to the Rocky Mountains, forming the 
 larger part of what are now thirteen of the states of 
 the Union, was to be considered one of the greatest 
 pieces of good fortune in the country's history. 
 
 Scarcely anything was known of Louisiana, except 
 the stories told by a few hunters. Jefferson decided 
 that the region must be explored, and asked his 
 young secretary, Meriwether Lewis, who had shown 
 
24 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 great interest in the new country, to make a path 
 through the wilderness. Lewis chose his friend 
 William Clark to accompany him, and picked thirty- 
 two experienced men for their party. May 14, 1804, 
 the expedition set out in a barge with sails and two 
 smaller boats from a point on the Missouri River 
 near St. Louis. 
 
 The nearer part of this country had already been 
 well explored by hunters and trappers, and especially 
 by that race of adventurous Frenchmen who were 
 rovers by nature. These men could not endure the 
 confining life of towns, and were continually pushing 
 into the wilderness, driving their light canoes over 
 the waters of the great rivers, and often sharing the 
 tents of friendly Indians they met. Many had become 
 almost more Indian than white man, — had married 
 Indian wives and lived the wandering life of the na- 
 tive. Such a man Captain Lewis found at the start 
 of his journey, and took with him to act as inter- 
 preter among the Sioux and tribes who spoke a sim- 
 ilar language. 
 
 The party traveled rapidly at the outset of their 
 journey, meeting small bands of Indians, and passing 
 one or two widely-separated frontier settlements. 
 They had to pass many difficult rapids in the river, 
 but as they were for the most part expert boatmen 
 they met with no mishaps. The last white town on 
 the Missouri was a little hamlet called La Charrette, 
 consisting of seven houses, with as many families 
 located there to hunt and trade for skins and furs. 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 2$ 
 
 As they went up the river they frequently met canoes 
 loaded with furs coming down. Day by day they took 
 careful observations, and made maps of the country 
 through which they were traveling, and when they 
 met Indians tried to learn the history and customs of 
 the tribe. Captain Lewis wrote down many of their 
 curious traditions. The Osage tribe had given their 
 name to a river that flowed into the Missouri a little 
 more than a hundred miles from its mouth. There 
 were three tribes of this nation : the Great Osages, 
 numbering about five hundred warriors ; the Little 
 Osages, who lived some six miles distant from the 
 others, and numbered half as many men ; and the 
 Arkansas band, six hundred strong, who had left the 
 others some time before, and settled on the Vermil- 
 lion River. The Osages lived in villages and were 
 good farmers, usually peaceful, although naturally 
 strong and tireless. Captain Lewis found a curious 
 tradition as to the origin of their tribe. The story 
 was that the founder of the nation was a snail, who 
 lived quietly on the banks of the Osage until a high 
 flood swept him down to the Missouri, and left him 
 exposed on the shore. The heat of the sun at length 
 ripened him into a man, but with the change in his na- 
 ture he did not forget his native haunts on the Osage, 
 but immediately bent his way in that direction. He 
 was, however, soon overtaken by hunger and fatigue, 
 when happily the Great Spirit appeared, and giving 
 him a bow and arrow showed him how to kill and 
 cook deer, and cover himself with the skins. He 
 
26 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 then pushed on to his home, but as he neared it 
 he was met by a beaver, who inquired haughtily who 
 he was, and by what authority he came to disturb 
 his possession. The Osage answered that the river 
 was his own, for he had once lived on its borders. 
 As they stood disputing, the daughter of the beaver 
 came, and having by her entreaties made peace be- 
 tween her father and the young stranger, it was pro- 
 posed that the Osage should marry the young 
 beaver, and share the banks of the river with her 
 family. The Osage readily consented, and from this 
 happy marriage there came the village and the na- 
 tion of the Wasbasha, or Osages, who kept a rever- 
 ence for their ancestors, never hunting the beaver, 
 because in killing that animal they would kill a 
 brother of the Osage. The explorers found, how- 
 ever, that since the value of beaver skins had risen 
 in trade with the white men, these Indians were 
 not so particular in their reverence for their rela- 
 tives. 
 
 The mouth of the Platte River was reached on 
 July 2ist, and the next day Lewis held a council 
 with the Ottoes and Missouri Indians, and named the 
 site Council Bluffs. At each of these meetings be- 
 tween Lewis and the Indians the white man would 
 explain that this territory was now part of the United 
 States, would urge the tribes to trade with their new 
 neighbors, and then present them with gifts of 
 medals, necklaces, rings, tobacco, ornaments of all 
 sorts, and often powder and arms. 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 27 
 
 The Indians were friendly and each day taught 
 the white men something new. Both Captain Lewis 
 and Lieutenant Clark had seen much of the red 
 men on the frontier, but now they were in a land 
 where they found them in their own homes. They 
 grew accustomed to the round tepees decorated 
 with bright-colored skins, the necklaces made of 
 claws of grizzly bears, the head-dresses of eagle 
 feathers, the tambourines, or small drums that fur- 
 nished most of their music, the whip-rattles made of 
 the hoofs of goats and deer, the white-dressed buflalo 
 robes painted with pictures that told the history of 
 the tribe, the moccasins and tobacco pouches em- 
 broidered with many colored beads. Each tribe dif- 
 fered in some way from its neighbors. For the first 
 time the explorers found among the Rickarees eight- 
 sided earth-covered lodges, and basket-shaped boats 
 made of interwoven boughs covered with buffalo 
 skins. 
 
 Game was plentiful as they went farther up the 
 Missouri River. At first no buffaloes were found, 
 but bands of elk were seen, and large herds of goats 
 crossing from their summer grazing grounds in the 
 hilly region west of the Missouri to their winter 
 quarters. Besides these were antelopes, beavers, 
 bears, badgers, deer, and porcupines, and the river 
 banks supplied them with plover, grouse, geese, 
 turkeys, ducks, and pelicans. There were plenty of 
 wild fruits to be had, and they lived well during the 
 whole of the summer. They traveled rapidly until 
 
28 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 the approach of cold weather decided them to estab- 
 lish winter quarters on October 27th. 
 
 They pitched their camp, which they called Fort 
 Mandan, on the eastern shore of the Missouri, near 
 the present city of Bismarck. They built some 
 wooden huts, which formed two sides of a triangle, 
 and a row of pickets on the third side, to provide 
 them with a stockade in case of attack. They found 
 a trader of the Hudson's Bay Company near by, and 
 during the winter a dozen other traders visited them. 
 Although they appeared to be friendly, Captain 
 Lewis was convinced that the traders had no desire 
 to see this United States expedition push into the 
 country, and would in fact do all they could to 
 prevent its advance. The Indians in the neighbor- 
 hood belonged to the tribes of the Mandans, 
 Rickarees, and Minnetarees. The first two of these 
 tribes went to war early in the winter, but peace was 
 made through the efforts of Captain Lewis. After 
 that all the Indians visited the encampment, bringing 
 stores of corn and presents of different sorts, in 
 exchange for which they obtained beads, rings, and 
 cloth from the white men. Here Captain Lewis 
 learned a curious legend of the Mandan tribe. 
 They believed that all their nation originally lived 
 in one large village underground near a subter- 
 ranean lake, and that a grape-vine stretched its roots 
 down to their home and gave them a view of day- 
 light. Some of the more adventurous of the tribe 
 climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 29 
 
 sight of the earth, which they found covered with 
 buffaloes and rich with all kinds of fruits. They 
 gathered some grapes and returned with them to 
 their countrymen, and told them of the charms of 
 the land they had seen. The others were very much 
 pleased with the story and with the grapes, and 
 men, women and children started to climb up the 
 vine. But when only half of them had reached the 
 top a heavy woman broke the vine by her weight, 
 and so closed the road to the rest of the nation. 
 Each member of this tribe was accustomed to select a 
 particular object for his devotion, and call it his 
 *• medicine." To this they would offer sacrifices of 
 every kind. One of the Indians said to Captain 
 Lewis, *• I was lately the owner of seventeen horses ; 
 but I have offered them all up to my * medicine,' and 
 am now poor." He had actually loosed all his 
 seventeen horses on the plains, thinking that in that 
 way he was doing honor to his god. 
 
 Almost every day hunting parties left the camp 
 and brought back buffaloes. The weather grew 
 very cold in December, and several times the ther- 
 mometer fell to forty degrees below zero. As 
 spring advanced, however, the weather became very 
 mild, and as early as April 7, 1805, they were able 
 to leave their camp at Fort Manden and start on 
 again. The upper Missouri they found was too 
 shallow for the large barge they had used the 
 previous summer, so this was now sent back down the 
 river in charge of a party of ten men who carried let- 
 
30 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 ters and specimens, while the others embarked in six 
 canoes and two large open boats that they had built 
 during the winter. So far the country through 
 which they had passed had been explored by a few 
 Hudson's Bay trappers, but as they now turned 
 westward they came into a region entirely unknown, 
 which they soon found was almost uninhabited. 
 
 The party had by this time three interpreters, one 
 a Canadian half-breed named Drewyer, who had 
 inherited from his mother the Indian's skill in wood- 
 craft, and who also knew the language of the white 
 explorers. The other two were a man named 
 Chaboneau and his wife, a young squaw called 
 Sacajawea, the " Bird-woman," who had originally 
 belonged to the Snake tribe, but who had been 
 captured in her childhood by Blackfeet Indians. 
 This Indian girl had married Chaboneau, a French 
 wanderer, who like many others of his kind had 
 sunk into an almost savage state. As the squaw 
 had not forgotten the language of her native people 
 the two white leaders thought she would prove a 
 valuable help to them in the wild country westward, 
 and persuaded her and her husband to go on with 
 them. 
 
 As the weather was fine the party traveled rap- 
 idly, and by April 26th reached the mouth of the 
 Yellowstone. They were now very far north, near 
 the northwest corner of what is the state of North 
 Dakota. Game was still plentiful but the banks of 
 the river were covered with a coating of alkali salts, 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 31 
 
 which made the water of the streams bitter and 
 unpleasant for drinking. Occasionally they came 
 upon a deserted Indian camp, but in this northern 
 territory they found few roving- tribes. When there 
 was a favorable wind they sailed along the Missouri, 
 but most of the time they had to use their oars. 
 Early in May they drew up their birch canoes for 
 the night at the mouth of a stream where they 
 found a large number of porcupines feeding on 
 young willow trees. Captain Lewis christened the 
 stream Porcupine River. Here there were quantities 
 of game, and elk and buffalo in abundance, so that 
 it was an easy matter to provide food for all the party. 
 
 Now they were continually coming upon new 
 rivers, many of them broad, with swift-flowing cur- 
 rents, and all of them appealing to the love of 
 exploration. The Missouri was their highroad, 
 however, and so they simply stopped to name the 
 different streams they came to. One they passed 
 had a peculiar white color, and Captain Lewis called 
 it the Milk River. The country along this stream 
 was bare for some distance, with gradually rising 
 hills beyond. 
 
 The game here was very plentiful and the buffaloes 
 were so tame that the men were obliged to drive 
 them away with sticks and stones. The only danger- 
 ous animal was the grizzly bear, a beast that never 
 seemed to know when he had had enough of a fight. 
 One evening the men in the canoes saw a large 
 grizzly lying some three hundred paces from the 
 
32 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 shore. Six of them landed and hid behind a small 
 hillock within forty paces of the bear ; four of the 
 hunters fired, and each lodged a ball in the bear's 
 body. The animal sprang up and roared furiously 
 at them. As he came near them the two hunters 
 who had not yet fired gave him two more wounds, 
 one of which broke a shoulder, but before they had 
 time to reload their guns, the bear was so near them 
 that they had to run for the river. He almost over- 
 took them ; two jumped into the canoes ; the other 
 four separated, and hiding in the willows fired as 
 fast as they could reload their guns. Again and 
 agam they shot him, but each time the shots only 
 seemed to attract his attention toward the hunters, 
 until finally he chased two of them so closely that 
 they threw away their guns, and jumped down a 
 steep bank into the river. The bear sprang after 
 them, and was almost on top of the rear man when 
 one of the others on shore shot him in the head, and 
 finally killed him. They dragged him to shore, 
 and found that eight balls had gone through him in 
 different directions. The hunters took the bear's 
 skin back to camp, and there they learned that an- 
 other adventure had occurred. One of the other 
 canoes, which contained all the provisions, instru- 
 ments, and numerous other important articles, had 
 been under sail when it was struck on the side by a 
 sudden squall of wind. The man at the helm, who 
 was one of the worst navigators of the party, made 
 the mistake of luffing the boat into the wind. The 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 33 
 
 wind was so high that it forced the brace of the 
 square-sail out of the hand of the man who was hold- 
 ing it, and instantly upset the canoe. The boat 
 would have turned upside down but for the resist- 
 ance of the canvas awning. The other boats hastened 
 to the rescue, righted the canoe, and by baling her 
 out kept her from sinking. They rowed the canoe 
 to shore and the cargo was saved. Had it been lost 
 the expedition would have been deprived of most of 
 the things that were necessary for its success, at a 
 distance of between two and three thousand miles 
 from any place where they could get supplies. 
 
 On May 20th they reached the yellowish waters of 
 the Musselshell River. A short distance beyond this 
 Captain Lewis caught his first view of the Rocky 
 Mountains, one of the goals toward which they were 
 tending. Along the Musselshell the country was 
 covered with wild roses and small honeysuckle, but 
 soon after they came into a region that was very bare 
 and dry, where both game and timber were scarce, 
 the mosquitoes annoying, the noonday sun uncom- 
 fortably hot, and the nights very coldo The Mis- 
 souri River, along which they were still traveling, was 
 now heading to the southwest They were near the 
 border of the present state of Idaho when they passed 
 several old Indian camps, most of which seemed to 
 have been deserted for five or six weeks. From this 
 fact they judged that they were following a band of 
 about one hundred lodges, who were traveling up the 
 same river. They knew that the Minnetarees of the 
 
34 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Missouri often traveled as far west as the Yellow- 
 stone, and presumed that the Indians ahead of them 
 belonged to that tribe. There were other evidences 
 of the Indians. At the foot of a cliff they found the 
 bodies of a great many slaughtered buffaloes, which 
 had been hunted after the fashion of the Blackfeet. 
 Their way of hunting was to select one of the most 
 active braves, and disguise him by tying a buffalo 
 skin around his body, fastening the skin of the head, 
 with ears and horns, over the head of the brave. 
 Thus disguised the Indian would take a position be- 
 tween a herd of buffalo and the precipice overlook- 
 ing a river. The other hunters would steal back of 
 the herd, and at a given signal chase them. The 
 buffaloes would run in the direction of the disguised 
 brave, who would lead them on at full speed toward 
 the river. As he reached the edge he would quickly 
 hide himself in some crevice or ravine of the cliff, 
 which he had chosen beforehand, and the herd would 
 be left on the brink. The buffaloes in front could 
 not stop being driven on by those behind, who in 
 their turn would be closely pursued by the hunters. 
 The whole herd, therefore, would usually rush over 
 the cliff, and the hunters could take their pick of 
 hides and meat in the river below. This method of 
 hunting was very extravagant, but at that time the 
 Indians had no thought of preserving the buffaloes. 
 One of the rivers Lewis passed in this region he 
 named the Slaughter River, on account of this way 
 of hunting. 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 35 
 
 When the Missouri turned southward the explorers 
 came to many steep rapids, around which the canoes 
 had to be carried, which made travehng slow. Often 
 the banks were so steep and the mud so thick that 
 the men were obliged to take off their moccasins, and 
 much of the time they were up to their arms in the 
 cold water of the river. But there was a great deal 
 to charm the eye in the opening spring, even in that 
 bare country. Lewis found places near the river 
 filled with choke-cherries, yellow currants, wild 
 roses, and prickly pears in full bloom. In the dis- 
 tance the mountains, rising in long greenish-blue 
 chains, the tops covered with snow, invited the 
 travelers to find what lay on the other side of their 
 ridges. 
 
 On June 3d they reached a place where the river 
 divided into two wide streams, and it became very 
 important to decide which of the two was the one 
 that the Indians called the Ahmateahza, or Missouri, 
 which they had said approached very near to the 
 Columbia River. Lewis knew that the success of 
 his expedition depended largely upon choosing th6 
 right stream, because if, after they had ascended the 
 Rocky Mountains beyond, they should find that the 
 river they had taken did not bring them near the 
 Columbia, they would have to return, and thereby 
 would lose a large part of the summer, which was 
 the only season when they could travel. For this 
 reason he decided to send out two exploring parties. 
 He himself made a two days' march up the north 
 
36 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 branch, and deciding that this was not the Missouri, 
 he named it Maria's River. As they came back 
 they had to walk along high cliffs, and at one steep 
 point Captain Lewis slipped, and, if he had not been 
 able to catch himself with his mountain stick, would 
 have been thrown into the river. He had just 
 reached a point of safety when he heard a man be- 
 hind him call out, " Good God, captain, what shall I 
 do ? " Turning instantly he found that his compan- 
 ion had lost his footing on the narrow pass, and had 
 slipped down to the very edge of the precipice, 
 where he lay with his right arm and leg over the 
 cliff, while with the other arm and leg he was trying 
 to keep from slipping over. Lewis saw the danger, 
 but calmly told the other to take his knife from his 
 belt with his right hand, and dig a hole in the side 
 of the bluff in which to stick his foot. With great 
 presence of mind the man did this, and getting a 
 foothold, raised himself on his knees. Lewis then 
 told him to take off his moccasins, and crawl forward 
 on his hands and knees, his knife in one hand and 
 his rifle in the other. In this manner the man re- 
 gained a secure place on the cliff. 
 
 Captain Lewis considered that this method of 
 traveling was too dangerous, and he ordered the rest 
 of the party to wade the river at the foot of the bluff, 
 where the water was only breast-high. This ad- 
 venture taught them the danger of crossing the slip- 
 pery heights above the stream, but as the plains 
 were broken by ravines almost as difficult to pass, 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 37 
 
 they kept on down the river, sometimes wading in 
 the mud of the low grounds, sometimes in the water, 
 but when that became too deep, cutting footholds in 
 the river bank with their knives. On that particular 
 day they traveled through rain, mud, and water for 
 eighteen miles, and at night camped in a deserted 
 Indian lodge built of sticks. Here they cooked part 
 of the six deer they had killed in the day's traveling, 
 and slept on willow boughs they piled inside the 
 lodge. 
 
 Many of the party thought that the north fork was 
 the Missouri River, but Lewis and Clark were both 
 convinced that the south fork was the real Missouri. 
 They therefore hid their heaviest boat and all the 
 supplies they could spare, and prepared to push on 
 with as little burden as possible. A few days later 
 Lewis was proved to be right in his judgment of 
 the south fork, for on June 13th he came to the 
 Great Falls of the Missouri. The grandeur of the 
 falls made a tremendous impression on them all. 
 The river, three hundred yards wide, was shut in by 
 steep cliflfs, and for ninety yards from the left cliff 
 the water fell in a smooth sheet over a precipice 
 of eighty feet. The rest of the river shot forward 
 with greater force, and, being broken by projecting 
 rocks, sent clouds of foam into the air. As the 
 water struck the basin below the falls it beat furiously 
 against the ledge of rocks that extended across the 
 river, and Lewis found that for three miles below the 
 stream was one line of rapids and cascades, over- 
 
38 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 hung by bluffs. Five miles above the first falls the 
 whole river was blocked by one straight shelf of 
 rock, over which the water ran in an even sheet, a 
 majestic sight. 
 
 This part of the Missouri, however, offered great 
 difficulties to their travel. The men had now jour- 
 neyed constantly for several months, and were in a 
 region of steep falls and rapids. It was clear that 
 they could not carry the boats on their shoulders for 
 long distances. Fortunately they found a small 
 creek at the foot of the falls, and by this they were 
 able to reach the highlands. From there Lieutenant 
 Clark and a few men surveyed the trail they were to 
 follow, while others hunted and prepared stores of 
 dried meat, and the carpenter built a carriage to 
 transport the boats. They found a large cottonwood 
 tree, about twenty-two inches in diameter, which 
 provided them with the carriage wheels. They de- 
 cided to leave one of their boats behind, and use its 
 mast for two axle-trees. 
 
 Meantime Clark studied the river and found that 
 a series of rapids made a perilous descent, and that 
 a portage of thirteen miles would be necessary. The 
 country was difficult for traveling, being covered 
 with patches of prickly pears, the needles of which 
 cut through the moccasins of the men who dragged 
 the boat's carriage. To add to the difficulty, when 
 they were about five miles from their goal the axle- 
 trees broke, and then the tongues of green cotton- 
 wood gave way. They had to stop and search for 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 39 
 
 a substitute, and finally found willow trees, which 
 provided them with enough wood to patch up the 
 boat-carriage. Half a mile from their new camping 
 place the carriage broke again, and this time they 
 found it easier to carry boat and baggage than to 
 build a new conveyance. Captain Lewis described 
 the state of his party at this portage. " The men," 
 he wrote, " are loaded as heavily as their strength 
 will permit ; the crossing is really painful ; some are 
 limping with the soreness of their feet, others are 
 scarcely able to stand for more than a few minutes 
 from the heat and fatigue ; they are all obliged to 
 halt and rest frequently, and at almost every stop- 
 ping place they fall, and many of them are asleep in 
 an instant." 
 
 As they had to go back to the other side of the 
 rapids for the stores they had left, they were obliged 
 to repair the carriage and cross the portage again 
 and again. After ten days' work all their stores 
 were above the falls. 
 
 While they were busy making this portage they 
 had several narrow escapes from attacks by grizzly 
 bears. The bears were so bold that they would walk 
 into the camp at night, attracted by buffalo meat, 
 and the sleeping men were in danger from their 
 claws. A tremendous storm added to their discom- 
 fort, and the hailstones were driven so furiously by 
 the high wind that they wounded some of the men. 
 Before the storm Lieutenant Clark, with his colored 
 servant York, the half-breed Chaboneau, and his 
 
40 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Indian wife and young child, had taken the road 
 above the falls on their way to camp when they 
 noticed a very dark cloud coming up rapidly in the 
 west. Clark hunted about for shelter, and at length 
 found a ravine protected by shelving rocks under 
 which they could take refuge. Here they were safe 
 from the rain, and they laid down their guns, com- 
 pass, and the other articles they had with them. 
 Rain and hail beat upon their shelter, and the rain 
 began to fall in such solid sheets that it washed down 
 rocks and mud from higher up the ravine. Then a 
 landslide started, but just before the heaviest part of 
 it struck them Lieutenant Clark seized his gun in 
 one hand, and pushed the Indian woman, her child 
 in her arms, up the bank. Her husband also caught 
 at her and pulled her along, but he was so much 
 frightened at the noise and danger that but for 
 Clark's steadiness he, with his wife and child, would 
 probably have been lost. As it was, Clark could 
 hardly climb as fast as the water rose. Had they 
 waited a minute longer they would have been swept 
 into the Missouri just above the Great Falls. They 
 reached the top in safety, and there found York, 
 who had left them just before the storm to hunt some 
 buffalo. They pushed on to camp where the rest of 
 the party had already taken shelter, and had aban- 
 doned all work for that day. 
 
 While the men were building a new boat of skins, 
 Captain Lewis spent much time studying the animals, 
 trees, and plants of the region, making records of them 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 41 
 
 to take home. Ever since their arrival at the falls 
 they had heard a strange noise coming from the 
 mountains a little to the north of west. " It is heard 
 at different periods of the day and night," Lewis 
 wrote, " sometimes when the air is perfectly still and 
 without a cloud, and consists of one stroke only, or 
 of five or six discharges in quick succession. It is 
 loud, and resembles precisely the sound of a six- 
 pound piece of ordnance at the distance of three 
 miles. The Minnetarees frequendy mentioned this 
 noise like thunder, which they said the mountains 
 made ; but we paid no attention to it, believing it to 
 have been some superstition, or perhaps a falsehood. 
 The watermen also of the party say that the Pawnees 
 and Ricaras give the same account of a noise heard 
 in the Black Mountains to the westward of them. 
 The solution of the mystery given by the philosophy 
 of the watermen is, that it is occasioned by the 
 bursting of the rich mines of silver confined within 
 the bosom of the mountain." 
 
 Early in July the new boat was finished. It was 
 very strong, and yet could be carried easily by five 
 men. But when it was first launched they found 
 that the tar-like material with which they had 
 covered the skins that made the body of the boat 
 would not withstand water, and so the craft leaked. 
 After trying to repair the boat for several days they 
 finally decided to abandon it. Putting all their 
 luggage into the canoes they resumed their journey 
 up the river. 
 
42 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 As the canoes were heavily loaded the men who 
 were not needed to paddle them walked along the 
 shore. The country here was very picturesque. At 
 times they climbed hills that gave them wide views 
 of open country never explored by white men ; again 
 they waded through fields of wild rye, reminding 
 them of the farm lands of the East ; sometimes their 
 path wound through forests of redwood trees, and 
 always they could see the high mountains, still snow- 
 capped. The glistening light on the mountain tops 
 told the explorers why they were called the Shining 
 Mountains. 
 
 Game was now less plentiful, and as they had to 
 save the dried meat for the crossing of the moun- 
 tains, it became a problem to provide food for the 
 party of thirty-two people, who usually consumed a 
 daily supply equal to an elk and deer, four deer or one 
 buffalo. The wild berries, however, were now ripe, 
 and as there were quantities of these they helped to 
 furnish the larder. There were red, purple, yel- 
 low, and black currants, gooseberries, and service- 
 berries. The sunflower grew everywhere. Lewis 
 wrote in his diary : " The Indians of the Missouri, 
 more especially those who do not cultivate maize, 
 make great use of the seed of this plant for bread or 
 in thickening their soup. They first parch and then 
 pound it between two stones until it is reduced to a 
 fine meal. Sometimes they add a portion of water, 
 and drink it thus diluted ; at other times they add a 
 sufficient proportion of marrow grease to reduce it to 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 43 
 
 the consistency of common dough and eat it in that 
 manner. This last composition we preferred to all 
 the rest, and thought it at that time a very palatable 
 dish." 
 
 The Missouri now flowed to the south, and on July 
 i8th the party reached a wide stream, which they 
 named Dearborn River in honor of the Secre- 
 tary of War. Lewis meant to send back a small 
 party in canoes from this point, but as he had not yet 
 met the Snake Indians, and was uncertain as to their 
 friendliness, he decided he had better not weaken 
 his expedition here. He, however, sent Clark with 
 three men on a scouting trip. Clark found an old 
 Indian road, which he followed, but the prickly pears 
 cut the feet of his men so badly that he could not 
 go far. Along his track he strewed signals, pieces 
 of cloth and paper, to show the Indians, if they should 
 cross that trail, that the party was composed of white 
 men. Before he returned the main party had dis- 
 covered a great column of smoke up the valley, and 
 suspected that this was an Indian signal to show that 
 their approach had been discovered. Afterward 
 they learned that this was the fact. The Indians 
 had heard one of Clark's men fire a gun, and, taking 
 alarm, had fled into the mountains, giving the smoke 
 signal to warn the rest of the tribe. 
 
 The high mountains now began to draw close to 
 the expedition, and they camped one night at a 
 place called the Gates of the Rocky Mountains. 
 Here tremendous rocks rose directly from the river's 
 
44 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 edge almost twelve hundred feet in the air ; at the 
 base they were made of black granite, but the upper 
 part Lewis decided was probably flint of a yellowish 
 brown and cream color. On July 25th the advance 
 guard reached the three forks of the Missouri. 
 Chaboneau was ill, and they had to wait until Lewis 
 and the others caught up. They named the forks of 
 the river Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson, in honor 
 of the statesmen of those names. It was at this 
 place that the Indian squaw Sacajawea had been in 
 camp with her tribe five years before when the 
 Minnetarees attacked them, killed some, and made a 
 prisoner of her and some others. Lewis hoped that 
 she would be able to help them if they should fall in 
 with bands of her own tribe. 
 
 As the main stream ended here, the party now fol- 
 lowed the Jefferson River. They soon decided that 
 it would be necessary to secure horses if they were 
 to cross the mountains, and Lewis with three men 
 set out to try to find the Shoshone Indians, from 
 whom they might buy mounts. After several hours' 
 march they saw a man on horseback coming across 
 the plain toward them ; examining him through the 
 glass Lewis decided that he belonged to a different 
 tribe of Indians from any that they had yet met, prob- 
 ably the Shoshones. He was armed with a bow and 
 a quiver of arrows, and rode a good horse without a 
 saddle, a small string attached to the lower jaw an- 
 swering as a bridle. Lewis was anxious to convince 
 him that the white men meant to be friendly, and 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 45 
 
 went toward him at his usual pace. When they 
 were still some distance apart the Indian suddenly 
 stopped. Lewis immediately stopped also, and 
 taking his blanket from his knapsack, and holding 
 it with both hands at the four corners threw it 
 above his head and then unfolded it as he brought 
 it to the ground, as if in the act of spreading it. 
 This signal, which was intended to represent the 
 spreading of a robe as a seat for guests, was the 
 common sign of friendship among the Indian tribes 
 of the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains. Lewis 
 repeated the sign three times, and then taking some 
 beads, a looking-glass, and a few other trinkets 
 from his knapsack, and leaving his gun, walked on 
 toward the Indian. But when he was within two hun- 
 dred yards of him the Indian turned his horse and 
 began to ride away. Captain Lewis then called to 
 him, using words of the Shoshones. The captain's 
 companions now walked forward, also, and their ad- 
 vance evidently frightened the Indian, for he sud- 
 denly whipped his horse and disappeared in a clump 
 of willow bushes. When they returned to the camp 
 Lewis packed some more Indian gifts in his knap- 
 sack, and fastened a small United States flag to a 
 pole to be carried by one of the men, which was 
 intended as a friendly signal should the Indians 
 see them advancing. 
 
 The next day brought them to the head-waters of 
 the Jefferson River, rising from low mountains. 
 They had now reached the sources of the great 
 
46 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Missouri River, a place never before seen by white 
 men. From this distant spot flowed the waters that 
 traversed a third of the continent, finally flowing into 
 the Mississippi near St. Louis. 
 
 Leaving the river, they followed an Indian road 
 through the hills, and reached the top of a ridge 
 from which they could see more mountains, partly 
 covered with snow. The ridge on which they stood 
 marked the dividing line between the waters of the 
 Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Going down the 
 farther side they came to a creek, which was part of 
 the Columbia River ; near this was a spring. They 
 gathered enough dry willow brush for fuel, and 
 halted for the night. Here they ate their last piece 
 of pork, and had only a little flour and parched meal 
 left in the way of provisions. Early next day Lewis 
 went forward on foot, hoping to find some Indians. 
 After several hours he saw three ; but they fled away. 
 Later he came upon three Indian women ; one of them 
 ran, but the other two, an elderly woman and a little 
 girl, approached, evidently thinking that the strangers 
 were too near for them to escape, and sat down on 
 the ground. Lewis put down his rifle and walking 
 to them, took the woman by the hand, and helped 
 her up. He then rolled up his shirt sleeve to show 
 that he was a white man, since his hands and face 
 were almost as dark as an Indian's. His companions 
 joined him, and they gave the Indians some pewter 
 mirrors, beads, and other presents. He painted the 
 women's cheeks with some vermilion paint, which 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 47 
 
 was the Shoshone custom, meaning peace. He then 
 made them understand by signs that he wished to 
 go to their camp to see their chiefs. The squaw led 
 the white men along a road for some two miles, when 
 they met a band of sixty mounted warriors riding 
 toward them. Again Lewis dropped his rifle, and 
 courageously marched out to deal with these un- 
 known red men. The chief and two others galloped 
 up in advance and spoke to the women, who 
 showed them the presents they had just received. 
 Then the three Indians leaped from their horses, and 
 coming up to Lewis, put their arms about him in 
 friendly greeting, at the same time rubbing their 
 cheeks against his and smearing considerable paint 
 on his face. The other white men advanced and 
 were greeted in the same way. Lewis gave presents 
 to the warriors, and, lighting a pipe, offered it to 
 them for the " smoke of peace." Before they smoked 
 it, however, the Indians took off their moccasins, a 
 custom which meant that they would go bare- 
 footed forever, before they broke their treaty of 
 friendship with their friends. The chief then turned 
 and led the white men and his warriors to their 
 camp. Here the white men were invited into a 
 leathern lodge, and seated on green boughs and 
 antelope skins. A small fire was lit in the centre. 
 Again taking off their moccasins, the chief lighted 
 a pipe made of some highly polished green stone ; 
 after some words in his own tongue he handed the 
 pipe to Captain Lewis, who then handed it to the 
 
48 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 other white men. Each took a few whiffs, and then 
 passed it back to the warriors. After this ceremony 
 was finished, Lewis explained that they were in great 
 need of food. The chief presented them with cakes 
 made of sun-dried service-berries and choke-cherries. 
 Later another warrior gave them a piece of boiled 
 antelope, and some fresh roasted salmon, the first 
 salmon Lewis had seen, which convinced him that 
 he was now on the waters of the Columbia River. 
 He learned that the Indians had received word of 
 the advance of his party, whom they at first took to 
 be a hostile tribe, and had therefore set out, pre- 
 pared for an attack. As a further sign of good- 
 will, the white men were invited to witness an In- 
 dian dance, which lasted nearly all night. It was 
 late when the white men, tired by their long day's 
 journey, were allowed to take their rest. 
 
 On the next day Captain Lewis tried to persuade 
 the Shoshones to accompany him across the divide 
 in order to assist in bringing his baggage over. It 
 took considerable argument to get the Indians to do 
 this, and he had to promise them more gifts and 
 arouse their curiosity by telling them that there were 
 a black man and a native Indian woman in his camp, 
 before he could induce them to consent. Finally 
 the chief, Cameahwait, and several of his warriors 
 agreed to go with Lewis. When they reached the 
 place where the rest of the party were camped 
 the chief was surprised and delighted to find 
 that the Indian woman, Sacajawea, was his own 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 49 
 
 sister, whom he had not seen since she had been 
 captured by the enemies of his tribe. Clark's negro 
 servant, York, caused much amazement to the 
 Indians, who had never seen a man of his color 
 before. Lewis then had a long talk with the 
 Shoshones, telling them of the great power of the 
 government he represented, and of the advantages 
 they would receive by trading with the white men. 
 Presently he won their good-will, and they agreed 
 to give him four horses in exchange for firearms 
 and other articles. Sacajawea was of the greatest 
 help in the talk between the white men and the Sho- 
 shones, and it was she who finally induced her brother 
 to do all he could to assist the explorers. 
 
 Lewis now sent Clark ahead to explore the route 
 along the Columbia River, and to build canoes if 
 possible. The Indians had told him that their road 
 would lie over steep, rocky mountains, where there 
 would be little or no game, and then for ten days 
 across a sandy desert, Clark pushed on, and found 
 all the Indians' reports correct. He met a few small 
 parties of Indians, but they had no provisions to 
 spare, and his men were soon exhausted from hunger 
 and the weariness of marching over mountains. 
 His expedition proved that it would be impossible 
 for the main party to follow this river, to which he 
 gave the name of Lewis, and he returned to the 
 camp of the Shoshones, which Lewis and the others 
 had made their headquarters. 
 
 In this camp the white men made preparations for 
 
50 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 the rest of their journey. They finally obtained 
 twenty-nine young horses and saddles for them. 
 They also studied the history and habits of this 
 tribe, who had once been among the most powerful, 
 but had been lately defeated in battle by their neigh- 
 bors. The Shoshones were also called the Snake 
 Indians, and lived along the rivers of the northwest, 
 fishing for salmon and hunting buffaloes. Their 
 chief wealth lay in their small, wiry horses, which 
 were very sure-footed and fleet, and to which they 
 paid a great deal of attention. 
 
 On August 27th the expedition started afresh, 
 with twenty-nine packhorses, heading across the 
 mountains to other Indian encampments on another 
 branch of the Columbia. Travel was slow, as in 
 many places they had to cut a road for the ponies, 
 and often the path was so rough that the heavily- 
 burdened horses would slip and fall. Snow fell at 
 one time, and added to the difficulty of the journey, 
 but by September 6th they had passed the moun- 
 tain range, and had come into a wide valley, at 
 the head of a stream they called Clark's Fork of the 
 Columbia. Here they met about four hundred 
 Ootlashoot Indians, to whom they gave presents in 
 exchange for fresh horses. Continuing again, they 
 reached Traveler's Rest Creek, and here they 
 stopped to hunt, as the Indians had told them that 
 the country ahead held no game. After refurnishing 
 their larder they pushed on westward, and ran into 
 another snow-storm, which made riding more diffi- 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 51 
 
 cult than ever. Their provisions were soon ex- 
 hausted, game was lacking, and the situation was 
 discouraging. The march had proved very tiring, 
 and there was no immediate prospect of reaching 
 better country. Lewis, therefore, sent Clark with 
 six hunters ahead, but this light scouting party 
 was able to find very little game, and was nearly 
 exhausted, when on September 20th Clark came 
 upon a village of the Chopunish or Nez Perces 
 Indians, in a beautiful valley. These Indians had 
 fish, roots, and berries, which they gave the white 
 men, who at once sent some back to Lewis and 
 the others. These provisions reached the main 
 party at a time when they had been without food for 
 more than a day. Strengthened by the supplies, 
 and encouraged by news of the Indian village, they 
 hastened forward, and reached the Nez Perces' en- 
 campment. 
 
 Their stock of firearms and small articles enabled 
 them to buy provisions from these Indians ; and 
 they moved on to the forks of the Snake River, 
 where they camped for several days, to enable the 
 party to regain its strength. They built five canoes 
 in the Indian fashion, and launched them on the 
 river, which they hoped would lead them to the 
 ocean. Lewis hid his saddles and extra ammunition, 
 and, having branded the horses, turned them over 
 to three Indians, who agreed to take care of them 
 until the party should return. 
 
 The Snake River, flowing through beautiful 
 
52 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 country, was filled with rapids, and they had many 
 hardships in passing them. At one place a canoe 
 struck a rock, and immediately filled with water and 
 sank. Several of the men could not swim, and were 
 rescued with difficulty. At the same time they had 
 to guard their supplies carefully at night from 
 wandering Indians, who, although they were 
 friendly, could not resist the temptation to steal 
 small articles of all sorts. The rapids passed, the 
 river brought them into the main stream of the 
 Lewis River, and this in turn led them to the junc- 
 tion of the Lewis and Columbia Rivers, which 
 they reached on October 17th. Here they parted 
 from the last of the Nez Perces Indians. The 
 Columbia had as many rapids as the smaller river, 
 and in addition they came to the Great Falls, where 
 they had to lower the canoes by ropes made of elk- 
 skin. At one or two places they had to make 
 portages, but as this involved a great deal of extra 
 labor, they tried to keep to the stream wherever they 
 could. At one place a tremendous rock jutted into 
 the river, leaving a channel only forty-five yards wide 
 through which the Columbia passed, its waters 
 tossed into great whirlpools and wild currents. 
 Lewis decided that it would be impossible to carry 
 the boats over this high rock, and determined to 
 rely on skillful steering of them through the narrow 
 passage. He succeeded in doing this, although 
 Indians whom he had met shortly before had told 
 him that it was impossible. At several places they 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 53 
 
 landed most of the men and all the valuable articles, 
 and the two chief explorers took the canoes through 
 the rapids themselves, not daring to trust the navi- 
 gation to less experienced hands. 
 
 In this far-western country they were continually 
 meeting wandering Indians, and they learned from 
 them that the Pacific Ocean was not far distant. On 
 October 28th Lewis found an Indian wearing a 
 round hat and sailor's jacket, which had been brought 
 up the river in trade, and soon after he found other 
 red men wearing white men's clothes. On the thirty- 
 first they came to more falls. Here they followed 
 the example of their Indian friends, and carried the 
 canoes and baggage across the slippery rocks to the 
 foot of the rapids. The large canoes were brought 
 down by slipping them along on poles, which were 
 stretched from one rock to another. They had to 
 stop constantly to make repairs to the boats, which 
 had weathered all sorts of currents, and had been 
 buffeted against innumerable rocks and tree-trunks. 
 Then they discovered tide-water in the river, and 
 pushed on eagerly to a place called Diamond Island. 
 Here, Lewis wrote, " we met fifteen Indians ascend- 
 ing the river in two canoes ; but the only information 
 we could procure from them was that they had seen 
 three vessels, which we presumed to be European, at 
 the mouth of the Columbia." 
 
 They came to more and more Indian villages, gen- 
 erally belonging to the Skilloot tribe, who were very 
 friendly, but who were too sharp at a bargain to 
 
54 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 please Captain Lewis. On November 7, 1805, they 
 reached a point from which they could see the ocean. 
 Lewis says : " The fog cleared off, and we enjoyed 
 the delightful prospect of the ocean — that ocean, the 
 object of all our labors, the reward of all our anxie- 
 ties. This cheering view exhilarated the spirits of all 
 the party, who were still more delighted on hearing 
 the distant roar of the breakers, and went on with 
 great cheerfulness." 
 
 It was late in the year, and the captain wished to 
 push on so that he might winter on the coast, but a 
 heavy storm forced them to land and seek refuge 
 under a high cliff. The waves on the river were 
 very high, and the wind was blowing a gale directly 
 from the sea ; great waves broke over the place 
 where they camped, and they had to use the utmost 
 care to save their canoes from being smashed by 
 drifting logs. Here they had to stay for six days, in 
 which time their clothes and food v/ere drenched, and 
 their supply of dried fish exhausted ; but the men 
 bore these trials lightly now that they were so near 
 the Pacific Ocean. When the gale ended they ex- 
 plored the country for a good place to establish their 
 winter quarters. The captain finally decided to 
 locate on a point of high land above the river Neutel, 
 well beyond the highest tide, and protected by a 
 grove of lofty pines. Here they made their perma- 
 nent camp, which was called Fort Clatsop. They 
 built seven wooden huts in which to spend the winter. 
 They lived chiefly on elk, to which they added fish 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 55 
 
 and berries in the early spring. A whale stranded on 
 the beach provided them with blubber, and they 
 found salt on the shore. The winter passed without 
 any unusual experiences, and gave the captain an 
 opportunity to make a full record of the country 
 through which he had passed, and of the Indian 
 tribes he had met. 
 
 The original plan was to remain at Fort Clatsop 
 until April, when Lewis expected to renew his stock 
 of merchandise from the trading vessels, which visited 
 the mouth of the Columbia every spring ; but as the 
 winter passed the constant rain brought sickness 
 among the men, and game grew more and more 
 scarce, so that it was decided to make an earlier re- 
 turn. Before they did this Lewis wrote out an ac- 
 count of his expedition, and arranged to have this 
 delivered to the trading vessels when they should ar- 
 rive, and in this way the news of his discoveries 
 would not be lost in case anything should happen to 
 his own party. The Indians agreed to deliver the 
 packets, and one of the messages, carried by an 
 American trader, finally reached Boston by way of 
 China in February, 1807, some six months after 
 Lewis himself had returned to the East. On March 
 24, 1806, they started back on their long route of 
 four thousand one hundred and forty-four miles to 
 St. Louis. 
 
 Searching for fish, they found the Multonah or 
 Willamette River, and Lewis wrote that the valley of 
 this stream would furnish the only desirable place of 
 
56 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 settlement west of the Rocky Mountains, Here he 
 found rich prairies, plenty of fish and game, unusual 
 plants of various sorts, and abundant timber. Soon 
 they reached the village of the Walla Walla Indians, 
 who received them so hospitably that the captain 
 said of all the Indians they had met since leaving the 
 United States this tribe was the most honest and 
 sincere. With twenty-three horses, and Walla Walla 
 Indians as guides, they followed a new road up the 
 valley of the Lewis or Snake River, which saved 
 them eighty miles of their westward route. It was 
 still too early to cross the mountains, and they camped 
 near the place where they had trusted their thirty- 
 eight horses to their Indian friends the autumn before. 
 The Indians returned the horses in exchange for 
 merchandise, and Lewis provided them with food. 
 In all these meetings the squaw wife of the French 
 trader was invaluable. Usually Lewis spoke in Eng- 
 lish, which was translated by one of his men into 
 French for the benefit of the trapper Chaboneau, who 
 repeated it in the tongue of the Minnetarees to his 
 wife ; she would then repeat the words in the Sho- 
 shone tongue, and most of the Indians could then 
 understand them, or some could repeat them to the 
 others in their own dialect. 
 
 Early in June they tried to cross the mountains, 
 but the snow was ten feet deep on a level, and they 
 had to abandon the attempt until late in the month. 
 They finally crossed, and found their trail of the 
 previous September. At this point the party divided 
 
THE JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARK 57 
 
 in order to explore different parts of the country. 
 Lewis took a direct road to the Great Falls of the Mis- 
 souri, where he wished to explore Maria's River. 
 Clark went on to the head of the Jefferson River, 
 where he was to find the canoes that they had hid- 
 den, and cross by the shortest route to the Yellow- 
 stone ; and the two parties were to meet at the 
 mouth of the Yellowstone River. Lack of game 
 prevented Lewis getting far into the country along 
 Maria's River. On this journey he fell in with a 
 band of Minnetarees, and some of them tried to steal 
 his guns and horses. The only real fight of the 
 journey followed, in which two Indians were killed. 
 He then continued eastward, and on August 7th 
 reached the mouth of the Yellowstone, where he 
 found a note telling him that Clark had camped a 
 few miles below. 
 
 In the meantime Clark had explored a large part 
 of the valleys of the Jefferson, Gallatin, and Madison 
 Rivers, and had found a boiling-hot spring at the 
 head of the Wisdom River, one of the first signs of 
 the wonders of the Yellowstone. His journey was 
 made safely and comfortably, although at one place 
 he had to stop to build fresh canoes, and during this 
 delay a band of Indians stole twenty-four of his 
 packhorses. 
 
 The united party descended the Missouri, and 
 found that other explorers were already following in 
 their track. They met two men from Illinois who 
 had pushed as far west as the Yellowstone on a 
 
58 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 hunting trip, and back of them they heard of hunt- 
 ers and trappers who were pushing into this unex- 
 plored region. Travel homeward was rapid, and 
 on September 23, 1806, the expedition arrived at 
 St. Louis, from which they had started two years 
 and four months before. At the place where they 
 parted with the last of the Minnetarees they said 
 good-bye to Chaboneau, his Indian wife, and child. 
 The squaw had been of the greatest service to them , 
 but for her it is possible that the expedition might 
 never have been able to get through the Shoshone 
 country. Lewis offered to take the three to the 
 United States, but the French trader said that he pre- 
 ferred to remain among the Indians. He was paid 
 five hundred dollars, which included the price of a 
 horse and lodge that had been purchased from him. 
 The wonderful journey had been a complete suc- 
 cess. The explorers had passed through strange 
 tribes of Indians, dangers from hunger and hardship 
 in the high mountains, the desert, and the plains, 
 and had brought back a remarkable record of the 
 scenes and people they had met. From their re- 
 ports the people of the United States first learned 
 the true value of that great Louisiana Territory, 
 which had been bought for such a small price in 
 money, but which was to furnish homesteads for 
 thousands of pioneers. The work begun by the 
 brave French explorers of earlier centuries was 
 brought to a triumphant close by these two native 
 American discoverers. 
 
Ill 
 
 THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 
 
 There is a small island in the Ohio River, two 
 miles below the town of Parkersburg, that is still 
 haunted with the memory of a strange conspiracy. 
 In 1805 the island, then some three hundred acres in 
 size, belonged to an Irish gentleman, Harman Blen- 
 nerhassett, who had built a beautiful home there and 
 planted fields of hemp. For a time he and his 
 family lived there in great content, Blennerhassett 
 himself being devoted to science and to music, but 
 presently he felt the need of increasing his small 
 fortune and looked about for a suitable enterprise. 
 Then there was introduced to him a gentleman from 
 New York, a very well-known man by the name of 
 Aaron Burr. He also was seeking to make his for- 
 tune, and he took Blennerhassett into his confidence. 
 Together they plotted a conspiracy. They started 
 to put their plans into action, and many people 
 called them patriots, and many called them traitors. 
 History does not know all the secrets of that small 
 island, but it tells a curious story of the conspiracy. 
 
 Aaron Burr was a very talented and fascinating 
 man, but he was a born adventurer. At this time 
 he was about fifty years old. He had fought in the 
 
6o HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Revolution, and practiced law in New York City, 
 where he divided honors with Alexander Hamilton, 
 the most brilliant attorney of the period. He had 
 been elected a senator, and then had become a can- 
 didate for President of the United States. In the 
 election of 1800 the Electoral College cast seventy- 
 three votes apiece for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron 
 Burr, and these two candidates led all the others. 
 As there was a tie, the choice of President was 
 thrown into the House of Representatives, and 
 there followed a long and bitter fight. Finally Jef- 
 ferson was chosen President, and Burr Vice-Presi- 
 dent. In the long campaign Burr made many 
 enemies, chief among whom were the powerful New 
 York families of Clinton and Livingston. These 
 men charged him with being a political trickster, and 
 won most of his followers away from him When 
 Burr became a candidate for Governor of New York 
 he was beaten, and his defeat was made more bitter 
 by the stinging attacks of his old rival, Alexander 
 Hamilton. 
 
 In that day it was still the custom for gentlemen 
 to settle questions of honor on the dueling field. 
 Burr, stung by Hamilton's criticisms, challenged 
 him, and the two met on the heights of Vl^eehaw- 
 ken, overlooking the Hudson River. Here Burr 
 wounded Hamilton so severely that the latter died a 
 few days later. Hounded by Hamilton's friends, 
 the luckless Burr now found himself cast out by 
 both the Federalists and Republicans, and with no 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 61 
 
 political future. Yet he knew that he had unusual 
 talents for leadership. Still filled with ambition and 
 in great need of money, he saw that there was little 
 opportunity for him at home, and began to turn his 
 eyes outside of the Republic. 
 
 The western world was then a wonderful field for 
 daring adventurers. Thirteen small colonies lying 
 close to the Atlantic Ocean had less than twenty 
 years before thrown off the yoke of a great Euro- 
 pean nation. Men had already pushed west to the 
 Mississippi, and settled the fertile fields beyond the 
 Alleghanies. Across the great " Mother of Rivers " 
 lay a vast tract that men knew little about. To the 
 south lay Spanish colonies and islands. The Gulf of 
 Mexico was the home of freebooters and pirates. 
 In Europe a man of the people named Napoleon 
 Bonaparte was carving out an empire for himself, 
 and stirring the blood of all ambitious men. Sol- 
 diers of fortune everywhere were wondering 
 whether they might not follow in Napoleon's foot- 
 steps. 
 
 It is hard to say in which direction Burr was 
 tempted first. He wanted to hide his real plans not 
 only from his own countrymen, but from the Eng- 
 lish, French, and Spanish agents as well. He first 
 pretended to Anthony Merry, the British minister at 
 Washington, that he intended to join a conspiracy 
 to start a revolution in the Spanish colonies, in the 
 hope of turning them into a new republic. Mr. 
 Merry told his government that it would be to the 
 
62 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 advantage of England if Mr. Burr's plans succeeded. 
 But even then Burr was working on a different 
 scheme. He thought that the people of Louisiana, 
 a large territory at the mouth of the Mississippi 
 River, which had only lately become a part of the 
 United States, might be induced to separate into a 
 new nation of their own. He needed money for his 
 plans, and so he kept pointing out to the British 
 minister the many advantages to England if either 
 the Spanish colonies or Louisiana should win free- 
 dom. A third plan was also dawning in Burr's 
 mind, the possibility of entering Mexico and carving 
 out a kingdom there for himself. So he began by 
 dealing with the agents of different countries, trying 
 to get money from each for his own secret schemes. 
 
 In the spring of 1805 Burr set out for the West. 
 He took coach for the journey over the mountains 
 to Pittsburgh, where he had arranged by letter to 
 meet General James Wilkinson, the governor of the 
 new territory of Louisiana. Wilkinson was delayed, 
 however, and so Burr embarked in an ark that he 
 had ordered built to sail down the Ohio River. 
 After several days on the water he reached Blenner- 
 hassett Island early in May. The owner of the 
 island was away from home, but his wife invited 
 Burr to their house, and he learned from her that 
 her husband was looking for a way to mend his 
 fortunes. 
 
 Next day Burr continued his journey in the ark. 
 He reached Cincinnati, then a very small town of 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 63 
 
 fifteen hundred people, where he talked over his 
 plans with several friends. From Cincinnati he 
 went to Louisville, and from there rode to Frankfort. 
 At Nashville he was the guest of Andrew Jackson, 
 who was major-general of the Tennessee militia. 
 Word spread about that Aaron Burr was plotting to 
 free Florida and the West Indies from Spanish 
 rule, and the liberty-loving settlers welcomed him 
 with open arms. 
 
 Leaving Andrew Jackson, Burr floated in an open 
 boat to the mouth of the Cumberland River, where 
 his ark, which had come down the Ohio, was wait- 
 ing for him. The ark made its first stop at a frontier 
 post called Fort Massac, and there Burr met Gen- 
 eral Wilkinson of Louisiana. These two men were 
 real soldiers of fortune. They had fought side by 
 side at the walls of Quebec, and Wilkinson, like 
 many another, had fallen under the spell of Burr's 
 charm. They probably discussed the whole situa- 
 tion : how a small army might seize Florida, how a 
 small navy could drive the Spaniards from Cuba, 
 how a daring band of frontiersmen could march 
 from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico. Wilkinson 
 seemed delighted with Burr's schemes, and when he 
 left he provided his friend with a large barge 
 manned by ten soldiers and a sergeant. 
 
 In this imposing vessel Burr sailed on down the Mis- 
 sissippi to New Orleans, and on June 25, 1805, landed 
 at that quaint old city. It was already a place of 
 much importance ; seagoing ships and thousands 
 
64 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 of river flatboats docked at its levees, for it was the 
 chief port for sending goods to Mexico and the 
 other Spanish colonies. Burr brought letters to 
 many prominent people, and a public dinner was 
 given in his honor. The visitor had been Vice- 
 President of the United States, and was said to be 
 the leader of a band of mysterious patriots. En- 
 thusiasm ran high in New Orleans when their guest 
 said, as he had already announced in Tennessee, 
 that he intended to devote his life to overthrowing 
 all Spanish rule in America. 
 
 Day after day the soldier of fortune was busy 
 with his plans. When he started north on horse- 
 back he carried with him the fame of a great patriot. 
 Wherever he stopped, at cabins, at villages, or cities, 
 the frontiersmen wanted to shake his hand. He rode 
 four hundred and fifty miles through the wilderness 
 from Natchez to Nashville, where he again visited An- 
 drew Jackson, who promised him Tennessee soldiers 
 for a war on Spain. At St. Louis he learned that 
 General Zebulon Pike was exploring the best route 
 over the plains to Santa Fe, and many letters told 
 him that the time was ripe to settle old grudges 
 with the borderers of Mexico. Everything seemed 
 favorable to his adventure. Burr had only to decide 
 where he would strike first. He was back in the 
 East by the middle of November, 1805, having 
 filled the whole country with rumors of wild plots 
 and insurrections. He was a figure of mystery. 
 People whispered that Aaron Burr was to be the 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 65 
 
 Washington of a new republic in the West, or the 
 king of a country to be carved out of Mexico. 
 
 By the summer of 1806 Burr knew that he could 
 not get money from England to further his plans. 
 He would have to depend on his own countrymen in 
 any attack on Mexico or Spain. His journey had 
 showed him that many of them were eager to follow 
 his lead. Troubles were daily increasing along the 
 borders of Florida and Mexico. It looked easy to 
 take an army into Florida, but there would be more 
 profit in the rich country to the southwest. His 
 friend, General Wilkinson, had just been sent to 
 drive the Mexicans across the Sabine River, the 
 western boundary of Louisiana, and Burr thought 
 this was a good chance to go west again, and per- 
 haps call the settlers to arms. Men he trusted started 
 west early in the summer of 1806, and Burr, with his 
 daughter, and a Colonel De Pestre, who had fought 
 in the French Revolution, and a few friends and 
 servants, set out in August for their meeting-place 
 on Blennerhassett Island. When he arrived there 
 he was warmly welcomed by the owner. Burr 
 showed Blennerhassett how he could make his for- 
 tune in Mexico, because if the conspiracy were suc- 
 cessful they could take a large part of that country 
 for themselves. Fired by Burr's story the men on 
 the island immediately began preparations. They 
 sent to the town of Marietta for one hundred barrels 
 of pork, and contracted to have fifteen boats de- 
 livered at the island the following December. A 
 
66 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 kiln was built near Blennerhassett's house for drying 
 corn, which was then ground into meal, and packed 
 for shipping. All sorts of provisions were purchased, 
 and the Blennerhassett family prepared to send their 
 household goods down the river. Word of the plans 
 spread, and men in various towns near the Ohio 
 made ready to join the expedition. When the 
 leader should send out his messengers recruits would 
 come pouring'in. 
 
 In the meantime Burr himself had left the litde 
 island and covered a wide stretch of country. He 
 wanted to be sure of Andrew Jackson's aid, and he 
 found that fiery warrior as ready as ever to fight 
 Spaniard or Mexican in the cause of liberty. The 
 general still thought that his friend Burr's only ob- 
 ject was to free all of North America. Eager in that 
 cause, Jackson sent word to the Tennessee militia, 
 urging them to be ready for instant duty against the 
 Spaniards, who, he said, had already captured sev- 
 eral citizens of the United States, had cut down our 
 * flag, had driven our explorers away from the Red 
 River, and had taken an insulting position on the 
 east bank of the River Sabine, in the territory of 
 Orleans. He wrote to President Jefferson offering 
 to lead his Tennessee militia against the troops of 
 Spain. A large part of the country expected war at 
 once. Burr, for his own purposes, did all he could 
 to inflame this warlike feeling. 
 
 In October the chief conspirator met his daughter, 
 Theodosia Alston, her husband, and Blennerhassett 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 67 
 
 at Lexington, Kentucky. He now arranged to buy 
 a tract, known as the Bastrop lands, which included 
 nearly a million acres in northern Louisiana on the 
 Washita River. This purchase he meant to use as a 
 blind, intending to settle there only in case his other 
 plans failed. If the United States Government 
 should suspect the conspirators of plotting against 
 Mexico, they could pretend to be merely setders, 
 armed to defend themselves in case the Spaniards 
 should overrun their borders. The tract would be 
 valuable in any case, because of the rich bottom- 
 lands and vast forests, and made a splendid base for 
 a raid into the Spanish provinces. 
 
 Recruits were added daily to Burr's forces. He 
 told them as much or as litde of his schemes as he 
 thought advisable. To some he said that he was a 
 secret agent of the government, to others that he 
 only meant to start a new pioneer setdement. If 
 there should be war with Spain the men who followed 
 him would share in the spoils, if victorious. If there 
 was no war they would be ready to protect the 
 border against invaders. 
 
 There were some people, however, who could not 
 get over their distrust of Burr because of what he 
 had done. The mysterious preparations at Blenner- 
 hassett Island caused some uneasiness in the neigh- 
 borhood, and on October 6th a mass meedng of the 
 people of Wood County, Virginia, was held, and 
 the military preparations on the island were de- 
 nounced. Blennerhassett was away at the time, but 
 
68 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 his wife, hearing of the meeting, grew uneasy, and 
 sent her gardener, Peter Taylor, to tell her husband 
 this news. Taylor found the conspirators at Lexing- 
 ton, and gave them Mrs. Blennerhassett's message. 
 The gardener was evidently taken into his master's 
 confidence, because he said later that the plan was 
 " to take Mexico, one of the finest and richest places 
 in the whole world." He added, " Colonel Burr 
 would be the King of Mexico, and Mrs. Alston, 
 daughter of Colonel Burr, was to be Queen of Mexico, 
 whenever Colonel Burr died. . . . Colonel Burr 
 had made fortunes for many in his time, but none 
 for himself ; but now he was going to make some- 
 thing for himself. He said that he had a great many 
 friends in the Spanish territory ; no less than two 
 thousand Roman Catholic priests were engaged, and 
 all their friends would join, if once he could get to 
 them ; that the Spaniards, like the French, had got 
 dissatisfied with their government, and wanted to 
 swap it." 
 
 President Jefferson could no longer overlook the 
 adventures of Burr and his friends. He knew that 
 very little was needed to kindle the flame of war on 
 the Mexican border. But he had his hands full with 
 foreign affairs ; England was making trouble for 
 American sailors, and Napoleon was setting the 
 whole world by the ears. So the busy President 
 wrote to his agents in the West and urged them to 
 keep a secret watch over Colonel Burr and Blenner- 
 hassett Island. 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 69 
 
 War with Spain almost came that summer. There 
 were many disputed boundary lines between the 
 United States and the Spanish colonies. The Span- 
 ish troops in Florida, Texas, and Mexico were pre- 
 pared for an attack from the United States, and 
 Spanish agents were urging Indian tribes to rise 
 against the white men. Men protested in West- 
 ern cities and towns. The people of Orleans Ter- 
 ritory were afraid that Spain was going to try to 
 win back their country by force of arms. On the 
 4th of July, 1806, the people of New Orleans held a 
 great patriotic celebration, and in the evening a play 
 called, " Washington ; or the Liberty of the New 
 World," was acted to a huge audience. Even the 
 Creoles, who were more Spanish than Anglo-Saxon, 
 were eager to fight against the old tyranny of Spain. 
 
 In the midst of this war excitement word came 
 that a man born in Venezuela, named Francesco 
 Miranda, had sailed from New York to free his 
 native country from Spanish rule. Miranda was 
 looked upon as a hero and patriot by many people 
 in the United States, and this encouraged Burr and 
 his friends. 
 
 There were in 1806 about one thousand soldiers 
 in Texas, which was then a province of Mexico. 
 These troops were ordered to cross the Sabine 
 River, which formed a part of the disputed bound- 
 ary, and as soon as they did cross the governor of 
 Louisiana called for volunteers, and the people of 
 Mississippi Territory prepared to march to the aid 
 
70 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 of New Orleans. The meeting place of the volun- 
 teers was Natchitoches, and there hundreds of coun- 
 trymen came flocking, armed, and eager to defend 
 Louisiana. Everything seemed ready for Aaron 
 Burr to launch his great adventure. But at this 
 point Burr's former friend. General James Wilkinson, 
 the governor of Louisiana, changed his mind as to 
 the wisdom of Burr's schemes. He would not give 
 the order to the volunteers to march to the Mexican 
 border, but waited, hoping that President Jefferson 
 would prevent the war by diplomacy, or that the 
 Spanish troops would decide to retreat. 
 
 On September 27th a great crowd in Nashville 
 hailed Colonel Burr as the deliverer of the South- 
 west, and Andrew Jackson proclaimed, " Millions 
 for defense ; not one cent for tribute ; " and at the 
 same time the Mexican General Herrera ordered his 
 troops to retreat from the River Sabine. Danger of 
 war was over, and the moment the flag of Spain left 
 the Louisiana shore. Burr's dream of an empire for 
 himself and his friends vanished. 
 
 General Wilkinson knew that the government in 
 Washington was suspicious of Aaron Burr's plans, 
 and he thought that his name was included among 
 those of Burr's friends. Some newspapers had even 
 linked their names together, and the general, know- 
 ing perhaps the treachery of his own thoughts, now 
 decided to prove his patriotism by accusing Aaron 
 Burr and the others of treason. All the time that he 
 was making a treaty with the Mexican general on 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 71 
 
 the Texan frontier he was also working up a strong 
 case against Burr. He saw to it that the agents put 
 all suspicion on the shoulders of the others, and 
 made him appear as the one man who had tried his 
 best to protect his country. He intended to show 
 that not only was he not a traitor, but that he was 
 able to unmask traitors, by having pretended to join 
 with them earlier. 
 
 In his sudden eagerness to prevent war with the 
 Mexicans, General Wilkinson made terms of peace 
 with them, which proved a great disadvantage to 
 the United States at a later date, but which pleased 
 the peace party of the day. He met the Mexican 
 general at the very time when Burr and his allies 
 were ready to launch their fleet of boats on the 
 Mississippi River. Then Wilkinson made haste to 
 raise the cry of " Treason in the West," which was 
 to echo through the United States for months, and 
 ruin the reputation of many men. 
 
 President Jefferson trusted Wilkinson, and when 
 he heard the latter's charges against Burr he sent a 
 special messenger to see what was happening at 
 Blennerhassett Island. Before the messenger reached 
 the Alleghany Mountains, however, another man had 
 accused Burr in the court at Frankfort, Kentucky, 
 of having broken the laws of the country in starting 
 an expedition against Mexico. Burr said that he 
 could easily answer these charges, and sent a mes- 
 sage to Blennerhassett, telling him not to be dis- 
 turbed. He went to the court at Frankfort, and 
 
72 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 when the man who had accused him could not 
 bring his witnesses the matter was promptly dropped. 
 Burr was more a hero than ever to the people of 
 Frankfort. They agreed with a leading newspaper 
 that said, " Colonel Burr has throughout this busi- 
 ness conducted himself with the calmness, modera- 
 tion, and firmness which have characterized him 
 through life. He evinced an earnest desire for a 
 full and speedy investigation — free from irritation or 
 emotion ; he excited the strongest sensation of re- 
 spect and friendship in the breast of every impartial 
 person present." 
 
 Burr then went back to Lexington, and continued 
 raising money to buy a fleet of boats. Andrew 
 Jackson had already received three thousand dollars 
 in Kentucky for this purpose. Blennerhassett went 
 on enrolling volunteers. It looked as if Burr's con- 
 duct at Frankfort had put an end to the rumors of 
 treason. 
 
 General Wilkinson, however, was still anxious to 
 make a name for himself as a great patriot, and he 
 kept sending alarming messages to Washington. 
 He accused his former friend of all sorts of treason. 
 It was also perfectly clear that a large number of 
 boats were being gathered on the Ohio under orders 
 of Burr and his friends, and so President Jefferson 
 sent word to the officers at Marietta to post one 
 hundred and fifty or two hundred soldiers on the 
 river to prevent Burr's fleet sailing. With the news 
 of this order people in the West began to suspect 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 73 
 
 their former hero, and even some of his old allies 
 grew doubtful of his patriotism. 
 
 Wilkinson increased the alarm by orders he gave 
 in New Orleans as governor of Louisiana Territory. 
 He began to make military arrests, locking up all 
 those he distrusted, and all those who were admirers 
 of Aaron Burr. He had gunboats stationed in the 
 river, and they were ordered to fire on Burr's fleet if 
 it ever got that far, and he refused to allow any boats 
 to ascend the Mississippi without his express per- 
 mission. All this preparation caused great excite- 
 ment in New Orleans, which spread through the 
 neighboring country. It seemed as if General 
 Wilkinson were trying to force the people to believe 
 there was some great conspiracy on foot. 
 
 The colonel and his allies tried to explain that 
 their fleet of boats was simply to carry settlers, arms 
 and provisions into the Bastrop tract of land that 
 they had bought ; but by now nobody would believe 
 them. On December 9, 1806, the boats that Blenner- 
 hassett had been gathering on the Muskingum River 
 were seized by order of the governor of Ohio. 
 Patrols were placed along the Ohio River, and the 
 militia called out to capture Blennerhassett and the 
 men with him. The next day the Virginia militia 
 declared that they meant to find out the secret of 
 Blennerhassett Island. The owner and his friend. 
 Comfort Tyler, had word of this, and at once pre- 
 pared for flight. At midnight they left the island 
 and started down the Ohio by boat. The Virginia 
 
74 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 troops arrived to find the place deserted, and, leaving 
 sentinels there, started in pursuit of Blennerhassett. 
 The next day the sentries captured a flatboat with 
 fourteen boys on board, who were coming from 
 Pittsburgh to join Burr. People along the Ohio 
 began to expect attacks from Burr's recruits. 
 Cincinnati was especially alarmed. One of the news- 
 papers there stated that three of Burr's armed boats 
 were anchored near the city, which they meant to 
 attack. That night some practical joker exploded a 
 bomb, and the people thought that Burr's army was 
 firing on them. The citizens armed, and the militia 
 was called out, but when they came to inspect the 
 boats on the river next day they found that those 
 they thought belonged to Burr were vessels of a 
 Louisville merchant loaded with dry-goods. No 
 story was now too wild to be believed when it was 
 attached to the name of Burr or Blennerhassett. 
 
 Burr now only intended to sail down to his own 
 lands. On December 20th he sent word to Blenner- 
 hassett that he would be at the mouth of the Cumber- 
 land River on the twenty-third. Two days later he 
 put a number of horses on one of his boats, and with 
 a few men to help him, floated down the Cumber- 
 land River to its mouth, where Blennerhassett and 
 the rest of their party were waiting for him. They 
 joined their seven boats to his two vessels, and had 
 a fleet of nine ships with about sixty men on board. 
 On December 28th they sailed down the Ohio, and 
 the next night anchored a little below Fort Massac. 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 75 
 
 Country people along the river saw the flotilla 
 pass, and sent word of it to the nearest military post. 
 The captain there stopped all ships, but found noth- 
 ing suspicious on any of them. " Colonel Burr, late 
 Vice-President," the officer reported, *' passed this 
 way with about ten boats of different descriptions, 
 navigated with about six men each, having nothing 
 on board that would even suffer a conjecture more 
 than that he was a man bound to market. He has 
 descended the river toward Orleans." 
 
 On the last day of 1806 the fleet reached the broad 
 waters of the Mississippi River. Four days later 
 they dropped anchor at Chickasaw Bluffs, now the 
 city of Memphis. Again officers boarded the boats, 
 and after examining the cargoes allowed them to go 
 on their voyage. On January loth they reached 
 Mississippi Territory, and here they found the ex- 
 citement intense. 
 
 The fleet was now in territory that was under the 
 charge of General Wilkinson, and he immediately 
 sent three hundred and seventy-five soldiers from 
 Natchez to prevent Burr's further progress. On 
 January i6th two officers rowed out to the boats, 
 and were received pleasantly by Colonel Burr, who 
 laughed at General Wilkinson's suspicions, and, 
 pointing to his peaceful flotilla, asked if it looked as 
 if it were meant for war? When he was told that 
 the soldiers had orders to stop him, he answered that 
 he was willing to appear in court at an)^ time. This 
 satisfied the two officers, who asked him to ride next 
 
76 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 day to the town of Washington, which was the 
 capital of Mississippi Territory, and appear before 
 the court there. Burr agreed, and early next morn- 
 ing rode to Washington with the two officers who 
 had called on him. There he was charged with 
 having conspired against the United States govern- 
 ment. His friends on the river remained on their 
 boats, waiting for his return. The expedition never 
 went any farther. 
 
 Burr promised to stay in the Territory until the 
 charges against him were cleared up. His charm 
 of manner won him many friends, and people would 
 not believe him a traitor. When the grand jury 
 met they decided that Aaron Burr was not guilty of 
 treason. The judge, however, would not set him 
 free, and Burr realized that General Wilkinson was 
 using all his power against him. He thought that 
 his only chance of safety lay in defying the court, 
 and taking the advice of some friends fled to a 
 hiding-place near the home of Colonel Osmun, an 
 old acquaintance. He meant to leave that part of 
 the country, but the severe weather blocked his plans. 
 Heavy rains had swollen all the streams, and he 
 had to change his route. He set out with one com- 
 panion, but had to ask a farmer the road to the 
 house of Colonel Hinson. The farmer suspected 
 that one of the horsemen was Aaron Burr, and knew 
 that a large reward had been offered for his capture. 
 He carried his news to the sheriff, and then to the 
 officers at Fort Stoddert. A lieutenant from the fort 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR ;/ 
 
 with four soldiers joined the farmer, and, mounting 
 fast horses, they rode after the two men. Early the 
 next morning they came up with them. The lieu- 
 tenant demanded in the name of the government of 
 the United States whether one of the horsemen was 
 Colonel Burr. Aaron Burr admitted his name, and 
 was put under arrest. He was taken to the fort, and 
 held there as a fugitive from justice. 
 
 The cry of " Treason in the West " had been 
 heard all over the country. The great expedition 
 against Mexico had dwindled to a small voyage to 
 settle certain timber-lands. The formidable fleet was 
 only nine ordinary river boats. The army of rebels 
 had shrunk to less than sixty peaceful citizens ; 
 and the store of arms and ammunition had been 
 reduced to a few rifles and powder-horns. More- 
 over Aaron Burr had neither attempted to fight nor 
 to resist arrest. He had merely fled when he 
 thought he stood Httle chance of a fair trial. Yet 
 the cry of treason had so alarmed the country that 
 the government found it necessary to try the man 
 who had so nearly defeated Jefferson for the 
 Presidency. 
 
 Orders were sent to bring Aaron Burr east. After 
 a journey that lasted twenty-one days the prisoner 
 was lodged in the Eagle Tavern in Richmond, 
 Virginia. Here Chief-Justice Marshall examined the 
 charges against Burr, and held him in bail to appear 
 at the next term of court. The bail was secured, 
 and on the afternoon of April ist Burr was once 
 
78 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 more set at liberty. From then until the day of the 
 trial interest in the case grew. Everywhere people 
 discussed the question whether Aaron Burr had been 
 a traitor to his country. By the time for the hearing 
 of the case feeling against him ran high. When 
 court met on May 22, 1807, Richmond was crowded 
 with many of the most prominent men of the time, 
 drawn by the charges against a man who had so lately 
 been Vice-President. 
 
 It was not until the following August that Colonel 
 Burr was actually put on trial. The question was 
 simply whether he had planned to make war against 
 the United States. There were many witnesses, led 
 by the faithless General Wilkinson, who were ready 
 to declare that the purpose of the meetings at 
 Blennerhassett Island was to organize an army to 
 divide the western country from the rest of the 
 republic. Each side was represented by famous 
 lawyers ; and the battle was hard fought. In the 
 end, however, the jury found that Aaron Burr was 
 not guilty of treason. No matter what Burr and 
 Blennerhassett and their friends had planned to do 
 in Mexico, the jury could not believe they had been 
 so mad as to plot a war against the United States. 
 
 Burr, although now free, was really a man without 
 a country. He went to England and France, and in 
 both countries engaged in plans for freeing the 
 colonies of Spain. But both in England and in 
 France the people looked upon him with suspicion, 
 remembering his strange history. At the end of 
 
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR 79 
 
 four years he returned to the United States. Here 
 he found that some of his early plans were coming 
 to fulfilment. Revolts were breaking out in Florida, 
 in Mexico, and in some of the West Indies. He was 
 allowed no part in any of these uprisings. Florida 
 became a part of the United States, and in time Burr 
 saw the men of Texas begin a struggle for freedom 
 from Mexico. When he read the news of this, he 
 exclaimed, " There I You see ! I was right ! I was 
 only thirty years too soon. What was treason in me 
 thirty years ago is patriotism now ! " Later he was 
 asked whether he had really planned to divide the 
 Union when he started on his voyage from Blenner- 
 hassett Island. He answered, " No ; I would as soon 
 have thought of taking possession of the moon, and 
 informing my friends that I intended to divide it 
 among them." 
 
 Such is the story of Aaron Burr, a real soldier of 
 fortune, who wanted to carve out a new country for 
 himself, and came to be " a man without a country." 
 
IV 
 
 HOW THE YOUNG REPUBLIC FOUGHT 
 THE BARBARY PIRATES 
 
 Long after pirates had been swept from the West- 
 ern Ocean they flourished in the Mediterranean Sea. 
 They hailed from the northern coast of Africa, where 
 between the Mediterranean and the desert of Sahara 
 stretched what were known as the Barbary States. 
 These states were Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, 
 and the tiny state of Barca, which was usually in- 
 cluded in Tripoli. Algeria, or, as it was commonly 
 called from the name of its capital, Algiers, was the 
 home of most of the Mediterranean pirates. 
 
 There was hardly a port in the whole of that inland 
 sea that had not seen a fleet of the pirates' boats 
 sweep down upon some innocent merchant vessel, 
 board her, overpower the crew, and carry them off to 
 be sold in the African slave-markets. Their ships were 
 usually square-rigged sailing vessels, which were 
 commonly called galleons. The pirates did not trust 
 to cannon, and the peculiar shape of the ships gave 
 them a good chance for hand-to-hand fighting. The 
 dark-skinned crew would climb out on the long 
 lateen yards that hung over their enemies' deck, and 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 8i 
 
 drop from the yards and from the rigging, their 
 sabers held between their teeth, their loaded pistols 
 stuck in their belts, so that they might have free use 
 of their hands for climbing and clinging to ropes and 
 gunwales. 
 
 Strange as it seems, the great countries of Europe 
 made no real effort to destroy these pirates of the 
 Barbary coast, but instead actually paid them bribes 
 in order to protect their crews. The larger coun- 
 tries thought that, as they could afford to pay the 
 tribute that the pirates demanded, and their smaller 
 rivals could not, the pirates might actually serve 
 them by annoying other countries. So England and 
 France, and the other big nations of Europe, put up 
 with all sorts of insults at the hands of these Moorish 
 buccaneers, and many times their consuls were ill- 
 treated and their sailors made to work in slave-gangs 
 because they had not paid as much tribute as the 
 Moors demanded. 
 
 Many an American skipper fell into the hands of 
 these corsairs. The brig Polly of Newburyport, 
 Massachusetts, was heading for the Spanish port of 
 Cadiz in October, 1793, when she was overhauled by 
 a brig flying the English flag. As the brig came 
 near her captain hailed the Polly in English, asking 
 where she was bound. Meanwhile the brig ran close 
 in beside the Polly, and the Americans saw a large 
 number of men. Moors by the look of their beards 
 and dress, spring up from under the rail. This crew 
 launched a big boat, and nearly one hundred men, 
 
82 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 armed with swords, pistols, spears, and knives, were 
 rowed up to the Polly. The Moors sprang on board. 
 The Yankees were greatly outnumbered, and were 
 driven into the cabin, while the pirates broke open 
 all the trunks and chests, and stripped the brig of 
 everything that could be moved. The prisoners 
 were then rowed to the Moorish ship, which sailed 
 for Algiers. There they were landed and marched 
 to the palace of the Dey, or ruler of Algiers, while 
 the people clapped their hands, shouted, and gave 
 thanks for the capture of so many " Christian dogs." 
 They were put in prison, where they found other 
 Americans, and nearly six hundred Christians of 
 other countries, all of whom were treated as slaves. 
 On the next day each captive was loaded with chains, 
 fastened around his waist and joined to a ring about 
 his ankle. They were then set to work in rigging 
 and fitting out ships, in blasting rocks in the moun- 
 tains, or carrying stones for the palace the Dey was 
 building. Their lot was but little better than that of 
 the slaves of olden times who worked for the 
 Pharaohs. As more American sailors were captured 
 and made slaves their friends at home grew more 
 and more eager to put an end to these pirates, and 
 when the Revolution was over the young Republic 
 of the United States began to heed the appeals for 
 help that came from the slave-markets along the 
 Barbary coast. 
 
 The Republic found, however, that so long as 
 England and France were paying tribute to the 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 83 
 
 pirates it would be easier for her to do the same 
 thing than to fight them. The American Navy was 
 very small, and the Mediterranean was far distant. 
 England seemed actually to be encouraging the 
 pirates, thinking that their attacks on American 
 ships would injure the country that had lately won 
 its independence. So the United States made the 
 best terms it could with the rulers of Algiers, 
 Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli, and paid heavy ransoms 
 for the release of the captives. There was little self- 
 respect or honor among the Moorish chiefs, how- 
 ever. One Dey succeeded another, each more 
 greedy than the last, and each demanded more 
 tribute money or threatened to seize all the Ameri- 
 cans he could lay hands upon. The consuls had 
 to be constantly making presents in order to keep 
 the Moors in a good humor, and whenever the Dey 
 felt the need of more money he would demand it of 
 the United States consul, and threaten to throw him 
 in prison if he refused. 
 
 This state of affairs was very unpleasant for free 
 men, but for a number of years it had to be put up 
 with. When Captain Bainbridge dropped anchor off 
 Algiers in command of the United States frigate 
 George IVashingtojt, the Dey demanded that he 
 should carry a Moorish envoy to Constantinople 
 with presents for the Sultan of Turkey. Bainbridge 
 did not like to be treated as a messenger boy ; but 
 the Dey said, " You pay me tribute, by which you 
 become my slaves. I have, therefore, a right to 
 
84 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 order you as I may think proper." Bainbridge had 
 no choice but to obey the command, or leave Ameri- 
 can merchant vessels at the mercy of the Moors, and 
 so he carried the Dey's presents to the Sultan. 
 
 As all the Barbary States throve on war, in that 
 way gaining support from the enemies of the coun- 
 try they attacked, one or the other was constantly 
 making war. In May, 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli de- 
 clared war against the United States, cut down the 
 American flagstafi at his capital, and sent out his 
 pirate ships. In reply the United States ordered a 
 squadron of four vessels under command of Com- 
 modore Richard Dale to sail to the Mediterranean. 
 This squadron did good service, capturing a number 
 of the galleys of Tripoli, and exchanging Moorish 
 prisoners for American slaves. But the pirates were 
 like a swarm of hornets ; they stung wherever they 
 got a chance, and as soon as the war-ships were out 
 of sight they would steal out from their hiding-places 
 to terrorize the coast. The United States had to 
 keep sending squadrons to act as policemen. When 
 the fleet kept together the Moors had proper respect 
 for them, but once the ships separated they became 
 the target for the hornets. 
 
 The frigate Philadelphia, of thirty-six guns, was 
 detailed in October, 1803, to blockade the port of 
 Tripoli. The morning after she reached there she 
 saw a ship inshore preparing to sail westward. The 
 frigate gave chase, and as the other vessel carried 
 the colors of Tripoli, the frigate opened fire. As she 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 85 
 
 chased the Moor the Philadelphia ran on a shelving 
 rock that was part of a long reef. Her crew worked 
 hard to get her off, but she stuck fast. As the Moors 
 on shore saw the pHght of the Philadelphia they 
 manned their boats, and soon she was surrounded 
 by a swarm of pirate galleys. The galleys sailed 
 under the fire of the frigate's heavy guns, and came 
 up to close quarters, where the cannon could not 
 reach them. The Americans were helpless, and by 
 sunset Commodore Bainbridge had to strike his flag. 
 As soon as he surrendered the Moors swarmed over 
 the sides of his ship, broke everything they could 
 lay their hands on, stripped officers and men of their 
 uniforms, and tumbled them into the small boats. 
 The prisoners were landed at night, and led to the 
 castle gate. The sailors were treated as slaves, but 
 the officers were received by the Pasha in the great 
 marble-paved hall of his palace, where that ruler, 
 dressed in silks and jewels, and surrounded by a 
 gorgeous court, asked them many questions, and 
 later offered them supper. But the favor of the 
 Pasha was as fickle as the wind ; within a day or two 
 he was treating the American officers much as he 
 treated his other Christian captives, and the crew, 
 three hundred and seven in number, were worked as 
 slaves. Meantime the Moors, using anchors and 
 cables, succeeded in pulling the Philadelphia off the 
 reef, and the frigate was pumped out and made sea- 
 worthy. She was brought into the harbor, to the 
 delight of the Pasha and his people at owning so 
 
86 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 fine a war-ship. The loss of the PJiiladeiphia was a 
 severe blow, not only to American pride, but to 
 American fortunes. The squadron was now much 
 too small for service, and Bainbridge and his crew 
 were hostages the United States must redeem. 
 
 It fell to the lot of Commodore Preble to take 
 charge of the American ships in the Mediterranean, 
 and he began to discuss terms of peace with Tripoli 
 through an agent of the Pasha at Malta. By these 
 terms the frigate Philadelphia was to be exchanged 
 for a schooner, and the Moorish prisoners in Preble's 
 hands, sixty in number, were to be exchanged for as 
 many of the American prisoners in Tripoli, and the 
 rest of the American captives were to be ransomed 
 at five hundred dollars a man. Before these terms 
 were agreed upon, however, a more daring plan oc- 
 curred to the American commodore, and on Febru- 
 ary 3, 1804, he entrusted a delicate task to Stephen 
 Decatur, who commanded the schooner Enterprise. 
 Decatur picked a volunteer crew, put them on board 
 the ships Sireti and Intrepid, and sailed for Tripoli. 
 They reached that port on February 7th, and to 
 avoid suspicion the Intrepid drew away from the 
 other ship and anchored after dark about a mile 
 west of the town. A small boat with a pilot and 
 midshipman was sent in to reconnoiter the harbor. 
 They reported that the sea was breaking across the 
 western entrance, and as the weather was threaten- 
 ing advised Decatur not to try to enter that night. 
 The two American ships therefore stood offshore. 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 87 
 
 and were driven far to the east by a gale. The 
 weather was so bad that it was not until February 
 1 6th that they returned to Tripoli. This time the 
 Intrepid sailed slowly toward the town, while the 
 Siren, disguised as a merchantman, kept some dis- 
 tance in the rear. 
 
 The frigate Philadelphia, now the Pasha's prize 
 ship, lay at anchor in the harbor, and the Intrepid 
 slowly drifted toward her in the light of the new 
 moon. No one on ship or shore realized the real 
 purpose of the slowly-moving Intrepid. Had the 
 men at the forts on shore or the watchman at the 
 Pasha's castle suspected her purpose they could have 
 blown her from the water with their heavy guns. 
 
 The Intrepid drifted closer and closer, with her 
 crew hidden, except for six or eight men dressed as 
 Maltese sailors. Decatur stood by the pilot at the 
 helm. When the little ship was about one hundred 
 yards from the Philadelphia she was hailed and or- 
 dered to keep away. The pilot answered that his 
 boat had lost her anchor in the storm, and asked 
 permission to make fast to the frigate for the night. 
 This was given, and the Moorish officer on the 
 Philadelphia asked what the ship in the distance was. 
 The pilot said that she was the Transfer, a vessel 
 lately purchased at Malta by the Moors, which was 
 expected at Tripoli about that time. The pilot kept 
 on talking in order to lull the Moors' suspicions, and 
 meantime the little Intrepid came close under the 
 port bow of the Philadelphia. Just then the wind 
 
88 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 shifted and held the schooner away from the frigate, 
 and directly in range of her guns. Again the Moors 
 had a chance to destroy the American boat and crew 
 if they had known her real object. They did not 
 suspect it, however. Each ship sent out a small 
 boat with a rope, and when the ropes were joined 
 the two ships were drawn close together. 
 
 When the vessels were almost touching some one 
 on the Philadelphia suddenly shouted, " Ameri- 
 canos 1 " At the same moment Decatur gave the 
 order "Board!" and the American crew sprang 
 over the side of the frigate and jumped to her deck. 
 The Moors were huddled on the forecastle. Decatur 
 formed his men in line and charged. The surprised 
 Moors made little resistance, and Decatur quickly 
 cleared the deck of them ; some jumped into the 
 sea, and others escaped in a large boat. The Ameri- 
 cans saw that they could not get the Philadel- 
 phia safely out of the harbor, and so quickly brought 
 combustibles from the Intrepid, and stowing them 
 about the Philadelphia, set her on fire. In a very 
 few minutes she was in flames, and the Americans 
 jumped from her deck to their own ship. It took 
 less than twenty minutes to capture and fire the 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Decatur ordered his men to the oars, and the 
 Intrepid beat a retreat from the harbor. But now 
 the town of Tripoli was fully aroused. The forts 
 opened fire on the litde schooner. A ship com- 
 manded the channel through which she had to sail. 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 89 
 
 but fortunately for the Intrepid the Moors' aim was 
 poor, and the only shot that struck her was one 
 through the topgallantsail. The harbor was 
 brightly lighted now. The flames had run up the 
 mast and rigging of the Philadelphia, and as they 
 reached the powder loud explosions echoed over the 
 sea. Presendy the cables of the frigate burned, and 
 the PhUadelphia drifted ashore and blew up. In the 
 meantime the Intrepid reached the entrance safely, 
 and joining the Siren set sail for Syracuse. 
 
 The blowing up of the Philadelphia was one 
 of the most daring acts ever attempted by the 
 United States Navy, and won Decatur great credit. 
 It weakened the Pasha's strength, and kept his 
 pirate crews in check. Instead of making terms 
 with the Moorish ruler, the United States decided 
 to attack his capital, and in the summer of 1804, 
 Commodore Preble collected his squadron before 
 Tripoli. On August 3d the fleet approached the 
 land batteries, and in the afternoon began to throw 
 shells into the town. The Moors immediately opened 
 fire, both from the forts and from their fleet of 
 nineteen gunboats and two galleys that lay in the 
 harbor. Preble divided his ships, and ordered them 
 to close in on the enemy's vessels, although the 
 latter outnumbered them three to one. Again 
 Decatur was the hero of the fight. He and his 
 men boarded a Moorish gunboat and fought her 
 crew hand-to-hand across the decks. He captured 
 the first vessel, and then boarded a second. De- 
 
90 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 catur singled out the captain, a gigantic Moor, and 
 made for him. The Moor thrust at him with a pike, 
 and Decatur's cutlass was broken off at the hilt. 
 Another thrust of the pike cut his arm, but the 
 American seized the weapon, tore it away, and 
 threw himself on the Moor. The crews were fight- 
 ing all around their leaders, and a Moorish sailor 
 aimed a blow at Decatur's head with a scimitar. 
 An American seaman struck the blow aside, and the 
 scimitar gashed his own scalp. The Moorish captain, 
 stronger than Decatur, got him underneath, and 
 drawing a knife, was about to kill him, when De- 
 catur caught the Moor's arm with one hand, thrust 
 his other hand into his pocket, and fired his re- 
 volver. The Moor was killed, and Decatur sprang 
 to his feet. Soon after the enemy's crew surren- 
 dered. The other United States ships had been 
 almost as successful, and the batde taught the 
 Americans that the Barbary pirates could be beaten 
 in hand-to-hand fighting as well as at long range. 
 
 The Pasha was not ready to come to terms even 
 after that day's defeat, however, and on August 7th 
 Commodore Preble ordered another attack. Again 
 the harbor shook under the guns of the fleet and 
 the forts, and at sunset Preble had to withdraw. To 
 avoid further bloodshed the commodore sent a flag 
 of truce to the Pasha, and offered to pay eighty 
 thousand dollars for the ransom of the American 
 prisoners, and to make him a present of ten thousand 
 dollars more. The Pasha, however, demanded one 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 91 
 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and Preble was 
 not wiUing to pay that amount. So later in August 
 he attacked Tripoli again. Each of these bombard- 
 ments did great damage to the city, but the forts 
 were too strong to be captured. The blockading 
 fleet, however, held its position, and on September 
 3d opened fire again in the last of its assaults. 
 In spite of the heavy firing the Pasha refused to 
 pull down his flag. 
 
 On the night of September 4th a volunteer crew 
 took the little Intrepid into the harbor. She was 
 filled with combustibles, and when she was close to 
 the Moorish ships the powder was to be fired by a 
 fuse that would give time for the crew to escape in a 
 small boat. The night was dark, and the fleet soon 
 lost sight of this fire-ship. She took the right 
 course through the channel, but before she was 
 near the Moors she was seen and they opened fire 
 on her. Then came a loud explosion, and the 
 Intrepid, with her crew, was blown into the air. 
 No one knows whether one of the enemy's shots or 
 her own crew fired the powder. This was the great- 
 est disaster that befell the United States Navy during 
 all its warfare with the Barbary pirates. Soon after 
 Commodore Preble sailed for home, though most of 
 his fleet were kept in the Mediterranean to protect 
 American sailing vessels. 
 
 The government at Washington, tired with the 
 long warfare in the Mediterranean, soon afterward 
 ordered the consul at Algiers, Tobias Lear, to treat 
 
92 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 for peace with the Pasha. A bargain was finally 
 struck. One hundred Moors were exchanged for as 
 many of the American captives, and sixty thousand 
 dollars were paid as ransom for the rest. June 4, 
 1805, the American sailors, who had been slaves 
 for more than nineteen months, were released from 
 their chains and sent on board the war-ship Co?i- 
 stitiUioii. The Pasha declared himself a friend of the 
 United States, and saluted its flag with twenty-one 
 guns from his castle and forts. 
 
 In the Barbary States rulers followed one another 
 in rapid succession. He who was Dey or Pasha one 
 week might be murdered by an enemy the next, and 
 that enemy on mounting the throne was always 
 eager to get as much plunder as he could. Treaties 
 meant little to any of them, and so other countries 
 kept on paying them tribute for the sake of peace. 
 
 The United States fell into the habit of buying 
 peace with Algiers, Tripoli, Morocco, and Tunis by 
 gifts of merchandise or gold or costly vessels. But 
 the more that was given to them the more greedy 
 these Moorish rulers grew, and so it happened that 
 from time to time they sent out their pirates to board 
 American ships in order to frighten the young Re- 
 public into paying heavier tribute. Seven years 
 later the second chapter of our history with the Bar- 
 bary pirates opened. 
 
 II 
 
 The brig Edwin of Salem, Massachusetts, was 
 sailing under full canvas through the Mediterranean 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 93 
 
 Sea, bound out from Malta to Gibraltar, on August 25, 
 18 1 2. At her masthead she flew the Stars and Stripes. 
 The weather was favoring, the Utde brig making 
 good speed, and the Mediterranean offered no dan- 
 gers to the skipper. Yet Captain George Smith, 
 and his crew of ten Yankee sailors, kept constantly 
 looking toward the south at some distant sails that 
 had been steadily gaining on them since dawn. 
 Every stitch of sail on the Edwin had been set, but 
 she was being overhauled, and at this rate would be 
 caught long before she could reach Gibraltar. 
 
 Captain Smith and his men knew who manned 
 those long, low, rakish-looking frigates. But the 
 Edwin carried no cannon, and if they could not out- 
 sail the three ships to the south they must yield 
 peaceably, or be shot down on their deck. Hour af- 
 ter hour they watched, and by sunset they could see 
 the dark, swarthy faces of the leading frigate's crew. 
 Before night the Edwin had been overhauled, 
 .boarded, and the Yankee captain and sailors were in 
 irons, prisoners about to be sold into slavery. 
 
 They had been captured by one of the pirate crews 
 of the Dey of Algiers, and when they were taken 
 ashore by these buccaneers they were stood up in 
 the slave market and sold to Moors, or put to work 
 in the shipyards. Other Yankee crews had met 
 with the same treatment. 
 
 Now the United States had been paying its tribute 
 regularly to the pirates, but in the spring of 1812 the 
 Dey of Algiers suddenly woke up to the fact that the 
 
94 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Americans had been measuring time by the sun 
 while the Moors figured it by the moon, and found 
 that in consequence he had been defrauded of almost 
 a half-year's tribute money, or twenty-seven thousand 
 dollars. He sent an indignant message to To- 
 bias Lear, the American consul at Algiers, threaten- 
 ing all sorts of punishments, and Mr. Lear, taking 
 all things into account, decided it was best to pay the 
 sum claimed by the Dey. The United States sent 
 the extra tribute in the shape of merchandise by the 
 sailing vessel Alleghany ; but the Dey was now in a 
 very bad temper, and declared that the stores were 
 of poor quality, and ordered the consul to leave at 
 once in the Alleghany, as he would have no further 
 dealings with a country that tried to cheat him. At 
 almost the same time he received a present from 
 England of two large ships filled with stores of war, 
 — powder, shot, anchors, and cables. He immedi- 
 ately sent out word to the buccaneers to capture all 
 the American ships they could, and sell the sailors 
 in the slave-markets. The Dey of Algiers appeared 
 to have no fear of the United States. 
 
 The truth of the matter was that his Highness 
 the Dey, and also the Bey of Tunis, had been spoiled 
 by England, who at this time told them confidently 
 that the United States Navy was about to be wiped 
 from the seas. English merchants assured them 
 that they could treat Captain Smith and other 
 Yankee skippers exactly as they pleased, since Great 
 Britain had declared war on the United States, and 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 95 
 
 the latter country would find herself quite busy at 
 home. Algiers and Tripoli and Tunis, remembering 
 their old grudge against the Americans, assured 
 their English friends that nothing would delight 
 them so much as to rid the Mediterranean of the 
 Stars and Stripes. 
 
 The pirates swept down on the brig Edwin, and 
 laid hands on every American they could find in the 
 neighborhood. They stopped and boarded a ship 
 flying the Spanish flag, and took prisoner a Mr. 
 Pollard, of Virginia. Tripoli and Tunis permitted 
 English cruisers to enter their harbors, contrary to 
 the rules of war, and recapture four English prizes 
 that had been sent to them by the American priva- 
 teer Abellino. When the United States offered to 
 pay a ransom of three thousand dollars for every 
 American who was held as a prisoner the Dey re- 
 plied that he meant to capture a large number of 
 them before he would consider any terms of sale. 
 
 Our country was young and poor, and our navy 
 consisted of only seventeen seaworthy ships, carry- 
 ing less than four hundred and fifty cannon. Eng- 
 land was indeed " Mistress of the Seas," with a 
 great war-fleet of a thousand vessels, armed with 
 almost twenty-eight thousand guns. No wonder 
 that the British consul at Algiers had told the Dey 
 " the American flag would be swept from the seas, 
 the contemptible navy of the United States annihi- 
 lated, and its maritime arsenals reduced to a heap of 
 ruins." No wonder the Dey believed him. But as 
 
96 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 a matter of fact the little David outfought the giant 
 Goliath ; on the Great Lakes and on the high seas 
 the Stars and Stripes waved triumphant after many 
 a long and desperate encounter, and the small navy 
 came out of the War of 1812 with a glorious record 
 of victories, with splendid officers and crews, and 
 with sixty-four ships. The English friends of the 
 Barbary States had been mistaken, and Algiers, 
 Tunis, and Tripoli began to wish they had not been 
 so scornful of the Yankees. 
 
 It was time to show the pirates that Americans 
 had as much right to trade in the Mediterranean as 
 other people. On February 23, 18 15, a few days 
 after the treaty of peace with England was pub- 
 lished, President Madison advised that we should 
 send a fleet to Algiers. Two squadrons were or- 
 dered on this service, under command of Commodore 
 William Bainbridge. One collected at Boston, and 
 the other at New York. Commodore Stephen De- 
 catur was in charge of the latter division. 
 
 Decatur's squadron was the first to sail, leaving 
 New York on May 20, 1815. He had ten vessels in 
 all, his flag-ship being the forty-four-gun frigate 
 Guerri^re, and his officers and crew being all sea- 
 soned veterans of the war with England. The fleet 
 of the Dey of Algiers, however, was no mean foe. 
 It consisted of twelve vessels, well armed and 
 manned, six sloops, five frigates, and one schooner. 
 Its admiral was a very remarkable man, one of the 
 fierce tribe of Kabyles from the mountains, Reis 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 97 
 
 Hammida by name, who had made himself the 
 scourge of the Mediterranean. He had plenty of 
 reckless courage ; once he had boarded and cap- 
 tured in broad daylight a Portuguese frigate under 
 the very cliffs of Gibraltar, and at another time, 
 being in command of three Algerine frigates, had 
 dared to attack a Portuguese ship of the line and 
 three frigates, in face of the guns leveled at him 
 from the Rock of Lisbon, directly opposite. 
 
 The city of Algiers itself was one of the best 
 fortified ports on the Mediterranean. It lay in the 
 form of a triangle, one side extending along the sea, 
 while the other two rose against a hill, meeting at 
 the top at the Casbah, the historic fortress of the 
 Deys. The city was guarded by very thick walls, 
 mounted with many guns, and the harbor, made by 
 a long mole, was commanded by heavy batteries, so 
 that at least five hundred pieces of cannon could be 
 brought to bear on any hostile ships trying to enter. 
 
 Decatur's fleet was only a few days out of New 
 York when it ran into a heavy gale, and the wooden 
 ships were badly tossed about. The Firefly, a 
 twelve-gun brig, sprung her masts, and had to put 
 back to port. The other ships rode out the storm, 
 and kept on their course to the Azores, keeping a 
 sharp watch for any suspicious-looking craft. As 
 they neared the coast of Portugal the vigilance was 
 redoubled, for here was a favorite hunting-ground 
 of Reis Hammida, and Decatur knew what the 
 Algerine admiral had done before the Rock of Lis- 
 
98 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 bon. They found no trace of the enemy here, how- 
 ever. At Cadiz Decatur sent a messenger to the 
 American consul, who informed him that three Al- 
 gerine frigates and some smaller ships had been 
 spoken in the Atlantic Ocean, but were thought to 
 have returned to the Mediterranean. 
 
 Decatur wanted to take the enemy by surprise, 
 and so sailed cautiously to Tangier, where he learned 
 that two days earlier Reis Hammida had gone 
 through the Straits of Gibraltar in the forty-six-gun 
 frigate Mashuda. The American captain at once 
 set sail for Gibraltar, and found out there that the 
 wily Algerine was lying off Cape Gata, having de- 
 manded that Spain should pay him half a million 
 dollars of tribute money to protect her coast-towns 
 from attack by his fleet. 
 
 Lookouts on the Guerriere reported to Decatur 
 that a despatch-boat had left Gibraltar as soon as 
 the American ships appeared, and inquiry led the 
 captain to believe the boat was bearing messages to 
 Reis Hammida. Other boats were sailing for Al- 
 giers, and Decatur, realizing the ease with which his 
 wily opponent, thoroughly familiar with the inland 
 sea, would be able to elude him, decided to give 
 chase at once. 
 
 The fleet headed up the Mediterranean June 15th, 
 under full sail. The next evening ships were seen 
 near shore, and Decatur ordered the frigate Mace- 
 donian and two brigs to overhaul them. Early the 
 following morning, when the fleet was about twenty 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 99 
 
 miles out from Cape Gata, Captain Gordon, of the 
 frigate Consiellaiion, sighted a big vessel flying the 
 flag of Algiers, and signaled " An enemy to the 
 southeast." 
 
 Decatur saw that the strange ship had a good 
 start of his fleet, and was within thirty hours' run of 
 Algiers. He suspected that her captain might not 
 have detected the fleet as American, and ordered 
 the Constellation back to her position abeam of his 
 flag-ship, gave directions to try to conceal the identity 
 of his squadron, and stole up on the stranger. The 
 latter was seen to be a frigate, lying to under small 
 sail, as if waiting for some message from the African 
 shore near at hand. One of the commanders asked 
 permission to give chase, but Decatur signaled back 
 " Do nothing to excite suspicion." 
 
 The Moorish frigate held her position near shore 
 while the American ships drew closer. When they 
 were about a mile distant a quartermaster on the 
 Constellation, by mistake, hoisted a United States 
 flag. To cover this blunder the other ships were 
 immediately ordered to fly English flags. But the 
 crew of the Moorish frigate had seen the flag on the 
 Constellation, and instantly swarmed out on the 
 yard-arms, and had the sails set for flight. They 
 were splendid seamen, and almost immediately the 
 frigate was leaping under all her canvas for Algiers. 
 The Americans were busy too. The rigging of each 
 ship was filled with sailors, working out on the yards, 
 the decks rang with commands, and messages were 
 
lOO HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 signaled from the flag-ship to the captains. Decatur 
 crowded on all sail, fearing that the Algerine frigate 
 might escape him in the night or seek refuge in 
 some friendly harbor, and the American squadron 
 raced along at top speed, just as the Barbary pirates 
 had earlier chased after the little brig Edzvin, of Salem. 
 
 Soon the Cotistellatioiiy which was to the south of 
 the fleet and so nearest to the Moorish frigate, 
 opened fire and sent several shots on board the 
 enemy. The latter immediately came about, and 
 headed northeast, as if making for the port of Car- 
 thagena. The Americans also tacked, and gained 
 by this manoeuvre, the sloop Ontario cutting across 
 the Moor's course, and the Guerriere being brought 
 close enough for musketry fire. 
 
 As the flag-ship came to close quarters the Moors 
 opened fire, wounding several men, but Decatur 
 waited until his ship cleared the enemy's yard-arms, 
 when he ordered a broadside. The crew of the 
 Algerine frigate, which was the Mashuda, were 
 mowed down by this heavy fire. Reis Hammida 
 himself had already been wounded by one of the 
 first shots from the Constellation. He had, however, 
 insisted on continuing to give orders from a couch 
 on the quarter-deck, but a shot from the first broad- 
 side killed him. The Gnerriere' s gun crews loaded 
 and fired again before the first smoke had cleared ; 
 at this second broadside one of her largest guns ex- 
 ploded, killing three men, wounding seventeen, and 
 splintering the spar-deck. 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES loi 
 
 The Moors made no sign of surrender, but De- 
 catur, seeing that there were too few left to fight, 
 and not wishing to pour another broadside into 
 them, sailed past, and took a position just out of 
 range. The Algerines immediately tried to run be- 
 fore him. In doing this the big Mashuda was 
 brought directly against the little eighteen-gun 
 American brig Epervier, commanded by John 
 Downes. Instead of sailing away Downes placed 
 his brig under the Moor's cabin ports, and by back- 
 ing and filling escaped colliding with the frigate 
 while he fired his small broadsides at her. This run- 
 ning fire, lasting for twenty-five minutes, finished 
 the Moor's resistance, and the frigate surrendered. 
 
 The flag-ship, the Gtierri^re, now took charge of 
 the Algerine prize, and Decatur sent an officer, two 
 midshipmen, and a crew on board her. The Mashuda 
 was a sorry sight, many of her men killed or wounded, 
 and her decks splintered by the American broadsides. 
 The prisoners were transferred to the other ships, 
 and orders were given to the prize-crew to take the 
 captured frigate to the port of Carthagena, under 
 escort of the Macedonian. 
 
 Before this was done, however, Decatur signaled 
 all the officers to meet on his flag-ship. In the cabin 
 they found a table covered with captured Moorish 
 weapons, — daggers, pistols, scimitars, and yataghans. 
 Decatur turned to Commandant Downes, who had 
 handled the small Epervier so skilfully. " As you 
 were fortunate in obtaining a favorable position and 
 
102 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 maintained it so handsomely, you shall have the first 
 choice of these weapons," he said. Downes chose, 
 and then each of the other officers selected a trophy 
 of the victory. That evening the squadron, leaving 
 the Mashuda in charge of the Macedoniaiiy resumed 
 its hunt for other ships belonging to the navy of the 
 piratical Dey. 
 
 The fleet was arriving off Cape Palos on June 19th 
 when a brig was seen, looking suspiciously like an 
 Algerine craft. When the Americans set sail toward 
 her, the stranger ran away. Soon she came to shoal 
 water, and the frigates had to leave the chase to the 
 light-draught Epervier, Spark, Torch, and Spitfire. 
 These followed and opened fire. The strange brig 
 returned several shots, and was then run aground 
 by her crew on the coast between the watch-towers 
 of Estacio and Albufera, which had been built long 
 before for the purpose of protecting fishermen and 
 peasants from the raids of pirates. The strangers 
 took to their small boats. One of these was sunk 
 by a shot. The Americans then boarded the ship, 
 which was the Algerine twenty-two-gun \ys:\<g Estedio, 
 and captured eighty-three prisoners. The brig was 
 floated off the shoals and sent with a prize-crew into 
 the Spanish port of Carthagena. 
 
 Decatur, being unable to sight any more ships 
 that looked like Moorish craft, and supposing that 
 the rest of the pirate fleet would probably be mak- 
 ing for Algiers, gave commands to his squadron to 
 sail for that port. He was determined to bring the 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 103 
 
 Dey to terms as quickly as possible, and to destroy 
 his fleet, or bombard the city, if that was necessary. 
 When he arrived off the Moorish town, however, he 
 found none of the fleet there, and no apparent prepa- 
 ration for war in the harbor. The next morning he 
 ran up the Swedish flag at the mainmast, and a 
 white flag at the foremast, a signal asking the Swe- 
 dish consul to come on board the flag-ship. Mr. 
 Norderling, the consul, came out to the Guerriere, 
 accompanied by the Algerine captain of the port. 
 After some conversation Decatur asked the latter 
 for news of the Dey's fleet. " By this time it is safe 
 in some neutral port," was the assured answer. 
 
 " Not all of it," said Decatur, " for we have cap- 
 tured the Mashiida and the EstedioP 
 
 The Algerine could not believe this, and told the 
 American so. Then Decatur sent for a wounded 
 lieutenant of the Mashiida, who was on his ship, and 
 bade him confirm the statement. The Moorish 
 officer of the port immediately changed his tactics, 
 dropped his haughty attitude, and gave Decatur to 
 understand that he thought the Dey would be will- 
 ing to make a new treaty of peace with the United 
 States. 
 
 Decatur handed the Moor a letter from the Presi- 
 dent to the Dey, which stated that the Republic 
 would only agree to peace provided Algiers would 
 give up her claim to tribute and would cease molest- 
 ing American merchantmen. 
 
 The Moor wanted to gain as much time as pos- 
 
104 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 sible, hoping his fleet would arrive, and said that it 
 was the custom to discuss all treaties in the palace on 
 shore. Decatur understood the slow and crafty 
 methods of these people, and answered that the 
 treaty should be drawn up and signed on board the 
 Guerriere or not at all. Seeing that there was no 
 use in arguing with the American the Moorish officer 
 went ashore to consult with the Dey. 
 
 Next day, June 30th, the captain of the port re- 
 turned, with power to act for his Highness Omar 
 Pasha. Decatur told him that he meant to put an 
 end to these piratical attacks on Americans, and in- 
 sisted that all his countrymen who were being held 
 as slaves in Algiers should be given up, that the 
 value of goods taken from them should be paid them, 
 that the Dey should give the owners of the brig 
 Edwin of Salem ten thousand dollars, that all Chris- 
 tians who escaped from Algiers to American ships 
 should be free, and that the two nations should act 
 toward each other exactly as other civilized countries 
 did. Then the Moorish officer began to explain and 
 argue. He said that it was not the present ruling Dey, 
 Omar Pasha, called "Omar the Terrible" because 
 of his great courage, who had attacked American 
 ships; it was Hadji Ali, who was called the "Tiger" 
 because of his cruelty, but he had been assassinated 
 in March, and his prime minister, who succeeded 
 him, had been killed the following month, and Omar 
 Pasha was a friend of the United States. Decatur 
 replied that his terms for peace could not be altered. 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 105 
 
 The Moor then asked for a truce while he should 
 go ashore and confer with the Dey. Decatur said he 
 would grant no truce. The Algerine besought him 
 to make no attack for three hours. " Not a minute ! " 
 answered Decatur. " If your squadron appears be- 
 fore the treaty is actually signed by the Dey, and 
 before the American prisoners are sent aboard, I will 
 capture it ! " 
 
 The Moorish captain said he would hurry at once 
 to the Dey, and added that if the Americans should 
 see his boat heading out to the Guerriere with a white 
 flag in the bow they would know that Omar Pasha 
 had agreed to Decatur's terms. 
 
 An hour later the Americans sighted an Algerine 
 war-ship coming from the east. Decatur signaled his 
 fleet to clear for action, and gave orders to his own 
 men on the Guerriere. The fleet had hardly weighed 
 anchor, however, before the small boat of the port 
 captain was seen dashing out from shore, a white 
 flag in the bow. The excited Moor waved to the 
 crew of the flag-ship. As soon as the boat was near 
 enough Decatur asked if the Dey had signed the 
 treaty, and set the American captives free. The 
 captain assured him of this, and a few minutes later 
 his boat was alongside the flag-ship, and the Ameri- 
 cans, who had been seized and held by the pirates, 
 were given over to their countrymen. Some of them 
 had been slaves for several years, and their delight 
 knew no bounds. 
 
 In so short a time did Decatur succeed in bringing 
 
io6 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 the Dey to better terms than he had made with any 
 other country. When the treaty had been signed the 
 Dey's prime minister said to the English consul, 
 with reproach in his voice, " You told us that the 
 Americans would be swept from the seas in six 
 months by your navy, and now they make war upon 
 us with some of your own vessels which they have 
 taken." As a fact three of the ships in Decatur's 
 squadron had actually been won from the English in 
 the War of 1812. 
 
 The Epervier, commanded by Lieutenant John 
 Templer Shubrick, was now ordered to return to the 
 United States, with some of the Americans rescued 
 from Algiers. The fate of the brig is one of the 
 mysteries of the sea. She sailed through the Straits 
 of Gibraltar July 12, 1815, and was never heard of 
 again. She is supposed to have been lost in a heavy 
 storm in which a number of English merchantmen 
 foundered near the West Indies. 
 
 Algiers had now been brought to her knees by 
 Decatur, and he was free to turn to Tunis and 
 Tripoli. The rulers of each of these countries had 
 been misled by the English agents exactly as had the 
 Dey of Algiers, and the Bey of Tunis had allowed 
 the British cruiser Lyra to recapture some English 
 prizes that the American privateer Abellino had 
 taken into harbor during the War of 18 12. Like 
 Algiers, both Tunis and Tripoli were well protected 
 by fleets and imposing forts. Decatur, however, had 
 now learned that downright and prompt measures 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 107 
 
 were the ones most successful in dealing with the 
 Moors, who were used to long delays and arguments. 
 He anchored off Tunis on July 26th, and immediately 
 sent word to the Bey that the latter must pay the 
 United States forty-six thousand dollars for allowing 
 the English Lyra to seize the American prizes, and 
 that the money must be paid within twelve hours. 
 
 The United States consul, Mordecai M. Noah, 
 carried Decatur's message to the Bey. The Moorish 
 ruler was seated on a pile of cushions at a window of 
 his palace, combing his long, flowing black beard 
 with a tortoise-shell comb set with diamonds. Mr. 
 Noah politely stated Decatur's terms. 
 
 *• Tell your admiral to come and see me," said the 
 Bey. 
 
 •' He declines coming, your Highness," answered 
 the consul, *' until these disputes are settled, which 
 are best done on board the ship." 
 
 The Bey frowned. " But this is not treating me 
 with becoming dignity. Hammuda Pasha, of blessed 
 memory, commanded them to land and wait at the 
 palace until he was pleased to receive them." 
 
 "Very likely, your Highness," said Mr. Noah, 
 '• but that was twenty years ago." 
 
 The Bey considered. *' I know this admiral," he 
 remarked at length ; " he is the same one who, in the 
 war with Sidi Yusuf, burned the frigate." He re- 
 ferred to Decatur's burning the Philadelphia in the 
 earlier warfare. 
 
 The consul nodded. " The same." 
 
io8 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 " Hum ! " said the Bey. " Why do they send wild 
 young men to treat for peace with old powers ? 
 Then, you Americans do not speak the truth. You 
 went to war with England, a nation with a great 
 fleet, and said you took her frigates in equal fight. 
 Honest people always speak the truth." 
 
 " Well, sir, and that was true. Do you see that 
 tall ship in the bay flying a blue flag ? " The con- 
 sul pointed through the window. " It is the 
 Gtierriere, taken from the British. That one near 
 the small island, the Macedonian, was also captured 
 by Decatur on equal terms. The sloop near Cape 
 Carthage, the Peacock y was also taken in battle." 
 
 The Bey, looking through his telescope, saw a 
 small vessel leave the American fleet and approach 
 the forts. A man appeared to be taking soundings. 
 The Bey laid down the telescope. " I will accept 
 the admiral's terms," said he, and resumed the 
 combing of his beard. 
 
 Later he received Decatur with a great show of 
 respect. The American consul was also honored, 
 but the British was not treated so well. When a 
 brother of the prime minister paid the money over 
 to Decatur the Moor turned to the Englishman, and 
 said, •' You see, sir, what Tunis is obliged to pay for 
 your insolence. You should feel ashamed of the 
 disgrace you have brought upon us. I ask you if 
 you think it just, first to violate our neutrality and 
 then to leave us to be destroyed or pay for your 
 aggressions ? " 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES 109 
 
 Having settled matters with Tunis, Decatur sailed 
 for Tripoli, and there sent his demands to the Pasha. 
 He asked thirty thousand dollars in payment for two 
 American prizes of war that had been recaptured by 
 the British cruiser Paulina^ a salute of thirty-one 
 guns to be fired from the Pasha's palace in honor of 
 the United States flag, and that the treaty of peace 
 be signed on board the Guerriere. 
 
 The Pasha pretended to be offended, summoned his 
 twenty thousand Arab soldiers and manned his can- 
 non ; but when he heard how Algiers and Tunis had 
 already made peace with Decatur, and saw that the 
 Americans were all prepared for battle, he changed 
 his tactics and sent the governor of Tripoli to the 
 flag-ship to treat for peace. The American consul 
 told Decatur that twenty-five thousand dollars would 
 make good the lost prize-ships, but that the Pasha 
 was holding ten Christians as slaves in Tripoli. 
 Decatur thereupon reduced the amount of his claim 
 on condition that the slaves should be released. 
 This was agreed to. The prisoners, two of whom 
 were Danes, and the others Sicilians, were sent to 
 the flag-ship, and by way of compliment the band of 
 the Guerriere went ashore and played American airs 
 to the delight of the people. 
 
 The American captain now ordered the rest of 
 his squadron to sail to Gibraltar, while the Guerriere 
 landed the prisoners at Sicily. As the flag-ship 
 came down the coast from Carthagena she met that 
 part of the Algerine fleet that had put into Malta 
 
no HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 when the Americans first arrived in the Mediter- 
 ranean. The Guerriere was alone, and Decatur 
 thought that the Moors, finding him at such a dis- 
 advantage, might break their treaty of peace, and 
 attack him. He called his men to the quarter-deck. 
 " My lads," said he, " those fellows are approaching 
 us in a threatening manner. We have whipped 
 them into a treaty, and if the treaty is to be broken 
 let them break it. Be careful of yourselves. Let 
 any man fire without orders at the peril of his life. 
 But let them fire first if they will, and we'll take the 
 whole of them ! " 
 
 The decks were cleared, and every man stood 
 ready for action. The fleet of seven Algerine ships 
 sailed close to the single American frigate in line of 
 battle. The crews looked across the bulwarks at 
 each other, but not a word was said until the last 
 Algerine ship was opposite. " Where are you go- 
 ing ? " demanded the Moorish admiral. 
 
 " Wherever it pleases me," answered Decatur ; 
 and the Guerriere sailed on her course. 
 
 Early in October there was a great gathering of 
 American ships at Gibraltar. Captain Bainbridge's 
 fleet, which included the seventy-four-gun ship of the 
 line Independence, was there when Decatur arrived. 
 The war between the United States and England 
 was only recently ended, and the presence of so 
 many ships of the young Republic at the English 
 Rock of Gibraltar caused much talk among the 
 Spaniards and other foreigners. The sight of ships 
 
THE BARBARY PIRATES in 
 
 which had been English, but which were now 
 American, added to the awkward situation, and 
 more than one duel was fought on the Rock as the 
 result of disputes over the War of 1812. 
 
 The Dey of Algiers, left to his own advisers and 
 to the whispers of men who were jealous of the 
 United States' success, began to wish he had not 
 agreed to the treaty he had made with Decatur. 
 His own people told him that a true son of the 
 Prophet should never have humbled himself before 
 the Christian dogs. In addition the English gov- 
 ernment agreed to pay him nearly four hundred 
 thousand dollars to ransom twelve thousand prison- 
 ers of Naples and Sardinia that he was holding. 
 Before everything else the Dey was greedy. There- 
 fore when Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of 
 the battle of Lake Erie, brought out in i\\Q. Java a 
 copy of the treaty after it had been ratified by the 
 United States Senate, and it was presented to the 
 Dey by the American consul, William Shaler, the 
 ruler of Algiers pretended that the United States 
 had changed the treaty, and complained of the way 
 in which Decatur had dealt with the Algerine ships. 
 Next day he refused to meet Mr. Shaler again, and 
 sent the treaty back to him, saying that the Ameri- 
 cans were unworthy of his confidence. Mr. Shaler 
 hauled down the flag at his consulate, and boarded 
 the Java. 
 
 Fortunately there were five American ships near 
 Algiers ; and these were made ready to open fire on 
 
112 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 the Moorish vessels in the harbor. Plans were also 
 made for a night attack. The small boats of the 
 fleet were divided into two squadrons, to be filled by 
 twelve hundred volunteer sailors. One division was 
 to make for the water battery and try to spike its 
 guns, while the other was to attack the batteries on 
 shore. Scaling-ladders were ready, and the men 
 were provided with boarding-spikes ; but shortly 
 before they were to embark the captain of a French 
 ship in the harbor got word of the plan and carried 
 the information to the Dey. The latter was well 
 frightened, and immediately sent word that he 
 would do whatever his good friends from America 
 wanted. The next day Mr. Shaler landed again, 
 and the Dey signed the treaty. 
 
 The fleet then called a second time on the Bey of 
 Tunis, who had been grumbling about his dissatis- 
 faction with Decatur's treatmento He too, however, 
 was most friendly when American war-ships poked 
 their noses toward his palace. After that the Barbary 
 pirates let American merchantmen trade in peace, 
 although an American squadron of four ships was 
 kept in the Mediterranean to see that the Dey, and 
 the Bey, and the Pasha did not forget, and go back 
 to their old trickSo 
 
 So it was that Decatur put an end to the African 
 pirates, so far as the United States was concerned, 
 and taught them that sailors of the young Republic, 
 far away though it was, were not to be made slaves 
 by greedy Moorish rulers. 
 
V 
 
 THE FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING- 
 PRESS 
 
 Ever since the thirteen colonies that lay along the 
 Atlantic coast had become a nation ambitious men 
 had heard the call, " Go West, young man, go 
 West I " There was plenty of fertile land in the 
 country beyond the Alleghany Mountains, and it was 
 free to any who would settle on it. Adventure 
 beckoned men to come and help in founding new 
 states, and many, who thought the villages of New 
 England already overcrowded, betook themselves 
 to the inviting West. One such youth was Elijah 
 Parrish Lovejoy, who came from the little town of 
 Albion, in Maine, and who, after graduating at 
 Waterville College, had become a school-teacher. 
 This did not satisfy him ; he wanted to see more of 
 the world than lay in the village of his birth, and 
 when he was twenty-five years old, in May, 1827, he 
 set out westward. 
 
 The young man was a true son of the Puritans, 
 brought up to believe in many ideas that were al- 
 ready often in conflict with the views of men of the 
 South and West. He reached the small city of St. 
 Louis, in the pioneer country of Missouri, and there 
 
114 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 he found a chance to teach school. He wrote for 
 several newspapers that were being started, and in 
 the course of the next year edited a political paper 
 that was urging the election of Henry Clay as Pres- 
 ident. His interest in politics grew, and he might 
 have sought some pubhc office himself had he not 
 suddenly become convinced that he was meant to be 
 a minister, and determined to prepare for that work 
 at Princeton Seminary. When he returned to St. 
 Louis in 1833 his friends helped him to found a 
 weekly religious paper called the SL Louis Observer. 
 
 The editor found time from his newspaper work 
 to ride into the country and preach at the small 
 churches that were springing up at every crossroads. 
 Missouri was more southern than northern, and he 
 saw much of slave-owning people. It was not long 
 before he decided that negro slavery was wrong, 
 and that the only way to right the wrong was to do 
 away with it altogether. He began to attack slavery 
 in his newspaper and in his sermons, and soon sla- 
 very men in that part of Missouri came to consider 
 him as one of their most bitter foes. 
 
 Lovejoy had married, and expected to make St. 
 Louis his permanent home. But neither all the men 
 who were interested in the Observer, nor all the 
 members of his church, approved of his arguments 
 against slaveholding, and when he was away at a 
 religious meeting the proprietors of his paper issued 
 a statement promising that the editor would deal 
 more gently with the question of slavery in the 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 115 
 
 future. When Lovejoy returned and read this state- 
 ment he was indignant ; he was not a man to fear 
 public opinion, and he attacked his enemies more 
 ardently than ever. 
 
 The law of the land permitted slavery, and many 
 of the chief citizens in the frontier country approved 
 of it. They hated the Abolitionists, as those who 
 wanted to do away with slavery were called. When 
 men were suspected of having helped to free slaves, 
 or of sheltering runaway negroes, they were taken 
 into the country and given two hundred lashes with 
 a whip as a lesson. Sometimes Abolitionists were 
 tarred and feathered and ridden out of town ; often 
 their houses were burned and their property des- 
 troyed. Lovejoy knew that he might have to face 
 all this, but the spirit of the Puritan stock from 
 which he sprang would not let him turn from his 
 course. 
 
 He went on printing articles against the evils of 
 slavery, he denounced the right of a white man to 
 separate colored husbands and wives, parents and 
 children, brothers and sisters, or to send his slaves 
 to the market to be sold to the highest bidder, or to 
 whip or ill-use them as if they had no feelings. 
 
 There was danger that the young editor would be 
 mobbed, and the owners of the Observer took the 
 paper out of his charge. Friends, however, who be- 
 lieved in a free press, bought it, and gave it back to 
 him. Waves of public opinion, now for Lovejoy, 
 now against him, swept through St. Louis. By the 
 
ii6 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 end of 1835 mobs had attacked Abolitionists in Bos- 
 ton, New York, and Philadelphia, and the news 
 fanned the flames of resentment against them in Mis- 
 souri. 
 
 Lovejoy had good reason to know the danger of 
 his position. One September day he went out to a 
 camp-meeting at the little town of Potosi. He 
 learned that two men had waited half a day in the 
 village, planning to tar and feather him when he ar- 
 rived, but he was late, and they had left. When he 
 returned to St. Louis he found that handbills had 
 been distributed through the city, calling on the peo- 
 ple to tear down the office of the Observer. A 
 newspaper named the Missouri Argus urged patriotic 
 men to mob the New England editor. Crowds, 
 gathered on street corners, turned dark, lowering 
 looks upon him as he passed, and every mail brought 
 him threatening letters. He would not, however, 
 stop either writing or preaching against slavery. 
 
 His work constantly called him on journeys to 
 small towns, sometimes several days' ride from his 
 home. Late in 1835 he was at a meeting in Marion 
 when reports came that St. Louis was in an uproar, 
 that men who opposed slavery were being whipped 
 in the streets, and that no one suspected of being an 
 Abolitionist would be allowed to stay there. Love- 
 joy had left his wife ill in bed. He started to ride 
 back, a friend going some seventy miles with him, 
 half of the journey. The friend urged him not to 
 stay in St. Louis, pointing out that his young and 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 117 
 
 delicate wife would have to suffer as well as he. 
 Travelers they met all warned him that he would not 
 be safe in the city. He rode on to St. Charles, 
 where he had left his wife. He talked with her, and 
 she told him to go on to his newspaper office if he 
 thought duty called him there. 
 
 St. Louis was all excitement and alarm. The 
 newspapers had attacked the Observer so bitterly 
 that the owners had stopped printing it. A mob had 
 planned to wreck the office, but had postponed the 
 task for a few days. Men went to Lovejoy and told 
 him he would not be safe in the streets by day or 
 night. Even the men of his church would not stand 
 by him, and a religious paper declared '* that they 
 would soon free the church of the rotten sheep in 
 it," by which they meant Elijah Lovejoy and others 
 who opposed slavery. 
 
 This Yankee, however, like many others who had 
 gone to that border country in the days when bitter- 
 ness ran high, had a heroic sense of duty. He wrote 
 and printed a letter to the people, stating that men 
 had no right to own their brothers, no matter what 
 the law might say. The letter caused more excite- 
 ment than ever. 
 
 The owners of the Observer went to Lovejoy and 
 requested him to retire as its editor. For two days 
 it was a question what the angry mobs would do to 
 him. Then a little better feeling set in. Men came 
 to him, and told him that he must go on printing his 
 paper or there would be no voice of freedom in all 
 
ii8 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 that part of the country. A friend bought the news- 
 paper from its owners, and urged Lovejoy to write 
 as boldly as before. This friend, however, suggested 
 that he should move the newspaper across the state 
 line to Alton, Illinois, where feeling was not so in- 
 tense. Lovejoy agreed, and set out for Alton ; but 
 while he was preparing to issue the paper there the 
 same friend and others wrote him that his pen was 
 so much needed in St. Louis that he must come back. 
 He did so, and the Observer continued its existence 
 in St. Louis until June, 1836. 
 
 There was so much strife and ill feeling, however, 
 in Missouri that the editor decided his newspaper 
 would be better supported, and would exert more in- 
 fluence, in Illinois. Accordingly he arranged to 
 move his printing-press to the town of Alton in July. 
 Just before he left St. Louis he published severe 
 criticisms of a judge of that city who had sided with 
 slave-owners, and these articles roused even greater 
 resentment among the rabble who hated Lovejoy's 
 freedom of speech. 
 
 If some of the people of Alton were glad to have 
 this fearless editor come to their town, many were 
 not. Slavery was too sore a subject for them to 
 wish it talked about publicly. Many people all 
 through that part of the country looked upon an 
 Abolitionist as a man who delighted in stirring up 
 ill feeling. Lovejoy sent his printing-press to Alton 
 by steamboat, and it was delivered at the wharf on 
 a Sunday morning, about daybreak. The steamboat 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 119 
 
 company had agreed to land the press on Monday, 
 and Lovejoy refused to move it from the dock on the 
 Sabbath. Early Monday morning five or six men 
 went down to the river bank and destroyed the 
 printing-press. 
 
 This was the young editor's welcome by the law- 
 less element, but next day the better class of citizens, 
 thoroughly ashamed of the outrage, met and pledged 
 themselves to repay Lovejoy for the loss of his 
 press. These people denounced the act of the mob, 
 but at the same time they expressed their disapproval 
 of Abolitionists. They wanted order and quiet, and 
 hoped that Lovejoy would not stir up more trouble. 
 
 The editor bought a new press and issued his 
 first paper in Alton on September 8, 1836. Many 
 people subscribed to it, and it appeared regularly 
 until the following August. Lovejoy, however, 
 would speak his mind, and again and again declared 
 that he was absolutely opposed to slavery, and that 
 the evil custom must come to an end. This led to 
 murmurs from the slavery party, and slanders were 
 spread concerning the editor's character. All free- 
 dom-loving men had to weather such storms in those 
 days, and Lovejoy, like a great many others, stuck 
 to his principles at a heavy cost. 
 
 The murmurs and slanders grew. On July 8, 
 1837, posters announced that a meeting would be 
 held at the Market House to protest against the 
 articles in the Alton Observer. The meeting con- 
 demned Lovejoy's writings and speeches, and voted 
 
I20 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 that Abolitionism must be suppressed in the town. 
 This was the early thunder that heralded the ap- 
 proach of a gathering storm. 
 
 The Yankee editor showed no intention of giving 
 up his stand against slavery, but preached and wrote 
 against it at every opportunity. As a result threats 
 of destroying the press of the Observer were heard on 
 the streets of Alton, and newspapers in neighboring 
 cities encouraged ill feeling against the editor. The 
 Missouri Republic^ a paper printed in St. Louis, tried 
 to convince the people of Alton that it was a public 
 danger to have such men as Lovejoy in their midst, 
 and condemned the Anti-Slavery Societies that were 
 being formed in that part of the country. Two at- 
 tempts were made to break into his printing-office 
 during the early part of the summer, but each time 
 the attackers were driven ofif by Lovejoy's friends. 
 
 The editor went to a friend's house to perform a 
 marriage ceremony on the evening of August 21, 
 1837. His wife and little boy were ill at home, and 
 on his return he stopped at an apothecary's to get 
 some medicine for them. His house was about a 
 half mile out of town. As he left the main street he 
 met a crowd of men and boys. They did not recog- 
 nize him at once, and he hurried past them ; but 
 soon some began to suspect who he was, and 
 shouted his name to the rest. Those in the rear 
 urged the leaders to attack him, but those in front 
 held back ; some began to throw sticks and stones at 
 him, and one, armed with a club, pushed up to him, 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 121 
 
 denouncing him for being an Abolitionist. At last a 
 number linked arms and pushed past him, and then 
 turning about in the road stopped him. There were 
 cries of "Tar and feather him," "Ride him on a 
 rail," and other threats. Lovejoy told them they 
 might do as they pleased with him, but he had a re- 
 quest to make ; his wife was ill, and he wanted some 
 one to take the medicine to her without alarming 
 her. One of the men volunteered to do this. Then 
 the editor, standing at bay, argued with them. 
 "You had better let me go home," he said ; "you 
 have no right to detain me ; I have never injured 
 you." There was more denouncing, jostling and 
 shoving, but the leaders, after a short talk, allowed 
 Lovejoy to go on toward his house. 
 
 Meantime, however, another band had gone to the 
 newspaper office between ten and eleven o'clock, and, 
 seeing by the lights in the building that men were 
 still at work there, had begun to throw stones at the 
 windows. A crowd gathered to watch the attack. 
 The mayor and some of the leading citizens hurried 
 to the building, and argued with the ringleaders. A 
 prominent merchant told them that if they would 
 wait until the next morning he would break into the 
 newspaper office with them, and help them take out 
 the press and the other articles, stow them on a boat, 
 put the editor on top, and send them all down the 
 Mississippi River together. But the crowd did not 
 want to wait. The stones began to strike some of 
 Lovejoy's assistants inside the building, and they ran 
 
122 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 out by a rear door. As soon as the office was empty 
 the leaders rushed in and broke the printing-press, 
 type, and everything else in the building. Next 
 morning the slavery men in Alton said that the Aboli- 
 tionist had been silenced for the time, at least. They 
 looked upon Lovejoy, and men of his kind, as a 
 thorn in the flesh of their peaceful community. 
 
 There were still a small number of " freedom-lov- 
 ing" people in Alton, however, and these stood 
 back of Elijah Lovejoy. Although two printing- 
 presses had now been destroyed, these men called a 
 meeting and decided that the Observer must con- 
 tinue to be printed. Money was promised, and the 
 editor prepared to set up his press for the third time. 
 He issued a short note to the public, in which he 
 said : *' I now appeal to you, and all the friends of 
 law and order, to come to the rescue. If you will 
 sustain me, by the help of God, the press shall be 
 again established at this place, and shall be sustained, 
 come what will. Let the experiment be fairly tried, 
 whether the liberty of speech and of the press is to be 
 enjoyed in Illinois or not." The money was raised, 
 and the dauntless spokesman for freedom sent to 
 Cincinnati for supplies for his new office. 
 
 That autumn enemies scattered pamphlets accus- 
 ing Lovejoy and other Abolitionists of various crimes 
 against the country. Although few people believed 
 them, the circulars increased the hostile feelings, and 
 disturbed many of the editor's friends. Some of the 
 latter began to doubt whether the Observer ought to 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 123 
 
 continue its stirring articles. Some thought it should 
 be only a religious paper. But Lovejoy answered 
 that he felt it was his duty to speak out in protest 
 against the great evil of slavery. He finally offered 
 to resign, if the supporters of the paper thought it 
 best for him to do so. They could not come to any 
 decision, and so let him continue his course. 
 
 The third printing-press arrived at Alton on Sep- 
 tember 2ist, while Lovejoy was away attending a 
 church meeting. The press was landed from the 
 steamboat a little after sunset, and was protected by 
 a number of friends of the Observer. It was carted 
 to a large warehouse to be stored. As it passed 
 through the street some men cried, " There goes the 
 Abolition press ; stop it, stop it 1 " but no one tried to 
 injure it. The mayor of Alton declared that the 
 press should be protected, and placed a constable at 
 the door of the warehouse, with orders to remain till 
 a certain hour. As soon as this man left, ten or 
 twelve others, with handkerchiefs tied over their faces 
 as disguise, broke into the warehouse, rolled the 
 press across the street to the river, broke it into 
 pieces, and threw it into the Mississippi. The mayor 
 arrived and protested, but the men paid no attention 
 to him. 
 
 Lovejoy's business had called him to the town of 
 St. Charles, near St. Louis, and he preached there 
 while his third press was being attacked. After his 
 sermon in the evening he was sitting chatting with a 
 clergyman and another friend when a young man 
 
124 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 came in, and slipped a note into his hand. The note 
 read : 
 
 " Mr. Lovejoy : 
 
 " Be watchful as you come from church to- 
 night. 
 
 A Friend." 
 
 Lovejoy showed the note to the two other men, 
 and the clergyman invited him to stay at his house. 
 The editor declined, however, and walked to his 
 mother-in-law's residence with his two friends. No 
 one stopped them, and when they came to the house 
 Lovejoy and the clergyman went in, and sat down to 
 chat in a room on the second floor. About ten 
 o'clock they heard a knock on the door at the foot of 
 the stairs. Mrs. Lovejoy's mother went to the door, 
 and asked what was wanted. Voices answered, 
 " We want to see Mr. Lovejoy ; is he in ? " The 
 editor called down, " Yes, I am here." As soon as 
 the door was opened, two men rushed up-stairs, and 
 into the sitting-room. They ordered Lovejoy to go 
 down-stairs, and when he resisted, struck him with 
 their fists. Mrs Lovejoy heard the noise, and came 
 running from her room. A crowd now filled the 
 hall, and she had to fight her way through them. 
 Several men tried to drag the editor out of the 
 house, but his wife clung to him, and aided by her 
 mother and sister finally persuaded the assailants to 
 leave. 
 
 Exhausted by the struggle, Mrs. Lovejoy fainted. 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 125 
 
 While her husband was trying to help her, the mob 
 came back, and, paying no attention to the sick 
 woman, insisted that they were going to ride Love- 
 joy out of town. By this time a few respectable 
 citizens had heard the noise, and came to his aid. 
 A second time the rabble was driven away ; but they 
 stayed in the yard, and made the night hideous with 
 their threats to the Abolitionist. Presently some of 
 the men went up to Lovejoy's room the third time, 
 and one of them gave him a note, which demanded 
 that he leave St. Charles by ten o'clock the next 
 morning. Lovejoy's friends begged him to send 
 out an answer promising that he would leave. Al- 
 though he at first declined to do this, he finally 
 yielded to their urging. He wrote, " I have already 
 taken my passage in the stage, to leave to-morrow 
 morning, at least by nine o'clock." This note was 
 carried out to the crowd on the lawn, and read to 
 them. His friends thought the mob would scatter 
 after that, and they did for a time ; but after listen- 
 ing to violent speeches returned again. The noise 
 was now so threatening that Lovejoy's friends begged 
 him to fly from the house. His wife added her 
 pleadings to theirs, and at last he stole out unnoticed 
 by a door at the rear. He hated to leave his wife in 
 such a dangerous situation, however, and so, after 
 waiting a short time, he went back. His friends re- 
 proached him for returning, and their reproaches 
 were justified, for, like hounds scenting the fox, the 
 mob menaced the house more noisily than ever. 
 
126 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Lovejoy saw that he must leave again in order to 
 protect his wife and friends. This he succeeded in 
 doing, and walked about a mile to the residence of a 
 Major Sibley. This friend lent him a horse, and he 
 rode out of town to the house of another friend four 
 miles away. Next day Mrs. Lovejoy joined him, 
 and they went on together to Alton. 
 
 One of the very first people they met in Alton 
 was a man from St. Charles who had been among 
 those who had broken into their house the night 
 before. Mrs. Lovejoy was alarmed at seeing him in 
 Illinois, because the mob in St. Charles had declared 
 that they were going to drive Lovejoy out of that 
 part of the country. In order to quiet her fears her 
 husband asked some friends to come to his house, 
 and ten men, well armed, spent the next night guarc?- 
 ing it, while he himself kept a loaded musket at his 
 side. The storm-clouds were gathering about his 
 devoted head. 
 
 Even the leading citizens of this Illinois town now 
 felt that it was Lovejoy's own fault if his newspaper 
 was attacked. They hated mobs, but most of them 
 hated Abolitionists even more. If he would stop 
 attacking slavery, the crowds would stop attacking 
 him. It was evident that the lawless element did 
 not intend to let him continue to print his news- 
 paper, and it was almost as clear that the mayor 
 and authorities were not going to protect him. 
 Three times now his press had been destroyed. 
 
 This son of the Puritans was not to be driven 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 127 
 
 from his purpose by threats or blows, but he was 
 forced to see that it was a great waste of money to 
 have one press after another thrown into the Missis- 
 sippi River. His friends in the town of Quincy 
 urged him to set up his press there, and he feh 
 much inclined to do so. He decided to wait, how- 
 ever, until the next meeting of the Presbyterian 
 Synod, when he would learn whether the men of 
 his church sided with him or not. This meeting 
 ended in discussion, breaking up along the old lines 
 of those who were friends and those who were 
 enemies of slavery. Some of the members had 
 already joined Anti-Slavery Societies, while others, 
 although they were opposed to mob-violence, did 
 not approve of the newspaper's attack on slave- 
 holding citizens. In a stirring speech Lovejoy said 
 that they were to decide whether the press should be 
 free in that part of the United States. He ended 
 with an appeal for justice. " I have no personal 
 fears," he declared. " Not that I feel able to contest 
 the matter with the whole community. I know 
 perfectly well I am not. I know, sir, that you can 
 tar and feather me, hang me up, or put me into the 
 Mississippi, without the least difficulty. But what 
 then ? Where shall I go ? I have been made to 
 feel that if I am not safe at Alton, I shall not be safe 
 anywhere. I recently visited St. Charles to bring 
 home my family, and was torn from their frantic 
 embrace by a mob. I have been beset night and 
 day at Alton. And now if I leave here and go 
 
128 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 elsewhere, violence may overtake me in my retreat, 
 and I have no more claim upon the protection of 
 any other community than I have upon this ; and I 
 have concluded, after consultation with my friends, 
 and earnestly seeking counsel of God, to remain at 
 Alton, and here to insist on protection in the exercise 
 of my rights." 
 
 This speech made a great impression upon its 
 hearers. The words were those of a man who had 
 thought long upon his subject, and had made up his 
 mind as to what he should do. He expressed no 
 enmity toward the men who had treated him so ill, 
 and he did not complain of the members of his own 
 church who were lukewarm in their support. A 
 man who was present said that Lovejoy's speech 
 reminded him of the words of St. Paul when brought 
 before Festus, or of Martin Luther speaking to the 
 council at Worms. 
 
 Having decided to stay, Lovejoy ordered his 
 fourth printing-press. This was due to arrive early 
 in November, and as the time drew near there was 
 no little excitement and anxiety among the friends of 
 peace in the town. Whenever the puff of a steam- 
 boat was heard men hurried to the banks of the 
 Mississippi. Some meant to defend the press from 
 attack ; others meant to hurl it into the river as 
 they had already done with its predecessors. The 
 press had an eventful journey. The first plan was 
 to land it at a place called Chippewa, about five 
 miles down the river, and then carry it secretly into 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 129 
 
 Alton. But the roads grew bad, and this plan was 
 abandoned. The press reached St. Louis on Sun- 
 day night, November 5th, and it was arranged that 
 the steamer should land it at Alton about three o'clock 
 Tuesday morning. As soon as this was known, 
 Lovejoy and his friend Oilman went to the mayor 
 and told him of the threat that had been made 
 to destroy the press, asking him to appoint special 
 constables to protect it. The town council voted 
 that Lovejoy and his friends be requested not to 
 persist in setting up an Abolition press in Alton, 
 but the mayor refused to sign this request. 
 
 Monday night forty or fifty citizens, intent on see- 
 ing that the press was protected, gathered at the 
 warehouse of Godfrey, Oilman and Company where 
 the press was to be stored. Some thirty of them 
 formed a volunteer company, with one of the city 
 constables in command. They were armed with 
 rifles and muskets loaded with buckshot or small 
 balls. The editor of the Observer was not there. 
 Only a night or two before his house had been 
 attacked, and his sister had narrowly escaped serious 
 injury. So he arranged with a brother, who was 
 staying with him, to take turns standing guard 
 at his house and at the office. 
 
 At three o'clock the steamboat arrived at the 
 dock. Lovejoy's enemies had stationed sentinels 
 along the river, and as the boat passed they gave 
 the alarm by blowing horns, so that when the dock 
 was reached a large crowd had gathered. Some 
 
130 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 one called the mayor, and he came down to the 
 warehouse. He begged the volunteer company to 
 keep quiet, and said he himself would see to the 
 safe storing of the press. No serious trouble fol- 
 lowed. The crowd watched the stevedores carry 
 the press to the warehouse, but did not attack it, 
 except to throw a few stones. It was stood in the 
 garret of the stone warehouse, safe from the 
 enemy. 
 
 On Tuesday every one knew that the " Abolition 
 press " had arrived, and Tuesday night the same 
 volunteers went down to the warehouse again. 
 Everything was quiet, and by nine o'clock all but 
 about a dozen left the place. Lovejoy stayed by the 
 press, it being his brother's turn to guard his house. 
 The warehouse stood high above the river, apart 
 from other buildings, with considerable open space 
 on the sides to the river and to the north. 
 
 About ten o'clock that night loafers and stragglers 
 began to come from saloons and restaurants, and 
 gather in the streets that led to the warehouse. 
 Some thirty, armed with muskets, pistols, and 
 stones, marched to the door, and demanded admit- 
 tance. Mr. Gilman, one of the owners of the ware- 
 house, standing at the garret door, asked what they 
 wanted. The leader answered, " The press." Mr. 
 Gilman said that he would not give up the press. 
 " We have no ill feelings toward any of you," he 
 added, " and should regret to harm you ; but we are 
 authorized by the mayor to defend our property, and 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 131 
 
 shall do so with our lives." The mob leader an- 
 swered that they meant to have the press at any 
 cost, and leveled a pistol at Mr. Gilman, who drew 
 back from the door. The crowd began to throw 
 stones, and broke a number of windows. Then they 
 fired through the windows. The men inside re- 
 turned the shots. One or two of the mob were 
 wounded ; and this checked them for a time. Soon, 
 however, others came with ladders, and materials 
 for setting fire to the roof of the building. They 
 kept on the side of the warehouse where there were 
 no windows, and where they could not be driven 
 away by the defenders. It was a moonlight night, 
 and the small company inside the building did not 
 dare go out into the open space in front. At this 
 point the mayor appeared and carried a flag of truce 
 through the mob to Lovejoy's friends, asking that 
 the press be given up, and the men in the ware- 
 house depart peacefully without other property be- 
 ing destroyed. He told them that unless they sur- 
 rendered the mob would set fire to the warehouse. 
 They answered that they had gathered to defend 
 their property, and intended to do it. He admitted 
 that they had a perfect right to do this, and went 
 back to report the result of his mission to the lead- 
 ers. Outside a shout went up, " Fire the building, 
 drive out the Abolitionists, burn them out 1 " A 
 great crowd had gathered, but there were no officers 
 of the law ready to defend the press. 
 
 Ladders were placed against the building, and the 
 
132 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 roof was set on fire. Five men volunteered to go 
 out and try to prevent the firing. They left the 
 building by the riverside, fired at the men on the 
 ladder, and drove them away. The crowd drew 
 back, while the five returned to the store. The mob 
 did not venture to put up their ladder again, and 
 presently Lovejoy and two or three others opened a 
 door and looked out. There appeared to be no one 
 on this side, and Lovejoy stepped forward to recon- 
 noiter. Some of his enemies, however, were hidden 
 behind a pile of lumber, and one of them fired a 
 double-barreled gun. The editor was hit by five 
 balls. He turned around, ran up a flight of stairs in 
 the warehouse, and into the counting-room. There 
 he fell, dying a few minutes later. 
 
 With their leader killed some of the company 
 wanted to give up the battle, while others insisted 
 on fighting it out. They finally resolved to yield. 
 A clergyman went to one of the upper windows and 
 called out that Elijah Lovejoy had been killed and 
 that they would give up the press if they might be 
 allowed to go unmolested. The crowd answered 
 that they would shoot them all where they were. 
 One of the defenders determined to go out at any 
 risk and make terms. As soon as he opened the 
 door, he was fired upon and wounded. The roof 
 was now blazing, and one of their friends reached 
 a door and begged them to escape by the rear. All 
 but two or three laid down their arms, running out 
 at the southern door, and fled down the bank of the 
 
FATE OF LOVEJOY'S PRINTING-PRESS 133 
 
 river. The mob fired at them, but only one was 
 wounded. The crowd rushed into the warehouse, 
 threw the press out the window, breaking it into 
 pieces, and scattered the pieces in the Mississippi. 
 At two o'clock they had disappeared, having accom- 
 plished their evil purpose of preventing a " free 
 press" in Alton. 
 
 Elijah Lovejoy was only thirty-five years old 
 when he met his martyr's death. His life in Mis- 
 souri and Illinois had been one constant fight 
 against slavery, and for liberty of speech. His Pur- 
 itan ancestry made it impossible for him to give up 
 the battle he knew to be right. The story of his 
 heroic struggle and death aroused lovers of liberty 
 all over the country, and newspapers everywhere 
 denounced the acts of the mob at Alton. Such acts 
 meant that men could not speak their minds on 
 public questions, and a '' free press " had been one 
 of the dearest rights of American citizens. Men in 
 the North at that time had by no means agreed that 
 slavery must be abolished, but they did all believe in 
 the freedom of the press. For that cause Lovejoy 
 had been a martyr. 
 
 More than two decades were to pass before the 
 question of slavery was to be settled forever, and in 
 the years between 1837 and i860 many men of the 
 same stock and stripe as Elijah Lovejoy were to 
 give up their lives in heroic defense of their belief in 
 freedom. He was one of the first of a long line of 
 heroes. His voice sounded a call that was to echo 
 
134 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 through the border states for years to come, inspir- 
 ing others to take up his cause. A freedom-loving 
 country should place among its noblest sons this 
 dauntless editor and preacher. 
 
VI 
 
 HOW MARCUS WHITMAN SAVED 
 OREGON 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company, whose business 
 was to buy skins and furs from the American In- 
 dians, had located a trading-post at Fort Walla 
 Walla, in the country of the Cayuse and Nez Perces 
 Indians. This was in what was known as Oregon 
 Territory in 1842, although it is now near the south- 
 east corner of the state of Washington. Here was 
 a very primitive settlement, the frame houses of a 
 few white men and the tents of Indians. Very little 
 effort had been made to grow grain or fruit or to 
 raise sheep or cattle, since the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany wanted the Indians to be continually on the 
 hunt for furs, and discouraged them from turning 
 into farmers. Besides the traders and the Indians 
 there was a small missionary camp near at hand, 
 located on a beautiful peninsula made by two 
 branches of the Walla Walla River. This place 
 was called by the Indians Wai-i-lat-pui, meaning the 
 region of rye grass. Beyond the fertile ground on 
 the river's banks were borders of timber-land, and 
 beyond them plains stretching to the foot-hills of the 
 great Blue Mountains. In 1842 this wonderful 
 
136 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 country was free to any who cared to come and set- 
 tle there, but as yet very few had ventured so far 
 into the wilderness. 
 
 The chief man at the missionary camp, Dr. 
 Marcus Whitman, was called to Fort Walla Walla on 
 the first day of October, 1842, to see a sick man. 
 He found a score or so of traders and Hudson's Bay 
 clerks, almost all Englishmen, gathered there, and 
 accepted their invitation to stay to dinner. The men 
 were a genial company, and had already taken a 
 liking to Whitman, who was frank and amiable, and 
 an interesting story-teller. Gradually the conversa- 
 tion at the dinner table came round to a subject that 
 was vastly important to the men present, although 
 the outside world seemed to be paying little atten- 
 tion to it — to which country was this great territory 
 of Oregon to belong, to the United States or to 
 England ? The general opinion appeared to be 
 that under the old treaties it would belong to the 
 country that settled it first. 
 
 In the midst of the discussion there was the sound 
 of hoof-beats outside, the door of the company's 
 office was flung open, and an express messenger 
 ran into the dining-room. " I'm just from Fort 
 Colville ! " he cried. " A hundred and forty Eng- 
 lishmen and Canadians are on the march to settle 
 here ! " 
 
 There was instant excitement, A young priest 
 threw his cap in the air, shouting, " Hurrah for 
 Oregon — America's too late ; we've got the coun- 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 137 
 
 try ! " The traders clapped each other on the 
 shoulder, and made a place for the messenger at the 
 head of the table. As he ate he told them how he 
 had ridden from the post three hundred and fifty 
 miles up the Columbia River to let all the fur-traders 
 know that the English were on the way to colonize 
 the country. 
 
 Marcus Whitman smiled, and pretended to enjoy 
 the celebration ; but in reality he was already con- 
 sidering whether he could not do something to save 
 this vast and fruitful region for his own nation. It 
 was an enormous tract of land, of untold wealth, 
 and stretching over a long reach of the Pacific coast. 
 As he considered. Whitman heard the Hudson's Bay 
 Company's men grow more and more excited, until 
 they declared that they intended to take possession 
 of all the country west to the Pacific slope the follow- 
 ing spring. 
 
 The missionary had been expecting this struggle 
 between the English and the Americans for the 
 ownership of Oregon, but had not thought it would 
 come to a head quite so soon. He left the men at 
 Fort Walla Walla as early as he could, and rode 
 back to the little settlement at Wai-i-lat-pui. There 
 he told his wife and friends the news he had learned 
 at the trading-post. " If our country is to have 
 Oregon," he said, "there is not a day to lose." 
 
 " But what can we do ? " the others asked him. 
 
 " I must get to Washington as quick as I can, and 
 let them know the danger." 
 
138 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 His friends understood what that meant, a journey 
 on horseback across almost an entire continent, 
 through hostile Indians, over great rivers and moun- 
 tain ranges, and in the depths of winter. Some one 
 pointed out that under the rules of the American 
 Mission Board that had sent them into the far west 
 none of their number could leave his post without 
 consent from the headquarters in Boston. " Well," 
 said Whitman, " if the Board dismisses me, I will do 
 what I can to save Oregon to the country. My life 
 is of but little worth if I can save this country to the 
 American people." 
 
 His wife, a brave, patriotic woman who had shared 
 his hard travels westward without a murmur, agreed 
 with him that he must go. They all insisted, how- 
 ever, that he should have a companion. "Who will 
 go with me ? " asked Whitman. In answer a man 
 who had only lately joined the small encampment, 
 Amos L. Lovejoy, immediately volunteered. 
 
 Urging upon their friends the need of keeping the 
 plan a secret from the Hudson's Bay Company fur- 
 traders, the two men quickly prepared, and left the 
 camp on October 3d. They had a guide, three 
 pack-mules, and for the start of their journey an 
 escort of a number of Cayuse braves, men of an In- 
 dian tribe that was not large, but was wealthy, and 
 that seemed to have taken a liking to Whitman and 
 his friends at the mission settlement. 
 
 The leader himself had one fixed idea in his mind, 
 to reach Washington before Congress adjourned. 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 139 
 
 He was convinced that only through his account of 
 the riches of Oregon could the government learn 
 what the country stood in danger of losing. 
 
 The little company got a good start, and with fresh 
 horses, riding southeast toward the border of what 
 is now the state of Idaho, they reached Fort Hall in 
 eleven days. Here was stationed Captain Grant, 
 who had always done his best to hinder immigration 
 into Oregon, and had induced many an American 
 settler to go no farther westward. He knew Whit- 
 man of old, and six years before had tried to stop 
 his expedition to the Walla Walla River, but Whit- 
 man had overcome his arguments, and had taken the 
 first wagon that ever crossed the Rocky Mountains 
 into Oregon. As he had tried to prevent Whitman 
 from going west before, so now he tried to prevent 
 him from going east. He told him that the Black- 
 feet Indians had suddenly grown hostile to all white 
 men, that the Sioux and Pawnees were at war with 
 each other, and would let no one through their 
 country, and finally that the snow was already 
 twenty feet deep in the passes of the Rockies, and 
 travel through them was altogether out of the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 This information was far from reassuring, and, 
 backed as it was by Captain Grant's entreaties and 
 almost by his commands, would have deterred many 
 a man from plunging into that winter wilderness. 
 Whitman, however, was a man who could neither be 
 turned aside nor discouraged. His answer to all 
 
I40 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 protests at Fort Hall was to point to the official 
 permit he had carried west with him, ordering all 
 officers to protect and aid him in his travels, and 
 signed by Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, and to 
 declare that he intended to push on east, hostile 
 Indians, mountains, and blizzards notwithstanding. 
 Captain Grant saw that he could not stop Whitman, 
 and, much to his chagrin, had to let him pass the 
 fort. 
 
 The route Whitman had plotted out lay first east 
 and then south, in the general direction of the 
 present site of Salt Lake City. His objective points 
 were two small military posts. Fort Uintah and 
 Fort Uncompahgra. As soon as the two men left 
 Fort Hall they ran into terribly cold weather. The 
 deep snow kept them back, and they had to pick any 
 shelter they could find, and crawl slowly on, some- 
 times taking a day to cover a few miles. At Fort 
 Uintah they procured a guide to the second post, 
 which was on the Grand River, and at the latter 
 point a Mexican agreed to show them the way to 
 Taos, a settlement in what is now the state of New 
 Mexico. So far their southeasterly course had 
 allowed them to skirt the high mountains, but here 
 they had to cross a range, and in the pass ran full 
 into a terrific snow-storm. 
 
 It was impossible to go forward in the teeth of 
 that gale, so Whitman, Lovejoy, and their guide 
 looked about for shelter. They found a rocky 
 defile with a mountain shoulder to protect it, and 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 141 
 
 led their horses and pack-mules into this pocket. 
 In this dark, cold place they stayed for ten days, 
 trying each morning to push on through the pass, 
 and being blown back each time. On the eleventh 
 day the wind had abated somewhat, and they tried 
 again. They went a short distance when, coming 
 around a corner, a fresh storm broke full upon 
 them, blinding and freezing the men, and pelting 
 the animals with frozen snow so that they were 
 almost uncontrollable. 
 
 The native guide now admitted that he was no 
 longer sure of the way, and refused to go any 
 farther. Clearly the only thing to be done was 
 to return for the eleventh time to the sheltered ravine. 
 But now the snow had drifted across their trail, and 
 none of the three men was at all certain of the road 
 back. Whitman dismounted, and kneeling in the 
 snow, prayed that they might be saved for the work 
 that they had to do. 
 
 Meantime the guide resolved to try an old hunting 
 expedient, and turned one of the lead mules loose. 
 The mule was confused at first, and stumbled about, 
 heading one way and then another, but finally 
 started to plunge back through the drifts as if to a 
 certain goal. " There," shouted the guide, ** that 
 mule will find the camp if he can live long enough 
 in this storm to reach it." The men urged their 
 horses after the plunging beast, and slipping and 
 sliding and beating their half-frozen mounts, at last 
 came around the mountain shoulder and got in the 
 
142 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 lee of the ravine. That bit of hunter's knowledge 
 and that mule had much to do with saving the great 
 northwest to the United States. 
 
 Once safe in this comparative shelter the guide 
 turned to Dr. Whitman. " I will go no farther," 
 said he ; " the way is impassable." 
 
 Whitman knew that the man meant what he said, 
 and he had just seen for himself what a storm could 
 do to travelers, but he said as positively in the 
 ravine as he had already said in the comfortable 
 'protection of Fort Hall, " I must go on." He con- 
 sidered their situation a minute, and then said to 
 Lovejoy, "You stay in camp, and I'll return with 
 the guide to the fort and get a new man." 
 
 The pack-mules needed rest, and so this plan was 
 agreed to. Whitman and the obstinate guide went 
 back, while Lovejoy waited in the ravine and tried 
 to nourish the mules by gathering brush and the 
 inner bark of willows for them to eat. Fortunately 
 mules can live on almost anything. 
 
 For a week Lovejoy stayed in the ravine, only 
 partly sheltered from wind and snow, before Whit- 
 man returned. He brought a new guide with him, 
 and, the storm having now lessened, the little party 
 was able to get through the pass and strike out for 
 the post at Taos. 
 
 The route Whitman was taking was far from 
 direct, was in fact at least a thousand miles longer 
 than if they had headed directly east from Walla 
 Walla, but they were avoiding the highest Rockies, 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 143 
 
 and were traveling to a certain extent in the shelter 
 of the ranges, where there was much less snow and 
 plenty of fire-wood could be found. The winter of 
 1842-43 was very cold, and if they had journeyed 
 direct the continual storms and lack of all fuel for 
 camp-fires might have caused a different ending 
 to their cross-country ride. As it was they suffered 
 continually from frozen feet and hands and ears, and 
 lost a number of days when one or the other could 
 not sit his saddle. 
 
 Traveling far to the south they came to the Grand 
 River, one of the most dangerous rivers in the west. 
 The current, even in summer, is rapid, deep, and 
 cold. Now, in winter, solid ice stretched two hun- 
 dred feet from either shore, and between the ice 
 was a rushing torrent over two hundred feet wide. 
 
 The guide studied the swift, boiling current, and 
 shook his head. " It's too risky to try to cross," he 
 declared. 
 
 " We must cross, and at once," said Whitman 
 positively. He dismounted, and, picking out a 
 willow tree near the shore, cut a pole about eight 
 feet long. He carried this back to his horse, 
 mounted, and put the pole on his shoulder, gripping 
 it with his left arm. " Now you shove me off," he 
 said to the men. Lovejoy and the guide did as he 
 ordered, and Whitman and his horse were pushed 
 into the stream. They disappeared under the 
 water, but soon came up, struggling and swimming. 
 In a minute or two the horse struck rocky bottom. 
 
144 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 and could wade. Whitman jumped off, broke the 
 ice with his pole, and helped the animal to get to 
 the shore. 
 
 Meantime Lovejoy and the guide, breaking the 
 ice on their side, headed their horses and the pack- 
 mules into the river. Animals in that country are 
 always ready to follow where their leader goes, and 
 they all swam and splashed their way across. The 
 men found plenty of wood at hand, and soon had a 
 roaring fire, by which they camped, and dried out 
 thoroughly before riding on. 
 
 The delays caused by their stay in the mountains 
 and physical hardships had made their store of pro- 
 visions run low. At one time they had to kill a dog 
 that had joined them, and a little later one of the 
 mules for food. Eating and sleeping little, and 
 pushing on as rapidly as they could they finally 
 reached the old city of Santa Fe, the metropolis of 
 the southwest. But here Whitman only stopped 
 long enough to buy fresh provisions. 
 
 They were now heading for Bent's Fort near the 
 head of the Arkansas River. The storms in the hills 
 were past, and they were riding over vast treeless 
 prairies, where there was plenty of grass for the 
 horses, and any amount of wild game if they could 
 have stopped long enough to replenish their larder 
 with it. Again and again they were forced to prairie 
 expedients. Once, as they reached one of the tribu- 
 taries of the Arkansas River, after a long and tedious 
 day on the plains, they found the river frozen over 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 145 
 
 with a layer of smooth, clear ice, hardly strong 
 enough to bear a man. They must have wood, but 
 although there was plenty of it on the other side, 
 there was none on their shore of the stream. Whit- 
 man took the ax from his kit, and lying down on the 
 thin ice, contrived with great caution and patience 
 to make his way across. On the other bank he cut 
 long poles and short cross-pieces. These he pushed 
 across the ice to Lovejoy, and with them they made 
 enough of a bridge for the latter to urge the horses 
 and mules to try to cross. They all got over safely, 
 though with much slipping and splashing. In cut- 
 ting his last pole Whitman split the ax-helve. When 
 they camped he bound the break with a deerskin 
 thong, but that night a thieving wolf found the ax 
 at the edge of the camp, wanted the fresh deerskin, 
 and dragged away ax and thong. The loss would 
 have been very serious if it had happened earlier in 
 their journey. 
 
 When they were within four days' ride of Bent's 
 Fort they met a caravan traveling toward Taos. 
 The leader told Whitman that a party of moun- 
 taineers was about leaving Bent's Fort for St. Louis, 
 but added that Whitman and Lovejoy, hampered by 
 their pack animals, would not be in time to join them. 
 
 Whitman was very anxious to join the mountain- 
 eers if he could, and decided to leave Lovejoy and 
 the guide with the pack-mules. Taking the fastest 
 horse, and a small store of food, he rode on alone, 
 hoping to catch the party. To do this he would 
 
146 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 have to travel on Sunday, something they had not 
 done before. 
 
 Lovejoy saw Dr. Whitman start on his ride, but 
 when the former reached Bent's Fort four days later 
 he was astonished to find that Whitman had not 
 arrived there, nor been heard from. As that part of 
 the country was full of packs of gray wolves, now 
 half-starved on account of the snow, Lovejoy was 
 alarmed. 
 
 If not a prey to the wolves. Whitman must be 
 lost ; so his friend took a good guide from the Fort 
 and started to search for him. He traveled up-river 
 a hundred miles, and there fell in with Indians who 
 told him of a lost white man who was trying to find 
 the Fort, and whom they had directed down the 
 river. Lovejoy went back, and late that afternoon 
 saw Whitman come riding in, convinced that his 
 journey had been so much delayed because he had 
 traveled on Sunday. 
 
 The party of mountaineers had already left, but a 
 messenger had been sent after them, and they stayed 
 in camp, waiting for Whitman. Tired as he was, he 
 started out immediately with a new guide, particu- 
 larly eager to join this company, because they were 
 now nearing the outposts of civilization, where the 
 worst white men and Indians beset the pioneers. 
 Lovejoy waited at Bent's Fort, and went east with 
 the next caravan that started for St. Louis. 
 
 Whitman came safely through to St. Louis, where 
 he had friends. He was at once surrounded by 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 147 
 
 trappers and traders in Indian goods and furs who 
 wanted news of the plains. In his turn he asked 
 news of Congress, and learned that the Ashburton 
 Treaty, settling a part of the boundary between 
 Canada and the United States, had been approved 
 and signed, but that the question of Oregon had not 
 been settled, and from the reports of what had been 
 said in the debates at Washington he knew that 
 none of the American statesmen realized what a 
 great prize Oregon Territory was. 
 
 He must reach the capital before Congress ad- 
 journed if possible. The rivers were frozen, and he 
 had to rely on a journey by stage, slow at all times, 
 but especially so in midwinter. He toiled slowly 
 eastward, taking one coach after another, swinging 
 and swaying and rocking across the center of the 
 country, and reaching the capital in time to plead 
 the cause of the northwest. 
 
 Washington was used to many strange types of 
 men in those pioneer days, but even among such 
 Marcus Whitman was a striking figure. He was of 
 medium height, compact of build, with big shoulders 
 and a large head. His hair was iron gray, and that, 
 as well as his moustache and beard, had not been cut 
 for four months. He was of pioneer type, living so 
 long among Indians and trappers, and watching so 
 constantly for wolves and bears, that he seemed awk- 
 ward and uncouth in an eastern city. His clothes 
 were a coarse fur jacket with buckskin breeches, fur 
 leggings, and boot moccasins. Over these he wore 
 
148 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 a buffalo overcoat, with a head-hood for bad weather. 
 He did not show an inch of woven garment. 
 
 Whitman reached Washington in March, 1843, 
 and immediately urged his case before President 
 Tyler, Secretary of State Daniel Webster, and many 
 congressmen. He found the densest ignorance 
 concerning Oregon Territory, a tract of territory 
 which has since been divided into the three states of 
 Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. A senator had 
 said of that territory, " What is the character of this 
 country ? As I understand it there are seven hun- 
 dred miles this side of the Rocky Mountains that 
 are uninhabitable ; where rain never falls ; moun- 
 tains wholly impassable, except through gaps and 
 depressions, to be reached only by going hundreds 
 of miles out of the direct course. ... Of 
 what use would it be for agricultural purposes? 
 I would not, for that purpose, give a pinch of snuff 
 for the whole territory. I wish the Rocky Moun- 
 tains were an impassable barrier. If there was 
 an embankment of even five feet to be removed 
 I would not consent to expend five dollars to remove 
 it and enable our population to go there." Another 
 statesman declared, " With the exception of land 
 along the Willamette and strips along other water 
 courses, the whole country is as irreclaimable and 
 barren a waste as the Desert of Sahara. Nor is this 
 the worst ; the climate is so unfriendly to human 
 life that the native population has dwindled away 
 under the ravages of malaria." And newspaper 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 149 
 
 opinions were no more favorable. The Louis- 
 ville Journal wrote, " Of all the countries upon 
 the face of the earth Oregon is one of the least 
 favored by heaven. It is the mere riddlings of 
 creation. It is almost as barren as Sahara and 
 quite as unhealthy as the Campagna of Italy. 
 Russia has her Siberia and England has her Bot8.ny 
 Bay, and if the United States should ever need 
 a country to which to banish her rogues and 
 scoundrels, the utility of such a region as Oregon 
 would be demonstrated. Until then, we are per- 
 fectly willing to leave this magnificent country 
 to the Indians, trappers and buffalo hunters that 
 roam over its sand-banks." 
 
 Marcus Whitman had ridden four thousand miles, 
 and starved, frozen, and never rested in order to 
 overcome such opinions. The President and Daniel 
 Webster were polite to him, but neither seemed 
 to think much of the northwest. As he was 
 describing the richness of the country, its fertile 
 soil, great forests, precious minerals, and delightful 
 climate, Webster interrupted. " But Oregon is 
 shut off by impassable mountains and a great 
 desert, which make a wagon road impossible," said 
 he. Whitman answered, " Six years ago I was 
 told there was no wagon road to Oregon, and 
 it was impossible to take a wagon there, and yet in 
 despite of pleadings and almost threats, I took 
 a wagon over the road and have it now." The 
 missionary's earnest, forceful manner impressed 
 
150 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 both President Tyler and Secretary Webster, and 
 gradually they began to think it might be worth 
 while to protect the claim of the United States 
 to that country. Finally Whitman said, "All I 
 ask is that you won't barter away Oregon, or 
 allow English interference until I can lead a band 
 of stalwart American settlers across the plains : 
 for this I will try to do." 
 
 " Dr. Whitman," answered President Tyler, "your 
 long ride and frozen limbs speak for your courage 
 and patriotism ; your missionary credentials are 
 good vouchers for your character ; " and he granted 
 the request. 
 
 This was all Whitman wanted, because he be- 
 lieved that under the treaty then in force between 
 the United States and England the nation that 
 should colonize the country was to own it. He 
 knew that up to that time the English Hudson's 
 Bay Company had bought out all American traders 
 or driven out all settlers, but he hoped he could 
 lead enough emigrants there now to hold it for 
 the United States. 
 
 He next went to the American Missionary Board 
 in Boston, which had originally sent him out to 
 Oregon. There he met with cold treatment, and 
 was told he should not have left the camp at Wai-i- 
 lat-pui without permission from Boston, and that 
 his trip across the continent was a wild-goose chase. 
 This unmerited rebuke must have hurt him sorely. 
 He was, however, so filled with eagerness to lead 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 151 
 
 his party of pioneers west that he did not let it 
 daunt him, but went on with his preparations. 
 In this he was very much helped by his companion 
 Lovejoy, who was gathering a large number of 
 emigrants on the frontier awaiting Whitman's 
 return. 
 
 The meeting point of the emigrants was the 
 little town of Weston, not far from where Kansas 
 City now stands. Here and at various near-by 
 settlements the pioneers gathered early in the 
 year 1843, waiting for Dr. Whitman to join them, 
 and for the spring grass to grow high enough 
 to feed their cattle. As it happened, that year the 
 grass was late, and the caravan did not get under 
 way until the first week in June. Whitman himself 
 was delayed through the need of leaving careful 
 instructions for those who were to cross the plains 
 later in the year. The caravan started before Whitman 
 arrived, and he did not overtake the advance guard 
 until they had reached the Platte River. When 
 he did actually join the emigrants he looked after 
 everything, mending broken prairie wagons, cheer- 
 ing tired mothers, acting as surgeon and doctor, 
 hunting out fords through quicksands and rivers, 
 searching for water and grass in the desert plains, 
 seeking new passes through the mountains, and 
 at night superintending the building of camp- 
 fires and keeping watch against an attack by wolves 
 or other wild animals. 
 
 The journey from the Platte River as far as Fort 
 
152 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Hall, which was near the eastern border of Oregon 
 Territory, was much like other pioneer travels 
 through the west. Whitman had been over this 
 trail several times and the difficulties he encountered 
 were not new to him. At Fort Hall he had to 
 meet Captain John Grant again, who, as an agent of 
 the Fur Company, did not want new farmers to 
 settle in Oregon. 
 
 Instead of appealing only to a few men Captain 
 Grant now spoke to several hundred resolute pio- 
 neers. He told them of the terrors of the long 
 journey through the mountains and the impossi- 
 bility of hauling their heavy prairie wagons over 
 the passes ; he recounted the failures of other pio- 
 neers who had tried what the}^ had planned to do ; 
 he showed them in the corral wagons, farm tools, 
 and other pioneer implements that earlier emigrants 
 had had to leave when they ventured into the 
 mountains. He stated the difficulties so clearly 
 that this company was almost persuaded, as earlier 
 companies had been, to follow his suggestions, 
 leave their farming implements behind, and try 
 to make a settlement without any of the tools or 
 comforts that were so greatly needed in that country. 
 Whitman, however, spoiled Grant's plans. He said 
 to his followers, " Men, I have guided you thus 
 far in safety. Believe nothing you hear about 
 not being able to get your wagons through ; every 
 one of you stick to your wagons and your goods. 
 They will be invaluable to you when you reach 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON i53 
 
 the end of your journey. I took a wagon over 
 to Oregon six years ago." The men believed their 
 leader, refused to obey Captain Grant, and prepared 
 to start on the trail into the high Rockies. 
 
 It was the last six hundred miles of the journey to 
 Oregon that usually made the most severe test of 
 the settlers' endurance. From Fort Hall the nature 
 of the traveling changed entirely, and was apt 
 to resemble the retreat of a disorganized army. 
 Earlier caravans, although they had taken Captain 
 Grant's advice and left many wagons, horses, and 
 camp comforts behind, had suffered untold hard- 
 ships. Oxen and horses, worn by their long trip 
 across the plains, and toiling for long stretches 
 through the high passes, were apt to perish in large 
 numbers and frequently fell dead in their yokes 
 on the road. Wagons already baked in the blazing 
 sun of the desert would fall to pieces when they 
 struck a sharp rock or were driven over a rough 
 incline. Families were obliged to join company 
 and throw away everything that tended to impede 
 their speed. 
 
 The approaching storms of autumn, which meant 
 impassable snow, would not allow them to linger. 
 In addition to this there were grizzlies in the moun- 
 tains and the constant fear of attack from Indians. 
 Such pioneers as strayed from the main company 
 were likely to fall in with an enemy that was con- 
 tinually hovering on either flank of the march, 
 ready to swoop down upon unprotected men or 
 
154 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 women. This fear added to the speed of the jour- 
 ney, and as they progressed the road over which 
 they traveled was strewn with dead or worn-out 
 cattle, abandoned wagons, discarded cooking uten- 
 sils, yokes, harness, chests, log chains, and all kinds 
 of family heirlooms that the settlers had hoped 
 to carry to their new homes. Sometimes the teams 
 grew so much weakened that none dared to ride 
 in the wagons, and men, women, and children would 
 walk beside them, ready to give a helping push 
 up any steep part of the road. A pioneer who 
 had once made this journey said, referring to a former 
 trip across the mountains, " The fierce summer's 
 heat beat upon this slow west-rolling column. The 
 herbage was dry and crisp, the rivulets had become 
 but lines in the burning sand ; the sun glared from 
 a sky of brass ; the stony mountainsides glared 
 with the garnered heat of a cloudless summer. The 
 dusky brambles of the scraggy sage-brush seemed 
 to catch the fiery rays of heat and shiver them 
 into choking dust, that rose like a tormenting 
 plague and hung like a demon of destruction over 
 the panting oxen and thirsty people. 
 
 " Thus day after day, for weeks and months, 
 the slow but urgent retreat continued, each day 
 demanding fresh sacrifices. An ox or a horse 
 would fall, brave men would lift the useless yoke 
 from his limp and lifeless neck in silence. If there 
 was another to take his place he was brought from 
 the loose band, yoked up and the journey resumed. 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON I55 
 
 When the stock of oxen became exhausted, cows 
 were brought under the yoke, other wagons left, 
 and the lessening store once more inspected ; if 
 possible another pound would be dispensed with. 
 
 " Deeper and deeper into the flinty mountains 
 the forlorn mass drives its weary way. Each morn- 
 ing the weakened team has to commence a struggle 
 with yet greater difficulties. It is plain the journey 
 will not be completed within the anticipated time, 
 and the dread of hunger joins the ranks of the 
 tormentors. . . . The Indians hover in the 
 rear, impatiently waiting for the train to move 
 on that the abandoned trinkets may be gathered 
 up. Whether these are gathering strength for a 
 general attack we cannot tell. There is but one 
 thing to do — press on. The retreat cannot hasten 
 into rout, for the distance to safety is too great. 
 Slower and slower is the daily progress." 
 
 Marcus Whitman, however, had known these 
 difficulties before, and guarded his caravan from 
 many of them. 
 
 Up to that date almost no man had crossed 
 into Oregon by the route he was taking. A few 
 missionaries had made the journey on horseback, 
 driving some head of cattle with them, and three or 
 four wagons drawn by oxen had reached the Snake 
 River at an earlier date, but it was the general 
 opinion of trappers that no large company of people 
 could travel down the Snake River because of 
 the scarcity of pasturage and the rugged road 
 
156 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 through the mountains. It was also thought that 
 the Sioux Indians would oppose the approach of 
 such a large caravan because the emigrants might 
 kill or drive away the buffaloes, which were already 
 diminishing in number and were hunted by this tribe 
 for food. 
 
 When they came to cross the Snake River Whit- 
 man gave orders to fasten the wagons together in 
 one long line, the strongest ones being placed in the 
 lead. When the teams were in position Whitman 
 tied a long rope about his waist and fastened the 
 other end to the first team. Riding his horse into 
 the current he swam across the river. He called 
 to the other riders to follow him, and at the same 
 time to pull on the rope that was tied to the first 
 team. In this way the leaders were started into 
 the water, and all were drawn over in safety. At 
 times, however, it took a great deal of pulling on 
 the ropes by many men to drag the weaker teams 
 to a safe foothold on the farther bank. The Snake 
 River at the place where Whitman forded it was 
 divided into three separate rivers by islands, and as 
 the last stream on the Oregon shore was a deep and 
 rapid current fully a mile wide, it can be seen 
 what a task it was to get so many wagons, tired 
 ox-teams, and the great company of men, women 
 and children across it. But Whitman had solved 
 many such problems before. When he and his 
 wife went to Oregon six years earlier she had said it 
 was a shame that her husband should wear himself 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 157 
 
 out in getting their wagon through. " Yesterday," 
 she said, " it was overset in the river and he was 
 wet from head to foot getting it out ; to-day it 
 was upset on the mountainside, and it was hard 
 work to save it." 
 
 There were over a thousand people in this expe- 
 dition that was going out to colonize Oregon for the 
 United States. They had about one hundred and 
 twenty wagons drawn by ox-teams, which averaged 
 six yoke of oxen to a team, and, in addition, several 
 thousand horses and cattle, led or driven by the 
 emigrants. Although they started to travel in one 
 body they soon found they could do better by divid- 
 ing into two columns, marching within easy hailing 
 distance of each other, so long as they were in 
 danger of attack by the Indians, and later separating 
 into small parties, better suited to the narrow moun- 
 tain paths and the meagre pasture lands. 
 
 It is interesting to learn how such a company 
 traveled. At four o'clock in the morning the sen- 
 tinels who were on guard waked the camp by shots 
 from their rifles, the emigrants crept from their 
 canvas-covered wagons or tents built against the 
 side of the wagons, and soon the smoke of camp-fires 
 began to rise in the air. Sixty men, whose duty it 
 was to look after the catde, would start out from the 
 corral, or enclosed space, spreading through the 
 horses and cattle, who had found pasturage over 
 night in a great semicircle about the camp. The 
 most distant animals were sometimes two miles 
 
158 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 away. These sixty scouts looked for Indian trails 
 beyond the herd and tried to discover whether any 
 of the animals had been stolen or had strayed dur- 
 ing the night. If none were lost the herders drove 
 the animals close to the camp, and by five o'clock 
 horses, oxen, and cattle were rounded up, and the 
 separate emigrants chose their teams and drove 
 them into the corral to be yoked. The corral was a 
 circle about one hundred yards deep, formed by 
 wagons fastened together by ox-chains, making a 
 barrier that could not be broken by any vicious ox 
 or horse, and a fortification in case of an attack by 
 Indians. 
 
 The camp was very busy from six to seven o'clock ; 
 the women prepared breakfast ; the tents were 
 packed away, the wagons loaded and the oxen 
 yoked and fastened to their owners' wagons. Each 
 of the two divisions had about sixty wagons, and 
 these were separated into sixteen platoons. Each 
 platoon took its turn at leading, and in this way none 
 of the wagons had to travel continually in the dust. 
 By seven o'clock the corral was broken up ; the 
 women and children had found their places in the 
 wagons, and the leader, or pilot as he was called, 
 mounted his horse and was ready to lead the way 
 for the day's journey. A band of young men who 
 were not needed at the wagons, well mounted and 
 armed, would start on a bufTalo hunt, keeping within 
 easy reach of the caravan and hoping to bring back 
 food for the night's encampment. 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 159 
 
 At seven o'clock the trumpet sounded the advance, 
 and the wagon that was to lead for that day slowly- 
 rolled out of the camp and headed the line of march. 
 The other wagons fell in behind it, and guided by 
 the horsemen, the long line commenced its winding 
 route through the mountains. 
 
 The country through which Whitman had chosen 
 to travel was beautiful in the extreme ; at times the 
 road lay through the great heights of the Rockies, 
 with a panorama of wonderful charm stretched on 
 the horizon ; at times it lay beside broad rivers 
 where the clearness of the air brought out all the 
 colors of late summer foliage. The party of hunters 
 were also scouts for the caravan, searching the rivers 
 for the most promising fords. Having found one 
 to their liking, they would signal with a flag to the 
 pilot and his guides to show in which direction to 
 lead the wagons. These guides kept constantly on 
 the alert, for it would be hard if they had to march a 
 mile or two out of their way or retrace their steps 
 because of wrong advice. The rest of the emigrants 
 trusted the route entirely to their leaders and rode or 
 marched stolidly along, occasionally stopping to 
 gather a few flowers for the women and children in 
 the wagons. At noon the whole line stopped for 
 dinner. The scouting party would carefully choose 
 a good camping place, looking especially for the 
 grass and water that were so much needed at the end 
 of five hours of hard traveling. The teams were not 
 unyoked, but only turned loose from their wagons, 
 
i6o HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 and the latter were drawn up in columns, four 
 abreast. No corral was formed, as there was little 
 danger from Indians or risk of animals straying in 
 the daytime. 
 
 At this noon rest many matters were discussed by 
 the caravan leaders. Whitman and one or two 
 others had been chosen to decide disputes between 
 the different members of the party. Orders for the 
 good of the caravan would be given out at this time, 
 and Dr. Whitman would visit any who w^ere sick 
 and advise with the various families as to new diffi- 
 culties they had met with. 
 
 When dinner was eaten and the teams rested the 
 march was resumed, and continued until sundown, 
 when the scouts picked out the best camping place 
 for the night. The wagons were driven into a great 
 circle, fastened each to each, and the cattle freed to 
 seek a pasture ; tents were pitched, fires started, and 
 all hands were busy. The scene was almost like a 
 small frontier town. 
 
 The caravan was divided into three companies, 
 and each of the companies subdivided into four 
 watches. Each company had the duty of acting as 
 sentries for the camp every third night, and each 
 watch took its turn. The first watch was set at eight 
 o'clock in the evening, just after the evening meal. 
 For a short time there would be talking, perhaps 
 singing, or the music of the violin or flute. Usually, 
 however, the day's traveling had been hard and try- 
 ing, and at an early hour the emigrants went to sleep. 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON i6i 
 
 Late in the summer of 1843 Whitman's pioneers 
 left the mountains behind them, and came down into 
 the valleys watered by the tributaries of the Columbia 
 River. As they approached the missionary settle- 
 ment at Wai-i-lat-pui a band of Cayuse and Nez 
 Perces Indians came to meet them, bringing pack- 
 mules loaded with supplies. Few messengers could 
 have been more welcome. They told Whitman that 
 his wife and friends were still at the little clearing 
 where he had left them almost a year before, and 
 were eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the 
 new settlers. The leader thought that the caravan 
 could finish its journey without him now, so he 
 chose one of his most reliable Indian guides, Istikus, 
 and placed him in charge of the company. Whit- 
 man himself hurried on to the mission. Back of him 
 rolled the long train of canvas-covered wagons that 
 had traveled so far over prairies, rivers, and moun- 
 tains. Almost a thousand men, women, and chil- 
 dren were coming into this far western section of the 
 continent to settle and hold the country for the 
 United States. 
 
 Whitman's ride changed the situation. No more 
 statesmen could speak of the impassable mountains 
 or the impossibility of taking settlers' wagons into 
 Oregon. Before Whitman left Washington Daniel 
 Webster sent a message to England stating that the 
 United States would insist on holding all territory 
 south of the forty-ninth degree of latitude. When 
 President Tyler was told that a caravan of nearly a 
 
i62 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 thousand people under Whitman's leadership had 
 started for Oregon, a second and more positive 
 message to the same effect was sent to England. 
 All over the United States men were now demand- 
 ing that their government should claim the country 
 as far as the Pacific coast, and one great political 
 party took as its watchword the motto, "Oregon, 
 fifty-four, forty, — or fight," referring to the degree 
 of latitude they wanted for the boundary line. The 
 Hudson's Bay Company, finding so large a colony 
 of pioneers settling among them, was forced to give 
 over its efforts to hold the northwest entirely for 
 itself. In time the English statesmen agreed to the 
 claims of the United States, and on July 17, 1846, a 
 treaty was signed, fixing the boundary between 
 Canada and the United States at the forty-ninth 
 degree, which gave Oregon to the Republic. 
 
 The settlers prospered, and the little missionary 
 colony near the Walla Walla River grew in size. 
 Whitman resumed his work among the Indians, and 
 seemed to win their friendship. There seemed no 
 reason why the native tribes and their white friends 
 should not live in peace in such an undeveloped 
 country. After a time, however, fear or greed or 
 false leaders stirred up certain Indians and sent 
 them on the war-path against their friends. No one 
 knew the real cause for the outburst, but on Novem- 
 ber 29, 1847, a band of the Cayuse crept down on 
 the litde cluster of houses at Wai-i-lat-pui and killed 
 fourteen of the white settlers. Marcus Whitman was 
 
HOW WHITMAN SAVED OREGON 163 
 
 one of the first to fall. He was in his house, with 
 several Indians as usual in the room with him. One 
 was sitting close to him, asking for some medicine, 
 when another came up behind and struck him with 
 a tomahawk. These two then gave the signal, and 
 their allies in other houses fell upon the white men 
 and women. After the massacre forty men, women, 
 and children were carried away from the valley by 
 the Indians, but most of them were later rescued 
 by the Hudson's Bay Company and sent back to 
 their homes. Other white settlers joined forces and 
 marched against the treacherous Cayuse, but the 
 latter fled through the country, scattering into dif- 
 ferent tribes, and the leaders of the attack were not 
 captured until nearly two years later. 
 
 Daniel Webster had said in the Senate : " What 
 do we want with the vast, worthless area, this region 
 of savages and wild beasts, of deserts, of shifting 
 sands and whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie 
 dogs ? To what use could we ever hope to put these 
 great deserts, or these endless mountain ranges, im- 
 penetrable, and covered to their base with eternal 
 snow? What can we ever hope to do with the 
 western coast, a coast of three thousand miles, rock- 
 bound, cheerless, and uninviting, and not a harbor 
 on it? What use have we for such a country?" 
 But though many great statesmen agreed with Web- 
 ster a simple missionary who had been to Oregon 
 looked into the future, saw the value of the vast 
 expanse, and had the courage and determination to 
 
i64 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 ride across the continent for aid, and then bring 
 back a thousand settlers to help him realize his 
 dream. Marcus Whitman is one of the noblest ex- 
 amples of that great type of pioneers who won the 
 western country for the United States. 
 
VII 
 
 HOW THE MORMONS CAME TO 
 SETTLE UTAH 
 
 In the winter of 1838-39 a large number of people 
 moved into the country on the east bank of the 
 Mississippi River in the state of Illinois. They had 
 taken the name of " Latter-Day Saints," but were 
 generally called Mormons, and were followers of a 
 new religion that had been founded by a man named 
 Joseph Smith a few years earlier. This strange new 
 religion had attracted many people to it, and the 
 greater number of them had first moved to Ohio, and 
 then into the new state of Missouri, but they were 
 not well received by the people of either of those 
 states, and had finally been driven from Missouri at 
 the point of the sword. Fortunately for them there 
 was plenty of unoccupied land in the West, and 
 their leader decided to take refuge near the town of 
 Quincy in Illinois. At that time a man had only to 
 reside in the state for six months in order to cast a 
 vote for president, and as an election was near at 
 hand the politicians of Illinois were glad to wel- 
 come the Mormons. Looking about, the newcomers 
 found two "paper" cities, or places that had been 
 mapped out on paper with streets and houses, but 
 
i66 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 had never actually been built. The Mormon leaders 
 bought two large farms in the "paper" town of 
 Commerce, and many thousand acres in the country 
 adjoining, and there they laid out their new city, to 
 which they gave the strange name of Nauvoo. 
 
 The Mormon city lay along the Mississippi River, 
 and its streets and public buildings were planned on 
 a large scale. People flocked to the place, and as 
 the Mormon missionaries were eager workers the 
 number of converts grew rapidly. A temple was 
 built, which a stranger who saw it in 1843 said was 
 the wonder of the world. Many Mormon emigrants 
 came from England, usually by ship to New Orleans, 
 and thence by river steamboat up the Mississippi to 
 Nauvoo. By the end of 1844 at least fifteen thou- 
 sand people had settled there, and as many more 
 were scattered through the country in the imme- 
 diate neighborhood. Nauvoo was the largest city 
 in Illinois, and its only rival in that part of the West 
 was St. Louis. Joseph Smith had obtained a char- 
 ter, and both the political parties, the Whigs and 
 the Democrats, were doing their best to make friends 
 of his people. Nauvoo had little of the rough look 
 of most newly-settled frontier towns, and handsome 
 houses and public buildings sprang up rapidly along 
 its fine wide streets. 
 
 Unfortunately for the Mormons their leader was a 
 man who made enemies as easily as he made friends. 
 He had aroused much ill feeling when he lived in 
 Missouri. As a result, when, one day in May, 1842, 
 
HOW THE MORMONS SETTLED UTAH 167 
 
 Governor Boggs of Missouri was shot and seriously 
 wounded while sitting at the window of his home, 
 many people laid the crime to Smith or his followers, 
 and believed that the prophet himself, as Smith was 
 called, had ordered the shooting. The officers of 
 Missouri asked the governor of Illinois to hand 
 Smith over to them. This was not done, and conse- 
 quently ill feeling against the prophet grew stronger. 
 In the meantime a man named John C. Bennett, who 
 had joined the Mormons at Nauvoo, and had been 
 the first mayor of the city, deserted the church, and 
 turned into one of the most bitter of its enemies. 
 He denounced the Mormons in letters he wrote to 
 the newspapers, and exposed what he called their 
 secrets. This led other people to attack the ideas 
 of the Mormons, and it was not long before there 
 was almost as much dislike of them in Illinois as 
 there had been in Missouri. 
 
 Even in the Mormon church itself there were men 
 who would not agree with all the prophet Joseph 
 Smith said. A few of these men set up a printing- 
 press and published a paper that they called the 
 Nauvoo Expositor. Only one issue of this sheet ap- 
 peared, dated June 7, 1844. That was enough, how- 
 ever, to raise the wrath of Joseph Smith and his 
 elders, and they ordered the city marshal to destroy 
 the press. The marshal broke the press and type in 
 the main street of the city, and burned the contents 
 of the newspaper office. 
 
 The editors hastily fled to the neighboring town 
 
i68 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 of Carthage. The people there and in all the 
 neighboring villages denounced the destruction of 
 the press, and declared that the time had come to 
 force the Mormons to obey the laws, and, if they 
 would not do so, to drive them out of Illinois. 
 Military companies were formed, cannon were sent 
 for, and the governor of the state was asked to call 
 out the militia. 
 
 The governor went to the scene of the trouble to 
 investigate. He found all that part of the east shore 
 of the Mississippi divided between the Mormons and 
 their enemies. He ordered the mayor of Nauvoo to 
 send Mormons to him to explain why they had 
 destroyed the printing-press, and when he had heard 
 their story the governor told them that Smith and his 
 elders must surrender to him, or the whole military 
 force of the state would be called out to capture 
 them. But the prophet had not been idle. He had 
 put his city under martial law, had formed what was 
 called the Legion of the Mormons, and had called in 
 his followers from the near-by villages. He had 
 meant to defend his new city ; but when he heard the 
 governor's threat to arrest him, he left Nauvoo with 
 a few comrades and started for the Rocky Mountains. 
 Friends went after him, and begged him not to 
 desert his people. He could not resist their appeal 
 to him to return, and he went back, although he was 
 afraid of the temper of his enemies. As soon as he 
 returned to Illinois he was arrested on the charge of 
 treason and of putting Nauvoo under martial law, 
 
HOW THE MORMONS SETTLED UTAH 169 
 
 and together with his brother Hyrum was sent to the 
 jail at Carthage. 
 
 Some seventeen hundred men, members of the 
 militia, had gathered at the towns of Carthage and 
 Warsaw, and the enemies of the Mormons urged the 
 governor to march at the head of these troops to 
 Nauvoo. He knew that in the excited state of af- 
 fairs there was danger that if these troops entered 
 the city they might set it on fire and destroy much 
 property. He therefore ordered all except three 
 companies to disband ; with one company he set out 
 to visit the Mormon city, and the other two com- 
 panies he left to guard the jail at Carthage. 
 
 The governor marched to Nauvoo, spoke to the 
 citizens, and, having assured them that he meant no 
 harm to their church, left about sundown on his road 
 back to Carthage. In the meantime, however, 
 events had been happening in the latter place that 
 were to affect the whole history of the Mormons. 
 
 The two Smiths, Joseph and Hyrum, with two 
 friends, Willard Richards and John Taylor, were 
 sitting in a large room in the Carthage jail when a 
 number of men, their faces blackened in disguise, 
 came running up the stairway. The door of the 
 room had no lock or bolt, and, as the men inside 
 feared some attack, Hyrum Smith and Richards 
 leaped to the door and shutting it stood with their 
 shoulders against it. The men outside could not 
 force the door open, and began to shoot through it. 
 The two men at the door were driven back, and on 
 
I/O HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 the second volley of shot Hyrum Smith was killed. 
 As his brother fell the prophet seized a six shooting 
 revolver that one of their visitors had left on the 
 table, and going to the door opened it a few inches. 
 He snapped each barrel at the men on the stair ; 
 three barrels missed fire, but each of the three that 
 exploded wounded a man. As the prophet fired 
 Taylor and Richards stood close beside him, each 
 armed with a hickory cane. When Joseph Smith 
 stopped shooting the enemy fired another volley 
 into the room. Taylor tried to strike down some of 
 the guns that were leveled through the broken door. 
 
 " That's right. Brother Taylor, parry them off as 
 well as you can ! " cried Joseph Smith. He ran to 
 the window, intending to leap out, but as he jumped 
 two bullets fired through the doorway struck him, 
 and also another aimed from outside the building. As 
 soon as the mob saw that the prophet was killed 
 they scattered, alarmed at what had been done. 
 
 The people of Carthage and the neighboring 
 country expected that the Legion of the Mormons 
 would immediately march on them and destroy them. 
 Families fled in wagons, on horseback, and on foot. 
 Most of the people of the near-by town of Warsaw 
 crossed the Mississippi in order to put the river be- 
 tween them and their enemies. In this state of 
 excitement the governor did not know which party 
 to trust, so he rode to the town of Quincy, forty 
 miles away, and at a safe distance from the scene of 
 trouble. But the Mormons made no attempt to 
 
HOW THE MORMONS SETTLED UTAH 171 
 
 avenge the death of their leader ; they intended to let 
 the law look after that. 
 
 Week by week, however, it grew harder for them 
 to live on friendly terms with the other people of 
 Western Illinois, and more and more troubles arose 
 to sow distrust. The Gentiles, as those who were 
 not Mormons were called, began to charge the 
 Mormons with stealing their horses and cattle, and 
 the state repealed the charter that had been granted 
 to the city of Nauvoo. 
 
 During that summer of 1845, the troubles of 
 Nauvoo's people increased. One night in September 
 a meeting of Gentiles at the town of Green Plains 
 was fired on, and many laid the attack to the 
 Mormons. Whether this was true or not, their 
 enemies gathered in force and scoured the country, 
 burning the houses, barns, and crops of the Latter- 
 Day Saints, and driving them from the country be- 
 hind the walls of Nauvoo. From their city streets 
 the saints rode out to pay their enemies in kind, and 
 so the warfare went on until the governor appointed 
 officers to try to settle the feud. The people, how- 
 ever, wanted the matter setded in only one way. 
 They insisted that the Mormons must leave Illinois. 
 In reply word came from Nauvoo that the Saints 
 would go in the spring, provided that they were not 
 molested, and that the Gentiles would help them to 
 sell or rent their houses and farms, and give them 
 oxen, horses, wagons, dry-goods, and cash in ex- 
 change for their property. The Gentile neighbors 
 
172 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 would not promise to buy the goods the Mormons had 
 for sale, but promised not to interfere with their sell- 
 ing whatever they could. At last the trouble seemed 
 settled. Brigham Young, the new leader of the 
 Mormons, said that the whole church would start 
 for some place beyond the Rocky Mountains in the 
 spring, if they could sell enough goods to make the 
 journey there. So the people of Nauvoo prepared 
 to abandon the buildings of their new flourishing city 
 on the Mississippi, and spent the winter trading their 
 houses for flour, sugar, seeds, tents, wagons, horses, 
 cattle, and whatever else might be needed for the 
 long trip across the plains. 
 
 The Mormons now looked forward eagerly to 
 their march to a new home, and many of them 
 traveled through the near-by states, buying horses 
 and mules, and more went to the large towns in the 
 neighborhood to work as laborers and so add to the 
 funds for their journey. The leaders announced 
 that a company of young men would start west in 
 March, and choose a good situation for their new 
 city. There they would build houses, and plant 
 crops which should be ready when the rest of the 
 Mormons arrived. But they knew there was always 
 a chance that the people of the country would attack 
 them, and therefore they sent messengers to the 
 governors of the territories they would cross, asking 
 for protection on the march. On February loth 
 Brigham Young and a few other men crossed the 
 Mississippi and selected a spot on Sugar Creek as 
 
HOW THE MORMONS SETTLED UTAH 173 
 
 the first camp for the people who were to follow. 
 Young and the twelve elders of the Mormons 
 traveled together, and wherever their camp was 
 pitched that place was given the name of " Camp of 
 Israel." 
 
 The emigrants had a test of hardship even when 
 they first moved across the Mississippi. The tem- 
 perature dropped to twenty degrees below zero, and 
 the canvas-covered wagons and tents were a poor 
 shelter from the snow-storms for women and children 
 who had been used to the comforts of a large town. 
 Many crossed the Mississippi on ice. When they were 
 gathered on Sugar Creek Brigham Young spoke to 
 them from a wagon. He told them of the perils of 
 the journey, and then called for a show of hands by 
 those who were willing to start upon it ; every hand 
 was raised. On March ist the camp was broken 
 up, and the long western march began. The Mor- 
 mons were divided into companies of fifty or sixty 
 wagons, and every night the cattle were carefully 
 rounded up and guards set to protect them from at- 
 tack. From time to time they built more elaborate 
 camps, and men were left in charge to plant grain, 
 build log cabins, dig wells, and fence the farms, in or- 
 der that they might give food and shelter to other 
 Mormons who would be making the journey later. 
 The weather was all against their progress. Until 
 May it was bitter cold, and there were heavy snow- 
 storms, constant rains, sleet, and thick mud to be 
 fought with, but like many other bands of American 
 
174 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 pioneers the Mormons pushed resolutely on, some 
 days marching one mile, some days six, until May 
 i6th, when they reached a charming spot on a 
 branch of the Grand River, and built a camp that 
 they called " Mount Pisgah." Here they plowed 
 and planted several acres of land. While this camp 
 was being pitched, Brigham Young and some of the 
 other leaders went on to Council Bluffs and at a 
 place north of Omaha, now the town of Florence, 
 located the last permanent camp of the expedition. 
 
 The trail of the Mormons now stretched across all 
 the western country. At each of the camps men, 
 women, and children were living, resting and pre- 
 paring supplies to cover the next stage of their jour- 
 ney. But in spite of the care with which the march 
 was planned those who left Nauvoo last suffered the 
 most. There was a great deal of sickness among 
 them, and owing to illness they were often forced 
 to stop for several days at some unprotected point 
 on the prairies. Twelve thousand people in all 
 shared that Mormon march. 
 
 The Gentiles in Illinois did not think that the Mor- 
 mons were leaving Nauvoo as rapidly as they should. 
 Every week from two to five hundred Mormon teams 
 crossed the ferry into Iowa, but the neighbors thought 
 that many meant to stay. Ill feeling against them 
 grew, and a meeting at Carthage called on people 
 to arm and drive out all Mormons who remained 
 by mid-June. Six hundred men armed, ready to 
 march against Nauvoo. 
 
HOW THE MORMONS SETTLED UTAH 175 
 
 When the Mormons first announced that they 
 meant to leave their prosperous city in Illinois men 
 came hurrying from other parts of the country to 
 pick up bargains in houses and farms that they 
 thought they would find there. Many of these new 
 citizens were as much alarmed at the threats of the 
 neighbors as were the Mormons themselves ; some of 
 them armed, and asked the governor to send them 
 aid. The men at Carthage grew very much excited, 
 and started to march on Nauvoo. Word came, 
 however, that the sheriff, with five hundred men, had 
 entered the city, prepared to defend it, and the 
 Gentile army retreated. A few weeks afterward the 
 hostilities broke out again, and seven hundred men 
 with cannon took the road to the city. 
 
 Those of the Mormons who were left, a few hun- 
 dreds in number, had built rude breastworks for 
 protection ; some of the Gentile army took these, 
 and the rest marched through the corn fields, and 
 entered the city on another side. A battle followed 
 between the Gentiles in the streets and the Mormons 
 in their houses, and lasted an hour before the 
 Gentiles withdrew to their camp in the corn fields. 
 
 Peaceful citizens now tried to settle the matter. 
 They arranged that all the Mormons should 
 leave immediately, and promised to try to protect 
 them from any further attacks. So matters stood 
 until May 17th, when the sheriff and his men 
 marched into the city, and found the last of the Mor- 
 mons waiting to leave by the ferry. The next day 
 
176 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 they were told to go at once, and to make sure that 
 they did bands of armed men went through the 
 streets, broke into houses, threw what goods were 
 left out of doors and windows, and actually threat- 
 ened to shoot the people. The few remaining Saints, 
 most of them those who had been too ill to take up 
 the march earlier, were now thoroughly frightened, 
 and before sundown the last one of them had fled 
 across the Mississippi. A few days later this last 
 party, six hundred and forty in number, began the 
 long wearisome journey to the far west, and the 
 empty city of Nauvoo was at last in the hands of the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 The object of the Mormons was to find a place 
 where they might be free to live according to their 
 own beliefs. So far they had been continually hunt- 
 ing for what they called their own City of Zion. As 
 they spent that winter of 1846-47 in their camp near 
 Council Bluffs, they tried to decide where they would 
 be safest from persecution. The far west had few 
 settlements as yet, and they were free to take what 
 land they would, but the Mormons wanted a site on 
 which to lay the foundations of a city that should one 
 day be rich and prosperous. They decided to send 
 out a party of explorers, and in April, 1847, one 
 hundred and forty-three men, under command of 
 Brigham Young, with seventy-three wagons filled 
 with food and farm tools, left the headquarters to go 
 still farther west. They journeyed up the north fork 
 of the Platte River, and in the valleys found great 
 
HOW THE MORMONS SETTLED UTAH 177 
 
 herds of buffaloes, so many in number that they had 
 to drive them away before the wagons could pass. 
 Each day the bugle woke the camp about five 
 o'clock in the morning. At seven the journey be- 
 gan. The wagons were driven two abreast by men 
 armed with muskets. They were always prepared 
 for attacks from Indians, but in the whole of their 
 long journey no red men ever disturbed them. Each 
 night the wagons were drawn up in a half-circle on 
 the river bank, and the cattle driven into this shelter. 
 At nine the bugle sent them all to bed. So they 
 made their way over the Uinta range to Emigration 
 Canyon. Down this canyon they moved, and pres- 
 ently came to a terrace from which they saw wide 
 plains, watered by broad rivers, and ahead a great 
 lake filled with little islands. Three days later 
 the company camped on the plain by the bank of 
 one of the streams, and decided that this should be 
 the site of their new city. They held a meeting at 
 which they dedicated the land with religious cere- 
 monies, and at once set to work to lay off fields and 
 start plowing and planting. Some of them visited 
 the lake, which they called the Great Salt Lake, and 
 bathed in its buoyant waters. Day by day more of 
 the pioneers arrived, and by the end of August they 
 had chosen the site of their great temple, built log 
 cabins and adobe huts, and christened the place the 
 "City of the Great Salt Lake." This name was 
 later changed to Salt Lake City. 
 
 It took some time for this large body of emigrants 
 
1/8 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 to build their homes. Wood was scarce and had to 
 be hauled over bad roads by teams that were still 
 worn out by the long march, therefore many built 
 houses of adobe bricks, and as they did not know 
 how to use this clay the rains and frost caused many 
 of the walls to crumble, and when snow fell the peo- 
 ple stretched cloths under their roofs to protect them- 
 selves from the dripping bricks. Many families 
 lived for months in their wagons. They would take 
 the top part from the wheels, and setting it on the 
 ground, divide it into small bedrooms. The fur- 
 niture was of the rudest sort ; barrels or chests for 
 tables and chairs, and bunks built into the side of 
 the house for beds. But at last they were free from 
 their enemies in this distant country. Men in Ohio, 
 Missouri, and Illinois had hounded them from their 
 settlements, but in this far-off region they had no 
 neighbors except a few pioneer settlers, and wander- 
 ing bands of Indians, who were glad to trade with 
 them. A steady stream of converts to the Mormon 
 church followed that first trail across the plains. A 
 missionary sent to England brought many men and 
 women from that country to the city on the Great 
 Salt Lake. Brigham Young and the other leaders 
 encouraged their followers above all else to cultivate 
 the land. Most of the Mormons were farmers, and 
 what shops there were dealt only in the necessities 
 of life. Food was a matter of the first importance, 
 and they had to rely entirely upon their own efforts to 
 provide it. Every one was given a piece of land for 
 
HOW THE MORMONS SETTLED UTAH 179 
 
 his house, and most of them had their own farms in 
 the outlying country. When they were sure of their 
 food they began to build their temple and other 
 public buildings, and these, like their streets, were 
 all planned on the lines of a great future city. They 
 first called their territory Deseret, but later changed 
 it to the Indian name of Utah. 
 
 Salt Lake City, and the territory of Utah, of 
 which it was the chief settlement, might have re- 
 mained for years almost unknown to the rest of the 
 United States had not gold been discovered in Cali- 
 fornia in the winter of 1849. The news of untold 
 riches in the land that lay between Utah and the 
 Pacific Ocean brought thousands of fortune hunters 
 across the plains, and many of them traveled by way 
 of Salt Lake City. That rush of men brought trade 
 in its track and served to make the Mormons' cap- 
 ital well known. The quest for gold opened up the 
 lands along the Pacific and helped to tie the far west 
 to the rest of the nation. Soon railroads began to 
 creep into the valleys beyond the Rocky Mountains, 
 and wherever they have gone they have brought 
 men closer together. But in Utah the Mormons 
 were the first settlers, and no one could come and 
 drive them out of their chosen land. At last they 
 had found a city entirely of their own. They had 
 not been allowed to live in Nauvoo, and so they 
 built a new capital. Like all founders of new relig- 
 ions the Mormons had to weather many storms, but 
 after they had passed through cold, hunger, and 
 
i8o HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 hardships of many kinds they came to their promised 
 land. 
 
 Such is the story of the founding of Salt Lake 
 City, the home of the Mormon people. 
 
VIII 
 
 THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 
 
 In 1848 California was largely an unexplored re- 
 gion, the home of certain old Spanish missions, with 
 a few seaport towns scattered along the coast. Some 
 pioneers from the East had settled inland after Cal- 
 ifornia had been separated from Mexico, and were 
 ranching and farming. One of these pioneers, a 
 well-to-do man named John A. Sutter, had staked 
 out a considerable tract of land near the American 
 River. He built a fort or stockade as headquarters, 
 and made his plans to cultivate the tract. He had 
 a number of men working for him, building a saw- 
 mill on the south branch of the American River, 
 about forty miles from his main house. These work- 
 men were in charge of James Wilson Marshall, who 
 intended to have a dry channel serve as the tail-race 
 for the mill, and was widening and deepening it by 
 loosening the earth. At night the water of the 
 stream was allowed to run through this channel, and 
 wash out the gravel and sand. One day early in 
 January, as Marshall was walking along the bank of 
 the race, he noticed some shining yellow flakes in 
 the soil. He thought these flakes might be gold, 
 and gathering some of the earth carefully washed 
 
1 82 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 and screened it. In this way he obtained what 
 looked like gold-dust. Early the next morning he 
 went back to the race, and after some searching 
 found a yellow scale larger than the others. He 
 showed this, together with those he had obtained 
 the day before, to some of the workmen, and they 
 helped him to gather about three ounces. Later in 
 the day Marshall went to his employer Sutter, who 
 was at the fort, and there the two men tested the 
 flakes as well as the}^ were able, and reached the 
 conclusion that they were really gold-dust. 
 
 It was important to keep the discovery as quiet as 
 possible. Searching along the dry channel Sutter 
 and Marshall found more of the gold flakes. In 
 some places the yellow scales were very plentiful, 
 and seemed to promise that large quantities of the 
 valuable mineral could be found near at hand. It 
 was impossible, however, to keep the news from the 
 workmen who had helped in finding the flakes. 
 Before long the news spread, and in March, 1848, 
 two newspapers of California mentioned the discovery 
 on the south fork of the American River. 
 
 The country was so sparsely settled, and life so 
 primitive, that no great excitement was caused by 
 this news for some months. But in May a Mormon, 
 coming from the settlement of Coloma to San 
 Francisco, walked down the main street waving a 
 bottle filled with gold-dust and shouting " Gold ! 
 Gold ! Gold from the American River ! " 
 
 His words, and the sight of the glittering bottle. 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 183 
 
 caused tremendous excitement in San Francisco, and 
 in the twinkling of an eye men took possession of 
 sailboats, sloops, launches, any kind of craft, and 
 started up the Sacramento River. Those who could 
 not get boats to take the quicker course hurried oflf 
 on horses or mules, in wagons or on foot. It was 
 like a fairy tale. The seaport town of San Francisco, 
 which had been well filled, was practically deserted 
 overnight. Shopkeepers closed their stores, families 
 hurried from their houses, and every class of people 
 pushed toward the American River. The roads that 
 led ihither, which had usually been almost as empty 
 as the prairies, were now filled with a wildly rushing 
 throng. A man who had crossed the Strait of 
 Carquines in April was the only passenger on the 
 ferry, but when he returned two weeks later he found 
 two hundred wagons trying to drive on board the 
 ferry-boat. 
 
 Business on the coast came to a standstill. The 
 newspapers that had been started stopped publica- 
 tion. The churches closed, and all the town officers 
 deserted their posts. As soon as a ship touched the 
 coast and the crew heard of the finding of gold they 
 deserted, and the captain and mates, seeing them- 
 selves without a crew, usually dashed after the 
 others. Empty vessels lay at the docks. A large 
 ship belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, which 
 had put into San Francisco harbor, was in charge of 
 the captain's wife, every one else having left for the 
 gold fields. Prices in all the country from San 
 
1 84 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Francisco to Los Angeles jumped prodigiously. If 
 men were to stay at their work they demanded and 
 received twice their former wages. Shovels and 
 spades sold for ten dollars apiece. They, and a few 
 other mining implements, were the only things still 
 manufactured. The cry of gold had turned men's 
 heads like the magic wand of some fairy. 
 
 Inland California presented a strange sight. The 
 roads that ran from San Francisco to Sutter's Fort 
 had formerly lain between prosperous farm lands, but 
 now the crops were going to waste, the houses were 
 empty, and the cattle free to wander through fields 
 of grain. Along the American River, on the other 
 hand, hills and valleys were filled with sheltering 
 tents, and huts built of brush and rocks thrown to- 
 gether in a hurry. Men could not stop for comfort, 
 but worked all day on the river bank. There were 
 almost as many ways of searching for the gold as 
 there were men. Some tried to wash the sand and 
 gravel in pans ; some used closely woven Indian 
 baskets ; some used what were called cradles. The 
 cradle was a basket six or eight feet long, mounted 
 on rockers, and open at one end ; at the other end 
 was a coarse screen sieve. Cleats were nailed across 
 the bottom of the cradle. One workman would dig 
 the gravel from the river bank, another carry it to 
 the sieve, a third pour water over it, and a fourth 
 rock the cradle The screen separated the stones 
 from the gravel, the water washed away the earth 
 and carried the heavier soil out of the cradle, thus 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 185 
 
 leaving the black sand filled with the gold. This 
 was later carried to a pan and dried in the sun. 
 The sand could then be blown away, and the gold 
 would be left. 
 
 Men knew that fortunes were to be found here. 
 On a creek a few miles below Coloma, seventeen 
 thousand dollars' worth of gold was taken from a 
 ditch three hundred feet long, four wide, and two 
 deep. Another small channel had yielded no less 
 than twelve thousand dollars. Many men already 
 had bags and bottles that held thousands of dollars' 
 worth of the precious mineral. One man, who had 
 been able to get fifty Indians to work for him as 
 washers, obtained sixteen thousand dollars from a 
 small creek in five weeks' time. 
 
 All this quickly changed the character of upper 
 California. Every man wanted to be a miner, and 
 no longer a cattleman or farmer, as before. It 
 looked as though the towns would shrivel up, because 
 of the tremendously high wages demanded by the 
 men who were needed there. Cooks in San 
 Francisco were paid three hundred dollars a month, 
 and all kinds of mechanics secured wages of fifteen 
 or twenty dollars a day. The forts found it impos- 
 sible to keep soldiers on duty. As soon as men were 
 paid off they rushed to the American River. Sailors 
 deserted as fast as they could, and the American 
 war-ships that came to anchor oil Monterey did not 
 dare to allow a single man to land. Threats of 
 punishment or offers of reward had no influence over 
 
i86 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 the sailors. They all felt certain they could make 
 fortunes in a month at the gold fields. 
 
 Soon men began to wonder whether they could 
 not duplicate in other places the discovery that 
 Marshall had made on Sutter's land. Wherever 
 there was a river or stream explorers began to dig. 
 They were well rewarded. Rich placers of gold 
 were found along the course of almost all the streams 
 that flowed to the Feather and San Joaquin Rivers. 
 Along the course of the Stanislaus and Toulumne 
 Rivers was another field for mining. By midsum- 
 mer of 1848 settlers in southern California were 
 pouring north in thousands, and by October at least 
 ten thousand men were washing and screening the 
 soil of river banks. 
 
 The Pacific coast was very far away from the rest 
 of the United States in that day. News usually 
 traveled by ship, and sailors brought the report of 
 the discovery of gold to Honolulu, to Oregon City, 
 and to the ports at Victoria and Vancouver. Letters 
 carried the first tidings to the people in the East, 
 and by the middle of the summer Washington and 
 New York had learned what was happening in 
 California, and adventurers along the Atlantic coast 
 were beginning to turn their faces westward. The 
 letters often greatly exaggerated the truth. A New 
 York paper printed reports which stated that men 
 were picking gold out of the earth as easily as hogs 
 could root up groundnuts in a forest. One man, 
 who employed sixty Indians, was said to be making 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 187 
 
 a dollar a minute. Small holes along the banks of 
 streams were stated to yield many pounds of gold. 
 But even allowing for much exaggeration it was 
 evident that men were making fortunes in that 
 country. 
 
 Colonel Mason, in charge at San Francisco, sent 
 Lieutenant Loeser with his report to Washington. 
 The lieutenant had to take a roundabout route. He 
 went from Monterey to Peru, from there to Panama, 
 across the Isthmus, took boat to Jamaica, and from 
 there he sailed to New Orleans. When he reached 
 the capital he delivered his message, and showed a 
 small tea chest which held three thousand dollars' 
 worth of gold in lumps and flakes. This chest was 
 placed on exhibition, and served to convince those 
 who saw it that California must possess more gold 
 than any other country yet discovered. President 
 Taylor announced the news in an official message. 
 He said that the mineral had been found in such 
 quantities as could hardly be believed, except on the 
 word of government officers in the field. During 
 the winter of 1848-49 thousands of men in the East 
 planned to start for this El Dorado as soon as they 
 could get their outfits together, and spring should 
 open the roads. 
 
 The overland route to the West was long and very 
 difficult. At that time, though the voyage by sea 
 was longer, it was easier for men who lived on the 
 Atlantic coast. They might sail around Cape Horn, 
 or to the Isthmus of Panama, or to Vera Cruz, and 
 
i88 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 in the two latter cases cross land, and hope to find 
 some ship in the western ocean that would take 
 them to San Francisco. Business men in the East 
 seized the opportunity to advertise tents, beds, 
 blankets, and all manner of camp equipment, as 
 well as pans, rockers, and every kind of implement 
 for washing gold from the gravel. The owners of 
 ships of every description, many of them unsea- 
 worthy, fitted up their craft, and advertised them as 
 ready to sail for San Francisco. The ports of Boston, 
 Salem, Newburyport, New York, Baltimore, and New 
 Orleans were crowded with brigs and schooners 
 loading for the Pacific. A newspaper in New York 
 stated that ten thousand people would leave for the 
 gold country within a month. 
 
 All sorts of schemes were tried. Companies were 
 formed, each member of which paid one hundred 
 dollars or more to charter a ship to take them around 
 the Horn. Almost every town in the East had its 
 California Association, made up of adventurers who 
 wanted to make their fortunes rapidly. By the end 
 of January, 1849, eighty vessels had sailed by way 
 of Cape Horn, and many others were heading for 
 Vera Cruz, and for ports on the Isthmus of Panama. 
 The newspapers went on printing fabulous stories 
 of the discoveries. One had a letter stating that 
 lumps of gold weighing a pound had been found in 
 several places. Another printed a letter from a man 
 who said he would return in a few months with a 
 fortune of half a million dollars in gold. A miner 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 189 
 
 was said to have arrived in Pittsburgh with eighty 
 thousand dollars in gold-dust that he had gathered 
 in a few weeks. Whenever men met they discussed 
 eagerly the one absorbing topic of the fortunes wait- 
 ing on the coast. 
 
 The adventurers who sailed around Cape Horn 
 had in most cases the easiest voyages. There were 
 plenty of veteran sea-captains ready to command the 
 ships. A Boston merchant organized " The Mining 
 and Trading Company," bought a full-rigged vessel, 
 sold places in it to one hundred and fifty men, and 
 sailed from Boston early in January, 1849. The first 
 place at which she touched was Tierra del Fuego, 
 and she reached Valparaiso late in April. There 
 she found two ships from Baltimore, and in two days 
 four more arrived from New York, and one from 
 Boston. July 6th she entered the Golden Gate of 
 San Francisco, and found it crowded with vessels 
 from every port. The ships were all deserted, and 
 within an hour all this ship's crew were on shore. 
 The town itself was filled with bustle and noise. 
 Gambling was practically the only business carried 
 on, and the stores were jammed with men paying 
 any price for outfits for the gold country. This 
 company chose a place on the Mokelumne River, 
 and hastened there, but they found it difficult to 
 work on a company basis. The men soon scattered 
 and drifted to other camps ; some of them found 
 gold, others in time made their way east poorer 
 than when they came. 
 
I90 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Those who went by the Isthmus had many adven- 
 tures. Two hundred young men sailed to Vera 
 Cruz, and landed at that quaint old Mexican city 
 There they were told that bands of robbers were 
 prowling all through the country, that their horses 
 would die of starvation in the mountains, and that 
 they would probably be killed, or lose themselves 
 on the wild trail. Fifty of them decided not to go 
 farther, and sailed back in a homeward-bound ship 
 to New York. Those who went on were attacked 
 by a mob at the town of Jalapa, and had to fight 
 their way through at the point of revolvers. In 
 several wild passes bandits tried to hold them up, 
 but the Easterners put them to flight and pushed on 
 their way. All through the country they found relics 
 and wreckage of the recent days v/hen General Scott 
 had marched an army into Mexico. 
 
 There was more trouble at Mexico City. A re- 
 ligious procession was passing along the plaza, and 
 the Americans did not fall upon their knees. The 
 crowd set upon them, and they had to form a square 
 for their protection, and hold the mob at bay until 
 Mexican officers came to their rescue. Only after 
 fighting a path through other towns and a long 
 march did they reach the seaport of San Bias. One 
 hundred and twenty of them took ship from there to 
 San Francisco. Thirty, however, had left the others 
 at Mexico City, thinking they could reach the sea- 
 coast more quickly by another route. The ship 
 they caught could get no farther than San Diego. 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 191 
 
 From there they had to march on foot across a 
 blazing desert country. Their food gave out, and 
 they lived on lizards, birds, rattlesnakes, and even 
 buzzards, anything they could find. Worn and 
 almost starving they reached San Francisco, ten 
 months after they had left New York. Such ad- 
 ventures were common to the American Argonauts 
 of 1849. 
 
 Those gold-seekers who went by the Isthmus of 
 Panama had to stop at the litde settlement of Chagres, 
 where one hundred huts of bamboo stood on the 
 ruins of the old Spanish fort of San Lorenzo. The 
 natives, lazy and half-clad, gazed in astonishment at 
 the scores of men from the eastern United States, 
 who suddenly began to hurry through their town. 
 Here the gold-hunters bargained for river boats, 
 which were usually rude dugouts, with roofs made of 
 palmetto branches and leaves, and rowed by natives. 
 It was impossible with such rowers to make much 
 speed against the strong current of the Chagres 
 River. Three days were required to make the jour- 
 ney to Gorgona, where the travelers usually landed. 
 At this place they had to bargain afresh for pack- 
 mules to carry them the twenty-four miles that lay 
 between Gorgona and Panama. Many men, who 
 could not find any mules left in the town, deserted 
 their baggage and started for the Pacific coast on 
 foot. The chances were that no ship would be wait- 
 ing for them there, and they would have to warm 
 their heels in idleness for days. 
 
192 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 General Persifor F. Smith, who had been ordered 
 to take command of the United States troops at 
 San Francisco, was one of those who had to wait for 
 a ship at Panama. Here he heard reports that a 
 good deal of the new-found gold was being sent to 
 foreign countries. Some said that the British Consul 
 had forwarded fifteen thousand ounces of California 
 gold to England, and that more than nine million 
 francs' worth of the mineral had been received in the 
 South American ports of Lima and Valparaiso. As 
 a result hundreds of men from those ports were tak- 
 ing ship to California. General Smith did not like the 
 idea of foreigners profiting by the discovery of gold 
 in California, and issued an order that only citizens 
 of the United States should be allowed to enter the 
 public lands where the diggings were located. When 
 the California, a steamship from New York, reached 
 Panama in January, 1849, with seventy-five Peru- 
 vians on board, General Smith warned them that 
 they would not be allowed to go to the mines, and 
 sent word of this order to consuls along the Pacific 
 coast of South America. In spite of his efforts, how- 
 ever, foreigners would go to Upper California, and 
 the American prospectors were too busy with their 
 own searches to prevent the strangers from taking 
 what gold they could find. 
 
 When the California arrived at Panama she was 
 already well filled with passengers, but there were 
 so many men waiting for her that the captain had 
 to give in to their demands, and crowd his vessel with 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 193 
 
 several hundred more gold-seekers. Loaded with 
 impatient voyagers, the steamship sailed up the 
 coast, and reached San Francisco about the end of 
 February. Immediately every one on board, except 
 the captain, the mate, and the purser, deserted the 
 ship, and dashed for the gold fields. The next 
 steamer to reach Panama, the Oregon, found an even 
 larger crowd waiting at that port. She took more 
 passengers on board than she was intended to carry, 
 but fortune favored the gold-seekers, and the Oregon^ 
 like the California, discharged her adventurous cargo 
 in safety at San Francisco. Hundreds of others who 
 could not board either of these steamers ventured on 
 the Pacific in small sailing vessels, or any manner of 
 ship that would put out from Panama bound north. 
 It is interesting to know the story of some of these 
 pilgrimages. One of the Argonauts has told how he 
 organized, in a little New England town, a company 
 of twenty men. Each man subscribed a certain sum 
 of money in return for a share in any profits, and in 
 this way ten thousand dollars was raised. The men 
 who were to go on the expedition signed a paper 
 agreeing to work at least two years in the gold fields 
 for the company. The band went from the New 
 England town to New York, where they found the 
 harbor filled with ships that were advertised to sail 
 for Nicaragua, Vera Cruz, or Chagres. The leader 
 of the company chose a little brig bound for the latter 
 port, and in this the party, with some twenty-five 
 other passengers, set sail in March. They ran into 
 
194 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 a heavy storm, but in three weeks reached the port 
 on the Isthmus. There they had to wait some days, 
 as all the river boats had gone up to Gorgona. 
 When the boats were ready, thirty natives poled ten 
 dugouts up the river. When the men landed they 
 were told that there was no ship at Panama ; that 
 half the gold-seekers in that town were ill, and that 
 there was no use in pushing on. So the party built 
 tents on the bank of the river, and stayed there until 
 the rainy season drove them to the coast. There 
 they camped again, and waited for a ship to arrive. 
 There was one vessel anchored in the harbor, but the 
 owner was under a bond to keep it there as a coal- 
 ship. The leader of the company, however, per- 
 suaded the owner to forfeit this bond, and four hun- 
 dred waiting passengers paid two hundred dollars 
 apiece to be conveyed to California. The ship was 
 hardly seaworthy, and took seven weeks of sailing 
 and floating to reach the harbor of Acapulco. There 
 the vessel was greeted by a band of twenty Ameri- 
 cans, ragged and penniless, who had come on foot 
 from the City of Mexico. They had waited so long 
 for a ship that twenty of the passengers agreed to 
 give them their tickets, and take their places to wait 
 until the next vessel should arrive. It was almost 
 seven months after that New England party had left 
 New York before they arrived at the Golden Gate of 
 San Francisco. 
 
 There was very little choice between the Panama 
 and the Nicaragua routes to the West. Among those 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 195 
 
 who tried the latter road were a number of young 
 men who had just graduated from Yale College. 
 They boarded a ship in New York that was adver- 
 tised to sail during the first week in February, and 
 expected to land in San Francisco in sixty days. It 
 was March, however, before the ship, crowded with 
 voyagers, set sail south from Sandy Hook. Three 
 weeks brought her to the mouth of the San Juan 
 River. The ship's company was landed at the 
 little tropical town of San Juan de Nicaragua. 
 A small steamboat had been brought along to 
 take them up the river, but when the machinery 
 was put together the boat was found to be 
 worthless. Like the voyagers by Panama, these 
 men then had to trust to native dugouts, and in this 
 way they finally got up the river to San Carlos. 
 Had it not been for their eagerness to reach Cali- 
 fornia such a trip would have been a delight to men 
 who had never seen the tropics before. The San 
 Juan River flowed through forests of strange and 
 beautiful trees. Tamarind and dyewood trees, tall 
 palms, and giant cacti, festooned with bright-colored 
 vines, made a background for the brilliant birds 
 that flew through the woods. Fruit was to be had 
 for the taking, and the weather at that time of the 
 year was delightful. But the thought of the fortunes 
 waiting to be picked up in California filled the minds 
 of most of the travelers. 
 
 After leaving the boats this party traveled by mule 
 to Leon. Nicaragua was in the midst of a revolu- 
 
196 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 tion, and the Americans acted as a guard to the 
 President on the road to Leon. Near the end of 
 July the company separated. Some finally sailed 
 from the port of Realejo, and after many dangers 
 and a voyage of almost five months succeeded in 
 reaching San Francisco. Others reached Panama, 
 set sail in a small boat, and were never heard from 
 again ; while yet a third party boarded a vessel at a 
 Nicaraguan port, and managed to reach California 
 after almost perishing from hunger and thirst. 
 
 Such were the adventures of some of those who 
 tried to reach the gold fields of the West by sea. 
 Hundreds of men made the trip by one of these 
 routes, and as soon as spring arrived thousands set 
 out overland. It was understood that large parties 
 would leave from western Missouri early in March, 
 and as a result many men, some alone, some in 
 bands of twenty or thirty, gathered there from all 
 parts of the East. Sometimes they formed military 
 companies, wore uniforms, and carried rifles. The 
 main place of gathering was the town of Independ- 
 ence, which grew to the size of a large city in a few 
 weeks. Men came on foot and on horseback ; some 
 with canvas-covered wagons, prairie schooners, and 
 pack-mules ; some with herds of cattle ; some bring- 
 ing with them all their household goods. All the 
 Middle West seemed to be in motion. In a single 
 week in March, 1849, hundreds of wagons drove 
 through Burlington, Iowa. Two hundred from 
 Memphis went along the Arkansas River, and hun- 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 197 
 
 dreds more from Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and 
 Pennsylvania crossed the border of Iowa. 
 
 The spring was late, and as the overland trip could 
 not be taken until the grass was high enough to feed 
 the cattle, the great company had to wait along the 
 frontiers from Independence to Council Bluffs. As 
 men gathered at these towns they would form into 
 companies, and then move on to a more distant 
 point, in order to make room for later arrivals. 
 Twenty thousand gathered along these frontiers be- 
 fore the signal was given to start westward. The 
 march began about May ist, and from then on, day 
 and night, scores of wagons crossed the Missouri 
 River, and the country looked like a field of tents. 
 
 From Independence most of the emigrants crossed 
 rolling prairies for fifteen days to the Platte River at 
 Grand Island. The route then wound up the valley 
 of the Platte to the South Fork, and from there to the 
 North Fork, where a rude post-ofifice had been built, 
 at which letters might be left to be carried back east 
 by any travelers who were going in that direction. 
 From here the emigrants journeyed to the mountain 
 passes. They usually stopped at Laramie, which 
 was the farthest western fort of the United States. 
 By this time the long journey would be telling on 
 many of the companies, and the road be strewn with 
 all sorts of household goods, thrown away in order 
 to lighten the burden on the horses. 
 
 At the South Pass, midway of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, two roads divided ; those who took the south- 
 
198 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 ern road traveled by the Great Salt Lake to the Sierra 
 Nevada Mountains, and so into California. The 
 northern road lay partly along the course of the 
 Snake River to the headwaters of the Humboldt, 
 and from there the emigrants might choose a path 
 still farther to the north toward the Columbia River, 
 or westward to the Sacramento. Many went by the 
 trail along the Humboldt, although this route was 
 one of the most difficult. " The river had no cur- 
 rent," said one of the gold-hunters. '* No fish could 
 live in its waters, which wound through a desert, and 
 there was not enough wood in the whole valley to 
 make a snuff-box, nor vegetation enough on its banks 
 to shelter a rabbit. The stream flowed through 
 desert sands, which the summer heat made almost 
 unbearable for men and horses." Following its 
 course the travelers came to a lake of mud, sur- 
 rounded for miles by a sandy plain. Across this 
 they had to march for thirty-four hours to reach the 
 Carson River. Along the trail lay the bodies of 
 horses, mules, and oxen, and broken wagons parched 
 and dried out in the blazing sun. 
 
 The first of the overland travelers who crossed the 
 mountains late in the summer brought such reports 
 to the officers at the Pacific posts that the latter 
 decided that relief parties must be sent back to help 
 those who were still toiling in the desert. It was 
 known that some had been attacked by Indians, and 
 obliged to leave their covered wagons ; that some 
 had lost all their cattle, and were almost without 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 199 
 
 food. Therefore relief parties were hurried into the 
 mountains from the western side. They found the 
 overland trail crowded with men on foot and in 
 wagons. Many were sick, and almost all were 
 hungry. One man carried a child in his arms, while 
 a little boy trudged by his side, and his invahd wife 
 rode on a mule The soldiers gave food to all who 
 needed it, and urged them to push on to the army 
 posts. Day after day they met the same stream of 
 emigrants, all bent on reaching the golden fields of 
 California. 
 
 Late in the autumn, with winter almost at hand, 
 the voyagers were still crossing the deserts and 
 mountains. The soldiers could not induce many 
 of them to throw away any of their goods. They 
 crept along slowly, their wagons loaded from base- 
 board to roof. The teams, gradually exhausted, 
 began to fall, and progress was almost impossible. 
 Then the rescuers hurried the women to near-by 
 settlements, and forced the men to abandon some of 
 their baggage in an eflfort to reach shelter before the 
 winter storms should come. By the end of Novem- 
 ber almost all the overland emigrants had crossed 
 the mountains. 
 
 The city of San Francisco had sprung up almost 
 overnight. In 1835 a Captain Richardson had 
 landed on the shore of Yerba Buena Cove, and 
 built a hut of four redwood posts, covered by a 
 sail. Five years afterward this village of Yerba 
 Buena contained about fifty people and a dozen 
 
200 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 houses. In 1846 the American war-ship Portsmouth 
 anchored there, and her captain raised the " Stars 
 and Stripes" on the VX^ulq.. At that time there 
 were not more than fifty houses and two hundred 
 people. When the town became American the 
 Plaza was renamed Portsmouth Square, and a year 
 later the settlement was christened San Francisco. 
 That was in January, 1847 ; and by midsummer 
 of 1849 the town had become a city. It was an 
 odd place to look at. The houses were made of 
 rough unpainted boards, with cotton nailed across 
 the walls and ceiling in place of plaster ; and many 
 a thriving business was carried on in canvas tents. 
 There were few homes. The city was crowded ; 
 but most of the population did not intend to stay. 
 They came to buy what they needed, or sell what 
 they brought with them, and then hasten away 
 to the mines. So many eager strangers naturally 
 drove the prices up enormously, especially when it 
 seemed as though gold could be had for the taking. 
 The restaurants charged three dollars for a cup 
 of coffee, a slice of ham, and two eggs. Houses 
 and lots sold for from ten thousand to seventy- 
 five thousand dollars each, and everything else 
 was in proportion. What happened in San Fran- 
 cisco also happened in many other California towns. 
 Sacramento was the result of the gold-craze. Specu- 
 lators bought large tracts of land in any attractive 
 place, gave it a high-sounding name, and sold city 
 lots. Many of these so-called cities, however, shriv- 
 
The Teams, Exhausted, Began to Fail 
 
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE 201 
 
 eled up within a year or two. The seaports flour- 
 ished because they were the gateways through 
 which the newcomers passed in their rush to locate 
 in the gold country. 
 
 These seaports became the goal of merchants 
 everywhere. Necessary articles were so scarce that 
 they were shipped long distances. Flour was 
 brought from Australia and Chili, rice and sugar 
 from China, and the cities along the Atlantic pro- 
 vided the dry-goods, the tools, and the furniture. 
 At one time a cotton shirt would sell for forty 
 dollars, a tin pan for nine, and a candle for three. 
 But on the other hand cargoes of goods that were 
 not needed, silks and satins, costly house-furnish- 
 ings, were left on the beaches and finally sold for a 
 song. 
 
 From the seaports the new arrivals hurried either 
 up the Sacramento and the Feather Rivers to the 
 northern gold fields, or up the San Joaquin to the 
 southern country. Usually they were guided by 
 the latest story of a rich find, and went where 
 the chances seemed best. Several men would join 
 forces and pitch their tents together, naming their 
 camp Rat-trap Slide, Rough and Ready Camp, 
 Slap-jack Bar, Mad Mule Gulch, Git-up-and-Git, 
 You Bet, or any other name that struck their fancy. 
 There were no laws to govern these little settle- 
 ments, and the men adopted a rough system of 
 justice that suited themselves. But as the numbers 
 increased it was evident that California must have a 
 
202 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 better form of government, and steps were taken to 
 have that rich stretch of land along the Pacific 
 admitted as a state to the United States. 
 
 In three years California had grown from the 
 home of about two thousand people to the home 
 of eighty thousand. The finding of gold had 
 changed that almost unknown wilderness into a 
 thriving land in the twinkling of an eye. Rail- 
 roads were built to reach it, and more and more 
 men poured west. Some men made great fortunes, 
 but more in a few months abandoned their claims 
 and drifted to the cities, or made their way slowly 
 back to the eastern farms and villages from which 
 they had set out. The Forty-niners, as the gold- 
 seekers were called, found plenty of adventure in 
 California, even if they did not all find a short-cut to 
 wealth. 
 
IX 
 
 HOW THE UNITED STATES MADE 
 FRIENDS WITH JAPAN 
 
 One of the beautiful names that the Japanese 
 have given to their country is " Land of Great 
 Peace," and at no time was this name more appro- 
 priate than in the middle of the nineteenth century. 
 Two hundred years before the last of the civil 
 wars of Japan had come to an end, and the people, 
 weary of years of bloodshed, had turned delightedly 
 to peaceful ways. The rice-fields were replanted, 
 artisans returned to their crafts, shops opened again, 
 and poets and painters followed the call of their 
 arts. The samurai, or warriors, sheathed their 
 swords, though they still regarded them as their 
 very souls. They hung their armor in their an- 
 cestral halls, and spent their time in sport or idle- 
 ness. The daimios, or nobles of Japan, lived either 
 in the city of Yedo or at their country houses, 
 taking their ease, and gradually forgetting the arts 
 of war on which their power had been founded. 
 All the people were quite contented, and had no 
 desire to trade with the rest of the world. As a 
 matter of fact they knew almost nothing about 
 other countries, except through English or Russian 
 
204 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 sailors who occasionally landed on their coasts. 
 Japan was satisfied to be a hermit nation. 
 
 On the afternoon of the seventh day of July, 
 1853, or the third day of the sixth month of Kayei, 
 in the reign of the Emperor Komei, the farmers 
 working in the muddy rice-fields near the village of 
 Uraga saw a strange sight. It was a clear summer 
 afternoon, and the beautiful mountain Fuji, its cone 
 wreathed in white clouds, could be seen from sea 
 and shore. What startled the men in the fields, 
 the people in the village, and the boatmen in the 
 harbor, was a fleet of vessels coming to anchor 
 in the bay of Yedo. These monsters, with their 
 sails furled, although they were heading against 
 the wind, were shooting tongues of smoke from 
 their great black throats. " See the fire-vessels ! " 
 cried the Japanese to each other. When the peas- 
 ants asked the priests where the monsters came 
 from the wise men answered that they were the 
 fire-vessels of the barbarians who lived in the 
 West. 
 
 The monsters were four ships of the United States 
 navy, the Mississippi, Susquehannay Plymouth, and 
 Saratoga, all under command of Commodore Mat- 
 thew Calbraith Perry. The fleet dropped anchor in 
 the wide bay, forming a line broadside to the shore. 
 The gun-ports were opened, and sentries set to 
 guard against attack by pirates, or by fire-junks. 
 As the anchors splashed in the water rockets shot 
 up from one of the forts on shore signaling to the 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 205 
 
 court at Yedo that the barbarians had reached 
 Japan, 
 
 The town of Uraga was usually not a very busy 
 place, and the government officers spent their time 
 drinking tea, smoking, and lounging in the sun, and 
 occasionally collecting custom duties from junks 
 bound to other harbors. But there was a great bus- 
 tle on the day the strange ships arrived. The chief 
 magistrate, or bunio, his interpreter, and suite of at- 
 tendants, put on their formal dress of hempen cloth, 
 and fastened their lacquered ornamented hats to their 
 heads ; with two swords in each belt, the party 
 marched to the shore and boarded their state barge. 
 Twelve oarsmen rowed it to the nearest foreign ship, 
 but when they tried to fasten ropes to the vessel so 
 that they might go on board, the barbarians threw 
 off the ropes, and gestured to them to keep away. 
 
 The Japanese officer was surprised to find that, 
 although he was gorgeously robed, and his compan- 
 ions carried spears and the Tokugawa trefoil flag, 
 the barbarians were not at all impressed. They told 
 him, through an interpreter, that their commander 
 wished to confer with the governor himself. The 
 officer answered that the governor was not allowed 
 to board foreign ships. After some further discus- 
 sion the surprised Japanese was permitted to climb 
 the gangway ladder and meet the barbarians on the 
 deck of their vessel. 
 
 Commodore Perry knew that the Japanese loved 
 mystery, high-sounding names, and ceremonies, and 
 
2o6 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 so he stayed in his cabin and would not show him- 
 self to the visitors. A secretary carried his messages, 
 and explained that the mysterious commodore had 
 come on a friendly mission and bore a letter from the 
 President of the United States to the Emperor of 
 Japan, which he wished to present with all proper 
 ceremony. He declined to go to Nagasaki, and in- 
 sisted that he should remain in Yedo Bay, and 
 added that although his visit was entirely friendly, 
 he would not allow any inquisitive sightseers to 
 prowl about his fleet. Very much impressed with 
 the power of this hidden barbarian, the Japanese 
 officer immediately ordered all the small boats, the 
 punts and sampans that had gathered about the 
 fleet, to row away. 
 
 The officer and his body-guard returned to shore, 
 and told the villagers that the visitors were very re- 
 markable men, who were not at all impressed by 
 their costumes or weapons. The Japanese had no 
 such title as commodore in their language, and they 
 referred to Perry as Admiral, and credited him with 
 almost as much majesty as their own hidden Mikado, 
 or as the mighty Shogun. 
 
 The western coast of Japan was much excited that 
 night. Rockets from the forts, and huge watch-fires 
 on the cliffs, told the whole country that a most un- 
 usual event had happened. The peasants set out 
 their sacred images, and prayed to them as they had 
 not done in years. It was evident that the gods of 
 Japan were punishing the people for their neglect by 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 207 
 
 sending these great fire-vessels to disturb the coast. 
 To add to the general excitement a wonderful light 
 appeared in the sky about midnight, spreading a 
 pale red and blue path across the heavens, as though 
 a dragon were flying through space. Priests and 
 soothsayers made the most of this display of North- 
 ern Lights, and pointed out that the fire-vessels, 
 clearly revealed in the harbor, must have something 
 to do with the strange omen. 
 
 The governor of Uraga himself, with a retinue of 
 servants, all clad in embroidered gowns and lac- 
 quered helmets, and each carrying two swords, went 
 out to the flag-ship next morning. He had evidently 
 overlooked the fact that the barbarians had been told 
 on the day before that the governor could not pay 
 such a visit to their fleet. The governor was used 
 to being received with a great deal of attention, and 
 to having people bow to the ground as he went by ; 
 but on the deck of the Susquehanna the sailors 
 looked at him with simple curiosity, and when he 
 asked to speak with the mysterious admiral, he was 
 told that he would only be allowed to speak with the 
 captains. These men said that their commander 
 would only wait three days for an answer from Yedo 
 as to whether the Mikado would receive the letter of 
 the President. They showed him the magnificent 
 box that held the letter, and the governor's curiosity 
 grew even greater. When he left the flag-ship he 
 had promised to urge the Americans* cause. 
 
 Next day, the men dressed in silk and brocade. 
 
208 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 painted helmets, and gleaming sashes, eager to visit 
 the ships again, were surprised to learn that the bar- 
 barian prince would transact no business. His in- 
 terpreter declared that it was a day of religious ob- 
 servance, known as Sunday. The people on shore 
 heard the sailors of the fleet singing hymns, a strange 
 sound in those waters. Hastily the Japanese offered 
 new presents at the shrines of their own gods to en- 
 sure protection from the barbarians. 
 
 By now the hermit people thought they might 
 have to guard themselves, and began to build earth- 
 works along the shore. Farmers, fishermen, shop- 
 keepers, women, and children were pressed into 
 service. Rude embankments were thrown up, and 
 enormously heavy brass cannon were placed at open- 
 ings. The old samurai, who had almost forgotten 
 warfare, sought out their weapons, and gathered 
 their troops. Their armor consisted of jackets of 
 silk, iron and paper. Their arms were old match- 
 locks and spears. They could have fought each 
 other, but they were several hundred years behind 
 the barbarians in military matters. On the hills they 
 set up canvas tents, with flags bearing flaming 
 dragons and the other emblems of their clans. In 
 the days of their civil wars bright-colored trappings 
 had played an important part. 
 
 Yedo was then the chief city of Japan. When 
 Perry arrived in 1853 it was the home of the Shogun 
 lyeyoshi, who was the real ruler of the land, although 
 the Mikado was called the sovereign. Yedo had 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 209 
 
 been the home of a long line of Shoguns of the 
 Tokugawa family who had ruled the country, calling 
 themselves " Tycoons." They had built up the city, 
 and filled it with palaces and temples that had never 
 been equaled in magnificence. The people of Yedo, 
 numbering over a million, were greatly excited when 
 they heard of the fleet of war-ships lying in their 
 great bay. The Shogun, his courtiers and his war- 
 riors bestirred themselves at once. Soldiers were 
 summoned, armor polished, swords unsheathed, 
 castles repaired, and everything possible done to 
 make an impression on the strangers. 
 
 The chief men knew that they could not oppose 
 this foreign admiral. Once they had had war- 
 vessels of their own, but years of peace had reduced 
 their navy, and they could not defend their coasts. 
 The Shogun was afraid that the admiral might insist 
 upon seeing the Mikado at Ki5to, and that would be 
 a great blow to his own dignity. After hours of 
 debate and discussion he chose two daimios to 
 receive the letter of the American President, Millard 
 Fillmore, and sent word to all coast towns to man 
 their forts. 
 
 Perry had played the game well, and so far had 
 allowed no Japanese to see him. He wanted to 
 make a treaty with Japan, and he knew that to suc- 
 ceed he must impress this Oriental people with his 
 dignity. He allowed his captains and two daimios 
 to arrange a meeting to be held at a little town 
 called Kurihima, near the port of Uraga. Each 
 
2IO HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 side had tried to outdo the other in politeness. The 
 American captains had received the Japanese officers 
 with great respect, had served them wines, and seated 
 them in upholstered armchairs. The Japanese 
 regretted that they could not provide their guests 
 with armchairs or with wine on shore, but the visitors 
 assured them that they would be willing to adopt 
 Japanese customs. 
 
 By July 13th the scene for the meeting was ready. 
 Hundreds of yards of canvas, with the Tokugawa 
 trefoil, had been stretched along the road to Kurihama. 
 Hundreds of retainers, clad in all the colors of their 
 feudal days, were gathered about the tents, and on 
 the beach stood as many soldiers, glittering in their 
 lacquered armor. The American officers were al- 
 most as brilliantly dressed as the Japanese. They 
 wore coats with a great many bright brass buttons, 
 and curious shaped hats cocked on their heads. 
 They brought musicians with them who played on 
 cornets and drums, and the music was quite unlike 
 anything the natives had ever heard before. Three 
 hundred of the barbarians landed and marched 
 from the beach to the main tent, while the eager-eyed 
 people lined the road and wondered at their strange 
 appearance. 
 
 Two or three big sailors carried the American 
 flag, and back of them came two boys with the 
 mysterious red box that had been shown to the 
 officers of the port. Back of them marched the 
 great commodore, clad in full uniform, and on either 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 211 
 
 side of him strode a black man armed with a large 
 sabre. Many of the Japanese had never seen a white 
 man before, and still fewer had ever looked upon a 
 negro. They were therefore very much impressed 
 by the procession. 
 
 The officers of the Shogun received their magnifi- 
 cent visitor at the door of the pavilion. After greet- 
 ings the two boys handed the box to the negro 
 guards, who opened the scarlet cloth envelope and the 
 gold-hinged rosewood cases, and laid the President's 
 letter on a lacquered stand brought from Yedo. 
 A receipt for the President's letter was then handed 
 to the commodore, who said that he would return to 
 Japan the next spring, probably in April or May. 
 The meeting lasted half an hour, and then, with the 
 same pomp and ceremony, the Americans returned 
 to their ships. 
 
 For eight days the fleet remained in the bay. 
 One party of sailors landed, but made no trouble, 
 and was actually so polite that the people offered 
 them refreshments of tea and fruit. At close range 
 the barbarians were not so terrifying as the natives 
 had thought them at first, and when they embarked 
 for their fleet the people urged them to come back 
 again. On July 17th the war-ships steamed away, 
 leaving the cliffs covered with people, who gazed in 
 astonishment at vessels that had no canvas spread, 
 but were driven entirely by fire. 
 
 Perry's object in visiting Japan was to obtain a 
 treaty that would allow trade relations between the 
 
212 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 United States and this hermit nation^ He wanted to 
 give the Japanese people time to consider President 
 Fillmore's letter, and so he planned to keep his 
 squadron in Eastern waters until the following 
 spring, when he would return to learn the result of 
 his mission at Yedo. There was much of interest to 
 him in China, and he spent the autumn and part of 
 the winter making charts of that coast, and visiting 
 ports where American merchants were already 
 established. 
 
 Meantime the letter of the American President had 
 caused great excitement in Japan. Almost as soon 
 as Perry left a messenger was sent to the Shinto 
 priests at the shrines of Ise to offer prayers for the 
 peace of the empire, and to urge that the barbarians 
 be swept away. A week later the Shogun lyeyoshi 
 died, and left the government at odds as to what to do. 
 
 Some of the daimios remembered the military 
 ardor of their ancestors, and wanted to fight the 
 barbarians, rather than make a treaty with them. 
 Others thought that it would be madness to oppose 
 an enemy who had such powerful ships that they 
 could capture all the Japanese junks, and destroy 
 the coast cities. One powerful nobleman declared 
 that it would be well for Japan to meet the barbarians, 
 and learn from them how to build ships and lead 
 armies, so that they would be able in time to defeat 
 them at their own arts. The Mikado had little to do 
 in the discussion. The actual ruler was the new 
 Shogun lyesada, son of the former Shogun. 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 213 
 
 While Commodore Perry was cruising along the 
 coast of China he heard that French and Russian 
 merchants were planning to visit Japan. He was 
 afraid that his country might lose the benefits of his 
 visit unless he could obtain a treaty before these 
 other countries did. Therefore, although a mid- 
 winter cruise to Japan was difficult and dangerous, 
 he determined to risk this and return at once. 
 Four ships set sail for Yedo Bay February i, 1854, 
 and a week later the commodore followed with 
 three others. 
 
 In the city of Yedo the new Shogun was very busy 
 preparing either for peace or war. A long line of 
 forts was hurriedly built on the edge of the bay in 
 front of the city. Thousands of laborers were kept 
 at work there, a great number of cannon were cast, 
 and shops worked day and night turning out guns 
 and ammunition. An old law had directed that all 
 vessels of a certain size were to be burned, and only 
 small coasting junks built. This law was repealed, 
 and all the rich daimios hurriedly built warships. 
 These ships flew a flag representing a red sun on a 
 white background, and this later became the national 
 flag of Japan, A native who had learned artillery 
 from the Dutch was put in charge of the soldiers; 
 old mediaeval methods of fighting were abandoned, 
 and artillery that was somewhat like that of Euro- 
 pean countries was adopted. 
 
 In spite of all this bustle and preparation, how- 
 ever, the Shogun and his advisers thought it would 
 
214 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 be wisest for them to agree to a treaty with the 
 United States. Therefore a notice was issued on 
 December 2, 1853, which stated that " owing to want 
 of mihtary efficiency, the Americans would, on their 
 return, be dealt with peaceably." At the same time 
 the old practice of Fumi-ye, which consisted in 
 trampling on the cross and other emblems of Chris- 
 tianity, and which had been long practiced in the 
 city of Nagasaki, was abolished. 
 
 Some men in the country were insisting that the 
 time had come for the Japanese to visit the West, 
 and learn the new arts and trades. One of these 
 was a scholar, Sakuma, who urged the government 
 to send Japanese youths to Europe to learn ship- 
 building and navigation. The Shogun did not ap- 
 prove of this idea ; but a pupil of the scholar, named 
 Yoshida Shoin, heard of it, and decided to go abroad 
 by himself. Sakuma gave him money for his ex- 
 penses, and advised him how he might get passage 
 on one of the American ships, when the fleet should 
 return to Japan. 
 
 As soon as the Shogun learned that Commodore 
 Perry was about to return he chose Hayashi, the 
 chief professor of Chinese in the university, to serve 
 as interpreter. The Americans had used Chinese 
 scholars in their communications with the Japanese, 
 and Haylishi was a man of great learning and courtly 
 manners. The Shogun also found a native who 
 understood English, although the Americans did 
 not know this. This man, Nakahama Manjiro, with 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 215 
 
 two companions, had been picked up at sea by an 
 American captain, and taken to the United States, 
 where he obtained a good education. He and his 
 two mates then decided that they would return to 
 their native land, and went to Hawaii, where they 
 built a whale-boat, and then sailed for the coast of 
 China on board an American merchantman. In 
 time the wanderers reached home, and when the 
 Shogun heard of Manjiro's travels he made him a 
 samurai, or wearer of two swords. The whale-boat 
 that he had built was used as a model for others, 
 and the traveler taught his friends some of the knowl- 
 edge of the Western people. 
 
 On February 11, 1854, the watchmen on the hills 
 of Idzu saw the American fleet approaching. Two 
 days later the great war-ships of the barbarians 
 steamed up the bay. The seven vessels dropped 
 anchor not far from Yokosuka, and the captain of 
 the flag-ship received visits from the governor and 
 his interpreters. Again the same exaggerated forms 
 of politeness were observed, and presents of many 
 kinds, fruits, wines, and confectionery, were ex- 
 changed. The Japanese suggested that Perry should 
 land and meet them at Kamakura or Uraga, but the 
 commodore replied, through his captain, that he 
 should stay where he was until the Japanese had 
 decided what they would do. He gave them until 
 February 21st to decide about the treaty. 
 
 Boats were sent out from the fleet daily to make 
 surveys of the bay, but none of the crews were 
 
2i6 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 allowed to land. At length the Japanese stated that 
 they were ready to treat with the American officers, 
 and Captain Adams was sent to Uraga to inspect 
 the place where the fleet was to anchor, and the new 
 building in which the treaty was to be signed. The 
 captain, with his aides, entered the hall of reception, 
 and was met by a daimio named Izawa. The daimio 
 was fond of joking. After many polite greetings 
 Captain Adams handed the nobleman a note from 
 Commodore Perry. Izawa took out his great spec- 
 tacles, but before he put them on he folded up his 
 large fan with a loud snap. The Americans, alarmed 
 at the noise, clapped their hands to their revolvers. 
 Izawa could not help laughing at their confusion, 
 but quickly adjusted his spectacles, and after read- 
 ing the note, said that he was much gratified at 
 the commodore's greeting. Rice and tea, cake and 
 oranges were served the guests. A long argument 
 followed. Captain Adams said that the building 
 was large enough for simple talking, but not for the 
 display of presents ; and that Commodore Perry 
 would much rather go to the city of Yedo. The 
 Japanese answered that they much preferred that 
 the meeting should take place at Uraga or Kana- 
 gawa. The debate, carried on through Chinese in- 
 terpreters, was a lengthy one. 
 
 Two days later the commodore moved his fleet 
 ten miles farther up the bay. From here his crews 
 could see the great temple-roofs, castles, and pagodas 
 of Yedo itself, and could hear the bells in the city 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 217 
 
 towers. This advance of the fleet convinced the 
 Shogun that Perry meant to go to Yedo. Some of 
 his court had thought that it would be a national 
 disgrace if the barbarians were permitted to enter 
 that city, but the government now decided to yield 
 the point, and suggested a place direcdy opposite, 
 at Yokohama, for the place of treaty. 
 
 No such scene had ever been witnessed in the 
 hermit land of Japan as the one that took place there 
 on the morning of March 8, 1854. The bay of Yedo 
 was covered with great state barges and junks with 
 many-colored sails. On shore were hundreds of 
 soldiers, the servants of the great daimios, dressed 
 in the gorgeous costumes of earlier centuries. Held 
 back by ropes were thousands of country people who 
 had gathered from all over that part of Japan to see 
 the strange men from the West. Everywhere was 
 color. Tents, banners, houses, and the costumes of 
 men, women and children blazed with it. The 
 American sailors in all their voyages in the East 
 had never seen such a brilliant picture. 
 
 Perry was not to be outdone. His men left the 
 ships to the noise of cannon that echoed and re- 
 echoed along the shore. Twenty-seven boats brought 
 five hundred men, and as soon as they landed 
 the marines formed a hollow square, while three 
 bands played martial music. The great commodore, 
 now looked upon by the Japanese with awe, em- 
 barked from the Powhatan in his white gig ; more 
 guns were fired ; more flags waved ; and with great 
 
2i8 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 pomp, Perry landed on the beach. His object was 
 to impress the hermit people with the dignity of his 
 nation. 
 
 A number of meetings followed before the treaty 
 was completed. The Americans insisted that vessels 
 in need of wood, coal, water, or provisions should be 
 allowed to get them from shore, and that the Japa- 
 nese should care for shipwrecked sailors. They 
 also wanted the two ports, Shimoda and Hakodate, 
 opened to them. The Japanese were willing, pro- 
 vided they would not travel inland farther than they 
 could return the same day, a.nd that no American 
 women should be brought into the country. But 
 when the Japanese objected to the arrival of women, 
 Commodore Perry threw back his cloak and ex- 
 claimed, " Great heavens, if I were to permit any 
 such stipulation as that in the treaty, when I got 
 home the women would pull out all the hairs of my 
 head ! " The Japanese were surprised at Perry's 
 excitement, thinking that they must have offended 
 him greatly. When the interpreters explained what 
 he had actually said, however, both sides laughed 
 and continued peacefully. They grew more and 
 more friendly as the meetings progressed. They 
 dined together and exchanged gifts. The Ameri- 
 cans liked the sugared fruits, candied nuts, crabs, 
 prawns, and fish that the Japanese served in 
 different forms, while the hermit people developed 
 a great fondness for the puddings and cham- 
 pagne the Americans offered them. When it 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 219 
 
 came to gifts, the eyes of the Japanese opened wide 
 at the many surprising things the barbarians had in- 
 vented. They were delighted with the rifles, the 
 clocks, the stoves, the sewing-machines, the model 
 of a steam locomotive, and the agricultural tools, 
 scales, maps, and charts that Perry had brought to 
 the Mikado. These presents were to open the 
 minds of the Japanese to the march of progress in 
 the rest of the world ; and to teach them the uses of 
 steam and electricity, the printing-press, newspapers, 
 and all the other inventions that were products of 
 Europe and America. 
 
 In exchange, the art-loving people of Japan gave 
 their visitors beautiful works in bronze, lacquer, 
 porcelain, bamboo, ivory, silk, and paper, and great 
 swords, spears and shields, wonderfully inlaid and 
 decorated, that were handed down from their feudal 
 days. 
 
 While the fleet stayed Japanese spy-boats kept 
 watch in the bay, to see that their young men did 
 not board the foreign ships in their desire to see 
 something of the world. Time and again the young 
 Yoshida Shoin and a friend tried to break through the 
 blockade, but every time they were sent back to shore. 
 At last the two left Yedo for the port of Shimoda. 
 
 The Americans set up telegraph poles, and laid 
 rails to show the working of the model locomotive. 
 They gave an exhibition of the steam-engine. This 
 caused great excitement in the country near Yedo, 
 and every one who could went to see the strange 
 
220 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 performance. Already there was a struggle between 
 those who were eager to learn the inventions of the 
 Americans, and those who were afraid that the new 
 ideas would spoil old Japan. Many an ambitious 
 youth stared at the Mikado's presents, and tried to 
 learn more of their secrets from the sailors on their 
 way to or from the fleet. 
 
 The treaty was signed on March 31, 1854, and 
 agreed that shipwrecked sailors should be cared for, 
 provisions needed by ships should be obtained in the 
 ports, and American vessels allowed to anchor in the 
 two harbors of Shimoda and Hakodate. Actual trade 
 was not yet allowed, nor were Americans to be per- 
 mitted to reside in Japan. The hermit nation was 
 not at all eager to enter into competition with other 
 countries, nor to allow foreigners to trade with her. 
 Commodore Perry knew, however, that even the 
 slight terms he had gained would prove the beginning 
 of the opening up of Japan to the rest of the world. 
 
 April 18, 1854, Perry left the bay of Yedo for 
 Shimoda, and there the fleet stayed until early in 
 May. While the squadron was there two Americans, 
 who were botanizing on land, met the youth Yoshida 
 vShoin and his friend. The young Japanese gave the 
 Americans a letter, but seeing some native ofificers 
 approaching, he and his friend stole away. A few 
 nights later the watch on the war-ship Mississippi 
 heard voices calling, " Americans, Americans ! " 
 They found the two Japanese youths in a small boat, 
 and took them on board. Paper and writing ma- 
 
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN 221 
 
 terials were found hidden in their clothes, and they 
 explained that they wanted to go with the fleet to 
 America, and write down what they saw there. The 
 commodore, however, felt that he was in honor 
 bound to send the two young men back to their 
 homes ; and did so. Yoshida later came to be one 
 of the leaders of the new Japan that ended the long 
 line of Shogun rulers, and made the Mikado the 
 actual emperor. 
 
 The fleet cruised from one port to another, now 
 well received by the people, who had forgotten their 
 fear of the barbarians' fire-vessels. The governors of 
 the different provinces gave presents to Perry, among 
 them blocks of native stone to be used in building 
 the great obelisk that was rising on the banks of the 
 Potomac River in memory of Washington. On July 
 17th the last of the squadron left Napa for Hong 
 Kong. 
 
 The Americans had shown the Japanese that they 
 were a friendly people, with no desire to harm them. 
 A race that had lived shut off from the rest of the 
 world for so many centuries was naturally timid and 
 fearful of strange people. From time to time Euro- 
 pean ships had landed in Japan, and almost every 
 time the sailors had done injury to the natives. 
 Perry, however, convinced them that the United 
 States was a friend, and the treaty, slight though its 
 terms were, marked the dawn of a new era in Japan. 
 Like the sleeping princess, she woke at the touch of 
 a stranger from overseas. 
 
X 
 
 THE PIG THAT ALMOST CAUSED 
 A WAR 
 
 Off the far northwestern corner of the United 
 States lie a number of small islands scattered along 
 the strait that separates the state of Washington 
 from Vancouver Island. One of these goes by the 
 name of San Juan Island, a green bit of land some 
 fifteen miles long and seven wide. The northern 
 end rises into hills, while the southern part is covered 
 with rich pastures. In the hills are coal and lime- 
 stone, and along the shore is splendid cod, halibut, 
 and salmon fishing. In the year 1859 a farmer 
 named Hubbs pastured his sheep at the southern 
 end of San Juan, and had for a neighbor to the 
 north a man in the employ of the English Hudson's 
 Bay Company, whose business it was to raise pigs. 
 The pigs throve on San Juan, and following their 
 fondness for adventure left Mr. Griffiths' farm and 
 overran the whole island. Day after day Hubbs 
 would find the pigs grubbing in his pasture, and 
 finally in a moment of anger he warned his neigh- 
 bor that he would kill the next pig that came on his 
 land. Griffiths heard the warning, but evidently the 
 pigs did not, for the very next day one of them 
 
THE PIG THAT ALMOST CAUSED A WAR 223 
 
 crossed the boundary line and ventured into Mr. 
 Hubbs' field. Here it began to enjoy itself in a 
 small vegetable patch that Mr. Hubbs had planted. 
 As soon as he saw the trespasser Hubbs went for his 
 gun, and returning with it, shot the intruding pig. 
 
 When Griffiths found his dead pig he was as angry 
 as Hubbs had been, and he immediately set out in 
 his sailboat and crossed the strait to Victoria, a lit- 
 tle city on Vancouver Island, where officers of the 
 British Government had their headquarters. He 
 stated his case, and obtained a warrant of arrest for 
 his neighbor Hubbs. Then he sailed back to San 
 Juan with the constable, and going to his neighbor's 
 house read the warrant to him. Hubbs indignantly 
 replied that he was an American citizen, and did not 
 have to obey the order of the English officer. There- 
 upon the constable left the house, vowing that he 
 would return with a force of men and compel the 
 farmer to obey him. 
 
 Mr. Hubbs was a shrewd man, and believed that 
 the constable would be as good as his word. As 
 soon as he had left Hubbs therefore sent a note to 
 Port Townsend, which was in Washington Territory, 
 asking the United States officers there to protect him 
 from arrest for killing his neighbor's pig. When he 
 received the note General William S. Harney, who 
 was in command, ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Casey 
 to take a company of soldiers and camp on San Juan 
 Island to protect Mr. Hubbs. 
 
 Now that thoughtless pig had actually lighted a 
 
224 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 fuse that threatened to lead to a very serious explo- 
 sion. As it happened San Juan lay near the middle 
 of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and commanded both 
 shores. The people at Victoria could see the Amer- 
 ican soldiers setting out in their boats from Port 
 Townsend, and landing on the green island. So 
 long as it had been the home of a few farmers San 
 Juan had caused little concern, but now that troops 
 were camping upon it it presented quite a different 
 look. Victoria was all excitement. The governor, 
 Sir James Douglas, heard the news first, and then 
 Admiral Prevost, who was in command of some 
 English war-ships anchored in the little bay near the 
 city. The admiral was very angry and threatened 
 to blow the Yankees off the island. He gave orders 
 to move his fleet to one of the harbors of San Juan, 
 and his cannon were ready to fire shot over the 
 peaceful fields, where sheep and pigs had divided 
 possession. Sir James Douglas, the governor, how- 
 ever, was a more peaceful man. He persuaded the 
 admiral not to be in a hurry, but suggested that it 
 would be wise to have a company of British regulars 
 camp somewhere on San Juan. This would serve as 
 a warning to the United States troops. Accordingly 
 Captain Delacombe was sent over, and pitched his 
 tents on the northern end of the island that belonged 
 to the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 
 As a result of the pig having trespassed in Mr. 
 Hubbs' vegetable patch, the flag of the United 
 States flew above the tents on the southern part of 
 
THE PIG THAT ALMOST CAUSED A WAR 225 
 
 San Juan, and the British flag over the tents on the 
 northern end. Mr. Hubbs was left in peace, and Mr. 
 Griffiths went on raising pigs ; but the people in 
 Victoria shook their fists across the strait at the peo- 
 ple in Port Townsend, and in each of those cities 
 there was a great deal of talk about war. The talk 
 was mostly done by men who had nothing to do with 
 the army. The soldiers on the little island soon be- 
 came the best of friends, and spent their time in field 
 sports and giving dinner-parties to each other. 
 
 No part of the boundary line of the United States 
 has given more trouble than that in the northwest. 
 The Hudson's Bay Company had once claimed prac- 
 tically all of what was known as Oregon Territory 
 for England, but after Marcus Whitman brought his 
 pioneers westward the Hudson's Bay Company 
 gradually withdrew, and left the southern part of that 
 land to the United States. For forty years the two 
 countries had disputed about the line of division, and 
 the political party that was led by Stephen A. Doug- 
 las had taken as its watchword, " Fifty-four, forty, — 
 or fight 1 " which meant that unless the United States 
 should get all the land up to the southern line of 
 Alaska, they would go to war with England. For- 
 tunately President Polk was not so grasping, and 
 the boundary was finally settled in 1846 on latitude 
 forty-nine degrees. That was a clear enough bound- 
 ary for most of the northwest country, but when one 
 came close to the Pacific the coast grew ragged, and 
 was dotted with little islands. Vancouver was by 
 
226 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 the treaty to belong to England, and the agreement 
 said that the boundary at this corner should be " the 
 middle of the channel." Now it happened that San 
 Juan and its small neighbors lay midway between 
 the two shores, and the treaty failed to say which 
 channel was meant, the one on the American or the 
 one on the British side of San Juan. 
 
 As a matter of fact this question of the channel 
 was very important for the British. It would lead 
 them to the coast of Canada, or the United States to 
 Alaska. The one to the west, called the Canal de 
 Haro, was much straighter than the other, and deep 
 enough for the largest war-ships. Naturally the 
 United States wanted the boundary to run through 
 this channel, and the British equally naturally 
 wanted the boundary to run through the opposite 
 channel, called Rosario Strait, because midway be- 
 tween lay the little island, which would make a 
 splendid fortress, and might prevent the passage of 
 ships in case of war between the two nations. So 
 long as the islands were simply pasture lands the 
 question of ownership was only a matter for debate, 
 but when the pig was killed, and the troops of both 
 countries camped on San Juan the question became 
 a much more vital one. 
 
 News of what had happened on San Juan was 
 sent to Washington and to London ; and General 
 Winfield Scott hurried by way of Panama to Mr. 
 Hubbs' farm. He found that all the United States 
 troops on that part of the coast that^ could be 
 
THE PIG THAT ALMOST CAUSED A WAR 227 
 
 spared had been crowded on to the southern part of 
 the island. This seemed unnecessary, and General 
 Scott agreed with Sir James Douglas that only one 
 company of United States and one of British soldiers 
 should stay in camp there. The little island thus 
 became the scene of what was known as " a joint 
 military occupation." In the meantime there were 
 many lengthy meetings at Washington and London, 
 and the two countries decided that they would leave 
 the difficult question of the boundary line to arbitra- 
 tion. So the statesmen at Washington drew up 
 papers to prove that the right line lay in the middle 
 of the Canal de Haro, and statesmen at London 
 drew up other papers to show that the correct line 
 was through the middle of Rosario Strait, which 
 would give them San Juan and allow their ships to 
 sail in perfect safety between the islands and the 
 Vancouver shore. The statesmen and lawyers took 
 their time about this, while the soldiers amused them- 
 selves fishing for cod and salmon, and the farmers 
 cared for their sheep and pigs as peacefully as in the 
 days before Hubbs had shot Griffiths' pig. 
 
 After some time the two nations decided to ask 
 the Emperor of Germany to decide the question of 
 the boundary line. The Emperor appointed three 
 learned men to determine the question for him. 
 They listened to the arguments of both sides, and 
 after much study made their report to the Emperor, 
 who gave his decision on October 23, 1872, and 
 handed a copy of it to Mr. Bancroft for the United 
 
228 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 States, and to Lord Odo Russell for England. His 
 decision was that the claim of the United States was 
 correct, and that the middle of the Canal de Haro 
 should be the boundary of that northwestern corner. 
 This gave San Juan to the United States, much to 
 the disappointment of the people of Vancouver 
 Island, who knew that a fort on that little strip of 
 land could control all navigation through the Strait 
 of Juan de Fuca. One month after the decision was 
 given the British troops cut down their flagstaff on 
 the northern end and left San Juan. 
 
 San Juan lies opposite the city of Victoria, which 
 has grown to be one of the largest ports of British 
 Columbia. Instead of lessening in importance the 
 island has grown in value, because that part of the 
 country has filled up rapidly, and both sides of the 
 line are more and more prosperous. The question 
 of who should own San Juan would have been de- 
 cided some day, but it was that prowling pig that 
 brought matters to a head, and for a few weeks at 
 least threatened to draw two countries into war. On 
 such slight happenings (although in this case it was 
 a very serious matter for the pig) often hang the fates 
 of nations if we trace history back to the spark that 
 fired the fuse. 
 
XI 
 JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 
 
 In the days when Kansas was the battle-ground 
 between those men who upheld negro slavery, and 
 those who attacked it, a man named John Brown 
 went from the east to that territory. Several of his 
 sons had already gone into Kansas, and had sent 
 him glowing accounts of it. Many New England 
 families were moving west by 1855, and building 
 homes for themselves on the splendid rolling prairies 
 across the Mississippi. John Brown, however, went 
 with another purpose. The years had built up in 
 him such a hatred for negro slavery that it filled his 
 whole thoughts. Kansas was the field where slave- 
 owners and abolitionists, or those who opposed 
 slavery, were to fight for the balance of power. 
 Therefore he went to Kansas and made his home in 
 the lowlands along the eastern border, near a region 
 that the Indians had named the Swamp of the Swan. 
 
 There were a great many men in Kansas at that 
 time who had no real convictions in regard to slavery, 
 and to whom the question was one of politics, and 
 not of religion, as it was to John Brown. Those were 
 days of warfare on the border, and men from the 
 south and the north were constandy clashing, fight- 
 
230 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 ing for the upper hand in the government, and taking 
 every possible advantage of each other. Five of 
 John Brown's sons had already settled in Kansas 
 when he came there with a sick son and a son-in-law. 
 Early in October, 1855, they reached the home of the 
 pioneers. They found the houses very primitive, 
 small log shanties, the walls plastered with mud. 
 The father joined his boys in getting in their hay, 
 and set traps in the woods to secure game for food. 
 But trouble was brewing in the town of Lawrence, 
 which was the leading city of Kansas. Word come 
 to the Swamp of the Swan that men who favored 
 slavery were marching on the town, intending to 
 drive out the free-state Northerners there. This was 
 a direct caJl to John Brown to take the field. His 
 family set to w^ork preparing com bread and meat, 
 blankets and cooking utensils, running bullets, and 
 loading guns. Then five of the men set out for 
 Lawrence, which was reached at the end of a twenty- 
 four hours' march. 
 
 The town of Lawrence, a collection of many 
 rude log houses, was filled with crowds of excited 
 men and women. John Brown, looking like a 
 patriarch with his long hair and beard, arrived at 
 sundown, accompanied by his stalwart sons armed 
 with guns and pistols. He was at once put in 
 charge of a company, and set to w^ork fortifying 
 the town with earthworks, and preparing for a 
 battle. In a day or two, however, an agreement 
 was reached between the free-state and the slave-state 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 231 
 
 parties, and immediate danger of warfare disap- 
 peared. Satisfied with this outcome, Brown and 
 his sons took to the road again, and marched back 
 to their home. There they stayed during the next 
 winter. In the cold of the long ice-bound months, 
 the passions of men lay dormant. But with the 
 coming of spring the old feud smouldered afresh. 
 
 Bands of armed men from the South arrived in 
 Kansas, and one from Georgia came to camp near 
 the Brown settlement on the Swamp of the Swan. 
 On a May morning John Brown and four of his 
 sons walked over to the new camp to learn the 
 Georgians* plans. He had some surveying instru- 
 ments with him, and the newcomers took him 
 for a government surveyor and therefore a slave 
 man, for almost every official that was sent into 
 Kansas held the Southern views. Pretending to be 
 a surveyor, the father directed his sons to busy 
 themselves in making a section line through the 
 camp. The men from Georgia looked on, talking 
 freely. Presently one of them said : " We've come 
 here to stay. We won't make no war on them 
 as minds their own business ; but all the Abo- 
 litionists, such as them Browns over there, we're 
 going to whip, drive out, or kill, — any way to 
 get shut of them ! " The strangers went on to 
 name other settlers they meant to drive out, not 
 suspecting who their listeners were, and John Brown 
 wrote every word down in his surveyor's book. 
 A few days later the Georgians moved their camp 
 
232 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 nearer to the Brown settlement, and began to steal 
 horses and cattle belonging to the free-state men. 
 Brown took his list, and went to see the men whose 
 names were on it. They held a meeting, and 
 decided that it was time to teach the ** border ruf- 
 fians," as such men as the Georgians were called, a 
 lesson. News of the meeting spread rapidly, and 
 soon it was generally known that the free-state men 
 about Osawatomie, which was the name of the 
 town near which the Browns lived, were prepared to 
 take the war-path. 
 
 The old bitter feelings flamed up again in May of 
 1856. On the twenty-first of the month, a band of 
 slavery men swept down on the town of Lawrence, 
 and while the free-state citizens looked on, sacked 
 and burned the place. John Brown and his sons 
 hurried there, but when they reached Lawrence the 
 houses were in ashes. He denounced the free- 
 state men as cowards, for to his ardent nature it 
 seemed an outrage that men should let themselves 
 be treated so by ruffians. When a discreet citizen 
 said that they must act with caution John Brown 
 burst out at him : " Caution, caution, sir ! I am 
 eternally tired of hearing that word caution — it is 
 nothing but the word for cowardice 1 " There was 
 nothing for him to do, however, and he was about to 
 turn toward home when a boy came dashing up. 
 He reported that the ruffians in the Swamp of 
 the Swan had warned all the women in the Brown 
 settlement that they must leave Kansas by Saturday 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 233 
 
 or Sunday, or they would be driven out. The 
 women had been frightened, and taking their chil- 
 dren, had fled in an ox-cart to the house of a 
 relative at a distance. The boy added that two 
 houses and a store near the settlement had been 
 burned. 
 
 Those were dark days on the border, days that 
 hardened men's natures. Such a man as John 
 Brown felt that it was his duty to stamp out the 
 pest of slavery at any cost. He turned to his 
 sons and to some German friends whose homes 
 had been burned. " I will attend to those fellows," 
 said he. " Something must be done to show these 
 barbarians that we too have rights !" A neighbor 
 offered to carry the little band of men in his wagon. 
 They looked to their guns and cutlasses. Peace- 
 loving people in Lawrence grew uneasy. Judging 
 from Brown's expression, they feared that he was 
 going to sow further trouble. 
 
 Eight men drove back to the Browns' settlement, 
 and found that the messenger's story was correct. 
 They called a meeting of those who were to be 
 driven out of Kansas, according to the ruffians' 
 threats. At the meeting they decided to rid the 
 country of the outlaws, who had only come west to 
 plunder, and some of whom had been employed in 
 chasing runaway slaves who had escaped from 
 their masters. Their plans made, Brown's band 
 rode to a little saloon on the Pottawatomie Creek 
 where the raiders made their headquarters. Within 
 
234 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 an hour's walk were the men's cabins. Members 
 of Brown's band stopped at the door of each 
 cabin that night, and asked for the men they wanted. 
 If the inmates hesitated to open the door it was 
 , broken open. Two of the men on their Hst could 
 not be found, but five were led out into the woods 
 and killed. It was a horrible deed, barbarous even 
 in those days of bloodshed. But Brown's men felt 
 that they were forced to do it. 
 
 John Brown thought that this one desperate act 
 might set Kansas free ; but it only marked the 
 beginning of a long and bloody drama. As soon 
 as the facts were known he and his sons became 
 outlaws with prices on their heads. Even his neigh- 
 bors at Osawatomie were horrified at his act. Two 
 of his sons who had not been with him were ar- 
 rested, and the little settlement became a center 
 of suspicion. The father withdrew to the woods, 
 and there about thirty-five men gathered about 
 him. They lived the life of outlaws, and neither 
 slave-state nor free-state officers dared to try to 
 capture them. By chance a reporter of the New 
 York Tribune came on their camp. He wrote : 
 " I shall not soon forget the scene that here opened 
 to my view. Near the edge of the creek a dozen 
 horses were tied, all ready saddled for a ride for 
 life, or a hunt after Southern invaders. A dozen 
 rifles and sabres were stacked against the trees. 
 In an open space, amid the shady and lofty woods, 
 there was a great blazing fire with a pot on it ; 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 235 
 
 a woman, bareheaded, with an honest sunburnt face, 
 was picking- blackberries from the bushes ; three 
 or four armed men were lying on red and blue 
 blankets on the grass ; and two fine-looking youths 
 were standing, leaning on their arms, on guard 
 near by. . . . Old Brown himself stood near 
 the fire, with his shirt sleeves rolled up, and a large 
 piece of pork in his hand. He was cooking a pig. 
 He was poorly clad, and his toes protruded from his 
 boots. The old man received me with great cor- 
 diality, and the little band gathered about me." 
 
 This band, living in forest and swamp, was always 
 ready to strike a blow for the free-state cause. The 
 slavery men were getting the upper hand, and 
 Northern families who had settled in Kansas began 
 to look to John Brown for protection. The "border 
 ruffians " grew worse and worse, attacking small de- 
 fenseless settlements, burning homes and carrying 
 off cattle. Sometimes it was only the fear of retal- 
 iation from Brown's company that kept the raiders 
 from still greater crimes. Occasionally they met ; 
 once they fought a battle at Black Jack, and twenty- 
 four of the enemy finally surrendered to nine of 
 Brown's men. One of the leader's sons was badly 
 wounded, and the father had to nurse him in the 
 woods. 
 
 Affairs grew worse during the summer. The 
 vilest scum of the slave states poured into Kansas, 
 and the scenes on the border grew more and more 
 disgraceful. There were pitched battles, and at last 
 
236 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 the governor of the territory, thoroughly scared, sur- 
 rendered his power into the hands of the slave- 
 holders, and fled for his life. The slave-state men 
 thought that the time had come to strike a blow that 
 should settle the question in Kansas permanently. 
 They prepared to gather an army in Missouri, in- 
 tending to cross into Kansas, and so terrify settlers 
 from the North that they would make no further re- 
 sistance. Conditions looked desperate to John 
 Brown, and he left the territory for a short time to 
 see what he could do to get help for his cause. 
 
 A large band of emigrants from the North were on 
 the march toward Kansas, and Brown rode to meet 
 them. The emigrants had heard of him, and wel- 
 comed him to their midst. He encouraged them 
 and urged them to fight for freedom, and went on 
 his way hoping to rouse more free-state men to enter 
 Kansas. 
 
 The East was now thoroughly awake to the law- 
 less situation on the border, and a new governor, 
 Geary by name, was sent out from Washington. 
 Meetings were held in the large cities, and money, 
 arms, and men began to pour into Kansas. Several 
 hundred men from Missouri attacked Osawatomie, 
 which was defended by Abolitionists, and a battle 
 followed. John Brown was there, and when his 
 party won the day he gained the nickname of 
 "Osawatomie Brown," by which he was generally 
 called thereafter. 
 
 Fired by this success, the leaders of the free-state 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 237 
 
 army planned to capture Lawrence. The new gov- 
 ernor feared that such an act would mean the begin- 
 ning of a general civil war, and did his best to pre- 
 vent it. He succeeded in this. The free-state men 
 were divided into two parties, those whose aim was 
 to have Kansas admitted to the Union as a free state, 
 and those who, like John Brown, were bent on abol- 
 ishing slavery throughout the United States. Gov- 
 ernor Geary assured the former men that Kansas 
 would be free soil, and he tried to induce Brown to 
 leave that part of the country for a time in the inter- 
 est of peace. Brown was willing to do as Governor 
 Geary wished, thinking that Kansas was safe for the 
 present. He wanted to turn his attention to other 
 parts of the country, where he thought he was more 
 needed. In September, 1856, he started east with 
 his sons. He was now a well-known figure, hated 
 by all slave-ownerSj a hero to Abolitionists, and dis- 
 trusted by that large number of men whose object 
 was to secure peace at any cost. 
 
 There were many people in the North at that time 
 who were helping runaway slaves to escape from 
 their masters, and in certain parts of the country 
 there were stations of what was called the " Under- 
 ground Railroad." Negroes fleeing from the 
 tyranny of Southern owners were helped along from 
 one station to another, until they were finally safe 
 across the Canadian border. The law of the country 
 said that negro slaves were like any other form of 
 property, and that it was the duty of citizens to re- 
 
238 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 turn runaways to their masters. There were also 
 scattered through the border states a number of men 
 whose business it was to catch fugitive slaves and 
 take them back south. These men were usually of 
 a brutal type, and the poor refugee who fell into 
 their clutches was made to suffer for his attempt at 
 escape. Story after story of the sufferings of slaves 
 came to John Brown's ears, and he felt that it was 
 his duty to throw himself into the work of the Un- 
 derground Railroad, and help as many slaves as 
 possible to cross into Canada. 
 
 This work was not enough for him, however ; he 
 wanted to strike some blow at the slave-owners 
 themselves. The Alleghany Mountain range was 
 one of the main roads for fugitives, for there men 
 could hide in the thick forests of the mountainside, 
 and could make some show of defense when the 
 slave-catchers and bloodhounds came in pursuit. 
 John Brown knew this country well. He traveled 
 through the North, talking with other men who felt 
 as he did, and trying to work out a plan which 
 should force the country to decide this question of 
 negro slavery. At last he decided to make a raid 
 into Southern territory, and free slaves for himself. 
 
 In the heart of the Alleghanies, and almost mid- 
 way between Maine and Florida, is a great natural 
 gateway in the mountains. Here the Potomac and 
 the Shenandoah Rivers meet, and seem to force their 
 way through the natural barrier. This pass is 
 Harper's Ferry, and in 1859 it was the seat of a 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 239 
 
 United States arsenal. To the south was a country- 
 filled with slaves, who looked to Harper's Ferry as 
 the highroad to freedom. Not far from the arsenal 
 rose the Blue Ridge Mountains, the heights of which 
 commanded the pass. It was John Brown's plan to 
 lead men from the Maryland side of the Potomac 
 River to attack the arsenal, and when it was captured 
 to carry arms and ammunition across the Shenan- 
 doah to Loudoun Heights in the Blue Ridge, and 
 hide there. From here his band could make raids 
 to the south, freeing slaves, and shielding them 
 from their masters, while using the mountains for a 
 shelter. 
 
 There were many other men in the United States 
 bent on destroying slavery, but few so impulsive as 
 John Brown. His plan was rash in the extreme, and 
 even its success would have profited only a few slaves. 
 But Brown was a born crusader. The men who fol- 
 lowed him were all impulsive, and many of them 
 were already trained in the rude ways of frontier life. 
 They knew what he had done in Kansas, and were 
 ready to fight on his side anywhere else. They had 
 a real reverence for John Brown. The tall man with 
 the long, almost white hair, keen eyes, and flowing 
 beard was no ordinary leader. He had the power 
 to convince men that his cause was just, and to hold 
 them in his service afterward. 
 
 In June, 1859, John Brown, with two of his sons, 
 and two friends, started south. He rented a farm 
 about five miles from Harper's Ferry, in a quiet, out- 
 
240 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 of-the-way place. There were several cabins in the 
 neighborhood, and as his followers gradually joined 
 him, they occupied these shelters. A daughter kept 
 house for him during the summer. The men farmed 
 in the daytime, and planned their conspiracy at night. 
 The leader did everything he could to win the friend- 
 ship of his neighbors. He had some knowledge of 
 medicine, and attended all who were sick. Fre- 
 quently he preached in the little Dunker chapel 
 near by. He was always ready to share his food or 
 give the shelter of his roof to any travelers. Slowly 
 he collected guns and ammunition, and late in 
 September sent his daughter north, and arranged to 
 make his attack. At first some of the other men 
 objected to his plans. One or two did not approve 
 of his seizing the government arsenal, and thought 
 they should simply make a raid into Virginia as the 
 slave-state men had formerly carried war into 
 Kansas. Their leader, however, was determined, 
 and nothing could turn him. Already he feared lest 
 some suspicion of his purpose might have spread, 
 and was eager to make his start. He set Sunday 
 night, October i6th, as the time for the raid. 
 That morning he called his men together and read 
 to them from the Bible. In the afternoon he gave 
 them final instructions, and added : " And now, 
 gentlemen, let me impress this one thing upon your 
 minds. You all know how dear life is to you, and 
 how dear life is to your friends. And in remember- 
 ing that, consider that the lives of others are as 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 241 
 
 dear to them as yours are to you. Do not, there- 
 fore, take the Hfe of any one, if you can possibly 
 avoid it ; but if it is necessary to take life in order to 
 save your own, then make sure work of it." 
 
 At eight o'clock that night the old farm was alive 
 with action. John Brown called : " Men, get on 
 your arms ; we will proceed to the Ferry." His 
 horse and wagon were driven up before the door, 
 and some pikes, a sledge-hammer, and a crowbar 
 were put in it. John Brown pulled on his old 
 Kansas cap, and cried : " Come, boys 1 " and they 
 went into the lane that wound down the hill to the 
 highroad. 
 
 Each of the band had been told exactly what he 
 was to do. Two of the men were to cut the 
 telegraph lines, and two others were to detain the 
 sentinels at the bridge. Men were detailed to hold 
 each of the bridges over the two rivers, and others 
 to occupy the engine house in the arsenal yard. 
 
 The night was cold and dark. John Brown drove 
 his one-horse farm-wagon, and the men straggled 
 behind him. They had to cover five miles through 
 woods and over hills before they came down to the 
 narrow road between the cliffs and the Cincinnati 
 and Ohio canal. Telegraph wires were cut, the 
 watchman on the bridge was arrested, and the band 
 found their way open into Harper's Ferry. 
 
 Their object was to seize the arms in the arsenal 
 and rifle factory. They marched to the armory 
 gate, where they found a watchman. " Open the 
 
242 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 gate," one of Brown's men ordered. The watch- 
 man said that he could not, and another of the band 
 declared that there was no time for talk, but that he 
 would get a crowbar and hammer from the wagon. 
 He twisted the crowbar in the chain that held the gate, 
 and broke it open ; then leaving the watchman in the 
 care of two men, the rest made a dash for the 
 arsenal. 
 
 A great deal happened in a short time. Guards 
 were overpowered, the bridge secured, and the river 
 forded close to the rifle-works. Not a gun had to 
 be fired, and both soldiers and civilians did as they 
 were bid by the armed men. Others of the raiders 
 hurried out into the country, and meeting some 
 colored men, told them their plans, and the latter at 
 once agreed to join them. Each of the negroes 
 was sent at once to stir up the slaves in the neigh- 
 borhood, and bring them to Harper's Ferry. The 
 raiders then came to the house of Colonel Lewis 
 Washington. They knocked on the door, and were 
 admitted. Colonel Washington asked what they 
 wanted. The leader answered, •' You are our 
 prisoner, and must come to the Ferry with us." 
 The Virginian replied, " You can have my slaves, if 
 you will let me remain." He was told, however, 
 that he 'must go back with them ; and so he did, to- 
 gether with a large four-horse wagon and some arms, 
 guns, swords, and cartridges. 
 
 Others of the band had brought in more Virginia 
 prisoners. An east-bound train on the Baltimore and 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 243 
 
 Ohio Railroad that reached Harper's Ferry about 
 one o'clock in the morning was detained, and the 
 passengers were kept there until sunrise. John 
 Brown was in command at the arsenal, and the rest 
 of his band were acting at different points. By 
 morning the people of the village were all alarmed. 
 They did not know what the raiders meant to do, 
 but many of them fled to the mountains, spreading 
 the news as they went. 
 
 In spite of some little confusion among his follow- 
 ers, practically all of John Brown's plans had been 
 successful up to this point. He had captured the 
 armory, and armed about fifty slaves. His next ob- 
 ject was to get the store of guns and ammunition 
 that he had left at his farm. Here came the first 
 hitch in his plans. He ordered two of his men. 
 Cook and Tidd, to take some of the freed slaves in 
 Colonel Washington's wagon, and drive to the house 
 of a man named Terrence Burns, and take him, his 
 brother and their slaves prisoners. Cook was to 
 stay at Burns's house while Tidd and the negroes 
 were to go to John Brown's farm, load the guns in 
 the wagon, and bring them back to a schoolhouse 
 near the Ferry, stopping on the way for Cook and 
 his prisoners. This the two men did ; but they were 
 so slow in getting the arms from the farm to the 
 schoolhouse, a distance of not over three miles, that 
 much valuable time was lost. Cook halted to make 
 a speech on human equality at one of the houses 
 they passed, and Tidd stopped his wagon frequently 
 
244 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 and talked with passers-by on the road. They had 
 the first load of arms at the schoolhouse by ten 
 o'clock in the morning, but it was four o'clock in the 
 afternoon before the second load arrived. All the 
 guns and arms should have been at the schoolhouse 
 by ten o'clock, if the men had followed John Brown's 
 orders strictly. 
 
 John Brown probably still intended to carry his 
 arms, together with the prisoners and their slaves, 
 up to^ Loudoun Heights, where he would be safe for 
 some time, but his men were so slow in obeying his 
 orders that the enemy was given time to collect. 
 The train that had left Harper's Ferry that morning 
 carried word of the raid throughout the countryside, 
 and men gathered in the neighboring villages ready 
 to march on Harper's Ferry and put an end to the 
 disturbance. John Brown held thousands of muskets 
 and rifles in the arsenal, while the men who were 
 marching to attack him were for the most part armed 
 with squirrel guns and old-fashioned fowling-pieces. 
 The militia collected rapidly, and marched toward 
 the Ferry from all directions. By noon the Jefferson 
 Guards had seized the bridge that crossed the Poto- 
 mac. Meantime John Brown had girded to his side 
 a sword that had belonged to Lafayette, that had 
 been taken from Colonel Lewis Washington's house 
 the night before, called his men from the arsenal into 
 the street, and said, *' The troops are on the bridge, 
 coming into town ; we will give them a warm recep- 
 tion." He walked back and forth before the small 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 245 
 
 band, encouraging them. " Men, be cool I " he 
 urged. '* Don't waste your powder and shot 1 Take 
 aim, and make every shot count ! The troops will 
 look for us to retreat on their first appearance ; be 
 careful to shoot first." 
 
 The militia soon advanced across the bridge and 
 up the main street. When they were some sixty or 
 seventy yards away from the raiders John Brown 
 gave the order to fire. Some of the militia fell. 
 Other volleys followed ; and the attacking party was 
 thrown into disorder. Finally they were driven back 
 to the bridge, and took up a position there until re- 
 inforcements arrived. As they retreated John Brown 
 ordered his men back to the arsenal. In the lull of 
 the firing nearly all the unarmed people who were 
 still in the town fled to the hills. 
 
 It was now one o'clock in the afternoon, and the 
 band of raiders could have escaped to Loudoun 
 Heights. But their leader wanted to carry the guns 
 and ammunition away with him, and to do this he 
 needed the aid of the rest of his men. He sent a 
 messenger to one of his followers named Kagi, who 
 was stationed with several others on the bank of the 
 Shenandoah, with orders for him to hold the place a 
 short time longer. The messenger, however, was 
 fired on and wounded before he could reach Kagi, 
 and the latter's party was soon attacked by a force 
 of militia, and driven into the river. A large flat 
 rock stood up in the river, and four of the five raid- 
 ers reached this. There three of them fell before the 
 
246 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 fire of bullets, and the fourth was taken a prisoner. 
 In similar ways the number of John Brown's men 
 was much reduced. 
 
 The leader realized the danger of the situation, 
 and decided that his best chance of escape lay in 
 using the prisoners he had captured as hostages for 
 his band's safe retreat. He moved his men, and the 
 more important of the prisoners, to a small brick 
 building called the engine-house. There he said to 
 his captives, " Gentlemen, perhaps you wonder why 
 I have selected you from the others. It is because I 
 believe you to be the most influential ; and I have 
 only to say now that you will have to share precisely 
 the same fate that your friends extend to my men." 
 He ordered the doors and windows barricaded, and 
 port-holes cut in the walls. 
 
 The engine-house now became the raiders' citadel, 
 and the militia and bands of farmers who were arriv- 
 ing at Harper's Ferry released the prisoners who 
 were still in the arsenal, and concentrated all their 
 fire on the band in the small brick house. 
 
 As the sun set the town filled with troops, and it 
 was evident that the men in the fort would have to 
 surrender. They kept up their firing, however, from 
 the port-holes, and were answered with a rain of 
 bullets aimed at the doors and windows. Both sides 
 lost a number of men. Two of John Brown's sons 
 had been shot during the day. Finally the leader 
 asked if one of his prisoners would volunteer to go 
 out among the citizens and induce them to cease fir- 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 247 
 
 ing on the fort, as they were endangering the lives 
 of their friends, the other captives. He promised 
 that if they would stop firing his men would do the 
 same. One of the prisoners agreed to try this, and 
 the firing ceased for a time. 
 
 More troops poured into Harper's Ferry, and pres- 
 ently Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived with a force of 
 United States marines. Guards were set about the 
 engine-house to see that John Brown and his men 
 did not escape. Then Colonel Lee sent a flag of 
 truce to the engine-house, and in the name of the 
 United States demanded that Brown surrender, ad- 
 vising him to throw himself on the clemency of the 
 government. John Brown answered that he knew 
 what that meant, and added, " I prefer to die just 
 here." Again in the morning Lee sent his aide to 
 the fort. The officer asked, " Are you ready to sur- 
 render, and trust to the mercy of the government ? " 
 Brown answered, " No, I prefer to die here." Then 
 the soldiers attacked, not with guns this time, but 
 with sledge-hammers, intending to break down the 
 doors. This did not succeed, and seizing a long 
 ladder they used it as a battering-ram, and finally 
 broke the fastenings of the main door. Lieutenant 
 Green pushed his way in, and, jumping on top of 
 the engine, looked about for John Brown. Amid a 
 storm of bullets, he saw the white-haired leader, and 
 sprang at him, at the same time striking at him with 
 his sword. John Brown fell forward, with his head 
 between his knees. In a few minutes all of the raid- 
 
248 HISTORIC ADVENTURES / 
 
 ers who were left in the engine-house had surren- 
 dered to the government troops. 
 
 Of the band that had left the farm on Sunday 
 night seven were taken prisoners, ten had been killed 
 in the fighting, and six others had managed to make 
 their escape. By noon of Tuesday, October i8th, 
 the raid was over. John Brown, wounded in half a 
 dozen places, lay on the floor of the engine-house ; 
 and the governor of Virginia bent over him. "Who 
 are you?" asked the governor. The old man an- 
 swered, " My name is John Brown ; I have been well 
 known as old John Brown of Kansas. Two of my 
 sons were killed here to-day, and I'm dying too. I 
 came here to liberate slaves, and was to receive no 
 reward. I have acted from a sense of duty, and am 
 content to await my fate ; but I think the crowd have 
 treated me badly. I am an old man. Yesterday I 
 could have killed whom I chose ; but I had no desire 
 to kill any person, and would not have killed a man 
 had they not tried to kill me and my men. I could 
 have sacked and burned the town, but did not ; I 
 have treated the persons whom I took as hostages 
 kindly, and I appeal to them for the truth of what I 
 say. If I had succeeded in running off slaves this 
 time, I could have raised twenty times as many men 
 as I have now for a similar expedition. But I have 
 failed." 
 
 The news of John Brown's raid spread through the 
 country, and the people North and South were 
 amazed and bewildered. They had grown used to 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 249 
 
 hearing of warfare in the distant borderland of 
 Kansas, but this was a battle that had taken place in 
 the very heart of the Union. Men did not know 
 what to think of it. John Brown appeared to many 
 of them as a monstrous figure, a firebrand who 
 would touch his torch to the tinder of slavery, and 
 set the whole nation in a blaze. Newspapers and 
 public speakers denounced him. They said he was 
 attacking the foundations of the country when he 
 seized the arsenal and freed slaves from their lawful 
 owners. Only a handful of men had any good to 
 say for him, and that handful were looked upon as 
 madmen by their neighbors. Only a few could read 
 the handwriting on the wall, and realize that John 
 Brown was merely a year or two in advance of the 
 times. 
 
 We who know the story of the Civil War and the 
 abolition of slavery think of John Brown as a hero. 
 We forget the outlaw and remember the martyr. If 
 he was setting the laws of men at defiance he was 
 also following the law that he felt was given him by 
 God. His faith and his simplicity have made him a 
 great figure in history. A man who met him riding 
 across the plains of Kansas in the days of the border 
 warfare drew a vivid picture of him. He said that 
 a tall man on horseback stopped and asked him a 
 question. "It was on a late July day, and in its 
 hottest hours. I had been idly watching a wagon 
 and one horse toiling slowly northward across the 
 prairie, along the emigrant trail that had been 
 
250 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 marked out by free-state men. . . . John Brown, 
 whose name the young and ardent had begun to 
 conjure with and swear by, had been described to 
 me. So, as I heard the question, I looked up and 
 met the full, strong gaze of a pair of luminous, ques- 
 tioning eyes. Somehow I instinctively knew this was 
 John Brown, and with that name I replied. . . . 
 It was a long, rugged-featured face I saw. A tall, 
 sinewy figure, too (he had dismounted), five feet 
 eleven, I estimated, with square shoulders, narrow 
 flank, sinewy and deep-chested. A frame full of 
 nervous power, but not impressing one especially 
 with muscular vigor. The impression left by the 
 pose and the figure was that of reserve, endurance, 
 and quiet strength. The questioning voice-tones 
 were mellow, magnetic, and grave. On the weather- 
 worn face was a stubby, short, gray beard. . . . 
 This figure, — unarmed, poorly clad, with coarse 
 linen trousers tucked into high, heavy cowhide 
 boots, with heavy spurs on their heels, a cotton 
 shirt opened at the throat, a long torn linen duster, 
 and a bewrayed chip straw hat . . . made up the 
 outward garb and appearance of John Brown when I 
 first met him. In ten minutes his mounted figure 
 disappeared over the north horizon." 
 
 But John Brown had seized the government's 
 arsenal, and put arms in the hands of negro slaves, 
 and therefore the law must take its course with him. 
 Its officers came to him where he lay on the floor of 
 his fort, a badly-wounded man, who had fought for 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 251 
 
 fifty-five long hours, who had seen two sons and eight 
 of his comrades shot in the battle, and who felt that 
 his cause was lost. 
 
 When men who owned slaves asked the reason for 
 his raid, he answered, " You are guilty of a great 
 wrong against God and humanity and it would be per- 
 fectly right for any one to interfere with you so far 
 as to free those you wilfully and wickedly hold in 
 bondage. ... I pity the poor in bondage that 
 have none to help them. That is why I am here ; 
 not to gratify any personal animosity, revenge, or 
 vindictive spirit." 
 
 A number of Virginians had been killed in the 
 fight, and it was difficult to secure a fair trial for the 
 raiders. The state did its best to hold the scales of 
 justice even. The formal trial began on October 27, 
 1859. Friends from the North came to his aid, and 
 a Massachusetts lawyer acted as his counsel. John 
 Brown heard the charges against him lying on a 
 straw pallet, and four days later he heard the jury 
 declare him guilty of treason. December 2, 1859, 
 the sentence of the court was carried out, and John 
 Brown was hanged as a traitor. His last written 
 words were, " I, John Brown, am quite certain that 
 the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged 
 away but with blood. I had, as I now think vainly, 
 flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it 
 might be done," 
 
 Every great cause in history has its martyrs, and 
 John Brown was one of those who were sacrificed in the 
 
252 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 battle for human freedom. Statesmen had tried for 
 years to argue away the wrongs that began when the 
 first African bondsmen were brought to the American 
 colonies. Statesmen, however, cannot change the 
 views of men and women as to what is right and 
 wrong, and all the arguments in the world could not 
 convince such men as John Brown and his friends 
 that one man had a right to the possession of a fel- 
 low-creature. He struck his blow wildly, but its echo 
 rang in the ears of the North, and never ceased until 
 the Civil War was ended, and slavery wiped off the 
 continent. The great negro orator, Frederick 
 Douglass, said twenty-two years later at Harper's 
 Ferry, " If John Brown did not end the war that 
 ended slavery, he did, at least, begin the war that 
 ended slavery. If we look over the dates, places, 
 and men for which this honor is claimed, we shall 
 find that not Carolina, but Virginia, not Fort Sumter, 
 but Harper's Ferry and the arsenal, not Major 
 Anderson, but John Brown began the war that 
 ended American slavery, and made this a free 
 republic. . . . When John Brown stretched forth 
 his arm the sky was cleared, — the armed hosts of 
 freedom stood face to face over the chasm of a 
 broken Union, and the clash of arms was at hand." 
 
 In the spring of 1861 the Boston Light Infantry 
 went to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor to drill. 
 They formed a quartette to sing patriotic songs, 
 and some one wrote the verses that are known as 
 " John Brown's Body," and set them to the music of 
 
JOHN BROWN AT HARPER'S FERRY 253 
 
 an old camp-meeting tune. Regiment after regi- 
 ment heard the song and carried it with them into 
 camp and battle. So the spirit of the simple cru- 
 sader went marching on through the war, and his 
 name was linked forever with the cause of freedom. 
 
XII 
 AN ARCTIC EXPLORER 
 
 When Columbus sailed from Palos in 1492 he 
 hoped to find a shorter route to Cathay or China 
 than any that was then known, and the great 
 explorers who followed after him had the same hope 
 of such a discovery in their minds. When men 
 learned that instead of finding a short route to 
 China they had come upon two great continents 
 that shared the Western Ocean, they turned their 
 thoughts to discovering what was known as the 
 Northwest Passage. They hoped to find a way by 
 which ships might sail from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific Ocean north of America. The great English 
 explorers in particular were eager to find such an 
 ocean route, and this search was the real beginning 
 of the fur-trading around Hudson's Bay, the cod- 
 fishing of Newfoundland, and the whale-fishing of 
 Baffin Bay. 
 
 One sea-captain after another sailed across the 
 Atlantic, and strove to find the passage through the 
 Arctic regions ; but the world of snow and ice 
 defeated each of them. Some went back to report 
 that there was no Northwest Passage, and others 
 
AN ARCTIC EXPLORER 255 
 
 were lost among the ice-floes and never returned. 
 Then in 1845 England decided to send a great 
 expedition to make another attempt, and put at the 
 head of it Sir John Franklin, a brave captain who 
 had fought with Nelson and knew the sea in all 
 its variety. He sailed from England May 26, 1845, 
 taking one hundred and twenty-nine men in the two 
 ships Erebus and Terror. He carried enough pro- 
 visions to last him for three years. On July 26, 
 1845, Franklin's two vessels were seen by the cap- 
 tain of a whaler, moored to an iceberg in Baffin 
 Bay. They were waiting for an opening in the 
 middle of an ice-pack, through which they might 
 sail across the bay and enter Lancaster Sound. 
 They were never seen again, and the question of 
 what had happened to Sir John Franklin's party 
 became one of the mysteries of the age. 
 
 More than twenty ships, with crews of nearly 
 two thousand officers and men, at a cost of many 
 millions of dollars, sought for Sir John Franklin in the 
 years between 1847 and 1853. One heroic explorer 
 after another sailed into the Arctic, crossed the ice- 
 floes, and searched for some trace of the missing 
 men. But none could be found, and one after 
 another the explorers came back, their only report 
 being that the ice had swallowed all traces of the 
 English captain and his vessels. At length the last 
 of the expeditions sent out by the English Govern- 
 ment returned, and the world decided that the 
 mystery would never be solved. But brave Lady 
 
256 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Franklin, the wife of Sir John, urged still other men 
 to seek for news, and at last explorers found that all 
 of Franklin's expedition had perished in their search 
 for the Northwest Passage. 
 
 Arctic explorers usually leave records telling the 
 story of their discoveries at different points along 
 the road they follow. For a long time after the 
 fate of Franklin's party was known, men tried 
 to find records he might have left in cairns, or 
 piles of stones through the Arctic regions. Whale 
 vessels sometimes brought news of such records, 
 but most of them proved to be idle yarns told by 
 the whalers to surprise their friends at home. One 
 of these stories was that all the missing records of 
 Sir John Franklin were to be found in a cairn which 
 was built near Repulse Bay. This story was told so 
 often that people came to believe it was true, 
 and some young Americans set out to make a 
 search of King William Land and try to find the 
 cairn. The party sailed on the whaler Eothen, and 
 five men landed at Repulse Bay. The leader was 
 Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, of the United 
 States Army. He had three friends with him named 
 Gilder, Klutschak, and Melms, and with them was 
 an Eskimo, who was known as Joe. 
 
 The young Americans set up a winter camp 
 on Chesterfield Inlet, and tried to live as much like 
 the native Eskimos as possible. During the winter 
 they met many natives on their hunting-trips, and 
 the latter soon convinced them that they were on a 
 
AN ARCTIC EXPLORER 257 
 
 wild-goose chase, and that the story of the cairn 
 was probably only a sailor's yarn. Lieutenant 
 Schwatka, however, was not the sort of man to 
 return home without some results from his trip, and 
 so he made up his mind to go into the country 
 where Franklin's party had perished, hoping that he 
 might find some record which would throw light 
 on the earlier explorer's travels. 
 
 The Eskimos were a race largely unknown to 
 civilized men. White men had seen much more 
 of the native American Indians who lived in more 
 temperate climates. These young Americans found 
 a great deal to interest them during the winter 
 among these strange people of the far North. 
 Hunting was their chief pursuit, and the Americans 
 found that they spent much of their time indoors 
 playing a game called Nu-glew-tar, which sharp- 
 ened their quickness of eye and sureness of aim. 
 It was a simple sport ; a small piece of bone, pierced 
 with a row of small holes, was hung from the roof of 
 the hut by a rope of walrus hide, and a heavy 
 weight was fastened to the end of the bone to keep 
 it from swinging. The Eskimo players were each 
 armed with a small sharp-pointed stick, and each in 
 turn would thrust his stick at the bone, trying to 
 pierce one of the holes. The prize was won by 
 the player who pierced the bone and held it fast 
 with his stick. 
 
 As soon as spring opened Lieutenant Schwatka 
 started out, leaving his winter camp in April, 1879, 
 
258 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 and crossing in as straight a line as possible to 
 Montreal Island, near the mouth of the Black 
 River. He took with him twelve Eskimos, men, 
 women, and children, and dogs to pull the sledges. 
 They carried food for one month only, intending to 
 hunt during the summer. Every night the Eskimos 
 built snow huts, or igloos, in which the party camped. 
 As they went on they met men of another Arctic 
 tribe, the Ook-joo-liks, who wore shoes and gloves 
 made of musk-ox skin, which was covered with 
 hair several inches long, and made the wearers look 
 more like bears than like men. One of these natives 
 said that he had seen a ship that had sunk ofl 
 Adelaide Peninsula, and that he and his friends 
 had obtained such articles as spoons, knives, and 
 plates from the ship. Lieutenant Schwatka thought 
 the ship was probably either the Erebus or the Terror. 
 Later his party found an old woman who said that 
 when she had been on the southeast coast of King 
 William Land not many years before she had seen 
 ten white men dragging a sledge with a boat on it. 
 Five of the white men put up a tent on the shore 
 and five stayed with the boat. Some men of the 
 woman's tribe had killed seals and given them to 
 the white men ; then the white men had left, and 
 neither she nor any of her tribe had seen them 
 again. Asking questions of the Eskimos he met, 
 Lieutenant Schwatka and his comrades gradually 
 pieced together the story of what had happened 
 to Franklin and his men. But the American 
 
AN ARCTIC EXPLORER 259 
 
 was not content with what he had learned in 
 this way, and he determined to cross Simpson 
 Strait to King William Land, and search for 
 records there during the summer. This meant 
 that he would have to spend the summer on this 
 bare and desolate island, as there would be no 
 chance to cross the strait until the cold weather of 
 autumn should form new ice for a bridge. 
 
 The Eskimos did everything they could to per- 
 suade him not to cross to the island. They told him 
 that in 1848 more than one hundred men had 
 perished of starvation there, and added that no one 
 could find sufficient food to keep them through the 
 summer. Yet the fearless soldier and his friends in- 
 sisted on making the attempt, and some of the 
 Eskimos were daring enough to go with them. 
 
 It seemed doubtful whether they could even get 
 across the strait. Every few steps some man would 
 sink into the ice-pack up to his waist and his legs 
 would dangle in slush without finding bottom. The 
 sledges would sink so that the dogs, flounder- 
 ing and scrambling, could not pull them. The men 
 had to push the dog-teams along, and after the first 
 day's travel they were all so exhausted that they had 
 to rest the whole of the next day before they could 
 start on again. Finally they reached the opposite 
 shore of the strait, and, while the natives built igloos 
 and hunted, the Americans searched for records of 
 Franklin's party. They found enough traces to 
 prove that the men who had sought the Northwest 
 
26o HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Passage had spent some time on this desolate strip 
 of land. 
 
 More than once they were in danger of starvation. 
 In the spring the Eskimos hunted wild ducks, which 
 they found in remote stretches of water. Their way 
 of hunting was to steal up on a flock of the birds, 
 and, as soon as the ducks took alarm, to rush toward 
 the largest bunch of them. The hunter then threw 
 his spear, made with three barbs of different lengths, 
 and caught the duck on the sharp central prong. 
 The long wooden shaft of the spear would keep the 
 duck floating on the water until the hunter could 
 seize it. But as summer drew on, and the ducks 
 migrated, food grew very scarce. Once or twice 
 they discovered bears, which they shot, and when 
 there was nothing else to eat they lived on a small 
 black berry that the Eskimos called parazvoitg^ which 
 proved very sustaining. 
 
 As the white men tramped day after day over the 
 icy hillocks their footwear wore out, and often walk- 
 ing became a torment. In telling of their march 
 Gilder said, '• We were either wading through the 
 hillside torrents or lakes, which, frozen on the bot- 
 tom, made the footing exceedingly treacherous, or 
 else with sealskin boots, soft by constant wetting, 
 painfully plodding over sharp stones set firmly in the 
 ground with the edges pointed up. Sometimes as a 
 new method of injury, stepping and slipping on flat 
 stones, the unwary foot slid into a crevice that seem- 
 ingly wrenched it from the body." 
 
AN ARCTIC EXPLORER 261 
 
 When they had nothing else to eat the white men 
 Hved on the same food as the native hunters. This 
 was generally a tallow made from the reindeer, and 
 eaten with strips of reindeer meat. A dish of this, 
 mixed with seal-oil, was said to look like ice-cream 
 and took the place of that dessert with the Eskimos. 
 Lieutenant Schwatka said, however, that instead of 
 tasting like ice-cream it reminded him more of 
 locust, sawdust and wild-honey. 
 
 As autumn drew on they made ready to cross back 
 to the mainland ; but it took some time for the ice to 
 form on the strait. Gilder said of their camp life : 
 " We eat quantities of reindeer tallow with our meat, 
 probably about half of our daily food. Breakfast is 
 eaten raw and frozen, but we generally have a warm 
 meal in the evening. Fuel is hard to obtain and 
 now consists of a vine-like moss called ik-shoot-ik. 
 Reindeer tallow is used for a light. A small, flat 
 stone serves for a candlestick, on which a lump of 
 tallow is placed close to a piece of fibrous moss 
 called nmn-ne, which is used for a wick. The melt- 
 ing tallow runs down upon the stone and is imme- 
 diately absorbed by the moss. This makes a cheer- 
 ful and pleasant light, but is most exasperating to a 
 hungry man as it smells exactly like frying meat. 
 Eating such quantities of tallow is a great benefit in 
 this climate, and we can easily see the effects of it in 
 the comfort with which we meet the cold." 
 
 As soon as the ice on the strait was frozen hard 
 enough the reindeer crossed it, and by the middle of 
 
262 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 October King William Land was practically deserted. 
 Then the Americans and Eskimos started back to 
 the mainland. Winter had now come, and the 
 weather was intensely cold, often ninety degrees be- 
 low freezing. In December the traveling grew 
 worse, and food became so scarce that they had to 
 stop day after day for hunting. In January a bliz- 
 zard struck their camp and lasted thirteen days ; 
 then wolves prowled about them at night, and once 
 actually killed four of their dogs. " A sealskin full 
 of blubber," said Gilder, *' would have saved many 
 of our dogs ; but we had none to spare for them, as 
 we were reduced to the point when we had to save 
 it exclusively for lighting the igloos at night. We 
 could not use it to warm our igloos or to cook with. 
 Our meat had to be eaten cold — that is, frozen so 
 solid that it had to be sawed and then broken into 
 convenient-sized lumps, which when first put into 
 the mouth were like stones. Sometimes, however, 
 the snow was beaten off the moss on the hillsides and 
 enough was gathered to cook a meal." 
 
 When they were almost on the point of starvation 
 a walrus was killed, and supplied them with food to 
 last until they got back to the nearest Eskimo vil- 
 lage. From the coast they took ship to the United 
 States. The records they brought with them prac- 
 tically completed the account of what had happened 
 to Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition. And al- 
 most equally important were the new details they 
 brought in regard to Eskimo life, and the proof they 
 
AN ARCTIC EXPLORER 263 
 
 gave that men of the temperate zone could pass a 
 year in the frozen land of the far north if they would 
 live as the natives did, and adapt themselves to the 
 rigors of that climate. 
 
XIII 
 THE STORY OF ALASKA 
 
 In the far northwestern corner of North America is a 
 land that has had few stirring scenes in its history. 
 It is an enormous tract, close to the Arctic Sea, and 
 far from the busy cities of the United States. Not 
 until long after the English, French, and Spanish dis- 
 coverers had explored the country in the Temperate 
 Zone did any European find Alaska. Even when it 
 was found it seemed to offer little but ice-fields and 
 desolate prairies, leading to wild mountain ranges 
 that did not tempt men to settle. Seal hunters came 
 and went, but generally left the native Indians in 
 peace. Most of these hunters came from Siberia, for 
 the Russians were the first owners of this land. 
 
 An officer in the Russian Navy named Vitus Ber- 
 ing found the strait that is called by his name in 
 1728. Some years later he was sent into the Arctic 
 Sea again by the Empress Anne of Russia to try to 
 find the wonderful country that Vasco de Gama had 
 sought. He sailed in summer, and after weathering 
 heavy storms finally reached Kayak Island on St. 
 Elias Day, July 17, 1741, and named the great moun- 
 tain peak in honor of that saint. More storms fol- 
 
THE STORY OF ALASKA 265 
 
 lowed, and soon afterward the brave sailor was ship- 
 wrecked and drowned off the Comandorski Islands. 
 His crew managed to get back to Siberia, having 
 lived on the meat of the seals they were able to shoot. 
 Russian traders saw the sealskins they brought home, 
 and sent out expeditions to obtain more furs. Some 
 returned richly laden, but others were lost in storms 
 and never heard from. There was so much danger 
 in the hunting that it was not until 1783 that Rus- 
 sian merchants actually established trading-posts in 
 Alaska. Then a rich merchant of Siberia named 
 Gregory Shelikoff built a post on Kadiak Island, and 
 took into partnership with him a Russian named 
 Alexander Baranof. Baranof built a fort on an island 
 named for him, some three miles north of the pres- 
 ent city of Sitka. The two men formed the Russian 
 American Fur Company, and Baranof became its 
 manager in America. 
 
 One day a seal hunter came to Baranof at his 
 fortress, and took from his pocket a handful of nug- 
 gets and scales of gold. He held them out to the 
 Russian, and said that he knew where many more 
 like them were to be found. ** Ivan," said Baranof, 
 " I forbid you to seek for any more. You must not 
 say a word about this, or there will be trouble. If 
 the Americans or the English know that there is gold 
 in these mountains we will be ruined. They will 
 rush in here by the thousands, and crowd us to the 
 wall." Baranof was a fur merchant, and did not 
 want to see miners flocking to his land, as his com- 
 
266 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 pany was growing rich from the seals and fur-trad- 
 ing with the natives. 
 
 Little by little, however, the news leaked out that 
 the northwestern country had rich minerals, and soon 
 the King of Spain began to covet some of that 
 wealth for himself. The Spaniards claimed that they 
 owned all of the country that had not yet been 
 mapped out, and they sent an exploring party, under 
 Perez, to make charts of the northwest. Perez sailed 
 along the coast, and finding two capes, named them 
 Santa Margarita and Santa Magdalena, but beyond 
 that he did little to help the cause of Spain. Some 
 years later exploring parties were sent out from 
 Mexico, but they found that the wild ice-covered 
 country was already claimed by the Russians, and 
 that the Czar had no intention of giving it up. 
 Other nations, therefore, soon ceased to claim it, and 
 the Russian hunters and traders were allowed to 
 enjoy the country in peace. 
 
 Alexander Baranof made a great success of the 
 trade in skins, but the men who took his place were 
 not equal to him. The company began to lose 
 money, and the Czar of Russia decided that the 
 country was too far away from his capital to be prop- 
 erly looked after. The United States finally made 
 an offer to buy the great territory from the Czar, 
 although the government at Washington was not 
 very anxious to make the purchase. The tract, large 
 as it was, did not seem to promise much, and it was 
 almost as far from Washington as it was from St. 
 
THE STORY OF ALASKA 267 
 
 Petersburg. The Czar was quite willing to sell, 
 however, and so the United States bought the coun- 
 try from him in 1867, paying him ^7,200,000 for it. 
 
 On a fine October afternoon in 1867 Sitka Bay saw 
 the Stars and Stripes flying from three United States 
 war-ships, while the Russian Eagle waved from the 
 flagstaffs and houses in the small town. On the 
 shore soldiers of the two nations were drawn up in 
 front of the old castle, and officers stood waiting at 
 the foot of the flagpole on the parade ground. 
 Then a gun was fired from one of the United States 
 war-ships, and instantly the Russian batteries returned 
 the salute. A Russian officer lowered his country's 
 flag from the parade ground pole, and an American 
 pulled the Stars and Stripes to the peak. Guns 
 boomed and regimental bands played, and then the 
 Russian troops saluted and left the fortress, and the 
 territory became part of the United States. 
 
 Up to that time the country had been known as 
 Russian America, but now a new name had to be 
 found. Some suggested American Siberia, and 
 others the Zero Islands ; but an American statesman, 
 Charles Sumner, urged the name of Alaska, a na- 
 tive word meaning " the Great Land," and this was 
 the name that was finally adopted. 
 
 It took many years to explore the western part of 
 the United States, and men who were in search of 
 wealth in mines and forests did not have to go as far 
 as Alaska to find it. That bleak country was sepa- 
 rated from the United States by a long, stormy sea 
 
268 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 voyage on the Pacific, or a tedious and difificult over- 
 land journey through Canada. Alaska might have 
 remained for years as little known as while Russia 
 owned it had it not been for a small party of men who 
 set out to explore the Yukon and the Klondike Rivers. 
 On June i6, 1897, a small ship called the Bxcelswr 
 sailed into San Francisco Harbor, and half an hour 
 after she had landed at her wharf the news was 
 spreading far and wide that gold had been dis- 
 covered in large quantities on the Klondike. Some 
 of the men had gone out years before ; some only a 
 few months earlier, but they all brought back for- 
 tunes. Not one had left with less than $5,000 in 
 gold, gathered in nuggets or flakes, in tin cans, 
 canvas bags, wooden boxes, or wrapped up in paper. 
 The cry of such sudden wealth was heard by many 
 adventurers, and the old days of 'Forty-Nine in 
 California began over again when the wild rus^ 
 
 started north to the Klondike. , ^ 
 
 suoc^ 
 On June 17th another ship, the Portla^id, arrivec^uaai 
 
 at Seattle, with sixty more miners and $800,000 iroQ — 
 
 gold. This was the largest find of the precious TVD 
 
 mineral that had been made anywhere in the world, ''-P. 
 
 and Seattle followed the example of San Francisco in ""^ 
 
 going gold-crazy. Immediately hundreds of people ^y^ 
 
 took passage on the outward bound steamers, and 
 
 hundreds more were turned away because of lack of , 
 
 room. Ships set out from all the seaports along the 
 
 Pacific coast of the United States, and from the 
 
 Canadian ports of Victoria and Vancouver. As in 
 
THE STORY OF ALASKA 269 
 
 the old days of 1849 men gave up their business to 
 seek the gold fields, but now they had to travel to a 
 wilder and more desolate country than California 
 had been. 
 
 There were many ways of getting to the Klondike 
 country. Those who went by ocean steamer had to 
 transfer to flat-bottomed boats to go up the Yukon 
 River. This was the easiest route, but the boats 
 could only be used on the Yukon from June until 
 September, and the great rush of gold-seekers came 
 later that autumn. A second route was by the 
 Chilkoot trail, which had been used for many years 
 by miners going into the country of the Yukon. 
 Over this trail horses could be used as far as the foot 
 of the great Chilkoot Pass, but from there luggage 
 had to be carried by hand. Another trail, much 
 like this one, was the White Pass trail, but it led 
 through a less-known country than the Chilkoot, 
 and was not so popular. The Canadian govern- 
 ment laid out a trail of its own, which was called 
 "the Stikeen route," and which ran altogether 
 through Canadian territory. Besides these there 
 were innumerable other roads through the moun- 
 tains, and along the rivers ; but the farther men got 
 from the better known trails the more danger they 
 were in of losing their way, or suffering from 
 hunger and hardships. 
 
 Towns blossomed along the coast of Alaska al- 
 most over night, but they were strange looking vil- 
 lages. The ships that landed at Skagway in the 
 
270 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 summer of 1897 found a number of rough frame 
 houses, with three or four larger than the rest which 
 hung out hotel signs. The only government officer 
 lived in a tent over which flew the flag of the United 
 States. The passengers landed their outfits them- 
 selves, for labor was scarce, and found shelter 
 wherever they could until they might start on the 
 trail. 
 
 No one seemed to know much about the country 
 they were going through, but fortunately most of 
 the men were experienced woodsmen. They loaded 
 their baggage on their packhorses, and started out, 
 ready for any sort of country they might have to 
 cross. Sometimes the trail lay over miry ground, 
 where a false step to the right or left would send the 
 horses or men deep into the bog ; sometimes it led 
 up steep and rocky mountainsides, where a man 
 had to guard his horse's footing as carefully as his 
 own ; and much of the way was in the bed of an old 
 river, where each step brought a splash of mud, and 
 left the travelers at the end of the day spattered 
 from head to foot. The journey was harder on the 
 horses than on the men. The heavy packs they car- 
 ried, and the wretched footing, caused them to drop 
 along the road from time to time, and then the 
 travelers had to make the best shift they could with 
 their luggage. Had the men journeyed alone, or in 
 small companies, they would have suffered greatly, 
 but the Chilkoot trail was filled with miners who 
 were ready to help each other, and to give encour- 
 
THE STORY OF ALASKA 271 
 
 agement to any who lagged behind. At Dyea they 
 came to an old Alaskan settlement, an Indian trad- 
 ing post, where a number of native tribes lived in 
 their little wooden cabins. These men were the 
 Chilkats, the Stikeen Indians, and the Chilkoots, 
 short, heavy men, with heads and eyes more like 
 Mongolians than like American Indians. Both men 
 and women were accustomed to painting their faces 
 jet black or chocolate brown, in order to protect 
 their eyes and skin from the glare of the sunlight on 
 the snow. The traveler could here get Indians to 
 act as guides, or if he had lost his horses might ob- 
 tain dogs and sleds to carry some of his packs. 
 
 Each of the little settlements through which the 
 travelers went boasted of a hotel, usually a frame 
 building with two or three large rooms. Each day 
 meals were served to three or four hundred hungry 
 travelers at rude board tables, and at night the men 
 would spread their blankets on the floor and lie 
 down to sleep. But as the trail went farther inland 
 these little settlements grew fewer, and the men had 
 to find whatever shelter they could. From Dyea 
 they pushed on through the Chilkoot Pass, where 
 the cliffs rose high above them. The winds blew 
 cold from the north, and the mists kept everything 
 wet. In the Pass some men turned back, finding 
 the trip too difficult. Those who went on met with 
 increasing hardships. They came to a place called 
 Sheep Camp, where a stream of water and rocks 
 from the mountain top had swept down upon a 
 
2/2 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 town of tents and carried them all away. Stories of 
 similar happenings at other places were passed from 
 mouth to mouth along the trail. More men turned 
 back, finding such accidents a good excuse, and only 
 the most determined stuck to the road. 
 
 In time they came to a chain of lakes and rivers. 
 The travelers stopped to build rude boats and pad- 
 dles, and navigated them as best they could. The 
 rivers were full of rapids, and it was only by a 
 miracle that the little clumsily-built skiffs went danc- 
 ing over the waters safely, and escaped the jutting 
 rocks on either bank. In the rivers there was good 
 trout fishing, and in the wild country good hunting, 
 and Indian boys brought game to the tents at night. 
 To the trees at each stopping-place papers were 
 fastened, telling of the marvelous adventures of the 
 miners who had just gone over the trail. As they 
 neared Dawson City they found the Yukon River 
 more and more covered with floating ice, and travel 
 by boat became harder. After a time the oars, pad- 
 dles, gunwales, and all the baggage in the boats was 
 encrusted with ice, and the boatmen had to make 
 their way slowly among the floes. Then they came 
 to a turn in the river, and on the bank saw a great 
 number of tents and people. " How far is it to Daw- 
 son ? " the boatman would call. " This is Dawson. 
 If you don't look out you'll be carried past," the men 
 on shore answered. Paddles were thrust into the 
 ice, and the boat brought to shore. The trip from 
 Seattle had so far taken ninety-two days. 
 
THE STORY OF ALASKA 273 
 
 Food was scarce in Dawson, and men were urged 
 to leave as soon as they could. Winter was now 
 setting in, and the miners traveled with dog teams 
 and sleds to the place where they meant to camp. 
 Little work could be done in the winter, and the 
 time was spent in preparing to work the gold fields 
 in the early spring. All through the cold weather 
 the men talked of the fortunes waiting for them, and 
 when the warm weather came they staked out their 
 claims and set to work. Stories of fabulous finds 
 spread like wild-fire, and those who were not finding 
 gold rushed to the places that were proving rich. 
 That summer many new towns sprang up, and in a 
 few weeks the Bonanza and Eldorado mines made 
 their owners rich, and all the tributaries of the Klon- 
 dike River were yielding a golden harvest. 
 
 When men found land that they thought would 
 prove rich they made haste to claim it. Sometimes 
 wild races followed, rivals trying to beat each other 
 to the government offices at Dawson in order to 
 claim the land. Frequently after such a wild race 
 the claim would amount to nothing, while another 
 man, who had picked out some place that no one 
 wanted, would find a rich lode and make a fortune 
 from it. Then there would be great excitement, for 
 sudden wealth usually went to the miner's head. He 
 would go down to Dawson, and spend his money 
 freely, while every one in the town would crowd 
 around him to share in his good luck. One of the 
 most successful was a Scotchman, Alexander Mc- 
 
274 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 Donald. At the time of the Klondike strike he was 
 employed by a company at the town of Forty-Mile. 
 He had a little money and began to buy separate 
 pieces of land. He could not afford the rich ground, 
 but managed to purchase more than forty claims 
 through the Klondike. At the end of that first season 
 his fortune was said to be $5,000,000, and might well 
 have been more, as all his claims had not been fully 
 worked He was called " the King of the Klondike," 
 and pointed out to newcomers as an example of 
 what men might do in the gold fields. 
 
 That was only the beginning of the story of the 
 Alaskan gold fields, and each year brought news of 
 other discoveries. But the one season of 1897 was 
 enough to prove the great value of Alaska, and to 
 show that the United States had done well to buy 
 that great territory from the Czar of Russia. Yet 
 gold is only a small part of its riches, and even 
 should the fields of the Klondike yield no more of 
 the precious mineral, the seals, the fur trade, and the 
 cities springing up along its coast are worth much 
 more than the $7,000,000 paid for it. It is still a 
 land of adventure, one of the few waste places that 
 beckon men to come and find what wealth lies hid- 
 den within its borders. 
 
XIV 
 
 HOW THE "MERRIMAC" WAS SUNK 
 IN SANTIAGO HARBOR 
 
 In the small hours of the morning of June 3, 1898, 
 the Merrimac, a vessel that had once been a collier 
 in the United States Navy, slipped away from the 
 war-ships of the American fleet that lay off the coast 
 of Cuba, and headed toward the harbor of Santiago. 
 The moon was almost full, and there was scarcely a 
 cloud in the sky. To the northwest lay the Brook- 
 lyn, her great mass almost white in the reflected 
 light. On the northeast the Texas loomed dark and 
 warlike, and farther away lay a ring of other ships, 
 dim and ghostly in the distance. Ahead was the 
 coast of Cuba, with an outline of mountains rising in 
 a half-circle beyond the harbor. Five miles across 
 the water Morro Castle guarded the entrance to the 
 harbor, in which lay a fleet of the Spanish Admiral 
 Cervera. 
 
 To steer directly for Morro Castle would be to 
 keep the Merrimac full in the moon's path, and to 
 avoid this she stood to the eastward of the course, 
 and stole along at a slow rate of speed. The small 
 crew on board, a commander and seven men, were 
 stripped to their underclothes and wore life-preserv- 
 
276 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 ers and revolver-belts. Each man had taken his life 
 in his hand when he volunteered for this night's work. 
 They wanted to sink the Merrimac at a narrow point 
 in the harbor, and bottle up the Spanish fleet beyond 
 it. 
 
 As they neared the great looming fortress of the 
 Morro it was impossible to keep the ship hidden ; 
 the sentries on the castle must see the dark object 
 now, and wonder what she intended. The Merrimac 
 gave up its oblique course, and steered straight 
 ahead. The order " Full speed I " went from Lieu- 
 tenant Hobson, a naval constructor in command, to 
 the engineer. Foam dashed over the bows, and the 
 long shape shot for the harbor entrance, regardless 
 of what the enemy might think or do. Soon the 
 Morro stood up high above them, the moon clearly 
 revealing the great central battery that crowned the 
 fortress top. 
 
 The Spanish guns were only five hundred yards 
 awa}^ and yet the enemy had given no sign of hav- 
 ing seen the Merrimac. Then suddenly a light 
 flashed from near the water's edge on the left side of 
 the entrance, and a roar followed. The Merrimac 
 did not quiver. The shot must have fallen astern. 
 Again there was a flash, and this time the crew 
 could hear the splash of water as the projectile 
 struck back of them. Through their night-glasses 
 they saw a picket boat with rapid-fire guns lying 
 close in the shadows of the shore. Her guns had 
 probably been aimed at the Merrimac' s rudder ; but 
 
HOW THE MERRIMAC WAS SUNK 277 
 
 so far they had missed their aim. With a rapid- 
 fire g^n to reply the Merrimac might have demol- 
 ished the other boat in half a minute, but she had no 
 such equipment. She would have to pass within a 
 ship's length of this picket. There was nothing to 
 do but pay no heed to her aim at the Merrimad s 
 rudder, and steer for the high wall ofif Morro Castle, 
 where the deep-water channel ran close inshore. 
 " A touch of port helm ! " was the order. " A touch 
 of port helm, sir," came the answer ; and the vessel 
 stood toward the wall. 
 
 There came a crash from the port side. " The 
 western battery has opened on us, sir ! " reported the 
 man on the bridge to Hobson. " Very well ; pay no 
 attention to it," was the answer. The commander 
 knew he must take the Merrimac at least another 
 ship's length forward, and wondered if the enemy 
 would give him that much grace. A shot crossed 
 the bridge, and struck. No one was hurt. They 
 had almost reached the point where they were 
 to stop. Another moment or two, and over the 
 engine telegraph went the order, " Stop ! " The 
 engineer obeyed. The Merrimac slowed off Morro 
 rock. 
 
 A high rocket shot across the channel entrance. 
 From each side came the firing of batteries. Hob- 
 son and his men were too busy to heed them. The 
 Merrimac, still swinging under her own headway, 
 brought her bow within thirty feet of the rock before 
 she righted. Another ship's length, and she would 
 
2/8 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 be at the point where her commander had planned 
 to take her ; then the stearing-gear stopped work- 
 ing, and she was left at the mercy of the current. 
 
 The ship must be sunk before the current could 
 carry her out of the course. This was done by ex- 
 ploding torpedoes on the outside of the vessel. 
 Hobson gave the order, and the first torpedo went 
 off, blowing out the collision bulkhead. There was 
 no reply from the second or third torpedoes. Hob- 
 son crossed the bridge, and shouted, " Fire all tor- 
 pedoes I " In the roar of the Spanish batteries his 
 voice could hardly be heard. 
 
 Meantime the guns on the shores back of the 
 harbor were pouring their shot at the black target in 
 the moonlight, and the din was terrific. Word came 
 to Hobson that some of the torpedoes could not be 
 fired, as their cells had been broken. The order 
 was given to fire the others, and the fifth exploded 
 promptly, but the remaining ones had been shattered 
 by Spanish fire and were useless. The commander 
 knew that under these circumstances it would take 
 some time for the Merrimac to sink. 
 
 The important point was to keep the ship in the 
 center of the harbor ; but the stern-anchor had al- 
 ready been cut away. Hobson watched the bow 
 move against the shore-line. There was nothing to 
 do but wait and see where the tide would swing 
 them. 
 
 The crew now gathered on deck. One of them, 
 Kelly, had been dazed by an exploding shell. When 
 
HOW THE MERRIMAC WAS SUNK 279 
 
 he had picked himself up he started down the engine- 
 room hatch, but found the water rising. Then he 
 remembered the Merriniads purpose, and tried to 
 reach the torpedo of which he had charge. The 
 torpedo was useless, and he headed back to the 
 deck, climbing up on all fours. It was a strange 
 sight to see him stealing up, and Hobson and some 
 of the others drew their revolvers, thinking for the 
 moment that he must be an enemy who had boarded 
 the ship. Fortunately they recognized him almost 
 immediately. 
 
 The tide was bearing them to the center of the 
 channel when there came a blasting noise and shock. 
 A mine had exploded beneath them. " Lads, they're 
 helping us ! " cried the commander. But the mine 
 did not break the deck, and the ship only settled a 
 little lower. For a moment it seemed as if the coal 
 might have closed the breach made by the explosion, 
 but just as the crew feared that they were to be car- 
 ried past the point chosen for sinking the current 
 from the opposite shore caught them, and the Mer- 
 rimac settled crosswise. It was now only a matter 
 of time before she would sink in the harbor. 
 
 The crew could now turn their attention to them- 
 selves. Hobson said to them, " We will remain 
 here, lads, till the moon sets. When it is dark we 
 will go down the after-hatch, to the coal, where her 
 stern will be left out of water. We will remain in- 
 side all day, and to-night at ebb-tide try to make our 
 way to the squadron. If the enemy comes on board. 
 
28o HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 we will remain quiet until he finds us, and will repel 
 him. If he then turns artillery on the place where 
 we are, we will swim out to points farther forward." 
 He started toward the bow to reconnoiter, but was 
 persuaded not to expose himself to the enemy's fire. 
 One of the men discovered a break in the bulwarks 
 that gave a good view, and Hobson stood there. 
 The moon was bright, though now low, and the 
 muzzles of the Spanish guns were very near them. 
 The crew, however, remained safely hidden behind 
 the rail. From all sides came the firing, and the 
 Americans, lying full length on the Merrimad s deck, 
 felt the continual shock of projectiles striking around 
 them. Some of the crew suggested that they should 
 take to the small boat, but the commander knew that 
 this would be certain destruction, and ordered them 
 to remain. Presently a shot struck the boiler, and a 
 rush of steam came up the deck near where they lay. 
 A canteen was passed from hand to hand. Hobson, 
 having no pockets, carried some tourniquets around 
 his left arm, and a roll of antiseptic lint in his left 
 hand, ready in case any of his crew were wounded. 
 
 Looking through the hole in the bulwarks the 
 commander saw that the Merrimac was again mov- 
 ing. Sunk deep though she was, the tide was 
 carrying her on, and might bear her some distance. 
 There seemed to be no way in which they could 
 make her sink where she was. Two more mines ex- 
 ploded, but missed the ship, and as she floated on it 
 became evident that they could not block the channel 
 
HOW THE MERRIMAC WAS SUNK 281 
 
 completely. But shortly the Merrimac gave a lurch 
 forward and settled to the port side. Now the Span- 
 ish Reina Mercedes was near at hand, and the 
 Pluton was coming close inboard, but their guns and 
 torpedoes did not hasten the sinking of the collier. 
 She plunged again and settled in the channel. 
 
 A rush of water came up the gangway, and the 
 crew were thrown against the bulwarks, and then 
 into the sea. The life-preservers helped to keep 
 them afloat, but when they looked for the life-boat 
 they found that it had been carried away. A cata- 
 maran was the largest piece of floating wreckage, 
 and they swam to this. The firing had now stopped. 
 The wreckage began to drift away, and the crew 
 were left swimming about the catamaran, apparently 
 unseen by the enemy. The men were ordered to cling 
 to this rude craft, their bodies in the water, their heads 
 hidden by the boards, and to keep quiet, as Spanish 
 boats were passing close to them. All the crew were 
 safe, and Hobson expected that in time some Spanish 
 officers would come out to reconnoiter the channel. 
 He knew that his men could not swim against the 
 tide to the harbor entrance, and even had they been 
 able to do so it would have been too dangerous a 
 risk, as the banks were now lined with soldiers, and 
 the water patrolled by small boats. Their hope lay 
 in surrendering before they were fired upon. 
 
 The moon had now nearly set, and the shadow of 
 the high banks fell across the water. Boats rowed 
 by Spanish sailors pulled close to the catamaran ; 
 
282 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 but acting under orders from their commander the 
 crew of the Merrimac kept well out of sight. The 
 sun rose, and a new day came. Soon the crew could 
 see the line of distant mountains, and the steep 
 slopes leading to Morro Castle. A Spanish torpedo- 
 destroyer was heading up the harbor, and a bugle at 
 one of the batteries could be heard across the waters. 
 Still the Americans clung to the catamaran, although 
 their teeth were chattering, and they had to work 
 their arms and legs to keep warm. 
 
 Presently one of the men said, " A steam-launch is 
 heading for us, sir 1 " The commander looked 
 about, and saw a large launch, the curtains aft drawn 
 down, coming from around a point of land straight 
 toward the catamaran. As it drew near the launch 
 swerved to the left. When it was about thirty yards 
 away Hobson hailed it. The boat instantly stopped 
 and began to back, while some riflemen appeared on 
 the deck and took position for firing. No shot fol- 
 lowed, however. Hobson called out again, asking 
 whether there were any officers on the boat, and add- 
 ing that if there were he was ready to surrender him- 
 self and his American sailors as prisoners of war. 
 The curtain at the stern was lowered, a Spanish 
 officer gave an order, and the rifles dropped. The 
 American commander swam to the launch, and 
 climbed on board, being helped up by the Spanish 
 officer, who turned out later to be no other than Ad- 
 miral Cervera himself. Hobson surrendered for 
 himself and his crew. The launch then drew close 
 
Spanish Boats Pulled Close to Thi 
 
HOW THE MERRIMAC WAS SUNK 283 
 
 to the catamaran, and the sailors clinging to it were 
 pulled on board. Although the Spaniards knew that 
 the Merrimads men had bottled up their war-ships 
 in the harbor, they could not help praising their 
 bravery. 
 
 The Spanish launch took them to the Reina 
 Mercedes. There the men were given dry clothes 
 and food. Although all were scratched and bruised 
 only one was wounded, and his wound, though 
 painful, was not serious. The American offi- 
 cer was invited to join the Spaniards at break- 
 fast, and was treated with as much courtesy as 
 if he had been an honored guest. Afterward Hob- 
 son wrote a note to Admiral Sampson, who was 
 in command of the American fleet. The note 
 read : '* Sir : I have the honor to report that the 
 Merrimac is sunk in the channel. No loss, only 
 bruises. We are prisoners of war, being well cared 
 for." He asked that this should be sent under a flag 
 of truce. Later in the day the Americans were taken 
 from the war-ship in a launch, and carried across the 
 harbor to Morro Castle. This course brought them 
 within a short distance of where the Merrimac had 
 sunk, and as Hobson noted the position he con- 
 cluded that the plan had only partly succeeded, and 
 that the channel was not completely blocked. 
 
 Landing at a small wharf the Americans were 
 marched up a steep hill that led to the Morro from 
 the rear. The fortress stood out like one of the 
 mediaeval castles of Europe, commanding a wide 
 
284 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 view of sea and shore. The road brought them to 
 the bridge that crossed the moat. They marched 
 under the portcullis, and entered a vaulted passage. 
 The American officer was shown into the guard- 
 room, while the crew were led on. A few minutes 
 later Admiral Cervera came into the guard-room, 
 and held out his hand to Hobson. The admiral said 
 that he would have liked to send the American's note 
 under a flag of truce to his fleet, but that this had 
 been refused by the general in command. He added, 
 however, that some word should be sent to inform 
 their friends of the safe escape of the Merrimad s 
 men. Hobson was then led to a cell in the tower of 
 the castle. As the jailer stopped to unlock the door 
 Hobson had a view of the sea, and made out the line 
 of the American battle-ships moving in two columns. 
 He was told to enter the cell, which was a bare and 
 ill-looking place, but a few minutes later a Spanish 
 captain arrived with apologies, saying that he 
 hoped soon to provide the Americans with better 
 quarters. 
 
 A little later furniture was brought to the cell, and 
 food, cigars, cigarettes, and a bottle of brandy 
 provided for the American officer. In fact he and 
 his men fared as well as the Spanish officers and 
 soldiers themselves. The governor of the fortress 
 sent a note to ask what he could do to improve 
 Hobson's comfort. Officers of all ranks called to 
 shake hands with him, and express their admiration 
 for his courage. That first night in the castle, after 
 
HOW THE MERRIMAC WAS SUNK 285 
 
 the sentries had made their rounds, Hobson climbed 
 up on his cot-bed and looked through a small 
 window at the top of the cell. The full moon 
 showed a steep slope from the fortress to the water, 
 then the wide sweep of the harbor, with a picket- 
 boat on duty as it had been the night before, and 
 beyond the boat the great Spanish war-ships, and 
 still farther off the batteries of Socapa. It was 
 hard to believe that only twenty-four hours before 
 the center of that quiet moonlit water had been 
 ablaze with fire aimed at the small collier Hobson 
 had commanded. As he studied the situation he 
 decided that the Merrimac probably blocked the 
 channel. The enemy would hesitate a long time 
 before they would try to take their fleet past the 
 sunken vessel, and that delay would give Admiral 
 Sampson time to gather his ships. Even if the 
 channel were not entirely blocked the Spanish ships 
 could only leave the harbor in single line and with 
 the most skilful steering. Therefore he concluded 
 that his perilous expedition had been successful. 
 
 Next morning a Spanish officer brought him 
 news that a flag of truce had been carried to Ad- 
 miral Sampson with word of the crew's escape, 
 and that the messengers had been given a box 
 for Hobson, and bags of clothes, some money, and 
 other articles for him and his crew. The men 
 now dressed again in the uniform of American 
 marines, were treated as prisoners of war, and lived 
 almost as comfortably as their captors. 
 
286 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 While Hobson was having his coffee on the 
 morning of June 6th, he heard the whiz and crash 
 of an exploding shell, then another, and another, 
 and knew that a general bombardment of the fort- 
 ress had begun. He hastily examined the cell to 
 see what protection it would offer from bricks and 
 mortar falling from the walls and roof. At the 
 first shot the sentry on guard had bolted the door 
 and left. The American pulled the table and wash- 
 stand in front of the door, and stood the galvanized 
 iron box that had been sent him against the end 
 of the table ; this he thought would catch splinters 
 and stones which would probably be more dan- 
 gerous than actual shells. He lay down under the 
 protection of this cover. He knew that the gunners 
 of the American fleet were good shots, and figured 
 that they could easily demolish all that part of 
 the Morro in which his cell was situated. One 
 shell after another against the walls of the fortress 
 made the whole structure tremble, and it seemed as 
 if part of the walls would be blown away. Fortu- 
 nately, however, the firing soon turned in another 
 direction, and Hobson could come from his shelter, 
 and, standing on his cot-bed, look through the 
 window at the battle. Several times he took shelter 
 again under the table, and several times returned to 
 watch the cannonade. The shells screamed through 
 the air ; plowed through shrubs and earthworks ; 
 knocked bricks and mortar from the Morro, and set 
 fire to some of the Spanish ships. But no serious 
 
, HOW THE MERRIMAC WAS SUNK 287 
 
 damage was done, and the bombardment ended in a 
 stand-off between the two sides. 
 
 The American officer had no desire to pass 
 through such a cannonade again, and he wrote 
 to the Spanish governor to ask that his crew and 
 himself be transferred to safer quarters. Next day 
 an officer arrived with orders to take all the pris- 
 oners to the city of Santiago. So after a four 
 days' stay in Morro Castle the little party set out on 
 an inland march, guarded by some thirty Spanish 
 soldiers. It was not far to Santiago, and there 
 the Americans were housed in the regular army 
 barracks. These quarters were much better than 
 those in the fortress, and the British Consul secured 
 many comforts and delicacies for the Americans. 
 
 The men of the Alerrimac stayed in Santiago 
 during the siege of that city. On July 5th ar- 
 rangements were made to exchange Hobson and 
 his men. In the afternoon they were blindfolded 
 and guided out of the city. Half a mile or more 
 beyond the entrenchments they were told that they 
 might remove the handkerchiefs, and found them- 
 selves facing their own troops on a distant ridge. 
 Soon they were being welcomed by their own men, 
 who told them of the recent victories won by 
 fleet and army. Not long afterward they reached 
 their ships, and were received on board the New 
 York by the officers and men who had watched 
 them set out on their dangerous mission on that 
 moonlight night of June 3d. They gave a royal 
 
288 HISTORIC ADVENTURES 
 
 welcome to the small crew who had brought the 
 collier into the very heart of the Spanish lines and 
 sunk her, taking their chances of escape. They 
 were the heroes of a desperate adventure, from 
 which every man returned unharmed. 
 
OCT 18 1913 
 
THE HISTORIC 
 
 SERIES FOR 
 YOUNG PEOPLE