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JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS; 
 
 SKETCHES OF NEBRASKA: 
 
 DESCRir.IXO 
 
 THE COUNTRY, CLIMATE, SOIL, MIXERAL, ilAXUEAC- 
 TURING, AND OTHER RESOURCES. 
 
 THE RESULTS OF A TOUR MADE IN' THE AUTU3IX OF 1854. 
 
 KEV. C. B. BOYNTON and T. B. MASON, 
 
 COMMITTEE FROM THE " KANSAS LEAGUE," OF CI^•CI^'^-ATI. 
 
 mii^ K 'gtbj anir ^ni^zntk.W^^, from (DfEtial ioums. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 
 MOOEE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO, 
 
 NO. 25 WEST FOURTH STREE] 
 
 1855 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year ISol, by 
 
 MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO., 
 
 In the Clerk's of&ce of the District Court of Ohio. 
 
 
 Stereotyped by 
 MOORE. WILSTACH, KEYS tc OVEBE/«D, 
 
 CINCINNATI. 
 
 *; 
 
 i^ «\' / 
 
n ^^ 
 
 COMMISSIONERS' PREFACE 
 
 Our first intention, after our return from Kansas, 
 was to present only a brief formal report of the 
 principal facts connected with the geography, soil, 
 climate, productions, and resources of the country. 
 But we soon found that the material we had collected 
 was ample for a work of a different character ; and it 
 was the opinion of judicious persons with whom we 
 consulted, that the interests of the cause would be 
 best promoted by weaving this material into a cheap 
 book of a somewhat popular caste, by which a wider 
 circulation could be given to the facts themselves. 
 
 This course was decided upon, after consultation 
 with the officers of the Societies by whom we were 
 sent out, and the statements of the book have the 
 official sanction of the Commissioners. 
 
 Charles B. Boynton, 
 - . T. B. ]\Iasok 
 
 CiNCiifXATi, October, 1854, 
 
 (iii) 
 
PREFACE OF THE WRITER 
 
 In September, 1854, a small party was commis- 
 sioned by "The American Eeform Tract and Book 
 Society,'^ and "The Kansas League,'^ in Cincinnati, to 
 explore and report upon the climate, soil, produc- 
 tions and general resources, and promise of Kansas. 
 
 With this party the writer united himself, partly 
 for the purpose of aiding in executing the commission, 
 and partly in the hope of recruiting his exhausted 
 strength by a ramble over the "prairie land'^ of 
 Kansas. 
 
 After the return of the party, it was thought that 
 perhaps many of the scenes and incidents of that far, 
 and almost unexplored Territory, which had so deeply 
 interested us, might, through description, awaken an 
 interest in others ; and that the facts themselves, if 
 conveyed partly through the medium of narrative, 
 would make a more vivid impression, and obtain a 
 wider circulation. 
 
 (V) 
 
VI PREFACE OF TKE WRITER. 
 
 All facts and statements concerning the aspect, re- 
 sources, and productions of the country, are presented 
 with the sanction of the Commissioners ; while, for the 
 grouping of these facts, description, and narration, the 
 writer alone is responsible. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 Preparations and Inquiries, 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 From Cincinnati to St. Louis, 4 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Voyage up the Missouri — Cholera on the Boat, 10 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Business and Boats of the Missouri — Kansas City, 18 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 A Squatter City — Fort Leaven-worth — ^Weston, 23 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Weston Ferry and its Shibboleth — Entrance into the Territory.. .30 
 
 (vii) 
 
Vm CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Geograpliical and Commercial Diyisions, 33 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Scenery and Incidents, 45 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Climate and Productions, 58 
 
 \ 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Temperature and Quantity of Rain, 60 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Streams, Springs, Yv^ells, Timber — its kinds and quality — Mate- 
 rials for Fences and Dwellinfrs, "6-1 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 A Night on the banks of the Big Blue, 77 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Scenery of the Prairies— The Past, The Present, The Future,. 86 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 Town Sites and Settlements, 93 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The First "Winter may be one of Hardship, 101 
 
. CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Fort Riley — Indian Fighting, 105 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 From Fort Riley to Council Grove — Kaw Indians, Ill 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Number of Inhabitants now in the Territory — Slaveholders — 
 Their Feelings and Plans, 125 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Importance of Kansas, as seen in her position and rela- 
 tions to other portions of the country, 133 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Homestead and Pre-Emption Law, 142 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Indian Lands and Reservations, 152 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Mules — Tecum sell — Prospecting — The New England Settle- 
 ment — A Mule Chase, loG 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 The Mounds — An Indian Murderer — Interesting Custom, IGl 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 An Interesting Family — Hunting on the Plains and among the 
 
 •Rocky Vi^.onutains — Wintf^r Advon<T!VPs on tli? fV.-iiri-^-; 171 
 
3C CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 Nebraska, 183 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Great Importance of the Kansas Question, 198 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 Warning Voice, 203 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 Christian Obligation — Christian Colonization, 209 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PREPARATIONS AND INQUIRIES. 
 
 Within the short space of a few weeks, a large amount 
 of information has been collected and circulated in regard 
 to Kansas. Every scrap concerning this last new land of 
 promise, has been devoured with curiosity's keenest appe- 
 tite, and most men will now talk as if Kansas were a 
 familiar subject, studied and comprehended. Few, however, 
 as yet, have formed any well-defined ideas of the position, 
 * aspect and resources of this great Territory, or have meas- 
 ured aright the influences which its settlement is likely to 
 exert upon the destiny of the whole country; and two 
 months since, when it was first determined that an explor- 
 ing party should go out from Cincinnati, it was far n ^re 
 difficult to decide what was needed for such a journey man 
 to provide an outfit for a voyage to Europe ; and while we 
 modestly admit that we had ourselves no knowledge to boast 
 of, we must add, that the general ignorance was highly 
 amusing. Some seemed to have no more definite notion of 
 1 
 
2 JOUEXEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 the position of Kansas, than of the distance of the fixed 
 stars. They thought of it as indefinitely remote — some- 
 where "out west," toward the Pacific Ocean. One indi- 
 vidual placed it two thousand miles from Council Bluffs ; 
 another brought it on within two thousand miles of Cincin- 
 nati, while an Irish friend inquired if it was indeed a newly- 
 discovered continent. An outfit for Kansas is a matter to 
 be very gravely considered, and attended to in the minutest 
 manner, before starting, and a thing to be laughed over when 
 once you are in the Territory. Eifles, shot-guns and revolv- 
 ers, with all the necessary accoutermeuts and ammunition, 
 hunters' knives, blankets, tents, camp equipage, fishing 
 apparatus, water-proof boots and coats ; these, and innu- 
 merable smaller articles, were to be duly considered and 
 decided uj^on. 
 
 Who could tell what weapons of offense or defense 
 might be needed on the lonely prairie ? All the newspapers 
 agreed in declaring that no man should dare venture without 
 his rifle, at the very least. 
 
 Whether the rifle was to be used against panthers, grizzly 
 bears, and wolves, or against the Pawnees, or Camanches, or 
 to defend ourselves against those bloody-minded members of 
 the Platte County Self-defensive Association, who had offered 
 a reward for Eli Thayer, we could not tell ; or whether it 
 mi ht not be necessary to carry by assault the famous Wes- 
 ton ferry, where it was said no Yankee could, on any terms, 
 get over. A rifle was voted into the outfit ; also, a " double 
 barrel," for none could tell us how else food was to be ob- 
 tained, and for the same reason our fishing-tackle was added, 
 as also a revolver for close combat, whether witli mnn or 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 6 
 
 beast. Eubber overcoats and leggins were also obtained, 
 for b'w could a shelter be reached on the naked prairie ? 
 We were told in the Territory, that a very prudent gentle- 
 man from New York, one of great forecast, had carried his 
 precautionary measures so far, as to take out with him a 
 paper of sand for scouring his knives. Our providence was 
 not so far-reaching or so minute as his, but when fairly under- 
 way in Kansas, rolling easily in a two-horse carriage over the 
 finest roads in the world, we discovered that our outfit, pro- 
 vided with so much anxious care, was, with a few exceptions, 
 as little needed as it would be in the streets of our own city. 
 Our rifle did indeed have a shot at a prairie wolf, and prairie 
 chickens, quails and plover heard the voice of our " double 
 barrel ;" to which fact, most of them being yet alive, are 
 ready to bear witness ; while a few, impudent, and scornful, 
 offering themselves at ''standing shot" vt ere added to our 
 spoils, and we left their well-picked bones to bleach upon 
 the prairies. The hunter's knife was quite useful, one 
 morning, in preparing some dry toast for a breakfast on the 
 prairie, but had no taste of the blood of buffaloes, or elk, or 
 even grizzly bears. 
 
 In fact, the exploration of Kansas was a much more peace- 
 ful affair, with a more decidedly civilized aspect, than our 
 friends had feared, or we had imagined. But, though blood- 
 less, our journey was full of instruction upon points now 
 intimately connected with American progress, interspersed 
 with some exciting and many amusing incidents ; while 
 after leaving St. Louis, the whole scene was attractive, from 
 its novelty, which scene, as it was a few weeks since, I will 
 now endeavor to nresent to the reader. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM CINCINNATI TO ST. LOUIS. 
 
 The Ohio bad shrunk, during the drouth, to a shallow 
 that put to shame its boasting spring flood, and our Ohio 
 and Mississippi Eailroad being as jet only in "rapid prog- 
 ress," our party was compelled to set its face toward 
 Chicago. But, by which route ? This question suggests 
 many important thoughts concerning the trade of Cincinnati. 
 The traveler may pass by steamboat or railway to Madison, 
 and thence northward by railroad to Indianapolis and Chi- 
 cago; or, to Lawrenceburgh, cither by the boat or cars, 
 and thence to Chicago; or, by Hamilton, Richmond, and 
 Indianapolis ; or, lastly, by Dayton, Eichmond, and Indian- 
 apolis. This assemblage of railways, stretching from Cin- 
 cinnati toward the northwest, shows how earnestly she is 
 now preparing herself to attract the trade of that immense 
 and fertile region — while the long lines which traverse 
 the country from the Mississippi eastward, some of them 
 already crowded with freights and travel, and that leave 
 the Queen City to the south on one side, cause one to feel 
 that the air-line connection with St. Louis has been delayed 
 too long already, and that it behooves Cincinnati not only to 
 finish this railroad with all haste, but to be dilisent and 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 5 
 
 greatly in earnest to ally herself to the free west and north- 
 west, by all those ties and living sympathies, which are 
 mightier even than railways, to give direction to the currents 
 of trade. 
 
 On one of the sunniest mornings of early autumn, we 
 were seated in the cars of the Ohio and Mississippi Eail- 
 road. I felt the first motion of the train on this link of 
 the great central " broad gauge " with strong emotion. Soon 
 this broad gauge will stretch in almost an air-line, from St. 
 Louis to New York ; and already its westward continuation 
 to the mouth of the Kansas is under-way, and then for the 
 Pacific and the trade of the ''exhaustless East." How 
 sooD, along this iron artery, the tide of commerce will throb 
 from ocean to ocean ! This spanning a continent with such 
 a railway is a thought worthy the nineteenth century — one 
 which no other century could have conceived or executed. 
 It is an exponent of the spirit of our age, and marks the 
 change in the direction of human thought and industry, 
 since the time when the genius and labor of an empire were 
 employed in piling up the good-for-nothing pyramids. Eu- 
 rope and Asia will yet rush to meet each other in this^ 
 Western valley, at the rate of fifty miles an hour ! At some 
 eating station out in Kansas, or at Salt Lake, London and 
 Canton will exchange congratulations and newspapers. 
 
 The sooner all idea of obtaining aid from the Government 
 for building a Pacific Eailroad is abandoned, the better, 
 probably, and the sooner the work will be done. Not that 
 it would not be a noble achievement for the Government, to 
 link thus oceans and continents together, and make the 
 commerce of the earth tributary to our own advancement, 
 
6 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 but the south, and the north, and the center, can never 
 agree, as we have reason to fear, upon any route, and so let 
 each section push its own lines westward as rapidly as 
 possible. Each great division of the country needs a con- 
 nection with the Pacific ; and it is to be hoped that each 
 will succeed in its efforts. In the meantime, the first and 
 highest prize awaits the most energetic. A broad gauge 
 air-line from New York, by Cincinnati, St. Louis, the 
 Valley of the Kansas, and Fremont's newly-discovered 
 Pass, need not despair of business. So at least I thought, 
 as we swept down the bank of the Ohio. 
 
 The river seemed actually ashamed of itself, and tried to 
 hide its shriveled dimensions, by creeping close up under 
 the shadow of the steep banks, and winding, with its feeble 
 channel, as much as possible, out of sight. I felt a pity 
 for the old river that had held au exclusive monopoly of 
 carriage here so long, and now, when old and feeble, was 
 thrust aside, and made the theme of idle ridicule, by those 
 who were once thankful to be borne on its full-flowing 
 stream, kissing the high rim of either bank. The steam- 
 horse snorted and neighed in derision as he rushed past, 
 and the puny river had now no consolation, unless he 
 thought of his fall-rise, and his spring-flood. 
 
 Chicago may be regarded as the most aspiring city in 
 the Union, and certainly the marvelous progress of her 
 youth, may well justify her in anticipating greatness in her 
 maturity. It remains to be seen whether she is not stretch- 
 ing herself beyond her measure, and preparing for a calam- 
 itous reaction. She shows, as yet, however, no signs of 
 weakness or pause, and though in every natural advantage 
 
JOUKNEY THROUGH KAN,<AS. 7 
 
 she is far inferior to Cincinnati, yet there are powerful 
 influences operating in her favor, which the Queen City does 
 not enjoy. 
 
 The east has poured into Chicago and the adjacent coun- 
 try her sons and daughters, and capital in no stinted measure. 
 She has followed these, of course, with her eyes and heart, 
 her sympathies and prayers. Chicago has enjoyed, of late, 
 whatever aid the influence of the east could give her. To- 
 ward her, the public attention has been turned; to her, 
 capital has been directed for investment. The east has 
 reproduced itself in that northern region, and the promising 
 child is beloved, praised and recommended. In all this 
 movement for the settlement and upbuilding of the north- 
 west, Cincinnati is scarcely more thought of than Xew 
 Orleans. The thought and sympathy of the east rolls 
 along the lakes, and across to Iowa and Minesota, even to 
 Oregon, and the memories and affections of these in turn, flow 
 back eastward along the same lines, to New York and Boston, 
 carrying their commerce with them. Chicago is the true 
 heart of the country, of which she is the commercial center. 
 
 The rural population, the people, and the city, are in 
 sympathy with each other. Their interests have thus 
 become mutual, and they are rapidly concentrating upon 
 Chicago an array of institutions and influences that will 
 form a broad foundation of metropolitan power. 
 
 Chicago is an exponent of western sentiment as Cincinnati 
 is not, and she is in closer sympathy with the general move- 
 ment of the country. With these advantages, united with 
 the unwearied energy which she displays, it perhaps were 
 unwise to say, that she will not accomplish her large desires. 
 
8 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 inferior thougli she is to her southern neighbor, in position, 
 size, architectural beauty, wealth and manufactures. Moral 
 causes are entering largely into the control of commerce, 
 and cities even, must beware how they violate the great 
 principles of right. 
 
 St. Louis. — In studying the map of the United States, 
 one involuntarily puts his finger upon the site of St. Louis, 
 as the spot where the great internal city of the country 
 should be, and feels compelled to prophesy, that there it 
 must and will be. But here, again, moral causes interpose, 
 and produce results, which, at first glance, would scarcely 
 be anticipated. /Slavery has repelled from St. Louis the 
 element of freedom, and turned the tide of free emigration 
 northward, leaving her own beautiful regions a waste, and 
 herself languishing in an atmosphere lacking the vitality 
 of freedom. ; 
 
 It is evident, however, to the most casual observer, that 
 there is in St. Louis a new life contending with the old 
 death-power of slavery. The young city, born of the influ- 
 ences of the surrounding free territory and its commerce, 
 bears yet with her the body of that death ; but the bands 
 which lash the living to the dead, are loosening, and unless 
 the Nebraska iniquity shall finally triumph, St. Louis will 
 enter upon a new career, and the enjoyment of a better life. 
 
 Should Kansas and the States yet to be erected on the 
 adjoining Territories, become slave States, St. Louis will 
 command their commerce, as she will, also, the trade of the 
 south, in far larger measure than she now does, excluding 
 Cincinnati in large degree from both, notwithstanding all 
 past and present efi'orts to secure the southern favor. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 9 
 
 On the other hand, should those vast and fertile western 
 regions teem with a free population, St. Louis, as a free 
 city, will, in the end, interpose herself between them and 
 Cincinnati; and then, if the latter is not allied to those 
 frontier States, by any common sympathies or affinities — by 
 any ties of kindred or the power of common memories and 
 associations — if ^the recollections of their early struggles are 
 connected only with other friends, will it not be difficult for 
 her, in the absence of these things, to obtain the commerce 
 of these rising States ? Such are some of the moral influ- 
 ences which seem to connect themselves with the fortunes 
 of western cities — and thus largely is the slavery question 
 likely to influence their commerce and their growth. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 VOYAGE UP THE MISSOURI — CHOLERA ON THE BOAT. 
 
 It bad been our intention to join tbe second party tbat 
 -went out under tbe auspices of tbe Emigrant Aid Society. 
 Tbis party, numbering abotit one bundred and tbirty, 
 reacbed St. Louis on Saturday, and instead of resting in 
 St. Louis over tbe Sabbatb, as we bave since understood it 
 was tbe intention of tbe officers of tbe Society tbat tbey 
 sbould do, proceeded immediately up tbe river — tbus tramp- 
 ling down one law of God, in a mission professedly under 
 taken to vindicate anotber. 
 
 Tbis desecration of tbe Sabbatb by a band of emigrants 
 from Massacbusetts, as most of tbem were, and connected 
 as tbey were witb a society organized for tbe very purpose 
 of opposing an immorality, was a cause of grief to tbe best 
 friends of tbe movement in tbe West. It served to divest 
 tbe wbole enterprise of a moral cbaracter ; and to tbis extent 
 diminisbed its power. Tbose wbo bad denounced it, were 
 encouraged in tbeir opposition. Tbe friends of tbe slave 
 power bad feared more tban all else, tbat tbe spirit and 
 principles of tbe Pilgrims would, by systematic effort, be 
 planted in Kansas. But wben tbey knew tbat tbis large 
 company, tbe representatives, as tbey bad reason to suppose, 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 11 
 
 of those who were to follow, did not hesitate to prosecute 
 their journey on the Sabbath, it served to modify, somewhat, 
 in their minds, the effect of the religious speeches, and 
 Bible presentation, and Pilgrim songs, that had heralded 
 their approach. Their Pilgrim character was stripped away 
 by their own hands, and they sank in public estimation to 
 the level of a common band of adventurers. In a mere 
 worldly point of view, it was a serious mistake, and it 
 occasioned a loss of moral power not easily regained. It 
 showed the necessity of a movement originating in deep and 
 steady religious feeling, by which alone Kansas can be per- 
 manently secured for God and freedom. 
 
 To one unaccustomed to the navigation of western rivers, 
 a voyage up the Missouri presents many novel, and some 
 interesting, features. The union of the Mississippi and 
 jMissouri is conducted very much according to some of the 
 modern ideas of marriage. The two do not become one, 
 but remain two distinct and separate individuals, with 
 equal rights and privileges, long after their destinies flow 
 on together, between two common banks. Far below, how- 
 ever, it is perceived, that even the rivers find out that this 
 is not the true philosophy of marriage, and they therefore 
 melt into one. There are few such scenes on earth as the 
 meeting of those giant floods, after each has swept over half 
 the breadth of a continent, and almost half a continent still 
 between them and the sea. "We speak of them often, and 
 of the great system of rivers, of which they form the cen- 
 tral lines, as evincing the foresight of God, in regard to the 
 commerce of the Western valley — as if they had been shaped 
 exclusively for the trade of this nineteenth century. But what 
 
12 JOURNEY THROUGH KANcAS. 
 
 purpose were they subserving, in the economy of creation, 
 through the ages during which they were all rolling on their 
 floods before the Anglo-Saxons began to be ? Even then they 
 had some mission worthy of Him who unsealed their springs 
 in the mountains, and scooped out their beds in the valleys. 
 We are apt in our pride to imagine, that all the past has 
 been shaped for our accommodation, and that by us all the 
 future will be controlled. The veriest puddle of the streets 
 need not blush beside the muddy Missouri ; but one is 
 deeply impressed with the power of the broad flood, that 
 rushes down so unweariedly, with a velocity, as is said, of 
 six miles an hour, nor slacking its speed in the race of two 
 thousand miles, from the Kocky mountains to the Mississippi. 
 It is a much more rapid stream than the Mississippi, and 
 on the fortieth parallel of latitude, is said to be five hun- 
 dred feet higher than that river. 
 
 Sand-bars are the vexations, and snags and sawyers the 
 terrors of the navigation of the Missouri. Familiarity with 
 difl&culties and dangers, however, has begotten a coolness 
 and skill, whereby they are avoided or overcome, and after 
 watching for a day the maneuvers of a well-managed boat, 
 among the snags, it is difficult to feel any anxiety about 
 them, though reason gravely tells us there is continual dan- 
 ger, and she also tells the truth. Yet, compared with the 
 whole amount of business, accidents have become somewhat 
 rare, even on the Missouri. 
 
 These river steamboats may be said to be partly amphib- 
 ious, from the manner in which they get out their legs and 
 walk over the sand-bars and shallows. I once thought that 
 when there is not water enough to float a boat, there is no 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 13 
 
 remedy; but the western navigator halts not for lack of 
 water. The boat is provided with heavy spars, some fifty 
 feet long, which are set out over the sides, like the legs of 
 giants, and by means of the proper machinery, worked by 
 the capstan, the weight of the boat is partly suspended upon 
 her legs, and she literally ''walks the water like a thing of 
 life." 
 
 The days occupied in our passage up the river, were 
 among the hottest of the season, and the heat of the fires 
 and steam converted the whole boat into one huge furnace, 
 especially when not under-way. We knew that the cholera 
 was doing a fatal, though quiet work, along our western 
 rivers, as well as in the cities of the country, and even one 
 whose courage is based upon Christian faith, could scarce 
 avoid some unpleasant apprehensions, at the thought of the 
 brutal neglect by which so many attacked with cholera upon 
 steamboats, have been really murdered ; nor should a man 
 be called a coward, if his soul shrinks from a midnight 
 burial at a woodyard, or from being hurriedly thrust into a 
 hole in a sand-bar, from which the current may wash his 
 body out before a day has passed. 
 
 Some symptoms of disease appeared among the passen- 
 gers, though all was quiet. On the second day it was known 
 to a few, that a young man who had left his wife and child 
 in Illinois, to seek for them a new home in Kansas, was seized 
 with cholera, and in a few hours more he was dead. The 
 body was laid down on the guards of the boat below, away 
 from the observation and knowledge of most of the passengers. 
 The few who knew of it however, felt that they had received 
 one of death's most solemn lessons, in this sudden vanishing 
 
14 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 of early manhood's dream — this swift fading of the temporal 
 into the eternal, with one in our very midst, one of us — for 
 among a company of passengers, traveling on for days 
 together, there springs up a feeling akin to that produced 
 by kindred, and a death on board resembles, though faintly, 
 a death in a household. 
 
 What tidings, too, for the young wife, counting up the 
 days of his absence, and consoling herself with thoughts of 
 the new home on the prairie, that her husband was dead 
 and buried, perchance where she could never find even his 
 grave ! In the night, at some woodyard, and unknown to 
 all but the few who would bear the body ashore, he was to 
 be buried ; and perhaps it may interest the reader to know 
 what reason one of the living has, to remember that night 
 on a Missouri river steamboat. 
 
 Disease, which I well knew might be, and which I had 
 much reason to believe really was, incipient cholera, had 
 been upon me many hours previous to the sickness and death 
 of him whom I have mentioned. My nervous system, from 
 physical and mental exhaustion, was, before I left home, in 
 a state to be impressed by every object, and by every occur- 
 rence; and doubtless the predisposition to disease, was 
 strengthened by this solemn death, and the prospect of such 
 a midnight burial ; and, erelong, I knew that the disease 
 was assuming its distinctive features, and that life's current 
 had begun to ebb. A few moments' reflection brought me 
 to two conclusions; first, that I had at my own disposal, as 
 efficacious medicines as any one on board the boat could 
 supply me wdth, and that I would depend upon them, my 
 own judgment, and the overwatching care of God, and thus 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 15 
 
 escape whatever danger tliere might be in making known a 
 second case of cholera on board — for sometimes one's life is 
 little cared for, in comparison with the reputation of the 
 boat. Second, I knew that np to a certain point, even the 
 aid of friends would be useless, and therefore determined 
 not to disturb my traveling companions, unless it should be 
 absolutely necessary. I sought my berth, with my medi- 
 cines within reach, and committed myself into the hands 
 of Him who I knew was able to save. The ''practice" was 
 necessarily a very simple one, confined entirely to the use of 
 large quantities of powerful stimulants, frequently repeated. 
 The boat was oppressively hot, but I knew that the perspi- 
 ration that would gush from every pore, and then leave me 
 all cold, was not caused merely by the heat of the cabin, 
 and I was sensible also, that the system was gradually sink- 
 ing ; and, notwithstanding what I had swallowed already was 
 quite sufficient to destroy a man in health, it was repeated, 
 dose after dose, as the only hope, knowing that the fatal 
 collapse was near. For what seemed a long time, I was not 
 conscious of the slightest influence produced by these power- 
 ful remedies so lavishly applied ; but as I now recall the 
 visions and thoughts that hurried through my mind, it 
 seems evident that the whole system must have been at last 
 strongly excited, and there was, probably, a mingling of 
 dreams with waking thoughts, a state of mind which, for a 
 brief period, bordered upon, but yet was not, delirium. 
 There was no fear of death, nor was there any higher exer- 
 cise of Christian feeling than resignation to whatever the 
 will of God might be. The mind seemed turned outward 
 from itself, directed, probably, by surrounding circumstances. 
 
16 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 About midnight, as it seemed, the boat was stopped, and I 
 knew that the corpse of our fellow-passenger was borne ashore 
 in the darkness, silently, with no kindred to mourn — with no 
 funeral hymn or prayer ; it was just at the time when I 
 knew that my own fate would soon be decided, and that 
 perhaps I, too, in a few hours more, would in like manner 
 be taken away. 
 
 I followed the group with the body, in imagination, as I 
 heard it leave the deck. I seemed to see the shallow grave 
 hastily dug, the glimmer of the single light, the overhang- 
 ing trees, and the surrounding darkness. Then the grave 
 seemed to be only a hole scooped in the sand-bar, partly 
 filled with water, into which the rude box, with the body, 
 was thrust, and the wet sand scraped in, and I saw the cur- 
 rent lay it bare, and then sweep it away. I thought of my 
 own grave, under the cottonwoods of the Missouri bottoms, 
 with nothing to distinguish the place, and I saw friends 
 from home sadly wandering along the shore, and searching 
 vainly for the spot. Then I seemed to feel that I was dead, 
 and inclosed in a rough coffin, and buried in the sand, 
 where I could hear the rush of the river washing my grave 
 away. 
 
 Again, home, with every minute object of the familiar 
 scene rose before me ; the family rooms and circle of loved 
 ones gathered there, and I saw brought in the letter with 
 the ominous seal. I followed and traced the sensation pro- 
 duced by the tidings, in the larger circle of friends, and I 
 remember a sense of sadness and mortification, when I 
 marked how soon it was all forgot. I could not divest 
 myself of the impression, that when I was dead and placed 
 
JOURNEY TIIIIOUGII KANSAS. 17 
 
 in my lonely grave, that there avouIcI be the agonizing sen- 
 sation of being left behind, and alone in the darkness of the 
 night and the tomb, that I should feel that the spot could 
 never be found or known, and that I should hear the sound 
 of departing footsteps, and of the receding boat. 
 
 When this partial dream or delirium passed, T was con- 
 t?cious at once that the progress of disease was arrested; 
 the vital powers were beginning to rally ; visions faded away, 
 and I knew that Grod had interposed in my behalf. There 
 was no doubt on my mind that the danger was nearly, if 
 not entirely passed, and that, by the mercy of God, 1 had 
 escaped a grave in the sand-banks of the Missouri. 
 
 The reaction of the system, so low had it sunk, v^^as only 
 to the point of health, notwithstanding the quantity and 
 power of the stimulants, and my next night on the Missouri 
 was one of comfort and peace. I had often read of the 
 stopping of boats on these western rivers, at woodyards and 
 sand-bars, to bury the dead; but now my own eye had 
 seen, my own heart had been made to feel. One at least will 
 not soon forget the dead emigrant, and that midnight burial. 
 The banks of the Mississippi and Missouri are, in reality, 
 one long graveyard, where the dead of all nations sleep, 
 and their waters have swallowed up wealth enough for the 
 purchase of an empire. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BUSINESS AND BOATS OF THE MISSOURI — KANSAS CITY. 
 
 Inasmuch as it has an important "bearing upon the cheap- 
 ness and comfort of emigration, the fact may be mentioned 
 here, that we were agreeably disappointed at the amount of 
 business, and business facilities, upon the Missouri. The 
 number of steamboats on the river is greater, and they are 
 larger and better provided, in every respect, than we had 
 supposed would be found at this season of the year, while 
 the amount of freight and number of passengers also ex- 
 ceeded our expectations. It shows a large population and 
 business upon the upper Missouri, which fact is well illus- 
 trated by another. "Weston, a place of some 4,000 inhabit- 
 ants, is, by the river, 506 miles from St. Louis; and Platte 
 county, of which this is the principal commercial town, 
 has been settled only fifteen years, and now contains 40,000 
 inhabitants. 
 
 These facts show that Kansas borders upon a rich and 
 populous country, upon which it can depend for supplies, 
 during the process of settlement, whence it can derive abun- 
 dance of stock, and where, also, it can find its markets, 
 until it has commercial towns on the river of its own, and 
 then it will have the power of choice. With such a country 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 19 
 
 already settled, the Missouri river on its border, and markets 
 within reach, Kansas will have advantages in its settlement 
 which few new countries have ever possessed, and the settlers, 
 consequently, will be exposed to fewer hardships and dis- 
 advantages. At this season of the year, (September,) and 
 in this stage of water, (very low,) the voyage from St. Louis 
 to the mouth of the Kansas river, is made in three and a 
 half to four days, and the established price for cabin pas- 
 sage, on the best boats, is twelve dollars. 
 
 We were informed by the officers of our boat, that the 
 Missouri was then at its lowest stage, yet this boat had very 
 little difficulty in making her passage, though of 600 tons 
 burden. The navigation can be depended upon until about 
 the middle of November. It is then usually interrupted by 
 ice, but is clear again early in March, and sometimes, in the 
 latter part of February. The annual rise, from the melting 
 of the snows in the Kocky mountains, occurs in May. 
 
 The price of freights, from St. Louis to the mouth of the 
 Kansas, is, during the low water, from one dollar to one 
 dollar andffty cents per cwt., according to the character of 
 the article, while, when the river is at full stage, and many 
 Ohio river boats run up the Missouri, competition often 
 brings it down to twenty-jive cents per cwt. ; and as the 
 merchants of the towns up the river are able to avail them- 
 selves of these low prices, for the transportation of their 
 permanent stock, the settler will often, perhaps generally, 
 find it to his advantage to purchase his outfit of them rather 
 than to buy at St. Louis, and then subject himself to heavy 
 charges for freight — especially in the latter part of the 
 season. 
 
20 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 rriday eyening, the Kansas passengers were informed 
 that they must he prepared to laud before midnight ; "but, 
 unfortunately, it was found necessary to walk over a sand- 
 bar, and Kansas City (in Missouri) was not reached until 
 ten o'clock next morning. 
 
 City, is a somewhat ambitious title for the little village 
 of Kansas, but it may be presumed to have a prospective 
 import, referring rather to the possible than the actual. It 
 is on the west bank of the Missouri, near the mouth 
 of the Kansas, and on the southern shore of the latter 
 stream. It appears like a village of from six hundred to 
 one thousand inhabitants. Having a fine landing, with 
 thirty feet of water, when the river is at its low stage ; a 
 natural limestone wharf, and a high bluff in the rear, it 
 seems to occupy the natural site of the principal commercial 
 city for the Kansas valley. Such it would doubtless be, 
 were it not in a slave State. The line of Missouri, here, 
 runs on the west bank of the Missouri river, close up to the 
 mouth of the Kansas ; and while the mouth of this river is 
 wholly in Kansas, Kansas City is within the boundaries of 
 Missouri. 
 
 What influence its location in a slave State may have 
 upon its prosperity, remains yet to be seen. Prejudices 
 which imbitter different sections against each other, while 
 they are held apart, are often modified, or entirely removed, 
 by mutual contact, business intercourse and social relations, 
 and it would not be surprising if slaveholders and abo- 
 litionists should yet unite their interests and efforts, in 
 building up a real city, where, as yet, there is little 
 but the name. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 21 
 
 In l^ct, Kansas City is already largely under the influence 
 of eastern capital, and tlic wealth, and industry, and skill 
 of the east, will be welcomed in every town on the Missouri. 
 
 Kansas City is already contending with Weston for the 
 emigrant trade, as well as for that of Santa Fe and Califor- 
 nia, and should this latter place find the current of eastern 
 trade and travel turned wholly aside from her doors, it will 
 only prove what great and lasting mischief may be wrought, 
 in an hour of folly, by a few noisy busybodies, whose self- 
 conceit is much more conspicuous than their wisdom. 
 
 On the wharf, at Kansas City, long trains were preparing 
 to start for Santa Fe, to us a novel sight, and giving us a 
 more distinct idea of the extent of this southwestern trade. 
 It was an American caravan, preparing to cross the Ameri- 
 can desert. The heav}^ capacious black wagons are more 
 worthy of the name of " desert ship," than the camel, for 
 they are of a tonnage almost equal to a small caucil-boat, 
 and though drawn by humble mule-power, they make their 
 voyages with great regularity. The manner in which the 
 mules were hampered, previous to their being confined in the 
 teams, appeared very ingenious. It was eflFected by lashing 
 the head of one mule to the tail of another. It was such a 
 meeting of extremes as we had not before seen, but the 
 result was very satisfactory, and it would be an interesting 
 question for some juvenile debating society, whether, in such 
 a case, the tails were drawing the heads, or the heads were 
 pushing on the tails. They all seemed to cherish a meek 
 and quiet spirit, and marched in single file, with as much 
 precision as soldiers on drill. 
 
22 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Just outside of the "city limits," Kansas river empties 
 into the Missouri. It was now low, but with full banks, it 
 is about three hundred yards wide. By the side of the 
 Missouri, its waters appeared clear, and a calm beauty 
 rested upon its smooth surface, as it seemed to lie asleep in 
 the shadow of its woods. On its north bank is the AYyan- 
 dotte reservation, where the land rises with a fine slope, 
 from both rivers, and forms a beautiful site for a town, 
 superior to that of Kansas City, in all except the depth of 
 water at the shore, and facilities for approach. Here may 
 he a rival city, on a free soil ; and if so, the result is easily 
 foreseen. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 A SQUATTER CITY — FORT LEAVENWORTH — WESTON. 
 
 About thirty miles above the mouth of the Kansas, we 
 came in sight of an entirely new object, unknown to all 
 former experience — a " Squatter City" — ^Leavenworth City, 
 three and a half miles below Fort Leavenworth, on the west 
 bank of the Missouri. 
 
 In spite of the President, and Cabinet, and treaties, the 
 city has " squatted " upon lands of the Delawares, over 
 which General Cushing has declared squatter sovereignty 
 has no jurisdiction. Twelve hundred and more " sover- 
 eigns " have already, it is said, set up their thrones on these 
 Delaware lands ; and how they are to be despoiled of their 
 kingdoms, is a question which the Government will not 
 readily solve. 
 
 A squatter city has little resemblance to any other city ; 
 it belongs to a distinct genus of cities. This is a large and 
 important one, the capital, as many hope, of Kansas, and is 
 therefore worthy of description. There was one steam-engine, 
 " naked as when it was born," but at work, sawing out its 
 clothes. There were four tents, all on one street, a barrel 
 of water or whisky under a tree, and a pot, on a pole over 
 a fire. Under a tree, a type-sticker had his case before 
 
24 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 him, and was at work on tlie first num"ber of the new paper, 
 and within a frame, without a board on side or roof, was 
 the editor's desk and sanctum. When we returned from 
 the Territory to Weston, we saw the "notice," stating that 
 the editor had removed his oflBice from under the elm tree, 
 to the corner of "Broadway and the levee." This Broad- 
 way was, at that time, much broader than the streets of old 
 Babylon ; for, with the exception of the "fort," there was, 
 probably, not a house on either side, for thirty miles. 
 
 Capital, skill, the spirit of speculation, and government 
 patronage can accomi/lish many things, but to bring the 
 trade of the Kansas valley up to Leavenworth City, would 
 be a feat scarcely less remarkable than that of inducing the 
 river itself to take that upward direction. 
 
 Fort Leavenworth has a situation of great beauty, on a 
 rolling bluff, where scattering forest trees give it the appear- 
 ance of a cultivated park. As a military depot it has im- 
 portance, in connection with more eastern stations, but, as 
 a "fort," it makes a meager show. From the character of 
 the buildings in general, one would not suj^pose Uncle Sam 
 to be the gentleman of wealth he is. But his means are 
 principally expended for the benefit of his southern farms ; 
 and he is also reserving his funds for larger additions in that 
 direction. Some of his western frontier possessions, on this 
 account, look as if they belonged to a non-resident propri- 
 etor. To this remark Fort Eilcy forms a bright exception. 
 
 We reached Weston, a town of about four thousand in- 
 habitants, in Missouri, on the cast side of the river, three 
 and a half miles north of Fort Leavenworth, on Saturday. 
 
 This place is the head-quarters of the " Platte County 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 25 
 
 Self-defensive Association, which is composed of a number 
 of enthusiastic patriots, who have entered into solemn league 
 and covenant to protect the Patriarchal Institution from the 
 Abolition hordes which are hovering, like a cloud, on the 
 borders of southern civilization, and preparing, by the intro- 
 duction of Christianity and liberty, to put an end to the 
 progress of the human race. Platte county has set its face 
 like a flint, against the introduction of such fatal novelties 
 as liberty for all — education for all — and the free use of the 
 Word of God ! At Weston was enacted the silly, but very 
 expensive farce, of offering two hundred dollars reward for 
 Eli Thayer. That advertisement will cost Weston, in the 
 loss of commerce, more thousands of dollars than there were 
 mills offered for Mr. Thayer. There are, in Platte county, 
 a few precious drops of the very essence of slavery, undi- 
 luted either with humanity or common sense ; and this ad- 
 vertisement is a fair expression of its spirit and its wisdom. 
 
 Neither the advertisement, however, nor the resolutions 
 of this Association, express the sentiments of the people of 
 W^eston, whose business they have injured. They originated 
 with a very small, blustering clique of lawyers and politi- 
 cians, who desired a little notoriety, and who were supported, 
 to some extent, by the slaveholders in the county adjacent. 
 
 But the business men of Weston soon saw that such a 
 course would ruin the commerce of their town, and would 
 drive from them a profitable eastern trade, which they are 
 anxious to secure. This produced a speedy reaction, and 
 the following circular, signed by one hundred and seventy 
 citizens of Weston, shows into what contempt the "Fire- 
 eaters," have brought themselves, and how surely the com- 
 3 
 
26 JOUEXEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 mercial interests of the river towns will compel a liberal 
 policy in regard to the settlers of Kansas, and in general 
 toward the whole east. 
 
 "citizens' meeting. 
 
 " Weston, September 1, 1854. 
 
 " At a meeting of the citizens of Weston and vicinity, G. W. Gist 
 was called to the Chair, and Jos. B. Evans appointed Secretary. On 
 motion of W. S. Murphy, ilr. J. B. Wright was called on to explain 
 the object of the meeting. Mr. Wright addressed the meeting in an 
 eloquent and able manner. 
 
 "On motion of G. T. Hulse, a Committee was appointed to draft 
 resolutions expressive of the sentiment of the meeting. The follow- 
 ing persons were selected: (Jeo. T. Hulse, J. Y. Parrot, Ben. Wood, 
 E. Cody, Col. Eailey, W. S. Murphy and A. B. Hathaway. Said 
 committee retired, and after a short absence, reported the following 
 resolutions, -wrhich were adopted by acclamation : 
 
 " WHEREAS, Our rights and privileges, as citizens of Weston, Platte 
 county, Mo., have been disregarded, infringed upon, and grievously 
 violated within the last few weeks, by certain members of the ' Platte 
 County Self-Defensive Association ; " and whereas, the domestic 
 quiet of our families, the sacred honor of our sons and daughters, 
 the safety of our property, the security of our living and persons, the 
 ♦ good name ' our fathers left us, the ' good name ' of us all — and 
 the city of our adoption — and each and all disrespected, and vile'y 
 aspersed, and contemptuously threatened with mob-violence ; wherefore, 
 it is imperatively demanded, that ice, in mass-meeting assembled, on 
 this, the first day of September, A. D. lS-54:, do make prompt, honor- 
 able, effective and immediate defense of our rights ajid privileges as citizens 
 of this glorious Union. Therefore, 
 
 "Besolved, 1, That ice whose names are heretmto afi&xed, are order- 
 loving and law-abiding citizens. 
 
 " Resolved, 2, That we are Union men. We love the south much, but 
 we love the Union better. Our motto is — the Union first, the Union 
 second, and the Union forever. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. ^ 27 
 
 «' Resolved, 3, That Ave disapprove the Bayliss resolution as contain- 
 ing nullification, disunion and disorganiziyig sentiments. 
 
 •' Resolved, 4, That we as consumers, invite and solicit our mer- 
 chants to purchase their goods wherever it is most advantageous to 
 the buyer and the consumer. 
 
 " Resolved, 5, That we hold every man as entitled to equal respect 
 and confidence, until his conduct proves him unworthy of the same. 
 
 " Resolved, 6, That we understand the ' Douglass bill ' as giving 
 all the citizens of this Confederacy equal rights and equal immuni- 
 ties in the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. 
 
 " Resolved, 7, That we are believers in the dignity of labor ; it does 
 not necessarily detract from the moral nor intellectual character 
 of man. 
 
 " Resolved, 8, That we are competent to judge who shall be expelled 
 from our community, and who shall make laws for our corporation. 
 
 ^^ Resolved, 9, That inere suspicion is not a ground of guilt; mob- 
 law can only be tolerated when all other law fails, and then, only 
 on proof of guilt. 
 
 ^^ Resolved lOfh, and lastly, That certain members of the Platte 
 County Self-Defensive Association have 2?roclaimcd and advocated, and 
 attempted to force measures upon us, contrary to the foregoing principles, 
 which measures we do solemnly disavow, and disapprove, and utterly 
 disclaim, as being diametrically opposed to common and constitu- 
 tional law, and as having greatly disturbed, and well-nigh destroyed 
 the order, the peace, and the harmony of our families and commu- 
 nity, and as being but too well calculated seriously to injure us, in 
 our property and character, both at home and abroad. We will 
 thus ever disavow and disclaim. 
 
 '• On motion of Samuel J. Finch, it was 
 
 " Resolved, That both papers published in the city of "Weston, be 
 requested to publish the foregoing preamble and resolutions, and 
 all papers throughout the States, friendly to law and order, are 
 hereby requested to copy the same. 
 
 "J. B. Evans, Sec'y. G. W. GIST, C7m'w." 
 
28 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 From St. Louis down to the smallest business town of the 
 river, eastern settlers and eastern capital will be welcomed ; 
 and the same interests of commerce will just as surely throw 
 their influence, ultimately, in favor of Kansas becoming a 
 free State. Thus, while commerce helps to sustain slavery 
 in the east, it will inevitably aid to check it in the west, 
 and foster the interests of freedom. 
 
 There is not the least reason to fear any serious collision 
 between eastern settlers and the citizens of Missouri and 
 other slaveholding States. The western merchants desire 
 the business which eastern men and capital will create, and 
 those who are speculating in city lots, must equally desire 
 the influx of capital and men. 
 
 Mutual interests will make mutual friends ; and we may 
 be thankful that the east and the extreme west are thus 
 mingled in the providence of God, in a manner which may 
 allay prejudice and bitterness on both sides. Kansas may 
 yet prove the neutral ground where the seeds of good-will 
 may be sown ; where the beginnings of peace may be found, 
 and where the South and West may come to a candid and 
 friendly discussion of the whole subject of slavery. 
 
 The lands in the vicinity of Weston, Missouri, are among 
 the most fertile and beautiful in the State ; and we thought 
 it well to visit them before crossing into Kansas, in order 
 that we might have the means of comparing the Territory 
 with the richest regions in the States. We accordingly 
 rode back among the hemp-growing farms around Weston. 
 This district is high and rolling, resembling, in its general 
 features, the region of southern Ohio around Cincinnati ; but 
 the soil is a deep black vegetable mould, to the very hill- 
 
JOURXEY THROUGH KANSAS. 29 
 
 tops, equal, and we could not but feel superior, in fertility, 
 to the best portions of the Miami or Scioto valley : a finer 
 country need not be desired, if heavy timber is not consid- 
 ered an objection. This timber consists, principally, of 
 black walnut, elm, sugar-maple, and oak, with cottonwood 
 in the bottoms. This country is divided from Kansas only 
 by the Missouri river, and farms are worth from twenty to 
 fifty dollars per acre, according to location and other cir- 
 cumstances which affect value. The later crops had all been 
 injured by the drouth, but still every thing wore the aspect 
 of luxuriance, and extensive apple and peach orchards, in 
 vigorous health, showed how well adapted the climate is to 
 the growing of fruit. Peaches were selling, in Weston, at 
 fifty cents per bushel, of fair, but not choice varieties. 
 
 After this visit to the hemp-lands of Missouri, we felt 
 ourselves prepared to form an intelligent opinion of Kansas, 
 and having provided ourselves with two horses and a light 
 California wagon, in which we could sleep, if necessary, we 
 crossed the Missouri at the steam ferry, about two miles 
 below Weston. 
 
CHAPTER YL 
 
 WESTON FEBRY AND ITS SHIBBOLETH — ENTBANCE INTO 
 THE TERBITOBY. 
 
 On Tuesday morning, September 8, we reached that cele- 
 brated steam-ferry of Weston, where, as it was said, in the 
 early part of the season, the inexorable Missouri Charon 
 drove back every one that betrayed his Yankee origin by his 
 pronunciation of the word coio ; and he was sent home to 
 wander on the benighted shores of the east, and to starve 
 on the rocks of the Pilgrims. But the eastern flood has 
 drowned out the Examining Committee, and they are vainly 
 waiting for the "ebb that cometh not." There might bo 
 established at that ferry a very effectual, almost certain, 
 test — if there was no oath, in the first two sentences uttered 
 by a stranger, he might be turned back safely as not a 
 native of those parts. 
 
 Shiftlessness is a most expressive word, and it conveys 
 more accurately, than any other I know, the leading charac- 
 teristic of life in a slaveholding region. There is an utter 
 lack and helplessness, in regard to all those expedients which 
 insure convenience and comfort, with which a northern man 
 is so familiar. Every thing is accomplished with the rudest 
 means and most inconvenient manner. The western steam 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 31 
 
 ferry would not be tolerated, in any important position, in 
 an eastern State, for a single day. It would not only be 
 the laughing-stock of a community, but would be abated as 
 a nuisance. The descent to the boat is at an angle of nearly 
 forty-five degrees, though nothing hinders the formation of 
 a safe and easy gTade ; and, after what we had previously 
 seen, we were surprised that the negroes were not used to 
 carry the horses and wagons on board on their shoulders, as 
 the simplest of all methods. 
 
 Over an open space, between the landing and the guards 
 of the boat, some loose boards were cast ; and thus the peril- 
 ous plunge into the boat must be made. Fortunately, neither 
 our necks or the horses' legs were broken. Another heavy 
 lumber- wagon was, however, overturned in the attempt. On 
 the opposite side, where an industrious man, with a few 
 hours' work, could make a comfortable road, teams are 
 obliged to clamber almost perpendicularly up the sand-bank ; 
 and for such accommodations the State of Missouri allows 
 the proprietor of the ferry, to take from the owner of a two- 
 horse team one dollar; and if his statements are true, at 
 least six thousand people have crossed this ferry in one 
 direction, {westward) this season, already. This, however, 
 includes the California emigrants. 
 
 The first hour spent in Kansas, served to make a lively 
 impression in regard to its fertility. From the ferry to Fort 
 Leavenworth, three and a half miles, our road lay along the 
 Missouri bottom, where every description of vegetation 
 seemed to be on the magnified scale. The timber, princi- 
 pally Cottonwood, oak and elm, was remarkably fine, many 
 
32 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 of the trees five and six feet in diameter, and conspicuously 
 tall. Everything indicated a soil of exceeding richness. 
 
 Such bottoms are, however, by no means peculiar to 
 Kansas. They are a common feature along the whole line 
 of the majestic Missouri. They are fertile as heart could 
 wish, but considered unhealthy, and on that account, are, as 
 yet, not extensively cultivated. 
 
 Fort Leavenwort i is beautifully situated on the swelling 
 river hills. By the politeness of ]\Iajor Ogden, we received 
 such information and instruction concerning our route to 
 Fort Eiley, as assured us of a more pleasant journey than 
 we anticipated, and we are also under great obligations to 
 Dr. Mills, for an abstract from his meteorological record, 
 giving us the means of instituting an important comparison 
 in reference to the climate of Kansas. 
 
 Fort Leavenworth is an important position, as being the 
 principal point of departure, for troops and Government 
 supplies of all kinds, for Santa Fe, Fort Eiley, Fort Laramie 
 and Kearney, and other western stations, and the number 
 of horses, mules, oxen wagons, and the large amount of 
 stores of all kinds, required in these operations, is an im- 
 portant item to be considered in the prospects of the future 
 agriculturists of Kansas. 
 
 For the purpose of giving an idea of the extent of this 
 trade, we will mention here, that while at Council Grove, 
 two trains of wagons passed, drawn by one hundred and 
 eighty pair of oxen, while as many more were driven which 
 were unyoked — ^beside horses and mules. These had been 
 out to New Mexico with Government stores. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL AND COMMERCIAL DIVISIONS. 
 
 Kansas is separated into three geographical districts, 
 whicli deserve a separate consideration, and it has, also, 
 from the features of the country, commercial divisions, which 
 are differently arranged. Geographically, there is an east- 
 em district, lying along the river and State of JMissouri ; a 
 western one, stretching along the eastern base of the Kocky 
 mountains, and a central tract, whose width, boundaries and 
 general character, are somewhat variously stated. It has 
 been stated, that the eastern district is bounded westward 
 by a clearly defined, though waving line, where the fertile 
 agricultural region terminates abruptly, and the line of a 
 sandy desert begins. It has also been said, that this divid- 
 ing line between the desert and the eastern farming district, 
 runs from eighty to one hundred and fifty miles only, west 
 of the Missouri river. This may be nearly correct in regard 
 to Nebraska, but it does not convey a correct idea of Kansas. 
 
 After having availed ourselves of all known sources of 
 information, in addition to personal observation ; after con- 
 versations with intelligent persons, who have passed over 
 portions which we did not visit, we conclude, that what we 
 have called the eastern district, does not end abruptly at the 
 edge of a sandy desert, but that its western portion changes 
 
34 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 its character gradually, as the slope of the " Great Plateau" 
 is ascended toward the sources of the streams, till at a dis- 
 tance of about two hundred and fifty miles from the Mis- 
 souri, the river valleys are narrow, and the prairie between 
 them is sandy and dry. 
 
 If asked to point out the western boundary of this agri- 
 cultural region, we should draw a line whose average distance 
 from the Missouri would be about two hundred and fifty 
 miles, but bending westward, still beyond this, on the head 
 waters of the Kansas. This is an opinion to be afiirmcd or 
 ©orrected hereafter. We are, however, quite satisfied, that 
 a good farming region extends much farther westward, in 
 Kansas, than has been generally supposed, and that future 
 investigation will very much reduce the dimensions of what 
 has been called the American Desert. In confirmation of 
 this opinion, the following quotation from Col. Fremont's 
 Journal, by which it will appear that there is a fine country 
 on the head streams of the Kansas, some three hundred 
 miles from its mouth. The starting point, in this extract, 
 is at Fort Eiley, at the confluence of the Smoky Hill and 
 Eepublican Forks, which form the Kansas. On the 14th 
 July, it will be remarked, he was two hundred and sixty- 
 five miles from the mouth of the Kansas ; that he was travel- 
 ing westward, and nine days after, the appearance of the 
 country is described in the last paragraph. It was by no 
 means a desert. 
 
 " We arrived, on July 8th, at the mouth of the Smoky 
 Hill Fork, which is the principal southern branch of the 
 Kansas, forming here, with the Eepublican or northern 
 branch, the main Kansas river. For several days we con- 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 35 
 
 tinued to travel along the Kepublican, through a a untry 
 beautifully watered with numerous streams, handsomely 
 timbered; and rarely an incident occurred to vary the 
 monotonous resemblance which one day on the prairies here 
 bears to another, and which scarcely require a particular 
 description. Now and then we caught a glimpse of a small 
 herd of elk ; and occasionally, a band of antelopes, whose 
 curiosity sometimes brought them within rifle range, would 
 circle round us, and then scour off into the prairies. 
 
 " The bottoms, which form the immediate valley of the 
 main river, were generally about three miles wide, having a 
 rich soil of black vegetable mould, and, for a prairie country, 
 well interspersed with wood. The country was everywhere 
 covered with a considerable variety of grasses, occasionally 
 poor and thin, but far more frequently luxuriant and rich. 
 We had been gradually and regularly ascending in our 
 progress westward, and, on the evening of the 14th, when 
 we encamped on a little creek in the valley of the Eepub- 
 lican, two hundred and sixty-five miles by our traveling road 
 from the mouth of the Kansas, we were at an elevation of 
 one thousand five hundred and twenty feet. 
 
 ** On the morning* of the 16th, bearing a little out from the 
 river, with a view of heading some of the numerous affluents, 
 after a few hours' travel, over somewhat broken ground, we 
 entered upon an extensive and high level prairie, on which 
 we encamped, toward evening, at a little stream, where a 
 single dry cottonwood afforded the necessary fuel for pre- 
 paring supper. 
 
 " The country afforded us an excellent road, the route 
 being generally over high and very level prairies, and we 
 
36 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 met with no other delay than being frequently obliged to 
 bridge one of the numerous streams, which were well-tim- 
 bered with ash, elm, cottonwood and a very large oak, the 
 latter being occasionally five or six feet in diameter, with 
 a spreading summit. Sida coccinea is very frequent in 
 vermilion-colored patches on the high and low prairie, and I 
 remarked that it has a very pleasant perfume. The wild 
 sensitive plant (schranhia angustata) occurs frequently, 
 generally on the dry prairies, in valleys of streams, and 
 frequently on the broken prairie bank. I remark that the 
 leaflets close instantly to a very light touch. Amorpha 
 with the same psoralea, and a dwarf species of lupinus, are 
 the characteristic plants. 
 
 '^ June 21. During the forenoon, we traveled up a branch 
 of the creek on which we had encamped, in a broken coun- 
 try, where, however, the dividing ridges always aiforded a 
 good road. Plants were few ; and with the short swards of 
 the buffalo grass, which now prevailed everywhere, giving 
 to the prairies a smooth and mossy appearance, were min- 
 gled frequent patches of a beautiful red grass (aristida 
 pollens), which has made its appearance only within the last 
 few days. AVe halted to noon at a solitary cottonwood, in a 
 hollow, near which was killed the first buffalo — a fine bull. 
 
 ** At noon, on the 23d, we descended into the valley of a 
 principal fork of the Eepublican, a beautiful stream, with 
 a dense border of wood, consisting principally of varieties 
 of ash, forty feet wide and four feet deep. It was musical 
 with the notes of many birds, which, from the vast expanse 
 of silent prairie around, seemed all to have collected here. 
 We continued, during the afternoon, our route along the 
 
JOURNEY TimOUGH KANSAS. 37 
 
 river, wliich was populous with prairie-dogs (the bottoms 
 Ibeing entirely occupied with their villages), and late in the 
 evening, encamped on its banks. The prevailing timber is 
 a blue-foliaged ash (fraxinus, near F. Americana) and 
 ash-leaved maple. With these were Fraxinus Americana, 
 Cottonwood and long-leaved willow." 
 
 There is, doubtless, a central belt of land, both in Kansas 
 and Nebraska, where little rain falls, from the fact, that the 
 west winds are deprived of their moisture, by the mountain 
 ranges on the west ; while this tract itself lies west of the 
 line reached by the winds that come northward, from the 
 Gulf of Mexico. The plains, in this district, are destitute 
 of timber, the soil is sandy and the buffalo grass alone 
 covers the surface with a scanty verdure. This, however, is 
 an exceedingly nutritious grass, and the same country which 
 supports such multitudes of buffalo, elk, antelopes and deer, 
 is equally capable of affording pasturage for the flocks and 
 herds of civilized life. To the westward, and as the base 
 of the Kocky mountains is approached, an elevated region 
 is reached — the western New England, or American Switzer- 
 land, abounding in beautiful streams, timber, and fertile and 
 sheltered valleys. Here fall the intercepted rains, which, 
 but for the mountain walls, would travel eastward, and be 
 precipitated upon the broad plains beyond. 
 
 The general character of this mountainous country is 
 nearly the same both in Nebraska and Kansas, except that 
 the valleys of the south are milder than those in the high 
 northern latitudes of Nebraska. The following description, 
 by Colonel Fremont, of the regions around the sources of the 
 Platte, or Nebraska, would be equally correct if applied to 
 
38 JOURNEY THROUGH IvANSAS. 
 
 the western districts of Kansas. He was traveling west- 
 ward, toward the mountains and up the valley of the Ne- 
 braska. 
 
 ^'June 14. Our route lay along the foot of the mountain, 
 over the long, low spurs which sloped gradually down to the 
 river, forming the broad valley of the Platte. The country 
 beautifully watered. In almost every hollow ran a clear, 
 cool mountain stream ; and, in the course of the morning, 
 we crossed seventeen, several of them being large creeks, 
 forty and fifty feet wide, with a swift current, and tolerably 
 deep. These were variously wooded with groves of aspen 
 and Cottonwood, with willow, cherry, and other scrubby 
 trees. Buffalo, antelope, and elk, were frequent during the 
 day, and in their abundance the latter sometimes reminded 
 us slightly of the Sacramento valley. The next day we con- 
 tinued our journey up the valley, the country presenting 
 much the same appearance, except that the grass was more 
 scanty on the ridges, over which was spread a scrubby 
 growth of sage ; but still the bottoms of the creeks were 
 broad, and afforded good pasture ground. Our course in 
 the afternoon brought us to the main Platte river (Nebras- 
 ka), here a handsome stream, with a uniform breadth of 
 seventy yards, except where widened by frequent islands. 
 It was apparently deep, with a moderate current, and wooded 
 with groves of large willow. 
 
 "The valley narrowed as we ascended, and presently 
 degenerated into a gorge, through which the river passed as 
 through a gate. We entered it, and found ourselves in the 
 'New Park,' a beautiful, circular valley of thirty miles' 
 diameter, walled in all round with snowy mountains, rich 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 39 
 
 with water and with grass, fringed with pine on the moun- 
 tain sides below the line — and a paradise to all grazing 
 animals. The Indian name for it signifies 'cow lodge,' of 
 which our own may he considered a translation ; the inclo- 
 sure, the grass, the water, and the herds of buffalo roaming 
 over it, naturally presenting the idea of a park. Its eleva- 
 tion above the sea is seven thousand seven hundred and 
 twenty feet. From this elevated cove, and from the gorges 
 of the surrounding mountains, and some lakes within their 
 bosoms, the gi'eat Platte (Xebraska) river collects its first 
 waters and assumes its first form ; and certainly no river 
 could ask a more beautiful origin. The 16th and 17th we 
 continued through the park, and fell into a broad and excel- 
 lent trail made by bufi'alo, where a wagon would pass with 
 ease. In the course of the 17th we crossed the summit of 
 the Eocky mountains, through a pass, which was one of the 
 most beautiful we had ever seen. The trail led us among 
 the aspens, through open grounds, richly covered with grass, 
 and carried us over an elevation of about nine thousand feet 
 above the level of the sea. Descending from the pass, we 
 found ourselves again on the western waters, and halted to 
 noon on the edge of another mountain-valley called the Old 
 Park, in which is formed Grand river, one of the principal 
 branches of the Colorado of California. The appearance of 
 the country, in the Old Park, is interesting, though of a 
 different character from the New : instead of being a com- 
 parative plain, it is more or less broken into hills, and sur- 
 rounded by the high mountains, timbered on the lower parts 
 with quaking asp and pines." 
 
 The conclusion then is, that a much larger proportion of 
 
40 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 both Kansas and Nebraska, particularly the former, is sus- 
 ceptible of cultivation than has been supposed, and that 
 Kansas possesses the elements of one of the largest and most 
 powerful States in the Union. Very little, if any, of her 
 Territory will remain a desert. 
 
 In comparing Kansas with other Territories, or the States, 
 it must be remembered that, in her eastern division, there 
 are from forty thousand to fifty thousand square miles, in 
 all of which there are almost no waste lands. There are no 
 barren mountains, no swamps or marshes, no lakes, and no 
 rocky hills. It is one vast, undulating plateau, exceedingly 
 fertile, and ready for the plow. How many States in the 
 Union can boast of even forty thousand square miles, which 
 will admit of being cultivated ? Add to this her central 
 pasture grounds and her New England regions on the west, 
 making in all more than one hundred and twenty thousand 
 square miles, and it will be seen that, with her coal and 
 mineral resources in general, she has the elements of an 
 empire State. 
 
 Of the commercial divisions of the Territory, and the 
 course of its future commerce, no very accurate opinions 
 can be formed at this early period, yet there are certain 
 large features of the country, which, instead of being 
 changed themselves, must give direction to lines of commu- 
 nication, and determine the location of towns. 
 
 The northern portion of Kansas, on the Nemaha river, and 
 Wolf creek, and the tributary streams, is nearer to the Mis- 
 souri than to the Kansas valley, and this district will therefore 
 demand a commercial depot of its own, on the Missouri ; and 
 as the railroad now in process of construction, from Hannibal 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 41 
 
 on tlie Mississippi, v/estward, terminates at St. Josepli, it 
 would seem, that in Kansas, somewhere in the vicinity of 
 St. Joseph, a large town would naturally he built. 
 
 West from the Missouri, at this point, the country is 
 fertile, and, in general, supplied with timber, and well 
 watered, to the neighborhood of Fort Kearney, including the 
 head waters of the Big Blue and Vermilion. 
 
 Time alone can determine what direction may be given to 
 the trade of the western portion of this district, and whether 
 it will seek the Missouri direct, or the valley of the Kansas. 
 
 The second, and central district, is the valley of the 
 Kansas, including the valleys of the Smoky Hill and Eepub- 
 lican forks, which unite at Fort Eiley, to form the Kansas. 
 
 The importance of this district, over the other two, will 
 depend, we think, upon two questions: first, whether the 
 route of the Pacific Eailroad shall follow the valley of the 
 Kansas. The main facts bearing upon this question are, 
 that a road intended as a part of the Great Central Eoute, 
 is already located, from St. Louis to the mouth of the Kan- 
 sas, as its present western terminus, and this road is soon 
 to be opened to Jeff"erson City, one hundred and thirty miles 
 from the Kansas line. Col. Fremont is also engaged, at the 
 present time, in determining the exact position of a Pass 
 in the Eocky mountains, supposed to be in the very latitude 
 of the mouth and valley of the Kansas. The powerful 
 interests connected with the construction of a road over 
 the Central Eoute, seem to render it certain, that it will 
 be opened at an early date, and it seems equally certain, 
 that it must follow the Kansas valley. 
 
 A second question affectinfir the importance of this central 
 4 
 
42 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 or Kansas valley district is, whether the Kansas shall prove 
 to be navigable, for such a portion of the year as to render 
 it valuable as a commercial channel. 
 
 The river has not yet been thoroughly examined. It is, 
 doubtless, navigable for from four weeks to six weeks in the 
 spring, as far as Fort Eiley, and boats for that period may 
 run one hundred or one hundred and fifty miles further up 
 the Smoky Hill fork. The appearance of the Kansas, at 
 every point where we examined it, between Fort Kiley and 
 its mouth, produced at once the impression, that it must be 
 navigable for boats drawing eighteen or twenty inches of 
 water, in even its lowest stage. Such is the opinion of most 
 with whom we conversed, who had given the subject atten- 
 tion, and so great is the confidence in this opinion, that, as 
 we were informed by one of the owners of the Excel, the 
 boat which went up to Fort Eiley last summer, that several 
 small boats will be put upon the Kansas next season. We 
 crossed the Kansas about one hundred miles from its mouth, 
 and found it about three hundred yards wide, with five feet 
 water in the channel, and running with a strong current. 
 
 A thorough survey can alone determine the practicability 
 of navigation through the summer, but we feel much confi- 
 dence that the experiment will prove successful. 
 
 Should it so prove, or should the railroad be constructed 
 along this valley, thv3n this central district will off"er advan 
 tages for settlement, superior, at least for the present, to 
 either of the other two, and in this case, also, a large por- 
 tion of the commerce of the first, or northern district, will 
 be drawn southward, along the tributaries of the Kansas, 
 to the towns on that river and the railroad. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 43 
 
 The third district occupies the southern and southeastern 
 portion of the Territory, and is drained by the head waters 
 of the Osage and Xeosho rivers. A ridge of high prairie, 
 called in the language of the country a " divide,^' separates 
 these waters from those which fall into the Kansas. This 
 ridge we crossed in passing from Fort Eiley to Council 
 Grove, a distance of thirty to thirty-five miles, and found 
 about fifteen miles of it stony, though with a dark, rich soil, 
 and fitted only for pasturage. In descending from this ridge 
 we came into a most beautiful region, with a fair supply of 
 timber upon the head waters of the Xeosho river, where is 
 the well-known trading post, on the Santa Fe road, called 
 Council Grove or Big Spring. 
 
 This southeastern district is traversed, in the vicinity of 
 Council Grove, and eastward toward Fort Leavenworth, by 
 numerous small streams, some at this time dry, or nearly so, 
 running southeasterly and forming the Xeosho and Osage 
 rivers. 
 
 We are inclined to think that this district is milder in 
 its climate than that of the other two, and so far as we 
 could judge, is quite equal to either in the fertility of its 
 soil. Here, by early planting, a good potato crop, and per- 
 haps half a crop of corn were raised, notwithstanding the 
 drouth. It has no navigable streams, and for increased 
 commercial facilities, must depend upon a railway either to 
 the Kansas or to the southwestern branch railway from St. 
 Louis, which strikes Xeosho at or near the southeastern 
 corner of the Territory. By the Santa Fe road, from Coun- 
 cil Grove to Kansas, at the mouth of the Kansas river, is 
 about one hundred and thirty miles. 
 
44 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Through the southern portion of Kansas the Arkansas 
 river flows from the Eocky mountains, to within about one 
 hundred and forty miles of its eastern border— a distance 
 of nearly five hundred miles. What is called the Big Bend 
 is wholly within the Territory of Kansas. 
 
 Of this portion of the Territory we can not speak from 
 personal observation. Trom the testimony of an intelli- 
 gent gentleman of our acquaintance who has passed down 
 the Arkansas valley, from a point nearly south of Council 
 G-rove, we are led to consider this disfrict as ecj^ual in fer- 
 tility and general advantages to any other section of the 
 country. 
 
 The Arkansas is much the largest stream which flows 
 through the Territory, and is supposed to be navigable above 
 Fort Gibson, and within the limits of Kansas, except in 
 seasons of low water. That portion of the Arkansas val- 
 ley which lies in Kansas, is in the latitude of Southern Vir- 
 ginia, and the nature of its climate and the character of its 
 productions, may be inferred from this fact. It is said to 
 be well timbered, especially in its eastern division. This 
 valley, we think, should be at once thoroughly explored, 
 and the nature of its soil, climate and resources, accurately 
 ascertained. 
 
 . Should it answer the expectations we have been led to 
 form, from description, it would off'er great advantages to a 
 large colony possessed of considerable capital. 
 
CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 SCENEEY AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 This completes a general or outline survey of tlie Terri- 
 tory of Kansas. We will now return to the starting point 
 of our journey in tlie Territory, which was Fort Leaven- 
 worth, and enter somewhat into details, mingling with our 
 statements so much of the incidents of our journey, as may 
 serve to illustrate our general theme, and convey a vivid 
 impression of the country. We had already passed through 
 Indiana, from Lawrenceburgh "by Indianapolis to Michigan 
 City, and through Illinois from Chicago to Alton ; and as we 
 were about to enter again a prairie land, we supposed our- 
 selves already acquainted with the general features of the 
 country, and expected a journey wearisome from the mono- 
 tony of its aspect, and its similarity to what had been 
 already seen. But the first hour's ride over the prairies of 
 Kansas, spread before us such a picture, varying every mo- 
 ment and beautiful in every change, as we had no previous 
 conception of, and drew from us continued expressions of a 
 delight that would not be suppressed. One can form no 
 correct idea of the prairies of Kansas by a previous knowl- 
 edge of those of Indiana and Illinois ; and residents in Iowa 
 add the same remark of theirs. How, without the majesty 
 
46 JOURNEY TIIKOUGH KANSAS. 
 
 of mountains or lakes, or broad rivers, and with so few colors 
 as here are seen, such an effect can be produced, is worthy 
 the study of artists. It is a magnificent picture of God, 
 that stirs irresistibly and inexplicably the soul of every 
 beholder. Young and old, the educated and the unlearned, 
 alike feel the influence of its spell, and each in his own 
 language gives utterance to his delight and wonder, or 
 stands breathless and mute. There are many scenes, in 
 Kansas, that can scarcely be remembered even, without tears. 
 The soul melts in the presence of the wonderful beauty of 
 the workmanship of Grod. 
 
 With ocean and mountains, with lakes and rivers, hill 
 and valley, we had been familiar ; but here was an entirely 
 new feature of the beauty of earth — a thing apart and pecu- 
 liar, but equal to any in its power over the soul, whether to 
 delight or awe. The Kansas prairies cannot be described — 
 mere words cannot reproduce in another's mind the impres- 
 sion which the scene has made ; but if a man sees them, he 
 is moved, in spite of himself, and the moment he would 
 speak of them to another, he feels the poverty of language — 
 he finds no fitting words. 
 
 The view, from the bluffs above Fort Eiley, at the conflu- 
 ence of the Eepublican and Smoky Hill forks, is one of the 
 most beautiful valley scenes on which the eye ever rested : 
 it reminded me of some of the celebrated views on the Con- 
 necticut, by none of which do I think it surpassed. Not 
 a human dwelling, except an Indian wigwam, has been 
 erected there, and yet it wore the aspect of a highly-culti- 
 vated country. The green meadows and pasture lands 
 stretched away to the limit of vision — the scattered tufts or 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 47 
 
 copses of timber resembled orcbards or artificial groves, 
 wbile tbe blufis on eitber band rose witb outlines wbicb, 
 tbougb bold, were so flowing and graceful tbat it was a plea- 
 sure to tbe eye to rest on tbem. Still, tbougb accurate 
 description is so difficult, it will doubtless be expected tbat 
 we sball make some statements concerning tbe general 
 aspect of tbe country. Its structure may be said to be 
 governed by its streams, along wbicb run, first, tbe level 
 ''river bottoms,'' on wbicb nearly tbe wbole of tbe timber of 
 tbe country is found. Tbese are sometimes, tbougb not 
 generally, too low for cultivation. On tbe Kansas river 
 tbey are often five or six miles broad, and in fertility tbey 
 are probably not surpassed by any lands on tbe continent. 
 To tbese "river bottoms " succeeds a second level, elevated, 
 perhaps, ten or fifteen feet above tbe first ; level also, and in 
 appearance and fact, equally productive. Above tbese, and 
 from seventy-five to one bundred feet above tbe river bed, 
 lies tbe bigb rolling prairie, wbose ever- varying character 
 gives to tbe country its picturesque appearance. 
 
 Tbese features do not, of course, present themselves at all 
 points witb tbe distinctness and regularity wbicb we have 
 mentioned. Sometimes tbe two lower levels are blended 
 into one, and again tbe streams, in tbeir windings, will 
 sweep to tbe very base of tbe rolling bluifs. Tbe bigb 
 prairie forms tbe general surface of tbe country, and consti- 
 tutes one vast undulating table-land, wbose main slope is 
 toward tbe east and southeast, wbile in its smaller divisions 
 it presents every variety of exposure, yet every outline is a 
 flowing one, rounded to the line of beauty. Conical mounds 
 sometimes rise a hundred feet above the general level, with 
 
48 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 a formation as regular as if shaped by art. Some of these 
 are visible at a distance of fifty miles or more, and are bold 
 and impressive features of the landscape. Again, far in 
 the distance the river bluffs appear like the walls of gigan- 
 tic fortifications, with parapets and even towers, as if the 
 vast amphitheater embraced in their long lines were guarded 
 by watching armies. In some places the prairie sinks 
 gently toward the river, with an easy slope several miles in 
 breadth, exactly shaped for beautiful farms ; while in the 
 background, under the shelter of the bluff, is the very spot 
 for pleasant residences. 
 
 Here the low hills sweep round enough for a single farm, 
 and then they inclose sufficient for a little community. 
 Whether a man desires a level farm, or with an eastern, 
 western, northern, or southern exposure, he can be suited ; 
 and if he desires all these combined in one location, he need 
 not despair of finding even that, without one harsh or ab- 
 rupt feature in the whole scene. 
 
 We will make here but one remark, in reference to soil. 
 In general, it appears to be a black vegetable mould, deep- 
 est and purest, of course, in the bottoms, but usually hlach 
 on the highest prairie ; there, however, it is mixed some- 
 what with sand, which not only improves it for cultivation, 
 but renders it more capable, than the low lands, of enduring 
 drouth. On some of the higher bluffs we observed that this 
 vegetable soil was not more than twelve inches thick, with 
 a sandy subsoil, and at such points the surface was some- 
 times strewn with pebbles. These, however, are exceptions, 
 and even in such locations the color of the soil is black. 
 In some districts this dark vegetable mould is mixed with 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH IGVNSAS. 49 
 
 yellow sand and clay, so as to form a chocolate-colored soil, 
 called by some the "mulatto soil," much prized for its 
 fertility. 
 
 OUR FIRST MEAL IN KANSAS. 
 
 Incidents of travel, and descriptions of men and things, 
 so far as they have a proper place in the picture of the 
 country, may not be without interest even in such a report. 
 We had been informed of a settlement which we might ex- 
 pect to reach in season for dinner, on our first day of 
 travel ; and at mid-day we found ourselves descending from 
 the high rolling prairie, toward the dark-green line of fine 
 thrifty timber that fringed and concealed a small stream 
 now almost destitute of water. The small rivulet, however, 
 was clear and bright — a living stream — that gave good 
 promise for the health of Kansas. 
 
 On the opposite side of the grove, called here " the timber," 
 we discovered, first, a corn-field, then a log barn, then a 
 blacksmith's shop, finally, a log cabin, which group, together, 
 constituted ''the settlement f' and this, as we afterward 
 found, was larger, by the barn and blacksmith's shop, than 
 many Kansas ''settlements.'^ 
 
 The *' settlement," was located on a level bottom, whose 
 fertility seemed equal to man's utmost desire ; but the corn- 
 field was the only experiment at cultivation, and that the 
 severe drouth had injured. We found that " entertainment 
 could be provided for man and beast." The youngest mem- 
 ber of our party had just levied a small contribution on a 
 flock of quails, and they, with a chicken born and brought 
 up in the " settlement," formed the basis of a dinner just 
 
50 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 suited to the appetites that had been sharpened by the 
 prairie breeze. 
 
 Under the cool ''piazza'' of our log hotel, where as yet 
 no dirty floor covered up the natural beauties of the rich 
 soil, a remarkably intelligent colored woman spread the 
 cloth. She was a slave, and the few slaves thus far brought 
 into Kansas are, in general, like this woman, taken merely 
 as house servants, while no slaveholder, so far as we could 
 learn, has ventured to bring what they call their ''force'' 
 that is, the field hands, into the Territory. She was cheer- 
 ful, apparently, and with the sole charge of the household, 
 even of the hotel bills and funds. There was but a single 
 circumstance which interfered with the picture of a happy 
 slave. Her husband was a free man, and she was sur- 
 rounded by a family of bright, intelligent-looking children — 
 a little group that neither father nor mother owned — that 
 might at any moment be sold and driven off with the pigs 
 and calves. 
 
 To suppose an intelligent and high-minded mother, for 
 such she was, happy under such circumstances, is a libel on 
 the human heart. 
 
 The cloth was very white, always a promise of good things 
 to come. The cooking was satisfactory ; the preserved straw- 
 berries and plums, both the produce of the country, were 
 delicious — and a milkman of Cincinnati would have deemed 
 it a perfect waste to have served up such milk, so capable 
 of bearing almost any quantity of water. The chickens 
 that were not excluded from our dining-room, appreciated, 
 as we did, the good milk, and vigilantly watched, not 
 always in vain, for a chance to dip their bills in the pan. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 51 
 
 Sundry dogs, the terror of polecats, and opossums, and 
 prairie wolves, stood round our chairs, and seemed to think 
 us no gentlemen in appropriating so much good meat to 
 ourselves. 
 
 The bill was moderate. The slave-woman, very appro- 
 priately, as we thought, inasmuch as the slave code makes 
 no distinction between brutes and men, placed us and our 
 horses all on the same footing, and charged twenty-five 
 cents a-piece all round for men and horses. 
 
 A rainy afternoon followed, which did not much impede 
 our progress over the beautiful prairie road. Contrary to 
 our anticipations, the roads in the prairie do not soon become 
 muddy, and they dry, moreover, rapidly, when the rain is 
 over. Covered with rubber overcoats we could snap our 
 fingers at the showers, and kept on our course without 
 annoyance. 
 
 Quails and prairie chickens were frequently seen in the 
 road, or started up by the very sides of our carriage ; but as 
 one of our horses had no military spirit whatever, and 
 dreaded a gun as much as Falstafi^'s soldiers did, we could 
 not shoot from the carriage, without a probable race over 
 the prairies — and the birds guessed our intentions as soon 
 as we stepped from the wagon. Just at sundown, far in the 
 distance the figure of a horseman was just visible against 
 the sky. Soon it was apparent that he was armed with a 
 rifle, and then that he was an Indian and had planted him- 
 self directly by the road, and with his gun laid across his 
 saddle was silently awaiting our approach. He moved not 
 as we drew near, but his glittering eye was fixed steadily 
 on us, and it was not without some satisfaction that we 
 
52 JOURXEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 tliouglit of our revolver, and rifle, and double-barreled gun, 
 all lying at hand. 
 
 It required no great stretch of the imagination to make 
 one suspect that he was bent on mischief. It was raining 
 and growing dark, and for what fiendlj purpose he was 
 there, on the lone prairie, at that hour, and in such a posi- 
 tion, was not readily seen. 
 
 AYhen we had approached within about fifteen feet, and 
 he was abreast of our carriage, he hailed us, in words 
 which we could not understand. It sounded like a high- 
 wayman's challenge, though the expression of his counte- 
 nance betokened no evil intention. Again and again he 
 repeated his demand, of which we could make nothing. At 
 last we understood " Chebok, chebok," and when he sum- 
 moned all his English and added, " give some," -we {ound 
 out that the poor fellow had been waiting all that time in 
 the rain so patiently, in the hope of getting from us a quid 
 of tobacco. It is doubtful whether he believed us, when by 
 signs we endeavored to show him that none of us either 
 chewed or smoked tobacco. He seemed, like the dogs at 
 the table, to think us no gentlemen, 
 
 We met with many amusing circumstances, showing the 
 passion of the Indians for tobacco, in which it is but fair 
 to the red man to say, they are more than matched by the 
 white man's appetite in that region, and, so far as we could 
 observe, the Indians were not so filthy in its use as their 
 civilized neighbors. 
 
 At Council Grove, the family with whom we were staying 
 had gone out on the Sabbath, leaving us in charge of the 
 house. The Kaws, to the number of fifteen hundred, were 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 53 
 
 encamped near by, and companies of them througli the day, 
 sometimes to the number of fifty, were in and around the 
 house. 
 
 One old veteran came up '' :> us with his blandest smile, 
 which was very winning, set off as it was, by his shaved 
 head, all but the crest and scalping-lock, and daubings 
 with red paint, and went through with a very expressive 
 pantomime, though ivhat it expressed we could not tell. But 
 he gestured still more earnestly, and smiled still more 
 sweetly, till it thrilled our very scalp locks, yet we compre- 
 hended not. 
 
 At last he drew from beneath his blanket a bunch of 
 matches, and drawing one over his hands succeeded in con- 
 veying his idea. He wanted us to loan him a pipe with 
 which to smoke. AVe signified that we had no such article. 
 But he was not easily bafiled. He showed us that we could 
 go up into the private room of our host, and by unlocking 
 or breaking open a closet there, we could find a pipe, and 
 he manifested no great regard for us when we refused. 
 
 At another time we saw an Indian, splendidly dressed, 
 coming over the prairie at a rapid gallop. He reminded 
 us of many a picture of an oriental chief. His head-dress, 
 a sort of turban, was scarlet, and his blanket, also, was 
 bright red, and of some rich material. He was evidently 
 one of rank — a Pottawatomie. His leggins and moccasins 
 were highly ornamented, and as he came dashing toward us, 
 he looked as if he might be commissioned to warn the white 
 man from his paternal lands. 
 
 Alas, the romance all vanished when we found that he 
 only wanted some "chebok." 
 
64 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 FIRST NIGHT IN KANSAS. 
 
 Night had set in, a dark and rainy one, and we were yet 
 out on the broad prairie, how far from any dwellings of men, 
 we knew not, with the not very pleasing prospect, that once 
 out of the road we should be lost for the night. "We knew, 
 also, that although we might perhaps follow the road on the 
 prairie, it would be utterly impossible to thread its wind- 
 ings in the utter darkness of the " timber." 
 
 The announcement of a light ahead, was as welcome as 
 " Land, ho !" to the weary and homesick sailor. We had 
 reached "the town" of whose existence we had heard. A 
 town is composed of two or more log-cabins. This had 
 just the requisite number, two. We learned at once that 
 one of these was full. At the other we gained admittance. 
 For the benefit of those who have never seen a hotel in 
 Kansas — ^who do not know what pioneer life is — who are not 
 aware how a man can live without comforts, and be quite 
 comfortable, if he has a contented mind, with very few even 
 of the necessaries of life, we will give a brief description of 
 the spot where we passed the first night in Kansas. 
 
 It was on the bank of a clear and beautiful stream, about 
 eighty-five feet wide in its then low estate, and the land 
 upon its banks seemed rich enough to support the laziest 
 farmer that ever grew fat on the unctuous river bottoms. 
 The rain had made the black loam somewhat tenacious, and 
 the mud on the hotel floor was, in the judgment of charity, 
 a little shalloiver than it was without. It was of course a 
 log dwelling, and it consisted of two rooms. One was bar- 
 room, sitting-room, dining-room and sleeping apartments. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 55 
 
 and the other was cooking and wash-rooms, warehouse, ser- 
 vants' rooms, and all other rooms needed for a hotel estab- 
 lishment. The owners and all the inmates were Southern- 
 ers, and with true hospitality the door stood wide open, and 
 so did one of the two windows, and so they remained wide 
 open night and day during our stay. With the window it 
 seemed quite a matter of necessity to be open, as it was 
 merely a " hole in the wall," without even a sash. An old 
 colored woman whom they called " Beckie," was sole queen 
 of the household, and mistress of ceremonies. She and her 
 cook-stove, and meal-bag and wash-tub, and innumerable 
 other things all dwelt together in the ''other room.'' 
 Beckie' s last '' clarin up ifme" had evidently been ''long 
 time ago," and yet before Beckie is condemned as no house- 
 keeper, one should take a look at the place where, and 
 means wherewith, she was expected to produce order and 
 neatness. In fact, she seemed to feel that the state of things 
 was a stain upon her reputation, and she declared privately 
 that she had " only just come." 
 
 Beckie had a kind, warm heart, under a skin that was of 
 pure Ethiopian blackness, and when at the supper-table the 
 blessing of God was asked for our food, she said that she 
 believed it was the " first blessing that had ever been asked 
 in the Territory;" that she had not heard a blessing in eight 
 years ; that her old master was a member of a Baptist church, 
 and at ''one time'' used to pray. Beckie expressed her 
 sense of the value of freedom by saying that " she wouldn't 
 be owned by any body for a thousand dollars," " she owned 
 herself," and she thought " every body ought to own them- 
 selves." The supper-table, and a stove, and four beds, as 
 
56 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 one might suppose, would be regarded as a set of furniture 
 for one not very large room. But these were only the main 
 articles, the outlines, as it were, while the "filling in" 
 included all articles used for hunting, for farm and stable- 
 work, beside cross-cut saws, harness, saddles and mill- 
 gearing. The roof was plastered or ceiled, whichever may 
 be the most expressive word, with strips of cotton cloth, 
 nailed over the rafters, which were rough poles, and on 
 hoop-poles laid across beams overhead, the musquito netting 
 was ingeniously hung. 
 
 This spot is presumed to be the site of a city yet unborn, 
 and which at this time has only " cast its shadow before," 
 in the shape of two log-cabins, and lots staked out, patiently 
 waiting to be bought. Our fellow occupants of the hotel 
 were the sovereign squatters on the site and had partici- 
 pated largely in a meeting where terrible resolutions had 
 been passed, excluding all abolitionists from Kansas, and 
 making it (on paper) a slave State. A doctor and a law- 
 yer were in the group. 
 
 Now if the reader imagines that we were very uncom- 
 fortable, and unhappy in such a spot and scene, he is wide 
 of the mark. These "terrible resolution" men were very 
 companionable, and appeared far better in private than they 
 did in the newspapers. They came from the region where 
 a reward was offered for that agitating Yankee, Eli Thayer, 
 and yet we felt that every hair of our head was safe. 
 
 The blessing of God was asked for our food — one of our 
 friends produced a Bible, and we read, and knelt, and prayed 
 together, and the abolitionists, and the ''fire-eaters'' three 
 Yankees, one Kentuckian, and two Missourians slept under 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 57 
 
 the same roof in peace. It was prophetic, as ^Ye could not 
 hut hope, of what will yet take place, on a large scale, in 
 Kansas. 
 
 Such is the present exterior of things, heneath which are 
 found kind hearts, hospitality and intelligence. Such rude 
 walls cover many noble souls in Kansas, the germs of a 
 future State. On this very spot there will soon be a real 
 town, whose populous streets will present the attractions 
 and refinements of cultivated society. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 Kansas lies between the thirty-seventh and fortieth par- 
 allels of north latitude. Xow if wc follow these parallels 
 eastward, and observe the country which they inclose, an 
 idea may be obtained of the climate and productions of this 
 Territory, which needs only to be varied in view of local 
 causes. To this should be added the fact, that the mouth 
 of the Kansas is about seven hundred feet above the level 
 of the sea. 
 
 Following the boundaries of the Territory eastward to the 
 Atlantic, we find its southern line passing through southern 
 Missouri, central Kentucky, and southern Virginia. Its 
 northern boundary runs through northern Missouri, central 
 Illinois, central Indiana, southern Ohio, and southern Penn- 
 sylvania, striking the sea-coast in the latitude of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Except as modified by its remoteness from the ocean, we 
 should expect that Kansas would resemble these States in 
 its climate and productions. Experience has shown that its 
 soil is capable of producing, in perfection, all the grains, 
 vegetables, and fruits which can be grown in the middle 
 States. If, as is stated, the latter part of the summer is 
 often dry, though seldom visited by such a drouth as has 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 59 
 
 this season prevailed through the whole country, it would 
 indicate the necessity of early planting and sowing ; the 
 advantages of which are, this season, shown by the fact that 
 at Council Grove, early planted potatoes produced a good 
 crop, and early planted corn also was not a failure. 
 
 The ground is usually free from frost in the latter part 
 of February, or early in March, and the character of the 
 soil admits of early plowing ; earlier, it is said, than in the 
 corresponding latitudes farther east. Fall planted potatoes 
 might, perhaps, succeed best. 
 
 The first frosts occur about the 1st of October ; but for 
 two months later the prairies afford pasturage for stock, 
 while young cattle, where they can be sheltered by the tim* 
 ber, are wintered with very little feeding — though abun- 
 dance of food and warm shelters will be found, as elsewhere, 
 to be needed for the most profitable stock-raising. 
 
 The meteorological records which were furnished us by 
 the politeness of the officers at forts Leavenworth and Eiley, 
 show that but small quantities of rain fell in the Territory 
 during the winters, and consequently that the roads, except 
 for a small portion of the year, must be in good condition, 
 and the weather suitable for outdoor work. 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 
 TEMPERATURE AND QUANTITY OF RAIN. 
 
 The rauge of the thermometer, in the "winters of 1853- 
 4, was as follows : 
 
 Jan. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Port Leavenworth, 9 
 
 o'clock, A. 
 
 M. 
 
 
 1853. 
 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 54. 
 
 
 
 1. 
 
 .17^ Feb. 
 
 . 1. 
 
 .43=' 
 
 Jan 
 
 . 1..31« 
 
 Feb 
 
 . 1. 
 
 .U^ 
 
 2 . 
 
 . 16 
 
 2. 
 
 .23 
 
 «( 
 
 2.. 34 
 
 <( 
 
 2. 
 
 .21 
 
 3. 
 
 . 1 
 
 3. 
 
 .32 
 
 (( 
 
 3.. 56 
 
 " 
 
 3. 
 
 .23 
 
 4. 
 
 .15 
 
 4. 
 
 . 1 
 
 (t 
 
 4.. 43 
 
 " 
 
 4. 
 
 . 37 
 
 5. 
 
 .20 
 
 5. 
 
 . 5 
 
 (t 
 
 5.. 8 
 
 <« 
 
 5. 
 
 .38 
 
 6. 
 
 .37 
 
 6. 
 
 .12 
 
 (( 
 
 6.. 2 
 
 <( 
 
 6. 
 
 .34 
 
 7. 
 
 .37 
 
 7. 
 
 .17 
 
 ({ 
 
 7.. 18 
 
 (( 
 
 7. 
 
 .33 
 
 8. 
 
 .36 
 
 8. 
 
 . 5 
 
 (( 
 
 8.. 19 
 
 " 
 
 8. 
 
 .30 
 
 9. 
 
 .31 
 
 9. 
 
 .19 
 
 {( 
 
 9.. 33 
 
 (( 
 
 9. 
 
 .42 
 
 10. 
 
 . 34 
 
 10. 
 
 .42 
 
 t( 
 
 10 . . 38 
 
 «« 
 
 10. 
 
 .40 
 
 11. 
 
 .32 
 
 11. 
 
 .42 
 
 <i 
 
 11 . . 17 
 
 <( 
 
 11. 
 
 .59 
 
 12. 
 
 .33 
 
 12. 
 
 .32 
 
 <( 
 
 12 . . 18 
 
 (( 
 
 12. 
 
 .64 
 
 13. 
 
 .33 
 
 13. 
 
 .32 
 
 « 
 
 13.. 7 
 
 i< 
 
 13. 
 
 .35 
 
 14. 
 
 .29 
 
 14. 
 
 .20 
 
 (( 
 
 14 . . 10 
 
 (( 
 
 14. 
 
 .31 
 
 15. 
 
 . 23 " 
 
 15. 
 
 .41 
 
 <( 
 
 15 . . 28 
 
 <( 
 
 15. 
 
 .17 
 
 16. 
 
 . 22 " 
 
 16. 
 
 .20 
 
 « 
 
 16.. 8 
 
 (( 
 
 16. 
 
 .17 
 
 17. 
 
 .24 
 
 17. 
 
 .40 
 
 (( 
 
 17 . . 10 
 
 (1 
 
 17. 
 
 .18 
 
 18. 
 
 ,28 
 
 18. 
 
 .25 
 
 (( 
 
 18 . . 10 
 
 «< 
 
 18. 
 
 .38 
 
 19. 
 
 .26 
 
 19. 
 
 .20 
 
 (( 
 
 19 . . 22 
 
 " 
 
 19. 
 
 .39 
 
 20. 
 
 29 " 
 
 20. 
 
 .37 
 
 i( 
 
 20.. 8 
 
 <t 
 
 20. 
 
 .38 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 61 
 
 ran. 21 . . 39° Feb 
 
 .21. 
 
 .41° 
 
 Jan 
 
 .21. 
 
 . W Feb 
 
 21. 
 
 .37' 
 
 " 22 . . 22 
 
 
 22. 
 
 .30 
 
 " 
 
 22 
 
 . 
 
 99 
 
 .37 
 
 " 23 . . 45 
 
 
 23. 
 
 .15 
 
 " 
 
 23. 
 
 . 6 
 
 23. 
 
 .34 
 
 " 24 . . 33 
 
 
 24. 
 
 .37 
 
 (( 
 
 24. 
 
 .14 
 
 24. 
 
 .40 
 
 " 25.. 33 
 
 
 25. 
 
 .34 
 
 «' 
 
 25. 
 
 .40 
 
 25 
 
 .34 
 
 " 26 . . 10 
 
 
 26. 
 
 .54 
 
 (( 
 
 26. 
 
 .28 
 
 26 
 
 .32 
 
 " 27 . . 36 
 
 
 27. 
 
 .50 
 
 (( 
 
 27. 
 
 .20 
 
 27 
 
 .29 
 
 " 28 . . 37 
 
 
 28. 
 
 .31 
 
 " 
 
 28. 
 
 .40 
 
 28 
 
 .33 
 
 « 29 . . 42 
 
 
 
 
 (( 
 
 29. 
 
 .30 
 
 
 
 " 30. . 31 
 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 30. 
 
 . 57 
 
 
 
 « 31.. 32 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. 
 
 .44 
 
 
 
 28.41 
 
 
 25.07 
 
 
 22.08 
 
 
 34.7^ 
 
 MontlilyM 
 
 ea 
 
 n. 
 
 " 
 
 
 
 i( 
 
 
 
 Position of tlie Thermometer 180 feet above Missouri. 
 
 At Fort Eiley, one hundred and forty miles west of Fort 
 Leavenworth, the monthly mean for Jan. 1854, was 23° 59 ^ 
 and for February '54, 37° 11^ showing that at the western- 
 most post the average temperature was a few degrees higher 
 than on the Missouri river. 
 
 In the years which these records cover, the highest range 
 of the thermometer was, at Fort Leavenworth 102°, and at 
 Fort Eiley 105^, during the last summer; and the lowest 
 was at Fort Leavenworth, eight degrees below zero, and at 
 Fort Riley, twelve degrees below zero. 
 
 A record of temperature kept while we were in the Ter- 
 ritory, compared with one for the corresponding days at 
 Cincinnati, shows no important difference ; and the general 
 conclusion is, that the climate of Kansas, in temperature, 
 corresponds very nearly to that of southern Ohio, Kentucky, 
 
62 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 and Virginia ; while from tlie data whicli we have been able 
 to procure, the indications are that it is less variable. 
 
 Another important question concerns the annual quantity 
 of rain which falls in Kansas. 
 
 The fact that the annual quantity of rain diminishes as 
 we leave the coasts of continents for the interior, and that 
 Kansas is nearly in the center of North America, would lead 
 to the conclusion that it is a land of drought, unfit for agri- 
 cultural purposes. Such indeed is the impression upon 
 many minds ; and we were informed while on our journey, 
 that so little rain falls at Fort Eiley and Council Grove, as 
 to render the country nearly valueless. Fortunately, we 
 have the means of a somewhat extended comparison, from 
 which a perfectly reliable and scientific conclusion is reached. 
 
 QUANTITY OF RAIN AT DIFFERENT POINTS. 
 
 Fort Leavenworth, K. T., in 1853, 30 in. 45-lOOdths perp. depth. 
 
 Annual mean quant. Cam., Mass., 38 
 
 Western Reserve College, Ohio, 36 
 
 Fort Crawford, Wisconsin, . . 30 
 
 Marietta, Ohio 41 
 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, . . 45 
 
 St. Louis, Missouri, 32 
 
 British Islands, 32 
 
 Western Franee, 25 
 
 Eastern France, 22 
 
 Central and North. Germany, . 20 
 
 Hungary, 17 
 
 Mean quantity for the Old World, 34 
 
 Mean quantity for America, . . 35 
 
 In this year of universal drought, we have not the means 
 of a comparison, but at Fort Leavenworth, from January 1, 
 1854, to August 31, the quantity was 12 in. 49-lOOdths. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 63 
 
 At Fort Kiley, one hundred and forty miles west of Fort 
 Leavenworth, the quantity, for the same period, was 15 in. ; 
 and at the same place, from November 1, 1853, to Septem- 
 ber 15, 1854, the quantity was 24 in. 86-lOOdths. 
 
 These facts, taken together, are quite sufficient to show 
 that Kansas does not suffer from a deficiency of rain. In 
 addition, it should be stated, that except in the river bot- 
 toms, the soil is of a character that renders it a vast reser- 
 voir of the water which falls. It sinks deep, and remains 
 to supply the roots of slants when the surface is dry. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 STREAMS, SPRINGS, WELLS, TIMBER — ITS KINDS AND QUAN- 
 TITY — MATERIALS FOR FENCES AND DWELLINGS. 
 
 Kansas may be regarded as a land of springs and streams. 
 The larger rivers are the Nemaha and Wolf creek in the 
 north ; the Kansas, with its tributaries, occupjang the cen- 
 tral valley, and the Arkansas with the head waters of the 
 Osage and Neosho in the south. A glance at the map shows 
 that these cover all the eastern division of the Territory 
 with a network of waters. 
 
 The head streams of the Kansas stretch far toward the 
 Eocky mountains, while its main tributary on the north, the 
 Big Blue, flows from within the limits of Nebraska. 
 
 The Arkansas runs for about five hundred miles within 
 the limits of the Territory, and while a portion of its valley 
 is represented as sandy, yet all the lower portion is said to 
 be heavily timbered and fertile, while its mild climate will 
 recommend it to a large class of settlers. It is by no 
 means destitute of groves and fertile tracts of land, high 
 up toward its sources, as is shown by the settlement at 
 Pueblo, which is more than five hundred miles west of the 
 mouth of the Kansas, and the State of Missouri. 
 
 The Neosho, the Marais De Cygnes, and the Osage in the 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 65 
 
 southeast, find their sources in the region of country around 
 Council Grove, which in beauty and fertility can scarcely 
 be surpassed. 
 
 We traveled through the country a distance of more than 
 three hundred miles, and though many of the small streams 
 and springs had become dry, as was the case in every other 
 part of the country, yet we found no difficulty in obtaining 
 water, at suitable intervals, for ourselves and horses, with- 
 out leaving the main roads. 
 
 It is a land of springs, which indeed might be inferred 
 from its undulating character, and living water may proba- 
 bly be found in nearly every section of land. It is probable 
 that at some points wells must be depended on for the use 
 of cattle, yet even this is questionable. The deepest well we 
 saw had been sunk thirty-five feet, and the temperature of 
 several which we tried was 54° Fahrenheit. 
 
 Some of these wells and springs supply water suitable 
 for washing, but in general, we think, it is what is called 
 ''hard:' 
 
 Many good mill-sites are already known on the various 
 streams, and some of them are occupied; but from the 
 abundant indications of coal, it is probable, almost certain, 
 that steam-power can be cheaply supplied, and will be 
 chiefly employed for manufacturing purposes. 
 
 We saw no streams in the country, except the Kansas, 
 whose waters are turbid. Even those of the Big Blue 
 are clear, and beautiful, reminding one of the streams of 
 New England. The rivers and streams of the Territory 
 abound with fish. 
 
 Among the timber trees of the country, the following are 
 6 
 
66 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 the chief: white oak, black oak, red oak, hickory, sugar-maple, 
 red-flowering or soft-maple, poplar, cottonwood, elm, mucilagi- 
 nous elm, sycamore, ash, black walnut, honey locust, black 
 locust, linden, beech, wild cherry, hackberry and box elder. A 
 few cedars were seen near the mouth of the Big Blue, and this 
 tree is also found in the neighborhood of Fort Eiley. The 
 western district abounds with pines, and other timber 
 belonging to a colder climate and mountain ranges. 
 
 In some locations on the north side of the Kansas, the 
 timber is short, and has a scraggy, unthrifty appearance. 
 In general, however, it seems not inferior to that of other 
 sections of our country, and much of it has attained to a 
 gigantic size. 
 
 Many of the oaks are five or six feet in diameter, and the 
 cottonwood is frequently larger even than that. The tim- 
 ber at the junction of the Smoky Hill and Eepublican Forks, 
 is remarkably fine, and where it is crossed by the Council 
 Grove road, is more than two miles broad. 
 
 Enormous elms, oaks, cottonwoods, and sycamores stand 
 thick on all the ground. At the steam-mill there were 
 solid logs, showing a thrifty growth four and five feet in 
 diameter, of oak and cottonwood. On the upper tribu- 
 taries of the Osage and Neosho, around Council Grove, the 
 timber appears remarkably thrifty, and shoots up to a great 
 hight — and there also, the quantity appears sufficient to 
 supply every want. 
 
 The general impression seems to be that the deficiency of 
 timber is so great as to present a serious, if not insurmount- 
 able obstacle to the settlement of the country, and conse- 
 quently each squatter has made it his first object to secure a 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 67 
 
 tract of timber both indispensable for his own farm, and as 
 a profitable investment, from the opinion that timber and 
 fuel must be both scarce and dear. 
 
 This subject is one of prime importance, and deserves a 
 careful consideration ; for if prairie farms, destitute of tim- 
 ber, can not be cultivated successfully, then, except for 
 stock-raising, Kansas will prove of but little value. If the 
 prairie farmer is to be at the mercy of the owner of timber, 
 and tree-tops, for fuel, are to be sold at five dollars per cord, 
 as in some locations now, it will be long before the Terri- 
 tory is clianged into a populous State. 
 
 We incline to the opinion, however, that little difficulty 
 need be apprehended from this cause, with judicious man- 
 agement. First of all, there is more timber in Kansas than 
 meets the eye of one passing through the country. It is 
 confined to the margins of streams, and the low grounds, 
 where it is partially or wholly concealed, until the over- 
 looking eminence is reached. Again, God has provided 
 three important and complete substitutes for timber and 
 wood. At almost every point in the blufi's, just where it is 
 most convenient and yet out of the way, is an abundance 
 of limestone and sandstone, of a most excellent quality for 
 buildings or for fences. Coal has been found at several 
 points already, lying bare where it crops out in the blufi's, 
 and indications of its presence are abundant throughout 
 the Territory ; and the Osage orange grows in perfection, 
 from which an impervious hedge is formed the third year. 
 
 In such a country, thus supplied, neither a log-cabin nor a 
 rail fence should ever be built. For fences, the Osage orange 
 will probably be found, in general, the cheapest, as well as 
 
68 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 the most beautiful material. Yet in very many locations, 
 stone fence can be constructed, as is believed, at one dollar 
 per rod, and this has one great advantage over all others, it 
 will stop the prairie fire. 
 
 The mound and ditch, or sod fence, has been used in some 
 parts of Missouri and Illinois, but is now very generally 
 abandoned for the Osage hedge. It is said that a fence, 
 woven from small hemp-cord, with meshes of about five 
 inches, has been introduced in England, as a substitute for 
 wire fences. It is saturated with some preparation of pitch, 
 which preserves it from the efi"ects of the atmosphere, and 
 is sufficiently strong. From the fact that it can be prepared 
 and immediately put up, it may perhaps be worthy of a trial, 
 at least as a temporary fence, while hedges are growing. 
 The manufacture of this netting is a very simple matter, 
 and it is also said that it will furnish a very cheap fence. 
 
 There is evidently no necessity for consuming the timber 
 of the country for fences, nor for being dependent upon the 
 owners of timber, for this purpose. Xothing but a present 
 and unavoidable necessity should induce a settler to erect a 
 log-cabin in such a country as Kansas. In the first place, 
 a comfortable log house, if such a thing can be, is a costly 
 structure, and secondly, the useless waste of timber, as com- 
 pared with a light and suitable frame, '* halloon-frame,'' is 
 enormous. At the Catholic mission, on the north side of 
 the Kansas, we were informed by the lady in whose house 
 we passed the night, that a log room twelve by fifteen, which 
 she put up as an addition, cost her $70. A double log 
 house, that is, with two rooms, a passage, or open space 
 between, the whole forty-five feet long and sixteen feet 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 69 
 
 Y^ide — walls eight feet six inches high, with three doors and 
 three windows, the logs hewn on both sides, with pine floors 
 and doors, cost $594. A common shanty, of the same size, 
 would cost about $150, as we were told. 
 
 Such facts, and the importance of being so far as possible 
 independent of the use of timber, should lead the settlers 
 at once to experiments with stone for walls, so abundant 
 and so excellent in its quality, or to the gravel or grout 
 walls, which in some places have been so successfully 
 adopted, and which, from the abundance of material, can be 
 built as cheaply in Kansas as in any spot in the country, or 
 to the wall of sun-dried bricks, or •' adobes,'' made from the 
 prairie soil. We were informed by some who had visited 
 Salt Lake, that the Mormons have built houses from these 
 bricks three stories high, by the use of a stucco or common 
 plaster for the outside, and that such buildings are strong 
 and beautiful. 
 
 Most of the cabins in Kansas are pointed up, or ''filled 
 in'' between the logs, with this material. It dries so hard 
 as to ring to the stroke, and we have no doubt that, with 
 bricks from this soil, dwellings much cheaper and much 
 better than log-cabins, can be constructed. 
 
 Should the settlers construct their first dwellings either 
 of stone or with gravel walls, or from these adobes, they 
 would be dry and warm, and sickness would in a great 
 measure be avoided. 
 
 Sun-dried bricks have been extensively used in the large 
 plains, both of the Old and New world, where timber is 
 scarce, and they will form an available material in Kan- 
 sas. Still they have not hitherto commended themselves to 
 
70 JOURNEY THROUGH I^NSAS. 
 
 American taste or judgment, and perliai)s no necessity for 
 their use will ever be found in Kansas. 
 
 Should such a policy be adopted in regard to fences and 
 dwellings, there will be found an abundance of timber in 
 the country, and it will continually increase. Timber will 
 spring up everywhere, the moment that the annual prairie 
 fires are checked, and the growth of many kinds of trees is 
 extremely rapid. Cottonwoods have been known, in moist 
 grounds, to grow from twelve to seventeen feet high in a 
 single year, and the black locust shoots up with scarcely 
 less rapidity. 
 
 A question, however, still remains. If sawed lumber is 
 used for building, and to some extent for fencing, then at 
 what distance from timber lands can a prairie farm be 
 successfully cultivated ? We have inquired of Illinois 
 farmers in regard to this point, and the reply has been that 
 farms, ten or twelve miles from timber, are profitably 
 occupied. 
 
 Taking this as a guide, we will turn to Kansas. Our 
 route to Fort Eiley lay along the north side of the Kansas, 
 at some distance from the stream, and it crossed the lines 
 of timber on its tributaries. A statement of distances 
 between them will be interesting, as bearing upon this 
 question of timber: 
 
 Along the Missouri is a broad line of heavy timber. 
 From the Mo., westward to Salt creek, is about 4 miles. 
 
 Thence to Stranger creek, 9 " 
 
 Thence to Hickory point, 12 " 
 
 Thence to Grasshopper, with Slue creek between, 10 " 
 Thence to Soldier creek, 20 " 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 71 
 
 Thence to the Catholic mission, . . . . 20 miles. 
 
 Thence to Lost creek, 7 ** 
 
 Thence to Vermilion, 5 ** 
 
 Thence to Kock creek, 4 " 
 
 Thence to Sargent's creek 13 " 
 
 Thence to Big Blue, 3 " 
 
 Thence to Wild Cat, 7 " 
 
 Thence to Fort Eiley, 12 " 
 
 Along all this route, to the left, lay also the heavy line of 
 timber on the Kansas, which, though mainly in the posses- 
 sion of the Indians, at present, can be obtained, as is said, 
 at moderate prices. 
 
 At fort Eiley, as before mentioned, is a very fine body of 
 timber, on the streams that unite to form the Kansas. 
 
 From Fort Eiley to Council Grove, thirty miles, the route 
 is over the high land which divides the waters of the Kansas 
 from the Neosho and Osage, in the southeast. On this route 
 we crossed Clark's creek, fifteen miles from Fort Eiley, which 
 has a narrow line of timber. About ten miles from this we 
 reached the timber on the head waters of the Neosho, in 
 the vicinity of Council Grove. This timber presents a heavy, 
 luxuriant growth, and it becomes more abundant down the 
 streams toward the southeast. 
 
 From Council Grove, our route toward Fort Leavenworth 
 was northeast, on the south side of the Kansas; and we 
 crossed creeks and lines of timber as follows : 
 
 From Council Gr. to Big John, Spr'g cr'k, is about 2 miles. 
 
 Thence to Eock creek, 5 " 
 
 Thence to Bluff creek, 4 " 
 
 Thence to One Hundred and Forty-two Mile cr'k, 6 " 
 
72 JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Thence to Elm creek, o miles. 
 
 Thence to Onion creek, ; . . 2 " 
 
 Thence to Log Chain creek, 2 " 
 
 Thence to Soldier creek (estimated), . . . .8 " 
 
 Thence to AVaukereusa (estimated), . . . .15 " 
 
 Thence to Smith's Ferry, on Kansas, about . .11 " 
 
 Some of the above are small creeks, with only narrow lines 
 
 of timber, but they are the extreme head springs of the 
 
 Neosho and Osage. From the point at Smith's ferry where 
 
 we re-crossed the Kansas, to its mouth, about one hundred 
 
 miles, the timber is fine, on its bottom lands, and though 
 
 mostly on the Indian reservations, can, as is said, be cheaply 
 
 purchased. Of this fact we have no personal, or positive 
 
 knowledge. 
 
 These statements, we think, are sufiicient to show that 
 few, if any points in Kansas, are so remote from timber as 
 to be valueless — that, in fact, there need be little apprehen- 
 sion of serious difficulty on this account. 
 
 OSAGE ORANGE HEDGE. 
 
 To some, perhaps, the following statement, from one who 
 has experience in hedge growing, may be useful : 
 
 Plant the seed in a nursery, with the ground very care- 
 fully prepared. In the following spring (April in Kansas) 
 transplant ; cut the young plants close to the ground, or 
 ''down to the yellow hark," and, on ground prepared with 
 care, and to be kept free from weeds, set them out in dia- 
 gonal lines, six inches apart, thus .*.•.•. The plants 
 will then shoot out branches thickly, close to the ground, 
 and form an impenetrable fence, sufficient to turn any stock, 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 73 
 
 the third year, and which even in the second year is a good 
 defense. One quart of seed, as is said, properly managed, 
 will produce plants enough for one quarter of a mile of hedge. 
 The seed should be swelled or sprouted before planting. 
 
 COST OF A FARM, AND FARMING. 
 
 The claim of one hundred and sixty acres, which the set- 
 tler makes under the pre-emption law, will, when surveyed, 
 cost him, of course, one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre ; 
 for this the crops which he will raise, before the land can 
 be entered, will more than pay. The first plowing of the 
 prairie will cost, at present, when men and teams are hired, 
 two dollars and twenty-five cents per acre. Ail other ex- 
 penses are incapable of any estimate, as each man will build 
 a dwelling and fences to suit himself; will purchase more 
 or less of farming implements, and of stock, and will sur- 
 round himself with more or less conveniences, as circum- 
 stances allow. 
 
 This land, with ordinary cultivation, will produce (accord- 
 ing to the care bestowed) : 
 
 Of corn, from 50 to 100 bushels per acre. 
 
 Of oats, say 40 " " ** «« ** 
 
 Of wheat (average), . . . 20 " *< ** " " 
 
 Of potatoes (300 bushels) 
 
 • i h200 *« " " 
 
 sometimes raised), . J 
 
 Of hemp, ($120 per ton), 1000 lbs. " " 
 
 The prairie affords from one to four tons of hay per acre, 
 
 according to season and location, which is even now cut, to 
 
 some extent, with mowing-machines; to the use of which, or 
 
 of * reapers,' no obstacle exists. Whatever vegetable or fruit 
 
 7 
 
74 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 will grow well in I:>ew Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Kentucky, 
 may be produced in perfection in Kansas. 
 
 In three years after locating upon the open prairie, a man 
 may have his farm surrounded and divided by hedges ; his 
 dwelling adorned with shrubbery, and young shade-trees — ■ 
 several kinds of fruit-trees and grape-vines in bearing — and 
 if he pleases, a young forest, already capable of supplying 
 him with some small timber. 
 
 For stock, the prairie produces abundance, both of hay 
 and pasturage, and all the cattle which we observed on 
 these prairies were in very fine condition ; showing that the 
 prairie grass is more nutritious than we had before supposed. 
 The country seems admirably adapted both to the cultiva-- 
 tion of grain and the raising of stock. 
 
 The price of horses, oxen, cows, and mules, is about the 
 same as it is in Missouri, Ohio, and Kentucky. The price 
 of corn, wheat, and other grains, is, on account of the 
 drouth, extremely high : corn, one dollar and fifty cents 
 per bushel ; wheat flour, six, to six dollars and twenty-five 
 cents per cwt., and other things in proportion ; and at these 
 prices there is a home market for more than has been pro- 
 duced. 
 
 Such a state of things will not continue, but a home 
 market for the productions of Kansas will be found, for a 
 long period, at prices equal to those of the States — and this 
 will make fortunes for those who will be content to enter at 
 once into the steady and systematic cultivation of the soil, 
 instead of being beguiled by the more dazzling promise, of 
 the various speculations so common in a newly-opened coun- 
 try. The influx of settlers will, of itself, open and long 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 75 
 
 maintain an extensive market, while its position, in relation 
 to the western government stations, to the California and 
 Oregon emigration, and the Santa Fe trade, will insure, for 
 the farmers of Kansas, a steady cash market at home for 
 whatever they can produce. To this should be added the 
 fact that the manufacturing resources of the country will 
 create, of themselves, an extended home market, of great 
 importance to the agricultural interest. 
 
 MINES AND MANUFACTURES. 
 
 As has been already stated, bituminous coal, of an excel- 
 lent quality, seems to abound. The limestone of the coun- 
 try is the carboniferous limestone, and in the bluffs, in 
 various places, it crops out in veins from fifteen, to twenty 
 inches thick ; and the indications are, that the quantity is 
 abundant and widely diffused. 
 
 It is the same formation as that on the eastern side of the 
 Missouri. The strata, on both sides, dip slightly toward 
 the bed of the river, and on the east side, in Missouri, the 
 beds of coal are thicker, and of better quality as we recede 
 from the river, until some beds in the interior are twelve 
 feet thick. Such was the information given us on the spot. 
 
 We should, of course, expect the same in Kansas. As in 
 other parts of the Mississippi valley, the geological forma- 
 tion indicates the existence of iron, which is so abundant in 
 Missouri. Lead has been found : the Indians have brought 
 in specimens of tin, and zinc ; and a bed of excellent gypsum 
 has been found on the Smoky Hill fork, above fort Pdley. 
 Clay for bricks, and potter's clay, abound, and large beds 
 of copper are said to exist on Turkey creek. 
 
7Q JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 It may be assumed as a settled fact, that tlie slave States, 
 while they remain such, will never manufacture for them- 
 selves; and their helplessness, in this respect, is almost 
 beyond belief. We were informed by a Missourian, a citi- 
 zen of a town of four thousand inhabitants, on the Missouri, 
 that if a carriage axle was bent or broken, it could not be 
 repaired in the place ; if a shaft were broken it could not be 
 replaced ; and we were elsewhere informed, that, throughout 
 the beautiful farming region of the Upper Missouri, so far 
 from manufacturing farming implements, not even a plow 
 could be properly repaired. 
 
 Such, so far as our observation extended, is the universal 
 state of things. If, therefore, Kansas should become a free 
 State, and attract to herself an emigration which should 
 introduce eastern mechanical skill and experience, she would 
 at once furnish manufactures of wood, iron, leather, hemp, 
 and a countless variety of articles, for an immense coun- 
 try both above and below her, as well as for the government 
 and for the supply of the emigrants' outfit, and the trade to 
 Santa Fe. 
 
 Kansas, if free, will be very likely to present a copy of 
 manufacturing New England ; nor will the water-power, the 
 mineral wealth, and the timber, on her western district, at 
 the base of the Kocky mountains, always lie beyond the reach 
 of her population. 
 
CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 A NIGHT ON THE BANKS OF THE BIG BLUE. 
 
 Through one beautiful afternoon we bad traveled over 
 tbe billowy prairie that seemed to be steeped in sunbeams, 
 and toward evening, as tbe sun was sinking into tbe flood, 
 wbicb himself had poured abroad, presenting a scene equal 
 in glory to any sunset at sea ; a dark-blue line, stretching 
 along the expanse, and looking like the coast in the far 
 distance over water, showed us that we were approach- 
 ing the " timber" that skirts the banks of the Big Blue, the 
 largest and most beautiful tributary of the Kansas. 
 
 As we descended from the high prairie into these timber 
 bottoms, we found a thick growth of tall and thrifty trees, 
 oaks, elms, cottonwoods, sycamores, mingled with Ijickory 
 and ash, forming a wide grove on either side of the stream. 
 
 Our road, for a time, lay along the foot of a high, and 
 almost overshadowing bluff, while below us, through the 
 dark arches of the trees, we could see the broad river, 
 rippling in its flow, and sparkling in the sun, or lying still 
 and dark under the shadow of its western shore, while still 
 beyond, appeared the open and apparently cultivated mead- 
 ows of the prairie, extending far as the eye could reach. 
 
 The evening song of birds broke sweetly the general 
 
78 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 silence ; here and there a squirrel dropped down the nuts 
 he was gathering, and quails and prairie hens would 
 cast on us an inquiring glance, and then away to cover. 
 It seemed almost impossible to believe that we were not in 
 some old and highly-cultivated country; we could scarce 
 help expecting that we should soon be among orchards, and 
 grain-fields, and elegant dwellings. 
 
 We reached, at dusk, a log-cabin of somewhat more than 
 the ordinary pretensions, three stories long, and one story 
 high, around which was a paling fence, formed of split 
 sticks, indicating that the march of civilization had begun, 
 and that the first stage, that of the rail or worm fence, for 
 the front yard, had' here been already passed. Seldom is a 
 more beautiful site for a dwelling seen. In the rear, the 
 sheltering blufi"s threw round it a protecting wall of green, 
 while in front was the bright, clear river and its broad, 
 natural meadows. It will probably be spoiled, for it ofi'ers 
 an advantageous location for a "tavern," and mm and 
 tobacco, and drunken swearing men will very soon be there, 
 to mar the beauty of the works of God. We found that the 
 three stories were not too many for the accommodation of 
 the owners. They formed quite a patriarchal family, well 
 suited to the Oriental-looking pastures and meadows that 
 lay around them. Jacob, himself, had scarcely more sons and 
 daughters, and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, children, 
 and grandchildren, than were gathered here. 
 
 Supper was provided, and we sat down in the midst of the 
 family, there being no alternative, unless we, or the family, 
 should occupy the outside of the house, during the meal. 
 The patriarch, himself, who had been absent, returned just 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 79 
 
 at this juncture, and seated himself with us. I inrjuired if 
 he had any objection to my asking God to bless our food. 
 He readily assented, but a marked change at once came over 
 him. 
 
 His wife, who was sitting near me, said that they had 
 lost all 'Hheir manners" since they came out to Kansas. 
 The ''old man," she added, "used to say grace, before he 
 came out here, but since we came to this place he has lost 
 his manners." The old man seemed to lose " his manners" 
 in another sense, after this frank confession of his wife. He 
 was moody during the meal, and answered us rather gruflfly, 
 in some things. We were soon shown the room where we 
 were to sleep. Some of the party had begun to lay aside 
 their garments, when he walked in with his pipe in his 
 hand, a most capacious one, filled it, lighted it at the candle, 
 and sat down as if he felt at home, in his own house, unmind- 
 ful of the turning down and tucking up of bed-clothes, and 
 the half undressed condition of his guests. Something 
 evidently was lying with great weight on his mind. He 
 smoked with nervous energy, while it was clear that his 
 conversation was only a skirmishing of outposts, a prelude 
 to something which he had not yet got at. Boots were 
 drawn off, cravats were laid aside, suspenders" even unbut- 
 toned, but the patriarch comprehended not. Smoke now 
 filled the room so that one of the party was absolutely 
 "smoked out," and was obliged to seek the open air. I 
 suggested to the old man that the tobacco had sickened him. 
 
 It took him quite by surprise. It had not even occurred 
 to him that anybody could dislike tobacco. As to the idea 
 that his presence in our sleeping apartment was an intru- 
 
80 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 sion, I saw that he could never be made to comprehend that, 
 and what sort of a writ of ejectment could be served upon 
 him was becoming a serious question, and though much 
 amused, we were also not a little annoyed. 
 
 He finally marched straight up to the matter that was 
 pressing upon his mind. He turned to me and asked, "Are 
 you a preacher ?" Considering my external man, resembling 
 a Californian, when ''prospecting,'^ more than a minister, ] 
 honored the old man for his doubts. I think he only partly 
 believed me when I answered, " Yes." " I wish you had got 
 here," he replied, ''before sundown, I would have sent 
 round and had 'em come in to hear you preach." 
 
 He then said that he was a member of the Methodist church, 
 and used once to enjoy religion, and had family prayers, 
 and grace at the table, but since he had come into Kansas 
 he had become cold and neglectful, and he had, he said, a 
 great many about him who were not Christians, and he 
 found it hard to live in a Christian way. His case was 
 now perfectly clear. He was rebuked and mortified by 
 what had occurred at the table, his spiritual nakedness had 
 been revealed to strangers, and the aroused conscience had 
 compelled him to come to us, and make explanations. 
 
 He could not rest until he had partially unburdened his 
 spirit. His Christian graces had not well endured the trans- 
 planting into Kansas, and lacking the support of the usual 
 external helps, they had well-nigh perished entirely. 
 
 He was one of a very numerous class of professors whose 
 piety depends very much upon circumstances, and who, 
 without the presence of a ministry, and the ordinances of a 
 church, exhibit neither life nor light. The new States and 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 81 
 
 the Territories swarm with such dead or frozen disciples, 
 and the sad fact shows the great importance of the emigra- 
 tion of Christian colonies, of churches, by which many weak 
 ones might be kept from falling, and perhaps strengthened 
 in the faith. 
 
 The old man in the end expressed a wish to call his family 
 together for evening worship, and gladly resuming the gar- 
 ments which had been laid aside, we followed him back to 
 our dining-room, which was at once filled by the numerous 
 tribe, and a scene somewhat vexatious in its commencement, 
 was interesting and solemn in its close. The next morning 
 he was reminded of the importance of his position, at the 
 head of so large a household, whose views of religion would 
 be greatly influenced by his example. AVe found that other 
 professors were living in the vicinity, and urged upon him 
 the duty of at least endeavoring to assemble on the Sabbath 
 for prayer-meeting. He replied, " k.B soon as these soldiers 
 get away I shall try and do something," 
 
 We learned then that some soldiers from a neighboring 
 fort were engaged on a government work near by ; that they 
 boarded with him ; that his piety had not the courage to 
 show itself in their presence, and Satan had persuaded 
 him to wait until he could be pious without an effort, and 
 without the necessity of bearing his cross. 
 
 A man does not escape from himself by a journey to Kan- 
 sas, and Satan follows the weak and wavering Christian 
 even into the wilderness. Our old friend is, I think, a 
 child of Grod, but he lacks the manly courage which is one 
 of the brightest excellencies of the Christian character when 
 the energy is tempered with meekness. Thousands, not in 
 
82 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Kansas, are waiting until the soldiers are gone, before they 
 attempt their duty. 
 
 The night spent at the Big Blue was a cloudless one, and 
 the purity of the atmosphere, in Kansas, was beautifully 
 exhibited by the exceeding brilliancy of the heavens. Never 
 before was my soul so filled, and even awed by the glory of 
 the skies. I had never before felt so deeply the loveliness 
 of perfect purity as in looking at the milky- way that night — 
 so stainless, so perfectly defined, and yet with so soft an out- 
 line. It surely needs the knowledge of the one true God, 
 to prevent man, in such a climate, from worshiping the 
 stars. To show the effect of the scene upon a youthful mind 
 I insert here an extract from the journal of the youngest 
 member of the party : 
 
 "THE HEAVENS AT BIG BLUE. 
 
 "All day we had traveled amid scenes of wonderful 
 beauty. We journeyed toward the setting sun, and often 
 ere he sank into the plain, he drew our eyes to where the 
 lengthening shadows, stretching away from every rock, and 
 knoll, and tree, were pointing back to our eastern homes. 
 Strangers, and in a strange land, memory had little need of 
 being thus aroused, for although our faces were set westward, 
 our hearts went quickly home, and our spirits heard the 
 voices of those we loved, and we saw their familiar faces. 
 
 " Slowly the sun withdrew through gates of gold, that 
 were surrounded by a deeper, purer blue, than I had ever 
 seen before. The glowing sky was so clear, so stainless, 
 that it seemed as if the gates of Paradise were partly opened, 
 and the shadow of that heavenly radiance whose splendor 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH ICANSAS. 83 
 
 mortality can not bear, was lighting up the scene. The 
 mind, unless altogether earthly, is always deeply impressed 
 by the closing up of a summer-day. The sinking sun, the 
 deepening twilight, the gradual coming of the stars in their 
 appointed order, and the stretching of the milky-way across 
 the sky, will always affect one, even amid the dust and 
 smoke of a city, but situated as we were, beyond the 
 very borders of civilization, and almost beyond the abodes 
 of men, the death of that calm, beautiful day, came like a 
 sweet spell over the heart. Night came, clothed, as it 
 seemed, in her "festal garments;" she had put on all her 
 stars. Above, the heavens glowed, and below, every blade 
 of grass, and every little leaflet, sparkled also with its star- 
 drop of dew. 
 
 *' The outline of the distant prairie, as it rose and fell, 
 apparently against the sky, rounding into all conceivable 
 curves of beauty, was in itself a magnificent picture, and yet 
 but a single feature in the scene which God had there unrolled. 
 I did not wonder, as my eye wandered over the magnificence 
 of these heavens, that the heathen, in more southern climes, 
 should nightly bow himself to worship in such a temple, 
 whose walls rise higher than the "armed eye" can reach, 
 and whose pavements are stars, and firmaments of stars. 
 It is not strange that these glorious lights before the throne 
 should be mistaken for the Divinity himself. 
 
 " Among the mountains of Xew England, I had looked on 
 the same scene, and again, I had watched these stars 
 while floating on the bosom of the upper lakes, and often 
 from the hills around our Queen City, I had endeavored, by 
 
84 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 the aid of man's sliort-sighted -wisdom, to search out these 
 hidden mysteries of God. 
 
 "At these three, widely separated points, the heavens had 
 presented the same scene to my eye, "but now it was essen- 
 tially changed. As an old painting is improved by cleans- 
 ing and restoring what has faded, so it seemed to me, that, 
 compared with what I had seen before, some hand had 
 freshly burnished the whole vault of heaven, and brightened 
 all its jewels. The blue of the sky was dark, almost to 
 blackness, and the stars seemed nearer, larger, and more 
 lustrous. With the sleeping prairie, silent and unin- 
 habited, around, and so pure a sky above, I thought I could 
 imagine the beauty of earth ere man had marred its loveli- 
 ness, and I turned forward to that new creation, when it 
 shall be swept and garnished again. With what feelings I 
 beheld, so far from home, each familiar shining one. Far 
 in the East I had hailed their appearance, nightly, and 
 watched and followed them with my glass, and now, as old 
 acquaintances, they were doubly welcome, where all was 
 strange and earthly friends were few. Arcturus looked 
 down with eye as fiery, as when the Patriarch mentioned 
 him in his hymn, worshiping ' Him who guideth Arcturus 
 and his sons;' the Northern Crown was slowly setting, bend- 
 ing to place its coronet upon the prairie's brow, and Cassi- 
 opeia rode on in queenly magnificence. On how many 
 crumbling thrones had she looked down, since God first 
 sent her forth along her shining way ! ' Time writes no 
 wrinkle on her changeless brow.' There, too, were the 
 folding coils of The Serpent, sparkling with many hues, as 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 85 
 
 if trying tlie arts of fascination. Aquarius was there, but 
 it was only in mockery that he seemed to lavish the contents 
 of his ample vase, upon the parched earth. The Heavenly 
 Eiver, (Eridanus) rolling its waters westward, reminded me 
 of the ' streams' that 'shall make glad the city of our God.' 
 ''The Eagle and The Youth were pursuing their journey, 
 side by side, symbolizing, as I thought, the great future of 
 this West. To an American the eagle speaks of republi- 
 canism and civilization in its highest form — of a great and 
 prosperous nation. The western youth has joined hands 
 with the eagle, and together they are starting on their way. 
 May the splendor of the heavenly pair be typical of the 
 result on earth. Again, the silvery beauty of Altair 
 brought up a crowd of familiar faces, with whom, at home, 
 I had often looked upon his brightness. Blue eyed Lyra 
 * discoursed sweet music ' from her golden harp. The wolves 
 on the prairies seemed to be howling praises to their fellow 
 Wolves, that had been, by the ancients, enthroned among 
 the stars. I thanked Q-od for these smiles of my starry 
 friends, and laid up, among the treasures of memory, that 
 night scene on the banks of the Big Blue." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE SCENERY OE THE PRAIRIES— THE PAST, THE PRESENT, 
 THE FUTURE. 
 
 I HATE before stated that tlie Kansas prairies are indescrib- 
 able, and this is true. Yet when the spirit has been deeply 
 moved by any object, we can scarce refrain from an attempt, 
 however feeble and unsuccessful, to describe the scene to 
 others, that they may share in our emotions. This induces 
 me to speak again of the scenery of the prairies. I have 
 just reached an elevated spot, the top of one of the prairie 
 billows that has heaved itself above its fellows. From this 
 low eminence let us look around. The eye sweeps, without 
 one obstruction, round a perfect circle of at least fifty miles 
 in diameter. Everywhere the undulating outline of the 
 plain touches the "horizon's rim." Over the vast plateau 
 the heavens seem spread out on purpose to curtain it in ; 
 a dome "whose maker and builder is God," and which, 
 glowing, as it is, with excess of light, seems to send down 
 to us the glory of some "upper sky," the shining through 
 of a heavenly splendor. 
 
 Much has been said of the awe one feels beneath the 
 center of the dome of St. Peter's, but here we are under a 
 dome whose base is fifty miles across, and which swells, 
 
JOURNEY THKOUGH KANSAS. 87 
 
 measureless, into the height of the heavens. Below it, 
 seems a vast amphitheater ; for from the horizon's edge the 
 prairie appears to slope gently inward toward the center, so 
 that the boundary line of vision seems to lie on the crest of 
 surrounding hills. But this is a delusion. It is only the 
 general outline of the plain that lies clearly defined against 
 the distant sky. The river bluffs, themselves, seldom rise 
 above the general level of the high rolling plateau. Far, to 
 the south and southwest of us, the line of timber that marks 
 the position and course of the Kansas, appears like a long 
 blue cloud, just resting on the boundless meadows. West 
 of us, a slender, silver line runs across the prairie, for 
 many a mile, and loses itself in the distance. 'Tis the mist 
 which, after a shower whose clouds are gone, is rising over 
 the channel of one of the tributaries of the Kansas, coming 
 in from the north. It looks almost as if the milky-way had 
 descended to the earth, and was now floating slowly back to 
 the skies. 
 
 The distant river sweeps close up to the base of the 
 bluffs, and they present many grand and curious features as 
 they swell out into the river valley, and where their upper 
 outline stands out against the sky. They appear in the 
 distance much more abrupt than they are in reality. To 
 the eye they rise from the edge of the valley, almost as 
 steeply as walls — but walls of most huge dimensions. 
 They look like immense fortifications. It would not sur- 
 prize us to behold there the floating folds of banners, nor to 
 see gigantic sentinels pacing their rounds on those battle- 
 ments. That long regular slope, rising from the river, looks 
 indeed, like a glacis, constructed with military precision ; 
 
88 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 those huge, rounded promontories, reaeliing out into the 
 valley, might well be taken for bastions, and that level line, 
 that for so many miles stretches along the sky, looks like 
 the graded top of the parapet. 
 
 Yonder, too, are circular mounds, cone-shaped and iso- 
 lated, regular in form as if art had constructed them, yet 
 not artificial, commanding a view of the whole adjacent 
 country to the limits of vision, while on the top of one 
 appears a smaller cone, as if it were crested with a watch- 
 tower. From these various elevations and projections, huge 
 shadows, as the sun declines, are thrown over the long slopes 
 and level prairie, adding still to the variety and beauty of 
 the scene. 
 
 Now let the eye range round the circumference of this 
 circle — one hundred and fifty miles, at the very least. See 
 this plain around us — fifty miles, or more, across. It seems, 
 at first glance, a country full of people, so evident, so uni- 
 versal appear to be the evidences of cultivated life. AYe 
 think we see countless meadows and grain-fields all about 
 us. We have not closely observed, but surely here must be 
 a multitude of flocks, and ''cattle on a thousand hills." We 
 look for the spires of distant villages — the snowy gleam of 
 white dwellings under the low, green hills, we listen for the 
 voices of human life. We start at the result. Not a single 
 human dwelling can the eye detect in all the vast amphi- 
 theater ; not even a smoke curls up anywhere to tell of life ; 
 not a sound can be heard, beyond ourselves, that indicates 
 the presence of man. Not even an Indian is abroad, in all 
 the prairie. There may, or may not be, a log-cabin or two, 
 somewhere within this circle, but, so far as eye or ear can 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 89 
 
 determine, it is one immense waste, and voiceless solitude, 
 hushed into the very silence of the tomb. Here, away as 
 we are from the groves by the river, there *s not a leaf to 
 rustle, nor a bird to sing. Yonder hawk waves his wings 
 all silently as he floats along, and the ear, pained with the 
 intense stillness, is relieved by even the buzzing of a fly. 
 "Where are the people?" Few have ever looked upon 
 these prairies, I think, without being constrained to ask 
 this question. We seem not disposed to doubt that the 
 whole scene was once throbbing with the pulse of a great 
 people's life. We feel that in some way they have suddenly 
 vanished, and we ask, Will they re-appear, or are the multi- 
 tudes of their dead sleeping around us ; has this gTeat silence 
 fitly settled here, over a nation's tomb ? In this case, where 
 Grod has not yet seen fit to disclose one of the most interest- 
 ing secrets of the past, each one may indulge his own 
 conjecture, if not plainly contrary to the teaching of exist- 
 ing facts. 
 
 Tor myself I was constrained to adopt, at once, the opinion 
 of those who believe that the prairies are the once cultivated 
 fields of a race that has passed away, and left no represen- 
 tative behind. The mounds, the remains of fortifications, 
 and apparently of walled cities ; the ruined temples of Central 
 America, and these green fields now empty and silent, seem 
 to be joint memorials of a common past — and of that past 
 the prairies are, to me, the most solemn and touching monu- 
 ment. In a region desolated by war, the fragments of 
 demolished temples, and the shattered walls of forts, are 
 not the saddest features in the scene. 
 
 The country, emptied of its inhabitants, despoiled of its 
 8 
 
90 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 flocks and herds, its orchards and vineyards ruined, and 
 far and wide, its fields unoccupied, lying waste and silent, 
 this is more deeply affecting. So, in looking at the prairies, 
 we feel that all around us there were once multitudes of 
 happy homes ; that millions once dwelt on these broad plains, 
 devoted to the gentle arts of peace, and elevated far above 
 the condition of the wandering savage ; that these were their 
 grain-fields and pasture-grounds; that their flocks, and 
 herds, and vineyards were on these hill-sides; that this 
 impressive stillness is the silence of death, and this rank 
 grass is growing over forgotten graves — its very rankness 
 suggesting that the plains may have once been fertilized 
 with blood, and the ashes of the dead. In the period in 
 which those builders of temples, cities, and mounds dwelt 
 here, this continent lay, it seems, without the range of that 
 world which alone has furnished materials for history ; and 
 here a western world, with empires of its own, populous as 
 those by the Euphrates or the Nile, the Egean or the Tiber, 
 has had its life of centuries, which no poet has sung, or 
 historian recorded. One of those great revolutions has 
 occurred here, such as left the plain of Shinar and the valley 
 of the Nile almost as desolate as the prairie ; a great multi- 
 tude has been swept out of existence, a race has perished, 
 and God has sealed up the secret of its history, so that 
 no man can open. 
 
 It seems scarcely possible to entertain the idea, that the 
 present race of Indians are the descendants of those who 
 built the mounds and temples. Every known characteristic 
 forbids the supposition. There 's not a single feature in all 
 their mental structure, there 's nothing in their tastes or 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 91 
 
 modes of life wliatever, that would suggest sucli a previous 
 existence as some race must haye had in this central garden- 
 land of America. 
 
 Their whole appearance is that of the degenerate children 
 of a wild, conquering race ; that having overrun a cultivated 
 country, and swept the inhabitants away, and incapable of 
 any organization or progress, separated into roving bands, 
 and warring upon each other, noui'ished the heart of slaughter 
 and revenge, and sunk at last to where the white man found 
 them. It seems contrary to the whole course of human 
 development, that such a race as the Indians of our country 
 could have descended from those who worshiped in these 
 ornamented temples whose ruins remain — dwelt in these 
 cities whose walls are not wholly gone, and cultivated 
 these plains. 
 
 They present two distinct and antagonistic phases of 
 national life — the one must have destroyed and succeeded 
 the other. The present Indian is the Scythian of the west. 
 
 This race also has nearly finished its course. As surely 
 as races, like individuals, have characteristics peculiar to 
 themselves, capacities which indicate fitness or unfitness for 
 certain modes of thought or action, so certain does it appear 
 that the Indian race will never assume the forms of the 
 Anglo-Saxon civilization; and it is difficult to conceive how 
 any one who has visited the tribes in their homes, can reach 
 a diff'erent conclusion. The fond anticipations which many 
 are indulging of Christianized and civilized Indian nations, 
 on our western borders, will, in all probability, never be 
 realized. The preaching of the Gospel will doubtless secure 
 the salvation of individuals ; many may thus be gathered 
 
92 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 as trophies of the albouncling grace of God, but the civili- 
 zation of the nineteenth century is not for them. As a peo- 
 ple, the Gospel will not save them. As a race, and nationally, 
 they are lost already, and will disappear. They have played 
 their part through, in the world's development, and they are 
 nearly ready to leave the stage. As they succeeded to the 
 position of a vanishing race, so we have done to theirs. 
 Their stewardship is over and their doom pronounced, and 
 ours is now beginning. The dominions of the Toltecans 
 have, through the red tribes, come down to us, and the prai- 
 ries of Kansas, and those adjoining, will soon present all the 
 forms of a new life — the life of the nineteenth century — and 
 that peculiar form of it which God has committed to the 
 American people; for even Anglo-Saxon civilization has 
 an American phase. Should we permit slavery to enter 
 here with abominations more hideous in the sight of God 
 than those of the savages, will he not even take the king- 
 dom from us ? 
 
CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 TOWN SITES AND SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 In the few clays only that have elapsed since the follow- 
 ing chapter was written, some progress has been made in 
 the settlement of the Territory, and in determining the 
 sites of future towns. Still, I have thought best to let it 
 remain as originally penned, for it will at least show how 
 far the first impressions of the Commissioners sent, are con- 
 firmed by subsequent events. The Xew England settlement 
 on the Waukereusa, has since received some large acces- 
 sions, and the first number of a paper, a large, fine-looking 
 sheet, and devoted to the cause of freedom, has been issued 
 there. A large colony, as is said, has selected Council 
 Grove as its center, and some claims have been made in the 
 vicinity of Fort Eiley. 
 
 The natural features of the couiifry would seem to point 
 out the necessity of three, perhaps four, principal commer- 
 cial centers for Kansas, as points for exchange between 
 herself and other States, viz : one in the neighborhood of St. 
 Joseph ; one near the mouth of the Kansas river ; one on her 
 southeastern border, where it will be touched by the South- 
 western Branch Eailway from St. Louis toward Texas ; and 
 perhaps a fourth somewhere in the valley of the Arkansas. 
 
94 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 All speculations, except of quite a general character, con- 
 cerning town sites in a country so little known as Kansas, 
 must necessarily be somewhat vague, yet perhaps the public 
 are entitled to the opinions of the Commissioners, though 
 the immediate future may show them to be erroneous. A 
 central city at, or near the mouth of the Kansas, may, by 
 means of railways running west, northwest and southwest, 
 concentrate on that single point, nearly the whole commerce 
 of the Territory. 
 
 Be this as it may, enterprise, competition, and the spirit 
 of speculation are already busy with cities and city lots. A 
 city called Atchison has already been laid off, not far below 
 St. Joseph, on the Missouri, with an eye to the trade of the 
 upper division of Kansas, on the Nemaha, ^Yolf creek, and 
 the upper waters of the Big Blue and Vermilion rivers. 
 
 Three miles below Fort Leavenworth, and some twenty- 
 five miles above the mouth of the Kansas, is Leavenworth 
 City. The proximity of Fort Leavenworth, and the sup- 
 posed presence of the Territorial Government near, may be 
 circumstances in its favor, but it is not located at the point 
 toward which the commerce of the Territory would natu- 
 rally flow. That point is at the mouth of the Kansas, and 
 to it trade will flow as naturally as the waters of the river. 
 
 There is already, Kansas City, but it is in Missouri, whose 
 boundary here touches the western shore of the Missouri 
 river. There is a site for a city on the north side of the 
 Kansas, at its mouth, on lands now owned by the Wyan- 
 dots. It would seem that the commercial capital of Kan- 
 sas must be at the mouth of its principal strenm. 
 
 In the southeastern district, through which the Neosho and 
 
% 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 95 
 
 the Osage rivers flow, there are as yet few settlers, and no 
 movement has been made toward the building of a city. 
 The prevailing opinion with them seemed to be, that their 
 trade must connect itself with the Kansas valley. If so, it 
 must, of course, be by the common roads, or railways. 
 
 In regard to internal towns, the settlers, thus far, have 
 been guided by the very natural idea, that a town would 
 spring up, either at, or near, where the principal streams 
 and valleys strike the Kansas, or are crossed by the main 
 lines of road- — such as the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe 
 routes. At all such points, especially along the north shore 
 of the Kansas, settlements have been formed, and claims 
 have been made, for some distance up the streams, and to 
 the depth of two or three claims, along the main road, in 
 the vicinity of the supposed town site, while back from the 
 streams, and between town locations, the prairie is as yet 
 mostly unclaimed. Thus, commencing on the Missouri and 
 following the Tort Eiley road, on the north side of the Kan- 
 sas, we find, first, Leavenworth City; then, westward, are 
 settlements at Salt creek, Hickory Point, Stranger creek. 
 Grasshopper river, Soldier creek. Catholic Mission, Lost 
 creek, Vermilion, Eock creek, Big Blue (the largest trib- 
 utary of the Kansas, and about one hundred and fifty feet 
 wide, clear and rapid) , Wild Cat creek, and Fort Eiley. 
 
 Then from Council Grove toward the Missouri, and the 
 mouth of the Kansas, settlements have been made in the 
 same manner, on the creeks heretofore mentioned as the 
 tributaries of the Neosho and Osage, where these are 
 crossed by the Santa Fe road. The same process is also 
 going forward in the northern district, on AYolf creek, the 
 
96 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Nemaha, and on the u2"-per waters of the Vermilion and Big 
 Blue rivers ; a settlement of some importance having already 
 been made by a company, where the government road to 
 forts Kearney and Laramie crosses the Big Blue. 
 
 Among all these, will there be any important towns ? A 
 question which time, alone, can answer satisfactorily ; yet 
 some suggestions may not be entirely useless. One fact 
 should, we think, be considered. The Indian reservations 
 lie along the Kansas, running back from six miles to ten 
 miles, and many spots, now chosen for towns, lie outside of 
 the boundaries of these Indian lands, and consecjuently six 
 and ten, or more miles, from the mouths of the streams on 
 which they are located. These Indian reservations will not 
 always be Indian lands, and when they, also, are open for 
 settlement, will not the true business centers be found fur- 
 ther down, where these valleys and streams meet the Kansas, 
 whether this stream proves to be navigable, or whether a 
 railway is constructed along its banks ? 
 
 Doubtless, on all of these streams, small towns will 
 spring up, but there seemed to us some special attractions 
 on the Grasshopper, a clear and beautiful stream, about 
 eighty-five feet wide, and a site for a still larger town on 
 the Big Blue, a clear, swift stream, one hundred and fifty 
 feet wide, even in the drouth. On the lower part of this 
 river few claims had been made at the time of our visit, 
 (September) . 
 
 The confluence of the two important streams that form 
 the Kansas, and the beauty and fertility of their valleys, 
 as well as the large body of timber at Tort Eilcy, indicate 
 that spot as the site of an important place, while a town 
 
JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 97 
 
 will also be established at, or near, Council G-rove. This is 
 in the midst of a fertile and beautiful region. 
 
 Without railways, or the navigation of the Kansas, towns 
 at the mouth of the Big Blue, at Fort Eiley, and Council 
 Grove, would be situated very much as Columbus, in Ohio, 
 Harrisburgh, in Pennsylvania, Utica, in New York, and 
 Springfield, in Massachusetts, once were ; though the natural 
 roads in Kansas are superior to any artificial ones we ever 
 saw, and the small quantity of rain which falls in the winter 
 months is not sufficient to render them muddy. They are 
 so, only for a short time, in the spring. Should these towns, 
 however, become the radiating points for railways, like so 
 many interior towns of the north and east, their future 
 can be easily foreseen. 
 
 Will there be an interior town of importance on the Kan- 
 sas, between its mouth and Fort Eiley ? These points are 
 about one hundred and forty miles apart. About midway 
 between them, on the south side of the Kansas, and on the 
 peninsula between it and the Waukereusa, the New England 
 settlement has been established, and twenty miles beyond, 
 up the river, is Stinson's settlement, where a town has lately 
 been laid out, which is called Tecumseh. The trade of the 
 region of Council Grove could reach a point on the Kansas, 
 about half way from its mouth to Fort Eiley, either by the 
 common road, or by a railway, with about half the distance 
 now traveled, viz : from Council Grove to the Missouri. 
 
 This would probably be true, also, of a portion of the 
 trade of the Big Blue and Vermilion. If, then, a town at 
 such a point on the Kansas, could avail itself, either of the 
 9 
 
98 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 navigation of tlic river, or connect itself with the Missouri 
 by railway, it would, of course, become one of the most im- 
 portant interior towns of Kansas. 
 
 At such a point the New England settlement has been 
 established, and we presume that those interested will not 
 fail to avail themselves of all the advantages of their posi- 
 tion. This Company will soon demonstrate the advantages 
 of combination of capital and skill in the settlement of a 
 new country. They have selected one of the most beautiful 
 locations in the Territory, lovely enough to satisfy the most 
 fastidious taste, and commanding a wide view of the sur- 
 rounding country. From observations made on the spot, 
 we think the plan has been wisely conceived, and though the 
 work has been delayed, somewhat, beyond early anticipa- 
 tions, is now being pushed on with system and energy. A 
 plot, equal to about two miles square, has been reserved for 
 the town ; a township organization has been effected ; the two 
 first companies have united their interests, and on the day 
 we visited the settlement, there was an auction sale of the 
 choice of claims. Fifty-six choices were sold, which brought 
 a premium of five thousand dollars. This fact is a sufficient 
 answer to the idle stories which have been put in circula- 
 lation about the dissatisfaction and return of the New 
 England emigrants. There are now at this point, as is sup- 
 posed, about four hundred persons. 
 
 Two steam saw-mills are ready for business, and ma- 
 chinery for various other purposes will be run by these 
 engines. The Company will be able to supply the emigrants 
 with lumber, at about ten dollars per thousand, and it is 
 
JOUKNEY THROUGH ICANSAS. 99 
 
 hoped that the tents will be exchanged, not for log-cahins, 
 but for comfortable framed dwellings, before the setting-in of 
 winter. A printing-press, driven by steam, is said to be at 
 work ; a building for schools, with an upper hall for public 
 worship, is to be erected at once, and the Company will 
 supply the settlers there, with food, and all necessaries, at 
 much lower rates than they could procure them for them- 
 selves — a point of great importance during the present 
 scarcity and high prices. In addition, this company has 
 purchased a large hotel in Kansas City, where emigrants 
 will be received, and we are convinced that they are carry- 
 ing out, in good faith, to the great benefit of the settlers, 
 and with ultimate advantage to the stockholders, the de- 
 signs which they originally formed. 
 
 Tn the course of a few months, there will be found there, 
 a modern town, with its church, or churches, schools, news- 
 papers, stores, mechanics' shops, and manufacturing estab- 
 lishments, surrounded by a farming population. For the 
 present, we are told, a town lot will be donated to any one 
 who will occupy and improve. 
 
 The present promise of this spot, is far greater than that 
 of any other in Kansas. Here, the settler will find, almost 
 at once, the privileges and advantages of an older commu- 
 nity, and here capital and combination will create business, 
 and attract a population with a continually increasing 
 power — while the advance in price of such land as the Com- 
 pany reserves, will remunerate, as it should do, the holders 
 of its stock. 
 
 The noble work, which this Company has undertaken, 
 may be done in a similar manner at man}- other points, 
 
100 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 especially at Council Grove and Fort Eiley, and by other 
 associations; and we hope to see this general plan acted 
 upon until Kansas is occupied and filled. It strips emi- 
 gration of its terrors, and renders the settling of a new 
 country a safe, easy, and profitable operation, even for the 
 pioneers. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE FIRST WINTER MAY BE ONE OF HARDSHIP. 
 
 It will probably prove a fortunate circumstance that no 
 greater number have been able to enter Kansas during the 
 present season. The prices of provisions, necessarily high 
 in the interior, have been largely increased in consequence 
 of the drouth ; and the settlers will meet the double diffi- 
 culty of high prices and scarcity of food. 
 
 At the New England settlement these difficulties will 
 be in good degree obviated by the capital and providence 
 of the company, but unless the settler has more than usual 
 resources at command, he may find serious inconveniences 
 during the coming winter. Add to this that the navigation 
 of the Missouri is often interrupted by ice early in Novem- 
 ber, and we certainly have reason to fear that those who 
 after this period, leave this fall, for Kansas, may meet with 
 unexpected discouragements. 
 
 Nor is it the work of a few days only, to make com- 
 fortable provision for a dwelling, and other necessary things, 
 and sickness will be the almost inevitable consequence of 
 exposure in tents, and half-finished cabins, of green logs. 
 Already remittent fevers had made their appearance among 
 the settlers, at some points, when we were there, owing 
 entirely to exposure in unsuitable habitations. 
 
102 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 There is every reason to suppose that Kansas is eminently 
 healthy, but the settler must not expect that he and his 
 family can escape disease in circumstances which would 
 prove fatal to an ox. 
 
 It would not be surprising, therefore, if, during the com- 
 ing winter, and the next spring, we should hear an evil 
 report concerning the land. Some Missourians were, in 
 September, uttering prophecies, born of their desires, that 
 the " ' northwesters' would blow the Yankees away." This 
 will doubtless be true of some. T>Iany have gone into Kan- 
 sas with no preparation or fitness for the life of pioneers, 
 impelled by the mere spirit of adventure, and with no defi- 
 nite purpose of any kind. They have floated into Kansas 
 on the tide, and on the first slight ebb will float out again, 
 or retire in disgust, if not allowed, in some manner, to prey 
 on the community. Let no one be deterred by evil reports 
 or croaking prognostications. The land is a good land, 
 eminently so ; and considering its advantages, as a whole, 
 they are greater than were ever before offered to the Ameri- 
 can settler. 
 
 Nor should individuals fear that if they delay until next 
 spring, the land will all be occupied, and that good loca- 
 tions can not then be obtained. It is not unlikely that it 
 will be more easy to obtain farms in the vicinity of present 
 settlements, than it is even now. The experience of a win- 
 ter, in such circumstances as have been described, will 
 discourage many — and their claims will be for sale at a 
 premium less than the sum it would cost to spend the winter 
 in the Territory, There are, moreover, thousands of ficti- 
 tious claims, which, of course, will never be entered in a 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH IvANSAS. 103 
 
 land-office. These must be exposed, iu a few months, and 
 can be obtained. It was the opinion of experienced men 
 that the early part of the coming spring will be the most 
 favorable time which will ever present for entering the east- 
 ern division of Kansas. Nor because colonies are already 
 located in important positions, should it be supposed, that 
 no other suitable positions remain unoccupied. 
 
 A colony, such as ought to be formed, wherever the thing 
 is attempted, can, as yet, create an important town at any 
 point in Kansas, wher^ it may clwose to locate. Such are 
 the natural features of the country, that around any center 
 which a prudent man would select, in that enormous plain, 
 there would be found the elements for the support of a town, 
 both agricultural and manufacturing. The superiority of 
 one point over another, will depend more upon the capital, 
 skill and enterprise, which may gather there, and upon the 
 character of the population, than upon mere locality. This 
 will prove especially true in regard to the town sites of the 
 interior. Of all these, the position of Tort Eiley is most 
 clearly marked by its natural advantages. The confluence 
 of those rivers, forming the Kansas, indicates a town — 
 especially if it should prove the head of navigation on the 
 Kansas. In the wide region around Council Grove, the 
 people and their capital will make the town, in any spot for 
 miles in either direction. The same general remarks may 
 be made in regard to large portions of Kansas. Natural 
 features of country will have less influence upon town sites 
 and their destiny, than in regions where these features are 
 more strongly marked. The truth and importance of this 
 remark will be more clearly seen, if wc consider that the 
 
104 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 abundance of coal and iron, to say nothing of other minerals, 
 affords the means of creating a manufacturing town on 
 almost any spot where a company may pitch their tents. 
 
 A small part only has yet been explored, its resources are, 
 as yet, mostly unknown, and the field, either for individual 
 enterprise or for the establishment of colonies, is yet as wide 
 and as inviting as the heart of man ought to desire. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 FORT RILEY — INDIAN FIGHTING. 
 
 About the middle of a very beautiful day, we came in 
 sight of Fort Eiley. Standing on a broad, low eminence, 
 swelling gently up from the Kansas valley, on the east, and 
 from that of the Republican on the south, and southwest, its 
 cluster of white buildings presented a neat and attractive 
 appearance; and doubtless the beauty of the picture was 
 enhanced, in our eyes, because we had lately looked only on 
 unsightly cabins. It was a sweet-looking "oasis,'' not 
 indeed a green spot merely, amid sands, but a little **isle 
 of beauty," rising out of the prairie ocean, bright with a 
 civilized smile, and wearing the decorations of taste and 
 skill. 
 
 It is a new station, established only last November (1853), 
 and hence the freshness of its look; though such is the 
 exceeding purity of the air that many colors will remain 
 long undimmed, even when exposed to the atmosphere, and 
 white walls will not be soon discolored. 
 
 Most of the principal buildings have been erected during 
 the present season (1854), and an architect of Cincinnati, 
 as we were told, has left there a lasting evidence of his taste. 
 They are constructed of a limestone which is found in the 
 
106 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 neighboring bluffs, is easily hewn, and when wrought appears 
 white — a material cheaply obtained, cheaply hewn, and 
 forming a very neat as well as substantial structure. It 
 presents almost the appearance of a chalk formation, in- 
 closing nodules of flint. The same material abounds 
 throughout other portions of the Territory. 
 
 On the east lies the Kansas valley, here, perhaps, three 
 miles wide, with its dark -green line of timber, through the 
 openings of which gleams the river, while the eastern bluffs 
 rise quite abruptly, and lie along the sky in bold yet grace- 
 ful outlines. Toward the Kansas, the eminence, on which 
 stand the buildings of the fort, sinks with a very gentle 
 slope. On the west, the land rises to the crest of the bluffs, 
 so as to form, on that side, a sheltering wall. On the south, 
 is the heavy body of timber lying in the forks of the Smoky 
 Hill and Eepublican — a grove of oaks, elms, sycamores, 
 cottonwoods, and other large timber, here probably three 
 miles wide. The Eepublican, a broad and rapid stream, 
 comes in from the west, and the Smoky Hill, about two 
 hundred and twenty-five feet wide, flows from the southwest. 
 The water of this stream is quite brackish. Both valleys 
 are beautiful, that of the Eepublican eminently so near the 
 junction, while we were told by those at Fort Eiley, that 
 portions of the valley of the Smoky Hill, are more attract- 
 ive still. Not a claim had been made, in either valley, at 
 the time of our visit, as was said. From the western bluffs, 
 which we ascended, w^e could look along the Eepublican 
 valley, as far as vision could reach, and I could not but feel, 
 as I thought of all the excitement and anxiety, the feverish 
 rush, of city life, that it would be sweet to have a home, a 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 107 
 
 resting-place, in tliat exquisite solitude, until the speed of 
 life's race could be slacked, and the hot machinery of the 1 
 brain have time to cool. The prairie breeze came and / 
 fanned the throbbing brow, as if to show how soothingly the 
 thing could be done, and a hundred times, since my return, 
 when the head has been overwrought, and the heart, too, 
 weary, by night and by day, that beautiful valley has pre- 
 sented itself to the mind, as if it would say, "Come hither 
 and rest!" 
 
 A single tent was pitched at the base of the bluff, on the 
 northern side, the evening shadow had begun to soften the 
 outlines of the scene, and a light curling line of smoke, 
 rising from the tent, looked the very symbol of quiet and 
 repose. The tent was occupied by some haymakers from 
 the fort, and one of the number, who has since visited Cin- 
 cinnati, an intelligent man, informed me that he was so 
 charmed with the spot, that he had selected there his future 
 home. 
 
 We were entire strangers at Fort Eiley, not having pro- 
 vided ourselves even, with introductions to the officers ; but 
 we were received with the open hospitality of the soldier. 
 We were directed to the " quarters" of Lieutenant S,, the 
 Quartermaster, to whom we made known our wants, who 
 said, he would at once supply us with suitable ''rations,'' a 
 phrase which, at first, almost provoked a smile. We soon 
 found that Uncle Sam feels himself able to *' live tvelV in all 
 departments of his great household, and that his ''rations " 
 are a true specific remedy for an appetite. We had the 
 pleasure of meeting at table several of the younger officers 
 of the station, some of them graduates from West Point, 
 
108 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 and all mingled the bearing of the soldier with the courtesy 
 of the gentleman — ready to show us a kindness, even though 
 it required the temporary surrender of their own comforts. 
 
 From these officers, acquainted as some of them were with 
 Indian warfare, we learned many interesting facts, which 
 served to explain the havoc which has sometimes been made 
 with small parties of our troops, in their encounters with 
 the prairie Indians. 
 
 We were surprised, incredulous, almost offended, when a 
 young officer, whose eye and bearing certainly showed no 
 lack of courage, deliberately asserted, that our mounted men, 
 though armed with revolvers, were in general not a match, 
 in close combat, for the mounted Indians, with their bows 
 and arrows. But his explanations were satisfactory, and I 
 shall henceforth regard these wild warriors as a formidable 
 foe, even for those who are armed with the most effective 
 weapons of modern times. In the first place, he said, few 
 of the dragoons sent on this service, are trained horsemen ; 
 and secondly, the horses, also, are "raw recruits," or at 
 least unused to Indian warfare. On the contrary, the war- 
 riors of the prairie are among the most expert riders in the 
 world, and their horses are so thoroughly trained, that they 
 seem to obey even a volition of the rider. They ride with- 
 out a bridle, guiding the horse by signs, and pressure of the 
 limbs upon his body, leaving both hands free for the use of 
 weapons. 
 
 Provided with such a horse, with bow and arrows, and a 
 spear, the Indian, if he finds the opportunity of closing with 
 a dragoon, brings him within range of his arrows, which are 
 effective at a distance of about thirty paces, and rides swiftly 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 109 
 
 around liim in a circle, frightening his horse by his yells, 
 so as to render any certain aim with the revolver impossible, 
 while his own arrows are discharged at horse and man more 
 rapidly than even a revolver can be fired. While running 
 round the dragoon in a circle, the Indian will lie along the 
 outside of his horse, lengthwise, the left leg thrown over the 
 back of the horse, the left arm over the neck, the left hand 
 holding the bow, and with nothing exposed but one leg and 
 one arm, arrows are shot like hail, from under the horses 
 neck, while the animal gallops steadily round and round the 
 victim, who, unable to manage his horse, that is frightened 
 with yells, and maddened with wounds, is too often inglo- 
 riously slain by his active and almost invisible enemy. 
 
 These Indians of the plain may be called the American 
 Cossack, and are exceedingly troublesome adversaries. Ar- 
 tillery is almost useless in any combat with them, except on 
 rare occasions, as they do not attack in dense bodies, and 
 are able to keep themselves beyond the range of the guns, 
 if they choose. 
 
 Perfectly acquainted with the country as they are, they 
 lead our troops into ambuscades, or marching y?«^ ahead of 
 pursuit, decoy them where no water, or perhaps grass, can 
 be found, except by themselves alone. Seldom attacking, 
 or permitting themselves to be attacked, unless the advant- 
 age is greatly on their side, they have cost our country 
 many valuable lives, both of soldiers and among parties 
 of emigrants, and we have reason to fear that the plains 
 toward the Eocky mountains, will yet be the scenes of many 
 fierce encounters. 
 
 The melancholy affair at Fort Laramie, where about thirty 
 
110 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 soldiers, well armed and with a howitzer, were slain, almost 
 in a moment, by the Sioux, shows what they are capable of 
 doing; though in this case, those who ought to know, declare 
 that the fault was with our soldiers, who began an attack 
 without a cause, and against the dictates of common pru- 
 dence. 
 
 The late massacre, in Oregon, of an emigrant party from 
 Missouri, by the Snake Indians, was made horrible by the 
 very worst atrocities of savage war, for which bloody venge- 
 ance will, probably, be taken yet, and we may, perhaps, see 
 another frontier line drawn long and broad with blood. 
 It is to be feared, perhaps believed, that most of these 
 Indian murders have been committed on the innocent, in 
 retaliation for injuries received from the whites. The judg- 
 ment day will bring to light many a bloody deed, perpe- 
 trated upon the Indians, in those wide plains, since the 
 over-land emigration to the Pacific began. As an illustra- 
 tion, I will here relate an occurrence, which took i^lace on 
 the banks of the Platte, as described by an eye-witness. 
 
 He was one of a company of nearly five hundred, forming 
 one train for California. They generally traveled in small 
 divisions, a little distance apart, for convenience in camp- 
 ing, and in obtaining wood, grass, and water. One morning, 
 while traveling through the Pawnee country, along the 
 bank of the Platte, it was found that the head of the 
 column of wagons had stopped, and, as those in the rear 
 came on, they formed soon a long and solid line. Soon a 
 horseman was sent back from the fi'ont, to inform all, that 
 the Pawnees had stopped the train, and demanded tribute, 
 in the shape of cattle, for passing through their country. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. Ill 
 
 The train was stopped, and all flocked, with their rifles, to 
 the front, until several hundred armed men were there. A 
 company of Pawnees had drawn themselves across the road 
 with a chief at their head. They were ordered away — and 
 soon all began to leave hut the chief. He drew himself 
 proudly up, and endeavored to bring back and cheer on his 
 warriors. In a moment more he was pierced by fifteen rifle 
 balls. The whole band fled toward the river, but fatally 
 pursued by a volley of balls, a line of dead stretched to the 
 river, and then the whites rushed to the bank, and shot 
 those who were struggling in the water. 
 
 It is to be feared that this transaction does not stand 
 alone, and that the prairies have drunk up much Indian 
 blood which is crying in the ear of God — blood wantonly 
 shed without any necessity or even serious provocation. 
 These wandering tribes of the prairie are often sorely pressed 
 by hunger. Driven from their old hunting-grounds, and 
 hemmed in, perhaps, by hostile tribes, they are driven by 
 extremity, and sometimes by the neglect of the Government, 
 to pilfer from the whites, which thefts are not unfrequently 
 atoned for by their blood. It is not unlikely that these 
 Pawnees who demanded the cattle, were destitute of food, 
 and hoped, in this manner, to save themselves from famine, 
 and now, after a wholesale massacre, if one of this tribe 
 should strike down a white, in revenge for some kinsman, 
 shot on the banks of the Platte, the papers will echo round 
 the land, the tale of another Indian murder, and comment 
 upon the diabolical traits of their character. 
 
 Their revenge is of the most shocking character, it is 
 true ; they seem to be filled with the rage and malignity of 
 
112 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 devils, but how much worse even this may be in the sight 
 of God, than the cool treachery, the heartless robbery,^and 
 needless bloodshed, on the part of the white man, is yet 
 to be determined. With all their hideous features, there are 
 some redeeming traits of nobleness, and there is no sadder 
 sight under the heavens, at present, than they, sunk, as it 
 would appear, where even the mercy of God can not reach 
 them ; as a people they are oppressed with treachery and 
 power, and driven onward toward annihilation, strike back 
 many a revengeful blow upon those who urge them on. But 
 the abyss yawns across their path, and their final disappear- 
 ance is near. 
 
 We were informed by the officers, of an intention to estab- 
 lish a town on, or near the site of Fort Eiley, and that it is 
 the design of the Government, so soon as the settlements in 
 the Kansas valley shall reach upward to the fort, to give up 
 the position, sell out the grounds and buildings, and estab- 
 lish a more western station. Sound policy will doubtless 
 require such a step, and a flourishing city may soon appear 
 at the head of steamboat navigation on the Kansas. 
 
 We shall ever remember the kindness and hospitality 
 shown us by the officers at Fort Eiley, but to view a soldier's 
 life, and the trade of war through such a medium, would be 
 very much like looking at a slave's life and the system of 
 slavery, from the well-furnished rooms and hospitable board 
 of an intelligent planter, doing all in his power to render 
 your stay agreeable. 
 
 While there, we saw, even at this small station, where 
 discipline perhaps, in its strictest forms, is not observed, or 
 needed, enough to convince us that the life of a common soldier 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 113 
 
 borders upon both tbat of the criminal and siave. Even 
 there, vre saw a company driven home from work under the 
 bayonet with cannon balls chained to their legs, and one 
 during our stay endeavored to commit suicide while under 
 confinement for punishment. Another, who had come from 
 the State of New York, gave me to understand that he pre- 
 ferred any position in life where he could be a freeman, to 
 the life of a soldier. Said another soldier, just discharged, 
 " Our life is the life of a slave." It will be a joyful day for 
 earth when *' the nations shall not learn war any more." 
 
 These young officers have since been ordered to Fort Lara- 
 mie, to engage in that Indian warfare which one of them so 
 graphically described, nor would it be surprising if they, 
 also, should be added to the list of the prairie dead. 
 
 IC 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FROM FORT RILEY TO COUNCIL GROVE — KAW INDIANS. 
 
 Fort Eiley does not stand, where it is placed on most 
 maps, in the forks of the Republican and Smoky Hill, but 
 on the north bank of the Eepublican, and perhaps half a 
 mile from the stream. A steam saw-mill has however been 
 erected within the forks, by the Government. The Eepub- 
 lican, which is about two hundred feet wide and runs with 
 a rapid current, is spanned by a substantial bridge, while 
 on the road to Council Grove, there is a ferry across the 
 Smoky Hill, whose waters, as I have said, are quite salt to 
 the taste. 
 
 After crossing the Smoky Hill, we entered at once the 
 fine grove of timber on its eastern bank, about two miles in 
 width, as we thought, though the road did not cross it at 
 right angles, and we were liable to overrate the distance. 
 It was the merriest and finest woodland scene that we had 
 found in Kansas. The trees were of great size, tall and 
 thrifty, while rank vines and shrubbery of various kinds 
 showed the exuberant fertility of the soil. The trees were 
 filled with a great variety of birds, among which the blue- 
 jay, reminded us most strongly of home, and me, in particu- 
 lar, of that early home of childhood among the hills of New 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 115 
 
 England, where so often, in the bright mornings of autumn, 
 when the frost had crisped the grass, and clothed the forests 
 in a shroud as gay as if it were a bridal garment, I had lis- 
 tened to that bird, when it was so still that I could hear 
 each falling leaf as it rustled down among the branches, 
 and fell amid its dead companions. And now the cry of 
 that familiar bird, and the blue wings glancing among the 
 leaves, swept space away, rolled back the years, and placed 
 me, where, alas! if I were there, indeed, there would be 
 little to greet me, unless the dead could rise from their 
 graves. 
 
 Squirrels seemed to be very happy, while industriously 
 gathering their winter's store ; quails would start up, almost 
 from beneath the horses' feet, while a flock of paroquets, 
 chattering above us, reminded me that I was not in New 
 England. 
 
 The eastern bluff of the Smoky Hill rises very abruptly, 
 and it was not without difficulty that our two strong horses 
 could drag up it the light wagon which we were using. 
 Once up it, the same seemingly endless, rolling plain, was 
 spread before us, destitute of timber, eastward, to the very 
 limit of vision. This high ground, or " divide," as it is 
 called, between Fort Eiley and Council Grove, is, in general, 
 the least attractive of any region which we passed over. 
 
 For some fifteen miles it was entirely destitute of timber, 
 and we saw no water by the roadside, though from the un- 
 dulating character of the prairie, it is not probable that 
 springs were altogether wanting. Parts of this tract are 
 covered with small pebbles, or rather fragments of flint, 
 nodules from the limestone mixed with pieces of the limestone 
 
116 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 itself, giving the plain, sometimes, where the grass had been 
 lately burned off, a mottled appearance, the white pebbles 
 contrasting with the dark ground. Even here, the soil, 
 though thin, was black, and apparently productive. 
 
 About fifteen miles from Fort Eiley, is Clark creek. It 
 is a small but very clear and bright little stream, looking 
 like a New England hrook. It has a narrow bottom, of fine- 
 looking land, where farms might be selected, in a sheltered 
 position, with pastures on the high prairie, above. Crossing 
 Clark creek, we rose again to the higher level, which con- 
 tinued for about eight miles further, when we saw in the 
 far distance, and on a lower level, faint blue lines, which 
 marked the position and course of the head streams of tho 
 Neosho and Osage. We soon found ourselves on the crest, 
 if it may be so called, of a broad slope, which sinks down- 
 ward toward those streams, and a most beautiful region of 
 country was open before us, in which woodland seemed to 
 be sufficiently abundant for life's purposes, and where grain- 
 land and meadows, and hill-side pastures, were ready on 
 all sides for the population to come. Here is one of the 
 finest regions in the Territory for a large colony, and the 
 colony might be large enough to occupy a county. It is 
 about one hundred and thirty miles from Kansas City, and 
 here is the old trading-post, called Council Grove. It is on 
 the great Santa Ee road, and a town in this vicinity would 
 probably become, to a considerable extent, a depot for this 
 southwestern trade, while the agricultural resources of the 
 surrounding country, being almost unlimited, would of 
 themselves support a large inland city. This district of 
 country may have its commercial connection with the Kansas 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 117 
 
 valley, or it may flow southeastward, to the point where the 
 Southwestern Branch Eailway will touch Kansas, and thus 
 communicate with St. Louis and the east; while it is pos- 
 sible, that a portion of the commerce of southern and south- 
 eastern Kansas may take the directioi\ of Eort Gibson, 
 and the Arkansas valley. There can be no doubt, that a 
 few years will see this fine district thronging with a pros- 
 perous population. The mildness of its climate, and the 
 fertility of its soil, will attract a crowd of settlers, so soon 
 as its value is known. The Methodist mission-house, and a 
 few log-cabins, constitute the whole of Council Grove, as it 
 now is, and the site of the present confused ''huddle" 
 seems not very happily chosen. 
 
 The " Mission " is merely a school, the Kaws not consent- 
 ing to have the Gospel preached among them. They send 
 a few of their children irregularly to a school, in which 
 little or nothing is, or can be done. The name of " Mis- 
 sion" does not very well describe the thing; and this, we 
 think, is not the only " Mission," in Kansas, to which the 
 same remark would apply. It would do no harm, if this 
 whole subject of Indian missions were somewhat more 
 closely investigated by the Churches. Some unexpected 
 disclosures might be made, perhaps, by such a scrutiny, and 
 the matter would be stripped of much of the heroic, and 
 the romantic, with which it has been so largely invested. 
 Many dreams of Christian Indian nations just budding into 
 life on the frontier, would, probably, be put to flight, by a 
 journey even through Kansas. 
 
 We found at Council Grove, about fifteen hundred of the 
 Kaws encamped. A difficulty had arisen between them and 
 
118 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 the Sauks ; one of the Kaws had been killed, and his tribe 
 threatened revenge. It was rumored that the Pottawatomies 
 would join the Sauks, and the Kaws had come in and en- 
 camped at Council Grove, with the expectation of greater 
 safety near the Mission, or that they might receive some aid 
 in settling their quarrel. To this we owed the opportunity 
 of seeing, for the first time, a large body of Indians. I had 
 never before seen a community of real, absolute heathen, for 
 such these Kaws are, permitting no Christian teaching 
 among them, except some trifling instruction in reading and 
 writing, to a few of their children. They are among the 
 lowest and poorest of the Indian tribes — guilty of all the 
 vices that Paul ascribes to heathenism, in the first chap- 
 ter of Piomans — and if any new wickedness has been in- 
 vented since Paul wrote, they doubtless have learned even 
 that. In observing these miserable creatures, I was moved, 
 sometimes to laughter and sometimes with pity, for their 
 ignorance of all good, and consequent wretchedness. In 
 them, sin had wrought out, without much restraint, its 
 legitimate consequences, and they aff'orded the most fearful 
 evidence of its nature, and its power. No such illustration 
 of the character of man, as he is when left to himself, had 
 fallen under my eye before, and it enabled me to estimate, 
 as I had not previously done, what Christianity has already 
 accomplished for the world, even where most of its influ- 
 ences are merely collateral. The difi'erence between an 
 encampment of these heathen Kaws, and a Christian com- 
 munity, no mathematics can calculate. The scene was 
 enough to stagger one's belief in the unity of the race, and 
 I must confess that my brotherly feelings required a little 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 119 
 
 nursing, a little application of Christian philosophy as a 
 stimulant ; and I cannot declare, with truth, that I felt any 
 of the movings and yearnings of that mysterious affection 
 which, it is said, will attract kindred to each other, although 
 personally strangers. I must acknowledge, that my heart 
 did not gravitate very strongly toward my brothers and 
 sisters, of the Kaw branch of the family. I believe, most 
 fully and firmly, in the unity and brotherhood of the race, 
 but I found it difficult to get "a realizing sense'' of this 
 Kaw relationship. 
 
 Man is a sorrowful sight, when he has fallen so low that 
 there is no sublimity in his ruin ; and it magnifies, beyond 
 measure, the riches of the grace of God — the power as well 
 as the love exhibited in the Gospel — that it can arrest the 
 lowest in his fall, and however degraded and polluted he 
 may be, can re-create, elevate, and refine him, until he 
 becomes fit to associate with angels, and to stand in the 
 presence of God. From such considerations, with a com- 
 pany of heathen before us, we are led to /ee? that the Gospel 
 is a resistless power — the power of God! This side of 
 eternity, the individual man can not sink beyond the reach 
 of salvation. But the life of nations is governed by another 
 law, and we see them fall, where no effort or power, even of 
 Christianity, can recover them. Unwillingly have I been 
 brought to the conclusion, that this is the condition of our 
 American tribes. Their probation as communities, is over, 
 their judgment day even is passed; nationally, they are 
 among the lost. Let individuals, if possible, by all effort, 
 be snatched as brands from the burning, and as trophies of 
 the surprising grace of God — but national vitality there is 
 
120 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 none. Even if this theory is false, the Indian tribes can 
 never be socially and politically recovered by a Grosi:)el which 
 teaches them to adopt and cherish the most hateful enormity 
 of dualized life. While their teachers are slaveholders, or 
 the defenders of slavery — ^while the churches to which they 
 are invited, welcome the slaveholder to membership and 
 communion — it is the error of one morally insane to imagine 
 that they can be socially or politically saved. When our 
 own civilization, the strongest and best, upon the whole, 
 which earth ever saw, reels under the burden of slavery, 
 and sickens with its moral poison, and gasps and struggles in 
 its distress, what madness, what cruelty to lay all this upon 
 the weakness of those who, in addition, have heathenism itself 
 to contend with ! We may lay aside all moral considerations, 
 and leave out of sight the sin of slavery, and regard it only 
 in a social and political point of view, and then safely say 
 that slavery will present an insuperable barrier to the eleva- 
 tion of these tribes, and make their ruin sure. 
 
 The Indian can not endure the curse of slavery with as 
 little injury as the Anglo-Saxon. The characteristics of the 
 latter are activity and energy, power in action ; and this 
 tends to secure the full exercise, the complete development 
 of his faculties. He will not rust in sloth, though surrounded 
 with slaves, to do his bidding. He has a mental vitality 
 which " dies hard,'" even when throttled by slavery. He 
 will, if possible, abandon manual labor; he will scorn all 
 handicrafts and mechanic arts ; he will suffer his home, 
 plantation and all about him, to wear the aspect of the most 
 helpless shiftlcssness, lacking all neatness, and real comfort, 
 but he will not lie down and doze his life away like a gorged 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 121 
 
 OX, in the shade, or a pig in the stye. If he can be nothing 
 else, he will become a politician, and busy himself in saving 
 the Union. For such an individual, or people, slavery will 
 not prove suddenly fatal. Though sure to destroy in the 
 end, the strength of the character is slowly undermined. 
 
 But the Indian is naturally indolent, cruel, and sensual. 
 The development of his nature requires the full power of all 
 the stimulants of a free, Christian society, to cherish the 
 weak points in his character, with a vigorous culture. 
 
 Slavery seizes upon the very worst, most odious features 
 of his nature, and gives them supreme control of his life. 
 His indolence ; his aversion to any effort beyond the neces- 
 sity of the hour ; his improvidence, cruelty, and sensuality, 
 are made all the stronger by this facility of indulgence, and 
 to attempt to raise him to the dignity and excellence of 
 Christian, civilized man, with this incubus on his soul, is 
 to strive against the force of eternal law. A mission to the 
 Indians which does not condemn and utterly exclude slavery, 
 carries not with it one element of ultimate success. The 
 most important missionary effort of the age, for the Indian, 
 is that which proposes to plant among them free institu- 
 tions — to hold up before them the example, and throw over 
 them the influence of free and industrious communities. 
 
 The Kaws were encamped at no great distance from our 
 lodgings, and they are worthy of a special place among the 
 curiosities of Kansas. There were groups which those who 
 are fond of statuary might love to study. They were the 
 first persons I had ever met, who, to my certain knowledge, 
 were entirely free from any patronage of slave-labor cotton. 
 This sin could not be laid to th^ir charge, for from crown to 
 11 
 
122 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 sole, not a shred of anything covered any part of the body. 
 There were children of perhaps six years old walking about 
 the public street, and mingling with others, and exhibit- 
 ing no more anxiety about clothing, than the pigs they 
 played with. From this lowest starting point of total naked- 
 ness, the styles of dress rose upward in a series, whose cul- 
 minating point was a partial covering of the body. Carlyle 
 should have seen these Kaws before he wrote his "Philoso- 
 phy of Clothes ;" he would have gained a tolerably clear 
 idea how a naked Chancellor would actually appear on the 
 wool-sack. The style next to entire nudity, was a change 
 so slight as not to startle or offend by its abruptness. It 
 was worn by boys of from twelve to fifteen years old, appa- 
 rently, and consisted merely of a very narrow band around 
 the loins. The next style exhibited leggins, only, with 
 nothing above the waist. Next came one who had adopted 
 what may be called the intermediate or half-way style, 
 between nothing and full costume. He wore a blanket round 
 his shoulders, but one leg of his pantaloons was missing ; 
 yet being a man of middle age he wore the 07ie leg with great 
 gravity, and, for aught I know, it might have been an official 
 garb. The full dress consisted of leggins and a blanket, 
 with no shirt; and as the weather was warm they were, 
 generally, when sitting, naked to the waist. 
 
 The heads of the men were shaved so as to leave an upright 
 crest about two inches high, shaped like a double cock's 
 comb. In the center of this the scalping-lock is permitted 
 to grow long, and is braided like a queue. In their poverty, 
 ornaments were few and grotesque. The feathers of prairie 
 hawks and eagles were worn, not ungracefully, in the hair. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 123 
 
 All kinds and shapes of bright things were hung in the ears, 
 of which bunches of silver drops seemed to be most highly 
 prized, and one, a little ambitious and particular in the 
 general style of his dress, had several strings of beads 
 around his neck, fastened in front in some way, by a large 
 clam-shell. The edges of the ears were colored with red 
 paint, and a red line was frequently drawn round the base 
 of the circular crest of hair, and sometimes the cheeks, also, 
 were tinged. One old man, apparently from the want of 
 means, for the purchase of paint, had mixed up some prairie 
 mud, and daubed his face into a considerable degree of 
 fashion and respectability. 
 
 One thing was highly amusing, and perhaps ought to be 
 instructive. Whether naked or clothed, whether their panta- 
 loons had two legs, or only one, whether they had paint or 
 mud on their faces, they demeaned themselves with a gravity 
 which nothing could disturb, and their carriage was, in 
 general, erect, dignified, and proud ; sometimes, even scorn- 
 ful. The only instances where I observed any relaxation 
 of haughtiness, were where one endeavored to persuade us to 
 break open a closet, in the house where we were staying, in 
 order to get him some tobacco, and another undertook 
 to sell me a coat and pantaloons, which he had probably 
 stolen elsewhere — this last smiled, exhibited, and persuaded 
 like an old clothes-man. On Sunday evening there was 
 loud riot and revelry in their camps, and all seemed to join 
 in yelling out a song, which was so softened and modulated 
 by floating half a mile, as to enable Mr. Mason to write down 
 its principal notes, and after his return he performed or 
 
124 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 imitated it on the organ, mucli to the astonishment and 
 amusement of those who heard. 
 
 After all, the predominant feeling was pity for those poor 
 creatures, ignorant, degraded, and almost friendless ; appa- 
 rently forsaken of God, and certainly despised and abused 
 by man. They will soon be compelled by Government to 
 treat for their lands, and retire before the white man. 
 
CHAPTER XYIII. 
 
 NUMBER OF INHABITANTS NOW IN THE TERRITORY — 
 SLAVEHOLDERS — THEIR FEELINGS AND PLANS. 
 
 We made many endeavors to ascertain this, but could 
 arrive at no very satisfactory result. We know not how it 
 can be determined until the census is taken. Major Ogden, 
 at Fort Leavenworth, estimates the number on the Delaware 
 lands alone, at twelve hundred. The more general opinion 
 seemed to be, that there may be now (Sept. 1854), in all, 
 some four to five thousand in the Territory. Still, this is a 
 mere estimate. 
 
 Fictitious claims are made on all sides, and little can be 
 known of the true state of things. The statements of some 
 slaveholders would indicate that the whole country, or nearly 
 so, is already occupied by friends of " the institution." A 
 few will combine for speculation in a certain locality, and 
 soon a squatter association is formed ; a registrar and other 
 officers are chosen from among themselves ; the surrounding 
 region is claimed ; entries are made on the registrar's book, 
 of long lists of names, and strangers are informed, unless 
 they are of the ''right hind,^' that the land in that vicinity 
 is all " taken up." Such combinations have been entered into 
 sometimes, for the purpose of keeping out *' the abolition- 
 
126 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 ists," and if they who use this weapon should find that it 
 has two edges, with one turned toward themselves, they need 
 not be surprised. Such associations have ''got up " settlers' 
 meetings, and sent forth terrible resolutions, as the voice of 
 the sovereigns of Kansas, of the passing of which, these said 
 sovereigns were entirely ignorant. They have been quietly 
 engaged in their pursuits, while a few speculators and poli- 
 ticians have been passing resolutions, saving the Union, and 
 protecting and extending " our peculiar institutions.'' 
 
 The first excitement on the borders of Missouri, in 
 reference to the settlement of Kansas, and which manifested 
 itself in a few meetings and intemperate resolutions, has 
 already passed, to return no more. The actors in these 
 scenes are even now, by no means, proud of their doings, 
 while by the masses such proceedings are not merely dis- 
 countenanced, but treated with contempt. A settler in 
 Kansas need have no more apprehension than if he were 
 about to locate in Illinois or Iowa. 
 
 Here and there, he will find little associations composed 
 of those in sympathy with the slaveholders, who have, per- 
 haps, covered the region round them with fictitious claims, 
 in order to exclude the "Yankees" from their neighbor- 
 hood, but then the same thing is also done by those who 
 call themselves free-soilers, for the purpose of shutting out 
 slaveholders. 
 
 This will soon be over. The difierent parties will, ere 
 long, be mingled, from proximity, and the strong necessity 
 of companionship, and of social and business relations. It 
 is, we think, wisely and mercifully ordered in the provi- 
 dence of God, that extremes meet here on neutral ground. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 127 
 
 Asperities will be softened, and prejudices removed. One 
 little circumstance will illustrate the working of these 
 causes. 
 
 A Missourian in the Territory, needing some assistance, 
 applied to his own fellow Missourians, and was refused, but 
 some New England men immediately gave him the needed 
 aid. Not long after the Missourians invited the New Eng- 
 landers to send some of their number to them, and they 
 would show them " good claims.'' 
 
 I have already alluded to our stay in Weston, where 
 most of the violent proceedings, which have been published, 
 originated; and since our return we have seen it stated, 
 that Weston is bent on blood. We have no hesitation in 
 saying, that no eastern man will be harmed in Weston, 
 unless he desires to produce excitement. As the circular 
 which we have inserted proves, the business men of that place 
 have not participated in the folly enacted there, and which 
 we feel sure will not be repeated, the interests of com- 
 merce demand a liberal policy, and it will be enforced. 
 
 We have seen the proceedings of a meeting held at Salt 
 creek, in many eastern papers, which have been presented 
 as evidence of the state of public sentiment in Kansas, and 
 of the dangers that will there beset the path of anti-slavery, 
 or any eastern settlers. It may, perhaps, not be amiss to 
 give an account of this meeting, according to a Missourian 
 who was on the ground. In the first place, the call for the 
 meeting was so circulated, that some living within a short 
 distance of the appointed spot, did not even hear of it until 
 afterward. Then, the " immense multitude," mentioned 
 in the papers, numbered not more than one hundred, assem- 
 
128 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 bled at one time, many of whom were Missourians, who had 
 crossed the river to ''regulate^' the affairs of Kansas. A 
 committee on resolutions was appointed. The majority re- 
 port was in favor of liberal principles and proceedings — the 
 minority report took the opposite and exclusive position. 
 The author of this minority report, in spite of the ruling 
 of the chairman, and, of course, contrary to all propriety, 
 called for a vote on his minority report ^rs^, and put this 
 vote himself. About seventy, including Missourians who 
 had crossed for the purpose, voted that Kansas ought to be, 
 and should be a slave State. The same man put the con- 
 trary in this form: "All who are in favor of giving up 
 Kansas to the Abolitionists and Freesoilers, signify it," kc. 
 
 All but about thirty, then left the ground ; they, appointed 
 a new chairman, and passed the minority resolutions, unan- 
 imously, and then the papers spread, far and wide, the pro- 
 ceedings of an "immense multitude" of Kansas settlers, 
 and the unanimity with which they determined that slavery 
 should be established in the Territory. Such transactions 
 exhibit the spirit and the tactics of some of the slaveholders 
 and loud-mouthed small-politicians on the frontier. They 
 show, i^lainly, what these people are capable of, and would 
 do, were they able to accomplish their purpose — it proves 
 the need of prompt, fearless, and united action, on the part 
 of the friends of freedom, but it represents only the senti- 
 ments of a busy and reckless clicjue, to whom the business 
 community is directly opposed. 
 
 Such meetings are merely empty gasconade, which might 
 be followed by action, if the east should be frightened 
 thereby. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 129 
 
 Kansas is fully open to all who choose to make it their 
 abode. For the present, there will be little separate cliques, 
 or bands, drawn together by sympathies and affinities, and 
 for a time they may keep apart, and ''claim'' and save, if 
 they can, the country around them, for friends, but in a 
 little time they will all be mingled. What is called the 
 "free-soil" principle, is the prevailing sentiment, even in 
 Missouri. They mean by it, however, simply this — that 
 they are willing that all should come, and that the question 
 of slavery should be fairly decided, by the popular vote. 
 A "free-soiler," in western phrase, is by no means, neces- 
 sarily an anti-slavery man. 
 
 From the most reliable information we could obtain, we 
 suppose that a large majority of those now in the Territory 
 are opposed to its becoming a slave-state. Most slave- 
 holders, themselves, profess to consider the question as 
 virtually settled against them, and the party of freedom 
 have the prestige of anticipated victory. 
 
 It would, however, be a mistake, likely to be attended 
 with fatal results, should the friends of freedom in the east 
 relax one iota of their efforts. With all the present fair- 
 seeming, Kansas is not yet, by any means, safe. That class 
 is not a small one, and it will increase, whose final vote will 
 be determined by circumstances, and who may be influenced 
 at the critical moment, by those means and appliances which 
 slaveholders, and their political abettors know so well how 
 to employ. That anti-slavery sentiment, which is based on 
 principle, and which can endure alike opposition or temp- 
 tation, is not yet very widely spread, nor very deeply rooted 
 in Kansas. The east and north should be aroused, until 
 
130 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 its emigrants shall be poured in by thousands, and the 
 party of freedom is placed in an overwhelming majority, 
 until neither a hope nor a possibility remains of making it 
 a possession for slavery. 
 
 There are two facts by which our hopes are strengthened, 
 that Kansas will be free, which are independent of other con- 
 siderations. First, the character of the productions for 
 which the soil is fitted, and the general nature of her 
 resources. Her agricultural productions will be essentially 
 those of Missouri and Kentucky, and it is exceedingly 
 doubtful, whether, with all their prejudices in favor of the 
 system, slavery could be now established in either of those 
 States, if that, instead of emancipation, were the question 
 now to be submitted to the people. As the general rule, 
 those who will leave Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
 Missouri, for Kansas, are from that class who are least at- 
 tached to slavery, and many of them not only have no inter- 
 est in its support, but their interests stand opposed. 
 
 They are often men with large families and small means, 
 who will emigrate for the purpose of procuring farms for 
 their sons, and who have not the means of owning slaves, 
 even if they had the disposition. Such men, who expect to 
 labor themselves, will not desire the presence of the aristo- 
 cratic slaveholder, who will class the free laborer with his 
 negro servants, and treat him with contempt. It is un- 
 doubtedly true, that in Kansas are some of the finest hemp- 
 lands in the world; but it is also true that the best of 
 these are, for the present, embraced, in large measure, in 
 the Indian reservations, and the question of slavery will 
 probably be decided before these are brought into market. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 131 
 
 Though hemp and tobacco may be successfully cultivated, 
 and to some extent will be, yet corn, wheat, oats, and stock 
 are likely to be the great staples of Kansas, and these are 
 no longer a very profitable basis of slave labor, though per- 
 haps they may be of a slave-hreeding community. Human 
 cattle may be raised in Kansas. Yet the high prices and 
 ready market which food will command there, for years to 
 come, will present a drawback, even upon the breeding of 
 slaves. It is likely that horses, oxen, and mules may prove 
 more profitable. 
 
 The second fact to which wc referred is this : It seems 
 probable that a large portion of the lands of Kansas will be 
 "claimed" or occupied by squatters previous to the survey. 
 As a ''claim,'" or preemption right covers but one hundred 
 and sixty acres, it can only be by indirect methods, if at all, 
 that larger tracts can be secured, and the watchfulness and 
 eagerness of settlers will be likely to prevent this, in all 
 desirable locations ; so that before the lands are on sale by 
 the Government, a large portion of them will be divided into 
 farms of one hundred and sixty acres each, not large enough 
 for plantations. To these considerations, it may also be 
 added, that it would be almost a suicidal act for the slave- 
 power to vote Kansas a slave State, against a heavy minority 
 of freemen ; and should the emigration from the north and 
 east be carried at once so far as to constitute a considerable 
 part, though not a majority of the population, Kansas would 
 even then be ultimately free. Slaveholders can not live 
 there in the presence of a strong minority of freemen. Slave 
 property would, in the present state of feeling be almost or 
 nearly valueless there ; the emigration from the free States 
 
132 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 would, comparatively, increase, and that from the slave 
 States decrease, and so in the end a victory will be won for 
 freedom, if large bodies from the free States are thrown in 
 at the vei-y first. When once the northern States have 
 heavy interests at stake in Kansas, those interests will be 
 protected. Let it not be supposed that the question is 
 finally settled, if the slaveholders of Missouri should succeed 
 in carrying the first election. It will even then be but the 
 beginning of a contest that in the end must be decided 
 aright. Unless eastern emigration receives an early check, 
 Kansas will ultimately be free. The first few thousands 
 will draw multitudes after them. 
 
 Kansas may easily be made a free State. It is now com- 
 pletely in the power of freedom's friends. They can save it 
 if they will, without unreasonable eflfort, and without even 
 pecuniary sacrifice. But we desire to lift our voice in warn- 
 ing against the idea that it will be a free State now, as a 
 matter of course. Every man whose circumstances will 
 allow, should feel that he is personally called upon to go 
 and aid in making it sure. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE IMPOETANCE OF KANSAS, AS SEEN IN HER POSITION 
 AND RELATIONS TO OTHER PORTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 The eastern part of Kansas occupies the central position 
 in that line of country which forms the eastern boundary of 
 what is called the American Desert, a belt about two hun- 
 dred and fifty miles wide, a portion of which is without 
 timber, and almost without rains. She will then be, in an 
 important sense, a point of departure and outfit for the 
 western trade — an exchange point between the Eastern 
 States and the farthest West. She will be a point of depart- 
 ure for the western commerce, and a point of arrival for that 
 coming eastward from the vast regions beyond her ; and 
 should the country between Fort Eiley and the Kocky moun- 
 tains, become, as many suppose, mining and manufacturing 
 regions, their supplies must be derived from the commerce 
 and agriculture of Kansas. The position of Kansas, there- 
 fore, is certain to create for her an extensive commerce and 
 a steady home market for all her productions. 
 
 There are, also, grave moral and political interests and 
 influences connected with her position and relations, which 
 render it of unspeakable importance that she should be 
 secured from the dominion of the slave power — and that 
 
134 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 there a genuine Puritan State sliouid be established, both as 
 a model and center of influence, and a point of departure 
 for other enterprises in favor of freedom. The churches of 
 Christ and the friends of free institutions, universally, 
 should arouse themselves to consider the significance of 
 passing events. Are they not clear indications of the will 
 of G-od ? Do they not speak to us in an almost audible 
 voice ? How quickly, how completely, how unexpectedly to 
 all, has God changed the field and character of the struggle 
 between slavery and freedom ! 
 
 Kansas may be regarded as a political upheaval. Like 
 islands that have been formed in the night by volcanic 
 action, or mountains suddenly lifted out of the plains of 
 South America, Kansas has been upheaved from the political 
 ocean, by the internal fires of party, and has become at once 
 one of the most prominent objects on our Continent. With 
 thousands, who a few months ago had never even heard of 
 Kansas, it is now the chief subject of thought and inquiry. 
 Minesota and all her northwestern sisters are partially for- 
 gotten, and the pioneer army is directing its march upon 
 the vast central plains that form the heart of the Continent. 
 
 Eightly considered, one of the most suggestive scenes that 
 has been looked on for a hundred years in this country, 
 was when the first large emigrant party from New England 
 stepped upon the slave-soil of Missouri, at St. Louis, on its 
 way to Kansas. In that silent, unheeded act, was the 
 inauguration of a new era, unknown though it might be to 
 the actors themselves. It was the advance-guard of free- 
 dom's hosts which was taking possession of the lands and 
 dominion of slavery in the name of God and humanity. It 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 135 
 
 was the first ripple of that new stream of emigration which, 
 for years to come, is to swell on that southern shore with a 
 broader and stronger tide. 
 
 For the first time, emigration from the north has changed 
 its direction, and turned toward the south. Should it fol- 
 low along its new course with the same impetuosity and 
 power that have marked it hitherto, then it may be safely 
 said that a new order of things has already begun — the 
 nature and the scene of the conflict between freedom and 
 slavery have been changed. It is the beginning of a peace- 
 ful but irresistible occupation of southern and southwestern 
 lands, that will roll slavery back upon itself, and remove it 
 toward the sea-coast and the Gulf. 
 
 This change in the direction of the line of emigration 
 may be regarded as the most interesting phenomenon at 
 present in our country. Let once this current *'se< in''' 
 upon the south, and it will no more be checked than the 
 flow of the Gulf-stream itself. Freedom, in its turn, will 
 filially become aggressive, will seek extension, and conquer 
 by an exhibition of the arts of peace. There is no clause 
 in the Constitution to prevent northern freemen from set- 
 tling in colonies, if they please, either in southwestern Terri- 
 tories or in southern States. The soil and climate invite, 
 and the south must receive in peace this peaceful "Army 
 of Occupation,'' though their coming will prove the over- 
 throw of her institutions — for they will root them up in a 
 Constitutional and Christian-like manner, by showing them 
 a " more excellent way." 
 
 Upon the question of the settlement of Kansas, the fate 
 of the slave-power now hangs, more especially than upon 
 
136 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 the movements of political parties. The contest for the 
 possession of this Territory will end in giving an effectual, 
 if not decisive blow to the defeated party. From a defeat 
 there, slavery can never recover itself, and if the slave- 
 power is victorious, it will have at its disposal almost every 
 conceivable earthly advantage. It would effectually exclude 
 the people of the northern States from the fairest and most 
 fertile regions of the Continent, and completely hem them in 
 with institutions at war with every principle of a free. Chris- 
 tian republic, and cut them off, by interposed slave States, 
 from our Pacific possessions. But let us look for a moment 
 at the influence which she would exert, as a free State, with 
 institutions constructed after the Puritan model. 
 
 On the east of her lies Missouri ; on the south, those In- 
 dian tribes that are just assuming some of the forms of 
 civilization, and Texas. On these Indian lands, new Terri- 
 tories are soon to be erected, on the west of Arkansas. West 
 of her is Utah. 
 
 Let us now suppose that such a State as Massachusetts, 
 or New York, or Ohio, were established on the Territory of 
 Kansas, and thoroughly penetrated and controlled by the 
 spirit of freedom, and a true Christianity should there pre- 
 sent, as a *' city set on a hill," its peaceful but resistless 
 example. It would be, for all the vast regions west and 
 southwest of the Mississippi, even to the Eocky mountains 
 and Mexico, the dawn of a new era, decisive of their des- 
 tiny. 
 
 Such a free State as Kansas is capable of sustaining, and 
 built on such a model, with its cities, and commerce, its 
 capital, and manufacturing skill and power, its schools, and 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 137 
 
 scientific and benevolent institutions, its churches and reli- 
 gious influences and observances, would wield there 'an 
 influence, to which none could object, peaceful, constitutional^ 
 unobtrusive, but perfectly irresistible, and which, in the 
 end, would be welcomed and rejoiced over, even by slave- 
 holders themselves. 
 
 In this manner, without the strife of parties, without the 
 bitterness of sectional conflict, rather by the allaying of 
 prejudice, and the union, not severance of interests, a tri- 
 umph of the noblest kind might be won over slavery — a 
 Christian victory — the overcoming of evil with good. With 
 the exception of a portion of its northeastern boundary, 
 there is no mountain, lake, or river, or any other natural 
 feature to separate it from Missouri, or any neighboring 
 Territory, on the north, east, or south. This is a circum- 
 stance of great importance, in estimating future influences 
 to be given and received. The Ohio river, flowing between 
 free and slave States, is sufficient to hold them apart. Were 
 it not for the river, these States could not be held asunder. 
 They would soon be knit together by a thousand interlacing 
 ties. 
 
 Except at the point just mentioned, nothing will separate 
 Kansas from Missouri and other neighbors, but a mere 
 boundary line, invisible to the eye, and offering no obstruc- 
 tion to passage. By the presence of such a State as we 
 have supposed upon her border, and no interposing barrier, 
 Missouri would be, perhaps slowly, but certainly revolu- 
 tionized. She would be penetrated by the leaven of free 
 institutions ; she would be peacefully changed into the image 
 12 
 
138 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 of the better example before her, and slavery -would pass 
 away. 
 
 In this case too, the powerful center of attraction which 
 such a free State would form, would direct southward upon 
 Missouri, the Territories to be formed on the south of Kan- 
 sas, upon northeastern Arkansas, and western Texas, a tide 
 of free emigration, which would prevent forever the forma- 
 tion of another slave State in all that region, and cut short 
 entirely, the march of slavery in that direction. 
 
 Another consideration, bearing upon this point, should 
 not be lost sight of. The population of Kansas will be 
 composed of mingled elements, probably to a greater extent 
 than any other State in the Union. It will be a neutral 
 Territory, where for the first time in the history of the 
 country, the tides of northern and southern emigration will 
 meet on the large scale. Hitherto, emigration has moved 
 westward, nearly on parallels of latitude, and these streams, 
 except in California, have not met, though running west- 
 ward on parallel lines. 
 
 The eastern States have, by emigration, prolonged each 
 itself westward. We mean that this is the general result. 
 The northern stream has now been deflected southward upon 
 Kansas, and there the lines, from all the States, except the 
 extreme south, will concentrate and mingle. 
 
 The emigrants from the northern States will meet there 
 Missourians, Kentuckians, Virginians and Tennesseeans, 
 They will be thrown into neighborhood associations. Busi- 
 ness, social and domestic relations, will spring up between 
 them, common interests will bind them together, prejudices 
 
JOUKNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 1S& 
 
 will he allayed, and friendsliips will be established, and 
 they will be woven together by the countless interlacings of 
 society. If, under such circumstances, Kansas should be- 
 come a free, a model State, the reflective influence which it 
 would exert upon Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Vir- 
 ginia, could not be estimated. 
 
 They would then be bound to freedom and the north, by 
 countless new ties, of the strongest and most sacred char- 
 acter, and the ultimate consequence would be, if a separa- 
 tion of the Union should ever come, it would place these 
 States in the northern division. Eather might it be said, 
 that such a state of things would render disunion impossible. 
 Such results are the natural consequences of the intermin- 
 gling which will take place on this ''middle ground" of 
 Kansas, and the flowing-forth of the affections of older 
 communities to the new States, which their sons and their 
 daughters have formed. 
 
 These consequences, though some of them may be remote, 
 would be almost certain to follow from making Kansas free ; 
 they are fairly within reach of the friends of freedom now, 
 and most earnestly do we desire that the opportunity may 
 not pass unheeded away. "VVe regard this idea of the colo- 
 nization of the west and southwest — this conquest of slavery 
 by the showing of the more excellent way — as one of the 
 grandest conceptions of modern times. It is a peaceful 
 march of freedom's armies in a holy crusade, for the securing 
 of human rights, and the extending a true Christian civili- 
 zation to our remotest borders. 
 
 It will plant northern energy, skill, capital, and industry, 
 upon a new and nobler theater. It will move men in masses. 
 
140 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 SO that their character, sentiments, and institutions, will 
 all be preserved entire. It is not merely emigration — it is 
 colonization — and these colonies, if properly formed, and 
 wisely conducted, will settle, under God, the question of 
 American slavery. Earnestly should the friends of freedom 
 and a free Christianity, so exert themselves that companies 
 may be speedily formed, all over the north, of those who 
 will go, and of those who will embark their capital ; for any 
 company can, by judicious management, secure a rich return 
 for capital employed. Especially do we, of Ohio, hope that 
 southern Ohio will not hesitate to take interest and part in 
 this great enterprise, but that she will cause herself to be 
 represented by one of the largest and noblest colonies in 
 Kansas. The stake which Cincinnati has in this enterprise, 
 is a very deep one, and her business men should give it a 
 prompt and serious consideration. Should Kansas become 
 a slave State, the bitter and aggressive spirit of slavery 
 would be intensified by the victory, and the late proceed- 
 ings at Memphis and St. Louis, show how prompt the slave- 
 holding power would be to exclude Cincinnati from the trade 
 of that whole west and southwest. And they will succeed, 
 if Kansas is linked by her institutions and sympathies to 
 the south. Nothing has lately been presented to Cincin- 
 nati, of more importance than to bind Kansas, and all 
 that surrounding region, to her by all the affinities which 
 free institutions, on botH sides can create, and by sending 
 there, in large numbers, the sons and daughters of Ohio, 
 to bind Kansas to her by the ties of kindred and old asso- 
 ciation. Let it be considered, how the trade of the north- 
 ern part of the great valley has thus been S'^>cured to New 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 141 
 
 York and Boston, and how those who have settled here from 
 New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have sent back a commerce 
 to Philadelphia. 
 
 The operation of such causes is sure, and if Cincinnati is 
 wise, she will avail herself of them, on the large scale. No 
 city of the Union has advantages for this work equal to 
 hers. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 HOMESTEAD AND PRE-EMPTION LAW. 
 
 There is no homestead law, as some liave supposed, appli- 
 cable to Kansas. By the law of pre-emption, any person 
 being the " head of a family, or widow, or single man, over 
 the age of twenty-one years, and being a citizen of the 
 United States, or having filed his declaration of intention 
 to become a citizen, as required by the naturalization laws," 
 is entitled to enter upon any unoccupied public lands, and 
 "claim" any number of acres not exceeding one hundred 
 and sixty, (a quarter section). He must make a ''settle- 
 ment upon the land thus claimed, and erect thereon a 
 dwelling. This claim and settlement must be made in per- 
 son, and the claimant must "inhabit and improve" the 
 same — in order to have a legal protection against others who 
 might claim the same ground. 
 
 When this land has already been surveyed, the pre-emptor 
 must within thirty days after the settlement upon his land, 
 " enter it," in the proper land-office, and within twelve 
 months from the time of settlement, payment must be made. 
 A man who makes a "claim" to unsurveyed lands, as in 
 Kansas, must file a description of his "claim," with the 
 Surveyor-General within three months after the survey has 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 143 
 
 been made in the field, and then (though the law does not 
 specify), it is supposed, that as in the case of surveyed 
 lands, before stated, the settler is allowed twelve months 
 in which to make his payment to the Government. As the 
 survey of Kansas has not yet commenced, and little will be 
 done until next spring, the settlers will mostly enjoy the 
 use of their lands for perhaps two years from next spring, 
 before payment will be required by the Government. I 
 have thought best, however, to insert here an abstract of the 
 pre-emption laws, prepared lately by C. C. Andrews, Esq., 
 of Tort Leavenworth, and with special reference to the 
 settlers in Kansas and Nebraska, and published originally 
 in a Kansas City paper. It will be seen that a man can 
 hold but one claim — that he must make oath that he does 
 not claim for the purpose of selling to another or on specu- 
 lation, and that no one can make a claim or " enter" land 
 by pre-emption right who already owns three hundred and 
 twenty acres: 
 
 LAW OF PRE-EMPTION. 
 
 Me. Editor : — I send you herewith, for publication, the following 
 abridgment of the pre-emption law of 4th September, 1841, the pro- 
 visions of which have been applied to the public lands in this Terri- 
 tory. This I do at the suggestion of some of the actual settlers ; 
 and because I believe that at the present time it is inconvenient for 
 most of the pre-emptors in Kansas to peruse that law as readily 
 and frequently as they might desire. The act may be found in 
 volume V, of the United States Statutes at large, pages 453-458. 
 
 I. Lajsds subject to Pre-e^iptign. — By section ten of said act it is 
 provided that the public lands to which the Indian title had been 
 extinguished at the time of the settlement, and which had also 
 been surveyed prior thereto, shall be subject to pre-emption, and 
 
144 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 purchase at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 
 And the act of 22d July, 1851, section twelve, the pre-emption of 
 unsurveyed lands is recognized as legal. Lands of the following 
 description are excepted : Such as are included in any reservation, 
 by any treaty, law or proclamation of the President of the United 
 States, or reserved for salines, or for other purposes ; sections six- 
 teen and thirty-six in each township, they being reserved for school 
 purposes (organic act of Kansas, section thirty-four) ; lands included 
 within the limits of any incorporated town, or which have been 
 selected as the site for a city or town ; lands actually settled and 
 occupied for the purposes of trade and not agriculture ; and lands 
 on which are situated any known salines or mines. 
 
 n. The amount designated, is any number of acres not exceeding 
 one hundred and sixty. 
 
 nX Who may Pre-empt. — " Every person being the head of a family, 
 or widow, or single man, over the age of twenty-one years, and being 
 a citizen of the United States, or having filed his declaration of 
 intention to become a citizen, as required by the naturalization 
 laws." But no person shall be entitled to more than one pre- 
 emptive right ; and no person who is the proprietor of three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres of land in any State or Territory of the United 
 States ; and no person who shall quit or abandon his residence on 
 his own land to reside on the public land in the same State or Ter- 
 ritory shall acquire any right of pre-emption. 
 
 IV. The Method to Perfect the Right. — The pre-emptor must 
 make a settlement on the land in person ; inhabit and improve the 
 same, and erect thereon a dwelling. And when the land has been 
 surveyed previous to settlement, the pre-emptor shall, within thirty 
 days of the date of the settlement, file with the register of the proper 
 district, a written statement describing the land settled upon, and 
 declaring the intention of such person to claim the same under the 
 provision of the pre-emption law. And within twelve months of 
 the date of the settlement, such person shall make the requisite 
 proof, affidavit and payment. When unsurveyed lands are pre- 
 empted (act of 1854), notice of the specific tracts claimed, shall be 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 145 
 
 filed with the Surveyor-General, within three months after the sur- 
 vey has been made in the field. And when two or more persons 
 shall have settled on the same quarter-section, the right of pre- 
 emption shall be in him or her who made the first settlement ; and 
 questions arising between different settlers shall be decided by the 
 register and receiver of the district within which the land is situ- 
 ated, subject to an appeal and revision by the Secretary of the 
 Treasury of the United States. 
 
 And the settler must make oath before the receiver or register 
 that he or she has never had the benefit of any right of the pre-emption 
 act ; that he or she is not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres 
 of land in any State or Territory of the United States, nor hath he 
 or she settled upon and improved said land to sell the same on 
 speculation, but in good faith to appropriate to his or her own 
 exclusive use or benefit ; and that he or she has not directly or indi- 
 rectly made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with 
 any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title which he or 
 she might acquire from the Government of the United States should 
 enure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except him- 
 self or herself; and if any person taking such oath shall swear 
 falsely in the premises, he or she shall be subject to all the pains 
 and penalties of perjury and shall forfeit the money which he or 
 she may have paid for such land, and all the right and title to the 
 same ; and any grant or conveyance which he or she may have 
 made, except in the hands of bona fide purchasers for a valuable 
 consideration, shall be null and void. 
 
 Proof of the requisite settlement and improvement shall be made 
 by the pre-emptor to the satisfaction of the register and receiver, in 
 the district in which the lands so claimed lie, who shall each be 
 entitled to receive fifty cents from each applicant for his services 
 rendered as aforesaid ; and all assignment's and transfers of the 
 right hereby secured prior to the issuing of the patent, shall be 
 null and void. 
 
 In the above I have sought to give all the material parts of the 
 pre-emption act in as condensed and clear a form as practicable ; 
 13 
 
146 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 trusting it may be of service to those who wish to avail themselves 
 of the beneficent provisions of that law. 
 
 The following letter, from the Comraissioner of the land- 
 office, may also be of service to settlers. It originally 
 appeared in the National Era : 
 
 GENERAL LAND-OFFICE. 
 
 October 13, 1854. 
 Sm : — In reply to the inquiries in yours of the 10th instant, in 
 relation to the "rights of settlers in Kansas," I have to state : 
 
 1. That a " squatter" will not be allowed to take more than one 
 hundred and sixty acres by pre-emption. 
 
 2. That the " terms of payment" will be one dollar and twenty- 
 five cents per acre, at any time after the survey, and before the com- 
 mencement of the public sale, including the land settled. 
 
 3. The " putting steam saw or grist mills in operation on mill 
 sites " will not give a preference right. 
 
 4. Payment and entry can be made after survey, and before pub- 
 lic sale. 
 
 5. The purchase money can not be paid a portion at one time and 
 a portion at another ; nor can the pre-emptor sell his right, and the 
 purchaser stand in his place. 
 
 6. The requisites to a pre-emption will be perceived from the accom- 
 panying copy of a circular from this ofi&ce. 
 
 7. Information with regard to lands not subject to pre-emption 
 may be obtained from this office. 
 
 8. Settlement rights before the survey, will take the precedence 
 of school claims. 
 
 I would take occasion to remark, that none of the lands in this 
 Territory and Nebraska, which were ceded by the Delawares, lowas, and 
 Weas, by treaties in May last, are subject to pre-emption, with the exception 
 of the ''outlet,'^ within the Delaware cession. The lands thus ceded 
 (with the exception mentioned) are to be offered at auction, to be sold 
 for the benefit of the Indians. 
 
 The " outlet " referred to is subject to pre-emption, becaxise it is 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 147 
 
 excepted from the lands to be thus sold, having been ceded for the spe- 
 cific sum of ten thousand dollars. 
 
 Respectfully, John Wilson, Commissioner. 
 
 But tlie entire process of " squatting," "claiming," and 
 settling, is not made entirely clear by this act, alone, and, 
 therefore, some additional facts will be stated. The object 
 of the pre-emption law should be first understood. For- 
 merly, the " squatter " on the public lands had no protec- 
 tion. He might occupy a tract of public land and make 
 upon it improvements, and then, as the public lands were 
 sold at auction, on the day of sale, some one might overbid 
 him, and take his and land improvements, without any 
 means of redress on his part, unless he chose to use his rifle, 
 as settlers sometimes did. The pre-emption law protects 
 the actual settler in his claim to one hundred and sixty 
 acres, and allows him to pay for it within twelve months 
 from the time of settlement (if surveyed land), at one dollar 
 and twenty- five cents per acre — beyond this, the Govern- 
 ment extends no protection. But it is plainly a matter of 
 indifference to the Government how much land a man pur- 
 chases on the day of public sale, or where it is located, 
 provided no individual makes objection. If a person, there- 
 fore, should locate himself upon ten thousand acres, more 
 or less, in Kansas, and no other person should object, or 
 interfere with his claim, and if on the day of public sale, 
 after the survey, no one should bid against him, he would 
 obtain it all at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 
 He has no legal security to more than one hundred and sixty 
 acres ; but then if all people are willing that he should thus 
 
148 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 hold ten thousand acres, the Government does not ohject to 
 sell that quantity on the day of sale. 
 
 I have received letters inquiring, if a man should make 
 a claim, and leave it to go for his family, whether it would 
 he secure. There is no legal security, except to the actual 
 settler, residhig on the claim. But, then, if no one inter- 
 feres or claims it in his absence, of course all is safe. Few 
 men will dare "jump a claim," where it is known that there 
 is an honest intention to settle thereon; for "squatter'^ 
 public sentiment is strongly against such proceedings. A 
 somewhat amusing incident, illustrating these matters, 
 occurred at the New England settlement. A Missourian 
 had made a claim there, and subsequently abandoned it, so 
 that, by "squatter law," it was forfeited. A New England 
 man then took it, and dug a well upon it, without, however, 
 erecting any dwelling. Then the Missourian came back and 
 resumed his claim, on the ground that the " Yankee" had no 
 •dwelling, and was not residing there ; that the man who 
 first put up his dwelling was entitled to a claim, and that 
 he had the timber all ready for his house. The Missourian 
 took his team and started for his timber, and when he 
 returned with his house, the Yankee had moved a tent upon 
 the claim — had erected his dwelling — and the Missourian 
 was non-plused. Squatters make such regulations concern- 
 ing these matters as please themselves. They may agree 
 that they will allow each other to "claim" more than one 
 hundred and sixty acres, and protect each other against 
 intruders. They may agree that a man may have a certain 
 time in which to bring on his family, and during that time, 
 
JOUKNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 149 
 
 those who remain on the ground will protect his claim. So 
 a man may make a claim, and hire some one to watch and 
 protect it for him in his absence, and as has been stated, 
 few will interfere with an honest claim ; but in all this, 
 there are no rights acquired which the Government will 
 protect, except where an actual settler complies with the 
 conditions of the law. 
 
 A " claim " is made by measuring off, as near as may be, 
 one hundred and sixty acres, and by placing upon it a foun- 
 dation of a dwelling, generally, four or eight logs, laid up as 
 the beginning of a cabin ; sometimes a line of stones is laid 
 around a foundation ; sometimes a pile of stones is laid up ; 
 and sometimes a mere stake is set up with the claimant's 
 name thereon. All these methods are merely by sufferance, 
 or agreement, among the squatters themselves. As the 
 lines of the Government survey will not correspond with 
 those of the claims, the claimants agree that they will 
 mutually convey to each other, so that each shall obtain, as 
 nearly as possible, his own. 
 
 Such rules of a Squatter Association, are here subjoined. 
 
 Whereas, the laws of the United States confer upon citizens the 
 privilege of holding land by pre-emption right ; and Tfhereas the 
 Kansas valley, in part, is now open for such settlement, or location 
 of claims ; and whereas we, the people of this convention, have, and 
 are about to select homes in this Terriiory, and in order to protect 
 the public good, and secure equal justice to all, we solemnly agree 
 and bind ourselves to be governed by the following Ordinances : 
 
 FmsT. We recognize the right of every citizen of the United 
 States, of lawful age, or who may be the head of a family, to select, 
 mark, and claim, two hundred and forty acres of Land, viz : one 
 
160 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 hundred and sixty acres of prairie land, and eighty acres of timber 
 land — and who shall, within sixty days after the treaty is ratified, 
 proceed to erect thereon a cabin, or such other improvements as he 
 may deem best, and shall, within sixty days after the ratification 
 of the treaty, enter thereon as a resident. 
 
 Second. A claim, thus made and registered, shall be good sixty 
 days from the ratification of the treaty, at which time the claimant, 
 if the head of a family, shall move upon and make his home, on 
 either the prairie or timber land, which shall make them both good, 
 and shall be regarded so by the settlers. Single persons, or females, 
 making claims, shall be entitled to hold them by becoming residents 
 of the Territory, whether upon their claims or otherwise. Any 
 person making a claim, as above, shall be entitled to a day addi- 
 tional, for every five miles they have to travel to reach their fami- 
 lies. 
 
 Thied. No person shall hold more than one claim, directly or 
 indirectly. 
 
 Fourth. No one shall be allowed to enter upon any previously 
 made claim. 
 
 Fifth. All persons failing to commence improving, or entering 
 thereon, within the time specified, shall forfeit the same, and it 
 shall be lawful for any other citizen to enter thereon. 
 
 Sixth. Each claimant shall, at all reasonable times, hold him- 
 self in readiness to point out the extent of his claim, to any person 
 who may wish to ascertain that fact. 
 
 Seventh. It shall be the duty of the Register to put every appli- 
 cant upon proof, oath, or afi&rmation, that the claim oflfered for 
 registry is free from the claim of any other person. 
 
 Eighth. Every application for registry, shall be made in the 
 following form, viz : "1 apply for certificate of registry for a claim 
 selected and marked on the — day of — 185 , lying and being in 
 
 containing one hundred and sixty acres prairie land, and 
 
 eighty acres of timber land, and declare upon honor, that the said 
 claim was selected and marked on the — day of — and that I am 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 151 
 
 claiming but the one in my own right, and that it vms not claimed 
 by any other person, or selected ;" to be signed by the applicant. 
 Any person failing to make this certificate shall not be entitled to 
 register. 
 
 Ninth. We agree, on the survey of the Territory, to mutually 
 deed and re-deed to each other, so as to leave the land, as near as 
 possible, as claimed. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 INDIAN LANDS AND RESERVATIONS. 
 
 The Indian lands now form but an inconsiderable portion 
 of the Territory in quantity, but they embrace some of the 
 most desirable parts of the country, and in particular, a 
 large proportion of the timber on the Kansas river, and on 
 the mouths of its tributaries. The disadvantages of the 
 present arrangement are such, that some modification of 
 these treaties, or the purchase of these lands entire, will 
 soon be demanded at the hands of the Government. 
 
 In fact, we consider it impossible that these lands should 
 long be held by the Indian tribes, as they now are. Xeces- 
 sity will compel a change — we only hope that it will be 
 wisely and justly made. 
 
 At present, the Wyandots have six square miles at the 
 mouth of the Kansas, and between that river and the "SUs- 
 souri ; and on this tract is the only good town site, at the 
 mouth of tbe Kansas, that is not in slave territory. 
 
 Then, on the north side of the Kansas, the Delawares 
 have reserved a tract extending west from the Wyandots, 
 forty miles along the river, and ten miles wide. The value 
 of this reservation, and its importance to the country, will 
 be seen when it is considered that it includes all the bottom 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 153 
 
 and timber on the Kansas, and on all its tributaries for ten 
 miles back, on the north side of the Kansas. 
 
 West of this Delaware reservation, there is next an open- 
 ing of thirteen miles, between it and the lands of the 
 Pottawatomies. Then, west of this, is the Pottawatomie 
 tract, thirty miles long, and fourteen miles wide, on the 
 north side of the Kansas, and four miles wide upon the 
 south side. All west and north of this is open for settle- 
 ment. On the south side of the Kansas, the Shawnee 
 reservation begins, about four miles from the Missouri, and 
 runs westward forty miles, and ten miles wide. For eighty 
 miles then from the mouth of the Kansas, the bottom lands 
 and the timber on the Kansas and its tributaries back for 
 ten miles, are in the hands of the Indians. 
 
 It is supposed, however, that the Pottawatomies are now 
 ready to sell, and that a treaty will be concluded the present 
 autumn. Such a treaty would be of immense importance to 
 the Territory. ' The Kansas, or Kaws, have a small tract in 
 the neighborhood of Council Grove, which, it is said, will 
 soon be ceded, and that all or nearly all the southeastern 
 district will be open for settlement during the coming winter. 
 We have no official information on these points, but well 
 known circumstances would seem to indicate the truth of 
 the statements. 
 
 The Osages and Ottawas, the Sacs and Kansas, have some 
 reservations on the head waters of the Osage and Neosho 
 rivers, and embracing some of the finest bottom lands and 
 timber on these streams. 
 
 The lowas have also some inconsiderable reservations in 
 the northern district of Kansas. There is some dispute in 
 
154 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 regard to tlie lands lately ceded by the Delawares. The 
 treaty was formed, it would seem, with the intention of 
 excluding the right of pre-emption, and of bringing the 
 lands into market, at a public sale, unshackled by " squatter" 
 claims. The Attorney-General has decided, that this is the 
 meaning of the treaty ; that the lands are not subject to 
 pre-emption, and that it is the duty of the Government to 
 exclude the settlers. 
 
 At the time of our visit, in September, it was computed 
 that there were twelve hundred settlers already on these 
 Delaware lands, and how the Government can induce them 
 or compel them to leave, is a question not easily answered. 
 It is said by those best acquainted with the subject, that 
 portions of these lands would readily sell at auction for fifty 
 or sixty dollars per acre, if unincumbered with claims, but 
 the settlers will combine to keep them all down to Govern- 
 ment price, and we see not why they will not succecd. 
 
 Lawyers are already publishing opinions opposed to that 
 of the Attorney- General, and before any final action can be 
 had, the whole country will not only be claimed, but occu- 
 pied. And in spite of treaties, we doubt not, it will be 
 held. 
 
 So far as the great ends of civilization and Christianity 
 are concerned, the most of these Indian lands are so occupied 
 by the tribes as to be useless to the world, or rather they 
 are obstacles in the progress of the country. " Of this any 
 candid observer will be at once convinced, by passing through 
 the Territory. Among the Delawares, Shawnees and Potta- 
 watomies are some whom civilization and Christianity have 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 155 
 
 reached, but this is not true of the mass, and we fear will 
 never be. 
 
 How their Territory is, without injustice to them, to 
 pass into the possession of the whites, is a question we can 
 not answer, and yet we can not doubt that the transfer will 
 erelong be made. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MULES — TECUMSEH — PROSPECTING — THE NEW ENGLAND 
 SETTLEMENT — A MULE CHASE. 
 
 Before my visit to Kansas, I had held mules in very light 
 esteem. I regarded them as of much lower ''caste'' than 
 horses, and had associated them mainly with obstinacy and 
 thistles. But I found that in Kansas, a mule was in some 
 Bort a Government officer, or, at anyrate, he was in the 
 employ of the Government, and drew his rations of Govern- 
 ment provender, and being, for aught I could discover, on 
 the same level with some other employees, who have nothing 
 to recommend them, except that they are fed by the Gov- 
 eiiiment, I felt a growing respect for a mule. Many of 
 these, in the employ of Government, are exceedingly fine 
 animals, and command high prices. They are really more 
 serviceable than horses, are able to endure more hardship, 
 and with less food and care, while they will also travel 
 farther in a day. A Government mule must probably be 
 admitted to hold a higher social rank than a common horse. 
 
 While at the Pottawatomie Mission, one of our horses was 
 taken ill, and we were unable to proceed. We were about 
 thirty-five miles from the New England settlement, near the 
 uouth of the Waukereusa, and two of our party concluded 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 157 
 
 to visit that spot while our horse was recovering his strength. 
 By the kindness of a merchant, trading there with the 
 Indians, we were furnished with a light wagon and a mule 
 whose name was John. John, when required, however, was 
 at large, in a pasture which reached without a fence, from 
 the Missouri river to the Eocky mountains, and it was quite 
 prohlematical in what quarter of the Mississippi valley he 
 might be on that particular morning. 
 
 He was found, however, captured by guile, and brought 
 in about 1 1 o'clock, and we started across the prairie. John 
 was really a noble road animal. With almost no perceptible 
 effort, with no appearance of fatigue he swept over the plains 
 at about six miles per hour. Yet John's master was not 
 entirely divested of the old idea that a mule is of low 
 " caste," a mere menial, for whom kindness and mercy would 
 be as much out of place as for any other slave. I once heard 
 of a man excusing himself for abusing a black horse by say- 
 ing that " he was nothing but an old nigger, anyhow," and 
 the owner of poor John seemed to think he was "nothing 
 but a mule, anyhow," for when I inquired how he was to be 
 fed during this drive of thirty-five miles, he replied that I 
 might let him pick a little prairie-grass, but it wouldn't mat- 
 ter if he had nothing at all. He gave us some twenty-five feet 
 of rope with which to ''picket " him out at night, and I 
 asked what could be done if he should entangle himself and be 
 cast down? he said, " let him lie till he gets up, it won't hurt 
 him." John " was but a mule, anyhow," yet he took us 
 faithfully, and speedily on, about fifteen miles, to Tecum- 
 seh or Stinson's, where on the south bank of the Kansas, and 
 apparently in a healthy location, the town of Tecumseh has 
 
168 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 been laid out. The enterprise is said to be under pro-slavery 
 influences, and that these have their center in one of the 
 Missionaries of the Territory, and that it has been started 
 as a rival of the New England town. In such a contest, it 
 will probably be found necessary to enlist the energies of 
 freemen, and the interests and necessities of trade will soon 
 dispose of mere pro-slavery schemes. 
 
 There is a fine farming country about it, which is still 
 mostly owned by the Indians, Mr. Stinson obtains eight 
 hundred acres of land, through his Indian wife and children, 
 and on this tract, as we understood, Tecumseh is located. 
 The whole peninsula between the "VVaukereusa and the 
 Kansas, is a very beautiful region, capable of supporting a 
 dense population, from its agricultural resources alone; 
 but in addition to this, it will probably be covered with 
 manufacturing establishments, on account of its mineral 
 treasures, especially iron and coal. There seems nothing 
 to prevent this from becoming an eminently populous and 
 prosperous region. 
 
 Just beyond Tecumseh we met a wagon, in which were 
 five men, beside the driver, seated flat on the bottom boards. 
 They did not appear to be a "moving" party, having no 
 household efi"ects with them, and we were curious to know 
 the object of such a company abroad on the prairie. We 
 found that they were from Illinois ; that the five had hired 
 the team as a stage-coach, or rather perhaps private carriage, 
 and were out "prospecting" through Kansas. We after- 
 ward found a similar party who had camped out on the 
 prairie, and whose driver, having drank himself drunk, 
 had lost his horses in the night, and in the morning the 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 159 
 
 whole party found themselves ''hecalmed^^ on the prairie- 
 ocean, and not a sail in sight. Having missed what is 
 called Big Spring, and where we were directed to slake the 
 thirst of John, and anxious to comfort the poor animal, we 
 halted at a log-cahin, and made known our wants. The 
 woman was anxious to aid us, and there was a spring near 
 by, but she had no pail, or "bucket," or vessel which would 
 answer the purpose. At last she bethought herself of her 
 large brass kettle, and with that we managed to ''water" 
 the thirsty John. 
 
 A few miles beyond, we reached the house of a friend, 
 whose " Letters from Kansas" have attracted some attention 
 through the papers. We called, and found only his lady at 
 home. She was from Ohio, and had been accustomed to 
 the comforts and refinements of eastern life. Amid the very 
 manifest lack of many things which we are accustomed to 
 class among necessaries, I expected to find her somewhat 
 dispirited. Far otherwise. She expressed herself as '' per- 
 fectly delighted." I looked around, curious to know how 
 many of what we call comforts and necessaries, might be 
 dispensed with, and still leave one "perfectly delighted." 
 I found that it was not necessary to happiness that a house 
 should have a floor, or any door, or a window, or even a 
 roof, for our friend's house had none of these, usually con- 
 sidered very convenient, if not necessary appendages to a 
 dwelling. Some poles were laid across the upright walls 
 at one corner, on these prairie-grass was laid, and under 
 this canopy was the bed. Under another similar canopy 
 stood a chest of drawers and household utensils. Here then 
 was the house of a Kansas pioneer, where a woman, fresh 
 
160 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 from the comforts and luxuries of cultivated life, cheerfully 
 and heroically adapted herself to circumstances, and aided 
 with a strong heart, to lay the foundations of their domestic 
 kingdom. She could invite us to stop within her walls, but 
 not beneath her roof. Those who sow thus in hope, will, by 
 God's blessing, reap, in the end, with joy. 
 
 Just before sunset we reached the " Yankee settlement." 
 A few tents were pitched on the high ground overlooking 
 the Kansas and Waukereusa valleys, others were scattered 
 over the level bottoms below, but not a dwelling beside was 
 to be seen. It was a city of tents alone. We were cordially 
 received by the intelligent and active agent, Dr. Eobinson, 
 from whom we learned, with much satisfaction, the plans 
 and expectations of the Company. This town, where at this 
 time (November 16), there are already six hundred heads 
 of families, is beautifully situated on the peninsula formed 
 by the junction of the Waukereusa with the Kansas. At 
 the point of confluence the ground is low, and for some dis- 
 tance back it is a level bottom. It then rises to a second 
 terrace, which, at the site of the town, runs quite up to the 
 Kansas' bank. On this it is expected that the business part 
 of the town will be located. Above, on the high, broad 
 plateau, is the site for dwellings and public buildings. It 
 would be difficult to find another spot combining a greater 
 variety of attractive features than this. It is vain to de- 
 scribe what it was, or now is, for before these sheets can be 
 printed it will have made many onward steps. Capital, 
 skill, and eastern enterprise and industry, will build there, 
 in a few months, a large town, with most of the comforts 
 and advantages of older communities. A church has lately 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 161 
 
 been organized, schools are in progress, a newspaper is 
 printed there, and nearly a thousand souls are already col- 
 lected, and a college even is now in prospect. 
 
 We had a comfortable night's rest in Dr. Eobinson's tent, 
 and in the morning were introduced to the only "boarding 
 house on the hill." Two very intelligent ladies, from Mas- 
 sachusetts, had united their forces and interests, and had 
 taken "boarders." In the open air, on some logs of wood, 
 two rough boards were laid across for a table, and on wash 
 tubs, and kegs, and blocks, they and their boarders were 
 seated round it. This was the first boarding-house in the 
 new city of Lawrence. All were cheerful, hopeful and full 
 of energy, and the scene reminded me of Plymouth Eock. 
 Would that there might be found there the same depth of 
 piety, the same sublimity of faith and loftiness of aim ! 
 
 We had "picketed out" John over night, and in the morn- 
 ing he was missing, having pulled up his stake and decamped. 
 We took a hasty look over the prairie from the eminence, 
 but he could not be descried. Dr. Eobinson's horse, a large 
 and powerful animal, was saddled by his tent, and he urged 
 me to take him and go in search. I soon heard of John, 
 who, at a distance of some two miles, was making his way 
 homeward, as was said, "at a sweeping trot." By hard 
 riding, I came at length in sight, and here his speed and 
 sagacity were at once made manifest. I supposed that a 
 horse, of course, could overtake a mule; but with the full 
 speed of the horse, I could barely come up with him, and 
 then was entirely unable to seize his rope, which he was 
 trailing. Once I headed him, but when I wheeled, he passed 
 me by a skillful dodge, and went straight on. We were 
 14 
 
162 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 now some four miles away, and the prospect of capture was 
 small. I changed my plan, and took a wide sweep out into 
 the prairie. John was evidently gulled by this stratagem ; 
 he halted and began to feed. I came into the road far 
 ahead, and gathering to my aid three men, who were at a 
 cabin, we held a council. John's suspicions were again 
 aroused, and he was once more moving homeward. Two of 
 the men took a long rope, and stretching it across the road, 
 let it rest on the ground, while one stood at each end, ready 
 to jerk it up and catch him, as he passed between them. 
 On he came, apparently unconscious, but just as we thought 
 him safe, he fathomed the scheme, and slipped skillfully 
 round the rope; but luckily, as he trailed his own ''lariat'' 
 past, it came within reach and was seized. But John could 
 easily tow one man, and forward still he went, pressing 
 toward home. He was gaining in speed, so that the man 
 could scarcely keep his feet, when another also seized the 
 rope ; but still the mule went on. At last, after a doubtful 
 struggle, by a change in the line of draught, they took a 
 sidewise purchase on his neck, and slowly rounded him in. 
 He submitted himself with all meekness, evidently consider- 
 ing that he was a lawful prey. Taking a turn of the 
 "lariat" round the horn of the saddle, I started the Doctor's 
 powerful gray, expecting that the mule would quietly follow. 
 The "lariat" round his neck was about twenty-five feet long, 
 and the moment the "slack'' was taken up, it was found 
 that John had cast anchor. When he found that the direc- 
 tion I had taken was not homeward, he became suddenly 
 stiff and motionless, as if smitten with catalepsy. It now 
 became doubtful which of several possible things would 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 163 
 
 actually occur ; whether the strength of my "gallant gray*' 
 would fail, or the saddle girths would give way, or the mule's 
 neck would be broken, or his obstinacy would be overcome. 
 The chances for each were about equal, and my resolution 
 having been a little strengthened by the exciting chase, 
 I urged gray sharply forward. I shall never forget the 
 expression of John's countenance and general aspect, when 
 he " felt the halter draw." He seemed not to be angry or 
 revengeful, but closing his eyes, as if perfectly resigned, and 
 forgiving his enemies, he would meet his fate in a manner 
 becoming a mule. Gray was a very tall and very powerful 
 animal, and accustomed to a long and steady pull. Slowly 
 John seemed to be "drawn out," until it was nearly a 
 straight line from the top of his nose to the root of his tail, 
 yet his feet were all immovable. He seemed "planted out" 
 in the prairie. But the great hight of the horse put him 
 at great disadvantage, for the line of draught was so high, 
 that it raised bim gradually from his fore-feet, and at last, 
 with a forward leap, like a kangaroo, he started. Gray, 
 proud of his victory, put himself into a gallop, and John, 
 with his obstinacy dreadfully stretched, if not entirely 
 broken, was hastened back to the camp. 
 
 When returning, we we o obliged to trust entirely to the 
 sagacity of this animal, having lost our way in the prairie. 
 Left to himself, he turned off at right angles to the road 
 we were following, and taking the open prairie, pursued 
 what proved to be an air-line route to the Mission. 
 
CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 THE MOUNDS — AN INDIAN MURDERER — INTERESTING 
 CUSTOM. 
 
 The mounds of the prairies are among the most interest- 
 ing features in the scene, and probably no other objects in 
 the Mississippi valley have given rise to so many conjectures 
 as they. The large mounds of Kansas present the appear- 
 ance of artificial structures, and especially when seen from 
 a distance, rising out of the plain like immense flattened 
 cones. Indeed, the general outline of the prairie, when seen 
 against the sky, as well as that of the bolder bluffs and 
 mounds, seems as if shaped by human art, such is the regu- 
 larity of the form. This, however, is especially true of the 
 mounds. They are so perfectly rounded, that it seems 
 impossible that the result should have been produced by any 
 natural phenomena. Many of the smaller mound-shaped 
 structures of the west have, doubtless, been reared or mod- 
 eled by the hand of man, but it seems strange that any one 
 should mistake such elevations as the large mounds of 
 Kansas for artificial structures. A single glance at their 
 formation, shows it to be identical with that of the neigh- 
 boring elevations ; the rock strata lying as regularly in them 
 as in any of the bluffs of the river. That they have been 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 165 
 
 upheaved there by the hand of God and not man, is a fact 
 beyond all question. 
 
 Still, some of them at least, stand precisely where it would 
 seem they might have been wanted, in certain styles of 
 defense or warfare, and even in modern war, a battery placed 
 on their tops would command the whole country, on every 
 side, within range of the guns, while to storm such a battery 
 would be a serious work. I see no objection to the idea 
 that they may have been used for military or religious pur- 
 poses, and were partially shaped for such purpose by the 
 labor of man. The regularity of their outline seems to 
 favor this opinion, though it is by no means a necessary 
 inference. Doubtless, in our attempts to " re-people the 
 past," we may believe that these mounds have been used for 
 posts of military observation, or for the kindling of beacon 
 fires, or for "high places" of worship and sacrifice, or even 
 under such heavens, for astronomical observations. For all 
 such purposes, they are certainly suitable, and for such uses, 
 or even for a pleasure resort in these level regions, they 
 may have had their natural inequalities smoothed away. 
 But they belong to the hills, and not to the works of man ; 
 and we hope that human folly will never dig them down, or 
 deface them in any way. "Within sight of the Mission, there 
 are two such mounds, and a story was related to us, in con- 
 nection with one of them, interesting in itself, and illustrat- 
 ing a singular custom of the Indians. 
 
 A few years since, at the base of this mound, a chief 
 resided, whose young daughter was a girl of uncommon 
 beauty, and this beauty was but the external manifestation 
 of a pure and noble spirit. As a matter of course she had 
 
166 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 many admirers among the young braves of her nation. Her 
 nature was above the arts of a coquette; and loving one 
 among them all, and only one, she hesitated not to let her 
 preference be known, not only to the Young Eagle who had 
 won her heart, but also to those whose suit she had rejected. 
 Among the rejected suitors one alone so laid it to heart as 
 to desire revenge. He, the Prowling Wolf, was filled with, 
 rage, and took little pains to conceal his enmity, though he 
 manifested no desire for open violence. Both these young 
 men were brave, both skillful in the use of weapons, which 
 far away on the buffalo plains had sometimes been used in 
 battle ; but while Young Eagle was noble, generous in spirit, 
 and swayed by such high impulses as a young savage may 
 feel, the Wolf was reserved, dark and sullen ; and his 
 naturally lowering brow seemed, after the maiden had 
 refused him, to settle into an habitual scowl. The friends 
 of the Young Eagle feared for his safety. He, however, 
 was too happy in the smiles of his chosen bride to trouble 
 himself concerning the enmity of another, especially when 
 he knew himself to be his equal both in strength and skill. 
 The Indian customs did not permit the young couple to 
 be much alone with each other, but they sometimes contrived 
 to meet at twilight on the top of this mound, and spend 
 there together a happy hour. Young Eagle was a favorite 
 with his tribe, except among the kinsmen of the Wolf ; and 
 among the whites too, he had made many friends, one of 
 whom, who had hunted much with the Eagle, had given him 
 a Colt's revolver, the only one owned in the tribe. Delighted 
 with this formidable weapon, he ha,d made it a plaything 
 till he became skillful in its use, and always wore it about 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 167 
 
 him in addition to his other arms. This was a second cause 
 of enmity which the Wolf laid up in his heart. He seemed 
 to be revolving some dark scheme ; but his secret, if he had 
 one, was confided to no one. Bitter words sometimes were 
 passed between the young warriors, but nothing more ; yet 
 it was felt that at any time a sudden rousing of passion 
 might end in bloodshed. 
 
 One summer evening, just as the moon was up, Young 
 Eagle sought the top of the mound for the purpose of meeting 
 his future bride, for their marriage was agreed upon, and 
 the appointed day was near. One side of this mound is 
 naked rock, which for thirty feet or more is almost perpen- 
 dicular. Just on the edge of this precipice is a footpath, 
 and by it a large flat sandstone rock forms a convenient seat 
 for those who would survey the valley, while a few low 
 bushes are scattered over a part of the crest of the mound. 
 On this rock Young Eagle sat him down to await the maiden's 
 coming. In a few moments the bushes rustled near him, 
 and rising, as he thought, to meet her, a tomahawk flashed 
 by his head, and the next instant he was in the arms of a 
 strong man and forced to the brink of the precipice. The 
 eyes of the two met in the moonlight, and each knew then 
 that the struggle was for life. Pinioned as his arms were 
 by the other's grasp, the Eagle frustrated the first efi"ort of 
 his foe, and then a desperate wrestle, a death-wrestle, 
 followed, in which each was thoroughly maddened. The 
 grasp of the Wolf was broken, and each instantly grasping 
 his adversary by the throat with the left hand, sought his 
 weapon with the right — the one his knife, the other his 
 revolver. In the struggle the handle of the knife of the 
 
168 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Wolf had been turned in the girdle, and missing it at the 
 first grasp, ere he could recover himself the revolver was at 
 his breast and a bullet through his heart. One flash of 
 hatred from the closing eye, and the arm of the dying 
 warrior relaxed ; and as the body sank the Eagle hurled it 
 over the precipice, and in his wrath fired bullet after bullet 
 into the corpse as it rolled heavily down; and this not 
 satisfying his revenge, he ran round and down the side of 
 the mound, and tore ofi" the scalp of his foe. 
 
 The young girl, who was ascending the mound to meet 
 her lover, heard these successive shots, and knowing well 
 from what source such rapid discharges alone could come, 
 hastened on, and came just in season to see the Eagle 
 scalping his victim. She soon brought her family to the 
 spot, and every circumstance of the transaction showed at 
 once the dangerous position in which the Eagle was placed. 
 There was no witness of the combat, no means whatever of 
 showing that he had smitten the Wolf in self-defense. The 
 number of ball-holes in the body, and the tearing olF of the 
 scalp, all seemed to bear evidence against him, and he knew 
 that the friends of the Wolf would take advantage of every 
 circumstance in order to procure his death as a murderer. 
 He felt that death was certain if he submitted himself for 
 trial, and he therefore determined to defend himself as best 
 he might, and await the result, as his only chance for life. 
 
 These Indians observe the law that was established among 
 oriental nations long before the time of Moses, by which the 
 shedding of blood may be rightfully avenged by the nearest 
 kinsman of the slain, while the murderer, in this respect 
 an outlaw, will of course defend himself as best he may. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 169 
 
 At the same time the friends of the deceased are at liberty 
 to accept a ransom for the life of their friend, and often — 
 if for a time the murderer escapes the blow of the avenger 
 of blood — a compromise is effected, and the affair is settled. 
 In the meantime the avenger of blood assumes the office at 
 the risk of his own life, for if he falls, retribution is not 
 demanded for him, but the next of kin takes up the original 
 demand only for the blood of the first one slain. 
 
 The Young Eagle at once took his resolution, sustained 
 by the advice of his friends. Completely armed he took 
 possession of the top of the mound, which was so shaped that 
 while he was himself concealed, no one could approach him 
 by day without being exposed to his fire — and he had two 
 devoted and skillful allies, which, together with his position, 
 rendered him far more than a match for his single adver- 
 sary, the avenger of blood — the brother of the Wolf. These 
 allies were his bride and a large sagacious hound which had 
 long been his hunting companion, and had guarded him 
 many a night when camping on the prairies. The girl had 
 in her veins the blood of Indian heroes, and she quailed not. 
 She demanded with lofty enthusiasm to be made his wife, 
 and then, acquainted with every stratagem of savage war, and 
 with every faculty sharpened by affection, and her husband's 
 danger, she watched, and warned, and shielded him with 
 every art that the roused spirit could suggest, and which 
 could be safely practiced. 
 
 In vain the brother of the Wolf surveyed from afar this 
 
 fortress of the Eagle. It was evident that long before he 
 
 could reach a point from which the young warrior could be 
 
 seen, he would himself be within the range of his rifle 
 
 15 
 
170 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 without a cover of any kind. Often, by night, he attempted 
 to ascend the mound, hut scarcely could he put his foot upon 
 its base before the dog of the Eagle would give his master 
 the alarm, and then to approach would be only to go to his 
 death. It was no mystery how the Eagle was supplied with 
 food, for the young wife showed no solicitude, and yet no 
 one saw her form, or heard her footsteps on the mound. 
 
 The brother of the Wolf knew well that the Eagle's wife 
 must supply him with food, and determined, if possible, to 
 entrap him. He therefore studied and imitated her gait, he 
 obtained opportunities of observing her dress, and when he 
 felt that he was perfect in his part, he arrayed himself one 
 evening in a dress the exact counterpart of hers, with knife 
 and tomahawk concealed beneath, and bearing some food 
 openly before him, took, just at twilight, the common path 
 up the mound, where he knew the mere sound of footsteps 
 would be less likely to alarm the dog or his master, and he 
 hoped to approach so near without suspicion, that he might, 
 by a sudden rush, secure his victim. His plan was skill- 
 fully executed. He imitated well the light step of Eagle's 
 wife; the approaching form was one familiar to the dog, and 
 he had not caught the scent. He wagged his tail as he 
 lay with his eye fixed as if he would soon bound up and 
 forward with a welcome. The Eagle addressed his supposed 
 wife in gentle tones and bade her hasten. The blood avenger 
 was within ten feet of his intended victim, and thought that 
 all was gained, when the dog, with one yell and one bound, 
 threw himself upon him and bore him to the earth, with his 
 jaws grappled to his throat. Entangled by the female dress 
 and throttled by the hound, he could not draw his knife, and 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 171 
 
 the Eagle, who comprehended the scene at a glance, deprived 
 him of his weapons, while held by his dog, and then pinioned 
 his arms. " Now go to your friends," said the young war- 
 rior, " I crave not your blood. Your brother sought my life, 
 on this very spot, and I slew him, but only to save my own. 
 But stay; you shall go home as a warrior should. You 
 have shown some skill in this." He cut the pinions from 
 his arms and gave him back his weapons. They were taken 
 in silence and the humbled, yet grateful foe withdrew. 
 
 Three months thus had passed away, and negotiations 
 were opened for a ransom. The friends in such a case agree 
 first to treat, but do not engage to accept what may be offered 
 for life. This is to be decided only on a spot appointed for 
 the ceremony, and with the shedder of blood unarmed, and 
 completely in their power, and bound by the law, to make 
 no resistance. When the parties are present, and the pro- 
 posed ransom is offered, it is considered by the friends of 
 the slain man, and if accepted, all is settled ; but if not they 
 have the right to slay the murderer on the spot, without 
 resistance from him or from his friends. 
 
 In this case the friends of the Wolf agreed to consider a 
 ransom, and Young Eagle consented to abide the issue, he 
 and his friends hoping that the sparing of the brother's life 
 might have some influence in the decision, and beside it 
 was now generally believed in the tribe that the Wolf had 
 been the aggressor. 
 
 At the day appointed the parties met in an open space 
 with hundreds to witness the scene around. The Eagle, 
 all unarmed, was first seated on the ground, then by his side 
 
172 JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 was laid down a large knife with which he was to be slain, 
 if the ransom was not accepted. By his side sat his wife, 
 her hand clasped in his, while the eyes even of old men were 
 dim with tears. Over against them, and so near that the 
 fatal knife could be easily seized, stood the family of the 
 slain Wolf, the father at the head, by whom the question of 
 life or death was to be settled. He seemed deeply moved, 
 and sad, rather than revengeful. A red blanket was now 
 produced and spread upon the ground. It signified that 
 blood had been shed which was not yet washed away, the 
 crimson stain remaining. Next a blanket all of blue was 
 spread over the red one. It expressed the hope that the 
 blood might be washed out in heaven and remembered no 
 more, and last, a blanket purely white was spread over all, 
 significant of a desire that nowhere on earth or in heaven a 
 stain of the blood should remain, and that everywhere, and 
 by all, it should be forgiven and forgotten. 
 
 These blankets, thus spread out, were to receive the ran- 
 som. The friends of Eagle brought goods of various kinds 
 and piled them high before the father of the slain. He con- 
 sidered them a moment in silence and then turned his eye 
 to the fatal knife. The wife of the Eagle threw her arms 
 around her husband's neck, and turned her eyes imploringly 
 full on the old man's face, without a word. He had stretched 
 his hand toward the knife when he met that look. He 
 paused; his fingers moved convulsively, but they did not 
 grasp the handle. His lips quivered, and then a tear was 
 in his eye. "Father," said the brother, "he spared my 
 life." The old man turned away. " I accept the ransom," 
 
JOURNEY THHOUGH KANSAS. 173 
 
 he said, " the blood of my son is washed away. I see no 
 stain now on the hand of the Eagle, and he shall be in the 
 place of my son. 
 
 The feud was completely healed, xill were at last con- 
 vinced that the Eagle was not a murderer ; the ransom itself 
 was presented to his wife as a gift, and he and the "avenger 
 of blood" lived afterward as friends and brothers. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 AN INTERESTING FAMILY — HUNTING ON THE PLAINS AND 
 AMONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS — ^AYINTER ADVENTURES 
 ON THE PRAIRIES. 
 
 In our journey homeward, from Council Grove, we found 
 ourselves, one evening at twilight, in sight of a solitary log- 
 cabin. It was new, and had a most substantial look, quite 
 superior to the common " shanty." For this reason, and one 
 much stronger still, viz : that there was not another dwell- 
 ing nearer than twelve miles, we requested the privilege of 
 stopping for the night. The proprietor, a hearty, robust- 
 looking man, with an open frank countenance, and prompt, 
 decided air, gave us to understand that he intended his es- 
 tablishment for the accommodation of travelers, and we at 
 once felt very much at ease "in our inn." The house was 
 in the most approved style of Kansas architecture, having 
 two rooms on the floor and an open passage between. Back 
 of the house we saw a brightly-blazing fire, and as the even- 
 ing was somewhat cool, we sat down in its cheerful glow. 
 The spot proved to be the kitchen. A fireplace had been 
 formed by piling the turf of the prairie in a semicircle of 
 about eight feet in diameter, and within this, shielded thus 
 partly from the wind, was a huge wood fire, that sent its red 
 
JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 175 
 
 glare far over the prairie. Eougli boards laid upon poles 
 formed a partial covering, and a range of shelves held the 
 common utensils for cooking. Amid this rudeness, however, 
 there were some things that appeared a little out of place in 
 Kansas, judging from what we had already seen, a few fea- 
 tures or indications of a more civilized life than wc had 
 latterly met, especially in the cooking department, and we 
 began to be curious to know something of our host. There 
 were no females about the house. A slender, pale-faced, 
 young man, was busy over the fire with different dishes for 
 the supper. 
 
 We had, during the afternoon, captured a prairie-hen, 
 which we desired for supper, and one of our number sat down 
 to pick and dress it : our host coming up at the time, observed 
 that we seemed not to understand those birds, and taking it 
 himself, he almost in an instant stripped off its skin, in- 
 stead of picking off its feathers, and in a moment more the 
 bird was ready for cooking 
 
 Some fresh fish were produced, just caught in a stream 
 close at hand, and the manner in which our host gave direc- 
 tion to his cook, or aided, himself, in the work, showed that 
 he was quite familiar with an art so interesting to us just 
 then. 
 
 The third member of this family, was a young man, ap- 
 parently about twenty-eight years old, with a fine form and 
 manly features, in the garb of a common laborer, but with 
 a demeanor somewhat above his style of dress. The pale- 
 faced young cook was, we found, a Mormon, who having 
 come thus far with a band of these " latter day saints," had 
 been detained by the sickness of his wife. Here she died, 
 
176 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 and here he had since remained. He was an Englishman, 
 and thus far this land of promise had been one of sorrow, and 
 disappointment, and poverty, and these had written a history 
 on his form and face. Our host, as he informed us in the 
 course of the evening, was born in the northeastern part of 
 New England, had left his father's house, when young, to 
 indulge a desire for roving, and had spent, thus far, a rover's 
 life. A portion of this life had been spent on the ocean ; a 
 part in South America ; a part in Mobile and New Orleans ; 
 a part in New York ; a part on the plains of Kansas and 
 Nebraska, and among the Kocky mountains — and last of all, 
 having been persecuted for anti-slavery sentiments in a 
 town of western Missouri, he. had left in disgust, and come 
 over into Kansas, determined to aid in making the Terri- 
 tory free. The third was a young Virginian, who also tired 
 of home, among other wanderings, had spent five years with 
 the Indians, on the western plains and among the Eocky 
 mountains. To complete the group, there walked in un- 
 der our shed, a tall six-footer from the Emerald isle — 
 Patrick, of course, by name. His toes had walked out of 
 the ends of his shoes; his " pants" were cut across at the 
 knees ; he had neither coat nor vest, but, instead, an Indian 
 blanket thrown over his shoulders, and a short pipe just 
 cleared the end of his nose. England and Ireland, New 
 England, Virginia, and Ohio, were all represented in that 
 small company — a fit representation of the future mingled 
 population of Kansas. Patrick explained his dilapidated 
 state, by informing us that he and his brother had been out 
 some weeks "prospecting," and that finally, near this point, 
 each had located a claim, and Kansas was to be their future 
 
JOURNEY TIIROUGn KANSAS. 177 
 
 home. He was now on his way to St. Louis, where Judy 
 and the children were. 
 
 Such was the interesting company that had met in the 
 kitchen of this Kansas hoteh On the ends of the poles over 
 head the chickens of our host were roosting — two large dogs 
 stood by the fire, except when they ran oiF to bark at each 
 new sound in the prairie, and a pet horse would occasionally 
 come and stick his nose in the flour and salt dish, which 
 the cook was using for supper. 
 
 After supper was over (which was really well served, 
 through skill acquired by our host in former years), we sat 
 down to listen to the various talk of our associates. Two 
 of them had been connected with many a wild and stirring 
 adventure, and from them we gained some knowledge of life 
 on the buffalo plains and among the Eocky mountains. The 
 Virginian had been five years among the Indians of these 
 regions, and some of his recitals of incidents were exceed- 
 ingly graphic and stirring. We inquired of him concerning 
 the grizzly bears, and, among other things, asked him in 
 regard to their size. " They grow," he said, " as large as 
 the law allows. Some of them will weigh eighteen hundred, 
 and if a man should see one of these critters walking up to 
 him on his hind feet, and swinging his fore-paws, he would 
 be apt to think he was going to the Legislatur' mighty quick. 
 Even an Indian," he said, " is often terribly scared by one 
 of these bears. AVe camped one evening, just at sunset, by 
 the side of a small creek in the prairie, and a little beyond 
 was tall prairie-grass and some small bushes. One of the 
 younger Indians strayed over among these, looking for game. 
 In a few moments we heard first his gun, then the war- 
 
178 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 whoop, then a yell which was prolonged to a continuous 
 scream, then the scared Indian broke cover on a clean run, 
 loping for life, and close at his heels a gTizzly bear, that 
 shuffled and shook as he ran, as if he hadn't a bone in his 
 body. A Frenchman seized his gun and ran to meet them, 
 and fired at the bear without stopping him ; and then he too 
 turned, and the two came on in double quick time, the bear 
 striking and snapping at their rear. In a moment more he 
 was in reach of all our guns, and we brought him to a dead 
 halt. But not the poor Indian. He ran through the camp, 
 giving the war-whoop at every leap, and v/ent far beyond 
 into the prairie, before he could be brought up and made to 
 know where he was. An old hunter," he said, '• is never 
 anxious to ' scrape acquaintance ' with a grizzl}^ bear. One 
 who knows them will not shoot at one from choice, except 
 with at least an ounce ball, and when he feels entirely 
 certain of a dead shot. The hunters are willing to give them 
 a wide berth, unless they have greatly the advantage. I saw 
 in the mountains," he continued, " a man whose arms and 
 chest were stripped nearly bare of flesh, and who was covered 
 with scars elsewhere, from a battle with one of these bears. 
 He was a Frenchman, and he and a companion were hunting 
 and traveling alone, and were, of course, strongly bound to 
 each other. They met unexpectedly, one day, a grizzly bear, 
 who at once attacked them. They both fired, and having 
 only wounded the animal, they both turned and ran. After 
 having gained some distance ahead, one looked back and saw 
 that the bear had caught his companion, and that he was 
 making desperate efi'orts to defend himself with his hunter's 
 knife ; while the bear was tearing his flesh in the most 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 179 
 
 horrid manner. His regard for liis companion overcame his 
 love of life, and he resolved to aid him or die with him. 
 He ran back, and as he could not wait to re-load his gun, 
 he attacked the bear with his knife and hatchet. After a 
 desperate conflict, in which both were dreadfully mangled, 
 the bear fell partly upon one and died. For a long time 
 neither was able to rise. The flesh upon the arms and 
 chest and face of the one first overtaken by the bear was 
 torn into strings, or stripped entirely ofi^, so that the bones lay 
 bare, yet no artery was cut. The other was at length able 
 to crawl on his belly to a spring at some distance, and obtain 
 some water for himself and his friend. For days he crawled 
 thus back and forth for water, unable to rise upon his feet ; 
 and when their little stock of food was gone, they cut pieces 
 from the bear and ate them raw, drinking water from the 
 spring. Often, he told me, the wolves would come and eat 
 on one side of the bear while we lay on the other. The one 
 least hurt recovered so as to nurse his companion, whose 
 frightful wounds began to heal, and in the end they were 
 relieved by a party of trappers. The one I saw," said the 
 Virginian, " had very little meat left on him. Better let a 
 grizzly alone if you can't put an ounce ball through the 
 vitals." 
 
 This same hunter gave us some interesting facts in regard 
 to hunting on the plains. He told us that buffaloes are 
 hunted on horseback, with horses that are trained to the 
 chase, and that love it well. Each hunter is provided with 
 a lasso, or "lariat" (as we found it usually called in 
 Kansas) , and a very short gun, with a barrel not more than 
 from fourteen to eighteen inches long, and carrying an ounce 
 
180 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 ball. These horses, he said, though not large, are able to 
 hold with the lasso from the horn of the saddle the most 
 powerful and furious buffalo. They are so skillful, that the 
 instant the lasso strikes the horns of the buffalo, they brace 
 themselves away from the animal, and inclining the whole 
 body strongly inward, and gradually running on a curving 
 line, they soon are able to round the buffalo in, and ex- 
 pose his huge side to the hunter's shot at the distance of 
 a few feet only. At other times the hunter rides among the 
 herd, and loading his short gun very rapidly, is able to slay 
 a large number in a little time. The hunter is able to 
 indicate to his horse the very animal which he wishes to 
 follow, and he seldom loses him, or misses him, amid all the 
 confusion of the flying herd. The elks, he said, when they 
 are suddenly come upon, seem unable from fright to run 
 swiftly, but rather leap up and down than run, and a 
 hunter with a short gun and a fleet horse will sometimes 
 shoot down four or five before they are fairly under- way, 
 but when at full speed they are more fleet than the horse. 
 Our host, who had for some time been engaged in the 
 transportation of furs, for the Fur Company, from the Kocky 
 mountains, gave us an account of some of his winter adven- 
 tures in the far-western wilds. He started, one winter, he 
 said, with twenty-four mules, loaded with furs, and three 
 men beside himself, he having charge of the company. Their 
 destination was Fort Laramie. This fort is about six hun- 
 dred miles northwest of Fort Leavenworth. The snow fell 
 deeper day by day, until the prairie was one trackless waste, 
 through which the animals could scarcely make their way ; 
 little could be procured for them to eat, and the weather 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 181 
 
 was bitterly cold. From cold, fatigue aud want of food, the 
 animals failed, one after another, and died, until when one 
 morning they heard the drum-beat of Fort Laramie, there 
 were only four mules alive. They started for the fort, but 
 the snow was so deep that they were obliged to tread a path 
 for the animals, and soon they lost all knowledge of the 
 direction of the fort, and wandered helplessly about in the 
 snowy waste, and at night found themselves without any 
 shelter whatever, except what a large log could give them, 
 breaking, a little, the sweeping blast. One of the men 
 became benumbed with cold before they reached this place, 
 and in spite of all efforts to rouse him and urge him on, sat 
 down in the snow and died. To save him from the wolves, 
 they dug a grave in a deep snow-drift, and then hurried on 
 with what speed they could, beating a path as they went. 
 They were soon so chilled, that as their only hope, having 
 exhausted all their food, they cut the throat of a mule and 
 drank the warm blood. Somewhat revived by this, they cut 
 off some of the mule's flesh, made a meal of a part, and 
 reserved the rest for the future. The next morning, not 
 knowing where they were, nor what direction to take, they 
 wandered almost despairingly on. The prairie was without 
 a tree or bus'h — one limitless waste of glittering, driving 
 snow. Ere night, however, guided by a kind Providence, 
 they came in sight of Fort Laramie, and reached it with 
 three mules and three men remaining. Such are some of 
 the perils of the life of the hunter and fur-trader, and such 
 are common scenes on our wild frontier. 
 
 With such tales the evening passed away. In the mean- 
 time, Patrick was becoming talkative, if not eloquent. 
 
182 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Whisky had excited his brain and loosened his tongue, and 
 his love of liberty and patriotism swelled to overflowing. 
 Against the Pope, and slaveholders, and the Mormons, he 
 was especially angry, and declared himself ready to leave 
 Judy, at any time, and shoulder his musket and bring the 
 Mormons into subjection to United States law. After we 
 retired, he commenced a lofty oration upon the blessings of 
 liberty, and the greatness of America, and I fell asleep to 
 the music of Patrick's eloquence, resounding the names of 
 Washington and Lafayette. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 NEBRASKA. 
 
 After the somewhat minute descriptions wMch have heen 
 given of Kansas, little need be added in order to present a 
 correct idea of Nebraska. In many important features, the 
 Territories so nearly resemble each other, that a picture of 
 one will present also the aspect of the other. The general 
 appearance of the prairie is the same in both Territories, 
 and there are the same great divisions in both, presenting a 
 fertile agricultural district, along the ^Missouri ; a central 
 tract destitute of timber, sandy and poorly supplied with 
 water ; and a mountainous region west of this, comprising the 
 Black Hills and the Kocky mountains. 
 , A large and fertile tract, lying between the Kansas and 
 the Platte or Nebraska, is situated partly in one Territory 
 and partly in the other, and the description, therefore, of 
 the northern district of Kansas, on the Nemaha, Wolf creek, 
 and the head waters of the Big Blue and Yermilion is also 
 a description of the remainder, which lies adjacent in 
 Nebraska. 
 
 The prairies of the latter Territory are considered to be 
 more " Irohen'' than those of Kansas, and the proportion of 
 waste land is also greatest in Nebraska. To describe this 
 
184 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Territory, in detail, ^Yould, therefore, be in the main, only a 
 repetition of what has already been written concerning 
 Kansas, and it will be necessary, on this account, to dwell 
 only on some of the larger characteristics, which are pecu- 
 liar to itself. 
 
 Nebraska is much larger than Kansas. It reaches through 
 nine degrees of latitude, from the fortieth to the forty -ninth 
 parallel, having the irregular ridge of the Pwocky mountains 
 for its western boundary, and the equally irregular line of the 
 Missouri for its eastern frontier, until that river turns west- 
 ward, near Fort Mandan. Its average breadth, therefore, 
 can only be approximately stated, as about five hundred 
 miles. 
 
 Assuming this to be correct, Nebraska contains about 
 three hundred thousand square miles. Its general character 
 may, perhaps, be understood, by tracing eastward the par- 
 allels of latitude that bound it, and observing the country 
 which they inclose. We find, by this experiment, that its 
 northern boundary runs eastward, north of lake Superior, 
 north of the inhabited portions of Canada, and strikes the 
 Atlantic at the island of New Foundland, passing through 
 cold and inhospitable regions ; while its southern boundary 
 runs through central Illinois, central Indiana and Ohio, and 
 southern Pennsylvania, touching the ocean in the latitude 
 of Philadelphia. Within these limits, are embraced New 
 England and the Canadas, New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
 sylvania, northern Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, and all of 
 Michigan, Iowa, AYisconsin and Minesota — the most health- 
 ful regions on the continent. It will require more exact 
 meteorological observations than have yet been made, to 
 
JOUBNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 185 
 
 form a correct opinion of the climate of Nebraska, as com- 
 pared with the regions that lie east of it, between the same 
 parallels. Its elevation above the sea will, of course, largely 
 influence its climate, which may be still farther modified by 
 local causes, such as the position, hight and direction of its 
 mountain ranges. 
 
 Western Iowa and western Minesota present, of course, 
 the counterparts of the eastern portions of Nebraska, as 
 they are divided only by the Missouri river. 
 
 Nebraska may be spoken of under six general divisions. 
 The first is the high and fertile plateau, or " divide," between 
 the Kansas and the Nebraska. It has already been suffi- 
 ciently described, and is, probably, at least for the present, 
 the most attractive district in the Territory. The second 
 is the valley of the Nebraska proper. The lower portion 
 of this valley, for about two hundred and fifty miles, west- 
 ward from the Missouri river, is well watered and fertile 
 prairie. 
 
 Up to this point there is a fair supply of timber on the 
 Platte and its tributaries, and the country, except that 
 it lies further north, and consequently has a colder cli- 
 mate, offers about the same inducements to settlers as the 
 valley of the Kansas. The climate of the latter has more 
 of the " sunny south," and the winters are shorter and less 
 severe. Beyond this point, westward, the comparatively 
 dry and sandy plains appear, which form the pasture- 
 grounds of the buffalo, elk, deer, and antelope. This lower 
 portion of the Nebraska valley, and the " divide,'" mentioned 
 as forming the southern district of the Territory, will first 
 be occupied, both from its superior attractions, and the 
 16 
 
186 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 greater facility ^Yitll which it can be approached. It seems 
 to abound with coal, and as in Kansas, this coal is doubtless 
 accompanied bj iron. 
 
 The Nebraska river is wide and shallow, and although a 
 small steamboat has, in time of high water, ascended it 
 several hundred miles, it may be regarded as almost useless 
 for the purposes of commerce, spreading out as it does into 
 broad shallows, and divided, at times, into several streams, 
 that often lose themselves in the sands. Voyagers, in de- 
 scending the river, even with small boats, after following 
 for days along one of these streams, will find it sinking 
 away in the sands, and disappearing altogether, subjecting 
 them to the labor of dragging their boat again up the stream, 
 to explore another channel, perhaps with similar results. 
 
 Two towns are already projected near the mouth of this 
 stream, and in the vicinity of Council Blufi's, and around 
 and back of them the country is being filled up with set- 
 tlers. Doubtless the annual flood that pours into Iowa will, 
 hereafter, aid also in populating the opposite shores of Ne- 
 braska. The attractions of the latter are at least equal to 
 those of Iowa. 
 
 The third division is the valley of the Missouri, from the. 
 valley of the Platte to the valley of the Yellow Stone. For 
 this long distance, along the western bank of the Missouri, 
 runs the fertile belt which has been described as about two 
 hundred and fifty miles wide in Kansas and the southern 
 division of Nebraska. Although it has not been fully 
 explored, this belt is supposed to be narrower on the north 
 of the valley of the Platte, than it is. in southern Ne- 
 braska, and in Kansas. It is represented, moreover, as 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 187 
 
 deficient in timber. These points, however, can only be 
 settled by a more complete survey than has yet been 
 made. It is not improbable that the supply of timber 
 may be found more abundant than present impressions 
 would indicate, and I am quite prepared to expect, that 
 the skill and enterprise of American farmers will find 
 the means of obtaining comfort and wealth in those re- 
 gions, both of Kansas and Nebraska, which many are dis- 
 posed to condemn as worthless. I am by no means ready 
 to believe that large tracts, in either Territory, are to re- 
 main desert and waste, as incapable of aflording the means 
 of subsistence. It is not unlikely, that some, who represent 
 portions of these regions as uninhabitable, would be even 
 more ready to be discouraged at the appearance of many 
 parts of New England. 
 
 As we approach the valley of the Yellow Stone, timber 
 becomes more abundant, both on the Missouri and its tribu- 
 taries, and westward from this point there are dense forests 
 along the streams — and in some parts, according to Gov. 
 Stevens, they cover the face of the country. The fourth 
 district is the valley of the Yellow Stone. This may 
 ultimately prove the most desirable portion of Nebraska. 
 Although it lies in a Kigh northern latitude, its sheltered 
 position, between the Eocky mountains on the west and the 
 Black Hills on the east, will probably secure it a moderate 
 climate. It is described as presenting, not so much the 
 aspect of a prairie land, as of an immense valley, walled 
 in by lofty, wooded mountains, that abound in scenes of 
 grandeur and of beauty. 
 
188 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 The Yellow Stone rises in the Eocky mountains, and 
 pursues a northeasterly course, of about one thousand 
 miles, to the Missouri. It has been found navigable for 
 barges, more than eight hundred miles from its junction 
 with the Missouri, and several of its tributaries may, in 
 like manner, be ascended with boats. The Yellow Stone has 
 been ascended nearly a hundred miles by steamboats, and 
 it is not unlikely that it may be found navigable for small 
 steamboats, for a much greater distance. Its valley is repre- 
 sented, by those who have seen it, as one of the most beau- 
 tiful valleys in the world — so vast in its dimensions, abound- 
 ing in timber and streams of water, with a soil exceedingly 
 fertile, and with scenery that charms with its loveliness 
 and awes by its grandeur. The sources of the Y'ellow 
 Stone are not far from those of the Columbia, and the val- 
 ley of the Yellow Stone may yet have a commerce both with 
 the Atlantic and Pacific slopes of the Continent. It is said, 
 by hunters, that a branch of the Y^'ellow Stone, and one of 
 the Columbia, head in one common spring. 
 
 The valley of the Missouri, above the l^ellow Stone, that 
 of the Maria river and the valley of the Yellow Stone itself, 
 form, together, an immense region, abundantly supplied with 
 streams, and springs, and timber, with fertile soil and most 
 attractive scenery. This region can even now be reached 
 by steamboats, for the Missouri, when not frozen, is navi- 
 gable, for small steamboats, to the Great Falls, many 
 hundred miles above the Yellow Stone ; and it is supposed, 
 that boats built above the falls, may run up to the Eocky 
 mountains. In these regions, pine, cedar and fir trees are 
 said to abound, and when we consider the vast extent of 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 189 
 
 prairie country below, it becomes a most interesting question, 
 ■whether a supply of this timber can not be obtained from 
 the upper Missouri and its tributaries. 
 
 It is not unlikely that this may be the case, and that 
 heavy lumber establishments may erelong be built upon 
 these upper waters. A writer, quoted in the Home Mis- 
 sionary Journal, and whose articles appeared originally in 
 the New York Tribune, speaks of Nebraska as follows : 
 
 *' The surface of the country, from the Missouri river 
 westward to the spurs of the mountains, is rolling prairie, 
 but little diversified in its aspect, save by the intersection 
 of its streams. The soil, for a space varying from fifty to 
 one hundred miles west pf the Missouri river and the State 
 line, is nearly identical with that of Iowa and Missouri. 
 The highlands are open prairies, covered with grasses ; the 
 river-bottom, a deep, rich loam, shaded by dense forests. 
 From this first district, to about the mouth of Z' Eau qui 
 Court (Eunning Water river), it is one boundless expanse 
 of rolling prairie, so largely intermixed with sand as to 
 be almost unfit for ordinary agricultural purposes. The 
 prairies are, however, carpeted with succulent grasses, afford- 
 ing an inexhaustible supply for herds of cattle and sheep. 
 
 ** The third district is a formation of marl and earthy 
 limestone, and extends in a belt of many miles, east and 
 west of the Mandan village, on the most northern bend of 
 the Missouri river, and southward across the southern boun- 
 dary of the Territory. This soil can not be otherwise than 
 very productive. I should think it especially adapted to 
 wheat, rye, barley, and oats. I have seen, also, very fine 
 Indian corn along the upper valleys of the Missouri river. 
 
190 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 It is in this district that what are called huttes by the 
 Canadian French, and cerros by the Spaniards, are profusely 
 scattered. Here and there the traveler finds surfaces, vary- 
 ing in diameter from a hundred feet to a mile, elevated from 
 fifteen to fifty feet above the surrounding surface. They 
 are not hills or knobs, the sides of which are more or less 
 steep and covered with grass. Their sides are nearly per- 
 pendicular, their surfaces flat, and often covered with moun- 
 tain cherries and other shrubs. They have the appearance 
 of having been suddenly elevated above the surrounding 
 surface by some specific cause. This marl and limestone 
 formation is, in many localities, worked into fantastic or 
 picturesque forms, by the action of the elements. In one 
 place, especially, called by the traders La Mauvaise Terre 
 (the bad ground), and about thirty miles in diameter, it has 
 assumed a marvelous variety of singular forms. From one 
 point of view it assumes the aspect of an extensive and 
 frowning fortification ; from another, the appearance of an 
 oriental city crowned with domes and minarets ; and from 
 a third, the appearance of a sterile, broken, and unattract- 
 ive congregation of incongruous elements. These delusive 
 appearances are produced by distance and the position of 
 the sun. 
 
 " The wrecks of the diluvian period of geology are spread 
 all over this region, and most profusely on that portion north 
 of the Missouri river. Detached masses of rock, some of them 
 hundreds of tons in weight, wholly unconnected with the adja- 
 cent geological formations, and evidently allied to those of 
 the northern Rocky mountain region, dot the whole country. 
 
 " The district which I will call the fourth, lying north of 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 191 
 
 the Missouri river and west of Minesota, is a succession 
 of undulating plains, the soil of which is quite fertile but 
 rather dry. These plains are covered with a thick grassy 
 sward, which sustains innumerable herds of bison, elk, and 
 deer. 
 
 ''The fifth district is at the base of the Black Hills, 
 between that range and the Eocky mountains, and includes 
 the valley of the Yellow Stone, of the Maria's river, and a 
 variety of other small valleys, circumvallated by an amphi- 
 theater of mountains and gorgeous mountain scenery. The 
 valley of the Yellow Stone is spacious, fertile, and salubrious. 
 The streams are fringed with trees, from whence the valley 
 expands many miles to the mountains. The traveler can 
 almost imagine himself upon the Danube ; for the valley is 
 sprinkled over at long intervals with cyclopean structures 
 of granite, closely assimilated in appearance, from a distant 
 view, to the stern and solitary castles with which Europe 
 was covered and guarded during the middle ages. But these 
 structures exceed those of Europe in magnitude and gran- 
 deur, and the woods and waters are disposed with a taste and 
 beauty which the highest art must ever toil after in vain. 
 It is encircled by a rich girdle of hights and mountains, the 
 bases and dark sides of which are obscured in shrubs, and 
 the summits tufted with noble forest trees. And here is to 
 be the seat of a populous and powerful community in the far 
 future." 
 
 The writer of the foregoing is understood to be a gentle- 
 man of St. Louis, who has framed his statements partly 
 from personal observation, and in part from the accounts of 
 hunters and trappers who are familiar with the country 
 
192 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 described. The same writer states that snow falls at the 
 foot of the mountains as early as in September, and in the 
 southeastern part of the Territory, about the first of No- 
 vember. I had read with much interest the graphic articles 
 of this gentleman, before starting for Kansas, and doubt not 
 that they are, in the main, correct, though our own observa- 
 tions, and the opinions of others in the Territory, compel us 
 to believe that he has underrated the extent of the fertile 
 district which lies next west of the Missouri river, and 
 that this district is not so abruptly terminated as he seems 
 to suppose, but that its characteristics change gradually 
 into those of the dry and sandy plain. 
 
 I had, also, consulted Fremont's Journal, previous to our 
 journey, and was gratified, in passing over some of the 
 routes he traveled, to notice the accuracy of his descriptions 
 and observations. I should have been glad to have quoted 
 still more largely from his valuable journal, were it not 
 already in the hands of so many. 
 
 In Mr. Hale's book on Kansas and Nebraska, there is a 
 quotation from a writer, not named, who made a short ex- 
 cursion into southeastern Nebraska, which, as affording a 
 description of scenery, I insert here. The writer started 
 from Council Bluff's. 
 
 "A short drive brought us to the "Winter Quarters Ferry, 
 twelve miles above on the river, where a good, well-manned 
 and capacious steam ferry-boat was waiting, and in three 
 minutes we landed all our company upon the far-famed soil 
 of Nebraska. After a refreshing draught from a clear, cold 
 spring that gushes from the hill-side, a few minutes brought 
 us to the encampment of Messrs. Babbitt and Stiles, situated 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 193 
 
 upon a pretty, grassy knoll, with the green carpet thickly 
 bespangled with myriads of red, juicy strawberries, which, 
 by-the-by, abound plentifully in the river-borders of this 
 highly interesting country. A cheerful camp-fire was soon 
 blazing, and our animals turned loose to graze. 
 
 " We encircled the broad, spread table (buffalo skins 
 spread upon the ground), and regaled upon luxuries. At a 
 reasonable hour the camp-fire was well replenished, and a 
 circular bed of robes, etc., spread, and all retired in quiet 
 to repose, and to dream of the great future of that lovely 
 land. 
 
 " Early morn brought the report of horses being missing. 
 A scout soon returned with the conviction that they had 
 been stolen by the Indians. A company of horsemen started 
 on one trail north, while we, with a small company, took 
 the road for the Elkhorn, where we arrived (thirty miles) 
 in good camp time, after passing over a most delightful 
 country for nearly the whole distance. There is, however, 
 quite a scarcity of timber, which may only be found upon 
 the streams. 
 
 •' We encamped for dinner on the Papillon, where there is 
 some nice timber and excellent water. In approaching near 
 the Elkhorn, a glorious and grand scenery breaks upon the 
 vision. The eye takes in, at a glance, the country ahead for 
 some twenty miles, giving a full view of the Elkhorn and 
 Platte rivers, with their winding courses, groves, blufi"s, 
 and valleys; at sundown the scenery is both grand and 
 enchanting: 
 
 " The river being high, we met with no success in fish- 
 ing, although there are fine fish in the stream. Our roast 
 17 
 
194 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 venison was eaten with a relish while seated on nature's 
 grassy carpet around the camp-fire. Here we found a num- 
 ber of Pawnee Indians, one of whom had a monster of a 
 young black eagle which he had captured after having 
 broken one of its wings. We had an excellent night's rest, 
 and at an early hour started homeward, snatching occasion- 
 ally from their native beds a cluster of sweet flowers." 
 
 The fifth division embraces the country lying at the east- 
 ern base of the Rocky mountains, and the whole of their 
 eastern slope. The country stretching along the eastern 
 base of the mountains has a general elevation of from four 
 thousand to five thousand feet above the sea — it being about 
 four thousand at the southern line of Kansas, and five 
 thousand, around the sources of the Platte, in Nebraska. 
 A country, thus elevated, must of course possess a cool, but 
 healthful climate. Numerous spurs shoot out from the 
 mountains, forming fertile valleys, with mountain-streams 
 whose banks abound with timber, as stated by Fremont in 
 his journal, quoted already, where he is describing the coun- 
 try around the sources of the Platte. Throughout this 
 region there seems to be an abundance of pine timber, and 
 other trees of mountain growth, and it becomes a question 
 of great interest, whether the treasures of this immense 
 western lumber region can be wafted eastward by being 
 floated down the upper Missouri, the Yellow Stone, and 
 their tributaries, the Platte, and the tributaries of the 
 Kansas and the Arkansas. 
 
 The features of this mountain district are quite difi*erent 
 from what many have supposed. Many probably think of 
 the Rocky mountains as a single continuous mountain wall 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 196 
 
 whicli the traveler mounts by a steep ascent on one Gide, 
 and descends as steeply on the other. But these mountains 
 are only the highest peaks in a vast mountainous region, 
 varying in breadth from five hundred to nine hundred miles, 
 and occupying a large portion of the space between the 
 Pacific Ocean and the Mississippi river. It is an immense 
 elevated plateau, reaching from Mexico to the farthest north, 
 the Sierra Nevada, in California, being the westernmost 
 high ridge, and the Eocky mountains forming the loftiest 
 range in the east. 
 
 Over this wide space, imbosomed among the hills, are 
 countless valleys, streams and lakes, while the mountains, 
 up to the snow line, are covered with forests. One of these 
 valleys, that of Salt Lake, is occupied by the Mormons. 
 Many tribes of Indians, some of them warlike, and some 
 at present hostile, roam over this wide country. It abounds 
 in game of almost every variety, and it can not be doubted, 
 that this Switzerland of the west, will yet be occupied by a 
 bold, hardy and intelligent population. Could the Govern- 
 ment once abandon its purposes of acquisition on the south, 
 and foster the construction of at least three lines of railway 
 through these regions to the Pacific, it would confer a 
 greater benefit upon the people of the United States, than 
 by the acquisition of every island in the West Indian seas. 
 
 The sixth district is occupied by the not well-defined 
 sandy belt, that extends along the center of the plain, 
 between the Missouri on the east, and the Eocky mountains, 
 whose characteristics have been previously described, while 
 speaking of Kansas. 
 
 West of our present line of States, and between them and 
 
196 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 California, and the Pacific, there is an immense Territory, 
 about equal to that occupied by the States at present, rich 
 in agricultural and mineral resources, whose political and 
 religious destiny depends very much upon the question, 
 whether slavery shall be excluded from Kansas and Nebras- 
 ka, and especially from the former. If Kansas is made free, 
 the vast regions of the west and southwest will be saved 
 from this devouring curse, which not only destroys all 
 external prosperity, but eats out the very heart of the coun- 
 try. It is, apparently, the most important issue ever made 
 in the United States, and it will never be completely met 
 by the mere action of political parties. The determining of 
 this question belongs of right to the churches of this land, 
 and upon them, as the end, I think, will show, has God laid 
 the responsibility, because it is a question of morals and 
 religion, involving the honor of Christ. 
 
 Since writing the foregoing, I have had an opportunity 
 of conversing with the Eev. Mr. Spencer, of the Ojibwa 
 Mission, at St. Joseph, on the Pembina river, close on the 
 boundary line between the United States and the British 
 Provinces, and consequently farther north than the wide 
 region embraced in the valley of the Yellow Stone and the 
 upper Missouri. Mr. Spencer has just returned from the 
 Pembina station, and having spent a winter there, his 
 account of the climate and productions of this region is 
 interesting, as throwing light upon the capabilities of the 
 country lying to the southwest of his location. He informed 
 me that a person does not suffer there from cold during the 
 winter, more than even in the mild climate of southern Ohio ; 
 that the greater humidity of the atmosphere here, produces 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 197 
 
 a sensation of cold not felt in those northern regions, at a 
 much lower temperature. This he attributes to the dry and 
 invigorating character of the atmosphere. Upon the whole, 
 he considers the winters not more severe there than in Ohio, 
 though the mercury sinks much lower. The frost commences 
 there in September, but after the first frosts, there is usually 
 pleasant weather for several weeks (the Indian summer), 
 and in the latter part of October, the winter begins, when, 
 until spring, the weather is steadily cold. Corn is not 
 planted there till the beginning of June, but it ripens per- 
 fectly, producing fine crops. Wheat also succeeds well, as 
 do also barley and oats ; while potatoes and other roots yield 
 large crops, and are of a very superior quality. 
 
 This tract is in the valley of the Eed river of the north, 
 and opens toward the Polar seas. As the valleys of the 
 northern Missouri and Yellow Stone are farther south, and 
 are sheltered by the Rocky mountains and Black Hills, the 
 climate is, doubtless, more mild, and the whole country every 
 way more beautiful and desirable. When it is considered, 
 moreover, that this vast amphitheater can be reached by 
 steamboats, it can not be doubted that it will soon be occu- 
 pied by the homes of the pioneers. It can not be held much 
 longer by Indians and wild beasts alone. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 GREAT IMPORTANCE OF THE KANSAS QUESTION. 
 
 West of our present line of States, and between them 
 and California, and north of the general boundary of 
 Texas, lies a country about as large as that occupied by all 
 the present States and the Territory of Minesota. It is a 
 district more than one thousand miles square. Its eastern 
 portion comprises Nebraska and Kansas, and the prairie 
 country which lies south of Kansas, and between it and 
 Texas. "West of this, there is the broad belt of mountain- 
 ous territory, reaching from Mexico to the British Provinces 
 on the north, being from five hundred to nine hundred miles 
 wide, and bounded westward by the Sierra Nevada, in Cali- 
 fornia, and farther north by the Pacific Ocean. The Bocky 
 mountains form the dividing line, or *' ridge," between two 
 immense water-sheds, one of which slopes eastward to the 
 Mississippi, the other westward to the Pacific. The eastern 
 slope has been dwelt upon in this book. The western is 
 composed of a succession of mountains and hills, valleys 
 and mountain basins, sparkling with lakes, and streams 
 that flow westward toward the Pacific Ocean. This region 
 abounds also in timber. It receives the moisture and mild 
 influences of the western and southwestern winds from the 
 
I 
 
 JOUKNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 199 
 
 Pacific, which, even in Washington and Oregon render the 
 winters short and mild. Several of the mountain peaks 
 shoot up to the region of perpetual snow, while at their 
 bases, as in Switzerland, are mild and beautiful valleys, and 
 clear streams and lakes. In Mexico and New Mexico, these 
 same mountain ranges are known to be exceedingly rich in 
 minerals. The value of this immense Territory has not, as 
 yet, been duly appreciated, and especially by the people of 
 the free States. Little importance has been attached, until 
 lately, to the whole country west of the Missouri, on the 
 north, and of Arkansas, on the south. The great ''American 
 Desert," as it has been called, and the Eocky mountains, 
 have, in the minds of most, probably, filled the whole space 
 between the present States and the Pacific Ocean, excepting 
 only California. 
 
 But it is a question not yet settled in the negative, 
 whether this western half of the United States territory, 
 lying beyond the Missouri and Mississippi, is not capable 
 of supporting as large a population as that which is occupied 
 by our present States. The beauty, fertility, and general 
 resources of the Pacific slope of our country have doubtless 
 been greatly underrated. The whole of this vast region is, 
 by the Nebraska bill, virtually thrown open to slavery ; for 
 though in terms it is confined to Kansas and Nebraska, the 
 principle of the bill is equally applicable to all our present 
 territory, and to all which may hereafter be acquired. And 
 this was the undoubted aim of the whole movement. It was 
 no less a scheme than this; to gain for the slave power the 
 control of all the unoccupied territory which we now possess, 
 and of all which we may obtain, whether the Sandwich 
 
200 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 Islands, Mexico, the West India islands, or Central America. 
 The Nebraska bill was but the entering wedge to this vast 
 iniquity. It has been said that the slaveholders care little 
 for the possession of Kansas ; that they are interested mainly 
 in the establishment of the principle, and its future appli- 
 cation to more valuable acquisitions. This, in one sense, 
 may be true. They may value Cuba more than Kansas, yet 
 it should be remembered that they are perfectly aware that 
 the possession of Kansas is essential to the prosecution of 
 their plan. It is the strong outwork which must, from 
 necessity, be carried, before any other step can be taken. 
 At the frontier of Kansas the aggressive march of the slave 
 power is at present arrested, and as a fortress of freedom it 
 is now invested by southern forces. It is the Crimea and 
 Sevastopol in this western war of liberty and slavery ; and 
 far more important issues hang on the event than on the 
 fate of the Eussian fortress. 
 
 Situated as Kansas now is, it is the key of that whole 
 great "West beyond our present States. If secured for free 
 institutions, the same causes by which it will be saved, will 
 not only arrest the northward march of slavery, but it will 
 also carry the dominion of freedom southward, and interpose 
 a complete barrier to the extension of the slave power west- 
 ward, and a Territory equal to the present States will thus 
 be secured as the inheritance of freemen. Nor will the 
 influence find its boundary here. A public sentiment, strong 
 enough and active enough to obtain such a result, would 
 also prevent the annexation of any territory hereafter to be 
 placed under the curse of slavery. To secure Kansas, is to 
 change the whole policy of the government in reference to 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 201 
 
 slavery, from that of nurture and enlargement to one of 
 discouragement and repression. Instead of marching forth 
 to seize, on all sides, the fairest of our possessions, it would 
 be hemmed in by the closing round it of freedom's hosts, and 
 driven in upon itself. Left to its own unaided resources, it 
 would be a helpless monster smitten with famine, gnashing 
 its teeth upon itself, and perishing for lack of spoil. 
 
 On the other hand, if Kansas is won by the slave power, 
 flushed with this victory, arrogant and unscrupulous, it will 
 rush into fresh outrage and victory against a beaten and 
 dispirited north, and the slaveholders will soon control 
 directly, or indirectly, the whole Pacific slope, and the whole 
 Mississippi valley, except its extreme northern portion, if, 
 indeed, we may be allowed to except even that ; for with the 
 enormous political ascendency which the south would then 
 have, she could wield and mould the north according to her 
 will, as the past has shown in the most mortifying manner. 
 She would add, at her pleasure, Mexico and Cuba, and gain, 
 also, control of Central America. 
 
 All this she will be able to accomplish, if Kansas shall 
 be won, in spite of any combination or re-construction of 
 parties which is likely to occur. There is, as yet, no public 
 sentiment in the north which can be relied upon, to prevent 
 the sacrifice of the interests of freedom, when demanded by 
 the exigency of a party. This public sentiment requires to 
 be invigorated and made courageous, by just such a victory 
 as the winning of Kansas would supply. Nor would this 
 great issue be suitably met, by the mere repeal of the 
 Nebraska bill, or the striking out of its iniquitous clause. 
 A great opportunity of gaining for freedom perpetual ascen- 
 
202 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 dency in tlie country would then be lost. Let the fraud 
 remain as a brand upon the southern brow, and as an 
 everlasting memorial against the slave power. Let the 
 north now win back its own, and then sit down on the 
 southern frontier, freed from compromises and restrictions 
 of all kinds, ready to go forth from this heart of the 
 Continent, and plant its institutions on every foot of Ameri- 
 can soil. A prompt and large northern emigration would 
 secure the whole. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A WARNING VOICE. 
 
 The impression is now widely, almost universally spread 
 through the free States, that Kansas is already virtually 
 won for freedom. Schemes for its salvation have been so 
 largely discussed, that they are regarded by many as already 
 accomplished. The plans of emigration societies have been 
 so constantly before the public, their every movement has 
 been so carefully noted and exulted over, that most are not 
 aware how far the execution lags behind the promise. 
 
 Again, inasmuch as the late political triumphs have been 
 achieved under an " Anti-Nebraska " banner, thousands 
 suppose that through these Kansas has been secured. Then, 
 too, an opinion is generally entertained that slaveholders 
 themselves regard the question as one determined already 
 against them, and that to this decision they must submit as 
 best they may. Doubtless there are many important circum- 
 stances in the case, that favor the establishment of free insti- 
 tutions in Kansas. These have been already mentioned in 
 a previous chapter. They are numerous enough to place a 
 complete victory within the reach of the free States. If 
 they fail, it will be from lack of sufficient interest in the 
 subject to induce prompt and energetic action. It will be 
 
204 JOURNEY THROUGH ICANSAS. 
 
 because they neglect to avail themselves of the advantages 
 which seem to have been specially granted them in the provi- 
 dence of God. Against such effort as the north could easily 
 make, and would not fail to make, if thoroughly aroused, 
 the slave power can offer no effectual resistance. It would 
 be compelled into quiet submission ; while by the moral 
 effect of such a triumph, every neutral mind would be 
 inclined toward the victorious party, and anti-slavery feel- 
 ing would be strengthened within the slave States them- 
 selves. There are a thousand interests and feelings already 
 there, antagonistic to slavery, and these would show them- 
 selves in active effort, if time and circumstance should favor. 
 The commercial interests especially, if not overawed, will ere 
 long present in Missouri a powerful antagonism to slavery. 
 A triumph then may be readily achieved — but it is not 
 therefore, certain that it will be won. 
 
 It is at least prudent to study with care, the actual dan- 
 gers which beset this cause — the real obstacles which are yet 
 unsurmounted. In the first place, the efforts of the Emigra- 
 tion Societies have been met with a certain lack of enthusi- 
 asm which gives no high promise for the future, and indicates 
 that the tone of that portion of the press, favorable to the 
 enterprise, is yet quite in advance of the general public sen- 
 timent. Men and means have been somewhat sparingly 
 offered to these Societies, and few from the east have as yet 
 gone forward on their individual responsibilit}^ The thou- 
 sands which the public were led to expect, and which the 
 slaveholders feared, have dwindled to hundreds, and the 
 public has not been sufficiently prompt and liberal toward 
 the Societies, to enable them to provide even for these, in an 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 205 
 
 entirely satisfactory manner — according to the earnest desire 
 of the officers and agents who have the immediate direction 
 of affairs. For these reasons, even at the Xcw England Set- 
 tlement, the various instrumentalities, such as saw-mills, 
 etc., could not be put in motion sufficiently early to insure 
 the comfort of all for the winter, notwithstanding the energy 
 and activity of the resident agents. The friends of the 
 cause in Xew England should not have permitted this ; nor 
 exposed thus the Colonization enterprise to the reaction 
 which is almost certain to come. I mention this not by way 
 of discouragement, but that the dangers ahead may be per- 
 ceived in season to avoid them. Untiring efforts should be 
 made, not only to prevent the eastern public from sinking 
 into indifference, but to prepare them for the future, and 
 stir the masses with enthusiasm and hope. The plans which 
 have been formed for the systematic settling of Kansas on a 
 large scale, have been wisely conceived. They are adapted 
 to the great ends in view. If successful, they will be fol- 
 lowed by far-reaching results, which will carry down bless- 
 ings to the generations to come. They ought not to be 
 permitted to languish for the lack of effort, or sympathy, or 
 money, or men. Taking it all in all, this is the largest 
 idea now before the American mind. 
 
 Again, the political movement which, under an Anti- 
 Nebraska flag has just swept the country, can not be safely 
 relied upon for the salvation of Kansas. It is questionable, 
 to say the least, whether its leading sentiment will be one 
 opposed to slavery — when it has assumed the form and com- 
 pactness of a party. Political parties have hitherto used 
 the anti-slavery feeling of the country very much as a vessel 
 
206 JOUKNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 uses a steam-tug, when becalmed, or to get it well out of 
 harbor, and then it spreads its sails and commits itself to 
 other influences. The steam-tug should be converted into 
 an ocean steamer that can make a voyage on its own account. 
 The political party which is now likely to become the 
 dominant one, has quite other purposes lying nearer to its 
 heart than the abolition, or even repression of slavery. If 
 to secure these purposes, some anti-slavery work is necessary, 
 it may be done, if not, Kansas will be forgotten, or the 
 iniquity even be consummated. The sooner the people cease 
 to cheat themselves with the idea that in these shoutings over 
 political victories they hear deliverance for Kansas, the bet- 
 ter. It may, or it may not be so, according as party exigen- 
 cies shall demand. Let those who desire to plant free insti- 
 tutions in Kansas beware of leaning upon that which may 
 break and pierce them. Moreover, the slaveholders are 
 neither disheartened, as yet, nor indifferent nor inactive. 
 They are more hopeful now than when we were in the Ter- 
 ritory. They are gathering assurance and determination. 
 They see the magnitude of the issue ; and a Missourian has 
 lately expressed the opinion that to prevent Kansas from 
 becoming a free State, Missouri should pour half her popu- 
 lation, ''temporarily, at least,'' into the Territory. This 
 language, however extravagant, is not to be regarded as 
 having no significance. It means that Missouri shall sup- 
 ply voters enough from her own soil to meet the question 
 when it arises, and that they will force their way to the 
 ballot-box with pistols and the bowie-knife. A fit illustra- 
 tion is offered, by an expedition fitted out a few days since, 
 as I was informed by one then on the spot, at Weston, 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 207 
 
 Missouri, to control the election of delegates to Congress in 
 the Territory. 
 
 A convention of Missourians held a convention in Missouri, 
 for the nomination of a delegate for Kansas, and then a body 
 of about three hundred armed men, went over into the 
 Territory on the day appointed to enforce their nomination 
 made on the other side of the river by residents in Missouri. 
 They intend to overawe the settlers, by demanding a vote 
 for every fictitious claim which their tools or accomplices 
 have registered ; and they openly declare, that if those who 
 have made these claims can not vote, though residing in 
 Missouri, that all others shall be prevented by force and 
 arms. Doubtless they would, and will do these things, and 
 worse, if they dare ; and they will dare, if the number of 
 anti-slavery settlers is small. Had the eastern emigration, 
 however, even approached its early promise, these proceed- 
 ings would never have been heard of. Hence, inasmuch as 
 the territorial legislature is not to be convened, as is said, 
 until next spring or summer, the immense importance of 
 continuous efforts, during the winter, to secure a large and 
 early emigration in the spring. By this means the whole 
 question would be promptly met and settled, and the storms 
 and bluster on the frontier would subside into a calm, and 
 these threats would be heard of no more. The friends of 
 human freedom through the north, then, should be made to 
 understand that there is great and real danger in regard to 
 Kansas, and that success will require earnest work ; and yet 
 success is, under God, perfectly certain, if their work is 
 well and promptly done. 
 
 These violent counsels and measures are the work of a 
 
208 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 small minority of the people of Missouri, but left to them- 
 selves, they may control the action of the State and the 
 destiny of Kansas. It is said that there is a secret organi- 
 zation rapidly extending itself, whose sole purpose is to 
 secure Kansas for slavery, by numbers, fraud, or force. If 
 this is so, it will receive the earnest co-operation of the 
 prominent leaders among slaveholders, and of hundreds of 
 traitors to freedom in the free States also. It remains to 
 be seen, whether the freemen of the north will suffer this 
 robbery of their rightful patrimony to be thus perpetuated. 
 The foregoing information, in regard to a "secret society," 
 we received from a gentleman of our acquaintance who has 
 just returned from Kansas (November 2Sth), and since that 
 period we have found in a St. Louis paper the following 
 confirmation, by which it will be seen that a United States 
 Senator is at the head of this new scheme of iniquity. 
 By such proceedings let the north be warned, and also 
 aroused : — 
 
 " Senator Atchison is at present engaged in the upper country, 
 organizing a secret society, to consist of five thousand persons, pledged to 
 repair into Kansas, on the day of the first election held there, to vote slavery 
 into that Territory. Of this we have authentic information, and in a 
 few days we shall expose the whole scheme ; for while we wish to 
 see the people of Kansas determine the question of their own 
 domestic institutions, we can not and will not tolerate such an 
 unlawfal and iniquitous rascality as that of 'Drunken Davy's,' 
 which proposes that a large body of men who are not, and do not 
 intend to become residents of that Territory, shall, by force and 
 violence, override the sense and wishes of its legitimate settlers." 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 CHEISTIAN OBLIGATION — CHKISTIAN 
 COLONIZATION. 
 
 In considering the magnitude of the interests whicli are 
 at stake — the extent and value of the region to "be lost or 
 won for freedom — by the action of this generation, the 
 question ought to present itself to every mind, What can I 
 do ; what ought I to do ; how can Kansas, Nebraska, and 
 that great adjoining West, be most effectually secured? 
 Especially should every Christian make this a subject of 
 prayerful inquiry. A great practical question is here 
 presented to the Church, and especially to that portion of it 
 that professes a deep anxiety for the removal of slavery, or 
 even a desire to confine it within its present limits. Will 
 the friends of freedom be justified in leaving the settlement 
 of Kansas to the operation of the common causes which have 
 governed emigration elsewhere, or are they called upon, in 
 the emergency which has suddenly arisen, to improve, by 
 unusual measures, the opportunity which has been presented 
 in the providence of God? It is questionable whether the 
 opponents of the slave power have, in general, viewed this 
 Nebraska fraud in its proper light. It has been regarded 
 "by most as a signal victory, achieved by the south over 
 18 
 
210 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 northern interests and rights. If, however, the friends of 
 human rights are now true to God and their cause, it will 
 be seen that the south has smitten her own interests with a 
 fatal blow. The Missouri compromise was slavery's northern 
 wall of defense. For although there was no express stipu- 
 lation, that free institutions should not cross the line agreed 
 upon, there was an understood moral obligation, the force 
 of an implied compact, which would have arrested, during 
 its continuance, the progress of freedom at that bound. 
 Should we not be encouraged, when the south, in its folly, 
 has, with her own hands, and against all remonstrance, 
 torn this compact in pieces, and exposed herself and her 
 institutions in an open field ? Ought we not to discern in 
 this the favoring providence of God, which thus offers to 
 free institutions an unlooked-for opportunity, and opens 
 before them an unexpected field ? For if slavery may now 
 march northward, if it has tho power, the whole south is, in 
 like manner, thrown open to freedom. Let us suppose that 
 the Missouri compromise shall stand perpetually repealed, 
 and the struggle is to go forward without territorial restric- 
 tions on either side ; and add one other supposition, that the 
 north is true to herself, and with the comparative progress 
 of the north and the south as our guide, who can doubt as 
 to the ultimate result ? Instead of mourning that the north 
 has been opened to slavery, let us rejoice that all restrictions 
 upon the progress of liberty are taken away, and that there 
 is not a foot of soil now on our continent, where she may not 
 set up her banner and plant her institutions. If northern 
 freemen were fully awake, and prepared for the performance 
 of their whole duty, this would be the appropriate feeling ; 
 
JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 211 
 
 and instead of aggressions upon northern territory "by slavery, 
 we should hear of the march of free institutions toward 
 the Gulf. 
 
 The best method of winning back this stolen inheritance 
 of the north, will perhaps appear, if we bestow a moment's 
 attention upon the different methods of emigration now 
 followed or proposed. The discomforts and perils, the disad- 
 vantages of all kinds attending the common manner of 
 settling a new region are so great, and so manifest, that it 
 is surprising that it has not, ere this, been systematically 
 undertaken, when the superior advantages of Colonies are 
 perfectly obvious. Too often the settler is for years cut off 
 from all the benefits and comforts of civilized life ; from 
 religious privileges; from schools, society, and markets. 
 The older portions of the household drag out often a sickly 
 and sad existence, shut out from most of those little luxuries 
 and enjoyments which once rendered life joyous ; while the 
 children grow up without education or culture of any kind, 
 rude proprietors, at last, of valuable tracts of land, where, 
 perhaps, the third generation may be educated. 
 
 Pioneer life, while producing such magnificent general 
 results, has caused suffering, and sickness, and death, in 
 thousands of individual homes, and entailed semi-barbarism 
 upon a portion of the survivors. But all, or most of these 
 evils may be easily avoided by the formation of Colonies — 
 and especially now, when so large a portion of the best of 
 our public lands may be reached, cheaply and quickly, by 
 steamboats and railways. It is not now an impracticable 
 thing to transplant a whole community, with all its various 
 members and occupations, so that nearly all the comforts 
 
212 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 and benefits of an old society may be at once enjoyed in the 
 new position. Churches, schools, professional men, mer- 
 chants and mechanics of all kinds, may locate themselves 
 together, and commence the new life with all the operations 
 and relations of the old. The Christian will be connected 
 at once with the church and its ordinances, nor become, as 
 so many thousands of pioneers have, a lost sheep in the 
 wilderness, or left to bring scandal upon religion. The 
 individual will not be isolated and lost, nor will his influ- 
 ence be neutralized or his principles endangered by the 
 power of strange associations. He will not be thrown among 
 strangers. It will be a community either of old friends and 
 neighbors, or a company drawn together by common aims 
 and affinities ; and thus supported by each other, a small 
 band, instead of losing, as so many individual pioneers have 
 done, their original characteristics and former good practices, 
 will send an influence outward, and stamp their image upon 
 others. 
 
 Every such homogeneous colony becomes a center of life, 
 and source of power. In no country ever opened to the 
 settler, could all this be more easily accomplished than in 
 Kansas and portions of Nebraska — but especially in Kansas. 
 Seven or eight days of easy travel by railways and steam- 
 boats, will suffice to transport a colony even from Massa- 
 chusetts to this land ; and then next spring, the valley of 
 the Kansas can be ascended by steamboat to Fort Eiley, 
 (about one hundred and seventy-five miles), by the river. 
 In this short period, or a little more, a colony from almost 
 any point in the northern States can be located on some of 
 the most fertile lands of earth, where the fields are perfectly 
 
JOUBNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 213 
 
 prepared for the plow, and for the reception of any crop, and 
 where natural meadows and pastures stretch away on every 
 side, to furnish hay and grass for any amount of stock. If 
 then, these colonists possess some ready money — and without 
 means men can not be comfortable anywhere — what can pre- 
 vent them from surrounding themselves, in a single season, 
 with most of the comforts of an eastern home, while even 
 the immediate future would open with richer promise than 
 ever before. To pioneer life, such as it has formerly been, 
 especially in timber countries — such as it presents itself to 
 most minds that have heard tales of frontier hardship and 
 suffering — colonization in such a country as Kansas, bears 
 not the remotest resemblance. Every man among the thou- 
 sands that yearly build houses on new sites, and lay out new 
 grounds, does what is required of the settler of Kansas. He 
 locates upon a tract of land all ready for any purpose, and 
 then lays out his grounds, and erects his dwelling. With 
 such a colony, the whole machinery of society would at 
 once go on as usual, and each would find himself in the 
 midst of old neighbors and friends, or among new asso- 
 ciates, of a spirit similar to his own, and surrounded by the 
 conveniences of older society — while life, as in all new 
 settlements, would have a larger and more genial develop- 
 ment. The site of such a colony would at once become a 
 business center for the surrounding region, and the value of 
 lands would be rapidly increased. To these general advan- 
 tages of colonization, the Emigration Societies propose to add 
 the aid of capital and associated influence, by which cheap 
 fares can be obtained for emigrants, along the lines of travel, 
 and to erect mills, and aid in all suitable ways, in the 
 
214 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 establishment of a town, where numbers may at once be 
 collected in an organized society. They expect to be remu- 
 nerated for capital expended, by the increased value of the 
 lands, which the Company itself retains. These advantages 
 may all be secured by private association in a single colony. 
 But the highest possible exhibition of this scheme, and 
 by far the most effectual for the salvation of Kansas, would 
 be colonization by bands of Christians — "Christian colo- 
 nization." Such a movement need not be isolated or exclusive 
 in its character or aims. Certainly, there would be nothing 
 objectionable, if Christians should agree to act as such, and 
 in organized capacity, in connection with the efforts of others, 
 for the purpose of establishing the Gospel and freedom on 
 the soil of Kansas. Nothing is more obvious, than if Emi- 
 grant Churches could be organized in sufficient numbers, 
 and planted in that Territory, so that they should become 
 the nuclei around which society there would form itself, that 
 Kansas, with God's blessing, would not only be a free State, 
 but a model State. If the Christians who may make Kan- 
 sas their home, instead of being scattered abroad, could 
 be settled in communities, from the first, and bound to each 
 other by Christian sympathies, neighborhood attachments, 
 and the ties of Church relationship, what a waste of influ- 
 ence would be prevented ! what a power would be created 
 at these Christian centers, whose silent influence would flow 
 forth, shaping and blessing all things ! This presents itself 
 in the light of a missionary effort on the large scale, and in 
 the most effective form. If Churches could thus be formed 
 at different points in our land, either connected with colonies 
 or forming a colony by themselves, to become in Kansas the 
 
JOURNEY THKOUGH KANSAS. 215 
 
 germs of towns and cities, and to plant the seeds of all 
 right things around them, how incalculable a benefit would 
 thus be conferred upon Kansas, and how far into the 
 future the movement would reach, in its influence upon 
 slavery and the destinies of that remote west, even to the 
 Pacific ! How cheaply this operation might be performed ! 
 Every godly man or woman thus settling there, would be a 
 missionary of the most eiffective kind, and once there, a man 
 would not only sustain himself, but would be adding to the 
 general wealth of the country, while laying the foundations of 
 the kingdom of Christ. Why might not such Churches be 
 organized in different parts of the country, and the different 
 missionary societies aid them in sustaining their pastors ? 
 and why should not the same large-hearted benevolence, 
 which sends yearly hundreds of thousands of dollars into 
 foreign lands, contribute with more zeal and liberality still, 
 to such a cause, so intimately connected with the progress of 
 Christ's cause at home, and the interests of the country at 
 large ? It presents, too, a noble opportunity to lay aside 
 denominational feelings, and unite in a common work for 
 God. If at any locality there are Christians of different 
 sects, who wish to emigrate to Kansas, why should they 
 not unite in an organization liberal enough to embrace all 
 evangelical Christians, and then go forth together, not to 
 establish a sectarian religion,' but to save, by their joint 
 efforts, Kansas from slavery, and lay the broad foundations 
 of the Gospel under the society forming there ? Such an 
 experiment might afford the opportunity for the exhibition 
 of a higher and nobler form of Christianity than now ex- 
 ists in the country. Separated from old associations — old 
 
 k 
 
216 JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 
 
 barriers thrown down — theological differences laid aside and 
 forgotten, and drawn together by the power of new and 
 interesting relations, and in circumstances more favorable 
 for the cultivation of the affections — the idea of Christian 
 brotherhood might thus, perhaps, be more nearly realized 
 than it can be under the more rigid forms of older commu- 
 nities, and Churches more nearly conformed to primitive 
 models and primitive character, might manifest the power 
 of a fresher and more spiritual life. 
 
 If Kansas and Nebraska could be occupied by such 
 Churches, composed of men who, while laboring to shut out 
 slavery from the Territory, would not forget to exclude it 
 also from church fellowship and communion, and would, 
 moreover, see that a sound Christian literature were circu- 
 lated in the families and communities about them — a litera- 
 ture not in alliance with popular and powerful sin — a work 
 would thereby be done, by which the whole country might 
 ultimately be saved from slavery, and over which men and 
 angels might rejoice together ! 
 
 THE EIS'D. 
 
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