FOOTNOTES:
[150] For the Ohio and Erie Canal, see Bullock's Sketch, in our volume xix, p. 151, note 22.—Ed.
[151] Dr. Zina Pitcher (1797-1872) was a graduate (1822) of Middlebury College, Vermont. He entered the army (1822) as assistant surgeon, becoming surgeon with rank of major in 1832. In 1836 he resigned from the army, and began practice in Detroit, where he became a prominent citizen. In 1842 and 1844-47 he was mayor of the city, held the office of county (1843) and city physician (1848-51), and served upon the board of health. Dr. Pitcher was interested in education and was one of the first regents of the University of Michigan (1837-51), giving much time and thought to the establishment of that institution, especially its medical school. Upon retiring from the board of regents, he was made professor emeritus of medicine. Dr. Pitcher's literary interests were considerable; he was librarian of the first Michigan Historical Society, editor of the Peninsular Journal of Medicine, and contributor to Schoolcraft's work on Indians, in whose therapeutics he took much interest. His home in Detroit was the seat of widespread hospitality.
For Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas, see Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, in our volume xx, p. 105, note 73.—Ed.
[152] Indian Creek is a small, eastward-flowing affluent of the Scioto, in Ross County, Ohio. See, for Paint Creek, our volume ix, p. 118, note 56; Chillicothe is noted on p. 186, note 35, of F. A. Michaux's Travels, our volume iii.—Ed.
[153] Chillicothe was a Shawnee term for town or village. This tribe had in the Scioto Valley several dwelling-places thus named; compare Thwaites and Kellogg, Dunmore's War (Wisconsin Historical Society, 1905), p. 292, note 7; see also Croghan's Journals, in our volume i, p. 134, note 102.
For the Wyandot, consult Weiser's Journal, our volume i, p. 29, note 26. The habitat of the Wyandot was in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, but on their hunting excursions ranged to the Shawnee territory.—Ed.
[154] Consult, on the mounds of Ohio, a recent account by Gerard Fowke, Archæological History of Ohio (Columbus, 1902); see also Mrs Cyrus Thomas, "Bibliography of Earthworks of Ohio," in Ohio Archæological and Historical Quarterly, i (1887-88).—Ed.
[155] For the work in which Duke of Saxe-Weimar describes his travels in the United States, see Wyeth's Oregon, in our volume xxi, p. 71, note 47.
Circleville was so named from an ancient earthwork found upon the site. Near this place were the chief villages of the Shawnee, also the Pickaway Plains, well known in pioneer history, where Lord Dunmore halted his army and made the treaty of Camp Charlotte (see Dunmore's War, cited in note 153 above, pp. [302], 386). Circleville was selected (1810) as the seat of the newly-erected county of Pickaway; in 1814 it was incorporated as a town, and in 1853 became a city. The population in 1900 was about seven thousand.—Ed.
[156] Caleb Atwater was Massachusetts born (1778) and in 1816 emigrated to Ohio, where he lived chiefly at Circleville, until his death in 1867. His services to the state were in many lines, political, educational, and legal. During a term in the legislature, he laid the foundation of the public school system of the state, and furthered public improvements, especially canals. He was much interested in antiquities, and a corresponding member for Ohio of the American Antiquarian Society. Under their auspices he published the work on "Western Antiquities" to which Maximilian here refers. Atwater therein gives a description and ground plan of the Circleville circumvallations; see American Antiquarian Society Transactions (Worcester, Massachusetts, 1820), i, pp. 109-267. This article was republished in Writings of Caleb Atwater (Columbus, Ohio, 1833).—Ed.
[157] Soon after leaving Circleville, the Ohio and Erie Canal crosses Scioto River, and follows its eastern bank as far as Lockbourne, on the southern boundary of Franklin County, passing Walnut Creek—an eastern affluent of the Scioto—in Pickaway County. Lockbourne was laid out in 1831, by Colonel Kilbourne, who compounded its title from the eight canal locks at this site, and the last syllable of his own name. The spur of the canal which runs hence to Columbus (not Columbia) is eleven miles in length. The first canal-boat to make the trip from Chillicothe to Columbus passed over the route in 1831. Its arrival at the state capital was the occasion of a celebration in honor of the completion of the enterprise.
Columbus was laid out (1812) on the east bank of the Scioto, opposite the older town of Franklinton, by four proprietors who offered to the legislature inducements, which were accepted, to make this the state capital. The place was incorporated in 1816, and made a borough in 1834.—Ed.
[158] At Lockbourne the canal leaves the valley of the Scioto, and, turning north across Franklin and Fairfield counties, follows the valley of Walnut Creek until near Licking Valley. All the places mentioned by Maximilian were platted about the time of the determination of the canal route.
Canal Winchester, in southeastern Franklin County, was laid out (1826 or 1827) by a family named Dove, from Winchester, Virginia. Waterloo and Millersport are in Fairfield County, and even now are small villages.—Ed.
[159] Licking Summit, the highest point on the canal, 413 feet above the level of Portsmouth, is on the watershed between the Scioto and Muskingum systems. At this place excavation for the canal was begun July 4, 1825, when Governor Clinton, of New York, threw out the first spadeful of earth, as one of the features of a celebration in anticipation of the building of the canal. Near this point, also, was constructed the Licking reservoir, with an area of three thousand acres, to supply water for the lower reaches of the canal.—Ed.
[160] For the westward extension of the National, or Cumberland Road, see Woods's English Prairie, in our volume x, p. 327, note 76.
Hebron, in Union Township, Licking County, when laid out (1827) by John Smith, at the junction of the Ohio Canal and the National Road, appeared destined to a considerable future. With the building of railways, however, its commercial importance declined, the population in 1900 being but 455.—Ed.
[161] For Newark, now chief city of Licking County, with a population (1900) of 18,157, see Flint's Letters, in our volume ix, p. 305, note 153.—Ed.
[162] Nashport and Frazeysburg, both in Muskingum County, are canal towns which have acquired no particular importance.—Ed.
[163] These are all canal towns, the first three in Coshocton County, of which the first-named is entirely extinct. Roscoe was first named Caldersburg, and laid out in 1816; when the canal came, the name was changed in honor of the English author.
Evansburg was laid out (1830) by Isaac Evans, a pioneer and veteran of the War of 1812-15.
New Comerstown, in Tuscarawas County, is interesting as the site of an early Delaware Indian town, called by Heckewelder, Gekelemukpechink. When the Delawares, in the middle of the eighteenth century, removed from the Allegheny to the Tuscarawas Valley, their principal chief, Netawatwes (the Newcomer), built his village near this site, which was the centre of tribal activity until the Revolutionary War. The American town was not laid out until the time of the canal building (1827).—Ed.
[164] Port Washington, in Salem Township, Tuscarawas County, was originally called Salisbury. It was laid out as a canal town and incorporated in 1827. Abram Garfield, father of the future president, contracted for the work on the canal between New Comerstown and Port Washington.—Ed.
[165] The Moravian missions to the Indians were begun about 1745, in eastern Pennsylvania. In 1772, at the special request of their Delaware converts, the mission was removed to the Tuscarawas Valley, and three towns founded therein—Salem, Shoenbrunn, and Gnadenhütten. The latter was the scene of the massacre (1782) of the Christian Indians by a party of backwoods militia. See Theodore Roosevelt, Winning of the West (New York, 1889), ii, pp. 142-167; and Thwaites, Withers's Border Warfare (Cincinnati, 1895), pp. 313-329. For sixteen years after this atrocity, the village of Gnadenhütten was deserted. About 1798 it was restored by the Moravians, and the following year white settlers began to move in. The first emigrants were Pennsylvania Germans; later, many Germans came direct from Europe to this region, which has still a considerable Teutonic element in its population. The town of Gnadenhütten was incorporated in 1824.—Ed.
[166] Lockport, usually called Blake's Mills, was platted (1829) by two German proprietors above Lock No. 13.
Dover was principally settled (1807) by Pennsylvania Germans. When the canal passed through, Canal Dover became the official name of the town. At one time the village aspired to be county seat.—Ed.
[167] Because of persecution in their native land, the Würtemberg Separatists left their homes in several parties. One of these, led by George Rapp, founded the New Harmony and Economy settlement; another, under the leadership of Joseph M. Bäumler, came to Philadelphia in 1817, and by December of that year had begun a settlement on the Tuscarawas, which they named Zoar. Not until 1819 was the community system established, and then because of the exigencies of the situation and their position on the frontier, rather than doctrinaire theory. The numbers of the settlement were largely increased in 1832, when a second band arrived from Würtemberg. The leader of the colony, Joseph Bäumler (later spelled Bimeler), was of obscure peasant origin, but a man of ability and enterprise. Under his care the community prospered until his death in 1852. Celibacy was at first imposed as a rule of the community, but later was rescinded. In 1898, by mutual consent of the members, the community dissolved, the majority still living at the village of Zoar, which in 1900 possessed but two hundred and ninety inhabitants. For further details, consult W. A. Hinds, American Communities (Chicago, 1902), pp. 91-123; and E. O. Randall, "Separatist Society of Zoar," in Ohio Archæological and Historical Quarterly, viii, pp. 1-100.—Ed.
[168] The Ohio Gazetteer, or Topographical Dictionary, was first compiled by John Kilbourn, of Columbus, Ohio. The edition used by Maximilian was probably the eleventh issue, published at Columbus in 1833. The statement therein is, that the land was purchased in 1818 (not 1810). The details of the purchase in Bäumler's name were arranged in 1817; but the title did not pass until the next year, and it was the spring of 1818 before the main body of the Zoar colonists arrived from Philadelphia, where they had been charitably entertained during the preceding winter by the Society of Friends.—Ed.
[169] Bolivar, in the northern portion of Tuscarawas County, owed its existence to the Ohio Canal. The town was laid out in 1825 by two proprietors from Canton, Ohio, who at first christened it Kelleysville, for one of the canal commissioners. He, however, declined the honor, whereupon the name of the South American emancipator was chosen. Between the villages of Zoar and Bolivar, Maximilian passed the site of the former Fort Laurens, erected during the Revolution (1778) as an outpost for the protection of the Western frontiers. In February and March, 1779, the garrison, under command of Colonel John Gibson, sustained a protracted siege by a motley host of Wyandot and Mingo warriors, led by a few British soldiers. After the raising of the siege, Fort Laurens was found too remote from the frontier to be provisioned without undue risk; whereupon, in the autumn of 1779, the post was abandoned.
The township of Bethlehem, Stark County, was so named for the original home in Pennsylvania of the Moravian missionaries, one of whom, Christian Frederick Post, built (1761) within its precincts the first cabin in the present state of Ohio (see his Journals, our volume i). The village of Bethlehem, on the northern boundary of the township, was laid out about 1806 by Jonathan W. Condy, who intended to found there a religious society of Swedenborgians, upon the model of the Moravian settlement in Pennsylvania. The plan failed, and the village only revived upon the building of the canal.
Massillon (a thriving place of about 12,000 inhabitants) was a canal town, platted after the route had been arranged. Upon the opening of the line thence to Akron, a celebration was held at the new town of Massillon, which had been named in honor of a famous French theologian of the seventeenth century.—Ed.
[170] Canal Fulton was laid out in 1826 by two residents of Canton, Ohio. Its population in 1900 was 1,172.
New Portage is the southern terminus of the once well-known portage path from the Cuyahoga to the Tuscarawas, which furnished in early Indian history the most practicable route from Lake Erie to the Ohio. The road was about eight miles long, and has recently been retraced; consult A. B. Hulbert, Red-Men's Roads (Columbus, 1900), p. 33. This path also furnished a boundary between Indian Territory and that of the United States, as agreed upon by the treaties of Fort McIntosh (1785), Fort Harmar (1789), and Greenville (1795). The American town of New Portage was expected to be the future metropolis of the region, but declined with the growth of Akron.
The marshy place described by Maximilian is Summit Lake, which later, connected with surrounding basins, became the reservoir, partly natural, partly artificial, for the canal upon the watershed between Lake Erie and the Ohio.
Akron (named from a Greek word meaning elevation) was a canal town; when founded it was in Portage County, but later was made the seat of Summit County, erected in 1840. Although founded in 1825, the town was not incorporated until 1836; it was erected into a city in 1865, and by 1900 had attained a population of 42,728.—Ed.
[171] The descent from the summit of the portage to Lake Erie is steep, and requires a stairway of forty locks (sluices). This was the first portion of the work to be completed. The first boat from Akron to Cleveland went through July 4, 1827, amid popular rejoicings.
For Cuyahoga River and its early history, see Croghan's Journals, in our volume i, p. 107, note 72.—Ed.
[172] Cleveland, the metropolis of the Western Reserve, was first surveyed in 1796, when the original log-cabin was built, and the site named in honor of Moses Cleaveland, agent for the Connecticut Land Company, then engaged in exploiting the reserve. During the early years, its growth was extremely slow, the total population in 1800 being but seven. After the War of 1812-15, settlers began to arrive with more frequency, the village being incorporated in 1814. The era of prosperity opened in Cleveland with the period of canal transportation. The inauguration of the Erie Canal (1825) gave impetus to the place, which increased with rapidity when made the terminus of the Erie and Ohio Canal. Cleveland was incorporated as a city in 1836; in 1900 it was the largest borough in Ohio, and the seventh city in size in the United States.—Ed.
[173] Lake Erie is 290 miles in length, and sixty-eight miles at its greatest breadth. Its depth is said nowhere to exceed 100 or 120 feet.—Maximilian.
[174] For the early history of this region, see Croghan's Journals, in our volume i, pp. 103-106, with accompanying notes.
Fairport, in Lake County, Ohio, was laid out in 1812 by Samuel Huntington and four partners at the mouth of Grand River, three miles from the earlier city of Painesville. The first villages were platted south of Lake Erie, on higher ground, the lake ports being neglected until commerce increased. Fairport has a good harbor, and had (1900) a population of 2,073.
Ashtabula, on a creek of the same name, gives its title to a county. The town is two miles from the mouth of the creek, and was incorporated in 1827.
Salem Crossroads was the early name for the village of Brocton, in Chautauqua County, New York. The first settlement was made about 1805. The nearest harbor, which is not a good roadstead, lies below Van Buren Point.
Dunkirk would not appear in the Ohio Gazetteer, being a town in New York State, first settled (1805) at the mouth of Canadaway Creek. In 1809 the harbor was known as Chadwick's Bay, from the first permanent settler on the coast. The name Dunkirk was given about 1817, in honor of the famous French port.—Ed.
[175] For the early history of Buffalo, see Buttrick's Voyages, in our volume viii, p. 42, note 4; upon its destruction in the raid of 1814, see Evans's Tour, in our volume viii, p. 182, note 40; also William Dorsheimer, "Buffalo during the War of 1812," in Buffalo Historical Society Publications, i, pp. 185-210; and S. C. Becker, Sketches of Early Buffalo (Buffalo, 1904), pp. 118-132.—Ed.
[176] For another account of this village, see Evans's Tour, in our volume viii, p. 183, note 41; on the mission, see H. R. Howland, "Seneca Mission at Buffalo Creek," in Buffalo Historical Society Publications, vi, pp. 125-164.—Ed.
[177] For the authorities mentioned in this paragraph, consult J. Long's Voyages, in our volume ii, p. 28, note 3, and p. 41, note 10; also Nuttall's Journal, our volume xiii, p. 116, note 81. The Tuscarora, not the Mohawk, was the tribe migrating from the South. Concerning this migration, see our volume ii, p. 44, note 12.—Ed.
[178] For the history of Black Rock, see Buttrick's Voyages, in our volume viii, p. 46, note 9.
Tonawanda Creek rises in Wyoming County, New York, flows north through Genesee, and, turning west, forms the boundary between Niagara and Erie counties, entering Niagara River opposite Grand Island. The name in the Seneca language means "rapids," or "riffles." The site of the town of Tonawanda was first settled in 1808; three years later, a block-house was built, in anticipation of an Indian attack, nevertheless, during the War of 1812-15, the hamlet was burned, and little was done to rebuild the place until 1823, when, upon prospect of the near approach of the Erie Canal, the town was platted. The village growth was slow, however, and the place was not incorporated until 1854. It had in 1900 a population of 7,421, and was a manufacturing village of some importance.—Ed.
[179] Grand Island, with a cultivable area of 17,381 acres, was in dispute between the United States and Canada until the boundary commission of 1819 decided that the main current of Niagara River lay west of the island. Previously, however (1815), New York had made the purchase from the Seneca, referred to by Maximilian; the price aggregated about $11,000. In 1819 squatters were driven off by order of the state, and in 1824 the island was surveyed and opened for purchase. A contemplated Jewish settlement, to be called Ararat, came to nought. The island was erected into a separate township of Erie County in 1852.
For a brief notice of the battle of Chippewa, see Evans's Tour, in our volume viii, p. 175, note 33.—Ed.
[180] The first permanent settler on the American side of the falls was Stedman, one of a company of traders whom Sir William Johnson permitted (about 1760) to build a log cabin at the place. This was maintained, chiefly for the portage business, until 1795, when Stedman removed to the Canadian side; after the British evacuation (1796), the land lay unoccupied until 1805, when it was offered for sale, one of the first purchasers being Augustus Porter, a prominent citizen of Niagara village. He removed his family to this place in 1806, and built a mill and blacksmith's shop, obtaining also the portage lease for several years. After the destruction by the British (1813), settlement began again; the village was incorporated in 1847, and in 1892 the city of Niagara Falls, which now has a population of about 20,000.—Ed.
[181] For the American travels of Count Chassebœuf de Volney, consult Flint's Letters, in our volume ix, p. 237, note 121.
François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucault-Liancourt (1747-1827), travelled in America during his exile, which was occasioned by the French Revolution, in whose early stages he had taken a prominent part. He was a friend to republican institutions, and his Travels are replete with just and favorable accounts of American life and customs. His work appeared first in French, in 1798; the English edition was entitled, Travels through the United States, the Country of the Iroquois, and Upper Canada in 1795-97 (London, 1799).
Isaac Weld was an Irishman (1774-1856) whose American travels were undertaken in order to induce the immigration of his people to the United States. His excellent and accurate work, Travels through the States of North America, and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada (1795-97), (London, 1799), was much quoted and ran through several editions, including a translation into French.—Ed.
[182] For other descriptions of Niagara Falls included in our series, see Evans's Tour, volume viii, pp. 174-179; Flint's Letters, volume ix, pp. 315-321; and Bullock's Sketch, volume xix, pp. 142-149.—Ed.
[183] Mrs. Trollope, page [203], considers that the reason why the noise of the falls is not very great, is because they are not confined between high rocks, and I agree with her. Though the colossal Falls of Niagara may, doubtless, be called some of the greatest in the known world, yet Captain Back, in his "Journey to the Frozen Ocean," page 451, affirms, that the cataract, called by him "Parry's Fall," surpasses the former, and all others, in "splendour of effect."—Maximilian.
[184] See p. [169], for plan of Niagara Falls.—Ed.
[185] Goat Island was purchased (1816) from the state by Augustus Porter (for whom see Evans's Tour, in our volume viii, p. 178, note 35), who pastured a flock of goats thereon. About 1816 the first bridge was built, which was carried away during the succeeding winter. That built in 1818 endured until 1856, when it was replaced by an iron structure.—Ed.
[186] For Catlin, see our volume xxii, p. 32, note 9.—Ed.
[187] See our volume xxii, p. 39, note 15, for Charles Bonaparte, prince of Musignano and Canino.—Ed.
[188] See Plate 72, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.
[189] For the fall of this interesting eminence, see Bullock's Sketch, in our volume xix, p. 145, and note 13.—Ed.
[190] The Devil's Hole is a small ravine about two miles below Suspension Bridge, on the American side of Niagara River. The defeat here mentioned did not occur during the Revolution, as Maximilian intimates, but at the time of Pontiac's Conspiracy (1763). A company of traders, crossing by the Lewiston-Fort Schlosser portage, was ambushed by a band of Seneca, and driven over the precipice. Reinforcements of troops from Fort Niagara met with a similar fate, and fell into an ambush, when all but eight were slain. The relics of this massacre were long in evidence in the vicinity.—Ed.
[191] Lake Ontario is twice as deep as Lake Erie, and Volney considered it to be the crater of a volcano.—Maximilian.
[192] After their migration from North Carolina, the Tuscarora lived upon Oneida lands until the period of the American Revolution. When General John Sullivan raided the Iroquois territory (1779) he was ordered to spare the neutral Tuscarora; the British sympathizers among them fled to the English Fort Niagara, and after the war the majority of the tribe settled upon a tract a mile square, given them by the Seneca, two miles east of the fort. Later the Holland Land Company ceded to this tribe two square miles of contiguous territory, and still later the Tuscarora purchased 4,329 acres with the proceeds of a sale of their North Carolina lands. Here the majority of the tribe lives to this day. In 1813, their houses and church were burned by a raid of British Indians, whereupon the Tuscarora retreated to Oneida Castle, to return to their reservation at the close of the war. From 1838-46 there was agitation about removal, first to Wisconsin, later to Indian Territory. Of one band who went out (about 1846), a third died in a year, and many returned to their old homes. The Tuscarora are the most progressive Indians of the state of New York, having good farms and fine orchards; many desire to become citizens, and to have their lands allotted in severalty. See Bullock's Sketch, in our volume xix, p. 150, note 20.—Ed.
[193] The Tuscarora mission was begun in 1805 by the New York Missionary Society, and for some years conducted by the American Board of Foreign Missions; in 1821 the charge of this mission was transferred to the Presbyterians. At the time of Maximilian's visit Reverend Joel Wood was the missionary, but he remained only one year (October, 1833-October, 1834). The few Tuscarora who had followed Joseph Brant to Canada after the Revolutionary War settled on Grand River, north of Lake Erie, in a township called from their name in the present county of Brant, Ontario.—Ed.
[194] Maximilian here intends the Erie Canal, instead of Lake Erie. For a brief sketch of the building of this waterway, see Buttrick's Voyages,, in our volume viii, p. 88, note 37.—Ed.
CHAPTER XXXIII
RETURN ON THE ERIE CANAL AND THE RIVER HUDSON TO NEW YORK—VOYAGE TO EUROPE
The Erie Canal—Lockport—Rochester—Perinton on the Irondequot—Clyde—Montezuma Marshes—The River Seneca—Syracuse—Saline Tract near Salina—Remains of the Onondago Nation—Onondago Hill—Manlius—Canastote—Oneida—Remains of the Oneida Nation—Verona—New London—Rome—Oriskany—Beautiful Valley of the Mohawk River—White's Town—Utica—German Flats—Amsterdam—Rotterdam—Schenectady—The Iron Railroad to Albany—Hudson River—New York—Voyage to Europe.
Early in the morning of the 1st of July we left the Eagle Hotel, at Niagara, and travelled twelve miles to Tonawanta, where we found a packet boat, towed by three horses, on board which we embarked about noon. The boats on the Erie Canal are much the same as those on the Ohio Canal; but here they are fitted up only for passengers, and take no goods on board, except their baggage; hence they are more convenient, lighter, and more rapid than luggage boats. Our boat had fourteen or sixteen berths, which were very commodiously arranged. The horses drawing these boats are always on the trot, and they perform a distance of 104 miles in twenty-four hours. Twelve hundred such boats navigate this canal, the original cost of which was 700,000 dollars; whereas that of the Ohio Canal was only 400,000. This great work was commenced in 1817, and completed in eight years.
We proceeded first on the Tonawanta River as far as the village of Pentleton, where we entered the canal. About five miles from this place it is cut through a stratum of grauwacke, which rises from four to fifteen feet above the water; but the depth of the ravine soon increases, and the bridges are thrown, at a great height, over the canal. At Lockport, an extensive place, situated on the eminence, the canal is conducted, by means of five sluices, down a slope of at least sixty feet.[195] The prospect from the eminence is very beautiful. The canal descends between two hills, connected at a considerable elevation by a bridge, under which the boats pass. On the following day {499} we came to Rochester, on the River Genessi, which has a large aqueduct eighty feet in length. This river is celebrated for its waterfalls. There are many fine forests, especially of beech; some, however, consist entirely of oaks. I observed in the canal many turtles and water-snakes. Near the village of Perinton is Irondequot or Irondequit Creek, with wooded banks. The forests here were filled with the finest species of trees. Beyond Fairport the Arbor vitæ grew vigorously to the height of thirty and forty feet, as well as larches, planes, walnuts, oaks, elms, maples, all entwined by wild vine and ivy.[196] The peculiar smell of the Arbor vitæ was powerfully wafted to us by the wind. These forests are wild and magnificent. Dry trunks of pines lay confusedly one over another: in the shade cattle were feeding, whose bells produced an agreeable harmony. We could have fancied ourselves transported to the forests of the Hartz, if the country had been mountainous. The wheat was not yet ripe, nor the potatoes in blossom. The land was still in part covered with the stumps of the trees that had been cut down. All the dwellings are of wood, and the fields are everywhere intersected by wooden fences. The dense beech forests constantly reminded us of the scenery of Germany.
In the afternoon we came to the rising town of Clyde, which lies on Clyde River, and towards evening to the Montezuma Marshes, which are about three miles in extent.[197] They are formed by the overflowing of the lakes of Cayuga and Seneca,[198] and the water in them is said to be from four to eight feet deep. The farmers have cultivated the dry spots in these marshes. At twilight we came to some places where the canal crosses Seneca River; and at eight o'clock were at the mouth of that river, over which a long wooden bridge is built for the horses that tow the boats.
On the following day, the 3rd July, we came to the neighbourhood of Syracuse, in Onondago County, which is traversed by Onondago Creek, and was formerly the abode of the numerous Indian tribe of that name, which was one of the six nations.[199] It is now cultivated; the soil is fruitful, and thriving towns have arisen in various parts. This tract was purchased from the Indians, and part of it settled by them. Syracuse is a place of some importance; it is usually denominated a village, but it certainly looks as if it were entitled to the appellation of town. Twenty years ago there was one solitary dwelling on this spot; now there are 500 houses, among which are some large buildings, several churches, a large inn, a court-house, prison, bank, and many respectable shops.[200] All the environs are strongly impregnated with salt, and there are saline springs, from whence a great quantity of salt is obtained. The salt water is conducted for about {500} a mile from the springs at Salina to the vicinity of Syracuse, where it is evaporated by the sun in shallow vessels, and the salt crystallized. The works are to the north of Syracuse.[201]
As several roads and canals cross at this place, we had to wait for passengers, especially for the packets from Lake Oswego, which is now navigated by steam-boats. During this interval we viewed the traces of the extensive fire which had taken place in the preceding spring. Though many buildings have been rebuilt in a better style than before, the marks of the fire are everywhere to be seen. To the southwest of Syracuse there is an extensive valley, bounded by wooded eminences, in which many neat villages are seen; among them one called Onondago Hill, erected upon a verdant rising, is worthy of notice, the remnants of the Onondago Indians being settled here. It is reckoned to be eight miles from Syracuse to the spot where the chief town, Onondago, lay. Here they had their council fires, and here the powerful and warlike nation deliberated on public affairs, resolved upon war, concluded peace, &c. Onondago Hill is said to be a neat town, and was formerly the seat of the courts of justice, which, however, are now removed to Syracuse. At the latter place we saw several Onondago Indians, who do not much differ from the Senecas and Tuscaroras; their costume is exactly similar, and the women were also wrapped in white blankets.
After some delay, our boat pursued its voyage, and I saw large tracts of land entirely covered with the stumps of woods that had been cleared; others with the remains of stems burnt black, which present a singular, unattractive sight. The dry heights are covered with pine, of which the inhabitants affirm that six different sorts are here found—the hemlock, the spruce, the white, the yellow, the Norway, and the pitch pine, the two latter of which grow on barren grounds.
We took on board a great number of passengers at Syracuse, so that our boat was crowded to excess; yet the arrangements for the accommodation of so many people of every description, and of both sexes, were extremely judicious and well contrived.
Beyond the village of Manlius I observed thickets of Arbor vitæ, especially in marshy spots, where pines flourish. After passing Chittenango Creek we came to the village of the same name; and an hour later to Canastote, a large village with new houses, and a couple of churches. The few fields of wheat in the vicinity were not yet ripe. At noon we were in the village of Oneida, which is irregularly built on both sides of the canal.[202] Here we happened to meet with above 100 Oneida Indians, whose lands, assigned to them by the government, lie to the south of this place. The women wore round black felt hats; the men red woollen scarfs over their blue great coats. Their complexion was a yellowish-brown, not dark. They were of low stature, especially the women, as has been observed of all the remnants of the six nations, and have retained more of the national features than the men. We were informed that some of these people were to embark here and proceed to Green Bay, near which they intended to settle.[203] They lived hitherto {501} twelve or fifteen miles from this place, scattered on their plantations, and their settlement is usually called a village, though the dwellings are all isolated. Here stands a building, commonly called Oneida Castle, where they discuss the affairs of their tribe, and the Council Grove, a spot with lofty old trees, under which the Oneidas assemble on important occasions. They now meet every year at Oneida Castle, on the 6th of June, form a circle in Council Grove, every family by itself, and the agents of the government pay seven dollars to each of them, because they sold their land to the United States. The counties of Oneida and Madison comprise the former abode of the Oneidas, but they now live in this part of the country, having sold a portion of their land to the United States. Of all the tribes of the six nations, they were the only one who remained faithful to the Americans in the early wars.[204]
From Oneida we soon came to Verona, a small village, where there is a manufactory of window glass, to the south of Lake Oneida, to which it was intended to make a canal from this place. At two we arrived at the little village of New London, in a country abounding with hemlock pines. Large quantities of timber, planks, logwood, &c., are sawn here, and shipped in flat-bottomed canal boats.[205] Five miles from New London is Rome, at a small distance from the canal; it is a considerable place, with five churches, which are seen from a distance.[206] The country round is an extensive plain, through which the Mohawk flows, and is bounded by forests in the horizon. The canal then traverses the village of Oriskany, on Oriskany Creek, which was one of the principal abodes of the Oneida nation.[207]
Passing through a rich, verdant country, adorned with pleasant habitations and fine forests, illumined with the most cheerful sunshine, we came, at six o'clock in the afternoon, to White's Town, a neat and thriving place on the left bank of the canal, founded by a person of the name of White, who, as the first settler, gave his name to the town, and whose grandson, Mr. Henry White, was on board our boat.[208] On the right of the canal stands the great cotton manufactory of Mr. Marshall, of New York, which forms an entire village;[209] two similar establishments are in the immediate neighbourhood, and it appears that there are at least twelve cotton manufactories on Sacquit Creek, which falls into the Mohawk. When Mr. White settled here, this large tract of country was inhabited by the Oneida Indians, whose chief, Skenandoah, kept up a very good understanding with the new settlers. This was the scene of the event already recorded by other travellers, when Mr. White entrusted them with his eldest daughter, at that time a child two years old, because they had conceived a particular affection for her. In the sequel, the family were uneasy about the fate of the child, but the Indians brought her back, loaded with presents, and were delighted at this proof of confidence.[210]
The country about White's Town, and, in fact, the whole valley of the Mohawk, is picturesque and beautiful, and is unquestionably the most pleasant that I have yet seen in North America. On every side there are neat, cheerful towns, manufactories, corn, saw, gypsum, and other mills, in the latter of which, the gypsum, which is piled up on the banks of the canal {502} in large grey blocks, is ground to manure the fields. This country was formerly inhabited by the Mohawks, who, being friends to the English, removed, and settled in Canada.[211]
At Utica,[212] a large town with regular streets and good houses, there was a brisk traffic, and the servants of the inns crowded about the boats to receive the passengers; but I proceeded on the voyage, and enjoyed the fine scenery, the Mohawk meandering, between lofty trees, through the extensive verdant valley. During the night we passed German Flats, which was originally cultivated by Germans, whose descendants still live here, and whose language is spoken by many settlers near the canal.[213] We passed through Canajoharie, and on the 4th of July still followed the valley of the Mohawk, which had much increased in breadth. In the river, the navigation of which is now transferred to the canal, there are beautiful islands covered with poplar, willow, and other thickets, and a covered bridge crosses it at Amsterdam, a place consisting of about 100 tolerably good houses, from which it is sixteen miles to Schenectady, where, having passed Rotterdam during dinner, we arrived at three in the afternoon.[214]
Schenectady, where the passengers quit the boats to proceed by the railway to Albany, is a considerable place. Carriages stood ready to convey the passengers to the railway, and we entered them without delay. They are long and roomy, contain many passengers, and run on ten small wheels. One horse drew each carriage for 200 paces towards an eminence, where it was taken off, and the carriages fastened to a rope, and drawn up by a steam-engine. On the eminence, the whole train, with the closed carriages for the luggage of the passengers on the river, is connected with the steam-engine, and in about an hour we arrived at Albany, sixteen miles distant.[215]
It was early in the afternoon when we reached Albany, a large town with 26,000 inhabitants, the capital and seat of government of the state of New York, on the bank of the fine, large River Hudson. I will not repeat what may be found in every American hand-book for travellers, but only observe, that it was the Day of Independence, one of the great festivals in America, which was interesting to us, because it was on that day (the 4th of July) two years before, that I landed on the American coast. We heard some firing, and now and then cannon were discharged in the streets, and sky-rockets and fireworks displayed. Crowds of people thronged every place. An introduction from Dr.
Pitcher, with whom I had travelled on the Erie Canal, procured me the interesting acquaintance of Dr. Edwin James, author of the account of Major Long's "Expedition to the Rocky Mountains," who is well known in the literary world as a botanist and geologist. I found him a singularly amiable, unassuming person, and passed the evening very agreeably in his family circle. He is at present engaged on the Indian languages, especially that of the Chippeways, among which people he resided for a long time.[216] He had the kindness to escort me about the city, which has many handsome buildings, some broad streets, and in the centre a large square, round which the most important public edifices are erected. The capitol is built on a gentle eminence; it cost 120,000 dollars, is 115 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 60 feet {503} high, and is adorned on the east front with four Ionic columns. The academy, which cost 92,000 dollars, and the city hall, built of white marble, likewise stand in this square. The square itself is laid out very tastefully, covered with greensward, and intersected with broad walks, and is a great ornament to the town.
At eight o'clock in the morning of the 5th of July we embarked in the Albany steamer for New York. The Hudson or North River is even here a fine broad stream, with picturesque banks, but soon widens considerably: my navigation of it is unquestionably the most agreeable voyage that I made in America. The distance, which is 144 miles (by land 160 miles), is conveniently performed in one day, though it is often accomplished in twelve or fourteen hours. The steam navigation is very brisk on the river, except in winter, when it is impeded by the ice. The steamers on the Hudson are very large, and no such accidents occur as on the Mississippi and the Ohio, because only low pressure engines are employed.
The Albany was a large vessel, of the size of a frigate, with three decks, of which the upper one was covered by an awning. The middle deck was eighty paces in length; the lower space contained three very elegantly furnished cabins—the two at the back for the ladies, and, in front, the large cabin or dining-room, which was adorned with oil paintings. Our proud vessel glided swiftly down the stream, and the beautiful banks speedily vanished from our view. After proceeding thirty miles, we reached the town of Hudson, opposite the Catskill Mountains, a picturesque range, with fine summits, such as are seldom seen in North America. This range is also called Catsbergs; the highest summit is near Greene, eight or ten miles distant from the river. Along the shore, at the foot of this range, lies the village of Catskill, on Catskill Creek, which runs through the village, and flows into the Hudson. Here we landed, and took in some passengers, who, in token of their having come from those more elevated regions, brought in their hands large bunches of the beautiful kalmia blossoms. The village contains about 350 houses and 5000 inhabitants. I would recommend the view of the Catskill Mountains to every landscape painter.
Lower down, the character of the banks of the river has much similarity with that of Italian Switzerland; bright verdant plains alternate with the loveliest woods; while numerous little vessels, especially schooners, glide swiftly on the bosom of the river, which is double the width of our Rhine; and many steamers (among them the colossal Champlain, with four chimneys), towing large flat boats filled with passengers, added greatly to the animation of the scene. After dinner we lay-to at Newbury. Below this, rounded hills covered with wood appear along the shore, not unlike the Rhenish. The river now runs through a narrow, picturesque gorge, almost shut in by the verdant hills. On the western coast lies West Point, where the military academy of the United States is situated; below this, the country grows more open and flat, and the river becomes very broad and majestic. We passed the large house of correction at Singsing, on the eastern coast, and arrived at New York before evening.
{504} We rejoiced to find the town in a perfectly healthy state, and all our friends well. On the 8th of July I visited Philadelphia, which can now be easily accomplished by means of the railway from Amboy. At Bordentown we went on board the Philadelphia steamer, and reached that town at five in the afternoon. Our two days' stay here was devoted to visiting friends; and I am indebted to Professor Harlan for introducing me to Mr. Duponceau, a learned investigator of the Indian languages, as well as for taking me to several collections of natural history.[217] The museum of the society of natural sciences contains many interesting curiosities, among which I may mention Dr. Morton's collection of skulls.[218] In the museum of Mr. Titian Peale I saw many objects which deserve close investigation.
Early on the 11th of July we re-embarked on board the Burlington for Bordentown; thence by railway to Amboy, and returned to New York by the Swan steamer. Here we found an accumulation of business, consequent upon our approaching voyage to Europe; Messrs. Gebhard and Schuchart, however, very kindly gave us every assistance, and greatly helped to expedite our affairs. I again spent a most pleasant day at the country-house of Mr. Schmid, the Prussian consul, where I had the gratification of seeing Mr. Astor, so justly esteemed in the fur countries.[219] There was a great uproar at this time in the streets of New York; the mob attacked the negroes, and some clergymen, who took their part, had their windows broken and houses demolished. Towards evening, the militia paraded the streets, and occupied different posts, in order to check these riots. Dr. Julius gives an account of this assault upon the negroes in New York, page 369.[220]
We engaged berths on board the packet-boat Havre, Captain Stoddart; it belongs to the Havre Line, whose vessels are from 400 to 600 tons burden, and go every week, in winter as well as in summer. The arrangements are particularly good, the table capital, with abundance of fresh milk and meat every day.
As the packet was to leave on the 16th of July, our collections, &c., were put on board on the 15th, and we bade our friends and acquaintances farewell. At ten o'clock on the day fixed for our departure we went, accompanied by many friends, on board the Rufus King steamer, which received her passengers on the North River Pier, and conveyed them in twenty minutes to the packet, which was lying in the fine harbour near the city. The anchor was already weighed, and the pilot on board. As soon as the baggage of the several passengers was disposed of in the hold, the Havre spread all her sails, but the wind being very faint, it was eleven o'clock before we were opposite the lighthouse of Statenland, which lay on our right hand, and the batteries of Long Island on our left. The wind soon became quite contrary, and we were obliged to cast anchor and take in our sails: several steam-boats passed us, and we wanted them to take us in tow, but, to our great vexation, they refused to stop. Towards evening, however, the wind rose a little, and we tacked slowly towards the sea.
{505} At six in the morning of the 17th of July we lay opposite Sandy Hook, a little above the lighthouse. At half-past twelve we saw, at a distance on the left hand, Fire Island lighthouse, which is forty miles from Sandy Hook; and on the 18th we lost sight of the coast. Our voyage was on the whole favourable: we did not pass over the bank of Newfoundland, but on the 24th and 25th of July were very far to the south of it. We afterwards had a fresh and favourable wind, and followed the track of the Columbia, (as laid down in the charts), which performed the voyage from Portsmouth to New York in fifteen days.
On the 30th of July we made 5° in twenty-four hours. The sight of the numerous vessels which passed us full sail was very striking, and greatly cheered the whole of the ship's company. We proceeded at the rate of nine or ten knots an hour; the wind was favourable, and, though very strong, even our topmost sails were spread, an experiment which other nations do not often venture upon; but the Americans are very bold seamen. On the 2nd of August we were to the north of the Azores, which I had seen in 1817, and on the following day spoke the brig Helen Douglas, from Hamburgh, and communicated reciprocally our longitude and latitude. We overtook several ships, which the Havre soon left far behind her.
Our people endeavoured to harpoon some dolphins, but the handle of the instrument, which was admirably contrived, soon broke.[221]
At a there is a joint; b is a movable ring; d is the sharp edge of the instrument; f the back, which is blunt. When the point e is forced into the body of the animal, it penetrates so far, that the resistance of the body moves the ring b; the whole head springs from the position in which it was held by the ring; the edge d continues to act in an horizontal direction, and the point c forms a barb by which the instrument remains fixed in the animal.
On the 6th of August we overtook the Congress, a large ship bound from New Orleans to Liverpool, which had come thus far in forty-eight days. We soon got the start of her, and on the following day were already in the channel, having passed Cape Lizard in the night. At three in the afternoon land was descried from the mast-head; it was the Island of Guernsey: we then saw Alderney, and afterwards Cape la Hogue on the French coast, very clearly. The wind became more fresh every moment, and, twilight setting in, we greatly desired to obtain a pilot. At length we saw a boat contending with the waves, which, with considerable exertion, brought us a pilot from Havre. We sailed in the dark, passed the lighthouse at Cherbourg, and afterwards saw that of Harfleur, our ship running seven or eight knots an hour.
Early on the morning of the 8th of August we were off Havre de Grace, with a violent head {506} wind, and waited for the proper time to enter, which, as in many ports in the channel, can only be done at high water. We were the more impatient for this moment, as the wind continued to increase, and threatened to rise to a storm. Large ships from Martinique and Guadaloupe, under French colours, shared the same trial of patience with ourselves. At length, after ten o'clock, the pilot gave the signal—the sails were spread, and the Havre hastened to enter the port. A great crowd of people was assembled on the pier, and breakers raged at the narrow mouth of the harbour; however, we soon felt the effect of the mole which human art has opposed to the fury of the elements, and at half-past eleven o'clock the Havre cast anchor in Europe.