On the evening of the 28th, we arrived at a poor little village which the French formerly founded under the sad name of Empty Pocket, better known at the present day by the name of Carondelet. Although we were not above six or seven miles from St. Louis, as we could not get there by day light, the members of the different committees in attendance upon the general, resolved to pass the night at anchor in the river, and wait till next morning to enter the town. No sooner were the inhabitants of Carondelet informed of the presence of General Lafayette in their vicinity, than they came in crowds on board the boat to see him. They were nearly all Frenchmen. For a long time, their settlement has consisted of only about sixty houses, and does not promise to increase. Unsuited to commerce, it was only occupied with agriculture, which is still its chief means of obtaining the necessaries of life. The most of them came from Canada, and fixed themselves upon a portion of land along the Mississippi without inquiring who owned it. They laboured, some for ten, others for twenty years; and none of them thought of securing the titles to the little farms produced by the sweat of their brows. At present, whilst the government of the United States are selling much of the land it possesses in these regions, these unfortunate people run a constant risk of seeing themselves dispossessed by purchasers who come to claim their property. They mentioned their inquietudes to the general, who promised to represent their situation to the federal government, and interest himself in their behalf. These good people, in the simplicity of their gratitude, offered him whom they already regarded as their protector, every thing which they thought would be agreeable; one of them brought him tame Mississippi geese; another, a young fawn which he had raised; a third, petrifactions and shells which he looked upon as precious. The general saw that if he refused these presents their feelings would be wounded; and therefore hastened to accept them and return his acknowledgements.
On the morning of the 29th of April, Governor Clark, of Missouri, Governor Coles of Illinois, and Colonel Benton, came on board; who all three came to accompany the general to St. Louis. Some minutes after, the steam-boat Plough Boy, having on board a great number of citizens, ranged along side the Natchez, and the nation’s guest was saluted by three cheers, which made the forests of the Missouri resound with Welcome, Lafayette. We then weighed anchor, and at nine o’clock saw a large number of buildings whose architecture was very fantastical, rising from the midst of beautiful green shrubbery and smiling gardens, commanding distant views of the river. This was the city of St. Louis. Its name, and the language of a great portion of its inhabitants, soon informed us of its origin. But if we were struck with the diversity of languages in which General Lafayette was saluted, we were not less so by the unity of sentiment which they manifested. The shore was covered by the whole population, who mingled their cries of joy with the roar of the cannon of our two vessels. The moment the general stepped on shore, the mayor, Dr. Lane, presented himself at the head of the municipal authorities, and greeted him with an address.
As the general concluded his reply to the mayor, an elegant calash drawn by four horses approached the shore, to conduct him to the city, through all the streets of which he was drawn in the midst of the acclamations of the people. He was attended by Mr. Augustus Choteau, a venerable old gentleman by whom St. Louis was founded, Mr. Hempstead, an old soldier of the revolution, and the mayor. These gentlemen conducted him to the house of the son of Mr. Choteau, prepared for his reception, which was thrown open to all citizens without distinction, who desired to visit the national guest. Among the visiters, the general met with pleasure Mr. Hamilton, son of General Alexander Hamilton, the former aide-de-camp to Washington, whom he so much loved, and an old French sergeant of Rochambeau’s army named Bellissime. This last could not restrain the joy he felt on seeing a countryman thus honoured by the American nation.
The inhabitants of St. Louis knew that General Lafayette could only remain a few hours with them, and they took advantage of the short time he had to dispose of to show him every thing which their city and its environs contained worthy of notice. While dinner was preparing at Mr. Peter Choteau’s, we rode out in a carriage to visit on the banks of the river those remains of ancient Indian monuments which some travellers call tombs, whilst others regard them as fortifications or places for the performance of religious ceremonies. All these opinions are unfortunately equally susceptible of discussion, for these monuments have not preserved any sufficiently well marked characters to afford foundation for satisfactory deductions. Those near St. Louis are nothing but mounds covered with green turf, the ordinary shape of which is an oblong square. Their common height is little more than eight feet, but must have been much greater before the earth they are built of was thrown down during the lapse of ages. Their sides are inclined, and the mean length of their base is from eighty to a hundred feet, their width varying from thirty to sixty feet. What leads me to believe that these fabrics of earth have never been used as strong holds in war, is, that not one of them is surrounded by ditches, and they are placed too near together. These mounds are not only met with in the environs of St. Louis, but all over the states of Missouri, Indiana, and upon the borders of Ohio, where, we are informed, they meet with much more interesting traces of the greatest antiquity, indicating that this world which we call new, was the seat of civilization, perhaps long anterior to the continent of Europe.[[11]]
From the mounds of Saint Louis to the junction of Mississippi and Missouri, we should only have had two or three hours ride, but the time of the general was so calculated that we were obliged to forego the pleasure we should have derived from visiting the union of these two rivers, which have their sources in countries where nature yet reigns undisturbed. Returned to town, we went to see the collection of Indian curiosities made by Governor Clark, which is the most complete that is to be found. We visited it with the greater pleasure from its being shown us by Mr. Clark, who had himself collected all the objects which compose it, while exploring the distant western regions with Captain Lewis. Specimens of all the clothing, arms, and utensils for fishing, hunting, and war, in use among the various tribes living on the sources of the Missouri and Mississippi, are here to be found. Among the articles commonly worn by the Indian hunters, collars made of claws of prodigious size, particularly struck our attention. These claws, Gen. Clark informed us, are from that most terrible of all the animals of the American continent, the Grizzly Bear, of the Missouri, the ferocious instinct of which adds still more to the terror inspired by its enormous size and strength. The bears of this species meet together to the number of ten or twelve, and some times more, to chase and make a common division of their prey. Man is their favourite prey, and when they fall upon his track, they chase him with outcries like those made by our hounds in coursing a hare, and it is difficult to escape the steadiness of their pursuit.[[12]] This animal is altogether unknown in Europe, even in the largest menageries. The London Cabinet of Natural History possesses only a single claw, which is regarded as a great rarity.[[13]] Gen. Clark has visited, near the sources of the Missouri and Mississippi, Indian tribes which, previous to his visit, had never seen a white man; but among whom he nevertheless discovered traces of an ancient people more civilized than themselves. Thus, for example, he brought away with him a whip which the riders of these tribes do not understand the mode of using on their horses at the present time. The knots of this are very complex, and actually arranged like the knout of the Cossacks. He presented General Lafayette with a garment bearing a striking resemblance to a Russian riding coat. It is made of buffaloe skin, prepared so as to retain all its pliancy, as if dressed by the most skilful tanner. From these and some other facts, Mr. Clark, and Captain Lewis, his companion, concluded that there formerly existed, near the pole, a communication between Asia and America. These two intrepid travellers published in 1814, an interesting account of the journeys made by them in 1804, 5, and 6, by order of the American government, the object being to explore the sources of the Missouri, and the course of the Columbia river, till it reaches the Pacific ocean.
We could have remained a considerable longer time in Governor Clark’s museum, listening to the interesting accounts which he was pleased to give us relative to his great journeys, but were informed that the hour for dinner had arrived, and we went to the house of Mr. Peter Choteau. On our way we visited a portion of the town which we had not before seen, and were surprised at the whimsical manner in which some of the houses, apparently the most ancient, were constructed. They generally consisted of a single story, surrounded by a gallery covered with a wide projecting roof. Some one pointed out to us, that formerly the basement was not inhabited, and that the stair-way leading to the upper story was moveable at pleasure. This precaution was used by the first inhabitants of St. Louis for the purpose of guarding against the insidious nocturnal attacks of the Indians, who saw with jealousy the whites making permanent settlements among them. When St. Louis, then a feeble village, passed under the Spanish authority, the neighbouring Indians were still so numerous and enterprising, that the inhabitants could scarcely resist them, or even venture abroad. It is related, that, in 1794, an Indian chief entered St. Louis, with a portion of his tribe, and having demanded an interview, spoke as follows: “We come to offer you peace. We have made war against you for a great many moons, and what has been the result? Nothing. Our warriors have used every means to fight with yours, but you will not, and dare not meet us! You are a pack of old women! What can be done with such people, since they will not fight, but make peace? I come therefore to you to bury the hatchet, brighten the chain, and open a new communication with you.”
Since that time the tribes have greatly diminished, and most of them departed. Those still remaining in the vicinity show the most peaceable disposition towards the white inhabitants, with whom they carry on a considerable trade in furs. The inhabitants of St. Louis are, besides, sufficiently numerous no longer to fear such neighbours. The population amounts to nearly six thousand souls, which number will probably be doubled in a few years, for this city has the prospect of a brilliant destiny in these vast regions, in the midst of which civilization, under the guidance of American liberty and industry, must run a giant’s course. St. Louis is already the grand store-house of all the commerce of the countries west of the Mississippi. Its situation near the junction of four or five great rivers, all of whose branches, which spread to the most distant extremities of the Union, furnish an easy and rapid communication with all those places which can contribute to the wants or luxuries of its happy inhabitants. Into what astonishment is the mind thrown on reflecting that such a height of prosperity is the result of but a few years, and that the founder of so flourishing a city still lives, and, for a long time, has been in the enjoyment of the results which he neither could have hoped for, nor anticipated, had it been predicted to his young and ardent imagination on first approaching the solitary shores of the Mississippi. This enterprising man, who, with his axe, felled the first tree of the ancient forest on the place where the city of St. Louis stands, who raised the first house, about which, in so short a time, were grouped the edifices of a rich city; who, by his courage and conciliating spirit, at first repressed the rage of the Indians, and afterwards secured their friendship; this happy man is Mr. Augustus Choteau. I have already named him among those appointed by the inhabitants of St. Louis to do the honours of their city to the guest of the American nation. It was at the house of his son, Mr. Peter Choteau, that we partook of the feast of republican gratitude. It was highly interesting to behold seated at the table the founder of a great city, one of the principal defenders of the independence of a great nation, and the representatives of four young republics, already rich from their industry, powerful from their liberty, and happy from the wisdom of their institutions. As might be readily supposed, the conversation was highly interesting. Mr. Augustus Choteau was asked a great many questions respecting his youthful adventures and enterprises. The companion in arms of Washington was requested to relate some details of the decisive and glorious campaign of Virginia, and the members of the different deputations of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Missouri, drew a pleasing picture of the prosperous advancement of their respective states. In this company, that which touched General Lafayette most was the prevailing unanimity among the guests, who, though they did not all speak one language, agreed perfectly in respect to the excellence of those republican institutions under which it was their happiness to live. Before leaving the banquet in order to attend the ball which the ladies were so kind as to prepare for us, some toasts were exchanged, all of which bore the impression of the harmony existing between the old French and the new American population. Mr. Delassus, formerly lieutenant-governor of Louisiana, drank, “The United States and France! May these two countries produce another Washington and another Lafayette, to emancipate the rest of the world!” Governor Coles drank, “France! dear to our hearts from so many recollections, and above all for having given birth to our Lafayette.” General Lafayette finished by drinking the health of the venerable patriarch, who, in 1763, founded the town of St. Louis, and immediately afterwards we left the table for the ball, where we found the most numerous and brilliant company assembled, as we were informed, that had ever been seen upon the western shore of the Mississippi. The splendid decorations of the room, and the beauty of the ladies who graced it, made us completely forget that we were on the confines of a wilderness which the savages themselves consider as insufficient for the supply of their simple wants, since they only frequent it occasionally. We partook of the pleasures of the evening until near midnight, the hour at which we were to return on board the Natchez, for the purpose of taking some rest before daylight, when we were to depart. At the moment we were about to embark, many citizens of St. Louis had the goodness to offer us several objects of curiosity, such as bows, arrows, calumets, and dresses of the Missouri Indians. We accepted with gratitude these testimonies of benevolence, which we have preserved as agreeable remembrancers of happy occurrences so far from our country.
CHAPTER IX.
Changes produced in the navigation of the Mississippi since the introduction of Steam—Arrival at Kaskaskia—The Canadians and Indians—Singular meeting with a young Indian educated among the Whites, and returned to savage life—Indian Ballad—State of Illinois—Departure from Kaskaskia—Separation of General Lafayette and the Louisiana deputation.
Governor Coles, who had embarked with us, requested of General Lafayette and obtained his consent, that he would not leave the river Mississippi without visiting the state of Illinois, along which we were to pass in descending the river. It was decided that we should stop at Kaskaskia, a large village of that state, and, although nearly eighty miles distant, we arrived there a little while before noon, so fortunate and rapid was our navigation. Since the application of steam to navigation, the changes produced in the relations of the towns on the Mississippi is prodigious. Formerly the voyage from New Orleans to St. Louis required three or four months of the most painful toil that can be imagined; the action of the oar was not always sufficient to overcome the resistance of the current. They were often obliged to warp the boat by hand, advancing from time to time with a small boat to tie a rope to a tree or stone on the shore.[[14]] This slow and painful operation, the consequent privations and bad diet, caused diseases among the boatmen, which ordinarily destroyed one third of the crew. At present the same passage which is nearly fifteen hundred miles, is made in ten days, without fatigue, without privations, between a good bed and a good table, and often in very good company; the return is commonly made in five days; so that New Orleans and St. Louis, separated by so great a distance, are now considered as neighbouring cities, whose inhabitants are better acquainted and visit each other oftener than those of Paris and Bordeaux can do.