The nearer we approached the Mississippi, the lower the country became, and the more imposing the scenery. By degrees the river Ohio loses its blue tinge, taking from the mightier stream a milky colour, which changes into a muddy white when very near the junction—this junction itself is one of the most magnificent sights. On the left hand the Ohio, half a mile wide, overpowered, as it were, by its mightier rival—in front the more gigantic Mississippi, one mile and a half broad, rolling down its vast volumes of water with incredible rapidity. Farther on, the high banks of the state of Missouri, with some farm buildings of a diminutive appearance, owing to the great distance; in the back ground, the colossal native forests of Missouri; and lastly, to the south, these two rivers united and turning majestically to the south-west. The deep silence which reigns in these regions, and which is interrupted only by the rushing sound of the waves, and the immense mass of water, produce the illusion that you are no longer standing upon firm ground; you are fearful less the earth should give way to the powerful element, which, pressed into so narrow a space, rolls on with irresistible force. I had formerly seen the falls of Niagara; but this scene, taken in the proper point of view, is in no respect inferior to that which they present. The immense number of streams which empty into the Mississippi, and caused it to be named, very appropriately, the Father of Rivers, render it powerful throughout the year; it generally rises in February, and falls in July. In September and October the autumnal rains begin; and they continue to swell it through the winter. When it overflows its banks, the Mississippi inundates the country on both sides, for an extent of from forty-five to fifty miles, thus forming an immense lake. From the mouth of the Ohio to Walnut hills, in the state of Mississippi, the difference between the lowest water and the highest inundation, is generally sixteen feet. The nearer it approaches the gulph of Mexico, the less is the flood. The water leaving its bed on the west side never returns, but forms into lakes and marshes. On the east side they find resistance from the high lands, that follow the meanderings of the river. Above Natchez, the river inundates the lands for a space of thirty miles. At Baton Rouge, the high lands take on a sudden a south-eastern direction, while the river turns to the south-west, thus leaving the waters to form the eastern swamps of Louisiana. It rises to thirty feet at that place; whilst at New Orleans it scarcely attains the height of twelve feet, and at the mouth no difference between a rise and fall is perceptible. Whoever comes to the Mississippi with the expectation of beholding a sea-like river flowing quietly along, will find himself disappointed. The magnitude of this river does not consist in its width but in its depth, and the immense quantity of water it pours out into the sea. At the mouth of the Ohio it is a mile and a half wide. This moderate breadth rather diminishes as it proceeds in its course. At New Orleans, after receiving the waters of some great tributary streams, it is not more than a mile in width, and in some places three quarters of a mile. Its depth, however, continues to increase; below the Ohio it is reckoned to be from thirty-five to fifty feet deep. Below the Arkansas to Natchez, from 100 to 150. From Natchez to New Orleans, from 150 to 250 feet. At its mouth, owing to the sand bar at the Paliseter, the depth greatly diminishes, and it is well known that vessels drawing eighteen feet of water can hardly enter the mouth of the stream. The waters of the Mississippi are not clear at any period of the year. This was the second time I saw it, when it was said to be very low; still its waters were of a muddy turbid appearance. When rising it changes to a muddy yellow. A glass filled with water from the Mississippi, deposits in a quarter of an hour a mass of mud equal to one tenth of the whole contents. But when clear, it is excellent for drinking, and superior to any I have tasted. It is generally used by those who inhabit its banks.
The accommodations in Trinity are comfortable, and the tables are well furnished, but the prices exorbitant. It cannot, however, be expected to be otherwise, owing to the new settlers, whose anxiety never permits them to neglect an opportunity of improving their means on their first outset. We found this to be the case on all occasions. Whenever some of our passengers made purchases of trifles, such as cigars, &c., they had to pay five times as much as in Louisville. It is therefore advisable to provide oneself with every thing, when travelling in these backwoods; the generality of the settlers on these banks being needy adventurers, partly foreigners, partly Kentuckians, who, with a capital of not quite 100 dollars, with which they purchase some goods in New Orleans, begin their commercial career, and may be seen with both hands in their pockets, their legs on the table or chimney-piece, and cigars in their mouths, selling their goods for five hundred per cent above prime cost. Towards the north on the banks of the Mississippi, the settlers are generally Frenchmen, who now assume by degrees the American manners and language. Many of them are wealthy store-keepers, merchants, and farmers; but for the most part, however, a lightfooted kind of people, who, from their fathers, have inherited frivolity, and from their mothers, Indian women, uncleanliness. The towns of Kaskakia, Cahokia, &c., as well as several villages up the Mississippi to the Prairie des Chiens, owe their origin to them. The solid class of inhabitants live on the big and little Wabash, and between these two rivers and the Illinois. This is, no doubt, the finest part of the state, and one of the most delightful countries on the face of the earth. It is mostly inhabited by Americans and Englishmen. Agriculture, the breeding of cattle, and improvements of every kind, are making rapid progress. The settlements in Bond, Crawford, Edward’s, Franklin, and White Counties, are to be considered as forming the main substance of the state. A number of elegant towns have arisen in the space of a few years: among others, Vandalia, the capital, and for these three years past the seat of government, with a state house and a projected university, for which 36,000 acres of land have been assigned. An excellent spirit is acknowledged to prevail among the inhabitants of this district. Still, however, the style of architecture—if the laying of logs or of bricks upon each other deserves this name—the manners, the attempted improvements, every thing announces a new land, which has only a few years since started into political existence, and the settlers of which do not yet evince any anxiety for the comforts of life. Illinois has now 80,000 inhabitants, 1500 of whom are people of colour; the rest are Americans, English, French, and a German settlement about Vandalia. The state was received into the Union in the year 1818. The constitution, with a governor and a secretary at its head, resembles that of the state of Ohio. In the year 1824, the question was again brought forward concerning the possession of slaves: it was, however, negatived, and we hope it will never be pressed upon the people. The state is much indebted in every point to the late Mr. Birkbeck, who died too soon for the welfare of his adopted country. He was considered as the father of the state, and whenever he could gain over a useful citizen, he spared no expense, and sacrificed a considerable part of his property in this manner. The people of Illinois, in acknowledgment of his services, had chosen him for secretary of the state, in which character he died in 1825. He was generally known under the name of Emperor of the Prairies, from the vast extent of natural meadows belonging to his lands. It is to be regretted, however, that Mr. Birkbeck was not acquainted with the country about Trinity. His large capital and the number of hands who joined him, would no doubt succeed in establishing a settlement here. This will sooner or later take place, and will eventually render it one of the finest towns in the United States, as the advantages of its situation are incalculable. Illinois is, in point of commerce, more advantageously situated than any of the Ohio states; being bounded on the west by the river Mississippi, which forms the line between this state and that of Missouri, to the east by the big Wabash, and to the south by the Ohio, the river Illinois running through it with some smaller rivers; thus affording it an open navigation to the north-west, the west, the south, and the east. Towards the north the banks of the Upper Mississippi form a range of hills which join the Illinois mountains to the east, and lowering by degrees lose themselves in the plains of lakes Huron and Michigan. The country is, on the whole, less elevated than Indiana, and forms the last slope of the northern valley of the Mississippi, the hills being intersected by a number of valleys, plains, prairies, and marshes. The fertility of this state is extraordinary, surpassing that of Indiana and Ohio. In beauty, variety of scenery, and fertility, it may vie with the most celebrated countries. Wheat thrives only on high land, the soil of the valleys being too rich. Corn gives for every bushel a hundred. Tobacco planted in Illinois, if well managed, is found to be superior to that of Kentucky and Virginia. Rice and indigo grow wild, their cultivation being neglected for want of hands. Pecans, a product of the West Indies, grow in abundance in the native forests. This state having a temperate climate, possesses many of the southern products. The timber is of colossal magnitude. Sycamores and cotton trees of an immense height, walnut, pecan trees, honey-locusts and maples, cover the surface of this country, and are the surest indications of an exceedingly rich soil. The most fertile parts of the state are the bottom lands along the Mississippi, Illinois, and the big and little Wabash. The country is complained of as being sickly. There is no doubt that a state which abounds in rivers, marshes, and ponds, must be subject to epidemic diseases, but the climate being temperate the fault lies very much with the settlers and the inhabitants themselves. The settler who chooses for his dwelling-house a spot on an eminence, and far from the marshes, taking at the same time the necessary precautions in point of dress, cleanliness, and the choice of victuals and beverage, may live without fear in these countries. All agree in this opinion, and I have myself experienced the correctness of it. The greatest part, however, of the new comers and inhabitants live upon milk or stagnant water taken from the first pond they meet with on their way, with a few slices of bacon. Their wardrobe consists of a single shirt, which is worn till it falls to pieces. It cannot, therefore, be matter of astonishment if agues and bilious fevers spread over the country, and even in this case a quart of corn brandy is their prescription. This being the general mode of living, and we may add of dying, among the lower classes, disease must necessarily spread its ravages with more rapidity.
CHAPTER VIII.
Excursion to St. Louis.—Face of the Country.—Sketch of the State of Missouri.—Return to Trinity.
The steam-boat, the Pioneer, having come up to Trinity the following day, on its way to St. Louis, Mr. B. and I resolved to take a trip to the latter place, as the best chance that offered to get away as soon as possible. We started at ten o’clock in the morning, turned round the fork, and ascended the muddy Mississippi. The first town we saw was Hamburgh, on the Illinois side, consisting of nineteen frame dwellings and cabins, and four stores. On the left, in the state of Missouri, is Cape Girardeau. The settlement mostly consists of Frenchmen, and German Redemptioners. The town has not a very inviting appearance. One hundred and six miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, we landed at St. Genevieve to take in wood. This town is the principal mart for the Burton mines; it has a Catholic chapel, twenty stores, a printing office, 250 houses, and 1600 inhabitants. Twenty-four miles farther up the same side, is Herculaneum, with 300 inhabitants, a court-house, and a printing office. The town had been laid out and peopled by Kentuckians. There are several villages on the right and left bank, and some good-looking farms. On the third day, at twelve o’clock, we reached the town of St. Louis, 170 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and thirteen miles below the junction of the Mississippi, and the Missouri. This town extends, in a truly picturesque situation, in 38° 33′ north latitude, and 12° 58′ west longitude, for the length of two miles along the river, in three parallel streets, rising one above the other in the form of terraces, on a stratum of limestone. The houses are for the most part built of this material, and surrounded with gardens. The number of buildings amounts to 620, that of the inhabitants to 5000. Its principal buildings are, a Catholic, and two Protestant churches, a branch bank of the United States, and the bank of St. Louis, the courthouse, the government-house, an academy, and a theatre; besides these, there are a number of wholesale and retail stores, two printing offices, and an abundance of coffee-shops, billiard-tables, and dancing-rooms. The trade of St. Louis is not so extensive as that of Louisville, and less liable to interruption, as the navigation is not impeded at any season of the year, the Mississippi, being at all times navigable for the largest vessels. An exception, indeed, occurred in 1802, when the Ohio and other rivers were almost dried up. The inhabitants of St. Louis and of Missouri, have therefore a never-failing channel for carrying their produce to market. This they generally do, when the rivers which empty themselves into the Mississippi, are so low that they have no apprehension of finding any competition in New Orleans. Last year, the market of New Orleans was almost exclusively supplied with produce from St. Louis and Missouri. Eighty dollars was the general price for a bullock, which at a later period would not have obtained twenty-five dollars; flour was at eight dollars, whereas, two months afterwards, abundance could be had for two and a half dollars. In the same proportion they sold every other article. It is this circumstance which contributes to the wealth of St. Louis, and of Missouri in general, to the detriment, on the other hand, of the Ohio States, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. At the time of our arrival at St. Louis, there were in its port, five steam vessels, and thirty-five other boats. St. Louis is a sort of New Orleans on a smaller scale; in both places are to be found a number of coffee-houses and dancing rooms. The French are seen engaged in the same amusements and passions that formerly characterised the creoles of Louisiana, with the exception, that the trade with the Indians has given to the French backwoods-men of St. Louis, a rather malicious and dishonest turn—a fault from which the creoles of Louisiana are free, owing to the greater respectability of their visitors and settlers, from Europe, and from the north of the Union. The majority of the inhabitants of this town, as well as of the state, consists of people descended from the French, of Kentuckians, and foreigners of every description—Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Irish, &c. Kentucky manners are fashionable. Not long before my arrival, there occurred a specimen of this, in an open assault and duel between two individuals in the public street. For the last five years, men of property and respectability, attracted by the superior advantages of the situation, have settled at St. Louis, and their example and influence have been conducive of some good to public morals. The enterprising spirit of the Americans is remarkable, even in this place and state. Within the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the cession of this country (part of the former Louisiana) to the Union, much more has been achieved in every point of view, than during the sixty years preceding, when it was in possession of France and Spain. Streets, villages, settlements, towns, and farms, have sprung up in every direction; the population has augmented from 20,000 to 84,000 inhabitants; and if they are not superior in wealth to their neighbours, it is certainly to be attributed to their want of industry, and to their passing the greater part of their time in grog-shops, or in dancing-companies, according to the prevailing custom. Slavery, which is introduced here, though so ill adapted to a northern state, contributes not a little to the aristocratic notions of the people, the least of whom, if he can call himself the master of one slave, would be ashamed to put his hand to any work. Still there is more ready money among the inhabitants, than in any of the western states, and prices are demanded accordingly. Cattle that fetch in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, ten dollars per head, are sold in Missouri for twenty-five dollars, and so in proportion. The country about St. Louis to the north, south, and west, consists of prairies, extending fifteen miles in every direction, with some very handsome farm houses, and numerous herds of cattle. Though in the same degree of northern latitude as the city of Washington, the climate is more severe, owing to the two rivers Missouri and Mississippi, whose waters coming from northern countries greatly contribute to cool the air. The cultivation of tobacco has not succeeded, and the produce chiefly consists of wheat, corn and cattle;—equally important is the profit from the lead mines, and the fur trade. The most improved settlements are those along the Mississippi, and on the Missouri they are beginning to be formed.
Missouri was received into the Union in 1821, and is, with the exception of Virginia, the largest state of the Union, its area exceeding 60,000 square miles. To the north and west it borders on the Missouri territory; towards the east the Mississippi is the boundary between this state, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; the Arkansas territory lies to the south. It extends from 36° to 40° 25′ north latitude, and from 12° 50′ to 18° 10′ west longitude. The country forms an elevated plain, sloping considerably to the south, where it is crossed by the Ozark mountains. Marshes and mountains prevail more in the southern parts, high plains in the northern. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, the bottom lands are generally extremely fertile. The soils, however, cannot be altogether compared with that of Illinois. The possession of slaves is allowed by the constitution of this state, and their number amounts to 10,000; that of the rest of the inhabitants to 70,000. The form of government approaches very nearly that of Kentucky. We remained one day at St. Louis, and returned in the steam-boat, General Brown, to Trinity, where we took on board the ladies and some new passengers, returning from thence to the Mississippi. We passed several small islands, and a large one (Wolf’s Island), and landed at New Madrid at midnight, for the purpose of taking in wood. This place is the seat of justice for the county of the same name; it has, however, no court-house, and is a rather wretched looking place, containing about thirty log and shattered farm houses, with 180 inhabitants, Spaniards, French, and Italians. The two stores being open, we visited them. They were but poorly provided, having about a dozen cotton handkerchiefs, one barrel of whiskey, and a heap of furs. Two Indians were stretched on the ground before the door, and in a sound sleep, with their guns by their side. The Mississippi is continually encroaching upon the town, and has already swept away many intended streets, as the inhabitants say, obliging them to move back to their no small disappointment. The surrounding country is highly fertile, and in the rear of the town there are several well cultivated cotton and rice plantations. A rich plain stretches along to the west, behind New Madrid, as far as the waters of Sherrimack.
CHAPTER IX.
The State of Tennessee.—Steam-boats on the Mississippi.—Flat-boats.