And bend on me thine eyes angelically bright.
THE RANGER’S CHASE.
A WESTERN STORY OF THE WAR OF 1812.
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BY J. L. M’CONNEL, AUTHOR OF “TALBOT AND VERNON,” ETC.
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CHAPTER I.
“Come, haste to the wedding!”
On the third of February, 1809, an act of Congress was passed, defining the boundaries of Illinois, and establishing the “First Grade” of Territorial Government. The population of the whole territory did not then exceed twelve thousand; and, with the exception of Chicago, and a few settlements on the Wabash, was confined to a narrow strip of country along the Mississippi. But, upon the organization of the new government, (under Governor Edwards,) the current of emigration received an impulse in this direction; and the fertile prairies, lying nearer to the centre of the state, began to attract more attention. Kaskaskia was the seat of territorial authority, as well as the nucleus of population; and it was northward, along the banks of the river of that name, that the stream of emigrants naturally took its way.