a topographical description of the western territory of north
TRANSCRIPT
77. KENTUCKY.
— Vol . I . Topographical Description ,
&c . ,&c . By GE O RGE
IMLAY. Vol . II. The Discovery , Set
tlement and Present State of Ken tucky,and an E ssay towards the Topographyand Natural H istory of that ImportantCountry . To which is added
,The Ad
ventures of Col . Dan iel Boone,&c. The
Minutes of the Piankashaw Council,
&c . AnAccount of the Ind ian Nations.
850 . Report of the Secretary of Stateon Pub lic Lands , &c . Thoughts onEm igrat ion , &c. Being a supplement toImlay ’
s description of the Western Terr?)tory By JO H N F ILSO N . 8 m aps. 2vols 12mo ,
pp 260 and 204,old calf.
N . Y.,1793 .
F ine Copy of thi s very rare edi ti on, seldom found
perfect .
A
TOPOGRd PHICd L DESCRIPTION
O F TH E
WESTER N TERR ITO RY
NO RTH AMERICA,i995.
A
‘IOPOGRAPHIC/4L DESCRIPWONO F TH E
W E S T E R N T E R R I T O R Y
O F
N O R TH A AI E R I C A'
;
C ON TA ININGA SUCC IN CT A CCOUNT
O F ITS
CLIMATE , NATURAL H I STORY, POPULATION,
AGR ICULTURE , MANNER S A ND CUSTOM S ,W ITH
AN AMPL E D E S CR IPT IO N O F T H E S E V E RAL D IV IS ION S IN T O IVH IC H THAT C OUN TRY IS D IV ID ED .
And an a ccurate Sta tem en t of”the v a ri ous Tribes of
Indians tha t inhabit the F ro nt ie r C o un try .
T O W H IC H IS AN N E X E DA DE L IN EAT ION O F THE L
‘AWS AND G OV E RNMENTo r TH E
S TATE O F E ENTUCKY.
TEND ING T O S H EW THE PR O BAB L E R IS E ANDG R AND E UR
Q
o r TH E AME RICAN E MPIRE .
IN A S E R I E S O F L ETTE R S TO A F R IE N D IN
EN G LAND .
.uA Capta i n i n the Am er i can Army dur i ng t h e late “fa r, and a Cornml flioncr
for layi ng o ut La nd i n the Back Set tiem ents.
NEW - YO RK
PRINTED by SA FIIUJTL CAJMPBELL’N O . 37, HA N OV E R S Q UARE .
M,DC C
,X C l II.
IN TR 0 D U C TI O N.
4 4 -0 1 r -w-w ww w
THEAuthor of the fo llowingLet é
ters havi ngbeen an early Witnefs tothe fet tlern en t ofKentucky,
had fre
quently fuggefiedi to me the- impor
tance ofi that rifing country . But
I. confefs that, with every deferenceto his judgment, I was not aware howdefervedly it had been efiimated as
of the utm o it confequen ee . A mom en tousw ra
,during feve ral years of
Which the eyes of the whole worldwere attentively fixed upon F urope,had fo entirely occupied my mind,that
,regardlefs o f occurrences in the
remote parts of America,I felt noincon
(vi )inconfiderable altonifhrnent at findingthat Kentucky was to be admitted as a feparate State into the federal government .It {t ruck m e as a natural obj ect of
enquiry to what a future increafeand elevat ion ofmagnitude and grandeur the fp
‘
readingempire of Am eri -l
ca might attain,when a country
’
had
thus fuddenly rifen from an uninha r
bited wild,to the quantum of p o
’
pu-u
lation neceilary to govern and regu:late its own adm inifirat ion .
It was under this idea that l re~1
quefied my friend to fend me , at hi sleifure , a complete defcr-iption of th e
weftern country ofAmerica ;an enumerat ion of the laws and government of Kentucky
‘and an account;of that diitrié’c of count ry which ap
peared
i i i
preared the mo lt likely to . become a‘
ne.w tat e .
Al l this he has done in fo ample am anner, that when the new s of th efeat of G eneral St . C lair was re
ceived, I thought that the letters in
quefiion would prov e acceptable tothe Pub li c, as imparting to them . a
more parti cular know ledge of that”country “
,fo apparently the bone of
contention between the Indians andthe Ame ricans .Conceiving a H CW
‘fPElpCi‘ to he the
mo ft proper channel of commun ica
tion,I offered a copy of fuch of the
letters as I nad then rec eived , to theEditor of the VNtorning Chronici
But thee impo r tant criii so
of the time ,w i th refpeé
’t to parliamentary hu
finee fs and Eum pean politics , did notadmit of his de votingfo large a that
of
viii
of“
that excellent paper to their . ih
fertion , as the length of the letterswould have required ; and to havemutilated them, would have be en doing inju ihce to the Author, and leaving the. information incomplete But
as feveral other of hi s l etters havefinc e come to my hands , I have determined to -
publifh them in a book,not doubting but that the world willreceive as much inform ation and a
mufem ent from them as I myfelfhavez
‘
eXperiencedt .
It i s very certain that no work of
the kind has hitherto been publiihed in thi s country and when ori
ginal , matter i s brought before thePubl ic, furely it cannot fai l to proveacceptable to the philofopher, andentertaining to the curious .
The occafional remarks , whi ch hehas
(X )of our manners; and doubtlefs habit very materially ae
’cs upon the"
human mind and fince it has beentoo ~ much the practice in ‘Europe toconfer favours in proportion to the '
fervility of courtiers,I am
“
apprehen
five t hat we have imperceptibly’
lo i’c
much of our energy andThe calculated r ife of the Am e
t re au emp1re , which thefe -l'
e tterscontain
,will not, -I think, appea r"ex
t ravagant , When we r ecollect t he ra
pid firides which have advanced it
to its prefent fl ouriihing {late of
wealth'
and population .
In the T
life of Edward Drinker,which Was publiihed in Philadelphia
,April I are contained thefe
remarkable particu lars .E dward Drink er, was born in
a cottage in. 1 688 on the fpot wherethe
xi
the city of Philadelphia now frauds,
which was inhabited, at the time ofhis birth
,
“
by Indians,and a few
Swedes and Hollanders .H e often talked of picking
b lackberri es,and catching wild rab
bits,where thi s populous city i s now
feated. H e remembered the a rrivalof W illiam Penn, and -
ufed to pointout the fpo t where the cabin
' ftood
in which that adventurer"
and hi sfriends were accommodated on theirarrival .
H e‘
faw the fame fpo t of earth,in the courfe of his own life
,cover
ed with woods and bulhes,the re
ceptacles ofwild beaft s and birds ofprey
,afterward s become the feat of
a great and flouriihingcity,not on
ly the firft in wealth and arts in ft
an
meriéa, but ”equalled but iby: few in
E uropeH e faw fplendid churches rife
upon m oraffes,where hefufed tohear
nothing but thecroaking of frogs
‘that rrver afterwards receiving {hipsa nd merchandiz e from every part ofthe globe, whi in his youth
, had
n othingb igger n an ndian canoe .
H e had been the fubj eé’t o f
am any crowned heads~
b ut When heheard of the ,
opprefiive'
andt uncon
ftitut ional acts palfed in Britain , he
bought them all, and gave them to
h is grandfons to make kites of ; ande mbrac ing the liberty and independ‘ ence o f his country, after feeing thebeginning and end of the Britifh
empl re
empire in Pennfylvania, and aftert riumphingm the eftablilhment of
freedom ,he died 1n Nov. 1 782 .
I repeat, that when we recollectthe wonderfu l changes which havet aken place dur i ng thQ life of one
man in Pennfylvania, under all thed ifadVant ages with which the popalation of that c ount ry was attended,:as well as the t ell of America, pofi‘
t erity will not deem it extraordina
ry, fhould they find the count ry fett led quite acrofs
‘
to the Pacific O cean, in lefs than another century;I will fuppofe that
~
the inhabit ant s of
‘A’
n‘rerrca amo unt at pre
fent to four millions of fouls at leafi,and that their populat ion doublesonce in tvirenty or t enty - Vfi e
years ; at the end of a hundred
(xiv )This i s a very fimple but very
o bvious truth . To be fenfible of
thi s, we . have only to mark the
fiages Of i ts growth . F or whethert he fecre t of its amaz ingfecundityis owingt o t he great proportion of
room which t he extent of its territ ory affords, ‘figni
'fies Very little,as
1t does not appear l ikely that anym aterial alteration, in that refpe6t,w ill take place J.n the courfe of fo
ibort a t ime as a century ; as theeXpanfion of i ts dominion will fecure the fame advantages to popus
lation .
The immenfe extent of the Ame ?
ri can empire abounds with fall -.cli
m ates , with every kind of foil, and
with rivers fo various and ex tenfive,
that it feems calculated to become arival
r ival to half the globe in trade andriche s .Some ob itruetionshave int erfered
with the navigation of the Ni ilii fi ippi
,which were as repugnant to found
pol icy on the part of Spain, as i twas diftrem ng to the people of
’
the
we ttern countryIt was under tha t coereron that the
peop’
re'
of Ken tucky in convention”
in the year P788, petitioned the;"
Unit ed States,up the fubj ee
‘t of
their grievances ,“ who,i n confe
quence, rem on i’trated wrth the Court
of Spain upon that fuhieét , whenfome indulgence was granted
,tho ’
that navigat ion was not en ti1 ely ir'
berated.This petition con tains fen tim ents
fo pure , and fo m anlv that I thinkthere canno t be a better idea con
veyed
veyed of their difpofitions and man »
ners, than by i nferting it
F allaw and
Guard ian: of can r ig/bu,
As we addrefs youby the apt
0 11 YO UK
iy on y our j uftiee , as men and ci .
t iz en s,to attend to the wrong d one
t o m en and ci t iz ens and as a people recognifed by the fo lernn acts of
i
(the . union, we
“ look for protect ion .
to the federal head .
W hen the peace had feeured'
to'
America that fovereignty and l n
dependence , for which {he had fonobly contended, we could not ret ire with our Atlantie:f1°-iends; to .
xviii
Though forced:to pierce the thicket—it was not in fafety we trodthe vile favage . thirfied for blood
,
lurked in Our paths, and feiz ed the:unfufpeéting hunterWhilfi: we lamented the loft
friend, a brother, a father, a wife,
a child became the vié’tim to the
barbarian tomehawkm e - Infiead: of
confolat ion , a new and greater 11115:fortune deadened the fenfe offo rmer“
affl ictions” F rom the union we re
ceive no fu,pport ; but we impeach
not ,
their ju‘
flice. ~ Inéfieétual treaties
, ; often renewed, and a s , oftenbroken
,by the favage nat ions , ferved ;
on ly to {apply them with the means:of ourd efirué
’ciQ n.
BUY. 110“ human Caufe could com ,
troulithat Providence which had deftined t his we ftern ‘country to be thefeat of c ivilized and , happ
The p eriod of its accomplifhm ent
was difian t , but it advanced w ithrapid and incredib le firides V Ve
derived llrength from, our falls, andnumbers from our loHe84—the unparalleled f ertility or? our foil?madegrateful returns
,far difproportioned
to the,fl ight labourw hich —our fafety
wou ld perm it us to b ellows —ourfields and herds ali b rd us 1101? onlyfufiicient fupport for ourfelves
,but
alfo for the emigrants,who annually
doub le our -numbers , and . even a furplus fiill remains for exportatron
thi s furplus would be far greater,
did not a narrow poli cy {hut up ournavigation, and difcourage our ih
duftry.
In thi s fituation w 6 call for yourattention— we beg you to trace thel‘v’lilli liippi from the ocean —furveythe~ innumerable li vers which water
your
J
VCXX
t l ibute to its greatnefs- n exam ine the1uXuriant foil whi ch thofe riv ers tray er
‘
fe Then w e alk,can the Con
if:forv no thingthat -he bl efi‘
ed 'i t iwith
n ot‘
provide
d ban_
‘
y rt
"View t h’
e country , a nd"you wi l l. an»
fwer fory ou’
rfelves; But -c anthe p re f{umptuous m adnefs?
of man imagine .
a p Olicy inconfil’tent . w it h the inr
menfe defign s'
of t he Am e -s
’
As it i s the natural right to theeinhabi tants of thi s country to n avif
gate theMillillippi, fo they have al - w
fo a r ight derived 11 1111 1 treaties andn
(m'
tzlj y the treaty of peace, coi clu
ded in the year beta een the
crown s o f G reat ? 21111,F rance
,
and Sp“11,the r1 ee navigaa tion of the
rive r l ifiif f
ppi was aicertar
ned t o
T 1 1 53 right thus a t
er ta1 11 ed w as
exeref ed by the j ecect s of that1 1cro V171, untir t h e peaee of, 1 78
-3, an dconj _
o .intly Wis. 11 them by the citiz ens
of the United States By the treaty, in which G re at Britain acknowledged the independency of nheUni
t ed=Stat ,eS,fire aifo concede-d to 11 13 111t he free navigation of the h’iill i
i t was. a right nat uraliy and ef
fentially annexed - to the pofibfl i on of
the we3 °
1 1e1n coun tt y. As fucn it wasclaimed by America, and it was up
ii
”
on (haa t prm crple {he obtained itlYet the court of Spain
, who poii‘
efs
the country at the mouth of the V iffilhppi, have obfirué
’ted your citiz ens
in the enjoyment of that right .
If policy is the motive whichattuates political condué’t
,will yo
fuppor t thi s right, and’ thereby e
ableus to afl i il in the fupport 0
government?‘i
‘if you will be really our fathersfiretch fo rth your hands to fave a sif you would be worthy guardians ,defend our right s. W e are a member, that woul d exert every m ufcle
for your fervice . Do not cut us of?from your body. By ev ery tie of
”
confangum i ty and afieé’cion
,by h
remembrance of the blood which wehave mingled m the common caufe,by a regard to Jufl ice, and to policy , we conj ure you to procure ourrights .
“May
l. 2 5 ]
horiz on of Europe , p rieficraft feems to have
forged fe tters for t he human m ind , and ,
the - feem ity of its own omnipo tence ,’
t o ha
given a {l amp to the writings, and (‘pin ionsm en
, tha t r 1ve t te the tyranny of thofe inge
n ions {ophil’ts— Thn confequence has b een la
m ent ab le in t he . ext reme .
l ' I
Thefe aze zeras favourable to the rife ofm y
gove rnmen ts,and though nature is governed
by invariab le laws, the for tune of m en and
fi ates appear frequen t ly under the dominion of
c hances n hut happi ly fog manl 1nd when
American e tnplre 11 as fo 1m ing, philofo
pervaded the gen ius of Bumpe , and the radi
anc e of he r featut es moulded the m inds of
men in to a more rat ional orden.
It was the zenith of ynm po
fiated grahdeur of vilionary pl
on ,which the remains of gothl c tv tanny p10
duced that gave occafion to the rife of our independence . We c laim no merit or(upen orw ildom in avo id ing the complicat ion 0 1 lau s .
difgraces the cou1 ts o f G reat Britain ,as we l l ?as the t e ll of Eurcpe . W e have on lyapproprrated the advantac es of new lights, asthey have fhown upon us ; which you have
an equal chance of do ing and } out not do -
i’
111g 1 ,t mutt remam a monument ofyour fol ly,calculated to excite the aficonilhmént and in
dignation of a name manly prnggny. H ow
CW?»
2 7
ever, .I {lia ll l eave thiso
fuhj e(it f or the pt efe ,nt
and prrocecd in order in the b ill e ty,“
81 C . Si c .
iv‘1 ich you rent se ll ;“
hop ino that you wil l becon tent to receive my rema rks by le t ter , from
t ime to t ime , as Ema} find an oppo 1 tunity of
Carve r i s, on this fide o t the Allega
ny moun tains, a 1e i n tri cly iin aginat; .y E ve 1ymark 1111111 3 human has the fe ature t f bat b a
rifm,and eve iry comparifon o i the natives and
anim als, with thofe of t he o ld world, tends to
he optnrow1 b f t li'
o fe fenfible men
whomWtro te more than a‘
cen turywho t hough t that
“Ame rica was peopl ed
fireio hts of li amtfchatkaeen
‘
lo llow ed by your ju
bettee eopl‘ed, on
n i that towards Eu
gen i tm
to rmitv t o tha t of thel ied them feivcs to arts
dly ,l he co lour o f b oth IS pi e t ty much
i t i s ce rtain that the (litrerence is not“
corili derab le , and“
IS perhaps the effect of the ,
«5111131111 , and o f thofe m ix tures witit Which theiii ericans run themfe lves : F ourthly, Theild bealis wliiCh "
re feen in Ame i ica, and
which
1 2 8 ]
11 111011 cannot reafonab ly be fuppofedb e en tranfpoued thither by fea
,cou d
have come by the Way of Tartary . An a
(11110 11 ’ to thefe a1guments is,that the bifou
Scythia , and What is cal l edAme t iea , are precifely the fame
111111211 , befides, the anim als of bobear the firongefl refe1nb1ance to ciacEve ry t hing tends to
“
convince us ,111at
"
Wm ld 1s m an infant fl are. If 11:IS {db’
jreél
{ hange o the grad
diféover,flill
'
t
'
he van ous
face and 111 the bowels of
fic ien t‘
pi'
oof tha t there
theo r n
xears ago and t h a t Anaen ca W'
as '
vanced to maturity,I believe zfl’fo
kné td e‘
dged ; though the ba1b‘
af1
one , and the compara t ive eiviliz
o ther,513 no argument t or , let
:our
have b eenpeopled as it would, it had
ad t antage 01 having no poliihed cou
£ 1 2 9 . 3
u toha the neighbourho od of’
i ts vafi ' ex tent of domi
nion 51and‘
if it received em igran ts from Tar
t a i y, they were equally favage w ith them
fe lves or if from the 11 reck of a Chinefe , or
“HamillJapanefe vefiel, they feem t o have been too
fsofa-‘L
rare(if eve r) to have been p roductive of 11111x ii1111111 go
‘od to the Americans. The idea of the In
cas of Pe ru be ingof Chinefe 0 1igin me i its no
Lijccl Tha t man pofi'
eflés f rom nature the talentsQM inec effary t o his own civiliz ation , and that per
71“ fectio n cf phi lo fophy and reafon which d ign i‘
ut fies his nature , admits, I ihould conceii e of
tttt'
t In '
all counm es which'“wea1fl
'
thé marks of
m , age , m en feem a lways to have been advancing‘onthe their imni ovemen ts fo r the comfm t and o rde r
ytlirdtml of foc ie ty . :Adventit ious c ircumfiances hZ'
H C
can 1 apidlyrinc 1 ealedi them inm odezn t imes in the
o ld have retarded them in
1 3011 1111 the new , a mong the natives. The 1mprove-
. 11111in, 1mcnt§ iin inaviga tion led to the ove i tht ow o i
inlandt wo empi res in America w hich had at tained“elsad confiderab lee t i
’
mpiovemen ts ; and if the na
1 .ibe t ives wvhich fi ill f i remain a are f barb arous, we(1 d mnfip in
'
juii ice to hnm anh ature all owthat
v noftlie b W ith which the ‘Nht tes hav e a i
them,and the nefar ious:pol icy 0 5
ing thei r fury fo r in toxication have
16 only caufe of it . This Ptt oduceci
fuch an effeét , that the populatwn of the hullan nat ions had decreafed more than a :twen ti a
eth nea t ly a century ago , ace0 1ding to thetacs
count o f Char levoix . 1 1’
While Spam was p1a€t ifing the molt o dioust} ranny, and facrilegious inhuman i ty under
t he c l oak of a de tcfiab le 1eligion; aver mzlli a
0 113 of the m iferable Ame ricans, gorginginfatiab le avat ice in the gl it te ring mi
’
nes;
the new world, England and
more humanity , opened fet tlem ents :in North
Amen ca. O the r European pon ers had form:
part in thefe fe t tlemen t‘
s but , aFte
change s previous to the begmnmgof. t
fe rrt cen tury, England‘
feem s.to have b
in quie t pofifl
efl i’
o n o f the co tittryp
the A tlantic coafi from Eai’
c El
Bay of F undy. The F rench'
in the mean
1111 e fl we re maring a co lony 111 the inho fpttan
b le and frozen {crafts 0 1 C anada. The atm1 1011 o f Lewis 31111 211161 tne da , 7, l1r1g fcenery121711 10 11 the
'gr'
andett t of h’
181 p roieéts d ifplayed ,a lone could have prompted tha t people to have
et feve rcd in 11) 1 111110 113. an undertaking. xBnb
zn puuu 11g the great obj eft of tha t i'
orac ious
tyra t , the river St . L am ence Was aicenaed:
l ake O mar10 Was t raver ledgthe fal ls ofNut - 1
garat W61 6 paged ,
and fo l lo wing:the W'
ate1s
whl cb lead t‘
o the l‘ti s i thppi m erg the‘de lcm
Tllfimlti'lfl
SIJ
tab le ebuii tty‘ of Louifiana opened i11x a
‘
il the
{piendour 2111d vat iety of it‘
s e‘
harmns
Aft e r- the t reaty o f U tre‘
e ht, bath 11211 10 118
mea t s: The 1112111“(55 1F
“
fanee was
po fiegon of the mouth of the river 'M ifl ifiippi,in to the Gulf of Mexic
'
o in a.
and the river St Lawfence,which empties into the fee, b etween CapeNei th
and the w aft of Lab 1 ado r, t o the nou h‘
waiid
ef let . 4 8", 1i1e ieem s to have co
‘
iitein pia ted‘
th‘
e
e onfolida'
titj n of. this va i’t empne . M1fli onariesWe
'
re z'eve l y whe i e em ployed to convert the 1121
'
rim s fb fuecefsm i we 1e they ,the. t 21 pt:
fe h, eve ri in t imes of h'
of’
tn ity,fpeahinge ren ch,
Wil l find fecut ity { 10 111 the at tachment of the
peopl e t e eif ew th’
i11g w h ich 13 F refieh.
The 1111 fia rr1 1ge o'
f fi e ce leb i' ate'
d {Eheme
of Law’
3 fo r fetdb
ingLouifiana ,fo r a t ime re
tarded the pregrefs o f that C Q iofl i an plan But
this comm i miczit ioribetw een Can ada and Loa ifiiina be ing fixed and feeured by fe r trefi
‘
es a
N iagara and Defi c it , and the ifl dians beingunived tlly fiiene i}
r to he F i e fl ch,the feat i’n
‘
es
of the l itan We3 (iiicdvered in their e 1ee1 i11‘
gF O 11 Du Q geme at the junet ion o f the Mo
111111311 3113, and A l l egany a vers, Which fo rmthe O hio .
'
1his led to‘
the W211 b e tween Expgiana and F xhnce vi
'
n the yeai‘
17 55, 5“
you:
may 11 e ll recoliepr. But t i 0 11gh that wet
1
term inated fo glorioufiy for G reat Bri tain, andfecure fot the then co lonies, _ {til l we remained
ignorant of thewho le of the fine country ly1ng i be tween the high bilGreat Sandy 1 ive1 , a fl PPl Q Xifl lfi te theAl leganyo111 11ntain ,:a1
nd extending down 1 the O hio:to
its confluence with the Mill ifiippi, xandxb mk
to thofe ridges of inountains wh ich tmiverfe
America in a S W b . W . direct ion , untihtheya ije loft . in the flat lands of Wefi F loridanH owever
,certain m en , called L ongHuntens;
from V irg1n1a and No rth Carolina, byOpene
trat ing thefe moun tai ns (which ramify i n to a«
count ry 2 00 miles over from eafl to we ll , call - 1
ed the W ildernefs), were fafcinated w ith the :
beauty and luxuriance of the counti y 11 11 the
vifefiem fide, wh ich their en t aptm ed 1magina-
ftions could not find WOI
’ dS iufiicient to de
piét . in
A g1ant had b een fold by the Six Nationso f Indians to fome B1 it ifl1 commifiio ne i
‘
flsm t
F ort Stanw ix in 1 708, which compr gehended
this co un try, and which afiordsed the Ame 1 icans a pre tex t fo 1 a right to fe tt le in; but itswas no t ye t fum cien t ly known , and thofo 111 -
1.
d ian nat ives who were not co11 ce1 ned 111 the
gran t , ,becan1 e diffa tisfied with the 1profpe€ti
0 1 a fe t t lem s111 which might become fo flan-
g
gerous a 111 11 11 in their! fide , ~,and. Committedfo rce 111ai11 t
'
1es upon the figfi 1 111310 16 15 o futhe
count1y. Hmvev er after the expedition of
Lo i ci
F 34 1
the W11 1 “11111511 111 11 c‘
ormifiénc'
ed between
Br itain and the confede l ated fl ares.
the young men b ack fe tt
ViO
‘
1‘
gi11 izi and P 13, Who 1
m i rr i a te l t o this c ountr} , h2111n
the?
wa r, fo rmed that bbdy ofr meh
fie men, whieh not on ly checked
of the fe t r leme 1 t , but fo dried hpéf em igra t
- ion,that i t was ne 1
‘i1 b e ing111111te
’
d’
by the theyo f the favages, who?were
reed o n by the emii’
i’
afies of 1he“
gover11'
men
Though a1
c3‘
11fidet z1ble numb er of 1
tants‘
had fled from the d ifi’
ete‘n‘
t fl utes
cd 1'
111 t1‘
y , 111 fearch bf an:afylumézfl amities of the wafc n
x
thé O ther
fo? dfil refiedj was x rhe fet tle‘
h ftm1 , after 11 1 113031 9
been m ére‘tha’
n‘
ufh3 i { c
fmén‘
t , that the 111111113 j ‘udgedthey deteun
'
ih e d t_
o ab a'
fid’
on 1the
ev’
e 1 b ut they 1156 1 1? dfiférr'
c'
d f:
133? a 1 633nfoz’
cément”
of
after havmg ex‘
pet renced ev‘
el y‘
Hhon o i
11111137 11 211“can p
‘
w duce .
3(SfM1 . H endei f 1
n’
s cla1m 11 215
the Rate of V i‘
i'
g‘
ima m 1 78 1
a‘nd thong 1 11 51 1 1: couid be no
‘
fm t of Equity:init , he hm
o
t ih’
g“
aete d in con tempt of the fiate ,’
the legfiaturc, to av'
oid f euds 01 (1111 1111)afices
ET x(for h encieu on {i ill t ad influence), agre ed, as
an indemn ifica tie n for the ex 1 e z1 ce 1”oub le
he had been at,that h e fh ou id b f? unmixed 3.
1 1 1181 of comm }
! t wé i m ile s fq uar , , 1ying in
the fo rks of he O hio and G re ed
of‘
his own c iUiifi o.
V irginia gave za ' ther 1ewa1ds and encou
10101111 ragemen‘
r‘
s a t 1h 3 wine 1 0. the {11 1i fe tt l ers , forthe had 11ude 1g0 ne 1 11 zip:e e ii abl ih
~11t of t ii e ir fet tiem em of a tm éi of a 1 0 0 0
acres, Ca l led a pre emozion fight , tobe laid
c.11men off acj oimng to he fe tdement of aczeem the,
gu m e e (11‘
y paying iiice feesfo r ihe fume”finhabi Kim
“this pe i iod(i e . a l and bfficewas
5101111! op en r d 1he fl a k
e , gnaw ing 111211 213 1113 For any
161t quan tity o f unlocated lar ’
Upon conditiz n of
of certa in {11111 3 of dep1eciah c < 11 t ii1e 11 13 1 c am 11
cybeir cxa 9 3 16. in to the treafury ,
11 ; lb m C 11 for
ghund sed acre s. The green . e m} and iiitle .
t i‘ICh w e 1 ? this money 111071 k: ufed the Who leLecon
to be located , which W? 3 one of the“
4 1 115111 11 19 aeria l cauie s of its rapid popu:atio n.
i t 11 213 11 feefihry, 111 t he manag:en1 ent cf t li is
"isfififi finefg, 1113
11 Care {h
e wd be taken to pi es/en
and lzt igat ion , which 1he vague
h er 111 . Whieh ti nt ouim e is: was exe f “ated in;
y in imnces , would nece‘Tm ily pmduce .
this pL1“
pofe , 1lzree n rincipal fuw eyoz‘
s
311 1731 1aimed , v ho we i e 10 12137 , 0 1 cauie t a
whim,la d 0 11
,by the 11 dega iies3 the diige i eut
re,0 1221110115 within the li/niis 9 5 their diii i iéi
cz
;
E' 36 3
fhis being done , and recorded in the 6111the origina l furvey was fen t to the depiitygifier
’
s oflicé,there io be reco rded ; fr
which it was k i n to the principa loffice at Richmond , the feat o f gov
there to remain twelve mon ths,that any perfon having a c laim , by vn tue
a prior locat ion ,might have an oppo r tun i
to enter a caveat , and preven t a fun epi l
grant from iii'
n ing. C omm ifiioners were
ient to adjul’t the c laims of fe tt lement and pr
tion right3°
“
by which ni eans o1de1° W
ved , and the gdveznmen t o f a difififiCountry, detached,
and_fepara ted at that t
more than 2 00 m l les f1om any o ther fe t
c ountry— a coun tl y which had grown 114)
de r the devafiation of a mofi barbardusand c ivil war, and under the m iferies
m ine and difile fs, fe t t led by all orders
in the United States, men of difrereht m
anddifferent pol itics, was p1eie rved °
and.
order and quie t , which prevailed in 1 78
Was fitfii cient t o have induced a fii’ éfig‘
tfl
have bel ieved that he was living°
unde t an 0
fe ttled gove rnmen t . Such is the fc ience
j urifprudence , when it 11 o 1l< s Upon firhpleinbfiant ial ip l ings. H ence zt i ifes harm
wi tho ' t expence , and equity wi thou t l it
t io n. H e re w e no mufty tmms, t o l eadin to labyt in ths of doub t and perpiex itycontradictory cafes and reports to dil
’
tra'
é’
t
Opinion
37
opinions-our decifions are governed by aas
o t . the legiflature decreed upon the clementary principles o f truth and juitice.
After the pe ace between G i eat Britain and
tthe United Stat es i n 1 783, the fet tlement o f
Ken tucky was confidered as formed ; but it1was not yet de term ined ,whe ther i t was to be an
ge ofV irginia ornot T t mted Q tates
the back coun try as the prope rty of the
on , which ihould he appropriated to
the federal governmen t ; but Virginia urged the right of the charte r granted byJame s I. which defcribed its b oundaries i n this
t‘t range way.
—To commence at a poin t fouth
ward o f the capes‘
of Chefapeak Bay; ih‘ lat .
362° r unn ing due weft [from thence , then fe t
t ineg off from the faid b eginning, and runn ingto lat . 37
°
57'
upon the coait , which 15 a l itt l eto the northward of the fa id capes, and then
running a north-weft courfe . This indefinit e
grant , having n o aé’tual boundaries feems to
have originated in the be l ief o f the t imes ofits b irth
,i . e . that the At lantic and Pac ific
oceans were only divided by a narrow tract ofcount ry. This gran t forming a kind of ob tufeangle , expand ing as it advanced w efiward,comprehended the who le of the fine coun tryon b o th fides o f the O hio . But , in 0 1der to
adjuf’t all diiputes, the {l ate of V irginia offered
to concede the country wefiward of the O hio ,
1) pro
f 38 ]
provided that o ther individual Rates, holdb ack l ands, would give up the irs
, and
who le of the country comprehended wit
the prefent l imits of the fl are , on the enfi
fide of the river O hio , ihould be gua
to them by Congrefs. This was done
thus the federa l government became pofi’
e
of all the b ack lands i n America.
Thus fiood mat tersr Kentuckylatter end of 17 83 . ry for
to take a re trofpeét ive glance of the progof peophng feveral o ther:parts of thé weftcoun try I mull b eg your indulgence and
for ano ther let ter. In the mean t ime, be li
me to be devoted to your wiihes
1am, moft fincerely,
YOUI’
SQ & ,Cc
L sE‘
T - T E
Kaniuce r .
Mir DEAR 12 11 11211 11 ,
H E memo 1ab le de‘feat G eneral Brad
dock retai ded for tome lit tl e t ime, our op ,
tunities‘
0 1 acq uiring a fui ther kriov ledgeon the fo n t ces of the O hio .
~
akin duOgrefne by G eneral
F'
crbesf iii’
1 75 n'
ed to the V iew of the
zolo‘
n’
ies o f tha t‘
day'
a new wor ll .d L ands we
rra‘
nted by government to the army for fe
r
r
(ices done d in ing the war which, in a great
th t he gen1 1‘ifonmgF ort du Q 9 efne
“now called F ort Pitt), con tribu ted to toxin
he firtt E nglifh fe ttlemen t upon the wel’
u n
Waters
A?te i the treaty of Paris 111 1 763 , by which
G'
reat B i itain o b tained a ce iiion of E al’
t and
Wed F lozida ,and all the count iy lying call of
111 15 hr’l ilfl - 1ip {! l w ith a t ight to navigate that
1 river , frequent ineu i fions had b een m ade fi oni
tha t time down to the O hio and M ifiifli ppi to1 w O rleans. But 111 thefe excurfions, which
by water,very l it t le knowledge of the
mucky country had been obtained, except
D a at
iflcmly,
[ 4 0 ]
at the Rapids and fame few other places 11110the banks of the t iver.
Louifiana was we l l known,and many
men ts Were te rming, pre vious to the la ton the eail ern fide of the Mifiifiippi, abo
and b elo v the Natchez : fo rne troops had be
fiat ioned in the Il l inois,and at Poft St . V i
cen t on the Vv’aba lh r iver , where the F ren
inhab itan ts l ived and cul tivated the ir lit
plan tanons, in the fl yle of the Patriarchs
o ld ergo -
1 111 0 the charms o f nature , deck
in a l 11”re {oftt
ii ni pl icity Whrent 0 1. the human foul ,a l loy or European
e legan t and fafc 1nai i ngva rie ty Theypoffe
all the fecial talen ts in an eminent degree :
their hofpitality w as ever enlivened with
“
chaims of wit , aiid ht1 e exhilarat ing juiethe V ine ; which grew and fieurilhed to fuel!
a degree as to produce wine for export ati on
Thele fettleni ents {till ex ift ; but the fettlemeri ts upon the M illifiippi i hat Were made
previous to the wai , we i e broken up by Indi
an s , who inhabit the country between G eor
gin and W e ll F lo i ida, cal led the Cherokee ,
Greeks, Chacktaw,arid Chichafaws nations.
Befides, by the t rea ty of 1 78 3 be tween G reat
Britain and the Un ited States, we acquired,the country on the eal1e rn fide of the Mifiifiip
pi river, only as low as the commenc emen t of
the 3 2 deg. or to the Natchez ; fo that tho l'e
4 2
There are fe ttlements ftill to the fouthtvar
of this, in what is ca l led the G reat BendTenafee , or the Mufcle Shoa
,
ls,
v
. which
be en made without.
the permb
ifii on of the
ral G overnment } This is a fine traé’t
try, and in t i‘me '
mul’trbecomevery
its particul ar fituation, and the peculianer in which the
~
navigat i on of t his con
mull; be conducted , concern ingwhich I
expatiate in its~ pr0per place . Its proxi
to the fouthern Indians renders it’
ra ther dan
gerons at, pre the growing {trengthof F renchbro lachulky above
“
, upon
the waters o f the fame rivers w il l foon afib ttd
fecurrty to every part of the Tenefee coun t ry;The country of H olfi on is {til l above t li
o
efe
_fe t tlements upon the head wate rs of the fameriver, on the borders of Virgin ia and Nor thCarolina ; and that you may form fome idea of
the prowefs of thofe people , I‘
wil l re late a r c irgp umftance , which, perhaps, is not gene ra l lyknown on your fide of the water . When
L ord Cornwal lis had advanced, in 1 780 , mm
the back parts of N orth C aro l ina , he detached
Col. F ergufon with about 500 Britifh tro ops,to a p l ace ca l led King’sMountain , in orde r to
give fecurtty to thei j a itbful and loya l fuhj ef t s
o f his Maj elty , who were confiderably opprefll
cd by their_unfaz
’
tbfizl countrymen the r ebels.
C ol . Campbel l , a V irginian , who l ived in thofeback fe tt lerh erits, hearingof the rendezvous of
‘
E 4 3 J
B
"
P'
tmd the loyalil’ts, unde r the b anner o f Col. F ergu
..dortlit fon’s detachment , at King
’
s Mountain , afl'
em
f;;hhave bled
,
what m ilitia he could, . ahd began hisl
fueled“march on horfeback in the evening, without
dilemma !mentioning their deftinat
'
ion '
, and by continu" nlffloni l ing their match, wit hout intercefii on for upi'
r i fmafiw wards of one hundred . miles, ~
came up withountry them the fecond‘ morning, ab out the b reak oft rial day, when their horfes were left a t the foot of
"the moun tain with a(mal l guard ; his l it t le arimy, divided into three detachmen ts, were led
nzl‘trength to feparate"
attacks, and in lefs than ha lf an
“Gama, hour the hil l was carried , Col . F ergufon kil led,
a nallord and the grea ter part of his de tachment madercouatryt prifon ers. Col . Campbe l l ’s army amountedaott tlttit to about 500 : he took more prifoners. F rom
Rh ine Inch fpecime ns, I think thofe people can ha ve
no thing to fear from M‘G ilvery .
I have not re lated this li ory‘
fromvanity, or
alarm} from the m olt dinant idea that theAmeri
gcnerally c ans are in any refpeft fuperio r to Engl ifhWhenmen ; lo far from it
, that no man can more
r io irtow arm ly admire the true E nglilh than,
I dolatchedbut i have to ld it as a circumftance tendingto
roots, prove , tha t men~feeling the fpirit of l iberty are
vierto a lways fuperio r to fl ar es and that a w e l l t egulated m ilitia are equal to the defence of a.
0?een ntry w ithout the expencc o f fupporting a.
handing army, which is n o t ta e o n ly inco nnrhgfe venience fl owing fromfuch a fyite tn . H ow
“n ot the labour and ingenuity of a. d at e as
fac riéiced
r
E 4 4 J
faerificed by fuch’
a po l icy In how‘
many ih
fi ancee. have the laws and civil autho rity beentram pled Upon by the con turne ly and ign o-
l
rance of men educated’
w ith n one b ri t m ilitag"
ry'
ideas and‘
habi ts, and thereby t
due to laws con tamina ted and an indig
peOple aw ed by a martial phalanx j! Whgood citizen fee ls his own infignificance , the
pa t rio t ic heart mourn s for t heO
fae rilege com
mitted upon their privileges with t hat impunity, which the patronage of a {l andingarmy af
f0 1ds to the e xecut ive powe r of a da te .
W e w il l now re turn t o Ken tucky which is
the key- {tone o f the fet tlemen ts upon the wa
ters of the M ifl ifiippi. The years 1 783 and
1 784 b rought out vat?numbers o f emigran ts
from a ll parts of’
America ; par ticularlylat ter year, when i t was fuppofed that in Ktucky a lone, no t leis than 1 2
,
'
o oo foul sc ame fe t t l ers :feveral Europe ans from F 1aEngland and Ire l and we re among the num matterintotorfiThe Indian s gave us a refpite , and there
ed to be no thingWan ting to make us the ha
piefi people t tpo n earth .
In 1 782 the State of Virgin ia had given
a G enera l Cou1 t with j udges and an Att
ney General , to manage all legal affairs{peel ing the dill rifl: without the treuhl
expence of travelling to r“
i ichmond,diltan t b etween five an t . fix hundred
two hundred of which we. e through an
t
[ 45 ]
haoi’
ted svilder nefs . In 1 783 , 1 784 , and"
;w
«
578 ,
great part of the coun try n 13 furveyed and
patented ,and the people in the i n teri or fe t t le
nrents pa tined thre i r. bufinefs in as much quie t
and fafety as they conid irave dene in anyurope . Court hom es were bui lt i nn t coun ties, and roads we re O pen ed
{ which fey en years be fore had no t
the countr . The only roads hi
tor li ngle hor.es.
army In the ditt rifi 1 ad grown to cor t’
ider
ab le from the great num b er of emigran ts
which had a1 1 ived, and that reip eSmbilityI‘m”s
’hicla it had acquired:produced a dii pofi t ion85 1133 in the inhabitants to become an independen t
0' CW State, and to be adm itted as an o ther l ink in“him great federa l chain . A conven tion was
formed by fending deput ies from
counties, who me t at o u r m etro
il le , for the purpofe of taking- the
ion when it was deter
fome debat i 11g, . to pe t ition V irgi
t~ purpofe . An Afi had al readySta te , . authorifing any d i
‘i rii i o f
rains to feparate w iteu
n aj ority of the inhab itan ts ih’
ould with
butr in this inflance it was urged , by the re
he re 1 e no t friend ly to the feparation ,that it
s d, thi as no t the w ith or the maj ority of the inha
“61d an ts or Ken tucky to be com e independent.
maul Gentiemenh olding confide t ab le
huh traéi s
E 4 6 3 “
traéisof land in‘
the difirici , who were‘
not re
fidents, thought our feparation woul d beprcw etth e , part iculat lv as we had courts of
“
j o ltee , whol e
“
ju1 ifd1€tio n was d ill inét hom that
V i1g°
inia , and the only folid complaint(Which, indeed, was a ferions on e)was the diffl ance to which we mull fend our 1e
‘
p1efentat ives , and D111 l ocal fitnation requit ing in fome
infiances a legifiat ion , which the majori ty of
the All enm o f the State would no t b e com
might feparatewas optional W a to
recom trzend h s go
ve'
rmn‘
ent(which they w ere not like ly to do,and which it was cer tai n
“could not b e done
We1 e for that t ime , 1
The federal“
government in the contfe of
this you undertook to la) o if the count i y weftof
'
the O hio; 11t < fuel1 m anner as would anfwe t .
the ptirpofe of fe l i°111g the lahd , and fettlingthe .
co-out l y, Peaoeh id b een m ade the preced
ingyear at F o rt M‘Into lh ,between the Unit
ed‘States and the Indi ans,°
In which the co nn
try upon the Muflt inghm ,Sc ioto,
a:1d the
G reat and Littl e M iami fl e et s, had he en given
up by the Indiz.°
115 as a confiderat ion for former
ma llacres , and as neceffmyto produce perma
nent : t ranquil l ity they:finding the Un itedStates,
1
“States, by cefl i on from Q t est Britain , had a
right to all the country w ithin the l imits defcribed 111 the t reaty of 1 783 and that it wouldbe in vain for them to remonft t it te agamfl:
r t he i1 peopl ing it, pa1 ticularly as it to
Great Bri tain they were to look _to fo r 1 efiitu
t ion , who had abandoned them when a l lies,and fo ld their country W ithout even conful t ingthem. But when the furveyo tss began to act ,
the Indians difcover ed immediate and hoftilefigns of difapprobation ,
fome mafi'
acres were
comm it ted, and the bufincfls was put off until3 the fo l lowing Sp l ing.
Congre is as } et had taken 11 0 decided mea
‘ml
‘
fures as to the organiz at ion of. this c oun tr y,,
i 80‘1 01 the m ode of parce liingf it out and di pofing“3
;m
: of it ; the difcontinuance of the la te wa1 wasd
ildo
s; itill recent , and the 111 ukt‘a rt o us obj ects whichU
prefen ted themfelves ro a n infant Governmen t ,
no t recovered fzo rn the {h ocks ot a doub tful
the ha‘c itual id iehe fs
“PW“
1 which the pro fefii on 0511 1 111 3 produces, threw1 1111111
an e tnoarmfiment over a ll the i r proceedings.
1
51111: It was in this diiemma‘
that they recommendedKW
'
CCd the mee ting o f a convention ,t o be c ompo ed
L111: o f deputies ho rn the diffe1en t States, to airtimlfltf-“m‘ b le in Pa ilade lphia in May , 11 787, to take111 1116 into the it c onfideratmn the 11 1ture and a : £7 18
of the fede ral government as it then exilted .
In this examination they found that the o ld
governmen t wanted efficiency, and the tota l.abfencc
I 48 - 3
ab‘
ience of nnifon zbetween the diii'
erent
from loca1~ laws and cuftoms, was pro
of delay,'
and a varie ty of obf’truéi i
ing to.countera€t the i concord of
It was under thefe e’
on‘
fiderat i ons
prefén t federal government arofe . It
l ifhed one great and importan t princ iplethe benefit of mankind, and the exte
‘
nfion
c ivil ization , which is, that a power mayexifi in a government , as to
t ion or change“
,«without danger asthecommrn
quill ity of the State ; by government rec
mending to the c onfi ituen t powers of
State, the deputingmen to inquire in to
radi cal defeé’ts o f their confl itut ion , and
ing fueh alterations as the improved wi
of experience may find neceii'
ary. It is
in the prO gre iii o n of things that gover
wil l arr ive at perfeétion.
I mufl:beg that you wil l excufe this digrefion , as it was neceifary to account for the d
lay 111 proceeding to the fet tlement of
country wait of the Ohio . Thisup the greater part of 1 787, [0 that
year o r more befo re much was done .
m ean t ime the Indians cont inued to in
t he ir depredations, under a be l ief that , ithe W hites were fufliered to e ft abiiih
fe lves o n the ir fide oi t he Ohio , there
be no end to , their'
incr‘
oachments until
50
hi s at length agreed , that [he is to be
ted into thefederal union in June I 79 2Having fui nifhed you wi th on ly an
feét hifiory Of the manner in which thcountry has been fe ttled, I wil l endeavcompl iance W i th your requefi , to give youdefcription of its natural and art ificial pro
‘
du
t ions. Bel ieve me to be,
1; E T T' E’
KENTUCKY.
DEA ie‘
ra Nn;
If cafl i’
ngyour e y es over the map o f Ame
r ica , you Wil l- difcover that i ts Wefiem(o rm iddle)
“
coun try lS“diVid6d from
‘
the At lant iccountry by
r a chain‘
of‘
moun tains which rife
the remote parts of the States ofNeW - York,
fey , and’
run a fouth - weflerly;
they‘
ate lof’t(313 I ob ferved be
fore) in’
the fl at l ands of VVef’t F lorida. The
Weitem c ountry is thofe parts which"
are wa f
terad by the fi rearms running into the M il"
ffifippl s
It isabout fifty‘
m iles over the Al l eganyM oun tain , crofiing by the rout which G ene
ral Braddock ' toole;from - F ort Cumbe rl and nearthe Poiowmac
,at the defcent into the - cotm w
t ry of Redfione on the Monongehala ,the
(outli ern'
branch of the O hio . This rive r t i ;
{es in‘
the fame- moun tain
‘
confiderab ly to the
fouthward, runs near ly p arailel Wi th it , the
Oppofite way, upwards of one hundred m iles,
“
and is navigable for boat s nearly to its fourcethe Who le of this country beyond the moun
E z ; t zun
I
min is ex tremely fe rtil e , wel l watered, a
abounding with a ll kinds of t imber calculfo r building
'
houfes, boats, cab ine t work,
86 C . The fugar m ap le - t ree is in termixed
grea t quantitie F rom the foo t of the mon
t aingit is about fourteen m iles to R edl‘t one 0
F o rt,which is o n the banks o f the Monon
hula , and the ul‘
ual plt ce of embarkation
people com ing down thc O hio,who t ra
Braddoclt’
s road'
; from thence to P
about fifty m iles b iz wa ter. Large
fiat land lay all alongupon. the banks of
r ive r from the O ld ~F o rt t o Pittfl mrg, ware capab l e o f being in acle v into ex tcnfive
luxuriant meadow gro und .
"
Ell is count ry. is populous, it ~
being the ~
eftg'
fettlemen t , and jma'
de immed iately’
takingF o’
rt du Q l efne c The
ties itfe lf in to the Monongahala aboutfi ve miles ab o tie its junction , with the
e ny river : the count ry on"thiserivén i
uneven ,
‘
hut in the val l ies the foil is extrich. N ear t a
‘
Pitt urg the cotln try
peopl ed ,and there , a s we l l as in R
'
éd
all the comforts of l ife a re in -rhe greate lli
dance . F lour is manufizélured in as g
{tyle as in any part of America and
checfe , bacon. and every kind of prov
can b e had in the gre’
atell quan t ity .
who l e country ab ounds in co al; wh ich liemolt upon the furface of the ground 3. the
OPP
ppofite Pittfburgupon the banks of tha Mo
hala, which are at leafl three hundred
appear to be one fe l id body of this
mineral
Thismutt become in time the mo lt valuableazmg country in all America from the ferti
yof its foil, its capabil ity o f being formed
ea tenfive meadows, and its proximity to
moun tains w hich att rafl'
the clouds, and
moillure fo‘
neceffat‘
y to grafs
tides which , its fituatio‘
n is a bout three hun
dred miles from Philade lphia , about two hun
dred and. fortyf rom Bal timore, and about two
hundred and twenty from the federal city on
the Pot owmac a diflance which is too great
carry byx land the bulky articles of huf
‘oan
y 5 but/
to which catt le m ayb e driven with
the greatell eafe a
This c oun try has derived no inconfidera‘
ble
advantage from the fe t t lemen‘
t of Ken tucky,and the o ther fet tlemen ts which are makingon t he O hio and M ili ifiippi,
‘
the great road o f
m igrating from the nor thern li ates lyingthrough it : and indeed it is molt
‘
convenien‘
t ,
bo th from Mary l and and V irgin ia,“
at all fea
o f the year, provided that the re be anying b ulky to carry , the pali hge being for
e greatefi:part , by w ater,and . the 'Po tow
mac navigab le , a few places excepted , to fort
Cumb erland all of which ohil rti él ions w il l b eremoved - ia a few yea rs by c anals which are
E . cutting,
T 54 J
crit t ind. F rom F ort Cumberland it is abo
t ry,tha t though it is without {e
vet s run m fuch dii eét io ns, thata ny place in all the back parts
where art may not reduce the land carri
very fmall diltaric e . I cannot fpeak
i n general a fubj ec'
t definit ive ly, but I' to he underfl ood within fift een leagues.
mis ali‘
erte'
d from the bell authorities, that
- l and carriage’
b e txifeenr
the Po towmac and 0
:1y be reduced to le.r3 than twen ty m il es.
ouch is the progrefii on of things
coun try“
, that while there was appare
marke t fo r its fitperfl norrs produétions
a rtic le has fo ld ex tremely we l l , - 1n c
o f the numbe ran ts who
D own from Pi t tlburg the country is
the banks of the r iver ; but a l it t l e dfrom them it is confiderab ly b roken ,
la1 ly on the n0 1 th we il ern fide . Ml ind , hon eve r, is inte l fpe i fed t n th
fi de as £11 as the approach to the lit t leWay,
vrheze lthe na ture of the f oil ‘~i cemfed , and the good land i s then found on
we lle tn fide upo r the Mulmrgnm . There
f ome Ft rio s o f 1 ich land upon the l it t le Kan
n ay ; but , far het up the 1 it e l , the coun:
is b roken and {let producing feni ce anyt il
luxuriant. 0
E, 55} J
ther t imber than the fir- t ree , or pine and knot
ty b lack o aks, which are general ly deemed
fymptoms of a bad foil . T h ist ra'
El of bad landex tends
'
quite int o the moun tains in a fouth
direclion , and runs fouthlwel‘terly as far as
G reat'
Sandy‘
river, with l itt lie or no variation ,
except onthe bot toms of th‘
e G reat Kanhaway ,
which are extenfive and rich . The bo ttoms
on the O hio are every wher e ex tenfive and
luxurian t .
‘
O n the we ll e rn fide of the river,
the country beyond the rich vein of land on
the hiuflt ingum,is on ly tolerab le on this fide
of t he he ad wa ters of the Scio ta , which are
fucceeded hy’
as fine a body of land as the
imagination can pain t . This ex tends confi
derab ly near to the O hio , and runn ing we ll
ward quit e to the M iam i, now approx imatesi t s banks, and difplays, in its verdure and va
rie ty o f m aj eftic fo refl s‘
all tha t b eauty and
r ichnels, which hav been lo much ce lebratedb y t rave l lers who have paii
'
ed‘
t hrough them .
The c ountry o n the cal l ern tide,exce pt on th
hanks o i'
the i ivers, is indiffe ren t. The re is
a body of good l and on G reat Sandy; b ut
leaving that in a ftnt th - we l’
t erly c our e,high,
ragged , and b roken hil ls ari e, which wi l l
‘
hardly'
er e r be capab le of cultivation : the l‘
e
hills ex tended b e tween thir ty and for ty m ile
an’
d’
open in to the fine l ands b fKen tucky ,”We have t ravel led n ow about fi ve hundred
niles down the O hio in i t s meanderingm a ria,
and
I 56 J
and we will fuppofe ourfelves at L imefionwhere the ch
o
ampaigne coun try on the
fide o i the ri ver b egins. This is
landing p lace for peopl e coming do it
b oat s, who mean to fe tt le l n the upper
of the State , as I {hal l 1n future cal l it .now nece
‘Tt iy to look backwhich we haye t ravel l ed thr
rapidity. Pit tfburg l ies i1i :athe genera l courfe o f the O h‘W and the dit’tanee by landLimefione l s nearly three hundred milesas the northern lim its of the fiate , are
Sandy, which is fome difiance above
fione, we may fix them as nearly as c
in lat . 393 I am forty I c annot {peakmore prec ifion , bot thefe things have
been afce . tained from obfervation .1
The eaft fide of the O hio fo r about ten
twen ty mile s be low VVhealing; which 13 aboone hundre d be low Pittfburg, is genera l ly wfet tled . There are few fettlemen ts on z t
o ppofite fho re until you come to the Mulk i
gum ,and the -c ountry now wears the face
a Wildern efs on b oth fides 0
b eing no hab itations worth ‘
notice , ex cept
the mouth of. the G reat Kanhaway ,un til
arrive a t Limeftone .
E ve 1y thing here afl'
umes a dignityfple ndom I have never feen 1n any o ther
ot the wor .ld You afcend a confiderable
tanc
I 15
that it is the confeqnence of yonr very la
and governmen ts.
‘
You mull fo rgive Wha t Ik now you Wil
a thapfody , but 11 hat I rea l ly ex pe t ienced
ter t i avelling acrofs the Al legany monnta iM irch, when it was covered w ith (now,
a lte r {hid ing the c oun tryrab 11ut i3 itt iburgand no t recovered
f1 10 111 the ravages of wi
«them was fearcely a b lade ofgrafs to b e It
eve l y thing looked d i eary, and b ore th
. @ a_
rks of melancho lyw hich the rude hand
frot’t produces1 I? embarke d
Kentucky , and in lefs than fire days la
L ime ltone , where I found nature rohed
her charms.
It naturali {truck ma that there wasthing 111 cl imate that debafed or e le sz
human £0111. Tha t chill penn ryfl‘
ril country and damp cold climate pin accumulatingthe wants ofmen ,
had
ed their dep endence , which at once
fi rfi principles o f man . I conce ived
the intancy o f the . world men in te
cl imates had 1e tainetl the ir freedo
Thus in England ayon have enj oyed
rab l e {have of li’
berty,‘
while 111111011 allhave {inferred under '
the fettersmf a
‘
an
de fpo tifm . The pcrfeétion of arts w il lrate the condit ion of man in everyp art
world t ha t the . amelioration of . gover
"
E 59‘
fl'
na education mull take p lace , b e fore he wil lab le to refume his priflzine dignity.
F romLimefione to L icking creek the coun
fely rich, and covered With cane ,e native c lover. The cane is
which grows t o the height frequen tly ofen o r fix teen feet , but more general lyaboutor twe lve feet , and is in thicknefs from the
of a goofe quil l , to'
that of two inches di
ter; fometimes, :yet fel'
dom ,it is larger .
en it is flender, it never grows higher tharr
four t0 > feven feet ; it fhoots up 1n one
er, but produces no leaves until the folg ryear. It is an eve rg ra m, and is
,
the -
q uofi nouriihing food for catt leearth. .No o ther milk or but ter has
avour and‘
ri‘
chnefs as that which is -
pro
from . cows which feed upon cane .
orfeswhich feed upon it wo rk nearly as we l l ‘‘
if they Wero fed upon corn; provided care
taken to give them on c e in three or four
ys a handful o f fal t , o therwife this“
food is
to heat , and ' b ind their b owe ls. The
grafs, when i t arrives tomaturity , is from“
o fe e t and a hal f '
high to three and a half,d the head and beard refembles the rea l rye ,d fometimes produces a {mal l grain longandnder not Un like rye . Whether cul tivation(1 bring 11: to the fame perfeftion ,
I can
noi idea ; it is however ce rtain ,that it is
good~
and valuablegrafs. The cloverl s
is‘mno refpefl different from ~ the '
c,l oVE-ar
E uro pe , b ut as it is mo re coa t ie and 1111111
an t . Cl here is a vai iety 0 1 o ther kinds o fgr
which are found in differe n t p laces bu
have on ly men tioned the two fo r-me t , theying eficcmed the molt valuab le.
In order to t ravel 1n to the in terior parts
the State the rout l ies acrofs the bran c
L ic 1&n creek. There are fe veral of
wh ich take their r 1fc i n the high hil ls o fSandy rivers, and the {rim s of the All
mooun tain ; they t 1averfe a me lt de l icoun try, and form a junction a finalb e low the L ower B1ue L ick.
cal led a L ick ,from the e arthabout
furrowed o ut,in a mo i
’t 1 cur1ous m anner“
the buffaloc a nd de e r, Which lick the e at
on account of the fal ine particl es w ith whiit is impregnated . The coun try from
F ork t o the O hio is confiderab ly broken ,
general ly rich, and con tinues uneven ,ex
on the banks of the river, quite to the
o fKentucky, which 18 about one hundred a
ten miles be low the mouth of L icking cre
by water, and feventy a bove the R agids ,
the O hio . Be tween the mouths of Licki
andKen tucky l ies the G reat Bone L ick ,w hi
is juil ly celebrated for the remarkab le bowhich are found there, and which gave us
to the place. Several of thofe bones
b een [cut to EuioPe , but Ibel ieve no m t
6 1
1illorian has b een ab le to giv e any decided opi
1io n to what c lafs of an imal s they ,
b e longed.
31150 111 has cal led them the Mamm outh but
am at a lofs to know f1om wha t author l ty,
iS we have no tradition either oral 0 1 W i itten,
hat gives an account of any fpecies o t ani
ma ls which were as large as thole mull have
seen , judgingb y the magnitude of the bones.
Bulfon lays, that iim iiar b ones have b een
Found both in Ire land(if I am no t millaken)and in fome pa i t of A li a. It appear
s fo rme
111/hat e Xtrao rdinary , a t the firlt V iew, that we
lhould difcove r man ife lt proofs of the re havingexilled an imals of which we can 10 1 in no ade
idea, and which in fil e mull have far
ded any t hing now known upon ea i tn
hole ligns too ,in c l ima tes where the e le
(the large l’t animal - now in exill ence) isfound .
‘E very phaenom enon upon the
t ends to confirm the idea , that it ever
has been fubjefi t o revo l utions, belides its di.urna l and annual m ot ion from ealt to we ll .
fi l te r palling the Blue L ick , the foil , if pofl i b le , increafes i n richnefs. F rom thence to
Danvil le is about fift y m iles. Le xingto n l iesiab out mid way , and is 11 1 a i ly cen tra l t the”fine l
’
r and mo lt luxui ian t C on: 11 ; perhaps, on
1ea 1 th . F 1om Lexington to Leelburg is a b out
twenty m iles to Bo onlbury it is about twen
t the Up per Blue Lick neat E
ly thir ty.
Thi s lquare which 18 nearly fifty mil es , com
p1ehends
l
E 6 2
p rehen'
ds entirely~what is cal l ed
‘
firlt.
rate la
L cclburgl ies on the Ken tucky, about tw{miles from its mouth by land , and nearlyty by water. The country between that
t he O hio is broken ,but rich, though
deemed a valuab l e body o li latucky is bound everywhere by high rockycipices, which a re general ly two hundred
and upwards perpendicularf and which m
xi ts palles difficul t . ,F eW~
p laces on it have
b ot tom land , ast he rock r
t o the bed ofz the rivera; rvhic
after heavy rains,rendersit very
“
the impetuofity of its current . ~0 n afceu“the bankso f this river, ' the land on eithe r
is equa l ly go od for a cconfiderab le dill
above -Boonlburgf but adj acentf to the m
t ains from fwhe nce ' the river t ile s, the con~ b ecomes broken , fieril , and o f little or no if
lue . Boonlburg l ies on the Ken tucky, abo
lixty m iles above e its mon th by land , and aboone hundred and thi1 ty by w ate r. F rom L
‘
burg down the rive r o n »the fouth fide ,‘about ten o r twelve vmiles, t he hills a re co
derab ly high and fl eep ; but w hen'
yo
the waters of B rinnon’
s L ick c reek,
in to a body of good champaign lan‘
d, whi
extends with l ittl e variation t o the R apids
the O hio . F rom L eelburg to Danvil le , t
country for the firl‘t twenty miles, is of an i
ferior rate of l and fo r this country 3 .but
E 63‘
I
er‘
on;you get in to the l lCl] country I haveioned, comprehended Within the {quare
'
f fiftyf »miles.La r
ge b odi es ofgood land l ie on every fide‘
f Danvill e fo r twen ty m iles and upwards ;
t in the co urie from thence to the Rapid s
the O hio ,on the waters ofSa l t river(which
3 its name frOm a fait‘
lpring,cal led Eul a
Lick, tha t is on - its banks, about twen t y“
e s fro m the - mo uth of the river} the coun a
is,in fome p lac es; b roken in to = ridges of:
s, Which -are in ge nera l good land ,but no t
“
1 wa tered : A st youf approach the R apids
e co un try be comes m’
ore leve l,be tte r water
and the fo il more fer tile . The coun tryBear
'
grafs is b eautiful‘
an tl rich as indeed ,
the land o n G oofe and H arrod s creeks. In
e fork of? the C hio , and—Sale rive r, which for m
nél ion ab o ut twenty miles b e l ow the R a
the c en try is fl at , and inte rlpe rfed with
l l lakes or pends, o ecafioned by the ex
me'
lowne ls of the banks -
of“
the’
O hio in !
s fo rk , which. when fl ooded;over i .ows the"
y, and th e water fil l s the le po nds perioly, o r as often -
as tho le inundati‘
ons hapw
which / are frequen t fr om Decembe r un t il
The R apids of the O hio,lie ab out feverr
undredm iles be low Pit t lb urg,and about four
undred ab ove its confl uence with the Mili if
ppi. They are occafioned by a' ledge of.
F 2 rocks
E 64 1
roeks which fire tch’
ae ro ls the bed of the ri
from one lideJ o the o ther in l’
Ome place sj eél n rr l o much , that they are vilib le when t
water is not high, and in mo lt pl aces when trive r is ex t1emelylow . The fal l is no t m0 1e 1h
b etween four and five fe e t in the dill .”.‘
nce
a m ile lo that boa ts o f any burthen maywi th fafe ty when there is a flo od but b
com l ng up the l ive r mull?un load ; whichc ouve t ience may very eafiiy be removed
cutting a canal from the mouth of Be argt
t he Uppe r fide of the R apids , to be lowlower reef of rocks, which is
m iles, and the coun try a_ gentle decl i
who le way.
The fituat ion 0 13 the Rapids 1s t i ul’
yful . The r ive1 is ful l a mile wide ,
fa l l of wate 1 , which 18 an e terna l cafea ‘
de,
pea ts as if nature had defigned it to lbew
inim itable and ti upendous at e he r works.
b readth con tributes to its fub limity and
continual ly rumb lingnoife t ends to exhile
the fpirit s, and g1ves a c liee1fulne
lluggards. The view up the rive1 is t
ed,a t the dill ance offo ut le ague s, by an
in its cen ti e , which is con tralbed by the
o n the oppofite lho t e , that ex tends a lon
in to the count i y but the eye recedi1
new beaut ies, and ampl e fubj eft fo r adm it
t ion,in the t iling hil ls of Sl l \ e 1 (neck whic
li tetching ob l iquely to the north. Well, pi oud
[ 65 ]
In leaving the Rapids m a fouth Welter
direct ion the country is fl at , it bm deringthe co11n t1y I have defcr1bed in the fo rk
the O hio and Sa l t rive i s. Afte1 paffing t
m ain branch o f the Sal t rive t near Bul l iLick, ten m iles dili an t , in the fork of t
n orth and {011th bi anches, the countryc omes broken and hil ly ; but be tween wand the Cumberland road
,that leads fi om
.
upper parts of Ke n tucky, there is a confi
ab le exten t o ffine land 5 but trave l lingal eagues farther fouthward , you arrive at e
t-
enfive plains, which extends . upwards of o
hund red and fiftymiles in a Youth- weft sour
and end on lywhen they Jo 1n the mountai
count ry. Some few clumps o f t rees, a
grove he re and there, are the on lyt ions to a boundlefs horizon. It is ple
beho ld the deer bounding over the for
lhrubs which cover the ear th. While th
ting fun (tilds tho le extenfive plains, thebreez es o t a lammer
’
s eve , playing upon
enraptured fenfes, foftens the hea1 t to l ovefi iendfhip. Unperce ived , upon fome e
n ence , yo 11 may enj oy the (po r ts of wildm als, which here rove unconcerned lordthe fie ld. H eavens ! what charms are t
in libe l ty ! Man ,born to enll ave tho fuho
n ate animals, has lo ngfince enflaved him
But reato a at l ength in 1211“an t fm iles,withgracefulwide , il luminesbo thhemifphe
lutttl‘ Al
E 67
and the bright G odde fs in go lden plumes,and
in her triumpha l car, mull:new refurne her
long loft empiWe now have arrived upon the waters of
Green r°
.ive1 1
at the mouth of which, and be
tv. een that and. the O hio , l ies H enderfon’
s
grant of twe lve m i.es fquare , as I men t ioned.
l he pla ins extend b eyond the head waters of
this river qui te into the l im its 0 1 North Caro'l ina ° but at the mouth, and for fortym iles a»
b or e, there is a large pi opo rtion ofgo od l and,particula1 ly Upon
t i
Panther creek . F rom the
mouth of G 1een R iver up the O hio to Salt ri
ver, the land upon t‘
i e banks of the O hio 18
1ge r1 e 1°
ally fertile and rich ; but l eaving its
b anks you foon fal l in to the plain coun try ,
which 18 co nfidered as l it t le be t ter than barren11and . H ow ever , it is 1111oil like ly that theyw il l prove exce l lent fo r iheep to feed upon ,
the c limate b e ing n ea rlv the fame as that of=Spain , Where the fine lt wo o l in E urope is produced . An d though the land is no t reckoned
valuab le in this country, on a cc ount of its
compara ti'
e fre t tiity, ye t 11 15 053. {uperior qua
1 lizy t o great pan ts of the foil i n the l ower parts
of V irginia , the C 1iro tii 1219 and G eorgia . It
abounds with ha?el 111
. 1if ié , it IS 11 ell 1 < nou°
n,
never grows kind ly 111. a or 1011.
The nat - ve th an bcz°°1° is rou1 1 ' in thele plains
in the grea ter"
abundant: are like r i le
plumbs o. al iEc‘
rent 1 0 1 2-
8
4 if?
we can fo rm
any idea of the native grape thatgrows fpon
0 11857:here , Wha t the' fame {o il is capab le
producingwhen they are cul tiva ted, it wonappear that no c lima te or foi l in the Wor ldmo re congenia l to the vine f or [h ave n ev
tali ed'
mom - de liciousgrapes and it is the
rrio n of ~ fome j udicious fore lgnersy whovifi ted:theia
'
Arcadian”
regions, that
wino e s t an be fmacle in any par t of»1the g
might:be produced From r the native grape
per ly cultivated. Th ere is no thingmen
’
than t o meet f witlr a pleaffant ' wine m
o the peefeéti‘
on of‘the art
h t , I fl at ter myfelf fome'
progrefs W
b e made in this bufinefs, as feveral fore igners
have elong had it in agitation to undertake it .
The country b e tween G re en and Cumber
land rivers is ingeneral 1 ich , andfine lywa te red .
There is in it°
a mo lt valuab le lead m ine ,feveral fal t fprings, and two o f a b it umen ,
which, when annalyz ed, is’
found to b e amber .
But , to much do we(te nd in need o f chjtmill s,and mineralil
’ts, that we remain ignoran t sof the
properties and value of many. t'
ofii lsw
b een di‘fcovered ;andmany cont in
I apprehend, from the want o f curio li ty of
men whofex on ly objeé’
t feem s:to be cul t iva t ionand the fe ience o f government . Perhaps
theft: are the molt e fi'
en tial to the happine ls05
illllgnltt
‘
,that
in,human111
3
m m the w ild Ha te which th is coun try isArts appeafi to foll ow populat ion . Ne
ty has been the mother of‘ inV-ent ion ,11 151
bat:from the a t ta inment of that perfec
ion to whieh we have an ived 111 211 18 and pin
ofophy, wifdom and ic ience mufi go fo 1wa1d
is phyfi czuly 111111 03111 16: fo 1 m an to degene- w
"a te to b arbarifnu .
1 W hen tho gre atefi meri t confifis in the ex~
ereife ofi‘
the 11 3 1111 and appm priate 13
lems, I. 1:I1i11" that it is -hkely that the ingenm
ty of m en 11 1 Ifee l a mo re l ively fiimulus
the exe1 c1fe of inVe nt’
ion from“
the 10 Ve o f fameg
,
the love of ma nkifi d, a11 d regard to t h ei1 011 1-
1
d ignity; than i t ove r yet ex—perienced from no
Gefl i ty . W hile odioue dz11111 6110 115 ex ifi , 2111 111
m en o11
u1
'
6 11Jarded 111 proport ion to their {en t i
Ety, human nature mufi b e robb ed o f hzi lf l ts'
ma11 l1nef3;. a’
nd coofequen t ly men wifi be flo tb
fut . H ow‘
many drones do We ob ferve in eve
fy who feed upon the indufiryo f the necefii tou
‘
s9 , who work'
only as it: is new
e efiary to them ox 11’fence ! Sucn hav e been the '
effeao o ffl he faotitiousd umeso f man in your
Henfi fphero, that’
every thinghas become p6 1“
versed”; and gove rn 181113; infiead of feenringhappinefs to m en
, 11 ve on ly tended to aggmn
d 1z o indiv iduals; and 111 113 has flowed 111 111
3 13“
1deb afer11en t of ch a11 9&e 1 11 In c h has marked'
{ha l t the inh 1b itan:5 0 1 Elm-
O ps: 1171111 111116 more‘digmty than brute 01 13 1 113 6 5,
Gumberland’
E 70’
I
Cumbe rl and river rift -
s. among the 11101111
tainz , confiderabiy to the n o rth eafi and,ter its fevera‘b 1anches aha
re j oined i t,
long, fl ayfouths and enters the l imitCaro l ina : After a courfe of hal f a degree
Within thofe l imits, i t turns-
to the- north zw eft ,and empt ies itfelf int o the O hio ,
‘
at fom e dif
tance ab ove its j tm é’t ion with the M ifii fiippi. 1
The ~Tenefee w e 3 into the O hio , not a. lo ngii
way below the mouth of Cumbe t iand - l af
The Tenefee is the mo i’t important of the?
fonthern branches of the O hio . its nm them :
fork, . Ca l led H oifton,rifes in the coun try O f?
the fame name {which I have -be fore m en t ion - 1
ed), and aftetz paging through
is j oined by:ihe ma in or fouth b
b i aoch rites 111 the remo te parts of the fl ute
Ge o rgia, and , after 11 1 115111111; the he rders of!
the Che rokee co army, is j oined by the H O i- f
fion branch when i t is ca lled the Tenefee
ffom thenee 1t IF S fouth wetterly, qui t- e thi o
’
the l imits of \1 ot th‘
Ca rolim.9 and approaci1e3 1
the b ead wate rs 0 1 the M ob iie,which emp
- u
ti es itfelf into t re gti lph o f Mex ico. In its
courfe ,- \vl1ic lll is very rapid thus tat , from the
mate i ih l dec l ivity o f the high country, which
fi om gzaduaily fink. into s fl at , the 1c
is a number or fal l s, but none '
of them conli
de rab le . It now tom s again to the northward,
and from its l azy motion i t is obvious that t im e
is 1 e 1y li ttletai l oi water ft om this to the O
hie .
ereNC(1
o. Th is turn confiitutes whot 18 cal led thereat Bend of the Tenefee , o1 Mufcle Shoalm the number of 111 0 1113 in this pa o f the
er, which w e covered with theft: 1h ell fifh.
e rive1 is here from two to t’
m e e and a halfWide .
‘
l ts 1mporo
tance 'will confift ‘in its
ing the 111011 co nvem ent in le t from the up1 part s of V irginia and the Cat ol inas to the
ifiifii ppi, it be ing nav igab le for b oats of
one burthen ftom H olfion, the fal’1 3 ex
mhere carryingplaces wil l an 1wer 11111;
there are canals m ade, which can be done
with very litt l e expence .
H olfion is anarro wfir ip of cou n tryiarround
cl on every fide bye m oun tains but there is a
>affage which w inds through them,fo as to
it1 it of a pal‘fage this way , and down
- the r”
r, Withou t any difficul ty of b ad roads what
e r .
“
Should «
you con t inue your 1011113 byin -
t he road 510 Kentucky (which I {hal lrihe in anothe r place), you w ou ld have
ral moun ta ins to pais, and at leaft two
ndred ‘m ile s o f bad r oad.
After you leave the pl ains which ex tend ia
the C umbe rland c oun t ry, in your cou r1e to
e Tene lee ,the coun try i s 1 omcwhat broken
,
1110 171111 1 ich. G r ae at part o f the land hingeen thefe rivers and the O hio , and b e
ecn Gombe1 lan and G re en rivers, “as inlitat y g1an ts, made by V irgin ia to the ir of
and fold1e rs, and i s efi eemed a valuable
fit‘c‘. 31 2 0 11
£ 72 1
fi tuation fo r ' its proximity to t he j unctiontht io t and Miz
’
ii fl i ppi. Tili e itxgran ts ex te
fas low—on the M ifiifiippi as the par titio n lib e tween Virginia and -North -Caro lina : all
which is a beaut iful c ount ry : and
p f the river , .
‘v'hich are «very high , _preven
from ove rfl owing, which is not the cafe a g
The land in‘the gre at bend of the Ten
is fveny fine ; but when youg ap pmach
c oun try of the Chick afaws, it;rken ,
«light y a nd fandy‘
; and , a
t o the fouthward ,i have been info rmed ,(1
y e r- trave l led farther than this by land)
foil -grows fi ill ligbi er, .a nd ;e { cept a large
tdy of good l and on the [Viniifiippi and the
of the feveral fireams which f un into
-Gul-ph and the IVIifiifiippi, it i s iittl
thanWefi:F lorida 3 which has been
t ed in Euro pe for it s fer t il ity ; butcountry have I been endeavouring to
t o you ,that
,judging- by
- comparifon,
ple in Ken tucky and Cumberland lookt hat as an
'
indillerent fo il .This le t ter has imperc eptib ly grown
confiderable l t ngth . I was anxious to
prehend within this ik e tch,all the coun try
nominated the we l’tem count ry on both ii
of the O hio to the‘
M iami , a nd then the Who f the Ken tucky and Cum berl and count
and the country upon the Tenafee, in o
N contemplating the vaii fie ld of theA
tican empire, what a fiupenduous
does it afford for fpeéulatione thics, a nd commerce , actingupo
e ditferent in Tnany refpeéts from t
o ld world, and en tirely i n others !
m ent which, with its readingieems in its mightyand pro tection to one hemifphere . Agov
m en t which, fi om its fimple confiruétion ,the unity and efficiency of 1ts actio n , is
lefs 1emarka b le i n the po l itical , than its nral hifiory is to the phyfical wo rldIn ten years more , perhaps, a fettlem
will be fo rmed fufiic ien tly.populous, to beena federa l {l ate in the coun t iy into which In ow going to advance ; the l imits o f whi
from the confluence of the Mifl ifiippi and
hio to -De tro it , is b‘
e tweensfive and fix hund
miles ; and taking
[
the medium d itlance
tween Pittiburg and the mouth of the
[
afro '
fs to the Millifiippi from the O hio i
6live
o -o
E 75 3
i'
r
i
tle Te ll
s; The inhabitants of which immenferift do no" i nc luding F rench, amoun t to
th’
oufand . The country in this fork (ify(0 c a l l it) is various. G rea t part of it
een-
‘
defcrihed by Charlevoit‘
t , Hutchins,C arver ; Charlevo ix t feezn s
‘
to have go ne
tily from De troit by water the greatefl partthe way tof fN ew O rleans. H utchins to
e done nearly the fame from fi tt iburg down
he O hio to the Mifiifiippi, and up that rive r tohe Il l inois {6 up that , and from thence
0 Detro it. H e has given a to le rab le go od ac
un t of the Ill ino is coun try. Carver c onfin
his"
t 1’
avels a‘
nd remarks to the l akes, the ,
er part of t he M itfifii ppi, particularly ther St. Pierre , and the no rth- we ttern b ranch
“
that river, and to t he cufi oms and manners
the Indian nation s. Thefe authorshave all
nfiderable m erit . They have written {0 a
that their books have been gene ral ly
;'
wh1ch has t ende d to diffm i i‘
nate a know
e of this“
c ount ry in a favage(l a te . This
of it is little he‘tte r ; b ut you mull View itcreation hurtl ing from a chaos
i
of he teroous matter
,and exhibiting the {h itt ing tif
w ith which it abounds.
mmedia tely in the fork the land is fla t andto o verflow but as you advance on e iiver the banks rife , and the coun t ry ere
ng, difplays a luxuriant ‘
foil for a l ongcc above the VVabafh on the O hio fide ,
G 2 and
E 76 }
and quite to- the - Il linois o n the Mitiifiippi ii
which is ab out two hund red and thirtyabove its j unct ion with the
abo ve the mou th of Millb uri. T his
l ies near ly in the fame parallel of. lat
orKen tucky. F rom the m outh o f
bath the bot toms on the O hio are
and extreme ly fert ile , as is the
thence to Poll St . Vincen t ; but
rapi ds o f the O hio , and beyono f this river, the coun try rs cont
ken , and the foil in fume places
diffe ren t . After leaving Poll St .the ma te to 11e l l
‘
1inois coun try, ”1n to thole cx tenfi ve plains which havedefc t ihed 111 inch1 glowing co lours by H1113 . l his is cert .1i 11 .y_ a beautiful 60 11and the i mmenre nu tnbe t of deer, e lk,b uffal o ,
which are feen g1az ing in thofe n
ral meadows , rende'
s even u ildnefs’
ench
ing. The air in this cl ima t e is pure , and
11111 0 11 can inual’
un rlom led {ky tends no
l it t le to charm the fenl’
es. The coun try
twe en P 1’i St . V inc en t an i K
'
rfkatkies. is
and pl . w ith li ' tl e va riat ion .
afce I 'l l the l l la lS l lve i the toil g1ou s mzrtile ,
and o n e it l1e 1 fide you find 1111 t11e
lo 1 efis.
I 111 11it now beg you Wit‘l trave l w ith Hut
i 11 3 from hence to Detro it . H e will condyo u up t l13 head branches of tliis ri
'
ver ,
after a {hort pali’
age , you w il l emb atk again ou l
the w ate rs o f lake E ri e ; difcovering h ow the
O perations of this great count ry wil l be facil irated by the peculiar courfes of its immenfe
and numerous rive rs H is obfervations I haveb een to ld are con fiderab ly accurate
,and as I
have . not had. the advan tage of travel l ing thisrout e ,
I re commend- .
you to read his b ook,
which Was originallyf pub lifhed in England,and no doubt is hi l l to b e had.
De t roit l ies b etween lat. 4 2°and 4 3
°upon
the lake E 1ia , confiderab ly to the Wef‘tward of
Pi ttfburg“ The coun try lying b e tween them
is no t remarkab le for a n y thing but being a.
wi ldernefsa The foil nnd c limate is fueh as
would en title s
. it to the reputation of a fine
coun try in’
any part of Europe , except in win
ter, when the t ro ll 1s ex treme ly leve i e , butlefs intenfe than that of Canada. O
\11ebec l ies
ly in the fame lat itude o f Paris, and { torn
defcript ion which the Empe tor Jul ian haso f the winters he quar tered there ,
da
g~ his ~con1n1 and 111 G aul
,there feems to be
le diffe rence b e tween the Winte rs o f F rance
that period ,in refpeé
’t t o co ld;and the pre
1t w in ters o f Canada . Perhaps the extent
con tinen t lying to the norths -We fl ,’
and the
fe lakes o f'
freflr w ater which cove 1 it ,no t ad n it o ff the c l ima te of that part o f
merica be ing lo rapidly me l iorated as the e li
ate of Europe has oeen by cui ivstion How
e 1 e 1,
E 78
ever , it is certain , that as the countryhasmere opened in A
'
m‘
e eica , and the r
of the fun have aél ed more
t he ea rth, thefe benefits ha
al ready to {often the Winter
t o you) isis Ie ttling and papa l‘
mui’t , feone r o t iat
'
er, fr om
of things, become par
rneliOrat ing the climate o f the
. e r’
n- States . But , to re turn to Detroit.
fcourfe from thence to the head waters of”Pt/l ia tnis
‘
is fouth wefierly . The countryf ome difiance is flat, and the fo il heavy(lanai -
p but , upon the Waters of tho
i'
s b eautiful ,‘
and rich in the gifts of
The commun ication b e tween
and the O hio by wate r this way,the lbuthe rn b ranches of the l akeihort bail
'
age you ar rive upon the w‘
re at - M 1am i, which is navigab lego ofied . It mutt
"
be obferved that
have been ment ioning are no t
throughout the t e ar,for boa ts of above t
fi‘teen tons G reat part of the count:
tw een this and the VVaba lh ts champaign
in travel ling towa1da the R apids o t the
you pals confide t a ) le p l ains, and then fa
to a b roken and b’
i .ly tract of poor lancont
inues with l itt le variation un til you
proa
l: 79-
'
J
p10ach the Rapids, when all the variety and
charms, which t his river produces, prefentF rom Uett oit to the Ra
pids ts neai lyfour hundted miles.
I havegone cutfor'
ilyover the wefl erncountryWh1c l1 15peopled and about to b e peopled ; buthavepurpofely avmded takmganyno ticeof thofe
partswhich are fo l itt l e known, and ofwhich Icou ld fay nothingbut from the inforrnat ion of
hu11 tet sand favages,wh1ehhasbeenmdufh touflyco l lectedandpub l tlhed byCar eerJefferl
’
on , and
o thet s. Befides, as it is your with on ly to
’
b e
info rmed of the advantages of fet tlement , it
would have been idle to have t ioub leu you
W ith accounts of count ries which w il l no t befe t t led , 0 1 at leait formed into State s, 1n our
t ime .
The rapid popa la 10 11 of the ivefiern court
try has not only afto'
nifhed America itfe lif,but
it 111 ufl: amaz e Europe , when they ente r in to
the views and increate of this gt owingempire .
The 511ft fe tt lemen t on the we ttern waters bythe Englifhwas in 1 760 , and, unde1 the infl u~‘
ence of alm olt co n tinu 11 Indian wars, that fe t~
tlernen t(I am now fps k ing of the uppe r fe t
tlement on the O hio) nowcon tains n o t let'sthan an hundred thoufand fouls The Sta te
Of Ken tucky did no t make a permanent fet tlemen t be te re 1 780 , which now Con ta ins not:
sis than an hundred thourand .
'
1‘
11e Cumb erl and fettle nt b egan about this time
, but it
\V3 8
p
[ 82 3
ration {11011111they delire l t. Ir1 the 151115North Ca
‘
f f 1l111 a and Cumberland there ts lit
o r no commun icat ion b e tween them ,nor is 1
to be expected tha t it eve1 can be the ni ter
c it O f i it her to con t inue the connect ion :theref
’
o 1e e
, tha t d ifir ift 11111 1151
there are no definite l imi ts prefC t ibed by t
fede1’
a‘
l gove‘l nm
’
_en t fot the l ines of demar
to be the difi'
erent b‘
ound a
States which w
eVe r‘
it is eafy , by c‘
on fult i tig natura l boun
t ie s, to £0 1 111 a p e tty juft idea 11 he 1e w illtheir different divifions. I have already
ide'
d by a l ine 1 11 lat. 36 whi ch wi l lthe boundaryb f Cumberland t
mo unta ins wil l tno li l ike ly be11111 113 : its fouthe rn liin its wil l be , e ither
partition line con tinued b etween North C
l ina and G emgia(South Carolina neve1 p'
of
feflkd any wefiern land 01 it wil l 1 1111 fouthe rly, until it firikes that ridge of hi lls whichdiv ides the Tenafee coun try from the countryof the Chacktaws thence a due weft courfe to
the M ifii fl ippi, or fo l lowing fome o ne o f tho lfebranches which rife 1 11 there hil ls, and purl
'
u
ing its courfe to that rive t u This wil l comprehend a
' difirié‘t
‘
of country of nearly two
hundred
i 83 - fl
hundred miles in length fi orn cofi to we ll , andnearly an hundred and fifty from north touth. Icannot fpeak here w ith accuracy , as
t‘
is that par t of al l the weil ern coun t i y which5 leafi knovifn .
The country upon the head waters of the
nextm the lift of ad vancement
the fe t tlement of Hol
C linch, and the fett le f
V alley, which are part in
and Part in North Caro lina ; befidesmerit s of Nol a Chucha and F rench
Th is laft fe tt lement wi l l be ex tendedtheborders of the Cherokee country, whichll bind this State to the fouthward . i ts
fiem boundary w il l be Cum berland moun
which wil l divide it from the Stat es of
ucky and Cumberl and. Its n orthern li
will be the ridges of hil ls which dividess of the Tenafee and the G reat Karl a.
its eafiern boundary w il l be the high
divides the e afie l n from the weft
are t s in this pa i tt o f America , which are
111 ffVirginia the n orth mountains, and
co nt inue th eir courfe through the C aro
1nas . ThisState Wil l be in extent upwards of
no hu ndred m iles fi om no rth to fouth, andhe ave rage wid th tiom eail to welt , nearly an
d ari d fifty .
ry has moun ta ins on every fide
ut the fonth Weft, and is interfperfed w ith
high
E 84 ]
highhil ls in nioft pa 1 ts of it‘. The 1 alleys
en tréniely fertile, and every where finel
e redz“The c l ima te i n the upper
coun t i y is not fo temperate as thatxky , though it l ies 111 the fame lati tude ,
is, owi ng to the neighbouringmountains.
ti}?parts of this difiriét are we l l
cult ivation was brought'
to fixch confide
perfection, that the inhabitants 111111 i t iht cmhlat ion to b ecomeindependent
'
fe‘fince , under the difiinétion of the
Tranklin ,which veryProb a
“read of. Its p opulatioh is no t
ab l e , but its refpve ry foon 1 e t an
S tate ’ -r
,though it inaya equi l e fome
feet a un ity of fen timent s, and acoo f its various and de tached let
tha t drder'
which the o rgans of governmei e quire.
1 .
Be fo re I leave this fi de o f theMlfii ffiPPivInuit beg leave t o d 1grefs , and Ib ew what wil
b e the probab l e dell ination o f the Indian
t ions, 11 ho l ive b e tween the fouthern l im itsthe coun try Ihaxe b een m en t ion ing, a nd t
F loridas, and v hich m ay amount to thirre
thoufand, inclufit e of me n, women ,
child re‘n . The Cherokees are about two
fand five hundred the Creeks tht‘
ee
'
tho
five hundred the Chacktaws, a'
re
fix thoufand'
; and the ditIet ent vagrant n
{ 85 3
ayt
t
1 1
1 111 0 1111 1 to a'
thoufand more . The f e tt ie
t1 i1e maid 11g in the nn epe r par ts of G eo rgia
up ni8
the fine l and3 o r the O conee and i ke
m ulgee i i i e :y few years
d defi ance t o them in tha t quarter . The
them ,and fo rced t o b e q 11ie t
e
'
fe ttle m 11t o , 1 o 1 a ided by
I
I—Iol l’ton ,
111 0 fear from them ;
Iand the Cum 1
- 1121 115 is too pui zan t to appi e
hend anv (tan i he Se an ia i ds a 111 pofo r )
»
fefi i on of the i1 h. 1 1 1 1 218 f li ow lo ng they W i ll t e
main fo mutt depend upt 11 the ir mode ra tion
1d go od m anners), and -the fe t t ee men ts a t the
atehez and .1bove , , V hicn w il l foot] 6 :{ tend
fouthe rn boundaries of Cum lJe i iano
they wiii b e comple t e ly enve lon ed in
afew yea rs. O ut people i t i1 l continue to e n .
1. 1cr11mt eroach Upon them on three ti tties
,V
‘
hieh w il lcompe l them to l ive m ore dom eftic l ives, and
fiimi la te t hem t o o ut m ode of lit ing, o r
t o fs to the wefte i n fide o f the 1xfi ifiifii 1
1 pi .
In the fa t e n en t o f Lo ng E13 3 11d, 111 th
ofNew-Yo rk, forn e b f the tu bes of indi
i1 s remained , a:d l ived in co ntinua l interout fe with the w n ites. V Jhe the1° it was from
my e :uelty praei fed upon from the ir
ominant 13 2111 10 11 f 1r a rdent ft ii its , I wil lto fay b ut i t i erta in that W :
remain , and they are a fi o thfn l ,g ate order of beings , compared tt itiiorigineso f that sh immy. In the fe t tleof South Carol infi it zt he Catawbas were ai
lo tted
f 86 J
lo ted 21 111161 of they h
r et a ined their courage , t heir numbe r s~ h
1
great ly dec lined. The caufe of civiliz
p rovingrepugnant to the ir popul ation , I~
may be fufliciently accoun ted for in the wh
encomaging the ir thii f’t for intox ication .
I Wi ll next take notice of the G enafee co‘
t'
ry , which lies upon the waters that 1 11lake O ntario , and which it is cxpeél e
peopled as foon as the Six Nations of
are peaceab le . This is a very ri ch an
111161 of country, lying i n the remote
New Yo rk , bounded by Penn
fouth by the lakes to theh igh hil ls and a Wildernefs from the
country. I have hitherto om itted takingof it , as no t properly be longing to the wc oun try but as I am go ing to p ioceed to p:
t ition t he coun tryw ell of the O hio into fetrate States, I thought it molt confif
’tent
keep up the chain of connection ,and wit
out men tioning t his‘
difirié’
t, the i c .Woii ld'
ha’
b een a chafm between'
NewYork and the u
pe imo l’t State upon the waters of the
I w il l now return to the O hio . T
of hil ls which divides the waters of th
from that‘
of th‘
e lakes runningfouth - w
until theyi run no rth-wefl erly and divid‘
fources of‘
the V V‘abafh and Ill inois
from the fouthern b ranches of the“
la
w ill m o lt l ike ly 111 3 1k'
the l imits to
w e ll of the Uppe r St t te 1110 11 the well em
of the O hio.
'
Ihe ridge 0 1 hil lsW
E 87 7]1 9 ?
e waters of the Al l egany river From tho l'e 0 1
e G enafee , wi l l b ound it to the moi t it °
the
r and the O hio to the ca l ,and
to the fouth . The next {l ate
t m en the M uflt i11g111n and Sci‘
O hio and tha t 1 idge 0 1 hi ls betwee n
rces of the le rivers“
and tho le of Lake
The thi rd , be ween the Sc iota , the
iztm i , t he O hio , 1 1md the fame t idge
lis. The co m try lying be tween the Emi
VVabafh , the O hi o, nd the a tn e hills,
al
'
d pu t int o another Sta te and the
y ly in b e tween the Wab afh O hio ,1, and Il l ino is rivers, Iwouid e tl ab ii ih
h St a te .
11 the mou th o l’tb e Il lino is r ive t and
e rs of la1 t e M ichegan ,l ies d if
’
t rié‘c ofconn
e nraq al ly fe rtile with a ny pa rt of the we lte rn
n try ; hut , 1n t he progre iiion of our fett lets, it w il l be lome y ea i s beto 1e any fettle
ts can befo rmed there
,except in the fo zl;
the Miii i liippi and Ill111 0 15 ; which may b e
ti ed into a 8 e te , by runn ing“
a l ine fromAn thomy
’
s fal ls , in fnc‘
h a d irect ion as to
he the head b ranches 0 1 the ‘l llino is. But
s m o lt l ike ly that tthe co en try on the M ilan d Mith ari st il l b e fe t t l ed he 1rm e this
theugh it is confide i ed as the empire
Spain . H owever , I wil l not be In indeedas as to parce l out the territories o f O ther
nat tons 1
[ 1 11 :1
nations is(e ffic ien t ly prefiunptuohs to hawgo
'
n e fo far a s I have .
if have now maiked out the iin aginf r
b onndasfit s o f fix new Sta tes exe lnf'
w e 0 1
C111
t h e w he n fide o f the O hio , the Gena
fe t t lemen t and without 1111111111111; the co itri
b e t a a n the nor the i n l im its t i KentukPimhtng, m: the country be tween N iagD:tu
°
1 , 1 1nd the foure‘
s of thofe rivers whi
1 1111 in10 1he C l”10 .
The t ipper let t iement on , the enll ern £1111
t hfe O hio , 1° ill mo lt like ly fi llow the Cu
1 1 111111 11 and H o l lion 111 i ts independence .
péophng the new Sta tes l conclude the low
111 0 11 wil l be fu ll fe t t led , and eonfequen tlyfi izit to Le adm it ted in to the federa l goven1en t .
'
l l1e dili t i{it of country tha t w il l
h it fet t led 1 11 al l ptobabi 1i‘
ty , between the
hit), the lakes, and the Mifii fi ippi, to the fot
o i Sr1 An t il O I' y s F alls, is perhaps, that “hil ies be tiveen Im age ra and
'
De t 10 it , and 0X4tending to the t itige f hil
'
ls which divides 11111“
h a ters (f lake E rie andO hio , by t eafon o i italdamp and t o ld foil '
l .1 e ln rende r of the
fe i ts of l xl iagara and Detroit (which I under -
1fiand
°
i s ab 11 1 to b e done), may inm eafe the
fe ttlemen t» upon the b ou le rs of lake E 1e°
1 think it is no t l ike ly that tha t unhofhitC l ime will find 111 o b i t
-
1111 13 , while the ge m
1 egion s of the M fl i 1iippi are in a great 111 6 1
fuze uninhabited .lIt
h a
{ii 9 1 If?
hat the in any"
r was 36 150 , which Was'
th'
e i year 1 6 2 8.
1654 the difi‘
o lution of the Vir
k place; and impo rtationsce a
‘
fé'
fci‘ 1111111 it bec ame the practic e of
government to tranfp'
o t t convicts to the
emies to that it does not appear that the
pling of V irginia was naateria fly owingtd
migrations from’
Europe- z wh ereas Iib
'
avo'
ttpay ards of?! to arrive
e fing-le S tate o f Ken tucky w i thin one
ear , and {1011134 t o in fe ve ral - o thei’
ears.
G r’eat par t o f the count ry from the Bay of
F undy to‘
Cape F lo rida upon the fea coafi is
unfavourab le to agriculture; New England“
has neve t ye t produced com fufficien t to fnp'
ply'
its inhab i tants with b read ; whic h mull pro
Ceed e ithe r“
from the: ignorance of the arts
of ha lbandry in”
that coun try, or from the
poverty o f the fo il : I~be lieve bo th have
he lped to re tard the progre fs of agricul
ture. Long Ifla’
nd is chi t a land heap ,Whe re the inhab itan ts fée rn l ot a great l engtho f time t o have be en c
—cnt en t to lit e 1115 n
th
The S ta te (11 New York f 1 1°
a confide re o le dif
t ance b ack is a c o n t inua ti cn of hills and i t e n e s.
The coun t ry from i’ c leulhm k t o the capes of
the Delawa re is a fl at o f n o thi ng but falt
m arihes and pine ha rrens , 11 hicn (x tend for
twenty n ines up the coun try ; and the who le
coun try
coun try irqm 1 thofe capes fouthward to th
G a it 0 1 F lorida 13 no bet te r, fo r a confide 1z1b1
difi ance tro rn the tea the bot to ms of the ri
excepted ; fo that the fit“: fe t tlersca i had no t only the native s
againft, but alfo ex treme pover ty .
The e xtenfion of.
iheDutch fe t tle fine inn
Q he ferti le banks of tRariton , in Jexfey, 1 and the fet tle tn e titPennfylvania by the ce leb ratedproduced that p enty which 13 no t
fary to comfort , but 13 eifen t ial
that fe cundi ty which d ifiingui fhespopulation of molt 1 11fan t coun tri es, after theyhave overcome the firft d ifficul ties of -ett ablifh
As the natives‘were drivenb aekf ‘
the fet tiers
b egan to pene trate in to the fi xt i l e regions
the midd le par ts o f the S ti tes ; which liefome diftrtnce from the fire coat
’t .
ral caufes ' now comb ined to re t
popul ation of the coun try. . The un
voum ble appearance of the foil of N
fi n a l -1tud induced mo l’t of i ts inhab itan ts
l ead fen faring li1 ’ e 3 , whi ch not only tend
heck the na tu1al inc1eate o f men by the lofT'
e
i nc idental to fuch an employmen t , but , b in
(lei , in a mater t l degt ee , the pror agation o
the fpecies, by the ff par ation ot the faxes.
E”
94,
1 1“
ee s ,nor any of that lofs which
i
man uma
coun trie s fuffe r bytheir c itizens entering in tofo reign fe rvice , or fett l ing in foreign coun
t ries : out Voya,jres wil l be regulated the
periodica l fl oods, and the £ 7 218 o f abfen
b e more de term inate and certain fo that ah
fence he re cannot fo material ly in terrupt do
m efiic happineli
s, and canno t in the leal’t re
tard the increafe o f 1nhab 1tan . s. It IS
bie that we can eXpe rrence any thingy et ty , int no country, perhaps, upon 1
is fo rich in the coni torts and ne
life.
’
As to war s, We can h
few yearsmo re are pail The Spaniards may
put us to fame 1nconv’
enience for a few years
to come ; but , in doi‘
n’
g this, they. wxll not .
only t itki
the lofs of New O rleans, but theWho l e o f Louifiarra , whi ch theyconfider as the
key toM exico . Thus fecured from wars, and
the 1uland nayigation ot the countryno t fnbj eflingus to materia l lofi'
es m that bufinefs with
the propenfity to e arly marriages, p roduced
bythe iimplicity and inno cence o f y outh ,tu
t ored unde r the pure max ims o f virtue and
reafon it cannot b e c confidered as a fanguine
ca lcul a tion , .when'
w e add the addi t ional confiderat
‘
ion of the probab le‘
numb er of remi
gi ants we may receive , that our population .
wil l double once in fifteen years.
H aving endeavoured to give you an rdea of
the coun try north weft of the O hio, omit ted
[ 95 ]
in my lai’c and Wha t wil l b e the prob ab le par,
t it ions o f the New States to be laido fli
on that
fide of the river, the population , and expect
e d increafe fo f t he inhabitants of the wefiern
country ; I [hall take leave~ofyou for the pre
fen t , and in my next you {hal l have an ace
e‘
ount-o F”
its-
productions, navigations, 8m .
Your’
s, 8cm
"
E1 9 5 0
R V .
KENTUC 1211.
MY DEAR"rm 1;ND ,
N the advancement of
ture feem s to h ave been 1 3 every coun
the prin ary o bj ect of m ankind—Arts and
e nces have fo llowed, and, ult imately, t
h we b ee n re levant t o each O ther. F ortun
ly fo r m ankind ,the pre t
i
en t aera of reafon ,o n l y aomzts , b ut makes it necefl
i
ary that th
ih n uld go ii ii i i
l
ii in hand. The decency of l
is { t ot t he ma l eft of fublunary blandifllmcn
I urity is to the body what virtue is to t
{0 ul g— an e te i nal 1nv1gorating germ , w
b lz {iioms difrufe the mod fragrant odours,
give a V 1vac ity to the mind equal ly manlyde lto ht lul .
l he we lie tn l imits of the federal empire
b ounded o n the n0 1 th by the l akes, O nta
E'
ie ,St. C l air , M ichegr an ,
SupC 1i0 1 , and
lake o f the wood ; to the well by thepi and extendingas far fouth as the Natc
o r la t . 3 2 deg then is bound by the F 101
to the feuth. Vvi
hat is cal led th e wefl e rn
E‘
9 81 1:
me packed 0 11 bo rie s and(ea t acnofst thejmom
t ain t o the in land ton 11 3 of Pe nnfylvan
Nimyland and(as I hinted i n a forme r
ears a hen gi aaingforms the
pal o f thefe fe t t lers, they wil l 3 1find at marke t for their catt le at Philadel
Bal timore,and Alexa nd1ia .
Thefe fe t tleme n ts m ight produc e
ab le quanti ty of fugar, but hithe rto Whathave made has ferved for li t t l e mo ie
home confumpt ion , as every pa rt of the
e oun tty from lat 4 2 to 36°
produc es an
ap le tree a s wouldequal to furn ith fugar for the inhab itants
the whole eat th : and ,to fend it to any of t
m arke t towns on the At lan tic , is too far to ,
profitab l e unt il the canals of th
{hal l have been finiihed. T m t country pduces a l lio all the po t- he tbs which are co
m en in Europe .
1 feveral kinds of. nuts gr ow
the foree tts, Inc h as chelfnuts, hicko ry ,a
black walnuts. The mountains, hil l5 ,inhabited:pa1 ts abound in dee r, w ild turke
and a fpecics o f gronie w hich are ca l ledthe ; Ame ri cans premifcuoufly partridge
pheafant . . There is an abundan ce of
fowl , as is indeed the c afe in every par t
we itern co un try : to enumera te thefc
p rove n e ither amufe nren t e r infl tut‘tien ,
L ine n and wo r llen c l o ths, leathe a, and
for home confumption ,are manufactured
.c
E 9 9 ]
fiderab le {h eeeis. The 11110"511 91 at t icles are
on ly made in fam il ies for their own ufe but
ihe latte1 are made by men of pr lrofe 1 1on in.
that bnfinefs, and are o f a qual ity tha t wouldnat dilig1 nee the Mechanics of3 1110 11 13 . Blackfariths 1
1 10 1311:o f all {111 ts
i
even to m aking fire
2111
111 5 ,i s do ne tht re ; al i’o cab in et
Whee l - 11 1 i1r l1 t ; m ill- \1
1 iglii, koufe ca i pen try ,
j o ine 1v ,{l1o e - n1ahing, & c . & C . 111 fhort . all the
t rade s immed iate ly ne cehafv to the promo tion
of the com to xts o t new Ict tle 11 1en ts, are to be
paf fing to the {huthward of lat 40“
dizg. the c l m e te b ecome s favourab le to the
111111111 11 o f‘
tObacce . l t wil l . no deuht; gmw
farther to the no 11h ; but 11 1either its fiavohr isTo aromatic , . or the crop fo ce rtain or produc
d the fai thefl'
1 3 ti th tobacco g1ows ,ncrally thefine i its qualitv .
1 hence it is,that
faegare o f Cuba a t e(0 much admit ed fotheir pe cu l iar (cen t , and the 0 10 0 11 0011 00 {0 1
its 111 ildnefs. H o11ve1
1 1
e1 ,
‘
this is of litt le confe
quence to any coun tiv; a s it is c ai tain n o cul
livat ion is fo pernic ious t o the fo il;
11a nd of (0
rea l ach antagc to the 131111111 1 10 1.
It con
“11 11ally impoverilhes the l and ; and c Jery ad:
d it ional fenlon ,in u ead o r producing riches to
an eita te ,tends to b eggar i t every ve l
’tigé of
itsj' grow th is m ile ty and devalh t ien , and no
but cni t: as p i olili c as that of the Nile ,ould be apaahle of pro
’
ducmg 11 for anylength
length of t ime, according to the l'
yftem Wh
has b een pui fued 1n V irgin ia and Mary la
H owever the who l e o f the Ohio and M i
p 1 c 1 un try be low lat ..4o deg. 15 perhaps b etter
adapt ed to produce tob ac < o in quantity t hanan
“
) o ther country upe n the face of the globe
é:
Kentucky produc es ,befides to bacco all t
e rent kinds of grain ,which I have defcrib
ed in the upper fe t t lemen t ; a ll the fi uits,W i th the addit ion of aprico ts and meet?1rines '
the1e and peaches grow here to very g1 eat
fec’t i0 11 , par 111cu arly when plan ted Upon a liglo il
,w hich {hou ld always be the cafe when
can b e found b ut hoWeve 1 extraordina rym ay appear, it is no t often the cafe in this ditriét o l
'
counwtry
Tho le cu l inaty p ants , vege tab les 81 C ,
have enume ra ted abo ve , are produced in t
who le we ll em coun try. In fome par ts th
grew to gre ater perfectio n than in o the rs,in this the cucumb er , turnips, peas, an d
o thers are much finer than 1 eve r law 1
any whe i e b efide . The cant ilope me l oon ly to be equa l led by tho le 1n Pe i fia
m e no t a t the troub le and expence of fo
E ve zy thingput in to the ground o f the
tab le kind , gm vt s in a mo lt wonderful
The fo il 18 uncomm ruly favou i ab le
and Ind ian em n . I have known 1 2
the Former prfoduce l from an new of
and as much as 1 00 bulhe ls of
exce l lence ,Iaa pp rehend
, will always make it1110 1e profitab le m anufaétory.
The grow th of wool ill form an importa
c onfide 1a1i0 n w ith us. T he plains I havefcribe11, ex tend quite to the m ountains, fo r
{heep he re m ay have every advantage 11711
the fl ocks o f Spain enj oy If we canany idea from the famples 0 1 wool prod
111 many parts of the count ry, we may co
e lude that our mo lt fanguine expecta tions ub e ful ly anfwe red.
‘
The 1111111 115 are m'
o l’tly driven out of Ktucky . Some are fl ill found upon the he
waters 0 1 L ickingc reek G 1eat Sandy, and 1
head waters of G 1 een ri ver . Dee r ab ound
the extenfive forefis but t he elk confinesfelfm ofily to
’
the hilly and un inhab ited plae
The rapidity of the fe t tlemen t has driven
W i ld turkey quite ou t of the m idd le countr
but they are found in large fl o cks in all
extenfive wo ods.
Am idlt the moun tains and broken ceun
t ries are great numbers o f the grout-
e I have defe ribed and finee the fe ttlemen t has be
e ilab lifhed , 1 e quail, by fo l l ow ing the trai lgrain which is n ecefiit rily (cat te 1 ed thi ou
the Wilde i nefs , has m igi ated from the old
t le tnen ts on the 0 11151 fide the mountain ,
has b ecome a eonfl r1 nt refident wi th us.
b ird Was un l1 nt111 11 111-311:on the firlt peopl
of the country.
t 3
There is a .variety o f wild - fowl in eve ryart of this Sta te , particularly teal , and the
r duck. The lat te r b reeds Wi th us.
3 incub ation is a lways in temperate c limates,
hich is the reafon of its be ing ca led the furn
er duck
The product iohs o f Cumbe rland are near lyfame as thofe of Ken tucky. The qual ityTobacco is pe 1haps fom e thin
gb e tter ; but
c lim a te be ing c onfiderab ly warmer , it is
o t fo favou1ab le to wheat and barley nor does
rafs grow the 1 e {0 lux tn ian tly as W 1t i1 11s.
The coun try b el ow Cumbe rland foon b e
mes warm enotlgh for indigo and ric and
rhaps thefe ar ticles, 111 a few years, WL l h
be
l t ivated on the Mifiifii ppi with as much fuc
f not more ,than thev ever were in South
o l ina 0 1 G :or r ia, pa1 ticularlv the form
‘
e1 ,
he fo il o n theb
l i iiii ii ppi is in finite ly m ore
uria'
n t than any in the CC a ro l in as. Some
ys were made in this t unne ls, pre ions to
he l ate war b 1. t ths obj ect 11 as abandoned in
he defin i tion of the fe t tle a ea t I m en tioned
11 a form er le tter, 1acle be l ow the I atchez .
O ranges, and o ther tro nicai fi 111ts , g:ow at
e Na tchez , and {o ne di’tance ab ove , to con
era o le pe i feét io n The ze a re a var. ie ty of
s vhich g row ho t11 111 Ken tum y and Cum i
1 la1i ci,tome of which ai e ccm zr on to both
m o lt rem i rkablee of which 11 the PJC Q DC ‘
as they have all been. noticed,bo th byCarver
‘E 164 Z]
Carve1 and 16 {Yeufon I fh'
a11refer you to
fo r t11e11 particular dexcrip tio ns and p1opeG éapes, plumb s , goofb erries, and 111 1 1ggowal fo fpdunfariépufly 111 the font-
V
h
o‘
f Ké'
n tuéiéy , and 111 mof’
t pa1 ts of
13 nd.
H
The prod‘
uce p f t11"
e Wefierir co unt?
b e .neérly the fame in the fame pa ral‘1els
11111 1113 1th1ougho'
11t ; fo tha t comparinggznary States , the fet t led couh a yeaft of the O h io
, you W1'1 b e 5113113 1to
juft idea o f what they w i ll be cahahleduemg: 3 111 to comm ehend the obj eétcommerce of this count ry,
it 13 fi It nec
t o con t emplate 1t , aho 11nding i n all the cq
for ts o f l ite , l im 1ted in its vazie ty of cl imon ly by what i s no t defirab1e: with a fo ilpm l ific a nav1ga t13 11q fo ex tenfive , and a
1ty fo pe rm an en t 110 111 b e ing 11111111 11, 111
eems th is 11 151 exten t o f emphe 13
1
0 1111; 1
equal led 11 3 { 111 11111 1ty but by t l e cbj eé1 ggra diz eme n t.
Pro aifions, t ob acco , 11 11 11 1 1W mated 3 13
confi itute the art1c1es 0 1 our trade . 8
a qum tity of b eef, pork bacon, b u:tex,
&c . 8 111 1 1 11 1 0 3 1111 111111 3 11 fi om this c
as W 111 0 11 } d ay, no d 111b t , 1711 1 111111 the
111 1111 1111111 13 ,21 11 1 11 1 1 e i icf to the 111116
C 11111 e fé, w m fe 11. 1 11 ty 11 11 1 110 11 of xicek111 111 10 1 t t 1 keep 111 11 z111
cl h0 11y together.
1110 1 11111 111 0 115 c0 1111 11 1e 111 11 1 1 211117 1157 3 prov’
t 1 06 11
let us fixppafe<
5 or 2 0 , of 60 tons b
then eacl1 , Whict ould require each 6’ ha
to navigate them . Ten b oats then o f 6 0
each Wi il employ 60 hands, which willBe eti) nmfiga te 11 11 the .
”-
Jream boats
each and which w ould he mme tha n
tr
o t ing b ack the cazgo which the proda
the te n
o
boats urchafe, ; as the
,a t
Rife ex’
por t a re ba lky, While we
rhne goods :
goodse f every fort w i ll always b e 111a11 11faa i in t aWe» make 0 111
falt;_
fi1ga1‘ fpifi ts,
‘
m’
a lt l 1qu01y‘
and {hall'
upT he invcfi
‘
n tio‘
h o’
f cau yitig aa b oat agam ft
fii‘eam by the’
in fluence of fi‘
eam, is a l’
a t‘e'
y by a‘M1
'
5R 1i1.1feyity has been reward
by S tate w ith the ex‘
clufive privilegen avigating th01e b oats in her 1 ive rs for I
yea1s ; and as this g1at-1 t was gmen p
to the in tiependeace o f Ken tucky ,the
fcpa ta tion gua1an tees his rigi t . S
1 a 11 ce o r o ther has pre ve nted his b ringtae in in to ufe. H ovifeve r the
gsg can .b e
doub t of the iuccef‘
s of his fcheme, for ' the
femb‘
ly o f V iigin ia had the mo“i unequiv
namuances bcf n e they gave the p1ivilege , 1
c ertificate figned by G en er al ‘N afifington
n
ai1Mm sage Efquire ; fet tihgforth that the
" ha
1[ IO 7 i]
en a boa t which they b e lieved to b e con:
d by M r. Rurntey , afeend a Pu eam
the 21111of 1113 11 11 3 11 1 bour, but u itho ut
ing .t he operarmg caufe , ,which 1121
ear ed f to'
b el
fie am . 111'
this. p 1tix1eip1e
fail(and from fueh au tho rity 1 do n ot'
Ve how It 18 to be p refumed ,) 1 fl at terthat ph110 10 p113, i s capabie of iupplying
p l ace 111 the appl opriat ion of fonze one of
3
fee rets with which nmeha’
n ies ab ound.
In taking a retrofpeé‘t ive View. of the worki ,
e are for a. moment furpt ifedwwhen we l CC Q ia
61 that fome thoufands of years had e lapfed
fore prin tingwas invented, and that the on;
way Of aeeumuia ting the copies of 211 1 and
111113 was by the oy method of tranfe i ib
and that the at t of ngyvigat ion w as for near,
iong 11 time deviomfl nd regulated by no
111 1aws, the fl are 3 11d head ki nds of differ.
ng t he on iy guid es t o the ad s
11 1 1 0 often perifne(1 whenens were o
‘
efem e 0 L ib er ty ! 11o
Mee 1 1 1ngs thou b 1ough t us Marn i111
Igat ing his O pin ions, now finds fec uritythe wings of an C11? bi fhed freedom ;
1111111 1 1 dungeon which 6 1 pfed the 111;m ind o f the emi eb rzi ted 1 13 112111
, wee 111
b e e t eé‘ted in t o a. fehoo1 fo i him to lee
‘in tnfiead of a p rife n to bewéii the 111115 .
e igno rance and depravity o r his fe110w
atures. Tr 1111 and reafon hai e le d to this
meiio ra
[ we ]
me libtation of m nner'
s, it Wi l l le za tob enefits to mankind .
— Bt1t {hould weo b l iged to row 0 1“b ainfi the Pt
18 1 0 on ly pi aéi ic i lele'
l he frequen t tu i nings in the
eve ry bend eddy w a te r, whic
C Wind affo rds(whiching thegreater part of the year from t he
weft , an d d1reél lyA up
“the Windmgs o f
ve t , which, by“
reafon o f the vacan cythe
“
banks and rifing forefis on e it her
fdrd'
a channe l for the cu’
rr'
en t
fi tfficient with fails,keeping as much as
ble i n the eddy water, to cafl y a boat 5b
a day up the fi téai‘n .
To account for thofe wui cls philofo'
ph
would be ex trem e ly eafy but , as it is
cumfiztnce no to1 ious fi om the te
Voyage s in the M1fiifiip pi a
the tefl of expe rience
philofophical difquifit io n upon the
Should this navigation pro ve too
and no 1mpt ovemen ts‘
appea r l ike ly to b ein it , the impo rting into the country m
fac ilitated by ano ther channe l , from the
ofMex ico up the Mob i le , which is a 13 7.rent ; from the pi incipal b ranch of whic
’
is but a {11 0 11 pafi:ige t o a b i ameh
fee , when“you wil l have the advan tage of
fi t t am qui te i nto the Ohio . I have ca n
rated th1s Ci rcumfiancc merely(0 1 the fak
6111118Ni
I IO
dit ie s b et»11 een the northern and fouthet n pof this empire wil l b e facil itated.
In cont inuing the plan of inte 1courfe , it:
b e found ex trem e ly eafy to pale through
O ntario to Vxl ood creek, Up’1wood c reek
,
by a p o rtage o f about 3 m iles you arrive a
creek, which in 3 miles m0 1e brings you
F ort E tlwai d upon the Mohawk l iver , wh
is a b ranch o f H udfon’
s t i t er . There are
veral carryingplaces between that an tl i
t ion w ith H ii tlfon but very' l it t le
would remove them ,and I have no doubt
the State of New Yo rk wi ll be j udicenough to le t earl
v about it. It is ce rtain
they
o
have o rderecl furveys to b e made,
p l ans a 1e fo 1n1 1ng hi t the removal of thofefi ruEtions. It has bee n long i n embryothem . It was impofii ble a pl an of fuch
tycould efcape that {a
re and pe 11e t1a t ingpt ician G ene ral Schuylci , who le vafl e f
‘ta te
moll ly in that pat t o i Amei ica
There th e al fo pm tages into the wate rs
lake b r ie from the VVabafh, G reat
M uth ingum ,and Allegany , fi om 2 to
it he ;zo t tage b e tween the O hio and?1jif ill tie 2 0 mi le s u hen the o b l
in the Monongahala and Cheat r ive rs a re
m oved ,which wil l form the fi ril objeél o f
G ent le men o f V irgin ia when they have ,co
ple tu i the: c a nal s on '
the Po towmac .
The oblh ufl ions to the navigation of
C 1“
I IO
dit ie s b etween the northern and fou‘
thern pof this empire
.W i l l b e facil itated .
In cont inuing t he plan of intercourl'
e , it
b e found extreme ly eafy to pafs through
O ntario to Wo od creek, Up”wood c reek,
by a p o rtage o f about 3 m iles you arrive
creek, which in 3 miles mo re brings you
F ort E dward upon the Mohawk river , whi
is a branch o f H udfo n’
s river . There are
veral carryingplaces between that and i
t ion w ith H udfon but very‘l it t le
“would remove them ,and I have no do
t he State of New Yo rk wi ll b eenough to fe t earlya b
'
eut it. It is ce rtain
they have o rdered"
furveys to b e made,
p l ans are fo 'm ing for the removal of thofefi ruftions. ,
l t ' has ee n long in emb ryo
them . It . was impofii b le a pl an f inch
ty could efcape that fage and pene trat ingpt ic ian G ene ral Schuy l er , who le vail e fla te lrnoltly in that par t o f America .
The re are aifo .
portages into the wate rs
l ake Erie from the NVahalh , G reat
Muilt ingum ,and Al l egany , from 2 to £6
The po rtage b e tween the O hio and‘
Po to
w il l. be about 2 0 mil e s when t he ob llrufl iin the Pv‘o nongahala and Cheat r ive rs a re
.i , which wil l form the firll object o fge n
t
en o i’ Virgin ia when they have ,
c
pira te d the: c:nals on
'
the Po towmac .
The obll tufl ions to the navigation of
‘D
V
ck
1
1
Kanhaway are of fuch magnitude , that
ill require a wo rk of ages to rem ove them
if ever that { hould be done , there wil l beealy commumcan on be tween that and
es river,‘
and l ikewife with the O roonoo
Which runs through‘
Non h Carolina . But ?
s an even t too remo te fl t o deferve any con f
o u at p i efen t .
All the rivers i n this cann try of 6 0 yards
de and tipwai ds , a 1 e n avigi ble alm ofi to
e ir fources for fl at bo t omed b oats duringeir fl oods; and fo r batte aux the greate r par
the year , t he great Kanhaway and l i t t leex cepted The Tenafee has a confi
fal l v here it pailes through Cumb er
ountain , where there 11a be a por tage
thence i t is n avigab le -
quite to
(is of the O hio i'
have d zferibed in
t re r . They are no ob t’t ruét ion in
1‘
to b oats go ing down the river, and
bat te aux may pa ls alm o it at any time .
are t wo fruall rapids 111 the VVab afh b e
its mouth and St . V ince n t’
8 , but theyimpedimen t
'
to n aviga t ion , exce pt at
f lonf‘
t'
aterf The Kafkafkia is a fmall
hich runs in to the M ifiifii ppi below the
inois and is navigab le a co nfiderable wayove the plains.
r
Ihe M iuifl ippi IS navigab leSt An thony
’3 F al ls
, w ithout any obf’n uc
n. art er defcribes it as navigable above
K 2 them
E 1 1 2
them a s far as he trave l led. We have too
t leknowl edge o f the Mifou ri to form anyc ided op:.n ion of the ex tent of i ts naviga t
It is however certain ,that it is a more
ftil ti ream than the Mi fiifiippi, and int hat rive r, it triumphan tly rufhes acre
it'
s turb id wa ters, unmixed , feem to (i(tw el ion fo 1n1 er ior F rom the
“
heft
a tion that We have been ab le t o col lect;navigab le for 1 2
’
or 1 50 3 m il es above‘
r
mouth w ithout obfl(ruftion
,and I think it
not unl ike ly that in fettl ing the country
wards its fourc'
e,we {h al l find it 15 n
from the fources of the fi reams running in
the Pacific O ee an, and that
‘
a communie
t ion m ay b e , opened Be tween th‘
em virith‘
much"
eafe as b etween“
the O hio and
m ac , and alf 1 be tween the fe ttlements on“
M ifiifiippi and Californi a . Thi s c rrcumfia
IS the m ore l ike ly to happen , as it does“
appear that the ridges of hil ls which divide tWaters o f the Pacific ocean from the waters
the M ifl iflippi, are e ither fo higli or fo ruggas the Al legany mountain:
You'
wil l obferve , tha t as Far‘
as this i'
m
continen t is known, the ootrrfes and ext
i t‘
s ri ers are ex treme ly favourab le to con ication by water ; a circumfiance u h
highly importan t , whe ther rt e regard it in a
cial or comme rcial po in t o f V iew . The in t
courfe of men has added no inconfrderab le l
[ 1 1 4 ]
.
I
ir'ginia like a man oEErudition ,and confide
ing that he never was in this country, he
given fuch an account of it as cannot be
pleati ng to an European . But , as in e
thing which has charaéteriz ed his po l ih is j
o
udgment in this appears fuPerficia
his m ind attached to the theory of its own f
b ric at ion . F requent rains in the latte r end.
the autumn produce floods in t he O hio , andis, an uncommon feafom when one of, tho
fl oods does no t happen b efore ChriflmaSa .
there is mtrch froi’ty weather in the upper par
o f the country h its waters. general ly remain 10until they b egin to. thaw . ~ But , if the river
not frozen over(which is not very common
there is al‘
wayswater fufii cien t for b‘
oats of
fize fromNovember until ~l‘vl ay when the
t ers general ly b egin . to fubfide ; and bym iddle of J une in moi
’t feafons they are
low for b oat s above,fo rty tons, and the
b e fl at bot tom ed ;r
i'
he fro l’t fe ldom c
10 long as the middl e of I‘ebruary , and
diately upon its breaking the river is flood
thi s fl ood may in a degree fubfide, but fo
l ength of time
”
;a nd it is from that period
til May that the boats . general ly» come (1the rive r. The difiance o f defcending is
propor tion to the he ight of thew ater but
average diftance is about e ighty m iles in tnfour hours, and from fix ty to one hundred
the eextremes : lo 1 11at the mean time of go
italludethe1
11 a flat - bot tomed boat from Pi‘
t tz’
b urg to the
i apids, is between e ight'
and n ine days, and
in t twen ty days mo re to l\ ew O rl eansich wil l niake a paffage from Pit tfhu tg to
t place neai ly a mo nth. The inundat ions
the Milli fiippi commence fome thing l ateran thofe of the O hio ; but it is very c ertain
ey. begin 1 i11 .March,i
- and fubfide in July.
is the molt proper time to afeend the ri
as you avo id the Fnoal s, have finer wea
but above a ll; when . the iwater is high ,
have fironge r eddies 1 and with takingfe advantages, and w ith dex tet ous water
n , you, 1nay
O
proceed fifty miles a day which
l l bring you back to the R apids of the O hio
fo r ty d ays , making a l arge al lowance forn t tngenmes.
I {hall take leave o fyoufor the prefent , withferving, that t he fmaller rivers have t no fiat1
periods to gov e rn their inundat ions but
fubjcé’t to he floode d by all hea"y t ains
,
which i s a g1 ea t advan tage to the coun t ry, as
it affo rds the inhabitam s frequent oppo rtuni
tie s of fending their produce _ to - the - feve 1al
mark ets upon the larg rivers.
Yours,85C.
E 1 1 6 ]
B E T'
T. E R’
KE NTUCKYJ
MY DEAR T R ! END
IN the oeconomy of the c.eation how wondé
ful ly 18 the Wifdom o f P1ov1dence difpSome animals are fol med v1 ith par ticul
machs,as in the i nftance
'
of the came lhas one adap ted to contair
r wat e t It is
n gtnal 1n the torrid z one ,whe t e the rarefaél
o f the a ir is fo gre a t, and c onfeque n tly m
iuu
b ieé’
t to drought“ In the Artic regions
find the muth buffalo, or1 goat , c ladl ongwool ; which”fe cures it
‘
againfl:inc l ecold ’
. M an , the 1 11091 defe ncelefs, n ake
helplefs of a ll in an infant fiate , in his matu
is fuperior'
in reafon thus the facul tieshis mind and body , un ite in making him
vere ign of the w or ld Born to defiroy'
z ei f rior race of animals, he would exhault
11a ure if, by a fecundity fuperio r to
pre da tions {l ie did no t renair the perpct
havock he makes . But death 15 on:y the m i
{fer of l ife ,and leftruéi ion IS the parent of re
produé’
tion .
”
1 1 8 ]1
this was the frnal leit o f the im provements.
t he means m eiti e ufe o f in the W'
efi Indie s
the perfeét ion o f the art we l e foon afee 1
and pra&’
ifed :(0 that the coun try is no
631311 1 1 to fupply 1th lf wi h infrar, but m
w i th incxeaie of hz111ds,
- ft pply the inhab it
o l'
the e lobe
T h e fugar mapl e tree not only gro w s in
gi eateit abundanoe throughout thi s coun
W1 hin the limi ts I have me nt ioned ; he
k‘
no1 113 to be the hardiefi , and the mo
C l l i1 to d eftroy of all the trees in 0 111
(the b eech no t exe pte‘
d)by the p lan terheve a me thod of chorping 0 1 gu dling th
t i nuhs of tre es about on e foot and a half abov
the ground; in o rder to kil l them , and the re
by they preventtheii e i ops from being {h
tie d .
It 151known t hat old trees produce the
ahd the richeit Jl l l Ce ; and 11 is aifo known
t t ecs which have been ufed for years are b et
ter than fi efh trees . It is a common 1 emark
that whenevei yen fe e a b lack tree o i t lhis fort ,it is a(are fign i t is a 1 ic
‘n one The blae lt nefs
proceedsfrom the 111Cifions m ade in the bark
by the pec'
king of the p9 1 roqnet and o the r
b irds, in the {eafi n of the ju ice r ifing, wl1 ich
oozmg out,d i ihbles down its fines and fiains
the 111 the progfireflion of time b e - 1
comes b lack.
“
t 1 19 1
‘
I have « ment ioned thefe particul ars with a
1e ty to prevent youtz falling into the gen eralrror, that the refource of makino fugar from
aple will foon _be defi royed from the ve
of pro ducing it ; bel ieving, as ma
0,that it is impofiib le fo r the t1ee to be
to bear the at nua l wounds which are me~ry to be made 111 its t 1un1< 1n order to draw
he j nice and that a few years mul’t me
rily ex t it pa te them ; now,fo far fi om
ng any dtl
tnge1 of that, experience
wn that the 11 onget they are ufed m a
m anner . the more plen ti1 1 111 and rich
11 oe the ir JUICE to a certain age , v hich w illin propo rtion to the l ife o r thofe trees. No
act ef’tima te can b e made of that ; but'
I
nc lude their decay is not earlier than 0
e r { TECSJ
Bo th in '
the animal and vege tab le Worl d itbeen obferved that the exiftence of life
,
according to the 11a tu1al orde1 o f things , is in
pzopo 1 ti on to the pe riod 0 1 time required to
rnaturity. The t e are ex cept ions to
princ:ple to be f ire as the c rane for m
ce,which teems t o acquire maturity as
y as'
mo l‘t o the r b irds, is known to live a
ty'
and upwards. H owever,it is very
fta ih that the l ife of a fugar map le , is as
ng as an o ak,o r any o ther tree .
If the re is any analogy be tween anima l andgetab le fub ltan
‘
ces(and which there n'
o l’c
certain ly
ce11a11.1y is), the increal
ling plenty and
n els o l'
the j uice from t h e uh: an 11 age 0
fugar t1‘
,ce w il l i t not be tho u fr ht
0 1 d ina1y, .tht an that the quan t it
greater and more rich p1oduced 11
which has been 11131d tor y'
sea1 thahwhich has been neglected 0 1 prevented
b reedin" annual ly.
il he l eafon of tapping is mo ii ly ab eut
m iddl e of F eb 111a 1y , i n Ken tucky but
un t il the lat te 1 end 01 the 1111111111 , abou t Pi
burg, in t e remote parts of Pennfi lvania,i
the head branclies of t he .Snfquehana ,
elaware, and in the fl are of New - Y
F rofiy morn i ngs and bxight 111 111111111: a i ecefi
‘
a ry to p rodnce copious ex uda ti onsi
feafo n cont inues in this c l imate about
weeks, when the }a i ce is fo und to b e too
and poor to make llugar but i t is fi illec ap0 1 maa ng molafies, fpit its byc iltilla tion ,nega t , and an agreeabe tab le b ee r .
The bufinefs of fugar mak ing is mo ll lynaged by women and boy ,
s the me n
havmg1 1 o th111 0' more to do with it 111
the trees, pl epare the fheds, and differe '
paratus. So that o ut agg1 iéulti|ral em
m en ts are ve ry li tt le o b i’
t t t taed by this
nefs, which produces To impo rtan t an a
for domefiie ufes. The pe rfec’tion to
we have brought our fugars has induced
peop le 1n the upper parts of the Statesof
1 2 2
Such was the commencemen t oi n ihis country ; which fxom its fca1 c ityhigh price , in fome meafure difcoura
‘
ged
fe ttlemen t o i the country. Howeve1 ,
great rmprovements fince that aera have
away all thofe fears, and falt 1s now manu
tured 111 plenty, and fold cheap .
The water is by no means fo fi 1ong as
water. It re luresnearly four hundred gallto make one
c
il ufhel o f fal t , which 13 more
one ha lf than 1171511111 be wanted of fea wa
to produce that quanfity.
The Wate1 is no t colleétedammediately fro
the fpring. An area of fi om five to ten aer
round thoie fprin s is fo und to be 1111916
w ith this niine rafifo 1hat b y diggany part o f t
hat fpace fal t water is difcove iF i om this circumfiances
’
l am of opin ion , 1
digging pxts a bo dy o f earth wouldfi ro ngly impregnated w ith fait , fr
which the fal ine partic les m ight be mo re
ly féparated than fr xom (water ,and i t is ce
rain that if the wa te1 lece ives it s pa1 ticles
{al t from the earth which it pali'
es throngfuch ca1 th mufi contain a large propm t ion
fal t , o therwife the fir gjen th o f the wate r wou
na t'
be fo confidcrab le . H owever it wil lquii e fome time to de te1mine this matter ,
the in fancy 0 1 am count i y wil l no t perm i t
to fpeculaté too laigely in exPet iments whi
E
yvould be a ttended wit h heavy expences, .we1:e
they no t to prove fuccefsful;
Salt fprlngst have b een ,found in every part
t he w e lll e rn coun try which has been We ll
p lmed, and l haz e n o doub t that t ime will
ove that e very par tt oh t i s w e l l fupp lied withem .
2l he man ner by which they are m o ll
161111151 1 11 11111 11 !i abi:ed
Iplaces 18 , by the l arge
l 1 1 11 1 ds which LG4 to them . W henever
1:1m i11 -ca tio o '
o t thofe roads begins to con
re,it is 1111: o il an infal l ib le lign tha t a fa l t:
is 11ea1 . 1 Thofe 1 1 111als refor ting to them
u r hout the ten ate par t of theb
year fo r
th e genefit of the [al l y / 111ake l arge roa ds, which'
eading from the l ick,branch d iffe rent ways
hto t lie
We have vari ous other m in erals, fuch as
ron(which 18 m e 111 1 {l ufeful); coppe r; lead ,
h lpl1u1 7 ‘n it re , 81 13 . 81 0 . Iron ore is found
11 great pl enty U pon the no rthe rn bra nches of
Licking creek , and likew iie u 10 11 the waters
i f‘
G r-
ecn11 1 iver . A lead mi11 3 has oeen wei kYd many yea 5 M ai l} co nficl em‘fie whic .
s in t h e ecounty of tal e n ttgome ry, upo n t oe
1 3 o f t?18 8 ;eat F . anha w ay. Th e re is a
e Ween the Gumhem and a d Tcn al’
ee
s which ia m id to be vesy va l uab le , and
e zs n re p11}e t l1: a111 any o ther which has
difcoi'C
e red i n Ame t ica. But the leade on t l e Mifiifiippi mull prove inexhaufi iIt ex tends fro the m outh of Ro ck ri
111 re than one handyed miles upwai ds.
L 2 Befides
£ 1 221 3
Befides 1 he l'
e there are feveral orbai s , fomewhich lie on the Spa nifh fi le of the M ifl ilfipand have b een uled for yea
rs pail .
m ines have b een d ifcovered m feve ra
b ut the m ine on the' l/Vabafh IS
,
richef’t vein o i native co rper in t e bowe ls
the n /ho le earth and no doub t will l enoa ll the o the rs of l it t le or no value: Sulph
{0 111111 in fevet al pl aces in ab undance
n it re is m ade from earth which is co ll efrom cave s and o ther p l aces to which the
has no t pe ne t t ated. Ihe makin o this [a lt
this coun try, 18 lo common that many of
fet t le rs m anufacture the ir own gunpovt
This eat th i'
s difco vered in greater plen tythe Wa t e i s o f (be en rive r
,than i1 15 1 11
tithei par t a t Kentucky. But , .pe i haps fi
ft
farthe r 111 -111111 1
1111 11 will be found in greatplen ty. H o wever , it is fo
'
common in eve
par t of the coun t i y that it m igh t be m ade‘
co nfiderab le a t tic le for expo rtation . 1 ha
hea i d o f‘b lack lead mines Upon the hea
t ers.
of the Kt n tucky ,b ut l have no t
able to p rocure any cer ta in i nform atio
fpeét ing themfi But I {hou ld conceive
thei e c an be l it t le doub t that , when the c
t iy,f
ind pat t icularly the moun tainous pat
i t,
are w e l l explo red , al l the ufeful m iner.
wil l be found 111 11ab undance .
1 have ah eady men t ioned the coal minesthe upper parts of the O hio conutr
1
; b e
1 2 6 j ,
is a fupcrior kind on the Beech fork o f Srih
'
fer, which no doub t m ight be manufaélurinto good porcelian . C arver has mentiona c lay o f this for t whi ch he law ab
‘
ove St . Athouy
’
3 fal l s. Marle, chalk, gypfum,
och1 es, ar e found 1n variousparts.
M r j efferfon has defcribed the mediciinflammab le , b i tuminous, and O ther fpr
very accurat‘ ,e ly and as there have been
difcoveries’
or l ight thrown upon the fubjfihce
’
he “rote , I fhall refer you to his book
a particular accoun t of them . Indeed his
count of the natural hrfl ory of this countgeneral ly to be depended upon , {11 that
rea'
rcely pofl i ble to make anyupo n rt , unti l farther difcoveries
arife n ; I therefo re confine myfelf to fujéé
’ts ashis has not taken not ice 011 111111 10
as have themlielves fince he w
mak ing fome fi riél ures and
Inadverfi’
ons upon his opinions and inform
t ave obférved that the cli‘
mate‘
of ih
country is various.—But, as climate is
quently diffe ren t 111 the fame parallels of 1
(rule ,I wi l l endeavour to gi ve you fome i
o f the diiierence be tween the c lima te on
ripper parts 0 1 the Ohio , Pennfyh ania,M aryland ,
o f Kentucky and V irginia , an
Cumbe rland and N 0 1 th Caro lina, Wh
iii near ly the fame paral le ls one wi th
[f 1 2 7 . J"
It is wel l known that the c l imate upon the
tlantic coafl:of America is in the ex treme of”
and co ld, and tha t it ismore variable. than
was firlt fe t tled by Europeans ; but
ers are milder. The ext remes pro
no do ub t from the immen fe con tinen t ,h l ies to the north-weft , and which 15 in
erfed .W ith fi efh water lakes. The raritlie torrid zone rulhing in currents '
h the upper regions te r
‘
the A r€ti c c irc le ,
a vacancy for the - co ld air, which,~ in
11g its place , caufes tho-(e frequen t chi l ls
tions. in the fp rzing and autumn,and
m ate froi’t , rain , a nd mild weathe i"1 11 win - 1
which are 10 common in the m idd le partstha t coun t ry. The cold is more fieady to
nor th o f H 1d to n s river b ut 1111} powe r of
fun to the fo uth. of by . coun tera€tinginfluence of the northe rn w inds . occafi
thfiofe fudden changes from heat to co ld .
hing the country has grea t ly tended alre a
to lelfen the co ld , by confequence o f
the greate r power o f the fun Upon the earth
a ge ne l a l cul t ivat io: ,1 by produc ing a
here , th:ough which the 11 1 1 111
wind palles mutt tend to mode i a te the c li
mate genezally upo n the A tlan t ic féThe gre ate lt pa1 1 0 1 Pennfylvania tvhich‘1 ie s
erween lati tude 4 1°
.1nd 39 4 of 1mould, from
s {i tuation upon the glo'
ne ,b e a very exce l
1t c limate , and no doub t in t ime it wil l.A t
1 2 8 “
J
At'
p1efent it is‘too fubj eél to extremes a
by the too frequen t and viol ent b racing, a
hidden telaxation o f the animal fyfiem ,
elattic itj? of'
thenerves 18 i nj ured, and thu
marks of age are vifible at an earlier pet iod
foine parts of America than 111 o thers.
_
“ F arther fouthward the co ld 13 leis but
the heat is proportional ly greater , the
t rem es are much the fame q uite to South
rolina. As you approach the ridge of mo
tains"Which run through“Am e rica
“ from
to fo’
utli , the inhabitants: look more heal twhich is the confeq
'
uertre o f the c limate b e
mo re temperate and fieady .:
The c ountry on the upperp arts o f the
and be tween Pit tfburg and Lake Erie , 1
fiderably co lder than Pennfylvan ia and
land , which no doub t 1s 0 1:cafioned in a grdegree, i n the fo rmer, from its proximity t
t he mountains ; but in a great e r degrée , i
b o th, from the country around them beingcont inua l fo 1e l’tWhen you arr1ve in Ken tucky you
‘
experif
ence a'
greater temperature of air than in,
C‘
ountry I have e ver trave l led in,F arenhei
the rm om e te r fe ldom fal l ing b e low 35 deg.
Winte r, nor 1 ifing above 80 1 11 fummer. T
approach of the feafons IS gradual .'
1 he fum
rner co ntinues ni ofl ly to the m iddle o i
b er . The autumn , or m ild wea the r, ge ne~
rally cont inues until Cht iitmas, uhen we havefome
t 3o
diffe rence b etween the c limate of this count
and”tha t of V irgih ial
'
Ano t i1e 1 caufe for our greaterf t empera
1151(it .nmer: is; doub tlel'
s, owing to our iyi n
t~
1ch higher. It i s one co n tinual budual rife t
‘
from"
Richmond fo r zo o t miles
The re are ffev'
eral rifixngs and‘ fal l ings
wards, and l everal m oun tains in the
nets ; but Lhave a lways ob l’
e rved that
from the tra il t o the ir fumm its; was
than the de fcen t We ll , to their Ba le ,m ake s. the e leva tion of li re/mucky
ble , in the l ower parts - and
vapours f romthem produc e deleaiawhie lt tappears ho tt er than i t really is.
Mr. j e llei fonk r tab le of average heat
cold for the different mont lis, made fro
obfervatrons of. fiz V
C fuccefii veye ars, t l
ityfurnifhedv him 'with a data to efiimate
re tieally the c lima te of V irginia ,'
ca11 afford"!
you no idea of 1ts t emperature. Perhaps in
fome ofi thote yea rs, the mercury was be low 0 :
dui inmg the Winter. But when he has fiated the a
laaf’t and z
grea tet’t dailyhe at byF arenhe it ’s ther - 1
mometer for» j anuary to be from t o 4 4
you can have no conception that the re can be
any trhll
'
1 11 Virg:n ia . I do no t mean to fay that
it i s common fo r the mercuiy to fal l b elow 0
in that country, but I mean to be underfl ood
that
we theo
E 1 3 1 3
hat froft is Very frequent there , and that byaking the average of the gre arefi heat and the
m a ll co ld, when the ex tremes are {0 gr’
eat
they are in V irginia , it is impofii ble fo r a
. to form a j ul’
t idea of its cl imate .“
r. Jefferfo n al lows that the ex tremes are ve
con liderab le , and that the . mercury has
en known to defcend from 9 2 deg. to 4 7 in
hours.
journey to the Il l inois wil l prevent meom writing you again as I couldilh but I [hal l ever remain
Yours,
L E T
13 2 J
K ENTUCKY,
DEAR F RIEND ,
‘
is natura l , I think , th a t you thou ldél:by this t ime fome accoun t o f the
hab itants, t heir manner of living, the m
fe tt l ing the coun try, the rou tes
mode of trave l ling to it , with
t ion . refpeél ing re l igion and po l itic alm en ts, a nd the foc ial pleafure s o f the peo
all of which, 1 a m afraid , will reqm re
much t ime for a l e t ter, and therefo re Ithat you wil l b e c on ten t to receive the in t
mat ion in the?
defulto ry m ann e r in Whio
{hal l be enab led .to fend it .
In forne of my firfl l e tters I gave you
accoun t of the firtt fe ttlemen t of this co un t
The perturbed {late of that period ,and
lavage {l ate of the count ry, w hich was one
t ii‘
e . wilderri efs, made the‘
obj eét o t the
em igrants that of fecurity and full ena
u h lch produced the fcheme of feveral fam
living toge ther in wha t were cal le d StanThefe {tations were a kind of qua
.E 134 J
A l ,og~ houfe is vexy foon er ,eél ed and
confequence _
of the fl iendly difpofition whi
exill‘
s among thofe hofpitab le people ,neighbour fl ew to th e aififiance of
upon occafions of emergencies.
J th'
ey Were buil t of round logs en tirelyt d With rived afh thingies, and the inte r
fiopped with diay, 0 1 lime and fand to
out the weather. 5'
t next obj eét was to
the land fo r cul tivat ion . There lSr V€ IYunder-wood in any part of this(0 11by cut tingUp the cane
y ou a re lure of a crop of corn . The
o f the foil amply «
repays t he labourertoi13 - f0r
i
ifi he la rge trees are noe veryrous, andc a la rge p ropo rtion of them .
maple , it . is veryl ikely from t his;feé
‘t Cultivation , that the ground wil l yie
‘
50 to 60vhuihel ofc om to the acre . 1The
cond crop wil l ~ be more amp le ; and as
i hade is‘
re'
meved by cutting the”
timb er aw
greatpart of our ]land wil l produce fromt o one huwndt ed be lb els of corn
This extrad i d ina ry fe r til ity enables the fare r wh o has but a {ma l l capi tal t o inc 1cafewealth in a mo l
’t rapid m anne r (Imean
weal th the comforts of life . H is c attlehogs will find fufficren t food in the woods ,
only for them to ;fubfifi . upon , .b ut to fat
them ..H is ho rfes want no provender
‘
gt‘
eatefi pareof’
the year. except c ane, and 11
[ 35 ]
y et ; but he may afford to feed them'
with
the fecond year. Hi sgarden with l itt leon , produces him a ll the cuhnary roo ts
e tab les necefi’
ar j/fo r his table ; and theina t eafe of his hogs and poult i y, wil lhim the {econd year, Withou t fearinghis flock , with a ~
plen ty'
of animal‘
and ' in three oe'
feur years’
his fl ock of
n il i heep will pro’
ve fufi’tc ien
‘
t to ftlpply3
th bo th b eef 2111 11111 113 11 ; and he
‘
may
plum at the fame t ime of increaf
of t b fe ufet ul an ima ls. By the
ro wded he rs he may1en t good c i de r to
ch 116: can do e ither of
framed wooden building, thee
‘
articl
l
el
s of which w ill ‘co‘
f’ti fhim l itt lethan
‘
th’
e l abour of himfelf and domeftics‘;6 m ay readi
_
lyx
b a t tet or i e ll fome part of
erfiuous pvo u011118110 113 of his faxm , which
by-
'
lt 1 ie t ime 1 1121111,and procure fuch
as he m ayv
fia d in need of for the com
n of his building. Apples, peaches,36 0 . he ought to plant when he finds
lPo r e l igib le fi tuation to place them in,
’
as,
wil l n0 t hinder, o r in any d egree dive rt ,im from the obj ect of his aggrandiz emen t .
h ave tad:en no no tice of the game he m ight
il l , as it is mo re a fac 1ifice of time to an induf
us m an than any rea l - advantage .
‘
ueh‘
has been theprogrefs of the fe ttlement
M Q . of
[ 1 36 ]
o f this country, fxom dirty fl ations or for
and fmn ak huts, that it has expanded int
tile fie lds , hlufhmg o1cha1ds, p leafan t gar
luxur ian t fugar groves, ne at and comm
Iioufes , 1 ifing villages, and t rading towns
} ea 1s have produced a diiference ID the poplat on and comfoxts o f this count ty , whichbe pourtrayed in j o lt Colonrs wou ld appe
v C liO US. To have implicit faith o r b
th: inch t l1 1ngs have happened , i t is fi1
c e iz a 5 to be(as I have b een)a fpcé’tator oeve nts.
Emig1at1ons to this countrywere mofl
the back parts of V irginia , Mmyland,va t i i , and No rth Ca ro lina , until 1 784which yea r m any o fficers who had. fervee d
the Amer tcan a 1 rny du1 ing the l ate war ca
out with theii fam ilies ; feveral fam i l ies ca’
a lfo ft om Engl and, Philade lphia , New ]England $95g
‘States.
countty foon began to b e cheque1ed alter
a m W tth gen tee l 1n en ,which o perated
tipon the m 1nds and act ions o f the hackpeople , who confiituted the firft emigra
tai‘te foi‘the decorum and e legance o f th
was foo n cultixated ; the peafure s of
ingwe i‘e confidet
'
ed not on ly as ufefulhing. Thefe improvements in t
l iif ingand manners, awakened a fenfe
t ion to infiruét t l ei1 youth 1n ufeful and
complifhedarts. Soc ial pleafuies were rega
E 118 51
—The lofty t 1ees wave their fpreadingb:an
6 5 over 11 green turf, on whofe 11511 down
mildnefs o f the eveningmv1tcs the neiging youth to fportive p lay ; While on
Nelio rs, w ith calculatingm inds, com tethe boyilh gambols of a growing.ibey recount the exploits of their e ar land in their enthufiafrn forget thet a at
things as decrepitude and m ifery. Per
convivial fong or a pleafant narrat i on
Rat ional pleafut es'
mel tot ate‘
the foul ; and
is by familiariz ing man with uncontarhinatfe licity, that fordid avarice and wicious habi
are to be de li royed ,
G arden ing and fifhingc onf’titute fome pa
'
o f the amufements of bo th fexes.
~
‘
F lo
i'
Withi
—thofe which are known to be faconfl itute a par t of their employni ent .
-D
mefiic cares and mufic fill up the remainder
the day, and f)ClEl l vifits without ceremonyform , leave them Without ennui or difguit.
O ur young men me too gal lant to perm i
1 11. omen to have feparate amufement s, andl
i t is that we find that fuavity and pol i temm ners univerl it l
, which can on ly be 6by feminine polifli
.The autumn and win ter produces no
pleafurc. Evening Viiits moll ly end
E 1 39 }
ancingby the youngr
peopl e while the more
ged indulge the i1 hilarity ,
o r difi'
eminate 111
tion in the difquifition ofpo litics or form:
1 a1 t 0 1 fcienc
uch are the amufemcn ts of this coun try,ich have for their bafis hofpitality, and all.
a1 1e ty of good things which a luxurian t
is capab le of produc ing, wi thout the a l loythat dif
’t refs or m ife r) whi ch is produced
penury or wan t Ma lt liquor , and fpi
difiilled fiom corn and the Jui ce o f the(ut ree m ixed with wa te r, con ll itute the or
my beverage o f the coun t ty. VVi ’ i e is too
r to be d t ank pi odigally ; but that 13 a fo 1
nate circ11rnftance , as it wi ll be an addi tionalur to us to cul tivate the v ine .
The routes from the d ifferent.A t lant ic
ates to this coun try are various, .as may be
ppofed. F rom the northe rn S tates it is
rough the u pp er par ts of Penn fylvania to
1g, and then down the 1 iver Ohio .
he diltance from Phil adelphia to Pi t ttb urgnearly three hundred m il es. F rom L ancaf
r about two hundred and thirty . The ronte
Redttone and by Pittib urg, b o th
Maryland and V 1 rg1n l a ,1s
- the mo lt e li
p t oi ’ ided you have much baggage ex
cept you Ono { 10 111 the fouthern and back coun
t ies of Virginia ; then your b elt and m o lt ex
pedit ious way is through the w ilderners.
F rom Bal timore, pading O ld Town upon—
1h
Potow
1 40
Pot'
owmac , and b y Cumberland F ort ,dock ’
s road, to Redl’tone O ld F or t:on th
Hongahala, is about t wo hundred and
m iles ; and from A l exandria t o thezfame
by and then the
route acrofs t he mountain ,is~° ab o ut two h1
’
1
dred‘
and twen ty m iles . 1. This11 11 111 1111 be t
m olt e ligib le for a ll E uropeans who mayvr
to t t ave l to this coun t ry,as the di{l a
land 18 thorter, the road s be t ter, and
c ommoda tions good i. ~
e. . the
to O ld Town , which is o
ty mile s from A lexandria, and from them:
R'
edl’tone comfo rtab l e , and plent iful ly fun
ed with provifionso f all fo rts : the road
the mount ain is-
rather rough, bueno w
Trave l lers o r e migrants take d ift‘
erent r
thods of t ranfpozting the irb aggage , goods
furniture h e 11 the places they may be at to
O hio ac cordingto ci cumf’tancm ,o r their
jeé’t 111 com ingto the eo i ntry
a man is t ravelling on ly for cur iofity ,0 1
family or go ods to remove , his bell:wayb e to purchafe ho rle s , and take histhrough the W ilderne fs ; but t fpl
’
O "ided he
a fam ily, o r goods of any fo rt to remove ,
b e lt way, then would be to purchafe a wgon and team of lim it s to ca1 rvt o R edftone O ld F e l t ; on t o
cording as he may come z férorn
149;
t h e world, to Whorn , th,e faving of every
l ing.
i s an o bj ec’t , and as this manne t o f jneying is fo far f
rom be ing difagreeablc‘
,
in a fine feafon it is ex tremely pleafantl’rovifions in thofecoun t t ies are vei y c
b eef,’
mutt en ,‘
and po are fonm thingthan
a
2 d . per lb, dun l fowls a1e fi om
to 6d. each ; duck , 8d geefe and t in keys,
5rd. buttei' , cheefe , I wil l my noth
about , as the 1 e ISvery l it tle good un t il‘
you
ri ve in Kentucky F lour is about u s .
per curt .
The be lt way is t o carry their ten andfee from the p l ace t l11 ey m ay fe t out
green tea will be from to 6S"
.
7111. to But I wouldtheir can ying much fugar, for as the b a
Coun tl y is a
6d. pe t lb . S’
uch are the expe’
nces to be 1
curred I1avellmg to this country by Redfl
and PittfisurgThe ”(l lfiance which one of tlxofe
may t ravel one day with ano ther i s li
of twenty m iles. So tha t it wil l b e a }from A lexandria to Redfione O ld F ort oven or. twe lve days, from Bal timore a d
two longer, and h orn Philadelphia to Pit
burg I {hould fuppofe It:would reqnire nea rtwen
£ 1 4 3 21
enty. days ; as the roads are not 12} good as
om the two former places.
F rom thefe pi ices the expence of removingfamily, from either of the lea ports I have
d to the O hio , may b e computed withexaé
‘t itnde
The belt time . fo rgfe ttmg out for this coun
y from any of the 1At la'
ntic ports, isthe lat
r end of either September or April . The
tnmn is the mofi e ligib le of the two ; as it
mofi l ike ly that the roads aerols the moun
n wil l b e drier , and provifions and fe i agee then bo th m0 1e plent iful and cheap than
the ipl ing.
If this mode {hould not fuit the conveni
o f the pa rty , by reafon of their not want
a n agg0 11 o r horfes when they arr1ve 111
coun try, they m ay have theil goods
ught out t o R edfi one O ld F 0 1 1:fi om Alex
ria for 1 53 per Cwt . and i n l ike proportionBa ltimme and Philadelphi a .
‘
t Redftm e O ld F ort , o r Pit tfburg,they
e ither buy a boat , which w il l co lt them1t 1 5s. pe r ton , o r freight the ir goods to
ueky ior about IS. per cwt . T]1e 1e is no
lar bufmefs o f this b i t ; but as the re are
boa ts com ing down the river,1 8 . per
13 the common charge for freight . But
frequent ly when there is boat room to
it is given to fuch as m e not ab le to
afe a boat , or h ave n ot a cknowledge of
the
E 1 44 Ji
the'
nayigatioh. H owever, that.
is a'
b
which requires no flt ill , and there a re a l
numbers of peo ple coming down, who
readily condhé’
t a boat for the fake of a‘
"
Ihe di ll ance from Philadelphia by lanKentucky is b etween feven and e ight h
m iles fromBa ltimore nearly feven hun early fix hundred
’
from Alexand t ia a
wards o f five hundred from R ichmond .
roads and accommodations are to l
to the borders of the Wildexnewhich it is
‘
hardly po lfib le for apals, grea t part of the way being ove
and deep hil ls, upon the b l uhs of the
and along dehles, whieh in fome p lacesto tht eaten you a t every l i ep with da
Thls 13 the only route the people com ingthe upper parts o f V irgin ia and No
11a can take at prefent to ge t i n to th
the gap of’
Cumbe rland mountar
on ly place It can be pull ed without the gredifficul ty. 1 he O pen ing the Tenafee w il
fo rd a convem en t commumcati on withi
Mifl iilippi. The W ildernefs, which wasmerme i ly two hunch ed mil e s throu
out a jinglehab ita tion , is 1educed
fe t t lenxt nt of Powe l ’ s Valley; t o ni
hah of that dillance and 1 t is to{
tha t in a few ye ars mo re that the r
the difiance wil l afford fettlements
{ 1 4 6 3“
c ans, who , no doub t , from hab it,'
are b
qual ified fo r tha t fo rt o f bufinefs. In
the re is a number of peopl e who have fo 1
b een‘in the cul
’tom of removing, farther
farther back as the coun try becomes fe t tafar the - fake o f hun ting, and what theyrange for their catt le , which is that o f t
f eeding upon the natural grafs, that they:.un tjualified for any o the r k ind of l ife .
- is favourab le t o the fe t t l ing a wild and in
and no“
d oub t this a difpofition
lafi(with forne) as long as there is left a w
d e rnefs in America . al t is however,
certa
t his is advan tageous to foc ie tyt which w ill
'
b e t tered, and no t inj ured by thefe pecul
habits, ft) long as they have/n ew coun tr ies
zp eople :f
or , this adventurous fpirit tends
accelerate the propagat ion of domef’tic nnim
, 0f every fo rt.
Perfons of moderat e - fortune, Upon ta
.
pof‘fefii on of the land they intend to form
a plantat ion , procure fach flock as their
cunrfiances and the ex tent o f their obj ectadmit of. Let us fuppofe an indult
‘
rious
a lready provided w ith the necefiary too lshis agricul tural employmen t , and a l ittlen ey t o buy flock . ln fuch a fituation(ab ui lding his houfe in the manner 1 have
t io ned , which wil l colt hirn littlehis labour)he fhould procure {once d
fou ls, a cow and a breedingfow. Th
1 4 7
ill produce eggs f o r his anzi1 } , the cow
lit and but ter, i t {he is we l l taken care o f,
the fow w il l produce two,
11 n o t
lit tcrs of pigs w it hin the y ear . Theie
rnals are very pro lific in this c limate anal
and i t is no t a { anguine caicuiat ion to
po le the low u ii l have e ight o r t en pigs at
h l it te r ; by which m ean s the“
t"
a 111 1 ly w ille pork fn li
‘icient i0 ‘
1 the nex t yea ;‘
and€
year a t test thev may bart e r b acon
1
15115 111 11 1:
and mutto n,which M i l c 1nclu t le t i1e t t C 11
1
cumii tn ces ha t e no t pe 1 m t t tc t l t h e m, as
to purchale . i l is lab our ”
w ill have pr ivn led
him with co 1n be10 1 e this t ime , and 1 11 the e re
tenfion o t his plansatis . n , and the inc re-afe of
his cow and hogs h is“
1d in t uit:es W il l be over ,
a nd a few years o f indua ry an i pe rft vcrane e
w il l make him a man o t in
st ea li ng rat io a t fro ck is w l1e 1e
p1 ovi1ion for t lthem cozl s(0 lit t l e as it does he re ,and Where the fertil ity of the f oil is fo won
de rful. Etis row ls W i l l co lt about t im e pence
ea ch,his b reeding
-Da; about five ihill ings,an d his cow,
if a ve ry good one ,o f 4 cwt .
and uewards, 11 ill cm‘1 him 1 10 111 thirty to to 1 ty
fil llll llgS.
I lta t e hithe rto li tppofed this in tia -f’
trious
than no t in c ircuai l‘tances to e nab le him to ufe
b o d ie s and plough , b ut ob l iged to hoe his
1 3 1 the on'
y difii1
a lty of which w il l b e thep~ e n aring
'
t l1e gzoun d fo r the feed. Accord
mg
ingt o this imperfect cul t ivat ion I Will ‘conclutha t his
’
c rop of corn wil l n o t be more than
hulhe ls to the acre Now a n indufl rious 15
making a fe t tlem ent in the autumn wouldab le to ope n three acres of land (in ,
n er I have re lated) before the tune 0
ing, which wil l be in April or May in
as l ate as J une 1vi'l anf11 er ; i
'
o that h
t ake advan tage of this tavo u:ab le c irt un“
1 fi
and , by plan t ing at diiieren t pe 1 iods,b e b e tte r enab led to culti t a t6 his cm
t 1 n o t:al l requit e his at tendance at t
time. Al lowing half an acre fo r y ege taband pulfe , an d the yie lcl o f his labour wil l75 bulhe ls of c o rn .
-Adn1 it ting then that
has a Wife and two Childre n , 1 wil l al lowhalf of this co rn fo r their year
’
s fuppo rt , whi
with the anim a l f ood his fl ock wil l afi'
ord h
anal vege tabl es, wil l confiitute a cowi e r
lit ing. The o ther half he may fe l l , and pmchafe . thole a t tific ial necefiaries his familymaywant The feconcl autumn and 11 in ter he
‘
mayi
open two ac 1es 111 o 1 e , and put the o ther threejfi
into be t ter condi tion one of which thould b etfown with fl ax o r hea1p
- feecl , in o rde r to gemploymen t to his n ite , and to provide 1
to r domeftic a fes. H is cl op of com , th
cond year, with the extended and i111
cul tiva t ion ,wil l no t be
,{ho rt of 12 5 bu
The furnlus q ttmtity of this year’
s c rop ti’ l l i ga great way towazds par haling a horfe an
p’
oué h ;
150 J
We ,have a variety of fifh. in our rivers t
molt efieemed of. which are the perch, t
buffalo fifh, and(oft turt le . The pe rch»
,
r
fil e from, 5 to fi l l). is firmand fa t 111 it s
Ion , 11 hich 18 from F eb ;uary. unt il ’ Ju ly, ,equal to any {alt water fith [ever tafied.
fl out, is caught from 8.3to -
3o lb . we ights ,
filh is too ‘ univerfally, known ) and adm ired
require any account‘
o f its excell ence , part i
larly as the trout in Engla nd is faid to beexact m 1n1ature of 0 111 s . The buffalo fifh 1
fize froml 4 to SR); is a very fine Fiih , but
1e rio1 to the two formen But the foft tus, pe1haps, the 1110 11 delicious fifh 1n
World , and amply compenfates fo r our 11
ing no o ther tellaceous‘
fifh . This tu
gelatinous, except a .fmall(hel l ' upon i ts bac
about the b ignefs of the palm,of the han
The weight 1s from 6 to I Q ll)
Mo tt people make the 1r own fugar
when it is fo ld , the price 13 fr om 3d . to 4d ,
h
1
per lb . according to its finen efs. The bu
nefs of fugar refinin o is only commenci
which makes 11: 1mpofiib le to lay exact ly 11
wil l be the general price of loaf or refined
gar but I conclude it w il l be propt rlow with 1 aW fugar , as the bufinefs can
can ted o n in this country at lefs eXpence th
in Phil ade lphia and Ymk,where the p1 it e
the necel‘liai
t ies of l ife isfo much hight redifice , chocolate, and
afpices, are fomet
1
ighe r here tha n . in Phil adelphia . G ood greet?
is from -
5 to 83 . per lb. Impe ria l on gunPearl and fouchong
, from
G ood fouche ngfrom 4 s. 6ds to 73 ;
it to. . Bohea, fronr es. to 3s. 6d . Codee ,15 . 9d. to fis h Choco lat e , from 1 8. 6d
1 3 . 8d . Spices are moftly 2 ; per cen t . high- u
than they are at Philade lphia or Bal timore
1 have en te red into fe tera l minutiae , in or
r that you may have a more c lear idea of theepi c and fituation of this country. I:have not
(1 remuch at being agre eab le , as to con
y informa t io n
In a coun t ry m the z en ith of the perfecrior‘t
arts, and one jui’t removing the fhade o f
e wildne ls, the con trai’t appea1s, I knower to arrEuropean than it real ly is . W e
mo re o f fimplicity -and youm o re o f art .
have mm e of na tu e,and you m ore or the :
d. N atu:6:fo rmed our featut es and 1 11 1ei
ve ry much ahire but while you have
the o ne , and con tamina ted the
r, we prefe rve t he
»natur
al fymbo ls of bo th.
have more hypo crify ; we are fince re .
are m ore cunn ing and adm it , which your-
and habits have rende re i part o f yours
res W e are no t fo fiupid as no t to fee
gh the r ezi ; but 11 nen an }:Luropean does .
nour to y ifit us, wehar e both toomuch .
and fuavity of:m anners to inform
have neither fent iments nor re l igion .
ars refidenee with us teaches them a
that
3
that important’
truth,
. and felt-
“
conviction is
ways~ the molt lafi ing.
1 H owever , -a de l ineation o f the laws;fubfia nce of~
the opin ions, which our”new
wil l contain ; w il l giveayou a be tter e o ncepof» our
“
mora l and po l itical . fen t imen t'
e ,
their prob ab le duration and‘with hopes
an early O ppo rtun i ty w il l pre fent itfelf toWard my l e t t er upo n that fubjeé
‘t,I {ha ll
my leave 0 1 you for t he p1efent , my dear
the utmoft i regard and éf’t‘
eem,
F 1 54 1
prccifion of the purity of legifiation Wh
produces the mo d entire c onviction in
m inds of a ll men,of the necefii ty the re i
acting in every‘
inftanc e according to the c
of reafon and truth . E very man is eqconcerned in the we l fare and pro fperitycountry his own fe l icity can on ly be
i l’
tent W i th i t ; and to 111111 1 1113 amb iti
run ccinnter to the general weal would b enet
'
s in an en l ightened commonwea l th,
could on ly tend to produce his own e ternalgr ace or ruin ,
where the genius of freed om
en throned 1n the heart of every c itiz en.
EurO pe has l ongb een cnfl aved by forms a
authorit ies ; and ,whil e its mult ita t ions la
an dt cnftoms have fe i ve d o n ly 1 ex
Ie fliona l men , the fO phill t‘
yl in
p ounding themh as comple te ly bewilde redimagina tions of its citiz ens, and produced
ohl’
cnrity o f ideas upon the Iubj cé’
t o f jurifpdcnce and gove rnment , which is truly driib le . Ther
’
e is an o ld adage wh ich“That too much learningmakes a man 21 I0
The 9 1 11111 111 , and c ivil law, add ed to t
ha i ha:one codes of the ancellm s o f men
yo ur he rn ifphe i e have tended not a l itt l ecm harraIs the . m inds of: me n ; For after a ]
devo ted to the I’
tudy and inveliigat ion , of a
Iurdit y , the m iferab le fl udent has gener
11111111 0 11 1:foot in the grave before he has
[ 1 55 ]
le to difcover th impc fii b iiity of ob tain ing
bj etk of—his purfuit .
R e ligion , or what you cal l an ei’tab lifhment
,
3 had its { hare in rive t ting the fe tte rs o f igrance . The e luc ida tion of truth has b een
by the tyranny o f the church ; for
135108 756 6 12 t'be pedagogy“ of r e/z'
mora lr, ferztimenu a nd polit ics, their ih‘
{l ed views have been the canfe of their
e ring that governme n t , whofe intereft‘
it
s to keep' the people igno ran t , a s it fecuxed
them the undifturbed diviffion o f the fpo ils
the indo fi ry o f the gre at bulk of your C 1
ens, while they we re o ffer ing an indignity
grofs to the De ity as their fyt‘tem was unna
and unjul‘t .
JWhat can b e a greater f
at ion; th an p seium ing t o arraign o f
e‘
o f the fen timen t‘
s of r nen , the proprie tyhich a re to s he de term ined b efore a
-
tribu
n heaven ? fi t is an infttlt too gro fs to me
comment . It'
has b ee n fuhverfive of all
mo rals, by affo rd ing
‘
a ve il to cover the
erify of the molt defign ing li naves.
u mutt ex cnfe t hi s (ligrefii on ; I haveit fo r a fnhj eé
’
t of refl ection for you, that
mind mav b e prepared to judge impar tio f a fyflem fo ' ve
-
ry fimple , as tha t upon
h the fabric of our gove rnment act s. It
firfi nece llary to thew the caufe which has
oduced t ha t rnyfiery .which yo u reverenceWifdom, but which is abfolute ly founded in
pet
E 4 55 3
petpie: ity o f O pin ion t n'
il ignorance y or,
give yr 11 a chic:to reflect ions which. would
ve lcpe i ts fal lacy .
E ve l y man who is taxed or t a ed , has a V
in the appo intm ent o f the 1ep 1efe1 ta t ives
the State which confill of two houfes, i .
t he hon ie of de lega tes and the fenate , w
ch‘
ufe a Prefiden t , o r G overnor , fo1 o n e
which”Gove rnor chafes h i s man councila dvil e 11 1th him in a ll pub !1c mat ters. 1
no t immedia tely n ecefiin y t hat the legifiat
{hould approve of his appointments ; b ut
p revent the pofiibility of the ex eifc ife o f pd igality and con tume ly ,
they have rofiet v'
ed
t l1e 111fe lve s the privik ge o i obi efl ing to
charact e t s fo r his advifErs u ho have not
(pub l ic approb atton ; which has the good
feet of producing harmony b e tween the
t emment and the people -w of ob ligingwho afpire to the honcw s of the ir count
r efpeél the pub lic opin ion ; and it pthe proi
’titution of principle , by in terd
t he pe rnic ious confequences o f favouri
while no ill can fl ow from this nega tive ,
is n o t to be prefumed that the col lectedmen ts of a who le { l ate can ever be prejudagainfi an individua l , and i t i s impofii ble
t he minds of the legiflature to be warped
gainll: the ir Pt efident , without fufii e ie
grounds. The very idea 18 a foleeifm
xenion .
l: 1 58 ]
o riginated from the ignorance of its po l'
it'
if inf
’t itut ion ; but that i s no argument agai
i the po l icy o f the fyfiem . It requires t ime
e ve ry government to acquire i ts f pro er
and the people m utt b ecom e farn'
iiiarthat f tone
,b efore they can make a l pr
ufe of the inftrumen t. At any rate, Mr.
fe rion’
s opi n ion a ppears to 411 6 premature
it it is neceilary to . h ave ~tWo h oufes o
prefen tatives, c learly they ought to b e
by thepeople . As to their be ing e le
the fam e time , and front - the fame defc-
o f m en , this canfignify y ery l itt le , as
to the number of rep’
t efentatiy es,~and
quen tly there is a more genera l coulent toVl egi
‘
ll at ion. H ow ever,
our fena te w il lr c
'
hofen ’ fo r three years, and r the bottle of de
gates wil l be e lected annual ly ; and it appc
t o me , that thep’
eotile will no t on ly foo n (iiver
‘
the obj ect of its po l itica l in ti itution , ‘
Will acarry It into effect ,‘They have on !
difcover the w ifdom oi cliufingme n o f exp
ence for the fenate , to make it a genei a l pa
t ice ; and i it m o lt ce i tain ly is b e t ter m h
t he fyll em thus O pen , than by co n’
iin fng
é’
l‘ggib ility of a fenato r to thc a rei’t ric'fi
t ie n
particular age ,
as t hat would not on lym eroachmen t upon the l ib(1:t1es ot the e ii z
but it would frequen t ly deprive us or the
erc1fe ,o f ufe f
’
ul and fpleh n did ta lents, wtmight have
anOpportunity'
of ob taining a
E.
1 59 3
n the fenat e , when he could no t In the
mate“
o f de legat e s b y c on lequence of the‘
populazity o f t he delega tes of the dif
51 o r coun ty to which he m ight b e long.
The Prefitlen t o f the State 18 chofen annu
y ao l elht i‘
ole for three fucce’
nive y ze ai s
3h he 111 113:re:m1i 11 out of office th ese
hetore he can l1 ~( LC !me 21 3 1in e l igib le .
1 21 negative vo ic e upon all ati’ts, in con
1311116 1? of which eVC’
n ti fmpAt tnn IS pres ent-3°
511 1 111 beine;{1 111
1 1
eo t it ioutl y 131 151111 3 1111 0 111
neople by the 111 0 h 11 mt z1ite111biy ; and
check is given to any ineoi i lide1 e ftep1111.petuooutye t the legf
‘
11 111161 , until thefenfethe mot
-
113 1111 11 he ne t tle and mean
es taken not 01 111 13111. P ie ? refident is
{ides the guardian o t the t e o z the(l ate ,3 the po ye t with the e e of 111s e n uneil,
pa i tien c 1 i111 inal . , and by proeiaai ation go o
ems or eorzezfts the influence of all entranea
Such is th 0 11 111111 11 11 71 11 of our legit - .11iy 3
eon s ent ion of
1. 11ene"6 1 its t iee proves its imper
n o r tie?toienor .
“111133 it i s, that 111 the
grefiion of philo i opl1y a 11d po lit ics , as w e ll
in at 13 , and th appropr ia tion of expe i imena
truths, the peifeit ion of govern mm is t o
afcet tain'
ed.
1 60
All the powers of government revert to th
people , and they 0 11g1 ht to i eve i t to the
Ji m j uo ie iaty having
)
b een refet ved to 1
through the medium of j uries . The legt ive they int tuit to their reprefentatives
are 1 111 11111 1157 the fame ; arid the ex ecutiv
emanate3 1 1 0m the legiilaw re, in that the who l
age u l t in1 21 1 eiy 1 efponfib le to the peo ple . Th
executive to the reprefen tative3 and the re
prefentat ives to the ir confiituent s .
Such is'
the influence of ecl'
ueation and hab i
that j s erfon , .v 11 > has given eve iy p'
oili
b le preot of his attachment to l iberty , aleduca teJ wvhen arifioozatieal opinions
c ommon ,fnys this is precifely the defini
o f defpot ie government , and he add s ,it can . prove no allevmt ion that the powe rs
be ex e te ifed by a plural ity of hands and
by a iingle one ,”
and then he triumphant
b egs, thofe who doubt it , to t iim the it cyon the Rep ub l ic ofVenice .
”When he W t o
this port o t'
his n otes, he feems to have been
the opinion of My. Butke(whole paradt x itb o o } h found its way out he re), when1 emarl< ed “
that gove rnment was a con t
vah ee of human v.1 ifd 1 rn.
”O the rvzife l am
a l ofé to conceive how he could compo
a gove rnment 11 1511111; upon the t nalre t
b le p ivileges , and the lib ,»ht of re:M , to
da 1 l< a 1 iil oo
c i aey 11 111 11 1 ivctted
ininds'
E 1 6 2
try’
s profperity It isl promotinga
'
difl inéti
whe r’
e'
there is none ; and by creat ingloufyof power , a rea l and growing evil iduced, when the danger was on ly itnagin‘
ar
YVhat in teref’t , but that of the pub lic ,
‘
can
legifl ature have in makiag the executive pa
of the governmen t refponfible to them
pofl ib le dange r o r in c onven ience can flow
fuch' refponfibility in / an e n lightened State
The maxims of re afon and igno rance are di
The idea‘
Which ‘Mr. Jefierfon makes ufe
in ano the r p art of his book, that the Affemb
may afi'
ume a ll the powers, legifl ative , ex
cut ive , and judic iary, and that thefe
come to the frnallell rag of del egation ’is
feel ly nugatory The j udiciary power
people never par ted with en tire ly, and i h
ecut ive by the age nts of the repre fen tat
qual ified to judge of the laws 3
our particular conf’titution , is no t
tom ,ba t forms a part of the government .
o ne of the fprings by which‘
the harmo ny
the fyfiem is preferved ; and {honld j t at a
t ithe be deftroyed , it i s the peopl e who are
reE’
t ify the abufe. They a re the
foun taino f al l powe r ; and it is on lyry for the
m and the ir agents to know this,
order to prevent e ve ry danger of. the‘
Whe
ofgovernment being c logged, and impeded
e deli rué‘
t‘
ion of any one of: its efiEntial
rigs .
he legifiature is not o n ly unqualified for a
l to judge o f its own laws from the phi
of it s numb ers, but it is impofii hle that1
lcl have any obj ect o f tyranny in View,
m en am familiar w ith their own rights ,
beg to know ' what motive , in common
e,co
b
uld fagge l’
t the idea, of embarrafiing ,
érnmen t bymutil atingone o f its b ranches ?
r IS 1 t pofiible that Mr . Jefferfon , when hei i under this fyi
’tem , the Afl
‘
embly mightafi
’
fume all the powers ofgor ernment , couldthat as the executive power emanated
the legifl ature , it was l iab le to be ftibo r under the oon troul of. the reprefen
s of the State ? This idea appears indeed
o childiih e ver to have en te red in to the head
even an indiffe re nt fiatefman : the execut ive
en ts of a government b eing independen t in
r appointmen ts o f every powe r but the
s, _are no more liab le to be cont rouled by
e legifiature , than byany o ther power which
lgb t appoint them ,
Ke n tne lt y is divsded in to coun ties in l ikeanne r as the o rher Stat es, which are fimilar
the counties in England . It has b een the
ti de praé t ice hither to , that e ac lr coun tyould have t r 0 de lega tes and or e fcnato r to
refen t them , W1 hour any regard t o th
1: of fnii rages th y contained. This
imper
E 1 64 : II“
impe 1fe€i l’
yfiem wil l b e changed by our
m ended plan as foon as it can be finifhed
a een/m taken of the inhabitan ts andcount y wil l then have its number of reptatives in propor tion to its populat i
feems to be the on ly confid en t de
H oweve r -our old f‘
yi’tem as ye t has not pr
e ed any bad effect s and as the fluctuatio
t he populat ions of the coun ties were
great , perhaps an at tempt at a more exact
qual ity would have been p temature .
It is when the local in tet e l’t of a Statecomes diffe ren t or var ious, that this part ialprefen tation 1s l iab l e to~ abufe of privile
b ut , fo r that reafon It ought to be remedi
in every State as earlysa s poflihle .
In every county , magil’trates f or j ui
’tiees
the peace are appointed by t he people , bcommifii oned by the Governor o r Prefiden
they aét without reward. Th e ir number is
propo rtion to the populationi of their diii ri
and they are nom inated from time t o time
the inhabitants increafe , o r a vacancyfrom death o r any other caufe or as their
nif’rry m ay b e required . The mof’r dife
and re fpeé’
tab le men for in tegrity and kn
ledge a1 e promoted to this offi ce .
r it ih oul l happen that an ignorant per
w ere to acquit e popul a 1iry fuli icient to icehis nom inat ion to the office of a iufiiee of thl
peace , the Governor JS not ob liged to comm if.
J
!
[ 1 66 ]
court of magit’t rates is cal led, and if o ri e
mirt'
ation theyfind him guiity , he is len t to t
general court pt ifon ,befo xe whichr cour t he
t o b e tried by 21 JR 137 of twen ty four , thir te
or:Whom mui’t con cur in opin ion if the
him guil ty he ts then tried by a jury of twei
di’b is own county where he ofi
’
ended , and
theit verdift(which mull: bis. acquit ted or condemned
i ihe Gove rnor hasthe power to pardon exe
in cafe of tret ion , in 11 1 1 ch cafe the fi t ht f11
i ii the G eneral Afi'
embly. Such dog
we
ceive to be the value of the life e f everyzen, that we m
‘i’
ord him every poflible (33111111of provmghis inn
locence .
in civil matters, if the value in clifpute
lefs t han twenty flrillings, a firgle magifir
may try it in any time place within
county, and may award execution on the
o t the party cait . If it be of that , or great
value , it mutt b e detesmined before coun
court , where the quorum of the magifirat
mittf’t be four at leeit ; for which purpofe , cou
ty coul is muff be holden {0 111e day i n eve
m ,outb in the comm-t houf'
e of the difie i
F rom thefe determinations, if t
value be mo re-
than 1 0 1. o r concern the bou
cl erics o f land; there lies an appeal to one
the fuperior courts. It is opt ional with t
partywho brings the. aé’tion . ifi thc demand
1 67
above 1 01. to bring it either in the county or
general co urt .
W e have two fuperior court s .The hi h
CO U i t o t chaticery ,and the genera l co ur .t
Both receive appeals {t om the c'
oun t) coul ts,
alfo have 0 1 11 ~a i 11al j ui iftliét ion , whe 1e the
is above I o l . or Whe1e - the difput e IS
rning land. The high court . o f chance
is compofed of '
three Judges ; the ge
ral'
court o f five . The Chancery ho ldsielfions t nice at year, at {l ated periods
e general court {efiions are q 11arte 1 ly . ;
ce 9. year for crim inal and civil , and
twice for crim ina l on ly . The re is a lfo a fu
p1enze cou rt cal led the Court of Appeals , ccompoled o i the j udges of the two lupe 1 i0 1 court s,
u n ieh altetu‘o t e s twice a yea1 a lfo at fia ted
ti u es, a t the cap ital of the Rate . This courtlrece l ves appeals in all cafes fi om each of the
fume i c ourts, and determ ines them fina l ly.
Ti l iS Lcou t h:i s no o ri"f inal jurifciiction . Thus
i at We have fo ll ow}. ed the mode l and pract ice o f
Wirginia . W e have 110 court of adzn iralty ,nor
‘have we comple tee d our
”
fiftem of j urifpruFdeuce ; but I wil l endeavour to give yo u the
“out l ines o r prm exples which wi l l conltitute its
The fi 1l‘t obj ect o f every free governm en t is
lfecur ity of pe 1fon and property° which is ca1l
led F 1eedom W ithou t fueh a pre te rva tion
berm put e l iberty. Under fueh a
‘
1 1 , every cit izen has a rigt t t to do
does not injure another. The hinge
of
c 1 68 ]
of fecurity in a civil iz ed fiate , is t l1 e fe zm iprope i ty,
but it is neceiiin'
y that cai e {in
tel:en no t to endanger the l iberty of- o f the c i t iz ens of the fiate . F m the prefer
tion o f perfohal l ibe rty fome fafeguai d the
be kept , provided by law , bo th upon the
figningand unfufpicious, in order to avoid
great inconven iencies.which have flo‘
we- knavery and credulity, as wel l in mo itUnited States as in Europe . Prifons an
geons have been perverted int
fo r rapine—and fraud , and in to eel
‘m ifery and wretchednefi», which have in1
gree checked the ea t eer of d ifiipation and 13- digality , or pi oduced more indufiry 0 1 ca
, and While the re len tment of difappoin ted a
rice has been gl ttt ted 111 the fury of
the world has loll; much p f the t alents and
genUity of fon:e of its tr o ll val tt 'tb le
Z ens L aws {hould be calcul a ted to pre
t difi le fs from iti tempcmnce and fo l ly, and t
comm iffion of crimes as much as poffible.
‘
C t editors 0 1111111 to be made cauxious in th
fecw ity, and When they have t rt i ited hey“c e i tain i 11m , 0 1 have no t taken a pt o pe 1
caution , they fii ould be l iab le to lofe the'“tie would ne
t eilw ilym ake the pan t ies pwde nt. and fo tar h om be ing inj igu ious to t i e~ it would prevent many in conveniencies Wh
refult from bafiy deal ings and infufiicien t. cu1
'
ity. u Habit and cufiom 1161
I O
fipenal ob ligations, and left to bro
‘
od offer eE
‘C al'amit‘ies to which the .fol l ies of a
y outh, bad educat ion , and pshave- reduced them , and which"ed them in the care er of vice, and
vt'
hem i n theh our of defpair and mortificat
jand~
you m ull : be infenfib le 1ndeed no t to
f recate that degrada tion which zindigfeffted,
human , and impolit i‘
c’
infiitut ion s have
b ed i n eve rybpartfofv the World . Thele
‘o f the zfentime
'
nts of fometof o ur le
a nd from fueh opinion s, I fla tter.fh all Jafi
'
ord tefiimohy r fulfim cnt th
e re -em ceefi‘ary;except fo r homicides
1 6 153t ought to’
be t ri ed asimmediat
{nature ofé tfihe e afe would adm it . It» is the
t aintyof'
pun ifhment , and the terro r of infi
fufi’
er ingywhich' deter men from the comm
of thofe p runes fwhe-r-e r the co nfid ence is“
cemed. “Ib is our nature to l ook at ever“Which is are
’
mote with indifference but
imity excites Tome {enfations of joy or fear
fi‘
h‘
e hearts of t he m olt ca llous.
t h i s a c ruel mortification to t he v
progeny
family of '
anyman; who has difgraced-his
mory by murder, treafon , or any other c
agaiuj t either the laws of G od o r the St
and h i s a lamen tab l e confideranon in‘
affairs,"that it {hould be n
‘
ecef'fary to m
amples -whichwrc fo degrading to'
E’
1 71 J”
gi
our'
natures. Should we then ' ofl’
er infull‘
misfo rtune , and reduce to beggary the ih
cen t offspringor connections of an ofiendinglprit ?Sure ly not . T eh State 18 the tute laryardian o f its c it iz ens, the protect
“1 1 of mno
nce , the promoter o f fel1c1ty and profperity,
e avenger 0 1 W t ongs and no t the fpoiler
com fo1 t; and the ty1 an t o humanity. F or
efe 1eafons, n either murde r, t reafon , o r anyme
,ought to rob the family o f the
by fo rfeiture of~ landsr-
and goods to*
51515 {rich as have b een guil ty of
manflaugh’
ter , fodomy ,maim
g, disfiguring, coun terfeit ingmoney,1obbe ~
burglary ,houfe - breaking, horfe - ftealing,
and larceny , pe tty the . {hould
condemned to labour for the State duringh a length of time as w ould be proportion~
e to the crim es they had comm it ted, which
uld be defined by law and m cafe 1 t fliould
found h o rn expe 1ience that this fyf’tem did
tend to deter fi om the commifl im of
and was productive of o ther bad ef
ir would then be time enough to intro
more rigorous meafures. It is however
sin, tha t as yet the fyflem in quell ion,
has
t had fufiici‘
en t t ime to be experie nced in its
l efi‘
eél s in thole Sta tes which have int ro
ccd it in pu t. Bu t(0 far as a j udgment
be tortned, it is reafonable to expect the
P 2 molt
molt [aluthry cohfequences from th eir hu
m eafures; O urr
criminal code wil l be zi l
cd'
upon’
thefe f le'
n'
ient principl ese e
‘
é‘cing foreigners w il l b e foundbroad
~b afis of hofpitality; and t
principle tha t the world ought to b
a s one’
grea t fami iy. R efpeé’
ting’
m
fuccefii on , more‘
conformab ly’
to the
nature t
'
than‘
the laws of E urope, w
permit ted to enj oy all the prwileges, an
to which reafonu and de lientit le them . It isupon fimilar
‘
principles
property is dii’trihht
ed - ih an“equal and
ent manner 3 and that a fa the r is no t fn
to difinher it a'
child, except he can in
appear, 16 a t court o f jufi ice , that he is
t a l ly—
vic ious; and even then , .fu_
ch-
a de
Inuit be coerce d with -
confiderations po in
out by the law
S uch are the co l lect ed fen‘
tirnents of the p
ple'
upon t he o fubjeét o f law and governme
and we hat e the fit t isfafi ion to know theyanalogous to the opin ions o f a wife and juc ions Euro pean au thor, wltofe virtues and
perior geod‘
fenfe have given them a
qne nce in your own‘nation
‘
which does h
highe l’t honour ; and » therefo re I wil l
from him to conc lude this l e tter , wh‘
ic
fnew that the-
len t im ents of en l ightened mupon the fubjeé
’t o f freedom and governme
differ in no refp eét from the fimple ideas of:
men
L E T T E R 1X.
KENTUCKY“.
MV ' DEAR EarEND,
rece iving, wi thin th
two days, your. faaour, dated the 9 4 th
h ugull loft , and admire the virtue and hum
n ity off tho fe of. your citiz ens you men tion t
have l eft off the ufe '
ofW eft:India produc e, i
confequen'
ce o f. your parliamentv n ot - bavin
adop ted. any mode of effeél ing the abolition .
the {l ava t rade .
The lit tle‘
pamphlet you did me the favor
fe h d with your pocket , addre ifed to the peopleo f G reat Bri tain o n that fubj e c
’
t, w ith obfe r
vat1ons upon the fituation of the un for tunate
Africans e nfiaved,co ntains the po rc h fen t i
men ts of benevo lence ,and the me lt rational
ideas, and it is wr itten with a prcc'
fion which
does the highe lt honour to the author’
s head,as we l l as to his heartW e have difgraced the fair face o f huma
‘
ni- a
_ty, and trampl ed Upo n the facred privil eges of?man, at the very momen t that we were ex - dclaiming againft the tyranny o f your min ifl ryg,b ut in contending for the birthright of free
dom,
l‘llll'
tllfi
1 75“
J
lorn, we have l earned to fee l for the bondage1f o the rs ; and,
in the l ibations we offer to thegoddefs of hb erty, we contempl ate an
mancipation o f the fl aves o f this country, as
1ono urable to themfelves as it wil l be glorious0 us.
I have been alhamed , in readingMr. Jeffer3 book ,
to fee,from on e of the moi
’t enl ight
d and b en evo lent o f my coun trymen , the
aceful prejudices he ente rtains aga inf’t the
unfo rtuna te negroes. But if he has given Eu‘
0peans a fiagran t'
pro of‘of his prej udices, he
1as affo rde d common fenfc an opport uni ty of
edging from his para doxes , that fuch canno t
oe ; the gene ral fen timen ts of the people of A»
ri ca .
in the. re vifion of a code of laws propofedfor the State of V irginia , it was recomm ended
to emancipate all {Eaves born afte r pafling the‘
who we re to b e b rougntrup; at the pub
l iC‘
eXpence , to differen t vocat ions, un til fem a les(hould be e ighteen,
and the ma l e s to en ty—oneye ars o f age ; w en they {horrid b e colon iz ed
foch place as crrcumfl ances fhould ren’
de'
r
o il p‘
rope r, g1v1ng them arms,implements,
c SEC . t o‘
dec lare them e free and i ndepend
peo ple ,and extend to them the ir al liance
r 1 ”t Q1
p 1 O tefi lon , unt l 1 ey 10u1d ha t e acqun
ed i {l rcngth and power equal to fe‘
lfipro tec
tion;
‘E'
17 6 it
Co’
nce rning‘
which meafure , Mr. JEfi'
er
fays, It Whyre tain and incorpo rat e the
‘blaeks ?”H
attempts togive renfons to pro ve why itbe impo litic ; by al ledging
’
that the
rooted prejudices of the whites, and the
leét io n of paft inj uries we
prod uctive of cont inua l feuds,which woo l
prob ably neve r end but: in f. the exterm inat i o
of one or the o ther race
To fuch obj ee’tions, which he cal ls po l iti
he fays, May be-
add ed o thers, which
rrj oral and phyfieal .’
Igwilsl obferve
politica l opin ions firl’e The grea t charge
m bufinefswould b e tof that; St ate , - woul d n
cefl'
arily tend to procrafl inate , its execut io
and perhape-render abort ive the who le defig
by making it necefi'
any to - relinquith an
which the:
finances;o f the government
not admit of be ingcarr'ried-
‘
in to
thus a molt odious tyranny wou ld b e ped . Befides, What
-
could‘
~be fo impo l iticfuch a coun try as V irginia , .as ban ifhing a
merotts clafs of men who m ight be made r
ufe
ful'
citinens, r ifking a depopulation of one co
l our, in o rde r to fupplyi their places with arm
ther ; an unde rtakingw hich, indepen-dan t
the great- expence it would; be attended wit
would alfo pro ,ve furrounded by. many 0th
difficul t ies. F rom what country is the va
cy; to be fil led ? Emigrations have been
1 78
tobacco , would become fe rtilii ed , and ref’tb
cd.
’to its pril
’tine fecundity“
Let us fuppofe the prefe nt 1111 1 1111
01 V irgin
placed in fuch'
a fituatio n for,their l ives;
that all bl acks,born after
‘
pafii ng an‘afl:
this purpofe , fhoul'
d ”be free at twen tyyears
‘
of~ age . ThiSw would afford time no t
ly to put thele lit t l e farms in o rder,
1 bu t it
reclaim the exhaui’ted land f leava the pro
tors
'
in’
a b e tter fituation than ‘
they1 o ther
would have been in hich err- jcourage s indo lence; promotes ignorance , tym
f anny , and every radica l vic e { but the blacks, ~1
b l ibera l condit ion} upon fuch a p lan; with ’
i
ié ufiry , m ight be able to educa te the ir chil- sidren
,and accumulate a fmall proper ty to ena a
courage and fupport their“ l ibe rty and
'
ii‘
tde‘
pe
dence,and
?
the St ate would have time to a
quire white em igrants, if'
the‘ b laeks did
“
anfwer the purpofes of cul tivation , and'
thcd
end of the civil polity of_
ao enl ightened go - a
ve rnment ; to fuppofe w hich would be ’
as unq lcharitab l e as the remarks of Mr. Jefi
’
erl‘
on. lIt 1wil l
,doub tlefs, require a
' lengtho f t ime"
;
to generaliz e marriages~ ~ b etween the whites
and b lacks ; b ut that would not prove a »!
m aterial di fadvan tage to the State . There‘l
would always be fome whites - who would mar l
ry b lacks for the fake of property; and, .no i
doubt, when prejudices are Worn away, theyrlwould
l”
1 79’
fl
would unite from more tender and del icatefentiments .
A judicious authoz o r this count ry, who has
writ ten o n M e com p lex io n and figure in the
human fpecies, has la d :‘4 A nat io n which
m igrates to a diiie i en t c l imat e 11
i ll in t ime,
b e impreffed with t i e ch aum’
rers o f its new
State The dark co l our of the na t ives o f the
India ifl ands is -wel l known to approach
n ear to a dark c opper . The defcendan tsV501 o f the Spaniards 1 11
'
8 11 1 thAmerica are al i eadyb ecome c0pper
- co loured. l he P0 1tuancle of
Nl itombo , i n Sic-
1 1 11 Leona on the coal i of
gAfrica, have , by in termarrying Wi th the h a;
and by adopt ing their mariner-
s,b ecome,
W gene ra t io ns, perfect ly‘
afiim ilated in
figure , and comp lexion .
”And Lord
W ho cannot be lufpeiéted o f partial ityfubj eél
'
,fays
'
of ano ther Portuguefe fet
ou the .coali o f C ongo , Tha t the
an ts o f thofe po liihed Europeanshave
, b o th in the ii pe 1lo ns and in their
3, m o1 e l ike heali s than l ike men .
mples tend to i ’n engthen the infer
e from the changes tha t have happened in
Angl o - Americans and they ib ew how ea-i
c l imate would al i imilate fore igners to‘na
s,in the courfe of time
, if they would a
t the fame manners, and equal ly expofe
fe lves t o .i ts influence .
”
VJhether
E 1 80
Whether the black of negroes refidesre ticul ar membrane between the {km and
Ikin ,0 1 in the fearf-ilkm . i
proceeds from the co lour of t he blood115111 of ‘the b ile, or from that of fome
cret ion, the“
difference is n o t fixed in
but rs i tliue mere efi'
e é’t o f‘
clim
proved bye the daily te llimo ny ol ightened philofophe rs of the
M110 have for the ir fuppm t the ob
and remarks of trave l le rs upon'
the gefii
eél
c l imate in every part’
of the globe .
Mr. j efie rfon lays, it is fixed in. natur e ; andafli s -l i1 the diffe rence 18 of no rea l impance .
9” Ianfwe1 , tha t i t is of no re alance ,
when compared wi th .the object ofrmg fome mil li ons or m 1fe1 ab e human b
from the od ious prejudices which have deed a iwhole race of men to the
.of 1 bu11den , becaufe t heynot
,to have the tinge of r ed
Were a man,
- Who, with all
youthful paihou, had j o l’t beethe fifth bofom of a loved and he(l refs, .and afterwards m arked the
ihatp aradife of fublu11ary - blifs, - to
or Indian . hue, to exclaim in the te rms
h l r . Jefie1fi1n has ufed , he m ight hej ud.cufahle o n account of the in toxicationheated fell ies—But when a grave philowho has partied the meridian of life, fit
t 1 8 1 1
te1 ence ; bu1 11 l1 1f1h 1n real ity m aybe ;
ed in a degree 111 all b llack baited people11ounuiesC
ON doub t , too, much‘
of that ardour is
ing to thee ir difference of l iving from tha
the whites for 11:is certain , that thofew ho are e leanly,
sand live manner
their maihe ts, l 1ave lefs or it
H oweve r , therex arr be 1 no d oub t:but‘t
ed by climate , as to require a lengt
to reflore it to its :prill i‘
ne {late and “he111an wasa boriginal to Alia, o r whether 6
cont inent had its Adam, is of no confequ
to the. argumen t zw ir is c e rtain we are
a l ly the fame in fhape and intellrél 1
them by their facul ties O f f
m
or
y,f
1ea10n , a’
nd imaginat ion, it appear
ay
infcri0 1:, a s I think one could fcarcelybecapab le o f t i acing and comprehendingthevefiigation of Euc lid ; and that 111 imaginatthey are dul l , tal
’
te lels, and anomalous.
1
11 ould be unfair to fo l low them to Att ica
this invefiigation , we u ill confide-
r them 11
on the fame fta rre o i'
:the whitesy and whe1e t
fafi s are not an otyphal on which a judgmeis to be
'
formedCan any pofitit n be more pueril e and tinc
fificnt . We will confider them on
[1 1 83 I]
fame Page of the whites, and then a compari{on is no t apocryphalz No iv I beg to know
111“ca n, be mo re uncer ta in and fahe than ell i
niat ing or con1 pa1ing the in te l lect o r t alen tsof two defc ript ions of men - o11e erg/71111511
7
,
degraded , mzdfet l er ed in a ll their 51t of c ab
111172 1125111 021! 11 tbraugb fi bu la the m mof
11?s and/511372013 t au/d be 10 2111311121713 i beJr
ignorant minds. he o ther free, indepoenden t ,and with t he advan tage o ti appropu atmg the
rea t'
on and fc1ence‘
which have been the rcful’
t
of the {l a dy and labours of'
the philofophers
and fenfib le m en for cen turies back . If there
have been. fome foiitaty iniiances Where -me
groes have hacl the advantage of education,theyhave th
'
ewa that t hey-
are ln -
no degtee ia ~
t to whites, though they have a lways hadis country t he ve ry great difadvantage o f
1at i ng only with their ignorant count rywhich not onlyprevents t nat polith fo ef
to arreft admiration , but which impermeads to fetvility from the pi evalencei'
s .
j eii'
e i i on’s own argumen ts inval idate
felv .es H omer told0
us,he fas s
,nearly
0 00 yea1s fince,
Jove fixech it certa i n, that Whatever clay
Make s m an a fl ave, takes half his w or th away .
it is th eft certain that the negroes in A
merica
E 1 84 l
m erica ~have no t only beelr enfl zfved , bet‘t
t heyh ave exil’ted unde r the molt inhuman
nefarions tyranny; parti cul ar ly ' ln the font
States .
Baron de To tt, {peakingof the
‘
ignomn
the Turks, who are a lfo fl aves, but
l a id that it Was with difi’i cul ty t hatm ake them comp1eh1 nd how two t riangcould be li que to one xight o ne l
”But it
only necetlu y to prove the nul l ity o fMr . jfe rlon
’
s argumen t to copy his own r
H e all; if the wor ld has prodtthan two poe ts acknow ledged to
all n at ions . H ow manym athemat
r unny great in en to rs 111 arts and feier
Enrope, north of the Alps, when the R0
croll'
ed tho 6 mon:tains‘3”
and then he
i t was fix teen centuries before a Ne
co" ld b e fo rmed . And after a lk ing
que ll iens, he at.
1t1rdly eXpeEts that b lackand m aths , at iemn s are to fpring up
»
m nlh rooms.
H owever , a black in N ew*
Englnnd'
compofed an ephemeris which-Ihave feen ,
which men conve 1 fan t in the feiene‘
e of a
n omy cdeclare exhib its marks of acute rea
an l genius.
'
I o Con tend,l1o‘vever that the {vorld
pt o zlueed but two poe ts, is ra ther the all ert
o t 21 p:edzm t than a philo fo nhez'
and t
tain that no perl ns 1ea1d Mil ton and
E 21 86 J
Phil l is app s-21118 1much the f zperio r. P1Jw ed
{110 11111 be gh d to be info 1med Wha t °
11zhite 11
011 t a is con tinent has .w1 1 11en more beauti
liries.
“Imaginatmn wh o can fing thy force?
0 1 117110 defin °1 1112 the {wifmefs o f thy cout fe ?
Soar i ng 111 1 0 1151 11 a ir to find the b right ab ode ,
'
I h’
imp. r ial paa ia ce of the thund’
ring(3011,‘Ne on thy pin ions can farpa is the 11 111 11,
A nd leave 11 e 1 0 111i
ng 111111 11111:behi1111 :F 10 111 1 1 3 1 to 11 111 th e m en ta l optics ra ve ,
1111391 1 111 13 the 111 113 and range the 1 ea1ms ab ove;
i h’:re111 e ne view we g1 11 1p t 11e rr igh ty 11 11 0 11
3
W 1th 11ew a maz e th’unbounded fou‘f
1 11 0 1111 1} 1 1 11x 111’
d eyes
W ”
e°fie ld s 1 1ay 1111111 11111 , and gayf eenes a l ife
I .“°e 1100 2 13 11 dee t s n ay ourfi their bar? 1
And 1:11111611 wa te t s 111°
11 11 1 11 1 0 er the 12111 113 .
F ai r 11 10 121 m ay refum e h e r frag1 °n t reigt‘
t ,1 .
11 °1° ith he t° fit 1y r1e 11 e s deck the plain 3 ,
81 1 1 5113 113 may (
11911 113 h i s ho nours round ,1 1 1111 011 the f0 1 111my with l eave s b e e t own
’
Show’
1 3 m ay defe end, and dews their g
1 1511 11 11 nee?“ 19 21116123 011 the b loom ing refe .
Mr .
013 113 110 11 has b een eq11 111y feve 1e up
Ignatius Sm eho . But , as I ha t e n o t the
n ow to he acquain ted w ith M l . Saneh
tings, I 1111111 conclude that the critici
1 87 J
quaiiy m n ked wi th mejudice . H is fayin
that Terenee rwgs 1 11 11 1111 0, but not b lack is
in con tradifiioftio n t to { he te i‘timonj1 of every
o ther au tho ri ty ,wi1 o ‘
ail agree , that he was
t ouly an Atricen , b ai t a Numidian , who are
1 known to be b iaek
But , to C O 1a pie te his p i radoxes, Mr. Jefrfon has remmked, That the Indian W it t).
van tage o f ed ucat ion is e loquen t:and iiiw i thout r iecol eat ing t hat the favage
free while the poo 1 111 111151 11 11 en iiavec gi
h ough he 21313 1118 th at 1 6 1 1 1111610 d e1‘11 1'0ys hal i"
he 111 0 r t l71 0 1 111 11 11 7113 11 fom.
But t o,
do ju i1 ice to his candour and heart , I
wiii 11 ive you his co nclmion upon this fubj :e'i
The who le commerce e tween m afier and
fl 1 ve is a perpe tual ex ercife of the mo i"
: bo iii e
1 0 118 paiiions, the m a il
111 3 111 11119 1; defootifm
on o ne pa rt , :1and degrading 11111 11 11?d ims on the
o th er . O u r chiid en fee this , and. Ieam
mu tate it The 1
131111 18 111
:p1 0 1 111 5
,t 1 ze child
looks on, c 1 tch s the ] 3 11 113 13 11 18 o f wre th
,
puts o n the lame. aias , gi"es :1
‘100 fe to his W0
of 1113 ; and aziiid i iilmy exerched 111 ty ran ny? can no t but be(i 11mod with odious Deculiariues.
’
31 F1 i
'
e 1 making cv 1 1 1111
11 3 1 refl eé’cio11 3 hpon”he fubj eéi of fiw er v, he fini'
fhes w i th theme
“em pha i iea wa d s . “1 in o e 11 d
, l t 1 emb 1e for
imy w h en I refif é’c t h at G D is j uflf :th.1t his j
11 1 11 ice 0 1111110 1 fie p 0 a m ; 1ha 1
,
L 1 38
confide ring nambe1s n ature , and natnr
means only, a re vo lution o f the whee l o ftune; an e
'
aeh‘
ang‘
e o ii fit tiation ,isati16ng
fible even ts : that i t may become probab lfupernatural inte tfe rence . The o n
no attt ibute which can tali e fid'
e with us
fuch‘
a co a ted .
the efij’
eét of habit a nd prejudice ; that : wiideas and princ 1pl es founded in re afon
t ruth, fufiicient to demonf’t rate t hat H.V* ty
firoysj
the energy of the human mind;with a heat t which do es honour to M r .
fet fon na a man , his mind IS(0 wa1ned by edm
0 3 110 11 , and the hab it of think ing, that heatt emp ted to
"
make it appeni"that the
"Afri
is a beingr b etween the ‘ human fpeciesa nd
b ran outang and ridiculo ufly'fufi
‘
ered his
agination to be (at ried away w ith the idle 13 1“of that animal ’ 3 emb racing the n egt o w ome
in p reference to t he female sb f its own fp
G RE AT G O D - l how l ong is the w orld no
tan tal iz ed with i nch pal try fophifiry and '
n
fenfe My pity and indignat ion has b een
ternately excited fince l . have been W t
l et te r. But , I hope thole daz z l ingphil anthropy which gleam in the fl a t tehin
coun t you have given me o f the dit’
pofiti
you cou .
,1 trym en wil l give a {tab to the prin
C inles oi domefiic tytanny, and fix an od ivm
fanguine m the ex } ci tat ion ,that the
lofso
to the revenue in
C t eafe tl h umbel who have‘ieft off the ti tle
get , w il l com o el your parliamen t to a
the {lave t i ade upon the pr .h e iple ofo
poli
it ic
evety cosi liele i ation 5 but xvhe11 a govern
218 mm ore upon principle s of pat t onage , tth
Upon a wife and l ibera l po l icy; litt le is to
exPeéted from 013 11110 113 fo vit iated and co
trouled by b ad habits or"thinking.
Ign oran t mindsm e always the th eft inc
gib le , and the devallations whit h Fo l lyco n tume ly have pi odueed in its perfever
t n er‘
,r0 1 {hews in thel’t t ongell , o f all
light , the advan tage 0 1 philofophy.
OJ
Wh
weak me n (h ead W 1 1 .. t they cal l 1nnovat i on,
m endments wil l be very tardy g and un ti l education with you is ameliorated, I expeCt
’
your ,
l; 1 9 1 LI
f‘
rai 1;fi’
em of fiavery, chartered
86 0, Will b e corr'
tmil e’d . H ow
evét , an ze ta Wil l i arrive When St ates w‘:o al e
mme wife than your nation alfippeat s t o be in
the appropriat i on of tifefui truths, “ill eclipfethe bril l iancy of your commerce , and then the
hit oi a people renowned for their m agoani
Will t reat from 1 the fair face of t eat ton
odious mafia -Wh1C-ll has {0 long obf‘
cured
t reQuires no oracula i: facul ties to fee that
pe riod 13 l epidly advancing, and it is to
prerumed t l}at the mofib eonce i ted and {tub e
t o {l e a/11111 would take fome pi ecaution a
infi the (111111,"fers of an impendinghm
’
rieane .
P1 13 C 113 to your 1t t equeft , Ihad 1nte 1 {perf
ia my diF e t ent le t ters fome account of the
tural hi910 1 17 o f this coura trv, and hed It efer11 to Ni t . l ege zion 10 1 ino re full mformbUi ‘ L Zi S
'
i t is 11111 11tys with the greateil:
i’
eafure ' i w rite to you, 1 {ball gweLyen {och
11 acco un t of it as the length o f a be tter
nomy 11 11 131 1 1 1135gt:of the fubj eft wil l permit .
I am too 13 1011 cl to make any ape ogy for
1119; ob iiged to give you in
e p op ttlai fl ames of out V e J Etable s, 81- 0 &C .
.. I thiti lt , i t it high I1111e that the Lih neean
iigoat ion we3 9 11gfr iieiied.
L inni us had g eat mezit as fil ft nomenclaru in the feieoce of natural hift ory , and 110
t did the .we rldfi a great and veffential . good
by
19 9.
by rt eferrinzg he Latin - to the $3 11
"
guage for li is.pi113pofed 1'131ut ft cm' the
which bo tany and 11 11 1 111 111. hifiory l aveed, 1 think or
rig into li ngh ttl1e'
1va1iousuterms ih
en light'
i rtie ,;the L at in l as‘
zhihlzerto been the. moihn cnera l l i nghage 111 3 11 111
11:among fcie
tn ifici
m en,and th115 111 1 the ih la t .cy of the fi titiy hag
fl;een t apidlyzm atured riiy i the happy adeption .
But the 5 11i [h imign'
age hids fair . t t'
1 f
i t, and when we ta’
le‘
e 31311e cf rthe
pat ts of tlm ge obe ii hieh a t13 .fettle d in
11.ho ‘ ifl eoh Engliih , and compare it with the
peu eé i it n which tha t l anguage has 3 1 1 11 ed1 think it feems prob ab le that in the m ini}:
t ithe it 11 111 b ecome unive 1fal.We ha t e a varie ty of fpontaneous kinds
grafs, for many of “filt h we have no 11
I have fpoke’
n of the cane and its pro
11 111 1 111 1 1 l ette r -
j11 11 15 11 the faxmer ma
as a 1g1afs, fince it wi l l anfwer eve ry purpofegr
‘
afs to him . I have alfo men t ioned our c loverand rye zgrafs ; B efides which,
f‘we have , oh
the g1afe kiwi, the pea w‘ine , which
' in a irmail
(l egi ee refemblt s your pea- vine .
- It'
.hzis tfame kind of tend ril and runs up the c
ih rnbs, and r t e -
gi ais, which fi cquen tlvgz
in:en perfed with it . Its b lt {Toms are 0 1 111
(lilh hue , and it ptoduees a {mal l a nd impenfeet
l i
mother - wort,“ '
feifei'few, cafi’sl
pt ure W0
den hair, colewort, gr
t oo th-
_woxt , ground
- ivy , lung-Wo1 t,
po l ly , win te r—green hore hound ,
- ear,’
horfe‘3mint,
w ater- crefi‘
es, fcnrfvy-grafs, muflard,
names which are common 1n
Iprefume that it is the affinity betwee
the above names, and ours,
denom 1nat1ons.
a bett
tanift to determine than to, ,be
t o relate their difli‘
erent m1nut1& ,
f ’bo th tedious and unfat isfaé'
tmy,as 1t 1s 1
fible to give a jufi ide a of their compara tiI
PLANTS, 55;
Jn‘
dian com
~W ild rye,
Indian mil let H o lcus laxas
W ild pea Do lichus
There'
aremany of thisfpecics
Eupinefalem‘
art ichoke
81 12;
‘Wild hemp Acnida cannab inalW ild flax .
» L inum V irginianum
Humul’
us cupulus.
Ribozrs , 8 m.
Satfaparil lce
Sp iree t trifo l ia taEhycho tria emetica
Afclepias decwn bens
A if’tolochia ferpentaria[Black fnake '
roo t ACra’
é a racemofap
Seneca rat tlefnake roo t Po lygala fenega [atatValeria
‘
n : Valeriana lo cuf’ca radiPhanax qu inquefolium
1C afiiwa: j ‘atropha urens
G rana
’
dil las ‘ Pafiifiora incarnata
FRUITS, 81 0.
Mulherry Morus
1 G reen 1 iver plumbBarren , or t ed p lumbCherokee p lumb Prunus fylve ll ris frufi u
m inori
JVild cherry F i n ti na V irginiana
R 2 W ild
~ 14 111111113 perennisH e l ian t hus tube rofusC ucurbita 1 e1ruc ofa 1
Cucui bita meIOpepo
Pouulaca ole i acea‘Iiaélua virofa
t [95 14
W ildcrab apple .
“
Pyrus coronaria
Diofpyros' V irginian
There a:e various kinds of grapes
Scarle t fl i awben 1es lii'
ragaria V i rg1n 1ana.
Wor tleberries Vaccinium uliginofu
W ild goofeb errtes R ibes g‘
rofi‘
ularizr1Wild . CurrantsC ranberrze V ac
-
cinium oxvcoccosfi
Black raibe rn es
May- appl e . This apple 13 pi oduced from an'
annual plan t which 1s among the fii l’t Veg
e
b les that come forward i n the fp1 ihg i t 13
about ten or twe lve inches high, advanci
1 apidly’
to matu1 ity, and the apple grows min the manner o f the po tatoe feed, and i s near
;
iy of the fame fi z e . W hen rl pe , 1t is of t li fir
colour of a pale o range . The pulp 1s of a fuc
culen t nature ,Without any feed , a 11d 1rs fla-
K
vou1 very much l ike the pine apple . It is ripe
early ln J une .
Acimene .
'
1 his fru1t grows upon a fhi ub hand 1s f1 om four to five inches in l ength, andfrom one to one and a half i n diame te r. The
pulp 1s fweet and tender . It ripens in JulyPeakimine . A fpec ies of plumb , nea t ly the
fize of the mogul plumb , but more de l icious.'
Papaw . f This fruit grows upon-
a t ree fromltwelve t o twen ty
- fix fc‘
e t high.1 It is in fhape
more l ike a feed cucumber than any thing'
elf
?tJ
198
- ~Phyt_o lacca decandraPlatanus occiden tal isZ il ia Americana
Popia Liriodendron‘
talipifera
Black ‘
popl Populus n igraRed fl oweringmaple Acer rubrum
Umbrel la tree Magno l ia t ripetalaBuck~ eye .ZEfculus
"Populus tremula
0 1‘Cane" r Arundo ‘p
‘hragm itis .
1
Locuft Rob in ia”
pfeudo acacia
G leditfia
Bel bems vulgarisDog wo od Cornus fl orida
Snow!drop tree Chionanthus V irginia
H o l ly Ilex aqurlo lium
Swamp l aurel M agno lia acum inata
Laurus indica
Bignon ica c atalpaL '
aurus benzo in
Cerc is C anadenfis r
Safl’
afras Laurus failafras
G om’
mon laure l of ‘
this
Not ciafi'
ed
.C ratoegtt s cofi
ecmea
R ed bay Laurus borb oniaEmumDwarf i' ofe bay R hododendron max i
Spind le tree Euonym’
us Europmus
Evergreen {pindle tree Euonymus Ame 1icanus
E ld t r Sambucus nigra'1
Candleberry’
myrtle Myi icac eritem
19 9 Z.
Sumach“
Rhus. Not clatfed
Cot ton - tree Not clalled
Satin- wood tree No t clalféd
C offee t ree N ot clalled
Dwarf laure l Kalmia la tifo l iaAmerican a loe ‘
Agave VirginicaIvy H edera quinquefo l iaH em lock fir Pinus Canadenfis
gPapaW Anno na trilo baTrumpet honey fuckle Lonicera lemper viren’
s
aUpright honey- fuckle Az ale a nudiflora
{Jun ipe i j un ipe i us V irginicaG i on s on ly in the fouthe l n parts of the
wefiern country.
Black ‘
oak Q g‘
crcus nigra
W hite oak Q gercus a l baR ed oak Q LGI
‘
CUS rubra
W il low o ak Q l ercus phel losChefnn t oak
" (l uercus prinus [miBlack -j ack oak Q gercusaquatica [ClayG round oak
'
d rcus pu1 11ila EDifto.
Live oak Q gercus V iigin ianae
[M illerThe l ive oak grows on ly low down on the
Mifii iiippi , on this fide of the m ountain ,
Sme ar t ree Aeer faccharinum
VJhich is the common name throughoutthis count iy for the fngar maple .
Beech F agns fylvaticaWhite alh F rax inus alba
L
2 00
Black -alh F rai inus nigra
U lmus,Americana
Sl ippe ryelm No t clatled
Swee t elm Ulmus [accharin-wAme-iiricana
But ton - wood tree Not claifed
Bl‘
ack birch Be tula nigra ,
W hite b irch Betula a lba »
Sweet gum L iquidambarrfi
’
yramflua
Pinus taeela
G rows on ly on the fouthern branches of :'
the O hio , W e ft F lorida, and the mount;
3 tainous parts of the coun try.
W hite pine Pinus {im bue
G rows only in the moun tainous c ountry;
Ye l low pine Pinus V i rgm ica
G rows a lfo in the moun tains;o
t til
Spruce pi ne Pmus fo lhsa fingularibum
Spruce pine grows m ofily upon the p re'
c ia
picos of 11ve r b anks, upon the fideso f‘
high hil l s, and never”in champaign coun.“
tryCyprefs
Cypreflus difii cha ..
W hite cedar Cyprefi'
us thyo ides
The cyprefs and white cedar grow in ab’
un 1
dan’Ce in the country Contiguous to the gul
O f Mexico ,but in the country high up the ri
vers, very few of them are to be found .
The bell foil produces very l ittle timber blurt i e
2 0 2
ANIMALS. WHERE COMMON .
Buffalo Bifon Between lat . and 3Monte elk . E lan orig
nail , palmated To the nor th of 1511.Elk, round horned Betwe en lat . 4 0 and
Caribou.
‘R-enne To the no rtho f lat
R ed deer. (31° .of To the fourh of lat .
Roe Chevreeul To the no rth o f lat;F al low deer Daim
’
To the north of lat .
Bear. O urs E y ery part ofthis co
W i ld cat . Chat fauvageDittoDitto
G lutton .
‘
C fl l‘CflJQ U To the north o f lat . 4Lynx. Loup c ervier To the fo uth of lat . 4
aver. Ca f’tor. To the n0 1th o f lat . 3
O tter . Loutre
Red fox . Renard; To, the north oft la t .
401“
H edge- hog. H errifon To
‘
the no rth of lat 4 0 1
Martin . Mat te To the north of lat . 3 8jWVe afel. Be litte To the fo uthofthe lakes
W ater rat. Ra t d’eau Be tween lat . 4 2 and 36
Monax.'Ma1motto:
touche
Fox {quir i elBlack [quii relRed fquii re lG reat
‘
grey fquirreli
Litt le grey fquirrelG round fquirrel
To the foutli ofilat p
Between l at . 39 and“
“
Be tween Int; 3 9 and
To the fouth of lat .
To the north of lat.
Be tween and 3 2
Between lat . and 3 6
M ink
E 2 03 fl
ANIMALS. WH ER E cor/1 111011.
M ink To the fouth of lat . 44Shrew monfe . Mufa
raigne To the fouth of lat . 4 3
.R occoon. Raton .To the fouth of the lakes
as far as lat . 37-
1O pofl'
um. Sarique To the [oa th of lat . 4 1
rfieunk . Moufi’
ette . Co
nepa te Between lat . and 36
.Congar
gR abbit E very part of thiscoun
t ry , but n o where fo num erous as on the
o ther fide o f the m ountain —(N . B .
There is no t a wild bare i n all America.)zMoufi
'
ette fqnafh Between lat. 43'
and 36t ouffe tte chinche 1
To the north of lat . 33chuck Between lat . 39 and 4 4
pine To the north of lat . 4 2
Dormoufe To the north of lat . 4 0
There are b efides mo les, m ice , and bats, fevera l other animals in the extreme parts of
‘
the country. I have om itted faying any thinga refpeéting them , as I could no t do it with fuf
ficien t accuracy but .you wil l find, in M r.
Jefierfonfs l ift of the ab origm al ariimals of
America , an account/
o f the who le of them .
I have already taken notice of the great
boneswhich have been found 111 this counnybut
2 0 4,
but as I was not m inute as to the efl ima‘
te
the ir fiz e , I {hall juft remark, that it was t
opinion of your ce lebra ted anatomift, th
Dr. Hunter , from an ex amm atwn of the
that'
the mammo’
uth'
was an animal
different from the e lephant ; and Mr . JeIon , who feems to have examined the Ikel
with curious atten tion ,fays, the bones
{peak an animal of five or {in t imes
vo lume of the e lephant , as M0111.
has admitted.
”And 1 have been 111
a gent lemen who attended the l ectures of Dr.
C l ine , in London , that this ingenious anato
.m if’t ufed to produce o ne o f the
"
t u‘
Iks of the
mammouth, when he was lecturing, and de
clared that the animal mufi have been‘carnivorous.
In my account of the b irds of this country,I {hal l mofily give you the Linnaean de figna
t ion ,in p1 eference to Catelby
’8 , though Catef;
by’
s défignation l s mofi general .
POPULAR NAMES.
Bald eagleTurkey buzzard
SparrowhawkF orked tail hawkPigeon hawk
F ilhinghawk
F ield martin
LINNE AN DE SIGNATIO N .
F alco leucocephalusVnltur aura
F al co { parveriusF alco furcatusF alco columbarius
Accipiter pifcatorius
l: 2 06
PO PULAR NAM ES. L INNE AN B astonA
TroN .
L itt le thrufh Turdusminimus(Ca tqfiPurple finch F ringilli purpurea fby .
Lettuce b ird Carduelis Americanus
C OWpen b ird F afer. fufcus. (Ca tfiéy.L it t le fparrow Paferculus (Ca ry/by.
Towhe b ird F ringil la ,erythroph
thal tn a
Blue l innet Tanagra cyanea
Painted finch Emberiza b iris
R ice bird Emberiza O tyz ivora
Snow b ird Emberiza hyemalis
R ed b ird L ox ia CardinalisBlue grofs beak L ox ia CaeruleaCrefted fly catcher Mufcicapa erinita
Summer red bird .Mul’
cicapa rubra
R ed {tart z—Mufcic‘apa ruticilla
C at b ird MufcicapaparolinienfisBlack cap fiy catcher
,,Mufc icapa mgrefcens
Lit t le b rown fi-
ycatcherMufcicapa ful'
ca
R ed- eyed flycatcher Mufe icapa oculis rubris
Blue bird Motacilla hal isMotacil la regulus
Yel low crefted‘
chatter
er»Mo tacilla (tro
’
c‘
hilusWhip poor
‘
,will Caprimulgus m inor'
A
mericanus(Ca tdby:Great bat o rgoat fucker Caprimufgus (Gang/by.
Houfe mart in Hirundo purperea
American fwallow H irundo .pelafgia
PO PULAR
ao7
PO PU LAR NAMES. L INN fE AN DESIGNA
TIO N .
Yellow'
titmoufe Parus Carolinenfis
Ye l lowthroatedcreeperParusA mericanus gut~
ture luteo (Gate/by.
Pi rus cucullo n igro
Yellow rump Pa'
rus V irginianus
F inch creeper Parus AmericanusC refted titmoufe Paras b ico lar
Nut- thatch Sttta capm e nigro
Smal l nut - thatch Si’
t ta c .1pite fufco(Di5ta.
Tre ehiius colubris
Hanging b ird
King fifii er
Soree
G round dove“
W ild pigeon
Lark
Night hawk”
Cat owl
Screech Owl Strix Americana(1300sCrow C o rvus
Crane Ardea Canadenfis
W he t hawk
G reat grey eagleF eather head t a rkey
PO F ULA
Certhia pi nus
A lec-do a lcyon
C haradrius vociferus
R a lius Virginimus
Co lumb’
a pafi'
erina
Co lumba migratoria
Co lumba Caro linienfisAllauda Alpeftris
PO PULAR NAMES. LrNNJEAN DE SIGNA
TION.
bu zzard
L‘
arge pouch pelicanR aven
H oufe fwallow H irundo rultic
Ground {wal low H irundo rlpari aCormo ran t
Squattingfnipe
VVhif’tling ploverIWoodcock o r mud hen
Yel low winged fnipe
Red b ird with b lackwings
WagtailWild goe fe Anas canadenfisBufi
‘
el head duck Anas bucepha laSmal l brown duck Anas rudica
W'
hite face teal Anas diIcrOs
Blue winged tealGreen winged teal
Summer duck Anas fponfa
Blue winged Ihovler AnasAmericanes chrif;
talufelegans (Ca ttybj t
Round cre ll ed duck Me rgus cucul latus
Pied bil l dopchick Co lym bus podicepsL arge crefied heron A
‘
rdea H erodias
C relted bittern Ardea vio lacea
Blue heron Ardea Cze rnlea
Smal l bittern Ardea Virefccns
E 1
different tribeso f Indians, which have hithertob eenc onfiderably exaggerated, 1 will write toyou upon the In the mean t ime I
{hal l remain .
Your true and affectionate friend.
2 1 1
L E T T E R XI.
KENTUCKY;
MY DEAR. F R IEND,
YOU wi l l , no doubt , have heard of the de
feat of our armywith the particulars, befo rethis will reach you . 11 is fin prifing, that the
ex perience of upwards o t thi1 ty vears war are
with the Indians, fhould no t have taught us
b efore now , tha t our fucc efs o r lofs in thefe
rencantrcs, was to b e expect ed alone from the
abilities o r talen ts o f the C omm anding O fficer.
F rom the time of the defeat of G en era l Braddock to the p
r
efen t period ,the Americans have
b een fuccelsful or unfuccefstul 1n thefe expedi
t ions, in the exact proport ion to the knowledge
which our G enerals have had of Indian dexte
rity and firatagem.
NO man is mo 1e wil l ing to al l ow to G eneral
St. C lai1 the merit O f b eing an accomplilhed
gentleman , a brave and j udicious officer, thanI am . But I cannot he lp lamen ting, a t the
fame time , that men are n ot employed up 111
thefe occafions(when the 1e are Io many in the
Un ited Sta tes) who have from the ir infancyb een a ccufio ..1 ed to (t oh pe , ils
,9and pi acl iled
111
2111
24
in the necefihry r vigilance; to ward ofi"the r
ef- 1
fefi s of that fingular proWefs of thofe herorc:
peo ple .
g
There rs an error fometh‘
ere . I am afraid .
that our G eneral confided t oo much“
in a tbo .
compara tive {l i'
ength and» difcipline of his arm
my . It would have been b et ter if he had re m
co l lected an exp‘
reff on of the lateKingofmfia H owever we l l founded any good
o
opi- r
n ion of oa rfel'
vés may be , fecurity 111 war i s at,ways dangerous and rathe r than be negligen tt
it is b erret/t o take ~fuperfiuous precaut ion .
”O ur army certainly was taken by
, furprife
They had ‘
not time to form when the ewe
my commenced their attack , which proves the:
juftnefs of that great foldier’
s refieétion
Every man who engages in the peri lousvocation of a fo ldier onght to reco l lect beforehand ,
'
the facrifices he wil l li e obliged to m aker
of fpleafura‘
b le indulgence, and in -e‘
many in
vice of danger ealls him to the defence of his
count l y ,or to avenge the inful ts which ty
fanny or barbarifm have offered ,it becomes
Ignominious not cheerful ly to forego eveiy
gra t lfica tion which IS incompa tib le w ith hero:ifm. It is equal ly ignominious to put any
conficleration ln compet i tion with the certain
I know that - it has-
been much the cafewith
us to re lax in difcipline for fear of harafiingour
m 4
proved ornamenta l to his country and ufe
t o mankind.
I know you wil l excufe me fo r anpro pn a trto the death of my young friend ,
w ith a
a l teration, thofe b eautiful l ines in the l
with which H omor defcribes the death Q l E
pho rbus,
As the youngO l ive , in thin e Silvan foene ,C rown
’d by frefh foun t ains w ith e te rnal green,
Lifts the gay he ad to fnoWy fl ow’
ret s fair
And plays and da nces to the gentle air.
When 10 ! a whirlwind from high b eav’n i nvades
The tende r plan t , and; w ithers al l i ts fli ades 5It l ie s uproo te d from its genial bed,A l ovely ruin now defaced and dead;
Thus yo ung, thus beautiful b rave Mar-fired”1334 ,
While the fierce Indian tore his l ife away .
”
The expedition conclud ed under the coma:
mand o f G eneral Sco tt term inatedwith fuccefsnindeed from the firfl:fe t tlement of Ken tuckynot one of our expeditions have failed . The
“
wa tchful Indians who are always near us, andfcarcely ever to be difcove red but 111 force , ohferve the mot ion s of our army , and readirlyde termine 1mm our vigilance whe ther an ar
tackwil l prove haz ardous to them or no t .
I {hal l begin my: enume ra tion w ith the
fouthers Indians, and p roceed with thofe of thee
greateft proximity t aking care to compre
hend i n the fchedule the various tribes which
we' have any difiinCt knowledge of . to the
north‘
[ 2 15 ]
chain of lakes which boundsno rth , and thofe to the well:
and fouth'
of the Mifouri .
“WHERE THEY RESIDE . No.
In the country between
the gre at bend of
the Tenafee and
the ridges of hil ls,(which are cal ledthe
‘
A l legany moun t
tains) the wettern
limits z of G eorgia ,and the oefl
‘
e in‘
b ranches'
of the
Mob ileBetween the faid great
b end,the Miififii ppi
and Natchez‘
6iooo
Be tween”
the h ead
branches of the.r i
ver Apalachies, E af’t
F lorida, the Cher '
o
kee nation , and the" “ M ifiifiippi“
Between the UpperCreeks and the gulfof M ex ico 1 00 0
A. l ittle to the can of
the Natchez 1 00
Al ibamons
TRIBES.
‘
Alibatnous
Chelt afaws
L ezars
Piankilha’
s, Ve t .
m ili‘
ons, and
Mafcon tins.
Il lino isKafka
'
flt ias
Pianrias
Shakies
has
O uitatonons
M iamisTwigtwees
.Wyandots
CohunewagasMingoes
“
Mob ic
W HERE TH EY 1113511311 .
Between the”
NatchezandNew O rleans
Between the fouthern li
m its o fCum‘
berland,‘
the -Ghacktaw nat i
on , and the headwa.
ters of the M ob ile .
Between the mouth of
the O hio andWabafhBe tween the W abai
‘n
and Il linois
Near CahokiaNearKaikaik iaUpon
r
the Ill inois riverN ear fort O niatonon
‘
upon the'
W abaihNear fort O niatonon
upon the W ab afh
Near fort O nia tonon
upon the Wabafh
Near fort St . JofephUpon the great Miami
1 iver nea t fortM iatn iBetween fo rt ‘
St .Jofephand De t roit
Near Sanduiky.O n a
,fouthe1n branch
of the Sciota
TRIBES.
Sa‘
ponies
Munfi’
es
Senecas
Cayu‘
gas
O nondagOes
O neidas
‘
Tufcaroras
M ohocks
‘WHERE THEYnEsm E .
“
No.
é‘
r'
m‘
ofl bra j‘
of
nna
Upo’
n branch
of the iSufquehahna‘
At Di’
ahago , upon the
north branch of the
SuftjuehannaUpon thewa ters of the ‘
O hio, lake Erie , lakeO
'
ntario , and _Sufquehanna
'Upon the Cayuga, andnear the north
branch of the Suf
q hehanna .
ea‘
r’
O o
O n the e‘
a
‘
ii:fide ‘
offoneida, .
and head
b ranches o f the Suf
quehanna
Between the O neidas
and _Q nondagoesUpon
'
the wellern
branch,of Mohock
riv‘
er
. 1‘
301
1 40
(The lad-mentioned fix tribes con il itute what
are known by the name of the fixNations .)O rondocs
Abenakies
Near the three rivers
Near the three rivers
Litt le Algonkin‘
s Near the three rivers
1 06 1
1 50.100
Pou
E 1
Ta tans: W HERE THEY R ESIDE . No ,
‘
Phteoutamies Betwe en St . Jofeph’
s
and De troit
Near Det roit
0 11"Saguinam bay of
lake H uron
O‘
it‘
awas(a ddi ct -50 11 Saguinarn b ay of
lake H uronChippawas -Near-Michillimackinacral f taribes w fart St . Mary
’
s on
lake Superior, and
upon the“
fout hern
”iltores of that lake 5500
Pati os bay , on lake
Mean Pauns bay,"
on
Q uifconfings
Kickapous
O togamies
hi afcoutens
‘I‘
t
'
i ifcothins
O u‘
ifconfingrive r
Upon th e fou thern
head b ranches of theMifii iii ppi , a nd the
waters o f lake ~Mi~Chigan
Between the lake of theWood and M ifiifiippi
O n l ake Michigan andbe tween that and
the h’IifiifiippiBe tween l ake Michigan
and the Pri zfiifiippi
Ta i aEs.
O utimacs
M ufquakies
«Sioux
O ttag’
auni ies
W inn’
ib‘
agces
Killit’
iinoes
Naudowefies
O fevegatchies .
C onnai'
edagoes
Cohunnewagoes
Michmacs
Amel if’t is
Chalas
Nipi fl i rts
2 30E
”WH ER E . THE Y RESIDE . .No .
Be tween lake M ichi
gan and lake ‘
St
C lareUpon the fouthern wa
ters of lake M ichigan
O n the caite tu . head
b ranches oft the M iii iiiippi, and the if
lands o f lake Supe
rior
O n the head waters of
the M iiiifiippiO n the head waters of
the MifiifiippiO n lake Stipet iorBetween M ichigane ndl ake Superio r
Near Swagatchy, on
the’
river St . Law
rence
Near Montrea lNear Mont rea lO n the river St. Iiaw
rence
O n the river St . -Law
rence
O n the river St . Law
r ence
Near the head Waters
F
1: 1 32 1
Ta mas.‘WH ERE THEY a asm e. Nob
Canfes South of the Mifou-
ri IO O O '
O fages South of the Mifouri 4 0 0
M ifouris‘
O n the Nl ifouri 1 500
Arkanzas O n the river Arkanzas i oO d
There are feveral othe r t ribes, known b ythe name of Cao il itas
, Linways,‘Web ings, O tt
fafoys, Les Pahns, F o l le Avoine , M i neamis,But the diffe rent t ribes have been
fo confoundedo ne with ano ther, tha t it i s im -m
to colleéte any diii inét information re1
f their fituat ion or numbe t s which I;
apprehend has proceeded from the imperfea'
.
knowl edge trave lle1s have had of the weft of“t he M il fifiippi , and to the north of lake Michigan and l ake Superior and which has prem
biliry of ga1n1rig any accurat
intedlige hem . H oweve r the above
l lfi has been eon eé’ted from the accoun ts ofl
C toghan , Boquet , Carver , H utc ltins, and
Dodge, and by the comparative tefhmony of
the be lt informed men I have b een ab le to
m eet with 3 and whofe knowledge Upon this
fubj eél , though they have no t writ ten , Ifhould:
prefer to eithe r of,the above authoritie s, who
we i e ob l iged to take the great ef’t
'
part of what
they have related,from hearfay, or proceed
,
upon conj eél ure .
The t e are feveral t agrant tribes, cal led Chiakanefihu,
O nanakina, Macheeous , and Soo rki
las, from'
the Cherokees, Chacktaws .and
Creeks;
[ 2 33 J
reeks but‘
I lhould fuppofe'
,thefe included,
my account of thofie t ribes is toferab/fy
exaét.
By this l ift , which I prefume wil l appear asaccurate as the fwbj ec
’
t wil l“ admit of, the ag'
g
grega te number of Indians wil l be found lefsthan who inhabit the coun try from the
gulf of Mexic o , on both fi l es of the Mifiifiippi, to the gulf of St . Lawrence , and as tar weftas the country has be en explored, that is, to
the head wa te rs of the M ifiifiippi, and from
thence to the M ifouri,(I' do not me an the head
of be tween that rive r and santa F é .
I have been ab le to learn ve ry l itt le informa tion refpeéting the
- i ndim s be tween Santa F 5:
and the gulf of Mex ico , and fi ill leis of tho fewho - inhab it the count ry between the river St.
j o feph’
s and Ca l ifornia . H owe ver we a re in
no way affeé’ted by them a t pr
efent and it is
no t very l ikely that we ever {hal l : for , it is tobe prefume d , that the federa l governmen t
, in
the extenfi'
sn o f its empire , wiil take fuch pre
c aut ions as mud prevent the horro rs of fuch
fanguinary warfare and n1afiacre,as have hi
therto ma rked the progrefs of its grow th.
Ce rt ainly i t is t ime that decided meaf'
ures
were taken ifpofii ble , to c iviiize them and
if not,to confine them t o part icular dit
’
t ri cts
that is, by the vigour of our m eafures , to {how
t hem tha t we a re no t to be tr ifled w ith ; and
whenever a trait of coun try is to be fe tt led“
if 2 34 J
kit thedemarkat ton be obViou'
s, and t he terms
of fe ttlemen t defin1t1v:e ; and by affordingpi o
teé‘rion to the pacific, and c:
laali ifi ng the
tions, it may b e expefi ed in t ime, that
ame l io rat ion wil l take pla ce in their lavage andfangumary difpofit ions.
You w ill obferve that the mofi numerous
tribes are the greateft dii’tance from us and it
ery certain , that 111 propo 1 ti0n to
tance from the whites, they are unacquainted
with the ufe of fire - arms, All the nations
north o f lake Superior , and thofe beyond the
Mifiifii ppi , asswe l l as thofe o n the Mifourl , uCeon ly b ows and arrows ; fo that whe n you take
a View of t heir fe atte red fituation , the various
cui’t‘
oms and fuperiizit ionsw hich it~ is necefl itry
to reconcile,» in o rde r. or produce .perfeverance
and unity o f aétion, and What a fmail proport ion of them have the appara tus, o r under
fiand the ufe of mufque try ,or po lliéfs r efoui ces
fulficicnt to enab le them to car ry on lafiingho l
'
t ilities againfi the power o f our incu afingnumbers, it‘ muli b e obvious, 1 tha t even o ur
defeats wil l haiteu t he ir ruin ,
Thfmgh n o(o r 1ather the federa l troops)ha ve been defeated feveral t imes, t we {hal lfoon ci
’t ab lilh a permanen t fecui ity againi
’t fa
vage invafions and mafiiime fo r, though vse
have no t acted en t irely l ike H e rculus, wo
bo de
firoyed .the . ferpents while . en infant 111 , hrs
E 2 35 j ‘
eight , it was thought mbf’c advifeable to po ll,one unt il that e {hould be a fiab le p
f
ace ,
il l the whi tes and they we 1e rec onmled ghat wil l neve r b e the c1 fe until we me 111 po
felfion ofNiagara Detro i t.
I N T
T O, VOLUME 1.
Z ia/“011319021: tbc Work but ibe Pr inter , f or theConvenience of tbe R eader , {Jar/
“
ugh p roper‘
z‘o
£0116 6? them together a t the E nd of tbe Volume.
wit/J Dir ec'
l iom .to mba tmaDar t of tbe Work
apage 33 ,
l ine 1 0 , after the wo rd z’
t —Thl s I‘l V CI
'
1 15 about 2 50 yards w ide a t its mouth , and 1s naviga
ble fo r upw ards of 1 30 m iles its current is c onfi
, derably rapid.
bpage 35, line 13 , afte r the w ordfame—A t du e
t im e , w hat w as called C on tinental Currency , w as re .
a d uced to as low a ra te as 50 0 for one nay , I bel ieve
1 0 0 0 was - a mo re‘
cofnmo n e xchange . This circum'
v fiance , though it had l t s goo d effect s ,(0 fa r a s it t ended to accele rate the fet tlement o f the coun try , fi ill
was produfi ive o f no {1112111 degree o f evil and injuf~t ice . F o r 1 11
_conlequence o f the grea t quan ti ty of this
‘
rnoney, which lay dead in the hands o f individuals ,”
. i t was no (b one r known m the diffe ren t fia tes, tha t
V irgin ia held out an oppor tunity to them of ob tain .
inga c‘
onfiderat io n fo r this depreciated currency , than
i t was len t to the treafury of tha t {l a te in fuch quad .
ti tie s, and given for land warran ts , tha t m a ibo rt
t im e more of them w ere iii'
ued than would have 00 :
ve red half the territory within its lim its.
Previous
Previous to this aera , 1great part o f the valuableland 111 the difl riél:of Ken tucky , had been e ithe r tale.
e n up on old m il it ary, grants, and pre - empf1on1 r1gh ts,
o r loca ted by tho le who had been firfi 1n ob tamingthe ir warran ts fo r it required fom e time fo r the bu
finefs to extend itfelf, and become generally known
and uiide rfl ood .
In confequence , a
.
large proportion of the hol ders
o f treafu ty warrants were d ifa ppo in ted , when th ey
de termined , ift hey could not obta in prime land, they.wnuld lay the ir
_w arrants upon fach a s w as vacan t,
however fi c t il , which doub tlefs w as proper for tho ’
the warrants had cofi them only a nom inal value ,nor was the [la te o f V irgin ia fenfible o f the dange r
0 115 avenue they w e re o pen ingto ft audulen t pract ices, yet it was p
‘
ofii ble , m an ex tenfive t ract of m o un
tainous country ,there m ight be
‘m the valleys , or
b e tween the hills, fom e bo . tom land which , in the
progre'
fs of'
fe tilem ents, would be o f value . But
t hey did‘
no t fiop he re ; fo r find ing - a general fpirito f m igra tion Was t akingp lace from every part of the
A tlan t ic, to the We ll ern country , and that the (CPUra tion o f the fine lands upon the O hio , part icularlythofe . of Ken tucky ,
we re eve ry day advancing in
éfl imat ron , they de te rm ined to have the ir furveys
m ade o ut in the m e lt a rtful m anner , by having for
co rne 1 trees , inch k inds as are neve r known to bc rowb ut 1n the rimfi fe r t ile fo il , a nd which m ay alwavs
be found in the na r row fir ips p f bo t tom land , and
the plo ts embell iihed .w ith the grea teft e legance , d if
playingfine wa te r courfes m ill feats,(whe re perhaps
there w il l not be a grain of co rn for hal f a centuryto come)plains, gro xes and m eadow s .
H ence proceeded [0 generally the bufinefs ofdand. |1
jobbing—hence it i s that there 15 to be feen 1n the
N ercu
contra fi , that it {hall be of fueh a ra te of landa a L ee.
The diffe ren t fo ils have been c lafled by the general
confent o f the peo ple , and are well . u nde rflood bythe difi inE’t ion ofifirf
’r, fecp rid; third and fourth rate
land ; the laft is the lowefi ra te , I am convinced,tha t any pe rfon would fe ttle upon , and the d ifi
'
erericeo f its value ,
in my opinion, is as tvr’o to one,in the
‘
r atio o f it s ra te .0
N ow ,the great er par tc f the b rok en trac’t s o f~c ou,n
t ry wo uld no t come under e ither o f the le denom ina
t ions confequently , if thefe h ints {hould be attended
to ,and {e fficient fecurity given tfor a pe rfo rmance o f
the agreemen t of the con tract ing parties upon fuch
p rinc iples , to fwh tch no honefi pe rfon wogld objeEt ,impofition would be efi’
eél'nal ly p reven ted.
c
page 40 , l ine 1 9 , after the word fam e— The Illi
nois country is in general of a fuperior foil”to any
part o f N o rth Am erica that Lh ave £een. It pro
duces fine oak ,hickory , cedar, mulberry trees,
fom e dying roo ts, and m edicinal plants ; hops and
e xcellen t w ild grapes and, in the year 1 769 , on e
hundred and ten h ogfheads o f w e ll tafied and fi rongw ine were .made
'
by the F rench fet tlers from ' thefe
grapes.
TH Ui' cnm s .
“page 4 1 , l ine 1 9 , at the word fi ner— Cumber
land t 1ve r is 250 yards w ide a t its m outh its 0111'
r en t gentle , and it is navigable upwards of 2 00 m iles
from i ts m outh.
3
page 54 , l ine 1 , at the word cutfzrzg—Thofc ca
nals wi ll be finifhed m the courfe of 1 793.
fpage 55, l ine 7, at the word Kanbaway—This
r iver a t i ts m outh i s nearly 50 0 yards w ide , and the
current gentle for about 10 or 1 2 miles, when it be
comes
N O T E S:
to,
the Earl of H illfborough , 111 the year 1770 , whereSecretary of State for the North American Depart-1
No part of Nor th Am e rica will require lefs en-r
couragement for the production o f naval fio res , and;
raw m aterials fo r m anufac‘to ries in Europe , and for
{applying the Well India Iflands w ith launder, pr o
p i/z'
om;&c . than the country of the O hio 5 and for
the follow ing reafon s
F irfl , The lands are excel lent, the cl imate tempem
rate , the native grapes, ‘ filk wo rm s,"and mulberry
t rees, abound every where hemp , hops, and rye :
grow fpontaneoufly in the valleys and low lands
lead and iron are plenty in the hills (al t fprings are
innum erable ; and no fo il is be t ter adapted to the
cul ture of tobacco , flax , and co t ton , than dha t of the ,
O hio .
i
Second, The country is w ell wate red“
by feve raI
navigable rivers, comm unicat i ngw ith t each o the r ; 1
By which , and a 1ho rt land carn age , the produce of'
t he lands of the O hio can , even now ? (in the year
1 772 )be fent cheape r to the fea -
por t town of A lex
andria , on the Po tom ac river in Virgin ia ,(whe re thet roops of G ene ra l Braddo ck landed),
than any kind ,
‘
o f merchandife is fen t from Northampton to Lon .»
don.
Third, The river O hio is, at all t imes of‘
the year, ,
navigable w ith l arge boat s , like the w e ft coun try
barges, rowed only by four» o r ' five men and from «
the rmonth of F eb ruary to April large {hips may lie
b uil t on the O hio , and(cut to fea , laden w i th hemp, .' i ron ,
flax, filk , tobacco ,co tton , po t
- afli , 8 m.
F ourth, F lour, co rn , beeff fli ip- plank ,and o ther
ufeful articles can be fent down the fiream of the O
hio to Well. F lorida, and from thence to the Walt
N O T E S“.
India iflands, , much cheaper, and in be tter order, than
from New -York o r Philadelphia , to tho fe iflands.
F ifth , . Hemp, tobacco iron , and inch bulky arti‘
cles, m ay alfo be fen t dow n the fi rearm to the fea, a t»
leafl 50 pe r cen t . cheaper than' thefe art icles were e
ve r carried by land‘
carr iager of only 60 m iles, in.
Pennfy lvan ia i g. whe re waggonage is cheaper than in
any o ther part of~N o rth Am erica
Six th .”The eXpen ce of tranfpor t ingEuropean ma
nufaé’ro ries from the fea to the O hio , W 111 no t b e [0
m uch as is n ow pa id , and mull e are r be paid r to a
great part. of~ the countries o f Bennfylvania , -Virgin ia,
and Maryl and ;‘vVhenever farmers o r m e rchan ts of
O hio {hall properly unde rfl and the bufinefs - of t ranf
po rta tion , . they w ill build &c . on
the O h io , fu itahle for . the VV efi Jndia » o r E uropean
m a rke ts or , , 11y having black w al nu t , cherry t ree,
o ak , 840 . prope rly. law ed for fo re ign m a i ke ts , a nd
fo rm ed in to rafts in the m anne r that is now done byth e fet tle rs n ea r the uppe r pa rts of the De lawa re in
Pennfylvania , and the re on fl ow the ir hem p, - iron, to
bacco ,Sec . and p ro ee ed w ith them to N ew O rleans.
It m ay no t, pe rhaps ,
be am ifs to ob fe rve , tha t la rge
quant it ies o f ii our a re m ade in the difi ant(wefie rn)
co un t r ies ofl iennfylva n ia , and fe n t by an expenfive
la nd - ca rriage to the city of Philadelph ia , and from
the nce {hipped to South Caroli na , and to Eafii
and
W ell F lo rida”the ir being l it tle or no whea t raifed
in tho le p ro vince s.
The r ive r O h io feem s kindly defigned by nature ,
as~ the channel th ro ugh which; the two F lo ridas m ayb e(a ppl ied w ith fl our no t o nly for their common
confumption ,but alfo fo r the carry ing on a n e a ten
five comm erce w ith j am a ica, and the Spanifh fe ttle
ments in the Bay of Mexico . Mdlfiones in abun
dance
dance are t othe»ob tained 111 the 111113 near theeOliio t -i
and the country is every where £~ we11 wate red with
large and confiant fprings and firearms for igritt? and
The ’
pafihge from Philadelphia to Pennfa‘cclaiis le i . ”m made in lefs than a mon th; and fixty(b ill ings .
pe r:ton fi eighr,(confifiingof fixte en barre ls)IS ufun
ally paid fo r flour, 8cc . thither .
“ Boa ts carryi ng 80 a
or 1 000 ba rrels of flour may go in abou t the fame
t ime from fPit tfburg, as from Philadelphia to PennL
faonla , and for half the abo ve fre igh t the 0 11 - 0 m er
chan tswo uld be ables to del ie the re in muchb e tt er. o rder than fronr Philade lphia , and
'
w ithout i n‘»
curri ng the damage and delayo f t he fca , and cl1a 1ge6
of infurance ; &c . a s from thence e to Pennfacola .
This is not. me re ‘l’
p‘
ecn la tion fer it is a faci ,‘
that
abou t the year 1 746 the re was a gre at [carcity o£
p rov ilion s a t N ew O rleans and the F re nch fe ttlec
tl eme nts at athe Illino is, frnal l as they then w ere ,lent
thithe r in o ne w inte r upwa rds o f e ight hundred thew
{and we ight o f flour .
”tpage 1 10 , l ine 1 3 , at the word Tor i —L That {l a te
p afi'
ed an Act of Aficmb ly 1n July 1 79 2 , fo r removi ng a ll ob l
’t ruél ions be tw een H udfoo
’s 1 ive r and Lak
’
O nta 1 io ; by which m eans , when it is done , there
r ill be an inland navigation , taking its vario us
r ourfes of nearly 2 0 00 m iles in ex tent.
page 1 1 0 ,l ine 2 4 ,
a t the word W ife’s— Semen?thefe have b een
“
no t iced in a forme r n o te
x '
page I i i , line 2 0 , a t the w o rd letter—Co lo nel
Gmdon , in his j ournal dou n the O hio m entioné,
That tho fe falls do no t deferve that name , as the
fi re am on the north fide has no ludden pitch , but
onlymuns over a ledge ofs rocksr fi evera l boats, he
(h a te .avé ’ toftbei ob téine‘
d‘
ih '
the hill‘
s near f'
the:OfifO ‘i
lairge arid corxifiantu fp‘
rings Sand:fiream é
‘
foi’
igri il
?‘
and .»
efs than atmon th'
;
l
and‘
fi‘
xty i hi’
l
ll iogs
matted”f reight ,(confifii‘og. of fi
‘
xte en bm olsfially paid fo r fio
‘
urj'
ékc . thither.
" 80 6
or'
l oo o barrels of flour may go‘ imA
abou t th e fame
)
{ 3 00125 a fo r half the abo‘
t f ef fre ight themO héo 'm efi
chan ts wo olelh e able t o —del iver rflom ,&c . the re in much
be tt er. o rder t han frorIr Plfilade lphia; and'
w ithout i n‘.
currmg the damage,
"
and de layt of t he fea p and ohaxge
ls
of:info ranee , ~ a s from thence vto Pennfacola .v
abou t the yem x1 7 the re - was~a great foarcity
~ o£
p rovjfions a t N ew O rleans ; and the F re nch Te ttles
tl emeots a t sthe l lli’
no is, fm al l ‘
as't hey then w ere; fem
thithe r in o ne W i nte r upwarcls o f .eight h‘
oodred‘
thouw
fand'
w c ight o f fl our .
”tpage l ine /1 3 , at the word Tor i —u That {la te
p afi’
ed an Aé’t of A llémb ly in J‘uly 1 79 2 , fo r re rriovm
i ng all obfir’
ué’ri’
ons be tw een H udfoo’s
'
ri‘
ve r and Lak’
n
O nt ar io ; by which m ez'
ms; when it is done ,‘
there
krill b‘
e a tr inland namgatio n , taking . its vario us
t ouffes of nearly m il es m ex tent.
page 1 1 0 , l ine 2 4 ,at the word miles—Semen?
thefe have b een”not iced in a fo rme r n o te .
x
page: I 1 1 ; line 2 0 , a t
‘the
,w o rd: letter - Co lo nel “
G ordon; .in fi his . j ournal ' down the O hio m e o tionb,That ‘
tho fe fa'
tlls do no t‘
deferve thatmamc, as t thte
fi‘
re a‘
m on the north fide has no Tudden pitch , béi'
t
otaly xtmé ove r a ledge-offi ce“; tSeve ta l
'
boa-esr‘
he
fays,
N"O T E S
fayfi, paf efi’
tltem in the dr iell feafon of the year, 11 11
lea ding half o f t i e ir fre ight . They pa lle d on the
no r th fi'
de , W1 11ere the ca rry1111 1 pl ace 18 three quar te t s
of a m ile long 0 11 the fon th eafi fide , it is about
hal f tha t dill ah ce , ard~ 1 1 eckoa ed the fa 1 e fl paill
age
foe thole Vx ll O a re unac q ttain te tl W 1th i t, but it is
the mo ft tedious, as, during part of the fun:m e rgiand
aa tumn ,the ba t teaux m en (111 a3 the ir boa ts ove r the
rock ; The fal l 13 about hal f a Mile rapirl w a ter,
which ,howeve r is 131113 11113 , by 11 ad ingand d raggin
d
the b oa t again l’t the fi rearm whee Tlou e ll
,—
1 a r1d .w i th
fi ill grea te r. eate when the wate r- Ed s rail ed .1 l it tle .
i
1”
L
I
I
Y page 1 1 3 , l ine 2 0,a t the wo rd Sea w B
‘
eli de s the
feveral channels o f the commun icat ions already m em
t itmeti, there at e t a rt o ther; wh1ch , i11 a,very few
j ears, w ill be o pe ned th'
e Pe nnffl vanians have
alreacl’z‘
tu rn ed“
the ir a t te n tion’
tow ard them .
11e from Lake E rie1 a place calléd Le Bce e f
PW
1 1 - 5311 up the fam e a certa 11 diil arx e
, and Porn thence
by a fhc rt po rtage to -
a bra nch o f the Sufque nanna ,
cal led j e n iata . T'
h e o the r 13 fr om Lake O n tario to
the ca ll b ranch of the Delaw a i e , which 1 ta 1s la id w ill 4
11511 116 11 1 W ith much d illiicul tif and wh ich
w ill he a d ire él commuh icatioa bet t een ~ lP xiladelph ia
3 119 tha t Bake .
There is a ridge of l1ills , gene ral lycalled the Shin
i11 1r Moun ta ins , which oegin at Mex ico,and conti
i e to the ca ll t fi'
Califc rn ia , tha t fena i a te the w ater
0 1 tho le rive rs t
o
v u ieh fal l e ithe r 1 11 10 the gul f o f that
pehinfé l a ,’
cr the G a i t o f Mex ico . F rom thence , as
they con t inue their courf‘
e nc rth‘
w ard, b e tV’
eeh the
11 are t s o f he Milli?“
h i ppi, and the r at e ra that emptythem fe lves into the Pacifi c O cean
,ari d end 1 11 about
lat . 48 or 19 , “1 13 1? feveral ri1 ers have their fou rces," hichA
N 0 " T'
E
which either run i nto Hudi'
on’11 Bay, or the South
Sea .
Thefe hills lying nea rly parallel w ith the Allegany Moun ta ins , a confide rable d ill anoe from the Pa
eido Sea fo rm s, if it m ay be f’
o ca lled , a great val
l ey ,f
whioh confiitutes wha t is ca lled the Wefie rm
nt ry of America,and - is nearl
i
yu in the ce ntref ofs
’
:
vafi co ntinen t .
refleEting uponthe objeéh o f the fede ral goverm en t , and the rapid fi rides it is m ak ing, i t appears i
ra thei' puerile tn the United Sta tes thinki ng to m ake
thefea t of their gove rnment pei manen t upon the
Pow tomac or at lonfi it would be lo ; to run th
coun try to heavy expence s , when H is ob v ious that
pofl erity w ill , in the eon rfe of a cen‘
fl rt)’ ae fi r theftf
remove it to'
the
t ral , and c onfequ
m eans the efficiency o f the fede ral government w il l }
aft like the V ital flu id which is propelled from the”
heart , and give. mo tion and energz to eve y ex tra-w
m ity of the em pire
The country be tw een Cap e F lo rida and C ape
North , the fonthe m hea d land o f the G ulf o f St . <
Lawrence , l ies both een and 48, and we ll long.
82 and and the coun try be tween Ca t ifo rnia and
Noo tka Sound , Be tween lat . 30 and 47 , and w e ll
10 113 1 1 8 and 1 2 8 , which is a diltance b e tv’
veen 1 5
and 1 600 m iles from no rth to louth, arid be tween
250 0 and 30 00 from ca ll to w e ll ; fo tha t if we take
the medium,and make an allowance for the proba
b lc ex tenfion of the United States b o th to the no rth
ward and fouthward , it appears pre t ty clearly , that
a (pot upon the Miflifii ppi, nearly lat . 44, I think
upon Lake Pepin, o r at St . Anthony’5 falls, oughtbto
e
rN iEO
’
l_‘T T E “50
Lalt e Pegin, flows gwithead th,
°
1s 1 cry1 aid s o f a mile, in others
no t 1110 re than a quarter
Th i s r l ve r h as a ran fl e ofm oun ta in s throughou t the Whole Wayl gptwh ich par t iculai plac es a h
oachnear to ir, r in o thers l ie a t ag rw tc r(11113 111 1:The landhe twe en t he mo untains on e ithe rgfigd
is gener
g
of t rees av which
and elk en tly feen feeding.h
m uy places, pyra mids of re eks t appeared,lag o ld ruinous t owers
precrpi cess~ ai1d
°
what is very remarkable, whil fl:
this fech e prefented i tfelfion one lids , th‘
e opp-olive
”zfide of the fame m oun ta:11 w as co ve red with the fi.
ne lt herbage , which gtadu.1lly-a l
°
cended to ~1ts futu
1 m it . F rom thence the 1110 91 beautiful profpeft that
the 1mag1nat1en can form topens to your view .
Ve rdan t pla ins , fruitful m eadow s , , uum wus
iflands , and al l
that yield amaz i
or cul tivat ion
which produces
igrapes and plumb t rees be ndingunder their blooming burdens
- but above al l , t he w inding‘river iflow.
inggently benea th, and reaching as fa r as the eye
can e x tend , by turns attr act your adm ira tion,and
e xcite yo ur w o nde r . The Lake°
13 about ‘2 0 mile slong, and nearly 6 111 bread th.
The Millifii ppi, as far as the ent rance of the :
ve r St . C ro ix , about forty miles ab ove LakeT epin,
is ve ry ful l of illands 3 lome of which are of a con
fiderable
q
N 1 0 - T.
E S»
years fecure them from al l invafion it appears’tu
t
m e to be an o f the grea te fl inipo rtance w ith
the prefent fede ral gove rnm en t to look fo rw a rd to a
c i rcum ll ance , . 11;on wh ich the perfefi ion o f their po
l itir al fy ll em depends and it is the m o re fo , as th
p refen t ae ra cf'
reafon pu ts in the ir pow e r to ex tend'
the advan tage s o f c iv il izat ion w ith an acce ler ated :
fo rce , to w hich no pe riod that we a re acqua in ted wi th
in the annals o f m an, has been equal ly aufpic io us .
This obj ea has no t efcaped m any o f o ur m ofl per- 1
ne tra t ing l egifl a to rs and pe rha ps the fe n tim ent:
w ould have b een general , if t here had been t im e ,
huée our independence , fo r the hab its o f‘
l ife , and‘
the influence o f educa tion ,to b e done away. But
the fy ll em o f the aggrandiz ing comm e rce , which 0
r igina ted in E urope ,had been tranfplan ted upon the
”
lh o t as o f th is con t inen t , and has taken fuch deepfo o t , as in fom e infl ances to m il ita te , to the injuryof philo fophy ,
and the happinefs o f m ankind - H ence‘
i t has happened tha t fpiri t o f fe lfilhnefs which is the
charact e rill ic of prej udice , fo lly ,and im pol icy , has
fom e tim es be trayed its features in the dec ifions 05
our union .
That th is lh ould have happened is no t in the leaf’t
ex trao rdina ry ; bu t it , is to be pref-
t im ed , fince the
E uropeans a re beginning to fo llow o ur ex am ple , _it
w ill give li ab il ity to tho fe w ave ring charaé’ters ,
which w ill a lwa y s b e found am ong m en who have
n o t j udgem en t fur'
ii c ien t to difcove r the pr ic iples o f
a ju il po licy , n or the fi rmn e fs to ado pt them w ith
o ut the co un tenance o f o the rs (0 it has happened,
tha t the re have been found evil ge niufe s , o r igno
1 a nce , w hich have rep roba ted the fublim e and rea
fona’
o le v—ievr s o f the union as ch ime rical .
The advan tages of peace have been clearly afcer
tame d
N O T E s S .
tained by the mo lt e nl ightened na tions of Europe
a fter fi ruggles fo r dom in ion tha t have co il them m il
l ion s o f l ive s, and b rought a load o f e vil s upon
them felves , which no thingbut H ercul ian fi rength
w ould b e ab le to fuppor t : bu t if m an has b een
trea ted hitherto as a b eafl: of burthen , the m ofi en
l ighten ed ph ilofophers, partiéh larly D r. A dam
Sm ith , have proved there b enefits , and the fol ly of
colon iza tion .
I the re fore think when w e contem plate the pro"
grefs of reafon , the peculiar nature o f the federal
gove rnment, and the fingulax c ircum flanc e of a peo
ple o f:
o ne e ntire con tinen t fpeak ing th e fam e lan~
guage ,it feems that no thing ibo rt of a revolu t ion in
the na tural inte lleélzs o f t n en,can frul
’t rate the de
fign .
I have ente red in to thefe'
m inutia: by w ay or 11
l uf’t ra ting, as fa r as the fubj eé’t required , and m
,
ab il itie s w ould perm it , to thew the advantages o f
the fyftem ofgove rnm en t adopted by Am erica and
a t the fame tim e to {hew tha t the coun try tow ard
the head w a te rs o f the M ifl i fi i'
ppi is beau t iful , rich ,and abounding in al l the varie ties o f na ture necefi
‘
a-a
ry to fuppo rt and'
em bell ifh a great capital .
2
page 1 2 6 , l ine (5, a t the w o rd F a i/sm s you
w il l find m en tioned in a no te ex t raé‘
t ed from his
book in the preced ingpa rt of this wo rk .
page 13 4 , l ine I,a t the w o rd er efi e/I- n A houf:
of th is for t m ay be made as com fo rtab le and e l egan t
as any o the r kind o f building ; and is the refo red
the
m o i’t convenie nt , as i t m ay b e e reé
’ted in fuch a,
m anner as to anfwcr the circum i’tances of all defor ipt ions o f perfons .
b b
Page 14 41, l ine 5, at the word Pé iladelpbz'
a
X 3 The ’
The'
difiances 1 11 the fe t tled pa r ts can b e a s
p a ted w ith any degree o f exaél itude but from theb e ll info rmat ion}. tha t can be col leél ed , from the Ra
p ids o f the 0 1126 to fian t a F e 15 abou t 1 0 0 0 m iles ,and from the nce to the c ity of l‘fl exie o abou t 15
n o
The com pu ted d ifiance be tween New O rleans and
Mex ico 1 3 fom ewha t fho rt ‘o f Q ooo m il es,and about .
’
.4
t
CC
page i144 , l ine 4 71°
at the vi' ord danger - " Thi soad has be en Confidéra‘ly im pro ved , and a poll;
page 1 45, l i ne 4 , t
i
the {vo id Pofowma c’
There a re two confide rab le fal ls In the Po towm ae 9
one abo ut tw e lve m iles abo t e A le xand 1 ia , the o ther
nea rly thirty ,and when thefe canalst a re com pl e ted ,
richm o’
f’t probably vu ll be th e l a t ter end o f 1 79 3 ,
i ts naviga tion wi ll1 be
“
cafried quite in to t he Alega
m ountains
0
page i9 13 , line.
2 4 ’ at the Word Then - The l ive
o ak grow s in quan tity fu‘
fii c ie nt , be tw een the M iffitl i 1pi and the Rive r St . Jo feph ,
as w o uld be equal
to build a nd navy. fupe rior to th e m a n
t im e th e pe comb ined toge the r , aridwhich is ged to be the m o lt
C
la ll ing and
b e i calcula ted for {hi ps o f W21 1 of any kind o f tim e
her h at has be en nfed fo r that”on fina le
f:p age 2 1 2 , l ine 1 5 a t the w o rd r efi’efi fofl - " Since
this le t te r it. as w rit ten I have been able to afce r ta in
m ore part ie n lai ly the ob ject o f the e xpedition con
(tufted byG ene ral St . C lair , a nd the ca'
ufe o f his
1be ing
defea ted .
By the treaty, iii which G reat ~»Br1ta1n acknow
N O T E S.
into Lake E rie ,-
a {hort diftance from Sanduflty, hadb een pre
'u oufly efiabl ilb ed and‘
the nex t obj e€t w as
to efiabl ilh a th ird , fouth eaft o fSandufky , upon
thofe ridges o f hil ls virhe re the wate rs o f the lake,
and thofe of take d iffe rent d irect ions.
H ad this plan been efi'
eé’ced , though the Indiansm ight a t t imes have harrafl ed thofé pofl s , fl ill the
purpofe fo régzhich they w ould , have been crea ted'
m uf’t have anfwe red’
; as i t i s 1mpofii ble fo r them to .
carry on th eir a ttacks megula rly , o r fo r any l ength'
o f tim e, by reafon of the ir deful to ry m anne r o f l iv
ing and thus, by our b ecoming pe rm anently fixed
upon the lake,we fhould a t once give a decided
b low to your t rade in Canada ; fo r it was the in
tention of the fede ra l gove rnm ent , no t to perm it any'
perfon to t rade w ithin,t he l im i ts o f the U n ite d .
Sta te s in that q uar te r , w ithou t a w ritten privilege‘
fo r tha t purpofe , figned by the ? refiden t of C on“
grefs .
The army o f G ene ral St . C lair , which was t o“
.
have a tchieved this a rduous end ,am oun ted to ab out
”
1 40 0 m en , grea t par t o f w h ich w e re m il it ia , and Im o lt o f the o the rs, incon ceivab le as i t ‘
m ay appear;
w e re re c ruited from the fea- po rt towns upon the
A tlan t ic and of cou rfe w e re compofed of t nen who iw ere to tally unacquainted With the Ind ian m anne r“
of figh ting- indeed a la rge proport i on o f them \
w e re E uro peans .
G e ne ral St . C lair had ad vanced betw een twen tyand thirty m iles in fron t o f
- F o r t Jefi'
er fon in hi s
cou rfe tow a rd Lake E r ie,when ab out fix ty o f the
m il it ia de fe rted wi th a il- in ten tion to re turn to the ir
refpeé’t ive hom es , after whom he difpa tched 30 0 o f
his men, they conliltingo
f the only old tr00ps he
had - ih his army ;°and it was in the ab
i
fence of this
de tachm en t , tha t h is a rmy w as a t tacked , j n l’t at the
b reak o f day afte r the t roops, m oft im p rnden t l y ,
had'
le l t the pa rade a t which they had bee n fom e'
t im e b e fo re it was l igh t , ac cord ing to the cull om 111
Ind ian w a i , though h is ou tpo fl s had been at tackedcefian tly d uring the w ho le n igh t , and feve ral of
h is cen t irie ls ki led The Ind ians find ing the army
w as thin o f the ir guard , ruihed upon them with
i nch impe tnofi ty ,a s to preve n t their b e ing able to
fo rm , o r to act w ith any vigour o r pree ifion .
Th is gra nd obj ect has no t be en abandoned by the’
fede r a l gove rnmen t , and fo r the p urpofe o f carryingi t in to e xe c ut ion ,
by m eafures mo re w ife , and- m eans
m o re ce rta in,than had been purfued h ithe rto , 30 0 0
fed e ral troops , w ith a legion o f 1 2 00 ho rfe and foo t ,
a re to be kept in c ont inual pay ; and while the dif
fe i en t ga t rifon s are to ove r- aaw e the Ind ians, the le
gion is to fcom the c ountry roun d fo as to fe cure
the fe t tlcmen ts o n the w eft ti de of the O hio from
the ir a t tacks , and thus by p rogrefii ve and pe rm a
nent efiabl tih men ts w a rd o ff the dangers of i rregu
la r and preda to ry w a rt a re .
This fyfi em has al i eady produced a very impor
tan t e fiefi - the m ore in tel l igen t l ndian chie ts a t e
fo pe rfe t ly fenfible , tha t i t is n ow inva in fo r them
to co n te nd again i’t a pal lad ium ,
w h ich is d a il y in v i
go ra ted by the c urren t o f em igra tion ,w hich ,
l ik e a
pe renn ial plan t , thee
'
vs n o lign s o f de c ay , tha t the
have p1 3 m i ef d to pn ni ih th e re a t 1daciou s { 11gwho m u t r ei red o u r Comm if
fl
no ne rs tha t w e re go i ngto the ir n a t ii o ns fo r the pm po fe o t offe ri111g them
peace ; and hav e al‘i
o agr e ed to a ce‘i‘
a tion of b o it i
l it ies whi .e ta e p rel iminaries a re fe t tl ing ; to that I
have
tha t , if the pze fen t m eafures a re ~purfued w ith w if
;
dom and v igour , the re w ill be a fpeedy end -to w ar 1
a nd m adam e i n that quarte r , and the who le W e tte rm
count ry m u”: thenx enjoy tha t repofe , which has(o f
o ft e n‘
and fo fatal ly be en d ifin rbeda iee bo th o f
1 111:PI Re e 31 0 11 13 1113 1