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diff --git a/38556-h/38556-h.htm b/38556-h/38556-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..731d4a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/38556-h/38556-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9853 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Historic Waterways—Six Hundred Miles of Canoeing Down the Rock, Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers by Reuben Gold Thwaites. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1 { text-align: center; + clear: both; + font-size: 2.5em; +} + +h2, h3 { text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} + +hr.l15 { + width: 15%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 2em;} + +.figcenter { + text-align: center; +} + +.left65 {margin-left: 65%;} +.left55 {margin-left: 55%;} +.flright {float: right;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +.index {margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; } +.index p {text-indent: -2em;} + +.poem {font-size: 95%; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%; + margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left; } +.poem p { margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; } + +.o1 {margin-left: -.4em;} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} +.b150 {font-size:1.5em;} +.b110 {font-size:1.10em;} +.s90 {font-size:.90em;} +.s80 {font-size:.80em;} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 90%; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + empty-cells: show; +} + +.tdc {text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdchap {text-align: center; + font-size: 90%; + padding-left: 2em; + padding-top: 1em; + padding-bottom: 1em;} + +.tdtitle {text-align: left; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-bottom: 1em; + padding-left: 2em;} +.tdpage {text-align: right; + padding-bottom: 1em;} + +.tdplace {text-align: center; + font-size: 90%; + padding-left: 2em; + padding-top: 1em; + padding-bottom: 1em;} + +.tdmiles {text-align: right;} +.tdsum {text-align: right; + text-decoration: overline; + padding-top: .5em;} +.tdtotal {padding-left: 2em; + padding-top: .5em;} + +.tnbox {margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + margin-bottom: 8em; + margin-top: auto; + text-align: center; + border: 1px solid; + padding: 1em; + color: black; + background-color: #f6f2f2; + width: 25em;} + +.fares {border: solid 1px; + width: 300px; + margin-left: 20%;} +.springs {border: solid 1px; + width: 300px; + margin-left: 20%;} + +.nowrp {white-space: nowrap;} + +.dropcap {float: left; padding-right: 3px; font-size: 250%; line-height: 83%;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Historic Waterways--Six Hundred Miles of +Canoeing Down the Rock, Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers, by Reuben Gold Thwaites + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Historic Waterways--Six Hundred Miles of Canoeing Down the Rock, Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers + +Author: Reuben Gold Thwaites + +Release Date: January 12, 2012 [EBook #38556] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORIC WATERWAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Bergquist, Melissa McDaniel and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class="tnbox"> +<p class="center"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b></p> +<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. +Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original +document have been preserved.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/frontcover400.jpg" width="400" height="601" alt="Cover" title="" /> +</div> + +<h1 class="p6"><span class="smcap">Historic Waterways</span></h1> + +<h2 class="p2">SIX HUNDRED MILES OF CANOEING<br /> +DOWN THE ROCK, FOX, AND<br /> +WISCONSIN RIVERS</h2> + +<p class="center p2">BY</p> + +<p class="center b110">REUBEN GOLD THWAITES</p> + +<p class="center s80">SECRETARY OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN</p> + +<hr class="l15" /> +<p class="blockquot">Other roads do some violence to Nature, and bring the traveller to stare +at her; but the river steals into the scenery it traverses without intrusion, +silently creating and adorning it, and is free to come and go as the +zephyr.—<span class="smcap">Thoreau</span>; <i>A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.</i></p> +<hr class="l15" /> + +<p class="center">CHICAGO<br /> +<span class="smcap">A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY</span><br /> +1888<br /></p> + +<p class="center p6"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">By A. C. McClurg and Co.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1888.</p> + +<p class="center p6 b110">This Little Volume</p> + +<p class="center">IS INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR</p> + +<p class="center b110">TO HIS WIFE,</p> + +<p class="center s90">HIS MESSMATE UPON TWO OF THE THREE VACATION<br /> +VOYAGES HEREIN RECORDED,<br /> +AND HIS FELLOW-VOYAGER DOWN THE RIVER<br /> +OF TIME.</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_008.jpg" width="450" height="148" alt="Preface Header" /> +</div> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<hr class="l15" /> + +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>here is a generally accepted notion +that a brief summer vacation, if at all +obtainable in this busy life of ours, must be +spent in a flight as far afield as time will allow; +that the popular resorts in the mountains, by +the seaside, or on the margins of the upper +lakes must be sought for rest and enjoyment; +that neighborhood surroundings should, in the +mad rush for change of air and scene, be left +behind. The result is that your average vacationist—if +I may be allowed to coin a +needed word—knows less of his own State +than of any other, and is inattentive to the +delights of nature which await inspection +within the limits of his horizon.</p> + +<p>But let him mount his bicycle, his saddle-horse, +or his family carriage, and start out +upon a gypsy tour of a week or two along the +country roads, exploring the hills and plains +and valleys of—say his congressional district; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +or, better by far, take his canoe, and +with his best friend for a messmate explore +the nearest river from source to mouth, and +my word for it he will find novelty and fresh +air enough to satisfy his utmost cravings; +and when he comes to return to his counter, +his desk, or his study, he will be conscious of +having discovered charms in his own locality +which he has in vain sought in the accustomed +paths of the tourist.</p> + +<p>This volume is the record of six hundred +miles of canoeing experiences on historic waterways +in Wisconsin and Illinois during the +summer of 1887. There has been no attempt +at exaggeration, to color its homely incidents, +or to picture charms where none exist. It is +intended to be a simple, truthful narrative of +what was seen and done upon a series of +novel outings through the heart of the Northwest. +If it may induce others to undertake +similar excursions, and thus increase the little +navy of healthy and self-satisfied canoeists, +the object of the publication will have been +attained.</p> + +<p>I am under obligations to my friend, the +Hon. Levi Alden, for valuable assistance in +the revision of proof-sheets.</p> + +<p><span class="flright">R. G. T.</span></p> + +<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Madison</span>, Wis., December, 1887.</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_010.jpg" width="450" height="137" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<hr class="l15" /> + +<table summary="Table of Contents"> +<col width="270" /> +<col width="220" /> +<col width="260" /> +<tr> +<td class="tdpage s80" colspan="2">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Table of Distances</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc b150" colspan="2">The Rock River.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">The Winding Yahara</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Barbed-Wire Fences</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">An Illinois Prairie Home</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">The Half-Way House</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_74">74</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Grand Detour Folks</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">An Ancient Mariner</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Storm-Bound at Erie</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td> + +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">The Last Day Out</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc b150" colspan="2">The Fox River (of Green Bay).</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">FIRST LETTER.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Smith's Island</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">SECOND LETTER.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">From Packwaukee to Berlin</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">THIRD LETTER.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">The Mascoutins</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">FOURTH LETTER.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">The Land of the Winnebagoes</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_187">187</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">FIFTH LETTER.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Locked Through</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">SIXTH LETTER.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">The Bay Settlement</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc b150" colspan="2">The Wisconsin River.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td> + +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Alone in the Wilderness</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">The Last of the Sacs</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">A Panoramic View</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">Floating Through Fairyland</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"> <a href="#Page_275">275</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER V</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle"><span class="smcap">The Discovery of the Mississippi</span></td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class="l15" /> +<table summary="Table of Contents-Index"> +<col width="270" /> +<col width="220" /> +<col width="260" /> + +<tr> +<td class="tdtitle">INDEX</td> +<td class="tdpage"><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a></span></p> +<h2 class="p6">INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_016.jpg" width="450" height="135" alt="Introduction Header" title="" /> +</div> +<h2>HISTORIC WATERWAYS.</h2> + +<hr class="l15" /> +<p><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a></p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">P</span>rovided, reader, you have a goodly +store of patience, stout muscles, a practiced +fondness for the oars, a keen love of the +picturesque and curious in nature, a capacity +for remaining good-humored under the most +adverse circumstances, together with a quiet +love for that sort of gypsy life which we call +"roughing it," canoeing may be safely recommended +to you as one of the most delightful +and healthful of outdoor recreations, as well +as one of the cheapest.</p> + +<p>The canoe need not be of birch-bark or +canvas, or of the Rob Roy or Racine pattern. +A plain, substantial, light, open clinker-build +was what we used,—thirteen feet in extreme +length, with three-and-a-half feet beam. It +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +was easily portaged, held two persons comfortably +with seventy-five pounds of baggage, +and drew but five inches,—just enough to let +us over the average shallows without bumping. +It was serviceable, and stood the rough +carries and innumerable bangs from sunken +rocks and snags along its voyage of six hundred +miles, without injury. It could carry a +large sprit-sail, and, with an attachable keel, +run close to the wind; while an awning, decided +luxury on hot days, was readily hoisted +on a pair of hoops attached to the gunwale on +either side. But perhaps, where there are no +portages necessary, an ordinary flat-bottomed +river punt, built of three boards, would be as +productive of good results, except as to speed,—and +what matters speed upon such a tour +of observation?</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to go to the Maine lakes +for canoeing purposes; or to skirt the gloomy +wastes of Labrador, or descend the angry +current of a mountain stream. Here, in the +Mississippi basin, practically boundless opportunities +present themselves, at our very doors, +to glide through the heart of a fertile and +picturesque land, to commune with Nature, +to drink in her beauties, to view men and +communities from a novel standpoint, to catch +pictures of life and manners that will always +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> +live in one's memory. The traveler by rail +has brief and imperfect glimpses of the landscape. +The canoeist, from his lowly seat +near the surface of the flood, sees the +country practically as it was in pioneer days, +in a state of unalloyed beauty. Each bend in +the stream brings into view a new vista, and +thus the bewitching scene changes as in a +kaleidoscope. The people one meets, the variety +of landscape one encounters, the simple +adventures of the day, the sensation of being +an explorer, the fresh air and simple diet, +combined with that spirit of calm contentedness +which overcomes the happy voyager who +casts loose from care, are the never-failing +attractions of such a trip.</p> + +<p>To those would-be canoeists who are fond +of the romantic history of our great West, as +well as of delightful scenery, the Fox (of +Green Bay), the Rock, and the Wisconsin, +each with its sharply distinctive features, +will be found among the most interesting of +our neighborhood rivers. And this record of +recent voyages upon them is, I think, fairly +representative of what sights and experiences +await the boatman upon any of the streams +of similar importance in the vast and well-watered +region of the upper Mississippi valley.</p> + +<p>Of the three, the Rock river route, through +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> +the great prairies of Illinois, perhaps presents +the greatest variety of life and scenery. The +Rock has practically two heads: the smaller, +in a rustic stream flowing from the north into +swamp-girted Lake Koshkonong; the larger, +in the four lakes at Madison, the charming +capital of Wisconsin, which empty their waters +into the Avon-like Catfish or Yahara, +which in turn pours into the Rock a short +distance below the Koshkonong lake. Our +course was from Madison almost to the mouth +of the Rock, near Rock Island, 267 miles of +paddling, as the river winds.</p> + +<p>The student of history finds the Rock interesting +to him because of its associations +with the Black Hawk war of 1832. When +the famous Sac warrior "invaded" Illinois, +his path of progress was up the south bank +of that stream. At Prophetstown lived his +evil genius, the crafty White Cloud, and here +the Hawk held council with the Pottawattomies, +who, under good Shaubena's influence, +rejected the war pipe. Dixon is famous as +the site of the pioneer ferry over the Rock, +on the line of what was the principal land +highway between Chicago and southern Wisconsin +and the Galena mines for a protracted +period in each year. Here, many a notable +party of explorers, military officials, miners, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +and traders have rendezvoused in the olden +time. Here was a rallying-point in 1832, as +well, when Lincoln was a raw-boned militiaman +in a scouting corps, and Robert Anderson, +of Fort Sumter fame, Zachary Taylor, +and Jefferson Davis were of the regular army +under bluff old Atkinson. A grove at the +mouth of Stillman's Creek, a Rock River +tributary, near Byron, is the scene of the +actual outbreak of the war. The forest where +Black Hawk camped with the white-loving +Pottawattomies is practically unchanged, and +the open, rolling prairie to the south—on +which Stillman's horsemen acted at first so +treacherously, and afterwards as arrant cowards—is +still there, a broad pasture-land +miles in length, along the river. The contemporaneous +descriptions of the "battle" field +are readily recognizable to-day. Above, as +far as Lake Koshkonong, the river banks are +fraught with interest; for along them the +soldiery followed up the Sac trail, like bloodhounds, +and held many an unsatisfactory +parley with the double-faced Winnebagoes.</p> + +<p>Rock River scenery combines the rustic, +the romantic, and the picturesque,—prairies, +meadows, ravines, swamps, mountainous +bluffs, eroded palisades, wide stretches of +densely wooded bottoms, heavy upland forests, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +shallows, spits, and rapids. Birds and flowers, +and uncommon plants and vines, delight the +naturalist and the botanist. The many thriving +manufacturing cities,—such as Stoughton, +Janesville, Beloit, Rockford, Rockton, +Dixon, Sterling, and Oregon,—furnish an +abundance of sight-seeing. The small villages—some +of them odd, out-of-the-way +places, of rare types—are worthy of study to +the curious in economics and human nature. +The farmers are of many types; the fishermen +one is thrown into daily communion with +are a class unto themselves; while millers, +bridge-tenders, boat-renters, and others whose +callings are along-shore, present a variety of +humanity interesting and instructive. The +twenty-odd mill-dam portages, each having +difficulties and incidents of its own, are well +calculated to vary the monotony of the voyage; +there are more or less dangers connected +with some of the mill-races, while the lookout +for snags, bowlders and shallows must be +continuous, sharpening the senses of sight +and sound; for a tip-over or the utter demolition +of the craft may readily follow carelessness +in this direction. The islands in the +Rock are numerous, many of them being +several miles in length, and nearly all heavily +wooded. These frequent divisions of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> +channel often give rise to much perplexity; +for the ordinary summer stage of water is so +low that a loaded canoe drawing five inches +of water is liable to be stranded in the channel +apparently most available.</p> + +<p>The Fox and Wisconsin rivers—the former, +from Portage to Green Bay, the latter +from Portage to Prairie du Chien—form a +water highway that has been in use by white +men for two and a half centuries. In 1634, +Jean Nicolet, the first explorer of the Northwest, +passed up the Fox River, to about Berlin, +and then went southward to visit the Illinois. +In the month of June, 1673, Joliet and Marquette +made their famous tour over the interlocked +watercourse and discovered the +Mississippi River. After they had shown the +way, a tide of travel set in over these twin +streams, between the Great Lakes and the +great river,—a motley procession of Jesuit +missionaries, explorers, traders, trappers, soldiers +and pioneers. New England was in +its infancy when the Fox and Wisconsin became +an established highway for enterprising +canoeists.</p> + +<p>Since the advent of the railway era this +historic channel of communication has fallen +into disuse. The general government has +spent an immense sum in endeavoring to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> +render it navigable for the vessels in vogue +to-day, but the result, as a whole, is a failure. +There is no navigation on the Fox worthy of +mention, above Berlin, and even that below is +insignificant and intermittent. On the Wisconsin +there is none at all, except for skiffs +and an occasional lumber-raft.</p> + +<p>The canoeist of to-day, therefore, will find +solitude and shallows enough on either river. +But he can float, if historically inclined, +through the dusky shadows of the past, for +every turn of the bank has its story, and there +is romance enough to stock a volume.</p> + +<p>The upper Fox is rather monotonous. +The river twists and turns through enormous +widespreads, grown up with wild rice and +flecked with water-fowl. These widespreads +occasionally free themselves of vegetable +growth and become lakes, like the Buffalo, +the Puckawa, and the Poygan. There is, +however, much of interest to the student in +natural history; while such towns as Montello, +Princeton, Berlin, Omro, Winneconne, and +Oshkosh are worthy of visitation. Lake +Winnebago is a notable inland sea, and the +canoeist feels fairly lost, in his little cockle +shell, bobbing about over its great waves. +The lower Fox runs between high, noble +banks, and with frequent rapids, past Neenah, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +Menasha, Appleton, and other busy manufacturing +cities, down to Green Bay, hoary +with age and classic in her shanty ruins.</p> + +<p>The Wisconsin River is the most picturesque +of the three. Probably the best route is +from the head of the Dells to the mouth; but +the run from Portage to the mouth is the one +which has the merit of antiquity, and is certainly +a long enough jaunt to satisfy the average +tourist. It is a wide, gloomy, mountain-girt +valley, with great sand-bars and thickly-wooded +morasses. Settlement is slight. Portage, +Prairie du Sac, Sauk City, and Muscoda +are the principal towns. The few villages +are generally from a mile to three miles back, +at the foot of the bluffs, out of the way of the +flood, and the river appears to be but little +used. It is an ideal sketching-ground. The +canoeist with a camera will find occupation +enough in taking views of his surroundings; +perplexity as to what to choose amid such a +crowd of charming scenes, will be his only +difficulty.</p> + +<p>Some suggestions to those who may wish +to undertake these or similar river trips may +be advisable. Traveling alone will be found +too dreary. None but a hermit could enjoy +those long stretches of waterway, where one +may float for a day without seeing man or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +animal on the forest-bounded shores, and +where the oppression of solitude is felt with +such force that it requires but a slight stretch +of imagination to carry one's self back in +thought and feeling to the days when the +black-robed members of the Company of +Jesus first penetrated the gloomy wilderness. +Upon the size of the party should depend the +character of the preparations. If the plan is +to spend the nights at farmhouses or village +taverns, then a party of two will be as large as +can secure comfortable quarters,—especially +at a farmhouse, where but one spare bed can +usually be found, while many are the country +inns where the accommodations are equally +limited. If it is intended to tent on the +banks, then the party should be larger; for +two persons unused to this experience would +find it exceedingly lonesome after nightfall, +when visions of river tramps, dissolute fishermen, +and inquisitive hogs and bulls, pass in +review, and the weakness of the little camp +against such formidable odds comes to be +fully recognized. Often, too, the camping-places +are few and far between, and may involve +a carry of luggage to higher lands +beyond; on such occasions, the more assistance +the merrier. But whatever the preparations +for the night and breakfast, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +mess-box must be relied upon for dinners +and suppers, for there is no dining-car to be +taken on along these water highways, and +eating-stations are unknown. Unless there +are several towns on the route, of over one +thousand inhabitants, it would be well to +carry sufficient provisions of a simple sort +for the entire trip, for supplies are difficult to +obtain at small villages, and the quality is +apt to be poor. Farmhouses can generally +be depended on for eggs, butter, and milk,—nothing +more. For drinking-water, obtainable +from farm-wells, carry an army canteen, +if you can get one; if not, a stone jug will do. +The river water is useful only for floating the +canoe, and the offices of the bath. As to personal +baggage, fly very light, as a draught +of over six inches would at times work an +estoppel to your progress on any of the three +streams mentioned. In shipping your boat +to any point at which you wish to embark +upon a river, allow two or three days for +freight-train delays.</p> + +<p>Be prepared to find canoeing a rough sport. +There is plenty of hard work about it, a good +deal of sunburn and blister. You will be +obliged to wear your old clothes, and may not +be overpleased to meet critical friends in the +river towns you visit. But if you have the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +true spirit of the canoeist, you will win for +your pains an abundance of good air, good +scenery, wholesome exercise, sound sleep, +and something to think about all your life.</p> + +<hr class="l15" /> + +<h3>TABLE OF DISTANCES.—TOTAL, 607 MILES.</h3> + +<table summary="Table of Distances, Rock River"> +<col width="360" /> +<col width="40" /> +<tr> +<td class="tdplace">THE ROCK RIVER.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdmiles s80" colspan="2">MILES.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Madison to Stoughton</td> +<td class="tdmiles">22</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Stoughton to Janesville</td> +<td class="tdmiles">40</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Janesville to Beloit</td> +<td class="tdmiles">18</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Beloit to Rockford</td> +<td class="tdmiles">40</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Rockford to Byron</td> +<td class="tdmiles">18</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Byron to Oregon</td> +<td class="tdmiles">15</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Oregon to Dixon</td> +<td class="tdmiles">31</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Dixon to Sterling</td> +<td class="tdmiles">20</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Sterling to Como</td> +<td class="tdmiles">9</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Como to Lyndon</td> +<td class="tdmiles">14</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Lyndon to Prophetstown</td> +<td class="tdmiles">5</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Prophetstown to Erie Ferry</td> +<td class="tdmiles">10</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Erie Ferry to Coloma</td> +<td class="tdmiles">25</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Coloma to mouth of river</td> +<td class="tdmiles">14</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Mouth of river to Rock Island + (up Mississippi River)</td> +<td class="tdmiles">6</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtotal">Total</td> +<td class="tdsum">287</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<table summary="Table of Distances, Fox River" class="p2"> +<col width="360" /> +<col width="40" /> +<tr> +<td class="tdplace">THE FOX RIVER (OF GREEN BAY).</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdmiles s80">MILES.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Portage to Packwaukee</td> +<td class="tdmiles">25</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Packwaukee to Montello</td> +<td class="tdmiles">7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Montello to Marquette</td> +<td class="tdmiles">11 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Marquette to Princeton</td> +<td class="tdmiles">18</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Princeton to Berlin</td> +<td class="tdmiles">20</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Berlin to Omro</td> +<td class="tdmiles">18</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Omro to Oshkosh</td> +<td class="tdmiles">22</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Oshkosh to Neenah</td> +<td class="tdmiles">20</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Neenah to Appleton</td> +<td class="tdmiles">7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Appleton to Kaukauna</td> +<td class="tdmiles">7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Kaukauna to Green Bay</td> +<td class="tdmiles">20</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtotal">Total</td> +<td class="tdsum">175</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<table summary="Table of Distances, Wisconsin River" class="p2"> +<col width="360" /> +<col width="40" /> +<tr> +<td class="tdplace">THE WISCONSIN RIVER.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdmiles s80">MILES.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Portage to Merrimac</td> +<td class="tdmiles">20</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Merrimac to Prairie du Sac</td> +<td class="tdmiles">10</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Prairie du Sac to Arena Ferry</td> +<td class="tdmiles">15</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Arena Ferry to Helena</td> +<td class="tdmiles">8</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Helena to Lone Rock Bridge</td> +<td class="tdmiles">14</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Lone Rock Bridge to Muscoda</td> +<td class="tdmiles">18</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Muscoda to Port Andrew</td> +<td class="tdmiles">9</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Port Andrew to Boscobel</td> +<td class="tdmiles">10</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Boscobel to Boydtown</td> +<td class="tdmiles">10</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Boydtown to Wauzeka (on Kickapoo)</td> +<td class="tdmiles">7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Wauzeka to Wright's Ferry</td> +<td class="tdmiles">10</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Wright's Ferry to Bridgeport</td> +<td class="tdmiles">4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Bridgeport to mouth of river</td> +<td class="tdmiles">7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Mouth of river to Prairie du Chien +(up Mississippi River)</td> +<td class="tdmiles">5</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdtotal">Total</td> +<td class="tdsum">145</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Note</span>.—The above table of distances by water is based +upon the most reliable local estimates, verified, as far as +practicable, by official surveys. +</p> + +<h2 class="p6">THE ROCK RIVER. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a></span></h2> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_031.jpg" width="450" height="348" alt="MAP OF THE +ROCK RIVER" title="" /> +<p class="caption">MAP OF THE +ROCK RIVER +to accompany +THWAITES'S "HISTORIC WATERWAYS"</p> +<a href="images/illo_031big.jpg">View larger image</a> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_032.jpg" width="450" height="139" alt="Chapter I Header" /> +</div> + +<h2>THE ROCK RIVER.</h2> +<hr class="l15" /> +<p><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h2>THE WINDING YAHARA.</h2> + +<p>It was a quarter to twelve, Monday morning, +the 23d of May, 1887, when we took +seats in our canoe at our own landing-stage +on Third Lake, at Madison, spread an awning +over two hoops, as on a Chinese house-boat, +pushed off, waved farewell to a little group of +curious friends, and started on our way to +explore the Rock River of Illinois. <span class="nowrp">W——</span> +wielded the paddle astern, while I took the +oars amidships. Despite the one hundred +pounds of baggage and the warmth emitted +by the glowing sun,—for the season was unusually +advanced,—we made excellent speed, +as we well had need in order to reach the +mouth, a distance of two hundred and eighty +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> +miles as the sinuous river runs, in the seven +days we had allotted to the task.</p> + +<p>It was a delightful run across the southern +arm of the lake. There was a light breeze +aft, which gave a graceful upward curvature +to our low-set awning. The great elms and +lindens at charming Lakeside—the home of +the Wisconsin Chautauqua—droop over the +bowlder-studded banks, their masses of greenery +almost sweeping the water. Down in the +deep, cool shadows groups of bass and pickerel +and perch lazily swish; swarms of "crazy +bugs" ceaselessly swirl around and around, +with no apparent object in life but this +rhythmic motion, by which they wrinkle the +mirror-like surface into concentric circles. +Through occasional openings in the dense +fringe of pendent boughs, glimpses can be had +of park-like glades, studded with columnar +oaks, and stretching upward to hazel-grown +knolls, which rise in irregular succession +beyond the bank. From the thickets comes +the fussy chatter of thrushes and cat-birds, +calling to their young or gossiping with the +orioles, the robins, jays, and red-breasted +grosbeaks, who warble and twitter and scream +and trill from more lofty heights.</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour sent us spinning +across the mouth of Turvill's Bay. At Ott's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +Farm, just beyond, the bank rises with sheer +ascent, in layers of crumbly sandstone, a +dozen feet above the water's level. Close-cropped +woodlawn pastures gently slope upward +to storm-wracked orchards, and long, +dark windbreaks of funereal spruce. Flocks +of sheep, fresh from the shearing, trot along +the banks, winding in and out between the +trees, keeping us company on our way,—their +bleating lambs following at a lope,—now +and then stopping, in their eager, fearful curiosity, +to view our craft, and assuming picturesque +attitudes, worthy subjects for a +painter's art.</p> + +<p>A long, hard pull through close-grown +patches of reeds and lily-pads, encumbered +by thick masses of green scum, brought us to +the outlet of the lake and the head of that +section of the Catfish River which is the +medium through which Third Lake pours +its overflow into Second. The four lakes of +Madison are connected by the Catfish, the +chief Wisconsin tributary of the Rock. Upon +the map this relationship reminds one of +beads strung upon a thread.</p> + +<p>As the result of a protracted drought, the +water in the little stream was low, and great +clumps of aquatic weeds came very close to +the surface, threatening, later in the season, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> +an almost complete stoppage to navigation. +But the effect of the current was at once perceptible. +It was as if an additional rower had +been taken on. The river, the open stream of +which is some three rods wide at this point, +winds like a serpent between broad marshes, +which must at no far distant period in the +past have been wholly submerged, thus prolonging +the three upper lakes into a continuous +sheet of water. From a half-mile to a +mile back, on either side, there are low ridges, +doubtless the ancient shores of a narrow lake +that was probably thirty or forty miles in +length. In high water, even now, the +marshes are converted into widespreads, +where the dense tangle of wild rice, reeds, and +rushes does not wholly prevent canoe navigation; +while little mud-bottomed lakes, a quarter +of a mile or so in diameter, are frequently +met with at all stages. In places, the river, +during a drought, has a depth of not over +eighteen inches. In such stretches, the current +moves swiftly over hard bottoms strewn +with gravel and the whitened sepulchres of +snails and clams. In the widespreads, the +progress is sluggish, the vegetable growth so +crowding in upon the stream as to leave but a +narrow and devious channel, requiring skill to +pilot through; for in these labyrinthian turnings +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +one is quite liable, if not closely watching +the lazy flood, to push into some vexatious +cul-de-sac, many rods in length, and be +obliged to retrace, with the danger of mistaking +a branch for the main channel.</p> + +<p>In the depths of the tall reeds motherly +mud-hens are clucking, while their mates +squat in the open water, in meditative groups, +rising with a prolonged splash and a whirr as +the canoe approaches within gunshot. Secluded +among the rushes and cat-tails, nestled +down in little clumps of stubble, are hundreds +of the cup-shaped nests of the red-winged +blackbird, or American starling; the females, +in modest brown, take a rather pensive view +of life, administering to the wants of their +young; while the bright-hued, talkative males, +perched on swaying stalks, fairly make the air +hum with their cheery trills.</p> + +<p>Water-lilies abound everywhere. The blossoms +of the yellow variety (nuphar advena) +are here and there bursting in select groups, +but as a rule the buds are still below the +surface. In the mud lakes, the bottom is +seen through the crystal water to be thickly +studded with great rosettes, two and three +feet in diameter, of corrugated ovate leaves, +of golden russet shade, out of which are shot +upward brilliant green stalks, some bearing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> +arrow-shaped leaves, and others crowned with +the tight-wrapped buds that will soon open +upon the water level into saffron-hued flowers. +The plate-like leaves of the white variety +(nymphæa tuberosa) already dot the surface, +but the buds are not yet visible. Anchored +by delicate stems to the creeping root-stalks, +buried in the mud below, the leaves, when +first emerging, are of a rich golden brown, +but they are soon frayed by the waves, and +soiled and eaten by myriads of water-bugs, +slugs, and spiders, who make their homes +on these floating islands. Pluck a leaf, +and the many-legged spiders, the roving buccaneers +of these miniature seas, stalk off at +high speed, while the slugs and leeches, in a +spirit of stubborn patriotism, prefer meeting +death upon their native heath to politic +emigration.</p> + +<p>By one o'clock we had reached the railway +bridge at the head of Second Lake. Upon +the trestlework were perched three boys and +a man, fishing. They had that listless air and +unkempt appearance which are so characteristic +of the little groups of humanity often to +be found on a fair day angling from piers, +bridges, and railway embankments. Men who +imagine the world is allied against them will +loll away a dozen hours a day, throughout an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> +entire summer season, sitting on the sun-heated +girders of an iron bridge; yet they +would strike against any system in the work-a-day +world which compelled them to labor +more than eight hours for ten hours' pay. +In going down a long stretch of water highway, +one comes to believe that about one-quarter +of the inhabitants, especially of the +villages, spend their time chiefly in fishing. +On a canoe voyage, the bridge fishermen +and the birds are the classes of animated +nature most frequently met with, the former +presenting perhaps the most unique and varied +specimens. There are fishermen and fishermen. +I never could fancy Izaak Walton +dangling his legs from a railroad bridge, +soaking a worm at the end of a length of +store twine, vainly hoping, as the hours went +listlessly by, that a stray sucker or a diminutive +catfish would pull the bob under and +score a victory for patience. Now the use of +a boat lifts this sort of thing to the dignity +of a sport.</p> + +<p>Second Lake is about three miles long by a +mile in breadth. The shores are here and +there marshy; but as a rule they are of good, +firm land with occasional rocky bluffs from a +dozen to twenty feet high, rising sheer from +a narrow beach of gravel. As we crossed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> +over to gain the lower Catfish, a calm prevailed +for the most part, and the awning was +a decided comfort. Now and then, however, +a delightful puff came ruffling the water astern, +swelling our canvas roof and noticeably helping +us along. Light cloudage, blown swiftly +before upper aerial currents, occasionally +obscured the sun,—black, gray, and white +cumuli fantastically shaped and commingled, +while through jagged and rapidly shifting +gaps was to be seen with vivid effect, the +deep blue ether beyond.</p> + +<p>The bluffs and glades are well wooded. +The former have escarpments of yellow clay +and grayish sand and gravel; here and there +have been landslides, where great trees have +fallen with the débris and maintain but a +slender hold amid their new surroundings, +leaning far out over the water, easy victims for +the next tornado. One monarch of the woods +had been thus precipitated into the flood; on +one side, its trunk and giant branches were +water-soaked and slimy, while those above +were dead and whitened by storm. As we +approached, scores of turtles, sunning themselves +on the unsubmerged portion, suddenly +ducked their heads and slid off their perches +amid a general splash, to hidden grottos +below; while a solitary king-fisher from his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +vantage height on an upper bough hurriedly +rose, and screamed indignance at our rude +entry upon his preserve.</p> + +<p>A farmer's lad sitting squat upon his +haunches on the beach, and another, leaning +over a pasture-fence, holding his head +between his hands, exhibited lamb-like curiosity +at the awning-decked canoe, as it +glided past their bank. Through openings +in the forest, we caught glimpses of rolling +upland pastures, with sod close-cropped and +smooth as a well-kept lawn; of gray-blue +fields, recently seeded; of farmhouses, spacious +barns, tobacco-curing sheds,—for this +is the heart of the Wisconsin tobacco region,—and +those inevitable signs of rural prosperity, +windmills, spinning around by spurts, +obedient to the breath of the intermittent +May-day zephyr; while little bays opened up, +on the most distant shore, enchanting vistas +of blue-misted ridges.</p> + +<p>At last, after a dreamy pull of two miles +from the lake-head, we rounded a bold headland +of some thirty feet in height, and entered +Catfish Bay. Ice-pushed bowlders strew the +shore, which is here a gentle meadow slope, +based by a gravel beach. A herd of cattle are +contentedly browsing, their movements attuned +to a symphony of cow-bells dangling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> +from the necks of the leaders. The scene is +pre-eminently peaceful.</p> + +<p>The Catfish connecting Second Lake with +First, has two entrances, a small flat willow +island dividing them. Through the eastern +channel, which is the deepest, the current +goes down with a rush, the obstruction offered +by numerous bowlders churning it into noisy +rapids; but the water tames down within a +few rods, and the canoe comes gayly gliding +into the united stream, which now has a +placid current of two miles per hour,—quite +fast enough for canoeing purposes. This +section of the Catfish is much more picturesque +than the preceding; the shores are +firmer; the parallel ridges sometimes closely +shut it in, and the stream, here four or five +rods wide, takes upon itself the characteristics +of the conventional river. The weed and vine +grown banks are oftentimes twenty feet in +height, with as sharp an ascent as can be comfortably +climbed; and the swift-rushing water +is sometimes fringed with sumachs, elders, +and hazel brush, with here and there willows, +maples, lindens, and oaks. Occasionally the +river apparently ends at the base of a steep, +earthy bluff; but when that is reached there +is a sudden swerve to the right or left, with +another vista of banks,—sometimes wood-grown +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +to the water's edge, again with openings +revealing purplish-brown fields, neatly +harrowed, stretching up to some commanding, +forest-crowned hill-top. The blossoms +of the wild grape burden the air with sweet +scent; on the deep-shaded banks, amid stones +and cool mosses, the red and yellow columbine +gracefully nods; the mandrake, with its +glossy green leaves, grows with tropical luxuriance; +more in the open, appears in great +profusion, the old maid's nightcap, in purplish +roseate hue; the sheep-berry shrub is decked +in masses of white blossoms; the hawthorn +flower is detected by its sickly-sweet scent, +and here and there are luxuriously-flowered +locusts, specimens that have escaped from +cultivation to take up their homes in this botanical +wilderness.</p> + +<p>There are charming rustic pictures at every +turn,—sleek herds of cattle, droves of fat +hogs, flocks of sheep that have but recently +doffed their winter suits, well-tended fields, +trim-looking wire fences, neat farm-houses +where rows of milkpans glisten upon sunny +drying-benches, farmers and farmers' boys +riding aristocratic-looking sulky drags and +cultivators,—everywhere an air of agricultural +luxuriance, rather emphasized by occasional +log-houses, which repose as honored +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> +relics by the side of their pretentious successors, +sharply contrasting the wide differences +between pioneer life and that of to-day.</p> + +<p>The marshes are few; and they in this +dry season are luxuriant with coarse, glossy +wild grass,—the only hay-crop the farmer +will have this year,—and dotted with +clumps of dead willow-trees, which present +a ghostly appearance, waving their white, +scarred limbs in the freshening breeze. The +most beautiful spot on this section of the +Catfish is a point some eight miles above +Stoughton. The verdure-clad banks are high +and steep. A lanky Norwegian farmer came +down an angling path with a pail-yoke over his +shoulders to get washing-water for his "woman," +and told us that when this country was +sparsely settled, a third of a century ago, +there was a mill-dam here. That was the day +when the possession of water-power meant +more than it does in this age of steam and +rapid transit,—the day when every mill-site +was supposed to be a nucleus around which a +prosperous village must necessarily grow in +due time. Nothing now remains as a relic of +this particular fond hope but great hollows in +either bank, where the clay for dam-making +purposes has been scooped out, and a few +rotten piles, having a slender hold upon the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> +bottom, against which drift-wood has lodged, +forming a home for turtles and clumps of semi-aquatic +grasses. <span class="nowrp">W——</span> avers, in a spirit of +enthusiasm, that the Catfish between Second +and First Lakes is quite similar in parts to +the immortal Avon, upon which Shakespeare +canoed in the long-ago. If she is right, then +indeed are the charms of Avon worthy the +praise of the Muses. If the Catfish of to-day +is ever to go down to posterity on the +wings of poesy, however, I would wish that it +might be with the more euphonious title of +"Yahara,"—the original Winnebago name. +The map-maker who first dropped the liquid +"Yahara" for the rasping "Catfish" had no +soul for music.</p> + +<p>Darting under a quaint rustic foot-bridge +made of rough poles, which on its high trestles +stalks over a wide expanse of reedy bog like +a giant "stick-bug," we emerged into First +Lake. The eastern shore, which we skirted, +is a wide, sandy beach, backed by meadows. +The opposite banks, two or three miles away, +present more picturesque outlines. A stately +wild swan kept us company for over a mile, +just out of musket-shot, and finally took advantage +of a patch of rushes to stop and hide. +A small sandstone quarry on the southeast +shore, with a lone worker, attracted our attention. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> +There was not a human habitation in +sight, and it seemed odd to see a solitary man +engaged in such labor apparently so far removed +from the highways of commerce. +The quarryman stuck his crowbar in a crack +horizontally, to serve as a seat, and filled his +pipe as we approached. We hailed him with +inquiries, from the stone pier jutting into the +lake at the foot of the bluff into which he was +burrowing. He replied from his lofty perch, +in rich Norsk brogue, that he shipped stone +by barge to Stoughton, and good-humoredly +added, as he struck a match and lit his bowl +of weed, that he thought himself altogether +too good company to ever get lonesome. We +left the philosopher to enjoy his pipe in peace, +and passed on around the headland.</p> + +<p>An iron railway bridge, shut in with high +sides, and painted a dullish red, spans the +Lower Catfish at the outlet of First Lake. +A country boy, with face as dirty as it was +solemn, stood in artistic rags at the base of +an arch, fishing with a bit of hop-twine tied +to the end of a lath; from a mass of sedge +just behind him a hoarse cry arose at short +intervals.</p> + +<p>"Hi, Johnny, what's that making the +noise?</p> + +<p>"Bird!" sententiously responded the stoic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +youth. He looked as though he had been +bored with a silly question, and kept his eyes +on his task.</p> + +<p>"What kind of a bird, Johnny?"</p> + +<p>"D'no!" rather raspishly. He evidently +thought he was being guyed.</p> + +<p>We ran the nose of the canoe into the +reeds. There was a splash, a wild cry of alarm, +and up flew a great bittern. Circling about +until we had passed on, it then drifted down to +its former location near the uninquiring lad,—where +doubtless it had a nest of young, +and had been disturbed in the midst of a lecture +on domestic discipline.</p> + +<p>Wide marshes again appear on either side +of the stream. There are great and small +bitterns at every view; plovers daintily picking +their way over the open bogs, greedily +feeding on countless snails; wild ducks in +plenty, patiently waiting in the secluded +bayous for the development of their young; +yellow-headed troopials flitting freely about, +uttering a choking, gulping cry; while the +pert little wren, with his smart cock-tail, +views the varied scene from his perch on a +lofty rush, jealously keeping watch and ward +over his ball-like castle, with its secret gate, +hung among the reeds below.</p> + +<p>But interspersing the marshes there are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +often stretches of firm bank and delightfully +varied glimpses of hillside and wood. Three +miles above Stoughton, we stopped for supper +at the edge of a glade, near a quaint old bridge. +While seated on the smooth sward, beside +our little spread, there came a vigorous rustling +among the branches of the trees that +overhang the country road which winds down +the opposite slope to the water's edge to take +advantage of the crossing. A gypsy wagon, +with a high, rounded, oil-cloth top soon +emerged from the forest, and was seen to +have been the cause of the disturbance. +Halting at one side of the highway, three +men and a boy jumped out, unhitched the +horses at the pole and the jockeying stock at +the tail-board, and led them down to water. +Two women meanwhile set about getting supper, +and preparations were made for a night +camp. We confessed to a touch of sympathy +with our new neighbors on the other shore, +for we felt as though gypsying ourselves. The +hoop awning on the canoe certainly had the +general characteristics of a gypsy-wagon +top; we knew not and cared not where night +might overtake us; we were dependent on +the country for our provender; were at the +mercy of wind, weather, and the peculiarities +of our chosen highway; and had deliberately +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +turned our backs on home for a season of untrammeled +communion with nature.</p> + +<p>It was during a golden sunset that, pushing +on through a great widespread, through +which the channel doubles and twists like a +scotched snake, we came in sight of the little +city of Stoughton. First, the water-works +tower rises above the mass of trees which +embower the settlement. Then, on nearer +approach, through rifts in the woodland we +catch glimpses of some of the best outlying +residences, most of them pretty, with well-kept +grounds. Then come the church-spires, +the ice-houses, the barge-dock, and with a +spurt we sweep alongside the foundry of +Mandt's wagon-works. Depositing our oars, +paddle, blankets, and supplies in the office, the +canoe was pulled up on the grass and padlocked +to a stake. The street lamps were +lighting as we registered at the inn.</p> + +<p>Stoughton has about two thousand inhabitants. +A walk about town in the evening, +revealed a number of bright, busy shops, +chiefly kept by Norwegians, who predominate +in this region. Nearly every street appears +to end in one of Mandt's numerous factory +yards, and the wagon-making magnate seems +to control pretty much the entire river front +here. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_049.jpg" width="450" height="154" alt="Chapter II Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h2>BARBED-WIRE FENCES.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>e were off in the morning, after an +early breakfast at the Stoughton inn. +Our host kindly sent down his porter to help +us over the mill-dam,—our first and easiest +portage, and one of the few in which we +received assistance of any kind. Below this, +as below all of the dams on the river, there +are broad shallows. The water in the stream, +being at a low stage, is mainly absorbed in +the mill-race, and the apron spreads the slight +overflow evenly over the width of the bed, so +that there is left a wide expanse of gravel and +rocks below the chute, which is not covered +sufficiently deep for navigating even our little +craft, drawing but five inches when fully +loaded. We soon grounded on the shallows +and I was obliged to get out and tow the +lightened boat to the tail of the race, where +deeper water was henceforth assured. This +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +experience became quite familiar before the +end of the trip. I had fortunately brought a +pair of rubbers in my satchel, and found them +invaluable as wading-shoes, where the river +bottom is strewn with sharp gravel and slimy +round-heads.</p> + +<p>Below Stoughton the river winds along in +most graceful curves, for the most part between +banks from six to twenty feet high, +with occasional pocket-marshes, in which the +skunk-cabbage luxuriates. The stream is often +thickly studded with lily-pads, which the +wind, blowing fresh astern, frequently ruffles +so as to give the appearance of rapids ahead, +inducing caution where none is necessary. +But every half-mile or so there are genuine +little rapids, some of them requiring care to +successfully shoot; in low water the canoe +goes bumping along over the small moss-grown +rocks, and now and then plumps solidly +on a big one; when the stream is turbid,—as +often happens below a pasture, where +the cattle stir up the bank mud,—the danger +of being overturned by scarcely submerged +bowlders is imminent.</p> + +<p>There are some decidedly romantic spots, +where little densely-wooded and grape-tangled +glens run off at right angles, leading up to +the bases of commanding hillocks, which they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +drain; or where the noisy little river, five or +six rods wide, goes swishing around the foot +of a precipitous, bush-grown bluff. It is noticeable +that in such beauty-spots as these are +generally to be found poverty-stricken cabins, +the homes of small fishermen and hunters; +while the more generous farm-houses seek the +fertile but prosaic openings.</p> + +<p>All of a sudden, around a lovely bend, a +barbed-wire fence of four strands savagely disputed +the passage. A vigorous back-water +stroke alone saved us from going full tilt into +the bayonets of the enemy. We landed, and +there was a council of war. As every stream +in Wisconsin capable of floating a saw-log is +"navigable" in the eye of the law, it is plain +that this obstruction is an illegal one. Being +an illegal fence, it follows that any canoeist is +entitled to clip the wires, if he does not care +to stop and prosecute the fencers for barring +his way. The object of the structure is to +prevent cattle from walking around through +the shallow river into neighboring pastures. +Along the upper Catfish, where boating is +more frequently indulged in, farmers accomplish +the same object by fencing in a few +feet of the stream parallel with the shore. +But below Stoughton, where canoeing is +seldom practiced, the cattle-owners run their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +fences directly across the river as a measure +of economy. Taking into consideration the +fact that the lower Catfish is seldom used as +a highway, we concluded that we would be +charitable and leave the fences intact, getting +under or over them as best we might. I am +afraid that had we known that twenty-one of +these formidable barriers were before us, the +council would not have agreed on so conciliatory +a campaign.</p> + +<p>Having taken in our awning and disposed +of our baggage amidships, so that nothing remained +above the gunwale, <span class="nowrp">W——</span>, kneeling, +took the oars astern, while I knelt in the bow +with the paddle borne like a battering-ram. +Pushing off into the channel we bore down on +the centre of the works, which were strong +and thickly-posted, with wires drawn as tight +as a drum-string. Catching the lower strand +midway between two posts, on the blade end +of the paddle, the speed of the canoe was +checked. Then, seizing that strand with my +right hand, so that the thick-strewn barbs +came between my fingers, I forced it up to +the second strand, and held the two rigidly +together, thus making a slight arch. The +canoe being crowded down into the water by +sheer exercise of muscle, I crouched low in +the bow, at the same time forcing the canoe +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> +under and forward through the arch. When +half-way through, <span class="nowrp">W——</span> was able similarly to +clutch the wires, and perform the same office +for the stern. This operation, ungraceful but +effective, was frequently repeated during the +day. When the current is swift and the wind +fresh a special exertion is necessary on the +part of the stern oar to keep the craft at right +angles with the fence,—the tendency being, +as soon as the bow is snubbed, to drift alongside +and become entangled in the wires, with +the danger of being either badly scratched or +upset. It is with a feeling of no slight relief +that a canoeist emerges from a tussle with a +barbed-wire fence; and if hands, clothing, +and boat have escaped without a scratch, he +may consider himself fortunate, indeed. Before +the day was through, when our twenty-one +fences had been conquered without any +serious accident, it was unanimously voted +that the exercise was not to be recommended +to those weak in muscle or patience.</p> + +<p>Eight miles below Stoughton is Dunkirk. +There is a neat frame grist-mill there; and +up a gentle slope to the right are four or five +weather-beaten farm-houses, in the corners of +the cross-roads. It was an easy portage at +the dam. After pushing through the shallows +below with some difficulty, we ran in under +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> +the shadow of a substantial wagon-bridge, and +beached. Going up to the corners, we filled +the canteen with ice-cold water from a moss-grown +well, and interviewed the patriarchal +miller, who assured us that "nigh onter a +dozen year ago, Dunkirk had a bigger show +for growin' than Stoughton, but the railroad +went 'round us."</p> + +<p>A few miles down stream and we come to +Stebbinsville. The water is backset by a +mill-dam for two miles, forming a small lake. +The course now changing, the wind came +dead ahead, and we rowed down to the dam in +a rolling sea, with much exertion. The river +is six rods wide here, flowing between smooth, +well-rounded, grass-grown banks, from fifteen +to thirty feet in height, the fields on either side +sloping up to wood-crowned ridges. There +are a mill and two houses at Stebbinsville, +and the country round about has a prosperous +appearance. A tall, pleasant-spoken young +miller came across the road-bridge and talked +to us about the crops and the river, while we +made a comfortable portage of five rods, up +the grassy bank and through a close-cropped +pasture, down to a sequestered little bay at +the tail of an abandoned race, where the spray +of the falls spattered us as we reloaded. We +pushed off, with the joint opinion that Stebbinsville +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +was a charming little place, with ideal +riverside homes, that would be utterly spoiled +by building the city on its site which the +young man said his father had always hoped +would be established there. A quarter of a +mile below, around the bend, is a disused +mill, thirty feet up, on the right bank. There +is a suspended platform over a ravine, to one +side of the building, and upon its handrail +leaned two dusty millers, who had doubtless +hastened across from the upper mill, to watch +the progress down the little rapids here of +what was indeed a novel craft to these waters. +They waved their caps and gave us a cheery +shout as we quickly disappeared around +another curve; but while it still rung in our +ears we were suddenly confronted by one of +the tightest fences on the course, and had +neither time nor disposition to return the +salute.</p> + +<p>And so we slid along, down rapids, through +long stretches of quiet water and scraping +over shallows, plying both oars and paddle, +while now and then "making" a fence and +comparing its savagery with that of the preceding +one. Here and there the high vine-clad +banks, from overshadowing us would irregularly +recede, leaving little meadows, full of +painted-cups, the wild rose-colored phlox and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +saxifrage; or bits of woodland in the dryer +bottoms, radiant, amid the underbrush, with +the daisy, cinque-foil, and puccoon. Kingfishers +and blue herons abound. Great turtles, +disturbed by the unwonted splash of oars, +slide down high, sunny banks of sand, where +they have been to lay their eggs, and amid a +cloud of dust shuffle off into the water, their +castle of safety. These eggs, so trustfully left +to be hatched by the warmth of the sun, form +toothsome food for coons and skunks, which +in turn fall victims to farmers' lads,—as witness +the rows of peltries stretched inside +out on shingles, and tacked up on the sunny +sides of the barns and woodsheds along the +river highway.</p> + +<p>As we begin to approach the valley of the +Rock, the hills grow higher, groups of red +cedar appear, the banks of red clay often attain +the height of fifty or sixty feet, broken +by deep, staring gullies and wooded ravines, +through which little brooklets run, the output +of back-country springs; while the pocket-meadows +are less frequent, although more +charmingly diversified as to color and background.</p> + +<p>We had our mid-day lunch on a pleasant +bank, that had been covered earlier in the +season with hepatica, blood-root, and dicentra, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> +and was now resplendent with Solomon's seal, +the dark-purple water-leaf, and graceful maidenhair +ferns, with here and there a dogwood in +full bloom. Behind us were thick woods and +an overlooking ridge; opposite, a meadow-glade +on which herds of cattle and black hogs +grazed. A bell cow waded into the water, +followed by several other members of the +herd, and the train pensively proceeded in +single file diagonally across the shallow stream +to another feeding-ground below. The leader's +bell had a peculiarly mournful note, and the +scene strongly reminded one of an ecclesiastical +procession.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the afternoon the little +village of Fulton was reached. It is a dead-alive, +moss-grown settlement, situated on a +prairie, through which the river has cut a +deep channel. There are a cheese-factory, +a grist-mill, a church, a school-house, three or +four stores, and some twenty-five houses, with +but a solitary boat in sight, and that of the +punt variety. It was recess at the school as +we rowed past, and boys and girls were chiefly +engaged in climbing the trees which cluster +in the little schoolhouse yard. A chorus of +shouts and whistles greeted us from the leafy +perches, in which we could distinguish "Shoot +the roof!"—an exclamation called forth by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> +the awning, which doubtless seemed the chief +feature of our outfit, viewed from the top of +the bank.</p> + +<p>At the mill-dam, a dozen lazy, shiftless +fellows were fishing at the foot of the chute, +and stared at our movements with expressionless +eyes. The portage was somewhat difficult, +being over a high bank, across a rocky +road, and down through a stretch of bog. +When we had completed the carry, <span class="nowrp">W——</span> +waited in the canoe while I went up to the +fishermen for information as to the lay of the +country.</p> + +<p>"How far is it to the mouth of the Catfish, +my friend?" I asked the most intelligent +member of the party.</p> + +<p>"D'no! Never was thar." He jerked in +his bait, to pull off a weed that had become +entangled in it, and from the leer he gave his +comrades it was plain that I had struck the +would-be wag of the village.</p> + +<p>"How far do you think it is?" I insisted, +curious to see how far he would carry his +obstinacy.</p> + +<p>"Don' think nuthin' 'bout 't; don' care t' +know."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you ever hear any one say how +far it is?" and I sat beside him on the stone +pier, as if I had come to stay. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nah!"</p> + +<p>"Suppose you were placed in a boat here +and had to float down to the Rock, how long +do you imagine you'd be?"</p> + +<p>"Aint no man goin' t' place me in no boat! +No siree!" pugnaciously.</p> + +<p>"Don't you ever row?"</p> + +<p>"Nah!" contemptuously; "what I want of +a boat? Bridge 's good 'nough fer us fellers, +a-fishin'."</p> + +<p>"Whose boat is that, over there, on the +shore?"</p> + +<p>"Schoolmaster's. He's a dood, he is. +Bridge isn't rich 'nough fer his blood. Boats +is fer doods." And with this withering remark +he relapsed into so intent an observation +of his line that I thought it best to disturb +him no longer.</p> + +<p>Below Fulton, the stream is quite swift and +the scenery more rugged, the evidences of +disastrous spring overflows and back-water +from the Rock being visible on every hand. +At five o'clock, we came to a point where the +river divides into three channels, there being +a clump of four small islands. A barbed-wire +fence, the last we were fated to meet, was +stretched across each channel. Selecting the +central mouth,—for this is the delta of the +Catfish,—we shot down with a rush, but were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> +soon lodged on a sandbank. It required +wading and much pushing and twisting and +towing before we were again off, but in the +length of a few rods more we swung free +into the Rock, which was to be our highway +for over two hundred miles more of +canoe travel.</p> + +<p>The Rock River is nearly a quarter of a +mile wide at this point, and comes down with +a majestic sweep from the north, having its +chief source in the gloomily picturesque Lake +Koshkonong. The banks of the river at and +below the mouth of the Catfish, are quite imposing, +rising into a succession of graceful, round-topped +mounds, from fifty to one hundred feet +high, and finely wooded except where cleared +for pasture or as the site of farm-buildings. +While the immediate edges of the stream are +generally firm and grass-grown, with occasional +gravelly beaches, there are frequent +narrow strips of marsh at the bases of the +mounds, especially on the left bank where +innumerable springs send forth trickling rills +to feed the river. A stiff wind up-stream +had broken the surface into white caps, and +more than counteracted the force of the lazy +current, so that progress now depended upon +vigorous exercise at the oars and paddle.</p> + +<p>Three miles above Janesville is Pope's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> +Springs, a pleasant summer resort, with white +tents and gayly painted cottages commingled. +It is situated in a park-like wood, on the right +bank, while directly opposite are some bold, +rocky cliffs, or palisades, their feet laved in +the stream. We spread our supper cloth on +the edge of a wheat-field, in view of the pretty +scene. The sun was setting behind a bank +of roseate clouds, and shooting up broad, +sharply defined bands of radiance nearly to +the zenith. The wind was blowing cold, +wraps were essential, and we were glad to be +on our way once more, paddling along in the +dying light, past palisades and fields and +meadows, reaching prosperous Janesville, on +her rolling prairie, just as dusk was thickening +into dark.</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_062.jpg" width="450" height="137" alt="Chapter III Header" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h2>AN ILLINOIS PRAIRIE HOME.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>e had an early start from the hotel +next morning. A prospect of the +situation at the upper Janesville dam, from a +neighboring bridge, revealed the fact that +the mill-race along the left bank afforded the +easiest portage. Reloading our craft at the +boat-renter's staging where it had passed +the night, we darted across the river, under +two low-hung bridges, keeping well out of +the overflow current and entered the race, +making our carry over a steep and rocky +embankment.</p> + +<p>Below, after passing through the centre of +the city, the river widens considerably, as it +cuts a deep channel through the fertile prairie, +and taking a sudden bend to the southwest, +becomes a lake, formed by back-water from +the lower dam. The wind was now dead +ahead again, and fierce. White caps came +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> +savagely rolling up stream. The pull down +brought out the rowing muscles to their fullest +tension. The canoe at times would appear +to scarcely creep along, although oars +and paddle would bend to their work.</p> + +<p>The race of the carding-mill, which we +were now approaching, is by the left bank, +the rest of the broad river—fully a third of +a mile wide here—being stemmed by a ponderous, +angling dam, the shorter leg of which +comes dangerously close to the entrance of +the race, which it nearly parallels. Overhead, +fifty feet skyward, a great railway bridge +spans the chasm. The disposition of its +piers leaves a rowing channel but two rods +wide, next the shore. Through this a deep, +swift current flows, impelling itself for the +most part over the short leg of the chute, with +a deafening roar. Its backset, however, is +caught in the yawning mouth of the race. It +so happens then that from either side of an +ugly whirling strip of doubting water, parallel +with the shorter chute, the flood bursts forth,—to +the left plunging impetuously over the +apron to be dashed to vapor at its foot; to +the right madly rushing into the narrow race, +to turn the wheels of the carding-mill half a +mile below. This narrow channel, under the +bridge and next the shore, of which I have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> +spoken, is the only practicable entrance to +the race.</p> + +<p>We had landed above and taken a panoramic +view of the situation from the deck of +the bridge; afterward had descended to the +flood-gates at the entrance of the race, for +detailed inspection and measurements. One +of the set of three gates was partly raised, the +bottom being but three feet above the boiling +surface, while the great vertical iron beams +along which the cog-wheels work were not +over four feet apart. It would require steady +hands to guide the canoe to the right of the +whirl, where the flood hesitated between two +destinations, and finally to shoot under the +uplifted gate, which barely gave room in either +height or breadth for the passage of the boat. +But we arrived at the conclusion that the +shoot was far more dangerous in appearance +than in reality, and that it was preferable to a +long and exceedingly irksome portage.</p> + +<p>So we determined to make the attempt, and +walked back to the canoe. Disposing our +baggage in the centre, as in the barbed-wire +experience of the day before, <span class="nowrp">W——</span> again took +the oars astern and I the paddle at the bow. +A knot of men on the bridge had been watching +our movements with interest, and waved +their hats at us as we came cautiously creeping +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +along the shore. We went under the bridge +with a swoop, waited till we were within three +rods of the brink of the thundering fall, and +then strained every muscle in sending the canoe +shooting off at an angle into the waters bound +for the race. We went down to the gate as +if shot out of a cannon, but the little craft was +easily controlled, quickly obeying every stroke +of the paddle. Catching a projecting timber, +it was easy to guide ourselves to the opening. +We lay down in the bottom of the boat and +with uplifted hands clutched the slimy gate; +slowly, hand over hand, we passed through +under the many internal beams and rods of +the structure, with the boiling flood under us, +making an echoing roar, amid which we were +obliged to fairly shout our directions to each +other. In the last section the release was +given; we were fairly hurled into daylight on +the surface of the mad torrent, and were many +a rod down the race before we could recover +our seats. The men on the bridge, joined by +others, now fairly yelled themselves hoarse over +the successful close of what was apparently +a hazardous venture, and we waved acknowledgments +with the paddle, as we glided away +under the willows which overhang the long +and narrow canal. At the isolated mill, +where there is one of the easiest portages on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +the route, the hands came flocking by dozens +to the windows to see the craft which had +invaded their quiet domain.</p> + +<p>The country toward Beloit becomes more +hilly, especially upon the left bank, along +which runs the Chicago and Northwestern +railway, all the way down from Janesville. +At the Beloit paper-mill, which was reached +at three o'clock in the afternoon, it was found +that owing to the low stage of water one end +of the apron projected above the flood. With +some difficulty as to walking on the slimy +incline, we portaged over the face of the dam +and went down stream through the heart of +the pretty little college town, getting more +or less picturesque back-door views of the +domestic life of the community.</p> + +<p>Beloit being on the State line, we had now +entered Illinois. For several miles the river +is placid and shallow, with but a feeble current. +Islands begin to appear, dividing the channel +and somewhat perplexing canoeists, it being +often quite difficult to decide which route is +the best; as a rule, one is apt to wish +that he had taken some other than the one +selected.</p> + +<p>The dam at Rockton was reached in a two +hours' pull. It was being repaired, stone for +the purpose being quarried on a neighboring +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> +bank and transported to the scene of action +on a flat-boat. We had been told that we +could save several miles by going down the +race, which cuts the base of a long detour. +But the boss of the dam-menders assured us +that the race was not safe, and that we would +"get in a trap" if we attempted it. Deeming +discretion the better part of valor, with much +difficulty we lifted the canoe over the high, +jagged, stone embankment and through a bit +of tangled swamp to the right, and took the +longest way around. It was four or five miles +by the bend to the village of Rockton, whose +spires we could see at the dam, rising above +a belt of intervening trees. It being our first +detour of note, we were somewhat discouraged +at having had so long a pull for so short a +vantage; but we became well used to such +experiences long before our journey was +over. It was not altogether consoling to be +informed at Rockton—which is a smart little +manufacturing town of a thousand souls—that +the race was perfectly practicable for +canoes, and the tail portage easy.</p> + +<p>Beaching near the base of a fine wagon-bridge +which here spans the Rock, we went +up to a cluster of small houses on the bank +opposite the town, to have some tea steeped, +our prepared stock being by this time exhausted. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> +The people were all employed in +the paper-mills in the village, but one good +woman chanced to be at home for the afternoon, +and cheerfully responded to our request +for service. A young, neat, and buxom little +woman she was, though rather sad-eyed and +evidently overworked in the family struggle +for existence. She assured us that she nowadays +never went upon the water in an open +boat, for she had "three times been near +drowndid" in her life, which she thought was +"warnin' enough for one body." Inquiry developed +that her first "warnin'" consisted of +having been, when she was "a gal down in +Kansis," taken for a row in a leaky boat; +the water came in half-way up to the thwarts, +and would have eventually swamped the craft +and drowned its occupants, in perhaps half +an hour's time, if her companion had not +luckily bethought himself to run in to shore +and land. Another time, she and her husband +were out rowing, when a stern-wheel +river steamer came along, and the swell in +her wake washed the row-boat atop of a log +raft, and "she stuck there, ma'am, would ye +believe, and we'd 'a' drowndid sure, with a +storm a-comin' up, hadn't my brother-in-law, +that was then a-courtin' of sister Jane, come +off in a dug-out and took us in." Her last +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> +and most harrowing experience was in a boat +on the Republican River in Kansas. She and +another woman were out when a storm came +up, and white-capped waves tossed the little +craft about at will; but fortunately the blow +subsided, and the women regained pluck +enough to take the oars and row home again. +The eyes of the paper-maker's wife were suffused +with tears, as, seated in her rocking-chair +by the kitchen stove and giving the teapot +an occasional shake, doubtless to hasten +the brew, she related these thrilling tales of +adventure by flood, and called us to witness +that thrice had Providence directly interposed +in her behalf. We were obliged to acknowledge +ourselves much impressed with the +gravity of the dangers she had so successfully +passed through. Her sympathy with +the perils which we were braving, in what +she was pleased to call our singular journey, +was so great that the good woman declined +to accept pay for having steeped our tea in a +most excellent manner, and bade us an affecting +God-speed.</p> + +<p>We had our supper, graced with the hot +tea, on a pretty sward at the river end of the +quiet lane just around the corner; while a +dozen little children in pinafores and short +clothes, perched on a neighboring fence, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> +watched and discussed us as eagerly as +though we were a circus caravan halting by +the wayside for refreshment. The paper-maker's +wife also came out, just as we were +packing up for the start, and inspected the +canoe in some detail. Her judgment was +that in her giddiest days as an oarswoman, +she would certainly never have dared to set +foot in such a shell. She watched us off, just +as the sun was disappearing, and the last +Rockton object we saw was our tenderhearted +friend standing on the beach at the +end of her lane, both hands shading her eyes, +as she watched us fade away in the gloaming. +I have no doubt she has long ago given +us up for lost, for her last words were, "I've +heerd 'em tell it was a riskier river than any +in Kansis, 'tween here an' Missip'; tek care +ye don't git drowndid!"</p> + +<p>In the soft evening shadows it was cool +enough for heavy wraps. In fact, for the +greater part of the day <span class="nowrp">W——</span> had worn a +light shoulder cape. We had a beautiful +sunset, back of a group of densely timbered +islands. We would have been sorely tempted +to camp out on one of these, but the night +was setting in too cold for sleeping in the +open air, and we had no tent with us.</p> + +<p>The twilight was nearly spent, and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> +banks and now frequent islands were so +heavily wooded that on the river it was rapidly +becoming too dark to navigate among +the shallows and devious channels. <span class="nowrp">W——</span> +volunteered to get out and look for a farmhouse, +for none could be seen from our hollow +way. So she landed and got up into some +prairie wheatfields back away from the bank. +After a half-mile's walk parallel with the river +she sighted a prosperous-looking establishment, +with a smart windmill, large barns, and +a thrifty orchard, silhouetted against the fast-fading +sunset sky. The signal was given, +and the prow of the canoe was soon resting +on a steep, gravely beach at the mouth of a +ravine. Armed with the paddle, for a possible +encounter with dogs, we went up through +the orchard and a timothy-field sopping with +dew, scaled the barnyard fence, passed a big +black dog that growled savagely, but was by +good chance chained to an old mowing-machine, +walked up to the kitchen door and +boldly knocked.</p> + +<p>No answer. The stars were coming out, +the shadows darkening, night was fairly upon +us, and shelter must be had, if we were obliged +to sleep in the barn. The dog reared +on his hind legs, and fairly howled with rage. +A row of well-polished milk-cans on a bench +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> +by the windmill well, and the general air of +thrifty neatness impelled us to persevere. An +old German, with kindly face and bushy white +hair, finally came, cautiously peering out beneath +a candle which he held above his head. +English he had none, and our German was +too fresh from the books to be reliable in +conversation. However, we mustered a few +stereotyped phrases from the "familiar conversations" +in the back of the grammar, +which served to make the old man smile, and +disappearing toward the cattle-sheds he soon +returned with his daughter and son-in-law, a +cheerful young couple who spoke good English, +and assured us of welcome and a bed. +They had been out milking by lantern-light +when interrupted, and soon rejoined us with +brimming pails.</p> + +<p>It did not take long to feel quite at home +with these simple, good-hearted folk. They +had but recently purchased the farm and were +strangers in the community. The old man +lived with his other children at Freeport, and +was there only upon a visit. The young people, +natives of Illinois, were lately married, +their wedding-trip having been made to this +house, where they had at once settled down +to a thrifty career, surrounded with quite +enough comforts for all reasonable demands, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> +and a few simple luxuries. <span class="nowrp">W——</span> declared +the kitchen to be a model of neatness and +convenience; and the sitting-room, where we +passed the evening with our modest entertainers,—who +appeared quite well posted on +current news of general importance,—showed +evidences of being in daily use. They were +devout Catholics, and I was pleased to find +the patriarch drifting down the river of time +with a heartfelt appreciation of the benefits +of democracy, fully cognizant of what American +institutions had done for him and his. +Immigrating in the noon-tide of life and settling +in a German neighborhood, he had found +no need and had no inclination to learn our +language. But he had prospered from the +start, had secured for his children a good +education at the common schools, had imbued +them with the spirit of patriotism, had seen +them marry happily and with a bright future, +and at night he never retired without uttering +a bedside prayer of gratitude that God +had turned his footsteps to blessed America. +As the old man told me his tale, with his +daughter's hands resting lovingly in his while +she served as our interpreter, and contrasted +the hard lot of a German peasant with the independence +of thought and speech and action +vouchsafed the German-American farmer, who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +can win competence in a state of freedom, +I felt a thrill of patriotism that would have +been the making of a Fourth-of-July orator. +I wished that thousands such as he originally +was, still dragging out an existence in the +fatherland, could have listened to my aged +friend and followed in his footsteps.</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_075.jpg" width="450" height="158" alt="Chapter IV Header" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h2>THE HALF-WAY HOUSE.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he spin down to Roscoe next morning +was delightful in every respect. The +air was just sharp enough for vigorous exercise. +These were the pleasantest hours we +had yet spent. The blisters that had troubled +us for the first three days were hardening into +callosities, and arm and back muscles, which +at first were sore from the unusually heavy +strain upon them, at last were strengthened +to their work. Thereafter we felt no physical +inconvenience from our self-imposed task. +At night, after a pull of eleven or twelve +hours, relieved only by the time spent in +lunching, in which we hourly alternated at +the oars and paddle, slumber came as a most +welcome visitation, while the morning ever +found us as fresh as at the start. Let those +afflicted with insomnia try this sort of life. +My word for it, they will not be troubled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> +so long as the canoeing continues. Every +muscle of the body moves responsive to each +pull of the oars or sweep of the paddle; while +the mental faculties are kept continually on +the alert, watching for shallows, snags, and +rapids, in which operation a few days' experience +will render one quite expert, though +none the less cautious.</p> + +<p>As we get farther down into the Illinois +country, the herds of live-stock increase in +size and number. Cattle may be seen by +hundreds at one view, dotted all over the +neighboring hills and meadows, or dreamily +standing in the cooling stream at sultry noonday. +Sheep, in immense flocks, bleat in deafening +unison, the ewes and their young being +particularly demonstrative at our appearance, +and sometimes excitedly following us along +the banks. Droves of black hogs and shoats +are ploughing the sward in their search for +sweet roots, or lying half-buried in the wet +sand. Horses, in familiar groups, quickly +lift their heads in startled wonder as the canopied +canoe glides silently by,—then suddenly +wheel, kick up their heels, sound a snort of +alarm, and dash off at a thundering gallop, +clods of turf filling the air behind them. +There are charming groves and parks and +treeless downs, and the river cuts through the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +alluvial soil to a depth of eight and ten feet, +throwing up broad beaches on either side.</p> + +<p>At Roscoe, three or four miles below our +morning's starting-point, there is a collection +of three or four neat farm-houses, each with +its spinning windmill.</p> + +<p>Latham Station, nine miles below Rockton, +was reached at ten o'clock. The post-office is +called Owen. There is a smart little depot on +the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul railway +line, two general stores, and a half-dozen cottages, +with a substantial-looking creamery, +where we obtained buttermilk drawn fresh +from one of the mammoth churns. The concern +manufactures from three hundred to nine +hundred pounds per day, according to the +season, shipping chiefly to New York city. +Leaning over the hand-rail which fences off +the "making" room, and gossiping with the +young man in charge, I conjured up visions +of the days when, as a boy on the farm, I used +to spend many weary, almost tearful hours, +pounding an old crock churn, in which the +butter would always act like a balky horse +and refuse to "come" until after a long series +of experimental coaxing. Nowadays, rustic +youths luxuriously ride behind the plough, the +harrow, the cultivator, the horse-rake, the hay-loader, +and the self-binding harvester, while +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> +the butter-making is farmed out to a factory +where the thing is done by steam. The +farmer's boy of the future will live in a world +darkened only by the frown of the district +schoolmaster and the intermittent round of +stable chores.</p> + +<div class="fares"> +<p class="center">FARE.</p> +<table summary="Fare"> +<col width="85" /> +<col width="100" /> +<col width="60" /> +<tr> +<td colspan="2">Foot Passengere</td> +<td>10 cts.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2">Man & Horse</td> +<td>15 ct.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2">single Carriage</td> +<td>10 c.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2">double "</td> +<td>15 c</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2">each Passinger</td> +<td> 5 c</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Night Raites</td> +<td colspan="2" class="tdr">Double Fare.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td colspan="2">All persons</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td colspan="2">Are cautioned</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td colspan="2">Againts useing</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td colspan="2">this Boat with Out</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td colspan="2">Permistion from</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td colspan="2">the Owners</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>At Latham Station we encountered the +first ferry-boat on our trip,—a flat-bottomed +scow with side-rails, attached by ropes and +pulleys to a suspended wire cable, and working +diagonally, with the force of the current. +A sign conspicuously displayed on the craft +bore the above legend. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span></p> + +<p>From the time we had entered Illinois, +the large, graceful, white blossoms of the +Pennsylvanian anemone and the pink and +white fringe of the erigeron Canadense had +appeared in great abundance upon the river +banks, while the wild prairie rose lent a delicate +beauty and fragrance to the scene. On +sandy knolls, where in early spring the anemone +patens and crowfoot violets had thrived +in profusion, were now to be seen the geum +triflorum and the showy yellow puccoon; the +long-flowered puccoon, with its delicate pale +yellow, crape-like blossom, was just putting in +an appearance; and little white, star-shaped +flowers, which were strangers to us of Wisconsin, +fairly dotted the green hillsides, mingled +in striking contrast with dwarf blue mint. +Bevies of great black crows, sitting in the tops +of dead willow-trees or circling around them, +rent the air with sepulchral squawks. Men +and boys were cultivating in the cornfields, +the prevalent drought painfully evidenced by +the clouds of gray dust which enveloped them +and their teams as they stirred up the brittle +earth.</p> + +<p>There was now a fine breeze astern, and +the awning, abandoned during the head winds +of the day before, was again welcomed as the +sun mounted to the zenith. At 2.30 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> +we were in busy Rockford, where the banks +are twenty or twenty-five feet high, with rolling +prairies stretching backward to the horizon, +except where here and there a wooded +ridge intervenes. Rockford is the metropolis +of the valley of the Rock. It has twenty-two +thousand inhabitants, with many elegant mansions +visible from the river, and evidences +upon every hand of that prosperity which +usually follows in the train of varied manufacturing +enterprises.</p> + +<p>There are numerous mills and factories along +both sides of the river, and a protracted inspection +of the portage facilities was necessary +before we could decide on which bank +to make our carry. The right was chosen. +The portage was somewhat over two ordinary +city blocks in length, up a steep incline and +through a road-way tunnel under a great flouring +mill. We had made nearly half the distance, +and were resting for a moment, when +a mill-driver kindly offered the use of his +wagon, which was gratefully accepted. We +were soon spinning down the tail of the race, +a half-dozen millers waving a "Chautauqua +salute" with as many dusty flour-bags, and in +ten minutes more had left Rockford out of +sight.</p> + +<p>Several miles below, there are a half-dozen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> +forested islands in a bunch, some of them four +or five acres in extent, and we puzzled over +which channel to take,—the best of them +abounding in shallows. The one down which +the current seemed to set the strongest was +selected, but we had not proceeded over half +a mile before the trees on the banks began to +meet in arches overhead, and it was evident +that we were ascending a tributary. It proved +to be the Cherry River, emptying into the +main stream from the east. The wind, now +almost due-west, had driven the waves into +the mouth of the Cherry, so that we mistook +this surface movement for the current. Coming +to a railway bridge, which we knew from +our map did not cross the Rock, our course +was retraced, and after some difficulty with +snags and gravel-spits, we were once more +upon our proper highway, trending to the +southwest.</p> + +<p>Supper was eaten upon the edge of a large +island, several miles farther down stream, +in the shade of two wide-spreading locusts. +Opposite are some fine, eroded sandstone palisades, +which formation had been frequently +met with during the day,—sometimes on +both sides of the river, but generally on the +left bank, which is, as a rule, the most picturesque +along the entire course. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span></p> + +<p>It was still so cold when evening shadows +thickened that camping out, with our meagre +preparations for it, seemed impracticable; so +we pushed on and kept a sharp lookout for +some friendly farm-house at which to quarter +for the night. The houses in the thickly-wooded +bottoms, however, were generally +quite forbidding in appearance, and the sun +had gone down before we sighted a well-built +stone dwelling amid a clump of graceful evergreens. +It seemed, from the river, to be the +very embodiment of comfortable neatness; but +upon ascending the gentle slope and fighting +off two or three mangy curs which came +snarling at our heels, we found the structure +merely a relic of gentility. There was scarcely +a whole pane of glass in the house, there were +eight or ten wretchedly dirty and ragged children, +the parents were repulsive in appearance +and manner, and a glimpse of the interior +presented a picture of squalor which would +have shocked a city missionary. The stately +stone house was a den of the most abject and +shiftless poverty, the like of which one could +seldom see in the slums of a metropolis. +These people were in the midst of a splendid +farming country, had an abundance of pure +air and water at command, and there seemed +to be no excuse for their condition. Drink +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +and laziness were doubtless the besetting sins +in this uncanny home. Making a pretense of +inquiring the distance to Byron, the next village +below, we hurried from the accursed +spot.</p> + +<p>A half-hour later we reached the high +bridge of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. +Paul railway, above Byron, and ran our bow +on a little beach at the base of the left bank, +which is here thirty feet high. A section-man +had a little cabin hard by, and his gaunt, +talkative wife, with a chubby little boy by her +side, had been keenly watching our approach +from her garden-fence. She greeted us with +a shrill but cheery voice as we clambered up +a zigzag path and joined her upon the edge of +the prairie.</p> + +<p>"Good ev'nin', folks! Whar'n earth d' ye +come from?"</p> + +<p>We enlightened her in a few words.</p> + +<p>"Don't mean t' say ye come all the way +from Weesconsin a' down here in that thing?" +pointing down at the canoe, which certainly +looked quite small, at that depth, in the +dim twilight.</p> + +<p>"Certainly; why not?"</p> + +<p>"Ye'll git drowndid, an' I'm not mistakin, +afore ye git to Byron."</p> + +<p>"River dangerous, ma'am?" +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span></p> + +<p>"Dang'rous ain't no name for 't. There +was a young feller drowndid at this here +bridge las' spring. The young feller he +worked at the bridge-mendin', bein' a carpenter,—he +called himself a carpenter, but +he warn't no great fist at carpenterin', an' I +know it,—and he boarded up at Byron. A +'nsurance agint kim 'long and got Rollins,—the +young feller his name was Abe Rollins, +an' he was a bach,—to promise to 'sure his +life for a thousand dollars, which was to go t' +his sister, what takes in washin', an' her man +ran away from her las' year an' nobody knows +where he is,—which I says is good riddance, +but she takes on as though she had los' somebody +worth cryin' over: there's no accountin' +for tastes. The agint says to Rollins to +go over to the doctor's of'c' to git 'xamined +and Rollins says, 'No, I ain't agoin' to git +'xamined till I clean off; I'll go down an' take +a swim at the bridge and then come back and +strip for the doctor.' An' Rollins he took +his swim and got sucked down inter a hole just +yonder down there, by the openin' of Stillman's +Creek, and he was a corpse when they +hauled him out, down off Byron; an' he never +hollered once but jist sunk like a stone with +a cramp; an' his folks never got no 'nsurance +money at all, for lackin' the doctor's c'tificate. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +An' it's heaps o' folks git drowndid in +this river, an' nobody ever hears of 'em agin; +an' I wouldn't no more step foot in that boat +nor the biggest ship on the sea, an' I don't +see how you can do it, ma'am!"</p> + +<p>No doubt the good woman would have +rattled on after this fashion for half the night, +but we felt obliged, owing to the rapidly increasing +darkness, to interrupt her with geographical +inquiries. She assured us that +Byron was distant some five or six miles by +river, with, so far as she had heard, many +shallows, whirlpools, and snags <i>en route</i>; +while by land the village was but a mile and +a quarter across the prairie, from the bridge. +We accordingly made fast for the night +where we had landed, placed our heaviest baggage +in the tidy kitchen-sitting-room-parlor +of our voluble friend, and trudged off over the +fields to Byron,—a solitary light in a window +and the occasional practice-note of a brass +band, borne to us on the light western breeze, +being our only guides.</p> + +<p>After a deal of stumbling over a rough and +ill-defined path, which we could distinguish +by the sense of feeling alone, we finally +reached the exceedingly quiet little village, +and by dint of inquiry from house to house,—in +most of which the denizens seemed preparing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> +to retire for the night,—found the inn +which had been recommended by the section-man's +wife as the best in town. It was the +only one. There were several commercial +travelers in the place, and the hostelry was +filled. But the landlord kindly surrendered +to us his own well-appointed chamber, above +an empty store where the village band was +tuning up for Decoration Day. It seemed +appropriate enough that there should be music +to greet us, for we were now one hundred +and thirty-four miles from Madison, and +practically half through our voyage to the +Mississippi.</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_087.jpg" width="450" height="140" alt="Chapter V Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h2>GRAND DETOUR FOLKS.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>e tramped back to the bridge in high +spirits next morning, over the flower-strewn +prairie. The section-man's wife was +on hand, with her entire step-laddered brood +of six, to see us off. As we carried down our +traps to the beach and repacked, she kept up +a continuous strain of talk, giving us a most +edifying review of her life, and especially the +particulars of how she and her "man" had +first romantically met, while he was a gravel-train +hand on a far western railroad, and she +the cook in a portable construction-barracks.</p> + +<p>Stillman's Creek opens into the Rock from +the east, through a pleasant glade, a few rods +below the bridge. We took a pull up this +historic tributary for a half-mile or more. +It is a muddy stream, some two and a half +rods wide, cutting down for a half-dozen feet +through the black soil. The shores are generally +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +well fringed with heavy timber, especially +upon the northern bank, while the land +to the south and southwest stretches upward, +in gentle slopes, to a picturesque rolling prairie, +abounding in wooded knolls. It was in +the large grove on the north bank, near its +junction with the Rock, that Black Hawk, in +the month of May, 1832, parleyed with the +Pottawattomies. It was here that on the +14th of that month he learned of the treachery +of Stillman's militiamen, and at once +made that famous sally with his little band +of forty braves which resulted in the rout of +the cowardly whites, who fled pell-mell over +the prairie toward Dixon, asserting that +Black Hawk and two thousand blood-thirsty +warriors were sweeping northern Illinois with +the besom of destruction. The country round +about appears to have undergone no appreciable +change in the half-century intervening +between that event and to-day. The topographical +descriptions given in contemporaneous +accounts of Stillman's flight will hold +good now, and we were readily able to pick +out the points of interest on the old battlefield.</p> + +<p>Returning to the Rock, we made excellent +progress. The atmosphere was bracing; and +there being a favoring northwest breeze, our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +awning was stretched over a hoop for a sail. +The banks were now steep inclines of white +sand and gravel. It was like going through +a railroad cut. But in ascending the sides, as +we did occasionally, to secure supplies from +farm-houses or refill our canteen with fresh +water, there were found broad expanses of +rolling prairie. The farm establishments increase +in number and prosperity. Windmills +may be counted by the scores, the cultivation +of enormous cornfields is everywhere in +progress, and cattle are more numerous than +ever.</p> + +<p>Three or four miles above Oregon the banks +rise to the dignity of hills, which come sweeping +down "with verdure clad" to the very +water's edge, and present an inspiring picture, +quite resembling some of the most charming +stretches of the Hudson. At the entrance to +this lovely vista we encountered a logy little +pleasure-steamer anchored in the midst of +the stream, which is here nearly half of a mile +wide, for the river now perceptibly broadens. +The captain, a ponderous old sea-dog, wearing +a cowboy's hat and having the face of an +operatic pirate, with a huge pipe between +his black teeth, sat lounging on the bulwark, +watching the force of the current, into which +he would listlessly expectorate. He was at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +first inclined to be surly, as we hauled alongside +and checked our course; but gradually +softened down as we drew him out in conversation, +and confided to us that he had in +earlier days "sailed the salt water," a circumstance +of which he seemed very proud. He +also gave us some "pointers on the lay o' the +land," as he called them, for our future guidance +down the river,—one of which was that +there were "dandy sceneries" below Oregon, +in comparison with which we had thus far +seen nothing worthy of note. As for himself, +he said that his place on the neighboring shore +was connected by telephone with Oregon, and +his steamer frequently transported pleasure +parties to points of interest above the dam.</p> + +<p>Ganymede Spring is on the southeast bank, +at the base of a lofty sandstone bluff, a mile or +so above Oregon. From the top of the bluff, +which is ascended by a succession of steep +flights of scaffolding stairs, a magnificent +bird's-eye view is attainable of one of the +finest river and forest landscapes in the +Mississippi basin. The grounds along the +riverside at the base are laid out in graceful +carriage drives; and over the head of +a neatly hewn basin, into which gushes the +copious spring, is a marble slab thus inscribed:— +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span></p> + +<div class="springs"> +<p class="center">GANYMEDE'S SPRINGS,</p> +<p class="center">named by</p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Margeret Fuller</span> (Countess D. Ossoli,)</p> +<p class="center">who named this bluff</p> +<p class="center">EAGLE'S NEST,</p> +<p class="center">& beneath the cedars on its crest wrote</p> +<p class="center">"Ganymede to his Eagle,"</p> +<p class="center">July 4, 1843.</p> +</div> + +<p>Oregon was reached just before noon. A +walk through the business quarter revealed a +thrifty, but oldish-looking town of about two +thousand inhabitants. The portage on the +east side, around a flouring-mill dam, involved +a hard pull up the gravelly bank thirty +feet high, and a haul of two blocks' length +along a dusty street.</p> + +<p>There was a fine stretch of eroded palisades +in front of the island on which we +lunched. The color effect was admirable,—patches +of gray, brown, white, and old gold, +much corroded with iron. Vines of many +varieties dangle from earth-filled crevices, +and swallows by the hundreds occupy the +dimples neatly hollowed by the action of +the water in some ancient period when the +stream was far broader and deeper than now.</p> + +<p>But at times, even in our day, the Rock is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> +a raging torrent. The condition of the trees +along the river banks and on the thickly-strewn +island pastures, shows that not many +months before it must have been on a wild +rampage, for the great trunks are barked by +the ice to the height of fifteen feet above the +present water-level. Everywhere, on banks +and islands, are the evidences of disastrous +floods, and the ponderous ice-breakers above +the bridges give one an awesome notion of the +condition of affairs at such a time. Farmers +assured us that in the spring of 1887 the +water was at the highest stage ever recorded +in the history of the valley. Many of the +railway bridges barely escaped destruction, +while the numerous river ferries and the low +country bridges in the bayous were destroyed +by scores. The banks were overflowed for +miles together, and back in the country for +long distances, causing the hasty removal +of families and live-stock from the bottoms; +while ice jams, forming at the heads of the +islands, would break, and the shattered floes +go sweeping down with terrific force, crushing +the largest trees like reeds, tearing away +fences and buildings, covering islands and +meadows with deep deposits of sand and +mud, blazing their way through the forested +banks, and creating sad havoc on every hand. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> +We were amply convinced, by the thousands +of broken trees which littered our route, +the snags, the mud-baked islands, the frequent +stretches of sadly demoralized bank +that had not yet had time to reweave its +charitable mantle of verdure, that the Rock, +on such a spring "tear," must indeed be a +picture of chaos broken loose. This explained +why these hundreds of beautiful and +spacious islands—many of them with charming +combinations of forest and hillock and +meadow, and occasionally enclosing pretty +ponds blushing with water-lilies—are none +of them inhabited, but devoted to the pasture +of cattle, who swim or ford the intervening +channels, according to the stage of the flood; +also why the picturesque bottoms on the +main shore are chiefly occupied by the poorest +class of farmers, who eke out their meagre +incomes with the spoils of the gun and +line.</p> + +<p>It was a quarter of five when we beached +at the upper ferry-landing at Grand Detour. +It is a little, tumble-down village of one or +two small country stores, a church, and a +dozen modest cottages; there is also, on the +river front, a short row of deserted shops, +their paintless battlement-fronts in a sadly +collapsed condition, while hard by are the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> +ruins of two or three dismantled mills. The +settlement is on a bit of prairie at the base of +the preliminary flourish of the "big bend" of +the Rock,—hence the name, Grand Detour, +a reminiscence of the early French explorers. +The foot of the peninsula is but half a mile +across, while the distance around by river to +the lower ferry, on the other side of the village +is four miles. Having learned that the +bottoms below here were, for a long distance, +peculiarly gloomy and but sparsely inhabited, +we thought it best to pass the night at Grand +Detour. Bespeaking accommodations at the +tavern and post-office combined, we rowed +around the bend to the lower landing, through +some lovely stretches of river scenery, in +which bold palisades and delightful little +meadows predominated.</p> + +<p>The walk back to the village was through +a fine park of elms. The stage was just in +from Dixon, with the mail. There was an +eager little knot of villagers in the cheerful +sitting-room of our homelike inn, watching +the stout landlady as she distributed it in +a checker-board rank of glass-faced boxes +fenced off in front of a sunny window. It +did not appear that many of those who overlooked +the distribution of the mail had been +favored by their correspondents. They were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +chiefly concerned in seeing who did get letters +and papers, and in "passin' the time o' day," +as gossiping is called in rural communities. +Seated in a darkened corner, waiting patiently +for supper, the announcement of which +was an hour or more in coming, we were much +amused at the mirror of local events which +was unconsciously held up for us by these +loungers of both sexes and all ages, who +fairly filled the room, and oftentimes waxed +hot in controversy.</p> + +<p>The central theme of conversation was the +preparations under way for Decoration Day, +which was soon to arrive. Grand Detour +was to be favored with a speaker from Dixon,—"a +reg'lar major from the war, gents, an' +none o' yer m'lish fellers!" an enthusiastic +old man with a crutch persisted in announcing. +There were to be services at the church, +and some exercises at the cemetery, where lie +buried the half-dozen honored dead, Grand +Detour's sacrifice upon the altar of the Union. +The burning question seemed to be whether +the village preacher would consent to offer +prayer upon the occasion, if the church choir +insisted on being accompanied on the brand-new +cabinet organ which the congregation +had voted to purchase, but to which the pastor +and one of the leading deacons were said +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> +to be bitterly opposed, as smacking of worldliness +and antichrist. Only the evening +before, this deacon, armed with a sledgehammer +and rope, had been seen to go to +the sanctuary in company with his "hired +man," and enter through one of the windows, +which they pried up for the purpose. A good +gossip, who lived hard by, closely watched +such extraordinary proceedings. There was +a great noise within, then some planks were +pitched out of the window, soon followed by +the deacon and his man. The window was +shut down, the planks thrown atop of the +horse-shed roof, and the men disappeared. +Investigation in the morning by the witness +revealed the fact that the choir-seats and the +organ-platform had been torn down and removed. +Here was a pretty how d' do! The +wiry, raspy little woman, with her gray finger-curls +and withered, simpering smile, had, with +great forbearance, kept her choice bit of news +to herself till "post-office time." Sitting in +a big rocking-chair close to the delivery window, +knitting vigorously on an elongated +stocking, she demurely asserted that she +"never wanted to say nothin' 'gin' nobody, +or to hurt nobody's feelin's," and then detailed +the entire circumstance to the patrons +of the office as they came in. The excitement +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +created by the story, which doubtless +lost nothing in the telling, was at fever-heat. +We were sorely tempted to remain over till +Decoration Day,—when, it was freely predicted, +there "would be some folks as'd wish +they'd never been born,"—and see the outcome +of this tempest in a teapot. But our +programme, unfortunately, would not admit +of such a diversion.</p> + +<p>Others came and went, but the gossipy +little body with the gray curls rocked on, +holding converse with both post-mistress and +public, keeping a keen eye on the character +of the mail matter obtained by the villagers +and neighboring farmers, and freely commenting +on it all; so that new-comers were kept +quite well-informed as to the correspondence +of those who had just departed.</p> + +<p>A sad-eyed little woman in rusty black +modestly slipped in, and was handed out a +much-creased and begrimed envelope, which +she nervously clutched. She was hurrying +silently away, when the gossip sharply exclaimed, +"Good lands, Cynthi' Prescott! some +folks don't know a body when they meet. +'Spose ye've been hearin' from Jim at last. +I'd been thinkin' 't was about time ye got a +letter from his hand, ef he war ever goin' +t' write at all. Tell ye, Cynthi' Prescott, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +ye're too indulgent on that man o' yourn! +Ef I—"</p> + +<p>But Cynthia Prescott, turning her black, +deep-sunken eyes to her inquisitor, with a +piteous, tearful look, as though stung to the +quick, sidled out backward through the wire-screen +door, which sprung closed with a +vicious bang, and I saw her hurrying down +the village street firmly grasping at her bosom +what the mail had brought her,—probably a +brutal demand for more money, from a worthless +husband, who was wrecking his life-craft +on some far-away shore.</p> + +<p>"Goodness me! but the Gilberts is a-puttin' +on style!" ejaculated the village censor, +as a rather smart young horseman went out +with a bunch of letters, and a little packet +tied up in red twine. "That there was vis'tin' +keerds from the printer's shop in Dixon, an' +cost a dollar; can't fool me! There's some +folks as hev to be leavin' keerds on folks's +centre-tables when they goes makin' calls, for +fear folks will be a-forgettin' their names. +When I go a-callin', I go a-visitin' and take +my work along an' stop an' hev a social cup +o' tea; an' they ain't a-goin' to forgit for +awhile, that I dropped in on 'em, neither. +This way they hev down in Dixon, what I +hear of, of ringin' at a bell and settin' down +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +with yer bonnet on and sayin', 'How d' do,' +an' a 'Pretty well, I thank yer,' and jumpin' +up as if the fire bell was ringin' and goin' on +through the whole n'ighberhood as ef ye're +on springs, an' then a-trancin' back home and +braggin' how many calls ye've made,—I +ain't got no use for that; it'll do for Dixon +folks, what catch the style from Chicargy, +an' they git 't from Paris each year, I'm told, +but I ain't no use for 't. Mebbe ol' man +Gilbert is made o' money,—his women folks +act so, with all this a-apein' the Clays, who's +been gettin' visitin' keerds all the way from +Chicargy, which they ordered of a book agint +last fall, with gilt letters an' roses an' sich like +in the corners. An' 'twas Clay's brother-in-law +as tol' me he never did see such carryin's-on +over at the old house, with letter-writin' +paper sopped in cologne, an' lace curtains in +the bed-room winders. An' ye can't tell me +but the Gilberts, too, is a-goin' to the dogs, +with their paper patterns from Dixon, and dress +samples from a big shop in Chicargy, which +I seen from the picture on the envelope was +as big as all Grand Detour, an' both ferry-landin's +thrown in. Grand Detour fashi'ns +ain't good 'nough for some folks, I reckon."</p> + +<p>And thus the busy-tongued woman discoursed +in a vinegary tone upon the characteristics +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> +of Grand Detour folks, as illustrated by +the nature of the evening mail, frequently +interspersing her remarks with a hearty disclaimer +of anything malicious in her temperament. +At last, however, the supper-bell rang; +the doughty postmistress, who had been remarkably +discreet throughout all this village +tirade, having darted in and out between the +kitchen and the office, attending to her dual +duties, locked the postal gate with a snap, +and asked her now solitary patron, "Anything +I can do for you, Maria?" The gossip +gathered up her knitting, hastily averred that +she had merely dropped in for her weekly +paper, but now remembered that this was not +the day for it, and ambled off, to reload with +venom for the next day's mail.</p> + +<p>After supper we walked about the peaceful, +pretty, grass-grown village. Shearing was in +progress at the barn of the inn, and the streets +were filled with bleating sheep and nodding +billy-goats. The place presented many evidences +of former prosperity, and we were told +that a dozen years before it had boasted of a +plough factory, two or three flouring-mills, and +a good water-power. But the railroad that it +was expected would come to Grand Detour +had touched Dixon instead, with the result +that the village industries had been removed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +to Dixon, the dam had fallen in, and now there +were less than three hundred inhabitants +between the two ferries.</p> + +<p>When one of the store-keepers told me he +had practically no country trade, but that his +customers were the villagers alone, I was led +to inquire what supported these three hundred +people, who had no industries among them, +no river traffic, owing to customary low water +in summer, and who seemed to live on each +other. Many of the villagers, I found, are +laborers who work upon the neighboring +farms and maintain their families here; a few +are farmers, the corners of whose places run +down to the village; others there are who +either own or rent or "share" farms in the +vicinity, going out to their work each day, +much of their live stock and crops being +housed at their village homes; there are half +a dozen retired farmers, who have either sold +out their places or have tenants upon them, +and live in the village for sociability's sake, or +to allow their children the benefit of the excellent +local school. Mingled with these people +are a shoemaker, a tailor, a storekeeper, +who live upon the necessities of their neighbors. +Two fishermen spend the summer +here, in a tent, selling their daily catch to +the villagers and neighboring farmers and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +occasionally shipping by the daily mail-stage +to Dixon, fourteen miles away. The preacher +and his family are modestly supported; a +young physician wins a scanty subsistence; +and for considerably over half the year the +schoolmaster shares with them what honors +and sorrows attach to these positions of rural +eminence. Our pleasant-spoken host was the +driver of the Dixon stage, as well as star-route +mail contractor, adding the conduct of a farm +to his other duties. With his wife as postmistress, +and a pretty, buxom daughter, who +waited on our table and was worth her weight +in gold, Grand Detour folks said that he was +bound to be a millionnaire yet.</p> + +<p>As Grand Detour lives, so live thousands +of just such little rural villages all over the +country. Viewed from the railway track or +river channel, they appear to have been once +larger than they are to-day. The sight of +the unpainted houses, the ruined factory, the +empty stores, the grass and weeds in the +street, the lack-lustre eyes of the idlers, may +induce one to imagine that here is the home +of hopeless poverty and despair. But although +the railroad which they expected never came; +or the railroad which did come went on and +scheduled the place as a flag station; still, +there is a certain inherent vitality here, an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +undefined something that holds these people +together, a certain degree of hopefulness +which cannot rise to the point of ambition, a +serene satisfaction with the things that are. +Grand Detour folks, and folks like them, +are as blissfully content as the denizens of +Chicago. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_104.jpg" width="450" height="147" alt="Chapter VI Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h2>AN ANCIENT MARINER.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he clock in a neighboring kitchen was +striking six, as we reached the lower +ferry-landing. The grass in the streets and +under the old elms was as wet with dew as +though there had been a heavy shower during +the night. The village fishermen were just +pulling in to the little pier, returning from +an early morning trip to their "traut-lines" +down stream. In a long wooden cage, which +they towed astern, was a fifty-pound sturgeon, +together with several large cat-fish. They +kindly hauled their cage ashore, to show us +the monsters, which they said would probably +be shipped, alive, to a Chicago restaurant +which they occasionally furnished with +curiosities in their line. These fishermen +were rough-looking fellows in their battered +hats and ragged, dirty overcoats, with faces +sadly in need of water and a shave. They +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +had a sad, pinched-up appearance as well, as +though the dense fog, which was but just now +yielding to the influence of the sun, had penetrated +their bones and given them the chills. +On engaging them in friendly conversation +about their calling, they exhibited good manners +and some knowledge of the outer world. +Their business, they said, was precarious and, +as we could well see, involved much exposure +and hardship. Sometimes it meant a +start at midnight, often amid rainstorms, fogs, +or chilling weather, with a hard pull back +again up-stream,—for their lines were all of +them below Grand Detour; but to return +with an empty boat, sometimes their luck, +was harder yet. Knocking about in this way, +all of the year around,—for their winters +were similarly spent upon the lower waters +and bayous of the Mississippi,—neither of +them was ever thoroughly well. One was +consumptively inclined, he told me, and being +an old soldier, was receiving a small pension. +A claim agent had him in hand, however, and +his thoughts ran largely upon the prospects +of an increase by special legislation. He +seemed to have but little doubt that he would +ultimately succeed. When he came into this +looked-for fortune, he said, he would "quit +knockin' 'round an' killin' myself fishin'," +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> +settle down in Grand Detour for the balance +of his days, raising his own "garden sass, +pigs, and cow;" and some fine day would +make a trip in his boat to the "old home +in Injianny, whar I was raised an' 'listed in +the war." His face fairly gleamed with pleasure +as he thus dwelt upon the flowers of +fancy which the pension agent had cultivated +within him; and <span class="nowrp">W——</span> sympathetically exclaimed, +when we had swung into the stream +and bidden farewell to these men who followed +the calling of the apostles, that were +she a congressman she would certainly vote +for the fisherman's claim, and make happy +one more heart in Grand Detour.</p> + +<p>Now commences the Great Bend of the +Rock River. The water circuit is fourteen +miles, the distance gained being but six by +land. The stream is broad and shallow, +between palisades densely surmounted with +trees and covered thick with vines; great +willow islands freely intersperse the course; +everywhere are evidences of ice-floes, which +have blazed the trees and strewn the islands +with fallen trunks and driftwood,—a tornado +could not have created more general havoc. +The visible houses, few of them inviting in +appearance, are miles apart. As had been +foretold at the village, the outlook for lodgings +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +in this dismal region is not at all encouraging. +It was well that we had stopped at +Grand Detour.</p> + +<p>Below the bend, where the country is more +open, though the banks are still deep-cut, the +highway to Dixon skirts the river, and for several +miles we kept company with the stage.</p> + +<p>Dixon was sighted at 10 o'clock. A circus +had pitched its tents upon the northern bank, +just above the dam, near where we landed for +the carry, and a crowd of small boys came +swarming down the bank to gaze upon us, +possibly imagining, at first, that our outfit was +a part of the show. They accompanied us, at +a respectful distance, as we pulled the canoe +up a grassy incline and down through the +vine-clad arches of a picturesque old ruin of +a mill. Below the dam, we rowed over to the +town, about where the famous pioneer ferry +used to be. It was in the spring of 1826 that +John Boles opened a trail from Peoria to +Galena, by the way of the present locality of +Dixon, thus shortening a trail which had been +started by one Kellogg the year before, but +crossed the Rock a few miles above. The +site of Dixon at once sprang into wide popularity +as a crossing-place, Indians being employed +to do the ferrying. Their manner +was simple. Lashing two canoes abreast, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> +wheels of one side of a wagon were placed in +one canoe and the opposite wheels in the +other. The horses were made to swim behind. +In 1827 a Peoria man named Begordis +erected a small shanty here and had half +finished a ferry-boat when the Indians, not +favoring competition, burned the craft on its +stocks and advised Begordis to return to +Peoria; being a wise man, he returned. The +next year, Joe Ogie, a Frenchman, one of a +race that the red men loved, and having a +squaw for his wife, was permitted to build a +scow, and thenceforth Indians were no longer +needed there as common carriers. By the +time of the Black Hawk war, Dixon, from +whom the subsequent settlement was named, +ran the ferry, and the crossing station had +henceforth a name in history. A trail in those +early days was quite as important as a railroad +is to-day; settlements sprang up along the improved +"Kellogg's trail," and Dixon was the +centre of interest in all northern Illinois. Indeed, +it being for years the only point where +the river could be crossed by ferry, Dixon was +as important a landmark to the settlers of the +southern half of Wisconsin who desired to go +to Chicago, as any within their own territory.<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> + +The Dixon of to-day shelters four thousand +inhabitants and has two or three busy mills; +although it is noticeable that along the water-power +there are some half-dozen mill properties +that have been burned, torn down, or +deserted, which does not look well for the +manufacturing prospects of the place. The +land along the river banks is a flat prairie +some half-mile in width, with rolling country +beyond, sprinkled with oak groves. The +banks are of black, sandy loam, from twelve +to twenty feet high, based with sandy beaches. +The shores are now and then cut with deep +ravines, at the mouths of which are fine, +gravelly beaches, sometimes forming considerable +spits. These indicate that the dry, +barren gullies, the gutters of the hillocks, +while innocent enough in a drought, sometimes +rise to the dignity of torrents and suddenly +pour great volumes of drainage into the +rapidly filling river,—so often described in +the journals of early travelers through this +region, as "the dark and raging Rock." This +sort of scenery, varied by occasional limestone +palisades,—the interesting and picturesque +feature of the Rock, from which it derived +its name at the hands of the aborigines,—extends +down to beyond Sterling.</p> + +<p>This city, reached at 3.50 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>, is a busy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +place of ten thousand inhabitants, engaged +in miscellaneous manufactures. Our portage +was over the south and dry end of the +dam. We were helped by three or four bright, +intelligent boys, who were themselves carrying +over a punt, preparatory to a fishing expedition +below. Amid the hundreds of boys +whom we met at our various portages, these +well-bred Sterling lads were the only ones +who even offered their assistance. Very +likely, however, the reason may be traced to +the fact that this was Saturday, and a school +holiday. The boys at the week-day carries +were the riff-raff, who are allowed to loaf upon +the river-banks when they should be at their +school-room desks.</p> + +<p>While mechanically pulling a "fisherman's +stroke" down stream I was dreamily reflecting +upon the necessity of enforced popular +education, when <span class="nowrp">W——</span>, vigilant at the steersman's +post, mischievously broke in upon the +brown study with, "Como's next station! +Twenty minutes for supper!"</p> + +<p>And sure enough, it was a quarter past six, +and there was Como nestled upon the edge of +the high prairie-bank. I went up into the +hamlet to purchase a quart of milk for supper, +and found it a little dead-alive community of +perhaps one hundred and twenty-five people. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> +There is the brick shell of a fire-gutted factory, +with several abandoned stores, a dozen +houses from which the paint had long since +scaled, a rather smart-looking schoolhouse, +and two brick dwellings of ancient pattern,—the +homes of well-to-do farmers; while here +and there were grass-grown depressions, which +I was told were once the cellars of houses +that had been moved away. On the return +to the beach a bevy of open-mouthed women +and children accompanied me, plying questions +with a simplicity so rare that there was no +thought of impertinence. <span class="nowrp">W——</span> was talking +with the old gray-haired ferryman, who had +been transporting a team across as we had +landed beside his staging. The old man +had stayed behind, avowedly to mend his boat, +with a stone for a hammer, but it was quite +apparent that curiosity kept him, rather than +the needs of his scow. He confided to us +that Como—which was indeed prettily situated +upon a bend of the river—had once been +a prosperous town. But the railroad went to +some rival place, and—the familiar story—the +dam at Como rotted, and the village fell +into its present dilapidated state. It is the +fate of many a small but ambitious town +upon a river. Settled originally because of +the river highway, the railroads—that have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +nearly killed the business of water transportation—did +not care to go there because it +was too far out of the short-cut path selected +by the engineers between two more prominent +points. Thus the community is "side-tracked,"—to +use a bit of railway slang; and +a side-tracked town becomes in the new civilization—which +cares nothing for the rivers, +but clusters along the iron ways—a town +"as dead as a door-nail."</p> + +<p>We had luncheon on a high bank just out +of sight of Como. By the time we had +reached a point three or four miles below the +village it was growing dark, and time to hunt +for shelter. While I walked, or rather ran, +along the north bank looking for a farm-house, +<span class="nowrp">W——</span> guided the canoe down a particularly +rapid current. It was really too dark to prosecute +the search with convenience. I was +several times misled by clumps of trees, and +fruitlessly climbed over board or crawled under +barbed-wire fences, and often stumbled along +the dusty highway which at times skirted the +bank. It was over a mile before an undoubted +windmill appeared, dimly silhouetted against +the blackening sky above a dense growth of +river-timber a quarter of a mile down the +stream. A whistle, and <span class="nowrp">W——</span> shot the craft +into the mouth of a black ravine, and clambered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +up the bank, at the serious risk of torn +clothing from the thicket of blackberry-vines +and locust saplings which covered it. Together +we emerged upon the highway, determined +to seek the windmill on foot; for it +would have been impossible to sight the place +from the river, which was now, from the overhanging +trees on both shores and islands, as +dark as a cavern. Just as we stepped upon +the narrow road—which we were only able +to distinguish because the dust was lighter in +color than the vegetation—a farm-team came +rumbling along over a neighboring culvert, +and rolled into view from behind a fringe of +bushes. The horses jumped and snorted as +they suddenly sighted our dark forms, and +began to plunge. The women gave a mild +shriek, and awakened a small child which one +of them carried in her arms. I essayed to +snatch the bits of the frightened horses to prevent +them from running away, for the women +had dropped the lines, while <span class="nowrp">W——</span> called +out asking if there was a good farm-house +where the windmill was. The team quieted +down under a few soothing strokes; but the +women persisted in screaming and uttering +incoherent imprecations in German, while +the child fairly roared. So I returned the +lines to the woman in charge, and we bade +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> +them "Guten Nacht." As they whipped up +their animals and hurried away, with fearful +backward glances, it suddenly occurred to us +that we had been taken for footpads.</p> + +<p>We were so much amused at our adventure, +as we walked along, almost groping our way, +that we failed to notice a farm-gate on the +river side of the road, until a chorus of dogs, +just over the fence, arrested our attention. +A half-dozen human voices were at once heard +calling back the animals. A light shone in +thin streaks through a black fringe of lilac-bushes, +and in front of these was the gate. +Opening the creaky structure, we advanced +cautiously up what we felt to be a gravel walk, +under an arch of evergreens and lilacs, with +the paddle ready as a club, in case of another +dog outbreak. But there was no need of it, +and we soon emerged into a flood of light, +which proceeded from a shadeless lamp within +an open window.</p> + +<p>It was a spacious white farm-house. Upon +the "stoop" of an L were standing, in attitudes +of expectancy, a stout, well-fed, though +rather sinister-expressioned elderly man, with +a long gray beard, and his raw-boned, overworked +wife, with two fair but dissatisfied-looking +daughters, and several sons, ranging +from twelve to twenty years. A few moments +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> +of explanation dispelled the suspicious look +with which we had been greeted, and it was +soon agreed that we should, for a consideration, +be entertained for the night and over +Sunday; although the good woman protested +that her house was "topsy-turvy, all torn up" +with house-cleaning,—which excuse, by the +way, had become quite familiar by this time, +having been current at every house we had +thus far entered upon our journey.</p> + +<p>Bringing our canoe down to the farmer's +bank and hauling it up into the bushes, we +returned through the orchard to the house, +laden with baggage. Our host proved to be +a famous story-teller. His tales, often Munchausenese, +were inclined to be ghastly, and +he had an o'erweening fondness for inconsequential +detail, like some authors of serial +tales, who write against space and tax the patience +of their readers to its utmost endurance. +But while one may skip the dreary pages of +the novelist, the circumstantial story-teller +must be borne with patiently, though the +hours lag with leaden heels. In earlier days +the old man had been something of a traveler, +having journeyed to Illinois by steamboat +on the upper lakes, from "ol' York State;" +another time he went down the Mississippi +River to Natchez, working his way as a deck +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +hand; but the crowning event of his career +was his having, as a driver, accompanied +a cattle-train to New York city. A few +years ago he tumbled down a well and was +hauled up something of a cripple; so that his +occupation chiefly consists in sitting around +the house in an easy-chair, or entertaining the +crowd at the cross-roads store with sturdy tales +of his adventures by land and sea, spiced with +vigorous opinions on questions of politics and +theology. The garrulity of age, a powerful +imagination, and a boasting disposition are +his chief stock in trade.</p> + +<p>Propped up in his great chair, with one leg +resting upon a lounge and the other aiding +his iron-ferruled cane in pounding the floor +by way of punctuating his remarks, "that +ancient mariner"</p> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Held us with his glittering eye;</p> +<p>We could not choose but hear."</p></div> + +<p>His tales were chiefly of shooting and stabbing +scrapes, drownings and hangings that he +claimed to have seen, dwelling upon each +incident with a blood-curdling particularity +worthy of the reporter of a sensational metropolitan +journal. The ancient man must have +fairly walked in blood through the greater part +of his days; while from the number of corpses +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +that had been fished out of the river, at the +head of a certain island at the foot of his orchard, +and "laid out" in his best bedroom by +the coroner, we began to feel as though we +had engaged quarters at a morgue. It was +painfully evident that these recitals were +"chestnuts" in the house of our entertainer. +The poor old lady had a tired-out, unhappy +appearance, the dissatisfied-looking daughters +yawned, and the sons talked, <i>sotto voce</i>, on +farm matters and neighborhood gossip.</p> + +<p>Finally, we tore away, much to the relief of +every one but the host, and were ushered with +much ceremony into the ghostly bed-chamber, +the scene of so many coroner's inquests. I +must confess to uncanny dreams that night,—confused +visions of Rock River giving up +innumerable corpses, which I was compelled +to assist in "laying out" upon the very bed I +occupied. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_118.jpg" width="450" height="154" alt="Chapter VII Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h2>STORM-BOUND AT ERIE.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>e were somewhat jaded by the time +Monday morning came, for Sunday +brought not only no relief, but repetitions of +many of the most horrible of these "tales of +a wayside inn." It was with no slight sense +of relief that we paid our modest bill and at +last broke away from such ghastly associations. +An involuntary shudder overcame me, +as we passed the head of the island at the +foot of our host's orchard, which he had described +as a catch-basin for human floaters.</p> + +<p>Our course still lay among large, densely +wooded islands,—many of them wholly given +up to maples and willows,—and deep cuts +through sun-baked mudbanks, the color of +adobe; but occasionally there are low, gloomy +bottoms, heavily forested, and strewn with +flood-wood, while beyond the land rises gradually +into prairie stretches. In the bottoms +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +the trees are filled with flocks of birds,—crows, +hawks, blackbirds, with stately blue +herons and agile plovers foraging on the long +gravel-spits which frequently jut far into the +stream; ducks are frequently seen sailing +near the shores; while divers silently dart +and plunge ahead of the canoe, safely out of +gunshot reach. A head wind this morning +made rowing more difficult, by counteracting +the influence of the current.</p> + +<p>We were at Lyndon at eleven o'clock. +There is a population of about two hundred, +clustered around a red paper-mill. The latter +made a pretty picture standing out on the +bold bank, backed by a number of huge stacks +of golden straw. We met here the first +rapids worthy of record; also an old, abandoned +mill-dam, in the last stages of decay, +stretching its whitened skeleton across the +stream, a harbor for driftwood. Near the +south bank the framework has been entirely +swept away for a space several rods in width, +and through this opening the pent-up current +fiercely sweeps. We went through the centre +of the channel thus made, with a swoop that +gave us an impetus which soon carried our +vessel out of sight of Lyndon and its paper-mill +and straw-stacks.</p> + +<p>Prophetstown, five miles below, is prettily +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> +situated in an oak grove on the southern +bank. Only the gables of a few houses can +be seen from the river, whose banks of yellow +clay and brown mud are here twenty-five feet +high. During the first third of the present +century, this place was the site of a Winnebago +village, whose chief was White Cloud, +a shrewd, sinister savage, half Winnebago +and half Sac, who claimed to be a prophet. +He was Black Hawk's evil genius during the +uprising of 1832, and in many ways was one +of the most remarkable aborigines known to +Illinois history. It was at "the prophet's +town," as White Cloud's village was known +in pioneer days, that Black Hawk rested upon +his ill-fated journey up the Rock, and from +here, at the instigation of the wizard, he bade +the United States soldiery defiance.</p> + +<p>There are rapids, almost continually, from +a mile above Prophetstown to Erie, ten miles +below. The river bed here has a sharper +descent than customary, and is thickly strewn +with bowlders; many of them were visible +above the surface, at the low stage of water +which we found, but for the greater part they +were covered for two or three inches. What +with these impediments, the snags that had +been left as the legacy of last spring's flood, +and the frequent sand-banks and gravel-spits, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +navigation was attended by many difficulties +and some dangers.</p> + +<p>Four or five miles below Prophetstown, a +lone fisherman, engaged in examining a "traut-line" +stretched between one of the numerous +gloomy islands and the mainland, kindly informed +us of a mile-long cut-off, the mouth of +which was now in view, that would save us +several miles of rowing. Here, the high +banks had receded, with several miles of +heavily wooded, boggy bottoms intervening. +Floods had held high carnival, and the aspect +of the country was wild and deserted. The +cut-off was an ugly looking channel; but +where our informant had gone through, with +his unwieldy hulk, we considered it safe to venture +with a canoe, so readily responsive to the +slightest paddle-stroke. The current had torn +for itself a jagged bed through the heart of a +dense and moss-grown forest. It was a scene +of howling desolation, rack and ruin upon +every hand. The muddy torrent, at a velocity +of fully eight miles an hour, went eddying and +whirling and darting and roaring among the +gnarled and blackened stumps, the prostrate +trees, the twisted roots, the huge bowlders +which studded its course. The stream was +not wide enough for the oars; the paddle was +the sole reliance. With eyes strained for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +obstructions, we turned and twisted through +the labyrinth, jumping along at a breakneck +speed; and, when we finally rejoined the main +river below, were grateful enough, for the run +had been filled with continuous possibilities +of a disastrous smash-up, miles away from any +human habitation.</p> + +<p>The thunder-storm which had been threatening +since early morning, soon burst upon +us with a preliminary wind blast, followed by +drenching rain. Running ashore on the lee +bank, we wrapped the canvas awning around +the baggage, and made for a thick clump of +trees on the top of an island mudbank, where +we stood buttoned to the neck in rubber coats. +A vigorous "Halloo!" came sounding over +the water. Looking up, we saw for the first +time a small tent on the opposite shore, a +quarter of a mile away, in front of which was +a man shouting to us and beckoning us over. +It was getting uncomfortably muddy under +the trees, which had not long sufficed as an +umbrella, and the rubber coats were not warranted +to withstand a deluge, so we accepted +the invitation with alacrity and paddled over +through the pelting storm.</p> + +<p>Our host was a young fisherman, who +helped us and our luggage up the slimy bank +to his canvas quarters, which we found to be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +dry, although odorous of fish. While the +storm raged without, the young man, who was +a simple-hearted fellow, confided to us the details +of his brief career. He had been married +but a year, he said; his little cabin lay a +quarter of a mile back in the woods, and, so +as to be convenient to his lines, he was camping +on his own wood-lot; the greater part of +his time was spent in fishing or hunting, according +to the season, and peddling the +product in neighboring towns, while upon a +few acres of clearing he raised "garden truck" +for his household, which had recently become +enriched by the addition of an infant son. +The phenomenal powers of observation displayed +by this first-born youth were reported +with much detail by the fond father, who sat +crouched upon a boat-sail in one corner of +the little tent, his head between his knees, and +smoking vile tobacco in a blackened clay pipe. +It seemed that his wife was a ferryman's +daughter, and her father had besought his +son-in-law to follow the same steady calling. +To be sure, our host declared, ferries on the +Rock River netted their owners from $400 to +$800 a year, which he considered a goodly +sum, and his father-in-law had offered to purchase +an established plant for him. But the +young fellow said that ferrying was a dog's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +life, and "kept a feller home like barn chores;" +he preferred to fish and hunt, earning far less +but retaining independence of movement, so +rejected the offer and settled down, avowedly +for life, in his present precarious occupation. +As a result, the indignant old man had forbidden +him to again enter the parental ferry-house +until he agreed to accept his proposals, +and there was henceforth to be a standing +family quarrel. The fisherman having appealed +to my judgment, I endeavored with +mild caution to argue him out of his position +on the score of consideration for his wife and +little one; but he was not to be gainsaid, +and firmly, though with admirable good nature, +persisted in defending his roving tendencies. +In the course of our conversation +I learned that the ferrymen, who are more +numerous on the lower than on the upper +Rock, pay an annual license fee of five dollars +each, in consideration of which they are guarantied +a monopoly of the business at their +stands, no other line being allowed within one +mile of an existing ferry.</p> + +<p>Within an hour and a half the storm had +apparently passed over, and we continued our +journey. But after supper another shower +and a stiff head wind came up, and we were +well bedraggled by the time a ferry-landing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +near the little village of Erie was reached. +The bottoms are here a mile or two in width, +with occasional openings in the woods, where +small fields are cultivated by the poorer class +of farmers, who were last spring much damaged +by the flood which swept this entire +country.</p> + +<p>The ferryman, a good-natured young athlete, +was landing a farm-wagon and team as +we pulled in upon the muddy roadway. +When questioned about quarters, he smiled +and pointing to his little cabin, a few rods +off in the bushes, said,—"We've four people +to sleep in two rooms; it's sure we can't +take ye; I'd like to, otherwise. But Erie's +only a mile away."</p> + +<p>We assured him that with these muddy +swamp roads, and in our wet condition, nothing +but absolute necessity would induce us to +take a mile's tramp. The parley ended in our +being directed to a small farm-house a quarter +of a mile inland, where luckless travelers, belated +on the dreary bottoms, were occasionally +kept. Making the canoe fast for the night, +we strung our baggage-packs upon the paddle +which we carried between us, and set out +along a devious way, through a driving mist +which blackened the twilight into dusk, to +find this place of public entertainment. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span></p> + +<p>It is a little, one-story, dilapidated farm-house, +standing a short distance from the +country road, amid a clump of poplar trees. +Forcing our way through the hingeless gate, +the violent removal of which threatened the +immediate destruction of several lengths of +rickety fence, we walked up to the open front +door and applied for shelter.</p> + +<p>"Yes, ma'am; we sometimes keeps tavern, +ma'am," replied a large, greasy-looking, black-haired +woman of some forty years, as, her +hands folded within her up-turned apron, she +courtesied to <span class="nowrp">W——</span>.</p> + +<p>We were at once shown into a frowsy +apartment which served as parlor, sitting-room +and parental dormitory. There was huddled +together an odd, slouchy combination of articles +of shabby furniture and cheap decorations, +peculiar, in the country, to all three classes of +rooms, the evidences of poverty, shiftlessness, +and untasteful pretentiousness upon every +side. A huge, wheezy old cabinet organ was +set diagonally in one corner, and upon this, as +we entered, a young woman was pounding +and paddling with much vigor, while giving +us sidelong glances of curiosity. She was a +neighbor, on an evening visit, decked out in +a smart jockey-cap, with a green ostrich tip +and bright blue ribbons, and gay in a new +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> +calico dress,—a yellow field thickly planted +to purple pineapples. A jaunty, forward creature, +in pimples and curls, she rattled away +through a Moody and Sankey hymn-book, the +wheezes and groans of the antique instrument +coming in like mournful ejaculations from the +amen corner at a successful revival. Having +exhausted her stock of tunes, she wheeled +around upon her stool, and after declaring to +her half-dozen admiring auditors that her +hands were "as tired as after the mornin's +milkin'" abruptly accosted <span class="nowrp">W——</span>: "Ma'am, +kin ye play on the orgin?"</p> + +<p><span class="nowrp">W——</span> confessed her inability, chiefly from +lack of practice in the art of incessantly +working the pedals.</p> + +<p>"That's the trick o' the hul business, ma'am, +is the blowin'. It's all in gettin' the bellers to +work even like. There's a good many what +kin learn the playin' part of it without no +teacher; but there has to be lessons to learn +the bellers. Don't ye have no orgin, when +ye're at home?" she asked sharply, as if to +guage the social standing of the new guest.</p> + +<p><span class="nowrp">W——</span> modestly confessed to never having +possessed such an instrument.</p> + +<p>"Down in these parts," rejoined the young +woman, as she "worked the bellers" into a +strain or two of "Hold the Fort," apparently +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> +to show how easy it came to trained feet, "no +house is now considered quite up to the fashi'n +as ain't got a orgin." The rain being now +over, she soon departed, evidently much disgusted +at <span class="nowrp">W——</span>'s lack of organic culture.</p> + +<p>The bed-chamber into which we were shown +was a marvel. It opened off the main room +and was, doubtless, originally a cupboard. +Seven feet square, with a broad, roped bedstead +occupying the entire length, a bedside space +of but two feet wide was left. Much of this +being filled with butter firkins, chains, a trunk, +and a miscellaneous riff-raff of household +lumber, the standing-room was restricted to +two feet square, necessitating the use of the +bed as a dressing-place, after the fashion of a +sleeping-car bunk. This cubby-hole of a room +was also the wardrobe for the women of +the household, the walls above the bed being +hung nearly two feet deep with the oddest collection +of calico and gingham gowns, bustles, +hoopskirts, hats, bonnets, and winter underwear +I think I had ever laid eyes on.</p> + +<p>Much of this condition of affairs was not +known, however, until next morning; for it was +as dark as Egypt within, except for a few faint +rays of light which came straggling through +the cracks in the board partition separating +us from the sitting-room candle. We had no +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> +sooner crossed the threshold of our little box +than the creaky old cleat door was gently +closed upon us and buttoned by our hostess +upon the outside, as the only means of keeping +it shut; and we were left free to grope +about among these mysteries as best we +might. We had hardly recovered from our +astonishment at thus being locked into a dark +hole the size of a fashionable lady's trunk, +and were quietly laughing over this odd adventure, +when the landlady applied her mouth +to a crack and shouted, as if she would have +waked the dead: "Hi, there! Ye'd better +shet the winder to keep the bugs out!" A +few minutes later, returning to the crack, she +added, "Ef ye's cold in the night, jest haul +down some o' them clothes atop o' ye which +ye'll find on the wall."</p> + +<p>Repressing our mirth, we assured our good +hostess that we would have a due regard for +our personal safety. The window, not at first +discernible, proved to be a hole in the wall, +some two feet square, which brought in little +enough fresh air, at the best. It was fortunate +that the night was cool, although our +hostess's best gowns were not needed to supplement +the horse-blankets under which we +slept the sleep of weary canoeists.</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_130.jpg" width="450" height="136" alt="Chapter VIII Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h2>THE LAST DAY OUT.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he following day opened brightly. We +had breakfast in the tavern kitchen, <i>en +famille</i>. The husband, whom we had not +met before, was a short, smooth-faced, voluble, +overgrown-boy sort of man. The mother was +dumpy, coarse, and good-natured. They had +a greasy, easy-tempered daughter of eighteen, +with a frowsy head, and a face like a full +moon; while the heir of the household, somewhat +younger, was a gaping, grinning youth +of the Simple Simon order, who shovelled +mashed potatoes into his mouth alternately +with knife and fork, and took bites of bread +large enough for a ravenous dog. The old +grandmother, with a face like parchment and +one gleaming eye, sat in a low rocking-chair +by the stove, crooning over a corn-cob pipe +and using the wood-box for a cuspadore. She +had a vinegary, slangy tongue, and being +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +somewhat deaf, would break in upon the conversation +with remarks sharper than they +were pat.</p> + +<p>With our host, a glib and rapid talker in a +swaggering tone, one could not but be much +amused, as he exhibited a degree of self-appreciation +that was decidedly refreshing. He +had been a veteran in the War of the Rebellion, +he proudly assured us, and pointed with +his knife to his discharge-paper, which was +hung up in an old looking-glass frame by the +side of the clock.</p> + +<p>"Gemmen,"—he invariably thus addressed +us, as though we were a coterie of checker-players +at a village grocery,—"Gemmen, +when I seen how them Johnny Rebs was a usin' +our boys in them prison pens down thar at +Andersonville and Libbie and 'roun' thar, +I jist says to myself, says I, 'Joe, my boy, +you go now an' do some'n' fer yer country; +a crack shot like you is, Joe,' says I to myself, +'as kin hit a duck on the wing, every time, +an' no mistake, oughtn't ter be a-lyin 'roun' +home an' doin' no'hun to put down the rebellion; +it's a shame,' says I, 'when our boys +is a-suff'r'n' down thar on Mason 'n' Dixie's +line;' an' so I jined, an' I stuck her out, gemmen, +till the thing was done; they ain't no +coward 'bout me, ef I <i>hev</i> the sayin' of it!" +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span></p> + +<p>"Were you wounded, sir?" asked <span class="nowrp">W——</span>, +sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"No, I wa'n't hurt at all,—that is, so to +speak, wounded. But thar were a sort of a +doctor feller 'round here las' winter, a-stoppin' +at Erie; an' he called at my place, an' he +says, 'No'hun the matter wi' you, a-growin +out o' the war?' says he; an' I says, 'No'hun +that I know'd on,' says I,—'I'm a-eatin' my +reg'l'r victuals whin I don't have the shakes,' +says I. 'Ah!' says he, 'you've the shakes?' +he says; 'an' don't you know you ketched 'em +in the war?' 'I ketched 'em a-gettin' m'lairy +in the bottoms,' says I, 'a-duck-shootin', in +which I kin hit a bird on the wing every time +an' no mistake,' says I. 'Now,' he says, 'hold +on a minute; you didn't hev shakes afore the +war?' says he. 'Not as much,' I says, not +knowin' what the feller was drivin' at, 'but +some; I was a kid then, and kids don't shake +much,' says I. 'Hold up! hold up!' he says, +'you 're wrong, an' ye know it; ye don't hev +no mem'ry goin' back so far about phys'cal +conditions,' says he. Well, gemmen, sure +'nough, when I kem to think things over, +and talk it up with the doctor chap, I 'lowed +he was right. Then he let on he was a claim +agint, an' I let him try his hand on workin' +up a pension for me, for he says I wa'n't to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> +pay no'hun 'less the thing went through. But +I hearn tell, down at Erie, that they is a-goin' +agin these private claims nowadays at Washin'ton, +an' I don't know what my show is. +But I ought to hev a pension, an' no mistake, +gemmen. They wa'n't no fellers did +harder work 'n me in the war, ef I <i>do</i> say it +myself."</p> + +<p><span class="nowrp">W——</span> ventured to ask what battles our +host had been in.</p> + +<p>"Well, I wa'n't in no reg'lar battle,—that +is, right <i>in</i> one. Thar was a few of us detailed +ter tek keer of gov'ment prop'ty near +C'lumby, South Car'liny, when Wade Hamptin +was a-burnin' things down thar. We +was four miles away from the fightin,' an' +I was jest a-achin' to git in thar. What I +wanted was to git a bead on ol' Wade himself,—an' +ef I do say it myself, the ol' man +would 'a' hunted his hole, gemmen. When I +get a sight on a duck, gemmen, that duck's +mine, an' no mistake. An' ef I'd 'a' sighted +Wade Hamptin, then good-by Wade! I tol' +the cap'n what I wanted, but he said as how +I was more use a-takin' keer of the supplies. +That cap'n hadn't no enterprise 'bout him. +Things would 'a' been different at C'lumby, +ef I'd had my way, an' don't ye forgit it! +There was heaps o' blood spilt unnecessary +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +by us boys, a-fightin' to save the ol' flag,—an' +we 're willin' to do it agin, gemmen, an' +no mistake!"</p> + +<p>The old woman had been listening eagerly +to this narrative, evidently quite proud of her +boy's achievements, but not hearing all that +had been said. She now broke out, in shrill, +high notes,—</p> + +<p>"Joe ought ter 'a' had a pension, he had, wi' +his chills 'tracted in the war. He wuk'd hard, +Joe did, a hul ten months, doin' calvary service, +the last year o' the war; an' he kem +nigh onter shootin' ol' Wade Hamptin, an' +a-makin' a name for himself, an' p'r'aps a good +office with a title an' all that; only they kep' +him back with the ammernition wagin, 'count +o' the kurnil's jealousy,—for Joe is a dead +shot, ma'am, if I'm his mother as says it, and +keeps the family in ducks half the year 'roun', +an' the kurnil know'd Joe was a-bilin' over to +git to the front."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you were in the cavalry service, +then?" I said to our landlord, by way of helping +along the conversation.</p> + +<p>There was a momentary silence, broken by +Simple Simon, who wiped his knife on his +tongue, and made a wild attack on the butter +dish.</p> + +<p>"Pa, he druv a mule team for gov'ment; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +an' we got a picter in the album, tuk of him +when he were just a-goin' inter battle, with a +big ammernition wagin on behind. Pa, in +the picter, is a-ridin' o' one o' the mules, an' +any one'd know him right off."</p> + +<p>This sudden revelation of the strength of +the veteran's claim to glory and a pension, +put a damper upon his reminiscences of the +war; and giving the innocent Simon a savage +leer, he soon contrived to turn the conversation +upon his wonderful exploits in duck-shooting +and fishing—industries in the +pursuit of which he, with so many of his +fellow-farmers on the bottoms, appeared to be +more eager than in tilling the soil.</p> + +<p>It was quite evident that the breakfast we +were eating was a special spread in honor of +probably the only guests the quondam tavern +had had these many months. Canoeists +must not be too particular about the fare set +before them; but on this occasion we were +able to swallow but a few mouthfuls of the +repast and our lunch-basket was drawn on +as soon as we were once more afloat. It is a +great pity that so many farmers' wives are +the wretched cooks they are. With an abundance +of good materials already about them, +and rare opportunities for readily acquiring +more, tens of thousands of rural dames do +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +manage to prepare astonishingly inedible meals,—sour, +doughy bread; potatoes which, if +boiled, are but half cooked, and if mashed, are +floated with abominable butter or pastey flour +gravy; salt pork either swimming in a bowl +of grease or fried to a leathery chip; tea +and coffee extremely weak or strong enough +to kill an ox, as chance may dictate, and inevitably +adulterated beyond recognition; eggs +that are spoiled by being fried to the consistency +of rubber, in a pan of fat deep enough +to float doughnuts; while the biscuits are +yellow and bitter with saleratus. This bill of +fare, warranted to destroy the best of appetites, +will be recognized by too many of my +readers as that to be found at the average +American farm-house, although we all doubtless +know of some magnificent exceptions, +which only prove the rule. We establish public +cooking-schools in our cities, and economists +like Edward Atkinson and hygienists +like the late Dio Lewis assiduously explain +to the metropolitan poor their processes of +making a tempting meal out of nothing; but +our most crying need in this country to-day +is a training-school for rural housewives, +where they may be taught to evolve a respectable +and economical spread out of the great +abundance with which they are surrounded. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +It is no wonder that country boys drift to the +cities, where they can obtain properly cooked +food and live like rational beings.</p> + +<p>The river continues to widen as we approach +the junction with the Mississippi,—thirty-nine +miles below Erie,—and to assume +the characteristics of the great river into +which it pours its flood. The islands increase +in number and in size, some of them being +over a mile in length by a quarter of a +mile in breadth; the bottoms frequently resolve +themselves into wide morasses, thickly +studded with great elms, maples, and cotton-woods, +among which the spring flood has +wrought direful destruction. The scene becomes +peculiarly desolate and mournful, often +giving one the impression of being far removed +from civilization, threading the course of some +hitherto unexplored stream. Penetrate the +deep fringe of forest and morass on foot, +however, and smiling prairies are found beyond, +stretching to the horizon and cut up +into prosperous farms. The river is here +from a half to three-quarters of a mile broad, +but the shallows and snags are as numerous +as ever and navigation is continually attended +with some danger of being either grounded or +capsized.</p> + +<p>Now and then the banks become firmer, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +with charming vistas of high, wooded hills +coming down to the water's edge; broad +savannas intervene, decked out with variegated +flora, prominent being the elsewhere +rare atragene Americana, the spider-wort, the +little blue lobelia, and the cup-weed. These +savannas are apparently overflowed in times +of exceptionally high water; and there are +evidences that the stream has occasionally +changed its course, through the sunbaked +banks of ashy-gray mud, in years long past.</p> + +<p>At Cleveland, a staid little village on an +open plain, which we reached soon after the +dinner-hour, there is an unused mill-dam going +to decay. In the centre, the main current +has washed out a breadth of three or four +rods, through which the pent-up stream +rushes with a roar and a hundred whirlpools. +It is an ugly crevasse, but a careful examination +showed the passage to be feasible, so we +retreated an eighth of a mile up-stream, took +our bearings, and went through with a speed +that nearly took our breath away and appeared +to greatly astonish a half-dozen fishermen idly +angling from the dilapidated apron on either +side. It was like going through Cleveland on +the fast mail.</p> + +<p>Fourteen miles above the mouth of the +Rock, is the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> +railroad bridge, with Carbon Cliff on the +north and Coloma on the south, each one +mile from the river. The day had been dark, +with occasional slight showers and a stiff head +wind, so that progress had been slow. We +began to deem it worth while to inquire about +the condition of affairs at the mouth. Under +the bridge, sitting on a bowlder at the base +of the north abutment, an intelligent-appearing +man in a yellow oiled-cloth suit, accompanied +by a bright-eyed lad, peacefully fished. Stopping +to question them, we found them both +well-informed as to the railway time-tables of +the vicinity and the topography of the lower +river. They told us that the scenery for the +next fourteen miles was similar, in its dark +desolation, to that which we had passed +through during the day; also that owing to +the great number of islands and the labyrinth +of channels both in the Rock and on the east +side of the Mississippi, we should find it +practically impossible to know when we had +reached the latter; we should doubtless proceed +several miles below the mouth of the +Rock before we noticed that the current was +setting persistently south, and then would +have an exceedingly difficult task in retracing +our course and pulling up-stream to our destination, +Rock Island, which is six miles +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +north of the delta of the Rock. They strongly +advised our going into Rock Island by rail. +The present landing was the last chance to +strike a railway, except at Milan, twelve miles +below. It was now so late that we could not +hope to reach Milan before dark; there were +no stopping-places <i>en route</i>, and Milan was +farther from Rock Island than either Carbon +Cliff or Coloma, with less frequent railway +service.</p> + +<p>For these and other reasons, we decided to +accept this advice, and to ship from Coloma. +Taking a final spurt down to a ferry-landing +a quarter of a mile beyond, on the south +bank, we beached our canoe at 5.05 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>, +having voyaged two hundred and sixty-seven +miles in somewhat less than seven days and +a half. Leaving <span class="nowrp">W——</span> to gossip with the +ferryman's wife, who came down to the bank +with an armful of smiling twins, to view a +craft so strange to her vision, I went up into +the country to engage a team to take our +boat upon its last portage. After having +been gruffly refused by a churlish farmer, +who doubtless recognized no difference between +a canoeist and a tramp, I struck a bargain +with a negro cultivating a cornfield with +a span of coal-black mules, and in half an +hour he was at the ferry-landing with a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +wagon. Washing out the canoe and chaining +in the oars and paddle, we lifted it into +the wagon-box, piled our baggage on top, and +set off over the hills and fields to Coloma, +<span class="nowrp">W——</span> and I trudging behind the dray, ankle +deep in mud, for the late rains had well moistened +the black prairie soil. It was a unique +and picturesque procession.</p> + +<p>In less than an hour we were in Rock Island, +and our canoe was on its way by freight +to Portage, preparatory to my tour with our +friend the Doctor,—down the Fox River of +Green Bay.</p> + +<h2 class="p6">THE FOX RIVER (OF GREEN BAY).</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_143.jpg" width="450" height="315" alt="MAP OF THE +FOX-WISCONSIN RIVERS" title="" /> +<p class="caption">MAP OF THE +FOX-WISCONSIN RIVERS +to accompany +THWAITES'S "HISTORIC WATERWAYS"</p> +<p><a href="images/illo_143big.jpg">View larger image</a></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_144.jpg" width="450" height="135" alt="First Letter Header" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>THE FOX RIVER (OF GREEN BAY).</h2> +<p><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a></p> +<hr class="l15" /> +<h2>FIRST LETTER.</h2> + +<h2>SMITH'S ISLAND.</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap left65">Packwaukee, Wis.</span>, June 7, 1887.</p> + +<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>y dear <span class="nowrp">W——</span>: It was 2.25 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> yesterday +when the Doctor and I launched +the old canoe upon the tan-colored water of +the government canal at Portage, and pointed +her nose in the direction of the historic Fox. +You will remember that the canal traverses +the low sandy plain which separates the Fox +from the Wisconsin on a line very nearly +parallel to where tradition locates Barth's and +Lecuyer's wagon-portage a hundred years +ago. It was a profitable business in the +olden days, when the Fox-Wisconsin highway +was extensively patronized, to thus transport +river craft over this mile and a half of bog. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +The toll<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> collected by these French creoles +and their successors down to the days of +Paquette added materially to the cost of goods +and peltries. In times of exceptionally high +water the Wisconsin overflowed into the Fox, +which is ordinarily five feet lower than the +former, and canoes could readily cross the +portage afloat, quite independent of the forwarding +agents. In this generation the Wisconsin +is kept to her bounds by levees; but +the government canal furnishes a free highway. +The railroads have spoiled water-navigation, +however; and the canal, like the most +of the Fox and Wisconsin river-improvement, +is fast relapsing into a costly relic. The timbered +sides are rotting, the peat and sand are +bulging them in, the locks are shaky and worm-eaten, +and several moss-covered barges and a +stranded old ruin of a steamboat turned out to +grass tell a sad story of official abandonment.</p> + +<p>The scenic effects from the canal are not +enlivening. There is a wide expanse of +bog, relieved by some grass-grown railway +side-tracks and the forlorn freight-depot of +the Wisconsin Central road. A few battered +sheds yet remain of old Fort Winnebago +on a lonesome hillock near where the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +canal joins the Fox; while beyond to the +north as far as the eye can reach there is a +stretch of wild-rice swamp, through which the +government dredges have scooped a narrow +channel, about as picturesque as a cranberry-marsh +drain.</p> + +<p>Life at Fort Winnebago during the second +quarter of this century must have been lonesome +indeed, its nearest neighbors being Forts +Crawford and Howard, each nearly two hundred +miles away. A mile or two to the southwest +is a pretty wooded ridge, girting the +Wisconsin River, upon which the city of Portage +is now situated. Then it was a forest, +and the camping-ground of Winnebagoes, who +hung around the post in the half-threatening +attitude of beggars who might make trouble +if not adequately bribed with gifts. The fort +was erected in 1828-29 at the solicitation of +John Jacob Astor (the American Fur Company), +to protect his trade against encroachments +from these Winnebago rascals, who had +become quite impudent during the Red Bird +disturbance at Prairie du Chien, in 1827. Jefferson +Davis was one of the three first-lieutenants +in the original garrison, in which +Harney, of Mexican war fame, was a captain. +Davis was detailed to the charge of a squad +sent to cut timbers for the fort in a Wisconsin +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +River pinery just above the portage, and +thus became one of the pioneer lumbermen of +Wisconsin. It is related, too, that Davis, +who was an amateur cabinet-maker, designed +some very odd wardrobes and other pieces of +furniture for the officers' chambers, which +were the wonder and admiration of every +occupant for years to come.<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> In 1853, when +Secretary of War, the whilom subaltern issued +an order for the sale of the fort so +intimately connected with his army career, +and its crazy buildings henceforth became +tenements.</p> + +<p>For a dozen miles beyond the Fox River +end of the canal the river, as I have before +said, is dredged out through the swamp like a +big ditch. The artificial banks of sand and +peat which line it are generally well grown +with mare's-tail, beautiful clumps of wild +roses, purple vetch, great beds of sensitive +ferns, and masses of Pennsylvania anemone, +while the pools are decked with water-anemone. +Nature is doing her best to hide the +deformities wrought by man. The valley is +generally about a mile in width, ridges of +wooded knolls hemming in the broad expanse +of reeds and rice and willow clumps. Occasionally +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +the engineers have allowed the ditch +to swerve in graceful lines and to hug closely +the firmer soil in the lower benches of the +knolls, where the banks of red and yellow clay +attain a height of ten or a dozen feet, crowned +with oaks and elms or pleasant glades. A modest +farm-house now and then appears upon +such a shore, with the front yard running +down to the water's edge.</p> + +<p>The afternoon shadows are lengthening, +and farmers' boys are leading their horses +down to drink, after the day's labor in the +fields. Black and yellow collies are gathering +in the cows,—some of them soberly and +quickly corral obedient herds, while others +yelp and snap at the heads of the affrighted +animals, and in the noise and confusion seem +to make but little progress. Collies have +human-like infirmities.</p> + +<p>We had supper at seven o'clock, under a +tree which overhangs a weedy bank, with +a high pasture back of us, sloping up to a +wooded hill, at the base of which is a cluster +of three neatly painted farm-houses, whose +dogs bayed at us from the distance, but did +not venture to approach. A half-hour later, +the sun's setting warned us that quarters for +the night must soon be secured. Stopping +at the base of a boggy pasture-wood, we ascended +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> +through a sterile field, accursed with +sheep-sorrel, and through gaps in several crazy +fences, to what had seemed to us from the +river a comfortable, repose-inviting house, +commandingly situated on a hill-top among +the trees. Near approach revealed a scene +of desolation. The barriers were down, two +spare-ribbed horses were nipping a scant supper +among the weeds in a dark corner of an +otherwise deserted barn-yard, the window-sashes +were generally paneless, the porch was +in a state of collapse, sand-burrs choked the +paths, and to our knock at the kitchen door +the only response was a hollow echo. The deserted +house looked uncanny in the gloaming, +and we retired to our boat wondering what +evil spell had been cast over the place, and +whether the horses in the barn-yard had been +deliberately left behind to die of starvation.</p> + +<p>The river now takes upon itself many devious +windings in a great widespread over two +miles broad. The government engineers have +here left it in all its original crookedness, and +the twists and turns are as fantastic and complicated +as those of the Teutonic pretzel in its +native land. As the twilight thickened, great +swarms of lake-flies rose from the sedges and +beat their way up-stream, the noise of their +multitudinous wings being at times like the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> +roar of a neighboring waterfall, as they formed +a ceaselessly moving canopy over our heads. +It was noticeable that the flies kept very +closely to the windings of the river, as if +guided only by the glittering flood beneath +them. The mass of the procession kept its +way up the stream, but upon the outskirts +could be seen a few individuals, apparently +larger than the average, flying back and forth +as if marshaling the host.</p> + +<p>Two miles below the deserted house, we +stopped opposite another marshy bank, where +a rude skiff lay tied to a shaky fence projecting +far out into the reeds. Pushing our way +in, we beached in the slimy shore-mud and +scrambled upon the land, where the tall grass +was now as sloppy with dew as though it had +been rained upon. It was getting quite dark +now, but through a cleft in the hills the moon +was seen to be just rising above a cloud-bathed +horizon, and a small house, neat-looking, +though destitute of paint, was sharply +silhouetted against the lightening sky, at the +head of a gentle slope. By the time we had +waded through a quarter of a mile of thriving +timothy we were wet to the skin below the +knees and dusted all over with pollen.</p> + +<p>Seven children, mostly boys, and gently step-laddered +down from fourteen years, greeted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +us at the summit with a loud "Hello!" in +shrill unison. They stood in a huddle by +the woodpile, holding down and admonishing +a very mild-looking collie, which they evidently +imagined was filled with an overweening +desire instantly to devour us. "Hello +there! who be ye?" shouted the oldest lad and +the spokesman of the party. He was a tall, +spare boy, and by the light of the rising +moon we could see he was sharp-featured, +good-natured, and intelligent.</p> + +<p>"Well," said the Doctor, bantering, "that's +what we'd like to know. You tell us who +you are, and we'll tell you who we are. Now +that's fair, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the boy, respectfully, as +he touched his rimless straw hat; "our +name's Smith; all 'cept that boy there," +pointing to a sturdy little twelve-year-old, +"an' he's a Bixby, he is."</p> + +<p>"The Smith family's a big one, I should +say," the Doctor remarked, as he audibly +counted the party.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this ain't all on 'em, sir; there's two +in the house, a-hidin' 'cause o' strangers, besides +the baby, which ma and pa has with +'em inter Packwaukee, a-shoppin'. This is +Smith's Island, sir. Didn't ye ever hear o' +Smith's Island?" +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span></p> + +<p>We acknowledged our ignorance, up to +this time, of the existence of any such feature +in the geography of Wisconsin. But the lad, +now joined by the others, who had by this +time vanquished their bashfulness and all +wanted to talk at once, assured us that we +were actually on Smith's Island; that Smith's +Island had an area of one hundred acres, was +surrounded on the east by the river, and everywhere +else by either a bayou or a marsh that +had to be crossed with a boat in the spring; +that there were three families of Smiths there, +and this group represented but one branch of +the clan.</p> + +<p>"We're all Smiths, sir, but this boy, who's +a Bixby; an' he's our cousin and only a-visitin'."</p> + +<p>After having gained a thorough knowledge +of the topography and population of Smith's +Island, we ventured to ask whether it was presumable +that the parental Smiths, when they +returned home from the village, would be willing +to entertain us for the night.</p> + +<p>"Guess not, sir," replied the spokesman, +the idea appearing to strike him humorously; +"there's so many of us now, sir, that we're +packed in pretty close, an' the Bixby boy has +to sleep atop o' the orgin. But I think Uncle +Jim might; he kept a tramp over night once, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +an' give him his breakfus', too, in the bargain."</p> + +<p>The prospect as to Uncle Jim was certainly +encouraging, and it was now too late to go +further. It seemed necessary to stop on +Smith's Island for the night, even if we were +restricted to quartering in the corn-crib which +the Smith boy kindly put at our disposal in +case of Uncle Jim's refusal,—with the additional +inducement that he would lend us the +collie for company and to "keep off rats," +which he intimated were phenomenally numerous +on this swamp-girt hill.</p> + +<p>The entire troop of urchins accompanied us +down to the bank to make fast for the night, +and helped us up with our baggage to the +corn-crib, where we disturbed a large family +of hens which were using the airy structure +as a summer dormitory. Then, with the two +oldest boys as pilots, we set off along the +ridge to find the domicile of Uncle Jim, who +had established a reputation for hospitality by +having once entertained a way-worn tramp.</p> + +<p>The moon had now swung clear of the +trees on the edge of the river basin, and +gleamed through a great cleft in the blue-black +clouds, investing the landscape with a +luminous glow. Along the eastern horizon a +dark forest-girt ridge hemmed in the reedy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +widespread, through which the gleaming Fox +twisted and doubled upon itself like a silvery +serpent in agony. The Indians, who have an +eye to the picturesque in Nature, tell us that +once a monster snake lay down for the night +in the swamp between the portage and the lake +of the Winnebagoes. The dew accumulated +upon it as it lay, and when the morning came +it wriggled and shook the water from its back, +and disappeared down the river which it had +thus created in its nocturnal bed. I had +never fully appreciated the aptness of the +legend until last night, when I had that +bird's-eye view of the valley of the Fox +from the summit of Smith's Island. To our +left, the timothy-field sloped gracefully down +to the sedgy couch of the serpent; to our +right, there were pastures and oak openings, +with glimpses of the moonlit bayou below, +across which a dark line led to a forest,—the +narrow roadway leading from Smith's to the +outer world. At the edge of a small wood-lot +our guides stopped, telling us to keep on +along the path, over two stiles and through a +barn-yard gate, till we saw a light; the light +would be Uncle Jim's.</p> + +<p>A cloud was by this time overcasting the +moon, and a distant rumble told us that the +night would be stormy. Groping our way +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +through the copse, we passed the barriers, +and, according to promise, the blinding light +of a kerosene lamp standing on the ledge +of an open window burst upon us. Then a +door opened, and the form of a tall, stalwart +man stood upon the threshold, a striking +silhouette. It was Uncle Jim peering into +the darkness, for he had heard footsteps in +the yard. We were greeted cordially on the +porch, and shown into a cosey sitting-room, +where Uncle Jim had been reading his weekly +paper, and Uncle Jim's wife, smiling sweetly +amid her curl-papers, was engaged on a bit of +crochet. Charmingly hospitable people they +are. They have been married but a year or +two, are without children, and have a pleasant +cottage furnished simply but in excellent taste. +Such delightful little homes are rare in the +country, and the Doctor couldn't help telling +Uncle Jim so, whereat the latter was very +properly pleased. Uncle Jim is a fine-looking, +manly fellow, six feet two in his stockings, +he told us; and his pretty, blooming +wife, though young, has the fine manners of +the olden school. We were earnestly invited +to stop for the night before we had fairly +stated our case, and in five minutes were +talking on politics, general news, and agriculture, +as though we had always lived on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +Smith's Island and had just dropped in for an +evening's chat. I am sure you would have +enjoyed it, <span class="nowrp">W——</span>, it was such a contrast to +our night at the Erie tavern,—only a week +ago, though it seems a month. One sees +and feels so much, canoeing, that the days +are like weeks of ordinary travel. Two hundred +miles by river are more full of the +essence of life than two thousand by rail.</p> + +<p>We had an excellent bed and an appetizing +breakfast. The flood-gates of heaven had +been opened during the night, and Smith's +Island shaken to its peaty foundations by +great thunder-peals. Uncle Jim was happy, +for the pasturage would be improved, and the +corn crop would have a "show." Uncle +Jim's wife said there would now be milk +enough to make butter for market; and the +hens would do better, for somehow they never +would lay regularly during the drought we +had been experiencing. And so we talked +on while the "clearing showers" lasted. I +told Uncle Jim that I was surprised to see +him raising anything at all in what was apparently +sand. He acknowledged that the +soil was light, and inclined to blow away on +the slightest aerial provocation, but he nevertheless +managed to get twenty bushels of +wheat to the acre, and the lowlands gave him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> +an abundance of hay and pasturage. He was +decidedly in favor of mixed crops, himself, +and was gradually getting into the stock line, +as he wanted a crop that could "walk itself +into market." The Doctor inquired about +the health of the neighborhood, which he +found to be excellent. He is much of a gallant, +you know; and Uncle Jim's wife was +pleasantly flustered when, in his most winning +tones, the disciple of Æsculapius declared +that the climate that could produce +such splendid complexions as hers—and +Uncle Jim's—must indeed be rated as available +for a sanitarium.</p> + +<p>By a quarter to eight o'clock this morning +the storm had ceased, and the eastern sky +brightened. Our kind friends bade us a cheery +farewell, we retraced our steps to the corn-crib, +the Smith boys helped us down with +our load, and just as our watches touched +eight we shoved off into the stream, and were +once more afloat upon the serpentine trail.</p> + +<p>These great wild-rice widespreads—sloughs, +the natives call them—are doubtless +the beds of ancient lakes. In coursing +through them, the bayous, the cul-de-sacs, are +so frequent, and the stream switches off upon +such unexpected tangents, that it is sometimes +perplexing to ascertain which body of sluggish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +water is the main channel. Marquette found +this out when he ascended the Fox in 1673. +He says, in his relation of the voyage, "The +way is so cut up by marshes and little lakes +that it is easy to go astray, especially as the +river is so covered with wild oats [wild rice] +that you can hardly discover the channel; +hence, we had good need of our two guides."</p> + +<p>Little bog-islands, heavily grown with aspens +and willows, occasionally dot the seas of +rice. They often fairly hum with the varied +notes of the red-winged blackbird, the rusty +grackle, and our American robin, while whistling +plovers are seen upon the mud-spits, +snapping up the choicest of the snails. And +such bullfrogs! I have not heard their like +since, when a boy, living on the verge of a +New England pond, I imagined their hollow +rumble of a roundelay to bear the burden of +"Paddy, go 'round! Go 'round and 'round!" +This in accordance with a local tradition +which says that Paddy, coming home one +night o'erfull of the "craithur," came to the +edge of the pond, which stopped his progress. +The friendly frogs, who themselves enjoy a +soaking, advised him to go around the obstruction; +and as the wild refrain kept on, +Paddy did indeed "go 'round, and 'round" till +morning and his better-half found him, a foot-sore +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +and a soberer man. They tell us that +on the Fox River the frogs say, "Judge +Arndt! Arndt! Judge Arndt!" Old Judge +Arndt was one of the celebrities in the early +day at Green Bay; he was a fur-trader, and +accustomed, with his gang of <i>voyageurs</i>, to +navigate the Fox and Wisconsin with heavily +laden canoes and Mackinaw boats. A Frenchman, +he had a gastronomic affection for frogs' +legs, and many a branch of the house of Rana +was cast into mourning in the neighborhood +of his nightly camps. The story goes, therefore, +that unto this time whenever a boat is +seen upon the river, sentinel frogs give out +the signal cry of "Judge Arndt!" by way of +deadly warning to their kind. Certain it is +that the valley of the upper Fox, by day or +by night, is resonant with the bellow of the +amphibious bull. It is not always "Judge +Arndt!" but occasionally, as if miles and +miles away, one hears a sudden twanging +note, like that of the finger-snapped bass +string of a violin; whereas the customary +refrain may be likened to the deep reverberations +of the bass-viol. Add the countless +chatter and whistle of the birds, the ear-piercing +hum of the cicada, and the muffled +chimes from scores of sheep and cow bells +on the hillside pastures, and we have an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> +orchestral accompaniment upon our voyage +that could be fully appreciated only in a +Chinese theatre.</p> + +<p>In the pockets and the sloughs, we find +thousands of yellow and white water-lilies, +and sometimes progress is impeded by masses +of creeping root-stalks which have been torn +from their muddy bed by the upheaval of the +ice, and now float about in great rafts, firmly +anchored by the few whose extremities are +still imbedded in the ooze.</p> + +<p>Fishing-boats were also occasionally met +with this morning, occupied by Packwaukee +people; for in the widespreads just above this +village, the pickerel thrives mightily off the +swarms of perch who love these reedy seas; +and the weighty sturgeon often swallows a +hook and gives his captor many a frenzied +tug before he consents to enter the "live-box" +which floats behind each craft. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_161.jpg" width="450" height="133" alt="Second Letter Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a></p> +<h2>SECOND LETTER.</h2> + +<h2>FROM PACKWAUKEE TO BERLIN.</h2> + +<p> +<span class="smcap left65">Berlin, Wis.,</span> June 8, 1887.</p> + +<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>y dear <span class="nowrp">W——</span>: Packwaukee is twenty-five +miles by river below Portage, and +at the head of Buffalo Lake. It is a tumble-down +little place, with about one hundred +inhabitants, half of whom appeared to be +engaged in fishing. A branch of the Wisconsin +Central Railway, running south from +Stevens Point to Portage, passes through +the town, with a spur track running along the +north shore of the lake to Montello, seven +miles east. Regular trains stop at Packwaukee, +while the engine draws a pony train +out to Montello to pick up the custom of +that thriving village. Packwaukee apparently +had great pretensions once, with her battlement-fronts +and verandaed inn; but that day +has long passed, and a picturesque float-bridge, +mossy and decayed, remains the sole point of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> +artistic interest. A dozen boys were angling +from its battered hand-rail, as we painfully +crept with our craft through a small tunnel +where the abutment had been washed out by +the stream. We emerged covered with cobwebs +and sawdust, to be met by boys eagerly +soliciting us to purchase their fish. The +Doctor, somewhat annoyed by their pertinacity +as he vigorously dusted himself with +his handkerchief, declared, in the vernacular +of the river, that we were "clean busted;" and +I have no doubt the lads believed his mild +fib, for we looked just then as though we had +seen hard times in our day.</p> + +<p>Our general course had hitherto been northward, +but was now eastward for a few miles and +afterward southeastward as far as Marquette. +Buffalo Lake is seven miles long by from a +third to three quarters of a mile broad. The +banks are for the most part sandy, and from +five to fifty feet high. The river here merely +fills its bed; being deeper, the wild rice and +reeds do not grow upon its skirts. Were there +a half-dozen more feet of water, the Fox +would be a chain of lakes from Portage to +Oshkosh. As it is, we have Buffalo, Puckawa, +and Grand Butte des Morts, which are +among the prettiest of the inland seas of Wisconsin. +The knolls about Buffalo Lake are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> +pleasant, round-topped elevations, for the most +part wooded, and between them are little +prairies, generally sandy, but occasionally +covered with dark loam.</p> + +<p>The day had, by noon, developed into one +of the hottest of the season. The run down +Buffalo Lake was a torrid experience long to be +remembered. The air was motionless, the +sky without clouds; we had good need of our +awning. The Doctor, who is always experimenting, +picked up a flat stone on the beach, +so warm as to burn his fingers, and tried to +fry an egg upon it by simple solar heat, but +the venture failed and a burning-glass was +needed to complete the operation.</p> + +<p>Montello occupies a position at the foot of +the lake, commanding the entire sheet of water. +The knoll upon which the village is for the +most part built is nearly one hundred feet +high, and the simple spire of an old white +church pitched upon the summit is a landmark +readily discernible in Packwaukee, seven miles +distant. There is a government lock at Montello, +and a small water-power. A levee protects +from overflow a portion of the town which +is situated somewhat below the lake level. +The government pays the lock-keepers thirty +dollars per month for about eight months in +the year, and house-rent the year round. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> +Tollage is no longer required, and the keepers +are obliged by the regulations of the engineering +department to open the gates for all +comers, even a saw-log. But the services of +the keepers are so seldom required in these +days that we find they are not to be easily +roused from their slumbers, and it is easier +and quicker to make the portage at the average +up-river lock. Our carry at Montello was +two and a half rods, over a sandy bank, where +a solitary small boy, who had been catching +crayfish with a dip-net, carefully examined +our outfit and propounded the inquiry, "Be +you fellers on the guv'ment job?"</p> + +<p>Below the lock for three or four miles, the +river is again a mere canal, but the rigid banks +of dredge-trash are for the most part covered +with a thrifty vegetation, and have assumed +charms of their own. This stage passed, and +the river resumes a natural appearance,—a +placid stream, with now and then a slough, or +perhaps banks of peat and sand, ten feet high +and fairly well hung with trees and shrubs.</p> + +<p>As we approach the head of Lake Puckawa, +the widespreads broaden, with rows of hills +two or three miles back, on either side,—the +river mowing a narrow swath through the +expanse of reeds and flags and rice which +unites their bases. Where the widespread +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> +becomes a pond, and the lake commences, +there is a sandbar, the dregs of the upper +channel. A government dredge-machine was +at work, cutting out a water-way through the +obstruction,—or, rather, had been at work, +for it was seven o'clock by this time, the men +had finished their supper, and were enjoying +themselves upon the neat deck of the boarding-house +barge, in a neighboring bayou, +smoking their pipes and reading newspapers. +It was a comfortable picture.</p> + +<p>A stern-wheel freight steamer, big and cumbersome, +came slowly into the mouth of the +channel as we left it, bound up, for Montello. +As we glided along her side, a safe distance +from the great wheelbarrow paddle, she +loomed above us, dark and awesome, like a +whale overlooking a minnow. It was the "T. +S. Chittenden," wood-laden. The "Chittenden" +and the "Ellen Hardy" are the only boats +navigating the upper Fox this season, above +Berlin. Their trips are supposed to be semi-weekly, +but as a matter of fact they dodge +around, all the way from Winneconne to +Montello, picking up what freight they can +and making a through trip perhaps once a +week. It is poor picking, I am told, and the +profits but barely pay for maintaining the +service. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span></p> + +<p>There now being no place to land, without +the great labor of poling the canoe through the +dense reed swamp to the sides, we had supper +on board,—the Doctor deftly spreading a +bit of canvas on the bottom between us, for +a cloth, and attractively displaying our lunch +to the best advantage. I leisurely paddled +meanwhile, occasionally resting to take a +mouthful or to sip of the lemonade, in the +preparation of which the Doctor is such an +adept. And thus we drifted down Lake Puckawa, +amid the delightful sunset glow and the +long twilight which followed,—the Doctor, +cake in one hand and a glass of lemonade in +the other, becoming quite animated in a detailed +description of a patient he had seen in +a Vienna hospital, whose food was introduced +through a slit in his throat. The Doctor is +an enthusiast in his profession, and would stop +to advise St. Peter, at the gate, to try his +method for treating locksmith-palsy.</p> + +<p>We noticed a great number of black terns +as we progressed, perched upon snags at the +head of the lake. They are fearless birds, +and would allow us to drift within paddle's +length before they would rise and, slowly +wheeling around our heads, settle again upon +their roosts, as soon as we had passed on.</p> + +<p>Lake Puckawa is eight miles long by perhaps +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> +two miles wide, running west and east. +Five miles down the eastern shore, the quaint +little village of Marquette is situated on a +pleasant slope which overlooks the lake from +end to end. Marquette is on the site of an +Indian fur-trading camp, this lake being for +many years a favorite resort of the Winnebagoes. +There are about three hundred inhabitants +there, and it is something of a +mystery as to how they all scratch a living; +for the town is dying, if not already dead,—about +the only bit of life noticeable there +being a rather pretty club-house owned by a +party of Chicago gentlemen, who come to +Lake Puckawa twice a year to shoot ducks, +it being one of the best sporting-grounds in +the State. That is to say, they have heretofore +come twice a year, but the villagers were +bewailing the passage by the legislature, last +winter, of a bill prohibiting spring shooting, +thus cutting off the business of Marquette by +one half. Marquette, like so many other +dead river-towns, appears to have been at one +time a community of some importance. +There are two deserted saw-mills and two or +three abandoned warehouses, all boarded up +and falling into decay, while nearly every +store-building in the place has shutters nailed +over the windows, and a once substantial sidewalk +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +has become such a rotten snare that the +natives use the grass-grown street for a footpath. +The good people are so tenacious of +the rights of visiting sportsmen that there is +no angling, I was told, except by visitors, and +we inquired in vain for fish at the dilapidated +little hotel where we slept and breakfasted. +At the hostlery we were welcomed with +open arms, and the landlady's boy, who officiated +as clerk, porter, and chambermaid, +assured us that the village schoolmaster had +been the only guest for six weeks past.</p> + +<p>It is certainly a quiet spot. The Doctor, +who knows all about these things, diagnosed +the lake and declared it to be a fine field for +fly-fishing. He had waxed so enthusiastic +over the numbers of nesting ducks which we +disturbed as we came down through the reeds, +in the early evening, that I had all I could do +to keep him from breaking the new game law, +although he stoutly declared that revolvers +didn't count. The postmaster—a pleasant +old gentleman in spectacles, who also keeps +the drug store, deals in ammunition, groceries, +and shoes, and is an agent for agricultural +machinery—got very friendly with the Doctor, +and confided to him the fact that if the +latter would come next fall to Markesan, ten +miles distant, over the sands, and telephone +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +up that he was there, a team would be sent +down for him; then, with the postmaster for +a guide, fish and fowl would soon be obliged +to seek cover. It is needless to add that +the Doctor struck a bargain with the postmaster +and promised to be on hand without +fail. I never saw our good friend so wild +with delight, and the postmaster became as +happy as if he had just concluded a cash +contract for a car-load of ammunition.</p> + +<p>The schoolmaster, a very accommodating +young man, helped us down to the beach this +morning with our load. Anticipating numerous +lakes and widespreads, where we might +gain advantage of the wind, we had brought +a sprit sail along, together with a temporary +keel. The sail helped us frequently yesterday, +especially in Buffalo Lake, but the wind +had died down after we passed Montello. This +morning, however, there was a good breeze +again, but quartering, and the keel became +essential. This we now attached to our craft, +and it was nearly seven o'clock before we were +off, although we had had breakfast at 5.30.</p> + +<p>The "Ellen Hardy" was at the dock, loading +with wheat for Princeton. She is a +trimmer, faster craft than the "Chittenden." +The engineer told us that the present stage +of water was but two and a half feet in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +upper Fox, this year and last being the driest +on record. He informed us that the freight +business was "having the spots knocked off it" +by the railroads, and there was hardly enough +to make it worth while getting up steam.</p> + +<p>Three miles down is the mouth of the lake. +There being two outlets around a large marsh, +we were somewhat confused in trying to find +the proper channel. We ascertained, after +going a mile and a half out of our way to +the south, that the northern extremity of the +marsh is the one to steer for. The river continues +to wind along between marshy shores, +although occasionally hugging a high bank of +red clay or skirting a knoll of shifting sand; +now and then these knolls rise to the dignity +of hills, red with sorrel and sparsely covered +with scrubby pines and oaks.</p> + +<p>It was noon when we reached the lock +above Princeton. The lock-keeper, a remarkably +round-shouldered German, is a pleasant, +gossipy fellow, fond of his long pipe and his +very fat frau. Upon invitation, we made ourselves +quite at home in the lock-house, a pleasant +little brick structure in a plot of made +land, the entire establishment having that +rather stiffly neat, ship-shape appearance peculiar +to life-saving stations, navy-yards, and +military barracks. The good frau steeped for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +us a pot of tea, and in other ways helped us +to grace our dinner, which we spread on a +bench under a grape arbor, by the side of the +yawning stone basin of the lock.</p> + +<p>The "Ellen Hardy," which had left Marquette +nearly an hour later than we, came along +while we were at dinner, waking the echoes +with three prolonged steam groans. We took +advantage of the circumstance to lock through +in her company. This was our first experience +of the sort, so we were naturally rather +timid as we brushed her great paddle, going +in, and stole along under her overhanging +deck, for she quite filled the lock. The captain +kindly allowed the liliputian to glide +through in advance of his steamer, however, +when the gates were once more opened, and +we felt, as we shot out, as though we had +emerged from under the belly of a monster.</p> + +<p>Beaching again, below the lock, we returned +to finish our dinner. The keeper asked for a +ride to Princeton village, three miles below, +and we admitted him to our circle,—pipe, +market-basket and all, though it caused the +canoe to sink uncomfortably near to the gunwale. +Going down, our voluble friend talked +very freely about his affairs. He said that +his pay of $30 per month ran from about the +middle of April to the first of December, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> +averaged him, the year round, about $20 and +house-rent. He had but little to do, and got +along very comfortably on the twenty-five +acres of marsh-land which the government +owned, by raising pigs and cows, a few vegetables, +and hay enough for his stock. He admitted +that this was "a heap better" than he +could do in the fatherland.</p> + +<p>"I shoost dell you, mine frient," he said to +me, as he grinned and refilled his pipe, "dot +Shermany vos a nice guntry, and Bismarck +he vos a grade feller, und I vos brout I vos a +Sherman; but I dells mine vooman vot I dells +you,—I mooch rahder read aboud 'em in mine +Sherman newsbaper, dan vot I voot leef dere +myself, already. I roon avay vrom dem conscrip' +fellers, und I shoost never seed de time +vot I voot go back again. In dot ol' guntry, +I vos nuttings boot a beasant feller; unt in +dis guntry I vos a goov'ment off'cer, vich +makes grade diff'rence, already."</p> + +<p>He chuckled a good deal to himself when +asked what he thought about the Fox-Wisconsin +river-improvement, but finally said that +government must spend its surplus some way,—if +not in this, it would in another,—and +he could not object to a scheme which gave +him his bread and butter. He said that the +improvement operations scattered a good deal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> +of money throughout the valley, for labor and +supplies, but expressed his doubts as to the +ultimate national value of the work, unless the +shifting Wisconsin River, thus far unnavigable +for steamers, should be canalled from the portage +to its mouth. He is an honest fellow, +and appears to utilize his abundance of leisure +in reading the newspapers.</p> + +<p>At Princeton village,—a thriving country +town on a steep bank, with unkempt backyards +running down to and defiling the river,—we +again came across the "Ellen Hardy." +She was unloading her light cargo of wheat +as we arrived, and left Princeton an eighth of +a mile behind us. We now had a pleasant +little race to White River lock, seven miles below. +With sail set, and paddles to help, we +led her easily as far as the lock. But we +thought to gain time by portaging over the +dam, and she gained a lead of at least a mile, +although we frequently caught sight of her +towering white hull across the widespreads, +by dint of standing on the thwarts and peering +over the tall walls of wild rice which shut us +in as closely as though we had been canoeing +in a railroad cut.</p> + +<p>It had been fair and cloudy by turns to-day, +but delightfully cool,—a wonderful improvement +on yesterday, when we fairly sweltered, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +coming down Buffalo Lake. In the middle of +the afternoon, below White River, a thunder-storm +overtook us in a widespread several +miles in extent. Seeking a willow island +which abutted on the channel, we made a tent +of the sail and stood the brief storm quite +comfortably. We then pushed on, and, +rubber-coated, weathered the few clearing +showers in the boat, for we were anxious to +reach Berlin by evening.</p> + +<p>At Berlin lock, twelve miles below White +River, we portaged the dam, and, getting into +a two-mile current, ate our supper on board. +The river now begins to have firmer banks, +and to approach the ridges upon the southern +rim of its basin.</p> + +<p>We reached Berlin in the twilight, the landscape +of hill and meadow being softened in +the golden glow. The better portion of this +beautiful little city of forty-five hundred inhabitants +is situated on a ridge, closely skirted +by the river, with the poorer quarters on the +flats spreading away on either side. There +are many charming homes and the main +business street has an air of active prosperity.</p> + +<p>We went into dock alongside of the "Ellen +Hardy." +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_175.jpg" width="450" height="141" alt="Third Letter Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a></p> +<h2>THIRD LETTER</h2> + +<h2>THE MASCOUTINS.</h2> + +<p> +<span class="smcap left65">Oshkosh, Wis.,</span> June 9, 1887.</p> + +<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>y Dear <span class="nowrp">W——</span>: As we passed out of +Berlin this morning, a government +dredger was at work by the river-side. We +paused on our paddles for some time, to watch +the workings of the ingenious mechanism. +There was something demoniac in the action +of the monster, as it craned its jointed neck +amid a quick chorus of jerky puffs from the +engine and an accompaniment of rattling +chains. Reaching far out over the bubbling +water, it would open its great iron jaws with +a savage clank and, pausing a moment to +gather its energies, dive swiftly into the roily +depth; after swaying to and fro as if struggling +with its prey, it soon reappeared, bearing +in its filthy maw a ton or two of blue-black +ooze, the water escaping through its teeth in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +a score of hissing torrents; then, turning aside +to the heap of dredge-trash, suddenly vomited +forth the foul-smelling mess, and returned for +another charge. It was a singularly fascinating +sight, though wofully uncanny.</p> + +<p>From Berlin down to Omro, pleasant prairie +slopes come down at intervals to the water's +edge, on the south bank; the feature of the +north side being wide expanses of bog, the +home of the cranberry, for which this region +is famous. The best marshes, however, are +the pockets, back among the ridges; from +these, great drainage-ditches, with flooding +gates, come furrowing through the peat, in +dark lines as straight as an arrow, and empty +into the river. It was somewhere about here, +nearer Berlin than Omro,—but exactly where, +no man now knoweth,—that the ancient +Indian "nation" of the Mascoutins was located +over two centuries ago; their neighbors, +if not their village comrades, being the Miamis +and the Kickapoos. Champlain, the intrepid +founder of Quebec, had heard of their warring +disposition as early as 1615. In 1634 Jean +Nicolet, the first white man known to have set +foot upon territory now included in the State of +Wisconsin, came in a bark canoe as far up the +Fox River as the Mascoutins, and after stopping +a time with them, journeyed southward +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +to the country of the Illinois.<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Allouez and +his companions also came hither in 1670, and +the good father, in the official report of his adventurous +canoeing trip, says the fort of these +people was located a French league (2.4 English +miles) "over beautiful prairies" to the +south of the river. Joliet and Marquette, on +their way to discover the Mississippi River, +arrived at the fort of the Mascoutins on June 7, +1673, and the latter gives this graceful sketch +of the oak openings hereabouts, which have +not meanwhile perceptibly changed their characteristics: +"I felt no little pleasure in beholding +the position of this town; the view +is beautiful and very picturesque, for from the +eminence on which it is perched, the eye discovers +on every side prairies spreading away +beyond its reach, interspersed with thickets +or groves of lofty trees."</p> + +<p>The Mascoutins are now a lost tribe. As +the result of warring habits, they in turn were +crowded to the wall, and a generation after +Marquette's visit the banks of their river knew +them no more; the Foxes, from whom the +stream ultimately took its name, were then +predominant, and long continued the masters +of the highway. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span></p> + +<p>Sacramento—"as dead as a door-nail, +sir"—lies sprawled out over a pleasant +riverside slope to the south. There is the +customary air of fallen grandeur at Sacramento,—big +hopes gone to decay; battlement-fronts, +houseless cellars, a universal +lack of paint. The railroads, the real highways +of our present civilization, have killed +these little river towns that are away from +the track, and they will never be resurrected. +The day of inland water navigation, except +for canoeists, is nearing its close. Settlement +clings to the neighborhood of the rails, +and generally avoids rivers as an obstruction +to free transit. The towns that have to be +reached by a country ferry are rotting,—they +are off the line of progress. Sacramento +boasts a spouting well by the river-bank, a +mammoth village ash-leach, and fond memories +of the day when it was "a bigger town +than Berlin." As we stood in the spray of +the fountain, filling our canteen with the +purest and coldest of water, I speculated upon +the strong probability of Sacramento being on +the identical bank where the Jesuits beached +their canoes to walk across country to the +old Indian village. And the Doctor, apt to +be irreverent as to aboriginal lore, suggested +that the defunct Sacramento should have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> +written over its gate this motto: "Gone to +join the Mascoutins!"</p> + +<p>Eureka, a few miles farther down, is also +paintless, and her river-front is artistic with +the crumbling ruins of two or three long-deserted +saw-mills. A new Eureka appears, +however, to be slowly building up, to one +side of the dead little hamlet,—for there are +smart steam flouring-mill and a model little +cheese-factory in full swing here. The cheese +man, an accommodating young fellow who appeared +quite up to the times, and is a direct +shipper to the London market, took a just +pride in showing us over his establishment, +and stocked our mess-box with samples of his +best brands.</p> + +<p>Omro spreads over a sandy plain, upon +both sides of the river,—an excellent wagon-bridge +crossing the stream near that of the +Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul railway. +Omro, which is the headquarters of the +Wisconsin Spiritualists, who have quite a +settlement hereabouts, is growing somewhat, +after a long period of stagnation, having at +present a population of fifteen hundred.</p> + +<p>The "Ellen Hardy," which had now caught +up with us, after chasing the canoe from +Berlin down, went through the draw in our +company. As the crew rolled off a small +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +consignment of freight, the captain—a raw-boned, +red-faced, and thoroughly good-humored +man—leaned out of the pilot-house window +and pleasantly chaffed us about our lowly +conveyance. The conversation ended by his +offering to give us a "lift" through the great +Winneconne widespread, to the point where +the Wolf joins the Fox, nine or ten miles +below. The "Ellen" was bound for Winneconne +and other points up the Wolf, so could +help us no farther. Of course we accepted +the kindly offer, and fastening our painter to a +belaying-pin on the "Ellen's" port, scrambled +up to the freight-deck just as the pilot-bell +rang "Forward!" in the smoky little engine-room +far aft.</p> + +<p>While I went aloft to enjoy the bird's-eye +view obtainable from the pilot-house, the +Doctor discussed fishing with the engineer, +whom he found on closer acquaintance to be +a rare, though much-begrimed philosopher. +This engineer is a wizened-up little man, +with a face like a prematurely dried apple, +but his eyes gleam with a kindly light, and +he is an inveterate angler. We had noticed +him at every stopping stage,—his head, +shoulders, and arms reaching out of the abbreviated +rear window of his caboose,—dangling +a line astern. The Doctor learned that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> +this was his invariable habit. He kept +the cook's galley in fish, and utilized each +leisure half-hour in the pursuit of his favorite +amusement. The engineer, good man, had +fished, he said, in nearly every known sea, +and the Doctor declared that he "could many +a wondrous fish-tale unfold." In fact, the +Doctor declared him to be the most interesting +character he had ever met with, outside +of a hospital, and said he should surely report +to his favorite medical journal this remarkable +case of abnormal persistency in an art, amid +the most discouraging physical surroundings. +He thought the man's brain should be dissected, +in the cause of science.</p> + +<p>The Wolf, which has its rise 150 miles +nor'-nor'west of Green Bay, in a Forest-county +lakelet, and takes generous, south-trending +curves away down to Lake Poygan, is properly +the noble stream which pours into Lake +Winnebago from the northwest, and then, +with a mighty rush, forces its way northeastward +to the Great Lakes, along the base of +the watershed which parallels the western +coast of Lake Michigan and terminates in the +sands of the Sturgeon-Bay country. The +Jesuit fathers, in seeking the Mississippi, +traced this river above Lake Winnebago, and +on reaching the great widespread at the head +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> +of the Grand Butte des Morts, where the +tributary flowing from the southwest empties +its lazy flood into the rushing Fox, pursued +that tributary to the portage and erroneously +called their highway by one name, from Green +Bay to the carry. Thus the long-unexplored +main river, above the junction, came to be +treated on the maps as a tributary, and to be +dubbed the Wolf. This geographical mistake +has been so long persisted in that correction +becomes impracticable, and we must +continue to style the branch the trunk.</p> + +<p>This has been a delightful day; the heavens +were clear and blue, and a gentle northeaster +fanned our faces in the pilot-house, +from which vantage-point, nearly thirty feet +above the river-level, there was obtainable a +bird's-eye view well worthy of canvas. The +wild-rice bog, through which the Fox, here +not over thirty yards wide, twists like the +snapper of a whip, is from ten to fifteen miles +wide,—a sea of living green, across which +the breeze sends a regular succession of +waves, losing themselves upon the far-distant +shores. Upon the northwestern horizon, the +Wolf comes stealing down at the base of a +range of wooded hills. To the west, a flashing +line tells where Lake Poygan "holds her +mirror to the sun." The tall smoke-stacks of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> +the Winneconne saw-mills occupy the middle +ground westward. To the east, in the +centre of the picture, one catches glimpses of +the consolidated stream, as its goodly flood +quickly glides southeasterly, on a short spurt +toward the Grand Butte des Morts, at the +head of which is the old fur-trading village +of the same name. Far southeastward, below +the lake, there is just discernible the +great brick chimney of a mammoth planing-mill,—an +Algoma landmark,—and just behind +that the black cloud resting above the +Oshkosh factories. It is a broad, bounteous +sweep of level landscape,—monotonous, of +course, but imposing from mere immensity.</p> + +<p>At the union of the rivers we bade farewell +to our friend the captain; and the Doctor +secured a promise from the engineer to send +in his photograph to the hospital with which +the former is connected. The "Ellen Hardy" +stopped her engine as we cast off. In another +minute, the great stern-wheel began to +splash again, and we were bobbing up and +down on the bubbly swell, waving farewell +to our fellow-travelers and turning our prow +to the southeast, while the roving "Ellen" +shaped her course to Winneconne, where a +lot of laths, destined for Princeton, awaited +her arrival. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span></p> + +<p>The low ridge which forms the eastern +bank of the Wolf, down to the junction, soon +slopes off to the northeast, in the direction +of Appleton, leaving a broad, level plain, of +great fertility, between it and Lakes Grand +Butte des Morts and Winnebago. On this +plain are built the cities of Oshkosh, Neenah, +and Menasha. Across it, the northeaster, +freshening to a lively breeze, had full sweep, +and stirred up the Grand Butte des Morts +into a wild display of opposition to our progress. +Serried ranks of white-caps came +sweeping across the lake, beating on our port +bow, and the little sail, almost bursting with +fulness, careened the canoe to the gunwale, +as it swept gayly along through the foam. +The paddles were necessary to keep her well +abreast of the tide, and there was exercise +enough in the operation to prevent drowsiness. +The spray flew like a drizzling summer +shower, but our baggage and stores were well +covered down, and the weather was too warm +for a body dampener to be uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>We passed the dark, gloomy, tumbled-down, +but picturesque village of Butte des +Morts, just before entering the lake. Of the +twenty-five or so houses in the place, all but +two or three are guiltless of paint. There is +a quaintness about the simple architecture, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> +which gives Butte des Morts a distinctive appearance. +To the initiated, it betokens the +remains of an old fur-trading post; and this +was the genesis of Butte des Morts. It was +in 1818 that Augustin Grignon and James +Porlier, men intimately connected with the +history of the French-Indian fur-trade in +Wisconsin, set up their shanty dwellings and +warehouses on a little lakeside knoll a mile below +the present village, which was founded by +their <i>voyageurs</i> on the site of an old Menomonee +town and cemetery. Some of these +post-buildings, together with the remains of +the watch-tower, from which the traders obtained +long advance notice of the approach +of travelers, red or white, are still standing. +As we sped by, I pointed out to the Doctor +the location of these venerable relics, which +I had, with proper enthusiasm, carefully inspected +fully a dozen summers before, and he +suggested that the knowledge of the approach +of a possible customer, by means of the tower, +gave the traders an excellent opportunity to +mark up the goods.</p> + +<p>James Porlier's son and successor, Louis +B. Porlier, now an aged man, is the present +occupant of the establishment, which is one +of the oldest landmarks in Wisconsin; and +there, also, died the famous Augustin Grignon, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +historian of his clan. Butte des Morts, in +the early day of the northwest, was something +more than a trading-post. Situated +near the union of the upper Fox and the +Wolf, it was the rallying-point for both valleys,—long +before Appleton, Neenah, Menasha +or Oshkosh were known, or any of the +towns on the upper Fox. It was the only +white man's stopping-place between the portage +and Kaukauna. The mail trail between +Green Bay and the portage crossed here,—for +strange to say, the great south-stretching +widespread, which lies like a map before the +village, was in those days firm enough for a +horse to traverse with safety; while to-day a +boat can be pushed anywhere between the +rushes and rice, and it is <i>par excellence</i> the +great breeding-ground of this section for +muskrats and water-fowl. A scow-ferry was +maintained in pioneer times for the benefit of +the mail-carrier and other travelers. Butte +des Morts is mentioned in most of the journals +left us by travelers over the Fox-Wisconsin +watercourse, previous to 1835, and +here several important Indian treaties were +consummated by government commissioners.</p> + +<p>It is somewhat over fifteen miles from the +mouth of the Wolf to Oshkosh. The run +down the lake seemed unusually protracted, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> +for the city was clearly in sight the entire +way, and the distance, over the flat expanse, +was deceptive. Algoma, now a portion of +Oshkosh, was something of a settlement long +before the lower town began to grow. But +the latter finally overtook and swallowed the +original hamlet. Algoma is now chiefly devoted +to the homes of the employees in the +great planing and saw-milling establishments +of Philetus Sawyer, Wisconsin's senior United +States senator, and the wealthy Paine Brothers. +The residences of these lumber kings are on +a slope to the north of the iron wagon-bridge, +under which we swept as the booming whistles +of the busy locality, in unison with a noisy +chorus of steam-gongs farther down the river, +sounded the hour of six. Through the gantlet +of the mills, with their outlying rafts, their +lines of piling, and their great yards of newly +sawn lumber, we sped quickly on. A half-hour +later, we were turning up into a peaceful +little dock alongside the south approach to +the St. Paul railway-bridge, the canoe's quarters +for the night. The sun was just plunging +below the clear-cut prairie horizon, as we +walked across the fields to the home of our +expectant friends. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_188.jpg" width="450" height="144" alt="Fourth Letter Header" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a></p> + +<h2>FOURTH LETTER.</h2> +<h2>THE LAND OF THE WINNEBAGOES.</h2> + +<p> +<span class="smcap left65">Appleton, Wis.</span>, June 10, 1887.</p> + +<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>y dear <span class="nowrp">W——</span>: We had a late start +to-day from Oshkosh. It was half-past +nine o'clock by the time we had reloaded +our traps, pushed off from the railway embankment, +and received the God-speed of +<span class="nowrp">M——</span>, who had come down to see us off. +The busy town, with its twenty-two thousand +thrifty people, was all astir. The factories +and the mills were resonant with the clang +and rattle of industry, and across the two +wagon-bridges of the city proper there were +continual streams of traffic.</p> + +<p>I suppose that Oshkosh is, in its way, as +widely known throughout this country as almost +any city in it. The name is strikingly +outlandish, being equaled only by Kalamazoo, +and furnishes the butt of many a newspaper +joke and comic rhyme. Old chief Oshkosh, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> +whose cognomen signifies "brave" in Menomonee +speech, was the head man of his +dusky tribe, a half-century ago. He was a +doughty, wrinkled hero, o'er fond of fire-water, +and wore a battered silk hat for a crown. +About 1840, when the settlement here was +four years old, the Government offered to +establish a post-office if the inhabitants would +unite on a name for the place. The whites +favored Athens, but the Indians, half-breeds, +and traders round about Butte des Morts, +wanted their friend Oshkosh immortalized, so +they came down to the new settlement in +force, and the election being a free-for-all, +carried the day. It is said that the Grignons +were so anxious in behalf of the Menomonee +sachem that they had a number of squaws +array themselves in trousers and cast ballots +like the bucks. And it was fortunate, as +events proved, that the election turned out +as it did, for the oddity of the name has +been a permanent advertisement for a very +bright community. Oshkosh, as hackneyed +"Athens," would have been lost to fame. +Nobody would think of going to "Athens" to +"have fun with the boys."</p> + +<p>The morning air was as clear as a bell,—a +pleasant northeast zephyr, coming in off the +body of the lake, slightly ruffling the surface +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +and reducing the temperature to a delightful +tone. The wind not being fair, the sail was useless, +so we paddled along through the broad +river, into the lake and northward past a fishermen's +colony, rows of great ice-houses, the +water-works park, and beautiful lake-shore +residences, to Garlic Island. It was half-past +twelve, <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>, when we tied up at the crazy +pier which projects from this islet of the +loud-smelling vegetable. A half-century ago +Garlic Island was the home of Iowatuk, the +beautiful aboriginal relict of a French fur-trader,—an +Indian princess, the old settlers +called her; at all events, she is reputed to +have been a most exemplary person, well-possessed +of this world's goods, as well as a +large family of half-breed children. The +island is charmingly situated, a half-mile or +more out from the main land, opposite the +Northern Insane Hospital; it is a forest of +ancient elms, surrounded by a bowlder-strewn +beach of some three quarters of a mile in +length, and occupied by a summer-hotel establishment. +The name "Garlic Island" does +not sound very well for a fashionable resort, +so the insular territory has been dubbed +"Island Park" of late; but "Garlic" has good +staying qualities, and I doubt if they can ever +efface the objectionable pioneer title. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span></p> + +<p>We had our dinner on the sward near the +pier, convenient to a pump, and were entertained +by watching the approach of a little +steam-launch, loaded with a party of "resorters" +who had doubtless been shopping in +Oshkosh, the smoke from whose chimneys +rose above the tree-tops, five miles to the +southwest. There were some of the usual +types,—the languid Southern woman, with +her two pouting boys in charge of a rather +savage-looking colored nurse, who dragged +the little fellows out over the gang-plank, one +in each hand, as though they had been bags +of flour; a fashionable dame, from some +northern metropolis, all ribbons and furbelows, +starch and whalebones, accompanied by +her willowy daughter of twenty, almost her +counterpart as to dress, with a pert young +miss of fourteen, in abbreviated gown and +overgrown hat, bringing up the rear with the +family pug; a dawdling young Anglo-maniac +sucked the handle of his cane and looked +sweetly on the society girl, whose papa, apparently +a tired-out broker, in a well made +business costume and a wretched straw hat, +stayed behind to treat the skipper to a prime +cigar and arrange for a fishing excursion.</p> + +<p>There is a fine view from the island. The +hills and cliffs of Calumet County, a dozen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +miles to the east, are dimly visible. Toward +Fond du Lac, on the south, the horizon is the +lake. South-southwestward, Black Wolf Point +runs out, just over the verge, and the tops of +the tall trees upon it peep up into view, like +shadowy pile-work. Westward are the well-kept +hospital grounds, fringed with stately +elms overhanging the firm, gravelly beach, +studded with ice-heaved bowlders, which extends +northward to Neenah. The view to +the north and northeast is delightfully hazy, +being now dark with delicate fringes of forest +which cap the occasional limestone promontories, +and again losing itself in a watery +sky-line.</p> + +<p>We had two pleasant hours at this island-home +of the lovely Iowatuk, walking around +it on the bowldered beach, and reveling in +the shade of the grand old elms. By the time +we were ready to resume our voyage, the +wind had died down, the lake was as smooth +as a marble slab, and the sun's rays reflected +from it converted the atmosphere to the temperature +of a bake-oven. No sooner had we +pushed out beyond the deep shadows of the +trees than it seemed as though we had at one +paddle-stroke shot into the waters of a tropic +sea. The awning was at once raised, and +served to somewhat mitigate our sufferings, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> +but the dazzling reflection was there still, to +the great discomfort of our eyes.</p> + +<p>After two miles of distress, a bank of light +but sharply broken clouds appeared on the +northeastern horizon, and soon a gentle breeze +brought blessed relief. In a few minutes +more, ripples danced upon our starboard quarter, +and then the awning had to come down, +for it filled like a fixed sail and counteracted +the effect of the paddles. The Doctor, who, +you know full well, never paddles when he +can sail, insisted on running up into the wind +and spreading the canvas. He was just in +time, for a squall struck us as he was adjusting +the boom sprit, and nearly sent him overboard +while attempting to regain his seat. +Little black squalls now rapidly succeeded +each other, the wind freshening between the +gusts; and the Doctor, who was the sailing-master, +had to exercise rare vigilance, for the +breeze was rapidly developing into a young +gale, and the ripples had now grown to be by +far the largest waves our little craft had yet +encountered. The situation began to be +somewhat serious, as the clouds thickened +and the white-caps broke upon the west beach +with a sullen roar. We therefore deemed it +advisable to run into a little harbor to the lee +of a wooded spit, and hold council. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span></p> + +<p>It was a wild, storm-tossed headland, two +thirds of the distance down from the island, +and the spit was but one of its many points. +We landed and made an extended exploration, +deeming it possible that we might be obliged +to pass the night here; but the result of our +discoveries was to discourage any such project. +For a half-mile back or more the forest +proved to be a tangled swamp, filled with +fallen timber and sink-holes, while quicksands +lined the harbor where the canoe +peacefully rested behind an outlying fringe of +gnarled elms. We wandered up and down the +gravelly beach, in the spray of the breakers, +scrambling over great bowlders and overhanging +trunks whose foundations had been sapped +by storm-driven floods; but everywhere was +the same hard, forbidding scene of desolation, +with the angry surface of the lake and the +canopy of wind-clouds filling out a picture +which, the Doctor suggested, could have only +been satisfactorily executed in water-colors.</p> + +<p>In the course of our wanderings, which +were sadly destructive to clothes and shoe-leather, +we had some comical adventures. +The Doctor hasn't got over laughing about +one of them yet. We came to an apparently +shallow lagoon, perhaps three rods wide and a +dozen long, beyond which we desired to penetrate. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +It was bedded with sand and covered +with green slime. The Doctor had, just before, +divested himself of shoes and stockings +and rolled his trousers above his knees, in an +enthusiastic hunt for a particularly ponderous +frog, which he desired to pickle in the cause +of science. He playfully offered to carry me +across the pool on his back, and thus save me +the trouble of imitating his style of undress. +With some misgivings as to the result, I +finally mounted. We progressed favorably +as far as the centre, when suddenly I felt my +transport sinking; he gave a desperate lunge +as the water suddenly reached his waist, I +sprang forward over his head, and losing my +balance, sprawled out flat upon the slimy +water. I hardly know how we reached firm +ground again, but when we did, we were a +sorry-looking pair, as you can well imagine. +The Doctor thought it high sport, as he +wrung out his clothes and spread them upon a +bowlder to dry, and I tried hard to join in his +boisterous hilarity; but somehow, as I scraped +the gluey slime from my only canoeing suit, +with a bit of old drift shingle, and contemplated +the soppy condition of my wardrobe, I +know there must have been a tinge of sadness +in my gaze. It was too much like being +shipwrecked on a desert island. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span></p> + +<p>As we sat, clad in rubber coats, sunning +ourselves on the lee side of a fallen tree and +waiting for our garments to again become +wearable, the Doctor read to me an article +from his medical journal, describing a novel +surgical operation on somebody's splintered +backbone, copiously illustrating the selection +with vivid reports of his own hospital observations +in that direction. This sort of thing +was well calculated to send the shivers down +one's spinal column, but the Doctor certainly +made the theme quite interesting and the +half-hour necessary to the drying process +soon passed.</p> + +<p>By this time it was plain to be seen that +the velocity of the wind was not going to +increase before sundown, although it had not +slacked. We determined to try the sea again, +and pushed out through the breakers, with +sail close-hauled and baggage canvased. +Taking a bold offing into the teeth of the +gale, we ran out well into the lower lake, and +then, on a port tack, had a fine run down to +Doty's Island, which divides the lower Fox +into two channels. The city of Neenah, noted +for its flouring and paper mills, is built upon +both sides of the southern channel, or Neenah +River; Menasha, with several factories, but +apparently less prosperous than the other, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +guards the north channel,—the twin cities +dividing the island between them. The government +lock is at Menasha, while at Neenah +there is a fine water-power, with a fall of +twelve or fifteen feet,—the "Winnebago +Rapids" of olden time.</p> + +<p>It was into Neenah channel that we came +flying so gayly, before the wind. There is a +fine park on the mainland shore, with a smartly +painted summer hotel and half a dozen pretty +cottages that would do credit to a seaside resort. +To the right the island is studded with +picturesque old elms, shading a closely cropped +turf, upon which cattle peacefully graze, while +here and there among the trees are old-fashioned +white cottages, with green blinds, quite +after the style of a sleepy New-England village,—a +charming scene of semi-rustic life; +while to seaward Lake Winnebago tosses and +rolls, almost to the horizon.</p> + +<p>Doty's is an historic landmark. The rapids +here necessitated a portage, and from the +earliest times there have been Indian villages +on the island, more or less permanent in character,—Menomonee, +Fox, and Winnebago in +turn. As white traffic over the Fox-Wisconsin +watercourse grew, so grew the importance +of this village, whatever the tribe of its inhabitants; +for the bucks found employment in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> +helping the empty boats over the rapids and +in "toting" the goods over the portage-trail. +The Foxes overreached themselves by setting +up as toll-gatherers. It is related—but historians +are somewhat misty as to the details—that +in the winter of 1706-7 a French +captain, Marin by name, was sent out by the +governor of New France to chastise the blackmailers. +At the head of a large party of +French creoles and half-breeds, he ascended +the lower Fox on snowshoes, surprising the +aborigines in their principal village, here at +Winnebago Rapids, and slaughtering them by +the hundreds. Afterward, this same Marin +conducted a summer expedition against the +Foxes. His boats were filled with armed +men and covered down with oilcloth, as +traders were wont to treat their goods <i>en +voyage</i>, to escape a wetting. Only two men +were visible in each boat, paddling and steering. +Nearly fifteen hundred dusky tax-gatherers +were discovered squatting on the +beach at the foot of the rapids, awaiting the +arrival of the flotilla. The canoes were +ranged along the shore. Upon a signal being +given, the coverings were thrown off and +volley after volley of hot lead poured into +the mob of unsuspecting savages, a swivel-gun +in Marin's boat aiding in the slaughter. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +Tradition has it that over a thousand Foxes +fell in that brutal assault. In 1716 another +captain of New France, named De Louvigny, +is reported to have stormed the audacious +Foxes. They had not, it seems, been exterminated +by previous massacres, for five hundred +warriors and three thousand squaws are +alleged to have been collected within a palisaded +fort, somewhere in the neighborhood +of these rapids. De Louvigny is credited +with having captured the fort after a three +days' siege, but granted the enemy the honors +of war. Twelve years later the Foxes had +again become so troublesome as to need chastisement. +This time the agent chosen to +command the expedition was De Lignery, +among whose lieutenants was the noted +Charles de Langlade, Wisconsin's first white +settler. But the redskins had become wise, +after their fashion, and fled before the Frenchmen, +who found the villages on the Fox, +lower and upper, deserted. The invaders +burned every wigwam and cornfield in sight, +from Green Bay to the portage. This expedition +appears to have been followed by others, +until the Foxes, with the allied Sacs, fled the +valley, never to return. Much of this is +traditionary.</p> + +<p>The widening of the Fox below Doty's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +Island was called Lac Petit Butte des Morts,—"Lake +Little Hill of the Dead," to distinguish +it from the "Great Hill of the Dead," +above Oshkosh.</p> + +<p>It has long been claimed that the thousands +of Foxes who at various times fell victims to +these massacres in behalf of the French fur-trade +were buried in great pits at Petit Butte +des Morts,—near Winnebago Rapids. But +modern investigators lean to the opinion that +the "little hill of the dead" was merely an +ordinary Indian cemetery, and the mound or +mounds there are prehistoric tumuli, common +enough in the neighborhood of Wisconsin +lakes. A like conclusion, also, has been arrived +at in regard to the Grand Butte des +Morts. However, this is something that the +archæological committee must settle among +themselves.</p> + +<p>The Winnebagoes succeeded the Foxes, +and Doty's Island became the seat of their +power. The master spirit among them for a +quarter of a century previous to the fall of +New France was a French fur-trader named +De Korra or De Cora, who had a Winnebago +"princess" for a squaw. They had a numerous +progeny, which De Korra left to his wife's +charge when called to serve under Montcalm +in the defence of Quebec. He was killed in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +a sortie, and Madame De Korra and her +brood relapsed into barbarism. One half of +the Winnebagoes now living are descendants, +more or less direct, of this sturdy old fur-trader, +and bear his name, which is also perpetuated, +with varied orthography, in many a +northwestern stream and hamlet. During +the first third of the present century Hoo-Tschope, +or Four Legs, was the dusky magnate +at this Winnebago capital.<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Four Legs +was a cunning rascal, well known to the earliest +pioneers, but he at last fell a victim to his +greatest enemy, the bottle. Last month I +was visiting among the Winnebagoes around +Black River Falls. Desiring to have a "talk" +with Walking Cloud, a wizened-faced redskin +of some seventy-two years, I went out +with my interpreters over the hills and +through the valley of the Black, nearly a +dozen miles, before I found him and his +squatting in their wigwams at the base of +a bold bluff, fronted by a lovely bit of vale. +Cloud's decrepit squaw, blind in one eye +and wofully garrulous, hobbled up to us, and +sinking to her knees in front of me, held out +a dirty, bony hand, with nails like the claws +of a bird, murmuring, "Give! Give!" I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> +dropped a coin into the outstretched palm; she +grinned and chattered like an animated skeleton, +and crawled away on her witch-like +crutch. This was the once far-famed and +beautiful princess of the Winnebagoes, the +winsome Champche Keriwinke, or Flash of +Lightning, eldest daughter of Hoo-Tschope. +How are the mighty fallen!</p> + +<p>We portaged around the island end of the +Neenah dam and met the customary shallows +below the obstruction. But soon finding +a narrow, rock-imbedded channel, we glided +swiftly down the stream, through the thrifty +town, past the mills and under the bridges, +just as the six o'clock bells had sounded and +the factory hands were thronging homeward, +their tin dinner-pails glistening in the sun. +Scores of them stopped to lean over the +bridge-rails, and curiously watched us as we +threaded the shallows; for canoes long ago +ceased to be a daily spectacle at Winnebago +Rapids.</p> + +<p>Little Lake Butte des Morts, just below, +is where the river spreads to a full mile in +breadth, the average width of the stream being +less than one half that. The wind was fair, +and we came swooping down into the lake, +which is two or three miles long. A half-hour +before sunset we hauled up at a high +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +mossy glade on the north shore, and had delightful +down-stream glimpses of deep vine-clad, +naturally terraced banks, the slopes and +summits being generally well wooded. A party +of young men and women were having a camp +near us. The woods echoed with their laughing +shouts. A number, with their chaperone, +a lovely and lively old lady, in a white cap +with satin ribbons, came down to the shore +to inspect our little vessel and question us as +to our unusual voyage. We returned the call +and played lawn tennis with fair partners, until +the fact that we must reach Appleton to-night +suddenly dawned upon us, and we bade a hasty +farewell to our joyous wayside friends.</p> + +<p>It was a charming run down to Appleton, +between the park-like banks, which rise to an +altitude of fifty feet or more. Every now and +then a pretty summer residence stands prominently +out upon a bluff-head, an architectural +gem in a setting of oaks and luxurious pines. +At their bases flows the deep flood of the +Lower Fox, black as Erebus in the shadows, +but smiling brightly in the patchy sunlight, +and thickly decked with great bubbles which +fairly leap along the course, eager to reach +their far-off ocean goal. But swifter by far +than the bubbles went our canoe as we set +the paddles deeply and bent to our work, for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +the waters were strange to us, the night was +setting in, and Appleton must be made. It +will not do to traverse these rivers after dark +unless well acquainted with the currents, the +snags, and the dams, for disaster may readily +overtake the unwary.</p> + +<p>Cautiously we now crept along, for in the +fast-fading twilight we could just discern the +outlines of the Appleton paper-mills and a +labyrinth of railway bridges, while the air +fairly trembled with the mingled roar of water +and of mighty gearing. Across the rapid +stream shot piercing rays from the windows +of the electric works, whose dynamos furnish +light for the town and power for the street +railway. A fisherman, tugging against the +current, shouted to us to keep hard on the +eastern bank, and in a few minutes more we +glided by the stone pier which buttresses the +upper dam, and pulled up in a little dead-water +cove at the base of the Milwaukee and Northern +railway bridge. The bridge-tender's +children came down to meet us; the man +himself soon followed; we were permitted to +chain up for the night at his pier, and to deposit +our bulky baggage in his kitchen; he +accompanied us over the long bridge which +spans the noisy apron and the rushing race. +A misstep between the ties would send one +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +on a short cut to the hereafter, but we safely +crossed, ascended two or three steep flights +of stairs to the top of the bank, and in a +minute or two more were speeding up town +to our hotel, aboard an electric street railway +car. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_206.jpg" width="450" height="135" alt="Fifth Letter Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a></p> +<h2>FIFTH LETTER.</h2> +<h2>LOCKED THROUGH.</h2> + +<p> +<span class="smcap left55">Little Kaukauna, Wis.</span>, June 11, 1887.</p> + +<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>y Dear <span class="nowrp">W——</span>: We took an extended +stroll around Appleton after +breakfast. It is a beautiful city,—the gem +of the Lower Fox. The banks are nearly +one hundred feet high above the river level. +They are deeply cut with ravines. Hillside +torrents, quickly formed by heavy rains, as +quickly empty into the stream, draining the +plateau of its superfluous surface water, and +in the operation carving these great gulches +through the soft clay. And so there are +many steep inclines in the Appleton highways, +and the ravines are frequently bridged +by dizzy trestle-works; but the greater part +of the city is on a high, level plain, the wealthy +dwellers courting the summits of the river +banks, where the valley view is panoramic. +The little Methodist college, with its high-sounding +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> +title of Lawrence University, is an +excellent institution, and said to be growing; +it gives a certain scholastic tinge to Appleton +society, which might otherwise be given up to +the worship of Mammon, for there is much +wealth among the manufacturers who rule +the city, and prosperity attends their reign.</p> + +<p>There is a good natural water-power here, +but the Fox-Wisconsin improvement has +made it one of the finest in the world. If +the improvement scheme is a flat failure elsewhere, +as is beginning to be generally believed, +it certainly has been the making of +this valley of the Lower Fox. From Lake +Winnebago down to the mouth, the rapids are +frequent, the chief being at Neenah, Appleton, +Kaukauna, Little Kaukauna, and Depere. +Of the twenty-six locks from Portage down, +seventeen are below our stopping-point of +last night; the fall at each, at this stage of +water being about twelve feet on the average. +Each of these locks involves a dam; and +when the stream is thus stemmed and all +repairs maintained, at the expense of the general +government, it is a simple matter to tap +the reservoir, carry a race along the bank, and +have water-power <i>ad libitum</i>. Not half the +water-power in sight, not a tenth of that possible +is used. There is enough here, experts +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +declare, to turn the machinery of the world. +No wonder the beautiful valley of the Lower +Fox is rich, and growing richer.</p> + +<p>It was no holiday excursion to portage +around the Appleton locks this morning. At +none of them could we find the tenders, for +the Menasha lock being broken, there is no +through navigation from Oshkosh to Green +Bay this week, and way traffic is slight. We +had neglected to furnish ourselves with a tin +horn, and the vigorous use of lung power +failed to achieve the desired result. The +banks being steep and covered with rock +chips left by the stone-cutters employed on +the work, we had some awkward carries, and +felt, as we finally passed the cordon and set +out on the straight eastward stretch for Kaukauna, +that we were earning our daily bread.</p> + +<p>Kaukauna, the Grand Kackalin of the +Jesuits and early French traders, is ten miles +below Appleton. Here are the most formidable +rapids on the river, the fall being sixty +feet, down an irregular series of jagged limestone +stairs some half mile in extent. Indians, +in their light bark canoes and practically without +baggage, can, in high water, make the +passage, up or down, by closely hugging the +deeper and stiller water on the north bank; +but the French traders invariably portaged +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +their goods, allowing the voyageurs to carry +over the empty boats, the men walking in the +water by the side, pushing, hauling, and balancing, +amid a stream of oaths from their +bourgeois, or master, who remained at his +post. I had had an idea that in our little craft +we might safely make the venture of a shoot +down the stairs, by exercising caution and +following the Indian channel. But this was +previous to arrival. Leaving the Doctor to +guard the canoe from a crowd of Kaukauna +urchins, who were disposed to be over-familiar +with our property, I went down through a +boggy field to view the situation. It is a +grand sight, looking up from the bottom of +the rapids. The water is low, and at every +few rods masses of rock project above the +seething flood, specimens of what line the +channel. The torrent comes down with a +mighty roar, lashing itself into a fury of spray +and foam as it leaps around and over the obstructions, +and takes great lunges from step to +step. There are several curves in the basin +of the cataract, which add to its artistic effect, +while it is deeply fringed by stunted pines +and scrub oaks, having but a slender footing +in the shallow turf which covers the underlying +stratum of limestone. Whatever may +be the condition of the falls at Kaukauna in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> +high water, it is certain that at this stage a +canoe would be dashed to splinters quite early +in the attempt to scale them.</p> + +<p>But a portage of half a mile was not to our +taste in the torrid temperature we have been +experiencing to-day, and we determined to +maintain the rights of free navigators by +obliging the tenders to put us through the +five great locks, which are here necessary to +lower vessels from the upper to the lower +level. These tenders receive ample compensation, +and many of them are notoriously +lazy. It is but seldom that they are compelled +to exercise their muscles on the gates; +for navigation on the Fox is spasmodic and +unimportant. As I have said in one of my +previous letters, even a saw-log has the right of +way; and government paid a goodly sum to +the speculators from whom it purchased this +improvement, that free tollage might be established +here for all time. And so it was +that, perhaps soured a little by our Appleton +experience, we determined at last to test the +matter and assert the privileges of American +citizens on a national highway.</p> + +<p>On regaining my messmate, we took a +general view of Kaukauna,—which spreads +over the banks and a prairie bottom on both +sides of the river, and is a growing, bustling, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> +freshly built little factory town,—and then +re-embarked to try our fortune at the lock-gates. +Heretofore we had considerately portaged +every one of these obstructions, except +at Princeton, where we went through under +the "Ellen Hardy's" wing.</p> + +<p>A stalwart Irishman, in his shirt-sleeves, +and smoking a clay pipe with that air of dogged +indifference peculiar to so many government +officials, leaned over a capstan at the +upper lock, and dreamily stared at the approaching +canoe. The lock was full, the last +boat having passed up a day or two before. +The upper gates being open, we pushed in, +and took up our station in the centre of the +basin, to avoid the "suck" during the emptying +process. The Doctor took out of the +locker a copy of his medical journal and I a +novel, and we settled down as though we had +come to stay. The Irishman's face was at +first a picture of dumb astonishment, and +then he sullenly picked up his coat from the +grass, and began to walk off in the direction +of the town.</p> + +<p>"Hi, my friend!" shouted the Doctor, good-naturedly. +"We are waiting to get locked +through."</p> + +<p>The tender returned a step, his eyes opened +wide, his brows knit, and in his wrath he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> +stuttered, "Ph-h-a-t! Locked through in +that theer s-s-k-i-ff? Ye're cr-razy, mon!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, not at all. We understand our rights, +and wish you to lock us through. And, if +you please, we're in something of a hurry." +As I said this I consulted my watch, and after +returning it to my pocket resumed a vacant +gaze upon the outspread leaves of the novel.</p> + +<p>The tender—for we had guessed rightly; +it was the tender—advanced to the edge of +the basin, and looked with inexpressible scorn +upon our Liliputian craft. "Now, look here, +gints," he said, somewhat more conciliatory, +"I've been here for twinty years, an' know +the law; an' the law don't admit no skiffs, ye +mind y'ur eye. An' the divil a bit of lockage +will ye git here, an' mind that!" And +then he walked away.</p> + +<p>We were very patient. The rim of the +lock became lined with small boys and smaller +girls, for this is Saturday, and a school holiday; +and there was great wonderment at the men +in the canoe, who "were having a bloody old +row with Barney, the lock-tinder," as one boy +vigorously expressed the situation to a bevy +of new-comers. By and by Barney returned +to see if we were still there. We were, and +were so abstracted that we did not heed his +presence. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span></p> + +<p>"Will, ye ain't gone yit, I see?" said +Barney.</p> + +<p>The Doctor roused himself, and pulling out +his watch, appeared to be greatly surprised. +"I do declare," he ejaculated, "if we haven't +been waiting here nearly half an hour! I +say, my man, this sort of delay is inexcusable. +It will read badly in a report to the +Engineering Bureau. What is your number, +sir?" And with a stern expression he produced +his tablets, prepared to jot down the +numeral.</p> + +<p>Barney was clearly weakening. His return +to see if the "bluff" had worked was an evidence +of that. The Doctor's severe official +manner, and our quiet persistence appeared +to convince Barney that he had made a grave +mistake. So he hurried off to the lower +capstans, growling something about being +"oft'n fooled with fish'n' parties." When we +were through we left Barney a cigar on the +curbing, and gently admonished him never +again to be so rude to canoeists, or some day +he would get reported. As we pushed off he +bade us an affectionate farewell, and said he +had sent his "lad" ahead to see that we had +no trouble at the four lower locks. We did +not see the lad; but certain it is that the other +tenders were prompt and courteous, and we +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> +felt that the cigars which we distributed along +the Kaukauna Canal were not illy bestowed.</p> + +<p>Progress was slow to-day, owing to the +delays in locking. Ordinarily, we make from +thirty to forty miles,—on the Rock, you +remember, we averaged forty. But it was +nearly sunset when we passed under the old +wagon bridge at Wrightstown, only seventeen +miles below our starting-point of this morning. +We paused for a minute or two, to talk with +a peaceably disposed lad, who was the sole patron +of the bridge and lay sprawled across the +board foot-walk, with his head under the railing, +fishing as contentedly as though he lay +on a grassy bank, after the manner of the +gentle Izaak. When old Mr. Wright was +around, Wrightstown may have been quite +a place. But it is now going the way of so +many river towns. There is a small, rickety +saw-mill in operation, to which farmers from +the back country haul in pine logs, of which +there are some hundreds neatly piled in an +adjoining field. Another saw-mill shell is +hard by, the home of owls and bats,—a deserted +skeleton, whose spirit, in the shape of +machinery, has departed to Ashland, a more +modern paradise of the buzz-saw. The village, +dressed in that tone of pearly gray with +which kind Nature decks those habitations +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +left paintless by neglectful man,—is prettily +situated on the high banks which uniformly +hedge in the Lower Fox. On the highest +knoll of all is a modest little frame church +whose spire—white, after a fashion—is a +prominent landmark to river travelers. There +are the remains of once well-kept gardens, +upon the upper terraces; of somewhat elaborate +fences, now swaying to and fro and weak +in the knees; of sidewalks which have become +pitfalls; of impenetrable thickets of lilacs, +hedging lonely spots that once were homes. +On the village street, only a few idlers were +seen, gathered in knots of two or three in +front of the barber shop and the saloons; the +smith at his forge was working late, shoeing +a country team; and two angular dames, in +rusty sun-bonnets, were gossiping over a barn-yard +gate. That was all we saw of Wrightstown, +as we drifted northward in company +with the reeling bubbles, down through the +deepening shadow cast by the western bank.</p> + +<p>Here and there, where the land chances to +slope gently to the water's edge, are small +piles of logs, drawn on farm sleds during the +winter season from depleted pineries, all the +way from three to ten miles back. When +wanted at the saw-mills down the river, or +just above, at Wrightstown, they are loosely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> +made up into small rafts and poled to market. +Along the stream there are but few pines left, +and they generally crown some rocky ledge, +not easily accessible. A few small clumps are +preserved, however, relics of the forest's former +state, to adorn private grounds or enhance +the gloomy tone of little hillside cemeteries. +There must have been an impressive grandeur +about the scenery of the Lower Fox in the +early day, before the woodman's axe leveled +the great pines which then swept down in +solid rank to the river beach, closely hedging +in the dark and rapid flood.</p> + +<p>We lunched upon a stone terrace, above +which swayed in the evening breeze the +dense, solemn branches of a giant native, one +of the last of his fated race. The channel +curved below, and the range of vision was +short, between the stately banks, heavily +fringed as they are with aspen and scrub-oak. +As we sat in the gathering gloom and gayly +chatted over the simple adventures which are +making up this week of ideal vacation life, +there came up from the depths below the +steady swish and pant of a river steamboat,—rare +object upon our lonesome journey. As +the bulky craft came slowly around the bend, +the pant became a subdued roar, awakening a +dull echo from the wooded slopes. A small +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +knot of passengers lolled around the pilot-house, +on which we were just able to discern +the name "Evalyn, of Oshkosh," in burnished +gilt; on the freight deck there were bales and +boxes of merchandise, and heaps of lumber; +two stokers were feeding cord-wood to the +furnace flames, which lit the scene with lurid +glare, after the fashion of theatric fires; the +roustabouts were fastening night lanterns to +the rails. The V-shaped wake of her wheelbarrow +stern broke upon the shores like a +tidal wave, and the canoe, luckily well fastened +to the roots of a stranded tree, bobbed +up and down as would a chip tossed on the +billows.</p> + +<p>Four miles below Wrightstown is Little +Kaukauna. There are three or four cottages +here, well up on the pleasant western bank, +overlooking a deserted saw-mill property; +while just beyond, a government lock does +duty whenever needed, and the rest of the +now broadened stream is stemmed by a magnificent +dam, from the foot of which arises +a dense cloud of vapor, such is the force of +the torrent which pours with a mighty sweep +over the great chute. As we stole down +upon the hamlet, the moon, a day or two past +full, was just rising over the opposite hillocks; +a tall pine standing out boldly from its lesser +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> +fellows, was weirdly silhouetted across her +beaming face, and in the cottage windows +lights gleamed a homely welcome.</p> + +<p>We were cordially received at the house of +the patriarch of the settlement. We made +our craft secure for the night, "toted" our +baggage up the bank, and paused upon the +broad porch of our new-found friend to contemplate +a most charming moonlit view of +river and forest and glade and cataract; the +cloud of mist rising high above the roaring +declivity seemed as an incense offering to +the goddess of the night. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_219.jpg" width="450" height="146" alt="Sixth Letter Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a></p> + +<h2>SIXTH LETTER.</h2> +<h2>THE BAY SETTLEMENT.</h2> + +<p> +<span class="smcap left65">Green Bay, Wis.,</span> June 13, 1887.</p> + +<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>y Dear W——: We had a quiet Sunday +at Little Kaukauna. Being a +delightful day, we went with our entertainers +to the country church, a mile or two back +across the fields, and whiled away the rest +of the time in strolling through the woods +and gossiping with the farmers about the +crops and the government improvement,—fertile +themes. It appears that this diminutive +hamlet of four or five houses anticipates a +"boom," and there is some feverish anxiety +as to how much village lots ought to bring as +a "starter" when the rush actually opens. +A syndicate has purchased the long-abandoned +water-power, and it is whispered that paper-mills +are to be erected, with cottages for operatives, +and all that sort of thing. Then, the +church and the depot will have to be brought +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +into town; the proprietor of the cross-roads +grocery, now out on the "country road," will +be erecting a brick "block" by the river side; +somebody will be starting a daily paper, +printed from stereotype plates imported from +Oshkosh or Chicago; and a summer resort +hotel with a magnetic spring, will doubtless +cap the climax of village greatness. I shall +look with interest on reports from the Little +Kaukauna boom.</p> + +<p>It was nine o'clock this morning before we +dipped paddle and bore down to the lock +gates. The good-natured tender "dropped" +us through with much alacrity. The river +gradually widens, and here and there the +high rolling banks recede for some distance, +and marshes and bayous, excellent hunting-grounds, +border the stream. A half mile +below the lock we noticed a roughly built hut, +open at front, such as would quarter a pig in +the shanty outskirts of a great city. It +looked lonesome, on the edge of a wide bog, +with no other sign of habitation, either human +or animal, in the watery landscape. Curiosity +impelled us to stop. Crossing a plank, which +rested one end on a snag and the other on a +stone in front of the three-sided structure, we +peered in. A bundle of rags lay in one +corner of the floor of loosely laid boards; in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +another was a heap of clamshells, the contents +of which had doubtless been cooked over a +little fire which still smouldered in a neighboring +clump of reeds. The odors were noisome, +and a foot rise of water would have +swamped out the dweller in this strange +abode. We at once took it for granted that +this was either the home of an Indian or a +tramp. Just as we were leaving, however, +a frowsy, dirty, but apparently good-tempered +fisherman came rowing up and claimed the +cabin as his home. He said that he spent +the greater part of the year in this filthy hole, +hunting or fishing according to the season; in +the winter, he boarded up the front, leaving a +hole to crawl out of, and banked the hut about +with reeds and muck. Wrightstown was his +market; and he "managed to scratch," he +said, by being economical. I asked him how +much it cost him in cash to exist in this +state, which was but slightly removed from +the condition of our ancestral cave-dwellers. +He thought that with twenty-five dollars in +cash, he could "manage to scratch finely" +for an entire year, and have besides "a week +off with the boys,"—in other words, one prolonged +drinking bout,—at Wrightstown. +He complained, however, that he seldom received +money, being mainly put off with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> +barter. The poor fellow, evidently something +of a simpleton, is probably the victim +of sharp practice occasionally. As we +paddled away from this singular character, +the Doctor said that he had a novel-writing +friend, given to the sensational, to whom he +would like to introduce The Wild Fisherman +of Little Kaukauna; he thought there was +material for a romance here, particularly if it +could be proved, as was quite possible, that +the hut man was the lost heir of a British +dukedom.</p> + +<p>But the site of another and a stranger romance +is but half a mile farther down. The +river there suddenly broadens into a basin, +fully half a mile in width. To the east, +the banks are quite abrupt. The westward +shore is a gentle, grass-grown slope, stretching +up beyond a charming little bay formed +by a spit of meadow. Near the sandy beach of +this bay a country highway passes, winding +in and out and up and down, as it follows the +river and the bases of the knolls. Above +this and commanding delightful glimpses of +forest and stream and bayou and prairie, a +goodly hillock is crowned, some seventy-five +feet above the water's edge, with a dark, unpainted, +time-worn, moss-grown house, part +log and part frame, set in a deep tangle of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +lilacs and crabs. The quaint old structure is +of the simple pioneer pattern,—a story and +a half, with gables on the north and south +ends of the main part; and a small transverse +wing to the rear, with connecting rooms. +The ancient picket gate creaks on its one +rusty hinge. The front door has the appearance +of being nailed up, and across its frame +a dozen fat spiders, most successful of fly +fishers, have stretched their gluey nets. The +path, once leading thither, is now o'ergrown +with grass and lilacs, while in the surrounding +snarl of weeds and poplar suckers are seen +the blossoming remnants of peonies, and a +few old-fashioned garden shrubs.</p> + +<p>The ground is historic. The house is an +ancient landmark. It was the old home of +Eleazar Williams, in his day Episcopal missionary +and pretender to the throne of France. +Williams was the reputed son of a mixed-blood +couple of the Mohawk band of Indians; +in early life, he claimed to have been born in +the vicinity of Montreal, in 1792. A bright +youth, he was educated for the ministry of +the Protestant Episcopal church and sent as a +missionary in 1816-1817 to the Oneida Indians, +then located in Oneida county, New +York. During the war of 1812, he had been +employed as a spy by the American authorities +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +to trace the movements of British troops in +Canada. Williams, from the first, became +engaged in intrigues among the New York +Indians, and was the originator of the movement +which resulted, in 1822, in the purchase +by the war department of a large strip of +land from the Menomonees and Winnebagoes, +along the Lower Fox River, and the +removal hither of several of the New York +bands, accompanied by the scheming priest. +But the result was jealousy between the newcomers +and the original tribes, with sixteen +years of confusion and turmoil, during which +Congress was frequently engaged in settling +the squabbles that arose. Williams's original +idea was said, by those who knew him best, +to be the "total subjugation of the whole +[Green Bay] country and the establishment +of an Indian government, of which he was to +be sole dictator."<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>But his purpose failed. He came to be +recognized as an unscrupulous fellow, and the +majority of the whites and Indians on the +Lower Fox, as well as his clerical brethren, +regarded him with contempt. In 1853, Williams, +baffled in every other field of notoriety +which he had worked, suddenly posed before +the American public as Louis XVII., hereditary +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> +sovereign of France. Upon the downfall +of the Bourbons in 1792, you will remember +that Louis XVI. and his queen, Marie Antoinette, +were beheaded, while their son, the +dauphin Louis, an imbecile child of eight, +was cast into the temple tower by the revolutionists. +It is officially recorded that after an +imprisonment of two years the dauphin died +in the tower and was buried. But the story +was started and popularly believed, that the +real dauphin had been abducted by the royalists +and another child cunningly substituted +to die there in the dauphin's place. The story +went that the dauphin had been sent to +America and all traces of him lost, thus giving +any adventurer of the requisite age and sufficiently +obscure birth, opportunity to seek such +honor as might be gained in claiming identity +with the escaped prisoner. Williams was too +young by eight years to be the dauphin; +he was clearly of Indian extraction,—a fair +type of the half-breed, in color, form, and +feature. But he succeeded in deceiving a +number of good people, including several +leading doctors in his church; while an Episcopal +clergyman named John H. Hanson +attempted, in two articles in "Putnam's Magazine," +in 1853, and afterwards in an elaborate +book, "The Lost Prince," to prove conclusively +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> +to the world that Williams was indeed +the son of the executed monarch. While +those who really knew Williams treated his +claims as fraudulent, and his dusky father and +mother protested under oath that Eleazar was +their son, and every allegation of Williams, in +the premises, had been often exposed as false, +there were still many who believed in him. +The excitement attracted attention in France. +One or two royalists came over to see Williams, +but left disappointed; and Louis Philippe +sent him a present of some finely bound +books, believing him to be the innocent victim +of a delusion. Williams died in 1858, keeping +up his absurd pretensions to the last.</p> + +<p>It was in this house near Little Kaukauna +that Williams lived for so many years, managing +and preaching to his scattered flock of +immigrant Indians, and forever seeking some +sort of especially profitable employment, such +as accompanying tribal delegations to Washington, +or acting as special commissioner at +government payments. In the earliest days, +the house was situated on the spit of meadow +I have previously spoken of; but when the +dam at Depere raised the water, the frame +was carried to this higher position.</p> + +<p>Williams's wife, an octoroon, whose portrait +shows her to have been a thick-set, stolid sort +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +of woman, died here, a year ago, and is buried +hard by. The present occupants of the house +are Mary Garritty, an Indian woman of sixty-five +years, and her half-breed daughter, +Josephine Penney, who in turn has an infant +child of two. Mary was reared by the +Williamses, and told us many a curious story +of life at the "agency," as she called it, during +the time when "Mr. Williams and Ma" were +alive. Josephine, who confided to me that +she was thirty years old, was regularly +adopted by Mrs. Williams, for whose memory +both women seem to have a very strong respect. +What little personal property was left +by the old woman goes to her grandchildren, +intelligent and well-educated Oshkosh citizens, +but Josephine has the sandy farm of sixty-five +acres. She took me into the attic to exhibit +such relics of the alleged dauphin as +had not been disposed of by the administrator +of the estate. There were a hundred or +two mice-eaten volumes, mainly theological +and school text-books; several old volumes of +sermons,—for Eleazar is said to have considered +it better taste in him to copy a discourse +from an approved authority than to +endeavor to compose one that would not satisfy +him half as well; a boxful of manuscript +odds and ends, chiefly letters, Indian glossaries +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +and copied sermons; two or three +leather-bound trunks, a copper tea-kettle used +by him upon his long boat journeys, and a +pair of antiquated brass candlesticks.</p> + +<p>Then we descended to the old orchard. +Mary pointed out the spot, a rod or two south +of the dwelling, where Williams had his library +and mission-office in a log-house that has +long since been removed for firewood. In +this cabin, which had floor dimensions of fifteen +by twenty feet, Williams met his Indian +friends and transacted business with them. +Mary, in her querulous tone, said that in those +days the place abounded with Indians, night +and day, and as they always expected to be +fed, she had her hands full attending to their +wants. "There wa'n't no peace at all, sir, +so long as Mr. Williams were here; when he +were gone there wa'n't so many of them, an' +we got a rest, which I were mighty thankful +for." Garrulous Mary, in her moccasins and +blanket skirt, with a complexion like brown +parchment and as wrinkled,—almost a full-blood +herself,—has lived so long apart from +her people that she appears to have forgotten +her race, and inveighed right vigorously +against the unthrifty and beggarly habits +of the aborigines. "I hate them pesky +Indians," she cried in a burst of righteous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +indignation, and then turned to croon over +Josephine's baby, as veritable a "little +Indian boy" as I ever met with in a forest +wigwam. "He's a fine feller, isn't he?" +she cried, as she chucked her grandson +under the chin; "some says as he looks like +Mr. Williams, sir." The Doctor, who is a +judge of babies, declared, in a professional +tone that did not admit of contradiction, that +the infant was, indeed, a fine specimen of +humanity.</p> + +<p>And thus we left the two women in a most +contented frame of mind, and descended to +the beach, bearing with us Josephine's parting +salute, shouted from the garden gate,—"Call +agin, whene'er ye pass this way!"</p> + +<p>Depere is five miles below. The banks +are bold as far as there; but beyond, they +flatten out into gently sloping meadows, varied +here and there by the re-approach of a +high ridge on the eastern shore,—the western +getting to be quite marshy by the time +Fort Howard is reached.</p> + +<p>At Depere are the first rapids of the Fox, +the fall being about twelve feet. From the +earliest period recorded by the French +explorers, there was a polyglot Indian settlement +upon the portage-trail, and in December, +1669, the Jesuit missionary Allouez +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +established St. Francis Xavier mission here, +the locality being henceforth styled "Rapide +des Peres." It was from this station that +Allouez, Dablon, Joliet, and Marquette started +upon their memorable canoe voyages up the +Fox, in search of benighted heathen and the +Mississippi River. For over a century Rapide +des Peres was a prominent landmark in Northwestern +history. The Depere of to-day is a +solid-looking town, with an iron furnace, saw-mills, +and other industries; and after a long +period of stagnation is experiencing a healthy +business revival.</p> + +<p>Unable to find the tender at this the last lock +on our course, we portaged after the manner +of old-time canoeists, and set out upon the +home stretch of six miles. Green Bay, upon +the eastern bank and Fort Howard upon the +western, were well in view; and, it being not +past two o'clock in the afternoon of a cool +and somewhat cloudy day, we allowed the +current to be our chief propeller, only now +and then using the paddles to keep our bark +well in the main current.</p> + +<p>The many pretty residences of South Green +Bay, including the ruins of Navarino, Astor, +and Shanty Town, are situated well up on an +attractive sloping ridge; but the land soon +drops to an almost swampy level, upon which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +the greater portion of the business quarter is +built. Opposite, Fort Howard with her mills +and coal-docks skirts a wide-spreading bog, +much of the flat, sleepy old town being built +on a foundation of saw-mill offal. Historically, +both sides of the river may be practically +treated as the old "Bay Settlement" for two +and a half centuries one of the most conspicuous +outposts of American civilization. +Here came savage-trained Nicolet, exploring +agent of Champlain, in 1634, when Plymouth +colony was still in swaddling-clothes. It was +the day when the China Sea was supposed +to be somewhere in the neighborhood of the +Great Lakes. Nicolet had heard that at Green +Bay he would meet a strange people, who had +come from beyond "a great water" to the +west. He was therefore prepared to meet +here a colony of Chinamen or Japanese, if +indeed Green Bay were not the Orient itself. +His mistake was a natural one. The "strange +people" were Winnebago Indians. A branch +of the Dakotahs, or Sioux, a distinct race from +the Algonquins, they forced themselves across +the Mississippi River, up the Wisconsin, and +down the Fox, to Green Bay, entering the Algonquin +territory like a wedge, and forever +after maintaining their foothold upon this interlocked +water highway. "The great water," +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +supposed by Nicolet to mean the China Sea, +was the Mississippi River, beyond which barrier +the Dakotah race held full sway. As he +approached, one of his Huron guides was sent +forward to herald his coming. Landing near +the mouth of the river, he attired himself in a +gorgeous damask gown, decorated with gayly +colored birds and flowers, expecting to meet +mandarins who would be similarly dressed. +A horde of four or five thousand naked savages +greeted him. He advanced, discharging +the pistols which he held in either hand, and +women and children fled in terror from the +manitou who carried with him lightning and +thunder.</p> + +<p>The mouth of the Fox was always a favorite +rallying-point for the savages of this section of +the Northwest, and many a notable council has +been held here between tribes of painted red +men and Jesuits, traders, explorers, and military +officers. Being the gateway of one of +the two great routes to the Mississippi, many +notable exploring and military expeditions +have rested here; and French, English, and +Americans in turn have maintained forts to +protect the interests of territorial possession +and the fur-trade.</p> + +<p>Here it was that a white man first set foot +on Wisconsin soil; and here, also, in 1745, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +the De Langlades, first permanent settlers of +the Badger State, reared their log cabins and +initiated a semblance of white man's civilization. +Green Bay, now hoary with age, has +had an eventful, though not stirring history. +For a hundred years she was a distributing-point +for the fur-trade.</p> + +<p>The descendants of the De Langlades, the +Grignons and other colonists of nearly a century +and a half standing, are still on the spot; +and the gossip of the hour among the <i>voyageurs</i> +and old traders still left among us is of +John Jacob Astor, Ramsay Crooks, Robert +Stuart, Major Twiggs, and other characters +of the early years of our century, whose names +are well known to frontier history. The creole +quarter of this ancient town, shiftless and improvident +to-day as it always has been, lives +in an atmosphere hazy with poetic glamour, +reveling in the recollection of a once festive, +half-savage life, when the <i>courier de bois</i> and +the <i>engagé</i> were in the ascendency at this forest +outpost, and the fur-trade the be-all and +end-all of commercial enterprise. Your <i>voyageur</i>, +scratching a painful living for a hybrid +brood from his meager potato patch, bemoans +the day when Yankee progressiveness dammed +the Fox for Yankee saw-mills, into whose insatiable +maws were swept the forests of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> +youth, and remembers nought but the sweets +of his early calling among his boon companions, +the denizens of the wilderness.</p> + +<p>In Shanty Town, Astor, and Navarino there +yet remain many dwellings and trading warehouses +of the olden time,—unpainted, gaunt, +poverty-stricken, but with their hand-hewed +skeletons of oak still intact beneath the rags +of a century's decay. A hundred years is a +period quite long enough in our land to warrant +the brand of antiquity, although a mere +nothing in the prolonged career of the Old +World. In the rapidly developing West, a +hundred years and less mark the gap between +a primeval wilderness and a complete +civilization. Time, like space, is, after all, but +comparative. In these hundred years the +Northwest has developed from nothing to +everything. It is as great a period, judging +by results, as ten centuries in Europe,—perhaps +fifteen. America is said to have no +history. On the contrary, it has the most +romantic of histories; but it has lived faster +and crowded more and greater deeds into the +past hundred years than slow-going Europe +in the last ten hundred. The American centenarian +of to-day is older by far than the +fabled Methuselah.</p> + +<p>Green Bay, classic in her shanty ruins, has +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +been somewhat halting in her advance, for the +creoles hamper progressiveness. But as the +<i>voyageurs</i> and their immediate progeny +gradually pass away, the community creeps +out from the shadow of the past and +asserts itself. The ancient town appears to +be taking on a new and healthy growth, in +strange contrast to the severe and battered +architecture of frontier times. Socially, +Green Bay is delightful. There are many old +families, whose founders were engaged in +superintending the fur-trade and transportation +lines, or holding government office, +civil or military, at the wilderness post. This +element, well educated and reared in comfort, +gives a tone of dignified, old-school hospitality +to the best society,—it is the Knickerbocker +Colony of the Bay Settlement.</p> + +<p>At four o'clock we pushed into a canal in +front of the Fort Howard railway depot, and +half an hour later had crossed the bridge and +were registered at a Green Bay hotel. The +Doctor, called home to resume the humdrum +of his hospital life, will leave for the South +to-morrow noon. I shall remain here for a +week, reposing in the shades of antiquity.</p> + +<h2 class="p6">THE WISCONSIN RIVER. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a></span></h2> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_238.jpg" width="450" height="137" alt="Wisconsin Chapter 1 Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a></p> + +<h2>THE WISCONSIN RIVER.</h2> +<hr class="l15" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h2>ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">O</span>ur watches, for a wonder, coincided +on Monday afternoon, Aug. 22, 1887. +This phenomenon is so rare that <span class="nowrp">W——</span> made +a note in her diary to the effect that for +once in its long career my time-piece was +right. It was five minutes past two. The +place was the beach at Portage, just below +the old red wagon-bridge which here spans +the gloomy Wisconsin. A teamster had +hauled us, our canoe, and our baggage from +the depot to the verge of a sand-bank; and +we had dragged our faithful craft down +through a tangle of sand-burrs and tin cans +to the water's edge, and packed the locker for +its third and final voyage of the season. A +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +German housewife, with red kerchief, cap, and +tucked-up skirt, stood out in the water on the +edge of a gravel-spit, engaged in her weekly +wrestle with the family wash,—a picturesque, +foreign-looking scene. On the summit of a +sandy promontory to our left, two other German +housewives leaned over a pig-yard fence +and gazed intently down at these strange +preparations. Back of us were the wooded +sand-drifts of Portage, once a famous camping-ground +of the Winnebagoes; before us, the +dark, treacherous river, with its shallows and +its mysterious depths; beyond that, great +stretches of sand-fields thick-strewn with willow +forests and, three or four miles away, +the forbidding range of the Baraboo Bluffs, +veiled in the heavy mist which was rapidly +closing upon the valley.</p> + +<p>We feared that we were booked for a stormy +trip, as we pushed out into the bubble-strewn +current and found that a cold east wind was +blowing over the flats and rowing-jackets were +essential.</p> + +<p>Portage City, a town of twenty-five hundred +inhabitants, occupies the southeastern bank +for a mile down. Like Green Bay and Prairie +du Chien, it was an outgrowth of the necessities +of the early fur-trade. Upon the death of +that trade it languished and for a generation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> +or two was utterly stagnant. As a rural +trading centre it has since grown into a state +of fair prosperity, although the presence of +many of the old-time buildings of the Indian +traders and transporters gives to much of the +town a sadly decayed appearance. For two +or three miles we had Portage in view, down +a straight course, until at last the thickening +mist hid the time-worn houses from view, and +we were fairly on our way down the historic +Wisconsin, in the wake of Joliet and Marquette, +who first traversed this highway to the +Mississippi, two hundred and fourteen years +ago.</p> + +<p>Marquette, in the journal of his memorable +voyage, says of the Wisconsin, "It is very +broad, with a sandy bottom, forming many +shallows, which render navigation very difficult." +The river has been frequently described +in the journals of later voyagers, and +government engineers have written long reports +upon its condition, but they have not +bettered Marquette's comprehensive phrase.</p> + +<p>The general government has spent enormous +sums in an endeavor to make the Fox-Wisconsin +water highway practicable for the +passage of large steam-vessels between the +Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It +was of great service, in its natural state, for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> +the passage into the heart of the continent of +that motley procession of priests, explorers, +cavaliers, soldiers, trappers, and traders who +paddled their canoes through here for nearly +two hundred years, the pioneers of French, +English, and American civilization in turn. +It is still a tempting scheme, to tap the main +artery of America, and allow modern vessels +of burden to make the circuit between the +lakes and the gulf. The Fox River is reasonably +tractable, although this season the stage +of water above Berlin has been hardly high +enough to float a flat-boat. But the Wisconsin +remains, despite the hundreds of wing-dams +which line her shores, a fickle jade upon +whom no reliance whatever can be placed. +The current and the sand-banks shift about +at their sweet will over a broad valley, and +the pilot of one season would scarcely recognize +the stream another. Navigation for +crafts drawing over a foot of water is practically +impossible in seasons of drought, and +uncertain in all. A noted engineer has +playfully said that the Wisconsin can never +be regulated, "until the bottom is lathed and +plastered;" and another officially reported, +over fifteen years ago, that nothing short of +a continuous canal along the bank, from +Portage to Prairie du Chien, will suffice to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> +meet the expectations of those who favor the +government improvement of this impossible +highway.</p> + +<p>In the neighborhood of Portage, the wing-dams,—composed +of mattresses of willow +boughs, weighted with stone,—are in a +reasonable degree of preservation and in +places appear to be of some avail in contracting +the channel. But elsewhere down the +river, they are generally mere hindrances to +canoeing. The current, as it caroms from +shore to shore, pays but little heed to these +obstructions and we often found it swiftest +over the places where black lines of willow +twigs bob and sway above the surface of the +rushing water; while the channel staked out +by the engineers was the site of a sand-field, +studded with aspen-brush.</p> + +<p>It is a lonely run of an hour and a half +down to the mouth of the Baraboo River, +through the mazes of the wing-dams, surrounded +by desolate bottom lands of sand and +wooded bog. The east wind had brought a +smart shower by the time we had arrived off +the mouth of this northern tributary and we +hauled up at a low, forested bank just below +the junction, where rubber coats were +brought out and canvas spread over the stores. +The rain soon settled into a mere drizzle, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +and <span class="nowrp">W——</span>, ever eager in her botanical researches, +wandered about regardless of wet +feet, investigating the flora of the locality. +The yellow sneeze-weed and purple iron-weed +predominate in great clumps upon the verge +of the bank, and lend a cheerful tone to what +would otherwise be a desolate landscape.</p> + +<p>The drizzle finally ceasing, we were again +afloat, and after shooting by scores of wing-dams +that had been "snowed under" by shifting +sand, and floating over others that were +in the heart of the present channel, we came +to Dekorra, some seven miles below Portage. +Dekorra is a quaint little hamlet, with just +five weather-worn houses and a blacksmith-shop +in sight, nestled in a hollow at the base +of a bluff on the southern bank. The river +courses at its feet, and from the top of a naked +cliff a ferry-wire stretches high above the +stream and loses itself among the trees on the +opposite bottoms. The east wind whistled a +pretty note as it was split by the swaying +thread, and the anvil by the smith's forge +rang out in unison, clear as a well-toned bell. +A crude cemetery, apparently containing far +more graves than Dekorra's present census +would show inhabitants, flanks the faded-out +settlement on the shoulder of an adjoining +hill. The road to the tattered ferry-boat, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> +rotting on the beach, gave but little evidence +of recent use, for Dekorra is a relic.</p> + +<p>The valley of the Wisconsin is from three +to five miles broad, flanked on either side, +below the Portage, by an undulating range of +imposing bluffs, from one hundred and fifty +to three hundred and fifty feet in height. +They are heavily wooded, as a rule, although +there is much variety,—pleasant grass-grown +slopes; naked, water-washed escarpments, +rising sheer above the stream; terraced hills, +with eroded faces, ascending in a regular succession +of benches to the cliff-like tops; steep +uplands, either covered with a dense and regular +growth of forest, or shattered by fire +or tornado. The ravines and pocket-fields +between the bluffs are often of exceeding +beauty, especially when occupied by a modest +little village,—or better, by some small settler, +whose outlet to the country beyond the edge +of his mountain basin may be seen threading +the woodlands which tower above him, or zigzagging +through a neighboring pass, worn +deep by some impatient spring torrent in a +hurry to reach the river level.</p> + +<p>Between these ranges stretches a wide expanse +of bottoms, either bog or sand plain, +over all of which the river flows at high +water, and through which the swift current +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> +twists and bounds like a serpent in agony, +constantly cutting out new channels and filling +up the old, obeying laws of its own, ever defying +the calculations of pilots and engineers. +As it thus sweeps along, wherever its fancy +listeth, here to-day and there to-morrow, it +forms innumerable islands which greatly add +to the picturesqueness of the view. Now and +then there are two or three parallel channels, +running along for miles before they join, perplexing +the traveler with a labyrinth of water +paths. These islands are often mere sandbars, +sometimes as barren as Sahara, again +thick-grown with willows and seedling aspens; +but for the most part they are well-wooded, +their banks gay with the season's flowers, and +luxuriant vines hanging in deep festoons from +the trees which overhang the flood. At their +heads, often high up among the branches of +the elms, are great masses of driftwood, the +remains of shattered lumber-rafts or saw-mill +offal from the great northern pineries, evidencing +the height of the spring flood which +so often converts the Wisconsin into an +Amazon.</p> + +<p>Because of this spreading habit of the +stream, the few villages along the way are +planted on the higher land at the base of the +bluffs, or on an occasional sandy pocket-plateau +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +which the river, as in ages past it has +worn its bed to lower levels, has left high +and dry above present overflows. Some of +these towns, in their fear of floods, are situated +two or three miles back from the water +highway; others, where the channel chances +to closely hug a line of bluffs, are directly abutting +the river, which is crossed at such points +by either a ferry or a toll-bridge.</p> + +<p>Desolate as is the prospect from Dekorra's +front door, we found the limestone cliff there, +a mine of attractiveness. The river has +worn miniature caves and grottoes in its +base; at the mouths of several of these there +are little rocky beaches, whose overhanging +walls are flecked with ferns, lichens, and +graceful columbines.</p> + +<p>At six o'clock that evening, in the midst of +a dispiriting Scotch mist, we disembarked +upon the northern bank, at the foot of a +wooded bluff, and prepared to settle for the +night. Fortunately, we had advance knowledge +of the sparseness of settlement along +the river, and had come with a tent and a +cooking outfit, prepared for camping in case +of need. Upon a rocky bench, fifty feet up +from the water, we stretched a rope between +two trees, to serve in lieu of a ridge-pole, and +pitched our canvas domicile. It was a lonesome +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> +spot which we had chosen for our night's +halt. Owing to the configuration of the bluffs, +it was unlikely that any person dwelt within +a mile of us on our shore. Across the valley, +we looked over several miles of bottom woods, +while far up on the opposite slopes could just +be discerned the gables of two white farm-houses, +peering out from a wilderness of trees +stretching far and wide, till its limits were +lost in the gathering fog.</p> + +<p>It was pitchy dark by the time we had completed +our camping arrangements, and <span class="nowrp">W——</span> +announced that the coffee was boiling over. +I fancy we two must have presented a rather +forlorn appearance, as we crouched at our +evening meal around the sputtering little fire, +clad in heavy jackets and rubber coats, for +the atmosphere was raw and clammy. The +wood was wet, and the shifting gusts would +persist in blowing the smoke in our eyes, +whichever position we took. Every falling +bough, or rustle of a water-laden sapling, was +suggestive of tramps or of inquisitive hogs or +cattle, for we knew not what neighbors we +had; many a time we paused, and peering +out into the black night, listened intently for +further developments. And then the strange +noises from the river, unnoticed during daylight, +were not conducive to mental ease, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> +when we nervously associated them with +roving fishermen, or perhaps tramps, attracted +by our light from the opposite shore. Sometimes +we felt positive that we heard the +muffled creak of oars, fast approaching; then +would come loud splashes and gurgles, and +ever and anon it would seem as if some one +were slapping the water with a board. Now +near, now far away, approaching and receding +by turns, these mysterious sounds continued +through the night, occasionally relieved by +moments of absolute silence. We afterward +discovered that these were the customary +refrains sung by the gay tide, as it washed +over the wing-dams, swished around the sandbanks, +and dashed against great snags and +island heads.</p> + +<p>But we did not know this then, and a certain +uneasy lonesomeness overcame us as +strangers to the scene; and I must confess +that, despite our philosophizing, there was +but little sleep for us that first camp out. +A neglect to procure straw to soften our +rocky couches, and a woful insufficiency of +bed-clothing for a phenomenally cold August +night, added to our manifold discomforts. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_249.jpg" width="450" height="145" alt="Wisconsin Chapter II Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h2>THE LAST OF THE SACS.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">D</span>awn came at five, and none too soon. +But after thawing out over the breakfast +fire and draining the coffee-pot dry, we +were wondrously rejuvenated; and as we +struck camp, were right merry between ourselves +over the foolish nervousness of the +night. There was still a raw northwest wind, +but the clouds soon broke, and when, at half-past +six, we again pushed out into the swift-flowing +stream, it was evident that the day +would be bright and comfortably cool.</p> + +<p>We had some splendid vistas of bluff-girt +scenery this morning, especially near Merrimac, +where some of the elevations are the +highest along the river. There are a score +of houses at Merrimac, which is the point +where the Chicago and Northwestern railway +crosses, over an immense iron bridge 1736 +feet long, spanning two broad channels and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +the sand island which divides them. The +village is on a rolling plateau some fifty feet +above the water level, on the northern side. +Climbing up to the bridge-tender's house, that +one-armed veteran of the spans, whose service +here is as old as the bridge, told me that it +was seldom indeed the river highway was +used in these days. "The railroads kill this +here water business," he said.</p> + +<p>I found the tender to be something of a +philosopher. Most bridge-tenders and fishermen, +and others who pursue lonely occupations +and have much spare time on their +hands, are philosophers. That their speculations +are sometimes cloudy does not detract +from their local reputation of being deep +thinkers. The Merrimac tender was given +to geology, I found, and some of his ideas +concerning the origin of the bluffs and the +glacial streaks, and all that sort of thing, +would create marked attention in any scientific +journal. He had some original notions, +too, about the habits of the stream above +which he had almost hourly walked, day and +night, the seasons round, for sixteen long +years. The ice invariably commenced to +form on the bottom of the river, he stoutly +claimed, and then rose to the surface,—the +ingenious reason given for this remarkable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +phenomenon being that the underlying sand +was colder than the water. These and other +novel results of his observation, our philosophical +friend good-humoredly communicated, +together with scraps of local tradition +regarding the Black Hawk War, and lurid +tales of the old lumber-raft days. At last, +however, his hour came for walking the spans, +and we descended to our boat. As we shot +into the main channel, far above us a red flag +fluttered from the draw, and we knew it to be +the parting salute of the grizzled sentinel.</p> + +<p>At the head of an island half a mile below, +it is said there are the remains of an Indian +fort. We landed with some difficulty, for the +current sweeps by its wooded shore with particular +zest. Our examination of the locality, +however, revealed no other earth lines than +might have been formed by a rushing flood. +But as a reward for our endeavors, we found +the lobelia cardinalis in wonderful profusion, +mingled in striking contrast of color with +the iron and sneeze weeds, and the common +spurge. The prickly ash, with its little scarlet +berry, was common upon this as upon other +islands, and the elms were of remarkable +size.</p> + +<p>We were struck, as we passed along where +the river chanced to wash the feet of steepy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> +slopes, with the peculiar ridging of the turf. +The water having undermined these banks, +the friable soil upon their shoulders had slid, +regularly breaking the sod into long horizontal +strips a foot or two wide, the white +sand gleaming between the rows of rusty +green. Sometimes the shores were thus +striped with zebra-like regularity for miles +together, presenting a very singular and artificial +appearance.</p> + +<p>Prominent features of the morning's voyage, +also, were deep bowlder-strewn and often +heavily wooded ravines running down from +the bluffs. Although perfectly dry at this +season, it can be seen that they are the beds +of angry torrents in the spring, and many a +poor farmer's field is deeply cut with such +gulches, which rapidly grow in this light soil +as the years go on. We stopped at one such +farm, and walked up the great breach to very +near the house, up to which we clambered, +over rocks and through sand-burrs and thickets, +being met at the gate by a noisy dog, that +appeared to be suspicious of strangers who +approached his master's castle by means of +the covered way. The farmer's wife, as she +supplied us with exquisite dairy products, +said that the metes and bounds of their little +domain were continually changing; four acres +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +of their best meadow had been washed out +within two years, their wood-lot was being +gradually undermined, and the ravine was +eating into their ploughed land with the persistence +of a cancer. On the other hand, her +sister's acres, down the river a mile or two, +on the other bank, were growing in extent. +However, she thought their "luck would +change one of these seasons," and the river +swish off upon another tangent.</p> + +<p>Upon returning by the gully, we found that +its sunny, sloping walls, where not wooded +with willows and oak saplings, were resplendent +with floral treasures, chief among them +being the gerardia, golden-rod in several varieties, +tall white asters, a blue lobelia, and vervain, +while the seeds of the Oswego tea, prairie +clover, bed-straw, and wild roses were in +all the glory of ripeness. There was a broad, +pebbly beach at the base of the torrent's +bed, thick-grown with yearling willows. A +stranded pine-log, white with age and worn +smooth by a generation of storms, lay firmly +imbedded among the shingle. The temperature +was still low enough to induce us to +court the sunshine, and, leaning against this +hoary castaway from the far North, we sat +for a while and basked in the radiant smiles +of Sol. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span></p> + +<p>Prairie du Sac, thirty miles below Portage, +is historically noted as the site for several +generations of the chief village of the Sac Indians. +Some of the earliest canoeists over this +water-route, in the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries, describe the aboriginal community +in some detail. The dilapidated white village +of to-day numbers but four hundred and +fifty inhabitants,—about one-fourth of the +population assigned to the old red-skin town. +The "prairie" is an oak-opening plateau, more +or less fertile, at the base of the northern range +of bluffs, which here takes a sudden sweep +inland for three or four miles.</p> + +<p>The Sacs had deserted this basin plain by +the close of the eighteenth century, and taken +up their chief quarters in the neighborhood +of Rock Island, near the mouth of Rock +River, in close proximity to their allies, the +Foxes, who now kept watch and ward over +the west bank of the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>By a strange fatality it chanced that in the +last days of July, 1832, the deluded Sac +leader, Black Hawk, flying from the wrath of +the Illinois and Wisconsin militiamen, under +Henry and Dodge, chose this seat of the +ancient power of his tribe to be one of the +scenes of that fearful tragedy which proved +the death-blow to Sac ambition. Black Hawk, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +after long hiding in the morasses of the Rock +above Lake Koshkonong, suddenly flew from +cover, hoping to cross the Wisconsin River +at Prairie du Sac, and by plunging across the +mountainous country over a trail known to +the Winnebagoes, who played fast and loose +with him as with the whites, to get beyond the +Mississippi in quiet, as he had been originally +ordered to do. His retreat was discovered when +but a day old; and the militiamen hurried on +through the Jefferson swamps and the forests +of the Four Lake country, harrying the fugitives +in the rear. At the summit of the Wisconsin +Heights, on the south bank, overlooking +this old Sac plain on the north, Black Hawk +and his rear-guard stood firm, to allow the +women and children and the majority of his +band of two thousand to cross the intervening +bottoms and the island-strewn river. +The unfortunate leader sat upon a white horse +on the summit of the peak now called by his +name, and shouted directions to his handful +of braves. The movements of the latter were +well executed, and Black Hawk showed good +generalship; but the militiamen were also +well handled, and had superior supplies of +ammunition, so when darkness fell the fated +ravine and the wooded bottoms below were +strewn with Indian bodies, and victory was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> +with the whites. During the night the surviving +fugitives, now ragged, foot-sore, and starving, +crossed the river by swimming. A party +of fifty or so, chiefly non-combatants, made a +raft, and floated down the Wisconsin, to be +slaughtered near its mouth by a detail of +regulars and Winnebagoes from Prairie du +Chien; but the mass of the party flying westward +in hot haste over the prairie of the Sacs, +headed for the Mississippi. They lined their +rugged path with the dead and dying victims +of starvation and despair, and a sorry lot these +people were when the Bad Axe was finally +reached, and the united army of regulars and +militiamen under Atkinson, Henry, and Dodge, +overtook them. The "battle" there was a +slaughter of weaklings. But few escaped +across the great river, and the bloodthirsty +Sioux despatched nearly all of those.</p> + +<p>Black Hawk was surrendered by the servile +Winnebagoes, and after being exhibited in the +Eastern cities, he was turned over to the besotted +Keokuk for safe-keeping. He died, this +last of the Sacs, poor, foolish old man, a few +years later; and his bones, stolen for an Iowa +museum, were cremated twenty years after +in a fire which destroyed that institution. A +sad history is that of this once famous people. +We glory over the stately progress of the white +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> +man's civilization, but if we venture to examine +with care the paths of that progress, we find +our imperial chariot to be as the car of +Juggernaut.</p> + +<p>The view from the house verandas which +overhang the high bank at Prairie du Sac, is +superb. Eastward a half mile away, the +grand, corrugated bluffs of Black Hawk and +the Sugar Loaf tower to a height of over +three hundred feet above the river level; +while their lesser companions, heavily forested, +continue the range, north and south, +as far as the eye can reach. The river +crosses the foreground with a majestic sweep, +while for several miles to the west and southwest +stretches the wooded plain, backed by +a curved line of gloomy hills which complete +the rim of the basin.</p> + +<p>A mile below, on the same plain, is Sauk +City, a shabby town of about a thousand inhabitants. +A spur track of the Chicago, Milwaukee, +and St. Paul railway runs up here from +Mazomanie, crossing the river, which is nearly +half a mile wide, on an iron bridge. A large +and prosperous brewery appears to be the +chief industry of the place. Slaughter-houses +abut upon the stream, in the very centre of the +village. These and the squalid back-door +yards which run down to the bank do not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +make up an attractive picture to the canoeist. +River towns differ very much in this respect. +Some of them present a neat front to the +water thoroughfare, with flower-gardens and +well-kept yards and street-ends, while others +regard the river as a sewer and the banks as +a common dumping ground, giving the traveler +by boat a view of filth, disorder, and +general unsightliness which is highly repulsive. +I have often found, on landing at some +villages of this latter class, that the dwellings +and business blocks which, riverward, are +sad spectacles of foulness and unthrift, have +quite pretentious fronts along the land highway +which the townsfolk patronize. It is as +if some fair dame, who prided herself on her +manners and costume, had rags beneath +her fine silks, and unwashed hands within her +dainty gloves. This coming in at the back +door of river towns reveals many a secret of +sham.</p> + +<p>It was a fine run down to Arena ferry, +thirteen miles below Sauk City. The skies +had become leaden and the atmosphere gray, +and the sparse, gnarled poplars on some of +the storm-swept bluffs had a ghostly effect. +Here and there, fires had blasted the mountainous +slopes, and a light aspen growth was +hastening to garb with vivid green the blackened +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> +ruins. But the general impression was +that of dark, gloomy forests of oak, linden, +maple, and elms, on both upland and bottom; +with now and then a noble pine cresting a +shattered cliff.</p> + +<p>There were fitful gleams of sunshine, during +which the temperature was as high as +could be comfortably tolerated; but the +northwest wind swept sharply down through +the ravines, and whenever the heavens became +overcast, jackets were at once essential.</p> + +<p>The islands became more frequent, as we +progressed. Many of them are singularly +beautiful. The swirling current gradually +undermines their bases, causing the trees +to topple toward the flood, with many graceful +effects of outline, particularly when viewed +above the island head. And the colors, too, +at this season, are charmingly variegated. +The sapping of a tree's foundations brings early +decay; and the maples, especially, are thus +early in the season gay with the autumnal +tints of gold and wine and purple, objects of +striking beauty for miles away. Under the +arches of the toppling trees, and inside the +lines of snags which mark the islet's former +limits, the current goes swishing through, +white with bubbles and dancing foam. Crouching +low, to escape the twigs, one can have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +enchanting rides beneath these bowers, and +catch rare glimpses of the insulated flora on +the swift-passing banks. The stately spikes +of the cardinal lobelia fairly dazzle the eye +with their gleaming color; and great masses +of brilliant yellow sneeze-weed and the deep +purple of the iron-weed present a symphony +which would delight a disciple of Whistler. +Thus are the islands ever being destroyed and +new ones formed. Those bottom lands, over +there, where great forests are rooted, will +have their turn yet, and the buffeted sand-bars +of to-day given a restful chance to become +bottoms. The game of shuttlecock and battledoor +has been going on in this dark and +awesome gorge since Heaven knows when. +Man's attempt to control its movements seem +puny indeed.</p> + +<p>At six o'clock that evening we had arrived +at the St. Paul railway bridge at Helena. +The tender and his wife are a hospitable +couple, and we engaged quarters in their cosy +home at the southern end of the bridge. Mrs. +<span class="nowrp">P——</span> has a delightful flower-garden, which +looks like an oasis in the wilderness of sand +and bog thereabout. Twenty-three years ago, +when these worthy people first took charge +of the bridge, the earth for this walled-in +beauty spot was imported by rail from a more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> +fertile valley than the Wisconsin; and here +the choicest of bulbs and plants are grown +with rare floricultural skill, and the trainmen +all along the division are resplendent in +button-hole bouquets, the year round, products +of the bridge-house bower at Helena. +<span class="nowrp">W——</span> and Mrs. <span class="nowrp">P——</span> at once struck up an +enthusiastic botanical friendship.</p> + +<p>Bridge houses are generally most forlorn +specimens of railway architecture, and have +a barricaded look, as though tramps were altogether +too frequent along the route, and +occasionally made trouble for the watchers of +the ties. This one, originally forbidding +enough, has been transformed into a winsome +vine-clad home, gay with ivies, Madeira vines, +and passion, moon, and trumpet flowers, covering +from view the professional dull green +affected by "the company's" boss painter. +The made garden, to one side, was choking +with a wealth of bedding plants and greenhouse +rarities of every hue and shape of +blossom and leaf.</p> + +<p>A dozen feet below the railroad level, +spread wide morasses and sand patches, +thick grown with swamp elms and willows. +Down the track, a half mile to the south, +Helena's fifty inhabitants are grouped in a +dozen faded dwellings. Three miles westward, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> +across the river, is the pretty and +flourishing village of Spring Green.</p> + +<p>It is needless to say that in the isolated +home of these lovers of flowers, we had +comfortable quarters. <span class="nowrp">W——</span> said that it +was very much like putting up at Rudder +Grange. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_263.jpg" width="450" height="142" alt="Wisconsin Chapter III Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h2>A PANORAMIC VIEW.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he fog on the river was so thick, next +morning, that objects four rods away +were not visible. To navigate among the +snags and shallows under such conditions +was impossible. But <span class="nowrp">W——</span> closely investigated +the garden while waiting for the +mist to rise, and Mr. <span class="nowrp">P——</span> entertained me +with intelligent reminiscences of his long +experience here. It had been four years, +he said, since he last swung the draw for a +river craft. That was a small steamboat +attempting to make the passage, on what +was considered a good stage of water, from +Portage to the mouth. She spent two weeks +in passing from Arena to Lone Rock, a +distance of twenty-two miles, and was finally +abandoned on a sand-bank for the season. +He doubted whether he would have occasion +again to swing the great span. As for lumber +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +rafts, but three or four small ones had +passed down this year, for the railroads were +transporting the product of the great mills +on the Upper Wisconsin, about as cheap as +it could be driven down river and with far +less risk of disaster. The days of river traffic +were numbered, he declared, and the little +towns that had so long been supported by the +raftsmen, on their long and weary journey +from the northern pineries to the Hannibal +and St. Louis markets, were dying of starvation.</p> + +<p>I questioned our host as to his opinion of +the value of the Fox-Wisconsin river improvement. +He was cautious at first, and claimed +that the money appropriated had "done a great +deal of good to the poor people along the line." +Closer inquiry developed the fact that these +poor people had been employed in building +the wing dams, for which local contracts had +been let. When his opinion of the value of +these dams was sought, Mr. <span class="nowrp">P——</span> admitted +that the general opinion along the river was, +that they were "all nonsense," as he put it. +Contracts had been let to Tom, Dick, and +Harry, in the river villages, who had made +a show of work, in the absence of inspectors, +by sinking bundles of twigs and covering +them with sand. Stone that had been hauled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> +to the banks, to weight the mattresses, had +remained unused for so long that popular +judgment awarded it to any man who was +enterprising enough to cart it away; thus +was many a barn foundation hereabouts built +out of government material. Sand-ballasted +wing-dams built one season were washed out +the next; and so government money has +been recklessly frittered away. Such sort of +management is responsible for the loose morality +of the public concerning anything the +general government has in hand. A man +may steal from government with impunity, +who would be socially ostracized for cheating +his neighbor. There exists a popular sentiment +along this river, as upon its twin, the +Fox, that government is bound to squander +about so much money every year in one way +or another, and that the denizens of these two +valleys are entitled to their share of the plunder. +One honest captain on the Fox said to +me, "If it wa'n't for this here appropriation, +Wisconsin wouldn't get her proportion of the +public money what each State is regularly +entitled to; so I think it's necessary to keep +this here scheme a-goin', for to get our dues; +of course the thing ain't much good, so far as +what is claimed for it goes, but it keeps +money movin' in these valleys and makes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> +times easier,—and that's what guvment's +for." The honest skipper would have been +shocked, probably, if I had called him a +socialist, for a few minutes after he was declaiming +right vigorously against Herr Most +and the Chicago anarchists.</p> + +<p>It was half-past nine before the warmth of +the sun's rays had dissipated the vapor, and +we ventured to set forth. It proved to be an +enchanting day in every respect.</p> + +<p>A mile or so below the bridge we came to +the charming site, on the southern bank, at +the base of a splendid limestone bluff, of the +village of Old Helena, now a nameless clump +of battered dwellings. There is a ferry here +and a wooden toll-bridge in process of erection. +The naked cliff, rising sheer above the +rapid current, was, early in this century, utilized +as a shot tower. There are lead mines +some fifteen miles south, that were worked +nearly fifty years before Wisconsin became +even a Territory; and hither the pigs were, as +late as 1830, laboriously drawn by wagons, to +be precipitated down a rude stone shaft built +against this cliff, and thus converted into shot. +Much of the lead used by the Indians and +white trappers of the region came from the +Helena tower, and its product was in great +demand during the Black Hawk War in 1832. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> +The remains of the shaft are still to be seen, +although much overgrown with vines and +trees.</p> + +<p>Old Helena, in the earlier shot-tower days, +was one of the "boom" towns of "the howling +West." But the boom soon collapsed, and +it was a deserted village even at the time of +the Black Hawk disturbance. After the battle +of Wisconsin Heights, opposite Prairie du +Sac, the white army, now out of supplies, retired +southwest to Blue Mound, the nearest +lead diggings, for recuperation. Spending +a few days there, they marched northwest to +Helena. The logs and slabs which had been +used in constructing the shanties here were +converted into rafts, and upon them the Wisconsin +was crossed, the operation consuming +two days. A few miles north, Black Hawk's +trail, trending westward to the Bad Axe, was +reached, and soon after that came the final +struggle.</p> + +<p>We found many groups of pines, this morning, +in the amphitheater between the bluffs, +and under them the wintergreen berries in +rich profusion. Some of the little pocket +farms in these depressions are delightful bits +of rugged landscape. In the fields of corn, +now neatly shocked, the golden pumpkins +seemed as if in imminent danger of rolling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +down hill. There are curious effects in +architecture, where the barns and other +outbuildings far overtop the dwellings, and +have to be reached by flights of steps or +angling paths. Yet here and there are pleasant, +gently rolling fields, nearer the bank, and +smooth, sugar-loaf mounds upon which cattle +peacefully graze. The buckwheat patches are +white with blossom. Now and then can just +be distinguished the forms of men and women +husking maize upon some fertile upland bench. +And so goes on the day. Now, with pretty +glimpses of rural life, often reminding one +of Rhineland views, without the castles; then, +swishing off through the heart of the bottoms +for miles, shut in except from distant views of +the hill-tops, and as excluded from humanity, +in these vistas of sand and morass, as though +traversing a wilderness; anon, darting past +deserted rocky slopes or through the dark +shadow of beetling cliffs, and the gloomy +forests which crown them.</p> + +<p>Lone Rock ferry is nearly fourteen miles +below Helena bridge. As we came in view, +the boat was landing a doctor's gig at the +foot of a bold, naked bluff, on the southern +bank. The doctor and the ferryman gave +civil answers to our queries about distances, +and expressed great astonishment when answered, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +in turn, that we were bound for the +mouth of the river. "Mighty dull business," +the doctor remarked, "traveling in that little +cockle-shell; I should think you'd feel afraid, +ma'am, on this big, lonesome river; my wife +don't dare look at a boat, and I always feel +skittish coming over on the ferry." I assured +him that canoeing was far from being a dull +business, and <span class="nowrp">W——</span> good-humoredly added +that she had as yet seen nothing to be afraid +of. The doctor laughed and said something, +as he clicked up his bony nag, about "tastes +differing, anyhow." And, the ferryman trudging +behind,—the smoke from his cabin +chimney was rising above the tree-tops in +a neighboring ravine,—the little cortege +wound its way up the rough, angling roadway +fashioned out of the face of the bluff, and +soon vanished around a corner. Lone Rock +village is a mile and a half inland to the +south.</p> + +<p>Just below, the cliff overhangs the stream, +its base having been worn into by centuries +of ceaseless washing. On a narrow beach beneath, +a group of cows were chewing their +cuds in an atmosphere of refreshing coolness. +From the rocky roof above them hung ferns +in many varieties,—maidenhair, the wood, +the sensitive, and the bladder; while in clefts +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +and grottos, or amid great heaps of rock +debris, hard by, there were generous masses +of king fern, lobelia cardinalis, iron and sneeze +weed, golden-rod, daisies, closed gentian, and +eupatorium, in startling contrasts of vivid +color. It being high noon, we stopped and +landed at this bit of fairy land, ate our dinner, +and botanized. There was a tinge of +triumphant scorn in <span class="nowrp">W——</span>'s voice, when, +emerging from a spring-head grotto, bearing +in one arm a brilliant bouquet of wild flowers +and in the other a mass of fern fronds, she +cried, "To think of his calling canoeing a +dull business!"</p> + +<p>Richland City, on the northern bank, five +miles down, is a hamlet of fifteen or twenty +houses, some of them quite neat in appearance. +Nestled in a grove of timber on a plain +at the base of the bluffs, the village presents +a quaint old-country appearance for a long +distance up-stream. The St. Paul railway, +which skirts the northern bank after crossing +the Helena bridge, sends out a spur northward +from Richland City, to Richland Center, +the chief town in Richland county.</p> + +<p>Two miles below Richland City, we landed +at the foot of an imposing bluff, which rises +sharply for three hundred feet or more from the +water's edge. It is practically treeless on the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +river side. We ascended it through a steep +gorge washed by a spring torrent. Strewn +with bowlders and hung with bushes and an +occasional thicket of elms and oaks, the path +was rough but sure. From the heights above, +the dark valley lay spread before us like a +map. Ten miles away, to our left, a splash of +white in a great field of green marked the +location of Lone Rock village; five miles to +the right, a spire or two rising above the +trees indicated where Muscoda lay far back +from the river reaches; while in front, two +miles away, peaceful little Avoca was sunning +its gray roofs on a gently rising ground. +Between these settlements and the parallel +ranges which hemmed in the panoramic view, +lay a wide expanse of willow-grown sand-fields, +forested morasses, and island meadows +through which the many-channeled river cut +its devious way. In the middle foreground, +far below us, some cattle were being driven +through a bushy marsh by boys and dogs. +The cows looked the size of kittens to us at +our great elevation, but such was the purity +of the atmosphere that the shouts and yelps +of the drivers rose with wonderful clearness, +and the rustling of the brush was as if in an +adjoining lot. The noise seemed so disproportioned +to the size of the objects occasioning +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +it, that this acoustic effect was at first +rather startling.</p> + +<p>The whitewashed cabin of a squatter and +his few log outbuildings occupy a little basin +to one side of the bluff. His cattle were +ranging over the hillsides, attended by a colly. +The family were rather neatly dressed, but +there did not appear to be over an acre of +land level enough for cultivation, and that was +entirely devoted to Indian corn. It was something +of a mystery how this man could earn a +living in his cooped-up mountain home. But +the honest-looking fellow seemed quite contented, +sitting in the shade of his woodpile +smoking a corncob pipe, surrounded by a half +dozen children. He cheerfully responded to +my few queries, as we stopped at his well on +the return to our boat. The good wife, a +buxom woman with pretty blue eyes set in a +smiling face, was peeling a pan of potatoes on +the porch, near by, while one foot rocked a +rude cradle ingeniously formed out of a barrel +head and a lemon box. She seemed +mightily pleased as <span class="nowrp">W——</span> stroked the face +of the chubby infant within, and made inquiries +as to the ages of the step-laddered +brood; and the father, too, fairly beamed with +satisfaction as he placed his hands on the +golden curls of his two oldest misses and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +proudly exhibited their little tricks of precocity. +There can be no poverty under such a +roof. Millionnaires might well envy the peaceful +contentment of these hillside squatters.</p> + +<p>Down to Muscoda we followed the rocky +and wood-crowned northern bank, along which +the country highway is cut out. The swift +current closely hugs it, and there was needed +but slight exertion with the paddles to lead a +sewing-machine agent, whom we found to be +urging his horse into a vain attempt to distance +the canoe. As he seemed to court a +race, we had determined not to be outdone, +and were not.</p> + +<p>Orion, on the northern side, just above +Muscoda, is a deserted town. It must have +been a pretentious place at one time. There +are a dozen empty business buildings, now +tenanted by bats and spiders. On one shop +front, a rotting sign displays the legend, +"World's Exchange;" there is also a "Globe +Hotel," and the remains of a bank or two. +Alders, lilacs, and gnarled apple-trees in many +deserted clumps, tell where the houses once +were; and the presence, among these ruins, of +a family or two of squalid children only emphasizes +the dreary loneliness. Orion was +once a "boom" town, they tell us,—an expressive +epitaph. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span></p> + +<p>A thin, outcropping substratum of sandstone +is noticeable in this section of the river. +It underlies the sandy plains which abut the +Wisconsin in the Muscoda region, and lines +the bed of the stream; near the banks, where +there is but a slight depth of water, rapids +are sometimes noticeable, the rocky bottom +being now and then scaled off into a stairlike +form, for the fall is here much sharper than +customary.</p> + +<p>Because of an outlying shelf of this sandstone, +bordered by rapids, but covered with +only a few inches of dead water, we had some +difficulty in landing at Muscoda beach, on the +southern shore. Some stout poling and lifting +were essential before reaching land. Muscoda +was originally situated on the bank, +which rises gently from the water; but as the +river trade fell off, the village drifted up +nearer the bluff, a mile south over the plain, +in order to avoid the spring floods. There is +a toll-bridge here and a large brewery, with +extensive cattle-sheds strung along the shore. +A few scattering houses connect these establishments +with the sleepy but neat little hamlet +of some five hundred inhabitants. After a +brisk walk up town, in the fading sunlight, +which cast a dazzling glimmer on the +whitened dunes and heightened the size of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +the dwarfed herbage, we returned to the canoe, +and cast off to seek camping quarters for the +night, down-stream.</p> + +<p>A mile below, on the opposite bank, a +large straw-stack by the side of a small farmhouse +attracted our attention. We stopped +to investigate. There was a good growth of +trees upon a gentle slope, a few rods from shore, +and a beach well strewn with drift-wood. The +farmer who greeted us was pleasant-spoken, +and readily gave us permission to pitch our tent +in the copse and partake freely of his straw.</p> + +<p>Now more accustomed to the river's ways, +we keenly enjoyed our supper, seated around +our little camp-fire in the early dark. We +had occasional glimpses of the lights in Muscoda, +through the swaying trees on the bottoms +to the south; an owl, on a neighboring +island, incessantly barked like a terrier; the +whippoorwills were sounding their mournful +notes from over the gliding river, and now +and then a hoarse grunt or querulous squeal +in the wood-lot behind us gave notice that we +were quartered in a hog pasture. Soon the +moon came out and brilliantly lit the opens,—the +glistening river, the stretches of white +sand, the farmer's fields,—and intensified the +sepulchral shadows of the lofty bluffs which +overhang the scene. +</p> +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_276.jpg" width="450" height="149" alt="Wisconsin Chapter IV Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h2>FLOATING THROUGH FAIRYLAND.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">U</span>ndisturbed by hogs or river tramps, +we slept soundly until seven, the following +morning. There was a heavy fog again, +but by the time we had leisurely eaten our +breakfast, struck camp, and had a pleasant +chat with our farmer host and his "hired +man," who had come down to the bank to +make us a call, the mists had rolled away before +the advances of the sun.</p> + +<p>At half past ten we were at Port Andrew, +eight miles below camp on the north shore. +The Port, or what is left of it, lies stretched +along a narrow bench of sand, based with +rock, some forty feet above the water, with +a high, naked bluff backing it to the north. +There is barely room for the buildings, on +either side of its one avenue paralleling the +river; this street is the country road, which +skirts the bank, connecting the village with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +the sparse settlements, east and west. In the +old rafting days, the Port was a stopping-place +for the lumber pilots. There being neither +rafts nor pilots, nowadays, there is no business +for the Port, except what few dollars may be +picked up from the hunters who frequent this +place each fall, searching for woodcock. But +even the woodcocking industry has been overdone +here, and two sportsmen whom we met +on the beach declared that there were not +enough birds remaining to pay for the trouble +of getting here. For, indeed, Port Andrew +is quite off the paths of modern civilization. +There is practically no communication with +the country over the bluffs, northward; and +Blue River, the nearest railway station, to +which there is a tri-weekly mail, is four miles +southward, over the bottoms, with an uncertain +ferryage between. There are less than +fifty human beings in Port Andrew now, but +double that number of dogs, the latter mostly +of the pointer breed, kept for the benefit of +huntsmen.</p> + +<p>We climbed the bank and went over to the +post-office and general store. It seems to be +the only business establishment left alive in +the hamlet; although there are a dozen deserted +buildings which were stores in the long +ago, but are now ghostly wrecks, open to wind +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +and weather on every side, and, with sunken +ridge-poles, waiting for the first good wind-storm +to furnish an excuse for a general collapse. +A sleepy, greasy-looking lad, whose +originally white shirt-front was sadly stained +with water-melon juice, had charge of the +meager concern. He said that the farmers +north of the bluffs traded in towns more accessible +than this, and that south of the +stream, Blue River, being a railroad place, +was "knockin' the spots off'n the Port." +Ten years ago, he had heard his "pa" say +the Port was "a likely place," but it "ain't +much shakes now."</p> + +<p>But there is a certain quaintness about +these ruins of Port Andrew that is quite +attractive. A deep ravine, cut through the +shale-rock, comes winding down from a pass +among the bluffs, severing the hamlet in twain. +Over it there is sprung a high-arched, rough +stone bridge, with crenelled walls, quite as +artistic in its way as may be found in pictures +of ancient English brook-crossings. On the +summit of a rising-ground beyond, stands +the solitary, whitened skeleton of a once spacious +inn, a broad double-decked veranda +stretching across its river front, and hitching-posts +and drinking-trough now almost lost to +view in a jungle of docks and sand-burrs. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +The cracks in the rotten veranda floors are +lined with grass; the once broad highway is +now reduced to an unfrequented trail through +the yielding sand, which is elsewhere hid +under a flowery mantle made up of delicate, +fringed blossoms of pinkish purple, called by +the natives "Pike's weed," and the rich yellow +and pale gold of the familiar "butter and eggs." +The peculiar effect of color, outline, and perspective, +that hazy August day, was indeed +charming. But we were called from our rapt +contemplation of the picture, by the assemblage +around us of half the population of Port +Andrew, led by the young postmaster and +accompanied by a drove of playful hounds. +The impression had somehow got abroad that +we had come to prospect for an iron mine, in +the bed of the old ravine, and there was a +general desire to see how the thing was done. +The popular disappointment was evidently +great, when we descended from our perch on +the old bridge wall, and returned to the little +vessel on the beach, which had meanwhile +been closely overhauled by a knot of inquisitive +urchins. A part of the crowd followed +us down, plying innocent questions by the +score, while on the summit of the bank +above stood a watchful group of women and +girls, some in huge sun-bonnets, others with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +aprons thrown over their heads. There was +a general waving of hats and aprons from the +shore, as we shot off into the current again, +and our "Good-by!" was answered by a +cheery chorus. It is evident that Port Andrew +does not have many exciting episodes in +her aimless, far-away life.</p> + +<p>Flocks of crows were seen to-day, winging +their funereal flight from shore to shore, and +uttering dismal croaks. The islands presented +a more luxurious flora than we had +yet seen; the marsh grass upon them was +rank and tall, the overhanging trees sumptuously +vine-clad, the autumn tints deeper and +richer than before, the banks glowing with cardinal +and yellow and purple; while on the sandy +shores we saw loosestrife, white asters, the +sensitive plant, golden-rod, and button-bush. +Blue herons drifted through the air on their +wide-spread wings, heads curved back upon +their shoulders, and legs hanging straight +down, to settle at last upon barren sand-spits, +and stand in silent contemplation of some +pool of dead water where perhaps a stray fish +might reward their watchfulness. Solitary +kingfishers kept their vigils on the numerous +snags. Now and then a turtle shuffled from +his perch and went tumbling with a loud +splash into his favorite watering-place. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span></p> + +<p>Although yet too early for Indian summer, +the day became, by noon, very like those +which are the delight of a protracted northwestern +autumn. A golden haze threw a +mystic veil over the landscape; distant shore +lines were obliterated, sand and sky and +water at times merged in an indistinct blur, +and distances were deceptive. Now and then +the vistas of white sand-fields would apparently +stretch on to infinity. Again, the river +would seem wholly girt with cliffs and we in +the bottom of a huge mountain basin, from +which egress was impossible; or the stream +would for a time appear a boundless lake. +The islands ahead were as if floating in space, +and there were weird reflections of far-away +objects in the waters near us. While these +singular effects lasted we trimmed our bark to +the swift-gliding current, and floated along +through fairy-land, unwilling to break the +charm by disturbing the mirrored surface of +the flood.</p> + +<p>Soon after the dinner hour we came in sight +of the Boscobel toll-bridge,—an ugly, clumsy +structure, housed-in like a tunnel, and as dark +as a pocket. I was never quite able to understand +why some bridge-makers should cover +their structures in this fashion, and others, in +the same locality, leave them open to wind and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +weather. So far as my unexpert observation +goes, covered bridges are no more durable +than the open, and they are certainly less +cheerful and comely. A chill always comes +over me as I enter one of these damp and +gloomy hollow-ways; and the thought of how +well adapted they are to the purposes of the +thug or the footpad is not a particularly pleasant +one for the lonely traveler by night. A +dead little river hamlet, now in abject ruins,—Manhattan +by name,—occupies the rugged +bank at the north end of the long bridge; +while southward, Boscobel is out of sight, a +mile and a half inland, across the bottoms. +The bluff overtopping Manhattan is a quarry +of excellent hard sandstone, and a half dozen +men were dressing blocks for shipment, on +the rocky shore above us. They and their +families constitute Manhattan.</p> + +<p>Eight miles down river, also on the north +bank, is Boydtown. There are two houses +there, in a sandy glen at the base of a group +of heavily wooded foot-hills. At one of the +dwellings—a neat, slate-colored cottage—we +found a cheery, black-eyed woman sitting on +the porch with a brood of five happy children +playing about her. As she hurried away +to get the butter and milk which we had +asked for, she apologized for being seen to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +enjoy this unwonted leisure, apparently not +desirous that we should suppose her to be any +other than the hard-working little body which +her hands and driving manner proclaimed her +to be. When she returned with our supplies +she said that they had "got through thrashin'," +the day before, and she was enjoying the +luxury of a rest preparatory to an accumulated +churning. I looked incredulously at the sandy +waste in which this little home was planted, +and the good woman explained that their farm +lay farther back, on fair soil, although the present +dry season had not been the best for crops.</p> + +<p>Her brown-faced boy of ten and two little +girls of about eight—the laughing faces and +crow-black curls of the latter hid under immense +flapping sun-bonnets—accompanied +us to the bayou by which we had approached +Boydtown. They had a gay, unrestrained +manner that was quite captivating, and we +were glad to have them row alongside of us +for a way down-stream in the unwieldy family +punt, the lad handling the crude oars and the +girls huddled together on the stern seat, covered +by their great sun-bonnet flaps, as with a +cape. They were "goin' grapein'," they said; +and at an island where the vines hung dark +with purple clusters, they piped "Good-by, +you uns!" in tittering unison. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span></p> + +<p>By this time, the weather had changed. +The haze had lifted. The sky had quickly +become overcast with leaden rainclouds, and +an occasional big drop gave warning of an +approaching storm. A few miles below Boydtown, +we stopped to replenish our canteen at +the St. Paul railway's fine iron bridge, the +last crossing on that line between Milwaukee +and Prairie du Chien. On the southern end +of the bridge is Woodman; on the northern +bank, the tender's house. As we were in +the northern channel, it was impracticable to +reach the village, separated from us by wide +islands and long stretches of swamp and forest, +except by walking the bridge and the +mile or two of trestle-work approaches to the +south. As for the bridge-house, there chanced +to be no spare quarters for us there. So we +voted to trust to fortune and push on, although +the tender's wife, a pleasant, English-faced +woman, with black, sparkling eyes and +a hospitable smile, was much exercised in +spirit, and thought we were running some +hazard of a wetting.</p> + +<p>The skies lightened for a time, and then +there came rolling up from over the range to +the southwest great jagged rifts of black +clouds, ugly "thunder heads," which seemed +to presage a deluge. Below them, veiling the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> +tallest peaks, tossed and sped the light-footed +couriers of the wind, and we saw the dark-green +bosom of the upper forests heave with +the emotions of the air, while the rushing +stream below flowed on unruffled. The river +is here united in one broad channel. At the +first evidence of a blow, we hurried across to +the windward bank. We were landing at the +swampy, timber-strewn base of a precipitous +cliff as the wind passed over the valley, and +had just completed our preparations for shelter +when the rain began to come in blinding +sheets.</p> + +<p>The possibility of having to spend the +night under the sepulchral arches of this forested +morass was not pleasant to contemplate. +The storm abated, however, within +half an hour, and we were then able to distinguish +a large white house apparently set +back in an open field a half mile or more +from the opposite shore.</p> + +<p>Re-embarking, we headed that way, and +found a wood-fringed stream several rods +wide, pouring a vigorous flood into the Wisconsin, +from the north. Our map showed it +to be the Kickapoo, an old-time logging river, +and the house must be an outlying member +of the small railroad village of Wauzeka. A +consultation was held on board, at the mouth +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> +of the Kickapoo. On the Wisconsin not a +house was to be seen, as far as the eye could +reach, and wide stretches of swamp and +wooded bog appeared to line both its banks. +The prospect of paddling up the mad little +Kickapoo for a mile to Wauzeka was dispiriting, +but we decided to do it; for night +was coming on, our tent, even could we find +a good camping ground in this marshy wilderness, +was disposed to be leaky, and a steady +drizzle continued to sound a muffled tattoo +on our rubber coats. A voluble fisherman, +caught out in the rain like ourselves, came +swinging into the tributary, with his cranky +punt, just as we were setting our paddles for +a vigorous pull up-stream. We had his company, +side by side, till we reached the St. Paul +railway trestle, and beached at the foot of a +deserted stave mill, in whose innermost recesses +we deposited our traps. Guided by +the village shoemaker's boy, who had been +playing by the river side, we started up the +track to find the hotel, nearly a half mile +away.</p> + +<p>It is a quiet, comfortable, old-fashioned little +inn, this hostelry at Wauzeka. The landlord +greeted his storm-bound guests with +polite urbanity, and with none of that inquisitiveness +so common in rural hosts. At supper, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span> +we met the village philosopher, a quaint, +lone old man who has an opinion of his own +upon most human subjects, and more than +dares to voice it,—insists, in fact, on having +it known of all men. A young commercial +traveler, the only other patron of the establishment, +sadly guyed our philosophical messmate +by securing his verdict on a wide range +of topics, from the latest league game to abstruse +questions of theology. The philosopher +bit, and the drummer was in high feather +as he crinkled the corners of his mouth behind +his huge moustache, and looked slyly +around for encouragement that was not +offered.</p> + +<p>Wauzeka is, in one respect, like too many +other country villages. Three saloons disfigure +the main street, and in front of them +are little knots of noisy loafers, in the evening, +filling up the rickety, variously graded +sidewalk to the gutter, and necessitating the +running of a loathsome gauntlet to those who +may wish to pass that way. The boy who +can grow up in such an atmosphere, unpolluted, +must be of rare material, or his parents +exceptionally judicious. There are few large +cities where one can see the liquor traffic +carried on with such disgusting boldness +as in hamlets like this, where screenless, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +open-doored saloons of a vile character jostle +trading shops and dwellings, and monopolize +the footway, making of the business street a +place which women may abhor at any hour, +and must necessarily avoid after sunset. +With a local-option law, that but awaits a majority +vote to be operative in such communities, +it is a strange commentary on the quality +of our nineteenth-century civilization that the +dissolute few should still, as of old, be able to +persistently hold the whip-hand over the virtuous +but timid many.</p> + +<p>Elsewhere in Wauzeka, there are many +pretty grass-grown lanes; some substantial +cottages; a prosperous creamery, employing +the service of the especial pride of the village, +a six-inch spouting well, driven for three hundred +feet to the underlying stratum of lime-rock; +a saw-mill or two, which are worked +spasmodically, according to the log-driving +stage in the Kickapoo, and some pleasant, +accommodating people, who appear to be quite +contented with their lot in life. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_289.jpg" width="450" height="140" alt="Wisconsin Chapter V Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h2>THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.</h2> + +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>here was fog on the river in the +morning. Across the broad expanse of +field and ledge which separates Wauzeka from +the Wisconsin, we could see the great white +mass of vapor, fifty feet thick, resting on the +broad channel like a dense coverlid of down. +Soon after seven o'clock, the cloud lifted by +degrees, and then broke into ragged segments, +which settled sluggishly for a while on the +tops of the southern line of bluffs and screened +their dark amphitheaters from view, till at last +dissipated into thin air.</p> + +<p>We were off at eight o'clock, fifteen or +twenty men coming down to the railway-bridge +to watch the operation. One of them +helped us materially with our bundles, while +the rest sat in a row along the trestle, dangling +their feet through the spaces between the +stringers, and gazing at us as though we were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +a circus company on the move. A drizzle set +in, just as we pushed from the bank, and we +descended the Kickapoo under much the +same conditions of atmosphere as those we +had experienced in pulling against its swirling +tide the evening before.</p> + +<p>But by nine o'clock the storm was over, and +we had, for a time, a calm, quiet journey, a +gray light which harmonized well with the +wildly picturesque scenery, and a fresh west +breeze which helped us on our way. We +were now but twenty miles from the mouth. +The parallel ranges of bluff come nearer +together, until they are not much over a mile +apart, and the stream, now broader, swifter, +and deeper, is less encumbered with islands. +Upon the peaty banks are the tall white spikes +of the curious turtlehead, occasional masses +of balsam-apple vines, the gleaming lobelia +cardinalis, yellow honeysuckles just going out +of blossom, and acres of the golden sneeze-weed, +which deserves a better name.</p> + +<p>At Wright's Ferry, ten miles below, there +are domiciled two German families, and on the +shore is a saw-mill which is operated in the +spring, to work up the logs which farmers +bring down from the gloomy mountains which +back the scene.</p> + +<p>Bridgeport, four miles farther,—still on the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> +northern side,—is chiefly a clump of little +red railway buildings set up on a high bench +carved from the face of the bluff, their fronts +resting on the road-bed and their rears on +high scaffolding. A few big bowlders rolling +down from the cliffs would topple Bridgeport +over into the river. There is a covered country +toll-bridge here, and the industrial interest +of the Liliputian community is quarrying. It +is the last hamlet on the river.</p> + +<p>A mist again formed, casting a blue tinge +over the peaks and giving them a far distant +aspect; dark clouds now and then lowered +and rolled through the upper ravines, reflecting +their inky hue upon the surface of the +deep, gliding river. The bluffs, which had +for many miles closely abutted the stream, at +last gradually swept away to the north and +south, to become part of the great wall which +forms the eastern bulwark of the Upper Mississippi. +At their base spreads a broad, flat +plain, fringed with boggy woods and sandy +meadows, the delta of the Wisconsin, which, +below the Lowertown bridge of the Burlington +and Northern railway, is cut up into flood-washed +willow islands, flanked by a wide +stretch of shifting sand-bars black with +tangled roots and stranded logs, the debris of +many a spring-time freshet. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span></p> + +<p>It was about half-past twelve o'clock when we +came to the junction of the Wisconsin and the +Mississippi. Upon a willow-grown sand-reef +edging the swamp, which extends northward +for five miles to the quaint, ancient little city +of Prairie du Chien, a large barge lies stranded. +A lone fisherman sat upon its bulwark rail, +which overhangs the rushing waters as they +here commingle. We landed with something +akin to reverence, for this must have been +about the place where Joliet and Marquette, +two hundred and fourteen years ago, gazed +with rapture upon the mighty Mississippi, +which they had at last discovered, after so +many thousands of miles of arduous journeying +through a savage-haunted wilderness. And +indeed it is an imposing sight. To the west, +two miles away, rise the wooded peaks on +the Iowa side of the great river. Northward +there are pretty glimpses of cliffs and rocky +beaches through openings in the heavy growth +which covers the islands of the upper stream. +Southward is a long vista of curving hills and +glinting water shut in by the converging +ranges. Eastward stretches the green delta +of the Wisconsin, flanked by those imposing +bluffs, between whose bases for two centuries +has flowed a curious throng of humanity, +savage and civilized, on errands sacred +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> +and profane, representing many clashing nationalities.</p> + +<p>The rain descended in a gentle shower as I +was lighting a fire on which to cook our last +canoeing meal of the season; and <span class="nowrp">W——</span> +held an umbrella over the already damp kindling +in order to give it a chance. We no doubt +made a comical picture as we crouched together +beneath this shelter, jointly trying to +fan the sparks into a flame, for the fisherman, +who had been heretofore speechless, and apparently +rapt in his occupation, burst out into +a hearty laugh. When we turned to look at +him he hid his face under his upturned coat-collar, +and giggled to himself like a schoolgirl. +He was a jolly dog, this fisherman, and +after we had presented him with a cup of +coffee and what solids we could spare from +our now meager store, he warmed into a very +communicative mood, and gave us much detailed, +though rather highly colored, information +about the locality, especially as to its +natural features.</p> + +<p>The rain had ceased by the time dinner was +over; so we bade farewell to the happy fisherman +and the presiding deities of the Wisconsin, +and pulled up the giant Mississippi to +Prairie du Chien, stopping on our way to visit +an out-of-the-way bayou, botanically famous, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +where flourishes the rare nelumbium luteum—America's +nearest approach to the lotus of +the Nile.</p> + +<p>And thus was accomplished the season's +stint of six hundred miles of canoeing upon +the Historic Waterways of Illinois and +Wisconsin. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter p6"> +<img src="images/illo_296.jpg" width="450" height="116" alt="Index Header" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a></p> +<div class="index"> +<h2>INDEX.</h2> + +<p> +Algoma, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</p> + +<p>Allouez, Father Claude, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</p> + +<p>American Fur Co., <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</p> + +<p>Anderson, Maj. Robert, U.S.A., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</p> + +<p>Antoinette, Marie, Queen of France, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</p> + +<p>Appleton, Wis., <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>-<a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</p> + +<p>Arena Ferry, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</p> + +<p>Arndt, Judge John P., <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</p> + +<p>Astor, John Jacob, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</p> + +<p>Atkinson, Gen. Henry, U. S. A., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</p> + +<p>Avoca, Wis., <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Bad Axe, battle of, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</p> + +<p>Baraboo River, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</p> + +<p>Barth, Laurent, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</p> + +<p>Beloit, Wis., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</p> + +<p>Berlin, Wis., <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>-<a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</p> + +<p>Black Hawk War, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>-<a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</p> + +<p>Black Hawk Mountain, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</p> + +<p>Black River Falls, Wis., <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</p> + +<p>Black Wolf Point, Lake Winnebago, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</p> + +<p>Blue Mound, Wis., <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</p> + +<p>Blue River Village, Wis., <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</p> + +<p>Boscobel, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</p> + +<p>"Bourbon, The American." <i>See</i> <a href="#Williams">Williams, Eleazar</a>.</p> + +<p>Boydtown, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</p> + +<p>Bridgeport, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</p> + +<p>Buffalo Lake, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</p> + +<p>Butte des Morts, Lake Grand, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>-<a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</p> + +<p>Butte des Morts, Lake Petit, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</p> + +<p>Butte des Morts Village, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</p> + +<p>Butterfield, Consul W., <i>cited</i>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</p> + +<p>Byron, Ill., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Canoeing, pleasures of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</p> + +<p>Canoeists, suggestions to, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</p> + +<p>Canoes, styles of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</p> + +<p>Carbon Cliff, Ill., <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Catfish" id="Catfish"></a>Catfish River, Wis., <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</p> + +<p>Champche Keriwinke, Winnebago princess, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</p> + +<p>Champlain, Governor of Quebec, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</p> + +<p>Cherry River, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</p> + +<p>Chicago, Burlington, and Northern Ry., <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</p> + +<p>Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Ry., <a href="#Page_137">137</a>-<a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</p> + +<p>Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Ry., <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</p> + +<p>Chicago and Northwestern Ry., <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>-<a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</p> + +<p>Cleveland, Ill., <a href="#Page_137">137</a>. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span></p> + +<p>Coloma, Ill., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>-<a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</p> + +<p>Como, Ill. 26, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</p> + +<p>Crooks, Ramsay, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Dablon, Father Claude, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</p> + +<p>Dakotah Indians. <i>See</i> <a href="#Sioux">Sioux</a> and <a href="#Winnebagos">Winnebagoes</a>.</p> + +<p>Davis, Jefferson, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</p> + +<p>Dekorra, Wis., <a href="#Page_242">242</a>-<a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</p> + +<p>De Korra, early fur trader, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</p> + +<p>Depere, Wis., <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</p> + +<p>Dixon, Ill., <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>-<a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</p> + +<p>Dodge, Maj. Henry, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</p> + +<p>Doty's Island, Wis., <a href="#Page_195">195</a>-<a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</p> + +<p>Dunkirk, Wis., <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Erie, Ill., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>-<a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</p> + +<p>Eureka, Wis., <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">First Lake, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</p> + +<p>Fond du Lac, Wis., <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</p> + +<p>Fort Crawford (Prairie du Chien, Wis.), <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</p> + +<p>Fort Howard, Wis., <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>-<a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</p> + +<p>Fort Winnebago (Portage, Wis.), <a href="#Page_144">144</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</p> + +<p>Four Lake country, Wis., <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="FourLegs" id="FourLegs"></a>Four Legs, Winnebago chief, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</p> + +<p>Fox Indians (<i>see</i>, also, Sacs), <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>-<a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</p> + +<p>Fox River, Wis., <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>-<a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</p> + +<p>Fulton, Wis., <a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</p> + +<p>Fur trade in Wisconsin, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Ganymede Springs, Ill., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</p> + +<p>Garlic Island, Lake Winnebago, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</p> + +<p>Garritty, Mary, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</p> + +<p>Grand Detour, Ill., <a href="#Page_92">92</a>-<a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</p> + +<p>Great Bend of Rock River, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>-<a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</p> + +<p>Green Bay, Wis., <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>-<a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</p> + +<p>Grignon, Augustin, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Hanson, John H., <i>cited</i>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</p> + +<p>Harney, Gen. William S., U. S. A., <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</p> + +<p>Helena Village, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</p> + +<p>Helena, Wis., Old, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</p> + +<p>Henry, Maj. James D., <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</p> + +<p>Hoo-Tschope. <i>See</i> <a href="#FourLegs">Four Legs</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Illinois Indians, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</p> + +<p>Iowatuk, Winnebago princess, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Janesville, Wis., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</p> + +<p>Jesuit missionaries, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</p> + +<p>Joliet, Sieur de, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Kackalin, Grand. <i>See</i> <a href="#Kaukauna">Kaukauna</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Kaukauna" id="Kaukauna"></a>Kaukauna, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</p> + +<p>Kellogg's trail, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</p> + +<p>Keokuk, Fox chief, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</p> + +<p>Kickapoo Indians, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</p> + +<p>Kickapoo River, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</p> + +<p>Kinzie, Mrs. John H., <i>cited</i>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</p> + +<p>Koshkonong, Lake, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Lakeside, Third Lake, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</p> + +<p>Langlade, Charles de, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="LathamStation" id="LathamStation"></a>Latham Station, Ill., <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</p> + +<p>Lawrence University, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</p> + +<p>Lead mines at Galena, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</p> + +<p>Lecuyer, Jean B., <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</p> + +<p>Lignery, Sieur Marchand de, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</p> + +<p>Lincoln, Abraham, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</p> + +<p>Little Kaukauna, Wis., <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>-<a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</p> + +<p>Lone Rock, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>-<a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</p> + +<p>Louis XVI., King of France, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>-<a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</p> + +<p>Louis XVII., Dauphin of France, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>-<a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</p> + +<p>Louvigny, Sieur de, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</p> + +<p>Lyndon, Ill., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Madison, Wis., <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span></p> + +<p>Manhattan, Wis., <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</p> + +<p>Marin, Sieur de, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</p> + +<p>Marquette, Father James, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</p> + +<p>Marquette Village, Wis., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</p> + +<p>Mascoutin Indians, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>-<a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</p> + +<p>Mazomanie, Wis., <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</p> + +<p>Menasha, Wis., <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</p> + +<p>Menomonee Indians, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</p> + +<p>Merrimac, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>-<a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</p> + +<p>Miami Indians, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</p> + +<p>Milan, Ill., <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</p> + +<p>Milwaukee and Northern Ry., <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</p> + +<p>Mississippi River, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>-<a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>-<a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</p> + +<p>Mohawk Indians, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</p> + +<p>Montello, Wis., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>-<a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</p> + +<p>Muscoda, Wis., <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>-<a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Neenah, Wis., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>-<a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</p> + +<p>New York Indians. <i>See</i> <a href="#Oneidas">Oneidas</a>.</p> + +<p>Nicolet, Jean, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</p> + +<p>Northern Insane Hospital, Wis., <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Omro, Wis., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Oneidas" id="Oneidas"></a>Oneida Indians, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</p> + +<p>Oregon, Ill., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</p> + +<p>Orion, Wis., <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</p> + +<p>Oshkosh, Menomonee chief, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</p> + +<p>Oshkosh, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>-<a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</p> + +<p>Ott's Farm, Madison, Wis., <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</p> + +<p>Owen, Ill. <i>See</i> <a href="#LathamStation">Latham Station</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Packwaukee, Wis., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>-<a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</p> + +<p>Paine Bros., <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</p> + +<p>Paquette, Pierre, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</p> + +<p>Penney, Josephine, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</p> + +<p>Philippe, Louis, King of France, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</p> + +<p>Pope's Springs, Wis., <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</p> + +<p>Porlier, James, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</p> + +<p>Porlier, Louis B., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</p> + +<p>Portage, Wis., <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</p> + +<p>Port Andrew, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</p> + +<p>Pottawattomie Indians, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</p> + +<p>Poygan Lake, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</p> + +<p>Prairie du Chien, Wis., <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>-<a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</p> + +<p>Prairie du Sac, Wis., <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</p> + +<p>Princeton, Wis., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>-<a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</p> + +<p>Prophetstown, Ill., <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</p> + +<p>Puckawa Lake, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>-<a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Red Bird, Winnebago chief, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</p> + +<p>Richland Center, Wis., <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</p> + +<p>Richland City, Wis., <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</p> + +<p>Rockford, Ill., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</p> + +<p>Rock Island, Ill., <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</p> + +<p>Rock River, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>-<a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</p> + +<p>Rockton, Ill., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</p> + +<p>Roscoe, Ill., <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Sac Indians, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</p> + +<p>Sacramento, Wis., <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</p> + +<p>Sauk City, Wis., <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</p> + +<p>Sawyer, Philetus, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</p> + +<p>Second Lake, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</p> + +<p>Shaubena, Pottawattomie chief, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Sioux" id="Sioux"></a>Sioux Indians, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</p> + +<p>Smith's Island, Wis., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>-<a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</p> + +<p>Spring Green, Wis., <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</p> + +<p>Stebbinsville, Wis., <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</p> + +<p>Sterling, Ill., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</p> + +<p>Stillman's Creek, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</p> + +<p>Stillman's defeat, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</p> + +<p>Stoughton, Wis., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</p> + +<p>Stuart, Robert, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span></p> + +<p class="p2">Taylor, Zachary, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</p> + +<p>Third Lake, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</p> + +<p>Turvill's Bay, Third Lake, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</p> + +<p>Twiggs, Maj. David, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Walking Cloud, a Winnebago, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</p> + +<p>Wauzeka, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>-<a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="White_Cloud" id="White_Cloud"></a>White Cloud, Indian prophet, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</p> + +<p>White River lock, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Williams" id="Williams"></a>Williams, Eleazar, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</p> + +<p>Williams, Mrs. Eleazar, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Winnebagos" id="Winnebagos"></a>Winnebago Indians, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>-<a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</p> + +<p>Winnebago Lake, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</p> + +<p>Winnebago prophet. <i>See</i> <a href="#White_Cloud">White Cloud</a>.</p> + +<p>Winnebago Rapids, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>-<a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</p> + +<p>Winneconne, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</p> + +<p>Wisconsin Central Ry., <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</p> + +<p>Wisconsin Heights, battle of, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</p> + +<p>Wisconsin River, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</p> + +<p>Wisconsin River Dells, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</p> + +<p>Wolf River, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</p> + +<p>Woodman, Wis., <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</p> + +<p>Wright's Ferry, Wis., <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</p> + +<p>Wrightstown, Wis., <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.</p> + +<p class="p2">Yahara River. <i>See</i> <a href="#Catfish">Catfish</a>.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes p6"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> See Mrs. Kinzie's "Wau-Bun" for a description of the +difficulties of travel in "the early day," via Dixon's Ferry.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Ten dollars per boat, and fifty cents per 100 lbs. of +goods.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Described in Mrs. Kinzie's "Wau-Bun," which gives +many interesting reminiscences of life at the old post.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Butterfield's "Discovery of the Northwest" (Cincinnati, +1861).</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See Mrs. Kinzie's "Wau-Bun" for reminiscences of +Four Legs.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Wis. Hist. Colls., vol. ii. p. 425.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Historic Waterways--Six Hundred Miles +of Canoeing Down the Rock, Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers, by Reuben Gold Thwaites + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORIC WATERWAYS *** + +***** This file should be named 38556-h.htm or 38556-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/5/5/38556/ + +Produced by Greg Bergquist, Melissa McDaniel and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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