After Stopping For Two Hours At A Wayside Shed, We Set Out Again At Dark
For La Fayette, [Footnote:
From the frequent recurrence of the same names,
the great distance travelled over, the short halt we made at
Any place,
and the absence of a railway guide, I have been unable to give, our route
from Cincinnati to Chicago with more than an approximation to
correctness.] which we reached at nine. These Western cars are crammed to
overflowing, and, having to cross a wide stream in a ferryboat, the crush
was so terrible, that I was nearly knocked down; but as American gentlemen
freely use their canes where a lady is in the case, I fared better than
some of my fellow-passengers, who had their coat-tails torn and their toes
barbarously crushed in the crowd. The steam ferry-boat had no parapet, and
the weakest were pushed to the side; the centre was filled up with
baggage, carts, and horses; and vessels were moored along the river, with
the warps crossing each other, to which we had to bow continually to avoid
decapitation. When we reached the wharf, quantities of people were waiting
to go to the other side; and directly the gangway-board was laid, there
was a simultaneous rush of two opposing currents, and, the insecure board
slipping, they were all precipitated into the water. Fortunately it was
not deep, so they merely underwent its cooling influences, which they bore
with admirable equanimity, only one making a bitter complaint, that he had
spoiled his "go-to-meetins." The farther west we went, the more
dangerous the neighbourhood became. At all the American stations there are
placards warning people to beware of pickpockets; but from Indiana
westward they bore the caution, "Beware of pickpockets, swindlers, and
luggage-thieves." At many of the depots there is a general rush for the
last car, for the same reason that there is a scramble for the stern
cabins in a steamer, - viz. the explosive qualities of the boilers.
We travelled the whole of that night, our fellow-passengers becoming more
extravagant in appearance at every station, and morning found us on the
prairies. Cooper influences our youthful imaginations by telling us of the
prairies - Mayne Reid makes us long to cross them; botanists tell us of
their flowers, sportsmen of their buffaloes [Footnote: At the present time
no wild animals are to be found east of the Mississippi; so effectually
has civilization changed the character of the ancient hunting-grounds of
the Indians.] - but without seeing them few people can form a correct idea
of what they are really like.
The sun rose over a monotonous plain covered with grass, rank, high, and
silky-looking, blown before the breeze into long, shiny waves. The sky was
blue above, and the grass a brownish green beneath; wild pigeons and
turkeys flew over our heads; the horizontal line had not a single
inequality; all was hot, unsuggestive, silent, and monotonous. This was
the grass prairie.
A belt of low timber would bound the expanse, and on the other side of it
a green sea would open before us, stretching as far as the eye could
reach - stationary billows of earth, covered with short green grass, which,
waving beneath the wind, completed the oceanic illusion. This was the
rolling prairie.
Again a belt of timber, and a flat surface covered with flowers, brilliant
even at this season of the year; though, of the most gorgeous, nothing
remained but the withered stalks. The ground was enamelled with lilies,
the helianthus and cineraria flourished, and the deep-green leaves and
blue blossom of the lupin contrasted with the prickly stem and scarlet
flower of the euphorbia. For what purpose was "the wilderness made so gay
where for years no eye sees it," but to show forth his goodness who does
what he will with his own? This was the weed prairie, more fitly termed
"the Garden of God."
These three kinds of prairie were continually alternating with belts of
timber and small lakes; but few signs of population were apparent during
that long day's journey. We occasionally stopped for water at shanties on
the prairies, and took in two or three men; but this vast expanse of
fertile soil still must remain for many years a field for the enterprise
of the European races.
Towards evening we changed cars again, and took in stores of refreshment
for our night's journey, as little could be procured along the route. What
strange people now crammed the cars! Traders, merchants, hunters, diggers,
trappers, and adventurers from every land, most of them armed to the
teeth, and not without good reason; for within the last few months,
Indians, enraged at the aggressions of the white men, have taken a
terrible revenge upon western travellers. Some of their rifles were of
most costly workmanship, and were nursed with paternal care by their
possessors. On the seat in front of me were two "prairie-men," such as are
described in the 'Scalp-Hunters,' though of an inferior grade to St.
Vrain. Fine specimens of men they were; tall, handsome, broad-chested, and
athletic, with aquiline noses, piercing grey eyes, and brown curling hair
and beards. They wore leathern jackets, slashed and embroidered, leather
smallclothes, large boots with embroidered tops, silver spurs, and caps of
scarlet cloth, worked with somewhat tarnished gold thread, doubtless the
gifts of some fair ones enamoured of the handsome physiognomies and
reckless bearing of the hunters. Dulness fled from their presence; they
could tell stories, whistle melodies, and sing comic songs without
weariness or cessation: fortunate were those near enough to be enlivened
by their drolleries during the tedium of a night detention. Each of them
wore a leathern belt - with two pistols stuck into it - gold earrings, and
costly rings. Blithe, cheerful souls they were, telling racy stories of
Western life, chivalrous in their manners, and free as the winds.
There were Californians dressed for the diggings, with leather pouches for
the gold-dust; Mormons on their way to Utah; and restless spirits seeking
for that excitement and variety which they had sought for in vain in
civilized life!
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