Johnson County, Missouri - Chapter 1: - Introduction, 1881

Chapter 1: - Introduction

Deeds of the immortal dead swell the burden of our divinest songs, and inspire the eloquence of our sublimest speech ; the wildest romance lives in the reality of history. And fact is stranger than the beautiful mirage of an exuberant fancy.

Time is a kaleidoscope, and with each revolution of the centuries comes a new picture. Discoveries seldom dawn. Change only is eternal; and events of to-day often cast no shadows of the future.

The discovery of America was due to the intrepid will of a man of science. It was an accident contingent upon an attempt to prove an asserted truth. But the early exploration and settlement of the great western continent, were due to the love of adventure and greed for gold. This adventurous spirit was the outcome of that wondrous chivalry which sprang flower-like from the decay of feudalism. In its early life it gave birth to many a heroic deed. But man being insatiable, this motive soon gave way before unrestrained ambition and satiateless greed. In Spain had this spirit reached its highest summit. The stories of military prowess by hero lover floated upon the ears of the maiden as she touched the lyre to the tuneful murmurings of the Guadalquivir. Thus far the lance of and in the bitterest contests of war, the visor was never lifted save to let the soft summer breezes kiss the death damps from his brow. The fame of the proud Castilian had spread among the powers of Europe. The clank of his armorial steel had but lately been heard within the marble courts of Granada, and as the last sigh of the Moor lingered amid the music of Alhambra's fountains, across the waters of a vast, unknown ocean, a Te Deum was being chanted by the discoverers of a new world.

Immediately all eyes were turned, and Spain began the first act of the great drama of American colonization. The heart that never bent but to the yoke of love, was fired by the ambition of new conquests. But the battle for " virtue " was no longer the incentive of the soul. Affluence had blighted. In every mind was the colossal spectre of power, and in every breast the lustful greed for gold, and the flow of feeling was as rest¬ less as the changing currents of the restless main.

To influences such as these are due the early Spanish discoveries in America; and knight-errantry boldly crossed the mighty Mississippi and first set its foot within the borders of our own Missouri. The settlement would have been easy had they not driven the links of oppression deep into the quivering flesh of submission.

Among those who had won bright laurels at Granada was Juan Ponce de Leon. He had distinguished himself in every campaign - had seen Boabdil, the last of the turbaned kings, driven from the palaces of his fathers, and had ridden through the streets of the Moorish capital, while above flew the banners of Ferdinand and Isabella. Accompanying Colum¬ bus upon his second voyage, he saw new and matchless wonders, and the wild scenes and romantic stories intoxicated his soul with love of adventure.

He listened with beating heart to the Indian's marvelous tales of gold, and soon became a firm believer in the wierd tradition that in some favored isle of the Bahamas flowed a fountain of eternal youth. This was the prize most to be coveted! The fires of his vigorous manhood had begun to burn low, and the shadows of the long night crept close beside him.

Returning to Spain, with Columbus, he spent years in equipping an expedition of his own. Upon this he lavished his wealth, and on March 3, 1512, set sail with three ships in search of the fabled fountain. The waters of the briny deep were crossed with buoyant heart. The Bahamas were explored with but one mad desire. He drank of the waters of every spring, and bathed his weary form in the cooling liquid of every lake and river. But from no depth did he rise up renewed, and youth was still but a dream of the past. But the bimini of his dis¬ ordered fancy must live! So with his deluded followers he beat about to the westward, and the quest of youth eternal went on, while the heart quailed and the eye grew dim amid the countless dangers of the unknown.

Historical Sketch Of Missouri

Suddenly, after days upon the sea, land was descried to the west. A long, low line of coast stretched sinuously beside them, while the inland was rich with tangled wildwood, and blushed with tropic flowers. The heart of the weary chief gave a quick bound of joy. This flowerland must contain the object of his ceaseless vigil. After coasting about for a time, he left a follower to continue the search, and returned to Spain to receive a commission to colonize the newly discovered island, which he had named Florida. On the following year he was repulsed by' the Indians, and again returned to Spain.

Having been appointed governor of Florida, after long waiting, he set sail in 1521, in a last attempt to colonize his territory, and to slake his thirst at the waters of the fabled fountain. But alas, they had no sooner landed, than the hostile savages engaged them in a conflict in which the brave Ponce de Leon was mortally wounded, and was carried to his ship to die.

Such is the romantic story ! Such the reckless wanderings and strange vicissitudes of the gallant cavalier of the cross - Juan Ponce de Leon. The only result of all his labors was the accidental finding of the main land, for the famous fountain still flowed only in the sunlit isle of some dreamer's heaven.

Hernando De Soto, born in 1500, early distinguished himself in literary studies, and in the accomplishments of knighthood. He was a true fol¬ lower of the Legion of Honor, and the motive of all his early exploits was to win new renown for his order, and gain new lands upon which he might elevate the cross and float the royal ensign of his country. He was of a poor but noble and ancient family.

In 1519, he accompanied Davila, governor of Darien, to America. Here he opposed the oppressive policy of this man, and though he was his benefactor, withdrew from his service. In 1528, he explored the coast of Guatemala and Yucatan. During this voyage his heart was first tainted with the lust for treasure, and his ear first startled by the whisperings of an El Dorado away to the northwest, where untold riches lay " thick as leaves in Vallambrosa. "

In 1532 De Soto joined Pizarro in his expedition to conquer Peru. He soon won for himself the second place in command. To his undaunted courage and untiring energy, together with his ambition and his intellect, is due in a large measure the success of the enterprise. With but a few followers he penetrated the mountains and discovered the great national road leading to the Peruvian capital. He was sent by Pizarro as ambas¬ sador to the inca Ata Luallpa and arranged the meeting at which the fam¬ ous monarch was taken prisoner by the ruthless Spaniard, and bitterly did he oppose the conduct which received the mighty ransom and failed to set the kingly captive free. In all the prominent engagements he won ripe fame, and after becoming the hero of the battle which gave Cuzco to the enemy and completed the downfall of Aztec civilization, he rode proudly through its streets and first beheld the famous temples to the sun, resplendent with gold and gems, the accumulated wrealth of centuries and the labor of count¬ less hands.

Reaching Spain with a fortune of $500,000 he married the daughter of Davila, his first love, and was flattered at the courts of the Emperor Charles V. But the mad passion for wealth had consumed his soul and he soon undertook the conquest of Florida.

This fleet was the most splendid that had ever yet crossed the Atlantic. It carried the flower of Spanish chivalry and was full of promise. Scarf and plume of the richest dye, helmet and shield glittering with deep trac¬ ings of gold, lance and spear of finest temper, caparisoned steeds, banner and pennon and flag floating the arms of the crown, and the characters of the cross, filled the heart of De Soto with pride, and his glamoured vision saw the new El Dorado yielding its vast riches as by the wand of en¬ chantment. Alas, how futile are human expectations!

Touching at Havana, and leaving there the ladies who had accompa¬ nied him, De Soto proceeded to the northwest and anchored in Tampa bay. May 25, 1539. Landing, he at once sustained reverses from the hostile Indians. Ever and anon he could hear of the rich country to the north¬ west that fired his cupidity and made him resolve upon new enterprises and fresh explorations. He was constantly deluded by the Indians, whose policy it was to lead him in wrong directions, and thus by hidden ambush and sudden charge, overwhelm and defeat him.

Determining upon a long march into the interior, the intrepid warrior sent back all the ships to Havana, and with a small band of devoted fol¬ lowers marched fearlessly into the interminable swamps and forests that closed around.

Thus began a series of weary wanderings through tangled undergrowth and wild morass, where death and disease stalked before and behind. But the star of hope never set. The first winter was passed by the Flint river. Directed then to the northwest, and again to the south, the region of Mobile was reached where, in a sanguinary battle, the Spaniards lost sixty men and forty horses. The news now came pf fresh supplies from the return¬ ing ships, but unconquerable pride allowed no tidings of the sad fortunes to reach them. The second winter was passed in the country of the Chickasaws. In the spring the savages burned their camp and again the num¬ ber was diminished, this time by the flames; and ere the march again began the malaria had stricken down half the remainder. But still the Elysian land lay just beyond, and with fresh tidings from the northwest, the weary journey commenced.

darksome forests and dense undergrowth, in swamp and river and lake, in the dank grasses, and among the poisoned flowers, lurked the terrible fevers. Sometimes the woods would bristle with the dusky forms of their foes, and often at night when seated about the camp-fire an arrow whist¬ ling from the darkness would lay a comrade low in death. The men were sick and faint. Seven days had they marched through increasing dangers trusting in the to-morrow, when at last they found themselves upon , the banks of a mighty stream which the Indians called Monarch of Waters.

Crossing the river, De Soto and his warriors followed its western bank to the northward, reaching a region now known as New Madrid, in the month of June 1541.

Another winter full of hardships was passed, and still the vague wan¬ derings and the vain search. The hot springs of Arkansas were mistaken for the fountain so long sought by the deluded De Leon. But nowhere gold ! Wearily they turned toward the flowing river they had left behind. Few, very few, were they in numbers. Hungered and destitute, they gave little token of the flaunting colors and gay trappings with which they set out. And as they sank down upon the banks of the vast stream they had found, the broken-hearted De Soto lay sick with the deadly fever. He who had squandered half a million that he might be richer, wanted now the comforts of life. And the valiant cavalier of the Emperor Charles died in the heart of the boundless wilderness his match¬ less courage had pierced. The Indians believed him to be a son of the sun. To conceal his death, his soldiers buried him at midnight by the torches burning dim and low, beneath the dark breast of the waters flow¬ ing swift and silent to the sea.

For one hundred and thirty years the river rolls ever to the gulf. For more than a century and a quarter the seasons come and go, and the story of the fierce invader lives only in tradition. The Indian mother croons softly to her child, the hunter roams at will, flowers bloom and fevers waste, but no European's voice breaks the silence of the wilderness, in the vast valley whose center is Missouri.