Winnebago County, Wisconsin - Chapter 22, 1880

.4.merican Fur Company - Social Circles in the Early iJay - Advenlurous Journey from Fort Winnebago to Chicago by a Lady on Horse-back - Lost and nearly Famished - Relief Found in an Indian Wigwam.

"P to the close of the Black Hawk War the chief business in the Northwest was the fur trade; first by F"rench Com- '"" panics, then FLnglish, and lastly by the American Fur Company, established by John Jacob Astor.

The agents and traders, and the military officers of the several garrisons, with their respective wives and families, constituted the elite of the society of those early days; but if it was an aristocracy, it was not snobbish, and merit, cultivation and good breeding, were always duly appreciated. The social circles of those times embraced in the range of intimate acquaintances and neighbors, those who lived fifty or a hundred miles apart, and included many distinguished names. Colonel Zach Taylor, in command at Fort Crawford, which was constructed under his superintendence in

I 829-30, and who afterwards became famous as the hero of the Mexican war, and was elevated to the presidency; Jeff Davis, noted at Fort Crawford for his mechanical handiwork; General Harney, then a Captain at Fort Winnebago, afterwards second in command in the American army, and famous among the Indians as the great Indian fighter. Mrs. John H. Kinzic found a son of Ale.xander Hamilton, a hghly educated gentleman, li\"ing in a log cabin in the lead mines.

The social pleasures uf the times were entered into with great zest; parties visiting one another from great distances, the long canoe voyages and camping out on the route, or the trip by land with pony trains, afforded novelty and enjoyment. Those who never lived among the scenes of the early West - the West of thirty-fi\e or forty years ago, can have no full comprehension of the picturesque beauty, the wild loveliness of the country in its primeval condition, fresh from the hand of nature. Its broad, unbroken expanse of prairie, dotted with openings and groves like islands in a sea of emerald, with its profusion of wild flowers and luxuriant vegetation, all blending into one harmonious picture, the vista of which was onlj- limited by the encircling horizon. The Indian fires then kept down all undergrowth e.xcept on the margins of the streams, whose meandering course was marked by a fringe of dense foliage gracefully outlining the domain of prairie.

Sometimes those lung journeys across the country were not journeys of pleasure, and the relation of one from Fort Winnebago to Chicago in the spring of 1831, made b\- Mrs. John H. Kinzie, wife of the agent of the American Fur Company, will serve to illustrate life in the West in those days. Mrs. Kinzie was fr(jm New York city, and a lady of much culture, as her writings clearly indicate. She was young, and this was during the first year of her married life. Major Twiggs, the commandant of the fort, endea\ored to dissuade her from making such a journey at such an inclement season of the year, but the resolute and high-spirited young woman would not be deterred.

" Having taken a tender leave of our friends, the morning of the eighth of March saw us mounted and equipped for our journey. The weather v\'as fine ; the streams already fringed with green, were sparkling in the sun; everything gave promise of an early and genial season. In vain, when we reached the ferry at the fool of the hill, on which the fort stood, did Major Twiggs repeat his endeavors to dissuade us from commencing a journey which he assured me would be perilous beyond what I could anticipate. I was resolute.

friends, who remained on the bank long enough to witness our passage across - ourselves in the canoe, and the poor horses swimming the stream, now filled with cakes of floating ice.

Beyond the rising ground which formed the opposite bank of the stream, extended a marsh of, perhaps, three hundred yards across. To this the men carried the canoe which was to bear us over. The water was not deep, so our attendants merely took off the pack-saddle from Brunei, and my side saddle from Le Gris, for fear of accidents, and then mounted their own steeds, leading the two extra ones. My husband placed the furniture of the pack horse and my saddle in the centre of the canoe, which he was to paddle across.

" 'Oh, no,' said I; ' I will sit on the little trunk in the centre. I shall be so much more comfortable, and 1 can balance the canoe exactly.'

" A vigorous push sent us a few feel from the bank. At that instant two favorite greyhounds w horn we had brought with us, and who stood whining upon the bank, reluctant to lake to the water as they were ordered, gave a sudden bound, and alighted full upon me. The canoe balanced a moment - then yielded - and, quick as thought, dogs, furniture and lady were in the deepest of the water.

" My husband, who was just prepaaing to spring into the canoe when the dogs thus unceremoniously took precedence of him, was at my side in a moment, and, seizing me by the collar of my cloak, begged me not to be frightened. I was not, in the least, and only laughed as he raised nnd placed me again upon the bank.

" There my husband insistetl on my putting on dry shoes and stockings, and (must 1 confess it) drinking a little brandy to obviate the etfects of my icy bath. He would fain have made a halt to kindle a fire and dry my apparel and wardrobe properly, but this I would not listen to. I endeavored to prove to him that the delay would expose me to more cold than riding in my wet habit and cloak, and so, indeed, it might have been; but along with my convictions upon the subject, there was mingled a spice of reluctance thai our friends at the fort should have an opportunity, as they certainly would have done, of laughing at our inauspicious commencement.

".Soon our horses were put in order, and our march commenced. The day was fine for the season. 1 felt no inconvenience from my wet garments, the exercise of riding taking away all feeling of chilliness. It was to me a new mode of traveling, and I enjoyed it the more from having been secluded for more than five months within the walls of the fort, scarcely varying the tenor of our lives by an occasional walk of half a mile into the surrounding woods.

-- We alighted at an open space, just within the verge nf the v\'ood, or, as it is called by western travelers, 'the timber.' My husband recommended to me to walk about until a fire should be made, which was soon accomplished by our active and experienced woodsmen, to whom the felling of a large tree was the work of a very few minutes. The dry grass around furnished an excellent tinder, which soon ignited by the sparks from the flint - there were no loco-focos in those days - and, aided by the broken liranches and bits of light wood, soon produced a cheering flame. "The bourgeois," in the meantime, busied himself in setting up the tent, taking care to place it opposite the fire, but in such a direction that the wind would carry the smoke or'flame away from the opening or door. Within upon the ground were spread, fir.^t a bear skin, then two or three blankets, of which each equestriaH had carried two, one under the s.addle and one above it, after which, the remainder of the lugg.ige being brought in, I wa.s able to divest myself of all my wet clothing and replace it with dry. .Some idea of the state of the weather may be formed from the fact that my riding habit, being placed over the end of the huge log against which our fire was made, was, in a very few minutes, frozen so stiff as to stand upright, giving the appearance of a dress out of which a lady had vanished in some unaccountable manner.

" It would be but a repetition of out experience upon the Vox River to describe the ham broiled upon the 'broches.'the toasted bread, the steaming coffee, the primitive table furniture. There is, however, this difl'erence, that of the latter we carry with us in our iourneys on horseback only a coffee pot, a tea kettle, and each rider his tin cup and hunting knife. The deportment at table is marked by an absence of ceremony. The knife is drawn from the scabbard; those who remember to do so, vouchsafe it a wipe upon the napkin. Its first office is to stir the cup of coffee, ne.xt to divide the piece of ham which is placed on the half of a traveling biscuit, which is held in the left hand, and fulfills the office of a plate. It is an art only to be acquired by long practice, to cut the meat so skillfully as not at the same to destroy the dish.

"March ninth. Our journey this day led us past the first of the Four Lakes. .Scattered along its banks was an encampment of Winnebagoes. They greeted (heir 'father' with vociferous joy. ^Bon-jour, bon-jottr, ShaiO-tit'e-a7V'kee. Nee-ne:.'-korravi-ay-nooi" (How do you do ?) To this succeeded the usual announcement, ^Wy^-knp-rak hhoonsh-koO'fice-710!' (I ha\e no breatl.)

" This is iheir form of bcjjging, but we coidd not afford to be generous, for the uncertainty of obtaining a supply, should our own be exhausted, obliged us to observe the strictest economy.

" How beautiful the encampment looked in the morning sun 1 The matted lodges, with the blue smoke curling from their tops, the trees and hushes powdered with a light snow which had fallen through the night, the lake shining and sparkling atmostat our feet - even the Indians, in iheir peculiai costume, adding to the]iicturesque.

"The door opened hospitably to receive us. VVe were welcomed by a lady with a must sweet, benignant countenance, and by her companion, some years younger. The first was Mrs. Morrison; the other Miss Elizabeth Dodge, d.iughter of General Dodge.

" My husband laid me upon a >mall Ned, in a room where the ladies had been sitting at work. They look olV my bonnet and riding dress, chafed my hands, aud prepared mc some warm wine and water, by which I was soon revived. A half hour's repose so refreshed me that I was able to converse with the ladies, and to relieve my husband's mind of all anxiety on my account. Tea was announced soon after, and we repaired to an adjoining building, for Atorrisoii's, like the establishment of all settlers of that period, consisted of a group

" The table groaned with good cheer, and brought to mind some that I have seen among the old-fashioned Dutch residents on the banks of the Hudson.

" I had recovered my spirits; and we were quite a cheerful party. Mrs. Morrison told us that during the first eighteen months she passed in this country, she did not speak with a white woman, the only society she had being that of her busl)and and two black servant women.

next morning, after a cheerful breakfast, at » hich we were joined by the Rev. Mr. Kent, of Galena, we prepared for our journey. I had reconciled my husband to continuing our route towards Chicago, by assuring him that I felt as fresh and bright as when I first set out from home.

" 'Hamilton's,' was the reply ; and he stepped forward at once to assist us to alight, hospitality being a matter of course in these wild regions.

"I soon contrived, with my husband'> aid, to disembarrass myself of my wrappings ; and, having seen me comfortably disposed of, and in a fair way to be thawed after my freezing ride, he left me, to see after his men and horses.

" He was a long time absent, and I expected he wouhl return, accompanied by our host ; liut when he reappeared it was to tell me, laughing, that Mr. Hamilton hesitated to present himself before me, being unwilling that one who had been accpiainted with some of his family at the east, should see him in his present mode of life. Hotvever, this feeling apparently wore off, for before dinner he came in, and was introduced to me, and was as agreeable and polite as the son of Alexander Hamilton would naturally be.

"The housekeeper, who was the wife of one of the miners, prepared us a plain, comfortable dinner, and a table as long as the dimensions of the cabin would admit, was set out, the end nearest the fire being covered with somewhat nicer furniture, and more delicate fare than the remaining portion.

"Mr. Hamilton passed most of the afternoon with us, for the storm raged so without that to proceed on our journey w.as out of the question. He gave us many pleasant anecdotes and reminiscences of his early life in New York, and of his adventures since he had come to the western wilderness. When obliged to leave us for a while, he furnished us with scunc books to entertain us, the most interesting of which was the biogr.aphy of his father.

" Could this illustrious man have forseen in wh.it a scene - the dwelling of his son, this book was to be one day perused, what would have been his sensations ?

"The next d.ay's sun rose clear aud bright. Refreshed and invigorated we looked forward with pleasure to a recommencement of (rar journey, confident of meeting no more mis. ha]is by the way.

" At length, just at sunset, we reached the dark, rapid waters of the Rock River. The 'ferry,' which we had traveled so far out of our way to take advantage of, |)roved to be merely a small boat or skiff, the larger one having been swept ofl' into the stream, and carried down in the breaking up of the ice the week previous.

"My husband's first care was to get me across. He placed mc with the saddles, packs, etc., in the boat, aud, as at that late hour, no time was to be lost, he ventured, at the same

"All being safely landed, a short walk brought us to the house of Mr. Dixon. Although so recently come into the country, he had contrived to make everything comfortable around him, and when he ushered us into Mrs. Dixon's sitting room, and seated us by a glowing wood fire, while Mrs. Dixon busied herself in preparing us a nice supper, I felt that the comfort overbalanced the inconvenience of such a journey.

"A most savory supper of ducks and venison, with their accompaniments, soon smoked upon the board, and we did ample justice to it. Traveling is a great sharpener of the appetite, and so is cheerfulness, and the latter was increased by the encouraging account Mr. Dixon gave us of the remainder of the route yet before us.

" 'There is no difficuliy,' said he 'if you keep a little to the nonh, and strike the Sauk trail. If you get too far to the south you will come upon the Winnebago Swamp, and once in that there is no telling when you will ever get out again. As for the distance, it is nothing at all to speak of. Two young men came out here from Chicago, on foot, last fall. They got here the evening of the second day; and, even with a lady in your party, you could go on horseback in less time than that. The only thing is to be sure and get on the right track that the Sauks have made in going every year from the Mississippi to Canada to receive their presents from the British Indian Agent.'

"The following morning, which was a bright and lovely one for that season of the year, we took leave of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon in high spirits. We traveled for the first few miles alou:^ the beautiful, undulating banks of the Rock River, always in an easterly direction, keeping the beaten path, or rather road, which led to tort Clark, or Peoria. The Sauk trail, we had been told, would cross this road at the distance of about six miles.

"After having traveled, as we judged, fully that distance, we came upon a trail bearing northeast, and a consultation was held as to the probability of its being the one we were in search of,

" Mr. Kinzie was of opinion that it tended too much to the rih, and was, moreover, too faint and obscure for a trail so much used, and by so large a body of Indians in their annual journeys.

" Plante was positive as to its being the very spot where he and 'Piche, ' in their journey to Fort Winnebago the year before, struck into the great road. 'On that very rising ground at the point of woods, he remembered perfectly stopping to shoot ducks, which they ate for their supper.'

" 'Are you satisfied now, Plante?' asked Mr. Kinzie. By your leave, I will now play pilot myself,' and he struck off from '.he trail, in a direction as nearly east as possible.

" The weather had changed and become intensely cold, and we felt that the detention we had met with, even should we now be in the right road, was no trifling matter. We had not added to our stock of provisions at Dixon's, wishing to carry as tnuch forage as we wert able for our horses, for whom the scanty picking around our encamping grounds afforded an insufficient meal. But we were buoyed up by the hope that we were in the right path at last, and we journeyed on until

"Oh, how bitterly cold that night was ! The salted provisions, to which I was unaccustomed, occasioned me an intolererable thirst, and my husband was in the habit of placing the little tin coffee-pot, filled with water at my bed's head, when we went to rest, but this night it was frozen solid long before midnight. We were so well wrapped up in blankets that we did not suffer from cold while within the tent, but the open air was severe in the extreme.

" March fifteenth. We were aroused by the 'bourgeois' at peep of day, for starting. We must find the Sauk trail this day at all hazards. What would become of us should we fail to do so ? It was a question no one liked to ask, and certainly one that no one could have answered.

" We pursued our way, however, and a devious one it must have been. After traveling in this way many miles, we came upon an Indian trail, deeply indented, running at right angles with the course we were pursuing. The snow had ceased, and, the clouds becoming thinner, we were able to observe the direction of the sun, and to perceive that the trail ran nort'n and south. What should we do? Was it safest to pursue our easterly course, or was it probable that by following this new path, we shoul fall into the direct one we had been so long seeking ? If we decided to take the trail, should we go north or south ? He was of opinion we were still tuo far north - somewhere about the Grand Marias or Kish-wau-kee. Mr. Kellogg and Plante were for taking the northerly direction. The latter was positive his bourgeois had already gone too far south - in fact, that we must now be in the neighborhood of the Illinois River. Finding himself in the minority, my husband yielded, and we turned our horses' heads north, much against his will. After proceeding a few miles, however, he took a sudden determination. 'You may go north, if you please,' said he, ' but I am convinced that the other course is right, and I shal 1 face about - follow who will.'

" The road, which had continued many miles through the prairie, at length, in winding around a point of woods, brought us suddenly upon an Indian village. A shout of joy broke from the whole party, but no answering shout was returned - not even a bark of friendly welcome - as we galloped up to the wigwams. All was silent as the grave. We rode round and round, then dismounted, and looked into several of the spacious huts. They had evidently been long deserted. Nothing remained but the bare walls of bark, from which everything in the shape of furniture had been stripped by the owners, and carried with them to to their wintering-grounds; to be brought back in the spring, when they returned to make their cornfields and occupy their summer cabins.

"Our disappointment may be better imagined than described. With heavy hearts we mounted and once more pursued our way, the snow again falling and adding to the discomforts of our position. At length we halted for the night. We had long been aware that our stock of provisions was insufficient for another day, and here we were, nobody knew where, in the midst of woods and prairies - certainly far from any human habitation, with barely enough food for a slender evening's meal.

"The morrow came. Plante and Roy had a bright fire and a nice pot of coftee for us. It was our only breakfast, for on shaking the bag and turning it inside out, we could make no more of our slock of bread than three crackers, which the rest of the family insisted I should put in my pocket for my dinner- ) was much touched by the kindness of Mr. Kellogg, who drew from his wallet a piece of tongue and a slice of fruit-cake, which he said he had been saving for the lady since the day before, for he saw how matters were a-going.

"Poor man 1 it would have been well if he had listened to Mr. Kinzie, and provided himself at the outset with a larger store of provisions. As it was, those he brought with him were exhausted early the second day, and he had l)een boarding with us for the last two meals.

" We still had the trail to guide us, and we continued to follow it until about nine o'clock, when, in emerging from a wood, we came upon a broad and rapid river. A collection o' Indian wigwams stood upon the opposite bank, and, as the irail led directly to the water, it was fair to infer that the stream was fordable. We had no opportunity of testing it, however, for the banks were so lined with ice, which, was piled up tier upon tier by the breaking up of the previous week, that we tried in vain to find a path by which we could descend the bank to the water.

''The men shouted again and again, in hopes some straggling inhabitant of the village might be at hand with his canoe. No answer was returned, save the echoes. What was to be done ? I lookecFat my husband and saw that care was on his brow, although he still continued to speak cheerfully. 'We will follow this cross-trail down the bank of the river,' said he. 'There must be Indians wintering near in some of these points of wood."

"I must confess that I felt somewhat dismayed at our prospects, but I kept up a show of courage, and did not allow my despondency to be seen. All the party were dull and gloomy enough.

"We kept along the bank, which was considerably elevated above the water, and bordered at a little distance with a thick wood. All at once my horse, who was mortally afraid of Indians, began to jump and prance, snorting and pricking up his ears as if an enemy were at hand. I screamed with delight to my husband, who was at the head of the file, "Oh John ! John : there are Indians near - look at Jerry.'

At this instant a little Indian dog ran out from under the bushes by the roadside, and began barking at us. Never were sounds more welcome. We rode directly into the thicket, and descending into a little hollow, found two scpiaws crouching behind the bushes, trying to conceal themselves from our sight.

They conducted us down the bank to the water's edge, where the canoe was. It was, indeed, very small. My husband explained to them that they must take me across first, and then return for the others of the parly.

'"Oh ! yes' - and I was soon placed in the bottom of the canoe, lying flat and looking up at the sky, while the older squaw took the pad<lle in her hand, and placed herself on her knees at my head, and the younger, a girl of fourteen or fifteen, stationed herself at my feet. There was just room enough for me to lie in this position, each of the others kneeling in the opposite ends of the canoe.

" While these preparations were making, Mr. Kinzie questioned the woman as to our whereabouts. They knew no name for the river but Saumanong. This was not definite, it being the generic term for any large stream. But he gathered that the village we had passed, higher up, on the opposite side of the stream, was Wau-ban-see's, and then he. knew that we were on the Fox River, and probably about lifty miles from Chicago.

" The men sat about unpacking the horses, and I, in ihe meantime, was paddled across the river. The old woman immediately returned, leaving the younger one with me for company. I seated myself on (he fallen trunk of a tree, in the midst of the snow, and looked across ihe dark waters.

" We followed the old squaw to her lodge, which was at no great distance in the woods. I had never before been in an Indian lodge, although I had occasionally peeped into one of the many clustered around the house of the interpreter at the Portage on my visits to his wife.

"This one was very nicely arranged. Four sticks of wood placed to form a sqare in the center, answered the purpose of a hearth, within which the fire was built, the smoke escaping through an opening in the top. The mats of which the lodge was constructed were very neat and new, and against the sides depending from the poles or frame work, hung various bags of Indian manufacture, containing their dried food and other household treasures. .Sundry ladles, small kettles, and wooden bowls also hung from the cross poles, and, dangling from the center by an iron chain, was alarge kettle, in which some dark suspicious looking substance was seething over the scanty fire. On the floor of the lodge, between the fire and the ouier wall, were spread mats, upon which my husband invited me to be seated and make myself comfortable.

" Two little girls, inmates of the lodge, sat ga/ing at me with evident admiration and astonishment, which was increased when I took my little prayer book from my pocket and began to read. They had, undoubtedly, never .seen a book before, and I was amused at the care with which they looked away.' from me, while they questioned their mother about my strangel employment and listened to her replies.

" While thus occupied, I was startled by a sudden sound aC 'hogh !' and the mat which hung over tbe entrance i f the lodg| was raised, and an Indian entered with that graceful boun^ which is peculiar to themselves. It was the ma.ster of the lodgel who had been out to shoot ducks, and was just returned. Hei was a tall, finely-formed man, with a cheerful open counte-i nance, and he listened to what his wife, in a quiet tone, relate4l to him, while he divested himself of his accoutrements in the{ most unembarrassed, well-bred manner imaginable.

"Soon my husband joined us. He had been engaged in attending to the comfort of his horses, and assisting his men in making their fire, and pitching their tent, which the rising storm made a matter of some difficult}'.

"From the Indian he learned we were in what was called the 'Big Woods,' or 'Piche's Grove,' from a Frenchman of that name living not far from that spot - that the river we had crossed was the Fox River - that he could guide us to Piche's, from which the road was perfectly plain, or even into Chicago if we preferred, but that we had better remain encamped foi- tliat day, as there was a storm coming on, and in the meantime he would go and shoot some ducks for our dinner and supper. He was accordingly furnished with some powder and shot, and set off again for game without delay.

" I had put into my pocket on leavinghome a roll of scarlet ribbon in case a stout string should be wanted, and I now drew it forth, and with the knife which hung around my neck, I cut off a couple of yards for each of the little girls. They received it with great delight, and their mother, dividing each portion into two, tied a piece to each of the little clubs into which their hair was knotted on the temples. They laughed and exclaimed, "Saum!' as they gazed at each other, and their mother joined in their mirth, although, as I thought, a little unwilling to display her maternal exultation before a stranger.

"The storm was raging without. The trees were bending and cracking around us, and the air was completely filled with the wild fowl screaming and quacking as they made their way southward before the blast. Our tent was among the trees, not far from the river. My husband took mc to the bank to look for a moment at what we had escaped. The wind was sweeping down from the north in a perfect hurricane. The water was filled with masses of snow and ice, dancing along upon the torrent over which were hurrying thousands of wild fowl, making the woods resound to their deafening clamor.

"Had we been one hour later we could not possibly have crossed the stream, and there seems to have been nothing for us but to have "emained and starved in the wilderness. Could ive be sufficiently grateful to that kind Proviience that had brought us safely through such Hangers ?

"The storm raged with ten-fold violence luring the night. We were continually startled by the crashing of falling trees around us, and who could tell but that the next would be upon us? Spite of our fatigue, we passed an almost sleepless night. When we arose in the morning we were made fully alive to the perils by which we had been surrounded. At least fifty trees, the giants of the forest, lay prostrate within view of the tent.

"When we had taken our scanty breakfast, and were mounted and ready for departure, it was with difficulty we could tread our way, so completely was it obstructed by the fallen trunks.

"Our Indian guide had joined us at an early hour, and after conducting us carefully out of the wood, and pointing out to us numerous bee-trees, for which he said that grove was famous, he set off at a long trot, and about nine o'clock brought us to Piche's, a log cabin on a rising ground, looking off over the broad prairie to the east.

"A long reach of prairie extended from Piche's to the Du Page, between the two forks of which Mr. Dogherty,our new acquaintance, told us we should find the dwelling of a Mr. Hawley, who would give us a comfortable dinner.

"The weather was intensely cold. The wind, sweeping over the broad prairie, with nothing to break its force, chilled our very hearts. I beat my feet against the saddle to restore the circulation, when they became benumbed with the cold, until they became so bruised I could beat them no longer. Not a house or wigwam, not even a clump of trees as a shelter offered itself for many a weary mile. At length w« reached the west fork of the Du Page. It was frozen but not sufficiently so to bear the horses. Our only resource was to cut a way for them through the ice. It was a work of time, for the ice had frozen to several inches in thickness during the last bitter night. Plante went first with an axe, and cut as far as he could reach, then mounted one of the hardy little ponies, and with some difficulty broke the ice before him, until he liad opened a passage to the opposite shore.

"We were all across at last, and spurred on our horses, until we reached Hawlcy's, a large, commodious dwelling, near the east fork of the river.

"We found, upon inquiry, that we could, by pushing on, reach Lawton's, on the Aux Plaines that night; we should then be within twelve miles of Chicago. Of course, we made

"A very comfortable house was Lawton's, after we did reach it - carpeted, and with a warm stove - in fact, quite in civilized style. Mr. Weeks, the man who brought us across, was the major-domo during the temporary absence of Mr. Lawton.

"Mrs Lawton was a young woman, and not ill-looking. She complained bitterly of the loneliness of her condition, and having been 'brought out there into the woods, which was a. thing she had not expected when she came from the East.' We did not ask her with what expectations she had come to a wild, unsettled country; but we tried to comfort her with the assurance that things would grow better in a few years. She said she did not mean to wait for that. She should go back to her family in the East if Mr. Lawton did not invite some of her young friends to come and stay with her and make things agreeable.

"We could hardly realize, on rising the following morning, that only twelve miles of prairie intervened between us and Chicago Ic Desirce, as I could not but name it.

"We could look across the extended plain, and on its farthest verge were visible two tall trees, which my husband pointed out to me as the planting of his own hand when a boy. Already they had become so lofty as to serve as landmarks, and they were constantly in viewas we traveled the beaten road. I was constantly repeating to myself: 'There live the friends I am so longing to see! There will terminate all our trials and hardships!'

"A Mr. Wentvvorth joined us on the road, and of him we inquired after the welfare of the family, from whom we had, for a long time, received no intelligence. When we reached Chicago he took us to a little tavern at the forks of the river. This portion of the place was then called Wolf Point, from its having been the residence of an Indian named 'Moaway,' or 'the Wolf.'

" 'Dear me,' said the old landlady, at the little tavern, 'what dreadful cold weather you must have had to travel in I Why, two days ago the river was all open here, and now it's frozen hard enough for folks to cross a-horseback!'

Notwithstanding this assurance, my husband did not like to venture, so he determined to leave his horses and proceed on foot, to the residence of his mother and sister, a distance of about half a mile.

"Soon we were in the arms of our dear.kiml friends. A messenger was dispatched to the 'garrison' for the remaining members of the family, and for that day at least, 1 was the wonder and admiration of the whole circle, 'for the dantrers I had seen.'