Du Buque visitor. [volume] (Dubuque, Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1836-1837, 1836-08-24
FROM THE FAR WEST.

Il rhOM LIE FAN SWESV. ssSs.s ST s@sS
i The New York Commercial Adver.
(tiser publishes a very pleasant and gra-
|phic letter from Geo. Catlin, the artist.
dated at st. Louis. MI. Cstl;n is well
known as the proprietor of very ex-
ltensive collection Of paintings, contain
ing portraits Of distinguished Indians,
illustrations of their habits, ceremonies,
SC. We make the following extracts;
81 have viewed man in the artless
simplicity of nature, in the full enjoy
lment Of the Injuries which God had
bestowed upon him. have seen him
happier than kings or princes can be,
with his pipe and little ones about him.
.fi have seen him shrinking from civil
|ized approach, which came, NTH all
ats yices, like the dead Of nigh, upon
him; | haveseen him raised, too, in
that darkness, by reigion's torch, and
seen him gaze and then retreat like.
frightened deer, thatare blinded by the
light: have seen him shrinking from
the soil and haunts ofhis boyhood, burat-
ing the strongest ties which bound him
to earth and its pleasures: Ihave seen.
him setfire tohis wigwam, and smoothe
over the graves Of his fathers: ] have
seen him Cts the only thing that will
bring them) with tears of grief sliding
over his cheek, clap his hand in silence
over his mouth, and take the last look
over his fair hunting grounds, and turn
his face In sadness to the setting sum-
5All this have seen performed in ma
lures silent dignity and grace, which
Iforsake him not in the last extremity
of misfortune and despair; and / have
seen as often the approach Of the bust
ling, busy, talking, whistling, hopping,
elated and exulting white man with the
first dip Of the ploughshare, making sa-
|crilegious trespass on the bones of the
ancient dead. have sesn the skull,
the pipe, and the tomahawk rise from
the ground together in interrogations
which the sophistry Of the world can
never answer. Ihave seen thus in all
| its forms and features, the grand and ir-
resistable march Of fertilization. have
seen this splendid Juggernaut rolling
on -beheld its sweeping desolation,
and held converse with happy thous-
ands, living as yet, beyond itssinflu-
ence, who have not been crushed, nor
yet dreamed Of its approach. I have
stood amidst these unsophisticated peo- 1
fple, and contemplated amidst, the GER
tain approach Of this overwhelming sys-
tern, which will inevitably march on
and prosper, until reluctant tears shall
have watered every rod of this fair
land; and from the towering cliffs Of
the Rocky Mountains the luckless sa-
wage will turn back his swollen eye O.
yer the blue and illimitable hunting
grounds from whence he has fed, and
there contemplate, like Marius on the !.
ruins of Carthage, their splendid desc
lation.
On the Red River I have
seen the rich Louisianian checkering
out his cotton and sugar plantations,
where the sun beams could be seen re-
Elected from the glistening pates Of his
hundred negroes making first trespass
with his hoe. have set with him at
his table in his log cabin, slipping sher-
ny and champagne. He talks Of ah0gs'
heads and price 9f stocks or ssg0es
IN for cotf0,a.n In the western parts
Of Arkansas and Missouri, have sha-
red the genuine hospitality Of the alb
rupt, yetpolitc and honorable Kentuck-
ian; afiable and sociable Tennesseean;
this has ga smart chance Of corn; the