Du Buque visitor. [volume] (Dubuque, Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1836-1837, 1836-08-17
IS WISCONSIN TERRITORY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST H. 1886
HoFFMAN,s WINTER m THE VEST.

concerning the western country, its in
habitants, and its scenery, that has late
~ issued from the. American press, is
entitled "A Wintef in the West by
Charles r. Hoffman, of New York. 1t
IS full of glowing description, and SEN
slble remark; and IS eNide,, Gs. II. "A
pen OF one who we'll understands the
philosophy oftravelling.
Herald ofthe Upper Mississippi.
CHARACTER OF WESTERN EM1GRANTs.
1t is amusing to observe how little
Isingularity people here attach toa mode
OF life which, in older countries, would
be looked upon as highly eccentric.
My entertainers are both young law
yers, literally educated, and unused to
privation; and yet the house in which
| am passing the night, with every ar
ticle of furniture it contains, is oftheir
own manufacture; saw, an axe, a
wood-knife, and a jack-plane, being
their only tools. Itwould amuse you
not a little to look through the window,
see our group at this moment. One Of
my companions, whose axe and rifle
are suspended by wooden hooks to the
ralters over his head, is professionally
engaged in drawing declaration at the
table upon which | am writing; while
the other, having just got through re-
moving the remains of our game din
ner, prepared and cooked by his chum,
is now sitting with a long pipe in his
mouth, watching a coffce-pot, which
steams up SO fragrantly from the live
embers, that no light consideration
would induce me to part with the in
terest / have in its contents. Their
house, which has been thus occupied
for three months, is perfect pattern
of neatness; though as it consists of but
a single room, no little ingenuity is re-
CURED to arrange their books, house
keeping apparatus, and sporting equip
ments, so as to preserve even an APP
pearance of order in such handbook.
They have already sufficient business,
they tell me, to sustain their moderate
household; and as the Indians supply
them with abundance of provisions,
they have ample leisure to devote to
study.
1t is not very uncommon, however,
to meet thus with persons Of education
and some accomplishments under as
humble roof as this in the wilds Of
Michigan; for SO rapid is the growth
of society here, that he who aims at a
prominent station in the new commu-
nifty, must be a pioneer far in advance
of the growing settlements. Two years
ago the first white man raised his log
hut in the county of Calhoun: it has
now population of one thousand five
hundred; and l have passed an evening
in at least one mud-plastercd cabin
whose fair and elegant inmates would
grace any society.
BALL AT CHICAGO.
We had not been here an hour be-
fore an invitation to a public ball was
courteously sent to us by the managers;
and though my soiled and travel-worn
riding dress was not exactly the thing
to present ones self in before the la
dies of an evening, yet in my earnest
ness to seelife onthc fronticr, ! allowed
all objections to be overrulcd by my
companions, and we accordingly drove
to the housein which the ball was Civ
en-. It was frame building, one Of the
few as yet to be found in Chicago;
which, although one Of the most ancient
French trading posts on the lakes, can
only date its growth as a village since
the Indian war, eighteen months since.
When ! add that the population has
qitintrupled last summer, and that but
few mechanics have come in with the
prodigious increase Of residents, yo,,
can readily imagine that the influx OF
strangers far exceeds the means Of ac-
commodation; while scarcely house
in the place, however comfortable look
ing outside, contains more than two or
three finished rooms. In the present
instance we were ushered into a tolcr-
ably sized dancing room, occupying the
second story Of the house, and having
its unfinished walls 50 ingeniously COW
cred with pine branches, and flags Dor
rowed from the garrison, that, with
the white-washed ceiling above, it pre-
sented q very complete and quite pref
ty appearance. It was not SO, warm,
however, that the FIRES ofcheerful hick-
Dry, which roared at either end, could
have been really dispensed with. An
orchestra Of implanted. boards was rais-l
ed against the wall in the centre Of the.
room; the band consisting Of dandy