Du Buque visitor. [volume] (Dubuque, Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1836-1837, 1836-08-10
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}sATURDAY..:... AUGUSTs6. 1896
~ See 18th page.


FOR THE VISITOR. szss4.
/ i,iglst and proud the occasions
For THE FAIR commands
TRIP TO PRAIRIE DU CHEN.
=fF-3a good steamboat Missouri Fur
TON, July II. 1886, I o'clock, A. M, a bey,
Iofladies--bright and beautiful as the morning.
with their gallants- among whom the write
had the honor to be---left the wharf of D,
Buqne for pleasure excursion to Prairie dr
Chen. At the time Of departure, it was the
intention Of the writer to take memoranda, and
furnish some notice Of the trip and his obser
vations upon the way, at an earlier date than
this. But, surprisingly magnificent, sublime,
and beautiful, as is the varied scenery upon
either hand Of the majestic river whose surface
we cleavea, the charming prospects ,vithia
proved ''metal more attractive both to the
eye corporeal and the eye mental, Of mercu-
rial young bachelor; and although he often
looked, with admiration and wonder at the
grand scale upon which nature hath reared her
WORKS in this far western land, the writer
found his disposition the time and opportu-
nifty too, were wanting, amid the multiplicity
of HE engag ements) for observing and recor-
ding particulars, oozing,l like Bob Acres cour.
age, from his fingers ends. The remarks,
therefore, which he may make, must Of me-
cessity, be general and desultory. And he
would not undertake even these but for prom-
SEES made, under the Intoxicating influence OF
bright smiles and beaning eyes, during the
journey, and from which he isinformed he will
not be released. j.
Whatwill first attract attention, is the arish
Ehand with which the sublime and beautifulin
Nature, hath been scattered in this favored re-
gion; the stupendous character and great va
riety Of her works; and their charming adapta-
ton to the use and comfort and happiness Of
man. Gorgeous landscapes of mingled hill
and dale. prairie and woodland, awful prcci-
(piccs and gentle cascades, to attract and de-
light his eye, to raise high emotions in his
s0ui, and take his mind and his heaft from the
mighty works up to the footstool of their more
mighty Maker; bottoms and uplands covered
with soil of almost boundless capabilities OF
production, to furnish him with the means Of
subsistence, and with slight exertion, provide
him leisure and means for the cultivation and
adorning and identifying Of the intellectual
and moral qualities with which God hath gift
ed him alone; means and leisure for the con-
temptation and study of the works before him,
IND oftheir Divine Original; ofhis own nys-
FERROUS and complicated nature, and his con-
,bection and relation with the beings around
11im, and their common Author; his powers,
lis duties, his privileges, and his destiny; and
!. he object Of his creation and place as monarch
X all he beholdeth.
4 Upon the west side Of the river, much the
.IEreatcrpart ofthe distance, the waterhas wasli-
d to the bluff, and until it met natural wall
I stone to repel its constant dashing. On
. lie east side, the bluffs generally are from the
Eighth Of a mile to three-quarters from tho We.
er, atits present stage. The bottoms, howev-
4 I, are low, and most Of them overflow. But
!, II convenient distances, on either bank, arg
food landings All eligible town-sites. Thd
4 luffs---more particularly on the west side--
Ecquently rise from two to four hundred fcetI
.!boye tho water -, sometimes psTpsndicuiariy,
1omctimcs sloping back for half a mile, some
simes broken and cliify. Occasionally the bare
d!lrface Of a precipicc Of that height md per-
laps q hundred yards in length, strikes the
|. lfnni od and awn.ctu,cE vicions and thar,