The Yazoo Whig and political register. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1840-1842, 1842-05-13

my tancys OF expose Ate weakness, IN attempting l
% speak descFipliVely upon 90 hazardous theme.
The country which our fathers conquered from
British domination, lay, as before observed, ale |
mO8l entirely east OF the AleRhennies. The legal
boundary, L 10 true, was somewhere many miles
west Of that; but Of this region We knew but liz.
Slle apd cared lees. Il was known, with but q
email exception, 20 be an unbTOken wildeTnts 90,
scarcely penetrated or touched by civilization -
and but few men had as yet raised question in
thoif own minds as 20 lie probable future imp0r-
lance. The @Weatern country" then lay east OF
The Blue Ridge-and for many years after this,
pilgrimage, even 10 the far WeSt, did not require
penetration into the desert wilds far the east
6rn base Of the mountains. The region west Of
che mountains had not yet been digni6ed with the
name Of q country. The immortal BooNE had
been in the wilderness where Kentucky now is,
and had related to the people, a. early as I77l,
that tar beyond the mountains there was land,
trees and Tivers but even this much Of the history
Of the west did not obtain universal credenee.-
The good people Of the States we'll knew that not
only the west, but the far West, was "PeTmGRent-
y located" on their side Of the impossible hills
And q very innocent and kind-hearted religion
taught many an honest matron that 70 attempt
TO pass this natural boundary of the world, was
sinful curiosity that would soon meet the reward
Of its rashnsss. And il was long after the revo-
lutionafy war, and after belief in the existence
Of q landed country beyond the mountains had
% become general, Il not universal, that the Far
collect when the Far West proper had his hibita-
tion and name firmly, If not permanently, I" lOca-
ted" along the shores Of Lake Ontario.
There were q few MungO Parks in the country,
who, not discerning clearly why "Some things
could not be done as we'll 90 others,n made occa-
sional explorations into the wilds of the West, and
they universally brought back gOodly accounts OF
che land. There were giants there, il is true, but
thea the spirit of Freedom had, in process Of q
few years, sngendsred another spirit in the heads
che Liberty Boys more restless and uneasy, and no
less novel IN the world than ITSELF Enterprise 10
the legitimate offspring of Liberty: the one di-
Tsets and the other executes.
Imagine, sir, spread out before you the extern
aive prairie; the woodlands skirt its nearest bOun-
dairy; but yondeF in every direction il extends to
the horizon. Here and therefor in the distance
may be sOen herd of buffalo or q few deeT-the
tall grass ripe and dried BY summers sun, waves
huTriedly in the mind. Yonder in the border Of
wood Is q lone Indian, fatigued with his burden,
the fruits Of the mornings pursuits hastily pre-
pairing his roast-and now devouring his rich re-
past! His little FIRE Of sticks and leaves commu-
nicatss with q few adjacent spires Of dry grass,
and in moment more the fame moves gently
away! Il rises hastily-furiouSly! Now il rushes
more mighty than torrent sea, and flames and
smoke contend for mastery! In every direction
the Ere outstrips the sluggish wind, and nothing
but the swiftness Of the bounding deer can escape
the invading element!
a prairie on fire, cir, Is not unaPt illustration
Of the rapidity and power with which the great
wilderness Of the west has been oveTruna and SUD
iagated to civilization and usefulness. The Vivi-
fying impulses which lash so furiously in con-
quest with this mighty empire of untamed forests,
were begotten upon the plains Of victory, where
freedom triumphed over tyranny! they nPened
into action in the sacred temples OF the revolution
and were left, by the reveIed ministers OF emansi
patton, rich legacy to invigorate the blood o.
their descendants!
was attempting to speak, sir, of the early 10
cations and migraiiOns of the "Far West," anG
said / had myself visited his abode in western New
York. Yes, sir-I well recollect, whens on tn
direct route from Rochester TO Buffalo there wa
not q house, save here and there a log cabin. Thu
fiutsfrsmed house within many miles OF koches
ter was built sixteen miles west of that ctys unde
nv own personal notice and observation. AM
really, il would seem that such an assertion a
this, 70 hope for belief, judging from present aP
peaTances. should be made by man who had q
least one Or two hundred years on his side. An
yet there are men in the world more indebted {
longevity than myself.
II 1910. Clinton. Morris, Van Ransler, DE Wit
North, Eddy, Porter, Livingston and Fulton, cross
ed the .Genesee river. and, authorized by the lie
0islature ef New York, gave our itinerant her
agotce 10 dlat;n or in default, threatened to tul
nish him with passage out Of the country IN
canal boat During the hostile disturbances whic
commenced in 1879, he loiteTed about the Lake
and the eastern head waters Of the Alleghsnn.
Before peace was restored, ne was again ahhul
BY his intruders, and in order to make bis aboo
permanent and undisturbeGs and to enjoy the con
pany Of his bufalocs in quiet, he crossed the gre
river near the region Of sunset, and took up b
residence in Ohio. But how soon were the Peep
of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee seen "goiT
10 the West'' to settle in q neW oountrvE Son
were content with the less wild plains OF lndiaI
and West Tennessee, while nothing short OF Il
IN West could satisfy the ambition or enterpn
Of others, who were determined to see the pTalIi
aud taste the waters Of Sangsmon or the Nilsson
They travelled on-and thar singularly located,
rather singularly INDICATED country, a0ent bsfo
them. Iss meanderings and mgrations up the M
3 sIssppi and Missouri, and around the base Of q
mountains, resemble the mighty encampmsnts a
noihos forth Of some myriad host or travellil
empire, moving forward At each rising sun, al
leaving q town and nsighborhood at the place
each temporary abode But 10 what shall we Xix
these mighty movements, when we see EMIsR
TON, as i were, physical, organic and embodis
travelling forth into q wilderness, leaving in
paihway plain Of feFtilized fields, blooming
spring and pining into harvests-towns and cit
elstshne with the noise Of mechanism and {
hum Of merchandize-and the wild rivers tam
"a domestic uses and loaded with the commeI
81 half the worlds The phantom country 10
efnnn Taft fhn Arkanrna and ahe Missouri