Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1844-05-16
rue TlaPPEk

as The hafy.eue1La#r a44 6fn. There
Are 10 be Ioani the wad horse, iHe BIZ
son. the NJ, The ara., aHf nnaHcra.
ble serpents. an the rA#pef, eAceIllng
all IN rldness--ne. The cd traprer ol
Cooner, Nho never saw trappef IN his
lfe-5ul the real one, who could fur.
nish matter Tor novels, which would M
spIre win Wild enthusiasm, even the
mos, phIegmafIc.
Our civilization, the MODEST the
world has ever Vet seen, ha, neyerthe-
less, boone rs own monsters, Of which
other civilized countries know nothing,
AM which can grow up only N land
where freedom Is Unlimited The trap
pers are generally ootcasls or outlaws,
who have escaped th9 arm vt the law,
CT even uniraclabie mud, To Which the
rational liberty, even ct the Cuued
States seems eonstralnt. Perhaps II
Il a fortunate circumstance for these
States 10 be in PEI session OF wilder
ness where the passions oil such men
may fret away their fury 10 wrestling
with nature; because, IN the lap of well
regulated society. they would propably
cuuse terrible Disturbances. Had la
belle France, for distance, possessed
his territory during the great crisis OF
-, how many o. lis most celebrated
warriors would have dled ike trappers,
instead Of spreading horror and desolS
ton among millions o. peaceful Cit.
zeusl Neither Europe nor humanity
would ProPably have lost anything If
the names Of the great instruments OF
all powerful despotsm-oi Massena,
Nandamme. DWoust, aud Sebastian.
and Of many others, had never been
hrard,of
These trSppers and hunters are to be
found from the sources OF the Columbia
and Missouri rivers, down 10 those Of
the Arkansas, aud Red River. bs all he
tributary streams of the Mississippi,
Which as Is well known, rise generally
on the western side of the Rocky noun
taIns. Their sNlS,cncd depends Voncr-
ally on tho exurpatlon OF ANNA S i,
which for centuries have crowded on
these Howery plains. They Kill the
wild buffalo IN order 10 make use oil his
hide for dresses and his launches for
their meals; the bears. to sleep on their
SKINS, ADD the wolves to amuse lhem>
selves; and they catch ami slav the
beavers for the sake Of their furs, and
occasionly for their tails. For these
they receive IN exchange, powder, cad
flannel jackets, shirts aud yarn for their
nets, and whiskey 10 keep their bodies
warm IN tn cold DAYS Of winter.
They often move about on the plain,
IN droVes of u hundred or more togelh
er; and wage desperate conhc:s witt
the indians; bu. generally eight or zen
live together, unlled for common defence
and common labor; like wild gucriIIas
YET there are more hunters tn trap.
pets; the real ,rapper lives generally
only IN company with one sworn friend
with whom he for a year, or often many
years, divides every toll, every amuse
ment and every danger. Should one Of
the comrades die, then the other is the
sole heir Of the hide--the spoil OF the
Killed 6ear-- and the secrets OF the plac,
where the game is 10 D found, an,
whore The chase IS most promising.
What fear OF punishment IN many
cases effected at first becomes soon al
absolute necessity aud irregular bound
less liberty IS an enjoyment which few
'oi them 1euia renounce il they wer,
promised the moS honorable and ucra
tive places IN regulated society. Such
are the men, who, tor years, live or
the plains, the savannas and the mead
ows, and ia the forests Of the Arkansas
Missouri and Oregon Territories, which
conceal in their midst enormous deserts
OF sand and stone, aud rilhai the most
beautiful! prarlcs. Snow and frost, warm
and cold,rain and storms, and privations
'oi every kind, have 80 hardened their
limbs, made their skins SO thick. like
that OF the buffalo, which they hunt
that the perpetual necessity in which
they live or relying upon their bodily
strength, breeds in them a self conf
dence that shrinks from no danger. a
sharpness of sight and a correctness O.
judgment, Of which man in civilized
society can form, no just idea. The
ia1lgues, PrIvatlons and tolls are often
terrible, and We have seen trappers
who have undergone suiIerlngs, il
comparison with which the fabulus nd
ventures of Robinson Crusoe are mere
chldrea's play, and whose skin was a,
thick as leather, bearing more resem
blance 10 the tanned hide Of the buffalo
than 10 that Of human being. Only
lead or steel could penetrate it. These
trap2ers are wonderful psychological
phenomena, thrown into wild, boundles
nature, their reason often DEVELOPING
itself in manner so ingenious, nay,
grand, that among some have observed
genius which would have done honor