Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1851-12-04
VOL. 4.----NO. 5.

owe; he almost wished himself bac
gain, though he never made anythin
here a, farning--aId was certain h
never couidi .
When Lafayette first arrived here h
was gh,ed--ovenoyed--lhis was III
leland oi promise overlooking with mil
ind wild honey Smiths hopes wer
high, he never had made any thing il
hrs lie. but here was a chance. grea
prospect, the richest soil on earth, am
all creation unoccupied! No land mon
opollss, no rents, no taxes, no tariffs; al
he had TO DO was to make his c!aim, sticI
his stakes round whole sections o
! smooth soil, unenenmhcred by stone o
stump, PM in the plough, turn. over III,
bright sud, ard SOW his seed upon th,
nu!riea, mould. aud wait Cor sponlane
nus and abundant harvest!
Brilliant prospects, indeed for poo
man; no hurry about paying for the Ian.
no, in market yet, aud no disturbance o
actual sel'lers. Only dollar and /
quarter 60 acre, FOR The bes, land on III,
Ioo:slool, and no trouble to bring il undel
The highest state Of cultivation. 81
thought Smith, and SO he might think.
A lew days after his arrival Smith.
chuice was made, aud large tract q
iiue land was known TO the neighbors
lor miles around, as lhe claim OF l.afay.
eiie Smith, jus, from York STATE!
Smiths claim was we'll selected; Z
large body of iim:,er--a beautiful grove
4 was--snrrounded on all sides by prai
rie land Of the bes, qualify, gently unau
laiing, and coursed ahromgh by narrow
stream Of water. hid by its grassy banks
huIg o,eI with crnfusion Of wiiI flaw
.ers, tia, in its silent walk had been ful
ages the guardian OF the wood, and pre-
served The noble brotherhood oi tree:
from the ravages of autamnal fires
sweeping with dreadful desolaiion ovel
ilic plains, devuaring with hurning en-
gerncss each Thing within its reach, lap.
ping with hungry tongues Of flame iht
very clouds from out The sky, but TO ,om
IL iarth again sonuer blnekness.
I.afayeue's claim was al once respec.
ted, and in few days solemnly ratified
by all The claimants round, by genera
gathering on The premises 10 raise Smiths
mouse nf logs, which made good his IL
tie, and manifested his actual intention
as settler. Smiths settlement was No
shau for speculaion--i, was real--- and
he was no. 10 be ous,ed on slight preien.
.ces now!
SBilh dscoursel largely at the raising
on his fasori,e topics, and Mrs. Smith
,itl her best in way OF ,irie,. apples and
fried c;skes for supper, IN fac, the squat.
,efs left fully impressed with The acqui,
siilnn oi a nian of importance to theiI
numbers, and would have been .ea,ly. 10
Il maa, to have voted for him for justice
of.;he peace. if the county had been or
ganizeJ and elec,inns called for. Eve,
ry thing wen, on smoothly; never was a
family happier far a lime, not with whal
hey had, Tor lhey never had yet made
any .bing, bu. with what they were to
haze!
Airead, Smith Gel, himself landaol
der. proprietor of ihe suil, a real lord
oi creation. and with the a,niable mniher
ut his children. hooked forward from the
,inf al his cabin over his vast and beau.
ti!,.i domains, ~ The time, when hosl
Of young Smiths aud Smiths ia law,
should take possession around him oi
pa.ernal acres in abundance, aud all re-
joice in the boun,ifui provision Of their
proyident and tar seeing sire. who had
ever had a watcaful eye to their welfare!
Indeed, it Was no, provoking the i'm
aginatiaif beyond its limits, to suppose,
at no distant day, smart little village
nigh, spring up on So lovely a site, with
its school house, and lis church, rearing
up a modestspir to greet the lovely sun
light breaking through the eastern clouds.
casting Its fresh morning glsnces OH as
bright scene as ever gladdeled natures
bosnin, or won her sweetest smiles, glo-
rying in the dignifed and euphonious ap-
pe.lalion OF Smisllyille, or Smiths cor
ners, if you please, with lis pos. coach
and iri weekly mail; and then Came the
association OF town meetings. caucuses,
aud elections, aud Smith was happy il
his reycries.
But Laiay cite Smith was a doomed
man! lie never made any thing from
the beginning. and he never could! The
.IaA came on, and with it canle the blight
Of all his hopes, the choke-damr of all
his aspirations, the earthquake that shook
down all his castles, the Ague! All thr
Smiths were taken nearly al the same
time, some Of them only chilled, some
shook outright. limbs quivered bey0nd
all control, and llieir teeth chartered III
concert! Oh! i. was a scene, the Smith
family on their ague.dsy. Smith was
discouraged, perfectly dishearieneI. bu,
as last resort sent for the Docior--a
steam l)octor-one who rraclicsd after
The wise councils, and benificent theory
Of tho great Thompson! l4afaye elite
Smith was loo knowing a man 10 be i'm
posed npon by the apo,hecaries, the al
lppa,hisls. and mineral doctors. he had
seen enough Of salvation. and imagined
a touch Of mercury was doing q job in
his own bones from the way they suffer-
ed, taken when he was . child! lie