The Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1854-1855, 1855-03-09
From the Danviil Advertiser.
Notes from X unsas.
March 5, 1855.

KANSAS TER, lst mo. ii, l855
After a time Of silence, l trust that sketch
from my feeble pen may not be unacceptable to
the readers Of the Advertiser. and though bu
poorly able to interest them at the present writing
l seize an unappropria.ed moment to iasen CT
paper = few scattered thoughts for their perusa
when not better employed
1t is sometimes treat to shake off the tolls of
missionary labor, and so forth TO enjoy the plea
sures of ride, away from the cares of
duous calling. With this view. ] set off ysster
day morning with friend, flying trip to
Bull Greek. about twenty five miles southwark
from our mission, portion OF the territory which
I had never visited before. The day was bright
and beautiful. but the air was cold and piercing
Our way lay through open prairie Of twenty
miles, without any timber Most of this prairie
is rich and beautiful the shone upon,
but II must remain for long time unsettled from
the lack Of timber. What a field for tie herds
man, thought we After getting far out from
any human habitatisn, came to tract of
prairie from which the grass had not been burnt.
and We ahghted from our vehicle, and striking
match touched it to the dry grass. and after
impereetly warming ourselves BY the blaze. we
passed on, and when miles away, We could see
the dense columns of smoke curling up as from
some manufacturing city. and the flames rolling
upward in pleasing grandeur. How great a
matter little Are kindleth."
In the evening the tedium OF our journey was
somewhat relieved by the appearance Of six deer
scampering over the prairie and stopping occa-
slonally to gaze at Us, much 20 our amusement as
we'll as tina, of some indians who had fallen in
with us But our sttention called to
the more important object of seeking a shelter for
the night. secure from the cold. We wanted no
other accommodations than a shelter, and this
we could have found among the Indians, but As
we wished to improve the time BY gaining infor-
,atrn fta Of sHoSa ~,
whom we could converse. and just a: nightfs.l
we came 10 the hut Of squatter fresh from Hee
slerdom. l call 1t hut, and it is nothing more,
being constructed of slight logs, about ten fee
by eighteen. and but little higher than a mans
head. 1t contained two beds, table. 8 chest, s
large cook stove, pile of wood. a quantity o,
breadstufS. and seven children, beside. thei,
parents and the reader may imagine the space
allotted to us But their hearts appeared 70 be
larger than their dwelling, and they received US
with much apparent cordiality. and We could
readily believe that the company of white mar
was treat TO them. very few are settled nsa,
them. We were DESTROYS of learning the where
abou;s of some of our Friends, who were said I,
have settled in that region, but we found the re
por; to be false
The country along Bail Creek is unsurpasse,
in richness of soil. and beauty of appearance
and has the best timber that have seen in tn
territory, principally oak, walnut and hickory
and there was every appearance of bountiu
supply OF water. Bull Greek is a considerably
stream with remarkably high banks. We wer
shown specimens of beautiful sandstone. sus
cep.ible Of being nicely dressed for building
wewere also shown specimen of rock or fossi
oil, obtained from = spring some fifteen mile
below. IN the Wea country. This oil runs on
OF the earth on the surface of the water In con
siderable quantities. 1t has every apparen
euahty OF the common American oil Of the shops
and is thought to possess considerable medics
virtues. 1t ignises with the 9uickness of powder
and burns with . brilliant fame, aud is said /,
burn well in lamps. but presume it would smok
badly. The water of the spring has the sam
taste as the OIL
Not finding those persons we were more par
ticulsrly In pursuit of, we returned home soone
than we anticipated. and after = rapid driv
through . most disagreesbis wind, we feel pre-
pared for rspose and bid the reader odisu-