Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1856-03-17

FCORRESPONDE NCEOFTHEIN-l
!. IELLIGENCER.
, G.ALEsa, Illinois,
March 10, 4s55.
Isincerely wish you could stand lrhercI
iaye stood this morning and With ors. glance Of
your eye sweep over miles and miles Of the most
beautiful country that ever lay smiling beneath
1.-The bright beams, and dancing rays of March
,an. You would not f.el fatsu.d from climbing
Up those seventy steps you would net feel the
braeing nh. Of this windy morning; you would
Z not feel sprogstl by the smoke from chilnneys
almost underneath your eyes, but You would
feel prouder, thsat ever before, Of tbs, or at,-
tige laad , q > & s. 3 4 80 = \
know, that The hills are slrouded IN snow,
and that the river is noiseless beneath the grasp
Of an and tIse trees naked and barren
| Of yeriurs, and the fields wrapped in i. mantle
whites -bnt1 feel That the resurrection morn is
not far away when the hills viii throw off their
shroads, and the wild praiIies wear a 1nantle.of
beautiful green. aud the river breaking from It's
icy captors rush joyousiy into the. .father's''
friendly arms 80. S. So
Is You would not then heed the score of steam
,eys lying at the wharf You would not thenhear
the busfle and noise, turmoil and confusion of
the thronged streets, or even notice the eight
hundred strangers passing before you every
day. Oh ncSs hut away up on yonder hin,
away from all this noise and confusion, withpa-
Ii per and pencil IN your hand and shady tree
over. your head, you would be pouring from your
hearts deep wells of poesy, a beautiful stranto
the memory of those noble spirits who dared to
tread these hills and wales, two hundred years
ago
But let US gianceat the history of GaIena. I
believe that the whole of what now constitutes
| the State Of Illinois. was formerly the hunting
grounds of the Sacs and Fox Indians Their
wives seem to have first discovered the lead ore,
from which the place was afterwards named ];
and though those noble warriors wouldnotdeign
to l.bor for the mineral, yet like some men-7bg
Ename=4-of the present day, they did not refuse
to reap the profit of their1wiyes' industry.
But in the year 1904, the site Of Ga.ena was
relinquishcd to the O. S. Government, and in
1920, the first regular settlements were made at
this point The emigration.t to this portion of
Illinois, then became considerable, and as the
the tendency to4his plaeesbecame so great, as to
induce Lieut. Thomas to survey and lay off the
Village of Galena, in the year 1897. In thesane
year the House of Represents tixes created the
county Of 10 Daviess; in memory of the cole
brated hero of Tppecanoe. Gaiena was incor-
porated by an act-oF, the Legislature insthe year
1889. and the city government was organized in
E1s4l. And this isia brief history of the com
mencement and progress of a city, which at no
very distant day is to be oneof the largest em-
poriums of the West.
Galena now contains about tourteen thousand
inhabitants, and is Situated on. Galena river,
(which at this point IS nothing more than an arm
of the Mississippi river, distant about miles,
and is ceEebratedsfor Its lead ore, healthy eli
Innate, and beautiful situation. BY the way,
there is quite diversity 6f opinions, as to the
real name of the river referred to, rather
the origin of the name it is generally known by.
1t seems that the French called tt--fOr what
cause, know not-i'E sRiviere al Feve,,n C.,
Bean River, and the English, from . wrong
translation of the words, name.iit fsteF, instead
of Bean River. Here it goes by the cognomen
of GaIena River, and very properly too, las there
is no more Fever in or about it. than any where
telse in the West. y
| And while we talk of names, let me ask, do
you know why the people of this State are cali
ed sacksrs3 In the first settlement of the terri
tory, many farmers. crazed with the fame of
the lead mines, used toput in theirspring crops,
and then coming up the river, work in the mines
till it was time to return in the Fal, and gather
their crops, and thus initiating the fish called
f.Suekers, which, you know go up the rivers IN
the spring to deposit their spawn. In this way
originated the name which all the people Of II
inois are compfimented with.
/ Galcna, like MI westsrnycities, is fast place.
The people know how to work, and how to
arnuse themselves During the few weeks I
have been here, it has been my privilege to at
tend two or three very handsome balls hand
some in dress, and handsome IN avery large
display Of handsome ladies. Did it ever strike
you, that the further one gets West, the more
refinement,is to- besecnS The fact of the busi-
mess is, thatas avery general rnIe. the very best
and Oldest citizens Of AN eastern State are the
ones who move west first TheIlast one Of these.
balls. was given by the fire companies Of the
city, To swell up their treasury sufficiently for
them to build some kind Of an Engine house
The supper was ordered at the early hour Of Z.
sothat those who did not wish to sianee=7it be=
ing LentAin have at least the opportunity
of eating good supper, and what was more
important the privilege of contributing their
quota to the treasury.
at an early hour the pallers and reception.
room of the. ..Ds Seto House, were crowded
notwithstanding the iinelemency OF theaweather.