Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-10-24
A wisconsin PIutarch.

n
Madison wis., Correspondence of New York
Grephic.l
His rare historical appetite dates from
b1yhnod, al d during forty years he he.
ON sntly INDUCED it with fresh food
Insfinctively seiZlug On a few represeI t.
alive names-Daniel Boone, GeOTgt
RI, ers, CLARK, Lawis, Simon KentO ,
Cecum ZEN, Braut, Brady, the WeZels
the csnteIs Of the pioneer history OF the
West-he has, FIR tYO-sCOre years, fol
lowed up every clue till he has gath red
in this little hut q complete 10 7nusCTip
history of the development Of the wet
HIS Investigations comprise tie Who'll
sweep of the Anglo American sstt e
ment and border warfare Of the ives
from the fir-J battle in the valley Of Vir-
ginia in 1742 to the death of peCum ED
ana defeat ~ the Indians at the Thames
in 1913 His Investigations hsVs be-,
rs thorough IS they have been wide II
follows the trail Of 3 fact with tn per-
sistenCe of al Indian aud The scent o. 8
hound. To collect the materials he
has travelel m,rs tuau six Y thousand
miIts since 1910, visiting sged pioneers
and Indian fighters, the men VIII
cleared the woods aud laid the fOUnde-
lions If the State. Living on megg-'
salary, and much Of the time with no
income whatever, he has Travelled ten
ei thousands Of miles on foot, He ha
made several Ofthe journeys, going eigu
huudred miles on fOUJ, and carrying
hi knaIssck. This involved great
bard hips and selEdenisl and not q lit
t e danger. His feet beCame sOr7 al Que
line, compelling him to make his way
on his hands ana knees t. q settle lent.
He came near losing his life on severa
ccasiOus, swimming swollen streams
capsizng in stages, and caught in
steamboat explosions; but he hazarded
everything TO clear up al obscure eve t
! ia the fa Of one OF his Dor Ter bsTGe.
His eutnus ann and keen scent have
yielded 10 nOimpediment. The walls ar
hung with the trophies and relics Of hi
extended search, and in the shelves ar
packed two hundred and fly ma.
script volumes OF crude history, al
original, and mostly new. Concerning
the life and cOnquest5 of General Clark
whom he calls "the Washington Of the
WI ST." he possesses twenty-five manu-
script copies. There are ten volumes If
manuscripts relating to Booze and hi>
ancestors, including B0One's letter, hi
fied-nCtes OF surveying, and his private
memorandum and account books IN
l one OF BOOne's lie tiers be says: at wa
on the first of May, in the year 1863
that l resigned my domestic happiness
fr 8 time, and left my family and
ue8ceable habitation on the Yad
kin river to wander through the wilder
less in quest Of the cCur try OF
Kentucky" It is not spelled like this;
indeed the Crlhograpby conforms more
to the Josh Bii.iDg5 sts lie, as on the tree
whose bsrS, cut with BOOne's knife,
still records that he "cilled a bar !"
He was gone to "Kentucke" two
years, and on returning to
lis IN. " domestic happiness" il
North Carolina, found that his wife had
just given bilth to child, of whom his
brother, James, Wss the sckn0wlsdg-
father. The grizzly hunter put on his
thinking cap and took it philCs phically
Although he had probably never heard
Of Lucullus, who lent his wife TO a
friend, he emulated that Roman consul.
He spologiZed TO his wife Tor being 40
-eut su long, greeted his brother cordial
ly alluded to toe surprising arrival, and
exclaimed: oval, never MINI, Jim
i's all in the family!' Thus James
was not Obliged t. get on to the r-gged
edge, and Daniel saved his "dOme tic
hsppin. es " Another of Diapers heroes
is Genera Simon KenIOn, noted Dor
ter fighter, and cODpaDiUn of Clark and
Boone, who was captured by the In
dians, and several times escaped the
take and faggOt, aud who was Onc-
tied on 8 Wild colt, Mszsppa-iike, aud
let t. bis fate il the psthless wOOds. o.
!, Brady, Wetzels, Braut, Tecumseh aUd
} others, Draper has collected macy
volumes, and he has shout a d, zeD
volumes of manuscripts concerning
sum er-matter new and exhaustive
DR. Draper is a smsll, Wiry man, aud
while his head and beard is silveEing
his eye preserves the brightness aud his
step the elasticity of youth. He has
mar gelous energy and persistence that
never tires ''Ouc wonder is" says
J Sabin, I" that man Of hi
slight physique could nave accom-
plished tlthe OF his work" AnIther
odd fact IS that he has published almost
nothing. Unlike PiutaTcb, to whom |
have compared him, he is natursl y q
cleaner rather than compiler H
gathers facts and boards them like =
miser-nOt becsu3e he is see etjve or
fails 10 comprehend that they ought t.
be used, but because he takes more
plea. ure in collecting than in editing.
He mere keenly enjoys going forth
aioot and searching every Gomez Of the
west for an old scrap OF letter or to find
lost link IN the chain of some minor
narrative than to acquire either time or
money in some publication. The love
Of accuracy and completeness is q pas
sion with HIM. He Is, however, at last
making arrangements to furnish copy
to the printer. He has rubljshe 7Oi
ume on the Mecklenbuig declaration,
aud in conjunction with Mr. G w But
erfisld, the au hcr OF CTaIgfoTd'S Erpe-
ditiOn, is row preparing VI um
enutled Border F0J dys and adventures
For such = book be has uneq laleu No
teriaIs. The biographies Of Clark,
Boone, KeLt1n, sumter, ETC., must
come later. Whatever may result, hF
will enrich the future with his posse
si0ns, AID when he passes away ne VII.
leave behind him the merited fame OF
having done more than all other men
put together toward restoring the lost
history OF the great west.