The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-02-26
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN,

The heroine of unwritten chapter in the early
life Of General Ulysses S. Grant lives TODAY in
Natchtoches, La. little place that has more than
one claim of distinction.
Besides being the oldest town in the United
States, Natchitoches holds in careful keeping
French Spanish and Indian records that, so far. no
government historian exposition commissioner
has been able to prevail upon her to put on public
exhibition A dislike to shine in the limelight char
acerizes be rcitizens in like manner.
In 1S40-46 Grant, then young lieutenant I'M
der General Bergman, stationed at Camp Sa-
hbrty, the frontier fort which guarded the United
States citizens in and about Natchitoche from the
Spanish outlaws and the Indians. The cold inhab-
itans" recall those days None of them suspected
however what the future held in store for him
Least of all did pretty Mary Campbell, to whom he
surrendered first sight, have clairvoyant power
tobehold him the chief of his nation with the proud
distinction of being the 'first lady of the land" as
an offering to his bride
Lieutenant Grant thought his heart was broken
when Mary Campbell refused to listen to his WOO
ing. Then to prove his indifference to worldly adj
vantage, she whirled around and married jeremiah
Sullivan carpenter, and settled down to a black
berry Jam existence IN a cottage, without even a
cook
1t is nearly sixty years during Christmas" since
Mary Campbell rejected a future president for
hubble carpenter. Feeling that such one was emf
nently qualified to give opinion of Glove in a
cottage" l visited her little home where she had
lived for more than half century with the man of
her choice.
The Jerry Sullivan house" sits on the top of
flower garden hill, the way from barbed wire gate
leading straight up to the "citadel" by patch not
unlike the one which Wolfe followed when leading
his host to storm Quebec. The similarity did not
stop there
Strangers are always warned in Natchitoches
that Mrs. Sullivan keeps "gun and dawg"-for
reporters-lf they go up to interview here Well
anyway nobody had ever got close enough to inter
view her on the subject of General Grant.
Maybe this was one of her "off' days She was
bending unsuspciously over freshly plowed rows in
her kitchen garden to one side of the house A
"sat smbonnet perhaps interfered with her hear
ing a stranger approaching She was old and wrink-
led and bent. She needed somebody to help finish
the rows; she admitted that she had rheumatism in
her shoulders.
Friendship under these conditions grows like a
mango. Before we tucked the soft earth carefully.
about the last set she volunteered the information
that there dawg over yonder didn't have any
teeth" but that ''fo'ks thought he was powerful
vicious" This led to the subject of firearms, and
sch next divulged the fact that she had rusty old
pistol but she always afraid to load it, and
nothing under heaven would make her pull the trig
ger
A woman who has rheumatism and nobody to
listen while she tells what she has been taking for it
Is usually willing to pay any price to detain caller
who Is sympathetic Mrs. Jerry Sullivan found
herself led into the history of the town. Well, she
lechoned she could tell the history of Natchitoches
II anyone could! She plunged into a wonderful
story Of the days when the land was young, when
DaTy Crockett was picturesque figure around the
gambling board in the old adobe house across the
H7er In those days Natchitoches the outpost
on the Texas trail 1t was the point from which all
travellers set out to San Antonio and the City of
Mexico. She remembered when there were barrels
OF gold in the old gambling house across the river
and how the banker would let any traveller who
mad gone broke in the game put his hand into the
treasury and draw out much gold as he needed,
trusting to his honor to return it.
At the question, did she know any of the soldiers
IN the old days, Mrs. Sullivan looked up suspicious
~ 1t was no time to retreat. Then came the direct
query did she know General Grant~
Who's been telling you that old storyW she de-
handed testify.
There must have been some truth in it to have
lived so long," l said.
We'll, it isn't at all like they say it was" she
retorted.
Then you tell me the truth about it." I sug
gested That's always the simplest way to 60 after
false reports"
The logic apepaled to her, anyway she remarked
mat Jerry" wouldn't be home to his dinner Tor
maybe an hour yet-and she was lonesome.
well, you see," sch began, Gin the first place,
there wasn't any reason in them days why anybody
should have wanted to marry the lieutenant. He
wasn't very strong on good looks. may say he
was generous He'd give anything he had to any
body that wanted it. I remember how he gave two
or three ponies to little boys near by who didn't
nave anything to ride on. But he wasn't as popular
as some of his brother officers. He was, you might
say Just plain young man."
She was gently led back to her subject.
- Was dashing wooer? Well, can't say he was.
de used to come to my adopted fathers house, gust
like the other officers did, and he saw me- was
called pretty in those days" Mrs Sullivan modestly
added. "Te wasn't the only soldier who swore he'd
die with his boots on-fore me. Now, don't you be