CHAPTER I.

In September, 1834, I left Exeter, New-Hampshire, for the purpose of
visiting the Western States and Texas. Although public attention had
been for some time directed thither, by various published sketches and
frequent emigration, yet so little was definitely known, that I was
induced to travel through these sections of the country to learn their
actual situation and condition. My object was not to visit the settled
regions of the country, a full knowledge of which may be obtained from
books, but to see some portion of the unknown and unsettled regions
of the West and the South. My particular attention was, therefore,
directed to Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana and Texas.

But so rapidly are some portions of this new country settling; so
constantly are new villages springing up in the wilderness; and so
continually are improvements making, that history must continue to
lag behind the reality. To keep any thing like an even pace with
population, and the public constantly informed of the actual condition
of the country, would require, like an almanac, an annual revision and
publication of its history.

I took passage on board the stage, through Brattleborough and
Bennington, to Albany. About twelve years ago, I travelled over this
route, and was gratified to find so many improvements in the villages,
farms, and especially in the stage road, since I had travelled it
before. In passing through Vermont, I found a new road had been made
to avoid the high hills over which it formerly passed, so that now, I
believe this is the easiest and safest route across the Green Mountains.

Two opposition turnpikes were almost completed from Bennington to
Troy--one entering at the upper, the other at the lower part of the
city. The public have been badly accommodated in this quarter. The
old road is rough, hilly and circuitous. One of the turnpikes would
have been abundantly sufficient; but if Troy chooses to make two, the
travelling public will not probably object. Opposition seems to be
the order of the day; and although it has caused much improvement in
the ease and facility of travelling, yet it is often troublesome and
annoying. As we drove up to the door of the stage house in Albany,
an agent of one of the steamboats, thrust in his head and gave us
a handbill of a boat--enquired if we were going down the river, and
without waiting for an answer, said it was a good boat, swift, low
pressure engine, start at nine in the morning, fare to New-York city
only _fifty cents_. In the bar-room, we had to pass through the same
ceremony with the agent of another boat; and I had to take a third
edition in the street next morning.

The Erie canal terminates in a large basin, immediately on the banks
of the Hudson river, so that the freight of the canal boats can be
conveniently transferred to the river boats. Western travellers can
here take passage on board the canal boat, or go on the railroad to
Schenectady and take a boat there. But as the canal is twice the
distance of the railroad, travellers generally choose the latter.

Travellers from the North, when accompanied by their families and
baggage, usually stop at Troy, and take a canal boat there, for the
West.

The ancient city of Albany has the appearance of much business and
wealth; and some portions of it are pleasant, especially in the region
of the State House and other public buildings. From the river, the
ground rapidly rises, so that the city stands upon the side of a hill,
and makes a fine appearance, when viewed from the opposite shore.

The railroad commences in State street, a short distance below the
State House yard; and so steep is the ascent, that the cars are drawn
for a mile by horses. Here a steam engine was hitched on, and we
started off at a rapid rate. The distance from Albany to Schenectady
is sixteen miles, and we travelled it over in less than an hour. Here
we were assailed by the agents and captains of the canal boats, and
those who could make the most noise and bustle, and obtain the most
passengers, were the best fellows.

There are three kinds of boats in general use on the canal. The Packet
boats, drawn by three horses, and go at the rate of about five miles
an hour. They are fitted up in good style, intended exclusively for
passengers and their baggage--having elegant cabins, drawing-rooms,
berths, &c. Fare, five cents a mile and found.

The Line boats--designed for freight and passengers also. These are
drawn by two horses, and travel at the rate of two and a half or three
miles an hour. The fare is one cent a mile for passage only; and one
and a half cents addition per mile, for board. Families travelling to
the West, generally take the Line boats. They can travel much cheaper
than in any other mode. They furnish their own provisions, and have
the privilege of cooking on board the boat. Provisions are plenty and
cheap, and can be bought at almost every stopping place, along the
whole line of the canal.

And the Scows, used exclusively for grain, flour, lumber, &c., which
are employed by the farmers to carry their own produce to market. These
are drawn by two horses; and many of them have two sets of horses, and
stalls made on board to keep one set, while the other draws the boat;
and at regular intervals, relieve each other. By this means, they keep
the boat continually going, night and day.

The Packet boats ply between the large towns on the canal, from
Schenectady to Utica; from Utica to Rochester, &c., so that a
traveller, in going through the whole route, must shift his baggage
and himself from one boat to another, three or four times. But the
Line boats run the whole length of the canal, from Albany or Troy to
Buffalo.--These boats are furnished with horses by a company, who have
them stationed at regular intervals of about twelve miles the whole
distance.

All the boats, at night, carry two brilliant lights in the bow, so
as to enable the helmsman to steer, and avoid other boats when they
meet. I took passage on board one of the Troy and Erie line. I found
good accommodations, and good company. In the forward part of the
boat, were the gentlemen's and ladies' cabins; in the stern, the
dining and cook rooms; and in the centre the place for freight. It was
about seventy feet long, and twelve or fourteen feet in width. Three
other passengers, besides myself, went the whole route; a lady and
her daughter from Pennsylvania, and a Dr. Warren of Rhode Island; and
way-passengers were continually coming aboard, and leaving the boat, at
our several stopping places. I found travelling on the canal pleasant,
and in fine weather, delightful. We were continually passing villages,
farms, locks, viaducts, or boats; and these, with the company aboard,
afforded an agreeable variety. When I wished for exercise, I would jump
ashore, and take a walk along the hard trod tow-path.

I was really surprised to find so many boats on the canal. We met them
almost every mile, and sometimes, three or four together. The Line
boats are owned by companies; and the captain told me that forty-five
boats belonged to his line. When one happens to run aground, which
is sometimes the case, when deeply laden and the water low, it is of
course, in the centre of the canal; so that boats cannot pass on either
side; in such an event, twenty or thirty boats will be congregated in a
few hours.

The boats pass each other on the left hand side, and without trouble
or delay. The whole process of passing belongs to the outside boat; or
the one the farthest from the tow-path. All the inside boat has to do,
is to steer near the tow-path, and keep on as usual. The outside boat
hauls one way, and their horses the other, and lets the tow-rope slack,
so that the inside horses and boat can pass over it, between them. The
tow-path sometimes changes from one side to the other of the canal; and
the horses are transferred by means of a bridge. They pass underneath
the bridge, and turn up on to it the further side; so as to keep the
tow-rope clear of it. The riders display their horsemanship by whipping
over these bridges at full speed. Accidents, however, sometimes occur.

One day, the Packet boat passed us, a short distance from a tow-path
bridge; and as the horses were going at full speed across it, the
forward one slipped, fell over the railing, and drew the others after
him. The rider saved himself by leaping from the horse to the bridge.

The two forward horses fell into the water, and came out uninjured; but
the rear one fell across the edge of the tow-path and was killed on the
spot.

The Erie canal is a great and noble work; and has gained a niche in
the temple of fame, for its great founder. It has been of incalculable
benefit to New-York, and the rising States in the West; and must
continue to be, in all time to come. Now it is completed, and in
successful operation, men may cease to wonder; but so improbable was it
generally thought to be, to make such a long line of canal, on a route
so difficult and expensive, that an intelligent gentleman informed me,
when he was asked by one of the surveyors, if he should not admire
to see boats passing before his door; emphatically replied, if life
were guaranteed till that event, he would then willingly resign it. A
few years only passed, before the event did happen, but he is not yet
_quite_ willing to die.

It was indeed a great undertaking. None but a man of a gigantic mind,
of steady purpose and firm resolution, could have conceived, planned
and executed it. It all along bears the marks of so much labor and
expense, that a common mind would have been deterred from making the
attempt. The canal passes over an extent of country much more rough,
broken and hilly than I had supposed. Long levels of canal are found
to be sure; but they are made at great expense, by filling up deep
gullies, winding round the side of hills, or deep cuts through them;
and by walling up the side of streams, or aqueducts over them.

Every few miles, the canal passes through a village. Many of these
have sprung into existence, since the completion of the canal; and
others have much increased in size, wealth and beauty. They are all
_ornamented_ with grog-shops, containing, among other miscellaneous
matter, an abundant supply of "boat-stores."

New-York has a great variety of romantic scenery. It has more beautiful
and stupendous water-falls than any other State in the Union; and the
lover of nature's choicest works might very pleasantly spend months in
viewing them. Trenton Falls, on the West Canada Creek, a large stream
that empties into the Mohawk, are situated about twenty-four miles
above its mouth. They consist of several _chutes_ for the distance
of two miles, commencing near Black river road, and terminating at
Conrad's mills. The upper fall is about twenty feet; and the descent
above, for two miles, is not less than sixty feet. The water, here
compressed into a narrow space, is received into a large basin, rolls
down a precipitous ravine a hundred feet in depth, and presents to
the eye the most romantic peculiarities.--Some of the topmost crags
overhanging the stream; and here and there, a hardy tree, having gained
a foot-hold in the crevices of the rock, throws its branches athwart
the abyss. There are six distinct falls. The next below, are two
pitches, called the Cascades; where the water falls eighteen feet--the
Mill Dam Fall, of thirteen feet.

The High Falls, consisting of three pitches--one of forty-eight, the
second of eleven, and the third, of thirty-seven feet--Sherman's Falls,
of thirty-five feet. The last fall is at Conrad's mills, and is only
six feet; but the descent of water, from the top of the upper fall
to the lower one, is three hundred and eighty-seven feet--and the
whole forms as wild and romantic a scene as the enthusiastic lover of
nature's most eccentric works could desire. Organic remains have been
found in the ravine in abundance, and Mr. Sherman has a cabinet of
them, which are exhibited to the curious.

Ithaca Falls are situated at the head of Cayuga Lake. The high fall
of Fall river is the first that strikes the eye, in going from the
steamboat landing to the village, and is one hundred and sixteen feet
in height. Two immense piles of rocks enclose the stream. On the right
hand high up the bluff, a mill-race is seen winding around a point in
the bank, suspended in mid air; and sometimes an adventurous visitor,
may be seen cautiously wending his way along the dizzy path on the
verge of the abyss. The mill-race was built, by letting a man down over
the giddy steep by a rope fastened to a tree above, who dug holes in
the bluff, in which to fasten its principal supports. A short distance
from this, up the rocky bed of the creek, is another splendid fall--not
so high as the first, but more wild and beautiful. Above these, are
three more falls, the upper one of which is the highest fall of water
of any, and is the most grand and imposing. These four falls have a
descent of four hundred and thirty-eight feet in the short distance of
a mile, and present to the eye as great a variety of the romantic and
beautiful in nature, as earth affords.

There are Cascadilla, Six Mile Creek, Buttermilk Creek, &c. &c. many
romantic scenes and splendid falls; but it would interfere with the
design of this work to stop to describe them. I cannot, however, leave
the high falls on Taghcanic Creek without a passing notice. They are
eight miles from Ithaca, near a landing place called Goodwin's point;
and are two hundred and thirty-eight feet perpendicular! Who shall
attempt to describe such a magnificent exhibition as this; or the
effect it produces on the mind! This is said to be the favorite resort
of parties of pleasure and lovers of the picturesque. And who, but the
real invalid, would ignobly spend his time at Saratoga, when scenes
like these await him in the interior of New-York.

After passing many fine villages, we at last arrived at the city of
Rochester. It is indeed, a large and flourishing city. It is situated
on both sides of the Genesee river, is well built, mostly of brick,
and contains over thirteen thousand inhabitants. Near the upper part
of the city, the canal crosses the river, by a splendid aqueduct of
red free-stone, eight hundred and four feet in length, having eleven
arches, and elevated fourteen feet above the common level of the water.

While the boat stopped, I went down the river to see the great falls.

They are about eighty rods below where the canal crosses, and are
ninety-seven feet perpendicular. Here _Sam Patch_ made his last leap in
the autumn of 1829. In the centre of the river, and at the verge of the
precipice over which the water falls, is a ledge of rocks, called Table
Rock, about six or seven feet in height above the water. On this Table
Rock, a scaffold was erected, about twenty-five feet high, so that from
the top of the scaffold to the bottom of the falls, the perpendicular
height was one hundred and twenty-five feet. From this giddy height,
Sam Patch made his "last jump," in the presence of a vast multitude
of people, who had assembled to witness this daring feat, and, as it
proved, fatal leap. Sam never rose from the boiling flood below; but
his body was carried by the current to the mouth of the river at the
lake, and was there found, the next spring. Who will be the biographer
of _Sam Patch_? What a pity it is some phrenologist had not examined
his head. He must have had a tremendous _jumping bump_. For myself, I
could not stand on the dizzy brink of the river, and look down into
the awful chasm below, with any tolerable degree of composure. These
things, however, much depend upon practice. A sailor would have thought
nothing of standing on the most projecting rock; or of walking along
the highest precipice.

In 1811, the site of Rochester was a wilderness; now it is a large
city. Its great staple of trade is flour. It contains eleven flouring
mills with fifty-three run of stones; and can grind twelve thousand
bushels of wheat in twenty-four hours.

After travelling from this place sixty-three miles, we found ourselves
at Lockport, on the _mountain ridge_. At this place, the canal has a
double row of locks adjacent to each other; five for ascending, and
five for descending; each twelve feet deep, making the ascent sixty
feet. This is the most admirable work of the whole canal. Between
the two rows of locks, are stone steps, guarded on each side by iron
railings. In 1821, there were here but two houses; now, it contains
four hundred, and is a pleasant village.

Passengers for Niagara Falls, leave the canal here, as they are as near
them, at this place, as they would be at Buffalo. After travelling
nineteen miles, the first three of which, was through a deep cut of
limestone, from twenty to thirty feet in depth, we came in full view
of the majestic Niagara river. On the margin of this stream, the canal
passes by the village of Black Rock, to its termination at the city of
Buffalo.