CONTENTS xxi 



CHAPTER XV 



Experiments in Trade on the Frontier 



PAGE 



The Ohio a hundred years ago— Hardships of the pioneer trader— 

 Audubon's long journeys by overland trail or river to buy goods— 

 The "ark" and keelboat— Chief pleasures of the naturalist at Louis- 

 ville—The partners move their goods by flatboat to Henderson, 

 Kentucky, and then to Ste. Genevieve (Missouri)— Held up by the 

 i ce — Adventures with the Indians — Mississippi in flood — Camp at 

 the Great Bend— Abundance of game— Breaking up of the ice- 

 Settle at Ste. Genevieve — The partnership dissolved — Audubon's 

 return to Henderson — Rozier's successful career — His old store at 

 Ste. Genevieve 233 



CHAPTER XVI 



Audubon's Mill and Final Reverses in Business 



Dr. Rankin's "Meadow Brook Farm"— Birth of John Woodhouse Audu- 

 bon— The Audubon-Bakewell partnership— Meeting with Nolte— 

 Failure of the commission business— Visit to Rozier— Storekeeping 

 at Henderson— Purchases of land— Habits of frontier tradesmen 

 —Steamboats on the Ohio— Popular pastimes— Audubon-Bakewell- 

 Pears partnership — Their famous steam mill — Mechanical and finan- 

 cial troubles— Business reorganization— Bankruptcy general— Fail- 

 ure of the mill— Personal encounter— Audubon goes to jail for 

 debt 247 



CHAPTER XVII 



The Enigma of Audubon's Life and the History of His 



Family in France 



Death of Lieutenant Audubon— Contest over his will— Disposition of 

 his estate— The fictitious $17,000— Unsettled claims of Formon and 

 Ross— Illusions of biographers— Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau— 

 Audubon's relations with the family in France broken— Death of 

 the naturalist's stepmother— The du Puigaudeaus— Sources of 

 "enigma." 262 



CHAPTER XVIII 



Early Episodes of Western Life 



Methods of composition— "A Wild Horse"— Henderson to Philadelphia 

 in 1811— Records of Audubon and Nolte, fellow travelers, com- 



