CHAPTER XV 



EXPERIMENTS IN TRADE ON THE FRONTIER 



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

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

 "ark" and keelboat — Chief pleasures of the naturalist at Louisville — 

 The partners move their goods by flatboat to Henderson, Kentucky, 

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



At the beginning of the nineteenth century the banks 

 of the Ohio River were but thinly settled, and over vast 

 areas the virgin forest still reigned in undisturbed vigor 

 and beauty. Yet traders were eagerly pushing west- 

 ward in ever growing numbers, and by 1810 Audubon 

 and Rozier found that competition at Louisville was 

 already keen. This city, «wrote Alexander Wilson in 

 describing his experiences in the spring of that year, 

 was as large as Frankfort, and possessed a number of 

 good brick buildings and valuable shops ; it would have 

 been salubrious, he thought, "but for the numerous 

 swamps and ponds that intersect the woods in its neigh- 

 borhood," and the indifference of the people, whom he 

 found too intent upon making money to give any heed 

 to the drainage and sanitation of their town. 



The prosperity of the partners, as already intimated, 

 was shortlived. Audubon was doubtless right in ad- 

 mitting that his business abandoned him because he 

 could not bear to give it the necessary attention. The 



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