﻿FRIEDEICH 
  KUKZ, 
  AETIST-EXPLORER 
  

  

  By 
  David 
  T. 
  Bush 
  next-, 
  Jr. 
  

  

  [With 
  8 
  plates] 
  

  

  Friedrich 
  Kurz 
  was 
  born 
  in 
  Bern, 
  Switzerland, 
  January 
  8, 
  1818, 
  

   and 
  died 
  there 
  in 
  1871. 
  He 
  possessed 
  much 
  natural 
  talent 
  and 
  the 
  

   beauties 
  of 
  nature, 
  " 
  the 
  primeval 
  forest 
  and 
  Indians 
  had 
  an 
  inde- 
  

   scribable 
  charm 
  " 
  for 
  him. 
  He 
  planned 
  to 
  visit 
  a 
  country 
  where 
  he 
  

   could 
  find 
  life 
  in 
  a 
  primitive 
  state, 
  and 
  consequently, 
  in 
  1839, 
  at 
  the 
  

   age 
  of 
  21, 
  decided 
  to 
  go 
  to 
  Mexico. 
  He 
  consulted 
  his 
  friend 
  Karl 
  

   Bodmer 
  who 
  had 
  recently 
  returned 
  from 
  America 
  with 
  Maximilian, 
  

   and 
  was 
  advised 
  to 
  become 
  more 
  proficient 
  " 
  in 
  the 
  drawing 
  of 
  nat- 
  

   ural 
  objects 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  true 
  representation 
  of 
  animals." 
  He 
  there- 
  

   fore 
  remained 
  in 
  Europe 
  and 
  devoted 
  much 
  time 
  to 
  study. 
  He 
  went 
  

   to 
  Paris 
  where 
  he 
  worked 
  earnestly 
  and 
  made 
  trips 
  to 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  

   France 
  to 
  sketch 
  and 
  paint. 
  And 
  not 
  until 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1846 
  

   did 
  he 
  leave 
  Bern 
  and 
  travel 
  to 
  Havre 
  where 
  he 
  secured 
  passage 
  on 
  

   the 
  Tallahassee 
  for 
  New 
  Orleans.^ 
  

  

  The 
  Tallahassee 
  reached 
  New 
  Orleans 
  December 
  24, 
  1846, 
  at 
  a 
  time 
  

   when 
  there 
  was 
  great 
  excitement 
  about 
  the 
  war 
  with 
  Mexico. 
  On 
  

   New 
  Year's 
  Day 
  of 
  1847 
  Kurz 
  started 
  up 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  to 
  St. 
  Louis 
  

   on 
  the 
  Amaranth 
  and 
  after 
  a 
  very 
  unpleasant 
  trip, 
  with 
  long 
  delays 
  

   caused 
  by 
  drifting 
  ice, 
  arrived 
  at 
  his 
  destination 
  Januarj'' 
  17, 
  1847. 
  

   While 
  there, 
  on 
  February 
  15, 
  he 
  witnessed 
  a 
  parade 
  in 
  celebration 
  

   of 
  the 
  eighty-third 
  anniversary 
  of 
  the 
  founding 
  of 
  the 
  city. 
  During 
  

   the 
  following 
  months, 
  before 
  beginning 
  his 
  long 
  journey 
  up 
  the 
  

   Missouri, 
  he 
  made 
  several 
  trips 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  the 
  Mississippi. 
  Thus 
  

   on 
  March 
  24 
  he 
  went 
  up 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  to 
  Nauvoo, 
  when 
  he 
  became 
  

   interested 
  in 
  the 
  Mormon 
  question, 
  but 
  soon 
  returned 
  to 
  St. 
  Louis 
  

   on 
  the 
  Laclede 
  and 
  wrote 
  " 
  that 
  steamer 
  and 
  the 
  Tempest 
  were 
  the 
  

  

  1 
  During 
  a 
  visit 
  to 
  the 
  Historical 
  Museum, 
  Bern, 
  Switzerland, 
  in 
  1906, 
  I 
  was 
  shown 
  the 
  

   manuscript 
  journal 
  written 
  by 
  Kurz 
  while 
  in 
  America, 
  1846-1852. 
  With 
  the 
  journal 
  was 
  

   the 
  sketchbook 
  carried 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  Missouri 
  Valley. 
  Later 
  in 
  the 
  season 
  I 
  

   arranged 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  copy 
  of 
  the 
  journal 
  made, 
  and 
  also 
  photographed 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  sketchbook. 
  This 
  copy 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  manuscript 
  and 
  photographs 
  of 
  the 
  sketches 
  

   are 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  American 
  Ethnology, 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution, 
  and 
  form 
  the 
  

   basis 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  article. 
  

  

  507 
  

  

  