PREFACE. 



The " Hive of the Bee-Hunter" has one ob- 

 ject, which the author would impress upon such 

 readers as may honor him with their attention. 



An effort has been made, in the course of 

 these sketches, to give to those personally unac- 

 quainted with the sceneiy of the southwest, some 

 idea of the countiy, its surface, and vegetation. 



In these matters, the author has endeavored 

 to be critically correct, indulging in the honest 

 ambition of giving some information, while de- 

 picting the germinating evidences of the great 

 original characters national to these localities. 



The southwest, with its primeval and evergreen 

 forests, its unbounded i^rairies, and its many and 

 continuous rivers, presents contributions of nature, 

 wliich the pilgrims from every land, for the first 

 time, behold with wonder and awe. 



