52 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



trail, 1 leading in the direction of Peoria, Illinois; and 

 about the same distance South East of Chicago, 2 and on 

 the dividing ridge between the waters of the Lakes and 

 Mississippi. I cannot give you an adequate idea of this 

 country. To say it is rich and beautiful, is not sufficient. 

 It is the first fine country I ever saw. I am now speak- 

 ing of the north part of the state generally. You have 

 heard the Door Prairie 3 described. Description gives 

 you no idea of the real splendor of the green when it 

 first breaks upon the view. I had seen many Prairies 

 before ; but never such an one. My intention when I left 

 Madison, was to have settled upon it. Knowing that it 

 was only 2 or 3 years since it began to settle, I expected 

 to find much vacant land. Instead of that it is nearly 

 all claimed and already wears the appearance of an old 

 settled country. Good frame houses and barns built 

 and building, with such a multitude of stacks of hay and 

 grain, that it looks like the great store house of the world. 

 And yet with all this abundance, grain is already becom- 

 ing high and scarce. The influx of "new comers" is 

 beyond calculation. Land is rising in value most won- 

 derfully, and yet when compared with some other coun- 

 tries it never can reach a value sufficiently high to com- 

 pare with its real worth. 



"Congress Improvements" are frequently sold on the 

 Door Prairie from $500 to $2000 for quarter sections. 

 Every emigrant's desire is to get upon the most valuable 

 location he can find, so that his improvement will rise in 

 value before the land comes into market, which will not 

 be until next summer or later. Not finding a situation 

 in Laporte county that suited me, I was at some loss 

 what to do, when I accidentally met with the surveyors, 

 just returned from their survey in this territory. They 



1 The Sauk Indian trail leading from Detroit, Michigan, to 

 Peoria, Illinois. 



* Fifty miles would be more nearly correct. 



* Located in La Porte County and famous for its beauty and rich 

 soil. 



