A Thousand- Mile Walk 

 to the Gulf 



CHAPTER I 



KENTUCKY FORESTS AND CAVES 



I HAD long been looking from the wild woods 

 and gardens of the Northern States to those 

 of the warm South, and at last, all draw 

 backs overcome, I set forth [from Indianapo 

 lis] on the first day of September, 1867, joyful 

 and free, on a thousand-mile walk to the Gulf 

 of Mexico. [The trip to Jeffersonville, on the 

 banks of the Ohio, was made by rail.] Crossing 

 the Ohio at Louisville [September 2], I steered 

 through the big city by compass without speak 

 ing a word to any one. Beyond the city I found 

 a road running southward, and after passing a 

 scatterment of suburban cabins and cottages I 

 reached the green woods and spread out my 

 pocket map to rough-hew a plan for my journey. 

 My plan was simply to push on in a general 



