Louisiana and Aaron Burr 259 



All observers were struck by the intense fondness 

 of the frontiersmen for the woods and for a restless, 

 lonely life. 13 They pushed independence to an ex- 

 treme; they did not wish to work for others or to 

 rent land from others. Each was himself a small 

 landed proprietor, who cleared only the ground that 

 he could himself cultivate. Workmen were scarce 

 and labor dear. It was almost impossible to get men 

 fit to work as mill hands, or to do high-class labor in 

 forges even by importing them from Pennsylvania 

 or Maryland. 14 Even in the few towns the inhabi- 

 tants preferred that their children should follow agri- 

 culture rather than become handicraftsmen; and 

 skilled workmen such as carpenters and smiths made 

 a great deal of money, so much so that they could 

 live a week on one day's wage. 15 



In addition to farming there was a big trade 

 along the river. Land transportation was very diffi- 

 cult indeed, and the frontiersman's whole life was 

 one long struggle with the forest and with poor 

 roads. The waterways were consequently of very 

 great importance, and the flatboatmen on the Mis- 

 sissippi and Ohio became a numerous and note- 

 worthy class. The rivers were covered with their 

 craft. There was a driving trade between Pitts- 

 burg and New Orleans, the goods being drawn to 

 Pittsburg from the seacoast cities by great four- 



1S Crevecoeur, "Voyage dans la Haute Pennsylvania," etc., 

 p. 265. 

 14 Clay MSS., Letter to George Nicholas, Baltimore, Sept. 



3. i?9 6 - 

 18 Michaux, pp. 96, 152. 



