UNCLE SAM'S FARM. 157 



steam horse bore us. As we approached the Merri- 

 mac River, however, the mist cleared away, and 

 piles of fleecy clouds were distinctly mirrored in the 

 waters of the beautiful river, along the banks of which 

 we now passed, through smiling towns and villages, 

 until the bell and loud steam whistle announced that 

 we were approaching the Lowell depot. Lowell is 

 the Manchester of America, the manufacturing empo- 

 rium of the Western world. Forty years ago it was 

 an unsettled territory. It is now covered with mills, 

 churches, hotels, stores ; and the hum of business 

 amid streets of beautiful houses, the prosperous homes 

 of thirty-five thousand people. Lowell is twenty-five 

 miles from Boston, and is the second city in popula- 

 tion in the " Old Bay State." 



Lowell derives its name in honor of Francis Cabot 

 Lowell, who was the founder of the manufactories. 

 It is situated at the confluence of the Merrimac and 

 Concord rivers. The spot where Lowell now stands, 

 about 200 years ago was the headquarters of one of 

 the five great tribes of Indians which were found 

 in New England, numbering 12,000. This place 

 was highly valued by the Indians on account of the 

 vast quantities of salmon, shad, alewives, and sturgeon 

 with which the river abounded. The abundance of 

 14 



