AND HORTICULTUUAL REGISTER. 



^ 



vol.. X vm.i 



PUISLfSHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NOllTH MARKET STREET, (Agricoliohal Warbhoosb.) 

 BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 3, 1840. 



[NO. 48* 



N. E . FARMER. 



WANDERINGS IN THE WEST IN 1830. 



No. II. 



{Continued from j/ngc 3i)i).) 



The Alleirlnny portage r.iilroad crosses the high- 

 est ridge of the raountains, and is."J6 miles in length. 

 There are fiva inclined planes ascending; an(' the 

 same number descending, an<l at each there are is a 

 stationary enjine. The cars are drawn over the 

 short leve's intervening by hur.-^cs and over the 

 summil by a locomotive. Near the termination of 

 the railroad on the west side of the monntain, we 

 passed through a tunnel perforated ihroughtho sol- 

 id rock, 1400 feet in length. 



The mountain i.s of red sandstone, and generally 

 the strata are nearly horizontal. It contains an in- 

 exhaustible amount of bituminous coal, which is 

 exposed to view in many places by e.:cnvations for 

 the railroad. The scenery surpasses my power of 

 description. It is at once, and in a high degree, 

 wild, picturesque, and grand. The mind ot the be- 

 holder is excited rather than pleased. 



At 9 o'clock wo arrived at the canai basin in 

 Johnsto'vn. This town is situated in a deep glen 

 surroiindcd by high mountains, and has the appear- 

 ance of a busy little place. We went immodia.ely 

 on board the canal packet and soon left town. The 

 canal passes down the valley of the Conebaugh, and 

 is fed by that river. The scenery is romantic and 

 beautiful. The soil of Pennsylvania where it ad- 

 mits of cultivation, is generally very rich and of a 

 peculiar reddish color, which is probably owing 

 chiefly to the decomposed sandstone of the moun- 

 tains. 



The morning of the fourth day I saw saltworks 

 on the bank of the river. The water is obtained 

 by boring to the depth of J. 50 or 800 feet. It is 

 pumped u]> by steam power and is rva|>orated by 

 boiling. The fuel used is bitiiininous coal, which 

 is dug out of the mountains in the immediate vi 

 cinity, a coal mine or diggins^ being connected 

 with every salt-house. 



The salt which is niatmfactured here is not of 

 the best quality. It is damp and is ting' d with the 

 color of the soil. We passed Saltsburg, a ragged 

 little hamlet, which derives its name from its manu- 

 facture: this is (>:3 miles from Pittsburg. Seven 

 miles below, we passed extensive sahworks and 

 coal mines: the soil in this vicinity is thin and 

 sterile: tlie river is here called the Kiski.uinitis. 

 Five miles below we passed Warrentown, another 

 ragged little village. Vegetation on the west side 

 of the mountains, lor a veiy considerable distance, 

 appeared to be a week later than on the east side. 

 Among the plants that were new to ine, was the tu- 

 lip tree, a .species of popl ir, bearing flowers of a 

 light straw color, and nearly of the size and shapi; 

 of tulips — hence its name. The fir.-^t tree of the 

 kind thatl saw was in Washington square in Phila- 

 delphia. In the mountain valleys they grow ex- 

 tremely large : the leaf resembles the sycamore 

 leaf. At half j)a>t ten we came to Leechburg, 3G 

 miles from Pittsburg, and at noon to Freeport, in 



Armstrong county, where are several mills, three 

 churches, and there is the appearance of considera- 

 ble business. This is a short distance below the 

 junction of the Alleghany river. The scenery now 

 becomes quite changed : instead of high mountains 

 on either side, we see rich, well cultivated farms. 

 Five miles from Pittsburg we passed Tarentum, a 

 very neat town, and at 7 o'clock we arrived ill the 

 city. 



Pittsburg is seen to good advantiige from the c t- 

 nal. Tiie immediate vicinity is very beautiful, i he 

 city itself is compactly built and is a place of very 

 extensive business for its size : the manufacture of 

 iron in particular is carried to a great extent, and 

 its situation at the head of steamboat navigition, 

 gives it vBiry important commercial advantages. — 

 The people ar'.' shrewd, enterprising and active ; 

 and in consequence of these qualities, there are 

 many who have become quite rich and are begin- 

 ning to exhibit the pride of wealth in elegant ifian- 

 sioiis, carriages, &c. 



.Mlcghanytown is a pleasatjt place arid- is gain- 

 ing rapidly. Many of tlie wealthy ' Pittsburgers 

 have their residence in Alleghanytown, to avoid 

 the noise aiid buslle of the city, as well as the 

 smoke, which in certain states of the atmosphere is 

 very annoying, and at all times is rather disagreea 

 ble. There, also, Mr Stone, a native of Massachu- 

 setts,' has by his own unaided exerLions, established 

 a classical school for boys, and I was glad to find 

 that he is patronised according to his merits. What- 

 ever a highly cultivated mind, indefatigable indus- 

 try and exi'inplary virtue will enab'e one to do to- 

 wards training thorough scholars and forming cor- 

 rect habits, will be done by iMr Stone, and his 

 school will prove a lasting benefit to that section of 

 the country. 



During my .stay nt Pittsburg nothing appeared 

 to me so peculiar and foreign as the common ac- 

 cent and phraseology of the people. Something 

 like an Irish accent is common, and the ;)ronuncia- 

 tion u'.' iiig like 'n — thus, liv'n, cal/n, &c. ; the ob- 

 jectivs for the nominative in phr.uses like this — 

 theni's (he best ; like for as, and the frequent use of 

 just, are some of the peculiarities of speech that 

 distinguish a western from an eastern man. 



There is no dependence to be placed upon the 

 word of the captains of the steamboat.s at Pittsburg 

 with regard to the time of sailing. They will ad- 

 vertise for tomorrow or today, when they do not in- 

 tend to go for a week, and will assure you positive- 

 ly that theirs will be the first boat to go, and will 

 even get up steam in order to make an appearance 

 of starting, when they intend no such thing. The 

 best way is to i iqiiire of tome resident who is ac- 

 quainted with the boats, who can judge from the 

 time that the boats have been in and other circum- 

 stances known to him, v>'h,i(;h bo.it will go first and 

 can recommend yon to the best. One afternoon I 

 put my baggage on board the Wni. Penii, which 

 was advertised for the next morning at 10 o'clock, 

 and the next morning I went down to the landing 

 accompanied by a friend, and fonnil that the boat 

 was not ready, and notwilhstunding the captain's 

 promises, I was persuaded that he would not go un- 



til the next week, this being Saturday. Accord- 

 ingly I look out my baggage, though not without 

 opposition, and put it on board the Maine, which 

 was getting up her steam, and at 2 o'clock wo left 

 Pittsburg. 



The steamers upon the river are very neat, and 

 commodiou.-:, but more frail in their construction 

 than those upon the sc iboard. The scenery below 

 Pittsburg is very heauliful. At 3 o'clock we pass- 

 ed Economy, u little town which was settled by 

 Rappe and his associates. A little below is Free- 

 dom, a pleasant little town; then we came to Bea- 

 ver'own, and 4!> miles from Pittsburg brought us to 

 Wellsville, where we stopped for passengers. A- 

 hout dark we came to Slenbousville, a smart thriv- 

 ing town, where v/e- stopped an hour. 



When I awoke on Sunday morning, we Were 20 

 miles below Wheeling. The banks ari bold and 

 rise back into high thick-wooded hills, and where 

 sections arc uncovered, red sandstone and coal are 

 exposed. At about 10 «'clock we passed Mariet- 

 ta, at the III ulh of the Muskingum. This town ia 

 delightfully situated and well built, and shows to 

 good advantage from the river. When wc were 

 passing, the church-bell was ringing for morning 

 service ; the stores were closed, and the town had 

 a quiet, orderly air, which reminded me of New 

 England.jjRnd I should iiave been pleased could I 

 have -strj^^^ed t}M;re. Marietta is 84 miles below 

 Wheeling. Tliirteen rwiJes more brought us to 

 Parkersburg, a pretty lown on the Virginia side. 



Three miles below Parkersburg we came to 

 Blennerhasset's island, a place memorable in our 

 country's history tinr being the scene of Burr's con- 

 spiracy. I his is:and is three miles long and con- 

 tains from 300 to 500 acres, mostly under culti- 

 vation: there are some fine orchards npon it, and 

 two farm houses, but the mansion is in ruins. 



As we pass down ilie river the hills are less bold 

 and the soil everywhere appears to be very rich. 



About sunset we passed Point Pleasant, at the 

 mouth of the Kanliawa, 2(i2 miles from Pittsburg. 

 The rays of the setting sun seemed to gilii the lit- 

 tle village, and having a fine situation, it appeared 

 very beautiful indeed. Two miles below stands 

 Galipolis, also a pleasant village. 



iMonday morning we came to Portsmouth, near 

 the mouth of the Scioto, 115 miles above Cincin- 

 nati. This town is built upon a high bluff and 

 makes a handsome show of good buildings. The 

 facade of the principal .street next to the river is 

 very fine. The blurt' has been sloped trom the 

 street to the water's ed;,'e to make a convenient 

 landing, and it also adds to the beauty of the place. 

 We left Portsmouth in the midst of a fierce thunder 

 storm, which diove the passengers into the cabin. 



The Ohio river is studded with numerous beau- 

 tiful is'and.s, which are generally cultivated in the 

 uiiddlt and have a border of timber on the declivi- 

 ty next to the water; the upper ends terminate in 

 long P.at sand bars, and the lower ends are abrupt. 



This forenoon we came up with the steamer Dol- 

 ]iliin. These boats had passed and repassed seve- 

 ral tiii:es coming down the river, and now it was 

 evident that lioth captains intended a lace. Both 



