AND H O R 1 I C U L 1' U R A L REGISTER. 



^ 



VOL. X VIII.] 



PUKLfSHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NOUTU MARKET &TREET, (Agricultural Wabehoube.) 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 24, 1840. 



tNO. 51. 



N. E . FARMER, 



WANDERINGS IN THE WEST IN 1839. 



No. V. 



(Continued from page 4'iO.) 



Ill company witli a ijentleinan from Massachu- 

 setts wlio arrived a clay or two after I did, by a dif- 

 foreiit route, I made an excursion into Wi.-sconHin. 

 Leavinn- Beividere hi' followed tlie Galena road to 

 Beavci creek, tlien turning north we rode through 

 a tine country if alternate barrens and prarie, af- 

 fording many very beautiful prospects, to Beloit, at 

 the uiouth of the Turtle river which enters Rock 

 river exactly on the line of the state and territorj. 

 Here is a thriving little town, having several mills 

 in active operation, 22 miles from Beividere : thence 

 we passed up on the east side of Rock river six 

 miles and stopped for the night: it was near the 

 middle of Ji, ly and the weather very warm, and the 

 heat and the :iuiS(|uitoes, which were of the "tallest 

 kind," caused ns a rather uncomfortable night. 



Early in the morning we started and following 

 the river, at the end of a mile came to the bed of 

 an ancient river, about the present size of Rock 

 river, tending to the eastward. Crossing this, our 

 route was over high prairie, which is uniformly 

 about four to six miles wide, and at that distance 

 from the river the land appears to rise and is cov- 

 ered with wood. After riding six miles the road 

 leads into a ravine, where we missed our way and 

 followed another road up the ravine a short disU-'icus 

 when we found that it turned eastward, where it 

 presented the perfect outlines of an ancient river- 

 iied : there were bluffs upon each side and nimier- 

 lus gulleys worn out by the water, and its course 

 •■urved towards the .-outh and no doubt is a part of 

 the same that we mm below, and from all appear- 

 ances it is probable that at some time the Rock 

 river meeting with obstructions at the sugar loaf 

 mountain, which is just below, made a circuit to 

 the (!astward, sometliing in the form of an oxbow, 

 and came into its present course about five miles 

 below. Finding that we were wrong, we turned 

 back and with some difficulty found our way to 

 Janesville, a paltry little town with only one good 

 house. We there forded the river, the water be- 

 ing about five feet deep and wetting our saddles ; 

 we then lollowcd the road on the west side of the 

 river towards Madison, whither avo intended to go. 

 There is a belt of limber, chiefly burr oak barrens, 

 next to the river, then tiiere is a strip of prairie 

 about five miles wide and paraWel to the river, and 

 on tlie west the prairie is bounded by a grove of 

 timber. These features continue nine or ten miles 

 to the junction of the River of the Lakes: there 

 are no inhabitants and the travel is not sufficient to 

 kill the grass, excepting a narrow path resembling 

 an Indian trail. We liad been direc;ed at Janes- 

 ville to keep the plainest track, and wlien we came 

 near the River of the Lakes it turned to the left 

 more than we thought it ought, but we saw no oth- 

 er track, and therefore followed it. Before we had 

 travelled far, the track turned more to the left and 

 out of the course for Madison, until we found our- 



selves travelling S. W. We were certain that we 

 were going wrong, but there was no person within 

 ten miles of whom we could enquire tlie way, so 

 we concluded to follow the track lead where it 

 might: as our only business was to see the coun- 

 try, it was litlle matter whore we went. Our route 

 led through a pleasant district of prairie and timber 

 until we came to Sugar river, where we met a trav- 

 eller with a liorso and wagon, of whom we iiK{iiired 

 where we were iind whither the road lead, lie in- 

 Ibrmed us that we were upon the public square of 

 the town of Centreviile, 25 miles from Janesville 

 and on the road to Mexico. In travelling this dis- 

 tance we had seen no pers(m nor found any water: 

 our traveller informed us of a spring at Sugar creek, 

 a smaller stream four miles further, and that tlure 

 or four miles beyond that we would find inhabi- 

 tants. 



Centreviile w«s laid down upon our map as a 

 large town having several roads leading from it in 

 dirterent directions, but in fact the town exists only 

 upon paper, not a tree having been cut, nor any 

 trace of civilized man being seen, and the only 

 road was the indistinct trail which we had been 

 following. We forded the river, here about three 

 feet deep, and rode on to the creek wheie we found 

 the spring which the traveller had described, and 

 about sunset we brought up at the hospitable cabin 

 of an old Pennsylvanian, where we were kindly en- 

 tertained after a ride of about 45 miles, without re- 

 freshment of any kind except water. 

 ' Our host had a farm of about 800 acres, which he 

 had lived upiui i^ne season only, and had not culti- 

 Taled a large portion of it, but he had a strong lijice 

 and was m.iking preparations tor producing on a 

 large scale; the tamily was intelligent and I no- 

 ticed a good many books and papers which it is 

 not very common to see in a new settler's cabin. 



It was late in the morning when wo left them: 

 we were nosv farther from Madison than we were 

 the morning before, and we had lamed one of our 

 horses badly, and theiefiire we gave up our pur- 

 pose ol going there, and determined to make a cir- 

 cuit by the Pekatonica homewards. Accordingly 

 we rode two or three miles westward to Richland 

 grove, a fine body of timber land about twelve 

 miles by five in extent, and then struck across the 

 prairie about six miles lo Rock grove, where we 

 came into the road leading to Rockford. Passing 

 by this grove we saw a great plenty of fine raspber- 

 ries, the only berries of any kind that 1 had seen 

 in the country. 



From Rock grove the road runs eastward through 

 a very good tract of country near the boundary of 

 the state and territory. We rode slowly until near- 

 ly night when we stopped in a settlement of Ver- 

 mont people, a number of families of whom had re- 

 moved together from the same neighborhood and 

 settled here in one of the best farming districts in 

 the country. We had now travelled through Rock 

 and Green counties in Wisconsin and entered Win- 

 nebago county in Illinois. As our entertainment 

 was not the most agreeable, we got off early in the 

 morning, and a ride of four miles brought us to 

 Trask'a ferry, where we crossed the Pekatonica. 



This river is a deep muddy stream, and runs ihrougN 

 a wide bottom covered with very heavy timber. — 

 From thence to Rockford, 12 miles, our road was 

 over dry ndling prairie without inhabitants, except 

 at a small grove four miles from town: in our ride 

 we met a number of wagons with emigrants from 

 Canada. Rockford is a tolerably pleasant town of 

 40 or 50 house? on both sides of Rock river, and is 

 the seat of Winnebago county. Tliere is a ferry 

 and a fording place having a smooth rock bottom, 

 with about two or three feet of water; this rock 

 constitutes the principal obstruction to the naviga. 

 ' tion of the river, and from this the town derives its 

 present name : it was first called Midway, on ac- 

 ; count of its being half way between Chicago and 

 I Galen-i. ;\bov Rockford the river is navigable 

 about 70 miles. We crossed the river and dined 

 at the Rockffird house, a hotel of considerable pre- 

 tension; but I never fared poorer at any hotel ia 

 my lilV, nor paid a more extravagant bill ; and I 

 would advise travellers to stop at the public house 

 on the other side of the river, where I dare say they 

 will be better served. 



The environs of Rockford are very beautiful : 

 the land is gently undulating, the prairie and wood 

 alternating agreeably, and a large portion of the 

 land is fenced and dotted with farm houses: indeed 

 the remark justly applies to the whole country bor- 

 dering on Rock river: a more beautiful country 

 cannot be imagined. After dinner we again mount- 

 ed our horses and reached home toward night, hav- 

 ing traveller in 'Jiis excursion about 140 miles. 



During the remainder of my stay at Beividere I 

 spent my time riding about the country, and made 

 acquaintance with a number of people with whom 

 I was pleased so much that 1 concluded to settle 

 here if any where in the west, and purchased a beau- 

 tiful situation in the neighborhood ; but the wes- 

 tern fever had been somewhat checked, and 1 had 

 some misgivings with regard to removing, and re- 

 solved to return home and reflect upon the subject, 

 with the assistance of the new light that I had ac- 

 quired in the course of my travel ; and now if my 

 readers will accompany me back to New England, 

 1 will endeavor to entertain them on the way and 

 then give them the reasons that have determined 

 me, and which I think will be useful to them in 

 their determinations upon the same question. 



My friend accompanied me to Chicago, whither 

 we rode in a wagon. The country eastward as far 

 as Pleasant grove is very fine and fast filling up: 

 !rom thence to I'ox river there are few inhabitants, 

 and the country is not so pleasant being chiefly dry 

 roiling barrens. 



Elgin on J'ox river appears to be a growing town, 

 and is rather pleasantly situated. The river is 

 broad but too shallow to admit of navigation. We 

 rode 12 miles from Elgin that day in a bitter N. E. 

 wind, so cold that we were uncomfortable with 

 cloaks oil, and when we stopped for the night, I 

 was quite cliilled, and was glad to occupy a seat by 

 a good fire the whole evening. 



Early in the morning we resumed our journey 

 and arrived at Chicago about noon. Chicago i> 

 situated at the mouth of a small river or creek, and 



