194 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
March, 1808, he left Rozier in Kentucky and returned 
to Pennsylvania. No time was lost in making known 
his plans to Lucy Bakewell and her family, and having 
received their approval, the lovers prepared for the ad- 
venturous journey that was to celebrate their wedding. 
Audubon was married to Miss Bakewell, at ‘““Fatland 
Ford,” on Friday, April 8, 1808, by the Reverend Doc- 
tor Latimer, an Episcopal clergyman of Philadelphia, 
and on the next morning started with his bride for the 
frontier. This event must be regarded as the most 
auspicious in his career, for in all probability the world 
would never have heard of Audubon had it not been for 
the spur to his ambition and the balance wheel to his 
character which came through his admirable wife. 
The first stage of their honeymoon involved the long 
ride of over 250 miles to Pittsburgh, the hazards and 
discomforts of which we have learned from Rozier’s 
description; it was marked in this instance by an acci- 
dent, for in crossing the Alleghany mountains their 
coach was upset and Mrs. Audubon did not escape with- 
out severe bruises. At Pittsburgh the Audubons met a 
number of young emigrants bound westward like them- 
selves, and in their company they prepared to float down 
the beautiful Ohio in a flatboat or ark. Their entire 
journey, which, owing to the windings of the river, could 
not have been much less than a thousand miles, was 
made in twelve days, and without further mishap. 
The wild and varied beauty of the Ohio of that day 
had great attractions for the naturalist, who often re- 
gretted that no facile writer had left a true and vivid 
picture of it for the benefit of posterity, for he foresaw 
with great concern the inevitable changes which advanc- 
ing civilization would quickly produce along its delight- 
ful banks. Audubon traversed this mighty highway 
