Chapter IV: Preface: To Volume III (3)

This species flowers about 15 days later than the species of _Corylus americana_ found in all the Climates of North America even in lower Carolina in the neighborhood of Charleston. The _Corylus cornuta_ is found only on the highest mountains and in Canada. _Corylus americana amentis_ [male] _solitariis squamis externe tomentosis margine nudâ_; _floris_ [female] _stylis coccineis_.

The 26th herborised and pulled Shoots of shrubs and fresh Shoots to transport them to the garden of the Republic in Carolina.

Sunday 27th of March....

The 28th prepared and packed my Collection of fresh Mountain Plants.

The 29th started from Davinport’s and slept at the house of ... Young. Violet with dentate reniform leaves, villous petiole and yellow flower in full bloom on the banks of streams and very cool places.

The 30th continued my journey and by mistake took a road to the right leading to Wilkes [County]. Another _Viole lutea scopus foliosus foliis hastatis_ in flower in cool places and also less damp places. This one is a little more tardy than the previous one.[182]

The 31st arrived at Colonel Avery’s and slept at Morganton or Burke Court house.

Friday 1st of April 1796, started from Morganton. Slept at Robertson’s, formerly Henry Waggner’s, 30 Miles from Morganton.

The 2nd of April _Epigea repens_ in full bloom as on previous days; on several individuals all the female flowers were without rudiments of Stamens while on other individuals all the flowers were hermaphrodites. Arrived at noon at the house of Christian Reinhart near Lincoln. Remained all day to pull shoots of the _Spiraea tomentosa_ that grow in swampy spots.

Sunday 3rd of April arrived at Bennet Smith’s 12 Miles from Lincoln; remained all day to pull shoots of a new Magnolia[183] with very large leaves, auriculate, oblong, glaucous, silky, especially the young leaves; the buds very silky; Flowers white Petals with a base of a purple color. Stamens yellow etc. Along the Creek on the bank of which this Magnolia grows I also saw the _Kalmia latifolia_, _Viola lutea_, _foliis hastatis_; _Ulmus viscosa_ then in process of fructification; _Halesia_; _Stewartia pentagyna_.

The 4th started and crossed Tuck-a-segee ford on the Catawba[184] river 10 Miles from Bennet Smith’s. Took the road to the left instead of passing by Charlotte and slept _11 Miles_ from Catawba river.[185]

The 5th of April 1796 at a distance of 12 Miles took once more the road leading from Cambden to Charlotte.[186]

Took Shoots of _Calamus aromaticus_ that grows in damp places in the neighborhood of Charlotte and of Lincoln. _Rhus pumila._ Slept near Waxsaw Creek in South Carolina about 35 Miles from Tuck-a-Segee ford.

The 6th at the house of Colonel Crawford near Waxsaw Creek: anonymous Plant with leaves _quaternate_, _perfoliate_, _glabrous_, _entire_. This same Plant grows in the Settlements of Cumberland and in Kentuckey. _Frasera foetida._[187]

Passed by Hanging Rock; the distance from Waxsaw to Hanging Rock is 22 Miles. To go to Morganton or Burke Court house one should not pass by Charlotte, but take the Road to the left 3½ Miles from Hanging Rock.

About 20 Toises after leaving the fork of the two roads (one of which leads to Charlotte) one sees the _Anonymous_[188] shrub with a red root which has the appearance of the _Calycanthus_. This shrub is the one I saw in the vicinity of Morganton. Slept near Hanging Rock.

Thursday 7th of April 1796 arrived at Cambden; five or six Miles before arriving there pulled Shoots of a new _Kalmia_ seen some years previously. The distance from Hanging Rock to Cambden is 26 Miles.

Friday 8th of April started from Cambden, passed by State’s borough 22 Miles from Cambden and slept at Manchester 30 Miles from Cambden.

The 9th my Horses strayed away during the night, having broken the Fence within which they were placed.

In the streams: _Callitriche americana_; _fructificatio simplex_, _axillaris sessilis_, _Calyx 2-phyllus_, _stamen unicum_; _filamentum longum_, _latere geminis germen duplex? styli duo longitudine staminis_, _stigmata acuta_.

_Silene ... calyx 5-fidus cylindricus_, _corolla Petala 5_ (or _5-partita usque ad basim_) _unguibus angustis_, _laciniis planis apice obtusis_; _Stamina 10 basi corolla inserta_; _Germen oblongum_. _Styli tres_; _stigmata acuta_; _Capsula unilocularis_, _semina plura numerosa_, _flores rosei_.[189]

Started in the afternoon and slept at 15 Miles having crossed 10 Miles of sand called Santee High Hills in the space of which observed _Phlox_; _Silene_ ...; _Dianthus_ ... in flower; _Lupinus perennis et pilosus_ in flower.

Sunday 10th of April 1796 arrived at the Santee River at the place called Manigault ferry; before arriving there observed _Verbena_ (_aubletia?_) and on the banks of the Santee, _arbor Anonymous_ whose fruit (_muricatis_) covered with soft points, was almost ripe.[190] Manigault ferry is 28 Miles from Manchester.

Two miles further on one takes the road to the right called Gaillard road which is shorter than the ordinary road but muddy in winter. Slept at the house of the Widow Stuard 18 Miles from Manigault ferry. Tavern dirty and without a supply of fodder for Horses.

The 11th started very early; at a distance of 5 Miles remarked _Lupinus perennis_ and _Lupinus pilosus_ in flower. Distance from Charleston 40 to 43 Miles. Arrived at the garden of the Republic 37 Miles from the Widow Stuard’s that is to say 47 Miles from Charleston.

Recapitulation of the journey from Illinois to Charleston.

From St Louis of the Illinois to Kaskias 4 Miles
To the village of St Philippe 45
To the Prairie du Rocher 9
To Kaskaskias 45
To the junction of the Mississipi and Belle Rivière 95
To Fort Massac 45
To the Junction of the Cumberland and Belle Rivière 18
To Clark’s ville on the red river 120
To Nashville 60
To Bloodshed’s lick[191] 30
To Fort Blount on the Cumberland river 40
To West Point on the Clinch river 90
To Knoxville on the Houlston river 40
From Knoxville to Iron Works 30
To Bull’s gap 30
To Green’s ville 25
To John’s borough 25
To Colonel Tipton’s 10
To Limestone cove 18
To David Becker’s beyond the Mountain called
Iron mountain 23
From Backer’s to Young’s 20
To Morganton or Burke 22
To Robertson’s 30
To Lincoln 16
To Tuck a Segee 22
To Wax Saw Creek 35
To Hanging Rock 22
To Cambden 26
To Manchester 30
To Manigault ferry 28
To Charleston 70
----
Total 1123 Miles
374⅓ leagues

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Edmond Charles Genet (Genest) was born at Versailles
about 1765. His father was a diplomat who was
interested in English literature, and who welcomed
the American coterie in Paris to his home. Henrietta
Genet, later Madame Campan, was first lady of honor
to Queen Marie Antoinette; her brother was chosen
at the early age of twenty-four, secretary--later,
_chargé d’affaires_--to the French embassy at
St. Petersburg. His dispatches thence were of so
republican a tone, that in 1792 he was commissioned
minister of the new French republic, to Holland; but
late in the same year was chosen for the mission to
the United States, where he arrived April 8, 1793.
His career in America is well known. After his
commission was revoked, Genet became a naturalized
American citizen, married a daughter of Governor
Clinton of New York, and died at Jamaica, Long
Island, in 1834.--ED.

[2] Humeau and Le Blanc appear to have been agents of
Genet, assisting in this revolutionary movement.
Nothing is known of the former. Le Blanc was a
citizen of New Orleans, well-affected to the French
revolutionary cause. He was to have been made mayor
of New Orleans, when that city should fall into the
hands of the revolutionists. See American Historical
Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 1049, 1050.--ED.

[3] For a description of the left-hand or southern
branch of the road, known as “The Old Glade,” see
Harris’s _Journal_, _post_.--ED.

[4] Evident error; perhaps 320 was intended.--C. S. S.

The distance in reality by this route was somewhat
less than this.--ED.

[5] Hugh H. Brackenridge was at this time the most
prominent lawyer in Pittsburg, whither he had come
in 1781, after graduating at Princeton and serving
as chaplain in the regular army. Brackenridge was
a Scotch-Irishman, and a Democrat in politics;
therefore he sympathized with the uprising known
as the Whiskey Rebellion, and wrote a work in its
defense, although his influence had been exercised
to moderate its excesses. Gallatin defeated him for
Congress in 1794; but later he took his place upon
the bench of the state supreme court, and served
with great ability until his death in 1816.--ED.

[6] _Physostegia Virginiana_, Benth.--C. S. S.

[7] _Hedeoma pulegiodes_, Pers.--C. S. S.

[8] Col. Francis Vigo was a Sardinian, who came to
Louisiana in the Spanish army. Settling at St. Louis
as a trader, he embraced the cause of American
independence, rendering substantial aid in many ways
to George Rogers Clark, in the latter’s Illinois
campaigns. Vigo took the oath of allegiance to the
United States, and later settled at Vincennes, where
he died in poverty in 1836. His just claims upon the
government were not settled until thirty years after
his death.--ED.

[9] A Spanish document of this period complains of
Audrain as having misappropriated funds for his
contracts, also charges him with being a radical
republican, receiving all the patriots at his
house, where dinners were given and toasts drunk to
the downfall of monarchy. See American Historical
Association _Report_, 1896, p. 1049.

The commandant at St. Louis was Captain Don Zenon
Trudeau, who held the office from 1792-99.--ED.

[10] This Frenchman was known in Pittsburg as J. B.
C. Lucas, and was appointed associate judge of
Allegheny County in 1800. His Democratic principles
were so strong that he brought about the impeachment
of his colleague, Judge Addison, a well-known
Federalist.--ED.

[11] The writer here uses the term “Fort Pitt” as the
name of the town; the brick fortification which was
being demolished was the one known by that name,
built by Stanwix in 1759-61. It stood between the
rivers, below Third, West, and part of Liberty
streets. A redoubt, built in 1764 as a part of these
works, is still standing, and has been restored
by the Pittsburg chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, whom it serves as a museum.
See _Frontier Forts of Western Pennsylvania_
(Harrisburg, 1896), ii, pp. 99-159.--ED.

[12] Fort Fayette, a stockade erected in 1792 for
protection against the Indians. It stood about a
quarter of a mile above Fort Pitt, on the present
Penn Street, at the crossing of Garrison Avenue.--ED.

[13] _E. atropurpureus_, Jacq.--C. S. S.

[14] This is probably his _Sicyos lobata_ (_Echinocystis
lobata_ of Torr. and Gray) which, according to the
_Flora_, was detected by Michaux “in _occidentalibus
Pensylvaniae, juxta fluvium Ohio_.” The “_corolla
5 partita_” is retained by Richard in his
description.--C. S. S.

[15] Wheeling was founded upon land taken up by Col.
Ebenezer Zane in 1770. During Lord Dunmore’s War
a stockade was built at this place, called Fort
Fincastle; later, the name was changed in honor
of Patrick Henry, first governor of the state of
Virginia. Fort Henry was thrice besieged during
the Revolution--in 1777, 1781, and 1782. Many
romantic incidents are told of these events; most
notable, that of the sortie for additional powder,
successfully executed by Elizabeth Zane. Colonel
Zane laid out the place in town-lots in 1793; two
years later, the Virginia legislature incorporated
it. In 1797 Wheeling became the seat of Ohio County;
and early in the nineteenth century appeared likely
to surpass Pittsburg in prosperity, and as an
important emporium for Western trade.--ED.

[16] The site for Fort Harmar was chosen by Gen. Richard
Butler (1785), on his journey to Cincinnati to make
peace with the Miami Indians. A detachment under
Major Doughty began building the fort--named in
honor of Gen. Josiah Harmar--in the autumn of this
year; its completion in 1786 afforded protection
to the frontier inhabitants of Virginia. Two years
later (1788), the Ohio Company of Associates--New
England veterans of the Revolution--came out under
the leadership of Gen. Rufus Putnam, and began the
settlement of Marietta, “the Plymouth Rock of the
West.”--ED.

[17] For the Little Kanawha, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
vol. i of this series, note 98.--ED.

[18] For the Great Kanawha and its historical
associations, see Croghan’s _Journals_, vol. i
of this series, note 101; also Thwaites, _On the
Storied Ohio_.--ED.

[19] For the history of this French settlement on the
Ohio, see _Journal_ of F. A. Michaux, _post_.--ED.

[20] Jean G. Petit was the most prominent man of this
settlement, acting both as physician and judge.--ED.

[21] For a description of the Scioto, and its early
historical importance, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
vol. i of this series, note 102; also Thwaites, _On
the Storied Ohio_.--ED.

[22] The Three Islands were noted landmarks in the
early history of Kentucky. Kennedy and his company
encamped there in 1773, but the settlement was in
a dangerous location, as this was near an Indian
crossing place. In 1791, twenty men were told off to
garrison the settlement. The upper island was near
Brush Creek, in Ohio. Only one island remains at
this place.--ED.

[23] Limestone (now Maysville) was long the chief river
post for Kentucky, but was not early settled owing
to its exposure to Indian attacks. Bullitt and the
McAfees were there in 1773; Simon Kenton settled
farther up on Limestone Creek in 1776. The same
year, George Rogers Clark landed at this place the
powder provided by Virginia for the protection of
the Kentucky settlements. The first blockhouse was
built on the site of Limestone in 1783; four years
later, the town was incorporated by the Virginia
legislature.--ED.

[24] Alexander D. Orr was representative in Congress for
Kentucky, from its admission and through the fourth
Congress (1792-97). A Virginian by birth (1765),
he removed to Mason County at an early period,
and had much influence in his neighborhood, where
he lived as a planter until his death, June 21,
1835. Michaux’s visit to Colonel Orr is probably
significant of the fact that Orr was interested in
the former’s mission.--ED.

[25] Gen. Henry Lee was one of the earliest settlers in
Mason County. Coming to Kentucky as a surveyor in
1779, six years later he established Lee’s Station,
near Washington--one of the earliest in northeastern
Kentucky. Lee was Kentucky delegate in the Virginia
house of burgesses (1788), a member of the
convention that adopted the federal constitution,
and later member of the Danville conventions for
organizing the State of Kentucky; his political
influence, therefore, was important. Unlike many of
the pioneers, he prospered in business and amassed
a considerable fortune, dying on his estate in
1845.--ED.

[26] For the history of Big Bone Lick, see Croghan’s
_Journals_, vol. i of this series, note 104.--ED.

[27] This was either May’s Lick, in Mason County, or the
Lower Blue Licks, in Nicholas County. It is evident
that the buffalo had nearly disappeared from this
region, where less than thirty years before Croghan
had found them in such vast numbers. Butricke
(_Historical Magazine_, viii, p. 259) says that in
1768 they were scarce above the Scioto River. The
last buffalo was killed in the Great Kanawha Valley,
about twelve miles below Charleston, West Virginia,
in 1815.--ED.

[28] There is some doubt thrown upon the
commonly-accepted statement that the first cabin
at Lexington was built in 1775, and the place
named in honor of the opening battle of the
Revolution, news of which had just been received.
The permanent settlement was not made until 1779;
the following year the town was made county seat
of the newly-erected Fayette County, and itself
incorporated in 1782.--ED.

[29] Paris was laid out in 1786, the first court of
Bourbon County being held there in 1787. Two
years later, it was incorporated by the Virginia
legislature as Hopewell; the present designation was
adopted in 1790.--ED.

[30] Danville was laid off as a town by Walker Daniel
in 1781, and rapidly rose to importance, being the
centre of political activity and the seat of the
conventions in which statehood for Kentucky was
agitated (1785-92). After the admission of Kentucky
as a state, Frankfort was chosen capital, and the
importance of Danville declined.--ED.

[31] Joshua Barbee was born in Virginia, and after
serving in the Revolution removed to the vicinity of
Danville, early in the Kentucky settlement. He was
militia officer in 1791, a member of the political
club of Danville, and of the state legislature. A
man of wealth and prominence, his family became
intimately associated with Kentucky history. He died
in 1839.

Pierre Tardiveau was a French merchant who had an
extensive business in the West, and connections in
Bordeaux. With his partner, Honoré, he carried on
trade with New Orleans, and made frequent trips
thither. Tardiveau embarked in Genet’s enterprise,
and was appointed interpreter in chief by Michaux,
who appears to have used him to communicate with
agents in New Orleans. See Claiborne, _Mississippi_
(Jackson, 1880), pp. 152, 153; also American
Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 952,
1026, 1096. Tardiveau removed to Louisiana when it
came under American dominion.--ED.

[32] John Brown, one of Kentucky’s most prominent public
men, was born at Staunton, Virginia, in 1757, and
while a student at Princeton joined the Revolutionary
army as aid to Lafayette. At the close of the war he
removed to Kentucky, was its first representative to
the old Congress (1787-89); then to Congress under
the Constitution (1789-92), where he was employed in
securing the admission of Kentucky as a state. Upon
that event (1792), Brown was sent to the United
States Senate, of which he remained a prominent
member until 1805. He was a personal friend of
Washington, Jefferson (with whom he studied law), and
Madison, and when he died in 1837 was the last
survivor of the Congress of the Confederation. Brown
was cognizant of Michaux’s plans, and evidently
sympathized with them, having been interested in
previous separatist movements for Kentucky. See
Butler, _Kentucky_, and John Mason Brown, “Political
Beginnings of Kentucky,” Filson Club _Publications_
No. 6. Brown gave letters of introduction to Michaux.
See American Historical Association _Report_, 1896,
pp. 982, 983, 1010.--ED.

[33] Brown refers here to the embassy of Carmichael, and the
negotiations entered into by him and Pinckney, the
minister at Madrid, that ultimately led to the treaty
of 1794.

The Creek Indians lay south of the United States
territory in West Florida, and were believed by the
Westerners to be incited to attacks upon Americans by
the Spanish authorities of this province and of
Louisiana.--ED.

[34] Michaux went to what was known as St. Asaph’s, or Logan’s
Station, in Lincoln County, to see the well-known
pioneer and Indian fighter, Gen. Benjamin Logan. Next
to Clark, Logan was, doubtless, the best known person
in Kentucky, and had been chosen by Genet as second
in command of the expedition. That he afterwards
decided to enter upon this affair, seems evident from
his letter to Clark of December 31, 1793, in American
Historical Association _Report_, 1896, p. 1026. Logan
was a Scotch-Irishman, born in Virginia in 1743. When
but fourteen his father died, and he was left as
eldest son of the family. Having removed to Holston,
he was out with Bouquet in 1764, and ten years later
in Lord Dunmore’s War. Locating his station in
Kentucky in 1775, he brought out his family the
following year, and sustained many Indian attacks as
well as led several aggressive campaigns against the
savages. As county lieutenant he was a safeguard for
the new settlements, and was revered and respected by
all his neighbors. Having served in the legislature
and the convention that drew up the Kentucky
constitution, he died at his home in Lincoln County
in 1802.--ED.

[35] There was no better-known character in the West, than
Governor Shelby. Born in Maryland in 1750, the family
were of pioneer stock, and early moved to Western
Virginia, where young Shelby was sheriff (1771), and
lieutenant under his father, Evan Shelby, at the
Battle of Point Pleasant (1774). The next year he
surveyed in Kentucky, and then returned to the
Holston to engage in the Revolutionary struggles. To
his forethought is attributed the success of the
battle of King’s Mountain, after which he served in
the North Carolina legislature. Removing to Kentucky
in 1783, Shelby was welcomed as a hero by the new
community, and made the first governor of the State.
He served a second term during the War of 1812-15,
reinforcing Harrison at a critical juncture for the
Western division of the army. Refusing the portfolio
of war, offered by Monroe in 1817, Shelby retired to
his farm in Lincoln County, where he died in 1826.
Michaux carried letters to Shelby; see American
Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 983, 984.
On Shelby’s later attitude toward the expedition, see
_ibid._, pp. 934, 1023, 1040, _note_.--ED.

[36] Knob Licks, Lincoln County, was formed as a settlement
in 1776 by Governor Shelby. De Pauw, one of the French
agents, resided here. See American Historical
Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 977, 1002, 1023,
1102-1106. The Knobs were a peculiar formation of
detached hillocks.--ED.

[37] Beardstown (Bardstown) was an important settlement in early
Kentucky history, established (1788) near the Salt
River in what is now Nelson County, and named for the
proprietor, David Baird. It is now a small village,
although still the county seat.--ED.

[38] For the founding of Louisville, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
vol. i of this series, note 106. The old road from
Bardstown to Louisville went via the Salt Works
(Shepherdsville, Bullitt County), and was reckoned at
forty-five miles. See Speed, “Wilderness Road,”
Filson Club _Publications_ (Louisville, 1886), p. 17.
The new road was more direct, went across country
from Bardstown, and joined the old about ten miles
below Louisville.--ED.

[39] For the letters of Genet and Clark, see American Historical
Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 967, 986.--ED.

[40] In Clark’s letter to Genet, he seems to indicate that
this obstacle was the leaking out of the secret, by
which intimations might reach the Spaniards. Possibly
he refers to the Spanish mission which caused Logan’s
hesitation; see _ante_, note 33; also American
Historical Association _Report_, 1896, p.
1007-1009.--ED.

[41] The home of Clark’s father, with whom he resided, was
known as “Mulberry Hill,” situated in the environs of
Louisville.--ED.

[42] _E. Americanus, L._--C.S.S.

[43] On the early mail routes, see Speed, _Wilderness Road_, pp.
65-68.--ED.

[44] James Hogan was a pioneer of Kentucky who settled at Bryan’s
Station before 1779, and took a leading part in its
defense against Indians (1781). He was granted (1785)
by the Virginia legislature the right to maintain a
ferry across the Kentucky River.--ED.

[45] The principal ferry on the road from Danville to Lexington
was at the mouth of Hickman’s Creek, so named in
honor of the first Baptist preacher in Kentucky, Rev.
William Hickman.--ED.

[46] See letter of this date, written by Michaux to Clark
(American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, p.
1010), in which he gives his address at “Mᵗᵉ Isham
Prewitt, Jefferson County, near Danville.”--ED.

[47] The original letter sent by this messenger is in the
Wisconsin Historical Library (Draper MSS., 55 J 5),
and is printed in American Historical Association
Report, 1896, p. 1013.--ED.

[48] This reply is given in American Historical Association
_Report_, 1896, pp. 1007-1009. The break in the
manuscript of Michaux’s diary is occasioned by the
completion of one blank book and the commencement of
another.--ED.

[49] Nicholas was one of a famous coterie of Virginia
constitutional lawyers. Born in 1743, the son of a
distinguished lawyer, Robert Cary Nicholas, he served
as captain in the Revolution, and at its close
qualified for the bar. His services in the Virginia
convention which adopted the federal constitution,
were important. Shortly after its close he removed to
Kentucky, and there aided in the adoption of its
state constitution, which is reputed to have been
drawn up by his hand. Upon the formation of the state
government, he was chosen first attorney general.
Nicholas adopted a moderate position in regard to
Western politics; the scheme here outlined, seems
characteristic. In 1799 he was appointed law
professor in Transylvania University, but died during
the same year.--ED.

[50] Michaux returned to Philadelphia by the well-known
“Wilderness Road,” the chief means of exit from
Kentucky. Parties frequently waited at Crab
Orchard--the western terminus in Lincoln
County--until enough had gathered to act as
protection against the Indians. See Speed,
“Wilderness Road,” Filson Club _Publications_, No. 2
(Louisville, 1886); also Hulbert, _Historic Highways
of America_, vol. vi.--ED.

[51] _Lygodium palmatum_, Swz.--C.S.S.

[52] Three words are here frayed away in the manuscript of
the Journal.--C.S.S.

[53] Cumberland Gap, in southeastern Kentucky, emerging into
Tennessee, was explored in 1750 by Dr. Thomas Walker,
who named both mountains and river in honor of the
Duke of Cumberland, son of George II.--ED.

[54] The Clinch and Holston rivers are upper waters of the
Tennessee, in southwestern Virginia and northeastern
Tennessee. The settlements in these valleys were
among the first on the west-flowing streams. See map
in Turner, “State Making in the Revolutionary Era,”
in _American Historical Review_, i, p. 74.--ED.

[55] Both of these stations are mentioned in an early journal;
see Speed, _Wilderness Road_, p. 21. The first was
the seat for Hawkins County, Tennessee.--ED.

[56] The forks of the road was at the junction of the north
and south forks of the Holston River, near the
present town of Kingsport, Sullivan County,
Tennessee.--ED.

[57] Abingdon, originally known as Wolf Hills, was one of
the earliest settlements in the Valley of Virginia,
and the seat of Washington County. It was established
as a town in 1778. It is still the county seat, and a
station on the Norfolk & Western Railway.--ED.

[58] Wytheville, near the centre of the county of that name,
and its county seat.--ED.

[59] The early route through the Virginia Valley crossed
New River at Ingles’s Ferry, a short distance west of
Blacksburg, Montgomery County. A new road shortened
the distance and crossed the New River about five
miles farther up the stream, at a ferry operated by
the pioneer family of Pepper. They are alluded to in
the Draper MSS., Wisconsin Historical Library, I QQ
97.--ED.

[60] Botetourt Court House, now Fincastle, the seat of
Botetourt County (established in 1769), was laid off
as a town in 1772 on land donated for the purpose by
Israel Christian. It was named for the ancestral seat
of Lord Botetourt, an early governor of
Virginia.--ED.

[61] Lexington was established by law in 1777 as county
seat for Rockbridge, then newly-formed out of Augusta
and Botetourt. See _ante_, note 28.--ED.

[62] Col. James McDowell, who lived near Fairfield, Rockbridge
County, was a descendant of the Scotch-Irish settler,
Capt. John McDowell, who came to the valley as a
surveyor in 1737, and was killed in the first Indian
fight therein (1742).--ED.

[63] The present roads through the Valley of Virginia follow
the course described by Michaux, passing through the
same towns. Staunton is one of the earliest towns of
the region, having been settled in 1732 by John
Lewis, a Scotch-Irishman, whose sons Andrew and
Charles were among the most prominent borderers.
Andrew commanded the Sandy Creek expedition in 1756;
and at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, where
Charles was slain. Staunton was laid out as a town in
1748, at the “Beverly Mill Place,” but was not
established by act of legislature until 1761.--ED.

[64] This town is generally known as Harrisonburg, from its
founder, Thomas Harrison (1780). The county of
Rockingham was erected in 1778, and held its first
court at the house of Daniel Smith, which was two
miles north of Harrisonburg.--ED.

[65] The upper or northern portion of the Valley of Virginia
was first settled by German emigrants from
Pennsylvania. Woodstock was laid off as a town by
Jacob Miller, and established by law in 1761.--ED.

[66] Newtown, or Stephensburg, was founded by Lewis Stephens
on the site of his father’s first claim. Peter
Stephens came to Virginia in 1732, with Joist Hite,
an early settler of the northern portion of the
Valley. His son established the town in 1758, it
being called Newtown to distinguish it from the older
Winchester. Newtown is now a small hamlet, without a
post-office.--ED.

[67] Winchester was built upon Lord Fairfax’s grant in 1752.
In 1738 there were two cabins at this place, which
was then called “Shawnee Springs,” and was the
frontier outpost in that direction. The population
was a mixture of Germans and Scotch-Irishmen. Col.
James Wood is accredited with the foundation of the
town of Winchester.--ED.

[68] Charlestown, in what was then Berkeley County, but now
the seat for Jefferson County, West Virginia, was
laid off (1786) upon his own land by Col. Charles
Washington, brother of the general, and christened
from his own Christian name.--ED.

[69] Harper’s Ferry takes its name from the first settler,
Robert Harper, who formed part of the German
emigration of 1734. Washington perceived the
strategic importance of this place, and recommended
it as the site of a national arsenal.--ED.

[70] Frederick City, Maryland, was laid out in 1745 by
Patrick Dulany, and named in honor of the sixth Lord
Baltimore. The first house, however, was not erected
on this site until 1748, when it became the seat of
the newly-erected Frederick County. Most of the early
settlers were Germans, with an admixture of
Scotch-Irish. At Frederick the road from Virginia
crossed the National Road from Baltimore to
Wheeling.--ED.

[71] Woodsboro is a small village in Frederick County,
Maryland. Littlestown, in Adams County, Pennsylvania,
was laid out in 1765 by one of the early German
settlers of the region, called Peter Klein (Little).
It was frequently called Petersburg in the earlier
days. It is now a small station on the Fredericksburg
branch of the Pennsylvania Railway.--ED.

[72] Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, was laid out upon
a tract granted by Lord Baltimore to John Digges in
1728. The proprietors of Maryland claimed this
region, and Digges settled a number of German
immigrants upon his tract of 10,000 acres, which was
known as “Digges’s Choice.” A Scotch-Irishman,
Richard McAllister, emigrated thither about 1749 and
acquired great influence over the German settlers of
the neighborhood, where he kept a store and tavern.
He laid out the town and named it Hanover in 1763 or
1764.--ED.

[73] Michaux is mistaken in placing the Pennsylvania boundary
so far north, as he had entered that state before
reaching Littlestown. This territory, however, had
been in dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland,
but was settled by the running of Mason and Dixon’s
line in 1763. York was not settled on the lands of
the Penn estate until 1741, when there were 2,000
settlers within the bounds of what is now York
County. The town became an incorporated borough in
1785.--ED.

[74] For the early history of Harris Ferry, see Post’s
_Journals_, vol. i of this series, note 73.--ED.

[75] Dr. Daniel Rittenhouse was one of America’s best known
scientists. Born in Pennsylvania in 1732, his talent
for mathematics early manifested itself, and he
became a clock and instrument maker, and finally an
astronomer of much repute. He held important
positions in the new State of Pennsylvania, was its
treasurer (1777-89), also first director of the
United States mint. Rittenhouse was employed to
settle the boundary between Virginia and his own
state, and during 1784-85 was in service in the
field, directing the running of the line. He
succeeded Franklin as president of the American
Philosophical Society in 1790, retaining the office
until his death in 1796.--ED.

[76] The manuscript is so frayed that the figures for these
two distances are destroyed. The footing requires 60
M. for the two.--C. S. S.

[77] Michaux remained in Philadelphia until February 9, 1794,
chiefly occupied with his botanical pursuits, and in
getting his accounts audited. Proceeding south on
horseback, he arrived at Charleston March 14, 1794,
where he consulted with the French consul, Mangourit,
concerning the Florida portion of the expedition
against French territory. See American Historical
Association _Report_, 1897, pp. 569-679. Upon the
collapse of this project, Michaux undertook a
botanizing tour to the mountains of North Carolina,
from July 14, to October 2, 1794. Upon his return, he
had an attack of fever for “more than six weeks,” and
passed the remainder of the winter in arranging his
garden and classifying his plants.--ED.

[78] _Planera aquatica_, Gmel. (_P. Gmelini_, Michx.).--C. S. S.

[79] A word here is illegible in the manuscript.--C. S. S.

[80] Probably this was Thomas Lee, son of a Revolutionary
patriot, and usually a dweller in Charleston. In
1792, however, he married and afterwards lived for
some time on his estate in the up-country. Born in
Charleston in 1769, he was admitted to the bar in
1790, and later was assistant judge (1804-16), and
United States district judge (1823-39). He was one of
the most prominent South Carolinians of his day.--ED.

[81] These were the most important iron-works in the state;
their owner had invented an improved water-blast, and
had a forge, furnace, rolling mill, and nail
factory.--ED.

[82] Col. Martin Armstrong was a Revolutionary soldier in
command of the local militia, and much engaged in the
war against the Tories. After the battle of King’s
Mountain, he took over the command from Benjamin
Cleveland.--ED.

[83] Lincolnton is the seat of Lincoln County, which was
originally part of Tyron. The name was changed in
1779 in honor of the patriot leader, Gen. Benjamin
Lincoln. This entire region was a centre of agitation
for independence; and in 1780 a fierce battle between
Whigs and Tories was fought at Ramsour’s Mills, near
Lincolnton.--ED.

[84] Probably this was Capt. Zaccheus Wilson, a Scotch-Irish
resident of this region who migrated thither from
Pennsylvania between 1740 and 1750. Wilson was an
ardent patriot, a member of the Mechlenburg
convention in 1775, of the provincial congress of the
state the following year, and a captain at King’s
Mountain in 1780. In 1796 he followed his brother
David to Tennessee, where he lived until his death in
1823 or 1824.--ED.

[85] Morganton is the oldest town in the mountainous district
of North Carolina, having been founded during the
Revolution, and named in honor of Gen. Daniel Morgan.
The settlers of this region were largely
Scotch-Irish, who had emigrated from Pennsylvania by
way of the Valley of Virginia.--ED.

[86] Col. Waightstill Avery was of New England origin, born
in Connecticut in 1743. At the age of twenty-three he
was graduated at Princeton, and after studying law in
Maryland removed to North Carolina in 1769. He was
very influential in the upper country, a member of
the Mechlenburg convention of 1775, and of the state
provincial congress the following year. After a
campaign against the Cherokees, he was commissioned
to negotiate a treaty with this tribe in 1777. During
the war Colonel Avery was in active service as a
militia officer; at its close he settled four miles
from Morganton, calling his plantation “Swan Ponds.”
Five times Burke County sent him to the state
legislature, and in 1796 to the senate. Andrew
Jackson challenged Avery to a duel in 1788, but later
became his firm friend. He died about 1821.--ED.

[87] Michaux followed the well-known Bright’s trace, by
which communication was maintained between the
settlements of East Tennessee and those of Western
North Carolina. Over this road came the men who won
the victory at King’s Mountain in 1780. Bright’s
place is now in the possession of the Avery family.
Martin Davenport resided at a noted spring not far
from Toe River, in Mitchell County, North Carolina.
He was a well-known Whig; his son William became a
man of prominence, several times representing his
county in the state legislature.--ED.

[88] _Rhododendron arborescens_, Torrey.--C. S. S.

[89] Col. John Tipton was one of the noted pioneers of
Tennessee. Born in Virginia, he early removed to
Eastern Tennessee, and was engaged in the defense of
the frontier. Upon the inauguration of the state of
Franklin, Tipton joined the North Carolina party, and
a fierce factional struggle ensued, which culminated
in the arrest of Colonel Sevier by Tipton’s agency.
Tipton lived east of Jonesborough, on Sinking
Creek.--ED.

[90] Jonesborough is the oldest town in Tennessee, having
been founded in 1779 and named in honor of Willie
Jones, Esq., an active patriot of Halifax, North
Carolina, and a warm friend of the Western counties.
Jonesborough was the first capital of Washington
District, and is still the seat of Washington
county.--ED.

[91] Greene Court House is now Greeneville, seat of Greene
County. From here two roads branch off, that to the
right toward Cumberland Gap and Kentucky; that to the
left through Newport and Sevierville, along the
French Broad Valley. Michaux took, as he says, the
right hand road, leaving it, however, beyond
Russelville, and continuing by this upper and less
frequented road to Knoxville.--ED.

[92] Bull’s Gap is a pass in Bay’s Mountain, between Jefferson
and Greene counties, named probably for Captain Bull,
an early pioneer.--ED.

[93] This was one of the earliest forges in Tennessee; it was
in Jefferson County, not far from Mossy Creek.--ED.

[94] McBee’s Ferry, crossing the Holston in the northwestern
corner of Knox County, was a well-known landmark of
this region.--ED.

[95] Knoxville was settled by James White in 1787, and at
first called White’s Station. In 1791 a town was laid
out, named in honor of General Knox, which after the
establishment of territorial government became the
capital. The first governor of the territory was
William Blount, who was born in North Carolina in
1749, and was active both in the War of the
Regulators (1771), and in the Revolution. Blount was
a member of the North Carolina legislature and later
of the national constitutional convention. Washington
appointed him governor of Southwest Territory, and on
the admission of Tennessee as a state he was chosen
first state senator. For intriguing with foreign
emissaries he was impeached, and expelled from the
Senate. The people, however, showed their confidence
by choosing him to the state senate (1797). He died
in Knox County in 1800.--ED.

[96] Fort Southwest Point, as it was usually called, was
erected in 1792 at the junction of Clinch and Holston
rivers, near the present town of Kingston, as an
outpost on the road to Western Tennessee, and a
protection against the Cherokee Indians. As late as
1803 travellers found it safer to go in company
through this wilderness. See journal of F. A.
Michaux, _post._--ED.

[97] Probably _M. macrophylla_, Michx. In the _Flora_, it
is described as only growing “_in regionibus
occidentalibus fluvio Tennassee trajectis_.”--C. S.
S.

[98] Isaac Bledsoe was one of a party of hunters who
discovered this lick (near Gallatin, in Sumner
County) as early as 1771. He removed hither in 1779
and founded a station; he was also one of the framers
of the Cumberland Association, and a faithful
adherent of Robertson. His brother, Col. Anthony
Bledsoe, who had a reputation as a leader in the
Holtson settlement, later removed to Cumberland, and
was an able second in command on Indian expeditions,
especially that against the Chickamaugas in 1787. He
was killed by Indians at Bledsoe’s Station in 1788.
The spring at this place is now called “Castilian
Springs.”--ED.

[99] Gen. James Winchester, born in Maryland in 1752, served
in the Revolution, after which he removed to
Tennessee, and settled not far from Gallatin, in
Sumner County. He served in the territorial and state
militia, and in 1812 was appointed brigadier-general
in the regular army, superseding Harrison in command
of the Western division. Captured at the River
Raisin, he was exchanged in 1814, resigned the
following year, and died at his home in Tennessee in
1826.--ED.

[100] Michaux’s remark indicates the obscurity of Andrew
Jackson at this early period of his history. He then
lived upon a plantation called Hunter’s Hill,
thirteen miles from Nashville, not having removed to
the “Hermitage” (two miles beyond) until 1804.--ED.

[101] _Quercus macrocarpa_, Michx.--here first mentioned.--C. S. S.

[102] _Q. bicolor_, Willd.--C. S. S.

[103] Nashville was founded by James Robertson, who in 1779
came overland from the settlements of Eastern
Tennessee. Donelson’s party, which went via the
rivers, did not arrive until April of the following
year. Being beyond the jurisdiction of any state, the
settlers drew up a compact under which they lived
until the organization (1783) of Davidson County as a
part of North Carolina. The town, named for the
patriot General Nash, was until 1784 called
Nashborough. Nashville was incorporated in 1806. The
legislature met at this city in 1812-16 and after
1826, but the city was not made the permanent capital
until 1843.--ED.

[104] See description of visit to Daniel Smith, brother-in-law
of Andrew Jackson, in _Journal_ of F. A. Michaux,
_post._--ED.

[105] Gen. James Robertson, the founder of West Tennessee,
was born in Virginia in 1742, but removed to North
Carolina at an early age, and was one of the first
settlers of Watauga. In 1774 he took part in
Dunmore’s War, defended the Watauga fort in a siege
in 1776, and three years later removed with a party
to the Cumberland. This settlement was maintained
only by heroic exertions, and the courage and wisdom
of Robertson in his dealing with the Indians. In
1790, Washington appointed him brigadier-general and
Indian commissioner. He died in the Chickasaw country
in 1814.--ED.

[106] These were all prominent early settlers of Cumberland.
Captain Gordon was commander in several Indian
affrays, notably the Nickajack expedition, and served
under Jackson in 1813. Thomas Craighead was the first
clergyman in Nashville, where he arrived in 1785 and
built a school-house at Spring Hill. He was an
especial friend of Andrew Jackson, whose wife was a
member of his church (Presbyterian).--ED.

[107] _Q. lyrata_, Nutt.--C. S. S.

[108] _Ulmus fulva_, Michx.--C. S. S.

[109] _Rhamnus Caroliniana_, Gray.--C. S. S.

[110] _A. tomentosa_, Sims.--C. S. S.

[111] _Oxybaphus nyctagineus_, Sweet. (_Allionia nyctaginea_,
Michx.).--C. S. S.

[112] Probably _Hypericum aureum_, Bartram.--C. S. S.

[113] Mansco Lick was in the northeastern part of Davidson
County, named for its discoverer, Kasper Mansco
(Mansker), who was one of the party of Long Hunters
in 1769. On his adventures, see Roosevelt, _Winning
of the West_, i, pp. 147 ff.--ED.

[114] Major Sharp had formerly lived in Washington County,
Virginia, whence he had gone out to serve at the
battle of King’s Mountain. He removed to Kentucky
soon after the Revolution, and later settled in the
Barrens. His son, Solomon P. Sharp, born in 1780,
became one of the most noted Kentucky lawyers and
political leaders, serving in the thirteenth and
fourteenth Congresses, a friend and adherent of
Calhoun. He was assassinated in the midst of a
brilliant career.--ED.

[115] This was Andrew McFadden, who settled a station and
ferry at this point in 1785, and was a well-known
character of that region.--ED.

[116] A part of one leaf of the Journal is here left
blank.--C. S. S.

[117] Mann’s Lick was a salt station before 1786; it was on
the road from Shepherdsville to Louisville, on the
southern border of Jefferson County.--ED.

[118] Probably some form of _Quercus alba_, Michx.--C. S. S.

[119] _Hibiscus militaris_, Cav. (_H. hastatus_, Michx.).--C. S. S.

[120] Here follow to the end of this part of the Journal
separate memoranda on loose sheets.--C. S. S. We omit
these.--ED.

[121] Michael Lacassagne was one of the richest and most
prominent merchants of Louisville; he enjoyed the
confidence of the community, and was a member of the
Kentucky convention of 1787.--ED.

[122] It is not clear what species are here referred to. _Q.
praemorsa_ is probably _Q. macrocarpa_, and _Q.
cerroides_ some form of _Q. alba_, although later in
the journal it is spoken of as an overcup oak.--C. S. S.

[123] Clarksville, named in honor of Gen. George Rogers
Clark, was intended as the metropolis of the Illinois
grant of 150,000 acres, which was made by the
Virginia legislature in 1783 to the officers and
soldiers of the Illinois regiment which had served
with Clark. A board of trustees was established for
the town, and a few of the former officers settled
here; but the place did not thrive, and is now but a
suburb of New Albany.--ED.

[124] For the early history of Vincennes, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
vol. i of this series, note 113.--ED.

[125] _V. urticifolia_, L.--C. S. S.

[126] _V. hastata_, L.?--C. S. S.

[127] _V. stricta_, Vent. (_V. ringens_, Michx.).--C. S. S.

[128] _V. bracteosa_, Michx.--C. S. S.

[129] _Spigelia?_--C. S. S.

[130] The Piankeshaw tribe of Indians, a branch of the Miami
nation that dwelt around Vincennes.--ED.

[131] _G. auriculala_, Michx.--C. S. S.

[132] The French villages in Illinois resulted from the plans
of La Salle; the earliest grew up about Fort St.
Louis, on the Illinois River. In 1700, the Kaskaskia
tribe of Indians removed to the river bearing their
name, the Jesuit missionaries and traders followed,
and the village at this place began. The inhabitants
were chiefly descendants of the _coureurs des bois_,
intermixed with Indian blood. The Jesuit plantation
at Kaskaskia consisted of two hundred and forty
arpents of land, well-cultivated and stocked with
cattle, containing also a brewery. When the Jesuits
were suppressed, the buyer, Beauvais, raised
eighty-six thousand weight of flour from a single
harvest. The French dominion came to an end in 1765
(see Croghan’s _Journals_, vol. i of this series).
Kaskaskia was captured from the English in 1778 by
George Rogers Clark, and the American régime was
instituted by John Todd, under appointment from
Virginia. See Mason, _Chapters from Illinois History_
(Chicago, 1901), pp. 250-279.--ED.

[133] Prairie du Rocher was a small French village situated
upon a grant made to Boisbriant (about 1725) by the
Mississippi Company, and by him transferred to his
nephew Langlois, who maintained seignioral rights
therein until the establishment of American
government.--ED.

[134] St. Philippe was founded upon Regnault’s grant. Pittman
(_Present State of European Settlements on the
Mississippi_, London, 1770), says that when he visited
it (1766) there were sixteen houses, a small church,
and one inhabitant, dubbed “captain of the militia,”
who had twenty slaves, many cattle, and a mill.--ED.

[135] Cahokia was probably the oldest settlement in the
Illinois, although Kaskaskia disputes its priority. A
mission of the Séminaire des Missions Etrangères was
founded among the Tamaroa and Cahokia Indians about
1698, and a French village sprang up around the
place. In 1714 there was a large accession of
renegade _coureurs des bois_. See _Wisconsin
Historical Collections_ (Madison, 1902), xvi, pp.
331, 332. After the English acquired the Illinois,
many inhabitants migrated from Cahokia to St.
Louis.--ED.

[136] Fort Chartres was the most considerable fortification
built by the French in the western part of America.
The original fort was constructed in 1720 by
Boisbriant, commandant in Illinois for the Company of
the Indies. In 1756, the stronghold was rebuilt in
stone, being described as an irregular quadrangle
with port-holes for cannon, houses, barracks,
magazines, etc. For a contemporary description, see
Pittman, _Settlements on the Mississippi_, pp. 45,
46. After 1765, Fort Chartres was garrisoned by the
English; but in 1772 the erosion by the river caused
a portion to collapse, and the fort was abandoned.
For its present condition, see Mason, _Chapters from
Illinois History_, pp. 241-249.--ED.

[137] The earliest American settlements in Illinois were
made by soldiers of Clark’s army. Bellefontaine, in
the present Monroe County, was the centre for
American life. More American families were reported a
few years previous to this. Probably the Indian wars
and the allurements of the Indian trade had caused
some dispersal.--ED.

[138] St. Louis was founded by Pierre Laclède in April 1764.
He had secured a license from the French governor of
Louisiana to trade upon the upper Mississippi and the
Missouri. Upon arriving in the Illinois country, the
previous November, he chose the site for his new
settlement, and spent the winter at Cahokia making
arrangements. Meanwhile the news of the transfer of
Canada and the Illinois to the British had arrived.
Under the impression that France had retained the
left bank of the Mississippi, many Illinois settlers
removed thither with Laclède. St. Louis flourished
under Spanish dominion, but was known by its
neighbors as “Pain Court” (Scant-bread) because its
inhabitants devoted more time to fur-trading than to
agriculture. It was not until transferred to the
United States (March, 1804) that the career of St.
Louis as a city began.--ED.

[139] For definition of _Toise_, see _post_, note 163.

Fort Massac had been erected by the order of General
Wayne in 1794, in order to check the expedition which
Michaux went to Kentucky to promote. It was on the
site of an old French post, which had been erected in
1757 by Aubry, governor of Illinois. He first named
it Fort Ascension, and proceeded thence to reinforce
Fort Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio. After the
evacuation of that fortress (1758), the Illinois
troops dropped down to this place, and renamed it
Fort Massac, in honor of the Marquis de Massiac,
minister of marine. When the French surrendered the
Illinois, the British neglected to fortify this
place, although recommended to do so by their
engineers. Accordingly Clark marched hither overland
to his capture of Illinois.--ED.

[140] _Q. imbricaria_, Michx.--C. S. S.

[141] _Forestiera acuminata_, Poir. (_Adelia acuminata_,
Michx.).--C. S. S.

[142] _Vitis riparia_, Michx., or more probably, in part,
at least, _V. palmata_, Vahl. (_V. rubra_, Michx. in
herb), a species which is often monospermous, and
which was discovered by Michaux in this region and
merged by him with his _V. riparia_.--C. S. S.

[143] The Cumberland River was usually known as the Shawnese
River on early maps. Doubtless this Indian tribe had
dwelt thereon when first met by white explorers.--ED.

[144] So called because it took its rise in the Cherokee
territory. See Weiser’s _Journal_, vol. i of this
series, note 33.--ED.

[145] _Forestiera ligustrina_, Poir. (_Adelia ligustrina._,
Michx.).--C. S. S.

[146] _Betula nigra_, L. (_B. lanulosa_, Michx.).--C. S. S.

[147] _Planera aquatica_, Gmel.--C. S. S.

[148] The interpolation of these names in the journal at
this point, would appear to indicate that the news of
the appointments consequent upon the arrival of the
new French minister, Adet (June 1, 1795), had just
reached Michaux; also that his interest in political
affairs was still active, and that other motives may
have led him to this country under feint of
herborizing.--ED.

[149] A blank of five days in the Journal occurs here.--C. S. S.

[150] A habitant named Pierre Richard is listed as a head
of family at Kaskaskia in 1783, and again in
1790.--ED.

[151] This, doubtless, is _C. speciosa_, Warder, the only
indigenous species in this region.--C. S. S.

[152] The principal fur-trading company at St. Louis had been
formed in 1794 by a union of all the traders at the
suggestion of the governor, Trudeau; at its head as
manager was placed Jacques Clanmorgan (Ch. Morgan is
a misprint for Clanmorgan), who had for some time
been in business in St. Louis, but did not sustain an
honorable reputation. He, however, succeeded in
interesting in his enterprises, a rich merchant of
Canada, named Todd, and probably the Scotchman and
Welshman were his factors. See Billon, _Annals of St.
Louis_ (St. Louis, 1886), pp. 283 ff.--ED.

[153] Cape St. Cosme has been corrupted into Cape Cinque Hommes,
in Perry County, Missouri. It was originally named
for Jean François de St. Cosme, a Canadian Seminary
priest who made a voyage down the Mississippi in
1700, and was a missionary to the Illinois and
Natchez. A few years later, he was assassinated on
the lower Mississippi by a band of savages, upon whom
Bienville later avenged his death. The term “Cap St.
Cosme” is found on a map of 1758.--ED.

[154] Cape Girardeau was settled in 1794, the first house
having been built by a Frenchman. The later
settlement, however, was almost exclusively American;
by 1803 there was a population of twelve
hundred.--ED.

[155] Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos was educated in England
and married an American. During his governorship at
Natchez he was employed by Carondelet in intrigues
with the inhabitants of Kentucky; he had come north
at this time for a conference with Sebastian, and to
communicate with Wilkinson. In 1797 he was made
governor-general of Louisiana, and died two years
later, after a dinner given at New Orleans in honor
of Wilkinson.--ED.

[156] The town of Eddyville, Lyon County, Kentucky, was
founded at this eddy in 1799.--ED.

[157] _B. nigra_, L.--C. S. S.

[158] Clarksville was one of the oldest settlements of
Cumberland, having first been occupied (1780) by the
Renfroe and Turpin families. As an advanced outpost
it was attacked many times by Indians, the latest
onslaught having occurred in 1794. The other
settlements which Michaux mentions were, as he says,
of quite recent origin--incident upon the close of
the Indian war (1795), and the inrush of settlers
over the new wagon road made this same year to the
Cumberland.--ED.

[159] The entry for the 14th is omitted in the original
publication.--ED.

[160] Capt. John Edmeston was a well-known Indian fighter
and leader of the militia. An expedition against the
Chickasaws, organized by him in 1792, was forbidden
by Robertson, because of negotiations pending with
this warlike tribe.--ED.

[161] “Old man” Frederick Stumps was a German, who early
made improvements on White Creek, north of Eaton’s
Station. His flight of three miles to the latter
station, with Indian pursuers close at his heels, was
one of the traditions of the settlement.--ED.