Chapter XIV: A Meeting of Rivals, and Sketch of Another Pioneer

Alexander Wilson and his _American Ornithology_—His
canvassing tour of 1810—His retort to a Solomon of
the bench—Descriptions of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati
and Louisville—Meeting with Audubon—Journey to New
Orleans—Youth in Scotland—Weaver, itinerant peddler,
poet and socialist—Sent to jail for libel—Emigrates
to the United States—Finally settles as a school
teacher near Philadelphia—His friendships with Bartram
and Lawson—Disappointments in love—Early studies
of American birds—His drawings, thrift, talents
and genius—Publication of his _Ornithology_—His
travels, discouragements and success—His premature
death—Conflicting accounts of the visit to Audubon
given by the two naturalists—Rivalry between the
friends of Wilson, dead, and those of Audubon,
living—The controversy which followed—An evasive
"Flycatcher"—Singular history of the Mississippi Kite
plate 202

CHAPTER XV

EXPERIMENTS IN TRADE ON THE FRONTIER

The Ohio a hundred years ago—Hardships of the pioneer
trader—Audubon's long journeys by overland trail or river
to buy goods—The "ark" and keelboat—Chief pleasures of
the naturalist at Louisville—The partners move their
goods by flatboat to Henderson, Kentucky, and then to
Ste. Geneviève (Missouri)—Held up by the ice—Adventures
with the Indians—Mississippi in flood—Camp at the Great
Bend—Abundance of game—Breaking up of the ice—Settle at
Ste. Geneviève—The partnership dissolved—Audubon's return
to Henderson—Rozier's successful career—His old store at
Ste. Geneviève 233

CHAPTER XVI

AUDUBON'S MILL AND FINAL REVERSES IN BUSINESS

Dr. Rankin's "Meadow Brook Farm"—Birth of John Woodhouse
Audubon—The Audubon-Bakewell partnership—Meeting with
Nolte—Failure of the commission business—Visit to
Rozier—Storekeeping at Henderson—Purchases of land—Habits
of frontier tradesmen—Steamboats on the Ohio—Popular
pastimes—Audubon-Bakewell-Pears partnership—Their famous
steam mill—Mechanical and financial troubles—Business
reorganization—Bankruptcy general—Failure of the
mill—Personal encounter—Audubon goes to jail for debt 247

CHAPTER XVII

THE ENIGMA OF AUDUBON'S LIFE AND THE HISTORY OF HIS
FAMILY IN FRANCE

Death of Lieutenant Audubon—Contest over his
will—Disposition of his estate—The fictitious
$17,000—Unsettled claims of Formon and Ross—Illusions
of biographers—Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau—Audubon's
relations with the family in France broken—Death of the
naturalist's stepmother—The Du Puigaudeaus—Sources of
"enigma." 262

CHAPTER XVIII

EARLY EPISODES OF WESTERN LIFE

Methods of composition—"A Wild Horse"—Henderson to
Philadelphia in 1811—Records of Audubon and Nolte,
fellow travelers, compared—The great earthquakes—The
hurricane—The outlaw—Characterization of Daniel
Boone—Desperate plight on the prairie—Regulator law
in action—Frontier necessities—The ax married to the
grindstone 273

CHAPTER XIX

AUDUBON AND RAFINESQUE

The "Eccentric Naturalist" at Henderson—Bats and new
species—The demolished violin—"M. de T.": Constantine
Samuel Rafinesque (Schmaltz)—His precocity, linguistic
acquirements and peripatetic habits—First visit to
America and botanical studies—Residence in Sicily,
and fortune made in the drug trade—Association with
Swainson—Marriage and embitterment—His second journey
to America ends in shipwreck—Befriended—Descends Ohio
in a flat-boat—Visit with Audubon, who gives him many
strange "new species"—Cost to zoölogy—His unique
work on Ohio fishes—Professorship in Transylvania
University—Quarrel with its president and trustees—Return
to Philadelphia—His ardent love of nature; his writings,
and fatal versatility—His singular will—His sad end and
the ruthless disposition of his estate 285