Chapter I: Preface

There is a generally accepted notion that a brief summer vacation, if at all obtainable in this busy life of ours, must be spent in a flight as far afield as time will allow; that the popular resorts in the mountains, by the seaside, or on the margins of the upper lakes must be sought for rest and enjoyment; that neighborhood surroundings should, in the mad rush for change of air and scene, be left behind. The result is that your average vacationist--if I may be allowed to coin a needed word--knows less of his own State than of any other, and is inattentive to the delights of nature which await inspection within the limits of his horizon.

But let him mount his bicycle, his saddle-horse, or his family carriage, and start out upon a gypsy tour of a week or two along the country roads, exploring the hills and plains and valleys of--say his congressional district; or, better by far, take his canoe, and with his best friend for a messmate explore the nearest river from source to mouth, and my word for it he will find novelty and fresh air enough to satisfy his utmost cravings; and when he comes to return to his counter, his desk, or his study, he will be conscious of having discovered charms in his own locality which he has in vain sought in the accustomed paths of the tourist.

This volume is the record of six hundred miles of canoeing experiences on historic waterways in Wisconsin and Illinois during the summer of 1887. There has been no attempt at exaggeration, to color its homely incidents, or to picture charms where none exist. It is intended to be a simple, truthful narrative of what was seen and done upon a series of novel outings through the heart of the Northwest. If it may induce others to undertake similar excursions, and thus increase the little navy of healthy and self-satisfied canoeists, the object of the publication will have been attained.

I am under obligations to my friend, the Hon. Levi Alden, for valuable assistance in the revision of proof-sheets.

R. G. T.
MADISON, Wis., December, 1887.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 15

TABLE OF DISTANCES 26

The Rock River

CHAPTER I.

THE WINDING YAHARA 31

CHAPTER II.

BARBED-WIRE FENCES 48

CHAPTER III.

AN ILLINOIS PRAIRIE HOME 61

CHAPTER IV.

THE HALF-WAY HOUSE 74

CHAPTER V.

GRAND DETOUR FOLKS 86

CHAPTER VI.

AN ANCIENT MARINER 103

CHAPTER VII.

STORM-BOUND AT ERIE 117

CHAPTER VIII.

THE LAST DAY OUT 129

The Fox River (of Green Bay).

FIRST LETTER.

SMITH'S ISLAND 143

SECOND LETTER.

FROM PACKWAUKEE TO BERLIN 160

THIRD LETTER.

THE MASCOUTINS 174

FOURTH LETTER.

THE LAND OF THE WINNEBAGOES 187

FIFTH LETTER.

LOCKED THROUGH 205

SIXTH LETTER.

THE BAY SETTLEMENT 218

The Wisconsin River.

CHAPTER I.

ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS 237

CHAPTER II.

THE LAST OF THE SACS 248

CHAPTER III.

A PANORAMIC VIEW 262

CHAPTER IV.

FLOATING THROUGH FAIRYLAND 275

CHAPTER V

THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI 288

INDEX 295

INTRODUCTION.

HISTORIC WATERWAYS.