Wild Sports In The Far West

I did not close an eye the whole night, and longed eagerly for the first gleam of day, which at last broke gloomily through the dark forest.

The rain ceased, and a damp thin mist lay upon the swamp. I cut a slice of venison, and all my salt being expended, sprinkled it with powder, and ate it, cold and dry as it was.

The almost impenetrable swamps and the wretched weather, together with my long solitude, had considerably cooled my shooting propensities, and I resolved to seek human society. To get clear of the swamps as soon as possible, I directed my steps to the north-east, towards the St. Francis river, in hopes of finding letters from Cincinnati, or perhaps from home, at Strong’s post-office, as I had written for them to be forwarded there.

A few dry strips of land ran across the country from north to south, the intermediate spaces being about a foot or a foot and a half under water, with here and there channels three or four feet deep. Worn out and wretched as I felt from the frequent attacks of ague, I had twice to swim through the icy water, but the word “must” carried me through. In fact, I had the choice of that or perishing in the swamp. The first alternative was merely disagreeable, while the latter was highly objectionable; so I chose the former.

I passed the night by a warm fire, at which I roasted a turkey I had shot. It was at any rate an improvement on its predecessor, and my zither responded through the forest to the voices of the owls and wolves.

Next morning I resumed my north-east direction with fresh strength, and was not a little surprised about nine o’clock by a smell of smoke. Soon afterwards I came on the fresh remains of a fire. The impressions on the leaves showed clearly enough that only one person had lain there, and that he had four dogs with him. About twenty paces from the fire some grains of Indian corn were scattered about, and a tree showed signs that a horse, who had left unmistakable marks of his teeth in the bark, had been tethered there.

According to appearances, this person had not left his halting-place above an hour, and as the dew and hoar frost still lay on the leaves and grass, his trail towards the south-east was easily traceable. After following for a short distance, I heard a shot, hastened towards the sound, and came up just as the object of my search was mounting his horse. A broken-up deer was hanging to a tree, and four dogs came barking towards me. It turned out to be a man of the name of Pearce, a dweller in the neighborhood, with whom I was slightly acquainted. We greeted each other heartily, and were mutually delighted at the chance meeting, he assuring me that nothing could have given him greater pleasure than falling in with me, as he had discovered a tree a few days back in which the marks left it out of doubt that a bear must be concealed. He had killed the deer as he came along, and hung it up, intending to carry it home on his return. I readily accepted his proposal to join him, and we hastened towards Brushy lake, which we soon reached, but too far south; – so we had to go up the stream.

As we were both tired, we bivouacked early in the afternoon, on an elevated tract of land, and stretched ourselves comfortably before a warm fire. I had half a turkey remaining, and Pearce had bear, deer, and coffee, so I need hardly say that we made a good dinner.

We passed a quiet night, and the sun was well up before we commenced our march. About ten o’clock P. pointed out a large cypress close to the bank of the river, assuring me that the bear was there. The tree may have been about four feet in diameter, and there were very distinct traces of a bear’s claws in the bark. P. had intended to smoke out the sleeper; but that would have required much time, and as we were now two, and the tree was quite hollow at the base, we resolved to cut it down with our tomahawks. Securing the horse at a safe distance, we set to work, and the forest soon resounded with the strokes of our small axes. About two o’clock we paused to take a little refreshment; the dogs, meantime, tired of waiting, amused themselves in chasing rabbits and raccoons.

We had hardly recommenced our work, when P. cried, “Look out! the bear!” At the first word I had seized my rifle. The bear was down the tree like a flash of lightning; to fire, drop the gun, out knife, and at him, was the work of an instant for each of us; but he slipped off like an eel from between us, and our knives had nearly found a different sheath; so exactly had our shots fallen together, that neither knew the other had fired.

The bear, so discourteously roused from his winter sleep, could not at first make out the reason. But the approach of the dogs, attracted by the shots, soon caused him to take to flight. P., rifle in hand, threw himself on his horse, and galloped after them, I following, with my drawn knife, as fast as my legs would carry me. The bear, severely wounded, did not run far, and finding the dogs gaining on him, he took to a tree. P. sprang off his horse and loaded, and I came up just in time to see the bear, struck by his unerring ball, spring up, turn over, cling for a moment with both paws, then fall heavily to the ground. The dogs threw themselves on him, while we plunged our knives into his chest with a shout of joy. The first two balls had hit him in the flank, while the third from P.’s hand had lodged in his heart.

As it was too late in the day to travel further, we returned to the place where my rifle and some of P.’s things were left, collected wood, made a capital fire, and prepared a splendid supper. As P. had been some days in the woods, we had finished his coffee in the morning; so, by way of something hot to wash down the meat, I pulled up some sassafras roots, cut them up into small pieces, and made a very good substitute for tea.

Refreshed by our hard-earned meal, we enveloped ourselves in our blankets, and chatted together before the fire: P. telling me about the winter sleep of the bears. Towards the end of the year, they select a hollow tree for the purpose, scratching and biting the inside as smooth and clean as possible. This done, they descend into it, about Christmas time, tail downwards, and remain immovable, if not disturbed, till the end of February or middle of March, when they come out for a drink of water, returning to their retreat till the weather is mild, and they can gain their ordinary livelihood. Sometimes, instead of a tree, they select a cane-brake, breaking and biting off the canes to form a bed.

The nearest house lay about ten miles north-east from our bivouac, and through the worst part of the swamp; but once there, I had hopes of being able to walk on firm ground, instead of floundering through water and mud.

After some hours’ agreeable repose, both of us having risen to make up the fire afresh, and just laid down again, we were suddenly alarmed by a most tremendous crash, which made us start up. The tree which we had been hacking at, and then thought no more about, was overthrown by the rising wind; but this wind saved us, for as it blew in the opposite direction to our fire, the tree fell from us – otherwise we might have paid dearly for our carelessness. As it happened to fall across the river, it made a very good bridge for me on the following morning. The dogs had dropped their tails, and started off at the very first crack.

We were up with the day. P. packed his bear on the horse, and made me promise to come and see him when the swamps should be dry, to join in a buffalo hunt. Taking a hearty leave of him I set off to the north-east. After three hours’ marching up to the knees, and sometimes to the waist, in water, I came on the broad road leading to Memphis, and turned to the eastward. In the afternoon I arrived at S.’s old farm, and walked half a mile further, to sleep at McO.’s, dwelling with pleasure all the while on the hopes of a warm bed, a sound roof, and the society of fellow-creatures.

McO. gave me a warm reception, doing every thing to make me comfortable: his wife came in later, having taken a ride to pay a visit to a couple of widows. It is a remarkable fact that such a number of widows are found in the swamps. Wherever you go, you are sure to see one at the least, and I think “Mr. Weller” would have felt very uncomfortable in this part of the world. Doubtless the climate is better suited to women than to men, as the latter almost always die first.

We were merrily chatting by the cheerful fire when suddenly the doorway was darkened. I turned to look at the new comer, and who should it be but the Methodist preacher. One night later, and I should have been out of his reach.

As the sun rose I started, quite refreshed, and before sunset arrived at Strong’s post-office, on the St. Francis. Communication by letter would be impossible in the thinly settled Western States, did not one of the farmers undertake the office of post-master. One is appointed for each county, but their duties are not severe. A postman, or mail rider as he is called, traverses the county on horseback, sleeping at certain fixed stations. The mail rider from Memphis, in Tennessee, with a pack-horse in addition, carries the mail for Little Rock and Batesville to Strong’s post-office, about forty miles, taking back the return bags; from Strong’s, one rider goes to Batesville, and another to Little Rock. I found a letter from Vogel, requesting me to return to Cincinnati, and telling me that three letters had arrived for me from Germany.

The following morning found me on the other side of the St. Francis, traversing the swamp which Uhl and I had had such trouble to cross nine months ago. Although still soft and muddy, it was not quite so bad as on the previous occasion. I gained the banks of the lake about dusk, and hailed the ferryman. He was not the man who kept it when we first came here. As the sky looked suspicious, I decided on passing the night in the house. My host was a young man, with no one but a negro boy to attend him; yet there was society enough in front of the house, for on the spot where Uhl and I had bivouacked, three families were encamped, all bound for Texas.

As we were about to go to sleep, an old man came in, saying that he was not quite well, and could not bear the night air, and requesting permission to sleep in the house. On leave being granted, he spread his blanket before the fire, sat himself on it, and clasping his left knee with both hands, fixed his eyes steadfastly on the blazing logs. The negro boy sat in the chimney corner, staring at the old man, who at first took no notice of him, but after a time he turned suddenly towards him, saying, – “Here, good lad, I am subject to shocking bad dreams; if I begin to talk, and throw my arms about, will you give me a good shaking?” The boy nodded, and the old man became a much more important personage in his estimation. “But I sleep very sound, you must shake me well.” The boy nodded again. “If you do it well, I will give you sixpence.” The boy grinned as well as nodded. The man lay down on his blanket, and the boy watched him as a cat watches a mouse. I could not sleep, and turned and turned in vain; at length I heard a groan. I thought of the old fellow and his contract with the boy, and looked to see if the latter was awake. He was on his knees watching his charge with all his might. The man uttered some broken words, and raised both his arms. The boy had only waited for this; he had him by the shoulder in an instant, and shaking him with all his force, called out, “Master, master – open your eyes, master.” The man awoke, and saying, “Thank you,” was about to turn on the other side, which did not suit the boy: he shook him again. “I tell you I am awake; do you want to shake the soul out of me?” and he tried to get to sleep. But Sambo shook him again, so that he started up in a rage, asking, “What do you go on shaking me for, when I am wide awake?” The boy jumped back, frightened by the threatening expression of the old fellow, and said, trembling, “I – I – I – want that sixpence!” Altogether, it was too much for my gravity, and I burst into a roar of laughter; the two managed to settle their differences, and I soon afterwards fell asleep.

I was early on the march, and arrived towards evening at a neat comfortable looking house, surrounded by large fields of cotton and Indian corn, betokening the abode of a rich planter; on receiving a friendly affirmative to my inquiry for night quarters, I placed my rifle and game bag in the corner, and sat myself on an easy chair by the fire.

Strangers inquiring for night quarters must never suppose that they are to receive them gratuitously. The usual price for supper, bed, and breakfast – be the same good or bad – is half a dollar; but at Strong’s I had to pay a dollar, which was an imposition. The charge for a horse depends on the neighborhood, and the price of Indian corn. In the swamps it was half a dollar; in Oiltrove Bottom, only a quarter, corn being cheap there; further south, the charge was higher, and to the north-east again it was cheaper.

On my entrance, I perceived that there were ladies in the house. I had been for some time alone, and as it grew dark, having had enough of my own thoughts, I took out my zither, and began to play. A negro boy, enticed into the room by the music, soon ran out again, probably to tell his mistress what a curious sort of instrument I was playing upon. I soon had an invitation to join the ladies; but my costume was not the most suitable for a drawing-room. For months, neither razor nor scissors had approached my head: my hunting-shirt had been ten months in wear, sorely battered by wind and weather, and not being of leather, the thorns had left their marks in many places: my leggins and water-proof boots were passable: my shirt, of my own washing without soap, in cold water, boasted various shades of red, from turkey’s and bear’s blood, which is much more difficult to wash out than that of deer.

The ladies received me very politely, almost too politely, and I began to play. The Americans in general have little feeling for German music; they are a people who live in a hurry, and every thing must go fast, even music: when they hear any which has not the time of a reel or hornpipe, they say that they do not understand it. The more educated class forms an exception, and of such was my audience. The younger lady was the owner’s wife, very pretty, though pale; but, indeed, I should like to know how any one could live in these vile swamps without being pale. The elder, a kindly, venerable matron, seemed to be on a visit; they were simply but tastefully dressed, as is the case with all American women, even of the lowest classes; every thing in the room seemed neat and orderly. I passed a few very agreeable hours there; they were very much pleased with the instrument, having seen nothing like it before; and as they listened with marked pleasure to the sweet German and Scottish airs, it seemed as if they could never have enough of it, and it was past eleven before I got to bed. There was a piano in the room, but it had not been played upon sufficiently to perfect its tone.

It was long since I had enjoyed the pleasure of accomplished society, and I shall never forget my friendly reception by this family.

From hence, to Memphis was thirteen miles, with a good road, and by two in the afternoon I was again on the waves of the Mississippi. The ferry carried me over to Tennessee, Arkansas lay behind me, and once more I returned to civilized society from the wild life of the backwoods; but who can decide whether to a happier one. My funds had fallen so low that I was obliged to look out for work. The banks of the Mississippi are so high and steep at Memphis, at the mouth of the Wolf river, that the town cannot be seen from the stream. The steamers deliver their passengers and cargoes on board wharf-boats, formed of used-up steamboats moored to the banks.

The times were hard: I could obtain no other work than to cut wood, which, with my weak health and unpractised hand, was certainly no trifle; but necessity is a good teacher. I gained half a dollar and food by cutting a cord of wood, eight feet long, four feet high, and four feet deep, at a merchant’s, who had a tract of land and a saw-mill about two miles from the town. Although hard work at first, yet when I got used to it, I found that on an average I could cut and pile a cord a day.

After fourteen days’ hard work, I resolved to go to Cincinnati for my letters, and, above all, to recover my health in its superior climate, then to return and visit the hills. I had cut eighteen cords, and as the man saw that I was poor, sickly, and in a hurry to go away, he cheated me out of two dollars by giving me bad coin, a fact which I discovered on board the “Persian” steamer, on my passage to Cincinnati. I was kindly received by all my old friends, and established myself in a new suit of clothes, for which, however, I had to run in debt.

I looked about for work; every tavern in the place was crammed full of Germans, ready to do any thing for bare food: whole families were in a helpless state. Fine stories had been told them that they could gain a dollar a day for every sort of work, and when they arrived, farmers were paying only five or six dollars a month, and could not employ four fifths of the applicants. I pitied the poor creatures, though no better off myself. I took many a long walk in vain, looking for employment, when Vogel offered me an occupation I should never have thought of myself, viz., making pill-boxes. Vogel thought he would try “Emperor’s Pills,” of which he had the prescription. He was very clever in such matters, but he required little round boxes, resembling the original as imported. We set to work with a will; a carpenter was found to plane the chips, we formed the tops and bottoms with a stamp, and I colored the sides with logwood. The pill-box manufacture was soon in full play, and I made them as if I had done nothing else all my life. But all things must have an end, even the manufacture of pill-boxes, and my genius was again left fallow. Vogel came once more to my assistance, and I became a chocolate maker, gaining a dollar a day by pounding it in an iron mortar.

Shortly afterwards I heard of a dealer in tobacco who was out of pipe-stems. These pipe-stems are made from the reeds or canes growing on the banks of rivers, and other moist places in the Southern States, and as all the rivers had risen very high, he could find no one to venture among the snakes and mosquitoes. This was something more in my way than sitting behind a pestle and mortar.

I bargained with a companion, and, with a few dollars in our pockets to cover the most necessary expenses, we started off for Tennessee, by the “Algonquin.” There were plenty of canes at one of the places where the vessel stopped for wood; I jumped on shore, and the owner of the wood, who dwelt in a small house close at hand, agreed to board and lodge us at two dollars a head per week. We at once landed our baggage, and set to work next morning.

These reeds grow in immense thickets on the banks of the Mississippi; but we only cut the smallest for pipe-stems. They were about the thickness of a large quill just above the root, from four to six feet long, the joints being from eight to sixteen inches. The leaves are green in summer and winter, and serve as fodder for cattle. We stripped off the leaves, and bound the reeds in bundles of 500, which make a good armful, and rather a heavy one when green. We sold them in Cincinnati for two and a half dollars a bundle.

The man on whom we had so summarily quartered ourselves was very civil and obliging, and we were soon good friends. To enliven the long evenings, he luckily happened to have a pack of cards, and a relation of his, who lived at some distance, used to come in and play whist. I often wished that our friends at home could have seen us, so as to have an idea of the difference of a whist party in Germany and one near a cane-brake in Tennessee: ours had at least the advantage of simplicity. A very roughly hewn table was placed in the middle of the room, the seats were chairs or boxes. It happened that the mosquitoes were more formidable here than I ever found them anywhere else; and as it would have been quite impossible to sit still under the constant attacks of these tormentors, an iron pot with glowing charcoal was placed under the table; a negro boy from time to time fed it with rotten wood, in order to keep up a thick smoke, which rose up all round the table, and was by no means beneficial to the eyes.

Instead of wax candles, a long stick was jammed between two of the boards of the floor; pork fat was then cut in long strips, wound round with cotton rags, tied to the stick at a moderate height, and lighted. It burnt rather dim, but gave light enough to show whether the colors were red or black, when the card was not dirtier than usual, and the smoke was not so strong as to draw tears.

We had also great fun in harpooning buffalo-fish, which make for the swamps when the river is high. The land here, at 100 to 150 paces from the river, is lower than the bank; it is covered with water in winter and spring, and dries up in summer, generating fever and disease, besides myriads of mosquitoes and other insects. One afternoon, in the space of two hours and a half, I caught fifteen fish, of which the smallest weighed about ten pounds.

Towards the end of April, having cut 18,000 canes, we hailed the next boat that passed, embarked our cargo, and landed at Cincinnati on the 30th. Our canes were soon sold, and they were still in demand. I had a great mind to make another voyage, but resolved next time to go alone; for though I found my companion very willing to share the gains, he was by no means so ready to share the pains. For the present, however, I preferred staying a short time at Cincinnati and amusing myself.

I happened to fall in with some of my Jewish fellow passengers on board the “Constitution.” Acting on the instructions of their friends and countrymen at New York, they had begun to trade in a small way; all had gained something, and some few had become comparatively rich. They generally begin as peddlers, stopping at every farmhouse, and the farmer is obliged to buy something to get rid of them.

As the rivers were still rising, I made a second trip to the canes. I had paid all my debts, and had something in hand. Towards the end of May, I embarked on board the “Mediator,” with the intention of going further south than before, as the canes there are larger, and I could cut some for fishing rods, from thirty to forty feet long, and 1½ to two inches thick.

What a view presented itself on leaving the Ohio for the Mississippi! Of Cairo, a small town on a point of land in Illinois, nothing was to be seen, except a hotel, a manufactory, and a brick house. In August the water subsided, and the river returned to its bed, leaving a thick layer of sticky mud behind it. The sides were all under water, except some hills on the left bank, but no canes grew there, and it was not till I reached Louisiana, where the “levee” begins, that I found dry land. To avoid being carried to New Orleans, I landed at random, and found myself in a French settlement with numerous plantations close to each other. I learned from a Creole that there was a German settlement further down the river, and thither I directed my steps, to hear something about the country. I fell in with a German planter, and he directed me to a German inn-keeper still further on. I received a cordial welcome from him; he offered me his boat to row over to the opposite bank, where I could cut as many canes as I chose.

Next morning I made a voyage of discovery, and found a beautiful country, but mostly under water, even to the canes, which grow on the highest parts of the marshes; wherever there was a spot of dry land, it swarmed with all sorts of snakes, and the air was thick with mosquitoes. However, here I was, and work I must. I cut down a great number of beautiful fishing-rods, bound them together, and laid them on one of the highest spots, ready to carry across in a larger boat.

I passed some pleasant weeks here, partly in the society of my countrymen, and partly engaged in my work, and at last embarked with my goods, on board the steamer “Independence,” taking cordial leave of my new friends, and particularly of my kind host, who could not be induced to receive any payment. I landed first at Louisville, and disposed of a part of my canes, then took the rest on to Cincinnati, found a ready sale, and was once more free to do as I liked.