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Show 1836- 1837] F/ agg's Far West 247 ment to continue upon a route where the path was constantly diverging and varying in all directions. A bright glare of light at a distance at length arrested my attention. On approaching, I found it to proceed from an encampment of tired emigrants, whose ponderous teams were wheeled up around the blazing fire; while the hungry oxen, released from the yoke, were browsing upon the tops of the tall prairie-grass on every side. This grass, though coarse in appearance, in the early stages of its growth resembles young wheat, and furnishes a rich and succulent food for cattle. It is even asserted that, when running at large in fields where the young wheat covers the [ 232] ground, cattle choose the prairie- grass in the margin of the field in preference to the wheat itself. A few scattered, twinkling lights, and the fresh- smelling air from the Kaskaskia, soon after informed me that I was not far from the village of Carlisle. 114 This is a pleasant, romantic little town, upon the west bank of the river, and upon the great stage- route through the state from St. Louis to Vincennes. This circumstance, and the intersection of several other state thoroughfares, give it the animated, business- like aspect of a market town, hot often witnessed in a village so remote from the advantages of general commerce. Its site is elevated and salubrious, on the border of a fertile prairie: yet, notwithstanding all these advantages, Carlisle cannot be said to have increased very rapidly when we consider that twenty years have elapsed since it was first laid off for a town. It is the seat of justice for Clinton county, and can boast a wooden m Cariyle, the seat of Clinton County, forty- eight miles east of St Louis, was laid out in z8i8. The Vincennes and St Louis stage route passed through Lebanon, Cariyle, and Salem. At the last place, the road divided, one branch running south to Fairfield, the other passing through Maysvilie and both again uniting at Lawrence-ville. Augustus Mitchell, in his Winds in 1837 ( Philadelphia, 1837), p. 66, says: " From Louisville, by the way of Vincennes to St. Louis, by stage, every alternate day, 973 miles through in three days and a half. Fare, seventeen dollars."- ED. |
