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Show 1836- 1837I Ffagg's Far West 299 and then along the smooth meadow, a darker luxuriance of verdure, with the curling cabin- smoke upon its border, and vast herds of domestic cattle in its neighbourhood, betray the presence of man, blending his works with the wild and beautiful creations of Nature. On the right, at a distance of two miles, come in the placid waters of the Illinois, from the magnificent bluffs in the back- ground stealing softly and quietly into the great river through the wooded islands at its mouth. The day was a sultry one; the atmosphere was like the breath of a furnace; but over the heights of the bluffs swept the morning air, fresh and cool from the distant prairie. For some miles, as is invariably the case upon the banks of the Western rivers, the road winds along among bluffs and sink- holes; and so constantly does its course vary and diverge, that a pocket compass is anything but a needless appendage. Indeed, all his calculations to the contrary notwithstanding, the traveller throughout the whole of this region describes with his route a complete Virginia fence. The road is not a little celebrated for its tortuosity. At length the traveller emerges upon a prairie. On its edge beneath the forest stands a considerable settlement, bordering on Macoupin Creek, from which it takes a name. In the latter part of 1816 this settlement was commenced, and was then the most northern location of whites in the Territory of Illinois." 1 [ 45] It was evening, at the dose of a sultry day, that the m For a description of Macoupin Creek, see ante, p. aa6, note 14a. Flagg draws his information concerning Macoupin Settlement from Peck, GaMtUtr of Illinois. According to the latter the settlement was started by Daniel Alien, and John and Paul Harriford, in December, 1816. As regards Peck's statement that Macoupin Settlement was at the time of its inception the most northern white community in the Territory of Illinois, there is much doubt. Fort Dearborn ( Chicago), built in 1804, and evacuated on August 15,181 a, was rebuilt by Captain Hese-kiah Bradley, who arrived with two ( companies on July 4, 1816, and a settlement sprang up here at once.- ED. |