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Chapter 21: The Journey of Featherstonhaugh, Part Two |
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The Featherstonhaughs came through what is not Butler County in early November, 1834. They had been in Mine La Motte on November Third and then had gone to Fredericktown. After leaving Fredericktown, he considered that he had entered into the wilderness.
To give his point of view at this part of his journey, we quote as follows. "Our horse, Missouri, has shown symptoms of not being equal to the task of drawing his load over roads that would probably not grow better as we advanced—putting our wagon in the best order we could, and agreeing to ease our horse by walking the whole way if necessary, we took leave of this, the last village (Fredericktown) on our route to the Arkansas, and holding the reins, and walking by my side, we now entered the endless forest. In the course of the morning we got upon hilly land and found it less woody—having made about six miles, we passed some heads of the St. Francis the water of which was beautifully transparent, as are all those of the siliceous region."
Continuing southwest the travelers cam to Twelve Mile Creek and then to the foot of a mountain where there was fragments of galena (lead ore) and descending three more miles came to Greenville with four or five wooden cabins, quote, "beautifully situated on a rich bottom of land on the east bank of the St. Francis, a fine clear stream about eighty yadrs broad, running thirty feet lower than the banks at this time, but often during the floods overflows them." It was in this visit to Greenville that Mr. Featherstonhaugh noted the misery which malaria fever brought to many of the settlers. Most of the inhabitants of Greenville, he said "die by inches of chills and fever," and of the entire region he commented, "It is a most distressing thing to arrive at these settlements on the water-courses at this season; the poor people, feeble, emaciated, beginning to recover from the malaria of the country; to many of the persons whom I saw life seemed to be a burthen."
During this same day the Featherstonhaughs entered what is now Butler County. Quote. "After feeding our horse (at or near Greenville) and endeavoring in vain to purchase a little milk for ourselves to eke out some gingerbread we had, we proceeded fifteen miles farther through mountains and fertile bottoms resembling those of the morning, until at night we reached a settler's of the name of Stevenson, half a mile distant from Big Black River, a tributary of White River, in the Territory of Arkansas, which it joins a little south of 36° of N. lat. Here we were oblaingingly received and having taken care of our horse, sat down with the family to their humble evenings repast."
The given name of Mr. Stevenson is not mentioned. Naturally a sense of pride in our early history makes us wish to identify him with John Stevenson, first President of the Butler County Court. In a previous article we have established that John Stevenson lived near Wilby, but we do not know that he had settled there by 1834. By Featherstonhaugh's calculations he had come about twenty miles from Greenville to reach this habitation. By the trails he had to follow this would certainly place him in the vicinity of John Stevenson's house. A search of the deed records does not show that any other Stevenson owned land in this area. In the business of searching for facts of our pioneer days we find that guess-work frequently leads us into false conclusions, so we will not get out on a limb and say that Featherstonhaugh's Stevenson was John Stevenson of our first county Court, but we will say that the available facts point in that direction. Anyway the Stevenson mentioned in the "Excursion" was a successful and well-to-do settler as evidenced by this quotation, "These people (the Stevenson's) occupied 160 acres of fertile bottom land, had 1000 bushels of Indian corn ready harvested, two or three hundred bushels of wheat, numerous cows, with boundless range for them on the adjacent hills and bottoms that afforded excellent grass, great numbers of barndoor fowls."
Early the next morning Featherstonhaugh left the Stevenson's and soon arrived at Black River quote, "Came to Big Black River a broad limpid stream, with a rapid current," and then states that he misjudged the strength of the current and almost swamped his wagon in fording the stream.
Forest fires were a problem in 1834 much as they are today. Quote. "Some distance through a forest, we got upon an extensive bottom, where we again found the country on fire, the leaves and twigs all burnt up, and everything black as soot." After passing through the burned area the travellers came to a small creek on the west side of Black River and stopped there for breakfast with this sketchy comment, "Where the fire had not passed, clear running stream—breakfast parlor, built fire, Milk which Mrs. Stevenson put up that morning, black tea, nice loaf sugar and buffalo tongue—in capital spirits. During breakfast four beautiful crested woodducks alighted on the stream not far from us." Here also is a comment on one of the causes of the forest fires; "Hunters fire the county drive game a particular direction. It is in vain to remonstrate with these men; they live by getting deer, and as they look upon the farmer as an intruder, have little or no sympathy for him."
We should mention that in St. Louis Mr. Featherstonhaugh had purchased some food as tea, sugar, gingerbread, buffalo tongue, etc., as a protection against the uncertainties of a food supply in the wilderness. The gingerbread evidently was a dry cake or cooky which would keep almost indefinitely but needed to be eaten with tea or milk. Also here is a reminder of the time when the buffalo in untold millions grazed the prairies and their cured tongues were a common article of commerce.
The plateaus and gently rolling hills of central Butler County, as near the present Green Forest Church, south of Poplar Bluff on Highway 67 and west toward Little Black River, with open woods, wild grasses in profusion, deer, quail and other wildlife, must have presented vistas of unsurpassed beauty in pioneer days. Featherstonhaugh says it this way, "Descending to the south we came to some very beautiful situation of fine dry undulating land, easy of access, the slopes exceedingly fertile, and beautiful woodland trees scattered about as they are seen in the charming part scenery of England.
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