Camp-Fire and Cotton-Field | Page 6

the class which scatters its money profusely. The village around the
Falls displayed positive signs of dullness, and the inhabitants had
personal as well as patriotic interest in wishing there was no war. The
Great Cataract was unchanged in its beauty and grandeur. The flood
from the Lakes was not diminished, and the precipice over which the
water plunged was none the less steep. The opening war had no effect
upon this wonder of the New World.
In Chicago, business was prostrated on account of the outbreak of
hostilities. Most of the banks in Illinois had been holding State bonds
as securities for the redemption of their circulation. As these bonds
were nearly all of Southern origin, the beginning of the war had
materially affected their value. The banks found their securities rapidly
becoming insecure, and hence there was a depreciation in the currency.
This was not uniform, but varied from five to sixty per cent., according
to the value of the bonds the respective banks were holding. Each
morning and evening bulletins were issued stating the value of the
notes of the various banking-houses. Such a currency was very
inconvenient to handle, as the payment of any considerable sum
required a calculation to establish the worth of each note.
Many rumors were in circulation concerning the insecurity of a
Northern visitor in St. Louis, but none of the stories were very alarming.
Of one thing all were certain--the star of the Union was in the
ascendant. On arriving in St. Louis I found the city far from quiet,
though there was nothing to lead a stranger to consider his personal
safety in danger. I had ample material for entering at once upon my
professional duties, in chronicling the disordered and threatening state
of affairs.
On the day of my arrival, I met a gentleman I had known in the Rocky
Mountains, six months before. I knew his courage was beyond question,

having seen him in several disturbances incident to the Gold Regions;
but I was not aware which side of the great cause he had espoused.
After our first greetings, I ventured to ask how he stood.
"I am a Union man," was his emphatic response.
"What kind of a Union man are you?"
"I am this kind of a Union man," and he threw open his coat, and
showed me a huge revolver, strapped to his waist.
There were many loyal men in St. Louis, whose sympathies were
evinced in a similar manner. Revolvers were at a premium.
Some of the Secessionists ordered a quantity of revolvers from New
York, to be forwarded by express. To prevent interference by the Union
authorities, they caused the case to be directed to "Colonel Francis P.
Blair, Jr., care of ----." They thought Colonel Blair's name would secure
the property from seizure. The person in whose care the revolvers were
sent was a noted Secessionist, who dealt extensively in fire-arms.
Colonel Blair learned of the shipment, and met the box at the station.
Fifty revolvers of the finest quality, bought and paid for by the
Secessionists, were distributed among the friends of Colonel Blair, and
were highly prized by the recipients.

CHAPTER II.
MISSOURI IN THE EARLY DAYS.
Apathy of the Border States.--The Missouri State Convention.--Sterling
Price a Union Man.--Plan to take the State out of the Union.--Capture
of Camp Jackson.--Energy of General Lyon.--Union Men
organized.--An Unfortunate Collision.--The Price-Harney Truce.--The
Panic among the Secessionists.--Their Hegira from St. Louis.--A Visit
to the State Capital.--Under the Rebel Flag.--Searching for Contraband
Articles.--An Introduction to Rebel Dignitaries.--Governor

Jackson.--Sterling Price.--Jeff. Thompson.--Activity at
Cairo.--Kentucky Neutrality.--The Rebels occupy Columbus.
The Border States were not prompt to follow the example of the States
on the Gulf and South Atlantic coast. Missouri and Kentucky were
loyal, if the voice of the majority is to be considered the voice of the
population. Many of the wealthier inhabitants were, at the outset, as
they have always been, in favor of the establishment of an independent
Southern Government. Few of them desired an appeal to arms, as they
well knew the Border States would form the front of the Confederacy,
and thus become the battle-field of the Rebellion. The greater part of
the population of those States was radically opposed to the secession
movement, but became powerless under the noisy, political leaders
who assumed the control. Many of these men, who were Unionists in
the beginning, were drawn into the Rebel ranks on the plea that it
would be treason to refuse to do what their State Government had
decided upon.
The delegates to the Missouri State Convention were elected in
February, 1861, and assembled at St. Louis in the following April.
Sterling Price, afterward a Rebel general, was president of this
Convention, and spoke in favor of keeping the State in the Union.