The First White Man of the West | Page 7

mountains in the north-east part of North Carolina,
and pursues a beautiful meandering course through that state until it
enters South Carolina. After watering the eastern section of the latter
state, it reaches the ocean a few miles above the mouth of the Santee.
[Illustration]
Having sold his plantation, on a fine April morning he set forth for the
land of promise--wife, children, servants, flocks, and herds, forming a
patriarchal caravan through the wilderness. No procession bound to the
holy cities of Mecca or Jerusalem, was ever more joyful; for to them
the forest was an asylum. Overhung by the bright blue sky, enveloped
in verdant forests full of game, nought cared they for the absence of

houses with their locks and latches. Their nocturnal caravansary was a
clear cool spring; their bed the fresh turf. Deer and turkeys furnished
their viands--hunger the richest sauces of cookery; and fatigue and
untroubled spirits a repose unbroken by dreams. Such were the
primitive migrations of the early settlers of our country. We love to
meditate on them, for we have shared them. We have fed from this
table in the wilderness. We have shared this mirth. We have heard the
tinkle of the bells of the flocks and herds grazing among the trees. We
have seen the moon rise and the stars twinkle upon this forest scene;
and the remembrance has more than once marred the pleasure of
journeyings in the midst of civilization and the refinements of luxury.
The frontier country in which the family settled was as yet an unbroken
forest; and being at no great distance from the eastern slope of the
Alleghanies, in the valleys of which game was abundant, it afforded
fine range both for pasture and hunting. These forests had, moreover,
the charm of novelty, and the game had not yet learned to fear the rifles
of the new settlers. It need hardly be added that the spirits of young
Boone exulted in this new hunter's paradise. The father and the other
sons settled down quietly to the severe labor of making a farm,
assigning to Daniel the occupation of his rifle, as aware that it was the
only one he could be induced to follow; and probably from the
experience, that in this way he could contribute more effectually to the
establishment, than either of them in the pursuits of husbandry.
An extensive farm was soon opened. The table was always amply
supplied with venison, and was the seat of ample and unostentatious
hospitality. The peltries of the young hunter yielded all the money
which such an establishment required, and the interval between this
removal and the coming of age of young Boone, was one of health,
plenty, and privacy.
But meanwhile this settlement began to experience the pressure of that
evil which Boone always considered the greatest annoyance of life. The
report of this family's prosperity had gone abroad. The young hunter's
fame in his new position, attracted other immigrants to come and fix
themselves in the vicinity. The smoke of new cabins and clearings went

up to the sky. The baying other dogs, and the crash of distant falling
trees began to be heard; and painful presentiments already filled the
bosom of young Boone, that this abode would shortly be more pressed
upon than that he had left. He was compelled, however, to admit, that if
such an order of things brings disadvantages, it has also its benefits.
A thriving farmer, by the name of Bryan, had settled at no great
distance from Mr. Boone, by whose establishment the young hunter,
now at the period of life when other thoughts than those of the chase of
wild game are sometimes apt to cross the mind, was accustomed to
pass.
This farmer had chosen a most beautiful spot for his residence. The
farm occupied a space of some hundred acres on a gentle eminence,
crested with yellow poplars and laurels. Around it rolled a mountain
stream. So beautiful was the position and so many its advantages, that
young Boone used often to pause in admiration, on his way to the
deeper woods beyond the verge of human habitation. Who can say that
the same dreamy thoughts that inspired the pen of the eloquent
Rousseau, did not occupy the mind of the young hunter as he passed
this rural abode? We hope we shall not be suspected of a wish to offer a
tale of romance, as we relate, how the mighty hunter of wild beasts and
men was himself subdued, and that by the most timid and gentle of
beings. We put down the facts as we find them recorded, and our
conscience is quieted, by finding them perfectly natural to the time,
place, and circumstances.
Young Boone was one night engaged in a fire hunt,