USA > Idaho > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 1
USA > Montana > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 1
USA > Oregon > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 1
USA > Washington > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 1
USA > Wyoming > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 1
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VIGILANTE DAYS AND WAYS
N. P. LANGFORD
401. LANGFORD, NATHANIEL PITT. Vigi- lante Days and Ways. The Pioneers of the Rockies. The Makers and Making. of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washing- ton, and Wyoming. Illustrated. 2 vols., 8vo. New York & St. Paul, 1893. MORRILL 10/7/76/ $20.00
. Second edition. Howes L-78.
LANGFORD, Nathaniel Pitt. Vigilante Days and Way. The pioneers of the Rockies, The makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Bos- ton, 1890, Ist ed. , 2 vols. 426, 454pp plus index; illus., 3/4 leather, front blank end-
$75.00
copy in this original binding which has the same type face as those in cloth A Montana classic. Mining, badmen, exploration, Indian troubles. An unusual binding. Adams Guns# 1280, Howes# L-78(aa).
paper missing, else nice set .
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PINKERTON, William Allan, principal of Pinkerton's Nat. Detective Agency; b. Dundee, Ill., Apr. 7, 1846; s. Allan P. (noted detective) and Joan (Carfrae) P .; ed. pub. and pvt. schs., and Notre Dame Coll .; entered secret service div. U.S. Army, 1861; m. Margaret S. Ashling, of Blissfield, Mich., Dec. 14, 1866 (died Apr. 5, 1895). Served through Civil War, chiefly in Army of Potomac; became clerk in his father's office; later with his brother, chief asst. in the agency, succeeding to the business on death of Allan Pinkerton, July 1, 1884; opera- tions extended to all parts of the world. Home: 199 Lake Shore Drive. Office: 137 S. 5th Av., Chicago.
San Francisco California.
VIGILANTE DAYS AND WAYS. VOL. I.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
WONDERS OF THE YELLOWSTONE in Scribner's Magazine THE ASCENT OF MOUNT HAYDEN in Scribner's Magazine
A PACK TRAIN -CINCHING.
-
VIGILANTE DAYS AND WAYS
THE PIONEERS OF THE ROCKIES
THE MAKERS AND MAKING OF MONTANA, IDAHO, OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND WYOMING
BY Nathaniel Ditt Langford
WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I
D. D. Merrill Company Heto Work and Saint Paul 1893
COPYRIGHT, 1890, BY NATHANIEL PITT LANGFORD.
All rights reserved.
MY
E C.S
" Why doesn't he write?"
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE
Unknown
Pioneers
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE Empire OF THE
few Great Test.
CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
INTRODUCTION
PAGE . xix
CHAPTER I .- SPANISH INTRIGUES.
The Mississippi River - Foresight of Washington - Dissatisfaction of Western Settlers - Prophe- cies of Navarro - Union in Danger - Jealousy of Spanish Authorities -Wilkinson's Intrigues - State of Frankland - Invasion of Louisiana Threatened - French Jacobin Intrigue - Genet's Plans - Treaty of Madrid - Napoleon - Pontal- ba's Memoir - Treaty of St. Ildephonso 1
CHAPTER II .- LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
Alarm of our Government at the Cession to France -Mr. Livingston appointed Minister to France - Talleyrand - His Reticence - Tedious Delay - Right of Deposit Prohibited -- Effect upon Western People - Mr. Jefferson appoints Mr. Monroe Extraordinary Minister - Congress - Debate - Federal Opposition - War between France and England again imminent- Bonaparte's Proposition- Treaty agreed upon and signed - Action of Congress -Extent of Territory pur- chased .
.
34
viii
Contents.
PAGE
CHAPTER III .- EUROPEAN TREATIES.
Mode of Defining the Western Boundary of Louisi- ana - Great Britain no Right to any Portion of the Territory West of the Rocky Mountains- Discovery of the Columbia by Captain Gray - Lewis and Clarke's Expedition - Astor's Expedi- tion - Negotiations for the Settlement of the Claims of Great Britain and the United States- Florida Treaty - Russian Treaty - Renewal of the Treaty for Joint Occupation - Action of Congress - Debate, and Final Settlement of the Boundary
CHAPTER IV .- HENRY PLUMMER.
Snake River- Its Scenery - Lewiston - Its Ap- pearance and Society - Loyalists and Secessionists -Arrival of Plummer and His Companions- A Domestic History - Plummer Leader of the Roughs - Jack Cleveland - Cherokee Bob - Bill Bunton and others . 73
CHAPTER V .- SOCIETY IN LEWISTON.
Shebangs -Complaint of Nez Perces - Recklessness of Roughs and Indifference of Citizens - Inci- dents at the Shebangs -Horse Robbery - Ex- press Riders - Mose - His Escape - Fearlessness - Severity of Winter - Effect upon Mining- Exposure to Crime - Condition of Lewiston in the Winter of 1861-2 -Kirby murders a Comrade - His Arrest and Acquittal - Murder of Hilte- brant - Citizens' Meeting - Roughs in the Ma- jority - Plummer's Interference - Hiltebrant's Brother .
61
. 83
ix
Contents.
PAGE
CHAPTER VI .- NORTHERN MINES.
Prospecting for Gold - Picture of a Veteran Pros- pector - Patrick Ford -Design of Roughs to kill him- He outwits them - Robbers leave Lewiston for Oro Fino - Robberies by the way - Entrance into Oro Fino - Assault on Ford's Saloon - Fight - Ridgely wounded - Ford killed 96
CHAPTER VII .- CHARLEY HARPER.
Charley Harper assumes to be "Chief " - Cherokee Bob - Theatre in the Mines - Deputy Sheriff Porter's Assault upon the Soldiers assisted by Cherokee Bob- Two Soldiers killed, Others wounded - Soldiers march into Town in Pursuit of Cherokee Bob - He escapes by Stealing a Horse and Fleeing in the Night to Lewiston - Ridgely shoots Gilchrist and escapes to Oregon . 105
CHAPTER VIII .- CHEROKEE BOB.
Gold Excitement - Robbers go to Florence - Rob- beries by the way - Cherokee Bob and Bill May- field - Cynthia - Jealousy - A Strange History - Bob " settled in Business " . 112
CHAPTER IX .- FLORENCE.
Florence - Rule of the Roughs - Murder of a German Miner - One Rough shoots Another - Brockie killed by Chapman - Hickey killed by "Snapping Andy "- Matt Bledsoe - Difficulties of Mining - Exposures - Pack Trains - Robbery of McClinchey's Train - Robbery of Berry Broth- ers, by Scott, Peoples, and English . 125
X
Contents.
PAGE
CHAPTER X .- FIRST VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
Pursuit, Arrest and Execution of Scott, Peoples, and English - Arrest, Trial, and Banishment of " Hap- py Harry "- Escape of "Club-Foot George "- Charley Harper flees to Colville . 136
CHAPTER XI .- NEW GOLD DISCOVERIES.
Immigration - Discoveries in Deer Lodge- At Boise - Ridgely recovers and goes to Elk City -Plummer and Cleveland go to Sun River- Spend most of the Winter there - Plummer in Love - Quarrels with Cleveland . . 142
CHAPTER XII .- DESERTION OF MINING CAMPS. Effect of Decay in Mines - Florence in Decline- New Year's Ball - Cynthia goes and is expelled - Wrath of Cherokee Bob and Willoughby - Attack on Jakey Williams - Fierce Street Fight - Bob and Willoughby killed -Cynthia returns to Mayfield . 149
CHAPTER XIII .- BOONE HELM.
Boone Helm - His Early Life - Murders Shoot in Missouri -Tried and convicted, and escapes by Stratagem to California - Kills Several Persons and flees to Dalles - Attempts a Journey on Horseback across the Territories to Camp Floyd in Utah - Disasters by the way - Cannibalism - John W. Powell's Letter - Murder at Salt Lake - Returns to Washington Territory - Fights with and kills Dutch Fred - Captured on Frazer River and taken to British Columbia -
xi
Contents.
PAGE
Suspected of killing and eating his Comrade- Confined in Penitentiary at Portland -The Helm Brothers - Coolness of "Old Tex "- Helps Boone on his Trial - Buys up Witnesses - Boone acquitted and goes to Boise . 156
CHAPTER XIV .- CHARLEY HARPER.
Charley Harper at Colville- New Year's Ball - Kicks and abuses a Woman - Is pursued by the People, upon whom he fires - Captured and hung -Vigilantes of Florence banish "Fat Jack"-He returns, is warned and leaves Town -Stops at Neselrode's Cabin - Company fire upon the Cabin -Kill Neselrode and "Fat Jack " - Who to Blame . 176
CHAPTER XV .- PINKHIAM AND PATTERSON. Character of Pinkham - His Birthplace - His Life in California - Goes to Florence - Is appointed U. S. Marshal of Idaho-Character of Patterson - He kills Staples - Is acquitted of Murder - Difference in the Character of the two Men - Pinkham arrests Patterson - They meet at Warm Springs - Patterson kills Pinkham - Patterson arrested by Robbins - Patterson's Cruelty - Or- ganization of Vigilantes - Confronted by a Sher- iff's Posse - Vigilantes disband - Trial of Pat- terson - Acquittal - Goes to Walla Walla - Is killed by Donahue . 182
CHAPTER XVI .- EARLY DISCOVERIES OF GOLD. First Discovery of Gold in Montana -The Stuart Brothers - Narrative of Granville Stuart - First
xii
Contents.
PAGE
Arrival of Emigrants from the Missouri River - Shooting of Arnett - Arrest of his Companions - Trial and Execution of Spillman - Exodus of Miners from Colorado - Difficulties - Crossing of Smith Fork of Bear River - Crossing of Snake River - Arrival at Lemhi-Discouragements - Consultation - The Party divides - Arrival of Woodmansee's Train with Provisions - Great Joy in the Camp . .
. 212
CHAPTER XVII .- CAPTAIN FISK'S EXPEDITION. Northern Overland Expedition - Journey from St. Paul to Fort Benton - Arrival in Prickly Pear Valley - High Price of Provisions - Threatened Destitution - Trip of the Writer to Pike's Peak Gulch - Night Camp - Storm - Blackfeet In- dians -Critical Situation - Providential Escape -Arrival at Pike's Peak Gulch - Disappoint- ment -Journey to Grasshopper Diggings . . 229
CHAPTER XVIII-BANNACK IN 1862.
Plummer's supposed Attempt at Reform - Dread of Cleveland -Cleveland suspected of Evans's Murder - His Conduct at Goodrich's Hotel - Plummer's Interference - Shoots Cleveland - George Ives and Charley Reeves appear - Hank Crawford and Harry Phleger take Cleveland away -Cleveland's Death - Plummer's Interview with Crawford - Quarrel between Ives and Carrhart - Reconciliation - How Emigrants spent the Win- ter-J. M. Castner - Attack of Moore and Reeves upon the Indians - Killing a Chief and a Pap- poose - Shooting of Cazette .
. 241
xiii
Contents.
PAGE
CHAPTER XIX .- MOORE AND REEVES.
Moore and Reeves flee - Mass Meeting of Citizens - They are Arrested - Trial and Acquittal of Plummer for killing Cleveland - Mode of Trial -Incident at Blackfoot -Trial of Moore and Reeves -- Incidents of the Trial-Sentenced to Banishment - Banishment and Return of Mitchell 252
CHAPTER XX .- CRAWFORD AND PHLEGER. Meeting and Decision of the Roughs -Plummer assigned to the Task of killing Crawford - Craw- ford's Exposures - Plummer seeks by various Designs to lure him into a Quarrel - Plummer's Skill with the Pistol- Quarrel in a Saloon - Harry Phleger to the Rescue - Plummer defeated - Another Saloon Affray - Phleger again - Plummer challenges Phleger - Crawford shoots and severely wounds Plummer - Leaves for Fort Benton -Is pursued, but escapes - Dr. Glick dresses Plummer's wound - His Life threatened 268
CHAPTER XXI .- BROADWATER'S STRATAGEM.
Departure of Moore and Reeves to Deer Lodge - Broadwater's and Pemberton's Improvements - Moore sick - Broadwater's Kindness - Moore's Gratitude - Broadwater's Ride to Deer Lodge- Night at Big Hole-Shoots an Indian - Meets Ives and Cooper - Is pursued by them - Arrives in Safety at Contway's Ranche - Leaves there by a Ruse, and completes the Trip to Deer Lodge .
. 292
xiv
Contents.
PAGE
CHAPTER XXII .- ORGANIZATION OF THE ROUGHS. Plummer's Skill with his Left Hand - Selects Phleger for a Victim - Fails to embroil him in a Quarrel - Ellis threatened - Escapes to the Mis- souri - Plummer and Judge Dance - Plummer robs Davenport - Indifference of the Miners - Thorough organization of the Roughs - Depreda- tions in Town - Quarrel between Banfield and Sapp - Death of Carrhart - Moore's Interference and Recklessness - Contemplated Attack upon Winnemuck's Band - Rescue of a White Captive from the Indians - Buck Stinson's Barbarous Mur- der of " Old Snag," a Bannack Chief . 304
CHAPTER XXIII .- A MASONIC FUNERAL. People Spellbound - Death of Wm. H. Bell -. Meeting of the Masons - Masonic Funeral - Masonic Gatherings - Watch of the Roughs - Plummer elected Sheriff - His Marriage with Miss Eliza Bryan - His Conversation with the Writer - Reasons for doubting his Sincerity - Life in Bannack . 319
CHAPTER XXIV .- BATTLE OF BEAR RIVER. Indian Troubles - Battle of General Connor with the Bannacks- Obstinate Resistance of the In- dians - Their Defeat -Bravery of our Troops - Effect of the Victory . 337
CHAPTER XXV .- ALDER GULCH.
Discovery of Alder Gulch - Description of the Placer and Settlement of it - Murder of Dilling-
XV
Contents.
PAGE
ham by Stinson, Lyons, and Forbes -Their Trial - Condemnation of Stinson and Lyons - Acquit- tal of Forbes - Strange Acquittal, and departure of Stinson and Lyons, when ready for Execution . 352
CHAPTER XXVI .- VIRGINIA CITY.
Increase of Immigration - Settlement of Alder Gulch -Discovery of Smaller Gulches - Bivin's Gulch-Dempsey's and Daly's Ranches - Society in Virginia City - Sunday - Size of Territory - Distance from Capital - Arrival of D. S. Payne, U. S. Marshal - His Desire to have Virginia City represented - Offers the Writer the Selection of a Deputy Marshal - Question referred to Union League, which designates Plummer - Interview between Plummer and the Writer - Hauser's opinion of Plummer - Plummer not nominated - Threatens the Writer - Method of Conducting Robberies - Plummer's Popularity - Club-Foot George's Shop in Dance and Stuart's Store . . 375
CHAPTER XXVII .- COACH ROBBERIES.
Wealth of Alder Gulch - Return of Miners to the States - Adaptation of the Country to Robbery - "Bummer Dan " - His Claim - Sale of it and Return to Virginia City - His Ruse to escape Robbery a Failure - Attack upon the Coach - Robbery of "Bummer Dan," Percy, and Madison - Bill Bunton a Stool-Pigeon - Quarrel of Jason Luce and Sam Bunton - Luce kills Sam Bunton in Salt Lake City - His Trial and Execution . 392
xvi
Contents.
PAGE
CHAPTER XXVIII .- LEROY SOUTHMAYD.
Attack upon Oliver's Coach - Leroy Southmayd and Captain Moore robbed by Ives, Graves, and Zachary - Southmayd's Interview with Plummer at Bannack - Graves's Story to Caldwell - Ives's Boasts - Robbers frustrated in their Designs upon Southmayd on his Return to Virginia City . 410
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
Designed and engraved under the supervision of George T. Andrew.
PAGE
A PACK TRAIN - CINCHING
. Frontispiece
A PIONEER
. Title-page
"WHY DOESN'T HE WRITE ?"
. Dedication
( After a Sketch by E. C. Spencer, M. D.)
JAMES STUART, WHO SET THE FIRST SLUICES IN MONTANA . 212
GRANVILLE STUART, WHO SET THE FIRST SLUICES IN MONTANA . 214
CAPTAIN JAMES L. FISK, COMMANDER OF NORTH- ERN OVERLAND EXPEDITION . 230
JUDGE J. F. HOYT, MINERS' JUDGE AT TRIAL OF MOORE AND REEVES . 267
JUDGE WALTER B. DANCE, MINERS' JUDGE AT BANNACK . 308
GENERAL P. E. CONNOR, COMMANDER AT BATTLE OF BEAR RIVER . 337
INTRODUCTION.
IT is stated, on good authority, that soon after the first appearance of Schiller's drama of "The Robbers " a number of young men, charmed with the character of Charles De Moor, formed a band and went to the forests of Bohemia to engage in brigand life. I have no fear that such will be the influence of this volume. It deals in facts. Robber life as delineated by the vivid fancy of Schiller, and robber life as it existed in our min- ing regions, were as widely separated as fiction and truth. No one can read this record of events, and escape the conviction that an honest, laborious, and well-meaning life, whether success- ful or not, is preferable to all the temporary enjoyments of a life of recklessness and crime. The truth of the adage that "Crime carries with it its own punishment " has never received a more powerful vindication than at the tribunals erected by the people of the North-West mines for their own protection. No sadder commentary
XX
Introduction.
could have stained our civilization than to permit the numerous and bloody crimes committed in the early history of this portion of our country to go unwhipped of justice. And the fact that they were promptly and thoroughly dealt with stands among the earliest and noblest character- istics of a people which derived their ideas of right and of self-protection from that spirit of the law that flows spontaneously from our free
institutions. The people bore with crime until punishment became a duty and neglect a crime. Then, at infinite hazard of failure, they entered upon the work of purgation with a strong hand- and in the briefest possible time established the supremacy of law. The robbers and murderers of the mining regions, so long defiant of the claims of peace and safety, were made to hold the gibbet in greater terror there than in any other portion of our country.
Up to this time, fear of punishment had exer- cised no restraining influence on the conduct of men who had organized murder and robbery into a steady pursuit. They hesitated at no atrocity necessary to accomplish their guilty designs. Murder with them was resorted to as the most available means of concealing robbery, and the two crimes were generally coincident. The coun-
xxi
Introduction.
try, filled with cañons, gulches, and mountain passes, was especially adapted to their purposes, and the unpeopled distances between mining camps afforded ample opportunity for carrying them into execution. Pack trains and companies, stage coaches and express messengers, were as much exposed as the solitary traveller, and often selec- ted as objects of attack. Miners, who had spent months of hard labor in the placers in the accu- mulation of a few hundreds of dollars, were never heard of after they left the mines to return to their distant homes. Men were daily and nightly robbed and murdered in the camps. There was no limit to this system of organized brigandage.
When not engaged in robbery, this criminal population followed other disreputable pursuits. Gambling and licentiousness were the most con- spicuous features of every mining camp, and both were but other species of robbery. Worthless women taken from the stews of cities plied their vocation in open day, and their bagnios were the lures where many men were entrapped for rob- bery and slaughter. Dance-houses sprung up as if by enchantment, and every one who sought an evening's recreation in them was in some way re- lieved of the money he took there. Many good men who dared to give expression to the feelings
xxii
Introduction.
of horror and disgust which these exhibitions in- spired, were shot down by some member of the gang on the first opportunity. For a long time these acts were unnoticed, for the reason that the friends of law and order supposed the power of evil to be in the ascendant. Encouraged by this impunity the ruffian power increased in audacity, and gave utterance to threats against all that por- tion of the community which did not belong to its organization. An issue involving the destruc- tion of the good or bad element actually existed at the time that the people entered upon the work of punishment.
I offer these remarks, not in vindication of all the acts of the vigilantes, but of so many of them as were necessary to establish the safety and protection of the people. The reader will find among the later acts of some of the individuals claiming to have exercised the authority of the vigilantes some executions of which he cannot ap- prove. For these persons I can offer no apology. Many of these were worse men than those they executed. Some were hasty and inconsiderate, and while firm in the belief they were doing right, actually committed grievous offences. Unhappily for the vigilantes, the acts of these men have been recalled to justify an opinion abroad, prejudicial
xxiii
Introduction.
to the vigilante organization. Nothing could be more unjust. The early vigilantes were the best and most intelligent men in the mining regions. They saw and felt that, in the absence of all law, they must become a " law unto themselves," or submit to the bloody code of the banditti by which they were surrounded, and which was in- creasing in numbers more rapidly than themselves. Every man among them realized from the first the great delicacy and care necessary in the man- agement of a society which assumed the right to condemn to death a fellow-man. And they now refer to the history of all those men who suffered death by their decree as affording ample justifi- cation for the severity of their acts. What else could they do ? How else were their own lives and property, and the lives and property of the great body of peaceable miners in the placers to be preserved ? What other protection was there for a country entirely destitute of law ?
Let those who would condemn these men try to realize how they would act under similar circum- stances, and they will soon find everything to ap- prove and nothing to condemn in the transactions of the early vigilantes. I have endeavored to nar- rate nothing but facts, and these will enable every reader to judge correctly of the merits of each case.
xxiv
Introduction.
I would fain believe that this history, bloody as it is, will prove both interesting and instructive. In all that concerns crime of the blackest dye on the one hand, and love for law and order on the other, it stands without a parallel in the annals of any people. Nowhere else, nor at any former period since men became civilized, have murder and robbery and social vice presented an organ- ized front, and offered an open contest for suprem- acy to a large civilized community. Their works for centuries have been done by stealth, in dark- ness, and as far away from society as possible. I cannot now remember the instance, within the past three hundred years, when the history of any country records the fact that the criminal element of an entire community, numbering thousands, was believed to be greater than the peaceful ele- ment. Yet it was so here. And when the vigi- lantes of Montana entered upon their work, they did not know how soon they might have to en- counter a force numerically greater than their own.
In my view the moral of this history is a good one. The brave and faithful conduct of the vigi- lantes furnishes an example of American character, from a point of view entirely new. We know what our countrymen were capable of doing when ex-
XXV
Introduction.
posed to Indian massacre. We have read history after history recording the sufferings of early pioneers in the East, South, and West, but what they would do when surrounded by robbers and assassins, who were in all civil aspects like them- selves, it has remained for the first settlers of the North Western mines to tell. And that they did their work well, and showed in every act a love for law, order, and for the moral and social virtues in which they had been educated, and a regard for our free institutions, no one can doubt who rightly appreciates the motives which actuated them.
A people who had not been reared to respect law and order, and to regard the privileges which flow from a free government as greater than all others, in the regulation of society, would have been restrained by fear from any such united and thorough effort as that which in Montana actually scourged crime out of existence, and secured to an unorganized community all the immunities and blessings of good government. The terror which popular justice inspired in the criminal population has never been forgotten. To this day crime has been less frequent in occurrence in Montana than in any other of the new territories, and no banded criminals have made that territory an abiding place.
xxvi
Introduction.
Although not the first exhibition of vigilante jus- tice, the one I here record was the most thorough and severe, and stands as an example for all new settlements that in the future may be similarly afflicted, for it was not until driven to it both by the frequent and unremitting villanies of the ruffians, and by the necessities of a condition for which there was no law in existence, that the people resorted to measures of their own, and made and enforced laws suited to the exigency. But enough ! If the history fails to remove the prejudices of my readers, nothing I can say will do so. It speaks for itself, and though there are a few of its later occurrences I would gladly blot, there is nothing in its early transactions, nothing in the design it unfolds, nothing in the results which have followed, that on a similar occasion I would not wish to see reproduced.
VIGILANTE DAYS AND WAYS.
CHAPTER I.
SPANISH INTRIGUES.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER -FORESIGHT OF WASHINGTON - DISSATISFACTION OF WESTERN SETTLERS - PROPHE- CIES OF NAVARRO - UNION IN DANGER -JEALOUSY OF SPANISH AUTHORITIES - WILKINSON'S INTRIGUES - STATE OF FRANKLAND - INVASION OF LOUISI- ANA THREATENED - FRENCH JACOBIN INTRIGUE - GENET'S PLANS - TREATY OF MADRID - NAPOLEON PONTALBA'S MEMOIR - TREATY OF ST. ILDEPHONSO.
"THE Mississippi river," says Bancroft, "is the guardian and the pledge of the union of the States of America. Had they been confined to the eastern slope of the Alleghanies, there would have been no geographical unity between them ; and the thread of connection between lands that merely fringed the Atlantic must soon have been sundered. The father of rivers gathers his waters from all the clouds that break between the Alle-
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