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Gc 974.4 W93s v.1 1381486
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01101 0847
GENEALOGY 974.4 W93S v. 1
THE STORY OF
Western Massachusetts
First Church of Christ, Springfield
THE STORY OF Western Massachusetts
Author and Editor HARRY ANDREW WRIGHT
MENSE PETIT
OVIETENER
LIBERTATE
LACIDAN
VOLUME I
LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 1949
Contents
1381486
VOLUME I
PAGE
Chapter 1-Massachusetts Land Titles
1
Chapter 2-Primitive Forests 6
Chapter 3-An Indian Census 17
Chapter 4-Indian Garb 28
Chapter 5-Indian Canoes
43
Chapter 6-Indian Aliment
52
Chapter 7-Indian Houses 69
Chapter 8-Setting the Stage 74
Chapter 9-The Great Migration. 86
Chapter 10-Early New England Houses 96
Chapter 11-America's Three Gifts 107
Chapter 12-At Home in Roxbury. 118
Chapter 13-The Exodus. 126
Chapter 14-The Founding of Springfield. 132
Chapter 15-The Bay Path Myth. 147
Chapter 16-An Overland Journey in 1645. 154
Chapter 17-The Indians of Agawam. 166
Chapter 18-Physical Springfield 179
Chapter 19-The First Meeting House 183
Chapter 20-Agawam Becomes Springfield
191
Chapter 21-Longmeadow
206
Chapter 22-An English Recluse
225
Chapter 23-The Old Order Changeth. 232
Chapter 24-The Mansion House 244
Chapter 25-Land-Purchase Technique 251
Chapter 26-King Philip's War 262
vii
1211102
1.2. 32-1
$ 30.00 ( 4 vol.) 1-4-6-7 5. 7%-064
CONTENTS
PAGE
Chapter 27-The Indian Fort At Springfield 272
Chapter 28-The Second Meeting House. 286
Chapter 29-The Blast Furnace
288
Chapter 30-The French and Indian Wars 299
Chapter 31-The Knox Trail 307
Chapter 32-The Coming Storm 330
Chapter 33-The Storm Breaks 334
Chapter 34-Burgoyne's Army in Massachusetts 342
Chapter 35-The Continental Armory 362
Chapter 36-Company A 397
Chapter 37-John Brown
406
Chapter 38-Early Physicians and Surgeons. By Garry de N.
Hough, M.D. 423
Chapter 39-Famous Folks of Western Massachusetts. By L. L. Campbell 434
Chapter 40-Western Massachusetts Considers the Telephone 448
VOLUME II
Chapter 41-Transportation and Travel. 457
Chapter 42-Local Transportation in West Massachusetts.
By Donald E. Shaw 538
Chapter 43-Industry 650
Chapter 44-Four Distinctive Institutions 752
Chapter 45-From a Local Viewpoint 779
Chapter 46-Historical Miscellany 814
Chapter 47-A General Survey 902
viii
Illustrations
VOLUME I
PAGE
Plymouth Harbor (map) 4
Connecticut Valley (map) 9
Marsh Formerly Between Main and Dwight Streets, Springfield 15
Indian Skulls From Long Island. 20
Plan of Broadhead Arrow Point. 30
Arrowheads from Hadley, Massachusetts 35
Indians Making a Dugout Canoe
45
Dugout Canoe 50
Cup of Indian Pottery
57
Heads Built Up of Plaster
64
Wigwam of Connecticut Valley Indians 71
17th Century Shallop. 76
Section of John Smith's Map Illustrating His Voyage of 1614. . 80
Hassocky Marsh at Springfield. 93
Bartholomew's Cobbles, Sheffield. 98
Mission House, Stockbridge
104
Tobacco Barn, Hadley. 108
Deserted Section of the Boston Post Road at Warren 113
William Pynchon's Stock Certificate, 1629 and Transcript. 121
Pynchon Account of September 23, 1636 135
A Page from William Pynchon's Account Book of 1636. 140
A Page from William Pynchon's Account Book of 1636 142
Bay Patlı Marker 149
The Original "One-Hoss Shay" in the Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield 157
Balanced Rock, Lanesborough 163
South Shore, Pontoosuc Lake 168
Onota Lake at Burbank Park near Pittsfield. 172
ix
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE Mt. Holyoke, Seen From the End of the Mt. Tom Range. 177 The Church Parsonage at Springfield, 1639 184
The Original Meeting House at Springfield. 187
John Pynchon's Short-Hand Record of Pastor Moxon's Sermons, 1640 188
First Church of Christ, Springfield. 195
Home of Margaret Bliss at Main and Loring Streets, Springfield 198
House Formerly on Cross Street, Springfield 204
Cooley Brook, Longmeadow 211
Weather Cock of Longmeadow Church. 217
Weather Cock of First Church, Springfield. 217
Eleazar Williams, One Time of Longmeadow 222
William Pynchon Home, Wraysbury, England, 1652 226
All Saints' Church, Springfield, England. 230
Berry Pond, Highest Body of Water in Massachusetts, Berkshire County 236
John Pynchon's Cipher Record of his Gold and Silver Table- ware, 1659 243
Mill River Bridge Looking up Belmont Avenue, Springfield, 1876 247
Pittsfield from Washington Mountain. 259
Home of Jonathan Burt, South Main Street, Springfield 265
Turners Falls 270
Turners Falls Dam, Turners Falls 275
Main Street, South From Hampden, Springfield, 1861 280
Roderick Lombard House, East Side of Long Hill Street, Springfield 284
Bridle Path of Ingersoll Grove in 1886, Now Ingersoll Grove Street, Springfield . 290
State Street, Willow to Main, Springfield, 1830 294 Home of Ariel Cooley at Skipmuck 301
Pewter Communion Set of First Church, Springfield 304
Silver Communion Set of First Church, Springfield. 305
Col. Ruggles Woodbridge House, Hadley 310
x
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Huntington House, Hadley.
316
Joe Herrick House, Conway 321
Porter House, Hadley. 326
James Scutt Dwight Home, Present Site of Victoria Hotel, Springfield 331
Musterfield House, Clarksburg.
336
Reuben Bliss Salt-Box House on South Main Street, Springfield
344
Eagle Tavern, West Springfield, 1888. 350
Lieut. David Billings House, Hatfield. 355
Ely Tavern; Elijah Blake Home. 360
Lt. Harmon House, New Marlborough. 365
Armory Grounds From State Street, Springfield, 1830. 369
Home of Thomas Blanchard, Main Street, at Wilcox, Springfield 375
Home Built in 1820 for Benjamin Day, 111 Maple Street, Springfield 381
Dwight House on Maple Street, Springfield, built by Simon Sanborn in 1836. 388
Sketch of Continental Powder Magazine by Samuel Davis, 1789 395
Home Built in 1819 for John Howard, 95 Maple Street, Spring- field 400
John Brown's Home on Franklin Street, Springfield, 1936. 409
Holyoke-Northampton Street Showing Fairfield Avenue and Lincoln Street, 1884 427
Farren Memorial Hospital, Turners Falls 432
Capt. Jared Hunt House, Westhampton. 436
Recorder of Deeds Building, Lanesborough. 439
The Old Manse, Deerfield. 444
Announcement of Prof. Bell's Telephone Exhibition. 455
VOLUME II
Page From Field-Note Book of Lewis Corbin Grant, 1895 464
Parker L. Hall Law Office, Sheffield. 470
Mary Lyon House, Buckland. 474
View of Holyoke Looking Up Dwight Street from the City Hall Tower, About 1873 480
xi
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
French-King Bridge Near Greenfield.
484
Holyoke - Episcopal Church, Corner of Maple and Suffolk Streets 489
Peace Party House, Pittsfield
495
Lenox in 1839 502
Seal, The Proprietors of Locks & Canals, Hampshire County .. 508
Holyoke-Old Cemetery on Northampton Street, 1881. 513
Holyoke - Connecticut River Railroad Company Station on the Hill 517
View of Greenfield Looking West From Poet Seat. 522
North Street from Radio Station Looking North, Pittsfield. 529
East Portal of Hoosac Tunnel 536
Hill at Howard Street, Springfield, 1936 539
Boyhood in the Eighties 541
Covered Bridge, Conway 546
North From Railroad Underpass at McKnight Glen, 1890. 552
Elm Street and Court Square, Springfield, in Early Days 558
Barr's Restaurant, a Feature of the 1890s, Springfield. 563
Electric Car of the Early Nineties Made by Combining Two Horsecars 568
High and Appleton Streets, Holyoke, about 1890 574
Hill at Locust Street, Springfield, 1880.
577
"Berkshire Hills" at Park Square, Pittsfield. 582
Holyoke-High and Maple Streets, South of Suffolk, Between 1885 and 1900 586
Town Hall, Egremont 592
Covered Bridge, Montague 596
Bascom Lodge, Mt. Greylock, Berkshire County. 602
Hairpin Turn, Mohawk Trail, Berkshire County 607
Craft's Tavern, Holyoke-About 1910. Built in 1792. 612
Mark Hopkins House, Stockbridge. 617
House on Corner of Cypress Street and Gray's Avenue, Spring- field 622
xii
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Map Showing Electric Railways of Western Massachusetts. 628
Pierson House, Richmond. 631
Titus Deming House, South Williamstown. 638
Rev. Roger Newton House, Greenfield.
644
Marble Hill, West Stockbridge 651
Stratton House, Northfield. 654
Town Hall, Ashfield. 656
McHard House, Greenfield
657
Charcoal Kilns, Pelham
658
Old Red House, Gill
662
Yale Duryea Mill, Stockbridge
664
Old Red Schoolhouse, Prescott.
665
Mohawk Trail. 671
Gen. Joseph Dwight House, Great Barrington 674
Congregational Church at Hinsdale. 675
First Baptist Church, Lanesborough. 676
Arms House, Shelburne. 680
Potter House, Greenfield, Corner of Main and High Streets. 718
Center School, Northfield 724
A Few Farmers Still Use Oxen in Pioneer Valley. 752
Typical Massachusetts Auction Scene. 756
Ted Shawn
759
La Meri
763
Ruth Page 764
Natalie Krassovska 768
Tanglewood Shed, Lenox. 774
Allen House, Old Deerfield. 804
Parson Williams House, Deerfield 806
Wapping School, Deerfield
808
Deerfield Church 809
Making "Shakes" for the Bloody Brook Tavern Restoration, Springfield 811
xiii
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Making Shingles With 17th Century Frow and Mallet for the Old Indian House in Deerfield. 812
Society of Friends Meeting House, Adams 817
Smedley House, Williamstown. 821
Gen. John Ashley House, Sheffield. 824
Unitarian Church, State Street at Willow, Springfield
828
Holyoke-Whiting Guards Lined up on Library Building Lot About 1884 835
Holyoke-St. Jerome's Guards, 1888
840
Pelham Town Hall. 843
Holyoke-Fairfield Homestead, Northampton Street, Between 1885 and 1890. 847
Thomas Blanchard's Drawing of His Three Speed Transmission Used in His Automobile in 1825 870
Camp Banks, Springfield, 1862. 876
St. Paul's Church, Stockbridge
895
Pittsfield High School
904
High School, Northfield 908
Library, Stockbridge 911
Early Crane Advertising Wrapper 915
Crane Museum 917
Rising Paper Company Mill, Housatonic. 920
General Electric Company and Silver Lake, Pittsfield 930
Typical New England Church at Greenfield. 939
Court House and Library, Pittsfield. 940
High School, Great Barrington.
943
Greycourt Gates and Administration Building, Smith College, Northampton 948
Deerfield Academy, Deerfield
951
Russell Sage Chapel, Northfield School for Girls. 952
Coleman Hollister House, Greenfield. 955
View of Holyoke-Southwest From City Hall Tower 960
Public Library, Lee. 962
Lenox Library 964
xiv
Acknowledgments
The editor of these volumes is indebted to numerous individuals for co-operation in their compilation. He is especially obligated to the following, to whom he expresses his grateful thanks:
To Miss Alice K. Moore, librarian at the Pynchon Memorial Building in Springfield, whose wide acquaintance has provided a base for her exceptional knowledge of old Springfield.
To Miss Lucille Wickersham, reference librarian at the Spring- field City Library, whose quiet efficiency has been a constant inspiration.
To Miss Dorothy King of the Springfield Union, who has so charmingly recounted many tales of other days.
To Mrs. Melvin D. Southworth of Springfield, for permission to include a section of the journal of an ancestor.
To Miss Mary Brewster, who has shared her stories of early Northampton.
To Mrs. Florence Thompson Howe, now of Brooklyn, whose accounts of people and things of other years are often found on the pages of the magazine Antiques.
To William R. Carlton of Springfield, who has a most complete knowledge of the Bay Path and the Boston Post Road.
To Donald E. Shaw of Springfield, whose study of the street rail- roads of Western Massachusetts has been so complete that future students of the subject must base their conclusions on his findings.
To Mr. A. DeWolfe Howe for permission to make use of writings of Maria Sophia Quincy.
To Mr. Ted Shawn for his detailed story of the activities center- ing about "Jacob's Pillow".
To the very versatile Mr. Joseph Franz of Stockbridge for his understanding account of "Tanglewood".
To Dr. Garry De N. Hough for an abstract from his complete record of the lives of the members of the medical profession in this vicinity.
To Mr. Louis L. Campbell of Northampton, whose wide knowl- edge has provided material of interest.
HARRY A. WRIGHT
XV
Advisory Board
COLONEL BURTON A. ADAMS Springfield
HARRISON L. AMBER. Pittsfield
STANLEY P. BENTON Pittsfield
DR. E. HERBERT BOTSFORD Williamstown
RAYMOND A. BIDWELL.
Springfield
GILES BLAGUE.
Springfield
LOUIS L. CAMPBELL
Northampton
GEORGE J. CLARK
Springfield
ROE S. CLARK
Springfield
WINTHROP MURRAY CRANE, 3RD. Dalton
HAROLD T. DOUGHERTY
Westfield
HENRY W. DWIGHT.
Stockbridge
WILLIAM DWIGHT .Holyoke
PAUL W. FOSTER Great Barrington
REV. JAMES GORDON GILKEY, D.D. Springfield
JUDGE WILLIAM J. GRANFIELD Springfield
MRS. JOHN N. HAZEN
Holyoke
FRANK A. HOWE
. Orange
WILLIAM H. HUBBARD
Holyoke
FRANK H. KELLY
Springfield JOHN J. LYNCH Holyoke HAYDN MASON Pittsfield JUDGE PHILIP O'BRIEN.
. Holyoke
DR. FRANKLIN K. PADDOCK. Pittsfield
JUDGE ROBERT C. PARKER Westfield
EDWARD C. PERRY Greenfield
IRENE POIRIER . . Lenox
WILLIAM P. RICKETT Shelburne Falls
REV. FLOYD L. ROBERTS Pittsfield
FREDERICK B. ROBINSON Springfield
ROBERT H. RUSSELL. Holyoke
LEO P. SENECAL Chicopee
ELISABETH SHOEMAKER Northampton
EDGAR BURR SMITH Greenfield
SIDNEY F. SMITH Northampton
DR. JOHN BURRINGTON TEMPLE Shelburne Falls
RICHARD P. TOWNE Holyoke
REV. JOHN B. WHITEMAN Greenfield
xvi
CHAPTER I Massachusetts Land Titles
I N THE year 1271, a Venetian gentleman named Nicolo Polo, with his brother Maffeo and his son Marco Polo, set out on a journey to the Far East and arrived at the court of Kublai Khan in 1275. There Marco Polo, then twenty-one years old, was employed by the Khan as an envoy and ambassador to neighboring rulers and he con- tinued in that service for seventeen years. Thus he learned of Cathay and the Spice Islands and wonders almost beyond belief. The travelers arrived home in 1295 to find Venice and Genoa at war and it fell to the lot of Marco to be detained in a Genoese prison where he dictated the story of his adventures. The narrative created much interest, though many affirmed that it was pure fiction. Nevertheless, his work was of inestimable value as a stimulant and guide to geographical research. It encouraged the Portuguese to find the way around the Cape of Good Hope to Hindustan and it roused in Columbus the passion for exploration, thus leading to the two greatest of modern geographical discoveries. To reach "the lands where the spices grow", became the obsession of Columbus that resulted in the finding of America.
It is difficult for the modern generation to comprehend that early crucial need for spices. Today, youth turns one switch to heat his home and another to cool and preserve his food. He has a subconscious recollection that the refrigerator of his grandfather was cooled by natural ice, harvested in winter and stored for summer use, and he assumes that such was the custom from the beginning of time.
It is true that the early Greeks and Romans preserved snow closely packed in underground cellars. At a later period, Nero estab- lished icehouses in Rome similar to those familiar in New England in modern times. But the problem of transportation limited the luxury to the wealthy. It was left for a Massachusetts Yankee, Frederic Tudor, to devise a successful method of transportation and storage of natural ice. About 1820 he supplied ice to Havana at a price so reasonable that eventually he extended his operations to a great part of the civilized world, but even then, the cost was beyond the means of the average person.
A suggestion of conditions in the Mediterranean countries is found in the 1888 edition of the International Encyclopedia, where under
W. Mass .- I-1
2
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
the head of butter, the reader is told that the "Greeks and Romans used butter only as an ointment in their baths. In southern Europe, at the present time, butter is sparingly used and in Italy, Spain, Portugal and southern France it is sold by apothecaries as a medicinal agent for external application". And this was only sixty years ago, but for lack of some preserving system it could not have been other- wise.
Under such conditions, the 15th century purveyor of foods was beset with many problems. Fish and flesh might be partially preserved by salting or smoking but that left much to be desired. Meat to a great extent and fish to an even greater degree, came to the table in such a state of putrefaction that it was necessary to disguise the foulness with pungent spices. These were not mere garnishings of delicacies to tempt jaded appetites but were used solely to make filthy messes palatable. To Marco Polo and Columbus, spices were not luxuries but sheer necessities; one of the important staple articles of commerce.
While Columbus was still sailing about the Caribbean Sea, under the impression that he had reached Asia and wholly unaware of the immensity of his discovery, astute men were endeavoring to profit by the situation. On March 3, 1496, King Henry VII of England granted to John Cabot permission to seek out lands beyond the seas. On August 6, 1497, Cabot returned to Bristol harbor in the ship Matthew from the first discovery of the American continent, thus giving effec- tive title to the British crown and that title so continued. On March 4, 1629, King Charles I granted to the Massachusetts Bay Company a charter confirming to its members, ownership of the lands which, after consolidation with the Plymouth Colony, became approximately the lands of the present state of Massachusettts. After taking possession of those lands, came the locating of the various "plantations" or towns, through which title passed into private hands.
In the year 1933, there died in Springfield, Massachusetts, a man whose forebears had been active in the community for nearly three centuries. Newspaper obituaries referred to his pioneer ancestor, "to whom the king of England granted a tract of land that extended from the Connecticut River to Armory Hill". In 1946, an associate of an organization engaged in promoting the advantages of the Con- necticut Valley called attention to a family "still living on the lands granted to their people by King George III". Such absurdities might well be ignored were they not repeated and echoed until they have become accepted as truths.
While the Springfield pioneer in question was a most worthy citizen he was but a peasant farmer who was never in position to associate with royalty or to be the recipient of regal favors. Spring- field records show definitely what his land holdings were and the sum he paid for them, precisely as did his neighbors and fellows. The local Book of Possessions; Springfield's Doomsday Book gives ample evidence that on his admittance as a citizen, the town allotted him a house lot, eight rods wide and two hundred rods long, extending from
3
MASSACHUSETTS LAND TITLES
the Connecticut River easterly to the top of the hill, the north line of the tract being approximately the south line of the present State Street. In addition, he was granted 241/2 acres of planting ground west of the Connecticut, giving him a total of 341/2 acres; hardly a kingly domain and but a tiny spot in a vast wilderness; too insignifi- cant ever to come to the attention of his sovereign.
The lands thus granted by the town were a part of the tract which, with the authority of the Massachusetts Bay Company, had been bought from the Indians in 1636 by William Pynchon as pro- moter of the new settlement that became Springfield. It had been agreed that Pynchon should be reimbursed for his outlay by the individuals sharing in the division of the lands, and to that end an assessment was made in 1647 against the entire citizenry, to provide the required thirty pounds. This was a pro rata division based on the acreage held by each of the forty-two townsmen. This settler's share for his 341/2 acres was nine shillings, six pence, which today would be the equivalent of somewhat less than two dollars, or not quite six cents an acre. This was his total expense for securing a partnership in a community enterprise, including title to his land and the right to participate in future divisions of outlying lands.
As to the reputed grant by King George III, it is self-evident that long before he came to the throne, English kings had relinquished all sovereign rights to lands in Massachusetts and the king could not make a single valid grant there.
The American system for preserving evidence of land ownership was born of necessity. In England, the seller of realty delivered to the buyer, a written conveyance or deed. With this, the seller also passed on to the buyer, the deed whereby he became owner of the property and all other prior deeds including theoretically, a complete chain of transfers back to the Doomsday Book of the year 1086, on which all titles rested. These deeds, perhaps brought together into a little packet and tied with red tape, were deposited for safe keeping in the muniment room of the owner or left in the custody of the family attorney.
This worked well in a country where substantial buildings were the rule, but the thatched-roofed, wooden structures of New England offered scant protection from fire and theft. After a series of disas- trous fires, the Massachusetts General Court in 1640, "for avoiding fraudulent conveyances and that every man may know what estate or interest men may have in any houses, lands or other hereditaments they are to deal in" it was "ordered that there be one appointed in each shire to enter all grants, sales, bargains and mortgages of houses, lands, rents and all other hereditaments, together with the names of grantor and grantee, thing and estate granted and the date thereof".
Those records were supplemented by what came to be known as the Book of Possessions, counterpart of the English Doomsday Book, which purported briefly to list the realty holding of all citizens. A typical example would read something as follows:
4
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
"John Doe is possessed by grant of the plantation of a house lot four rods by fifty rods, extending from the street to the river".
"Also of a wood-lot opposite".
"He is further possessed by purchase from Richard Roe of ten acres of pasture by Agawam river".
"By gift from his father, six acres of meadow lying under Round Hill. This meadow John Doe sold and forever passed away to Thomas Cooper on July 4, 1658".
Port St Louis:
F
B
2
2
2
7
E
6
8
8
7
IO .
1 10
10 ;10
NIF
Champlain's Map of Plymouth Harbor Illustrating His Expedition of 1605
Had the intent of the General Court been fully complied with, the result would have been a comprehensive record, but speculation was rampant and sales of frequent occurrence. John Pynchon, the largest land owner in the valley, who should have set an example, was woefully lax. With him, all that came to his hands represented merely pounds, shillings and pence, and land was merely another chattel. On his ledger, a debtor might be credited for a cow; for labor, or "by his lot on Wharf Lane". It was all one and the same to the Lord of the Manor. Many of his holdings went wholly unrecorded and many of his unrecorded deeds still exist. His laxity left frequent breaks in the records and only by a tedious search through his voluminous ledgers can a search for some of those older titles be completed.
Historians of a former generation have provided a picture of 17th century New England so at variance with the facts as to seem almost malicious. We are told that here were natives who wrote
5
MASSACHUSETTS LAND TITLES
letters, painted pictures and discoursed on astronomy. It is said that having commercial dealings with their fellows in western America, well defined roads were provided to facilitate trading operations. We are asked to believe that the natives of New England lived in tepees such as were used by the Indians of the West.
Supposedly, the English here found an impenetrable forest. Such growth as has been described as prevailing here exists only in the tropics. Minute descriptions are given of the log cabins said to have been built here by the Pilgrims and the Puritans. The distortion has been so thorough and complete as to be beyond credence.
That the reader may more readily comprehend the conditions encountered here by the first settlers, the ensuing seven chapters are provided.
CHAPTER II
Primitive Forests
I N THE mind of the average individual, southern New England of the early 17th century was a vast forest of giant trees; an im- passable wilderness. As described in Roads and Road-Making in Colonial Connecticut (Yale University Press, 1933), "instead of open spaces and comparatively small growth, it was filled with giant trees, soaring to a height of a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet and rang- ing from two to five feet in diameter. Only when a tree reached a diameter of six or eight feet did it attract the attention of travellers. Furthermore the earth was encumbered with fallen logs in all stages of decomposition, over which grew a thicket of vines and underbrush where men could not go upright but had to creep through bushes for whole day's marches, and impossible for horses to go at any time of the year. As the moisture evaporated slowly, great swamps and weedy ponds formed where there is now dry land".
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