These frolics generally take place in Spring. When a farmer calls his neighbors together to collect and burn all the wood he has cut down, it is called a “log rolling frolic;” and when the women assemble to sew together a number of different colored patches, it is called a “quilting frolic;” and in the evening, there is generally a dance, or a game of forfeits.
I had hitherto never been present at any of these frolics, for I had rather avoided the throng of men; but as I was about to return to the woods, where I should perhaps see nothing of social life for months, I resolved to see men enjoy themselves for once.
The 4th of July arrived, and at about ten o’clock in the morning I lounged towards the place of destination, leaving my rifle at home. The strong attraction of some whortleberries detained me some time on the road, so that I did not arrive till noon. Here all was in movement; the whole neighborhood had assembled, and the rough backwoodsmen formed many strange groups; some in hunting-shirts, like myself; some in woollen homespun coats – but the greater number without their upper garments. Several fires were lighted, and cooking was going on in various modes, while, in a shady place near the house, a group of women were occupied in boiling a “powerful long coffee.”
The sound of a solitary fiddle had been perceptible at a distance, and sure enough, when I arrived, I found dancing going on amongst the younger folk, in one of the wings of the double house. I had never succeeded in acquiring the dances of my own country, much less the extraordinary movements of those of America; so I amused myself with looking on, and watching the arrivals, who thronged in from all ends and corners of the State. A great number of the young women were light and graceful figures, and looked very interesting on horseback, their cheeks flushed with their quick ride. But they seemed as if they were going on a pilgrimage, instead of coming to a ball, – for each fair dame had a bundle of tolerable size at her saddle-bow; some of them were already known to me, and I assisted them to alight.
Meantime a long table was laid out before the house, and surrounded with chairs, benches, &c.; but as it was impossible for all to find seats at once, the ladies were accommodated first, and waited upon by the gentlemen. The dinner consisted of roast beef, roast pork, potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize bread, cakes, and coffee and milk, and went off very well. Rutkin had brought a case of wine for the ladies, which was soon emptied. After dinner, a speech was made to the assembled public, in honor of the birth-day of the United States, and then dancing commenced again. Picturesque groups were formed here and there, occupied in various ways. In one place, a party of strong-built, sun-burnt figures lounged at full length on the grass, relating their shooting adventures; further on, two figures, astride a fallen tree, were playing a game of cards; in another place, a party leaping with a heavy stone in each hand, to give them more impetus; and a row of big fellows were taking their siesta under the trees, only moving to avoid the too intrusive rays of the sun, as he declined towards the west. Kean and I sauntered about amongst the various groups, and occasionally visited the ball-room – if the interior of a log-house, about sixteen feet by twenty, can be so called. The air within was hot, almost to suffocation, but the sight was at times too pretty, at times too comic to be quickly deserted. Indeed, most of the girls, beating time with their little feet in jigs, reels, and hornpipes, were pretty enough to chain to the spot any worshipper of natural beauty. My attention was soon attracted by an American; – tall, very thin, and rather weak in the knee-joints; – he was buttoned up in a dark-blue dress coat, with light-blue seams, and yellow buttons, – a long roll of tobacco stuck out from one of his pockets which, in the energy of his jumps, he occasionally kicked with his heels; to prevent its being damaged, he therefore transferred it to the breast of his coat: the best of the figure was the cravat, which was so formed, that his head looked like a cup placed in a very large and deep saucer; his chin was never in sight, and as he jumped, mouth, nose, and eyes disappeared behind the black bulwark.
Towards evening I joined in a game of cards. Whiskey bottles passed round, and many of the party were right merry. Having had enough of cards, I returned to the dancing, which had undergone some interruption; but the shrill tones of the violino solo were again heard, as I squeezed through the crowd at the door, into one of the corners right opposite to the musician. This functionary was in a rather capricious humor passing abruptly from the wildest allegro to the most dolorous of the dolefuls, and then breaking off suddenly to ask me for a quid of tobacco. On my answering that I had none, he inflicted a couple of rough strokes on his poor instrument, expressed, in coarse language, a most disagreeable wish respecting the eyes of all the company, on account of the dryness of his throat, which had only had the contents of two bottles of whiskey down it, looked wildly round, began to cry, and fell sobbing on the neck of the thin man in the blue coat, burying his head in the large cravat. He was seized by the arms and legs, and unceremoniously carried out.
Dancing, of course, ceased during this little intermezzo, and one of the party offered to find a sober fiddler; but as the amusement would have been interrupted too long by waiting for him, a tall lad placed himself in front of the chimney, turned up his sleeves with the utmost gravity, bent his knees a little, and began slapping them in time with the palms of his hands; in two minutes all was going on with as much spirit as before.
At length the promised musician arrived, not however in the promised condition; but a connoisseur near me remarked that he would do till twelve o’clock.
To my astonishment, I observed several of the young ladies in white dresses, whom I was almost sure I had seen before in dark dresses; but, as I never paid much attention to such things, I thought I must have been mistaken. An American, however, told me that I was quite right, and that most of them had already changed their dresses three times; and, if I kept a look-out, he continued, I should see that some of them would change again. This, indeed, was the case. Some changed their dresses five times between noon and the following morning. It would be as incorrect to dance for a whole night in the same dress as in Europe to appear without gloves, which latter articles were thought quite unnecessary here.
A farmer, who lived about eight miles lower down the Fourche le Fave, promised me an old canoe to carry K.’s things to Little Rock, and said, that when I got there I might set it adrift, as it was not worth cutting up; so I settled to go home with him next morning to bring the canoe back.
A little after twelve the old American’s prophecy came to pass, and the second fiddler was carried out and laid on the grass, while a third was soon found to take his place. By this time I was tired and sleepy, so I stretched myself under a tree, with my head on an old grindstone, and, in spite of the hard pillow and squeaking fiddle, I slept soundly till morning.
When the sun sent his hot rays over the trees into the clearing, dancing was still going on, and the ground was covered with sleeping figures. Preparations were soon made for departure. The horses, which had been tied to the bushes or fence, or driven into an enclosure, and had been well supplied with maize, were quickly saddled, and troop after troop of men and women disappeared in the thick green forest. I started with the farmer and his wife, the indefatigable fiddlestick working away as long as we were within hearing.
I found the canoe; and the good man was quite right when he said that it was not worth cutting up. None but a person accustomed to such craft would have ventured to step into it. It was nothing more than the roughly hollowed trunk of a tree, about ten feet long by eighteen inches wide; however, it answered my purpose, and, provided with a light paddle, I set out on my return, which, though only eight miles by land, was at least twenty by water.
The sun was just dipping behind the tips of the trees; the air, which had been oppressively hot all day, was somewhat cooler. I was going slowly up the stream with long easy strokes of the paddle, under the shadow of the overhanging willows, when, about 100 paces before me, I saw four wolves playing together on a bank of gravel, jumping in and out of the water, and rolling over each other like puppies. They did not see me, and I paddled silently to the side of the river where they were playing, ran the canoe on the sand, took the paddle, hardly knowing exactly what I intended, and crept stealthily along towards the unsuspecting wolves, a projecting rock hiding me from their sight. But wolves have a fine scent, and just as I was raising my head cautiously, they all four sprang into the thicket. I returned disappointed to my canoe, and continued my voyage. On arriving close to a canebrake, about 100 yards further on, I heard a rustling, and caught hold of the bough of a tree near me, to keep the canoe as still as possible, when an immense wolf, as black as pitch, with a white star on his breast, came out of the canes, apparently with the intention of swimming across to join his companions. When he caught sight of me, he turned his head from side to side like a dog. As I remained quite motionless, but with my eyes steadily fixed on him, he took courage, walked into the water, and began to swim across about fifteen yards ahead of the canoe. I let him gain the middle of the stream, which may have been about sixty yards wide, when I gave the canoe a good shove ahead, and paddling as hard as I could, I gained fast on the surprised wolf. In the first moment, not knowing which shore to make for, he turned up stream, giving me thus a great advantage over him. But he soon found out his mistake, and turned in his first direction, this time gaining an advantage over me, because my clumsy craft was not easily turned. He had about twenty yards to swim, and we both tried hard which should first reach the shore. The bank was still a few feet distant, when I came alongside of the beast, which was swimming desperately for its life, and, forgetting the ticklish nature of my craft, I rose up to give him a blow across the spine with the sharp edge of the paddle, meaning then to attack him with my knife, as I was without my rifle. He was close beside me, and looked up at me as I raised the paddle, when the vile canoe slipped from under me; I lost my balance, and fell into the water just clear of the wolf, who touched bottom at the same moment, and at once began shaking himself. The water was not deep, but I was wet through, and vexed at seeing my prey escape, just as I had made sure of him. A wolf’s scalp is valued at three dollars in Arkansas. I had moreover the additional pleasure of swimming some way down the river after the canoe.
I arrived at Haller’s next day without further adventure, embarked Kean’s things, taking also all my skins with me, as I could sell them better at Little Rock than at Fourche le Fave. I gave the canoe to an old German, who was fond of fishing, and who had to fish himself out of the water the first time he tried her.
I soon returned to the settlement, and a few days afterwards took leave of Kean, who, with a promise to write to me, set off on horseback towards the south. My arrangements were soon made, and on the following morning I set off up the bank of the river towards the mountains, intending to shoot all the summer. Kelfer, who had already received us so hospitably, was kind enough to offer me the loan of a horse for the summer. I thankfully accepted his kindness, and rode off in good spirits, not knowing exactly where; but that was always one of the least of my cares, so that I was only in motion, and I soon found a good place for sport. I learnt that there was very good shooting ground higher up the river, near the grave-lick, so called because two Indians were buried there, who had been killed by a panther. Here I joined an American, named Hogarth, who lived in the neighborhood, and was a keen sportsman. After trying the waters of the Fourche le Fave, we went to the sources of the Washita; but the forests not having been burnt for many years, were so thickly overgrown with underwood, that it was impossible to find the deer, or to shoot game enough to live upon.
We had been shooting for about five weeks, when one morning, as we were riding side by side, I felt all at once giddy and unwell. The evening before, we had been overtaken by a thunderstorm, and my clothes were still damp. This attack came on so suddenly, that I had hardly time to say I was ill, and Hogarth turning round, observed that I was very pale, when every thing swam before my eyes, and turned black and blue; and I fell senseless off the horse before Hogarth could lay hold of me. I recovered my senses in a few minutes, but was so ill that it was with great difficulty I could mount my horse, and keep myself to the saddle. We had, however, not far to go to the house of a Mr. Collmar, and I held on by the mane and pommel, though lolling from side to side like a drunken man.
The house was nothing more than a shed formed of boards, but the good people received me very hospitably, and attended me kindly for the two days that I lay delirious. On the third day I was able to be lifted on horseback, and we returned over the mountains that divide the left arm of the Fourche le Fave from the main stream, to Hogarth’s house; he would not let me move till I was tolerably recovered.
At no great distance from hence, lived an old backwoodsman, named Slowtrap, with whom I was well acquainted, and who showed so much kindness and good feeling that I became quite attached to him. Still I longed for German society; besides, I had kept Kelfer’s horse too long, and would not abuse his good nature. Therefore, though still unwell, I rode from Hogarth’s about the end of August, towards Kelfer’s, who not only received me with kindness, but treated me quite as one of his own family.
He had been accustomed to a quiet comfortable life in his early days, having been a clergyman in Germany, but he had shaken off the superintendent yoke of his native country, exchanging it for the independent life of a farmer in the American forests, and was happy and contented in his family circle. His young wife was quite an example of household virtue: they had four very fine children. He produced almost every thing that he required, and though in his youth unaccustomed to hard work, he cultivated his land alone, and was not behind any American in the use of his axe; his cattle and pigs were among the best in the place.
When first I arrived I felt very wretched and miserable, but the kind attentions of Mrs. Kelfer restored me after a time; I managed to help a little on the farm, and now and then took a turn with my rifle, and shot a deer or a turkey.
The sessions were held about this time at Fourche le Fave, and several advocates, some from Little Rock, some from the neighborhood, assembled at Perryville, and quartered themselves on the farmers. Kelfer received one, who was a gentlemanly young man, and he (Kelfer) had cases to settle with some of the bad characters in the vicinity. There was now bustle enough in the usually quiet place, and the little town of Perryville, about two miles off, consisting of one little shop, and the dwelling of the ferryman, who was also postmaster, was the assembling place of the county.
The shop, which formed one half of the town, belonged to a German, who was too good a specimen of a certain class of his countrymen to be passed by without notice. Bockenheim, or as the Americans called him, Buckingham, must, I should think, have been a manufacturer of birch brooms, as he showed extraordinary talent for that branch of the fine arts; but he endeavored to gain his livelihood in the general retail line, and he drove a pretty good trade in Arkansas, where he had settled himself by chance, and where the people were forced to deal with him, as his was at first the only shop. Rutkin, however, interfered with his business, and at first did him much harm, until his proud domineering manner drove all his customers away, excepting those who thought to gain advantage over him. Bockenheim spoke such a jargon that it was impossible to make out whether he was speaking English, German, or Indian. A German immigrant would never have understood him, and the Americans were obliged to guess at his meaning; but for all that, he managed very well, and as he had gained a good sum by his trade, he naturally enough ascribed it all to his own wisdom.
The sessions were held in the other half of the town, the postmaster giving up the half of his house for the purpose, as the court-house was yet to be built. The judge, who travelled this circuit, had come from Little Rock with several advocates, and took his place by the chimney in a cane chair. Two tables were placed together in the middle of the room, though rather nearer the chimney, round which the advocates and the clerk of the court took their places. A case of assault was first brought forward; the jury, who must be householders, were chosen, and sworn, and placed themselves on a long bench against the wall. The proceedings were opened by the prosecuting attorney, who directed the attention of the jury to the various laws enacted against this crime, and then called his witnesses. He was followed by the advocate for the defence, who called his witnesses, and concluded with an address to the jury, in which he did not fail to praise the soundness and acuteness of their judgment. The prosecuting attorney then rose again, and endeavored to disparage the statements made on the opposite side, ending with the remark, that, “in the whole course of his life, he had never known so flagrant a case.” It was now the judge’s turn, who explained to the jury the state of the law applicable to the case, and warned them that if they had any doubts, the law prescribes that the case should be decided in favor of the defendant. The jury ought now to have withdrawn to another and distant room; but as, unfortunately, there was no other room, distant or near, to be had at Perryville, and as the pouring rain prevented their deliberating in the open air, as at other times, the horses were turned out of the stable, and the twelve jurymen occupied their place. The next case was that of a respectable farmer, who was accused of having shot another’s cow, taken it home, and eaten it. The case excited considerable interest, as it was stated to have occurred several years ago, and the penalty was whipping and imprisonment, which has since been altered. After a long deliberation in the stable, the jury returned a verdict of “Not guilty.” The sessions lasted several days, and the crowd dropped off by degrees.
At this time of the year, before the maize is quite ripe, being soft but no longer milky, while last year’s store is nearly exhausted, the farmer rubs the grain on a grater, generally made out of an old coffee-pot, in which holes are punched with a nail, and thus procures a fine damp flour, containing all the saccharine qualities of the plant, and making excellent bread. This grating is rather hard work. One day when Kelfer had grated some maize in front of the house, and the fine bright yellow flour was heaped up on a clean napkin, a juvenile pig came by, and playfully seized the corner of the napkin, throwing all the flour into the dust.
I had received no letter from Kean, but heard that he had joined a young German in the purchase of a boat, and was gone into Louisiana. I almost regretted that I had not accompanied them; but my passion for shooting impelled me in a different direction, and I longed to be in the Ozark mountains, of which I had heard so much, and which were only 150 miles off. Week after week passed away, and I was desirous of helping Kelfer with his approaching harvest. I passed a great part of my time in the forest with my dog Bearsgrease, the same that I had brought from Little Rock, and which had grown to a fine powerful animal. I was still undetermined whether to go north or south, when an old acquaintance arrived at Kelfer’s to pass the night, and decided the question.
It was old Slowtrap, who had formerly lived near the mouth of Fourche le Fave, but had since removed higher up, not far from Hogarth’s. He had a sack full of all sorts of articles, including a half bushel of salt which he had bought at Little Rock, and carried across his horse. He afterwards told me that he had transported all his family and goods on horseback, and then I remembered having once met him riding along with four chairs and a spinning-wheel. The spinning-wheel having made the horse shy, he had hung it on a tree, intending to come back for it; meantime a backwoodsman had set fire to the dry leaves in the neighborhood, and just as he arrived he saw it, burnt through and through, fall in two parts into the fire below.
A man will sometimes move with his wife and children, and all his goods, further into the forest, if the grass about his house gets thin, so that he would be forced to cultivate a little more maize for his cattle.
Slowtrap spoke much of his father-in-law, who was a keen bear-shooter, and made me long for the mountains more than ever, by affirming that he intended to go himself in a few weeks, that I might go with him, and that he would introduce me to the old gentleman. This drove all thoughts of the south out of my head, and we settled on marching the following morning. There is a saying that “short hair is soon brushed;” my baggage was ready in a few minutes.
I was sorry to part with the Kelfers, who had been so kind to me, and treated me as one of their family; but I hoped soon to see them again.
The November morning broke cold and disagreeable when I started with my companion. My baggage was not very heavy; I had on deer-skin leggings, and moccasins, a light hunting-shirt of summer stuff, secured by a broad leather belt, bearing my tomahawk on the right, and hunting-knife on the left side, and a tin cup behind. Spare powder and lead were rolled up in my blanket, with a small bag of roasted coffee, and a clean shirt; a powder-horn and a leather shot-pouch completed my equipment. My companion, though an old sportsman, was not equipped for shooting; but he was pretty well loaded with other things. As I have already stated, he formerly lived near the mouth of the Fourche le Fave, but had moved about fifty miles further west, carrying his kitchen utensils, tools, bedding, &c., all on horseback, and driving his cattle and pigs before him to his new home. Difficult as such a move appears, I know of a family which moved three times in one year.
My old friend cut a glorious figure, as he rode beside me. He was about six feet tall, and as large boned as a fine figure would allow. A pair of thoroughly honest eyes looked out of a good-humored, weather-beaten face, and were in constant motion, giving great animation to the massive figure. Nobody had ever seen him laugh, but those who are well acquainted with him say, that a little widening twitch of the mouth, and a slight closing of the corner of the left eye, are certain evidences of good-humor; neither had anybody ever seen him go faster than at a quick walk – he seemed to consider it beneath his dignity to run. A well-worn black coat, with large pockets and flaps, was thrown over his shoulders, and, notwithstanding the rough weather, his legs were cased in a pair of thin, light-colored trowsers, which rumpled up high enough to show a muscular calf above a short sock; a pair of shoes of his own making covered his feet, while a hat, of any shape but the original, and that had been black, covered his head. The articles in one end of his bag were not heavy enough to balance the salt in the other end; so, to maintain the equilibrium, he was obliged to lean to the left side, and as he had a large basket, containing a Muscovy duck, on the right arm, the horse seemed to be between him and the basket. An unloaded gun, that he had accepted in payment of a long-standing debt, lay across the pommel. He kept me constantly amused with his stories, as we jogged along the county road.
When a county road has to be cut, a director is appointed, who is authorized to assemble all the male population of the county from the age of eighteen to forty-five; and these stout sons of the forest soon make a clearance among the trees, and roll their trunks out of the way. But holes and other hinderances are left in a state of nature, if there is the slightest chance that a wagon can pass.
Our road led us near the river, though we seldom saw it, on account of the canes and rushes through which it flows; moreover, we kept to the heights as much as possible, for the sake of dry ground. The main course of the river is from west to east, with very good land on both banks, forming excellent winter pasture, while the hills, also running east and west, afford equally good summer pasture amongst the thick pine forests.
It was long since the road had been inspected. Large broken boughs and fallen trees lay across it, impeding our progress. According to Slowtrap, this was quite natural. He maintained that a tree never would fall any other way than across a road, if it could only reach it, just as a sweet gum tree always fell on a fence, if it stood near enough. We passed a school as we went along – one of the usual log-houses – but with a plank inserted between two of the logs to serve for a desk. The more distant scholars come on horseback, and tie up their horses to the fence during school hours. Of course they bring their dinners with them. These forest schools seldom pretend to teach more than reading, writing, and arithmetic; if they attempt geography, it is confined to that of the United States. In the swamps I once saw a teacher giving lessons in writing; some of his scholars were eighteen and twenty years old, yet could not read what they wrote, but copied the letters as we should copy hieroglyphics. It was just noon as we passed; at this hour master and scholars make it a rule to play at ball if the weather will allow, so that they may return with greater zeal to their spelling. The scholars whom we saw were nearly all grown up.
Hitherto the weather had been fine; but clouds gathered in the west, and soon turned to rain. As we were in no great hurry, and as Slowtrap said that one of his greatest friends lived about half a mile from the road, we turned to the left, and soon halted before a block-house, whose chimney smoke indicated a glorious fire within. Old Bahrens, to whom the house belonged, was not at home, but his two sons, lads fifteen and ten years of age, gave us a warm reception. We found the room occupied by three other men, who made room for us, and the fire soon restored warmth to our half-frozen limbs. Two of the strangers were talking earnestly about the races, which were shortly to be held in the neighborhood, while the third seemed to be very tired, for he was fast asleep in his chair.
As it grew later and later without any signs of supper, and there was no woman in the house, we all set to work, took maize out of the corn crib, and began to grind. But what a mill! It was above an hour before we had flour enough for a tolerable meal; we then moistened it with water, put it in a flat iron pan, covered it, and set it on the ashes to bake. Milk and smoked deer-hams formed the remainder of the spread. Having, with some difficulty, roused our sleeping companion, we commenced upon the viands, and even our sleepy friend seemed to have banished all other thoughts in his anxiety to make them disappear with the utmost possible despatch; but his last mouthful was hardly out of sight, when his eyes became for a moment fixed, the lids fell, and he was again in a deep sleep.
The whole party were rather tired, and as there were no spare beds in the house, S. and I spread our blankets; the boys gave us two more to cover us, and all five were soon peaceably extended, one beside the other, in waiting for the next day’s sun.
We were up at daybreak, and, to avoid another grind at the old mill, for which I had conceived the greatest respect, we started before breakfast. The horse, having had a good supply of food, was again saddled and bridled, the bag with salt, &c., laid across, my old comrade climbed up, I handed him his duck basket and old shooting iron, cast my blanket over my shoulder, and shaking hands with our two new acquaintances, the third being still asleep, we went off to the west for the abode of my companion. The weather had cleared up, and with light heart and light step we jogged along the well-beaten track; Bearsgrease snuffing the trails of the deer which had crossed the road in the course of the night. He stopped at every fresh trail, asking with entreating eyes for leave to follow it; but we had no notion of shooting just then, and kept straight on. As the day advanced, our stomachs began to reproach us for such unfriendly treatment, when, about 200 yards in front, we saw a gang of wild turkeys running along the road. One word of encouragement to Bearsgrease, and he seemed to fly rather than run after the long-legged turkeys, who soon finding that their legs would not save them, took to their wings, and flew heavily to the nearest trees.
As fast as I could I had followed up the dog, who had singled out a turkey-cock, and was bounding and barking round the tree in which he had taken refuge, and whence, with outstretched neck, he was turning his head first to one side then to the other, intently watching the motions of Bearsgrease; I was enabled to approach unperceived and knock him over. Meantime S. had lighted a jolly fire, and we sat rather too long over our meal, considering, or rather not considering, that we had a bad bit of road before us, and that the weather began to look threatening.