Lake Maxinkuckee Its Intrigue History & Genealogy Culver, Marshall, Indiana

One Township's Yesterdays Chapter XVII  



BUT HE TELLS THE WORLD


    "Search for the truth is the noblest occupation of man; its publication a duty.." ... Madame de Staél. 


HOWEVER MEAGER THE MEANS may have been for recording observations and information, those travelers who in bygone days visited this region managed to quite a remarkable extent to tell the world what they had seen and heard on their journeys. The majority of them visited the interior in search of the truth; some of them published it as a duty, others perhaps merely for gain or fame.

A very slim minority of them spread the news as they used to do in the "good old times" in England which Washington Irving tells about, when some cavalier "jogged in through bog and mire, from town to town, and hamlet to hamlet .... beguiling the way with travellers' [travelers’] tales, which then were truly wonderful, for every thing beyond one's neighborhood was full of marvel and romance." Few of them did that. They put their impressions in writing, in the form of books of travel, letters, diaries, and the like.

They told the world in various manners: topographical descriptions, geographical sketches designed for emigrants and settlers; statistical, political and historical accounts; remarks; personal reminiscences, recollections, journals of tours, memoirs, an "excursion," narrative "in the Pioneer west," "a year's residence," a "view of soil and climate," an account of "exploring the rivers and ascertaining the produce and conditions of the banks and vicinity."

A foreigner told about "The Americans as they are." (Something like creatures in a zoo). And a missionary told his tale in "The Christian Traveler." (Those missionaries were earnest fellows as a rule, also accurate and observing). All in all, the travelers as writers made a pretty good job of it.

It has been said that "many of the first books relating to Indiana were written by travelers whose aim was to tell the Old World what the New World was like. These books are now out of print arid not available for most people. After a lapse of a century and more these descriptions are of much interest from an historical point of view. "Personal estimates of the region vary and opinions were obviously warped in many cases, but the descriptions reflect conditions about which we could today secure information in no other way." Details of spelling, punctuation, etc., differ from present-day forms. These do not detract; on the other hand, they add to 'the charm and quaintness of the works.

Guide to Emigrants.

In 1817 appeared the work of SAMUEL R. BROWN called "The Western Gazetteer; or Emigrant's Directory." This and other similar ones resulted from a demand on the part of emigrants for a history and guide of the western country. It was a big undertaking, well done. An excellent map accompanied the notes.

"In the summer of 1835,'' says MC DONALD, "an exploring expedition was formed in the southern part of the state for the purpose of visiting the country north of the Wabash river, and if they were pleased with 'the lay of the land' it was understood they were to make selections of homes for themselves and neighbors who had determined to change their place of abode, and make the proper entry in the land office, which was at that time at LaPorte." These primitive explorers went forth, got the desired information, performed the duties entrusted to them, and returned to tell the rest all about it.

Writing to the Indiana Republican, Madison, January 7, 1839, "A Traveler" told of the condition of this part of northern Indiana, particularly Yellow river, Mix-in-kuk-kee lake, so called, he says, by the Potawatomi Indians, and the Michigan road. His expedition crossed the "Kankikee" and followed a trace that led southeast to Yellow river, a large branch of the former, within the country then owned by the Potawaitomis, "and the whole distance between these rivers," he said, "we saw no land suitable for farming, it being mostly wet prairie, or if timbered, with low black oak, and the soil of the most inferior quality. After crossing Yellow river and traveling about four miles we passed a beautiful lake from seven to ten miles in circumference, called by the Pottawattomie Indians Mix-in-kuk-kee. It is surrounded with rolling land of good quality and is formed from springs, and seems to occupy the highest summit between the Tippecanoe and Kankikee rivers. From it flows to the south a large creek, forming one of the principal of the former river, and distant from it about five miles. The lake will probably some day supply a feeder for a canal to connect the Wabash and Illinois rivers. From this lake we proceeded a short distance east and found the line of the Michigan road, on which we traveled to the Wabash at the mouth of Eel river."

The old dowager empress of China once told a Manchu princess who waited on her, that the princess would some day "tell the world about her" and wished the princess "to know the truth _ and tell it as she saw it. Although commanded by no dictating dowager, the travelers who at an early date penetrated into the American interior, took it as their duty to tell the world about the mysteries of this far country, and in most cases tried conscientiously to learn the truth and tell it as they saw it.