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Browsing named entities in a specific section of Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis: Ex-President of the Confederate States of America, A Memoir by his Wife, Volume 1. Search the whole document.

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Madison (Wisconsin, United States) (search for this): chapter 7
ent residents and a desire to know how their forefathers wrested it from its savage proprietors. Many historical questions were asked Mr. Davis which he desired to answer at such length that he, unfortunately, did not find health or time serve him in which to make appropriate response until too late; but he wrote to Professor J. D. Butler, who interrogated him on some mooted points of history, while on detached service in the summer of 1829, I think, I encamped one night about the site of Madison. The nearest Indian village was on the opposite side of the lake. Nothing, I think, was known to the garrison of Fort Winnebago, about the Four Lakes, before I saw them. Indeed, sir, it may astonish you to learn, in view of the (now) densely populated condition of that country, that I and the file of soldiers who accompanied me, were the first white men who ever passed over the country between the Portage of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the then village of Chicago. Fish and water-f
Bashan (South Carolina, United States) (search for this): chapter 7
g the defence of the approaches as the hostility of the Indians became more pronounced. Mrs. Kinzie gives a humorous account of his efforts to furnish the garrison quarters. She describes his furniture thus. After saying she was to have two rooms in General Twiggs's house until her own could be built, she said: The one in the rear was to be the sleeping apartment, as was evident from a huge, unwieldy bedstead, of proportions amply sufficient to have accommodated Og, the king of Bashan, with Mrs. Og and the children into the bargain. We could not repress our laughter; but the bedstead was nothing to another structure which occupied a second corner of the apartment. This edifice had been built under the immediate superintendence of one of our young lieutenants, and it was plain to be seen that upon it both he and the soldiers who fabricated it had exhausted their architectural skill. The timbers of which it was composed had been grooved and carved; the pillars that suppo
Great Lakes (search for this): chapter 7
ssities of the fur-traders and those of occasional travellers required them. These little hostelries became celebrated throughout the Northwest, and the men who found in them rest and food and fire, remembered the Wentworths and Arndt families, as well as many others, with much friendliness. Fort Winnebago was situated on the Fox River, the course of which is so tortuous that the Indian legend was that an enormous serpent that lived in the Mississippi River went for a frolic to the Great Lakes. On his journey he left his trail through the prairies, and this collected the waters from the meadows, and the rains from heaven as they fell, and became the Fox River. Wau Bun; or, The Early Day, by Mrs. John H. Kinzie, page 80, to whose sprightly and valuable book I am indebted for much information of the Indian country. In the front lay an extent of meadow, across which was the portage road, about two miles in length, between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Teams of oxen and a driver
Four Lakes (Wisconsin, United States) (search for this): chapter 7
he desired to answer at such length that he, unfortunately, did not find health or time serve him in which to make appropriate response until too late; but he wrote to Professor J. D. Butler, who interrogated him on some mooted points of history, while on detached service in the summer of 1829, I think, I encamped one night about the site of Madison. The nearest Indian village was on the opposite side of the lake. Nothing, I think, was known to the garrison of Fort Winnebago, about the Four Lakes, before I saw them. Indeed, sir, it may astonish you to learn, in view of the (now) densely populated condition of that country, that I and the file of soldiers who accompanied me, were the first white men who ever passed over the country between the Portage of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the then village of Chicago. Fish and water-fowl were abundant; deer and pheasant less plentiful. The Indians subsisted largely on Indian corn and wild rice. When sent out on various expeditions
Illinois (Illinois, United States) (search for this): chapter 7
nd at Beauvoir House, which shows his ready resources in time of trouble. In this conversation he told of an ice bridge which he built across Rock River, in Illinois, in 1831. He said he was going through Illinois with his scouts, when, reaching Rock River, he found the mail coach, and numbers of wagons with persons going toIllinois with his scouts, when, reaching Rock River, he found the mail coach, and numbers of wagons with persons going to the lead mines, detained at the river. There was no bridge. The waters were frozen, yet not sufficiently so for them to pass over. The country was a wilderness. No house except that of the ferryman, whose name was Dixon. His log-cabin was near. The whole party put themselves at his command. He told them to keep a good fireles passed safely over. The ferryman — Dixon — remembered the young army officer ever afterward most kindly, and some years ago, when Mr. Davis was invited to Illinois, a letter came from the old man, expressing his happy anticipation of meeting him once again on earth. Mr. Davis could not then accept the invitation, and not l
Tennessee (Tennessee, United States) (search for this): chapter 7
at the hands of a white man might, at any time, compel friendly Indians to assume a hostile attitude, and the first intimation of the change would be received by a sudden descent upon some new and thriving post, the inhabitants be massacred, or worse, their women and children carried into captivity and their homes left in ruins. There were no roads, in our acceptation of the term, though the Indians could draw with some correctness the topography of the country; and as far as what is now Tennessee, they traced their maps with fair accuracy, using a stick for a pencil and the ground for their canvas. The Indian trails were always traceable, especially those that led from the Sac and Fox villages to Fort Malden. This was then the high road for traders and Indians also; it is so in a measure now, as well as the old Dragoon trail, made by the First Dragoons when they crossed from Fort Winnebago to the village of Chicago, now traced by tradition in the West. As the largest sutler's
Buena Vista (Virginia, United States) (search for this): chapter 7
nably designed for clothes press, store room, and china closet; such, at least, were the uses to which Mrs. Twiggs had appropriated the one assigned to her. There was this slight difficulty, that in the latter the shelves were too close to admit of setting in even a gravy-boat, but they made up in number what was wanting in space. We christened the whole affair, in honor of its projector, a Davis; thus placing the first laurel on the brow of one who was afterward to signalize himself at Buena Vista, and in the cabinet of his country. When laughed at about his furniture he said, The armoires were not intended for ladies' use, and the shelves were exactly the length of a gentleman's coat, without the necessity of folding it, and were made close together to hold each one separately. There were several of his classmates stationed at Winnebago at this time, and the meetings gladdened him greatly. There was some drinking and much gambling, but Mr. Davis never did either. General H
Mississippi (United States) (search for this): chapter 7
trails, then the only roads, as the necessities of the fur-traders and those of occasional travellers required them. These little hostelries became celebrated throughout the Northwest, and the men who found in them rest and food and fire, remembered the Wentworths and Arndt families, as well as many others, with much friendliness. Fort Winnebago was situated on the Fox River, the course of which is so tortuous that the Indian legend was that an enormous serpent that lived in the Mississippi River went for a frolic to the Great Lakes. On his journey he left his trail through the prairies, and this collected the waters from the meadows, and the rains from heaven as they fell, and became the Fox River. Wau Bun; or, The Early Day, by Mrs. John H. Kinzie, page 80, to whose sprightly and valuable book I am indebted for much information of the Indian country. In the front lay an extent of meadow, across which was the portage road, about two miles in length, between the Fox and Wisco
Chicago (Illinois, United States) (search for this): chapter 7
ilt in 1828, opposite the portage, about two miles from the junction of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. As late as 1830 the only mode of reaching Green Bay from Chicago, and from thence to Fort Winnebago, was by schooner, and the journey sometimes consumed three months. The intermediate country in many portions was unexplored by and Indians also; it is so in a measure now, as well as the old Dragoon trail, made by the First Dragoons when they crossed from Fort Winnebago to the village of Chicago, now traced by tradition in the West. As the largest sutler's store in the West was kept at Winnebago, there were always a great many Indians about the portagoldiers who accompanied me, were the first white men who ever passed over the country between the Portage of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the then village of Chicago. Fish and water-fowl were abundant; deer and pheasant less plentiful. The Indians subsisted largely on Indian corn and wild rice. When sent out on various expe
Fox River (Wisconsin, United States) (search for this): chapter 7
1829, I think, I encamped one night about the site of Madison. The nearest Indian village was on the opposite side of the lake. Nothing, I think, was known to the garrison of Fort Winnebago, about the Four Lakes, before I saw them. Indeed, sir, it may astonish you to learn, in view of the (now) densely populated condition of that country, that I and the file of soldiers who accompanied me, were the first white men who ever passed over the country between the Portage of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the then village of Chicago. Fish and water-fowl were abundant; deer and pheasant less plentiful. The Indians subsisted largely on Indian corn and wild rice. When sent out on various expeditions I crossed Rock River at different points, but saw no sign of settlement above Dixon's Ferry. That point had then been occupied by a white man only a year. This reconnaissance was a very bold and dangerous one, and one of many anecdotes of that period is inserted here. The reconnaissan
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