Four-and-a-Half Months’ Stay in New Harmony
Description of the region – Natural history – Messrs. Say, Lesueur, and Owen – Hunting excursions in Indiana and Illinois – Wabash, Fox River – Illinois prairies – Albion – Black River – Mr. Bodmer’s trip to New Orleans
January 22, 1833
In the morning, overcast sky; hazy, dreary horizon. At seven thirty, 1 1/5°R [34.7°F, 1.5°C]. We worked at home. At noon, 7°R [47.8°F, 8.8°C]. In the afternoon we went out with Mr. Nohl through the thorn bushes along the creek behind the cornfields of Harmony; we had three dogs because we expected to find foxes there but found only a hare (rabbit). Afterward I crossed the Wabash, and in the forest on the other side, saw a fine buzzard, probably Falco sancti-johannis, flying in search of carrion. In the evening a stranger arrived who gave me some very interesting news from St. Louis. A painter, Mr. Catlin, who had lived for a long time among the Indians high up on the Missouri above the Yellowstone River [and] had painted many portraits of them and made interesting collections, was staying there, but had now left for New York to describe his journey. A man brought me two mink, an opossum, a muskrat, and a rust-bellied squirrel, for which I paid a dollar.