Journey from New Harmony on the Wabash to St. Louis on the Mississippi and Stay There
Mount Vernon – Shawneetown – Cave-in-Rock – Mouth of the Wabash – Cumberland and Tennessee River – Mouth of Ohio – Mississippi – Commerce – Cape Girardeau – Grand Tower – Devil’s Bake Oven – Kaskaskia River and Indians – Ste. Genevieve – Selma – Herculaneum – Merrimac River – Jefferson Barracks – Vide Poche – St. Louis – The Sauk (Sac) and Meskwaki Indians1 – Black Hawk – Meeting with the prisoners – Preparations for continuing journey
March 24, 1833
In the morning at daybreak, we sailed back somewhat, around a sandbar, to get into the channel. Behind a flat willow island, a rather large building, the arsenal, appears. The bank to the left is ugly; gentle low ridges overgrown with short brush. To the right, poor forest everywhere. We sail around the upper tip of the willow island and its long sandbar, and St. Louis appears on the bank. Behind it a low bank (prairie). The city does not have any tall towers, only about three very low small ones. Close view of the city rather unattractive.
The sky mostly overcast, a raw wind. The sun rose higher and warmed us somewhat. As we approached more closely, the city presented itself more favorably. The side facing us is beautifully illuminated purple-red by the rising sun. On a projecting point just before the city, [there] is a small, isolated copse. The mass of houses rather attractive; the view [becomes] better and better. We landed and saw mostly blacks on shore. We took lodging at the Union Hotel, [where] I found a letter from Neuwied, [dated] the 21st of November.