"FOUNDATIONS" AND "CAUTIONS." 171

stake off his ground. Next appears the "foundation"-four logs, perhaps, placed in a quadrangle, the earnest, apparently, of the log-hut that is to follow. And, on a bit of stick, lastly, or on a piece of paper nailed to a tree, appear the words, in a scarcely legible scrawl, "This is Jim Barton's claim; and he'll shoot the first fellow as comes within a mile of it:" Such an announcement is technically called a "caution." As you read, you instinctively draw back; and, if on the look-out for a claim yourself, you seek fortune further on. But Jim Barton's "foundation" will probably never be occupied. If you are pleased with the site, you may avail yourself of Mr. Barton's beginning, and little fear his caution. Most probably that gentleman lives in a neighbouring State, but desires the elective franchise in Kansas. Anxious to give some colour to his claim as a voter, he has set his mark on a piece of land, and henceforth claims the privileges of an owner of the soil. But this is against all squatting law and precedent, which requires that every squatter personally reside upon his claim. The men of Missouri, however, framed squatter

laws for themselves in relation to Kansas; among them, that "protection should be afforded to no Abolitionist settlers ;" and, with the dangerous power conferred by recent legislation on "squatter sovereignty," they have found themselves free to exercise with impunity their own sovereign will. Many affirmed their right to a vote in the territory, although they only threw down an axe upon the ground; others, if they only intended at some time to make a claim; others, again, if they were only on the ground on the day of election.

1

KANSAS TOPOGRAPHY.

173

CHAPTER XV.

The Geography of Kansas.-Junction of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers.-Kansas City.-The Santa Fé Road.-Settlements up the Kansas River.-Lawrence.-Lecompton.Topeka.-Kaw Half-breeds.-Fort Riley.-Mounds.--California Road.--The Oregon Trail.--Crossing the Plains.Character of the Country.-The Great American Desert.The Rocky Mountains.-Banks of the Missouri.-Leavenworth City and Fort.-Western Routes.--The Upper Missouri. Osawatomie.-Climate and Soil of Kansas.-Produc

tion.--Wages.

A TRAVELLER, approaching Kansas from the East by way of the Missouri, first sees the territory at the point of confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. On his right, the Missouri, which at this point suddenly changes its course, pours down its muddy volume from the North, bringing the washings of thousands of miles, which render its waters at some seasons of the year so densely turbid, that an object cannot be seen if lying a few inches beneath the surface. On his left, flows into it a somewhat purer and less turbulent stream, the Kaw or Kansas River,

which, intersecting the Territory which bears its name in a direction almost due West and East, leaves fertility all along its course, and from between thickly clustering oak and elm, maple and hickory, which beautifully shade its banks, terminates its windings in the rolling flood of the Missouri.

At the point of junction between the two rivers, the traveller will discern amongst the wood the little Indian village known as Wyandot city, planted on the reserve belonging to the pale-faced tribe, which Cooper has rendered famous by his novel of " Wyandotte." On the left, facing the Missouri, at a short distance below the junction, stands the bustling little town called Kansas city, where the traveller will probably be induced to land. If its crowded levée or quay were to be taken away, little would be left to Kansas city. It is oddly wedged in, like the lower town of Quebec in Canada, upon a narrow slip of land between the river and a steep bluff, so that if the city wish to extend its boundaries, it can only do so, as in the Canadian city, by mounting the bluff behind it, and forming an upper town.

THE SANTA FE ROAD.

175

From Kansas city the traveller may strike for the West, in order to form his first acquaintance with the territory. He may take the "Santa Fé Road," in which case he will enter Kansas, after passing Westport, at the Shawnee Manual Labour School. He will see the Rev. Thomas Johnson's farm, as well as the Baptist and the Friends' Mission. Forty miles will bring him to Hickory Point, after which he will, in a second or third day's journey, ride through Willow Springs to Hundred and Ten. Sixty miles more of rolling prairie and grassy plain will take him to Council Grove, or Big John Spring, where, as the name indicates, the traveller may hold his council, and determine whether, having followed the Santa Fé Road for a hundred and thirty miles, he will trust himself to the trail for a prairie-ride of weeks into the territory of New Mexico. This is the most Southern of the great routes. As far as Council Grove, it carries the traveller across an undulating tract, often over high wave-like ridges, commanding extensive views across the broad savannahs; and, before he has reached Hickory Point, the course of the streams, or creeks as