A son who knew its history enjoyed with me this goodly scene.

His father was the first bold pioneer.

The rut made by the wheel of his rude cart, drawn by two oxen, was the first impress made by civilization in the whole of this rich and far-famed valley.

A brother shared with him his early toils and privations; their own hands raised the log-hut--their new home in the wilderness.

Ere they broke ground, the boundless forest howled around a stray party of Indians, come to hunt, or to pasture their flocks on the few open plots skirting the river: all else was waste and solitude.