Author's Introduction - Page 2

wells are generally successful, the
enterprise of the emigrants is gradually prevailing against these
difficulties.

The second description of these natural meadows lies west of the
Mississippi, at a distance of a few hundred miles from that river, and
is called the Great Prairies. They resemble the steppes of Tartary
more than any other known portion of Christendom; being, in fact, a
vast country, incapable of sustaining a dense population, in the
absence of the two great necessaries already named. Rivers abound, it
is true; but this region is nearly destitute of brooks and the smaller
water courses, which tend so much to comfort and fertility.

The origin and date of the Great American Prairies form one of natures
most majestic mysteries. The general character of the United States,
of the Canadas, and of Mexico, is that of luxuriant fertility. It
would be difficult to find another portion of the world, of the same
extent, which has so little useless land as the inhabited parts of the
American Union. Most of the mountains are arable, and even the
prairies, in this section of the republic, are of deep alluvion. The
same is true between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. Between the
two lies the broad belt, of comparative desert, which is the scene of
this tale, appearing to interpose a barrier to the progress of the
American people westward.

The Great Prairies appear to be the final gathering place of the red
men. The remnants of the Mohicans, and the Delawares, of the Creeks,
Choctaws, and Cherokees, are destined to fulfil their time on these
vast plains. The entire number of the Indians, within the Union, is
differently computed, at between one and three hundred thousand souls.
Most of them inhabit the country west of the Mississippi. At the
period of the tale, they dwelt in open hostility; national feuds
passing from generation to generation. The power of the republic has
done much to restore peace to these wild scenes, and it is now
possible to travel in security, where civilised man did not dare to
pass unprotected five-and-twenty years ago.

The reader, who has perused the two former works, of which this is the
natural successor, will recognise an old acquaintance in the principal
character of the story. We have here brought him to his end, and we
trust he will be permitted to slumber in the peace of the just.

J F Cooper
Paris June 1832